Doctor Zhivago Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray Book) (1965) Review

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(More customer reviews)Both Boris Pasternak's extraordinary novel and David Lean's magnificent film version are among my favorites of all-time. The story is basically about a poet/physician (Omar Sharif) who loves two women--his adoring wife, Tonya (Geraldine Chapin), and his enigmatic mistress, Lara (Julie Christie)--through the events of World War I and the Russian Revolution.
Robert Bolt's screenplay balances the political upheaval with exquisite, heartwrenching romance--one of the few films to succeed at this level. Lean, who seemed to make a specialty of making films about illicit love (Brief Encounter, Summertime, etc.), also works a tightrope, giving the film the necessary grandeur and sweep required for an epic while never losing sight of the intimacy of the characters. He is aided considerably by a magnificent cast: Sharif, despite or perhaps because of his Egyptian background, provides the perfect perspective of an individual observing things around him, each time as if it were new--it's a wonderful performance; Christie is simply luminescent; Chaplin nicely understated; and there's terrific support from Alec Guinness, Rod Steiger, Tom Courtney, etc.
What makes Zhivago a must on DVD is the awe-inspiring cinematography of Freddie Young, who deservedly won the Academy Award. I was lucky to see Zhivago at a theater, on the big screen proper, several years ago when it was re-issued; unbelievably, the DVD transfer here is even BETTER!!! There are shots in this film that are simply jaw-dropping beautiful.
Doctor Zhivago is, like the book it's based on, a challenging film that will reward the viewer with one of their most extraordinary cinematic experiences.

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David Lean's Doctor Zhivago is an exploration of the Russian Revolution as seen from the point of view of the intellectual, introspective title character (Omar Sharif). As the political landscape changes, and the Czarist regime comes to an end, Dr.Zhivago's relationships reflect the political turmoil raging about him. Though he is married, the vagaries of war lead him to begin a love affair with the beautiful Lara (Julie Christie). But he cannot escape the machinations of a band of selfish and cruel characters: General Strelnikov (Tom Courtenay), a Bolshevik General; Komarovsky (Rod Steiger), Lara's former lover; and Yevgraf (Alec Guinness), Zhivago's sinister half-brother. This epic, sweeping romance, told in flashback, captures the lushness of Moscow before the war and the violent social upheaval that followed. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Boris Pasternak.

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The Three Lives of Thomasina (1964) Review

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(More customer reviews)Paul Gallico's charming little story "Thomasina" is turned into an equally lovely little Disney film from 1964 directed by Don Chaffey ("Greyfriars Bobby"). Veterinarian Andrew MacDhui (Patrick McGoohan) is a widower who is raising his young daughter Mary (Karen Dotrice) in Scotland in 1912. Andrew has no empathy for the townsfolk who love their pets and when Mary's beloved cat Thomasina is injured he quickly decides the animal should be killed. Mary is distraught and Andrew simply cannot understand why the logic of the situation is not clear to the girl. Mary and her friends prepare an elaborate funeral for Thomasina, at which point Lori MacGregor (Susan Hampshire) shows up. The children think she is a witch, but in truth she lives in the woods and nurses injured animals back to health using love and common sense. Lori recognizes the cat is not dead and takes it home to help it recover, during which time Thomasina goes to Cat Heaven in a marvelously fanciful sequence. Andrew has a bad reputation with the locals because he killed his daughter's cat and they start taking their pets to Lori. Andrew finally goes to see her and is not so busy being impressed by her healing skills that he fails to fall in love with her. But then Mary sees Thomasina walking outside her house and chases after her in a driving storm and ends up catching pneumonia. The doctors hold out no hope to the frantic Andrew, and Lori tells him that only he can help Mary recover using the power of love.
Lots of Disney movies have a cold-hearted adult transformed into a human being, and "The Three Lives of Thomasina" is one of the best of this type of film, even better than "Pollyanna. " This is mainly because it has the virtue of a first-rate cast, from McGoohan, Hampshire and Dotrice as the three principles to Finlay Currie and Laurence Naismith standing out in the supporting cast. Elspeth March supplies the voice of Thomasina, who gets to comment on the action from time to time, and Matthew Garber, who went on with Dotrice to play the kids in "Mary Poppins," also has a small role. But at the heart of this film is Paul Gallico's endearing fable. I think this is just a nice little film and I am not even a cat person.

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Set against the beauty of the Scottish Highlands, Paul Gallico's best-selling story of a little girl's undying love for her cat comes wonderfully to life in this classic Disney adaptation. Tragedy strikes when Mary McDhui (Karen Dotrice) finds her beloved Thomasina seriously injured. Not even her stern father, a widowed veterinarian (Patrick McGoohan), can save the pet. Their only hope lies in a mysterious "witch" and the healing power of love. Conjuring up both tears and laughter, this tender film has a magical charm that will linger long in your heart.

