I Heart Huckabees

Product Description

Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin lead an all-star cast including Jude Law, Naomi Watts and Mark Walhberg in this outrageous comedy from director/co-writer David O. Russell (Three Kings). Kindhearted but confused activist Andrew Markovski hires a pair of screwball "existential detectives" (Hoffman and Tomlin) to help him find the meaning of life. All the while, a sexy, French author (Isabelle Huppert) is trying to throw a wrench in their plan by seducing andrew's mind and body.

System Requirements:

Running Time 107 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

Billed as "an existential comedy," I Heart Huckabees is a flawed yet endearingly audacious screwball romp that dares to ponder life's biggest questions. Much of director David O. Russell's philosophical humor is dense, talky, and impenetrable, leading critic Roger Ebert to observe that "it leaves the viewer out of the loop," and suggesting that Russell's screenplay (written with his assistant, Jeff Baena) is admirably bold yet frustratingly undisciplined. Russell's ideas are big but his expression of them is frenetic, centering on the unlikely pairing of an environmentalist (Jason Schwartzman) and a firefighter (Mark Wahlberg) as they depend on existential detectives (Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman) and a French nihilist (Isabelle Huppert) to make sense of their existential crises, brought on (respectively) by a two-faced chain-store executive (Jude Law) and his spokesmodel girlfriend (Naomi Watts), and the aftermath of 9/11's terrorism. No brief description can do justice to Russell's comedic conceit; you'll either be annoyed and mystified or elated and delighted by this wacky primer for coping with 21st century lunacy. Deserving of its mixed reviews, I Heart Huckabees is an audacious mess, like life itself, and accepting that is the key to enjoying both. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely BRILLIANT!.......2007-09-14

I Heart Huckabees manages to both completely make fun of and explore the "big questions." Brilliant direction and conception top off the solid performances by the cast. While I would imagine that the general public might not "get" it, anyone who has ever studied philosphy (and enjoyed it) or who has read self-help books or been to therapy will certainly get a kick out of it.

It's different....and that's all that has going for it.......2007-09-07

Since I liked Adaptation and Being John Malkovich, I was interested in seeing this movie. But whereas those movies had real wit and depth, I 'heart' Huckabees just seemed like it was playing games with the viewer and was simply quirky without anyting really interesting to say. Since some viewers rate this an all-timer, there must be something to "get"......I just didn't.

Had potential but if a falls a bit flat in style.......2007-08-15

I "heart" Huckabees is in the vein of screwy, thinking man's comedies of recent years. It's about a frustrated activist and idealist who can't even keep control of his group from a friendlier corporate figure that co opts them... and it's about his struggle at the same time with the meaning of life. This character, Albert, also connects with a "existential" detective agency by accident... these people are like life coaches except they take it much farther in trying to get him to achieve Buddhist like enlightenment. They're played delightfully by Lily Tomlin, and Dustin Hoffman in a wig that's in my opinion one of the funniest parts of the movie.

While it's an admirable try to pull off a thinking man's comedy, if you've seen a Wes Anderson movie it's a lot harder to get into. This "surreal" comic reality just doesn't bend surreal enough or real enough... it doesn't find a believable space of it's own you can just let go and enjoy. Stylistically, where something like The Royal Tennenbaums is both relentlessly charming and emotional.. Huckabees isn't really either. It's just trying to get through all the "meaning of life" jazz and philosophy to the point the movie has no place to go with the characters but that. I see it more as pre-Freshman entry into the genre than a real contender. If the Director would calm down and take his time to develop style in addition to just a message, I think he can make killer smart comedies however.

One Of My Favorite Movies.......2007-07-30

This is a very funny, very interesting movie. There is no other movie quite like it. It's one of my absolute favorites. You'll especially like it if you're into philosophy.

genius.......2007-05-17

I love this movie, every time I watch it I see something new. I know that is a very obvious thing to say but it is true of this movie. If you didn't like it the first time, give it at least two wacthes~
enjoy enjoy

Average customer rating:

My Architect: A Son's Journey
MY ARCHITECT: My Review
you won't regret.
Where are the subtitles?
a true artist

My Architect: A Son's Journey
Starring: Edmund Bacon , Edwina Pattison Daniels , B.V. Doshi , Frank O. Gehry , and Philip Johnson
Manufacturer: New Yorker Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0006Q93EM
Release Date: 2005-02-15

Amazon.com

One nonfiction film that truly creates a narrative journey, My Architect is filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn's engrossing search for his father. Louis Kahn, one of the most celebrated architects of the 20th century, died in 1974 and left behind a highly compartmentalized life, including two children born out of wedlock to two mistresses. Nathaniel interviews the members of this somewhat puzzled family, but his deepest experiences are visits to the buildings that his father made (such as the grand Salk Institute in La Jolla, California), culminating in an emotional trip to Bangladesh. Here, Louis Kahn designed a massive government complex, a soaring achievement (and fascinating paradox--a Muslim capital designed by a Jewish man). This film asks: where does an artist truly live? In his life, or in the work he leaves behind? Nathaniel Kahn takes an amazingly even-tempered approach to this, given his personal stake in the story, and the result is a uniquely stirring movie. --Robert Horton

Description

A riveting tale of love, art, betrayal and forgiveness -- in which the illegitimate son of a legendary architect undertakes a worldwide exploration to discover and understand his father's and the personal choices he made.

