City of Angels

Amazon.com

Some critics complained that City of Angels could never compare to Wim Wenders's exquisite German film Wings of Desire, which served as the later film's primary inspiration. The better argument to make is that any such comparisons are beside the point, because Wings of Desire was a much more deeply poetic, artfully contemplative film, whereas City of Angels is an enchanting product of mainstream Hollywood. Meg Ryan stars as Dr. Maggie Rice, a heart surgeon who is grieving over a lost patient when an angel named Seth (Nicolas Cage) appears to comfort her. She can see him despite the "rule" that angels are invisible, and Seth's love for Maggie forces him to choose between angelic immortality and a normal human existence on earth with her. Featuring heavenly roles for TV veterans Andre Braugher and Dennis Franz, the film liberally borrows imagery from Wings of Desire, but it also creates its own charming identity. Cage and Ryan give fine performances as lovers convinced they are soul mates, and although the plot relies on a last-minute twist that doesn't quite work, this earnest love story struck a chord with audiences and proved to be one of the surprise hits of 1998. The Special Edition widescreen DVD includes audio commentary by Nicolas Cage, producer Charles Roven, and director Brad Silberling in addition to deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes documentary, a featurette about the film's special effects, and the theatrical trailer. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

A little Predictable, Great Performances.......2007-09-03

For you Meg Ryan fans [10 years ago], this may well be the best performance of her career. She is utterly believable as a young heart surgeon who falls in love with a haunting Nicholas Cage [her angel]. I found Cage's performance strong [because he is a strong actor], but in this case, not strong enough to maintain my suspension of disbelief. The script is a little heavy-handed on the metaphors, like Ryan's "heart surgeon" role, and the fact that angels must literally "fall" out of their protective, celestial perches in order to experience what humans feel when they "fall in love." I dunno. Maybe thse are minor points, but they seemed a tad hokey to me. What happens as we follow the foibles of Nick's coming to terms with human frailty - as well as the conclusion - are also a little predictable. I did, however, love Dennis Franz's performance as a fallen angel who learned to accept - and adapt to - his new role as a human being. He brought some much-needed levity to a script that might have otherwise found itself drowning in self-indulgence. In the end, this is a film about true love, and about how much we're willing to give - or let go of - in order to feel it in the first place. In a world where everything is over-analyzed, and caution is at an all-time high, it was a welcomed relief to visit this over-the-top look at romantic love one last time...before we forget it ever existed. Maybe that's why I gave it 4 stars.

me please.......2007-06-27

Found the item to be of good quality what was said was what I got found them to be reliable and effficient. Thank You.

Wings of Desire is better by far.......2007-05-16

"Wings of Desire" (the movie that "City of Angels" is loosely inspired upon), is a masterpiece and "City of Angels" is...is... how could I explain it not being too rude? It is just a piece of junk in comparison. Somebody wrote that he didn't like "Wings of Desire" because he didn't feel the same as he felt watching "City of Angels". I agree in the "feeling" part, because I felt nausea watching "City of Angels" and that didn't happen to me watching "Wings of Desire"!! I own "Wings of Desire" and have seen it and enjoyed it many times. Regarding "City of Angels", well I rented it and barely could see it once!

The Original Is Better.......2007-05-13

Back in 1988, on a friend's recommendation, I saw "Wings of Desire" in the theater and loved it. Subsequently, I was interested when Hollywood made its own version of Wim Wender's film with Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan, both actors whose work I've enjoyed. I saw "City of Angels," and for the most part I liked it -- that is, until the very end. What a DOWNER!! No matter that the movie gets all psedo-warmfuzzy-philosophical and time-to-get-out-your-handkerchiefs, it misses the point of the original film, which was a celebration of Human Life and Love. I own the DVD of "Wings of Desire." One viewing of "City of Angels" was enough for me.

City of Angels.......2007-05-09

this is a great movie, a must have. Beautiful music. Two wonderful actors with very expressive eyes. upgrade to DVD

Average customer rating:

ORALE!! IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THE BOYS NO MORE!!
Mi Vida Loca
Great Movie
Excelente
mi vida loca dvd

Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)
Starring: Angel Aviles , Seidy Lopez , Jacob Vargas , Devine , and Monica Lutton
Director: Allison Anders
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0002DRDIW
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Amazon.com

A rare and harsh gem of a film, Mi Vida Loca tells the story of young Hispanic women in Los Angeles and the struggles they have in a life of gangs, drugs, and personal betrayal. Mousie (Seidy Lopez) and Sad Girl (Angel Aviles) are best friends from childhood, growing up in gang-infested Echo Park and remaining loyal to each other. But when Sad Girl sleeps with Mousie's boyfriend (a drug dealer who is killed) and becomes pregnant, their friendship is ruptured. As the violence of their neighborhood erupts around them, they must try to stay together as friends despite their betrayals. This is an unforgiving look at a world where women seem to have no choice but to raise their children, deal drugs, and survive by whatever means necessary. Director Allison Anders (Gas Food Lodging) structures the film as a series of unflinching and vivid anecdotes, bringing insight to a tragic side of modern society. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews:

ORALE!! IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THE BOYS NO MORE!!.......2007-09-02

this movie is an A man strait up. it's one of the best representing the life of the poor homegirls from the barrio. it could have been better, but those were the ways, and that's how things were in those times in the streets. two homitas down for life, then they get jumped in, then damn here comes a vato. messes it all up. here comes betrayal, hardships, and parenting. you got to run the streets and do your thing at home. it's hard in a place like that, and even harder to get out. that's the way of the world you got to do what you must to survive. just goes to show how men come and go. sometimes you got to let it go and grow up for your kids sake, and move on. head up, fight for yours, and don't let no one get you down, even if you have to go at it alone. you know. great movie, chicks all thugged out, makeups down too, great job. do recommend.

Mi Vida Loca.......2007-07-16

Interesting story. I enjoyed seeing this story from the young women's point of view; seeing what they had to go through. Great film.

