Roman Holiday (Special Collector's Edition)

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Maybe it doesn't quite live up to its sterling reputation, and maybe the leading man and director were slightly miscast. But who cares? Roman Holiday is the film that brought Audrey Hepburn to prominence, and the world movie audience went weak at the knees. The endlessly charming Hepburn had her first starring role in this sweet romance, playing a European princess on an official tour through Rome. Frustrated by her lack of connection to the real world, she slips away from her protective handlers and goes on a spree, aided by a tough-guy news reporter (Gregory Peck). Director William Wyler, more at home with such heavy-going, Oscar-winning classics as The Best Years of Our Lives and Ben- Hur, doesn't always keep the champagne bubbles afloat, and the Peck role would have fit Cary Grant like a silk glove. But the film is great fun, the location shooting is irresistible, and Hepburn embodies an image of chic style that would rule for the rest of the fifties. No coincidence: she won an Oscar, and so did veteran costume designer Edith Head. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

My All-Time Favorite Movie.......2007-09-06

I have watched this movie at least a dozen times and it still never fails to enchant me. This may not be the best love movie of all but it is definitely one of the greatest and most enduring!

Audrey really looked fresh on the screen, Roman Holiday being her debut American film. Gregory Peck was really good as the newspaper guy contrary to what others think that he was a miscast. Regarding the ending, I admit I was really upset when I first watched it, but then I thought it was really the perfect ending. I would not have loved it so otherwise.

I recommend this to everyone who loves classic love stories and realistic endings!

The past is not always as we remember it.......2007-08-28

My wife and I recently visited Italy, including several days in Rome. We thought watching this old movie (and Three Coins in a Fountain reviewed elsewhere) would be a pleasant way to relive some of the visit. My mother-in-law watched with us. Of the three of us, I was the only one who wanted to watch the whole movie (but I am a die-hard fan of old movies, generally of a different sort). It has not aged well. We were disapponted in the sparsity of scenes of Rome, that being our main reason for watching it. The story line was implausable in the 1950s and more so today, but the acting was okay, the storyline sufficient to keep my attention (if not that of my wife or mother-in-law) and I've always enjoyed Gregory Peck and Audrie Hepburn.

I remember being dragged to this movie as a young boy by my mother who could not get anyone else in the family to go with her. I was too young to protest successfully. Now that I am in my 60s, I think my earlier reluctance was not misplaced. However, it is harmless and pleasant enough in its own way and has an 1950s mildly uplifting theme. I can imagine a more modern treatment of this theme (princess wants to escape her life in the eye of the media and royal obligations and experience the common life for a while, then has to make a choice between "true love" and family/state obligations), but I doubt I would want to watch that either.

Delightful.......2007-08-02

What an amazing delight!
I think Audrey Hepburn is sensational but I had never seen this film. My husband who had suffered through years and years of romantic movies on Saturday afternoons at the Capitol with his mother started off hostile and set to be dismissive. Well within minutes we were bewitched, charmed and delighted. Audrey Hepburn was so fresh and unselfconscious - it was as if she had forgotten the cameras were there and she was just having fun with these great grownups. There is one scene where her laughter is as thrilling and unconditional as a child's - lovely and poignant.
And Rome, that other character in the film! Well I found myself thinking - this movie was made in 1953 - that is well over a century ago and I know that the past is a foreign country and all that but this was as good as a holiday in Rome and in the past.

A good classic.......2007-07-24

The quality of this movie was great. It's a movie that spans time and is great for all generations.

like a tour guide.......2007-05-30

This is a classic film anD while watching it is like having a tour of Rome, all the sights and famous monuments . If you have ever been to Rome it brings back all the memories of your own Roman Holiday.

Average customer rating:

I enjoyed them more than I thought I would.
Variety TV Show Gold
Not what I expected
The Ultimate Variety Show
"Set is Fabulous with the Exception of Final Season!"

Sonny & Cher - The Ultimate Collection
Starring: Sonny Bono , Cher , Ted Zeigler , Chastity Bono , and Tom Solari
Director: Art Fisher
Manufacturer: R2 Entertainment
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ASIN: B0000DA23M
Release Date: 2003-10-01

Amazon.com

It's not what you'd call high art, but there are some highly enjoyable moments in this nicely packaged box set, featuring nine complete shows (plus ample bonus material) spread out over three discs.

Beginning as a summer replacement in 1971, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour earned its own regular time slot that same year, running for three straight seasons and then returning in 1976 (as The Sonny & Cher Show), after the couple's divorce. The show's formula, which had already been established both onstage and on the small screen (their '69 pilot episode is among the extra features), includes plenty of music (duets, Cher's solo performances in typically outlandish Bob Mackie gowns, various guest shots); lots of shtick (consisting mostly of Cher's put-downs of the minimally talented but good-natured Sonny); and sketches and skits (ranging from lame to inspired, including a mock-opera based on All in the Family and starring Metropolitan Opera tenor Robert Merrill as a warbling Archie Bunker). Guests range from the obvious (TV stalwarts like Harvey Korman, Ruth Buzzi, and Don Knotts) to the downright weird (then-California governor Ronald Reagan). It's all fairly middlebrow, but Sonny & Cher's unpretentious, unself-conscious charm carries it; and once in a while everything congeals into one surreally entertaining package, like the '72 show featuring the Jackson 5 (led, of course, by Michael, who was then 14 and still apparently normal), who are followed to the stage by Reagan (telling jokes, sort of) and singer-actor Howard Keel, veteran of numerous movie musicals.

Bonus features include 2003 audio commentary by a nostalgic Cher, interviews with the producers, the '69 pilot, bios, discographies, and a show history. The DVD set also comes with a music-only CD, featuring live performances of "The Beat Goes On" and "I Got You Babe." --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews:

I enjoyed them more than I thought I would........2007-07-25

Good stuff. Some of the skits go on too long, but I enjoyed seeing the two of them together again. Although, it's unfortunate that the episodes are not in stereo. The musical numbers suffer because of this.

Cher's commentary on Discs 1 and 2 are about 23 minutes each, and only 8 minutes in length on Disc 3. I liked them all, even though they only totalled less than an hour in length.

Also of note, are two producer commentary tracks that are about 18 minutes each. I liked them as well.

In addition, here are the songs Sonny and Cher sing on the Barbara McNair show (17 minutes worth, and yes, the show is in color):

-"What Now My Love"

-"Danny Boy" (extra slow, boring version-sung by Cher)

-Medley: "The Beat Goes On"; "All I Really Wanna Do"; "Sing C'est La Vie"(or whatever it's called?); "Babe" (1 minute long) and then once again "The Beat Goes On".