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Psycho (50th Anniversary Edition) (1960) Review

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(More customer reviews)Alfred Hitchcock guarded the plot of PSYCHO against publicity, and in 1960 audiences came to the film without being able to anticipate the unexpected twists and turns of the plot. More than forty years later, the movie's fame is such that even those who have not seen it are often able to sketch the basic outline of the story in a few words. This demonstrates the film's fame; what demonstrates it quality, however, is the fact that even those who know the plot before seeing it are seldom disappointed.
Very loosely based on Robert Bloch's pulp novel, which was itself very loosely based on killer Ed Gein, PSYCHO presents us with the tale of Marion Crane (Janet Leigh)--who, in a moment of madness, steals forty-thousand dollars. Running scared, Marion checks into the out-of-the-way Bates Motel. And there, as the DVD production notes gracefully state, she becomes the most grossly inconvenienced hotel guest in cinema history.
The late 1950s and early 1960s saw a deluge of low budget and badly made films that commanded box office business via tawdry subject matter, and according to lore director Alfred Hitchcock was curious to see what might happen if he himself made such a film--but made it well. Working with a remarkable script and gifted cast and crew, the result was a masterpiece. Although it is often described as a horror film, PSYCHO is less horror than it is a study in paranoia and suspense, and certainly a lesson in the fact that one need not bother with graphic gore or big budgets to impress audiences.
Much of the film's success is in its detail. Joseph Stephano's script is memorable for its repetition of verbal motifs and its extremely disquieting tone; Bernard Herrman's famous all-strings score builds tremendously upon it. The simple yet meticulous sets communicate building unease, and the strangely flat, semi-documentary black and white cinematography has a voyeuristic edge that is extremely disturbing.
There are elements that can be justly criticized--moments at which the script sounds a false note or characterizations seem a bit artificial--but these small points fade against the overall power of Hitchcock's vision, a vision that here makes viewers squirm even when there seems nothing tangible on screen to squirm about. But in the end, this is the film for which Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, and John Gavin will forever be remembered... and one of the several films that will forever be associated with one of the twentieth century's most masterful directors.
This DVD largely restores PSYCHO to its original form. Although the first few minutes of the print show wear and tear, for the most part it is remarkably pristine and (after years of pan and scan television broadcasts) is returned to its original ratio. While there is no audio commentary track, the DVD package includes the original trailer with Alfred Hitchcock, extensive production notes, and an extremely impressive documentary that includes numerous interviews, newsreel footage, production photographs, storyboards, and the like. Even if you have the film on VHS, you'll likely want to purchase the DVD. Strongly recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer

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One of the most shocking films of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is now available on Blu-ray featuring perfect picture, a newly created 5.1 audio track and bonus features that take you beyond the movie! Join the Master of Suspense on a chilling journey as an unsuspecting victim (Janet Leigh) visits the Bates Motel and falls prey to one of cinema's most notorious psychopaths - Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Named #1 on the AFI's 100 Years…100 Thrills list, this notorious film has become a cultural phenomenon. Featuring one of the most iconic scenes in film history - the famous "shower scene", Psycho is "still terrifying after all these years" (Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide).

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The Lord of the Rings (1978 Animated Movie) (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)When I was 7, my Aunt Bobby took me to see Ralph Bakshi's animated Lord of the Rings at the Zigfield Theater in Manhattan. I will always remember sitting in that cavernous theater, watching the amazing story of Middle-Earth unfold, and just generally being amazed by the lushly colored animation on the gigantic screen. SO.....bear in mind as you read this that I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this much-maligned film.
That was over 20 years ago, and I think I've seen this movie once since then, so when it was released on DVD I eagerly snapped it up. So how does it hold up to the childhood memories?
Pretty good, actually.
The story is basically the same as in the book: The Hobbit Frodo is joined by eight companions in a quest to destroy the evil Ring of Sauron. The characters and locales look pretty much as one would imagine from reading the books. (This movie adapts The Fellowship of the Ring & half of The Two Towers.) I had a problem with Strider and Boromir trudging through feet of snow in nothing but their little dresses, though.....bundle up, guys!
The scenery is by turns lush (The Shire), and forbidding (The excellent Mines of Moria sequence). The problems were pretty much all the same: Bakshi's use of "Rotoscoping", or filming real actors and drawing over them. The rotoscoped portions just don't fit with the rest of the movie, and it can be QUITE jarring to look at. (Check out how all of the Orcs seem to have just 2 kinds of faces.....couldn't they at least have made different masks to film the Orc actors in????) Also troubling (in a very minor way...) was how "Saruman" was pronounced "Aruman" about half the time. People who aren't familiar with the story will find that confusing; people who ARE will find it more and more irritating each time it happens......and it happens A LOT. The film also ends a little too abruptly; I remember being bothered by that as a kid. (It still bothers me!)
On the plus side, the DVD looks great; the colors are perfect, and the sound is great. It's too bad there aren't more extras: all there is are a few text features. (Not even a trailer!)
Overall, not as good as the new film adaptation, but worth a look for Tolkien fans.

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Controversial animator Ralph Bakshi's literal adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, is brought to the screen. An evil sorcerer from a previous era created a magical ring which enables its users to call upon its tremendous powers to rule the world, but it inevitably warps them to evil. It was believed lost, but during a resurgence of magical evil in the world, Bilbo, a simple, plain-spoken hobbit, recovers it from its hiding place. The forces of good give his nephew Frodo the choice to bear the awful burden of the ring to a place where it may be destroyed.

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