Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

Amazon.com

One of the greatest scandals in American corporate history is chronicled in the riveting documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Based on the bestselling book by Fortune magazine reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkin, and directed by Alex Gibney (who also produced The Trials of Henry Kissinger), the film is an epic morality tale, drawing upon a wealth of insider interviews and archival material to show how Enron, once the nation's seventh largest corporate entity, essentially faked its bookkeeping to report profits that never existed. The corrupt and closely-guarded mismanagement by Enron executives (including Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, later placed on criminal trial) is revealed through such heinous concepts as "Hypothetical Future Value" (a way of reaping fortunes based on false profit projections) and the use of offshore "shell" companies to hide the massive losses that eventually toppled the company (along with the venerable Arthur Anderson accounting firm) and left 20,000 employees jobless. As a maddening portrait of hubris and white-collar crime, Enron transcends political and corporate boundaries by showing how smart and powerful men grew blinded by greed and brought ruin upon themselves, along with thousands of otherwise innocent victims. For better and worse, it's a perfect double-feature with eye-opening 2004 documentary The Corporation. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

Based on the best-selling book of the same name by Fortune reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, a multidimensional study of one of the biggest business scandals in American history. The chronicle takes a look at one of the greatest corporate disasters in history, in which top executives from the 7th largest company in this country walked away with over one billion dollars, leaving investors and employees with nothing. The film features insider accounts and rare corporate audio and video tapes that reveal colossal personal excesses of the Enron hierarchy and the utter moral vacuum that posed as corporate philosophy. The human drama that unfolds within Enron's walls resembles a Greek tragedy and produces a domino effect that could shape the face of our economy and ethical code for years to come.

DVD Features:

Available Audio Tracks: English (Unknown Format)
Commentary by: writer-director Alex Gibney (Unknown Format)
Deleted scenes
"The Making of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" featuring research footage and exclusive interviews with writer-director Alex Gibney and investigative journalist Bethany McLean
Enron company skits
Enron commercial
Where are they now?: updates on the executives, traders, and whistleblowers
A gallery of Enron cartoons
The original Fortune magazine articles

System Requirements:

Running Time 110 Mins.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

Amazingly Engrossing.......2007-09-09

From the time this documentary starts you are captured. I have never been so engrossed in a story about Corporate America before. The arrogance of business and the manipulation for self gain was astounding. Awesome how the unravelling began with one simple question. I have watched this now several times and I never cease to be amazed. A "must" to watch.

Sickening!.......2007-08-30

I had always wondered how this fiasco could be allowed to happen in the U.S. After watching this movie, I now understand! It is sad that a country such as ours could allow this type of theft, larceny, and destruction to happen to thousands of innocent people!

The hyper-capitalistic puppet masters of the invisible build Frankenstein's monster.......2007-08-21

Imagine starting a company that comes up with the idea of selling potential without actually realizing that potential first. Imagine then without the realization of that potential that loads of people invest in the idea because the CEO's know how to put on a show. Then imagine the idea becoming so big that a whole country invests in the idea. Then imagine that the company selling the idea gets so big that it ends up owning a massive share of that nation's power grid. Then imagine that the company starts telling the power company operators to perform lots of blackouts and downtime so that it can hold the nation to ransom before it turns it back on again by demanding government funds (tax money). Then imagine on top of this that the CEO's just sign themselves big fat paychecks into the tens of millions and decide to head off home when everything is falling apart because someone asked the question... "How does Enron make money?"

While the above schematic might not be the exact way things where actually done, it still is but in a more complex way that this documentary surprising makes simple for everyone to understand. We are dealing with a company that dealt in selling the imagination and then played the evil demigod when it eventually had its way. It is a documentary also about the CEO's and personalities which got too big for a nation to manage. This is when greed becomes hyper-greed and when making millions out of public disasters was considered a normal 9 to 5. Imagine Enron employees just saying `Burn baby burn' while wildfires rage under power lines. Imagine Enron employees finding loopholes in government contracts they designed and calling those ambiguous areas `fat boy' and `death star' to make millions from the gaps. Then stop calling this just imagination. This is the real thing!

Enron is essentially about the abuse of trust. It is about a nation built on freedoms and liberties actually becoming hostage to those freedoms and liberties when extremist capitalists will cash in on anything. This isn't just about cooking the books. This is about cooking independence into slavery so that a few guys could make loads of money.

In a strange sort of way it is hard to actually imagine that these guys did anything wrong in terms of how they developed a very imaginative system of corporation into a business. The tendency for them to exploit a weakness in a deal was bad character, but nothing that is that unusual in today's world. All this is considered somewhat expected in big business except for one thing. They did all this by gambling with the savings of over 20,000 US Citizens (most of them Joe Soap families with kids) while they also played with the national power grid (how many people indirectly died and suffered remains uncertain but real) to either make more money or to get their own backsides off the hook. In a way people everywhere look up to models like this but in the end Disneyland just isn't real and that is what is important to learn (and some former CEOs are learning it hard, like Jeffrey Skillings) who is serving 24 years and 4 months in prison.

A Disappointment.......2007-08-14

Could have been a seminal work on some of the most egregious robber-barons of the 1990's, but succumbed to a ridiculous partisanship characterized by heavy-handed Bush-bashing -- how tiresome (this even tho Kenny-Boy was head of Ann Richards's finance committee when Bush challenged her). Meanwhile, one of the documentary's great moralizers was investigations-target Bill Lerach, and one of the chief complainers was the since-recalled Gray Davis, who was so incompetent he couldn't sell beer on a troopship.

Entertaining, not thorough & informative.......2007-07-23

It was too dramatized, I thought. Also I didn't like the stripper scene because it was too long and too much nudity for my taste... gross. You lose concentration from what they're talking about. They could have just narrated the story about the strippers, why show so much nudity in a corporate scandal documentary???
Better off reading the book called "Conspiracy of Fools"... very good reading material and informative, not too dramatic like this "documentary"

Average customer rating:

The In-Laws
Clean Buddy Movie Comedy
funnyest in-laws movie i ever seen!!!
A classic!
Far Superior to the Remake

The In-Laws
Starring: Peter Falk , Alan Arkin , Richard Libertini , Nancy Dussault , and Penny Peyser
Director: Arthur Hiller
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008MTY5
Release Date: 2003-05-13

Amazon.com

This 1979 comedy is absolutely indispensable for fans of Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, or Andrew Bergman, who wrote the film's screenplay and went on to direct The Freshman and Honeymoon in Vegas. (Let's forgive him for Striptease.) Arkin is extraordinarily funny as a dentist who quickly grows skeptical about the wild claims of his daughter's future father-in-law (Peter Falk) that he is a CIA agent. When he is drawn into a bizarre adventure in a banana republic, however, he takes a different view. Arthur Hiller (Love Story) provides serviceable direction, but the real draw here is the perfect chemistry between the two leads and Bergman's weirdly comic mind. Watch for the look on Arkin's face when Falk's character tells a story about giant tse-tse flies. --Tom Keogh

Description

Comedy about a dentist who gets mired in the bizarre intrigues of his daughter's soon-to-be father-in-law, who claims to be a CIA agent.