Cue, "The Beat Goes On". Audience applauds. Fade to black.

Variety TV Show Gold.......2007-01-04

If you haven't seen a TV variety show, this is the one to see. Music, comedy and technical effects of the day made this show a "must see."

Not what I expected.......2006-12-11

Sonny and Cher were one of the best variety show duos ever to inhabit TV land, so I was saddened that this DVD collections is not really the "best" that they've done.

Don't get me wrong, there are many great clips in here... but... the producers of this DVD package have decided to include full shows (with lots of boring stuff I didn't really care about) instead of concentrating on the star, Cher!

What I would like to see is a 'best of' compilation with all the best guest-stars, musical numbers, outfits, etc...

The Ultimate Variety Show.......2006-11-30

As far as I'm concerned, these two set the bar for the slew of variety shows that followed in the 70's (though I'm well aware there were predecessors). Their opening song and banter were always entertaining. The skits were actually funny (most of the time) and who didn't love the medley portion of the show (complete with matching outfits and Sonny busting out some lame dance moves). They had really good writers, regulars (including Steve Martin and Teri Garr), great guest stars, and groovy clothes that put the Brady Bunch to shame. Little Chastity closed out the show with them, and it was just a nice little, sweet family (little did we know).
However, as an elementary aged child at the time, I had an odd crush on Sonny Bono (which to this day I will never live down with the family). I get a big kick out of watching this 70's time capsule (and call me crazy, but I still thik Sonny was a cute little guy). My only complaint is that they didn't put the show out in individual seasons. I realize it's hard to get the rights to the music, but I'd love to at least see the 1st three seasons in their entirety....I can do without the post divorce show (though the skits were funny--it didn't gel). Shame it didn't work out between these two--they worked really well together during their relationship.

"Set is Fabulous with the Exception of Final Season!".......2006-05-14

I have been wanting to buy this set for a long, long time since I grew up anxiously awaiting each and every episode of The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour AND the Cher Show. Since I hadn't seen any of the episodes (like commentator Cher) since their original run in the early seventies,I noticed some good (and bad) stuff about the show.

The first season was a dress rehearsal in many ways; the editing was sloppy and continual "laughing" breakups from the lead couple during most of the skits got to be annoying after awhile. The best season seemed to be in 1973 with the episodes where Chastity comes out at the start of each show and newsworthy skits are performed on a cartoon train. You don't see the "cue cards" in the audience as much during the opening singing and monologues and Cher's vocals and delivery are more polished than in the first season especially. Sonny still stinks however (LOL) ... can't seem to act without looking off to the side to read his lines off the cue cards which director Art Fisher should have done something about but obviously didn't for one reason or another.

My favorite segements of the show are the "Vamp number," Lady Luck (another type of "Vamp sequence" in Season 3 ), Laverne at the Laundromat. (Cher was SO FUNNY along with Terri Garr and this showed her natural inclination towards comedy and acting) I really enjoyed watching a manic Sonny share the spotlight with "the hippest woman on earth" during the musical performances with their band backing them(which the final reunion season lacked incidentally)-their medley of "Brother Loves Traveling Salvation Show" and "Tamborine Man"-SO COOL!!!! On the sour side the "Opera" skits with Morgan Freeman annoyed the heck out of me as well as Sonny's Pizza. Cher's solos were very good-faves include "Half Breed," "Way of Love," and "Am I Blue?"
The first two discs were good to great especially disc 2!!

My only complaint is the chemistry and work on Disc 3 and the show they did after both their solo shows went off the air. They lacked the chemistry of the earlier shows playing it safe (of course they were divorced but they could have worked a little harder for an audience and ratings) the opening songs were only fair, the "Cutesie News" was totally stupid, liked the "War of the Sexes" with Sonny acting the sissy man he was (LOL) and Cher being very K.D. Lang....haha!! This season did not have them singing together which I really missed and Cher's solo's had her dressed to the nine's in typical Bob Mackie extravagant outfits but song selections for her were mediocre at best.

I loved Sonny and Cher-wish the CHER SHOW would come out in it's entirety as I thought she did a GREAT JOB on her own and that it was better than Sonny and Cher actually and more relaxed in many ways. She underestimated herself I think-however I would love to see all the original Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour episodes-Seasons 1 to 3 on disc-I will pass on the last show they did together. It just showed indifference and the writing and rapport was just not the same.

No offense to this great site but I would never pay almost 50 bucks for this-got it for half that somewhere else-maybe I'd pay it for for all the shows but not for nine episodes.

Average customer rating:

This one is a selective viewing
The Science of the Human Emotion
The most boring film of all time?
Islands of Memory
A Retrospective About Love - Tarkovsky

Solaris - Criterion Collection
Starring: Natalya Bondarchuk , Donatas Banionis , Jüri Järvet , Vladislav Dvorzhetsky , and Nikolai Grinko
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Manufacturer: Criterion
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ASIN: B00006L92F
Release Date: 2002-11-26

Amazon.com

The Russian answer to 2001, and very nearly as memorable a movie. The legendary Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky made this extremely deliberate science-fiction epic, an adaptation of a novel by Stanislaw Lem. The story follows a cosmonaut (Donatas Banionis) on an eerie trip to a planet where haunting memories can take physical form. Its bare outline makes it sound like a routine space-flight picture, an elongated Twilight Zone episode; but the further into its mysteries we travel, the less familiar anything seems. Even though Tarkovsky's meanings and methods are sometimes mystifying, Solaris has a way of crawling inside your head, especially given the slow pace and general lack of forward momentum. By the time the final images cross the screen, Tarkovsky has gone way beyond SF conventions into a moving, unsettling vision of memory and home. Well worthy of cult status, Solaris is both challenging art-house fare and a whacked-out head trip. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

This one is a selective viewing.......2007-07-30

I originally saw this movie when it was on cable a year ago. When I saw it I was in an inebriated state. It is a long and drawn out movie with DEEP metaphysical meanings and short on actual entertainment. I ordered it because I created a weekend activity called "Bender Weekend" the point of which is to play drinking games to Sci Fi movies, and as the weekend progresses the movies are more and more metaphysical in nature. The end of bender weekend caps out with "Altered States", "2001", and this one.

If you want entertainment, stay away from this movie. If you like metaphysical tones and are willing to see past the low budget, long drawn out scenes, there is value in this movie. So you will either love, or completely despise this movie.

