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VHS / Category(Theme) [ Widescreen ]

Widescreen (Sales Rank)

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A Town Like Alice / SalesRank : 25

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A Town Like Alice
Cinematographer:Russell Boyd Producer:Henry Crawford Writer:Nevil Shute Writer:Rosemary Anne Sisson Writer:Tom Hegarty

amazon.com availability ： Out of stock.
( Market Place : Used Seller - 33 and New Seller - 8 )

VHS Tape [ Starmaker Entertainment ] [ Release : 1992 / 07 / 30 ]
EAN : 9786302796858 / ASIN : 6302796857
[ ListPrice : $9.99 ] [ Used Price:$11.13 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.5stars [ See more reviews ]
Ordered and paid for the item. Never arrived. Amazon has done nothing. Seller doesn't communnicate.
Buyer beware.

2stars - "Rip off" (Craig R. Young)
I loved this series, when I first watched in on television back in the '80s. Every couple of years I pull the tape off the shelf and re-watch it.

This is not just for Bryan Brown fans, but for the Gordon Jackson fans in the crowd. Jackson's portrayal of a man who falls in love too late in life, is very touching.

I would love to see it available on DVD!

I loved this series, when I first watched in on television back in the '80s. Every couple of years I pull the tape off the shelf and re-watch it.

This is not just for Bryan Brown fans, but for the Gordon Jackson fans in the crowd. Jackson's portrayal of a man who falls in love too late in life, is very touching.

I would love to see it available on DVD!

4stars - "A Town Like Alice - Simply Fabulous" (E. Cook)

Anybody interested in purchasing this fabulous film on home video VHS should take a close look at which listing for it they are buying. The film was released 4 Different ways on VHS. By two different companies. STARMAKER which put out 3 Types and NEW WORLD which put out 1 version which is the most desirable. They are all the same film in various quality types. A Town Like Alice is NOT yet available on DVD. Here is the info on whats out there on VHS.

This version the first listed on AMAZON A Town Like Alice is for the One Tape EPmode STARMAKER release 301mins. EPMODE is the cheapest and also the lowest quality release! Since it is EP mode it will be hard to track on newer VCR's.
STARMAKER also put out a much higher quality 3 Tape 301min Release SPMode 3 VHS Tapes - A Town Like Alice

The Third is yet another STARMAKER Release A Town Like Alice 2tapes LP Mode. Still NOT great quality. This is OK but not near as good as the second 3 tape SPMODE option.

The BEST and most desirable release is this 4th release of A Town Like Alice is a NEW WORLD Home Video Release 301mins Uncut on 2 high quality SPmode Tapes. These are two T-160 videos which means they have longer reels then standard T-120 tapes. Thats why they can handle a combine 301mins. on 2 tapes. So, not as complicated or cumbersome as having to get the 3tape vers. The bad news is that this version is NOT listed on amazon. BUT you can still find it if you look at the marketplace seller descriptions. If it is listed and described correctly you might be able to find the New World SPmode 2 tape uncut release.

Which ever one you want make sure you know what you're getting from the seller. It should clearly state which version it is. The seller might not of listed it correctly to the corresponding version.

If the price is cheap you'll probably getting the cheap one tape starmaker release. If you want this BRAND NEW this is most likely your only choice. However, keep in mind that the 2 Tape Spmode NEW WORLD Release USED will be better then any STARKMAKER release even if its NEW!

Hope this was helpful

5stars - "4 Different Home Video Releases of this Film Read Before You Buy!" (sideshowvideo)

I actually was one of the first people to write a review on this site about this film almost 10 years ago, but felt compelled to write again because I just wanted to add my name to what is starting to look like quite the petition here. I am so impressed with and touched by so many other folks' passionate devotion to this film! The video powers-that-be absolutely need to bring this masterpiece to DVD!!! It's an utter shame that this hasn't yet been done considering all the crap that lives on DVD. Yeah... I'm bitter!!!

I just watched my purchased single VHS cassette that I acquired around the same time I wrote that first online review. Except THIS time, I made my husband watch it with me! Over the course of two nights, I re-visited my beloved old friend of a film while much to my joy, my husband watched it, was taken in, and ultimately (to his chagrin)... really ended up liking it! He said Jean was "feisty." How cute is that??? Now please keep in mind that he is someone who does not like watching romantic TV shows or movies--he prefers automotive programs, U.F.O. shows on the History Channel, and James Bond movies. LOL!!! Now my favorite thing to say to him is: "Do you love me enough to steal chickens and soap for me?" Ha, ha!

But truly... watching this entire beautiful entity again for the first time in many years made me more melancholy than anything else. First of all, because I madly adore these characters and their story and wish it could just continue on and on way after the end credits roll. After our viewing, I turned to my husband and quite decidedly declared: "I can officially say that Jean, Joe, and Noel are among my very favorite characters depicted on film... EVER."

Secondly, I was melancholy (even downright depressed!) because the quality of my EP speed-recorded VHS tape was so poor. Fortunately, unlike a lot of other ATLA fans, I have not repeatedly watched this tape over the time I've had it. But I do dread the day when my tape starts getting those telltale glitches. The day that this terrific work is released on DVD will be a glorious day indeed. That way, we can all finally bask in the wonderful cinematography depicting the exotic Malayan jungle backdrop that our beloved characters fall in love against and the big blue skies and red earth of the Australian scenery that Joe Harman loved so much. We too could witness the true colors of the Outback country that he longingly and lovingly describes to Jean at that point in the film where they are first really getting to know each other.

Please, please, PLEASE... o' video powers-that-be... this film deserves a DVD release like no other! And would it be too much to ask to get a behind-the-scenes featurette too??? Probably not likely on the latter, but I sure am keeping the faith on the former.

5stars - "An utter shame that this movie is not available on DVD!" (D. Genovese)

Sadly this series doesnt seem to be available on DVD yet, I hope it soon will be. I remember watching it when I was little, when it was first shown on PBS in the states. I loved it, and as I have recently reading about WWII interment camps, i decided to try to find this. It is just as good as I remember, and I still admire the main character Jean, and still have a crush on Joe. Yes and I cried. It really isnt dated or cheesy, it was very well made I think.