Louis I. Kahn is considered by many historians to have been the most important architect of the second half of the twentieth century. While Kahn's artistic legacy was a search for truth and clarity, his personal life was secretive and chaotic. His mysterious death in a train station men's room left behind three families -- one with his wife and two with women with whom he had long-term affairs. The child of one of these extra-marital relationships, Kahn's only son Nathaniel, sets out on a journey to reconcile the life and work of this mysterious man.

Revealing the haunting beauty of his father's monumental creations and taking us to the rarified heights of the world's celebrated architects and deep within his own divided family, Nathaniel's personal journey becomes a universal investigation of identity, a celebration of art and ultimately, of life itself.

Customer Reviews:

My Architect: A Son's Journey.......2007-07-23

An engrossing and unexpectedly moving film, about a son's search for insight into the enigmatic, remote man who fathered him, using the elder Kahn's enduring professional legacy as a starting point. Ultimately a very human story, which viewers should find edifying and uplifting, regardless of their interest in architecture.

MY ARCHITECT: My Review.......2007-05-18

The video is a very well done documentation of a son's journey to get to know his father (Luis Kahn/famous architect). This is not a documentation on solely the work of Luis Kahn but on his personal life as well. I really enjoyed the personal discoveries the son made of his father through the interviews and visits (to the buildings). It was a good balance of showing off the two sides of Luis Kahn as an Architect and as an absent father.

you won't regret........2007-04-10

I am the fan of Kahn. director focuses too much on his private life and his family problem. but if you like Kahn's work, you must watch this.

Where are the subtitles?.......2007-02-07

It's a very good documentary.
I'm from Brazil and when i bought this product i forgot to see if there was subtitles in portuguese.
And there isn't. So if you are from another country remenber to chek this item before you buy it.

a true artist.......2007-01-10

One of my all time favorite movies. What a great documantary and story of a very complicated man and his effect on such a vast multitude of people of all levels and across the world. And then his families, and the son who tells the story and his journey and questions, you can feel how he's attempting to grapple with all that he discovers, that inspired me. Awesome footage, and quirky interviews with some of the legendary architects of our day. Amazing job for the documentor and how he has put such a complex story together in such a simple style without over-simplifying the stories.

I Heart Huckabees (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

Absolutely BRILLIANT!
It's different....and that's all that has going for it
Had potential but if a falls a bit flat in style
One Of My Favorite Movies
genius

I Heart Huckabees (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Jason Schwartzman , Isabelle Huppert , Dustin Hoffman , Lily Tomlin , and Jude Law
Director: David O. Russell
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0006TPE4M
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Product Description

Running Time 107 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely BRILLIANT!.......2007-09-14

It's different....and that's all that has going for it.......2007-09-07

Had potential but if a falls a bit flat in style.......2007-08-15

One Of My Favorite Movies.......2007-07-30

This is a very funny, very interesting movie. There is no other movie quite like it. It's one of my absolute favorites. You'll especially like it if you're into philosophy.

genius.......2007-05-17

Margaret Cho Collection (I'm the One That I Want / Notorious C.H.O. / Revolution)

Average customer rating:

Cho Shines
Margaret Cho Collection (I'm the One That I Want / Notorious C.H.O. / Revolution)
politics aside
2 Outa 3 Ain't Bad
Hello...my name is Gwen and I'm here to (well, you know!)

Margaret Cho Collection (I'm the One That I Want / Notorious C.H.O. / Revolution)
Starring: Margaret Cho , and Bruce Daniels
Director: Lionel Coleman , and Lorene Machado
Manufacturer: Winstar
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002CHJKU
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Amazon.com

I'm the One That I Want
This concert film becomes gripping, moving, and triumphantly funny when Margaret Cho stops with the "fag-hag" jokes and gets real in recounting her ill-fated sitcom and its devastating effects on her mental and physical well-being. In the spirit of Richard Pryor talking about his infamous freebasing accident in Live on the Sunset Strip and Julia Sweeney discussing caring for her cancer-stricken brother in God Said, "HA!", Cho's account of her ill-conceived 1994 ABC sitcom All American Girl is victorious, a "you go, girl" call to empowerment. Her happiness at finding mainstream acceptance was short-lived when the network expressed concerns about her weight. A desperately insecure Cho proceeded to lose 30 pounds in a month and wound up in the hospital with kidney failure. Even more humiliating was the special consultant hired to instruct her how to appear "more Asian." Cho recalls receiving a phone call after the show's premiere from an enraged Quentin Tarantino, her then-boyfriend, who screamed at her, "They took your voice!" The capper was when her show was cancelled to make room for The Drew Carey Show ("Because he's so thin," Cho asides). Drink, drugs, and promiscuous sex followed, until Cho gave herself a wake-up call. "I'm not going to die because I failed as someone else," she proclaims. "I'm going to succeed as myself." This is the one Cho's legion of devoted fans want. More sensitive viewers are advised to fast-forward through the raunchier bits.