The Science of the Human Emotion.......2007-07-26

Solaris is perhaps one of the most nerving science-fiction films I have ever seen. Beginning strongly with the skepticism of a tired, yet professional psychologist, Solaris follows this man into the outer reaches of our own world and knowledge, and to a place that is, 'simply,' unfathomable. Our lead character, after a strange briefing, arrives on the Solaris space station, orbiting the planet Solaris, to figure out what has gone wrong with the crew, and why they have cut off all communication with Earth. As answers develop, and further questions arrise, one immediately begins to feel the horror of human frailty. Solaris hits hard, develops characters unlike many films do anymore, and ends with closure, questions, and a satisfactory level of goosebumps.

Solaris is artfully filmed, with a lot of time spent on landscapes and close-ups. This is a long film, but is over quickly. The discovery of the 'mysteries' occuring on the Solaris space station are very disturbing, and leave the viewer with plenty to think about (or perhaps dream about), days later. The Criterion Collection was done well with plenty of special features, but really deserves a much better enhanced picture. There are many signs of aging in this film, and a remastering, or even a high definition version, could easily be an achievement for a film well-deserving. Additionally, the audio is Russian-mono with subtitles. I highly recommend this for purchase, however, despite aged film. The story alone is memorable for a lifetime.

The most boring film of all time?.......2007-07-04

Okay, let me just start off by saying I actually like Soderberg's Solaris quite a bit. I had faint memories of trying to watch the original on Laserdisc years back and the only thing I remembered was a friend of mine making fun of a series of goofy shots taken in freeway tunnels.

It turns out that was my favorite part of the film. Solaris is the absolute epitome of obnoxious, purposefully obtuse cinema -- where the point of a scene or character simply takes five times longer than it should. Look no further than the introductory exposition wit the pilot -- My GOD it takes forever! And the main character -- for a psychiatrist shows almost no interest in much of anything other than his wonky blue leather jacket. I mean, it's terrible folks.

But when things get really unbearable is when you finally get to the space station. The "suspense" is laughably bad. I won't go into details but nothing is impressive -- it's not creepy, very thought-provoking, and the set looks like the old Space Mountain ride at Disneyland. A totally clumsy fumbling that evinces nothing much more than inept storytelling. Tarkovsky is a wanker.

So why two stars? Because the cinematography is realtively good and there is some fascination in watching a Soviet "big budget" Sci-Fi film. So on a purely film school level it has a modicum of appeal. I'm serious though -- the Steven Soderbergh version is just as thought provoking and quite well made.

Islands of Memory.......2007-06-14

Unlike Soderbergh's interminable and seemingly much longer take on Stanislaw Lem's novel, Tarkovsky's Solaris is a sensual film, but one where the senses aren't exactly numbed as dulled into a kind of half-dreamlike state. Like the reeds in the opening shot, you have to go with the ebb and flow - it's almost more of a feeling than a film. And, it has to be said, at times that feeling can be like being lulled to the verge of sleep, while at others it's like being caught up in a fever. It's tempting to wonder what Werner Herzog makes of the film.

Lem famously disliked the film with a passion, feeling it gave into the heart rather the head with trite clichés: "Instead of focusing on deeper moral questions related to frontiers of human knowledge, he made a drama-type Crime and Punishment in space, by making up unnecessary characters of parents and relatives, then adding a hut on an island," was one of his less bitter comments after he fell out with Tarkovsky writing the script, although that implies a far more sentimental film than Tarkovsky delivered. Certainly the issue of whether the visitors are a gift, an experiment, a probe or a defensive psychological attack on the scientists is all but ignored in favor of their emotional effects on Kelvin and (to a much lesser effect) the scientists: these characters really aren't looking for answers, they're looking for a mirror, and it's their insular nature that condemns them to literally float in their own islands of memory (or a `hut on an island' if you ascribe to Lem's view).

Rather than a formulaic movie redemption tale or Lem's examination of our inability to truly comprehend a superior alien intelligence because of the biological limitations imposed on us almost as design faults, Tarkovsky's film is about the limitations we impose on ourselves regardless of how far we technically advance and our inability to rise above them. Its nominal hero, Kelvin, is not a pleasant man and the film makes little attempt to bring the audience to his side. He treats the disgraced Cosmonaut Burton with insensitivity, professes a ruthless scientific pragmatism that allows for no human element and his immediate response to his first `guest' on the Solaris research station is to deceive and dispose of her. Yet ultimately, as much because of his emotional limitations as in spite of them, he's the one human being who acts most humanely by recognising, albeit in a totally self-centred way, that the fault lies not in the stars but in themselves. Like Burton's young son with the horse in the lengthy prologue on Earth, he displays a childlike fear and rejection of something he doesn't understand before reluctantly accepting that it may have beauty, even if it's a beauty he cannot comfortably embrace.

But the most human character remains the least human: Hari, or rather his image of his dead wife Hari, unable to feel anything that he does not remember for her, stifled by his limitations and gradually assuming a painful awareness and despair of her own. Ironically, it's as she becomes more human that she becomes more unstable. To the other scientists it's because the visitors are unstable neutrino systems, but it's when the artificial Hari studies a painting - another artificial creation of man's consciousness - which triggers a real memory that the horror of her situation as a mere facsimile strikes home. To Kelvin she's at first more a penance than a second chance, a condemnation to repeat history while remaining oblivious - as he presumably did with the real Hari - to the person she is really becoming.

So, not exactly a barrel of laughs, but strangely compelling if you go with it. The 165 minutes don't exactly fly by, but they certainly can get under your skin if you're in a receptive mood and it's not hard to see why it's been so influential on Hollywood sci-fi (Sphere, Event Horizon and Star Trek The Motion Picture among the most prominent).

So, why only three stars? Well, sadly, I was shocked by just how bad the picture quality of the first hour of the Criterion DVD was compared to the PAL Russico/Artificial Eye one - aside from some grading and subtitle changes it looks like you're watching a bad standards conversion of a video tape that's been burned onto a CD-R for all of the Earth-bound sequences, although the color is better. If it weren't for the better extras package - including several deleted/extended scenes and detailed interviews - I doubt I'd have kept this copy.

A Retrospective About Love - Tarkovsky.......2007-03-21

I'm wary of calling any of my blattering theoretic, not even if I ever tried to present it coherently. My thoughts have most certainly been said in a better fashion by those by whom I've been influenced, and by others who know about things a lot more than me. I follow Harold Bloom, Sören Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Kabbalistic concepts although they aren't about cinema, per se. But they did write about things that make a life - and cinema is one way of living a life. In cinematic thinking perhaps the most influential concepts have been self-reference in general: the ideas of illustrated text by Peter Greenaway, sculpting in time by Tarkovsky and also the writings about folding by Ted Goranson, who has been writing on IMDb for years.

