The Graduate (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)

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Few films have defined a generation as The Graduate did. The alienation, the nonconformity, the intergenerational romance, the blissful Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack--they all served to lob a cultural grenade smack into the middle of 1967 America, ultimately making the film the third most profitable up to that time. Seen from a later perspective, its radical chicness has dimmed a bit, yet it's still a joy to see Dustin Hoffman's bemused Benjamin and Anne Bancroft's deliciously decadent, sardonic Mrs. Robinson. The script by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham is still offbeat and dryly funny, and Mike Nichols, who won an Oscar for his direction, has just the right, light touch. --Anne Hurley

Description

Nominated* for seven Academy AwardsÂ(r) and winner for Best Director, this ground breaking and "wildly hilarious" (The Boston Globe) social satire launched the career of two-time OscarÂ(r)-winner** Dustin Hoffman and cemented the reputation of acclaimed director Mike Nichols. Pulsating with the rebellious spirit of the '60s and a haunting score sung by Simon and Garfunkel, The Graduate is truly a "landmark film" (Leonard Maltin). Shy Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) returns home from college with an uncertain future. Then the wife of his father's business partner, the sexy Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), seduces him, and the affair only deepens his confusion. That is, until he meets the girl of his dreams (Katharine Ross). But there's one problem: she's Mrs. Robinson's daughter!

Customer Reviews:

Still a Funny, Perceptive Classic Forty Years Later and in a DVD Package Worthy of Its Reputation.......2007-09-13

If there is one film deserving of a full-blown renaissance, it is this seminal 1967 social alienation comedy, and this 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition DVD presents an especially pristine print, as well as several extras that will please die-hard fans. Based on the wry 1963 Charles Webb novel, the film itself holds a special affection among its original audience even now, the aging Vietnam War-era population who championed anarchy and the people who revise their personal histories, so they can think they were members of the now-fashionable counter-cultural movement. At the same time, it has a timeless quality for new generations simply because it's a consistently witty, observant piece of cinema targeted to anyone who has experienced that sense of post-academic confusion when the responsibilities of real life inevitably intrude.

This is an accomplished film for someone directing only his second film. But then again, judging from his subsequent work all the way to Angels in America and Closer, Mike Nichols seems to have come into filmmaking fully understanding the frailties of the human condition and knowing how to convey them in a way that audiences could empathize. It is a testament to Nichols and screenwriters Buck Henry and Calder Willingham that the social comedy aspects of this film do not seem at all dated. In fact, despite its provocative veneer, it's really old-fashioned in key ways from the protagonist's moralistic tendencies to his romantically compulsive motivations toward the end. Dustin Hoffman was pulled out of complete obscurity to play Benjamin, the alienated, recent college graduate drifting amid his parents' Southern California upper-middle class, swimming pool-centered ennui.

As Benjamin figures out what to do with his life and faces unwanted advice from his parents' friends, enter Mrs. Robinson, a bored, restless wife, a self-proclaimed alcoholic and about as sympathetic as Lady Macbeth. It's hard to imagine what the original choice, Doris Day, would have done with this role, as it takes Anne Bancroft's formidable arsenal of skills to bring this vituperative woman to life. She gives a masterful performance. The hotel sequence where Benjamin awkwardly asks Mrs. Robinson for a drink is shrewdly observed and downright hilarious - the suspicious hotel clerk (Henry, the film's co-screenwriter) eyeing Benjamin's every move; the reception line which Benjamin pretends to know (TV veterans Alice Ghostley and Marion Lorne, Esmeralda and Aunt Clara from Bewitched, make indelible marks here); and the predatory Mrs. Robinson's business-like approach to seduction.

Complicating matters exorbitantly is Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine, played with relative nonchalance by Katharine Ross. The film then turns into a revenge comedy with Mrs. Robinson trying to prevent the inevitable coupling of Benjamin and Elaine. She almost succeeds but not before a series of revelations and dramatic encounters that lead to the classic ending aboard the public bus. Some of the comedy and characterizations seem a bit extreme, for example, Hoffman seems to amplify his character's nebbishness a few too many times, and Elaine's fiancée appears like a textbook 1960's TV stereotype. There are also a few forgivable geographic gaffes - most of the campus scenes are not filmed at Berkeley as portrayed in the film but at USC, and Benjamin crosses the Bay Bridge in the wrong direction to hunt for Elaine.

The 2007 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition DVD contains two separate commentary tracks, both insightful but for different reasons - the first is an anecdotal remembrance with Hoffman and Ross quite engaged with details of the filming (Hoffman apparently had quite a crush on Ross and still does), and the second has Nichols and director Steven Soderbergh discussing all aspects of the production from casting to camera set-ups within specific scenes. The main featurette is the new 25-minute "Students of `The Graduate'", which amounts to an extended appreciation of the film from Henry; producer Lawrence Turman; two film scholars; various directors (Harold Ramis, Marc Forster, Valerie Faris & Jonathan Dayton, David O. Russell); and film critics (Newsweek's David Ansen, Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman). The second new short, "The Seduction", is a nine-minute retrospective look at the famous scene where Mrs. Robinson nonchalantly pounces on Benjamin. The participants from the first featurette are involved here as well, and it provides a good dissection of not only the scene but the sexual mores prevalent at the time of filming.

There are two holdovers from the 1999 DVD release. The first is the 22-minute "'The Graduate' at 25" produced in 1992 for the laserdisc release. It has the advantage of participation from Hoffman and Ross but otherwise echoes the information presented in the newer retrospective featurette. The second is a 22-minute interview with Hoffman done in quick takes. He lends invaluable and often amusing insight into his selection for the role and the filmmaking experience. He also talks about the proposed sequel which one can assume eventually turned into 2005's execrable Rumor Has It.... Beyond the original theatrical trailer, the DVD contains a print of the film that makes it look as good as it did in its original release. There is a bonus soundtrack sampler CD with four of the distinctive Simon and Garfunkel songs featured in the movie - "The Sound of Silence", "Scarborough Fair/Canticle", "April Come She Will", and of course, "Mrs. Robinson". Lastly, there is a helpful six-page booklet that fills in the rest of the blanks on the production. This is a great package for a classic film.

Unlikely Tale of Immorality.......2007-09-12

This absurd film was a sensation like a million years because of its taboo content. But was it really good? No, it was like a train wreck, you looked at it anyhow. I've seen this nonsense on TV, and it is just BORING. An old crone like Mrs. Robinson who's interested in young men could certainly get something better than the little creep played by Dustin Hoffman. He looks like the following:

1. A playmate of Pee-Wee Herman.

2. A little nerd.

3. A no muscle little sissy boy.

4. A pathetic version of Jerry Lewis (the oily hair).

In conclusion, didn't old woman Robinson have a gardener or pool man to bother? Was she that desperate? I mean Dustin Hoffman, Jeez!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enhanced for Widescreen TV's ??? YES, YES, YES !!!.......2007-09-11

Get out the church key and crack open a can of Olympia beer. "It's the water" couldn't be a more appropriate title for the "Sounds of Silence"/"April Come She Will" sequence as Ben drifts between diving into the pool and diving onto Mrs. Robinson.