Notorious C.H.O.
Margaret Cho is an NC-17 woman in a PG-13 world. Very, very little can be quoted from this concert film, as can be expected from a woman who, in the film's empowering conclusion, sounds the rallying cry to live "without restraint." Leave it to Cho to reference September 11 with a joke that is at once profane and respectful. Like Richard Pryor, the Korean-American outlaw comedian has found her niche with concert films that allow her the freedom to be her "actual self." She riffs unabashedly about relationships gone sour and relates her experiences as a sexual Captain Kirk, boldly going where she has never gone before. Notorious, yes, but not as accessible for the uninitiated as her last concert film, I'm the One That I Want, which recounted the rise and fall of her ill-fated sitcom. The faithful, though, won't pass up the chance for a private audience with the diva of the disenfranchised.

Revolution
Margaret Cho does not suffer well the by-now-clichéd expression, "Don't go there." As Cho remarks near the end of her characteristically passionate one-woman show, "I live there. I bought a house there." "There" for Margaret Cho is graphic descriptions of sexual acts, gay and straight, and bodily functions, impersonating a Bangkok sex-show barker, and other matters addressed in her singular frank and explicit style. Two hysterical rants that can be printed here involve being served an Asian Chicken Salad and all the reasons she will never be cast in a period film. Revolution is more fitfully paced than her previous concert films, but she saves the best, and her most righteous anger, for last, when she addresses negative body image, racism, and homophobia. Here, she drops the attitude and gets real. She may be preaching to the converted (a Cho audience is nothing but idolatry), but it is a powerful sermon. Viva Cho! --Donald Liebenson

Description

Includes: I'm The One That I Want, Notorious C.H.O. and Margaret Cho: Revolution

Customer Reviews:

Cho Shines.......2007-05-19

Cho takes us along on a hysterical roller coaster ride of her life and times. At times brassy, other times vulnerable, she courageously shows us her humor and her vices; her failures as well as her triumphs. Her monologues sometimes drag, but she keeps us hanging on through it all.

Margaret Cho Collection (I'm the One That I Want / Notorious C.H.O. / Revolution) .......2006-07-18

very funny and worth the watch.

politics aside.......2005-11-06

I love Margaret Cho, but I have to admit that her new positioning is better and more creative than her previous. In her newest show, ASSASSIN (not part of this collection), she is far more political, which for me, is more interesting and frankly, funnier. It's worth, of course, owning all of CHO's work. She is now part of the legendary group of comics that deserve to be heard by all. She has taken the torch from such legengs as Lenny Bruce and George Carlin, and Cho will likely play a role in protecting us from the 'right'.

2 Outa 3 Ain't Bad.......2005-07-02

In the immortal words of that other big-boned superstar: 2 outa 3 aint bad.

You're The One That I Want and Notorious C.H.O. are quite simply the funniest stand up routenes I've ever witnessed. I can watch them over and over again. They are not only laugh out loud funny, they are inspirational. I wanted to replace my video copies with DVDs and the boxed set seemed like a great deal. And I guess it is if you think of Revolution as a bonus DVD of out takes. Some gems to be found in there but overall it just pales by comparison. I really hope the next is a return to form.

Hello...my name is Gwen and I'm here to (well, you know!).......2004-12-22

Let me just start off by saying that Margaret Cho is the ultimate faghag. She is hilarious, and one of the best comedians out there right now. I just got this trilogy pack for my birthday this month, and I immediately tore it open and watched "I'm the one that I want" right then and there. That is her best of the threesome. The 2nd disc, "Notorious CHO" is wickidly funny, but not as so as the the previous disc. The last one,"Revolution", which I saw for the first time last night was funny, yet not as much as the former 2. Actually, I was quite dissapointed by Revolution to be honest. I did laugh more than a few times, but I could always control myself (ie, no tears, uncotrollable fits of laughter, knee slaps, breathing issues). She seemed like she just wasn't into it. Maybe she was sick or something. Her appearance is a little different, I'm thinking plastic surgery on her lips and eyes?? She has noticeably lost weight as well. Her voice was different too, it just didn't seem like the same Margaret that I fell for in the 1st disc. In summary, I don't know how often I'll watch "Revolution", but the other 2 will definitely get plenty of wear.

Average customer rating:

I'll Sleep About an Hour Into It
Listless Nonsense
Interesting, but flawed
Clive Owen Is Good, But Not Good Enough To Breathe Life Into This Sleeper
I'll Sleep When I'm Done This Review

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Starring: Clive Owen , Charlotte Rampling , Jonathan Rhys Meyers , Malcolm McDowell , and Jamie Foreman
Director: Mike Hodges
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002WZTJS
Release Date: 2004-11-16

Amazon.com

Mike Hodges and Clive Owen, director and star of the stylish 1998 crime drama Croupier, team again in this moody, almost contemplative thriller about a former gangster, Will Graham (Owen), who returns to London after a lengthy self-exile. In a tragic coincidence, Will's brother, Davey (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), has just committed suicide following a rape by a wealthy car dealer (Malcolm McDowell). Convinced there is more to Davey's death than meets the eye, Will--arguing he is nothing like his old, violent, urban self--slowly evolves again into a formidable criminal. Hodges and screenwriter Trevor Preston emphasize tone and spiritual inference over precise character motivation. Not everything that can be known about Will (especially his rocky psychological state and history with a former lover, played by Charlotte Rampling) is expressly stated. But one can feel his stifled nature rising, paradoxically, toward revenge, and his final actions have an existential power and mystery. --Tom Keogh

Description

In I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD, Willie (Owen), a former mobster, comes back to town after he learns his younger brother Davey (Rhys Myers) has committed suicide. Upon learning that Davey was brutally raped by mobsters, Willie is determined to seek justice by finding the men who victimized him. While on the search for the mobsters, Willie comes face-to-face with Frank Scott, the local "bad boy" and conflict arises when Frank starts to believe that Willie is back in town to reclaim his status as the town's bad boy.