The only real goal of my film life is to see cinema lucidly, not through theoretical intellect but through my heart and soul. I'm not interested in giving you the polarized opposites of mind/heart etc., because what's at least as fun as watching the film is thinking about it afterwards. Then again, I'm in love with literature, so writing is a vehicle (often an excuse) to visit here time and again, updating comments that I confess aren't aimed at being that useful for anyone other than myself; it's flattering if anyone finds them and doesn't blame them for their author's mistakes. A short definition of this lucid experiencing is to be influenced in the soul in a positive way; and to experience that constantly is what should build us at least a tiny bit happier. Tarkovsky is a lucid master, and each of his films is an experience to be not only experienced, but really lived through again and again. They're all remarkable (nay, say brilliant) films that transcend conventional barriers, but I personally prefer "Rublev", "Zerkalo" and "Nostalghia" and find things from them that come easier than that from others.

But this particular film is one of the few that are cinematically sensual, heartbreakingly bittersweet. It's a moment of happiness that knows it will go away eventually never returning, a conscious step from one direction to another, knowing that each decision, each selection of images, will change our life and that it will never be the sam again. "Solaris" is part of the small selection of "romantic" films I adore for their quietude and bittersweetness and how this particularly complicated emotion translates to cinema. For isn't bittersweetness rather directly tied to the translusence of memories, and to the acknowledgment of times past? A conscious sorrow that defines and defeats itself, a force unnatural and unpredictable. The reason why we can emote to his art is that although he is abstract, he's real - he doesn't invent an emotion that is artificially connected to the images that he creates, it's as if he channels it, that he would become one with a stream of life, freely hovering through space we can't see.

Yes, it's an illusion, but in his hands it's never a lie.

With best regards,
AK

Average customer rating:

A beautiful and well masterfully crafted film.
Soderbergh tackles Solaris
Interesting and dream-like
Does Philip Glass make films now?
99.9% Cocoa

Solaris
Starring: George Clooney , Natascha McElhone , Viola Davis , Jeremy Davies , and Ulrich Tukur
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B00009ATIX
Release Date: 2003-07-29

Amazon.com

A curious mix of science fiction and metaphysical love story, Solaris centers around Chris Kelvin (George Clooney), a psychologist sent to investigate why a space station orbiting an alien planet has stopped communications. The planet has the power to delve into human psyches and re-create lost loved ones--in Kelvin's case, his dead wife (Natascha McElhone), whom he then wants to bring back to Earth. Director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brockovich) fills almost every shot with faces and bodies, as if to emphasize the human soul rather than outer space as the movie's true subject. Unfortunately, the vagueness of the environment--combined with a script that implies more than it shows--serves to dislocate our ability to engage with the characters, rendering Solaris emotionally inert. Jeremy Davies, as a lingering crew member, brings a hint of humor to the otherwise serious-minded proceedings. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Superstar George Clooney turns in a stellar performance in this "brilliant sci-fi movie" (New York Daily News) from Academy Award winners Steven Soderbergh (2000 - Best Director, Traffic) and JamesCameron (1997 - Best Picture, Titanic). Aboard a lonely space station orbiting a mysterious planet, terrified crew members are experiencing a host of strange phenomena, including eerie visitors who seem all too human. And when psychologist Chris Kelvin (Clooney) arrives to investigate, he confronts a power beyond imagining that could hold the key to mankind's deepest dreams?or darkest nightmares. Co-starring Natascha McElhone and Jeremy Davies, Solaris is "mind-bending!" (Rolling Stone)

Customer Reviews:

A beautiful and well masterfully crafted film........2007-09-10

Solaris is an amazing film that tackles incredible human emotion with wonderful production, cinematography, direction and performance. Also, the sound track is crucial in bringing it all together.
A masterpiece of SCI_FI Cinema that tackles some of the most basic human questions.
Right on to Steven S. For giving the public masses something important to "chew" on.

Soderbergh tackles Solaris.......2007-08-16

According to a good portion of reviewers here this movie is a remake of the Tarkovsky's film... so I guess in a same misguided sense Coppola's Dracula is a remake of Murnau's Nosferatu, etc... ummm, Riiiiight.

Anyway, the fact that many reviewers here dismiss the film up-front because they think it's a remake and not an adaptaion of the book is interesting.

The film itself is of course another shot at Lem's novel. Again, with emphasis put on different aspects than the book (contact with an extremely alien `intelligence'), and different aspects than in Tarkovsky's film (spirituality? god? can't say for sure...).
This one concerns itself with the relationship between character Kelvin and his wife or possibly between Kelvin and his memories of his wife, depends on how to look at it.

The film has a smallish feel to it, a big wholywood spectacle it isn't. Good sense of the future from the presence of many suitable props in the scenery, I'd say 95% of the scenes take place in a confined space, a room, a space station, etc. Strong acting. Bittersweet ending.
It's a psychological drama, not an action fest...

Never understood why they replaced Sartorius(?) with a completely different character (Gordon?)

Overall, more like 4.5 stars really, but i gave it 4 from fear of being ridiculed by the oh-no-a-remake-of-Tarkovsky's-masterpiece crowd

Interesting and dream-like.......2007-08-04

I enjoyed Solaris. It isn't a film for everyone and I don't think it tries to be. The pacing is good - nice and slow! Just the way I like it! Too many films seem to want to rush me to some place before I have had a chance to really engage with the visions, sounds, words, music and ideas inside the film. Solaris did give me a bit of breathing space in this respect.

It is a very handsome film and the special effects, although modest in comparison to some recent science fiction films, are effective.

In some respects this film is really a fantasy rather than a science fiction - it deals with a very strange "what if?" and this question is not about technology, society or man's relationship with his artefacts and machines. It also looks at some psychological reactions.

I was only disappointed by the fact that we were give so little information about the apparently sentient planet, Solaris. Surely, the people would have gained some information about this strange object?

The quiet, ambient music composed for this film was particularly good and I wholeheartedly recommend the soundtrack. It contains some of the most mysterious and beguiling ambient music I've heard.

Does Philip Glass make films now?.......2007-07-02

This film is an unbearably boring, irritatingly pretentious waste of celluloid. Were it filmed digitally, it would have been a waste of precious binary code. It raises rather under-elaborated metaphysical questions about life and death (at a sub-glacial, coma inducing pace) then fails to provide any meaningful message. After 90 minutes of waiting for something to happen, something actually does, for which I was extremely grateful: the credits rolled. Video stores should be forced to apply warning stickers to the boxes.