Los Angles and Berkeley have never looked better, now that The Graduate has finally been re-mastered in the anamorphic splendor that it deserves. Ben is still traveling from Los Angeles to Berkeley on Highway 101, by way of the upper deck of the Bay Bridge. However, he finally manages to find his way to the University.

Seeing old Telegraph Avenue landmarks, such as Print Mint and Moe's Books brings back memories. Ben is probably reading the latest issue of Zap Comix as he sips his Coors at the sidewalk cafe.

The Landmark Film - Done RIGHT!!!.......2007-08-31

The previous reviews posted here are all based on what the reviewers HOPED would be on the new 40th Anniversary and raised some questions. I can answer most of the concerns having watched the DVD this week.

As for how important this film is, let's just say it defined a generation in the 1970s. And nearly anyone in either high school or college (or a recent "graduate" entering the working world) when the film was released can quote verbatim important lines and whole scenes. Try "Are you trying to seduce me Mrs. Robinson?" or even the mention of one word ""Plastics!". I have only watched the film (on VHS) once since my original viewing on the big screen forty years ago. Of course I remember many of the great moments (the finale at the church, for one) and the Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack. (Dave Grusin wrote the incidental music.). I did not see the "25th Anniversary" reissue. So much of the supplemental material was new to me.

First off the transfer is great! It must have been remastered. And yes, it's in Wide Screen. It HAS to be. The hardest video to pan and scan was always this film as Director Mike Nichols spaced his characters at the far sides of the screen. I watched this on an 25 year old 26 in TV and it was still perfect.

Okay, now the bonus features. It's a 2 "disc" set because one disc is a CD of FOUR songs from the film. So it's really more of a CD single.", That's fine with me, but most of us have the music in our collection.

There are TWO commentary tracks: One is Hoffman and Ross talking. Since Ross doesn't even appear in the film until almost half way through, she has little to say for a while. And there are long periods where Hoffman says nothing so you get to hear the soundtrack dialogue at that point. The second commentary is with Director Mike Nichols and Director Stephen Soderburgh. It more that SS is interviewing Nichols. And Nichols is very outgoing here. Where I found a small problem is that the conversation often does not match what is on the screen. During the "Seduction" scene I expected to hear details about the set up. But Nichols was talking about Screen Tests or something else. I have not made it all the way through the commentaries. Too much other good stuff here.

There is a NEW 25-minute documentary: "Students of the Graduate" which has interviews with young directors who learned techniques from Nichols direction. The Directors of "Little Miss Sunshine" were ones I remember. It's interesting. There is a short 8-minute one on "the Seduction" as well. This appears to be new.

The other featurettes are from the 25th Anniversary release. One is obvious as it's title is "The Graduate at 25". You can see from the excerpted scenes how poor the 25th Anniversary print was. And - what I found MOST interesting was a "One on One" featurette with Dustin Hoffman which runs 22 minutes. It was recorded for the 25th - similar comments appear in the "Graduate at 25" feature - but Hoffman tells GREAT stories and I was on the floor laughing!

ONE of the tywo screen tests that Ross did - with Charles Grodin - is included in the "at 25" featurette but the announced "two screen tests with introduction" are not on the final DVD. NEITHER is the "Coming of Age: The Making of the Graduate" one.

So there is lots to watch here and moments to remember. I, for one, loved this set and the special featurettes - which rarely, though sometimes, repeat themselves - briefing out things you missed and make you want to playback some scenes.

This should be a hot release for September!

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

Enhanced for Widescreen TV's ???.......2007-08-21

There is no confirmation anywhere on the web that this new edition DVD is anamorphic or "enhanced" for widescreen TV's. The universal absence of this information makes me wonder whether it is. Especially since the previous transfers were so awful. This information needs to be available for prospective buyers. I will hold off on purchasing until this is confirmed and I would recommend to others that they do the same.

This is a great movie that deserves 5 stars and a first class transfer.

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SAME OLD STORY NEVER TOLD SO WELL!
BEST.LOVESTORY.EVER. Ryan Gosling is AMAZING!
I'm still a sucker
~Have a box of tissue handy~
Beautiful Tale Well Told

The Notebook (New Line Platinum Series)
Starring: Tim Ivey , Gena Rowlands , Starletta DuPois , James Garner , and Anthony-Michael Q. Thomas
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000683VI4
Release Date: 2005-02-08

Amazon.com

When you consider that old-fashioned tearjerkers are an endangered species in Hollywood, a movie like The Notebook can be embraced without apology. Yes, it's syrupy sweet and clogged with clichés, and one can only marvel at the irony of Nick Cassavetes directing a weeper that his late father John--whose own films were devoid of saccharine sentiment--would have sneered at. Still, this touchingly impassioned and great-looking adaptation of the popular Nicholas Sparks novel has much to recommend, including appealing young costars (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) and appealing old costars (James Garner and Gena Rowlands, the director's mother) playing the same loving couple in (respectively) early 1940s and present-day North Carolina. He was poor, she was rich, and you can guess the rest; decades later, he's unabashedly devoted, and she's drifting into the memory-loss of senile dementia. How their love endured is the story preserved in the titular notebook that he reads to her in their twilight years. The movie's open to ridicule, but as a delicate tearjerker it works just fine. Message in a Bottle and A Walk to Remember were also based on Sparks novels, suggesting a triple-feature that hopeless romantics will cherish. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Behind every great love is a great story. Two teenagers from opposite sides of the tracks fall in love during one summer together, but are tragically forced apart. When they reunite 7 years later, their passionate romance is rekindled, forcing one of them to choose between true love and class order.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:2 Commentaries --Director Nick Cassavettes --Novelist Nicholas Sparks
DVD ROM Features
Deleted Scenes:12 Deleted Scenes
Documentaries:Nick Cassavetes Profile Featurette Author Nicholas Sparks Featurette Locating "The Notebook" Featurette Casting Noah and Allie featurette
Other:Widescreen & Fullscreen versions on one disc Rachel McAdams Screen Test
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

SAME OLD STORY NEVER TOLD SO WELL!.......2007-09-12

This sweet little love story rises above all it's cliches because of the likable stars and story that moves along briskly. The love story in sad enough, but the Alzheimer's angle really tears your heart out! I watched this because my wife wanted to watch it on our anniversary. I was surprised how much I liked it.....so guys don't squirm too much if your babe wants to watch this one, it's a good story and I admired Gosling's tenacity and devotion to his true love. One of the better romances I've seen in a while, so I rate it 4 stars, but it's definitely a 5 tissue movie! This was mostly because of the Alzheimer's part of the film, it's a tragic disease and having dealt with it in my family it was a little too close to home. The DVD transfer looks very good and the are some interesting extras.

BEST.LOVESTORY.EVER. Ryan Gosling is AMAZING!.......2007-08-31

I fell in love with not only this beautiful story but Ryan Gosling!!!! This is just a fantastic movie and I really can't find better words to describe it. Watch it. Own it. Love it forever!! It is my all-time favorite!!