Customer Reviews:

I'll Sleep About an Hour Into It.......2007-09-13

I assume that the title of this movie is taken from the Warren Zevon tune--a song, I might point out, that is about five thousand times more exciting than this dull, pedantic, pathetic, shiftless, soulless, sleep inducing film (I had to watch it over two nights as it lulled me to sleep after thirty minutes on the first viewing). How in the world do you make a Clive Owen, Malcom McDowell, Charlotte Rampling flick SO flat and pointless that it induces drowsiness? The acting is so deadpan and emotionless that it HAS to be good, right? Wow, and count those crime noir cliches in the script--is that a deep, meaningful commentary on the whole genre I smell? And what about all of those plot points (about half of the screen time in the film) that not only DON'T add to the main story but actually distract and detract the viewer's attention to confuse him or her as to what is actually going on--surely this is the sign of a truly meaningful movie experience, right? And let's not forget the lack of resolution for every single one of these meaningless sub-plots, including the old flame with a gun to her head. Oh, wait, I guess that was done so intelligent movie watchers, like myself, can inject a little thought and speculation into this, obviously, interactive experience. Maybe it is all meant to help solidify my strong homophobic worries and fears (just watch the movie and think about that comment). Is this a student art-for-arts-sake film disguised as crime noir? Or is this really just a flat, dull, dumb crime noir film? You be the judge--if you can stay awake.
Hey, in quick response to one of the other "glowing" reviewers--if the movie they DON'T show you is more interesting than the movie they DO show you--that's a pretty good indication it's a bad movie.

Listless Nonsense .......2007-06-11

This is a terrible movie. I equate it to trying to start your car after the battery has died. It "ain't" gonna start, no how no way. This movie has no "heart" whatsoever and can be best described as pointless nonsense. The "killer" in this movie gives the most mundane, stupid reasons for his crime imageable. Laughably predictable. The movie is a BORE. Please keep this one "across the pond". In America, we don't want it.

Interesting, but flawed.......2007-02-25

I like this movie for a lot of reasons. It is visually very stylish and interesting. There are some very good performances, and the contrast between Clive Owen's character, Will Graham, and everyone else from the old neighborhood is fascinating. Will Graham is a character who has left his old life, not to start a new one, but to cut himself off completely from any life. He returns to find out why his younger brother killed himself. The ending, before he seeks his revenge, has a strange ritualistic quality that heightens the tension. In the final analysis, however, I didn't think that the story of Will's search for the reason for his brother's death was nearly as interesting as the story that takes place before the film begins - what happened to Will that led him to abandon everything and begin aimless travels in a beatup camper, spending most of his time by himself. His ex-lover, played by Charlotte Rampling, says he "had a breakdown," but that doesn't provide any insight into what caused this stark, dramatic, and ultimately solitary disappearance from life. Without any understanding of this change, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" is interesting , but emotionally unsatisfying.

Clive Owen Is Good, But Not Good Enough To Breathe Life Into This Sleeper.......2007-02-08

Clive Owen has come into his own as an actor. His roles in GOSFORD PARK, INSIDE MAN, and CHILDREN OF MEN have proven him to be an excellent casting choice. And here in I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD, director Mike Hodges made the very wise decision to feature Mr. Owen in the prime role as Will Graham, a "retired" gangster returned to the madness after the apparent suicide of his only brother.

Building on the fairly weak relationship of Will Graham with his brother Davey (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, MATCH POINT), the story begins just as it ends, with the arrival and ultimate departure of Will. Interesting in a sort of nonlinear scripting way, the story's ambling nature and unaffecting characters are impossible to empathize with. When Davey (Meyers) is brutally sodomized by a ruthless man, we care very little because we simply don't know anything about them. Nor do we know (or are ever told) why Davey was raped in the first place. There is a simple speech given by the rapist (played by Malcolm McDowell) in an attempt at an explanation, but this is neither believable nor seemingly coherent with the script itself.

Which leads us to bigger and better problems. Since this is the crux of the story -- and what brings Will (Owen) out of retirement -- this leaves the entire film feeling very hollow. The connections between thugs, coroners/cops, and family are thinly developed (if at all) and given so little screen-time as to leave most watchers scratching their heads.

The ending, as stated earlier, mirrors the film's beginnings in that Will appears standing on the same beach monologuing the same lines. The assumption that the viewer is supposed to make is that this has happened before (i.e., Will has come out of "retirement" in the past for important things), but it comes off feeling stilted and out of place.