Customer Reviews:

The In-Laws.......2007-07-05

Arthur Hiller's hilarious spoof (written by the talented Andrew Bergman) is propelled by an ever-escalating series of death-defying comic set-pieces, with Falk the epitome of seasoned nonchalance and Arkin, who up to now has led a quiet, ordered life in Scarsdale, having a series of well-justified nervous breakdowns. Scenes in a fictional banana republic ruled by demented dictator General Garcia (Richard Libertini) are particularly inspired. Ultimately, what makes this comedy sing is the divine chemistry between Falk and Arkin, two comedic pros in their element. Beware the inferior remake.

Clean Buddy Movie Comedy.......2007-04-22

This is one of the classic buddy movies of its kind. The humor and satire are funny and insightful. There is no vulgarity so you can have teenagers watch this movie. This version is much better than the Michael Douglas remake by the same title. Alan Arkin is a consumate actor who displays a surban dentist in over his head. And Peter Falk is hilarious as the CIA spy or not. Alan Arkin does a great job stealing the movie as he does in many of his movies. See Alan Arkin in the movie Poppi, a tear jerker comedy with the most adorable kids.

funnyest in-laws movie i ever seen!!!.......2007-04-12

still to this day. this is the funnyest in-laws movie ever seen!!! if you like peter falk.(the colombo)you will laugh your butts out!!!with this one!!

A classic!.......2007-03-09

So much better than the 2003 version. Every time I watch this movie my face hurts from laughing.

Far Superior to the Remake.......2007-02-22

The 1979 version of The In-Laws is so much better than the pathetic remake of a few years ago, its not even funny.

What made the original so great was the screenplay by Andrew Bergman who also wrote the scripts for Blazing Saddles, Fletch and The Freshman. Bergman's script was finely tuned to the personas of Alan Arkin and Peter Falk to a degree that few screeenplays nowadays are. Falk's character was written as a dishonest version of Lieutenant Columbo that added to the fun. Perhaps no other film could take such an ungainly phrase as "serpentine, Shelly, serpentine" and provoke so much laughter with it.

Add in the on-screen chemistry of Arkin and Falk and you have yourself a comedic winner.

Average customer rating:

Sometimes it's good to be bad!
This movie could of been way better.
You make me feel so good
bad girls extended cut
an entertaining female version of Young Guns

Bad Girls (Extended Cut)
Starring: Madeleine Stowe , Mary Stuart Masterson , Andie MacDowell , Drew Barrymore , and James Russo
Director: Jonathan Kaplan
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0006HBV50
Release Date: 2005-02-01

Amazon.com

Viewers of this Hollywood-processed movie should prepare to suspend disbelief: the four prostitutes turned outlaws will have flimsy excuses for being adept in gun slinging, stunt riding, and world knowledge. But this Western trips over a poor script of laughable plot points (secret plans are left out for wandering eyes, loot is taken without resistance) and a story that sticks forever in second gear. Never better or worse than Young Guns, with these intelligent actresses only part of the scenery. Drew Barrymore comes off the best, along with James LeGros as a meek rancher. --Doug Thomas

Description

Madeleine Stowe, Andie MacDowell, Drew Barrymore and Mary Stuart Masterson star in the wild Western story of four fallen women on the run. Branded as outlaws, pursued by a posse and tracked by Pinkerton detectives, the four must ride together to stay alive. But when they're double crossed by a gang of ruthless desperados, the women decide it's time to stop running, and start fighting! BAD GIRLS is a rough-riding, straight-shooting, fun-filled adventure that writes a whole new chapter in the lore of the Western hero!

Customer Reviews:

Sometimes it's good to be bad!.......2007-02-26

Boy, I sure do love this movie! That's quite a statement as I generally don't care a whole lot for westerns. This one is a bit of a different sort of western, however. We get to see Madeline Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson AND Andie McDowell all in one film! I've never cared much for Drew Barrymore, but I concede she does a pretty good job in this movie.

Madeline Stowe still looks good today, but this movie was made in 1993, when she was @ the very apex of her beauty. On top of being gorgeous & having a "mystery" about her (which intoxicates me so!) she is also a bona-fide accomplished actress. It's great to see her go from a naieve woman in THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS to being a tough-as-nails, no nonsense cowgirl in the present flick. She is a much more diverse actress than most women in Hollywood. Now if only she'd agree to a candlelight dinner with me.....

Anyway, this DVD has often been thought of as a female version of YOUNG GUNS. Well, perhaps. However, in my mind, BAD GIRLS is the far more entertaining of the two (I found YOUNG GUNS rather boring). Also, one nice thing about the film is that it is NOT a film that's just set about to glorify male-bashing. While it does set about to accurately depict examples of unfair treatment of 19th century women, it never becomes "preachy." Moreover, our cowgirls stumble across some nice fellas who help them out.

If you like westerns, you may or may not like this one. If you like un-conventional westerns where the main characters are pretty girls (not too many other movies can compete in this category), then this movie is a must. It was filmed in Texas and California & some of the screen shots had gorgeous scenery and a few of the sets really made me feel like I was back in the old west.

This movie could of been way better........2007-02-16

I've seen this movie a couple of times over the years and thought it was decent. Like Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, Bad Girls begins with the abuse of a prostitute whose vengeance sets the whole plot in motion. But in Bad Girls, plot development is synonymous with costume changes. Chaps, corsets, silks and flannel -- for women on the run who carry no baggage other than their historical baggage as former prostitutes, these four desperadoes scam more new outfits than a bevy of runway models. And at least one of them had to be packing a curling iron. But, okay, this is Hollywood after all, and what's the point of having four women starring in a movie if they don't at least look good, albeit illogical.