I'm still a sucker.......2007-08-27

...for these tear jerkers. This movie will go down as a romance classic- a forbidden love about two people from the wrong side of the tracks-Romeo and Juliet for the 1940's, if you will. This film hits all my cheesy love spots and turn up aces with me. McAdams/Goslin were great as well as Garner and Rowland. This is a must see for all Chick movie lovers. Highly recommended.

~Have a box of tissue handy~.......2007-08-08

Although I'm not going to give away any spoilers ... this is a love story like no others. I think that everyone can relate on some level to this movie. You will fall in love with this couple & become drawn in to their story. I recommended this to my mother who after the movie called up crying her eyes out. Even my husband enjoyed this movie. If your looking for a movie that will make you laugh, cry & touch your heart ... this is a must-see.

Beautiful Tale Well Told.......2007-07-25

If you haven't read the book, the movie will not leave you feeling short changed.

A marvellous story about lovers, life and loss.

Highly recommended.

If you're interested, once you watch the movie, read the book The Wedding - it is the follow up from The Notebook.

Nicholas Sparks ROCKS!!

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"Out of Africa": The Movie, the Book, the Feminist
Wonderful movie
A classic!
The Best Movie Ever Made!!
Delight in "Out of Africa"

Out of Africa
Starring: Meryl Streep , Robert Redford , Klaus Maria Brandauer , Michael Kitchen , and Malick Bowens
Director: Sydney Pollack
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0783240171
Release Date: 2000-02-29

Amazon.com essential video

Sydney Pollack's 1985 multiple-Oscar winner is a sumptuous and emotionally satisfying film about the life of Danish writer Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep), better known as Isak Dinesen, who travels to Kenya to be with her German husband (Klaus Maria Brandauer) but falls for an English adventurer (Robert Redford). The film is slow in developing the relationship, but it is rich in beautiful images of Africa and in the romantic tone surrounding Blixen's gradual discovery of her life and voice. One downside: while we may all love Redford, he is as convincingly British as Kevin Costner is in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. --Tom Keogh

Description

The most acclaimed motion picture of 1985 stars Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in one of the screen's great epic romances. Directed by Oscar winner Sydney Pollack, Out of Africa is the fascinating true story of Karen Blixen, a strong-willed woman who, with her philandering husband (Klaus Maria Brandauer), runs a coffee plantation in Kenya, circa 1914. To her astonishment, she soon discovers herself falling in love with the land, its people and a mysterious white hunter (Redford). The masterfully crafted, breathtakingly produced story of love and loss earned Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay (based on material from another medium), Cinematography, Original Score, Art Direction (Set Decoration) and Sound.

Customer Reviews:

"Out of Africa": The Movie, the Book, the Feminist.......2007-09-11

The book, "Out of Africa," is a memoir of the Danish Baroness Karen Blixen's habitation near Nairobi in Kenya from 1914 to 1931 on a fertile 6000-acre coffee plantation, "at the foot of the Ngong Hills" (1992: 3). Blixen writes under the pen-name Isak Dinesen. Karen Blixen went to British East Africa (in a location in present-day, Kenya) to join her German husband (Baron Bror Blixen), and upon separation she stayed in Kenya to manage the farm by herself. The extent of her adventures in Africa, and to what extent she is a feminist is borne out by the book, as well as the film "Out of Africa," that is based on the book. This piece will examine such, as well as comparisons between the book and the film.

Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) presents geographical detail, oftentimes comparisons and contrasts within this fertile land of the Kikuyu people that would several decades later be the crux of the Mau-Mau rebellion over whites' displacement and dispossession of natives from their land. Dinesen also compares features with those of her native Europe. Dinesen writes of the equatorial habitat, "Everything that you saw made for greatness and freedom, and unequaled nobility...Up in this high air you breathed easily, drawing in a vital assurance and lightness of heart: Here I am where I ought to be" (1992: 4). Dinesen writes of "heavy-scented lilies," of "long-rains," "ever-changing clouds," of "hills from the farm [that} changed their character many times in the course of the day, and sometimes looked quite close and at times very far away" (1992: 4). Dinesen, in precise and elegant language displays love and fascination for the geography, the clean air, the animals, the beauty of this African environment; she becomes possessed by the place.The movie captures the large, picturesque, mysterious, and varied eastern equatorial Africa where the eland, the buffalo, and the rhino are quite common sights; the movie impressively and unanimously earned, Oscar, "Best Picture of the Year."

In the end Dinesen is forced to give up her plantation, this scenario elicits a heartache and sadness. Dinesen's memoirs, years after she had left Africa could be a reflection of her nostalgic dealing with her loss of the farm as well as overall experiences in Africa. Dinesen stands out as a courageous and strong woman, one who is in the feminist direction. She lost her philandering husband, but stayed on bravely, for nearly 20 years in a foreign harsh environment, one with languages and cultures far-fetched from her own. Dinesen worked well at being appreciative of an environment that was new to her, during an era of colonialism in Africa, a time when Darwinian relegation of black Africans to the lowest of human species and elevation of whites to the upper rung was very strong. Dinesen cuts through the female traditional roles, she tries flying in planes, the goes on safari, she learns how to shoot and even shoots and kills game. She is open and welcomes countless visitors from all over the world to her home and farm. This was an age of exploration and acquisition of "Dark Africa," by Europeans and Asians. Dinesen is quite aware of her feminine strength. She rescues and adopts a wounded antelope she names Lulu; Lulu becomes a celebrity on the farm; Dinesen searches, discovers and celebrates the feminist strength in Lulu: "But Lulu was not really gentle, she had the so-called devil in her. She had, to the highest degree, the feminine trait of appearing to be exclusively on the defensive, concentrating on guarding the integrity of her being, when she was really, with the force in her, bent upon and defensive" (1992: 74). Also, "Lulu of the woods was a superior, independent being...she was in possession. If I had happened to have known a young princess in exile, and while she was still a pretender to the throne, and had met her again in her full queenly estate after she had come into her rights, our meeting would have had the same character" (1992: 78).

The book displays that Karen Blixen exemplified the Europeans with the upper hand in colonial world conquest and politics. It is to be recalled that the three weapons used by Europeans to subjugate Africans were the gun, the Bible, and the anthropologist. Karen used guns to protect herself. Catholic (mostly Belgian and French), Protestant (mostly British), and Muslim (mostly Arabic) agencies vied for power in Africa. The Germans were in present-day neighboring Tanzania (German East Africa) to the south. They would be ousted during this significant, "Scramble for Africa." The book illustrates how Karen Blixen took great interest in which religious group the young natives (some of whom served her) adhered to. Many native followers, taught to kneel and pray to an invisible white Almighty god, became converted to the political/ religious groups, as they became dispossessed of their land resources. The anthropology aspect, as mentioned, involved relegation of black Africans to the lowest rungs of evolutionary mankind...the white was relegated as the superior, the master, the savior, the benevolent, the genius. The movie is great at casting Meryl Streep as the beautiful, rosy-cheeked clean, statuesque woman amidst muddy, black African paradise! The real Karen Blixen likely had more rugged looks and likely often got "down-and-dirty," than is depicted in the movie. An equatorial Africa of long and heavy rainy seasons, of continuous tropical sun, and of limited running water would not leave the Danish heroine so clean and collected.