Great Movie.......2007-05-16

This is a great movie for any one that wants to take a look back into old times in Great L.A. It is also very fuuny and has a lot of actors that you might recognize from these type of movies. ALL and ALL great movie and a must have in any collection.

Excelente.......2007-01-17

I always enjoyed this movie from the first time I saw it. It is worth watching over and over!

mi vida loca dvd.......2006-11-10

i placed two orders from this same seller for the same dvd and both came in very quickly in excellent condition there were no problems with making my payment or anything else thank you very much will be looking forward to ordering from you agan. i got two of the same video cuz my daughter wanted her own copy and needed one for the house also

Average customer rating:

A CLASSIC! CAGNEY & BOGART?...........AND THERE'S MORE?
Another great James Cagney movie
Great Nostalgia!
A very New York movie
"Whaddaya Hear, Whaddaya Say?"

Angels With Dirty Faces
Starring: James Cagney , Pat O'Brien , Humphrey Bogart , Ann Sheridan , and George Bancroft
Director: Michael Curtiz , Bobby Connolly , and Robert Clampett
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B0006HBV28
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Customer Reviews:

A CLASSIC! CAGNEY & BOGART?...........AND THERE'S MORE?.......2007-07-07

This has been a favorite of mine for many years. I wish they would released "Crime School" on DVD! What is the problem?? The whole cast is great in this tale of two childhood friends who take two very different paths as the result of a dumb idea and one of the boys getting caught by the police. They just don't make them like this anymore! No wonder today's youths of the world have no character! I know, I don't want to see who's running this world in 50 years! The DVD boost a nice transfer and some cool extras. This is also available in a Gansters box set(well worth it!)If you haven't seen this film,your missing the best of the best! Bring "Crime School" to DVD please!

Another great James Cagney movie.......2007-05-29

This is a superb movie. James Cagney was awesome. Dead end kids are all dead now, I think. Very good old time movie. It actually had a moral to it's story. Today's filmakers and actors should take note.

Great Nostalgia!.......2007-04-16

I purchased this movie for my husband, who collects antique radios. We merely wanted to see the bar-radio. We enjoy all things Art Deco and vintage, particularly 20-40's. We realized that we were really enjoying the movie! It's a bit sappy, but weren't all movies from the era?

A very New York movie .......2007-04-08

(To Kristopher Haines) you asked "What did audiences see in these kids?" Many kids in the northern cities saw themselves, or knew of wise guy tough kids just like the Dead End Kids. They also knew or knew of a 'Father Connelly' who would try and set neighbourhood tough kids on the right path in life.

If you were a New Yorker you might have been similar to one of the kids depicted in this film yourself. In 1938 many actors & actresses in motion pictures were from New York, thus Hollywood made movies with the New York viewing audiences in mind. That's why the movie going public liked their antics.

After the war when the East End Kids evolved into the The Bowery Boys their fan base grew even larger. Today they have a substantial following amongst old movie fans, and yes many of these fans are from the Tri-State area (NY/CONN/NJ), Philly, Boston, Providence, Chicago etc, since those fans related to the Boys growing up, or watching their re-runs on TV.

[[ASIN:630695001X Key Largo/Angels With Dirty Faces]]
The Warner Gangsters Collection (The Public Enemy / White Heat / Angels with Dirty Faces / Little Caesar / The Petrified Forest / The Roaring Twenties)

"Whaddaya Hear, Whaddaya Say?".......2007-03-14

Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) was always a troublesome kid, but what do you expect from a guy who grew up in the slums? The only difference between him and the man who became the preacher (Pat O'Brien) is that Rocky got caught stealing and the preacher didn't. So Rocky went to juvenile detention and graduated to the slammer thanks to his ties to bigshot gangsters. He agreed to take the fall for them at the advice of his lawyer (Humphrey Bogart) at the promise that he'd jump right back in with them when he got out. What a sucker he was.

When Rocky gets out, he finds that his old friends have turned on him and used up his money. He doesn't take lightly to that and uses his intelligence to outsmart them time after time. In the meantime, upon returning home, Rocky meets up with some childhood friends including the preacher and a girl he used to pick on (Ann Sheridan). He also meets the new town hoodlums (The Dead End Kids) and becomes their idol. However, Rocky's life was never destined for a happy ending.

This film is incredibly powerful because it comments on so many modern issues. Is the criminal a victim of his own free-will or of his environment? And in being a criminal, does that make him all bad? Also, the relationships between the characters are great because they're so well established. Cagney is perfect in the role, a street-wise, easy-going guy you can't help but love despite his imperfections. Also notable are the Dead End Kids, especially Leo Gorcey whose strong personality and looks are very similar to Cagney's.

This is an excellent film that transcends the gangster genre.

Average customer rating:

The booth? She showed you the booth? lol!
Perfect Mother's Day Gift
The Preacher's Wife
A Hallelujah Good Time
A new holiday classic!

The Preacher's Wife
Starring: Denzel Washington , Whitney Houston , Courtney B. Vance , Gregory Hines , and Jenifer Lewis
Director: Penny Marshall
Manufacturer: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
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ASIN: B000065V3J
Release Date: 2002-08-13

Amazon.com

This tedious remake of the classic Christmas movie The Bishop's Wife falls on its face by significantly altering the careful design of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert E. Sherwood's story for the original film. In Sherwood's version, a rather wooden, inept bishop and his lonely wife unknowingly take into their lives a heaven-sent angel who aids the former and ends up falling in love with the latter. In this unnecessary update, an inner-city preacher (Courtney B. Vance) and his estranged spouse (Whitney Houston) are visited by a celestial goof (Denzel Washington), whose unsolicited offer of help is enough to galvanize Vance's character to fix his own problems. What that means is this: by the second act, there's no reason to have Washington's angel in the story. Even his infatuation with the missus isn't enough to warrant his hanging around this movie; the change is a colossal blunder by director Penny Marshall. Vance ends up stealing the film from Washington, but it's a Pyrrhic victory; for the most part this movie just seems like a series of random scenes between opportunities for Houston to belt out songs. --Tom Keogh

