Gigi (1958) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)For those wondering why they should purchase another edition of "Gigi" on DVD, here are all the extras; however, if you own a Blu-ray, you might want to wait and pre-order Gigi [Blu-ray]. Other than the technical specs, the extras are the same on both versions.
Winner of 9 Oscars, "Gigi" was produced after the demise of the original 3-Strip Technicolor system, and photographed in the industry-standardized Eastmancolor process, which had a tendency to fade to reds and purples. For this new DVD release, Gigi has been photo-chemically restored from its original camera negative and safety separations to produce a much sharper and colorful image than has been seen in decades. It also contains a 5.1 audio mix created from the original multi-track source elements.
Disc 1 (Gigi '58): 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen * English DD5.1 Surround * French Mono * English, French and Japanese subtitles * Bluray specs: 1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen, English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, English 5.1, French 2.0, Spanish 1.0 (Both Castilian and Latin), German 1.0, Italian 1.0 Dolby Digital, Subtitles (Main Feature): English, French, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, Subtitles (on Select Bonus Material): English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese
*New Commentary with Leslie Caron & Film Historian Jeanine Basinger
*The Million Dollar Nickel [1952 MGM short]
*The Vanishing Duck [1958 MGM cartoon]
*Theatrical Trailer
Disc 2: "Thank Heaven! The Making of Gigi" The story of how 1958's Best Picture winner (the last of the classic MGM musicals) survived a turbulent production that included censorship battles over its daring sexual content and creative struggles between a studio in turmoil and a demanding, visionary director. Featuring an all-new interview with star Leslie Caron, and a rare interview with Oscar-winning director Minnelli
Original 1949 Nonmusical version of Gigi starring Daniele Delorme in the title role and directed by Jacqueline Audry (in French Mono with English subtitles)
For those not familiar with the plot, Gaston (Louis Jordan) is the descendant of a wealthy Parisian family who rebels from the superficial lifestyle of upper class Parisian 1900s society by socializing with the former mistress (Hermoine Gingold) of his uncle (Maurice Chevalier) and her outgoing, tomboy granddaughter, Gigi (Leslie Caron). When Gaston becomes aware that Gigi has matured into a woman, her grandmother and aunt (Isabel Jeans), who have educated Gigi to be a wealthy man's mistress, enjoin on him to become her provider and on her to accept such a golden opportunity. However, true love adds a surprise twist to this Cinderella story that was actually filmed in Paris.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Gigi (1958)

Get 93% OFF

Click here for more information about Gigi (1958)

Read More...

The Three Musketeers (1948) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm a huge fan of just about everything musketeers related (look at my other reviews), and this is my favorite big screen adaptation. Kelly is easlily the most fun D'Artagnon to watch and the sword play in this movie is excellent with his athleticism.
Of course, anyone who read the novel would know that though it includes sword play it is the charaters and plot that move the story along, so in that respect this movie does a much better job than most Musketeer adaptations. It stays fairly close to the original plot and though there is little time spent developing their personalities the Three are more consistant with their literary counterparts than in, well really, any of the other adaptations.
Over all one of the most fun adventure movies I've seen.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Three Musketeers (1948)

Get 30% OFF

Click here for more information about The Three Musketeers (1948)

Read More...

- Singin' In The Rain (Import, all-region, Theatrical Trailer) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)For those of you who don't know the story, it is an interesting movie that revolves around the transition from silent films to talking films. A previous reviewer put it quite well when he said that while the movie makes fun of the silent film era, it also shows a respectful nostalgia towards it.
Gene Kelly seems to have made an art out of covering his coincidental rise to fame with a single word: "Dignity." Gene Kelly works with Lena who is beautiful enough for silent films. But her unrefined voice makes us aware that she will have a problem if movies go to sound.
Gene Kelly later runs into Debby Reynolds. Their first meeting ends in a hilarious argument. If we know romances, we can sense that they will end up together. They later meet, and Kelly realizes that Reynolds is 'not so far above him.' But he is moved with compassion. (Perhaps due to his difficult past, he sees a parallel.)
Later, we see that movies are going to sound. While this presents difficulties to all, Lena will have the most problems if she wants to keep her job. The only weak link here is that I don't like how Lena is often made the object of scorn. (All she really wants is to keep her job.) She's no saint to be sure, but is she really so bad for wanting to keep her job?
Moving on, reynolds and Kelly meet again, and they begin working on a project together. We can see that the transition from silent films to talking films was not so easy. An especially hilarious moment is the miserable failure of the screen test (topped off by the sound going out of timing).
But Reynolds and Kelly (former enemies) work together and find a way to save the movie. One thing that makes this movie so great is the harmonious mixture of speaking parts, singing, and dancing.
One comical character worth mentioning is R.F. He gets a tad hypocritical: "Trust me, talking pictures will never amount to anything. They'll lose their shirts." Later, he says: "I told you talking pictures were a menace, but no one would listen."
In many ways, this film is a great treasure.

Click Here to see more reviews about: - Singin' In The Rain (Import, all-region, Theatrical Trailer)

Click here for more information about - Singin' In The Rain (Import, all-region, Theatrical Trailer)

Read More...