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

Amazon.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

More Pedro Almodovar at Amazon.com

Songs of Almodóvar CD
Volver
The Films of Pedro Almodóvar

Customer Reviews:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Viva Pedro - The Almodovar Collection / Volver

Average customer rating:

Viva Pedro - The Almodovar Collection / Volver

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

ASIN: B000TV84NU
Release Date: 2007-08-07

Amazon.com

Volver

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

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

Average customer rating:

Fantastic Planet
Director: René Laloux
Manufacturer: ACCENT CINEMA
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Animation | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Science & Technology | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

ASIN: B000TZN7KQ
Release Date: 2007-10-23

Product Description

René Laloux's mesmerising psychedelic sci-fi animated feature won the Special Jury Prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival and is a landmark of European animation. Based on Stefan Wul's novel Oms en série [Oms by the Dozen], Laloux's breathtaking vision was released in France as La Planète sauvage [The Savage Planet]; in the USA as Fantastic Planet; and immediately drew comparisons to Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Planet of the Apes (both the 1968 film and Boule's 1963 novel). Today, the film can be seen to prefigure much of the work of Hayao Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) due to its palpable political and social concerns, cultivated imagination, and memorable animation techniques.

Fantastic Planet tells the story of "Oms", a human-like species, kept as domesticated pets by an alien race of blue giants called "Draags". The story takes place on the Draags' planet Ygam, where we follow our narrator, an Om called Terr, from infancy to adulthood. He manages to escape enslavement from a Draag learning device used to educate the savage Oms - and begins to organise an Om revolt. The imagination invested in the surreal creatures, music and sound design, and eerie landscapes, is immense and unforgettable. This release includes the early LaLoux short "The Snails".

Special Features: English Language version, Original Subtitled version, photo gallery, trailer, Fantastic Laloux, the new 26 minute documentary on director Rene Laloux, short animated film Les Escargots (The Snails), an animated segment of Sean Lennon s music video for Would I Be The One , inspired by Fantastic Planet

Bad Education (Original Uncut NC-17 Edition)

Average customer rating:

Art imitates life, but the favor isn't returned...
Bad Education
La Mala Educacion
Good movie
"Sara Is Beautiful"

Bad Education (Original Uncut NC-17 Edition)
Starring: Francisco Boira , Javier Cámara , Juan Fernández (XIII) , Alberto Ferreiro , and Gael García Bernal
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Religion | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

General | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B0007OCG5G
Release Date: 2005-04-12

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews:

Art imitates life, but the favor isn't returned..........2007-08-30

Paradoxically, this is one of Almodóvar's most inventive and attractive films, despite being perhaps his least profound. Throughout most of the story, both presented fact and contrived fiction (scribed as a screenplay by Bernal's character) are neatly, almost seamlessly intertwined, presenting two interrelated stories that never seem incongruous in relation to one another, though the latter is hardly an honest reflection of much stranger truths.

While all of Almodovar's films are beautiful, this is especially so; the flamboyant art direction and vivid cinematographic flourishes implemented here render the film's bright, colorful visuals with extraordinary clarity. As both a man and a woman, Bernal is no less beautiful. In creating an almost exclusively male film (a rarity for him), Almodóvar expertly conveys the beauty of the male form through Bernal's magnificent physique. Both the implied and explicit homoeroticism in this film function as much as an examination of the masculine aesthetic as a character motivation.

I'll never cease to be amazed by Almodóvar's gift for making impossibly audacious stories like this one seem entirely plausible; he's a remarkably inspired screenwriter in addition to his undeniable skill as a director.

The two deleted scenes on this disc focus on more of the film's fictional story. Even though they're as beautifully filmed as the rest of the movie, they add nothing to the story and are fairly irrelevant. I advise all potential customers to purchase the NC-17 version, if only because life is a bit more spicy for the inclusion of a BJ from time to time.

Bad Education.......2007-07-18

Potent, complex film from master Almodovar features a stunning, gender-bending performance from Garcia-Bernal, and an ingenious plot that has us shifting between Ignacio's story as written and real-life. Themes of human and sexual identity mix with a sordid tale of abuse and revenge to create a dense, twisty thriller. Note: those uncomfortable with depictions of simulated gay sex should opt for the R-rated version. Another memorable and distinctive entry from director Almodovar.