It is to be recalled that Dinesen is writing from an overly European point of view, hence, negative criticism of her will not be short. Her attitude to black Africans is racist and condescending. In the movie, Denys Finch-Hatton (Robert Redford) rebukes her for instructing native porters to get off her belongings by "shooing," them off!. Finch-Hatton, in shock, remarks to her, "Shoo?" as if telling her, "I do not believe you addressed these people that way!" Finch-Hatton (who became Dinesen's lover) knows the native languages (Kiswahili and Kikuyu), and goes on to communicate her instructions to the porters. Black Africans are prevalently depicted in the movie as poverty-stricken servants, laborers and porters, as helpless people close to animal nature. In tune with the movie, here Dinesen writes, "They were poor people, small and underfed; they looked like a pair of badgers on my lawn...I could hardly distinguish them against the grass. They were sank in deep grief; their bereavement and their economic loss melted into one overwhelming distress" (1992: 108). Dinesen is surprised that the, "Natives," are strikingly open, adapting, welcoming and unprejudiced. Yet, as prevalent in the colonial fashion, she does not attribute this to the inner traditions and workings of indigenous African society, but from influence from foreigners including slavers! "The lack of prejudice in the Natives is a striking thing, for you expect to find dark taboos in the primitive people. It is due...to their acquaintance with a variety of races and tribes, and to the lively human intercourse that was brought upon East Africa, first by the old traders of ivory and slaves...and...by the settlers and big-game hunters" (1992: 54).

Dinesen wishes the natives would understand and appreciate her more. It is always presumptuous to be confident of having fully understood a foreign culture and people; she does not seem to believe she is prejudiced and why the natives to a good extent regard her as a foreigner far different from them, and difficult to comprehend. She writes, "If I know a song of Africa,---I thought,---of the Giraffe, and the African new moon lying on her back, of the ploughs in the field, and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me?" (1992: 83). At the same time, Dinesen quite often acknowledges that newcomers from Africa are from a noisy and rushed world, they do not have the patience and connectedness of native Africans. European colonialists imposed on the natives an alien system of forced dispossession and displacement and of monopoly. So much of this colonial intrusion was quite new to the prevalently communalist and family-oriented, egalitarian way of native African subsistence.

Karen Blixen's marriage starts out as more of a convenience than of romance. She left Denmark to marry the German Baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and start a dairy in Kenya. Bror is actually the brother of her lover. Karen is offering her fortune for companionship and adventure (and for the title of, "Baroness") much more than for enjoying the security of a man. So, from the outset, Karen's feminist inclinations are strong. The husband changes his mind about the diary, and instead invests her money in a risky venture of growing coffee. The husband is unfaithful, philandering, gives her syphilis that will disable her from having children; the marriage breaks up. Karen is left to manage the farm, she has to battle with floods and fire. Hardly anything of British big game hunter Denys Finch-Hatton's romance with Dinesen (Karen Blixen), is mentioned in the book; the movie likely borrows from other sources depicting the life of Karen Blixen. Unfortunately the English accent of Denys Finch-Hatton is not conveyed by Redford, compared to Karen's excellent outflow of a Scandinavian accent. Yet, the movie depicts their chemistry, Denys is impressed by her strength and independence, Karen's ability to tell and weave stories, they kiss, and in one scene have sex. Karen does seem to desire long-term companionship and commitment from Denys, desire for a man who will sacrifice to be with her. She stands against having a man like Denys who wants to be "free-wheeling," one who will come and go depending on need and desire, he loves the African outdoors. Finch-Hatton is mysterious, elusive and emotionally distant, but he is miscast in that in the movie: he seems to represent an all-American jock that waywardly found his way into Africa. Karen was wounded before, and this encounter with Denys is only a brief moment of ecstasy, but she bravely soldiers on, appreciating more of what is around her. Karen is indeed confident, stoic and creative in face of the odds. She did resist going on safari with Denys, but she eventually succumbed to his quite undeniable invitation. Eventually, they got closer, she broadened her horizons, she better adapted to and better accepted foreigners and their ways.

In conclusion, the movie emphasizes the romantic issues and episodes in Karen Blixen's life in Africa (romance and sex sells in Hollywood), much more than the book does. The book seems to be constructed from a breadth of notes of what Blixen put together while in Africa, and weaved them into a good fairy tale. The truth is that Blixen dealt with aspects like fluctuating coffee prices, sometimes drought and heavy rains, discontented dispossessed natives, scrambles for Africa amongst several European agencies, African diseases and sometimes unsanitary conditions, wildlife from untamed neighborhoods. The movie does display the exquisite beauty of tropical Africa which Blixen did dwell on, but not on the colonial wranglings. There is lyrical beauty in Blixen's writing, and the movie does elicit an African peaceful mood through the excellent music. Blixen, in both the movie and the book is a strong and opinionated woman, yet flexible and open to ideas, people, and adventure. She is a significant precursor of modern-day feminism.

Wonderful movie.......2007-09-04

I didn't see this movie when it came out in 1985 - but I wish I had !
Fantastic scenery (shot in Kenya) and a terrific performance by Streep, Brandauer and Michael Kitchens.
This was based on a true story about author Isak Dinesen (not certain about that spelling; her pen name was Karen Blixen. Or maybe its the other way around).
It helps to know a bit about the story beforehand; and also something about colonial Africa. Otherwise it may not hold your interest (especially younger adults).
Biggest drawback is Redford's character Denis Finch-Hatton. Finch-Hatton was and Englishman but Redford makes no attempt at a British accent. Redford has the right rugged good looks but the accent messes up the character.
I highly recommend this film.

A classic!.......2007-08-28

One of the all-time best movies!...gorgeous sound track, gorgeous scenery..beautiful story beautifully narrated..top cast. I own it and view it repeatedly.

The Best Movie Ever Made!!.......2007-07-30

So Often when I ask people if they've seen this movie, they say no. I'm shocked at that, as it is, for sure, the best movie ever made. In its day it won 7 Academy Awards! First of all the acting, the scenery, and music are superb. But the story, based on the true adventures of an amazing lady will touch you forever. For Ladies, if you've ever been a woman seeking idealistic love or a woman trying to being successful in your professional efforts, you will relate to Karen, her life, her joys and her frustrations. For men, you will relate to that need men have to keep their safe distance from matters of the heart and to go out and be adventurers. Also, it may help you understand the complexities of women. I warn you both though, this movie will give you a yearning to visit Africa. I recommend you watch the director comments and especially the music comments, then go back and watch it again and again. I recently had the pleasure of meeting director Sydney Pollack and told him i've seen it about 22 times, he told me that was a record!

