Losing Control Review

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(More customer reviews)I was up late and happened to catch this on Cinemax...I was drawn in by the soft-core aspect, but suprised at the acting qualities of Kira Reed..and the plot! After watching it, I had to see when it was on again..not scheduled, so I looked it up and bought it.
This DVD is cut and censored HORRIBLY! Huge chunks are missing, and I do NOT understand why. Even the case reads 93 minutes, the UNCENSORED time.
I would recommend seeing this film on cable, but avoid purchase at all costs...
Why would they ruin the film? Would have been a 4.

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Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven ( Tabor ukhodit v nebo ) ( Queen of the Gypsies ) Review

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(More customer reviews)Romanticised gypsy camp story, with amazing songs, it;s a must! The story develops in Cartpahians, between Hungary, Ukraine and Romania and it' a Romeo&Juliet type drama, wonderfully written, directed and played
It has been the most watched movie in the comunist block for many years. And for good reasons

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I Want To Marry Ryan Banks (Aka: The Reality Of Love) (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)Most of the time, made for TV movies seem to be just that, made for TV and TV only. But this one is different. It isn't just like all the other TV movies out there. This movie can be compared to the made for TV movie "Lucky Seven" in quality.
"I Want to Marry Ryan Banks" tells the story of a down and out actor who's last hope is to, with the help of his best friend and agent, make it to the big times once again. His friend sets up a reality TV show similar to "The Bachelor" in order to boost his career.
While it seems that Ryan is a big hit with all the ladies on the show, it is only because his friend and agent, Todd, is feeding him lines through an earpiece. One by one the number of girls dwindle and the favorite, Charlie, has fallen in love with Todd in a romance that started the minute he interviewed her for the show.
This is a really great romantic comedy and Bradley Cooper steals the show, as Todd. Or at least I think so. I haven't actually seen this movie in a few years since it hasn't been on television, but if it ever actually is released on DVD, I will definitely buy it.
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys romantic comedies or who likes Bradley Cooper's movies(Wedding Crashers, Failure to Launch.) It is highly enjoyable and maybe a little cheasy, but totally worth it in the end.

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Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession (1980) Review

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(More customer reviews)Seen a quarter of a century on, 'Bad Timing' stands out as one of Nicolas Roeg's most satisfying and complex films and yet it can be one of his hardest to discuss. It's a film I feel a little guilty about writing so little about, but even on a second viewing it's still rather overwhelming. It's interesting how it manages to be so genuinely multi-layered, more like a novel than a film - the way it mixes voyeurism, spying and emotional, psychological and legal investigation (with Keitel's investigation of the suicide scene placing him firmly in scenes as an unseen voyeur through Terry Rawlings typically brilliant editing) is remarkable enough, but the film manages to do so much more besides. And the performances are incredibly brave - how many leading men can you think of who would effectively (and quite deliberately effeminately) play the woman's role during the lovers' initial meeting? Russell in particular shows an astonishing range in what should be an impossible part, making her inability to find decent roles these days even more disappointing.
True it falls apart in the last couple of reels when the performances don't quite ring true, but it's still the last great film Nic Roeg made before settling into prolific mediocrity. It's as a brilliantly edited post-mortem into a mutually destructive relationship rather than a police mystery that it really enthralls, even when it doesn't entirely work. Much more impressive than I remembered, it's not a feelgood movie - if anything it's the date movie from hell - but it is a remarkably ambitious and accomplished one.
So why is the film so little-known and perhaps even less-seen? Well, that seems to be down to some bad luck and bad timing of its own.
In the US it hit censorship problems and in Europe it had major problems with its distribution. It was one of Rank's last full slate of British productions, so should have been guaranteed a circuit release on the Odeon chain in the UK. Unfortunately, the head of Rank Theatres was so disgusted by the film (the Rank Organisation was originally started to make religious films and many of the old guard were still in place in 1980) that he refused to book it into a single one of their theatres - the only Rank film to be so 'honored' (although he wasn't much enamoured of Eagle's Wing either). The second biggest circuit was owned by Rank's biggest rival, EMI, who weren't interested in helping out their balance sheet, so it ended up on Lew Grade's very small Classic chain. Rank's distribution in Europe was no more enthusiastic.
(Of course, Roeg's next and most expensive film, Eureka, had even bigger problems, being pulled a couple of weeks after opening due to a libel lawsuit that kept it on the shelf for years. Since then, despite the not really successful brave try with Cold Heaven, he seems to be little more than a director for hire on a slew of disappointing pictures and cable movies.) As a result, it's been very hard to track down since its original release, but it's well worth the effort if you're looking for challenging fare.
Criterion's DVD boasts a much better transfer than the UK DVD (which only features a trailer) and a more comprehensive extras package - interviews with Russell, Roeg and producer Jeremy Thomas, stills gallery and 16 deleted scenes. However, the laziness that has crept into some recent Criterion discs is evident in the latter: while 8 of those deleted scenes have no soundtrack, surely it wouldn't have been asking too much of Criterion to have included subtitles for the missing dialogue or at least to have included an introductory caption explaining the scenes? It's an irritating blemish on an otherwise excellent disc.