Description

Starring Academy Award(R)-winner Denzel Washington (Best Actor, TRAINING DAY, 2001; Best Supporting Actor, GLORY, 1989; REMEMBER THE TITANS, THE HURRICANE) and multi-talented Whitney Houston (THE BODYGUARD, WAITING TO EXHALE), here's a delightful romantic comedy to send spirits soaring! Washington plays a charming angel named Dudley who's sent to earth to help a young minister (Courtney B. Vance -- DANGEROUS MINDS) and his beautiful wife (Houston) revive their marriage! But things take a hilarious twist when Dudley accidentally falls in love with the preacher's wife. From director Penny Marshall (RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN) and featuring screen favorite Gregory Hines (RENAISSANCE MAN), this critically acclaimed comedy hit also showcases nine dynamic songs by Grammy Award(R) winner Houston, including the Top 10 hit "I Believe In You And Me."

Customer Reviews:

The booth? She showed you the booth? lol!.......2007-08-26

I liked it. But I like most Christmas themed movies. With Courtney B Vance and Denzel Washington in it how bad can it be? Whitney Houston couldn't act her way out of a paper sack, but she has a beautiful singing voice which added a lot to the movie. But Jenifer Lewis absolutely stole the show! I'm such a huge fan of hers. What bugs about the story line is that while Henry's got the weight of the world on his shoulders, and is single handily trying to hold the entire community together, all Julia can do is complain that she's not getting enough attention. While Henry is trying to get an innocent boy released from jail and trying to save the church the best way he knows how, without any help from Julia. She's off ice skating with Dudley. Going off to sing at Jazzies with Dudley. Having lunch with Dudley and getting her finger poked by a tree, with Dudley. Seems to be she could have been more of a help to her husband.

Perfect Mother's Day Gift.......2007-06-13

I sent this to my mother as apart of her mothers day gift...she loves this movie and I couldn't find it anywhere. It arrived in excellent condition just as ordered! :o) Thank you!

The Preacher's Wife.......2007-02-06

It was excellent! It should be a classic. I don't know why it's not played more around the Christmas holiday!

A Hallelujah Good Time.......2006-06-30

Whitney and Denzel make a phenomenal team. The soundtrack makes the movie all the more wonderful.

A new holiday classic!.......2005-12-14

Ever since I saw this film in theaters with my family in 1996, I knew this film would become an annual holiday tradition and it has. It's amazing to think how far Whitney has fallen since her role as the singing Preacher's wife, but I do consider this to be the best role she has played on screen (surpassing "The Bodyguard", "Waiting to Exhale", and "Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella"). It was a role tailor made for her, as she did start her singing career in church and always wanted to make a Gospel album.

The cast is also magnificent, as I love the lady who plays Whitney's mother with her sassy comments ("don't talk about your behind, I gave you that behind!"; "I'm not one to pry..."), the Preacher's somewhat flustered secretary ("first he took the picture, then he took the car and moved to Cleveland", "Please Santa, put that man under my tree...if he can fit!"), Courtney Vance as the Preacher who's lost his spark, the boy who plays the son and narrates the film, and of course Denzel Washington as the angel who comes to offer help. Gregory Hines plays the villain role, and Lionel Ritchie has a cameo as Whitney's old flame. And cameo of cameos, Whitney's own mother Cissy plays a member of the choir.

My favorite scene coincides with my favorite song on the film's soundtrack: "My Heart is Calling" when Whitney and Denzel go ice skating while Courtney is stuck in traffic and growing frustrated. That song should've been a single, but whatever genius decided to release the melancholy "I Believe In You and Me" probably killed a great opportunity to ignite Whitney's career at the time. As I remember, this film didn't do well at the box office and the soundtrack didn't fly off shelves. Had they chosen "My Heart is Calling" (one of Whitney's best songs ever), it might have had a different outcome. Oh well...the film remains as a must see holiday classic that I never get tired of.

A year ago, I finally watched the original "The Bishop's Wife" and I must say that they definitely improved upon the original. To call "The Preacher's Wife" a remake is somehow missing the picture. They are completely different in style and I prefer the musical and modern "Preacher's Wife" over the 1950s/1960s film. "The Preacher's Wife" just makes you feel good when its all over, it's a rare family film that doesn't have any embarassing moments and one that the whole family can watch and enjoy together. Don't miss it!

City of Angels / Michael (Double Feature)

Average customer rating:

Both movies not widescreen

City of Angels / Michael (Double Feature)
Starring: Nicolas Cage , Meg Ryan , Andre Braugher , Dennis Franz , and Colm Feore
Director: Brad Silberling , and Nora Ephron
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000NA1WDQ
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Description

Pragmatic heart surgeon Maggie doesn't believe in angels...until she meets one. That angel is Seth, who can remain a spiritual being and live forever. Or he can forsake his immortality on the chance that Maggie might love him. Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan star in the rapturous and tender romance City of Angels [Side A]. Next, romantic comedy gets its wings in Michael [Side B]. John Travolta plays a disheveled, Heaven-sent angel who's just a little bit devilish as he tries to make the most of his terrestrial visit. Andie MacDowell co-stars as a member of a tabloid team that's eager to reel in a page-one story. Divine comedy!