99.9% Cocoa.......2007-06-24

Some people just don't like dark chocolate. This movie gets short shrift from reviewers who don't care for its slow pace and that it requires a bit of thinking. The reviewer below suggests that Clooney would rather not have done this film. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Clooney applied for this role. This is a love story and a psychological mystery/sci-fi/thriller. It's an intensely suspenseful and fascinating story in which all the actors give excellent performances.

Average customer rating:

Awful, Awful, Awful
Black Dahlia Murdered again
A trainwreck from beginning to end...
Mr. Fire. Mr. Ice. A Big Puddle.
LORD WHAT A MESS

The Black Dahlia (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Brian De Palma , Steve Eastin , Troy Evans , Mia Frye , and Gregg Henry
Director: Brian De Palma
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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ASIN: B000K2UVZM
Release Date: 2006-12-26

Amazon.com

The Black Dahlia drips with film noir atmospherics as it unspools a lurid and complicated story taken from James Ellroy's true-crime-inspired novel of the same name. Two boxers-turned-cops--Lee "Mr. Fire" Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart, Thank You For Smoking) and Bucky "Mr. Ice" Bleichert (Josh Hartnett, Black Hawk Down)--are morally tested as they pursue the killer of a young would-be actress, grappling with corruption, narcissism, stag films, and family madness along the way. L.A. Confidential turned Ellroy's heated prose into a taut, compelling movie, but The Black Dahlia collapses like a soggy meringue. Director Brian De Palma (who once made such vibrant, entertaining movies as Carrie and The Untouchables) can't muster the energy to craft one of his trademark bravura action sequences and seems outright bored by the more mundane tasks of shaping performances and establishing mood. The actors flounder; Eckhart seems to be emoting for two, perhaps to compensate for Hartnett's bland lack of affect; even actresses as dependable as Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation) and Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry) give clumsy, unconvincing performances. The one exception is an unsettling performance by Mia Kirshner (Exotica) as the doomed actress, seen only in perverse screen tests and stag films. The story is incomprehensible (and when you can follow it, it's silly); the dialogue is atrocious; the characters make hardly any sense from scene to scene. The movie is, however, good for many moments of absurd camp, such as when Bucky enters the most lavish, palatial lesbian bar you'll ever see, featuring a Busby-Berkeley-style stairway of smooching babes and a crooning k.d. lang. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Awful, Awful, Awful.......2007-08-23

I gave this movie 1 star because I was unable to give it negative stars. This story has VERY little to do with the Black Dahlia. Naming it that it that was merely the hook (false hook at that) to generate interest!

Black Dahlia Murdered again.......2007-08-23

I was looking forward to this film with great expectations. The book was masterfully written by Ellroy , but butchered by the film director making me question if he even read the book.What a hugh dissapointment.

A trainwreck from beginning to end..........2007-08-20

Wow...what a disaster...Though I do have to give De Palma SOME credit...he may be the only director in history able to get Scarlet Johannsen to come across as boring, dour, and unsexy on screen. The acting--over done, the story--incomprehensible and nonsensical...I can think of no redeeming quality to this film at all. Perhaps one of the worst "serious" films I have ever seen...Stay away...stay far away...

Mr. Fire. Mr. Ice. A Big Puddle........2007-08-13

Based on the true story of the gruesome murder of Elizabeth Short in 1947, THE BLACK DAHLIA is no homage to the young lady. It isn't even historically accurate.

Film noir really should be restricted to black and white. Director Brian DePalma (who has created a very uneven body of work over the years) knows this, and so he tries to create atmospherics in THE BLACK DAHLIA by switching between B & W and color. It doesn't help.

Baby-faced Josh Hartnett, who still looks like he should be doing teen fare, is hideously miscast as a cop in 1940s LA who is trying to unravel the truth behind the gruesome murder-mutilation of the young would-be starlet. Hartnett's role cries out for granite-faced grit and toughness (think Sam Spade) but instead we get Mr. John Q. Sensitivity. Aaron Eckert, who plays his partner, is similarly fresh-faced. Neither of these guys even has stubble on their chins. I doubt they shave, even in real life.

Scarlett Johanssen plays their shared girlfriend. Johanssen, who usually gives it her all onscreen, starts out strong, but, realizing this film is a turkey, decides to save her energy for a better day.

The best performance of the film belongs to Hilary Swank, who is lush, lustful and convincing, not to mention Ava Gardner gorgeous, in her uninhibited role as a sex kitten. But even the presence of the two-time Oscar winner does not redeem this film which meanders unevenly and oft-times pointlessly through its dim, confused storyline, which includes outre sex, drugs, murder, family scandal, money, multiple betrayals, and not one character worth saving.

While all of the above are de riguer for film noir, merely flinging all these elements together in a heap and adding a few fedoras for flavor does not a movie make. Motive is missing, as is real tension, hence the real darkness that makes a film truly noir. Without a clear-cut story, and with just too many subplots, THE BLACK DAHLIA becomes a waste of time. In the end, you just don't give a damn whodunit.

LORD WHAT A MESS.......2007-08-08

Actually this movie has some good points..like Hillary Swank..although i honestly, she needs a new agent if this is the best he can do for her. As for Josh Hartlet, he ought to kiss the ground everyday for his career, because he is bar none the WORST actor in Hollywood, i think he has sold his soul to the devil, which is all fine and good, but i didnt, so why do i have to endure the torture of watching him..he and Scarlet Johansen have NO chemistry and frankly she is as bad as him in this..what is with all the stareing, what the f is she looking at?...i guess she's just so gobsmacked that she's in this film, she's gone into shock. I give this film two stars instead of none because of the great Fiona Shaw, she is worth watching this for: she is hilarious. Frankly, this film in better hands could have been watchable, but as it is, id say, dont walk away from this movie if you see it for rent...RUNNNN Forest, RUNNNNNNNNNNNN.

