Index of High Definition (HD) Movies on HD Cinema & Monsters HD

[Sean Mota]

Ginger Snaps (2000)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000A1HSS.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Like Carrie before it, Ginger Snaps uses horror-movie conventions as an inspired metaphor for puberty. When beautiful but reclusive goth teenager Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) is attacked by a monstrous wolf on the eve of her first period, her body starts changing in a big way, as do her suddenly lusty, feral appetites. Director John Fawcett masterfully balances the expectations of teen horror exploitation (blood, bodies, sex, smart dialogue, and good old-fashioned monster-movie scares) with clever black humor and tender sisterly solidarity. Only devoted sister Brigitte (gloomy Emily Perkins) knows the truth, and even as Ginger's abrupt transformation threatens their once unbreakable friendship, bonds of blood and love keep them together: Brigitte disposes of Ginger's victims while searching for a cure. Mimi Rogers costars as their dotty but unexpectedly sensitive mom, ready to sacrifice all to protect her daughter. Blood and blood ties have never been more evocative. --Sean Axmaker </p>

Starring: Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle Director: John Fawcett
Studio: Fox Home Entertainme Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm.: 2.5 stars : Good movie, enjoyed it. However, comparisons to the sequel are probably inevitable -- and I don't think the original compares favorably. In fact, I don't think anything about the first is better than the sequel. That being said, I still found Ginger Snaps to be better than most horror films I've seen. Good pq and surround sound, too.

jgantert: Just caught this one too. Good movie, but Timm's correct, not as good as the sequel. I'ld go 3 stars because it did hold my attention, and the transfer was excellent!

Sean Mota: 3.5 stars this is the kind of movie I love. A lot of blood, bitting, and so on. So I have to give it a 3.5. Love it. bring more horror with blood movies.

 

[Sean Mota]

What Time Is It There (2001)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000068TRW.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> When a young street vendor with a grim home life meets a girl on her way to Paris, they forge an instant connection. He changes all the clocks in Taipei to French time; as he watches Francois Truffaut's Les 400 Coups, she has a strange encounter with its now-ageing star (Jean-Pierre Leaud). </p>

Starring: Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen Director: Ming-liang Tsai
Studio: Wellspring Media, In Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

1080iBeVuMin: 1.5 stars (out of 5) : This Chinese film on WorldCinema was described as a comedy drama. (?) Yes, there are a couple strange/funny parts, but overall I wish somebody would explain this film to me. I didn't get it. The two main characters meet ever so briefly. The woman buys a watch from the street vendor. Period, end of interaction of these two main characters. The rest of the film focuses individually on these two characters and shows the effect that their brief meeting had on their subsequent lives. She mopes around in France as a tourist. He goes around China setting clocks to French local time. I don't know; I usually love foreign films of all stripes. This one left me without a reaction. If somebody would please explain it to me, I might be able to recommend it!

 

[Sean Mota]

The Wicker Man (1975)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6303149200.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Typically categorized as a horror film, The Wicker Man is actually a serious and literate thriller about modern paganism, written by Anthony Shaffer (Sleuth) with a deft combination of cool subjectivity and escalating dread. (Robin Hardy here marks his only directorial effort.) We're introduced to the friendly but mysterious residents of Summerisle (located off the west coast of Scotland), where the isolated community enacts rituals that seem, at first, to be merely unconventional. When called in to investigate an anonymous tip about a missing child, mainland police sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) is treated as an outsider, and the ominous Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) has the inside advantage. As the repressed policeman is taunted by the island's sensuous atmosphere, his investigation leads to increasingly disturbing implications.
With phallic symbols and soothing music at every turn, Summerisle is a pleasant haven for those who perform the pagan rituals of Lord Summerisle's maverick ancestors. These earthy ceremonies are presented with alluring authenticity, and the island's tempting eroticism is fully expressed by the landlord's daughter (Britt Ekland), who fills Howie with barely suppressed carnal desire. (Sirens took a comedic approach to a similar situation in 1994.) And yet the mystery of the missing girl remains, with clues that hint at a darker reality beneath the colorful local customs. When that reality is ultimately discovered, Howie becomes the crucial element in the islanders' most elaborate ritual, which is where the film's title comes into play. It may not be horror, but it is horrific, and this makes The Wicker Man an unforgettable film. --Jeff Shannon -
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Starring: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee Director: Robin Hardy
Studio: Republic Studios Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

ddlsmith: Anybody watched "The Wicker Man" on Monster HD? Very strange. A cult classic. Supposedly on BBC's Top 100 British Films of all time.