La Mala Educacion.......2007-05-16

I hate long-winded reviews in the case of films that really just need to be seen, so I'll suffice to say that it had incredible twists and turns, stunning acting, gorgeous Jean-Paul Gaultier wardrobe and is definitely worth owning. Gael Garcia-Bernal is absolutely amazing and is an actor to be reckoned with.

I have a love for films that make people uncomfortable, and this doesn't disappoint in that respect. Another Almoldovar winner.

Good movie.......2007-05-14

Good script with a few "suprises", good acting, beautiful film. I watch it over & over.

"Sara Is Beautiful".......2007-05-11

"Bad Education" is a remarkable film - drama/ thriller/neo-noir with many surprises, with an interesting structure: it takes place in the present and tells the story about the past, presents the story as a film within the film, then mixes past and present together in a twisted turn. It's been said a lot about Gael García Bernal's performance (or should I say, three performances) - he is a triple star of the film, and he looks great as a woman (transsexual/drag queen) and a man. He is a talented actor, too. There is a lot to admire in perhaps, the most personal Almodovar's film but it felt strangely remote and cold to me. The one moment that brought some memories back and I felt that I was connected with the film was a scene where two young characters, Ignacio and Enrique went to see the movie "Esa mujer" (1969) with one of the most stunning Spanish movie stars and singers, Sara Montiel. The boy Ignacio whispered in awe, "Sara is beautiful." I had the pleasure to see Sara in two films, La Reina del chantecler, (1962) and Mi último tango (1960)... aka My Last Tango and I can confirm that she could make any movie worth of watching.

Average customer rating:

Has not aged well.
5 stars for the film ONLY, not the DVD
Don't Panic!
Jennifer Drake?
AMAZING Film, TERRIBLE version of it

Fantastic Planet
Starring: Janet Waldo , Barry Bostwick , Jennifer Drake (III) , Hal Smith , and Hubert de Lapparent
Director: René Laloux
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Animation | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Space Adventure | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Sci-Fi & Fantasy | Cult Movies | Genres | DVD | Video

Science & Technology | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

International | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: 6305307156
Release Date: 1999-02-16

Amazon.com

Based on French science fiction novelist Stefan Wul's Oms en Serie ("Oms by the Dozen"), René Laloux's La Planète Sauvage (its title changed to Fantastic Planet for the U.S. release) paints an animated tale of humans kept as domesticated pets by an alien race of blue humanoid giants called Traags. The story takes place on the Traags' planet Ygam, where we follow our narrator, an Om called Terr, from infancy to adulthood, when he escapes his subjugation with a Traag learning device with which to educate the savage Oms and incite them to revolt. As a French-Czech coproduction, this story had much resonance for its makers as an allegory of Czechoslovakia's invasion by Soviet troops in the late '60s, and had to be completed in Paris due to political pressure. While the story does not distinguish itself in the annals of science fiction, the imagination invested in the surreal backdrops, with its eerie creatures and landscapes, does. The animation technique--moving paper cutouts across backgrounds--contributes to the overall feeling of other-worldliness. Fantastic Planet won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973. Included on the DVD are three early short subjects by Laloux showing his evolution toward Fantastic Planet. You have your choice of audio: French with English subtitles, or English with English subtitles. But choose the latter so you can see how much the subtitles are cheating you. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews:

Has not aged well........2007-08-01

Fantastic Planet (Rene Laloux, 1973)

When it came out, Fantastic Planet was visionary, cutting-edge, all those superlatives (even if it did seem to derive a great deal from Terry Gilliam's animations on Monty Python's Flying Circus). Nowadays, well, it hasn't aged well. The nostalgia crowd will get a serious kick out of it. If you haven't seen it before, though, you're better off not listening to the raves.

It's sometime in the far future. Humanity has been reduced to wild animals who co-inhabit their planet (which may or may not be Earth) with the Draag, a race of giants. The humans, now known as "om", are sometimes domesticated by the Draag and kept as pets; one of them, though the use of certain Draag tools, learns how to read their language. When he escapes and takes refuge with a tribe of wild om, he brings the disturbing news that the Draag are planning to step up their om extermination campaign, and he must therefore educate the wild om so they can either fight back or flee to another planet.

