Our Friend Martin (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an excellent educational video. I agree with other reviewers that it is not appropriate for young viewers. However, as a fifth grade teacher, my students were fully capable of handling the presentation and the discussions that we had before and after.
This video truly encourages children to think about the choices they make. Not only does it make Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. someone a child can relate to, but it explores the idea that one person can make a difference. It urges children to stand up for the right thing even when it is difficult.

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Twilight (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)This review refers to "Twilight" (VHS/Paramount)....
Paul Newman knows a thing or two about playing a private eye. Remember "Harper" and "The Drowning Pool"? In "Twilight", he's Harry Ross(funny it should be another "H" name, to add to his list), an on the wagon, ex-cop, turned ex-private eye. He's holed up at the home of an ailing Jack, and Catherine Ames, once bright and shining movie stars. The Ames', by the way, are Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon.
Harry has been doing odd jobs for the Ames', and he's about to handle the oddest. Jack asks Harry to deliver a package. Don't worry, he says, a simple task, no guns needed. Well, this simple task unleashes a web of 20 year old secrets and lies that could ruin lives and take a few in the process. And yes, a gun would come in real handy for Ross, who comes out of retirement to solve the case. And... who do you trust?... becomes the big question for him.
It's a real treat to see Newman in this quiet but deadly thriller, unraveling a murder mystery, that has dead bodies and danger at every turn. Sarandon and Hackman are in top form as they try to protect themselves from their own past. Director Robert Benton("Places In The Heart"/"Kramer Vs. Kramer"), seems to be paying homage to the noir of yesteryear, and does it with a wonderful flair for the genre.
Stockard Channing, Reese Witherspoon, James Garner, Giancarlo Esposito, Liev Schreiber, John Spencer and M. Emmet Walsh, add their wonderful talents to the story. The music, by Elmer Bernstein completes the feel of this Hollywood mystery.
This VHS edition presents a nice picture(full screen), and very good sound in Stereo. You may want to keep the remote handy as there are more than 10 minutes of previews at the beginning of the tape. The film is rated R for some violence, and nudity.
Catch these legends all together, in one time, in one place. "Twilight" in Tinsletown!
Get the popcorn ready and enjoy....Laurie
also recommended:
Empire Falls (Every Small Town Has a Big Story) Vol. 1
The Outrage

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A RETIRED PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR AGREES TO HELP HIS STAR FRIENDSAND BECOME EMBROILED IN A DANGEROUS AND COMPLEX MURDER MYSTERY.

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Cats & Dogs (Full Screen Edition) (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)Tired of taking your kids to a family movie and finding it's neither for them or you?
Cat's and Dog's is wonderful family entertainment. I went with the neighbor's kids and they couldn't stop turning to me with a "Hey this is cool," look in their eyes.
I was entertained.
The film is witty, innocent, fun and winking here and there at adults.
Kids will love the adventure.
This is not Shrek where you wonder if my kid should of heard that or seen that... etc.
This is much better.
So bring your friends and as many kids as you can find. Everyone will have a ball... and be on the look out for the Russian Spy kitty.
Sincerly, J.R.

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Comedic action-adventure that mixes live action with cutting-edge CGI and animatronic effects. "Cats & Dogs" uncovers the truth about the high-tech, secret war being waged in neighborhoods everywhere that humans aren't even aware of: an eternal struggle between the two great armies of Cats and Dogs. The story follows a Cat plan to destroy a new vaccine that, if developed, would destroy all human allergies to Dogs, and the Dogs' efforts to stop the Cats from executing their plan.DVD Features:Audio Commentary:Dog Commentary Cat CommentaryDeleted Scenes:Deleted Scenes - tied together Other:"Teaching A New Dog New Tricks" Easter Eggs (4) - "Techbone", Star, Mr. Tinkles Flag, Dog PawTV Special:HBO First Look Special