Clive Owen does an admirable acting job, but the script given him here is too weak to make this a positive movie-going experience.

I'll Sleep When I'm Done This Review.......2007-01-14

Hard to understand why people are not getting this terrific movie. In Croupier, also starring Owens, Mike Hodges evoked a brooding, existential London sub-culture where motives were always unclear and character was never divided between good and evil. Croupier was slow, wonderful to watch, and oozed irrational malice. It drew viewers in just as the unholy lure of gambling draws in prospective addicts.

In I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, Hodges weaves the same gossamer spell. There is little story, plenty of characters, but very little character development. These people don't follow a traditional formula; they bump into each other like boats in a harbor - just like real life. The cinematography, music, and overall vibe create a classic modern noir sensibility, and like the best noir, there is no underpinning of justice or rationality to make us feel good about how things turn out. Admittedly, these characters are sketched, not painted, but it is amazing how much we can surmise from just a few carefully selected details.

Most wonderful of all, this is a cynical gangster picture with almost no violence. (Lesser practitioners of moviemaking please take note!) The sense of dread, of impending doom, is where it should be, inside the viewer's imagination. Unlike other reviewers who were dissatisfied with McDowell's motivation, I thought it was inspired - so frequently the most hideous injustices are dished out for reasons no nobler than personal insecurities and jealousy.

Owen is always worth watching, regardless. Here he is surrounded by major talent, Malcolm McDowell and Charlotte Rampling. Both are under-utilized, shall we say, but it's always nice to see them. Rampling, nearly 60, looks amazing, still a real beauty with a fragile yet compelling persona. If you'd like to see her tear the scenery apart, check out The Night Porter.

When Will gets his shave and suits up for the hit, was anybody else reminded of that wonderful scene in Cat Ballou when Lee Marvin puts on his best gunslinger outfit (with scarf!) to take on the man with a tin nose?

Peter Sellers Collection (I'm All Right Jack/Heavens Above!/Hoffman/Two-Way Stretch/The Smallest Show on Earth/Carlton-Browne of the F.O.)

Average customer rating:

Caveats

Peter Sellers Collection (I'm All Right Jack/Heavens Above!/Hoffman/Two-Way Stretch/The Smallest Show on Earth/Carlton-Browne of the F.O.)
Starring: Peter Sellers
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00007AJEC
Release Date: 2003-01-21

Amazon.com

The Peter Sellers Collection includes six British comedies in which Sellers plays leading or supporting roles. The Smallest Show on Earth (1957) is among the run of gentle British comedies in the 1950s in which outmoded and broken-down local institutions were saved by collections of committed eccentrics. Aspiring novelist Bill Travers and his wife Virginia McKenna inherit a cinema from a hitherto unknown uncle and discover that it isn't the sumptuous modern Grand, but the decrepit Bijou, with a drunken projectionist played by Sellers.

In 1959's I'm All Right Jack, Sellers plays both Sir John Kennaway and, unforgettably, the trade union leader Fred Kite. The result is laugh-out-loud comedy with a satiric edge, lampooning the then-burning issue of industrial relations. The brothers John and Roy Boulting also directed and produced such British classics as Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959), in which Seller's unscrupulous prime minister is upstaged by Terry-Thomas as the idiot son of a great ambassador, and Heavens Above (1963), in which Sellers gives an unusually low-key performance as a young vicar whose tendencies to interpret Christian doctrines in his own individualistic way, rather than conform to church traditions, leads to all kinds of chaos.

The great crime comedy Two Way Stretch (1960) is about imprisoned crooks who hatch a scheme to pull off a heist with a perfect alibi by breaking out, doing the job, and then breaking back in to serve out their sentences. Sellers, usually an eccentric support in these things, takes a rare lead as cocky mastermind Dodger Lane.

Hoffman (1970) gives Sellers a lot of funny business, acid lines, and whimsical turns. Secretary Miss Smith (Sinéad Cusack) is blackmailed by meek, middle-aged Mr. Hoffman (Sellers) into spending a week of domesticity with him in his flat. At first, the tone is creepy, but it becomes more poignant as both characters learn to see each other as people.

Customer Reviews:

Caveats.......2003-11-12

Peter Sellers, often written off as a talented mimic, was actually a superb actor, if he found his character's "voice". He's been unfortunately typecast (I have a friend who thought he was French!) as Clouseau, and he may actually be the finest slapstick comedian after the end of the silent era. This collection is a treasure trove for anyone who wants to see him in early or obscure work, but the movies are ineven in quality and tone. Also of interest in that all these movies he plays a single character (even in the early, unincluded, "Only Two Can Play" he lapsed into multiple accents. CARLTON-BROWNE OF THE F.O. is really a Terry-Thomas vehicle with Sellers in support. Like all Cold War comedies its plot (such as it is, about the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. all trying to discover the secrets of a small island under British protection) is quaint and hardly funny, but there are enough bright spots to recommend the movie as a whole (the scenes between Terry-Thomas and Thorley Walters are invariably delightful). THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH has a young Sellers, again in a supporting role, playing the aged projectionist in a run-down theatre; again, the bright spots are scattered but for anyone who likes old movies and quiet humor will find enough not to have wasted his time with it. HEAVENS ABOVE, a satire on Communism, using the Church as a vehicle for its representation, has Sellers in the lead as a mis-appointed Anglican clergyman who turns his parish on its head; but the movie eventually plays against itself with its serious undertones. TWO-WAY STRETCH is an out-and-out farce with Peter Sellers as a prisoner who plots a crime that will give him a perfect alibi -- he's in jail; but a martinet new guard (Lionel Jeffries, the grandfather "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") may ruin his plans. "I'M ALL RIGHT, JACK" has Sellers in support again, in a star-studded farce about labor vs management, with Selelrs as Hitleresque shop steward and labor leader Fred Kite (a breakthrough role for Sellers). HOFFMAN is the odd man out in this box, as it comes later in Sellers' career, and the character he plays isn't comic, just unpleasant. Why "Hoffman" was included -- why it's even on DVD -- I can't even pretend to speculate. A more fitting addition to the collection would have been "The Wrong Arm of the Law", another crime caper. The poignant comedy-drama "The Dock Brief", with Richard Attenborough as the confessed wife murderer and Sellers as the barrister determined to get him off despite his own protests, would have rounded the box off nicely. The perfect addition would have been the hilarious "The Naked Truth", where Sellers and Terry-Thomas (again) plot to do away with a scandal-sheet publisher (Dennis Price) who threatens to expose their secrets (Sellers' jolly television host character is actually a slumlord). Even the much less funny "Only Two Can Play" would've been an improvement. Why they stuck on "Hoffman" -- unless it was simply dirt cheap to add -- boggles the mind. If you don't mind paying the freight for five comedies that range from middling to pretty-good-for-its-time, just to see early Sellers in some forgotten roles, this is the set for you. Just bring along a shovel to bury "Hoffman" and you'll be fine.

The M.O. of M.I. (The Modus Operandi of Male Intimacy)

Average customer rating:

Omigawd this was BAD!!
This movie is a train wreck!
Don't be fooled!!
Great Movie-I was expecting rump roast and got filet mignion
The M.O, of my disapiontment

The M.O. of M.I. (The Modus Operandi of Male Intimacy)
Starring: David Stokey , David Christopher , Cory Schneider , Titos Menchaca , and Luis Olmeda
Director: Susan Turley
Manufacturer: Allumination
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0001DCYKA
Release Date: 2004-03-23

Description

Passion and deception make deadly bedfellows in this riveting suspense thriller about three men entangled in an intricate web of love, lust and lies. After eight blissful months together, Michael and Tom have a perfect relationship. But that soon changes when Jonathon, a mysterious, sexy drifter, enters their lives and becomes the wild card in a bizarre triangle that evolves into a dangerous game of blackmail, betrayal and murder. Ultimately, the question becomes "who's conning who?" in this captivating tale of fatal temptation.

Customer Reviews:

Omigawd this was BAD!!.......2006-01-02

I'm sorry I can't give this one a rating lower than 1 star, because I think it really doesn't deserve any at all.

Other reviewers have hinted at the sound quality, but the mix on this movie was so bad I don't think I heard more than 1/3 of the dialogue. Did anyone involved in making the movie listen to it before it was released? Or maybe the sound mixer found out there wasn't any money to pay him, and this was his joke on the director and producer? Between dialogue recorded at a level inaudible to anyone except Superman to dialogue at a normal level, but with the rock soundtrack blasting over it, I shouldn't comment on the script, but what I did hear was derivative and hackneyed.

The acting? Bad for the most part. I would particularly single out Cory Schneider in this regard.

Plotline? Again, hackneyed and stale.

Unlike another reviewer, I didn't start laughing until it was over, but then I couldn't stop laughing at the idea that this movie takes itself seriously. It may at some point reach the status of camp classic, but that's all it will ever be.

Please, I beg you, save your 13 bucks! Rent it if you feel you have to, but don't waste good money buying this piece of tripe.

This movie is a train wreck!.......2005-12-07

I was dismayed by the way this movie lurched on to an unpredictable, but incredibly unsatisfying ending! I thought the premise sounded intruiging so I rented it, and am thankful I had not bought it.

The movie started out with promise, but quickly I found myself thinking no couple would endure what is going on. AND when the movie took a right turn (I am trying not to be a spoiler here), I found the actions being taken completely unbelievable and the ending was a total shocker (and not in a good way).

Sadly, I wanted to like this film. It does have some good things going for it, but in the end, I cannot recommend this movie.

Don't be fooled!!.......2005-04-21

I bought this movie based on glowing reviews on another web-site and I was terribly disappointed. While the basic story was a good concept, it was executed horribly. There was literally nothing good about this movie. I wanted to turn it off but I kept watching, hoping it would get better. It didn't! Bad acting, bad writing, bad movie. Don't waste your money.

Great Movie-I was expecting rump roast and got filet mignion.......2005-01-12

I wasn't expecting this movie to be as good as it was. I think Ardustry hit a homerun with this one. This is movie is compelling and kept my attention the whole time. Great plot, quality, actors. What more could you want!!!