Customer Reviews:

Both movies not widescreen.......2007-06-14

Two great movies that I already owned but wanted "Michael" in widescreen so I bought this. Unfortunately the product info only applies to "City of Angels". I tried to update the product info but it doesn't allow dual format info to be entered. Of course this doesn't change the fact that these are great movies and there are lots of extras on the first movie (virtually none on the "Michael")

Average customer rating:

Top-notch serial
Five Star Phantom
Bringing back childhood memories
the phantom
Fast-paced and watchable

The Phantom - Serial
Starring: Tom Tyler , Jeanne Bates , Iron Eyes Cody , Ace the Wonder Dog , and Anthony Caruso
Director: B. Reeves Eason
Manufacturer: VCI Entertainment
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ASIN: B000051SH3
Release Date: 2001-01-30

Description

Professor Davidson and his lovely daughter Diana search Africa for the Lost City of Zoloz. Legend pegs it to be the source of a vast hidden treasure. Their search is hindered by a local crook, Singapore Smith, who wants the treasure for himself. It is further complicated by Dr. Bremmer, an international criminal, who plans to destroy the peace with the local native tribes and build a secret air base at Zoloz. Fortunately, the Phantom, who is also Diana's fiancÃ©, is more than a match for the two villains. The Phantom, with his superhuman strength, manages to outwit each enemy move, escaping from one death trap after an other: avalanches, poison gas, flaming pyres, and explosions fail to shake his fearless spirit. With the help of his four-footed pal Devil, he finally overpowers all the enemy factions, and brings peace to the jungle once again. Another exciting serial adventure produced by Columbia Pictures and based on one of King Features' funny-paper heroes. Bonus Features: Photo Gallery| Comic Book Art Gallery| Commentary by Author Max Allan Collins| Actor Bios| Chapter Menu. Specs: 1-DVD9 + 1-DVD5; Dolby Digital Mono; 254 minutes; B&W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1943; SRP - $19.99.

Customer Reviews:

Top-notch serial.......2007-08-17

I'd read that the director of the Captain Marvel serial thought Tom Tyler was a terrible actor (which is why he said a total of about 12 words the whole time), but this proves him wrong. He's a very good phantom and this is a good ride.

There are offensive stereotypes, so get ready for the occasional cringe and this is not the Royal Academy in terms of acting or writing, but if you shut down your critical brain for a while, you'll probably find yourself drawn in--a little like quicksand.

Five Star Phantom.......2007-02-18

I'm a big Phantom fan so I may be biased but I thought this was great stuff. This took me back to my childhood. I saw the serial when I was a kid in the fifties and it's still great over 50 years later. They could have made his costume a bit better but apart from that a great adventure. My teenage kids loved this too, which is saying something.

Bringing back childhood memories.......2007-01-04

Really enjoyed this serial. I'm 56, and can still remember going to the Pitt theatre on saturday mornings to catch the serials. Watching the Phantom brings back a time before America lost it's commom sense and the phrase "politically correct" wasn't heard of.

the phantom.......2006-11-07

MOVIE WAS MADE FROM A GOOD COPY.PICTURE WAS VERY CLEAR AND CLEAN.THE STORY FOLLOWS THE ORIGINAL PREMISE VERY CLOSELY.ALL IN ALL IT'S A FUN SERIAL TO WATCH.

Fast-paced and watchable.......2006-08-08

I grew up reading Phantom cartoons. This video series shows a different Phantom. First, there is no horse named Hero. Phantom of this video is not as strong as in the cartoon. However, these are not major issues for me.

I had a huge problem with the Professor. He does not care about his fellow men, only interested in his pursuit of the Zoloz ruins. I was truly disgusted to hear him say that the wealth of the Zoloz tribes belongs to his sponsor University! What nonsense! Even Phantom was no better. He realized that the jewels in his skull cave are the treasures of the Zoloz, but did not consider returning them to the tribes! In my dictionary, this is thievery.

Average customer rating:

City Hall
A Warm-up For L.A. Confidential
Politics and Injustice
City Hall (1996)
City Hall should not work

City Hall
Starring: Al Pacino , John Cusack , Bridget Fonda , Danny Aiello , and Martin Landau
Director: Harold Becker
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
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ASIN: B00000JGHL
Release Date: 1999-07-27

Amazon.com

This complex 1996 drama directed by Harold Becker (Sea of Love) attempts to explore big-city corruption and the flexibility of what's right and wrong in the political arena. John Cusack (Say Anything) plays the senior aide to mayor John Pappas (Al Pacino), a popular and seasoned politician whose administration is threatened when what seems to be an accidental shooting of a child reveals a nest of corruption and lifelong personal debts that tests Cusack's loyalty to the man he thought he knew. Pacino turns in a finely textured performance as a man who has his own lofty ideals, but whose pragmatism sets in motion a series of events with tragic results. Cusack admirably captures the essence of someone polished and savvy at his job who must cope with fundamental disillusionment. This political thriller suffers at times from a lack of focus, but still offers an insightful and poignant treatise on the quagmire of politics in the modern age and the human toll it sometimes exacts. --Robert Lane

Description

He's a consummate politician who walks a mile in your shoes, feels your pain. But there may be more to populist New York City populist mayor Al Pacino than meets the eye. Year: 1996 Director: Harold Becker Starring: Al Pacino, John Cusack, Bridget Fonda, Danny Aiello Special Features: Interactive menus, Scene access Video Format: A: Standard; B: Widescreen Sound: English: Dolby Surround 2.0; French; Subtitles: English, French Region Coding: 1 (U.S. and Canada)

Customer Reviews:

City Hall.......2006-12-27

A decent and somewhat entertaining movie about political corruption in New York, this movie arguably would have been a total flop were it not for Pacino and Cusack. I feel that the amount of killing is a little excessive and lends to the general pradicability of the plot. It was worth watching once, but I doubt I'll ever feel compelled to do so again.

A Warm-up For L.A. Confidential.......2006-12-03

I think I agree with most critics who say that Jerry Goldsmith's score for "City Hall" is like a warm-up for "L.A. Confidential", and the tracks 'The Bridge' and 'The Meet' are proof of that. Although I have to admit that those two cues are the best of the CD, as well as 'Old Friends' and 'Count On It. The music certainly has that New York feel to it since the movie takes place there. Unfortunately, as for the rest of the album, it all sounds like there is no way to go; and it remains too quiet for my taste, possibly because the film itself is kinda dull in spite of Al Pacino's usual overperformance that keeps anybody awake. But then again, there is "L.A. Confidential"...