Average customer rating:

Awful, Awful, Awful
Black Dahlia Murdered again
A trainwreck from beginning to end...
Mr. Fire. Mr. Ice. A Big Puddle.
LORD WHAT A MESS

The Black Dahlia (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Brian De Palma , Steve Eastin , Troy Evans , Mia Frye , and Gregg Henry
Director: Brian De Palma
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000K2UVZW
Release Date: 2006-12-26

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Awful, Awful, Awful.......2007-08-23

Black Dahlia Murdered again.......2007-08-23

A trainwreck from beginning to end..........2007-08-20

Mr. Fire. Mr. Ice. A Big Puddle........2007-08-13

LORD WHAT A MESS.......2007-08-08

Average customer rating:

Rock Stars can act!
On the Road
Period film
Bring this movie back
cult road flick

Two-Lane Blacktop
Starring: James Taylor , Warren Oates , Laurie Bird , Dennis Wilson , and David Drake (II)
Director: Monte Hellman
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
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ASIN: B00001ODI0
Release Date: 1999-10-19

Amazon.com

James Taylor is The Driver, a car-obsessed racer with stringy hair and a concentration that precludes conversation. He travels the backroads of rural America with his buddy, The Mechanic (Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys), an equally obsessed lost soul at home only in the car or under the hood. They have no names, only designations, and no life outside of their gypsy existence, riding the unending highway in their souped-up '55 Chevy from race to race. After picking up a hitchhiking Girl (Laurie Bird), whose presence breaks the tunnel-vision focus of the two men, they challenge a middle-aged hotshot, the garrulous G.T.O. (Warren Oates) to a cross-country race. Monte Hellman's Two-Lane Blacktop is the most alienated evocation of modern America ever made, an almost abstract study in dislocation and obsession set against a vague landscape of roadside diners and rest stops. Taylor and Wilson deliver appropriately blank performances, only expressing emotion when The Girl sparks jealousy between them. Oates is a glib dynamo constructing a new persona in every scene, as if trying on characters to play as he ping-pongs between the coasts. "How fast does it go?" asks The Driver, admiring G.T.O.'s car. "Fast enough," he answers. The Driver snaps, "You can never go fast enough." These are characters on the road to nowhere who can't work up enough speed to escape themselves. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Rock Stars can act!.......2007-05-12

Although I don't really don't know if you can consider this acting. What procedes between Mr. Fire and Rain, The Beach Boy, and their many acquaintances on the road sound like things that everyday people would discuss, and that doesn't take alot to do. But most people can't transfer onto the screen as well as these boys can.

As for the movie itself. I loved it! What happened to America in the past 35 years since this movie first came out? We've all become so embroiled in our daily activities that we forget about what else is out there. This movie is, for me, a 100 minute snapshot of what freedom is. It's being out on the road, not being tied down to any real commitment, except for the occasional breadwinning. And these 2 friends have found their breadwinning niche in the form of their biggest passion, racing. For other people it could be music, surfing, or painting.

The only really thing I didn't like about the movie was Laurie Bird's butchering of some great tunes. Like her tonedeaf interpretation of The Stones' classic "Satisfaction" in the arcade or her annoying lyric echoing for that killer blues number playing on the GTO's sound system. You can see Dennis Wilson trying to keep himself from laughing at her in that scene. But luckily for me that isn't enough for me to take away a star.

It's interesting that direction Monte Hellmen, known for his Westerns, decided to choose a couple of rock stars (who at the time could've been considered the Wild West Heroes [and Villians, haha Beach Boys reference] of the day) to star in this movie.

Much like the dialouge, music is kept to a minimum. Mainly the only real excuse for music in this movie is the fact that it's always coming from a car stereo, instead of the usual dramatic effect (like in "Easy Rider" or "Vanishing Point"). It's same as everything else in the movie. A song just passes by as if it were an object by the highway. If you're going fast, it passes by quickly.

Hopefully this movie can translate to you, the same way it translated to me.

On the Road.......2007-04-21

I wasn't sure what to expect from the flick as I refused to read the blurb and wanted to go in completely unspoiled. The flick stars a young James Taylor (yeah, that James Taylor, the Fire and Rain, ex-hippie soft rock king), Dennis Wilson (of the Beach Boys), Laurie Bird, and Warren Oates (who I only really knew as Sgt. Hulka from Stripes.) Basically it's sort of an existentialist gear-head flick that follows two friends, a hitchhiker, and a compulsive liar as they race across the country.

The first thing that surprised me was how much I loved both James Taylor (as The Driver) and Dennis Wilson (as The Mechanic); both perfectly nail that disassociated quietness that comes from truly cool obsessive hobbyists (you know the type, that dude that's uber knowledgeable and has pretty much seen or experienced every aspect of something and just kind of hangs out mildly interested in the scene; think Chevy Chase in Caddyshack or Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused.) When they're checking out potential cars to race against, and they're rattling off engine types and model years it's with a total stoicism that's way more realistic and convincing than a more manic method approach (like Nic Cage in the Gone in 60 Seconds remake.) Very early on you get used to the two as a unit, almost inseparable, so later in the film with the introduction of Laurie Bird's hitchhiker, even though it's played out very subdued, you can really feel the distance growing between the Driver and the Mechanic. It's kind of painful to watch (in a good way.)

Overall the film is very slow, plodding along just fast enough with almost no plot that you might actually fall asleep if it weren't for the occasional engine revving or race. Warren Oates' character, an older guy with a much nicer looking car (a yellow 1970 Pontiac G.T.O.) than the duo (in their dark gray primer colored '55 Chevy) ends up adding a lot of unnerving humor and a lightness to the overly brooding film. He's constantly picking up hitchhikers and coming up with a new spiel about how he ended up with his G.T.O., none of which you can believe by the time he hooks up with the duo. There's actually a great cameo by Harry Dean Stanton as a gay hitchhiker that manages to be both funny and very disturbing at the same time.

This movie plays out much in the same way that Jack Kerouac's On the Road feels. What probably helped this along was that the director Monte Hellman only dished out a day's worth of the script at a time which seemed frustrating to the actors, but which helped to insure very organic performances. He also tried his best to deprive the actors of sleep so that they would be in the same head-space as the characters which were on a non-stop trip.

The flick also has a very abrupt (though interesting), pre-third act resolution, ending which I think says a lot more about the film than I realized when I watched it through the first time. The basic plot is that the duo, after picking up Laurie Bird, are confronted by Warren Oates' character at a gas station (though they've sort of had a couple run-ins with him before where he tries his best to initiate a race and both times they blow him off) and you can tell he's dying to get these three on the road with him, the two guys in a race, and the girl in his car. After a bit of macho posturing, Taylor and Wilson challenge Oates to a race across the country to D.C. with the two car's pinks as the trophy. They put their pink slips together and mail them to D.C. care of general delivery and head out. During the film all three guys make passes at Laurie Bird, who is more than willing, though only Wilson makes contact, however pointless and fleeting it is. At the same time Bird is sort of wary of the guys as it seems that she's looking for a bit of stability and all she can see in them is their need to race above all else, or in Oates' case, a little bit on insanity. Eventually she splits from the group and hitches a ride with some dude on his motorcycle, exiting the film and setting the tone for the rest of the picture which is when everyone sort of realizes that nothing is going to change and they all just sort of abandon the race, getting back to where they started the film leaving the bare plot resolution as a mere loose end. The race is really just a MacGuffin.