The really grievous problems with Bad Girls are its lack of plot and undeveloped characters. On the lam after the most trigger-happy of the bunch, Madeleine Stowe, kills a customer who's roughing up one of the other girls in the brothel, they have very little sense of purpose once they're on their own. With a vague plan of heading toward the Oregon Territory to run a sawmill, Bad Girls moves forward in episodic fashion as they encounter one difficulty (or love interest) after another. You can practically picture it as a weekly TV series that poses hour-long detours on the road to the elusive Oregon Territory. The barrenness of the plot would be less noticeable; however, if there were at least some solid characters to hang the story on. Stowe nicely plays the sternness of her character against the delicacy of her features but even her tough-gal posture is belittled when she is whipped by one man and rescued by another. Masterson, considering her range as an actress of intelligence and physical dexterity, is given surprisingly little to do. As for the others, MacDowell flirts and Barrymore pouts, though each does what she does very well.

The Cinematography is respectable, as is the directing for what the shooting schedule allowed. Not an extraordinary film, but one that entertains on one level. That and the sexual component really didn't need the exposure it received in this film. In other words it couldve been handled more tastefully, or axed altogether.

You make me feel so good.......2007-01-14

A female centered Western - this movie kicks butt. I saw this as a teenager when it came out in 1994. Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie MacDowell and Drew Barrymore star as prostitutes on the run. They killed an abusive customer in a justifiable homicide, withdrew their money from the bank and set out for Oregon. Their money is in turn stolen by bank robbers. Oh, and Pinkerton detectives are chasing after them. It's awesome.

bad girls extended cut.......2007-01-11

I love bad girls very much that i had to get the dvd you now.

an entertaining female version of Young Guns.......2006-12-19

that's how I view this movie... beautiful and popular actresses, lots of action, and a not-to-bad story line. This is one of those movies you can put in during a party and it's entertaining for any short amount of time people choose to look at it... and if you do decide to sit down and get into the movie, it makes it that much better.

Average customer rating:

Love Devours
Fine movie, but slow at the beginning...
Suddenly Last Summer
really puts the "gothic" into Southern Gothic...
Don't wish for this kind of summer vacation!

Suddenly, Last Summer
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor , Katharine Hepburn , Montgomery Clift , Albert Dekker , and Mercedes McCambridge
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00004TWZH
Release Date: 2000-08-15

Amazon.com essential video

This black-and-white film adaptation of Tennessee Williams's Southern gothic play is perhaps more famous for the rumored off-screen shenanigans of its stars than for its over-the-top repressed sexuality (only Williams could pull off that paradox, and pull it off he does). Supposedly, stars Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor battled for screen time; Hepburn warred very publicly with director Joseph Mankiewicz; and a postaccident Montgomery Clift relied heavily on painkillers and support from friend Taylor during the grueling shoot. Even this, however, cannot top the events of the film itself, revolving around the unseen playboy Sebastian and his mysterious death, which has something to do with young boys, a decadent European vacation, and Taylor in a provocative wet, white bathing suit. To give away the plot would spoil the fun, but suffice it to say that what Taylor saw was so horrible it drove her nuts, and Sebastian's mother (Hepburn) wants her to have a lobotomy in order to keep it from coming out; Clift is brought in to do the procedure. It's all a hoot and a holler, but as played by the two leading ladies (both of whom nabbed Oscar nominations), it's also compelling, chilling, and utterly gothic. Taylor gives a fierce performance, as the climaxing monologue that reveals Sebastian's "secret" rests entirely on her shoulders, and Hepburn plays brilliantly against type as Sebastian's manipulating, overbearing mother. Only Clift, saddled with a dreary character in charge of plot exposition, fails to deliver. Adapted by Gore Vidal. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews:

Love Devours.......2007-09-01

Love devours is the theme of this Tennessee Williams play. Us who have lived a long time and have loved deeply know this don't we? Love is like the flesh eating Venus flytrap. Somehow we have got to learn how to love in such ways that we do not devour each other. Tennessee didn't give us a clue though did he?

Thanx Gore Vidal for helping bring this movie to us way back in 1959. I would recommend it to the 20 something young men who are dealing with the issues in this movie and even to us 60 something older men who are dealing with the 20 something's.

Suddenly Last Summer is a cautionary tale: Love Devours.

Fine movie, but slow at the beginning..........2007-07-01

I like the movie and the acting is mostly great. My only problem is with Montgomery Clift, who is slightly stiff in this movie, yet I still like him. Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn give stellar performances.

Basically, Cathy (Taylor) is locked up in a mental institution with Clift as her psychiatrist. He needs to find out the shocking truth of why her cousin died the summer before. Her aunt Violet (Hepburn) wants her to have a lobotomy so the truth cannot come out. I won't say what happens, but the end is satisfying. I'd watch this again.

Suddenly Last Summer.......2007-06-26

A lurid Southern Gothic tale adapted by Gore Vidal from a one-act Tennessee Williams play, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's "Suddenly, Last Summer" is a trifle campy and overheated, but rich with smart, biting dialogue. Hepburn is haughty and indomitable as an overprotective mother, while Taylor is rivetingly sensual even in apoplectic fits of distress-witness the climactic flashback scene. Mankiewicz handles themes of forbidden desire and depravity with consummate skill, making this a memorable "Summer" indeed.

really puts the "gothic" into Southern Gothic..........2007-06-10

SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER is one of the strongest Tennessee Williams film adaptations, and that is due in no small part to Gore Vidal's fiery screenplay and the first-rate main players of Taylor, Hepburn and Clift.

The story opens in 1937. Eccentric and wealthy Southern widow Mrs Violet Venable (Katharine Hepburn) enlists the services of prolific mental health surgeon Dr. Cukrowicz (Montgomery Clift). Cukrowicz specialises in performing the revolutionary frontal lobotomy procedure on those patients whose entire lives are consumed by their illnesses.

Mrs Venable introduces Cukrowicz to her troubled young niece, Catherine Holly (Elizabeth Taylor). Ever since Catherine accompanied Violet's dead son Sebastian on his last trip to Europe, Catherine has been plagued by fearful fits of insanity. In return for some important funding for his surgery, Mrs Venable wants Catherine to be the next patient for Cukrowicz.

But what exactly happened to Sebastian on that fateful final trip...and why does Mrs Venable desperately want Catherine to forget it...?

Here in SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, a horrifying journey into sweat-stained asylums and heavily-veiled secrets, Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepburn deliver tour-de-force performances. A lot of people still find Montgomery Clift somewhat lacking here, but a lot of that does come back to the character he plays, who is very much overshadowed by the two women. There is also some fine work from Mercedes McCambridge as Catherine's weak-willed mother.

Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award (in addition to Hepburn), but failed to win, partly because this was during the period when her tumultuous private life essentially got her blackballed; though she did manage to grab the Golden Globe for her performance--in direct competition with Hepburn.

SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER remains a searing and shocking movie experience. If you have never seen it, do yourself a favour and buy it today. You'll be riveted from beginning to end.

The DVD includes a bonus video montage of stills; talent profiles for the main players, and the trailer for "28 Days". (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).

Don't wish for this kind of summer vacation!.......2007-05-15

Suddenly, Last Summer starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Katherine Hepburn was quite a provactive film for 1959. Themes of homosexuality, cannibalism, and implied incest makes this film interesting right up 'til the very end. You won't believe the shocking truth about the unseen and unheard Sebastian. Catherine (Taylor) and Sebastian were cousins, during a summer vacation, something horrific happened to Sebastian, and it traumatizes poor Catherine into a mental hospital. Catherine's aunt, Mrs. Venable (Hepburn) wants her lobotimzed, she is so desperate to hide the truth about her son, she'll do anything not to let her son's private life come out. Fascinating performance from Hepburn and while Clift is great to look at, his performance suffers due to the fact he was relying heavy on pills and booze to help through the shoot (he was in a car crash three years prior to filming this movie, he was in a lot of physical pain). Anyway, you'll either love or loathe this film but it's defintely gonna leave you shocked in your seat. Enjoy!

Average customer rating:

"Myrl Redding didn't fail the law.The law failed Myrl."
In the same class as Unforgiven
The Jack Bull: A good TV movie
WOW
Gripping

The Jack Bull
Starring: John Cusack , John Goodman , L.Q. Jones , Miranda Otto , and John C. McGinley
Director: John Badham
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305504024
Release Date: 1999-08-31

Amazon.com

The Jack Bull was produced for and premiered on HBO, but it's easily the most respectable job that feature director John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, WarGames) has done in the past two decades. The title refers not to a piece of livestock but a metaphorical Jack Russell terrier that, once it's annoyed enough to close its jaws on something, will hang on to the point of death.

That would be Myrl Redding (John Cusack), a horse-breeder of limited means but a deeply entrenched sense of justice. His independence galls Henry Ballard (L.Q. Jones), the crusty land baron out to set his brand on most of the countryside. Ballard insults and cheats Redding several times over, and his men beat Redding's horse trainer and friend, an Indian (Rodney A. Grant). When Redding seeks redress from the law, its agents can't be bothered (the local magistrate is in Ballard's pocket). So Redding musters a vigilante army to enforce his own law.

Scratch this handsome but rigorously unromanticized Western--fully an hour passes without a shot being fired--and you find the classic Heinrich von Kleist book Michael Kohlhaas transposed to Wyoming Territory on the eve of statehood. The script--by the star-producer's dad, Dick Cusack--is sturdy and uncompromising, willing to engage the knotty ambiguities of embracing vigilantism even in a just cause. Badham's decision to treat the authorities (Scott Wilson, Jay O. Sanders, John Goodman) as period caricatures is regrettable. But John Cusack is solid as a figure of utterly matter-of-fact integrity. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

When wealthy landowner Henry Ballard sets up a toll gate and takes two of Myrl Redding?s horses in lieu of payment, Redding is enraged. But when those horses are starved and beaten almost to death, he demands justice. So begins a personal feud that becomes a war .. a war that becomes a manhunt ... and a trial that will lead to a bloody kind of Western justice.

Customer Reviews:

"Myrl Redding didn't fail the law.The law failed Myrl.".......2007-02-17

I had never heard of this movie when I saw it in the store.It seemed to have all the makings of a western,but I hadn't associated John Cusack or John Goodman with Westerns.I was also not familiar with most of the other actors in the movie.One of the liner notes stated,"Gritty western harks back to John Wayne and Clint Eastwood classics.".Since that would be a lot to stand up to,I thought I would give it a try.
Was I ever impressed! This is a fine crafted Western movie in all respects. It has a great storyline that grabs your attention right in the beginning and holds it completely up to the end .Just as the story comes to its unusual end ,and we don't want to let go; we are eased back to reality with a moving song and music by Bob Dylan,"Ring Them Bells",sung by himself.
This gripping saga is quite unlike any Western that I can think of. When I finished ,I read all the reviews and found some real interesting things.The story is based on a book written way back in the year 1810.And that it was written in German and had nothing to do with America and the Old West.It must have been a teriffic piece of creative work to adapt it to the location and time of Wyoming Territory obtaining statehood.The outdoor scenes were filmed around Calgary,Alberta and the movie is filled with excellent scenery and excellent use of photography in creating appropriate moods and atmosphere.While there is some shooting,it is very minimal,except for the scene where the Military uses massive gunfire and even a Gatlin gun to mow down a few Indians in an ambush. The movie deals with a lot about personl feelings,corruption and outrageous application of justice. In the fast development of the Old West, during the times when these areas were Territories,it was no time for delaying or unlawful application of justice. Redding,who was being unjustly treated by people and their misuse of power;gave the "system' a chance to work;failing that,he had no other recourse than to take matters in his own hand,and get his justice.
This movie brings home the idea that;

"Justice delayed is justice denied."

This is a fine,powerful story with a lot of thought ,meaning and feeling ,so well crafted that it certainly ranks up there with the best.It deserves to be considered a classic for many reasons.

In the same class as Unforgiven.......2007-02-06

What fantastic value DVD this is. Hard to believe this was a TV movie - kudos to HBO, once again.
This is an un-romanticised view of the West - telling it like it was. A man of integrity might get justice in one way, but it will cost him dearly in another. From photography in washed out colours, to the slow burn build of events that means guns don't actually get used until late in the movie, this is set out to be both realistic and unflinching. This asks the question - Just what is the value of going vigilante? What is the real cost? Is getting the justice you ask for worth any price? And the wonderful (and certainly non -Hollywood) thing is, you are left to make up your own mind, there are no easy answers.
John Cusack is just terrific here - you might find it a stretch to see him in a Western, but he is utterly credible in a tough role. Miranda Otto as his wife is perfect casting, and in fact the whole supporting cast is spot on - except maybe some of the chief decision makers of the territory who are somewhat two dimensional. Enjoy John C. McGinley (Perry from `Scrubs') in a minor role, and John Goodman in a pivotal role - albeit only in the last third of the movie.
Music by Lennie Niehaus is similar but less minimalist than his score to Unforgiven, and adds in a wonderful way to the poignancy of the movie, along with some spectacular landscapes which crop up from time to time. I'm sure Dick Cusacks (john's dad) would be proud of the end result of his script, produced by his son.
Don't be put off by the fact this is a TV movie - it certainly rises way beyond its genesis to be something of a classic, born from the mould of `Unforgiven'.