Politics and Injustice.......2006-09-10

This movie is the quintessential example of how politics and public opinion rules the day. Each of the actors in this criminal injustice movie are compelling. Cusack's plight is what endears him to the viewer--restive in nature, the Louisiana boy attempts to save Pacino's administration and future but, is unable to resurrect him in the end. While Pacino is resolute in his hopes, dreams and desires, his role as the Greek mayor of New York City is plagued with a plethora of problems that he can no longer control. His prior associations for good or bad is what is his final Waterloo. This film is resplendent in its depiction of police and political depravity. This is a must see film for political science and criminal justice students.

Most respectfully,
Dr. Charles Thomas Kelly, Jr.
Assistant Professor of the
Administration of Justice
Louisiana State University-Alexandria

City Hall (1996).......2006-01-01

Cast: Harold Becker
Cast: Al Pacino, John Cusack, Bridgett Fonda, Danny Aiello, Martin Landau, David Paymer, Anthony Franciosa, Richard Schliff, Lindsay Duncan.
Running Time: 111 minutes
Rated R for language and some violence.

"City Hall" is one of those hopeful yet ultimately frustrating films that never really delivers toward its potential. It's as if the characters, the plot, and the pacing of the film were kept apart throughout filming, and then only introduced in the editing room. The film begins with a lackluster conflict, the accidental shooting of a child by a drug dealer with relatives in the NY mob families who looks as if he came directly from Central Casting, and acts just as stiff. Before we even know anything about this character, he's confronted by a possibly corrupt cop ( the entire background motivation and confusion regarding the cop's rational for meeting with the drug dealer alone, without backup and without reporting in first is left completely unresolved), gunfire is exchanged, and everyone is dead, including the innocent child, who is clearly injected into this formula for nothing more than aesthetic/emotional purposes, and is treated like "cinema-chum", shot dead for instant sympathy by the audience, only to draw in the bigger fish in the water, the primary characters.

On the heels of the shooting, we are introduced to our principles, Al Pacino as the mayor, John Cusack as the deputy mayor, single-handedly managing the entirety of New York. The completely contrived setup of the administration of a city the size of New York being managed, at least from all appearances we are given on screen, by these two characters is beyond laughable, but insipid. The central plot of the movie springs from the reaction by City Hall to this one shooting incident, as the world is (we suppose) put on temporary pause for days afterward in New York by this event. Cusack abandons his supposed position with City Hall and becomes a knee-jerk Mickey Spilane, trodding beside Bridget Fonda on some half-ass investigation of the politics surrounding the now dead cop, suspected of corruption, and the question of why the drug dealer was ever on the streets in the first place, having been questionably released on parole years before. Everyone phones in their performances, which appears as if everyone approached the movie with high hopes, then got distracted by something better to do, (possibly calling their agents for better scripts once this movie started filming) and just showed up to through with the dialogue. Numerous gaffs, faux pauxs regarding life in New York, cornball accents by Cusack, Fonda's character operating with the depth of a spring puddle, vanilla backgrounds, boring dialogue (save Al Pacino's impassioned, yet ultimately weak tirades toward the shooting of James Bone and his personal conversations with Pappas) make for a really unsatisfying films; "City Hall" just can't deliver and feels like a TV movie of the week.

City Hall should not work.......2005-08-27

A complicated story line. John Cusack is new to me: a performance that only falters in the last stages of the film. John Cobb (Austin, TX) has said in his review, "I am not a big Pacino fan, feeling he only plays one character well, and that one I'm way past tired". I see what he means.

The set characters and set pieces - down to the set music - grow increasingly hollow to the point that you wonder if Pacino was intending to sound hollow.

This film should not work yet by the end you have been drawn into it. You have seen something not great but unusual and magnetic. You watch the credits feeling sombre. You hope that on one will talk to you for a while.

The Crow - City of Angels (Collector's Series)

Average customer rating:

"Does The Corpse Have A Familiar Face?"
Falls Short of the Original Crow
Good, not great.
Come on people really...It's a crow story.
Spectacular? Riiiiiight....

The Crow - City of Angels (Collector's Series)
Starring: Vincent Perez , Mia Kirshner , Richard Brooks (VI) , Iggy Pop , and Thomas Jane
Director: Tim Pope
Manufacturer: Dimension
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000059XUP
Release Date: 2001-03-20

Amazon.com

Because of his tragic death on the set of The Crow, we'll never know if Brandon Lee would have turned one successful film into a popular series. But one look at this tepid sequel suggests that not even the charismatic Lee could have rescued The Crow movies from the burden of a lackluster screenplay. Based on the popular comic books by James O'Barr, this sequel finds Vincent Pérez as a man named Ashe, who is murdered along with his young son by a gang of drug-running thugs under the employ of slimy kingpin Judah Earl (Richard Brooks). Ashe is resurrected with the help of a tattoo artist named Sarah (Mia Kirschner), whereupon he begins a campaign of revenge against his killers. More a rehash than a sequel, the film repeats the grungy, dark look of urban decay from The Crow, but its combination of violence, heavy-handed symbolism, and tacky sentiment make this a film strictly for nihilistic teens. Then again, no movie in which veteran punkster Iggy Pop plays a sleazeball can be considered a total loss. --Jeff Shannon

Description

This action-packed sequel to THE CROW explodes on screen with hot new stars Vincent Perez (I DREAMED OF AFRICA) and sexy Mia Kirshner! After a brutal attack by an evil drug cartel, the murder victim (Perez) is brought back to life by a mysterious crow. With the help of a beautiful woman named Sarah (Kirshner), he exacts revenge on his killers one by one ... only to realize his enemy, the lethal Judah, has discovered the one weakness that can destroy him forever!