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Australia released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), SPECIAL FEATURES:Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: Psychiatrist Alex (Art Garfunkel) becomes sexually obsessed with Milena (Theresa Russell), a woman whom he meets at a party. The pair become involved in an intense and mutually destructive love affair. The drama unfolds in a series of flashbacks, as Alex tells his story to police Inspector Netusil (Harvey Keitel) who is investigating Milena's apparent suicide attempt.Alex's obsession grows, but Milena stays slightly out of reach. Originally rated X, but somewhat toned down to accommodate an R rating, Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession is an interesting exploration of the nature of sexual passion and jealousy. SCREENED/AWARDED AT:Toronto International Film Festival,

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Possession (1981) Review

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(More customer reviews)After many years of acquiring a cult status of mythical proportions, Zulawski's "Possession" finally comes to the viewers as it was originally supposed to be seen.
This is not an easy movie to see or to understand -- and I suppose it neither was easy to write or film. The characters are severely neurotic and seem to thrive on their bizarre behaviour (in more ways than one) yet they are somehow all too human. Like the movie ultimately suggests (once you get to see the secret trick the movie plays on the two leads), this story may be like looking into a mirror, though dark and distorted.
Meet Mark (Sam Neill), an overworked man with a mysterious job that takes him "to far away places". Meet his lovely wife, Anna (an overwhelmingly beautiful Isabelle Adjani), a sexually frustrated housewife and former ballet instructor who has much more than meets the eye going on for her.
Between quarrels and reconciliations, these two share a nice apartment in a quiet and well-to-do district of Berlin and have a five year old son, Bob, but they also share a horror that no one could have suspected, and that will make all their fantasies and nightmares come true.
After being brutally butchered by Vestron Video for its original release, "Possession" has been restored to its original lenght and sequence, therefore becoming coherent for the viewers who used to find it mind-numbingly strange.
I think of it as a very unique piece of craftmanship, part Ingmar Bergman drama, part Polanski suspense thriller, part Dario Argento gore, part Kubrick satire, part Buñuel surrealism and still somehow, very much its own.
The camera angles, the direction, the strange whims and seizures that seem to take over the characters (including one memorable and disturbing scene on a subway station with Adjani pulling all the stops not ontly to her acting abilities but to her physical strength too) are part of a very strange style Zulawski has to tell his story.
If you are accustomed to standard horror fare, then probably you will dismiss this movie as pretentious eurotrash (something it has been labeled off as countless times) but if you're game and follow the sequences and let your imagination be ensnared this will be a convulsive ride to the depths of emotion where you won't emerge as the same person.
And quite possibly, that's what all horror movies are really about at heart.
As a footnote: Isabelle Adjani won a very deserved Gold Palm at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival for her dual role in this film that, no matter how much you loved it or hated it, is still unforgettable.
The quality of the DVD in picture and sound is also of note.