5stars - "A Classic" (E. Cromwell)

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Ws) / SalesRank : 2300

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It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Ws)
Cinematographer:Ernest Laszlo Producer:Stanley Kramer Editor:Frederic Knudtson Editor:Gene Fowler Jr. Editor:Robert C. Jones Writer:Tania Rose Writer:William Rose

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VHS Tape [ MGM (Video & DVD) ] [ Release : 1995 / 09 / 26 ]
EAN : 9780792826729 / ASIN : B0000040E9
[ ListPrice : $24.98 ] [ Used Price:$3.25 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.5stars [ See more reviews ]
if you love yelling and screaming for 3 hours,this is the movie for you.for everyone else who has a brain,stay FAR away. it really is shocking what a big stiff this movie really is. and i thought Airport was the first disaster movie !

if you love yelling and screaming for 3 hours,this is the movie for you.for everyone else who has a brain,stay FAR away. it really is shocking what a big stiff this movie really is. and i thought Airport was the first disaster movie !

1stars - "brutal" (Jerry Caffarello)

I enjoyed this movie as a kid, but watched it recently and found it to be bloated and dated and not all that funny. However, the final two minutes are one of the most profoundly spiritual moments in the history of cinema.

The lesson learned by Spencer Tracy's character, that life is inherently absurd and laughter is the best medicine for melancholy, is one that we can all benefit from. When sadness strikes, I watch the final two minutes several times in a row, and experience a healing catharsis.

This all sounds a little pompous and pretentious (even to me), but it is true nevertheless.

5stars - "5 Stars for the final 2 minutes..." (Tom O'Bedlam)
Very funny. It was as entertaining as it was many years ago when we saw it at the movies. Good quality picture.

Very funny. It was as entertaining as it was many years ago when we saw it at the movies. Good quality picture.

5stars - "funny" (Linda L)

I remember seeing this movie when it first came out at the movie Theater
Purchasing this DVD reminded me just how funny this movie really is. This movie was made in 1963 and over the years there have been few movies with the same theme but none of them and I mean none of them have come close to the quality of this movie. Like the old Hitchcock Classics this is truly one of Stanley Kramer's best Comedy Classics. So if you're feeling depressed or you just need a good laugh I reccomend this movie. A little slapstickish but truly a very, very well made funny,funny movie. If you like comedy you won't be disappointed.

5stars - "Very Funny" (arthurg)
Great, cazy awesome, and narly. A comidy thats not meant to be moving, just plain old funny and to keep you on your toes at all times. Some of the jokes are laugh-out-loud funny, some are so bad they make you laugh anyway. Remember to watch for the dieing man to "kick the bucket."

Great, cazy awesome, and narly. A comidy thats not meant to be moving, just plain old funny and to keep you on your toes at all times. Some of the jokes are laugh-out-loud funny, some are so bad they make you laugh anyway. Remember to watch for the dieing man to "kick the bucket."

5stars - "It's a Good, Good, Good, Good, Movie!!!!!!!" (Elite Bean Man)

King of Hearts / SalesRank : 2255

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King of Hearts
Primary Contributor:Alan Bates Primary Contributor:Geneviève Bujold

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VHS Tape [ MGM (Video & DVD) ] [ Release : 2000 / 10 / 03 ]
EAN : 9786301972031 / ASIN : 6301972031
[ ListPrice : $14.95 ] [ Used Price:$19.99 ]

Average Customer Review :

5.0stars [ See more reviews ]

"October 1918" is the date for this story. German soldiers are planting explosives to destroy the advancing British soldiers when they occupy a French city. The townspeople hurriedly evacuate the town. The British are warned, they will not march into town. Instead Private Plumpick [some pun?] will be sent in to scout the town and defuse the bombs - by himself! [Believable?] Discovered by the Germans, he flees into a building for refuge and safety; it is the local insane asylum. The result of the German withdrawal is the inmates can wander freely into the deserted town and select new clothes from the abandoned homes. [This slow-paced action doesn't seem too funny to me.] Comedy is in part cultural, and attitudes change. Perhaps the humor is in suggesting the clothes make the man or woman? Or what looks like normal people are really insane underneath?

This film is certainly unusual for its time. Is it an example of "French Farce"? Were any animals hurt in making this film? [One scene shows armored cars; did they exist at that time?] The film runs on, some scenes are comic and remind me of the clowns in a circus. Will a fireworks display have unintended consequences? Will opposing soldiers fire at each other at unbelievably close range? Will the freed lunatics return to their asylum? Where are the alienists? "Oh dear, who is it now?"

I can't believe this film was successful among viewers. Did they overspend on the costumes and underspend on the story?

2stars - "The Lunatic Asylum Comedy" (Acute Observer)
Funny, profound. Near perfect! In French, English and German -- with subtitles. Full of deep insights about sex, love, war, madness and society -- all in a charming hilarious wrapper. Watch it with someone you love!

Funny, profound. Near perfect! In French, English and German -- with subtitles. Full of deep insights about sex, love, war, madness and society -- all in a charming hilarious wrapper. Watch it with someone you love!

5stars - "One of the five best movies ever made" (Kyle B.)
Saw this movie back when I was in college, so it brings back memories. Better than I remembered.

5stars - "an Alan Bates fan" (Nelybel)

The madness of war makes the members of the asylum seem sane. Such is the theme of this anti-war comedy directed by France's Philippe de Broca, starring the English actor Alan Bates wearing a jaunty crown, and featuring a young and delectable Genevieve Bujold in a yellow tutu.

She's insane. A virgin who believes she's a prostitute. Her madame is also insane, or so the townsmen of Marville believe. But theirs is such a pleasant insanity that we in the audience are persuaded to ask what is sanity and who needs it? Can nerve gas and rat-infested trenches with bloated, rotting bodies be sane?