TheTimm: 3.0 stars : Pretty trippy stuff here. And cool. No shortage of nudity and weirdness. A pretty good mystery (although not too difficult to figure out, especially if you've ever seen Spellbound) and some over-the-top acting performances. If you're generally a fan of odd little cult favorites, this one may be for you. Not the best pq or sound, but there are some nice shots and the folksy music is kinda cool.

 

[Sean Mota]

Groundhog Day (1993)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6302820448.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Bill Murray does warmth in his most consistently effective post-Stripes comedy, a romantic fantasy about a wacky weatherman forced to relive one strange day over and over again, until he gets it right. Snowed in during a road-trip expedition to watch the famous groundhog encounter his shadow, Murray falls into a time warp that is never explained but pays off so richly that it doesn't need to be. The elaborate loop-the-loop plot structure cooked up by screenwriter Danny Rubin is crystal-clear every step of the way, but it's Murray's world-class reactive timing that makes the jokes explode, and we end up looking forward to each new variation. He squeezes all the available juice out of every scene. Without forcing the issue, he makes us understand why this fly-away personality responds so intensely to the radiant sanity of the TV producer played by Andie MacDowell. The blissfully clueless Chris Elliott (Cabin Boy) is Murray's nudnik cameraman. --David Chute

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Starring: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell Director: Harold Ramis
Studio: Columbia/Tristar Studios Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 4.5 stars : Great movie -- in fact, the kind of movie you could watch all day -- over and over and over and over . Seriously, though, it has everything. Very funny (when Bill Murray is good, he's very very good), a good romance, and even a little action (loved the chase scenes). And it gets you thinkin' about how you might handle the same situation. PQ was quite good and the surround sound was excellent, especially for the music and during the chase scenes. Andie McDowell was pleasant to watch, and even Chris Elliot was less annoying than usual.

 

[Sean Mota]

Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. (1993)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6302863694.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Sassy, in-your-face account of an intelligent, flippant Brooklyn girl who lives in the projects and dreams of college. Ariyan Johnson is captivating as the teen with attitude and a brain, but she cannot decide which should guide her. She wants a better life but finds herself taking a very hard road. First-time writer/director Leslie Harris put together a sharp, realistic, very funny account of life for a young black woman. It is rough around the edges, however, and is definitely hampered by the minuscule budget. This may not always be pretty, but it is consistently interesting. --Rochelle O'Gorman


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Starring: Ariyan A. Johnson, Kevin Thigpen Director: Leslie Harris (II)
Studio: Artisan Entertainment Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 1.5 stars : Look, I appreciate a low-budget independent film where someone has an idea, raises a little money, calls his friends and makes a movie as much as the next guy -- as long as it's good. This one isn't. It just kinda bites off more than it can chew, but doesn't say anything that hasn't been said before, and better. It's well-intentioned and ambitious, but ultimately comes across as a heavy-handed cliche-riddled after school special. The acting is historically bad, the dialogue even worse. It's like the writer read a Sunday paper feature where they translate all the hot street slang and then tried to cram as many of the words as possible into a ninety minute Salt 'n' Pepa video. It's sort of like a high school counselor trying to be "cool" to better relate to the students -- just doesn't come across as real and in the end looks ridiculous. It gets the star and a half because I appreciate the effort, and the soundtrack was pretty cool. But all in all, a disappointment.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Old Settler (2001)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005MIUW.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5">