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In this controversial epic of obsessive love and sexual psychosis, Isabelle Adjani (QUEEN MARGOT, NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE) and Sam Neill (MY BRILLIANT CAREER, JURASSIC PARK) star as a married couple torn by emotional instability and carnal infidelity. As their madness grows, their world becomes a nightmare of savage murder... and climaxes in a monstrous manifestation of sexual evil.Written and directed by acclaimed international director Andrzej Zulawski and featuring shocking creature effects by Carlo Rambaldi (ALIEN, E.T.), POSSESSION is an experience like no other - part masterful art film, part bizarre horror thriller. Cut by nearly 45 minutes for its U.S. release, this controversial film is now presented here completely uncut and uncensored.EXTRAS:Audio Commentary with Director Andrzej Zulawski and Biographer Dan BirdInternational TrailerU.S. TrailerAndrzej Zulawski

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Pirates Review

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(More customer reviews)This movie has been with me for about 10 years. It grew on me quickly and it has become one of those movies I watch again and again, usually about once a month. First of all, Jean Claude Van Damme is not in this movie, contrary to what you may read in the reviews (I just love that careful attention to detail from most reviewers). However, the people that *are* in the film do a fine job, particularly Walter Matthau who in my opinion is a very, very believable pirate. What is so interesting to me about this movie is that it is one of the few films where you legitimately feel as though you are just peeking in at a tiny episode in the lives of the characters. The film, in fact, ends exactly where it begins, and you are left with a sense that you've seen only one miniscule adventure in the lives of these pirates, who have had and are yet to have countless more. I would have to say that if you are even remotely interested in this era of our history, watch this movie. It is not the epic that "Cutthroat Island" tried to be (and failed at), but rather it is the somewhat comical and adventurous story of Captain Red trying to get his gold, at any cost whatsoever. I hope they eventually put this out on DVD, but I won't hold my breath.

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Hawaiian Eye (1959) Review

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(More customer reviews)This series is a baby boomer must. It was the only really successful detective spin-off of the 77 Sunset Strip phenomena in that it lasted more than just a couple of years (Oct. '59-Apr.'63). The original two leads, Robert Conrad and Anthony Eisley, were molded from the ultra-cool Bailey & Spenser genre that worked so well on the Sunset Strip--replete with mandatory sidekicks, babes, booze and bad guys.
I have collected many of the episodes from various classic tv video resources and can confess that the plot lines are all pretty simple, the sets are vintage backlot Warner studios (many "locations" are duplicated in Surfside 6 and 77 Sunset Strip episodes)and only stock film and backdrops were actually Hawaiian-generated. On rare days only did the film crew venture out to an actual location off the WB lot. Fortunately, L.A. also had palm trees and beaches. Yet the snappy theme song and tiki-soaked opening credits always duped one into thinking Waikiki was just around the corner. The opening credit scenes of Conrad, Eisley and Connie Stevens actually surfing a wave in unison is just awe-inspiring. It must have required a hundred takes minimum to pull off that shot.
You could always tell which car company was sponsoring one of these Warner classics. The 77 Sunset Strip guys all drove Ford convertibles, the Surfside 6 hunks buzzed around in Pontiacs, and the Hawaiian Eyes all drove massively chrome-laden Oldsmobiles (with car radio phones!). Nary a BMW in the lot. If you're lucky enough to have some of the episodes that didn't edit out the original commercials, you can stare in amazement at hip people smoking Old Golds and Winstons or waxing down their hair with "little" dabs of Brylcreem.
The show is set at the Hawaiian Hilton Village, which still exists today. The Shell Bar, where pixie Cricket Blake warbled reverb-enhanced pre-recorded tunes to moon-struck audiences, is still around albeit many times renovated since (the bamboo tables have been replaced). The detectives operated from a way-too-cool office off of the hotel lounge that had its own swimming pool and eternally-lit tiki lamps. One can understand why they beat feet to the office every day. Unfortunately, the series began an early decline once Eisley left for what he thought would be a burgeoning movie career, and certainly "jumped the shark" in its last year when the ever-available Troy Donahue joined the cast as the hotel's social director. The writing became a little stretched in order to justify this rather unexplainable addition.
There's been enough buzz directed towards Warner Bros. for them to consider releasing these classic detective series on DVD. I haven't seen any release dates yet, but I guess they're coming soon. It figures, now that I've spent untold dollars collecting so many episdoes with varying degrees of quality and editing. I suggest you snap up a disk as soon as it becomes available, then settle back in your easy chair with a straight-up martini and a smoke and lose yourself in about 55 minutes an epidode's worth of pure hip private eye fluff ala early '60's Hollywood.

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