Period film.......2007-04-20

I'm younger than James Taylor but in 1971 my friends (T.C. Williams HS ala "Remember the Titans") assumed that the Driver and the Mechanic were maybe barely 20 - in contrast to G.T.O. G.T.O. is more than a generational foil. Warren Oats turns in what is easily the most poignant portrayal of mid-life crisis ever filmed (as it could only occur in 1969-70).

I look at this movie as a masterpiece period film. Forget about Last Picture Show, Diner, Tin Men - maybe American Graffiti: those are great period films (never liked American Graffiti). Two-Lane Blacktop a masterpiece. It is sui generis among American film classics and within its road movie niche. This movie is in the top five of my 10 best films list... (Includes: Blade Runner; The Last Detail; Kill Bill and In Harms Way.)

I think this is the quintessential portrayal of youthful disillusionment and isolation in the late 1960s, very early 1970s. By 1972 the youth culture portrayed in Two-Lane Blacktop had been overcome by events. The so-called "movement" was long over and all that remained were plastic echoes expressed in glib commercialized fashion statements.

Male youth of the era are portrayed accurately as having little to say and even less to accomplish. I would submit that the influence of Two-Lane Blacktop still pops up occasionally in films such as River's Edge, Stand By Me, even elements of Down in the Valley.

Just as that uniquely original youth period has passed so passed the America portrayed in the film's many segues. Likewise passes any opportunity to make as genuine and true a period piece as Two-Lane Blacktop. The film is too pure and simple for our "interesting times."

Bring this movie back.......2006-08-27

This movie needs to be brought back onto DVD. Its a classic car chase movie with rather shabby dialog, but the filming is excellent on this screenplay. The girl that they pick up on the way is pretty cute and the scenes are classic America 1971, before we got shafted with an energy crisis, runaway inflation, a 55 mph speed limit, and Wal-Mart. Its fun to see the drivers make their stops in ratty gas stations, greasy diners (pre-Waffle House) and go through what was small-town America. Long live the two lane blacktop!

Other movies that need to be put on DVD include the movie Stingray, made in 1978, a madcap comedy/action film about a couple of drug dealers who stash some money and cocaine in a 1964 Stingray ragtop and the chase to get it back.

cult road flick.......2006-07-18

Remember Jerry Lundegaard from "Fargo," a con man on his last tether who's so wrapped up in his lies that when they begin to unravel and he looks out of the screen with his puppy dog eyes, you pity him for not having thought things through well enough to pull it off? Lundegaard's got nothing on G.T.O. (named after the car he drives), a consummate liar who spins yarns without betraying a muscle, in a role played by Warren Oates that comes off like the prototype for Chris Cooper's orchid thief character in "Adaptation." In fact, the whole movie, simple yet engaging and at times mesmerizing, with characters who are underdeveloped but nevertheless feel natural and true, comes across like a study guide for modern-day indie filmmaking. James Taylor -- in his only movie role as a drifter whose survival depends on the virility of his Chevy -- with his chiseled stare, primitive-grunge style and somber presence is to Vincent Gallo as Jack Nicholson is to Christian Slater. Too bad he decided to stick with songwriting. "Blacktop" is like a Kerouac novel on film, an oddball adventure with no beginning and no end. The film also owes a healthy nod to "Easy Rider." Look closely for a non-frontal cameo by Harry Dean Stanton as a gay hitchhiker.

Average customer rating:

Possibly the best of the movies from these series
this was a good movie
FOR A WHILE CROCODILE
A killer remake
Where's the Doggy???

Crocodile
Starring: Mark McLachlan , Caitlin Martin , Chris Solari , D.W. Reiser , and Julie Mintz
Director: Tobe Hooper
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00004YS98
Release Date: 2000-12-26

Description

High school sweethearts Brady, Claire and six of their college friends board a houseboat for a fun-filled, sun-soaked spring break vacation. But when they discover a nest of large eggs in the marshlands -- and can't resist taking one back to the party -- their weekend of fun-in-the-sun will turn into a weekend of terror.

Customer Reviews:

Possibly the best of the movies from these series.......2006-08-03

The movie series "spiders" "Crocodile" "Shark Attack" and "Octopus" were apparently brought out on DVD by the same company at a similar time.

Amongst the nine movies in those four series, this is probably the best.

Its kind of like a slaher movie but with a crocodile instead of a serial killer, so I guess it could also be considered "original for a slasher movie"

this was a good movie.......2006-05-16

CROCODILE was a great horror flick. its about a group of college kids on spring break going on a boating trip on a river in louisiana. they begin the trip going along and having fun until the mess with the crocs nest and ruin the eggs and steal 1 of them. the croc is infuriated and goes after the kids and starts killin em 1 by 1. the film had some good humor in it and a lot of gore. this was a great movie and watching it is definietly worth your while

FOR A WHILE CROCODILE.......2006-01-28

CHROCACTERS
If you can get past the Tom Cruise-alike, it's watchable.
The unique face is great for modelling but in film it's just too distracting.
So is the Tom Cruise-alike. No I wasn't really talking about the crocodile, but the Tomodile, who plays Brady (no relation to the Bunch). He should be called Mark McCruise, not Mark McLachlan.
Duncan's extreme ego was somehow satisfying to me - pulling out the stops, acting over the tops. Taking Hollowood's egomania to the next level.
And there's the rest of the Brady bunch. You know em.

REACTIONS
After the first croc sighting, I was really surprised at the pleasant panic and chaos that went on for ages. But, of course, having thought that would mean I'd be let down the next minute.
Where horror films fail first is reactions. They are so necessary for reality, and horror.
Where horror films fail second is consistency.
In the next croc bit, the first attack scene, the reactions weren't even equalled. This was the time to take it to the next level.

CROCODILE FOR A WHILE
Mostly the CGI looks good, even - or especially - in daylight. But all that time on modelling (I told you that croc was a model) - CGI modelling I mean - and they just show it for flashes [..]

Don't forget the crocorn. And jellybabies. And of course a HUGE Croke.

A killer remake.......2005-11-11

If you saw the original Texas Chainsaw Masscer and the Poltergist. You'll love this. This movie is a remake of the original Crocodile shout back in 1981. Some tennagers are coming to the lake to party. While exploring the shore and find a nest full of eggs which all but one is destroyed. One of the tennagers takes the egg. Little does he know he is being watch by a full grown 30 foot salt water crocodile. Who got pissed of. Some drunk fisherman disturb here nested. Smash the some of the eggs and threw some in the water where they sunk. The crocodile goes one a killing spree. Will the teens survive find out in the bonechilling conclusion.