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Peacock (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)As you can see by the previous reviews, the opinions are greatly varied. They all have merit but I have to say I liked it more than I didn't like it.
As for the issue of multiple or fractured personalities, I don't have the expertise to say whether or not they exist, but it is the crux of this film so, depending on your views on the matter, you may need to suspend your disbelief.
Yes. You get, right off the bat, the strong connection to Psycho. Abused son plus dead mom equals crazy son. This son, played by Cillian Murphy will make or break this one for you. Susan Sarandon is present but she's doing what she can with a rather small part. Bill Pullman seems unnecessarily weird and Ellen Page does a very good job even though she's only in a couple of scenes. This is Murphy's movie. The way he plays the parts of John and Emma, I felt, were tremendous. He's screwed up and trapped in a self imposed prison. Through a trick of fate he almost finds a way out through his alter ego Emma. But you see the torment in him and you realize how precarious the situation is. One false move and the whole thing comes crashing down.
The writer/director Michael Lander ripped a couple of pages out of the David Lynch book of film making but as I tend to like Lynch, I wasn't at all bothered. It's a good idea for a movie and all aspects of the production are professional. The soundtrack is way cool and the bones don't show. This is a good, solid, imaginative film. It clocks in at 90 minutes so it won't tax your patience.
But beware. This is not for the casual viewer. If you're into popcorn kind a flix this may not be your cup of tea. If way off beat films are your poison, give it a shot.

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John Skillpa, a quiet bank clerk living in tiny Peacock, Nebraska, prefers to live an invisible life. Then, in a moment, everything changes. A train caboose runs off its tracks and crashes into John’s backyard and destroys more than the weathered planks of his wood fence. When neighbors descend on the scene, they discover John’s other personality, Emma, for the first time and mistakenly believe her to be John’s wife. This launches John into the glare of the spotlight and eventually shatters the delicate balance of his sanity.

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Solitary Man (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)The film follows Michael Douglas as he comes to grips, or doesn't, with his age and the fact that his personal life as passed him by. The movie begins with Douglas receiving the news that he needs some test performed on his heart because his doctor has some concerns. Time then flashes forward six years, where Douglas is now divorced with a daughter in her early 30s (played expertly by Jenna Fischer), a grandson who is five, and a girlfriend (Mary Louise Parker) who he is using for her father's power. Hints are dropped that Douglas was involved in some sort of scam that caused him to lose his extremely profitable business and threw him into a scandal that destroyed his reputation. The rising action begins when Douglas must escort his girlfriend's daughter to his alma mater for the weekend. While in Boston, Douglas makes a terrible decision that threatens to unravel whatever life he has left.
Though this film received little attention, I thought that it was absolutely excellent and worth an Oscar nomination (being that they're handing them out willy nilly now). Susan Saradon plays Douglas' ex and does so expertly with just the perfect amount of anger, pity, and old love. Douglas plays the philandering 60+ year old who still thinks he's 20 perfectly. The end of the movie leaves people guessing, but can also be used as a conversation starter and had me thinking about the film long after I left the theater.

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Ben (Michael Douglas) once ruled a car-dealership empire vast enough to fuel a glossy Manhattan lifestyle and endow a library at an East Coast university. But by the time he arrives at the college with his girlfriend’s daughter, Allyson (Imogen Poots), who is a prospective student, his world has collapsed around his ears. A business scandal has cost him his income and his marriage to Nancy (Susan Sarandon). His ever-present lust for every passing attractive woman threatens to take what little Ben has left. Even his new relationship with Jordan (Mary-Louise Parker) oscillates with tension. When Ben takes Allyson to tour the school, his motives are more than mixed.

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Pretty Baby (1978) Review

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(More customer reviews)If they gave Academy Awards for small moments, this film would deserve one for the scene in which Violet is being auctioned off, and the camera closes in on the eyes of the Black piano player, full of silent moral judgment. The print is not so lovely, with more glitches and defects than I've seen in years. Even worse, Paramount has chosen to censor the film, by reframing the scene where Violet is tossed out of Belloc's apartment. It's one thing to be locked out of your house, and quite another to be locked out naked. The impact (and irony and pathos) of the scene is lost along with the nudity. What's ridiculous, though, is that uncensored full-frame prints have been showing on DBS/cable for years. Why censor it now? Last one out of the barn lock the door? So we have a choice between uncensored pan & scan or cropped widescreen. After years of overpriced, underfeatured discs (how many times have they released 'better' versions of Star Trek films?), it looks like Paramount has found yet another way to reveal its failure to understand DVDs. A pity this film wasn't released by MGM.

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A photographer becomes obsessed with a child prostitute in turn-of-the-century New Orleans.Genre: Feature Film-DramaRating: RRelease Date: 18-NOV-2003Media Type: DVD

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Leaves of Grass (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Leaves of Grass isn't a movie that you can easily categorize. While it doesn't offer up laughs every few minutes, it's still a clever comedy in the vein of a Coen Brothers film. But you also can't quite call it a black comedy completely in the spirit of Burn After Reading or Fargo. It's equal parts crime drama, humor, romance and philosophy.
The film revolves around the intertwining lives of two identical twins, played by the incredibly talented Edward Norton. Ivy League philosophy professor Bill Kincaid is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown as part of a scheme cooked up by Mary Jane growing brother Brady. The first half hour of the film moves slowly but quickly gains momentum when the two siblings eventually cross paths.
The best part of this movie is easily watching Norton put on brilliant performances as both brothers. The supporting cast is top-notch as well, especially director Tim Blake Nelson in the role of Bolger, Brady's partner in crime. Nelson slips into the role effortlessly, which is no surprise considering he himself is a real-life Okie (a Jewish one at that, which influences a subplot of the movie). My only gripe with casting was Richard Dreyfuss as Jewish gangster Pug Rothbaum, with Dreyfuss giving one of the most bizarre attempts at a Southern accent in film.
I enjoyed the cinematography, Jeff Danna's work on the score, and the infusion of philosophy into the film. As a Southerner, I appreciated the fact that Brady's accent was no reflection on his intelligence. While not as well-read as his sibling, he still gets the occasional profound message across. The only real complaint I have about the film are the jarring scenes of violence. Considering it's not entirely a dark comedy, scenes that involved murders seemed extremely out of place in this movie.
Overall, watching Edward Norton effectively tackle two completely different roles was a real treat. If you enjoy a good drama or comedy that makes you think, definitely check this one out.

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LEAVES OF GRASS - DVD Movie

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You Don't Know Jack (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)Once upon a time this film would have been released in theatres and this lead performance and maybe even Brenda Vaccaro's would have been nominated for Academy Awards. That is how good this film is, award worthy, notable for it's stellar execution and story, a standout for this year. Al Pacino's Jack Kevorkian is not his best work in a decade, as some have speculated. It is his best work since Angels in America (from 2003), also an HBO produced and presented film. He is as commanding in that amazing series as in this. Pacino has always been physically gifted as an actor; adept at expressing his emotions with his back or his head, his hands or his walk. I think his reputation as actor has suffered in the last twenty years because he moved away from using his body (essential to the art of acting) and compensated with his voice. In this context, this film is a return to form: Donnie Brasco, Carlito's Way, Glengarry Glen Ross, Scent of a Woman, Dick Tracy, to name his best work since 1990.

You Don't Know Jack is an apt title for this film, because I was certainly aware of Jack Kevorkian growing up, knew he was an advocate and involved in euthanasia and that he went to prison, but I didn't know he was such an iconoclast; morbid, graphic and unapologetic painter, a musician, a bachelor and a civil disobedient. These characteristics add to his legend, and his stature as a doctor who seems to have taken his profession and life's work as something more than a path to prestige and wealth, which cannot be said of some doctors in truth and perhaps too many in reputation. The role of the physician in society is an aspect of the successful story told here.
The role of the politician and the collective social fears of death in our society are the other themes, and they too are well told.
Though Kevorkian is presented sympathetically, and his opponents are not; angry "Christians" in general and a politically vengeful D.A. specifically, it is ultimately his own folly that dooms him. This may speak to his bachelorhood, his unemployment at the outset of the film and his stubbornness at getting to the Supreme Court. But his ambitions are not clarified here, other than his humanism, which is made genuine in small moments as well as big.
I highly recommend this film. Al Pacino and Jack Kevorkian are in the center of it, and the other actors, particularly Vaccaro as his sister Margo, are excellent. Euthanasia is an issue brought to the forefront by Kevorkian, but his incarceration did not produce another advocate in his stead, and the issue has unfortunately fallen by the wayside. It is an important consideration, what power we have over ourselves when we are faced with imminent pain before our death. This film handles it incredibly well, and I hope it produces as much discussion and thought for you as it did for me.
Thanks.

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Angel of mercy… or murderous “Doctor Death"? Jack Kervorkian is one of the most polarizing figures in modern American history, a man whose passionate belief that people have the right to die has brought him both praise and vilification. Oscar®- and Emmy®-winning actor Al Pacino brings “Dr. Death" to life in an all-new HBO Films presentation: You Don’t Know Jack, directed by Oscar®-winner Barry Levinson.

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Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've worked on Wall Street my whole life. The first film was cut throat Ivan Boseky insider trading and raw greed at its finest. Michael Douglas was simply riveting. I had been waiting for the sequel ever since announced. Going opening day, I was stunned after watching it the first time. Yes, Oliver Stone nails the Collapse of Wall Street in 2008 with the mortgage meltdown. Every character can be parlayed into a real life individual involved in the Bear Stearns and Lehman collapse. But the real story is about second chances in life, fighting for family, doing the right thing, commitment to work and the price paid for loyalty. Shia Labeouf (Jake Moore) is at his best when he sets out on a course of vindictive revenge after James Brolin (Bretton James) causes the "perceived" collapse of Keller Zabel(KZI) and the suicide of his mentor and KZI's leader Lou Zabel.
Michael Douglas (Gordon Gekko) and Shia Labeouf team up given that Jake is engaged to Gordon's daughter Winnie. They embark on path to understand KZI's collapse and to seek revenge, plus make a few dollars along the way for Gordon. Gordon and Jake make a series of "trades" to learn that Bretton James and his firm, Churchill Schwartz, were illegally betting on everything under the Sun to destroy KZI. Oliver Stone's attention to detail is STUNNING. Words won't do justice to the perfection of the each set. You have to know Wall Street to know that on a scale of 1 to 100, he gets a 99 because no one gets a 100. Gordon's real redemption is his name, reputation and a deep love for his family. Jake simply wants to do right by the death of Lou Zabel and persecute those respondsible. Wrap those emotions around a fast paced collapse of Wall Street, and you have a beautiful movie. Vetrans of investing will be amazed, but the film has a broad reach. One can't spoil the detail in the screen writer's brillance, but the lines are wit personified. To be "blamed for all disasters since Nintendo" speaks to taunt tone and wit. Best line of all is Gordon's---"When you stop telling lies about me, I'll stop telling the truth about you." Gordon finally does do right. One shouldn't spoil this film. I titled my review "Love, Life Family...." The last 20 minutes bring together all aspects of any excellent drama. On a personal note given Michael Douglas' condition, I will remember his 2 performances in Wall Stret with deep gratitude and always wish him good health. "Time is the most important thing in life." Well said Mr. Douglas

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Following a lengthy prison term, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) finds himself on the outside looking in at a world he once commanded. Hoping to repair his relationship with his daughter, Winnie (Carey Mulligan), Gekko forges an alliance with her fiancé, Jake (Shia LaBeouf). But Winnie and Jake learn the hard way that Gekko is still a master manipulator who will stop at nothing to reclaim his rightful place at the top of Wall Street.

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