DVD

Average customer rating:

Different and Refreshing
Very Unique and Entertaining
The Bizarre and the Beautiful
Riveting performances from Jackson & Ricci
Do Not Fear the Title

Black Snake Moan
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson , Christina Ricci , Justin Timberlake , S. Epatha Merkerson , and John Cothran Jr.
Director: Craig Brewer
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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

Shooter (Widescreen Edition)
Ghost Rider (Two-Disc Extended Cut)
The Fountain (Widescreen Edition)
Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (Widescreen Edition)
Smokin' Aces (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B000PY52EU
Release Date: 2007-06-26

Amazon.com

The lurid scenario--a nymphomaniacal white trash nymphet (Christina Ricci) is held prisoner by a bitter bluesman (Samuel L. Jackson)--gives way to an affecting tale of redemption in Black Snake Moan, writer/director Craig Brewer's follow-up to the acclaimed Hustle & Flow. Lazarus (Jackson, Jungle Fever, Pulp Fiction) finds Rae (Ricci, Monster, The Ice Storm) beaten unconscious on the road in front of his backwoods house. After bringing her inside, he learns of her wanton ways and decides to exorcise his own demons by curing Rae of her sexual compulsion. Black Snake Moan could have been terrible, but Brewer takes his story seriously enough to dig into the genuine emotions of such a situation (though along the way he certainly flirts with sexploitation overtones--several scenes look like they were plucked straight out of a hitherto unknown 1970s trash classic). Ricci, Jackson, and the supporting cast (including pop star Justin Timberlake, giving a surprisingly good performance as Rae's boyfriend) treat the characters with respect, honesty, and humor. The result is off-kilter and maybe a little too fond of its sleazy cinematic forbears to truly hit the emotional notes it's after, but Black Snake Moan has considerably more substance than its marketing would suggest. --Bret Fetzer

Beyond Black Snake Moan

The Soundtrack
More Music Stars on DVD
More DVDs with Samuel L. Jackson

Stills from Black Snake Moan (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews:

Different and Refreshing.......2007-07-03

Black Snake Moan sure has a weird hook. Setting: Deep South. An older black man who plays the blues keeps a white nymphomaniac on a chain to cure her of her horniness. About half-way through, my husband turned to me and said "And why exactly did you think I would like this movie?" I winced and said I thought it would have blues as more of a central theme. But guess what, he stayed around and pronounced it a good movie after all! His summary is the best: "everyone has their struggles, and you are never really free of them."

The performances are exceedingly strong, the setting of Tennessee bucolic and beautiful. You really feel as if you are in this small, rural town where everyone knows each other.

Black Snake Moan is bold, and really gives you a sense of empathy for the different characters. Most importantly, it provides hope that if you have your own struggles, someone will be out there for you as well, not to judge you or cure you, but to love you.

Very Unique and Entertaining.......2007-07-02

Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow) directs his second mainstream film and John Singleton produces. Black Snake Moan stars Samuel L. Jackson as Lazarus, a religious man living in a small southern town. Lazarus is also a blues musician. His demons are that his wife left him for his own brother and for this he is riddled with anger. Christina Ricci plays Rae, who is an overly promiscuous girl who is traumatized by a history of child sexual abuse. On top of that her boyfriend Ronnie has left to join the National Guard. Ronnie is played by Justin Timberlake. After Ronnie leaves, Rae ends up having a pretty bad evening that leaves her scantily clad and beat up in the middle of a dirt road. She is left on a road just in front of Lazarus's house. After helping her get better, he soon comes to find out who Rae is and what kind of reputation she has. Lazarus sees this as a sign from god that he must heal her of her wickedness in order to receive some redemption for himself. So he ties her up to a giant 40 pound chain.

The film has a great atmosphere. It comes off as sticky and sweaty throughout and plays with that imagery as the characters develop. It consistently offers references to blues music and the characters are loud and full of life. It comes off as exploitative in some ways but that is ultimately done for a greater cause. Samuel L. Jackson is always good, even in really bad movies, but this is one of his best roles in many years. The real star here though is Christina Ricci who I've always felt is doing whatever she wants for now but one day she will be hailed as one of the best actresses around after a performance that hits the mainstream just right. Unfortunately for her though Black Snake Moan has not yet been a commercial success. None of that really matters though because it is still a very good movie although both Jackson and Ricci are even better than the screenplay and direction demand.

Some people say the film is hypocritical for sexualizing Rae and offering several erotic scenes with her, while at the same time presenting a negative view of sexuality. Firstly, I disagree that the film portrays sexuality as a negative but instead portrays excess as a negative. I did not feel hammered down by any messages that sex is wrong. Secondly, Black Snake Moan is definitely not meant to be erotic. It certainly rings of exploitation films but by watching Rae's transformation away from nymphomania and toward stabilization, away from her history of abuse to some degree of resolution, away from vulnerable to honest and confident, and away from being naked to being clothed; I can't help but think this is a fiercely unsexy film that is against hypersexuality alone. To be pro-spirituality and critical of actions often perceived as sinful is not puritanical and not even necessarily anti-sex. I would even argue that this movie uses religion only as a tool, but healing in general as its primary message despite the powerful Christian overtones. No matter how you look at it Black Snake Moan is, above all, a film that reinforces morality. It also happens to be quite entertaining.

The Bizarre and the Beautiful.......2007-07-01

This is one heck of a movie experience that you won't soon forget. Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci turn in amazing performaces, especially Ricci. She shows the kind of acting talent I never knew she had. Even Justin Timberlake isn't that bad here. The story is graphic and brutal at times, but it really progresses into something beautiful as it moves along. The blues music just adds to the mystique. Black Snake Moan deserved a better audience than the 11 million dollars it made in theaters. Here's to hoping Christina Ricci gets Oscar consideration.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Riveting performances from Jackson & Ricci.......2007-06-30

I honestly didn't know what to expect when I first viewed this movie - the trailer seemed lurid, and suggested a sexy, exploitative movie. Well, on the surface it does appear to be that, but it is so much more - Black Snake Moan is a southern tale embedded in blues music, and portrays a very real human drama of two tormented souls that heal each other, albeit in an uncoventional manner. Samuel L Jackson , in one of his best performances since Pulp Fiction , portrays a god-fearing man, Lazarus, who finds a half-naked young hussy, Rae [sexy, amazing Christina Ricci] on the road near his house and takes her in to nurse her...only he finds that Rae's wounds go way beneath the superficial, and it is her soul and spirit that need nurturing and healing. When Rae decides to bolt, Lazarus chains her to a radiator [!], and eventually a grudging acceptance develops, and in healing Rae, Lazarus finds his own redemption and salvation. Despite the torrid background [Ricci is half-naked in most scenes in the movie] & the foul-mouthed Lazarus, there is a poetic beauty to this movie...the pain of the main characters is altogether palpable, and one can't help empathise with their respective plights, and there is even humor, though of the darker variety...all in all, a very watchable human drama with sexy undertones that don't really seem exploitative to me, just a means of enhancing the story.

Do Not Fear the Title.......2007-06-29

Sure, I went to the theater for the lurid scenario, but I was caught off guard by the strangely sweet story and the palpable passion of the characters.

If you think that this is one of "those movies," you're only half right, and maybe less than half. This movie is a surprise. If you are apprehensive of the title, all I can say is "Get over it." You don't want to miss this film.

Average customer rating:

Too much "Gotcha"
Are You Watching Closely?
My favorite Magic-themed movie
Double Trouble
Runs out of runway....

The Prestige
Starring: Hugh Jackman , Christian Bale , Michael Caine , Piper Perabo , and Rebecca Hall
Director: Christopher Nolan
Manufacturer: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)
The Illusionist (Widescreen Edition)
Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition)
Babel
Blood Diamond (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B000LC55F2
Release Date: 2007-02-20

Amazon.com

The Prestige attempts a hat trick by combining a ridiculously good-looking cast, a highly regarded new director, and more than one sleight of hand. Does it pull it off? Sort of. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play rival magicians who were once friends before an on-stage tragedy drove a wedge between them. While Bale's Alfred Borden is a more skilled illusionist, Jackman's Rufus Angier is the better showman; much of the film's interesting first half is their attempts to sabotage--and simultaneously, top--each other's tricks. Even with the help of a prop inventor (Michael Caine) and a comely assistant (Scarlett Johansson), Angier can't match Borden's ultimate illusion: The Transporting Man. Angier's obsession with learning Borden's trick leads him to an encounter with an eccentric inventor (David Bowie) in a second half that gets bogged down in plot loops and theatrics. Director Christopher Nolan, reuniting with his Batman Begins star Bale, demonstrates the same dark touch that hued that film, but some plot elements--without giving anything away--seem out of place with the rest of the movie. It's better to sit back and let the sometimes-clunky turns steer themselves than try to draw back the black curtain. That said, The Prestige still manages to entertain long after the magician has left the stage--a feat in itself. --Ellen A. Kim

Description

Award-winning actors Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson star in THE PRESTIGE, the twisting, turning story that, like all great magic tricks, stays with you. Two young, passionate magicians, Robert Angier (Jackman), a charismatic showman, and Alfred Borden (Bale), a gifted illusionist, are friends and partners until one fateful night when their biggest trick goes terribly wrong. Now the bitterest of enemies, they will stop at nothing to learn each other's secrets. As their rivalry escalates into a total obsession full of deceit and sabotage, they risk everything to become the greatest magician of all time. But nothing is as it seems, so watch closely. And be prepared to watch it again and again.

Customer Reviews:

Too much "Gotcha".......2007-06-30

This is a movie about revenge. Robert Angier and Alfred Borden are two magicians who work together. When one of them loses a loved one during a performance, the other pursues a lifetime of vengeance. Back and forth it goes, with the only suspense being who is going to get the last word (or revenge) and destroy the other. This unrelenting process takes up most of the movie and is really overdone in my estimation. The movie is dark, (both the theme and the cinematography) and is pretty despresssing. My husband and I both enjoyed "The Illusionsist" much more that this movie.

Are You Watching Closely?.......2007-06-29

Wow! A review of this movie! That's not an easy thing. And the confused beginning and drawn out silences make it difficult to separate past from present from future and determine where you are in the story. But, after Christian Bale is responsible for the death of Hugh Jackman's wife, Piper Perado, the hatred between Jackman and Bale ratchets upward to obsession, with each magician exposing the tricks of the other. Both have found the ultimate trick, the transported man, involving exact doubles. It isn't clear how Bale found his duplicate, nor is it obvious until afterwards that his own personal tragedy, the suicide of his wife, Rebecca Hall, is the result of his double. But the extent of Jackman's obsession is shown by his rejection of his beautiful assistant, Scarlett Johansson, and his funding the research of Nicoli Tesla, a very real and very eccentric scientist of the period played by a stoic David Bowie. And when Jackman uses a duplicate to lure Bale into being accused of murder, and obtains custody of Bale's daughter...well, I've already said too much and the final plot twist should be left as a surprise.

My favorite Magic-themed movie.......2007-06-27

I saw this in the theatre, and found myself discussing it with my fellow movie goers all the way home (30 minutes). The next day I still was figuring out, in my own head, how the pieces all fit together in this movie. Christopher Nolan has directed my two favorite movies, Memento and The Prestige.

Sadly, when I received this on DVD, I was eager to watch it again. But this time through, I found myself asking why I didn't catch all the clues pointing to the end when I watched it the first time. The reason? Mr. Nolan knows how to give you all of the info without giving you the key to figuring it out.

If you like magic, "thinking movies", movies with a twist, and paradoxes, you will love this movie.

Even David Bowie was great as the part of Nicole Tesla.

Double Trouble.......2007-06-26

I don't know why my expectations for The Prestige were set for an average movie. Must've been something that I read. In contradiction to whatever it was that set my expectations low, I will set yours relatively high.

Oh...wait....That's exactly how I started my review for The Illusionist The Illusionist (Widescreen Edition) earlier this year. But the intro does indeed work with The Prestige too.

My low expectations were because The Prestige and The Illusionist were released right around the same time, and I therefore at the time had a case of Magician-Movie-Overload. Regardless, I'm glad I opted to spend the time with both, because both were thoroughly entertaining from start to finish.

A lot of the tricks in The Illusionist are movie magic...in fact most are movie magic and could only be done as so. But the tricks in The Prestige are much more feasibly tricks that could actually be pulled of by a turn of the century magician (with the exception of the machine that was being built by The Prestige's mad scientist David Bowie).

Don't expect to go into The Prestige and be truly amazed by wizardry. The Prestige is more the story of rival magicians (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale), and which one can deliver the ultimate trick before the rival interferes. But--make no mistake--the tricks are a very fun part of the movie, as are the diabolical ways in which each rival gets in the way of the other.

Christopher Nolan directs. The Prestige is not quite the action-packed, super-hero adventure that Nolan's last outing was ( Batman Begins (Two-Disc Special Edition) ), but The Prestige delivers its monies worth.

My recommendation is to see for yourself.

Runs out of runway...........2007-06-24

A really intriguing film up until the final payoff. At that point it requires a sci-fi leap of faith that many will be unable to make, myself and my wife included. Great cast (especially the treat of David Bowie) that ultimately almost redeems the end game plot conceit...but not quite.
Reminds me of landing jumbo jets at the old Austin airport. Drop out of the sky like a rock but get it down safely and no one complains because they're just glad to get home.

Average customer rating:

Maybe a good story
Great, uplifting movie
Great movie
Not a motorcycle movie
Worlds Fastest Indian

The World's Fastest Indian
Starring: Anthony Hopkins , Iain Rea , Tessa Mitchell , Aaron Murphy (II) , and Tim Shadbolt
Director: Roger Donaldson
Manufacturer: Magnolia
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

Syriana (Widescreen Edition)
The Illusionist (Widescreen Edition)
The Matador (Widescreen Edition)
Flags of Our Fathers (Widescreen Edition)
The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B000F8DBDK
Release Date: 2006-06-13

Amazon.com

A movie that exudes affection and goodwill, The World's Fastest Indian is an unabashed mash note to a lovely character from New Zealand's recent past. Burt Munro, played by Anthony Hopkins, is a cantankerous Kiwi with an obsession: he's been tinkering with his 1920s-era Indian brand motorcycle for years, pushing it to ever-faster speeds. It's the 1960s, and Burt has the utterly mad idea of taking the bike to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, site of world records for speed racing. The movie takes a while to get to the journey--and then the journey takes a while--but the genial atmosphere prevails. (People of a certain age, for whom the word "Bonneville" evokes pleasant associations with hotrods and world-speed records, will not be disappointed in the film's location shooting, or its sense of awe.) Hopkins is not quite on-the-money casting for the jovial, happy-go-lucky Munro, and his accent wavers, but he nails the emotional scenes and the fascination with speed. Smaller bits are well-filled by Diane Ladd and Christopher Lawford (son of Peter), who looks uncannily of the era. New Zealand director Roger Donaldson doesn't take any chances here, but the story clearly means something to him, and that sense of commitment carries the film through its sleepier moments. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Maybe a good story.......2007-06-28

But, I'll never know. I quit watching it after all the immoral inuendos. I can't see what is redeeming in this movie except trying to make what is probably a good story and fill it with such questionable and flippant behavior. Way to ruin what is probably a good story.

Great, uplifting movie.......2007-06-12

This is a thoroughly enjoyable movie. Anthony Hopkins is terrific. I highly recommend this film.

Great movie.......2007-06-12

Totally reminded me of my father-in-law. Great gift for all eccentric inventors or speed enthusiasts! Anthony Hopkins is extremely colorful and entertaining in this film.

Not a motorcycle movie.......2007-06-11

I'm an avid rider, but when I saw that Anthony Hopkins had the part of Burt Munro, it was clear this would not be just another motorcycle movie. It's an inspiring journey of faith, hope, courage, talent and perseverance. The motorcycle is only part of the story, albeit a prominent part. This wonderful epic of a wonderful man is filled with inspiration, joy and humor, and will find a place on my list of all-time favorites.

Worlds Fastest Indian.......2007-06-11

Great movie! This was another fantastic job by Anthony Hopkins. Great Family movie!

Average customer rating:

No shaun
Laugh out loud
Top Banana

Hot Fuzz [HD DVD]
Starring: Jim Broadbent , Kenneth Cranham , Timothy Dalton , Julia Deakin , and Patricia Franklin
Director: Edgar Wright
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

Action & Adventure | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video

General | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Shaun of the Dead [HD DVD]
The Bourne Identity [HD DVD]
Heroes - Season 1 [HD DVD]
Shooter [HD DVD]
The Ultimate Matrix Collection [HD DVD]

ASIN: B000RJO58M
Release Date: 2007-07-31

Customer Reviews:

No shaun.......2007-06-30

Loved shaun of the dead. This one left me cold. Lousy script and halfwitted jokes. Too bad.

Laugh out loud.......2007-06-27

A hilarious buddy-cop film with Britain's best buds, Pegg and Frost. Set in a perfect sleepy country town, the action and edge to the film couldn't be more surprising. Hilarious-and-yet-sinister locals, straightman cop, you have to laugh out loud at the interaction. If you liked "Shaun of the Dead," you will love this latest feature by quite a creative team.

Top Banana.......2007-06-12

Nicholas Angel is the finest cop London has to offer, with an arrest record 400% higher than any other officer on the force. He's so good, he makes everyone else look bad. As a result, Angel's superiors send him to a place where his talents won't be quite so embarrassing - the sleepy and seemingly crime-free village of Sandford. Once there, he is partnered with the well-meaning but overeager police officer Danny Butterman. The son of amiable Police Chief Frank Butterman, Danny is a huge action movie fan and believes his new big-city partner might just be a real-life "bad boy," and his chance to experience the life of gunfights and car chases he so longs for. Angel is quick to dismiss this as childish fantasy and Danny's puppy-like enthusiasm only adds to Angel's growing frustration. However, as a series of grisly accidents rocks the village, Angel is convinced that Sandford is not what it seems and as the intrigue deepens, Danny's dreams of explosive, high-octane, car-chasing, gunfighting, all-out action seem more and more like a reality. It's time for these small-town cops to break out some big-city justice.

Harry and the Hendersons (Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

Great Family Fun
Harry and the Hendersons
Don't Miss This Movie
Once upon a time with Harry
Bigfoot, Bigheart....and a BiggerMind than you might think

Harry and the Hendersons (Special Edition)
Starring: Don Ameche , Orene Anderson , Richard Arnold , Melinda Dillon , and Nick Flynn
Director: William Dear
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Special Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Night at the Museum (Widescreen Edition)
Ghost Rider (Two-Disc Extended Cut)
*Batteries Not Included
Bridge to Terabithia (Widescreen Edition)
Deja Vu

ASIN: B000MRNWKG
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Amazon.com

This cute movie by William Dear stars John Lithgow as a family man who befriends a Sasquatch (a.k.a. Bigfoot) and brings the friendly monster's oversized, hairy self into his Seattle home. Mayhem and comedy ensue, but things take a heavier turn when a hunter (David Suchet) gets on the creature's trail. Everything hinges on the relationship between Lithgow's character and Harry (the Sasquatch), and that relationship is really quite effective and touching. Don Ameche is a hoot as an old guy who has dreamed of meeting Bigfoot all his life and finally gets the glorious chance. --Tom Keogh

Description

John Lithgow takes adventure to new heights in this big-laughs, big-hearted, big-footed comedy for the whole family! A chance car accident introduces the Hendersons to the real-life Bigfoot, who is anything but a ferocious monster and quickly becomes a true friend to the family. They're soon in a race against the clock to return "Harry" to his natural environment before the authorities capture him. The fur will fly in this feel-good romp - an Oscar winner for Best Makeup - the whole family will enjoy again and again!

Customer Reviews:

Great Family Fun.......2007-06-27

I had seen this movie many times when I was a kid and always loved it. "Harry" is great family movie full of Hilarious scenes that will make you laugh out loud! It asks the question "What is Bigfoot really existed?". Would he be able to be seen as a gentle beast? Great for children as it shows that all "animals" aren't mean and nasty and don't deserve to be killed just because we can. If you are looking for a movie with great laughs for kids and adults alike then see "Harry and the Hendersons" I believe it is a movie everyone can enjoy!

Harry and the Hendersons .......2007-06-02

Nice liitle movie about a 'fictional' character set in the Seattle area .
Great fun for the whole family .... and you get to see John Lithgow with more hair (funny how we lose our cranial covering and then it migrates to other parts of the body ) and Melinda Dillon fresh from closeEncounters of the 3rd kind .
Don Ameche is wonderful.

Something to let all kids watch ...reminds me of the best 'Disney' stuff when I was a kid .

Don't Miss This Movie.......2007-05-31

It was great to revisit a movie I have always loved. Many people have been searching for a release of this movie and now it has finally come to DVD. The "extras" are mostly promotional material that supported the movies original release so don't expect much there, but the movie itself is awesome!

Once upon a time with Harry .......2007-05-30

Great for children and adults, this movie can be watched over and over again. Enjoy the comedy and the imaginative creation of Harry.

Bigfoot, Bigheart....and a BiggerMind than you might think.......2007-05-26

This is one of the best family movies ever made!! I don't know why it wasn't a big hit??!?!! If you haven't seen this movie yet, especially if you're into bigfoot but, even if your not....you must see it. I believe that having an open mind and an open heart is important and this movie helps people see how, why and what the results might be. Give yourself over to the big guy.....heck, I'd let him stay with me....well for a little while. Great family fun and adventure can't be found like this in modern movies; Harry and the Hendersons has real heart and one of my favorite performances by John Lithgow. The cast is a great combination of very gifted actors who gave great performances that should have been recognized as such and really haven't been. Buy it! Buy it! Buy it!

Average customer rating:

Great movie
Insanely great!
Decent TNT original movie, nice brief stroll through computer history.
good but not accurate
Good unbiased information

Pirates of Silicon Valley
Starring: Noah Wyle , Joey Slotnick , J.G. Hertzler , Anthony Michael Hall , and Wayne Pére
Director: Martyn Burke
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Made-for-TV Movies | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs as Low as $7.49 | The Big DVD Sale | Stores | DVD | Video

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

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

Triumph of the Nerds
iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It
Revolution OS
Hackers - Wizards of the Electronic Age
Biography - Bill Gates: Sultan of Software (A&E DVD Archives)

ASIN: B0009NSCS0
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Product Description

The revolution came when we weren't looking. It happened in a garage. In a dorm room. In countless hours of effort, imagining and intrigue. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates were changing the way the world works, lives and communicates.

The event-packed saga of the quirky visionaries who jump-started the future unfolds with exhilarating, cutting-edge style in Pirates of Silicon Valley. Noah Wyle (ER) portrays Jobs and Anthony Michael Hall (The Dead Zone) portrays Gates in this chronicle of the fierce and often humorous battle to rule the fledgling personal computer empire. "The story is almost Shakespearean... it's a tale of lust, greed, ambition, love and hate," writer/director Martyn Burke reflects. And it's a success story unlike any other.

Running Time: 97 min.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

This dramatization of the tangled history of Apple Computer and Microsoft, based on a book by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine, hits enough of the right notes to make its failures all the more frustrating. The script follows the entwined paths of Apple's Steve Jobs and Microsoft's Bill Gates with a pointed sense of the cultural divide between the hip, self-absorbed Apple cofounder and the brilliant alpha geek behind Microsoft's eventual software empire, contrasting the Mac's countercultural underpinnings with the PC's more strait-laced origins. But Pirates of Silicon Valley seemingly can't decide whether it wants to be a serious-minded history of these key figures in the personal computer revolution or a trashy wallow in the more ignoble foibles of its principals. As a result, it falls short of exacting history while never achieving the guilty pleasure it might have.

If Gates has become synonymous with corporate conquest at its most striking, Pirates' interest lies more with Jobs, given a nervous energy and flashes of adolescent selfishness by Noah Wyle, who benefits from a reasonable physical resemblance to the Apple chief. Eyewear and a comb-over do nearly as well for Anthony Michael Hall, who also grafts some of Bill Gates's better-known mannerisms onto his performance and renders Gates as a smart if socially maladroit entrepreneur who, like Jobs, provides the ambition and business savvy to exploit his partner's computing talents. There are a few fanciful touches (Ballmer and Wozniak become Greek choruses, addressing the viewer as they comment on the principals), but the story plays out in straightforward fashion. It's tantalizing to consider how the Apple/PC melodrama might have fared with an edgier, more openly satirical script. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

Great movie.......2007-06-29

This movie was very inetersting. It shows how the modern personal computer industry started.

Insanely great!.......2007-06-04

Hugely enjoyable and quite accurate (by most accounts) telling of the rise and ultimate clash of two modern tech titans, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Canadian Martyn Burke deserves great credit for both writing and directing this gem. While made for television, this is better by far than most made-for-theater Hollywood productions. The 70's and 80's music fits especially well; tremendously appropriate songs and soundtrack for the story. And the use of the famous Apple "1984" commercial, compared with the vision of a huge, televised Bill Gates hovering over a humbled Steve Jobs is absolutely brilliant.

The dual narration is brilliant too, using the Steve Wozniak character to narrate the Apple story, while the Steve Ballmer character narrates the Microsoft side of things. Sure, there are major oversimplifications of many characters, and while a Paul Allen character is an active presence here - we learn virtually nothing about him as a person. But so what? As the commentary on the DVD points out, there's an almost Shakespearean feel to much of this. The focus is on the events surrounding the ultimate clash for PC superiority between Apple and Microsoft, and on Jobs himself, to a lesser extent on Gates. With no attempt to fully flesh out the other players (and none needed, in the particular story that's being told/dramatized). A few weakish scenes are included, but not many; virtually every scene adds a dimension to the plot and to the ultimate conclusion. The pace is very good, very strong. Noah Wyle gives a terrific performance as Steve Jobs; Anthony Michael Hall is also excellent as Bill Gates. And the DVD has a brief but interesting and entertaining introduction by Wyle; be sure to view it.

As to any "inaccuracies", from what I can tell those are very, very minor. Those interested may want to check Steve Wozniak's website, a section (in "letters") discusses his take on this movie. In a nutshell, Woz was not consulted for the movie, and was flattered by the way he was portrayed. He seemed to feel the movie was accurate or portrayed accuracies; he mentions a few things such as they weren't allowed to wear the "Alice in Wonderland" costumes home, but changed out of them before leaving the performance - personally I thought it was a nice touch to have them walking home while still in costume. Also there's some obvious dialog added for humorous or dramatic purposes; for example, in one scene the Gates character tries to connect socially with women by complimenting their "bandwidth" and by attempting to imitate John Travolta's disco moves while on rollerskates - funny, almost believable, but not likely strict reality. Or when both Jobs and Gates quote the Picasso line about "...great artists steal", but Gates (unlike Jobs) doesn't really care which artist said it. Minor stuff like that should be treated as artistic/dramatic license, not absolute reality. It's a movie (or docudrama), not a strict documentary, yet still manages to make a great story while still being essentially true to the reality of the events. (By the way, "Insanely Great" was of course an Apple marketing phrase for the Mac, created by Steve Jobs himself; so I'm not meaning to infringe on any copyright there!).

Decent TNT original movie, nice brief stroll through computer history........2007-05-31

The computer revolution has change everything over the past 30. I hope someday a good documentary will be available. This film is so far the only thing I have noted along the way that even tried to touch on the computer wars at the beginning. TNT produced this film back in 1999 as one of its first original movie shows. Its good drama, and really got me interested in looking at the interesting history of computer development. Yes it's kinda nerdy, but hey, I think everybody has to admit it, Apple/Macintosh has always been a more reliable/stable system, very hard to crash. Why the heck then did the IBM/microsoft platform take off as it did? Well, this movie only touches on it. Noah Wyle plays the outlandish Steve Jobes, who was co founder of Apple with Steve Woznyack. This movie illistrates his control in the company, but only touches how Apple's priprietary protection/isolation killed its strong foothold on the market, while the IBM/IBM clone market skyrocketed secondary to competition keeping computer price and software down while Microsoft, the little program maker, rake in the money from lisencing it's software. Is this really how Steve Jobes and Bill gates (anthony michael hall) are in real life, I don't think so, but hey, its still a decent movie. Check it out if you like this kind of history.

good but not accurate.......2007-05-21

the movie paints a good picture of the people in the movie, and touches on a lot of realistic events, but is not totally accurate

Good unbiased information.......2007-05-18

My wife and I enjoyed this film alot. It's cool to see how all of this computer stuff began, and how stupid the big companies were early on. It's interesting because they still are slow to react and a little stupid most of the time. It really shows the truth of what Bill Gates did, and has continued to do, which is be dishonest, cheat, steal, AND make really low quality products. But it is not biased as it shows the downfalls of Steve Jobs and Apple in the early days as well. Get this movie!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Full Screen Edition)

Average customer rating:

UNABLE TO SEE DVD
Lotsa Fun
A MOTORCAR THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF.....
Excellent Family Movie
Kids love it

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Dick Van Dyke , Sally Ann Howes , Lionel Jeffries , Gert Fröbe , and Anna Quayle
Director: Ken Hughes
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

3-6 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

7-9 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

10-12 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Adapted from Books | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Music & Arts | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Family Films | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

Mary Poppins (40th Anniversary Edition)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (30th Anniversary Edition)
The Sound of Music (Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition)
Doctor Dolittle
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen Special Edition)

ASIN: 0792839749
Release Date: 1998-11-10

Amazon.com

This remastered, pan-and-scan 30th-anniversary edition of that kiddie-car caper is flawed but solid family fare. It retains a quaint charm while some of the songs--including the title tune--are quite hummable. A huge plus is Dick Van Dyke, who is extremely appealing as an eccentric inventor around the turn of the century. With nimble fingers and a unique way of looking at the world, he invents for his children a magic car that floats and flies. Or does he? The special effects are tame by today's standards, and the film is about 20 minutes too long--but its enthusiasm charms. The script was cowritten by Roald Dahl and based on the novel by Ian Fleming, best known for his James Bond adventures. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Description

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls start your engines. You're about to take an incredible ride with one of the most wonderful family films of all time! Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has never looked or sounded better. Dick Van Dyke stars as eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts, who creates an extraordinary car called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It not only drives but also flies and floats as it leads him, his two children and his beautiful lady friend, Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), into a magical world of pirates, castles and endless adventure.

Customer Reviews:

UNABLE TO SEE DVD.......2007-06-27

THE ITEM ARRIVED IN GREAT CONDITION ALTHOUGH SLOW IN DELIVERY. CANNOT SEE THE FILM I ORDERED BECAUSE IT IS FOR REGION 1 AND I NEED FILMS FOR REGION 2. REALISED WHEN I PUT THE DVD ON. MY MISTAKE. RATED 5 STARS BECAUSE OF THE WAY IT WAS PACKED.

Lotsa Fun.......2007-06-27

The music is great -- I enjoyed singing along. There are a lot of laughs and some clever surprises. Maybe a bit overdone in spots (emphasis on the fact that the kids weren't in school because they didn't want to be, and the "goblin" character with the silly nose), but all in all it kept my attention from beginning to end. I look forward to watching it again.

A MOTORCAR THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF............2007-06-22

I've always had a fond affection for auto's with a heart and soul- if I could I would own HERBIE, THE BATMOBLIE and for sure THE GEN II CHITTY! - she's a real beauty and knows how to treat a lady to a ride. Great for kids - and adults that want to be kids again! - ITS WIZARD!!! ITS SMASHING!!! ITS KEEN!!! Have Fun!!!

Excellent Family Movie.......2007-06-01

If you have children who are still awed by the magical this movie is for you! The story of an eccentric inventor father and his two young children who discover this junked race car. They fix up the car and magical things happen. Lots of singing and dancing. Lots of fantasy type characters. It is a G movie!

Kids love it.......2007-05-08

I want to start by saying THIS IS NOT A DISNEY MOVIE. SOme of the reviews pan the film because of a connection with Disney. But the film wasn't and isn't a disney release. If you want to hate the movie, you should hate it on its own merits (or lack there of). Personally, as an adult, I find the movie overly long and cloying. BUT, my kids love this movie. Given all the choices they have (and they have a bunch) they often choose this film over many others. They have no problem with the length, and they find the film funny and entertaining. For me, I am pleased that the film has little violence, no bad language, and no nasty double entendres. No "winks" to an adult audience such as those that peppered all three Shrek movies for example. I, personally, find this refershing. The movie treats children like children, and this is almost reason enough to have a copy around.

The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

typical disney's junk for kids and adults with peter-pan syndrome
Ebdearing epic novel for children!
The Chronicles of Narnia
A Visual Feast That Captures The Imagination!
Six Stars!

The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Georgie Henley , Skandar Keynes , William Moseley , Anna Popplewell , and Tilda Swinton
Director: Andrew Adamson
Manufacturer: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Disney
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Adventure | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

All Disney Titles | Disney Home Entertainment | Stores | DVD | Video

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

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

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Harry Potter 4)
King Kong - Extended Cut (Three-Disc Deluxe Edition)
Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Cars (Widescreen Edition)
Walk the Line (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B000E8M0VA
Release Date: 2006-04-04

Amazon.com

C.S. Lewis's classic novel The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe makes an ambitious and long-awaited leap to the screen in this modern adaptation. It's a CGI-created world laden with all the special effects and visual wizardry modern filmmaking technology can conjure, which is fine so long as the film stays true to the story that Lewis wrote. And while this film is not a literal translation--it really wants to be so much more than just a kids' movie--for the most part it is faithful enough to the story, and whatever faults it has are happily faults of overreaching, and not of holding back. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe tells the story of the four Pevensie children, Lucy, Peter, Edmund, and Susan, and their adventures in the mystical world of Narnia. Sent to the British countryside for their own safety during the blitz of World War II, they discover an entryway into a mystical world through an old wardrobe. Narnia is inhabited by mythical, anthropomorphic creatures suffering under the hundred-year rule of the cruel White Witch (Tilda Swinton, in a standout role). The arrival of the children gives the creatures of Narnia hope for liberation, and all are dragged into the inevitable conflict between evil (the Witch) and good (Aslan the Lion, the Messiah figure, regally voiced by Liam Neeson).

Director (and co-screenwriter) Andrew Adamson, a veteran of the Shrek franchise, knows his way around a fantasy-based adventure story, and he wisely keeps the story moving when it could easily become bogged down and tiresome. Narnia is, of course, a Christian allegory and the symbology is definitely there (as it should be, otherwise it wouldn't be the story Lewis wrote), but audiences aren't knocked over the head with it, and in the hands of another director it could easily have become pedantic. The focus is squarely on the children and their adventures. The four young actors are respectable in their roles, especially considering the size of the project put on their shoulders, but it's the young Georgie Henley as the curious Lucy who stands out. This isn't a film that wildly succeeds, and in the long run it won't have the same impact as the Harry Potter franchise, but it is well done, and kids will get swept up in the adventure. Note: Narnia does contain battle scenes that some parents may consider too violent for younger children. --Dan Vancini

Description

Prepare to enter another world when Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media present C.S. Lewis' timeless and beloved adventure. With the stunningly realistic special effects, you'll experience the exploits of Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter, four siblings who find the world of Narnia through a magical wardrobe while playing a game of "hide-and-seek" at the country estate of a mysterious professor. Once there, the children discover a charming, once peaceful land inhabited by talking beasts, dwarfs, fauns, centaurs, and giants that has been turned into a world of eternal winter by the evil White Witch, Jadis. Aided by the wise and magnificent lion Aslan, the children lead Narnia into a spectacular climactic battle to be free of the Witch's glacial powers forever! The Chronicles of Narnia, Narnia, and all other book titles, characters and locales original thereto are trademarks of C.S. Lewis Pte Ltd. and are used with permission. © Disney/Walden

Customer Reviews:

typical disney's junk for kids and adults with peter-pan syndrome.......2007-06-30

another bore-to-death disney fantasy for kids only with endless annoying music score that could be applied to every other disney movie.
i was so glad that my kids are all grown-ups now, so i don't have to sit thru in the torture chamber to finish this terribly pretentious movie.

Ebdearing epic novel for children!.......2007-06-30

Disney would have made C. S. lewis proud with this production of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I watched this play every year at Christmas time and have loved it from the start.

The panoramic snow scenes and stage decorum are nothing short of spectacular. The religious allegory that goes with the storyline is enhanced in the battle and the ending is left just right for sequels.

I have said this in many reviews. Disney you deserved the oscar for this picture.

The Chronicles of Narnia.......2007-06-29

Fantasy, adventure, intrigue and triumph. What more could be said of this classic. Great special effects and good acting talents bring this story to life like no other version.

A Visual Feast That Captures The Imagination!.......2007-06-14

The Chronicles of Narnia was brought to life on screen better than I have ever seen it! The visual effects were astonding! A great family adventure! If you liked the book, then you will like this! If you have not read the book, you should still enjoy the movie!

Six Stars!.......2007-06-13

Kittykins gave a lot of good detail, which is what I usually refer to as a spoiler but not in this case. Parents need to know what this show portends. If you are a Jew or other religion you may reject the religious allegory but you cannot fault the storyline or special effects and panoramic views of a land of ice and snow...slowly thawing as love arrives to break a spell long overdue to be broken. Leaves from trees form figures and send messages and codes to the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.

It was time for a Disney Oscar! But it didn't get what it deserved.

"The Walt Disney production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was Disney at its best. The religious allegations of the movie gave it a more worthy standing in the the movie world as a tool for children that teaches moral values without being preachy. It leaves nothing out of the main concept that compelled C. S. Lewis, an atheist converted to "Christianity" to write it. He has turned the Bible message into one acceptable to the child and if you will forgive me, but this is not meant to be a pun, but C. S. Lewis nailed it! Jim Broadbent saw its integrity and delivered it with eloqeunce to the screen. The actors chosen for their roles excelled in their parts and Disney projected the story in the light that C. S. Lewis would have been humbled to see.

It has been long over due for a juvenile fiction of this greatness to come to the screen and this one was done well by Disney and in my opinion eclipses Beauty and the Beast and provides entertainment for adults as well.

Look for the message! There is a message within the message!

Average customer rating:

Stretches a joke too far
Awesomely funny!
"What's wrong with being sexy?"
Absolutely Brilliant !!
BEST MOVIE EVER

This Is Spinal Tap (Special Edition)
Starring: Ed Begley Jr. , Dana Carvey , Jean Cromie , Chazz Dominguez , and Fran Drescher
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Cult Movies | Genres | DVD | Video

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

( T ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Special Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Waiting for Guffman
Best in Show
A Mighty Wind
Christopher Guest Collection (A Mighty Wind / Best in Show / Waiting for Guffman)
The Big Lebowski (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

ASIN: 6305922756
Release Date: 2000-09-12

Amazon.com

Director Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) solemnly alerts us to the glory that was Spinal Tap in his introduction to this "rockumentary" about the legendary British heavy-metal group, featuring lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), lead singer David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), and a succession of drummers whose careers were cut short by spontaneously combusting on their stool, drowning in somebody else's vomit, or otherwise perishing in untimely fashion. Under DiBergi's studious interrogation, the band and their familiars retrace the band's evolution from head-bopping Mersey Beat poseurs to head-banging metal poseurs, each change in musical direction or tonsorial chic having little effect on the surviving trio's sublime idiocy. For, as St. Hubbins (he's the "deep" one, relatively speaking) sagely observes, "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."

Happily for us, director Reiner, who developed the underlying story line with Guest and former Credibility Gap pranksters McKean and Shearer, stays squarely on the right side of the line, even as his writer-actors remain hilariously trapped on the other side. In lieu of a formal shooting script, the quartet created an extensive and detailed band history ripe with the sort of dead-pan detail that hard-core rock historians and screwball aficionados will savor on countless replays; with the three Tap members also musicians themselves, the "band" developed its stage act under the unsuspecting noses of L.A. club denizens, who accepted them as just as loud, flashy, sexist, and obvious as any other mullet-tressed, leather-garbed brigade of guitar slingers, circa 1984. The resulting footage thus manages to lob its punch lines and build its characters (including some thinly veiled character assassinations of various industry folks) with a loose, tossed-away verve rooted in the improvisational approach. This Is Spinal Tap remains the funniest, and most truthful, look at rock culture ever filmed and a personal best for all involved. --Sam Sutherland

Description

You're about to get personal with one of music history's greatest and loudest heavy metal bands, Spinal Tap! Whether or not you're a die-hard fan of the group, you'll love this detailed "rockumentary" of Engand's legendary Spinal Tap. Acclaimed commercial director Marty DiBergi takes you behind the scenes for an intimate look at a band whose time has come and gone and come again and.... Through interviews, rare footage and lots of musicincluding classic Tap tunes like "Big Bottom" and "Hell Hole"you'll get acquainted with David St. Hubbins (lead guitar), Nigel Tufnel (lead guitar), Derek Smalls (lead bass) and every drummer who ever livedand diedfor this renowned rock band. Be a part of the sights, sounds and smells of this celebrated heavy metal phenomenon. It's an experience you'll never forget.

Customer Reviews:

Stretches a joke too far.......2007-06-30

I tried to like this movie, but it's really a 5 minute joke stretched too far. In fact it's gone on now for nearly a quarter century. Isn't enough is enough? Apparently not.

Yes, rock music can be silly sometimes, but basing careers out of a parody of it is surely stretching it.

I smiled a bit for the first few minutes. After that it felt like being hit over the head with a club. "Hey it's funny, see? Did you see that joke we made? Funny! Oh and here's another one! It's funnier than the similar one we made an hour ago! Isn't this hilarious?!"

I was never offended by it, if that's why you think I gave it a low rating. I was just bored at how tedious the film became.

Should have been a 5 minute skit on Saturday Night Live or something.

Awesomely funny!.......2007-06-18

I love the dry humor of this movie. I've been a huge music fan for years and love the way the various scenarios are blown out of proportion. For example, the little bread, big meat catering problem. You'll have to watch the movie to know what I'm talking about. If you need more of an "in your face" sort of humor, then this movie is not for you.

"What's wrong with being sexy?".......2007-05-24

I'm a huge metal fan. Whether hair metal, old school, nu metal, alt-metal, prog metal or death metal, I like 'em all. We're talking Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Korn, Poison, Nirvana, Tool, Anthrax, System of a Down, Savatage, Alice In Chains, Faith No More, Lamb of God, Queensryche, Sepultura, Shockplate and many more. And with that enjoyment of heavy metal comes an appreciation of the greatest rock satire of all-time:
"This Is Spinal Tap."

Directed by Rob Reiner ("When Harry Met Sally") -- who also doubles as budding documentarian Marty DiBergi -- this mockumentary follows the floundering career of the once-great Spinal Tap. Led by guitarist/vocalist David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), guitarist/vocalist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), the Tap is ready to embark on what will surely be a hugely successful tour in support of their new album.

Alas, a variety of dastardly forces unite to ruin Spinal Tap's big tour, from meddling record execs to politically correct organizations to women who, well, are just frightened of the band because they have armadillos in their trousers. Infighting within the band, a mysterious Yoko Ono-esque character, and the band's inability to make it from the dressing room to the stage without getting lost don't help the cause, either. Can the band overcome hardship and rekindle their former glory, or will they be stuck playing barmitzvahs?

Despite a lean running time of 82 minutes, This Is Spinal Tap manages to lampoon an impressive number of rock and metal cliches. The result is a plethora of classic scenes and one-liners, such as when Spinal Tap's guitarist shows off his amps to director Marty DiBergi, and brags about how it's so loud it "goes to 11." When DiBergi asks why he just doesn't make 10 louder, the guitarist looks puzzled for a moment before offering his deadpan response: "This one goes to 11."

The film is also filled with live performances of such Spinal Tap classics as "Big Bottom," "Hell Hole," and "Sex Farm." Each is as hilarious as its title would suggest and does a great job of skewering the big dumb sex mentality of many hard rock bands.

Despite its greatness, "This Is Spinal Tap" does suffer a bit from the fact that it pre-dated the heyday of the hair metal explosion, which could have lent itself to some more good gags that seem to be missing from the film. And some of the jokes here have copied so many times they probably don't seem as fresh as they did more than 20 years ago. But considering, for example,that Spinal Tap's "black" album pre-dated Metallica's by seven years, it's hard to complain too much.

"This Is Spinal Tap" rewards repeat viewings, as it delivers as much subtle humor as in-your-face laughs. Keep an eye out for cameos by stars such as Billy Crystal, Bruno Kirby and Dana Carvey. The Special Edition DVD, boasting a hilarious intro, incredibly funny commentary track, and hours of solid deleted scenes, is a must-watch. Whether you're a rock or heavy metal fan -- or even if you hate these genres -- you'll get a kick out of "This Is Spinal Tap."

Absolutely Brilliant !!.......2007-05-23

One of the funniest movies ever made ! I won't add to the product descriptions,plenty of reviews for that.But I will add some observations.
I've lived in Austin,Tx ,"The Live Music Capitol of the World" ,for the past 30 years, & have known many in the music scene .And no one loves this movie more than the musicians that it skewers.Especially the metal acts . If you ever want to crack one of them up,drop a line from Spinal Tap .Everyone will end up quoting their own favorite line.The smart ones see the joke/danger.The others don't make it and/or end up as jokes themselves.
Second thing is,the "in character"voice commentaries alone are worth the price for any fan wondering why to buy this edition.It is just as brilliant in concept as the movie itself.
Third thing.Spinal Tap was obviously based on several bands and an entire genre to a degree.But my favorite candidate for "most based on" is the '70's band Uriah Heep.They were famous for changing drummers,even changing in mid-album once.I'm a child of the 70's and still listen to them occasionaly.But now I can't keep the grin off my face & keep thinking of that thin,fine line between stupid & clever.Long live Rock 'N Roll !!

BEST MOVIE EVER.......2007-05-23

I just love this movie. It has so many classic moments. Like Nigels guitar collection. The black album. The drummers. Just watch it. HILARIOUS!

Average customer rating:

a classic!
Separating the "Horrible and the Miserable"
One of Woody's Best
A romantic comedy that's actually funny, moving, and original
The best of Allen's genius

Annie Hall
Starring: Hy Anzell , Colleen Dewhurst , Shelley Duvall , Russell Horton , and Carol Kane
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Urban | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

Hannah and Her Sisters
The Graduate
Play It Again, Sam
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Casablanca

ASIN: 6304907729
Release Date: 2000-05-30

Amazon.com essential video

Annie Hall is one of the truest, most bittersweet romances on film. In it, Allen plays a thinly disguised version of himself: Alvy Singer, a successful--if neurotic--television comedian living in Manhattan. Annie (the wholesomely luminous Dianne Keaton) is a Midwestern transplant who dabbles in photography and sings in small clubs. When the two meet, the sparks are immediate--if repressed. Alone in her apartment for the first time, Alvy and Annie navigate a minefield of self-conscious "is-this-person-someone-I'd-want-to-get-involved-with?" conversation. As they speak, subtitles flash their unspoken thoughts: the likes of "I'm not smart enough for him" and "I sound like a jerk." Despite all their caution, they connect, and we're swept up in the flush of their new romance. Allen's antic sensibility shines here in a series of flashbacks to Alvy's childhood, growing up, quite literally, under a rumbling roller coaster. His boisterous Jewish family's dinner table shares a split screen with the WASP-y Hall's tight-lipped holiday table, one Alvy has joined for the first time. His position as outsider is uncontestable he looks down the table and sizes up Annie's "Grammy Hall" as "a classic Jew-hater."

The relationship arcs, as does Annie's growing desire for independence. It quickly becomes clear that the two are on separate tracks, as what was once endearing becomes annoying. Annie Hall embraces Allen's central themes--his love affair with New York (and hatred of Los Angeles), how impossible relationships are, and his fear of death. But their balance is just right, the chemistry between Allen's worry-wart Alvy and Keaton's gangly, loopy Annie is one of the screen's best pairings. It couldn't be more engaging. --Susan Benson

Description

Considered to be "Woody Allen's breakthrough movie" (Time), Annie Hall won* four OscarsÂ(r), including Best Picture, and established Allen as the premier auteur filmmaker. Thought by many critics to be Allen's magnum opus, Annie Hall confirmed that he had, "completed the journey from comic to humorist, from comedy writer to wit [and] from inventive moviemaker to creative artist" (Saturday Review). Alvy Singer (Allen) is one of Manhattan's most brilliant comedians, but when it comes to romance, his delivery needs a little work. Introduced byhis best friend, Rob (Tony Roberts), Alvy falls in love with the ditzy but delightful nightclub singer, Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). When his own insecurities sabotage the affair, Annie is forced to leave Alvy for a new lifeand lover (Paul Simon)in Los Angeles. Knowing he may have lost Annie forever, Alvy's willing to go to any lengthseven driving L.A.'s freewaysto recapture the only thing that ever mattered'true love. *1977: Picture; Actress (Keaton); Director; Original Screenplay

Customer Reviews:

a classic!.......2007-06-29

This film marks the pinnacle of Woody's career, introducing the main themes later rehearsed to death in subsequent projects. A self-conscious neurotic quippy self-flagellating Jewish comedian meets a juicy self-conscious WASP, wooing her, rejecting her and after being rejected himself longing for a life that could have been. There is always an aura of sadness about Allen's films - a sadness of masculinity longed for and never realized, of self-contempt burning in someone who knows he can't ever escape the intellectual mindtrap that epitomizes the 'New Yorker' crowd. While Allen appears to despise the greed, snobbery and pretentiousness of this crowd, he always seems paralyzed and unable to find his way out of the mousetrap.

Annie Hall is a genuinely funny and profound film. Alvyn knows the New Yorker crowd lacks something that would fulfill his longing. He knows that 'Annie' represents his one chance to escape the straightjacket of empty intellectual poseurism. The self-revelatory autobiographical element are bittersweet as the viewer becomes all too aware that Alvyn fails the challenge of his life. the very character trait that makes him funny makes him incapable of being able to hold, endure and accept Annie for who she is . The film is, for me, a lesson showing how not to be a man. A demonstration of the consequences of not being able to love fully, of being unable to disappear into surrender.

Both Keaton and Allen do a fantastic acting job basically playing themselves. While Allen never surpasses the quirkines, the bittersweet lightness of the Annie Hall's Alvyn character, Keaton's best moments come in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" made in the same year.

Separating the "Horrible and the Miserable".......2007-06-17

Before 'Borat' Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Widescreen Edition) confronted anti-Semitism, and Seinfeld Seinfeld - Season 7 did brilliant comedy about "nothing," 'Annie Hall' said a great deal about a lot of things of varying magnitude in this funny Woody Allen movie masterpiece. Taking place, of course, in New York City, Allen's nearly autobiographical alter ego, Alvy Singer, has an on-again, off-again romance with the titled character (Diane Keaton) who is his soul mate and counterpart to his own labored existence. Episodic to be sure, Allen's directing and co-writing take everything bothersome and makes it into an honest labor of love. (Alvy, too, is a stand-up comic who spars about anything from strained love relationships to Republican politics. Not to mention both have that eloquent obssession with "sex and death".) While Alvy always seems maladjusted, he is unable to cope without Annie who, while from Chippewa Falls, WI, can relate to him and help him through the shipwreck of his nuerotic life.

'Annie Hall' is exceptionally funny. In one scene Annie is relating a dream to Alvy where "Frank Sinatra is suffocating" her. Alvy, quick to psychoanalysis, immediately says that she is suffocating her career as a singer. She counters that her therapist says that it is he who is suffocating her because his last name in Singer. (And by all means psychology gets a comedic thrashing many times.) While thinking aloud on the street, Alvy stops a couple to ask them roughly why they seemed so happy. "Basically, I'm shallow," she confides. "I'm basically shallow, too," he adds. In another scene he talks to his friend (Tony Roberts), where he relates talking to a dinner guest. He talks about the meal and tells of a companion who said, "I had salad. Didjyou?" To which they both debate anti-semitism. There's also a split-screen scene where Alvie and Annie are each talking to their pyschiatrists and the differences are acutely funny. (One should also add that Allen did more in these few minutes than 'Conversations with Other Women' did in a whole movie.) Pet peeves are also confronted to provide creator and audience with plenty of therapeutic laughs.

'Annie Hall' is just delightful fun. Chockful of wit and candor, it is a sustaining comedic classic. (Also with cameo appearances by Shelly Duvall as a 'Rolling Stone' reporter and Paul Simon.)

One of Woody's Best.......2007-06-11

Annie Hall is one of the best Woody Allen movies out there. It features Dianne Keaton in one of her best performances, and is a thoroughly enjoyable movie with great wit and humor. If you are ever tempted to rent or buy one of the new below average movies put out so often by Hollywood nowadays, rethink the decision and watch this instead. Some great fun and the New York v. Los Angeles debate that is often a basis of Woody' humor, is in great form here. 5 Stars.

A romantic comedy that's actually funny, moving, and original.......2007-06-05

Full of neuroses and classic comedy bits, Woody Allen's Annie Hall is that rare breed of movie: a romantic comedy that's actually funny, moving, and original.

Allen's character, a neurotic standup comic named Alvy Singer, meets free-spirited Annie Hall (played with superb wit and energy by a young Diane Keaton). Their on-again-off-again romance flows throughout the movie leading both of them on a roller coaster of emotions that they both want to stay on and get off of at the same time.

Annie Hall features cameos from several of today's stars, although when Annie Hall was filmed these actors were just dayplayers. It's a veritable who's-who of small parts. Jeff Goldblum as a party guest, Sigourney Weaver as one of Alvy's dates, Beverly D'Angelo as a character in a TV show, Truman Capote as a Truman Capote lookalike, and Christopher Walken as Annie's slightly off-kilter brother. Paul Simon also makes an extended appearance as musician Tony Lacey.

Annie Hall is the first Woody Allen movie I've seen, and now I can't believe I waited this long. If you're going to see one Woody Allen movie, or just one movie, make it Annie Hall. You won't be disappointed.

The best of Allen's genius.......2007-05-22

Annie Hall falls at a crucial juncture of Woody Allen's career - when he was switching from the laugh a minute, slapstick routines of his early films such as 'Take the Money and Run' and 'Bananas' to the more sombre, philosophical treatments of his later works. This film captures the best of both worlds. As a result, I think it is Woody Allen's finest.

From the off, the jokes are teriffic: the movie opens with a typically emotionally fraught Allen addressing the camera direct: 'There's this joke, two Jewish women at a Catskill mountain resort having dinner - one says 'the food here's terrible,' the other says, 'yeah, and such small portions' - and that sums up my view on life'. Annie Hall is Woody Allen's finest diagnosis on love and life. Annie is an endearing character in her men's shirts and ties, the grass smoking temptress who unwittingly draws the intellectually fraught Alvie Singer (Allen )into her seemingly innocent web - 'What, did you live in a Norman Rockwell painting or something?'. The couple poke fun at New York Intellectuals: 'Samuel Beckett - he just doesn't hit me at a gut level' - 'I'd like to hit him at a gut level'. And the transient curve of modern sexual relationships. The intellectual angst of New York against the Hollywood vapid glamour of LA and the West coast. It is a fine movie, packed with many jokes and superb life observations. Worth many a viewing.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

Murder On Flight 502

Hairy Jeremy - Zero Hero

Quiet American [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Batman - The Animated Series - Vol. 4 - Secrets Of The Cape