The Jack Bull: A good TV movie.......2005-10-17

HBO did a good job making this movie. Actors such as John Cusack and John Goodman add a seriousness and flavor that might not be brought out by anyone else. Both Johns are supported by a very able cast and a wonderful script by Cusack's father, Bill. Directed by John Badham, who makes great use of the scenery, compels watchers back to turn of the century Wyoming territory. But the grit on the actors and the harshness of the conditions portray a reality that could easily been lost by less competent hands.

WOW.......2005-10-11

AT first, I gotta admit, I did not really like it. But I kept thinking about it, and I knew there was more to this movie.
The acting is unreal, excellent, the best. There is no doubt. John and Goodman.. WOW.
I read other's reviews, and then I pondered, YES.. this was a great movie. It has so much more then other westerns. It explores more, it reaches farther, and give it a try.. I doubt you will not be pleased it touched your life.

Gripping.......2005-09-10

If you are a John Cusack or Western fan then you will like this movie. Gripping from the opening scene, "The Jack Bull" takes you a dramatic tale of life on the frontier in the 1800s. John Goodman does an excellent job playing the fair, but just judge.

Average customer rating:

Beware, It CAN happy to YOU
Awesome film and music
The Thin Blue Line
Early Errol Morris film still packs a wallop
Incredible, gripping documentary film that exposes an extreme miscarriage of justice

The Thin Blue Line
Starring: Randall Adams , David Harris (III) , Gus Rose , Jackie Johnson , and Marshall Touchton
Director: Errol Morris
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00094AS72
Release Date: 2005-07-26

Amazon.com

This landmark award-winning documentary, which revolutionized the form and helped acquit an innocent man of murder, came about almost by accident. Errol Morris had already directed such offbeat documentaries as Gates of Heaven (concerning pet cemeteries; a favorite of Roger Ebert's) and Vernon, Florida, which touchingly portrays the small town's eccentric inhabitants. He'd intended to travel to Texas to make a film about the criminal-psychiatry expert James Grigson, or "Dr. Death" as he came to be known for his frequent testimony against defendants, who were often then sent to death row. When Morris discovered that the doctor was involved in the trial of Randall Dale Adams, a man who, it seemed, had been falsely accused of the highway murder of a police officer, he decided that Adams's story was the real one to tell. Morris's innovative use of repeated dramatization, multiple points of view, talking-head and phone interviews, and symbolism--in concert with Philip Glass's haunting music--establishes that a combination of communitarian zeal and overly eager testimony persuaded the jury to find Adams, a "drifter" from the Midwest, guilty of the crime, instead of his underage (and, for the death penalty, ineligible) acquaintance, David Harris, who had a criminal record. The "thin blue line" of police officers separating the public from chaos--as the judge, quoting the D.A. in the case, has it--destabilizes in Morris's world and puts people at risk of injustice as often as it protects them. After serving time for a sentence commuted to life imprisonment, Adams was freed, making Errol Morris his most talented advocate. --Robert Burns Neveldine

Description

Academy AwardÂ(r)-winner* Errol Morris broke new ground with the "riveting" (LA Weekly) film that dramatically reenacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer's murder in Dallas. So powerful and convincing that it helped free an innocent man from prison, The Thin Blue Line is "one of the finest documentary features ever made" (Boxoffice). On November 28, 1976, when drifter Randall Dale Adams was picked up by teenage runaway David Harris, his fate was sealed. That night, a police officer was shot in cold blood. And though all the facts pointed to Harris, a sociopath with a lengthy rap sheet, Adams was convicted of capital murder. Was Adamsguilty? And if not, can Morris unlock the secrets of this baffling case? *2003: Documentary Feature, The Fog of War (with Michael Williams)

Customer Reviews:

Beware, It CAN happy to YOU.......2007-02-05

this is a must see documentary! investigative reporting at its best! this story assisted in setting Randall Adams, an innocent man, free. I can't help but think that Errol Morris also wanted to point out how our system has become a big game of wins and losses at any and all expense. unfortunately we have forgotten this lesson all too soon. speaking from experience. Get this documentary and beware. It could happen to you too!

Awesome film and music.......2006-11-30

Stylistically incredible film. At the end of the film I was shocked but not surprised that things can get so twisted. The obviously guilty man is set free while the innocent man gets punished. By the way, the score by Philip Glass was the first taste I had of his music. I was hooked.

The Thin Blue Line.......2006-11-10

Excellent. Best documentary I have seen. Very effective way of doing all the interviews just by getting comments without interviewer present asking questions. Don't have to get the interviewer's spin through the questions on the topic. Just the facts, ma'am.

Early Errol Morris film still packs a wallop .......2006-04-27

Errol Morris' documentary works are unique in that one often remembers the story telling and film making techniques employed as much as the subjects being examined. Here, for example, there's a moody Philip Glass score, artful slow-motion dramatizations of witness testimony, and- in what has evolved into a typical Morris trademark- inserts of props and old movie clips to underscore what interview subjects are saying. In one scene, for instance, we see a haunting image of a swinging watch on the end of a chain when one of the subjects discusses how the female police officer on the scene was ultimately hypnotized to help her recall details of the crime. To his credit, however, Mr. Morris never quite lets his showmanship, as memorable as it can often be, upstage the subject at hand. As a result, "The Thin Blue Line" ultimately resulted in an innocent man being set free.

Unfortunately, viewers won't learn that fact from this DVD, which includes just the movie and no further information about the wheels that were set in motion after the film was released. The only "extra" here is a 27-minute episode of Mr. Morris' "First Person" TV interview program, which features an interview with a man who is an expert on "extreme evil". The interview subject spends the show enthusiastically talking about lovely folks like the Boston Strangler and Hitler, then- in the best moment of the show- suddenly gets tongue tied and is at a loss for words when Morris asks him, "Now, what do you think there is about you that makes you so interested in heinous crimes and truly evil acts?" It's a hoot.

In any event, the TV episode is an interesting little addition to the DVD, and it does tie in somewhat to the theme of "The Thin Blue Line", but I would have preferred some specific, after-the-fact information about the movie itself rather than a sample of Mr. Morris' TV show.