Where's the Doggy???.......2005-03-24

I would like to take this moment to personally thank Mr. Tobe Hooper for creating such a brilliant masterpiece of cinema. Move over Troll 2 and Cannibal Confederate Killers, there is a new bad boy on the block.

In this terror(able) movie, a giant "pissed off" croc (not sure whether it is prehistoric or not) terrorizes 8 college kids trying to "get drunk and have a good time" (the 2 ½ sentences on the back of the box describe this well.) Here is a brief description of each of these jackholes:

Brady- The popular, yet sensitive dude.
Claire- The hot girlfriend.
Duncan- The popular dude's bad-@$$ friend.
Kit- The native guy who knows his was around.
Annabelle- The native guy's girlfriend, who is obsessed with her doggy.
Sunny- The slutty girl who wants the popular guy.
Foster- The guy you don't learn anything about and don't really care when he dies.
Hubs- The drunk of the group. (I can relate)

Make sure to keep an eye out for the following scenes:
a) When hillbilly 2 feeds the chickens to 'Ole Bessie.
b) Any time hillbilly 1 opens his mouth.
c) The greatest line in motion picture history, when Kit decides to grow an extra chromosome and go, "where's the doggy?"
d) The scene where the croc pulls a Carl Lewis high jump over the boat for relatively no reason.
e) How despite fires, explosions, crocodiles, growling sharks, volcanoes, earthquakes, sinking boats, and fire-breathing mosquitoes with rabies, the doggy, Princess, manages to survive the entire Crocodile Adventure.
f) I grow weary or this, believe me there's more.

All in all out of a possible ten, one being lowest, ten being high, and five being average, I give this flick a 9. Thank You New Image Home Cinema; you've put a smile on my face once again.

Average customer rating:

Piper as Piper, watch for the stunt mats
I resemble that remark...
Hell Came To My T.V. Screen When I Watched This Movie!!!
Colder than a frog's butt...
Nothing is more amusing than a bad 80s flick.

Hell Comes to Frogtown
Starring: Julius LeFlore , RCB , Roddy Piper , William Smith , and Sandahl Bergman
Director: R.J. Kizer , and Donald G. Jackson
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
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ASIN: B000059PP6
Release Date: 2001-07-10

Customer Reviews:

Piper as Piper, watch for the stunt mats.......2007-08-07

Not only is it a movie about a guy with a bomb strapped to his crotch killing frog people, it's probably the best movie ever made about a guy with a bomb strapped to his crotch killing frog people. I uh...I don't believe that this was a remake of anything by Shakespeare, I'm not sure if there was some deeply implanted philosophical statement about the struggles of humanity, but it was darn good guy-with-a-bomb-strapped-to-his-crotch-killing-frog-people movie. Also there's a scene where a guy falls off a small cliff and you can clearly see the mat he lands on giving a little bounce. This is the movie people with low expectations thought "They Live" was going to be. Both are worth watching for their own charms.

I resemble that remark..........2006-12-05

Actually I got to participate for 3 days in the shooting of this fiasco.
I was one of the frog guards (not credited). I got to meet Rowdy Roddy Piper who was very friendly and Sandahl Bergman who asked me where she could get some coffee. The frog puns were flying a mile a minute on the set and some were unbearable. Also note the green beer made of 7-up and Palmolive. Three nights in a warehouse was too much for me and I refused to continue in a heavy frog costume in Death Valley in May-June of 1987 even though they promised me a credit.

Hell Came To My T.V. Screen When I Watched This Movie!!!.......2005-07-24

Every now and then I find a very good 'B Grade" movie at my local video store. Sadly this is not one of them. This movie is set in a Barren (no relation to me!!!) Post Apocalyptic Wasteland where Human Fertility is treasured.Judge Judy is of the opinion that "any idiot can make a baby" and I am inclined to agree with her. Then our intrepid Hero named Sam Hell goes to Frogtown in the hope of impregnating lots of women.I did grow weary of all of the women admiring this guy for his "High Sperm Cell Count" as if that is something to be proud of.If this guy lived in modern Los Angeles he would be paying Child Support to 15 different women. I give this movie 5 stars because I kind of like the look of the Wasteland that is depicted in this movie.

Colder than a frog's butt..........2004-11-22

I cuddled up to a 1988 low budget sci-fi
flunky on a cold Sunday evening to watch a film entitled "Hell Comes to Frogtown". No
foolin'...That is the honest to goodness title.

Granted, it's freezing outside, and I should have
started the fireplace and read a good book, but
instead I wasted 90 mintes of my life waiting for this
loser to light a fire under me. Never happened. I
was hoping it was a comedy. What I got was a croaker
from start to finish. This film is definitely colder
that a frog's butt (no pun intended).

Catch this! It's the tale of post world-war
destruction. 67% of the male population is wiped out
and Mr. Sam Hell is identified as a fertile male. He
is recruited by the government, fitted with a cast
metal loin brace, and sent to Frogtown to impregnate
wanton and fertile females. What's the point? They
want to perpetuate the war by increasing the number of
male soldiers. (Kinda sounds like the Bush regime,
huh?) Now I know why Colin Powell was axed. He was
the likely screenwriter and co-producer.

By the way. The apparatus they affix to his groin is
a time bomb. If he tries to escape the grasp of
government moguls it will explode...by the twist of an
earring. That's right...an earring.

I wish I could say something good about this film.
Not even the "Dance of the Three Snakes" (performed by
a skinny blonde "Twiggy" look-a-like) was worth the
effort.

Hell really didn't come to Frogtown. It came into my
living room.

Don't even think of renting this. I'd watch a Kermit
and Miss Piggy flick first.

Nothing is more amusing than a bad 80s flick........2004-09-01

It's already been said by everyone else. This movie is so bad its good. I bought it for 3.99 on a closeout rack. In the DVD menu they even mis-spelled the word "start," as in "STRAT movie" and how can anybody not love Roddy Piper from "They Live" fame?

But whatever you do, do NOT pay the 22 dollars these shmucks want for it. Unless of course you bought "Jackass: The Movie" or "Freddy vs. Jason". Then, well, go ahead. You deserve to be ripped off.

Girls From Another World: Rollergator/Things/Toad Warrior/Big Sister 2000

Average customer rating:

Does This Violate The Geneva Convention?
Don't waste your time or money!
Bad Film

Girls From Another World: Rollergator/Things/Toad Warrior/Big Sister 2000
Starring: Julie Strain , Jill Kelly , Conrad Brooks , Joe Estevez , and Camille Solari
Director: Scott Shaw
Manufacturer: Bci / Eclipse
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Vamps and Witches