The M.O, of my disapiontment.......2005-01-03

I was shocked. This was a low end movie. Low end acting. Low end plot. Shoot, even the stealing of the idea was low end. Yes, this was hailed a "Gayer Death Trap" but I hardly saw anything that was as thrilling or suspenseful as that movie was. Maybe it was so "hailed" because of all the implied sex with hints of nudity, but I'm not hailing any part of it. The actors were good looking but their acting was devoid of any real emotion or charisma.
What a waste of time. I rented it... thank goodness...

Average customer rating:

K-O-I-H-I-M-E Volumes 1 & 2 Box Set

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Featuring voices of adult film stars Kobe Tai and Houston

ASIN: B000OTFGNS

Product Description

Volume 1, The Love Volume 2, The Princess

Average customer rating:

I'm peeling her a grape--can anybody else write this review for me now ???
Disappointing
I'm No Angel
Quintessential Mae West.
"Oh Beulah... peel me a grape!"

I'm No Angel
Starring: Mae West , Cary Grant , Gregory Ratoff , Edward Arnold , and Ralf Harolde
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: 6305077622
Release Date: 1998-03-18

Amazon.com

In I'm No Angel, Mae West's second star vehicle, she's sideshow attraction Tira, "the girl who discovered you don't have to have feet to be a dancer." As usual, West wrote all her own dialogue for the film, and it's full of priceless wisecracks. A crowd of men ogles her as she tosses off a saucy little number, "They Call Me Sister Honky Tonk," swinging her hips phlegmatically. Then she slithers offstage, muttering "Suckers." Bored with life, Tira consults a fortuneteller. "I see a man in your future," he drones. "What, only one?" quips Mae. Tira wants to quit the carnival, so her boss (an unctuous Edward Arnold) makes her a proposition. If she'll become the show's lion tamer, she can meet "the swells." Just one little thing: she's got to put her head in the lion's mouth. (West insisted on performing this stunt herself, to the horror of Paramount Pictures' executives.) Enter Cary Grant as Jack Clayton, an aristocrat who falls for this floozie from the wrong side of the tracks. Some of the film's merriest scenes show Tira and her five black maids having a ball dancing and singing as she prepares for her dates with Jack. (West made it her business to keep as many of her black girlfriends working in movies as possible.) Tira's head maid, Beulah, played by Gertrude Michael, is the object of that momentous line "Oh, Beulah, peel me a grape." Mae slays 'em all in this picture, dressed, as always, in fabulously flamboyant finery. --Laura Mirsky

Description

In an effort to escape jail, a woman takes a job as a lion tamer. After her successful debut in New York, she attracts the atttention of two friends. One is engaged and the other isn't.

Customer Reviews:

I'm peeling her a grape--can anybody else write this review for me now ???.......2007-09-07

Mae West and Cary Grant starred in I'm No Angel, an excellent comedy from the early 1930s that shines even though the Hayes production code watered it down a little. The plot moves along at a very good clip; and West, who wrote the screenplay, gets in plenty of innuendos, double entendres and wisecracks all along the way.

The action begins at a local circus where Tira (Mae West) does her nightly song and dance number to the delight of many men. What most people don't know is that Tira and her not so charming buddy Slick Wiley (Ralf Harolde) "take a little off the top" from men Tira romances as she and Slick steal from them. One night one of Tira's "social encounters" goes horribly bad when the guy she's "romancing" gets hit by Slick; and after Slick gets sent to jail Tira needs money fast to get herself a good lawyer to avoid jail herself.

In order to get the cash she needs, Tira caves in to the demands of the circus owner: she must put her head into the jaws of a lion. (Mae West did this stunt herself!) In exchange for this stunt the circus manager gives her plenty of cash--and she gets to know a man who really likes her as he lavishes her with gifts, Kirk Lawrence (Kent Taylor).

Well, Kirk's fiancée doesn't like Tira at all after that; but it takes Kirk's friend Jack Clayton (Cary Grant) to convince Kirk to stay with his fiancée. When Jack visits Tira in her new swanky apartment provided to her by Kirk, the romantic sparks in the plot REALLY begin to fly.

Of course, what happens could surprise you. Who will Tira finally wind up with--Slick, Jack or Kirk? Will she get any man at all? Will one or more of the men try to manipulate people to their own personal advantage? No spoilers here, folks--watch the movie to find out!

This film was not only written by Mae West, she warbles her way through two or three songs as well. The scenes in the lion cage reflect great choreography. The cinematography is excellent--in real life Cary Grant and Mae West detested each other so their "love scenes" were filmed with only one actor, one day at a time and then spliced together to make it look as if they were in the scenes together. That's pretty good for a film from 1933!

Overall, this film provided Mae West with an excellent vehicle for her classic red hot mama act; and she gives an excellent performance. Although the film belongs to West, the other actors and actresses do a fine job and they also support West very well.

I highly recommend this film for Mae West fans and people who enjoy fast paced comedy flicks from the early 1930s. Cary Grant fans will like I'm No Angel as well.

Enjoy!

Disappointing.......2007-01-07

I've read many wonderful things about this movie, and it certainly is an important one in the history of Mae West's career because it is a film adaptation of her scandalous theatrical show called Sex. However, I found it to be quite dull.