Still, aficionados of true-crime stories and documentary film making shouldn't hesitate to pick up this DVD. More than fifteen years after the fact (yes, it's already been that long since this movie was in theaters), "The Thin Blue Line" remains powerful and engrossing, making you truly care about both the specific case in question and the larger criminal justice issues the case illuminates.

Incredible, gripping documentary film that exposes an extreme miscarriage of justice.......2006-03-29

This is a frightening look at how badly justice can miscarry.

It's the true story of Randall Dale Adams, who was wrongly convicted of murdering Dallas, Texas police officer Robert Wood. This gripping documentary lets the story tell itself, with the group of people that were directly involved in the case, witnesses, law enforcement officers, the judge and the lawyers. The film, with an incredible music score that sounds like musical teardrops, pulled me deeply into this real life drama to the point one wonders how in the world could something like this happen to an innocent man.

Notice what is stated about the prosecutors in Dallas.

First Assistant District Attorney Douglas Mulder, the prosecutor in this case, should have been interviewed for this Thin Blue Line DVD that was released.

What would have happened to Randall Dale Adams, if the public had not viewed this film?

The book, Adams V. Texas, tells the story of Randall Dale Adams.

Average customer rating:

losing isaiah
losing isaiah
superb
What's best for Isaiah?
honest

Losing Isaiah
Starring: Jessica Lange , Halle Berry , David Strathairn , Cuba Gooding Jr. , and Daisy Eagan
Director: Stephen Gyllenhaal
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000A2ZNM
Release Date: 2003-09-09

Amazon.com

Jessica Lange is a social worker who falls for an abandoned newborn and breaks all the rules by bringing him home. Halle Berry is the homeless druggie who dumped the baby. One of the film's best attributes is that it reveals everyone's perspective, though much of the story is told from Berry's point of view. Strung out on crack, Berry's character thinks nothing of hiding her baby in a cardboard box near a dumpster before going off for a fix. We watch Berry painfully pull herself up out of the gutter and make a life for herself. She embraces decency and sobriety and becomes the person she might have always been had her childhood been different. After Lange and her amiable spouse (David Strathairn) have formed strong family ties with this difficult child, they find themselves fighting to keep him when Berry decides she wants Isaiah back. Naomi Foner's clever script reveals a legal system that is as much a character in this painful story as the attorney (Samuel L. Jackson) who takes on the case pro bono. Though the film ultimately flounders under a hesitant ending, Lange is such a dynamo that this tragic story still comes recommended. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Customer Reviews:

losing isaiah.......2007-02-27

is a powerful movie to watch and learn about love of a different race..

losing isaiah.......2006-07-05

Very nice heart touching story. Sadly there are also real stories like this one that don't normally have this happy ending, but the story does touch a lot of hearts. I enjoyed it.

superb.......2006-07-02

Losing Isaiah Is the best from Hallie Berry. It is the best i have seen in a long long time. I wish ms.berry won an award for this film. ms.berry did well on this as crack addict trying to regain custody of her son. I like how she was tough to jessica lange and her husband. samuel l. jackson did well too as ms. berry's attorney. I didnt like jessica lange and her husband were nasty to ms.berry

What's best for Isaiah?.......2005-09-21

Perhaps the biggest complaint I have with custody battles is that they are ultimately based around the selfishness of the adults involved, whether it be a battle between the child's mother and father, or between the biological parent(s) and the foster parent(s). "Losing Isaiah" is an example of a movie that uses this sad truth to tell a compelling story.

Normally, I'd be quick to write off someone like Halle Berry's character (a former crack addict who abandoned her baby in an alley) as someone unfit to raise this child. I'd also be uneasy about tearing Isaiah away from the only home he's ever known. Thankfully, this film does not end there.

After the courtroom decision is rendered, we see a much different Isaiah than the playful, cheerful child we first encountered. Did anyone bother to stop and ask him what he wanted? In an ideal world, someone would have. Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world, but at least we have people who (albeit a little slowly) realize this mistake in "Losing Isaiah." Were I to be given the assignment of filming a movie based around a custody battle, this is the kind of movie I would make.

honest.......2005-09-16

Very good movie. Halle always shines in whatever type of role she plays. Man she can act.

Average customer rating:

Are you a cop?
Obscure Gem From the Eighties
WOW! Finally on DVD!
Strange and crazy, but true things happens in big cities.
A.K.A The Adventures of Ramrod The Pimp

Vice Squad
Starring: Season Hubley , Gary Swanson , Wings Hauser , Pepe Serna , and Beverly Todd
Director: Gary Sherman
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000CEXF60
Release Date: 2006-02-21

Description

Season Hubley (HARDCORE) stars as Princess, a loving single mom turned Hollywood hooker who can provide any depraved pleasure for the right price. But when a volatile cop (Gary Swanson) uses her to trap a sadistic killer, Princess becomes the prey of a psychotic pimp known as Ramrod (a mind-blowing, take-noprisoners performance by Wings Hauser). Tonight, the neon jungle of Los Angeles will explode in an orgy of vengeance and violence. And the only outlaws more desperate than the hustlers, whores and freaks that rule the streets are the VICE SQUAD. "You may think you've heard of every sickness and perversion movies like to titter about," wrote Rex Reed in The New York Daily News, "but there are quite a few in VICE SQUAD you've never dreamed possible!" Pepe Serna (SCARFACE) and original MTV VJ Nina Blackwood co-star in this vicious `80s action smash from the creator of the `schoolgirl hooker' hit ANGEL and the director of DEAD & BURIED.

Customer Reviews:

Are you a cop?.......2007-07-31

WOW, the adventures of Princess, Blue Chip, Ko Ko and all the rest are brought vibrantly to the screen in this DVD release of a campy and over-the-top look at a typical night on the Hollywood Vice Squad. You know the story, Princess has a daughter who is sent away to San Diego with her rent-a-nanny while mommy turns tricks to pay for her stuffed animals. In the mean time, a friend has been pimp-sticked to death and a Vice squad officer guilts Princess into wearing a wire to entrap the psycho pimp who killed her friend. He is captured, but then escapes and goes on a hunt to get even with the bitch who entrapped him. So now the vice squad has to hunt two people instead of one, and it turns into a been there, done that day late dollar short series of misses until Ramrod and Princess meet up and she gets worked over good before Ramrod is crushed by the vice squad cops car just in the nick of time.