It's all quite pretty, if exceptionally retro-looking in these days of CGI and Pixar. Roland Topor's story and art, like much of his work, is stuffed full of sexual repression masking itself as permissiveness, which these days is the most interesting thing about the movie; still, Topor's obsessions tend to come off better in prose form (The Tenant is still as riveting today as it was forty years ago). That said, if you saw it long ago as a youngster, you'll probably get a nostalgia kick out of it. **

5 stars for the film ONLY, not the DVD.......2007-07-12

I saw this movie on cable in the mid-90s and thought it was PHENOMINAL! Yes, the animation was far inferior to mid-90s techniques, but I really enjoyed the retro feel. The film had a dream-like, surreal quality that I have never experienced with a film before. The story was great and the music was fantastic. So, why am I not buying this DVD?

I am holding out, with great faith, that it will be given a proper DVD treatment in the future. Anamorphic widescreen, if not 5.1, at least a decent stereo track, and the option to eliminate the subtitles.

The current version can be found easily, but it is expensive. I refuse to pay that much money for a product that I will ultimately be unsatisifed with. If and when a proper DVD release comes to pass, I will happily pay good money for such a unique and enjoyable film.

Don't Panic!.......2006-09-15

If you are dismayed by the revelation that the U.S. Anchor Bay DVD edition of this animated sci-fi classic is now out of print and only available via typically price-gouging independent sellers, I have good news. There is a lovely new UK-issued edition out in summer of 2006 that I was able to pick up at one of my more discriminating local video stores (I see you can also order through Amazon UK). This latest reissue (from the Eureka studio) features an anamorphic transfer of the film. Unfortunately, the film has still not been restored, so there are artifacts and "dirt" here and there; but after an "A/B" comparison with my old Anchor Bay copy, I discerned a definite improvement. Another plus: the Eureka edition gives you the option of deleting the subtitles if you wish. Also included: The complete soundtrack (audio only) and two short films by director Laloux-"L'Escargot" (from 1965) and a beautiful 1987 piece based on a Chinese parable, "Comment Wang-Fo Fut Sauve" ("L'Escargot" was also included on the Anchor Bay release; "Wang-Fo" was not). There are two other Laloux shorts on the Anchor Bay release which are not on the new UK package, so I suppose that still gives the Anchor Bay version some degree of collectibility. For overall quality, however I would recommend the Eureka edition. The only caveat: it does require a multi-region player.

Jennifer Drake?.......2006-07-24

Thirty years ago I fell in love with a "Voice"...the Hypnotic (but meaningless!).."The Uvas of Gome are dominated by an inland fibulous sea.."etc., and wonderfully, the subtitles generally say something different again! If this was intended as allegory, I suppose that we ARE "hypnotised" by repetition in our youth, so that we are reluctant to QUESTION...It is an ironic joke therefore, that for 30 yrs. I have actually longed to be once again hypnotised by this Beautiful Voice: a veritable Siren-Song.BUT..who IS Jennifer Drake?.Does anyone know?There MIGHT have been a record version of this soundtrack at one time, because all the music is SO "familiar"..but then, so is the imagery...it's as if it has been secretly playing in my deeper mind all these years. Incidentally I got the VHS tape. Does the DVD mention THE VOICE?

AMAZING Film, TERRIBLE version of it.......2006-06-10

This film is completely spellbinding and amazing. The Terry Gilliam/Monty Python-esque animation is totally stunning. The only PROBLEM is that this is a HORRIBLE, I repeat HORRIBLE, version of it. I own a VHS copy and was thrilled when it first came out onto DVD, but little did I know my VHS VERSION IS ACTUALLY SUPERIOR. The color on the VHS version is better and on the DVD release YOU CANNOT TURN OFF THE SUBTITLES!! The subtitles even overlay the picture and do not stay in the black letterbox bars and at times DO NOT EVEN MATCH THE DIALOGUE OF THE CHARACTERS. I cannot BELIEVE this is going for $99 now when it's such a horrible version of the film. Save your money and buy the VHS version! The DVD is only in stereo anyway, so you won't lose any sound quality. I really hope another distributor gains the rights to this film and releases a version worthy of its caliber as the masterpiece it actually is, because this version is so substandard it makes me sick.