Delight in "Out of Africa".......2007-07-23

I wanted to update my movie collection by buying a DVD to replace my VHS tape of "Out of Africa." The quality is much better and nicer to watch. In addition, there are "extra features" on the DVD that were added and are interesting to see. For example, Meryl Streep talks about making the movie. Fascinating stuff. What an elegant movie with gorgeous photography and an amazing story of interesting people living in interesting times.

Average customer rating:

Inspiring and witty
Absolutely wonderful movie
Shirley Valetine
Reviewing Shirley
Never a disappointment

Shirley Valentine
Starring: Pauline Collins , Tom Conti , Julia McKenzie , Alison Steadman , and Joanna Lumley
Director: Lewis Gilbert (II)
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000MGBSIU
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Amazon.com

As movie midlife crises go, Shirley Valentine's is a doozy. A bored Northern England housewife, wondering what her life is about and how to navigate around her clueless husband, Shirley would be at her wits' end--except that she knows how to dream big. As played by the incomparable Pauline Collins (who created the role on Broadway, and won a Tony for it), Shirley embraces not only her own constricted life, but the dreams of the big, beautiful world beyond it.

Directed by Lewis Gilbert (Educating Rita), Shirley Valentine is an anthem to the freedom of the soul--with a generous dose of salt of the earth. As she assesses her life, Shirley's humor never fails her: "I think sex is like supermarkets, you know, overrated. Just a lot of pushing and shoving and you still come out with very little at the end." Yet Collins' Shirley gets as much out of defending her right to her dream (a sunny holiday in Greece) as she does realizing it, and that makes for much of the glow of the film. For while Shirley has a cinematic romance on her vacation (Tom Conti plays the dreamboat), the affair is more of a metaphor for what Shirley insists on having in her real daily life. Watch for Joanna Lumley in a delicious cameo, pre-Ab Fab. And embrace this Valentine, and share it with those you love, all year round. --A.T. Hurley

Stills from Shirley Valentine (click for larger image)

Product Description

In the role that won her Broadway's acclaimed Tony Award, Pauline Collins is the hilariously endearing Shirley Valentine, a wisecracking, completely unpredictable English housewife who proves it's never too late to recapture your dreams. Bored with her suburban life, Shirley takes a chance on adventure when a friend invites her on a vacation to Greece. Within no time she's back to her rebellious teenage roots, saying yes to a wild fling with a handsome rogue (Tom Conti) and the life she's always wanted.

Customer Reviews:

Inspiring and witty.......2007-09-14

Pauline Collins does a fantastic job of portraying this middle-aged, bored woman who finds a new life on a Greek island, away from the dreary and mundane existence of her home in England.
She becomes the person she had once been, but only after she leaves her present life behind. When she jumps into the ocean from the boat, it's the start of her transformation.
Sometimes I think I should do the same!

Absolutely wonderful movie.......2007-08-23

I saw this movie years ago and it is as wonderful as I remembered. It is not a "chick" movie. We all have regrets when we look at our lives in middle age. Shirley gets a chance to escape her boring life and reclaim her true fun-loving nature by living out one of her youthful dreams - a trip to Greece. Both Tom Conti and Pauline Collins are perfectly cast.

Shirley Valetine.......2007-08-23

Quite intertaining. Probably more of a 'Chick-Flik' then not, but I would still recommend it. Quite humorous.

Dean475

Reviewing Shirley.......2007-08-10

One of my all time favorites. From the opening song to the closing scene. If you're not inspired by this movie, you need to rewatch it.

Never a disappointment.......2007-08-07

Finally a DVD viewable in the USA. This movie is a favorite of mine, warm, funny, with heart. All positive comments about it are true. I don't have much to add, but it deserves the five-star rating, and more.

Average customer rating:

The best movie EVER!!!
Fun, funny, and wonderful
The Perfect Movie!
YEAH I LIKED IT
Worth watching (maybe even more than once); don't skip this one.

Love Actually (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor , Colin Firth , Gregor Fisher , Martin Freeman (II) , and Jill Freud
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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ASIN: B00005JMFQ
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Product Description

"Get ready for fun!" (Leah Rozen, People) with the "feel good movie of the year!" (Clay Smith, Access Hollywood) Love Actually is the ultimate romantic comedy from the makers of Bridget Jones's Diary and Notting Hill. Funny, irresistible and heartwarming, an all-star cast (Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth and Emma Thompson, to name a few!) will take you on a breathtaking tour of love's delightful twists and turns. Fall under the spell of Love Actually and share the laughs and charm again and again.

System Requirements:

Running Time 135 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

With no fewer than eight couples vying for our attention, Love Actually is like the Boston Marathon of romantic comedies, and everybody wins. Having mastered the genre as the writer of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones's Diary, it appears that first-time director Richard Curtis is just like his screenplays: He just wants to be loved, and he'll go to absurdly appealing lengths to win our affection. With Love Actually, Curtis orchestrates a minor miracle of romantic choreography, guiding a brilliant cast of stars and newcomers as they careen toward love and holiday cheer in London, among them the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) who's smitten with his caterer; a widower (Liam Neeson) whose young son nurses the ultimate schoolboy crush; a writer (Colin Firth) who falls for his Portuguese housekeeper; a devoted wife and mother (Emma Thompson) coping with her potentially unfaithful husband (Alan Rickman); and a lovelorn American (Laura Linney) who's desperately attracted to a colleague. There's more--too much more--as Curtis wraps his Christmas gift with enough happy endings to sweeten a dozen other movies. That he pulls it off so entertainingly is undeniably impressive; that he does it so shamelessly suggests that his writing fares better with other, less ingratiating directors. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

The best movie EVER!!!.......2007-09-08

There are so many things that I love about this movie... it would take me an hour to write them all out... so I'll sum it up by saying this- this is a movie that leaves you feeling strangely optimistic about humanity. I know that sounds silly to say about a movie, but it seriously does give you a warm and happy feeling. Everyone I've shown this movie has gone out and bought it. Truly fantastic.

Fun, funny, and wonderful.......2007-09-07

I smiled, I laughed and I thoroughly enjoyed this movie! (I must be a closet romantic.) "Love Actually" runs the gamut of love stories by having several different love stories running at the same time. Each one is enjoyable. What I enjoyed the most was spotting each plot in the other stories and how they each were woven into the whole.

The DVD extras and commentary are also entertaining if you're interested in seeing how the director thinks and how each story line develops.

I won't spoil it for you, but it you're looking for a fun movie that you can watch again and again, this is it.

The Perfect Movie!.......2007-08-24

As my review title says - perfect cast, perfect music, perfect writing =
The Perfect Movie. I hope you can't "wear out" a DVD, because I've watched it so much I might just do that.

YEAH I LIKED IT.......2007-08-23

Love Actually is a movie comprised of vignettes. It is basically a story about men, their loves, their losses. The step-father who has lost his wife and his step-son who has lost his mother and who is also in love for the first time. The cuckolded husband, the poor drip who can't get laid, the married man pursued by his ammoral secretary, the new prime minister infatuated with his employee, the man secretly in love with his best friend's girl, the porn body-double who is very much a gentleman, and the aged ex-heroin addict ex-pop star. And then there is the poignant addition of the woman who is doomed to suffer unrequieted love.