Customer Reviews:

"Does The Corpse Have A Familiar Face?".......2007-08-06

More of a remake than a sequel, "The Crow: City Of Angels" attempts to capitalize on the cult phenomenon of it's predecessor by basically repeating and rehashing it's basic premise without actually adding anything new or of merit. This time around, instead of Detroit, it's a decaying Los Angeles -- populated by set-pieces that look like they could be destroyed by a stiff breeze -- and Vincent Perez is summoned from the dead to avenge the death of his son and himself at the hands of a gang, with the help of Sarah (Mia Kirshner), who may or may not be the same Sarah from the first movie. Music video director Tim Pope, who hasn't done anything worthwhile since, gives this film a definite mid-90's look. Truth be told, not only does the movie look low-budget and meant for direct-to-video release, but also looks like something you would catch on HBO at three in the morning during a weekday. As hard as the script tries -- which, come to think of it, it doesn't -- it just can't match the potency of the original. Instead of getting to know our main characters and building the required backstory with the tragic elements needed, the exposition is handled in such a careless way. It seems like they wanted to get the story out of the way so they could get straight to the violence. A father avenging the murder of his own child? Should have had a little more emotional impact than what was actually presented in the movie. The actors all pretty much ham it up, although punk icon Iggy Pop manages to keep the audience from falling asleep, while his co-star, Thuy "Yellow Ranger" Trang, is at the very least, an interesting presence in a movie such as this. On all accounts, "The Crow: City Of Angels" is and was a complete and utter failure, dooming the rest of the franchise into direct-to-video Hell. Ironic, since the movies that came after it were actually, gulp, better.

Falls Short of the Original Crow.......2007-03-09

If this movie had been the first in the Crow series, then its likely that more movie fans would have liked it. However, there was a first Crow movie starring the late Brandon Lee and its to that first movie that this Crow and the other Crow sequels are compared to. On those grounds, this Crow merits no more than a 4 out of 5 rating.

Let's face it, Vincent Perez is not a good substitute for Brandon Lee. The first 15 minutes of this movie were incomprehensible and had little to do with the rest of the movie.

However, there are some redeeming factors to this movie namely the music and the cinematography. Add in a script that has a strong second half, and you have a movie that is worth a rental at least.

Good, not great........2006-11-26

Seeing The Crow flash across the screen again was something I wasn't sure I'd be able to experience again after the tragic misfortunes of the first Crow movie. I've heard it said that one of the crew members on the first movie actually thought it was cursed.

But this second movie, which is based around a new Crow (Vincent Perez) and the returning Sarah from the first movie (played in this one by the beautiful and dark Mia Kirshner) wasn't cursed like the first one, the curse this had was that it was a sequel to something that likely didn't need one. Although I enjoyed the dark circumstances that surrounded the actual onscreen play, with the nod to "La Dia De los Muertos" (The Day Of The Dead) being my favorite, the story about a murdered father who returns to avenge his son, to me, takes away from the romantic overtones of the first movie and the Crow comic book overall.

The original story was written by James O'Barr to help him exorcize the demons he lived with after losing his first love early in life and he's made mention that in truth, the Crows story was told then, and in his eyes had been told completely. But as with all things we find interesting or fall in love with, it was decided that there needed to be more, so they made more.

I kind of doubt Brandon Lee would have come back for the sequel if he'd lived as I'm sure he would have felt, as O'Barr did, that Eric Dravens story had been told. I make a few leaps here, making mention of things James has said to me and maybe a little of what I hope Brandon Lee would have done had he survived the accident that took his life, but I make them with the best intentions.

I enjoyed the movie, being a comic book geek, I was sure I would. I have to admit to having felt a little betrayed when the sequel came out, just as I was when the ensuing comic follow-ups came out, but the Crow has become an avenger of wrongs that couldn't be put right any other way, a dark hero to the masses who suffer and have no way to let that out other than to dream of a hero who would go beyond death to right their wrongs and although Eric and Shelleys story was told to completion, there are more stories to tell. This is one of them. There are others, there will be others, likely as many as there are people with stories of their own, because truly, who among us doesn't feel the need at some point in our lives to be avenged?

See the movie, be forewarned that it contains violence in the extreme, some nudity and a lot of what might be termed "the darker aspects of life", drugs, gangs, betrayels, S&M and torture. Iggy Pop, though not great either, was a welcome touch of dark realism to the play on the screen. If you go in with no expectations based on the first movie or the comic book, this 3 stars quickly becomes 3 1/2 or 4.

Come on people really...It's a crow story........2006-10-25

The terrible mistake most viewers make when watching a Crow movie or a reading another Crow Novel or Comic is that they compare the "Crow" in question to the previous Crow or Crows. You have to understand that this character isn't "Eric" (Crow from the first film), This isn't Motor City Detroit, This is The City Of Angels and the main characters name is Ashe this is his life, his perspective. Its not supposed to be like the first Crow they are two different people and two different stories, thats all they are just stories, they are not sequels or prequels just installments. If you could see everyones life before your eyes would they look the same? No they wouldn't. Why? Because were all different. All the folks who gave this movie bad reviews did so because they are standing to close to a big picture, step back and see the big picture. The world and the ways of the Crow aren't so narrow that they would stay limited to the confines and brooding post-gothic nature of the first film.

Most of the people giving reviews probably don't even know that James O' Barr wrote the first Crow after losing the love of his life to a drunk driver, so all that pain, frustration, and hatred went into those pages and script. You can't create pain like that you have to know it. This is why the first Crow has an unfair advantage against all the new Crow movies, you can't turn water into wine, these directors had to work it in the best way they could.

By giving such harsh critique to these movies you may alter someones judgement and cause them to miss out on a really good film. Crow:City Of Angels was a good movie and a good Crow story. I myself loved the first film the most, I even remember the trailers that played "Big Empty" By Stone Temple Pilots which I still listen to today. But please don't drag this second installments name through the mud.

-Jon

Spectacular? Riiiiiight...........2006-10-22

I was fortunate not to spend any money specifically on this movie. I couldn't get past the first 15 minutes... incoherent beginning, and overly stylized particularly where Ashe becomes "the avenger" (for lack of a better name). Nothing like the original at all, which I love by comparison.