This movie is full of wonderful characters, Princess, Walsh, the Vice Squad cop who has a thing for her, Ko Ko the Korean hooker, Blue Chip who wears blue poker chip earings, also a hooker, a sugar pimp named Dorsey, leather guys like Fast Eddy with the mother of all tattoos, angry African-American bar patrons, a psycho garage owner named Roscoe, Mrs. Cruckshank, the owner of a motel on the strip who plays mah jong with Wong, a small "ornamental" whose diminutive stature belies a powerful martial arts background and an old rich guy who gets off on laying in a coffin while Princess in a wedding gown marches down the stairs to the mixed tuneage of the Wedding March and a funeral durge.

Great lines include:

"Blink motherf#*&er and you die in the dark" and "Not that one, the blue Ford, five-hundred don't get you no Eldorado", and my favorite, "My man will have a kilo of white stuff here before you can jump out of your leathers and spank yourself."

Well, that may be too much info, but I like the flick. It's a scream, it's campy and above all, it's out of date.

Obscure Gem From the Eighties.......2007-05-25

In the eighties there were two indelible portrayals of psychotic pimps, Morgan Freeman as Fast Black in "Street Smart" and Wings Hauser as Ramrod in "Vice Squad". Unfortunate for Freeman, "Street Smart" was a rather forgettable venture but Hauser was luckier. Hauser's contribution is reason alone to see "Vice Squad" but the picture is so much more. The film works on two levels. Firstly, it's a cinema verite document of the vice scene in Hollywood. Secondly, it's a dark comedy about the proclivities of the johns that frequent the strip. A personal fave of mine is Season Hubley in Frederick's of Hollywood bridal wear to fulfill a rich john's fantasy. The film is also beautifully photographed in all it's neon decadence. I note this because some would dismiss "Vice Squad" as "B" movie fodder. The cinematographer here is John Alcott who won an Oscar lensing Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon". "Vice Squad" may not be for all tastes but I thought it was great.

WOW! Finally on DVD!.......2007-01-24

Back a few years ago, this movie was really hard-to-find on VHS. Anchor Bay, as always, has done a stellar job on the presentation of this movie. Everything from utilizing the original movie poster artwork for the DVD cover, to the picture quality- it's all perfect. If you like trashy, gritty, and violent movies, this movie will deliver big time. I remember it was released in 1982, but kept being brought back as an added feature at the drive-ins here in Toronto, right up until 1984. If you are a fan of early '80s movies, and with a lot of violence, but a great plotline that will keep you captivated, "Vice Squad" will not disappoint!

Strange and crazy, but true things happens in big cities........2007-01-19

This is a very good action movie that will probably more likely than not make the average veiwer amazed (but then again maybe not) that this kind of stuff actually goes on in big cities.

A.K.A The Adventures of Ramrod The Pimp.......2006-04-19

Vice Squad is a pretty cool movie. This was back in the day when crime dramas were nice and gritty without any real message to get across. Plotwise it's kept basic: Season Hubley's a hooker. An "outlaw" hooker coz she ain't got no pimp. She's also an equal opportunity hooker catering to foot fetishists, golden shower enthusiasts and amputees. She helps the cops nail a psychotic pimp named Ramrod(Great name. I have to laugh ever time this name is spoken in the film), he escapes custody, then the search is on for the vice suad to find either Hubley or Ramrod before Ramrod gets his revenge on the sneaky hooker. That's all it really is. Ramrod arms himself and searches the streets of Hollywood for Hubley. Hubley continues to do her job, meeting an interesting bunch of "johns" along the way. B movie regular Wings Hauser appears to be having the time of his life playing Ramrod, a character who should earn his place right next to Cape Fear's Max Cady or Blue Velvet's Frank Booth. Hubley is a decent actress in this, but I certainly don't see what all the guys in this film are drooling over(then again I must consider the guys doing the drooling). The film was directed by Gary Sherman who horror fans may remember as the director of Dead and Buried as well as Poltergeist 3. A very fun piece of junkfood for around midnight on Saturday. Leonard Maltin calls it "dull and sleazy", but he's only half right. Plus, Maltin's a schmuck. A priceless theme song sung by Hauser as well.

Average customer rating:

Lame story
L.A. Law is back.

L.A. Law - The Movie
Starring: Corbin Bernsen , Susan Dey , Larry Drake , Richard A. Dysart , and Jill Eikenberry
Director: Michael Schultz
Manufacturer: Studio Works
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000EMYGP
Release Date: 2004-02-03

Description

LA Law: The Movie reunites the cast of the award winning television series for a two-hour network film. Nearly the entire original cast returns to the fictional law firm, McKenzie-Brackman. Following the series finale, founding Partner Leland McKenzie (Richard A. Dysart) retires thereby leaving Douglas Brackman Jr. (Alan Rachins) as Senior Managing Partner. Another former Partner is summoned in effort to stop the execution of a past client. However, the prosecution is lead by his old flame Grace Van Owen (Susan Dey). Meanwhile, McKenzie-Brackman divorce attorney, Arnie Becker (Corbin Bernsen) deals with his own divorce from his estranged wife. In addition to the memorable cast of the series, the reunion also includes new additions to the firm.

Customer Reviews:

Lame story.......2005-02-09

This movie is as bad as the series last 3 seasons. A reunion-movie without Diana Muldaur, Amanda Donohoe, John Spencer and Jimmy Smits - please!

L.A. Law is back........2004-01-20

The L.A. Law reunion movie was very nice to see. The plot was a little lame and it would of been alot better if Jimmy Smits was in it. Maybe with this release they will do what other studios have done and release the series on dvd in boxed sets.