The movie is fast paced and the editing of the various vignettes form an interwoven story that is funny, sad and entertaining. Hugh Grant's dance scene and Colin Firth's childish tantrum on the sidewalk when he can't get a taxi are hilarious. It's always charming to watch grown men act like little boys!

This movie isn't for children due to mimed sex scenes and naked female breasts.

In my opinion, the one vignette that stole the entire movie is the one about the aged ex-heroin addict ex-pop star staring Bill Nighy. They could have made an entire movie about this character. Most of the laughs are generated by this character as he tries to make a half-hearted come-back with a remake cover of an old song called "Love is All Around." I usually don't find older men attractive but Bill Nighy is so wonderfully weird, strange and clever in his role, that I couldn't help but find him a little bit sexy as the burned out old pop star trying to market his pathetic "turd" of a Christmas song.

This isn't Shakespeare, it's just pure, goofy fun. I'm sure if you watch this film you will be attracted to more then one of the characters and maybe even relate to them in some way.

Worth watching (maybe even more than once); don't skip this one........2007-08-22

So I don't really dig lovey-dovey movies, but this one made the cut. "Love Actually" is a pulp-fiction style movie that deals with how much love bites, but that sometimes, just sometimes, it all turns out ok. It's very well done and will likely leave you feeling better about love, life and relationships. If you check it out, be forewarned that it does have some nudity/ sex scenes, but probably not like you've ever seen before. The movie could have gotten along ok without them, but it's more meaningful than you might first suspect. Pornography IS the most impersonal, irreverent, pernicious form of nudity known to humanity. But this movie capitalizes on that fact by having two porn stars' most intimate, most sincere moment with each other develop with ALL of their clothes ON, on a doorstep, via an awkward chicken-peck on the cheek. It's brilliant. And if you pay extra close attention to the male character's dialog later on, you learn that he's really a virgin anyway. Absolutely brilliant.
If you're a thinker and a lover (and I know you can be or wanna be) you'll dig this movie.

Average customer rating:

Imagine - A Great Movie
Sensitive and Humorous Film about a Controversial Subject
Very Cute
Best thing about this film is Matthew Goode
Great Movie

Imagine Me & You
Starring: Piper Perabo , Lena Headey , Matthew Goode , Celia Imrie , and Anthony Head
Director: Ol Parker
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B000F7CEBG
Release Date: 2006-06-27

Amazon.com

Writer/director Ol Parker's debut takes its title from "Happy Together" by the Turtles ("Imagine me and you / and you and me") and its inspiration from the romantic comedies of Richard Curtis (Love Actually). There's a twist. Flower shop owner Luce (Lena Headey, The Brothers Grimm) is gay. Newlywed Rachel (a convincingly UK-accented Piper Perabo, Lost and Delirious) is straight. The two meet at Rachel's wedding--Luce designed the floral arrangements--and feel an instant connection. Rachel brushes it off. After all, the charming Heck (Matthew Goode, Match Point) was her best friend long before he became her husband. Shortly after the ceremony, however, she begins to feel as if something is missing. She starts making excuses to see Luce. First it's to thank her for the flowers, then it's to invite her to dinner with Heck and their on-the-make pal Cooper (a hilarious Darren Boyd)...who's crushed when he discovers that Luce prefers women. Rachel, meanwhile, finds married life pleasant enough, but only really feels alive when she's with Luce. It's tricky, because she loves Heck and doesn't want to hurt his feelings, so she and Luce decide to stop seeing each other. But the bond between the two is too powerful for either to resist. What it may lack in originality, Imagine Me & You makes up for in an enchanting soundtrack and sensitive performances from its three likable leads. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

Piper Perabo lights up the screen as Rachel, a blushing bride whose perfect nuptials take a surprising turn at the altar. An innocent glance between Rachel and an unexpected wedding guest is all it takes to spark a 'love at first sight' romance with a surprising twist -- the object of Rachel's affection is a smart and sensuous... woman! Their shocking romance causes quite a stir amongst her family and friends as Rachel is forced to choose between her husband and the girl of her dreams. Say 'I do' to the wonderfully witty film that Cosmopolitan calls "a refreshing romantic comedy."

Customer Reviews:

Imagine - A Great Movie.......2007-09-04

I really could watch this film over and over. That is why I purchased it. It is my second favorite movie of this genre. It is sweet and beautiful.

Sensitive and Humorous Film about a Controversial Subject.......2007-09-02

"Imagine Me and You" is a fine film about a controversial subject (i.e. lesbianism) with gentle and humorous performances by the entire cast of performers.
The lead actresses (Piper Perabo and Lena Heady) gave credible and sensitive performances without becoming advocates for a particular position in the debate about human sexuality.
The story relates that true love can happen between two individuals of the same gender without sensationalizing the experience.
Truly, a touching and humanizing film that I recommend for ages 17 and over.

Very Cute.......2007-09-01

Thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Mind you, it's not terribly taxing on the brain, but I felt it was pretty well done and covered a topic that is more common than thought. If only life ended the way this movie does! Definitely recommend it for the gay/lesbian collection in your home. Then again, one of my favorite movies is "It's In the Water" so....

Best thing about this film is Matthew Goode.......2007-08-26

I loved "kissing jessica stein" and so i figured i'd give this a go. Well, no! Piper Perabo just isn't a good actress. I mean she tries and you can tell, but she just stinks! She pouts the entire way through the film and is put in obsurd situations, the only time she doesn't pout to convey the point 'she's truly found herself' is at the very end! Save your money and time and rent "Kissing Jessica Stein" or "Lost and Delirious" which she did when she was 12 and was to young for us to see how rubbish she really is!

Great Movie.......2007-08-16

This was a nice British comedy with a few out of the normal twist and turns.

Average customer rating:

Wonderful love story
BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY
Loved This Movie ,Made Me Cry
Crud story, glorifying adultery - disgusting trash
It only takes one love to complete the journey ...

The Bridges of Madison County
Starring: Michelle Benes , Brandon Bobst , Art Breese , Annie Corley , and Pearl Faessler
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: 0790729369
Release Date: 1997-03-26

Amazon.com

Some called it a snooze-fest, while others tearfully clutched their Kleenex. In any case, Clint Eastwood was an unusual and (as it turned out) perceptive choice to direct and costar in this lush adaptation of Robert James Waller's phenomenally bestselling novel. Meryl Streep costars as Francesca, the lonely Iowa farmer's wife who is instantly attracted to Robert (Eastwood), the photographer from National Geographic who is in the area to photograph the bridges along Iowa's rural roadways. The two fall in love while Francesca's husband and children are away at a county fair, but the story's passion and lasting appeal derive from their decision to part forever after just a few brief days of intimate connection. Superbly acted with an emphasis on quiet, graceful moments of tender revelation, the film builds to a crescendo of powerful and conflicting emotions. Like David Lean's Brief Encounter (to which it bears marked similarities), The Bridges of Madison County is destined to become one of the classic movie love stories. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful love story.......2007-09-09

When I went to see this movie in the theatre years ago, I was so sure that I wasn't going to like this film. There was a loud rumbling in the romance community about this story being written by a man. At the time there were a lot of them. This one, Message in a Bottle and a Walk to Remember shortly after. So there I was in all my huffy glory, glaring at the screen. But all that nonesense was forgotten as this wonderful story started to unfold. Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep had me smiling and melting in this forbidden love story in no time flat. By the time we reach the scene where Eastwood is standing in the middle of the street during a rain down pour, I was begging her to get out the car. Run, girl. Run to your true soul mate! Ah, amour. So despite my prejudices I fell helplessly in love with this story--and you will too. Highly recommended.

BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY.......2007-08-28

I own all of Eastwood movies.Including..Rawhide series.All his motion pictures are widescreen...all! What about'.....Madison County?Who in the world didn't stop to think..this too should be in widescreen..to get the whole pictureSCOPE of this great Romatic future classic.I do have it also on Laser Disc.& it's in widescreen.I just run a print to a blank dvd for now.
Come on you people who sell these movies..if nothing else...put both versions on dvd.They do that you know?

Loved This Movie ,Made Me Cry.......2007-08-25

I wasn't sure I would like this movie since I had already read the book and fell in love with this story.
I'll have to admit Clint Eastwood & Merle Streep did a beautiful job. There were parts that were left out of course but all in all a very good movie,still the book was much better and left me wanting more.

Too bad there cannot be a sequel since both characters are now deceased.

The only part I did not like was the beginning where her children found the story of her love story. I hated the actions of the son or maybe it was the actor.

Crud story, glorifying adultery - disgusting trash.......2007-08-15

This movie makes me sick. Basically it's a movie about a woman who betrays her marriage vows, betrays her husband, betrays her children. It's a movie about a man that commits sin by persuing a sexual relationship with a married woman. The first time I watched this movie (and the last) I found myself hoping the husband would come home and catch the two in the act. He would have been justified in kicking the snot out the filthy no good womanizer. There's no repentance for sin in this movie, no confession of guilt. Heck, for all we know the wicked man gave the married woman a mean case of the herps and then moved on to the next town where he did it all over again (that's the way these people are) How many marriages have been wrecked by this type of thing? And they throw it up on the big screen and package it as a love story? No, it's not a love story. It's a story of human depravity at its worst. If this movie had been advertised as such, I would give it 5 stars for it displays wickedness of unrepentant human hearts in grand fashion. But since this movie tries to pass itself off as a romantic interlude between two lonely adults.. uh uh. It's just horrible, new age agenda laden, anti-christian schlock. Avoid it unless you enjoy throwing up in disgust.

It only takes one love to complete the journey ..........2007-07-22

This review is dedicated to the boy who once slugged his subject line "To the girl who wisely wouldn't date me in the `60s." A road less traveled out of fear for the unknown can seem like your downfall. But, harbor no regrets. In fact there are paths we take to help fill the void. As trite as this may sound, one of those paths can be a great movie. "The Bridges of Madison County" has become both a life-saving tool (a bit dramatic) and an obsession for me. The DVD places its two main characters, brilliantly acted out by Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep, into a state of infinite thoughts that transcend all boundaries. In his novel, Robert James Waller poignantly describes the fuse used to shape a lifetime of bliss in just four days, scenes the DVD expertly portrays and brings to life. Directed by Clint Eastwood, this epic tale is a much-needed time warp to a better place through the eyes of Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid, who share a passion for common ground that only comes along once.

Average customer rating:

you people are crazy! this movie was great!!
Blah
Depressingly funny.......
Enjoyed It!
[3.5]--Insightful honesty to the married man's dilemma

I Think I Love My Wife
Starring: Steve Buscemi , Edward Herrmann , Adam Le Fevre , Hazel Medina , and Wendell Pierce
Director: Chris Rock
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B000R5OFNG
Release Date: 2007-08-07

Amazon.com

Chris Rock's loose remake of 1972's Chloe In the Afternoon, the latter an entry in French New Wave genius Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales cycle, is a half-silly, half-starchy adult comedy about a buttoned-up money manager, Richard Cooper (Rock), whose staid life at home has worn down his sexual vitality. With two kids and a somewhat joyless wife (Gina Torres), Richard's mind wanders on the job, on the train, virtually anywhere a restless husband can spot beautiful, unattainable women. Still, no harm done, until old friend Nikki (Kerry Washington) shows up in his office, wanting his support and counsel and friendship every minute over subsequent weeks. The two stay out of the sack, which makes it possible for them to be honest with one another. Nikki criticizes Richard for being in what appears to be a loveless relationship, bled dry of passion. Richard calls out Nikki for being flighty, unwilling to commit to anything.

As the relationship wears on, Richard's world is upended, and the havoc takes a toll on his family life and productivity. It's at this point where the film, co-adapted for the screen and directed by Rock, paints itself into a corner, with few interesting alternatives for a way out of Richard's dilemma that feel authentic or, for that matter, funny. A Viagra-inspired visual joke (gee, hard to imagine what that could be) is a crass gift to audience members growing suspicious that Rock has lured them into a chick flick. A soul duet between Rock and Torres appears out of nowhere and throws the emotional balance off at a crucial moment. This kind of thing makes one wonder how seriously Rock took his own project, yet there are signs that he--a very funny and intelligent talent--has a different kind of movie in him. Jokes about Michael Jackson, race, and even racially-slanted comedy are peppered throughout I Think I Love My Wife, harmless distractions in context, yet suggestive of a different kind of movie satire waiting to come out of Rock. --Tom Keogh

Beyond I Think I Love My Wife

Chris Rock DVDs
Directors Starring in Their Own Movies
African-American Cinema

Stills from I Think I Love My Wife

Description

A married man (Chris Rock) who daydreams about being with other women finds his will and morals tested after he's visited by the ex-mistress of his old friend. A funny and thought provoking look about the joy and pain of marriage and relationships.

Customer Reviews:

you people are crazy! this movie was great!!.......2007-09-13

i think chris rock did a great job in this movie.It was funny the whole chicken scene that was hilarious,just very well acted in my opinion.It has a positive message for every angle of a marriage,if you think about it.Just because Chris Rock is known for his comedic ability,doesn't mean all of his movies have to be full of comedy,he should have the right to broaden his acting career.

Blah.......2007-09-10

I love me some Chris Rock but this one just didn't do it for me. I watched this last night and it had its funny moments (like when he is dancing to Laffy Taffy) but nothing to gut busting. I just knew he was gonna get some after he took her out (the viagra scene) but nope. Everyone has already told you what the basics of the movie. It's worth renting but not worth purchasing. I don't know what her issues were with sex but its definately IMO the ending was just WACK!!