Average customer rating:

Substitute 2: School's Out
Treat Subs For Tom
SUBSTITUTE 2 Review!
ALMOST AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL
A pointless sequel

Substitute 2: School's Out
Starring: Treat Williams , Edoardo Ballerini , Christopher Cousins , Chuck Jeffreys , and Susan May Pratt
Director: Steven Pearl
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005O5B4
Release Date: 2001-10-23

Amazon.com

The delicate issue of student discipline becomes dangerously pointed when a vengeance-seeking mercenary (the perennially underrated Treat Williams) sews a couple of tweed patches onto the elbows of his flack jacket and proceeds to add a few chalk outlines to the blackboard jungle. Although the premise of this intermittently entertaining sequel can't match the goofy novelty of the 1996 original, it does sport a couple of effective action scenes (the teacher's demonstration of the yo-yo's history as a lethal weapon is a highlight), and a talented cast (including Broadway star B.D. Wong as a shop teacher who cares a little too much about his tools) that's fully aware of the numerous absurdities depicted herein. An occasionally effective lowbrow action flick that, at the very least, sure beats the heck out of study hall. --Andrew Wright

Customer Reviews:

Substitute 2: School's Out.......2006-07-06

The whole series of Substitutes are excellent movies. Really like Treat Williams in the title roll, but would have loved to see Tom Berenger in more than just the first.

Treat Subs For Tom.......2004-11-25

Treat Williams steps into the role of mercenary-turned-vigilante in Substitiute 2. He plays a guy who's worked with Tom Berenger's character before(or at least has mutual friends). I've always liked Treat Williams. He's one of those actors that's actually very good, yet seems to get thrown into these movies all the time. You'll catch him once in awhile in major motion pictures as a supporting character, but in B flicks he's the star! He seems a little too nice to play the cold hearted mercenary type, but does it well. The plot's similar to the first film in the sense that he goes undercover at a New York high school to find out who killed his brother, get revenge, and take care of his niece. Along the way he brings a fellow merc, teams up with the half crazed Vietnam vet janitor and discovers a chop shop operation going on in the school. Nothing terribly groundbreaking, but it's fun to see Williams slapping up the gang banger students who think he's just some pushover teacher. Good mindless action fun if you like that sort of thing.

SUBSTITUTE 2 Review!.......2004-04-26

As is the case in just about every straight-to-video sequel, the original star is out and a newer somewhat lesser known star is in. Treat Williams does the series justice as a mercenary who fills for his slain brother's history class in a mean Brooklyn high school. It wouldn't be a "Substitute" film if he wasn't kicking and punching his students through the halls with the help of a few unlikely faculty members. Good straight-to-video fare with a decent cast featuring B.D. Wong, Michael Michelle, Eugene Byrd, and a few others but Angel David taking over Raymond Cruz's "Joey Six" role is about easy to believe as Tommy Lee Jones filling in for Billy Dee Williams. Oh wait! Anyways, you get what you pay for.

ALMOST AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL.......2003-12-19

ANOTHER MERCENARY [TREAT WILLIAMS] BECOMES A SUBSTITUTE TEACHER AT A SCHOOL IN WHICH CRIME IS RAMPANT. NOT TOO MUCH DIFFERENT FROM THE ORIGINAL, BUT IT'S ALMOST BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL! TREAT WILLIAMS MIGHT NOT BE AS MEAN AS TOM BERENGER WAS, BUT HE'S STILL A PRETTY INTRIGUING ACTOR FOR THE ROLE THAT TOM BERENGER PLAYED. THIS IS DEFINITELY WORTH WATCHING. THE ACTION SCENES ARE PRETTY CLEVER. EVEN FEATURES AN APPEARANCE FROM GURU, WHICH IS THE MC FOR GANG STARR.

A pointless sequel.......2003-10-31

The original "Substitute" starring Tom Berenger and Ernie Hudson was an over-the-top but admittedly clever take on the "tough teacher/tough class" sub-genre started by "Dangerous Minds". Unfortunately, such movies typically spawn mediocre sequels to capitalize on even moderate interest, which leaves us with "Substitute 2: School's Out", starring Treat Williams instead of Berenger.

To say that this movie is unoriginal is an understatement. It more-or-less puts us into the exact same situation as the first film, only done worse than before. When his brother is murdered by a violent street gang called the Brotherhood in a carjacking, mercenary Karl Thomasson (Williams) decides to take on two roles. The first is to take care of his brother's daughter. The second is to become a subtitute teacher for his brother's Brooklyn high school class, which some of the Brotherhood thugs attend. He suspects that the school's auto shop teacher, Warren Drummond, is involved in a car-stripping operation with the Brotherhood and its violent leader, Lil' B. Naturally, it's up to Thomasson to teach the tough class while working to take down Lil' B and Drummond's operation with his mercenary pal Joey 6 and a janitor named Johnny Bartee.

The most dissapointing aspect of this movie is the acting. Before you say, "It's a B movie, so what do you expect?", consider the cast involved in this film. Treat Williams may be a direct-to-video actor for the most part, but considering his number of Emmy nominations and his achievements in "Everwood", you'd expect a little more from him. He simply comes off as too nice a guy to be a hardened merc. Longtime Broadway actor and recent "Law & Order: SVU" cast member B.D. Wong doesn't fare much better as Drummond; he's either over-the-top or very dull. Michael Michelle ("ER") as teacher and love interest Kara Lavelle and Angel David ("The Crow") as Joey 6 are both OK, but wasted for the most part. Daryl Edwards, who plays Johnny Bartee, ends up becoming very annoying in this film. And while rapper Guru (of Gang Starr fame) is one of the most gifted hip-hop lyricists around, he's no actor, and he really embarrasses himself as Lil' B in this movie.

Aside from the weak acting, the movie doesn't really do much with its characters or plot. The relationship between Thomasson and the gang-bangers in his class (one of the better points of the original film) never works at all, especially his attempt to connect to Mase (Eugene Byrd of "8 Mile" fame). At one point, Thomasson throws Mase's stereo out the window because he's playing rap music really loud in class. Mase gets angry and attacks him with a switchblade, but after Thomasson subdues him and leaves him in charge of the class for a moment, Mase later apologizes for what he did. In the space of one class, Mase changes from "I'm-a cut you up real good" to "yeah, I was wrong". Right.