But hold on there, that last sentence better describes some other anti-war movies from the time of The Great War, perhaps "All Quiet on the Western Front" or Kubrick's "Paths of Glory." Here the tone is light, the treatment burlesque, the plot absurdly amusing.

Bates plays Private Charles Plumpick (in Scottish kilt) a keeper of messenger pigeons who has "volunteered" to find and defuse a bomb left in Marville by the retreating Jerrys. It's set to go off at the stroke of midnight. The townspeople learn of the bomb and desert the town, leaving the inmates at the sanitarium and the circus animals to fend for themselves. So when Plumpick arrives he finds only a detachment of Germans who spot him and chase him into the asylum. Inside as cover he joins a game of cards with two of the inmates. The Jerrys confront the inmates who identify themselves in absurd ways. Plumpick, with some on the spot inspiration, calls himself "the king of hearts."

And so we have our premise. When the Jerrys retreat to the countryside to await the explosion, and while the English watch for the return of one of Plumpick's pigeons with news that the bomb has been defused, the inmates stream out of the asylum. They take over the town, dressing up in various costumes: this one becomes the mayor, another the priest, and little Mademoiselle "Poppy" (Bujold) awaits her first trick.

This the kind of movie that Monty Python fans would adore, and I suspect it had some effect on the directorial style of Terry Gilliam.

Anyway I wrote a little ditty to anticipate the ending (BEWARE SPOILER!):

I'll have no more of war
Such a craven whore!
I will to the asylum go
To be my true love's beau.

4stars - "The madness and madcap-ness of war" (Dennis Littrell)
King of Hearts is an endearing and deeply touching film. It poses the question, "Who's more crazy, delusional patients in a mental institution, or the people who promote and fight wars?" An answer emerges from the chaos of this very funny and profound tale.

King of Hearts is an endearing and deeply touching film. It poses the question, "Who's more crazy, delusional patients in a mental institution, or the people who promote and fight wars?" An answer emerges from the chaos of this very funny and profound tale.

5stars - "A True Classic" (B. Eben)

To Kill a Mockingbird (Widescreen) / SalesRank : 1551

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To Kill a Mockingbird (Widescreen)
Cinematographer:Russell Harlan Editor:Aaron Stell Producer:Alan J. Pakula Writer:Harper Lee Writer:Horton Foote

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VHS Tape [ Universal Studios ] [ Release : 1998 / 02 / 24 ]
EAN : 9780783222950 / ASIN : 0783222955
[ ListPrice : $9.98 ] [ Used Price:$4.99 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.5stars [ See more reviews ]
The quality was exceptional considering it was originally a film format that had to be digitally remastered to bring it to DVD. I am highly pleased with this product.

The quality was exceptional considering it was originally a film format that had to be digitally remastered to bring it to DVD. I am highly pleased with this product.

5stars - "To Kill a Mockingbird, classic" (T. Skinner)

This review is for the "Collector's Edition" of "To Kill a Mockingbird". The movie easily gets five stars, and the transfer on this disc is well done, but nowhere in the product description does it say "letterboxed" as it should. If you have an older 4x3 TV this edition is OK. If you have a newer widescreen 16x9 TV then you need To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal Legacy Series), called "Special Edition" on the Universal website, for an anamorphic widescreen version. Amazon lists both as merely "Widescreen". Universal lists this collectors edition as widescreen, but does specify Anamorphic for the Special Edition. I usually do a bit of research before purchasing DVDs, but in this case I jumped the gun, and now I will have to pay another $20 to get the correct release for my needs. Usually these discrepancies are addressed in product reviews, but I didn't see any addressing this particular issue. IMDB.com does however correctly list this edition as letterboxed.

4stars - "Less than five stars for letterboxing" (Michael A. Jensen)
This movie came in excellent condition, it was never opened and came with extra's, copies of the billboard's from different countries. Just wonderful. I was impressed with every detail.

This movie came in excellent condition, it was never opened and came with extra's, copies of the billboard's from different countries. Just wonderful. I was impressed with every detail.

5stars - "great product" (Joyce M. Topper)
My kids were riveted watching this movie.
It holds up so well over time and the themes are universal and ageless.

My kids were riveted watching this movie.
It holds up so well over time and the themes are universal and ageless.

5stars - "Best movie from kids' POV" (E. Marcus)

To Kill a Mockingbird (Collector's Edition)
Lone fathers and their kids have been a hit in many movies. I have severl examples, like, Ryan and Tatum O'Neil in Paper Moon, Jon Voight and Ricky Schroeder in the re-make of 'The Champ' and Dustin Hoffman and Justin Henry in Kramer vs Kramer. Gregory Peck, won an Academy Award, for playing a sole parent, and he's never been better. The script for this movie was based upon Harper Lee's sensitive and intelligent novel set in racially-torn Alabama. Gregory Peck, plays Atticus Finch, a wise lawyer bravely raising his two kids Jem(Phillip Alford) and Scout(Mary Badham) in the hot-headed Southern town. The crux of the plot is Finch's defence of a colored man accused of rape. The film was put together by two excellent film-makers, producer Alan J. Pakula and director Robert Mulligan.

5stars - "RACIALLY TORN ALABAMA" (JESSICA YVONNE VARMA)

'night, Mother / SalesRank : 2227

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'night, Mother
Cinematographer:Stephen M. Katz Editor:Suzanne Pettit Producer:Aaron Spelling Producer:Alan Greisman Producer:Cheryl Downey Producer:Dann Byck Producer:David Lancaster Producer:Wallace Worsley Jr. Writer:Marsha Norman

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VHS Tape [ Universal Studios Home Video ] [ Release : 2000 / 04 / 18 ]
EAN : 9780783237299 / ASIN : 6300185850
[ ListPrice : $14.98 ] [ Used Price:$14.99 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.5stars [ See more reviews ]

Read some of the other reviews and you'll know the basis of the story. But this kind of film is not for everyone. The story line is difficult to say the least. A woman determined to kill herself and the mother (who loves her more than anyone else in this world) trying desperately to find a way to stop it from happening. If suicide is too distressing a subject for you, do not watch this film. If you are thinking of suicide, do not watch this film. It evidences how someone can convince themselves that this is the right choice (which it is not), but hopefully it also points to the fact that a suicide always deeply, adversely and irreversibly affects someone else in this world, even if it's just the person who finds the body (I know of which I speak). This movie may be boring for some, but only because of the film style. It is, as one reviewer said, like watching a play. It is almost what you might see if someone just took out a video camera and made a home movie of the lives of these two people in the last hours of Jesse's life. No interesting angles, effects, changes of venue, et. al. It's just the intense, "real-life" story of a desperate, helpless mother and her daughter who is all but gone. It is a dispairing and heartbreaking narrative for anyone with a heart.