Depressingly funny..............2007-09-08

What's a marriage without communication, intimacy and sex? Nothing more than having a roommate. Since this movie does not delve into the wife's intimacy issues, I will review it from the male perspective. Basically, I would have liked to see Chris' character indulge in a little pleasure and paint the walls in Kerry Washington's draws. For real tho, enough with the guilt. Life is too short to be settling for unhappiness. How many times was the wife gonna say no to sex? Really. That issh was just depressing to watch.

In the end - I would have knocked Kerry Washington's boots from here to Albuquerque!!!

Enjoyed It!.......2007-09-07

I related to this film, because my husband and I have been through something similar, and, believe me, it's sheer hell. And though I know this was a comedy, not a serious film, it was taking on some serious issues, such as staleness in a long-term relationship and infidelity. And I wish it would have revealed more of the wife's side of the story and what led to the problems in the marriage. We mainly saw the relationship through Chris' eyes, who felt it was okay to continually lie to his wife and have a close, secret relationship with a member of the opposite sex.

I would have liked to see more conflict and interaction between husband and wife. I also wish that Chris would have come clean with his wife in the end and confessed his wrongdoing. Not to do so continues the deception in what was obviously an emotional affair--and nearly a sexual affair, an issue that was never addressed in the film.

A more serious in-depth end would have been great as well. Instead, it had a ridiculous singing scene.

It's good though that the film reminded viewers about what's truly important in life and how very easily problems can arise in even a good marriage.

Overall, I enjoyed this film and some of the scenes were funny.

[3.5]--Insightful honesty to the married man's dilemma .......2007-09-04

Well, Chris Rock and Eric Rohmer, together at last. Wait a minute, Rock and Rohmer? If the combination sounds strange to you, "I Think I Love My Wife" doesn't disagree. French New Wave director Rohmer defined his career making movies about conflicted, morally shaky men, and it's interesting to report that Chris Rock has managed to maintain some of the integrity of his film. Co-writing (with Louis C.K.) and directing "Wife," Rock is looking for a break from the broad comedies he's normally associated with, including his last directorial effort, the amusing 2003 political lampoon, Head of State (Widescreen Edition) This, the second film that Rock has directed, registers as a bigger squandering of his talent than all of the prior Bad Company (2002) (Ws), Dogma (Special Edition), and Madagascar (Widescreen Edition) combined.

"I Think I Love My Wife" tells the story of Richard Cooper (Rock), his wife Brenda (Gina Torres) and the other woman, Nikki Tru (Kerri Washington), who starts showing up at Richard's Wall Street office in clothes more suitable for a nightclub. We know right off the bat that Richard and Brenda, who enjoy a comfortable lifestyle with their two children in a New York City suburb, are not having sex anymore because Brenda is tired and disinterested. And we know that because Richard is bored and frustrated in his relationship. So, once hot Nikki enters the picture, we know that the plot will revolve around Richard. Will he or won't he (become another philandering husband)? This main point of the plot is one that may be viewed differently by men and women. The subtexts of the plot include, for me, the higher incidence of divorce in the Black community, the now-famous 42.4 percent of Black women who do not marry, whether single women respect the marriages of other women, many new narratives that make sex the central point and tool in relationships, and factors that make a man (or woman) leave their spouse and children. Others may think that Brenda needs to get with the program or definitely lose her husband, and that Richard is well within his rights to seek intimacy elsewhere since it is not provided at home.

This is obviously a lot of social context for a romantic comedy but Rock carries it off well, with stinging jokes, including ones about male fantasies, the sizes of women's panties and Viagra. The story is primarily told from Richard's male perspective, though, so we empathize most with him and see the women in his life through his eyes. We don't really get to know Brenda or Nikki for that matter, in the way that we get to know, for example, Renée Zellweger's character in Jerry MaguireWe don't hear Brenda's side of the story. She just seems wrong and probably playing herself.

Unlike Rohmer, Rock is more interested in a happier ending of sorts, but leaves the relationships in a semi-unfinished state. Had the film contained more layering up to this point, it wouldn't feel as blindsiding as it actually does. Rock sets up "I Think I Love My Wife" as something much more dangerous and insightful than it ends up being, and he seems unwilling to settle on a tone that would allow the film a chance to relax and gel in its own way. Despite its missing pieces, "I Think I Love My Wife" is an enjoyable, human flick. It reminds us that, as adults, our decisions are ours alone, and that we can't blame anyone--even our spouses or the spouses of other people--for what we decide to do with our lives.

Average customer rating:

Same Time, Next Year
Passionate ..and funny
LIKE A GOOD WINE - BETTER WITH AGE
A classic romance
Heritage House, Mendocino

Same Time, Next Year
Starring: Ellen Burstyn , Alan Alda , Ivan Bonar , Bernie Kuby , and Cosmo Sardo
Director: Robert Mulligan
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0001CNRBG
Release Date: 2004-04-06

Amazon.com

Bernard Slade's smart, funny, and touching play about an adulterous couple who meet one weekend a year for 26 years is nicely adapted for the screen by Robert Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird) in this 1978 film. The two-person story stars Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn, both of whom are outstanding at conveying a rainbow of emotions over a quarter-century as life gives and takes away, and the world convulses with change. Mulligan brings taste and honesty to the film, and Alda and Burstyn give full, living performances. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Same Time, Next Year.......2007-09-05

I have not been able to watch it as my DVD has region restrictions (ie. I can't watch American/Canadian DVDs on my current Australian DVD player). It would be good in future if such a disclosure about compatibility was made about your products prior to contract of sale. Regards, Emma

Passionate ..and funny.......2007-05-26

Loved the historic timeline as backdrop to this movie.Alan Alda was perfect for this role! Wish it could be updated to the present time. The title song always gives me tingles....

LIKE A GOOD WINE - BETTER WITH AGE.......2007-05-14

My wife and I celebrate our 30th anniversary of marriage this year and remember this movie fondly from almost 30 years ago. We both agreed that every aspect of the movie seemed better than when we viewed it last. The story was easier to follow, the humour seemed more ironic and the music exceeded my expectations in it's placement within the movie. I was left wanting more.

A classic romance.......2007-05-13

Witty, philosophical, and an unlikely affair that happens once a year ... over decades. Delightful and sometimes a little painful. Ultimately, a classic romance (so now you know the ending).

Heritage House, Mendocino.......2007-05-07

I bought this video to view before we visited the inn where it all happens: Heritage House in Mendocino, CA. As we drove up the coast, we talked about the movie, the moral issues, the actors, and it gave us so much to talk about, we almost missed the view of the Pacific! Just a little dated, but Alan Alda is so magnificent in this that you can put
aside your critic's pen and just enjoy. His performance should have brought him an Oscar.

Average customer rating:

In most 1950s Hollywood flicks, sex is subtext, but in A Summer Place sex stands front and center at rigid attention.
Two love stories
Why did I bother.
One Torrid Summer
My Wife's Favorite Film; BUT picture quality Flawed

A Summer Place
Starring: Richard Egan , Dorothy McGuire , Sandra Dee , Arthur Kennedy , and Troy Donahue
Director: Delmer Daves
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD