Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

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Product Description

The original cowriter and director of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was Alex Cox, whose earlier film Sid and Nancy suggests that Cox could have been a perfect match in filming Hunter S. Thompson's psychotropic masterpiece of "gonzo" journalism. Unfortunately Cox departed due to the usual "creative differences," and this ill-fated adaptation was thrust upon Terry Gilliam, whose formidable gifts as a visionary filmmaker were squandered on the seemingly unfilmable elements of Thompson's ether-fogged narrative. The result is a one-joke movie without the joke--an endless series of repetitive scenes involving rampant substance abuse and the hallucinogenic fallout of a road trip that's run crazily out of control. Johnny Depp plays Thompson's alter ego, "gonzo" journalist Raoul Duke, and Benicio Del Toro is his sidekick and so-called lawyer Dr. Gonzo. During the course of a trip to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, they ingest a veritable chemistry set of drugs, and Gilliam does his best to show us the hallucinatory state of their zonked-out minds. This allows for some dazzling imagery and the rampant humor of stumbling buffoons, and the mumbling performances of Depp and Del Toro wholeheartedly embrace the tripped-out, paranoid lunacy of Thompson's celebrated book. But over two hours of this insanity tends to grate on the nerves--like being the only sober guest at a party full of drunken idiots. So while Gilliam's film may achieve some modest cult status over the years, it's only because Fear and Loathing is best enjoyed by those who are just as stoned as the characters in the movie. --Jeff Shannon

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Review

I find it sad that much of the country bases it's movie selections on the opinions of hacks like Leonard Maltin. I can see why this wasn't a mainstream success due to it's waaaaaay out in left field mentality, but because of all the negativity this great film remains unseen by many. As people come around to the acting genius of both Johnny Depp and Benecio Del Toro (and they will), they will inevitably want to see their earlier works and then, finally, they will see what all the hype wasn't about. Terry Gilliam absolutely NAILED Hunter's book. The visuals are incredible and alarming. The angles, strange and enticing. I heard that they filmed this movie without a script, just the book in hand. After reading the book, I believe trying to write a script for it could have severly dampened the impact.Now for the drug use... If you are the type of person who realized that Fight Club wasn't really about the fighting, then you will also realize that Fear & Loathing isn't really about the drug use. According to the big dog movie critics only a stoner will appreciate this movie, which leads me to believe that only idiots become professional movie reviewers.If you appreciate ground-breaking cinema, truly innovative directing, first-rate acting and are looking for something different... the ramblings of a gonzo journalist could be just the thing. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews� Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | PermalinkComment�Comments (13)

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Bambi -Edition Collector

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Bambi -Edition Collector Review

I remember being mesmerized by Bambi at the drive in as a kid in the early 70's, and then again on TV but, what a fantastic restoration.

I have to thank Amazon.com for providing this before the actual release date and I was amazed at the restoration. I am not going to review the story as it is a classic and most know what it is about. I will review the repackaging and upgrade of the classic. The new DVD provides extra outtakes that haven't been seen before and the new coloration is fantastic. Gone is the sort of gloomy non crisp colors and in its place are wonderful bright colors.

Fantastic redo! If you have kids they will love this updated version. If you just like Disney Classics than you will also want to own this one.

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Valentino [Blu-ray]

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Price: $94.99   

Valentino [Blu-ray] Review

Ken Russell's "Valentino" was released in 1977 to the condemnation of most of the critical populace as well as the Catholic Church.Most of this disapproval was due to an ignorance of Ken Russell's artistic method,his intentions,and the extreme nature of some of his work.Over twenty years later with baroque directors more common and sexual and violent imagery less outre, "Valentino" deseves to be recognized as the undeniably flawed yet vital work of art that it is. Influenced by "Citizen Kane",Valentino's narrative is presented in a series of flashbacks by the people who admired,pitied,despised and loved the silent screen superstar.Ken Russell weaves tragedy and satire together to criticize the absurdities and nightmares engendered by the pursuit of the American Dream.The film dissects the obverse and reverse of stardom with its mindless and volatile adulation on one side and jealous hatred and contempt on the other."Valentino" also depicts the ethnocentism and homophobia of the 1920's-and by implication,as in most of Ken Russell's films,depicts ours as well.The film's tone is mercurial and constantly challenges you to think about what is being depicted as you are affected by its power.It enthralls as it provokes. Yet the film is not without its flaws.Rudolph Nureyev in his first acting role displays charm,grace and sex appeal-but he is sometimes stiff and lacks emotional depth.The great actress Alla Nazimova is savaged (in a very funny performance by Leslie Caron)as a pretentious and vain phony.Natasha Rambova(a very beautiful Michelle Phillips)is depicted as a shrill,grasping shrew.The screenplay as written by Ken Russell and his co-scenarist sounds unduely influenced by films of the early 1930's(though this does give the film atmosphere,you sometimes feel as if you were watching an R-rated Lloyd Bacon picture). Yet the film's merits make it worth experiencing.One can mention its exquisite art direction and costumes,its tour de force cinematography by Peter Suschitsky.But its Ken Russell's direction of its many great setpieces -choreographed with great intensity that are the ultimate proof of its genius.Not every setpiece works-one involving an empty-headed starlet brought to orgasm through sheer fantasysing while going through the motions of having sex with Valentino falls flat.But others such as Valentino's revenge on Fatty Arbunkle or the Nijinsky photo session with Nazimova and Rambova are emblematic of Ken Russell's use of images rather than words to achieve poetic comedy.Much more disturbing are Rambova's seance turned nightmare as well as the jail sequence in which various lowlifes sexually taunt Valentino and force him to urinate on himself.It is one of the most horrifying scenes in film history. "Valentino's" faults(such as its occasional historical inaccuracies and the aforementioned depictions of Nazimova and Rambova)seem irrelevant when you begin to understand that Ken Russell's intentions were not to tell Valentino's life story but to explore satiric and tragic themes based on his and his contemporaries' lives.His method is similiar to Shakespeare's Macbeth.Macbeth's raison d'etre was to enact corruption through ambition.The biographical or "real" Macbeth is of no significance to the play.Ken Russell's method is the same.This is not to say that he willfully distorts history for distortion's sake-but that he presupposes his audience will have prior familiarity with his subjects and will be able to reference both his fidelities and his departures from fact. Is "Valentino" a great film?I think it is, despite its uneveness-though I don't think it is one of Ken Russell's best films.But other great works of English art such as "Women Beware Women","Paradise Lost" and "David Copperfield" are all admittedly uneven and hopefully one day "Valentino" will be judged upon its strengths and not weaknesses -as they are.

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Transformers [Blu-ray]

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Transformers [Blu-ray] Review

For a nerd that used to drool over this show as a kid, this movie hooks you from the very beginning. From Optimus Prime's summary intro (with Peter Cullen still at the helm of our favorite alien semi) to the Decipticon attack on the military base, you have no doubts that this is Transformers. Shia LaBeouf makes his entrance and proves the perfect part for this movie. He's actually pretty funny and acts the part well. As far as the rest of the humans in this cast, not as much can be said.

After the awesome introduction, the first part of the movie deals mainly with Shia LaBeouf's Sam purchasing a Camaro that actually turns out to be the Autobot Bumblebee (in the cartoon, originally a VW Bug. I think the yellow VW Bug in the car lot next to Bumblebee was a homage.) Sam unknowingly uses his alien car to impress a girl. Of course she actually is impressed when they find out it's an alien. There are some pretty funny scenes in this part of the movie as well as some action scenes that are very well done.

Soon comes the arrival of the other Autobots and they reveal to Sam their true purpose, which is to locate the Allspark -a powerful device capable of transforming a planet- before the Decepticons get a hold of it. I thought at this point that the slow parts of the movie were over, but not quite. From here we go into a few too many scenes dealing with side characters, from video game playing computer experts to goofy secret agents whose quirks border slapstick comedy. Too many of these characters could be chalked up as comic relief, and most of what they attributed was not very funny. There was a slightly funny but overly long scene where Sam was trying to hide the autobots while he searched through his house for a relic they needed. And then arrived John Turtorro (playing the said goofy secret agent) whom I love, but who severely overstayed him welcome in this. Other performances, namely John Voight's, were just plain campy and the cookie cutter dialogue was cringe inducing at times.

Luckily, I forgot most of that by the time the movie got to its last act. Once the Decepticons arrive in force the movie is a non stop ride of action and jaw dropping effects. While someone who's not familiar with the characters and story might not care what the outcome is, I found myself with memories as a kid, watching the 1986 movie for the first time. I forgot about the humans and their ho-hum sotrylines as my favorite characters and toys from my childhood crashed and shot and ripped each other apart. I forgot that I was watching CG effects as the transformers look as real as the environment they're destroying. The action scenes are larger than life and I'm amazed at how well the battles of the cartoons translated onto big screen. The transformers themselves were all very well done, applying actual physics to their transformations and robot appearances. They look real and modern but don't lose the heart of what the fanboys loved about them from back in the day. And Hugo Weaving as Megatron was genius. I missed hearing the original Starcream, but the original voice actor died many years ago, and the two or three lines Starcream had in this sounded suitable.

Despite the great flaws in acting, dialogue and script, I left this movie with that rare itch to want to go straight back inside and watch it again. From the previews, it looked like the movie was going to take a realistic perspective and show the warring alien machines from a human point of view. But that's really not the case at all. In every other Michael Bay movie, the corny dialogue and overdramatic characters ruin an otherwise good premise. But Transformers is based on a cartoon, so why shouldn't the movie feel like one? Here it works. It's big, dumb nostalgic fun that the kid in me has been after for 20 years.

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Jason et les Argonautes

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Price: $92.99   

Jason et les Argonautes Review

Having read R.Graves' great book "Hercules, my shipmate", everything around the Argonauts has to be compared with it. This video passed the test.When I first got it, I was expecting something like the "Xena"and "Hercules" TV shows. During the first moments, I was pleasantly surprised. The costumes and background fits with what the ancient Greeks were supposed to be like, judging from urns and other relics and artifacts. The storyline goes closely to the ancient myths and the special effects are decent. Some inaccuracies are present; i.e. Hercules in Hera's service, but it's expected in similar movies.The actors: Derek Jacobi, Dennis Hopper, Frank Langella need no introduction, there are magnificent. The actress who plays Medea is very good as well, enchanting and mysterious. However, the leading actor in Jason's role is not good. However, for those of us who consider the ancient Jason a useless stud who happened to be in the right place at the right time, he fits in perfectly. And a brilliant casting decision: Brian Tompson as Hercules. I loved every scene he was in.Overall, it's a very entertaining film, but if you want a deeper and equally enjoyable work on the Argonauts, read R.Graves' great book "Hercules, my shipmate". Help other customers find the most helpful reviews� Was this review helpful to you?�Yes No Report abuse | PermalinkComment Comment

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