Average customer rating:

I Can'T Be That Drunk--I Can Still Feel My Head
Dragonfly: The Movie
Lost in Distribution
Modest debut for Francis Ford Coppola's son Roman
groove fest

CQ
Starring: Jeremy Davies , Angela Lindvall , Élodie Bouchez , Gérard Depardieu , and Giancarlo Giannini
Director: Roman Coppola
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006CXH2
Release Date: 2002-09-10

Amazon.com

Jeremy Davies is a different kind of American in Paris. In the heady days of 1969, this aspiring director edits a silly sci-fi spy adventure by day while spending his nights obsessively filming his own life, much to the frustration of his stewardess girlfriend (Elodie Bouchez), who tires of his using his camera to avoid intimacy. First-time director Roman Coppola (son of Francis) creates a slight but fun picture steeped in 1960s movie lore: the film-within-a-film is a pop-art spectacle that recalls Barbarella, Modesty Blaise, and Danger: Diabolique, while its Italian producer (Giancarlo Giannini) is a high-living Dino De Laurentiis. If the film is slight, the details are right, from the opulent and outrageous sets to the meticulously retro special effects to the groovy music by Mellow. You could think of CQ as Coppola's 8½, about a man so busy filming his life he forgets to live. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Captivating and sexy, CQ takes you behind the scenes of a sci-fi thriller being filmed in 1969 Paris but set in 'futuristic' 2001! Jeremy Davies (Saving Private Ryan), newcomer Angela Lindvall, Gerard Depardieu (Green Card) and Billy Zane (Titanic) shine in this "unpredictable, stylish and original" (Boxoffice) movie where past meets future, reality blurs with fantasy, and tight leather catsuits are the perfect accessory for a ray gun that can stop time! Novice filmmaker Paul (Davies) has just been given the chance of a lifetimeto direct the super spy film Codename Dragonfly. But when he starts to believe that the stunningly beautiful 'Dragonfly character (Lindvall) is seducing him from within the film Paul risks his new positionand his sanityto join her in an adventure beyond even his imagination!

Customer Reviews:

I Can'T Be That Drunk--I Can Still Feel My Head.......2007-06-11

Don't be fooled by the stellar cast: it just proves that sybaritic actors will do anything to support their lifestyles! This film is a paean to such 60's effluvia as CANDY, THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN, LORD LOVE A DUCK, DOCTOR YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING, and CAN HIERONYMOUS MERKIN EVER FORGET MERCY HUMPPE AND FIND TRUE HAPPINESS, and seems more like a film student's desparate attempt to turn in something for his final project, when he hasn't got a clue. The words "inane" and "stupid" come to mind but are too complementary. It just not a film you can get into or care about. The Coppola name (director) notwithstanding--not Francis Ford--this makes my list of the 10 Worst Films of All Time. Oy.

Dragonfly: The Movie.......2006-06-29

I give this film 4 stars because I strongly feel that this should have been a full feature film about Dragonfly.

Lost in Distribution.......2006-03-19

Sofia Coppola may have got all the kudos with The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation, but, from a 60s movie buff's point of view, the other Coppola kid, Roman, turned out an even more enjoyable feature, CQ. Shame that no-one saw it. Barely released in the US (and not released at all in most countries), it's an engaging little number that pits underground cinema against Eurotrash moviemaking at a time when people still thought even pulp cinema could be the stuff of revolution (1969-70 to be precise).

A riff on Sullivan's Travels and 8½, it sees Jeremy Davies' editor of Franco-Italian co-pro 'Codename: Dragonfly' struggling to come up with a new ending while making his own personal film with borrowed equipment. Oh, and falling in love with the fictional main character, confusing film and reality (not only is he too busy documenting `the truth' of his life to see it around him but he even enters the film to sort out a plot hole) and possibly being targeted for retribution by Gerard Depardieu's fired firebrand director. (The door panel that Depardieu breaks that is later framed and given to the editors is actually one that Francis Ford Coppola smashed on one of his films!)

Filled with sly 60s cinema references from Fellini to Warhol (even the trailer he cuts for the film is inspired by the one for Dr Strangelove) and with some character touches straight out of James Joyce, the visual influence is much more Danger: Diabolik than Barbarella (John Phillip Law even appears in the film within the film), and Dean Tavoularis' spot-on production design and Robert Yeoman's superb photography are both pitch-perfect. Davies, so irritating in Soderbergh's disastrous Solaris, is quietly fine here, Jason Schwartzman has fun as a bizarre hybrid of a young papa Coppola mixed with Roger Corman via Austin Powers, Giancarlo Giannini does Dino de Laurentiis to a tee (with Sofia Coppola cameoing as his mistress), and there's good work from Dean Stockwell and Massimo Ghini as well. At the end of the day there's not much there, but Coppola's love of moviemaking makes it surprisingly joyful to watch if you're in a receptive mood. And MGM's DVD is filled with extras, both interesting and appropriately self-indulgent.

Modest debut for Francis Ford Coppola's son Roman.......2006-03-18

There are two films within a film in this campy debut from Roman Coppola. There is the introspective black and white, experimental, "student" sort of film that the young director Paul (Jeremy Davies) is making in his Paris apartment, and there is "Dragonfly," a kind of Barbarella (1968) sci-fi space shoot 'em up that he ends up directing. These might be seen as the twin realities of the young film maker: on the one hand there are those short films you made at USC or UCLA film school to get your degree; on the other, there are those mindless commercial entertainments that Hollywood needs to crank out for the masses. These represent the bookends of the young director's reality.

The third film, the film that exists over and above these two, is the film that Roman/Paul would like to make, a film about what it is like to be a young film maker amid the crass commercialism of the producers, the seductive lure of the glamor that is the film maker's world, and the daily often tedious work of the actual film making. In other words, Roman Coppola is self-exploring in public. He is the novelist as a film maker.

"Dragonfly" itself is indeed Barbarella without the benefit of Terry Southern's contributions to the script or the services of Jane Fonda. It is unconsciously campy and a satire on such films. Model Angela Lindvall, five feet ten and three-quarters inches tall, anorexically thin, and sporting some very serious hair, plays Dragonfly with a kind of Barbie doll intensity. It is immediately obvious that she has the muscle tone of the languid and the athletic ability of a preteen. Yet her character is a "for hire" secret agent skilled in the martial arts and the use of weapons. Playing opposite her is Billy Zane as "Mr. E" a kind of Che Guevara revolutionary who is absurdly stationed on the far side of the moon where he is training revolutionaries.

In the introspective black and white film, Paul sits on the commode and talks to the camera much to the disdain of his live-in girlfriend Marlene (French actress Elodie Bouchez, best known for her work in the outstanding The Dreamlife of Angels (1998)) who would like him to pay more attention to her.

This might be compared (distantly) with Francois Truffaut's La Nuit Américaine (Day for Night) from 1973 in which the great French director plays himself making a film--in other words a film within a film. Jeremy Davies reminds me somewhat of the sensitive, boyish actor Jean-Pierre Leaud, who played in that film after gaining prominence in Truffaut's Les Quatre cents coup (1959). It is easy to see Truffaut's influence on Roman Coppola, as indeed Truffaut has influenced many directors.

I don't think CQ ("Seek You") was entirely successful mainly because I don't think Roman made the transition from the self-indulgence and showiness characteristic of the very films he is satirizing to the mature project that addresses itself more directly to the needs