There are other problems, too, including some ridiculously unrealistic action sequences. How does somebody manage to survive an attack by gang-bangers firing automatic weapons at them from BOTH SIDES of a narrow corridor? Beats me, but Thomasson, Joey 6, and Bartee do somehow. Equally bad is the scene where Drummond kills Lavelle by shooting her at point-blank range and then wipes her blood off his hands on a stuffed teddy bear AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME. Oh, yeah, and I'm still very puzzled as to how they got that laser trick to work on the Brotherhood when laser sources are very easy to spot at any range. The hoods in Brooklyn may not be Ivy League material, but I really didn't think they all have the intelligence levels of rodents.

Customer Reviews:

One of the Best Wong Kar Wai Films!.......2007-07-15

This has to be my very favorite Wong Kar Wai Film. It's beautifully shot like all his films. He's a genius.

Must have for Wong Kar Wai fans!.......2007-04-02

As a sort of 'sequel' to Chungking Express, it definitely holds it's own quirkiness & action-packed fun! Viewers also get to enjoy watching Takeshi Kaneshiro once again. Definitely a Must-Have!

The Daddy of the Kar Wai Canon.......2006-10-18

Fallen Angels could have been so named due to its dropped origin as part of director Wong Kar Wai's previous film Chunking Express, emerging afterwards as a follow up. To hear the critics tell it, `Express' is his masterpiece, regularly making the `best movies ever made' lists along side such exalted company as your Citizens Kane's and Casablanca's. But for me Fallen Angels is, to date, the daddy of the Wong Kar Wai canon.

Fallen Angel tells of a not quite burnt-out hit man, Leon, who begins to tire of the whole `gun for hire' malarkey and decides to quit on account of his burgeoning feelings for the female operative who he has never met, but who plans his jobs for him. The female operative, Michelle, also emotes for our existential assassin but somehow they both realise that if they ever did come face to face the fantasy would evaporate. The unrequited love thing is Kar Wai's forte but here it is more a case of "As long as you don't look at it, it won't disappear." So their love continues on the basis of ensuring that it never really exists. Anxious to avoid an inevitable unprofessional encounter, our navel gazing killer goes off on an adventure into the Kowloon night where he crosses paths with a series of likable reprobates before embarking on that fatal "one last job."

This takes us not so neatly into a `mad as a hatter' subplot about a petty criminal who was rendered mute as a boy by a can of `out of date' pineapples. He goes out at night and gets up to a range of activities such as massaging a dead pig and kidnapping a family and forcing them to eat ice cream. He to falls in love, with a girl who believes she has been beaten to the altar by someone called Blondie. He helps her go in search of the usurper of her affections resulting in a hilarious beating up of a blow up doll!

Cinematographer and Kar Wai regular Christopher Doyle engages a warped and gaudy neon look throughout; something of a trade mark in Kar Wai films. This is the world from inside a Wurlitzer juke box - or, at least, through the eyes of a tranquilised goldfish and this, incidentally, is not a complaint. The other thing I like about this film is that it walks the line between the art house `heart warmers' of the best of European cinema and the `Glock Opera' pyrotechnics of John Woo and Ringo Lam.
Genre clash - it's the future.

Sundown in the City.......2006-10-13

Wong Kar-Wai is the modern cinema's premier poet of loss and longing. His characteristically enigmatic films capture the erratic rhythms and ephemeral nature of memory and torment: fleeting, fragmented, wandering only to return obsessively to its central foci.

While Wong's debut, "As Tears Go By", was a relatively straightforward commercial riff on Scorsese's "Mean Streets" and the 'heroic bloodshed' style of Hong Kong street opera pioneered by action maestro John Woo, he would establish with "Days of Being Wild" and "Chungking Express" a signature style characterized by visual bravura mixed with interwoven and intensely introspective tales of emotionally isolated young people adrift in the shadow kingdom of urban postmodernity. Eschewing more traditional narrative formats for an ellipitical self-referrentiality that mirrors memory itself, Wong's films are rarely instantly accessible, but reward the patient viewer with intoxicating moods and contemplative brilliance.

"Fallen Angels" was originally conceived as something of a 'nightside' sequal/companion piece to "Chungking Express." Structurally and thematically it mirrors the latter with two seperate plotlines, each centering on a pair of twentysomethings (a hitman and his female 'agent' in one and a strange, mute confidence man and the girl he takes a shine to in the other) in search of love but unable or unwilling to find it in each other. Assorted camera tricks, fish eye lenses, slow motion sequences and the strategic use of a gloriously bittersweet pop soundtrack all help to capture a mood of frantic desperation and the distortions of memory and longing.

Wong also invokes the first of his 'art' films, "Days of Being Wild," returning to its concern with the loss and meaning of identity in an impersonal world. Leon Lai's hitman and Takeshi Kaneshiro's petty criminal both try - and fail - to remake their lives on ths straight and narrow. One of them manages a peace of sorts with his failure - the other goes out out in a bittersweet blaze of glory. Wong also explores the way in which longing (mis)identifies others: his characters view each other through the distorted lens memory and desire - what they see is not reality, but a projection of their own dreams - and when the truth is made manifest, it is always the cruelest blow.

a great movie.......2006-05-14

Fallen Angels is a truly special film, but it's not for everyone. It's gritty in a stylish way, shot mostly handheld with available light. But it's not gritty in the way most American pictures are; shaky cameras with perfect lighting and snappy editing. The takes are long, and the film is often grainy.

Wong Kar-Wai explores the transitory nature of life here. It's a little confusing, and the characters are beyond weird, but they really do have heart. The frantic pace and confusion give way to brief, precious moments of poignancy. The bleakness and impermanence of the rest of the film makes these moments feel even more meaningful.

If this sounds like your style, the movie can be very rewarding. But it's definitely not everyone's style. I find Chungking Express is generally a more palatable Wong Kar-Wai picture for viewers with more mainstream tastes.

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