5stars - "Not for the faint of heart" (J. Terry)

I am usually very apprehensive to watch movie versions of theatre plays, and it is rare that a performance is pulled off to perfection. This was it! Superb performances, true to the dramatic plot, and complete with intensive moods required to pull it off. And, when I knew that two impressive actors would portray the characters, Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft as Thelma, the mother of Jessie, a young lady planning her suicide, carefully, strategically and nonchalantly. The story takes place in the home with just two people, and all in one night, within a matter of a couple of hours. There is no musical soundtrack to draw from the moods.

Pulitzer Prize by Marsha Norman 'Night Mother.
Marsha Norman won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983, and when I learned she did the Screenplay for the movie, I was more confident the performance would be first class. If you haven't read the book, do so, it is riveting, unlike something you may have read in drama.

A right to die
Jessie is divorced and has a juvenile son whose whereabouts are unknown. She caretakes for her mother, Thelma and has a brother Dawson and his family who live nearby. In her lifetime, Jessie has had epileptic seizures, her husband Cecil left her and she moved back with her mother. But it is this night, after plans to do her mother's manicure, that Jessie plans go to her bedroom and kill herself. It is her right, as she is tired, hurt, sad, and feels used. Throughout, you will learn of the past.

Stages of grief - for the living
In 1969, Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote the groundbreaking book, On Death and Dying and named the five stages of grief that people who are dying go through, and not in an exact order. The five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. What we see is Thelma, going through these stages, denying that the suicide will happen, angry that she can't stop it, bargaining with Jessie to stay alive, depressed and down when she can't stop it and that little moment when Thelma accepts the inevitable.

This is an emotional, powerful film with exceptional performances....Marrianne Rizzuto

5stars - "Superb and riveting performances!" (Rizzo)
This movie was very disturbing yet it was fantastic! This movie also looked into Mother-Daughter relationships. Have your tissue ready because this is a tear jerker!

This movie was very disturbing yet it was fantastic! This movie also looked into Mother-Daughter relationships. Have your tissue ready because this is a tear jerker!

5stars - "Fantastic Movie!" (E. Lewis)

Who better than Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft to depict the doomed mother and daughter in this incredibly well-drawn drama? Without an ounce of special-effects, without even much of a change of scenery outside of maybe moving from the kitchen to the living room, these two reveal the nightmare of their lives and relationships interspersed with what would be humdrum details of laundry and grocery shopping if the dialogue itself weren't so increasingly, incredibly horrifying.

This movie drew me in from the very beginning, I could not tear myself away even though the details seemed so harmless at first glance. The longer the story goes on, the deeper the anguish.

I don't want to spoil it for you, no one spoiled it for me; so I won't go into the details. I can say there's no happy ending, and I cried...and yet, I understood.

The Long Walk Home

5stars - "Compelling Psycho-drama" (Cyara Demonia)

I teach Education Profession in which I work with high school students who want to explore the teaching profession. When we studied barriers to learning, targeting grief and depression, we watched this video. 'Night, Mother captures the factual stages and characteristics very well. Afterwards my students (16-18 year olds) said they enjoyed it even though "it was sad." Suicide is sad, but in a society that believes in canned self-improvements is a credit card purchase away, `Night, Mother shows that the decision can derive from cold but intelligent self-reflection--money, self-improvement books, or time may have no effect. It addresses the dismal conclusion that some suicides cannot be prevented. The film begins after Jesse has made her decision and now wants to make her last evening with her mother a memorable one. I'm cheered that Jesse carefully evaluates her condition and situation before making the critical decision that she does and that she doesn't blame anyone. By her narrative she suggests the process of suicide that leaves that large--ever large and bold-faced--punctuation that ends a life can begin years before the actual event. Though the film makes viewers grapple with unanswerable questions, `Night, Mother is a powerful film that makes you want to read a play by Marsha Norman.

5stars - "A Fine Film about a Hard Subject" (E. Begody)

No Time for Sergeants / SalesRank : 3363

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No Time for Sergeants

amazon.com availability ： Out of stock.
( Market Place : Used Seller - 21 and New Seller - 4 )

VHS Tape [ Warner Home Video ] [ Release : 1994 / 07 / 22 ]
EAN : 9786302418828 / ASIN : 6302418828
[ ListPrice : $14.98 ] [ Used Price:$16.99 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.5stars [ See more reviews ]
No Time for Sergeants is a funny movie with Andy Griffith. It is good clean humor although it is in the Army. I would like to own this movie but am unable to locate it.

No Time for Sergeants is a funny movie with Andy Griffith. It is good clean humor although it is in the Army. I would like to own this movie but am unable to locate it.

5stars - "Clean Humor" (Karen J. Samford)
It arrived in a reasonable amount of time. The condition was ok, not great but ok. It did appear as if it came from a video rental company which was a bit troubling. All in all it was an ok experience although I think for the condition a bit overpriced.

It arrived in a reasonable amount of time. The condition was ok, not great but ok. It did appear as if it came from a video rental company which was a bit troubling. All in all it was an ok experience although I think for the condition a bit overpriced.

2stars - "Video, "No Time For Sargeants", Review" (Peter L. Bourey)
good clean comedy for the whole family.... and it's hysterical to boot!
this one leaves you laughing till you're in tears!

one of the funniest movies ever!

good clean comedy for the whole family.... and it's hysterical to boot!
this one leaves you laughing till you're in tears!

one of the funniest movies ever!

5stars - "nothing like classic comedy" (donna)

Having served in the Air Force myself, from 1977 to 1997, I can relate to alot of the situations in this movie. Early on, I did many stints as PLO myself ... we called them "GI Parties."

The induction scenes in this movie are pretty much the same as they were when I enlisted in 1976. I didn't think things were that funny at the time, but everytime I watch this movie these days, I just plain howl with laughter.

If you are one of the folks who love this movie, I'd like to suggest the Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis classic SAILOR BEWARE. It's just as hilarious as NTFS.

I've seen a few VHS versions of NTFS on eBay, that also offer a backup copy in DVD format. However, they are expensive, and I cannot vouch for the quality of the DVD. It all depends on the quality of the equipment used to make the copy, and the quality of the VHS source tape. I think I'll just save my money and wait for a first-rate publication of the movie on DVD.

Enjoy!

Patrick "SkySgt" Lanclos
Cibolo, TX

5stars - "One of my ALL-TIME favorite comedies!" (SkySgt)
This is the very best movie ever made by Andy Griffith. The casting is perfect all the way through. Don Knotts and Andy Griffith together at the beginning of their great lifetime friendship. This is a funny movie that will make you feel like you have your favorite blanket on a cold day.

This is the very best movie ever made by Andy Griffith. The casting is perfect all the way through. Don Knotts and Andy Griffith together at the beginning of their great lifetime friendship. This is a funny movie that will make you feel like you have your favorite blanket on a cold day.

5stars - "Andy's Tour de Force" (Michael Cavenaugh)

Latcho Drom / SalesRank : 6943

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Latcho Drom
Cinematographer:Eric Guichard Writer:Tony Gatlif Editor:Nicole Berckmans Producer:Michèle Ray-Gavras

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VHS Tape [ New Yorker Video ] [ Release : 1998 / 11 / 11 ]
EAN : 9786304263198 / ASIN : 6304263198
[ ListPrice : $19.95 ] [ Used Price:$70.00 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.5stars [ See more reviews ]

Latcho Drom is mesmerizing, the people magical and the music unforgettable.

There is no dialogue, but this does nothing to detract from the film's integrity or entertainment value. Although Rom diaspora has resulted in the Roma living in just about every country on earth, Latcho Drom provides the viewer with a coup d'oeil of the Roma people in Africa, Egypt, Turkey, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, France and Spain.

The Romanian Roma (the two are mutually exclusive), instantly pulled me under their spell. Upon first impression, the Romanian "gypsies" might look like a ragtag band of amateurs. In short order, however, this misconception is swiftly dispelled as these musical maestros fill the air with their art - all deftly orchestrated and delivered.

The women of the Romanian village are peripheral figures in the sense that they are not part of the music making, but prominent nonetheless as they emerge, one by one upon hearing the first strains of music. While the men take up their assorted string instruments as well as cymbalom, flute, accordian and clarinet, the women stay outside, but on the sidelines. There they engage in the merriment - dancing, clapping and laughing - while occasionally stirring the huge pots of steaming soup or stew that sit outside each house.

There is another group shown - but not nearly long enough - and that is the Hungarian Roma. The scene opens with a young woman and small boy waiting for the train. The woman is morose and despondent on the gray, drizzly winter day; it's hard not to feel compassion for her but especially for her little boy who seems desperately in need of a plan to cheer her up. Succor comes swiftly in the form of a passel of gypsies who conspire to entertain the woman from the other side of the railroad tracks. The woman's child mimes them from across the tracks, complete with clapping, knee slapping and other antics. By the time the scene has ended with the train arriving, the mother is no longer dour and we are left wishing the train had been late.

Latcho Drom is both an auditory and visual gift to yourself or to whomever you wish to give it. Most of all, though, Latcho Drom will be music to your heart and soul. It's wonderful.

5stars - "Sweet Dreams are Made of This" (Caryss Wood-Behan)

Years ago, when Latcho Drom was playing in theaters in the San Francisco Bay area, I went to see it as many times as I could. Due to its popularity, it was even re-run occasionally, over the years, at the independent art theaters, and paired with the equally beautiful movie "Baraka" (what a fabulous double-header THAT was). I've also rented it many times on DVD and was sad when my favorite indie movie store closed down a couple of years ago...I was sad for the store, of course, but even sadder that someone on the staff nabbed their one copy of Latcho Drom before the doors were opened to let the public buy out their stock. Sigh...the staff knew what all the best foreign films were and the top three I was hoping to get were all gone. Latcho Drom was at the top of the list. A must-have for anyone who adores traditional dance and music and the lush beauty of the world's cultures.

5stars - "I want my own copy! If you love dance and music..." (Ronelle Coburn)
A wonderful journey through two continents, exploring present-day music of the Roma people. Colourful, exciting, moving, you see the most extraordinary performances in the most inhospitable circumstances.....Tony Gatlif, himself part-Roma, was privileged to be able to join these groups of travellers and record their very special, and exclusive to them,culture.

A wonderful journey through two continents, exploring present-day music of the Roma people. Colourful, exciting, moving, you see the most extraordinary performances in the most inhospitable circumstances.....Tony Gatlif, himself part-Roma, was privileged to be able to join these groups of travellers and record their very special, and exclusive to them,culture.

5stars - "Latcho drom: an exploration of gypsy music" (Zero 2.)

If you are interested in Gypsy music and dance this is an incredible look at the culture, sans boring narration blah blah. Because Mr. Gatlif had unprecedented access to these relatively unspoiled groups of performers, the viewer feels like a traveler on the Gypsy Trail, starting out in India,through Egypt, Turkey and through the Balkans, ending with a lively village Flamenco scene. I wish that they had continued into England and Ireland, but that is a minor quibble. Each scene goes directly into the performances, with so much feeling and joy. Not to be missed.

5stars - "Drop in on a dying culture" (Europa Macmillan)

The Gypsies left their original homeland in northern India around 1000AD. This much has been established by historical and linguistic research, but the reason for their exodus westward is less certain. They reached Europe by the early C14th, crossing from Asia Minor by way of Crete and the Peloponnesus, and continued their dispersal westward and northward. By the end of the C14th they were already settled in large numbers in the Balkans and Danube lands, where an undeveloped economic structure and primitive technology gave Gypsy smiths and cobblers the chance to compete with local artisans. Early accounts of their arrival suggest that the curiosity and sympathy they originally aroused were accompanied by suspicion and hostlity, and soon their status changed dramatically from protected guests to persecuted outlaws. Within a 100 years of their first appearance, most countries in western Europe had passed savage laws for their expulsion: some even legislated to include the death penalty. 'Lacho Drom' is a wonderful travelogue of Rom music which traces this migration. The music and demeanour of the people says it all; languages that transcend regional barriers. Clearly, by Czechoslovakia, we have entered the Rom estate popularised by European literature's cliches, extolled by the excessive practice of all vices known to Man. The film's concluding lament caps an increasingly sad tale of persecution born, nevertheless, with brave equanimity. The appropriate footnote, if you can source it, is Joseph Koudelka's grave portfolio of Gypsies that was published by Aperture in the mid 1970s. I hestitate to trumpet aesthetics here, where it obviously hurts, but Koudelka's images are some of the most stunningly beautiful you'll ever see. There's nothing vouyeristic about Koudelka as in nearly every instance he's acknowledged by his subjects. And that implicit trust is rarely evinced anywhere, anytime, resulting in a candour that might well move you to tears.

5stars - "Travelling Gypsies Both By DVD & CD" (R. J MOSS)

Last Year at Marienbad / SalesRank : 8775

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Last Year at Marienbad

amazon.com availability ： Out of stock.
( Market Place : Used Seller - 1 and New Seller - 2 )

VHS Tape [ Fox Lorber ] [ Release : 1998 / 03 / 24 ]
EAN : 9781572522244 / ASIN : 1572522240
[ ListPrice : $9.98 ] [ Used Price:$46.95 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.0stars [ See more reviews ]

Forget all prior claims you've read about Alain Resnais's 90 minute long, 1961 black and white film, Last Year In Marienbad (L'Année Dernière Á Marienbad, and Last Year At Marienbad in North America)- from the bad to the good, from publicity nonsense which declaims the three main characters are named after letters, when they are unnamed, and see it raw; for then you'll see why greatness is its own company. This is because the difference between this truly great film, a work of art considered an art film high point, and Carnival Of Souls, considered a B horror film, which was released a year later, are minimal. The similarities between the films are considerable, even though I doubt that the latter film's director, Herk Harvey, had even seen Last Year In Marienbad while making his only feature film. This is because Last Year In Marienbad truly is one of those films, or works of art, that, the moment it is experienced, the viewer connects with it as something they feel has always been. It is like that tune you hear, that becomes a Top 40 hit, and you swear you've known it for years.
In this way, the fact that Last Year In Marienbad has been dubbed one of the most influential films of all time should not surprise. Perhaps only Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, Akira Kuroswawa's Seven Samurai, and Frank Capra's It Happened One Night can claim to have been more influential overall, and in their genres. Yet, in reality, Last Year In Marienbad is not so much influential as being a touchstone film- a film that got to a source, common to the human experience, before many other films did. Aside from Carnival Of Souls, the number of other films were profoundly influenced, or rather dipped their toes in the same waters as various aspects of this film, range from George Lucas's THX-1138 to Stanley Kubrick's 2001 and The Shining, from Ingmar Bergman's The Silence to Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup and George Romero's Night Of the Living Dead. Even the brilliant 1967 British television series The Prisoner and the low budget 1990s Canadian sci fi film Cube seem to have been influenced by this film in its M.C. Escherian manifolds. This is further proof that quality transcends ephemeral labeling....The film was nominated for the 1963 Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, and won the Golden Lion at the 1961 Venice Film Festival. Aside from all the other schools and -isms that lay claim to it, the one it is most often lumped with is the French New Wave cinema, yet, it has only a marginal affinity with the early seminal works of Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. Resnais's film is very much a film that takes deep advantage of its art form's past, and subverts those forms in wholly opposite ways from the aforementioned directors', as well as artistically succeeding far beyond the art of those two, as well. In short, a difference of degree does become a difference of kind, despite the sloth of some critics to knee-jerkedly lump groups of artists, and their art, so haphazardly together. That such an utterly timeless fictive film as Last Year In Marienbad came from Resnais, who also made the hopelessly dated documentary film Night And Fog, shows the power of being willing to change technique to address a certain subject. And the dialogue, by Robbe-Grillet, although elliptical, has a power and depth that would open wells that later experimental films, like Louis Malle's My Dinner With Andre, would also mine.
But, as I admonished at the start, heed not any claims for this film, even mine. See it for yourself, for this is one of the great works of art that also acts as a de facto Rorschach Test for the percipient. Those addicted to the drudgery and predictability of formulaic Hollwood hackery will be bored senseless by the film. The remaining 1% or less of us will recognize Last Year In Marienbad as the great work of art it is. Sometimes, exclusivity has its benefits.

5stars - "Terrific" (Cosmoetica)

The film is pure art, but shouldn't be dissected as such. This review is based only on my interpretation, and famously LYIM is open to infinite interpretations. Anyone can relate to X, who is so determined to relive this year endlessly just to convince his love oh so slightly that they had met and made plans for an affair, knowing that she will only run away and forget again and again. For love, he will play a game of destiny that seems impossible to win. The characters live in the frozen moments of their first meeting and reunion metaphorically invoking purgatory, life, death, etc, WHO CARES. The reason I know I will always place this film as the creme de la cinema is that every diehard filmgoer will have a very, very different reaction to this "story" but will have to feel the deep chord it strikes in the same wonderful and transcendant fashion. I wish I could give this film 10,000,000 stars!!! Perfertion!

5stars - "The Most Perfect film I've seen yet" (Quinton Ridley)

This review is not about the film, "Last Year at Marienbad", which I consider a classic, but rather the horrible technical quality of this tape.

I ordered the VHS version of "Marienbad" because the DVD is evidently out of print, and the cheapest DVD price on Amazon is currently about $300 (!)

I wouldn't mind it if this tape was merely VHS quality, but it's not -- it's so horrible as to be almost unwatchable. It looks like a bootleg copy made with cheap equipment by people who have no idea what they're doing and no concern about quality.

The beginning of the film has out-of-synch, snowy, grainy images which keep fading in and out, making it impossible to tell what's going on. Later, the quality "improves", but is still worse than a VHS dub made on home equipment.

Buyer beware -- you get what you pay for!

1stars - "Watch out - very poor quality VHS dub!" (CubeBoy)
We have not been able to watch the movie as it is defective and un-viewable. I look forward to eventually getting to see the movie.

We have not been able to watch the movie as it is defective and un-viewable. I look forward to eventually getting to see the movie.

1stars - "Last Year at Marienbad" (Gingercookie)

This is such a mesmerizing film. I saw it in a poorly transfered, VHS copy, and I still loved it. I have the DVD, and it looks wonderful. This film is more on the lines of a symphony, a film of movements and feelings. There really is no logic to it, and anyone who really knows what happened is just fooling themselves. It's such a unique work, really unto itself, with nothing before it or after it to compare it too. I think Alain Resnais is a great filmmaker, and who is never really mentioned with the other great French filmmakers. Alain has made many great films, such as Night and Fog, Hiroshima mon Amour, and Mon Oncle d'Amerique. He is also the director of 2 "legendary, unseen" films called Melo and Providence. This is also Peter Greenaway's favorite film, and you can see its influence on its work with the fantastic, widescreen compositions and the amazing photography. This is really a great, cinematic puzzle, one that can be put together and taken apart over and over again.

5stars - "Symphony for the senses...." (Grigory's Girl)

Picnic (Widescreen) / SalesRank : 6496

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Picnic (Widescreen)

amazon.com availability ： Out of stock.
( Market Place : Used Seller - 32 and New Seller - 12 )

VHS Tape [ Sony Pictures ] [ Release : 1994 / 06 / 24 ]
EAN : 9786301607926 / ASIN : 6301607929
[ ListPrice : $19.98 ] [ Used Price:$2.35 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.5stars [ See more reviews ]
The dance scene played to moonglow must be the ultimate depiction of sexual attraction between a man and woman Hollywood every did.

The depiction of small town America in summer is priceless.

A classic in many ways......enjoy it.

The dance scene played to moonglow must be the ultimate depiction of sexual attraction between a man and woman Hollywood every did.

The depiction of small town America in summer is priceless.

A classic in many ways......enjoy it.

5stars - "Erotic without the Sleeze" (John C. Henze)
Picnic is a fabulous movie, but do not buy this DVD version as it is in standard screen format - not the original widescreen (like the VHS tape version). The standard screen does not do justice to this movie at all. I don't understand why the VHS (which I have) is widescreen and the much newer DVD (which I bought from Amazon) is standard screen. I should have read the description more carefully.

Picnic is a fabulous movie, but do not buy this DVD version as it is in standard screen format - not the original widescreen (like the VHS tape version). The standard screen does not do justice to this movie at all. I don't understand why the VHS (which I have) is widescreen and the much newer DVD (which I bought from Amazon) is standard screen. I should have read the description more carefully.

1stars - "Not Widescreen!" (Anglo Fan)
Both Borders and Barnes and Noble now carry a widescreen version of Picnic:

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/Picnic/William-Holden/e/043396828797/?itm=4

Widescreen on one side, fullscreen on the other. It says "Columbia Classics" across the top of the package.

I wish Amazon would carry this version, as I don't want to open a new account at one of those other places just for one item.

Both Borders and Barnes and Noble now carry a widescreen version of Picnic:

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/Picnic/William-Holden/e/043396828797/?itm=4

Widescreen on one side, fullscreen on the other. It says "Columbia Classics" across the top of the package.

I wish Amazon would carry this version, as I don't want to open a new account at one of those other places just for one item.

2stars - "Widescreen now available" (Me Here)

I ordered this film on DVD last week, and was very excited that I had finally purchased it on DVD. Sat down to watch it, and was horrified that it was butchered (i.e. the full screen, pan-and-scan thing). I went online today to see if I had accidentally chosen the wrong format, and found to my shock that this version is the only one out there.

I have to give it at least 3 stars, because the movie is so damned good. But this is a lousy transfer. I find it hard to believe that at this late date in the DVD game, a new, improved, widescreen, digitally enhanced version has not been made. How could such a classic film be ignored like this? I strongly urge the powers that be to do this classic film justice - with maybe a "making-of" special, while some of the folks involved in its production are still alive, to add insight.

Please, PLEASE come out with a better version, and soon!

3stars - "picnic" (JC Another)

Picnic is the story of a drifter (William Holden), an ex-football hero who has never had trouble with women. He feels doomed to repeat his father's life, a life of alcoholism and jail. When he stumbles upon an old college friend, things seem to be looking up, that is until he meets his friend's girlfriend (Kim Novak). The sexual tension is outrageous between them and they don't do a good job at covering it up. Naturally, this spells problems for the drifter and the girl who desires to be something more than just a pretty face.

Unfortunately, this movie just doesn't hit the spot. The acting is melodramatic across the board, a fault of the director, I suspect. The women suddenly throw themselves onto beds for a good long cry or they exaggeratedly turn away from the men they love. It is all too hokey and unrealistic to do the film any justice. Fortunately, the personalities of the actors make this movie worth seeing anyway. Aside from Holden and Novak, Susan Strasberg and Rosalind Russell make memorable appearances in supporting roles. Strasberg is youthful and charming and Russell is overbearing and desperate (appropriately to the character).

3stars - "Too Stagey" (Samantha Kelley)

Yellow Earth / SalesRank : 4826

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Yellow Earth
Cinematographer:Yimou Zhang Writer:Kaige Chen Writer:Lan Ke Writer:Ziliang Zhang

amazon.com availability ： Out of stock.
( Market Place : Used Seller - 6 and New Seller - 0 )

VHS Tape [ Fox Lorber ] [ Release : 1997 / 10 / 16 ]
EAN : 9786302917055 / ASIN : 6302917050
[ ListPrice : $19.98 ] [ Used Price:$10.99 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.5stars [ See more reviews ]
For those who hope for the happiness of mainland chinese people, this movie is informative and heart warming.

5stars - "Please see this movie so you can understand current PRC." (S. Stradtman)

1939. A communist soldier is sent to a very remote province to collect to collect songs ( A visible homage to Bela Bartok, who gathered more than three hundred songs of the Hungarian Folk) , but additionally he will learn much more about the real life.

The admirable simplicity of this plot should not be an obstacle to appreciate the body and facial languages at a evry superior level.

This was the first Op. of this sensitive director of "fareweel my concubine" , Chen Kaige.

5stars - "The life is not a question of ideologies!" (Hiram Gomez Pardo)

In 1937 Chiang Kai-shek's KMT and Chairman Mao's Communist Party created an uneasy alliance because of the looming collective threat of the Japanese. Steeped in archaic traditions and KMT rule many areas of China especially in poorer, northern areas such as the upper half of Shanxi province still existed in a pre-modern time without having being enlightened by the changing times occurring in the south. Although pitied by the Communists, there was also a begrudging respect for some of the customs held by the peasants. In Yellow Earth the custom brought to the fore is folk singing.

A Communist soldier brimming with enthusiasm for the teachings of Chairman Mao and belief that the said teachings will revolutionize China and bring equality to the downtrodden classes, Gu Quing, or Brother Gu, travels to Shanxi in order to gather folk songs that can be sung by the Communists to inspire others of the plight of the poor peasants. Arriving at a time in which a wedding is taking place, Brother Gu witnesses what he believes to be the oppression of tradition on the populace: fourteen year old girls being married off to old men in which sustenance and dowries are more important than true affection.

Despite his differences of opinion, Brother Gu is quite an amiable fellow and takes residence with an old, weather-beaten farmer and his children. He works with the farmer and helps plow the fields while attempting to engage in conversation with the farmer. Most of his conversations center upon the changing times and how girls are now becoming soldiers and are learning how to read and young couples are able to marry out of affection instead of being matched together. The farmer listens politely, but his concerns primarily fall within practical matters such as if it will rain soon and the engagement of his young daughter Cuiqiao. However, the words do have a greater impact on Cuiqiao, a hardworking girl with an incredible singing voice. Through the kind being of Brother Gu she learns that there is another world where girls can read and men know how to sew. Engaged to a man many years her senior, Cuiqiao desires to join Brother Gu when it is time for him to return to his home. Yet, because of the Communist party's strict rules, she cannot join the party unless asked to do so. Therefore, she must wait for Brother Gu's return. However, can she wait long enough?

The only two Chen Kaige films that I have watched before Yellow Earth are the magnificent Farewell My Concubine and the magnificent travesty The Promise, so I was quite interested in viewing the respected director's landmark, debut film. Like seemingly most Chinese films that have been released in America, Yellow Earth is quite a sad film that shows a people torn between two conflicting times. However, like many of the other films created by the 5th generation film directors, which also includes the luminary Zhang Yimou who was the cinematographer for Yellow Earth, oftentimes the new and modern revolution of the old is just as bad as or worse than what was before. An important film for those interested in Chinese film and modern China, Yellow Earth does not make for an enjoyable film experience, but it does make for a poignant one.

4stars - "of Hammer..." (Michael Ward)

It is impossible to understand this film without a perspective of Chinese cinematic history. This movie is a strong revolutionary critique. It starts of as a typical revolutionary film, like those that were made during Mao's lifetime...and then it all falls apart. I'm sure many casual viewers have trouble with what seems to be a lack of plot. This film speaks about emptiness, emptiness of the land and people, and the empty promise of the communist party. It is a cyclic film, which in itself is a critique of the Party, as revolutionary films were linear, denoting progress towards a glorious future. In the Maoist era, films ended with people looking off toward the horizon, and at an implied modern and prosperous future. This film speaks of tradition and the earth as both nurturer and destroyer of its people. The cardre fails the people in this story, and the peasantry fall into greater poverty. The peasants revert to age-old rituals, rather than progress to a modern glorious future, a strong departure from Maoist thought and the new culture movement. The yellow earth is the birthplace of chinese civilization, the earth is home to the people and it defines them, rather than their party and class. The yellow earth is also in Yan'an, the birthplace of Mao's communist rule. Yan'an is a strongly symbolic concept for the communist party and the followers of Mao, so the failure, death and disharmony in this region symbolize the failure of the Party and its methods. The emptiness is a contrast to the lies of fulfillment the party expounded. The people and the Party are always separate from each other in this film, another strong divergance from he movies that came before. Emptiness in this film also brings up ideas of Daoist philosphy, another turn from the anti-traditionalist, modern minded party.
The film is also a rebellion against the rather talkative style of fourth generation films and their emphasis on the narrative.
Cuiquo symbolizes the people's endurance and their life on this land. The river she drowns in is the same river that sustained her. It is a story of endurance in the face of a cycle of suffering and loss. This endurance is represented in the never ending song cycle of the people. It is the a beautiful movie that speaks both of the age-old troubles and strength of the people of the chinese nation and of the failure of the party to fulfill its promise of a modern and glorious future.

5stars - "Yellow Earth" (Anon)

The reviewers who claim that this film sends propagandistic messages are way off the mark (perhaps they are the ideologues?). If anything, this film is a critique of the Chinese communist party. A kind communist party member offers to liberate the poor and needy (and most of them did in fact support the communist party) but in the end, way see that he/the party are not able to accomplish what they promised. The young girl, it appears, drowns.

Beautiful cinematography (thanks to Zhang Yimou). Learn to appreciate the colors of the yellow earth (and not the usual green snapshots that one typically enjoys).

Overall, one of Chen Kaige's best.

5stars - "Misreadings..." (Andrew A. Ho)

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