Basically what we have here is a study about a woman who enjoys the company of men and who gets tired of them as quickly as she falls for them. One day, a special man rolls along (Cary Grant) and she wants to become a one man woman. This does not happen, though, until about halfway through the film.

Perhaps the code helped West more than it hurt her. When it was put into effect, she had to censor herself more, forcing her to limit the amount of inuendo used and to create a solid storyline. The lack of any real direction makes the movie more of a curiosity than an endurable classic. There is no refuting West's talent with words and her obvious sexuality, but you CAN have too much of a good thing, and this is a perfect example.

I'm No Angel.......2005-10-17

Witty. Great costumes. Mae West's mannerism's got old after a while. Something I will probably watch again. Family friendly and culturally educational.

Quintessential Mae West........2004-02-04

Tira (Mae West) is a gold-digging circus performer who reluctantly agrees to a dangerous lion-taming act to get herself out of a jam. The act is a great success, making Tira the talk of the town. Her flashy show at Madison Square Garden catches the eye of a wealthy businessman named Kirk Lawrence (Kent Taylor), who becomes infatuated with Tira and lavishes her with expensive gifts. Concerned for Kirk's social situation, his cousin and business partner, Jack Clayton (Cary Grant), attempts to convince Tira to reconsider their relationship. She does, and falls head over heels for Jack. But just as it looks like Jack and Tira will live happily ever after, Jack breaks off the relationship. A heartbroken but still stubborn Tira decides to sue him for breach of promise.

1933's "I'm No Angel" was Mae West's second starring role on the silver screen. After her previous film, "She Done Him Wrong", saved Paramount Pictures from financial ruin, the studio gave her carte blanche to do whatever she liked on this one. "I'm No Angel" was written entirely by Mae West. It's a romantic comedy, but West's character is not a romantic. Tira is nothing if not practical in her relationships with men. And there is no mistaking that the film exists entirely to showcase Ms. West's oversized personality and eye-catching figure. This is Self promotion and Star vehicle with capital S's. Mae West was 40 years old and a tad chunky when she made this film. But she didn't hesitate to cast herself as a sex goddess whom men of all ages found irresistible. And she gets away with it by sheer force of personality. West deserves a lot of credit for making audiences root for a union between a trash-talking middle-aged strumpet and a 29-year old gentleman of means. Such a relationship wouldn't gain approval in real life in 1933, and it wouldn't now. The success of "I'm No Angel", then and now, is testament to its star's great charisma. Cary Grant is more handsome than he would be during his years of star status, and surprisingly thinner. I don't think any actor could hope to share a scene with West without being upstaged by her, but Grant does a nice job of making Jack Clayton sympathetic, especially during the trial scenes. "I'm No Angel" is sometimes absurdly contrived, but that's the nature of romantic comedy. No bigger personality than Mae West ever graced the screen, and it's her presence that makes this film worthwhile. The DVD has no menu, only scene selections. And the movie begins as soon as the disc is inserted into the player.

"Oh Beulah... peel me a grape!".......2003-11-23

Mae West basically saved Paramount Pictures from bankruptcy with this and her other hit film of 1933 "She Done Him Wrong" (her other career highlight, also with Cary Grant). She was 40 when she made this film, and even for the early 30s she was plumper than the female ideal, and her face was wide and her nose was too long. But since she acted like she was the sexiest thing who ever was, and told you so too, you believed her: her uncontrollable sex appeal was her costant running joke and it never ever palled. Here she's Tira the lion tamer, who tames the richest men in New York society with equal ease: when Cary Grant withdraws his engagement she sues him for breach of promise, and she has great fun cross-examining the witnesses in her trial. Years before Lucille Ball or Carol Burnett, Mae West proved the old sexist canard that "female isn't funny" is an out and out lie. Who could be funnier than she is, sashaying around with her African-American maids delivering her ripest lines?

Inside I'm Dancing [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]

Average customer rating:

Inside I'm Dancing [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2, Import]
Director: Damien O'Donnell
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Two guys facing more challenges than most people learn some valuable lessons about life and love in this comedy drama. Michael Connolly (Steven Robertson) is a young man in his early twenties who suffers from cerebral palsy; confined to a wheelchair, Michael's speech is unintelligible to all but a handful of people, and his situation has made him shy and withdrawn as he spends his days at a home for the disabled in Dublin. One day, a new arrival moves in at the home Rory O'Shea (James McAvoy), a lad about Michael's age who suffers from muscular dystrophy and can only use two fingers on one hand. This, however, hasn't stopped Rory from developing a sharp tongue, a quick wit, a taste for alcohol, and the courage to put the moves on any women who crosses his path. Rory can also understand Michael's attempts at speech, and Rory puts his outsized personality to work encouraging his new friend to become more outgoing and not to let life pass him by, despite his handicaps. In time, Rory and Michael are able to convince Eileen (Brenda Fricker), director of the home, that they should be allowed to get an apartment on their own, and the boys use their stipend to rent a flat and hire an assistant to help with the tasks they can't manage. Rory chooses Siobhan (Romola Garai) for the job, mainly because she's blonde and pretty, and she soon becomes attracted to him; unfortunately, Michael has fallen in love with her, and this leads to a major rift between him and Rory that drives them apart.

DVD:

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