Average customer rating:

Art imitates life, but the favor isn't returned...
Bad Education
La Mala Educacion
Good movie
"Sara Is Beautiful"

Bad Education (R-Rated Edition)
Starring: Francisco Boira , Javier Cámara , Juan Fernández (XIII) , Alberto Ferreiro , and Gael García Bernal
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Religion | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B0007XBM7U
Release Date: 2005-04-12

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Art imitates life, but the favor isn't returned..........2007-08-30

Bad Education.......2007-07-18

La Mala Educacion.......2007-05-16

Good movie.......2007-05-14

Good script with a few "suprises", good acting, beautiful film. I watch it over & over.

"Sara Is Beautiful".......2007-05-11

Pedro Almodovar 5-DVD Collection (Bad Education; Talk To Her; All About My Mother; Live Flesh; Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ]

Average customer rating:

Pedro Almodovar 5-DVD Collection (Bad Education; Talk To Her; All About My Mother; Live Flesh; Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ]
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Manufacturer: Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000FVXU06

Product Description

"Great Britain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Subtitles), WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SYNOPSIS: This 5-DVD Collection contains 5 Almodovar's movies: Bad Education (La Mala educación): In the early 60s, two boys - Ignacio and Enrique - discover love, movies and fear in a Christian school. Father Manolo, the school principal and Literature teacher, both witnesses and takes part in these discoveries. The three characters come against one another twice again, in the late 70s and in 1980... Talk To Her (Hable con ella): Marco, a journalist grieving for a love affair that ended ten years' ago, falls in love with Lydia, a bullfighter also on the rebound. Benigno, a nurse, dedicates his life to his only patient, a young dancer in a coma as a result of an accident four years' before; he talks to her, reads to her, holds photographs in front of her closed eyes. Does a miracle await? All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre): A single mother in Madrid sees her only son die on his 17th birthday as he runs to seek an actress's autograph. She goes to Barcelona to find the lad's father, a transvestite named Lola who does not know he has a child... Live Flesh (Carne trémula): Pizza delivery man Victor is having an argument with Elena, whom he met a few days ago, but she was high then and doesn't want to hear about him. Reacting to the noise, two cops, young David and older Sancho, arrive at the scene, the gun accidentally goes off... Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (¡Átame!): Ricky is released from a mental hospital, and knows exactly what he wants to do. He hunts down Marina, a porn film star he once had sex with, and tries to convince here to be his wife. She is a bit reluctant, so he ties her up... Will this approach endear him to her ? SPECIAL FEATURES: Box Set, Interactive Menu, Multi-DVD Set, "

Rich Dad, Rich Woman's: Good Deal Bad Deal - How Do You Find Real Estate Deals That Make Money? (DVD & Workbook)

Average customer rating:

Rich Dad, Rich Woman's: Good Deal Bad Deal - How Do You Find Real Estate Deals That Make Money? (DVD & Workbook)

Manufacturer: Cash Flow Technologies, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

How do you tell the difference between a good deal and a bad deal? Here is your opportunity to learn Kim Kiyosaki's secrets to telling the difference. Kim walks through several examples in different market segments explaining what she looks at and how she determines if she will pursue a deal, or not.

Bad Education (Original Spanish Version - with English Subtitles)

Average customer rating:

Bad Education (Original Spanish Version - with English Subtitles)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000NPISP6

Charlie Rose with Warren Hoge & William Luers; Senator Norm Coleman; Gael Garcia Bernal. (December 3, 2004)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Warren Hoge & William Luers; Senator Norm Coleman; Gael Garcia Bernal. (December 3, 2004)

Manufacturer: "Charlie Rose, Inc."
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Description

A discussion about the oil-for-food scandal at the United Nations with Warren Hoge of The New York Times and William Luers, President & CEO of the United Nations Association of the United States of America. Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) has called for the resignation of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He shares his perspective on the United Nations and the oil-for-food scandal. Actor Gael Garcia Bernal has given two acclaimed performances in recent months. In The Motorcycle Diaries, he plays a young Ernesto Che Guevara. In Pedro Almodovar's Bad Education, he takes on multiple characters, including Zahara, a drug-addicted transvestite.

DVD:

DVD

DVD