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Starring: Director: Debbie Allen
Studio: PBS Home Video Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 2.0 stars : Pretty slow. I won't go so far as to call it boring, but it was certainly walking a fine line. Well acted though, and did a good job of exploring a couple relationships.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Crow - Salvation (2000)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005K3NS.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Clean-cut kid Alex Corvis (Eric Mabius) is framed and executed for the brutal murder of his girlfriend (Jodi Lynn O'Keefe). He is revived by a crow spirit guide to hunt down the corrupt policemen who committed the crime, and ultimately to unmask the mysterious scarred man who ordered her death. The macabre noirish spin James O'Barr's original graphic novels put on the superhero mythos translated reasonably well for the original film of the series, directed by Alex Proyas in 1994 and starring the late Brandon Lee. But the premise had already worn thin by the first sequel, 1996's The Crow: City of Angels, and this entry simply rehashes the same story (tragic hero in clown greasepaint avenges beautiful dead girlfriend by eliminating outlandish villains) without adding anything new to the mix. Mabius brings nothing to the role except boyish good looks, while Kirsten Dunst is wasted in a supporting role as the murdered girl's sister. The supporting cast includes career cad William Atherton as Dunst's red-handed dad, and Fred Ward as a police captain with a taste for recreational surgery. Director Bharat Nalluri (the minor U.K. cult pic Killing Time, 1998) ably handles the action scenes and faux postindustrial atmosphere but seems at odds with how to pace or stage dialogue scenes (not that X-Files scribe Chip Johannesson's script provides any worth the effort). Gore effects courtesy the KNB Group and a Sturm und Drang soundtrack featuring Kid Rock, Hole, and others will help hold the most loyal fans' interest. --Paul Gaita


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Starring: Director: Bharat Nalluri
Studio: Dimension Home Video Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 3 stars : Electrocution, explosions, blood, fantasy, strippers, slow motion fog walking, hard rockin' soundtrack, Kirsten Dunst. Yet somehow this movie manages to not quite hit the spot. Perhaps I just can't help comparing it to the original movie, which I love, and to which this fails to live up. Or maybe it's just the bad acting/lack of charisma of the lead actor. Not sure, but at times this film comes across as pretty stupid -- which is a shame because at other spots it rocks. The pq's pretty good and the sound is very good. The soundtrack itself is friggin' awesome. Rocks HARD -- Kid Rock, Filter, Danzig, Rob Zombie. I'll probably pass on the DVD, but buy the CD.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Opium War (1997)

<p><img border="0" src="http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/x-site/icons/no-img-lg.gif" align="left" hspace="5"> Historical Drama starting in 1839 in Guangzhou where British merchants dealing with opium are to be executed because the opium is destroying the Empire. After the burning of 20,000 boxes of opium by the Chinese England declares war, because the burned opium was the property of the British commercial attache who had bought it from the British merchants.


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Starring: Debra Beaumont Director: Jin Xie
Studio: Aspect ratio 2:35:1

Voomer Reviews:

riffjim4069: 2.5 stars: The showing of this movie, 2-3 weeks ago, was timely since my wife teaches history and was preparing a lesson plan dealing with this subject. It was common knowledge that the British Empire was the world's leading drug trafficker in the 19th century. The destructive nature of opium was well known at the time of the Opium Wars. Addicts seldom lived past age fifty; heavy smokers had a life expectancy of only five years. While a prosperous Chinese official could afford opium addiction, a Chinese worker would spend two-thirds of his wages, thus neglecting his family. Many Chinese saw opium as a poison introduced by foreign enemies. Eventually, the Emperor banned the import of opium, except for a small amount, licensed as medicine...which obviously led to The Opium Wars.

This was an interesting movie, but it did not fully explain the hypocrisy of the egocentric Britains missionaries preaching Christianity, while the businessmen were profiting from the sale of opium regardless of the affect it had the Chinese people and their overall economy. Of course, quite a bit of the movie was in Chinese and had no subtitles, which may have shed more light on the Chinese point of view during this time.

 

[Sean Mota]

Captives (1996

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6304252137.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> The thrill of forbidden passion electrifies the air when young dentist Julia Ormand, the wounded victim of a rough divorce, falls for sad, soulful convict Tim Roth, a patient in her part-time prison duties. Her impulsive embrace of a man who seduces her with whispered confessions and little love bites (how better to flirt with a dentist?) and the rush of their affair raises unsettling questions: what exactly are his motives, and what crime is he in prison for? Captives can't decide whether it’s a tale of obsessive love or a film noir thriller with an erotic twist, and it finally falls back on mundane complications. But delicate Ormand is a beauty with a deer-in-the-headlights look, and Roth steals the film with his simmering and tragic eyes. --Sean Axmaker

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Starring: Julia Ormond Tim Roth Director: Angela Pope
Studio: Aspect ratio 1:85:1

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 2.5 stars: I enjoyed it, mainly due to the good actors. Tim Roth is always good. Julia Ormond is not only good, but pretty too. The classic tale of a romance between a convicted murderer and his dentist gets a little stupid later in the movie, and frankly just isn't very believable. PQ was fine, and surround sound was surprisingly good.

 

[Sean Mota]

A Room With a View (1986)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6300250512.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> The prestigious filmmaking trio of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala had made other critically acclaimed films before A Room with a View was released in 1985, but it was this popular film that made them art-house superstars. Splendidly adapted from the novel by E.M. Forster, it's a comedy of the heart, a passionate romance and a study of repression within the British class system of manners and mores. It's that system of rigid behavior that prevents young Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) from accepting the loving advances of a free-spirited suitor (Julian Sands), who fears that she will follow through with her engagement to a priggish intellectual (Daniel Day-Lewis) whose capacity for passion is virtually nonexistent. During and after a trip to Italy with her protective companion (Maggie Smith), Lucy gradually gets in touch with her true emotions. The fun of watching A Room with a View comes from seeing how Lucy's thoughts and feelings finally arrive at the same romantic conclusion. Through an abundance of humor both subtle and overt, this crowd-pleasing "art movie" rose to an unexpected level of popular appeal. The Merchant-Ivory team received eight Academy Award nominations for their efforts, and won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, and Costume Design. --Jeff Shannon


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Starring: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter Director: James Ivory
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Aspect ratio 1.66 : 1


Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 2.5 stars : One of those turn of the century period romance things where the men are kind of poofy and the women are fainty wusses, and class and etiquette are everything. Like most of those films, this one goes nowhere fast. But at least this one has Helena Bonham Carter -- whose work I prefer in Fight Club, but who makes this dog more watchable. She's young young here, and adorable. Julian Sands was alright too, as the one character who's a bit on the wild side. But next time, if only one of them has a full nude scene, what say we make it Ms. Carter instead of Mr. Sands? Please.
PQ was just okay. Although there wasn't much call for surround sound, it was there when needed for music and birds and such.

 

[Sean Mota]

Man Friday (1994)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6303079784.01._PE_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg" align="left" hspace="5">

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Starring: Peter O'Toole Director:
Studio: Uav Corporation Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

riffjim4069: Man Friday - 2.5 stars: A little different take on Robinson Crusoe. Peter O'Toole plays Crusoe, whose sanity is questionable, but who is always enjoyable, if not comical, with occasional over-the-top acting. Richard Roundtree also does a good job, but his character's excessive morality is unbelievable, at best. Some of the singing performances were accidentally quite funny. To sum it up: an interest twist on Crusoe - acting was pretty good - some of the over-the-top acting and singing was accidentally quite funny - unexpected ending.

"The tribe changes as the tree changes."

 

[Sean Mota]

The Proposal (2000)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000059XYH.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5">


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Starring: Director: Richard Gale (III)
Studio: Buena Vista Home Vid Aspect ratio


Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 1 star : Jennifer Esposito is hot. Everything else about this movie blows.

riffjim4069: 2.5 stars. A typical good guy, bad guy story in which two undercover cops (male/female) are going after the mob and their king pin. Kind of a cheesy plot, but as the story progresses the relationship between two cops grows into romance and they did a fair job of maintaining our interest. The PQ was pretty good and the movie, although nothing great, was better than we had expected.

 

[Sean Mota]

Our Town (2002)

<p><img border="0" src="http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/x-site/icons/no-img-lg.gif" align="left" hspace="5">

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Starring: Director:
Studio: Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 4 stars : Very good documentary about high school kids in Compton putting on the first play at the school in twenty years. They did a good job of using the students' opinions and footage of an old tv performance to show how the old play about a rural town can still be relevant today, even to a bunch of kids in Compton. Also touches on several of the problems the students face -- poverty, Compton's image, violence, disappearing dad syndrome, prioritizing of athletics over arts and education (Tyson Chandler of the Chicago Bulls is in the film briefly -- he was the star of the basketball team, drafted right out of high school).
PQ was okay. Surround sound was well used to showcase hip-hop music -- and there was no shortage of bass.

 

[Sean Mota]

Breakheart Pass (1976)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/630196733X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Adventure movies are hard to come by these days--they've been replaced by action movies, which favor fast cars and big explosions over the dangers of nature and explorations of human character. Breakheart Pass stars Charles Bronson as a mysterious petty criminal on the Western frontier. After being caught cheating at cards, he's arrested and held on a military transport train heading through the Rocky Mountains toward a fort on the coast, a fort stricken with diphtheria and in desperate need of the medical supplies on the train. But there's a conspiracy afoot--people on the train keep getting killed or disappearing--and the situation at the fort isn't what it seems either. Alistair MacLean adapted the screenplay from his own novel, and it's a well-plotted, efficient piece of work, made more compelling by a cast of solid character actors, ranging from Charles Durning (The Sting, Tootsie), Richard Crenna (Body Heat), and Ben Johnson (Oscar winner for The Last Picture Show) to guys whose faces you'll recognize, even if their names don't sound familiar. Breakheart Pass isn't The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Bronson isn't Humphrey Bogart, but the movie is a lean adventure flick with an outstanding score by Jerry Goldsmith. (Trivia buffs will catch Sam Elliot and Sally Kirkland in bit parts.) --Bret Fetzer

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Starring: Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson Director: Tom Gries
Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Aspect ratio 1:85:1

Voomer Reviews:

Sean Mota: 3.0 stars A good Western staring Charles Bronson. It's about an undercover agent trying to get a conspiracy to sell illegal weapons to the indians. I like the movie. It is OAR (1:85:1) and PQ was great.

 

[Sean Mota]

Love Serenade (1997)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6304766777.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> This Australian comedy is wonderfully bizarre, in its story of two sisters in a tiny town who both succumb to the charms of their new neighbor: a lanky, honey-voiced disk jockey named Ken Sherry (George Shevtsov), who has escaped from the big city to spin Barry White records on the radio. As the two sisters, Miranda Otto and Rebecca Frith, embody both sisterly nosiness and solidarity, they unexpectedly find themselves competing for Ken's easily captured affections. The humor derives from the contrast between the sisters: one desperate and clinging, the other stand-offish--yet both vulnerable to Ken's strange (he has webbed toes) charms. Writer-director Shirley Barrett keeps the comedy low-key but consistent in a film in which even the owner of the local Chinese restaurant, a part-time nudist, is funny. --Marshall Fine

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Starring: Miranda Otto, Rebecca Frith Director: Shirley Barrett
Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

Sean Mota: 2.5 stars. Funny movie. I waited and waited for something to happen but kind of never happened. Two sisters are seduced by this guy who had been divorced three times already. The guy is not good looking at all but give them both what they deserved for being so blind. The movie lacks the quality of a good plot. The most exciting moment was when the younger sister shows her goodies and they are good but it only lasts for a couple of seconds. That's the movie. By the way, excellent PQ and OAR.

 

[Sean Mota]

Vatel (2000)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005M4JW.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> It's 1671, and the King of France, Louis XIV, is looking for a general to carry war to the insufferably insolent Dutch. One of his nobles, the Prince de Condé, wants the job, thinking such royal favor will relieve his chronic impoverishment. The Prince's strategy to entice the sovereign's attention is ... well, to throw a lavish party, of course. VATEL is Condé's master of the kitchen and entertainment planner for the big event, for which the King, his Queen, and a large coterie of sycophants will descend upon the Prince's country estate to be lavishly fed, housed, and amused for several days. The expense and bother of it all will be staggering.

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Starring: Gérard Depardieu, Uma Thurman Director: Roland Joffé
Studio: Buena Vista Home Vid Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

Sean Mota: 3.5 stars. Not a movie for everybody. The story develops very slowly but it has great actors in it. A tragedy but not one that gives you the awe factor. Most exciting times are the chef's decoration and the performance put for the King. Great creative mind of Vatel and it was based on a true story. OAR and PQ was excellent.

 

[Sean Mota]

No Way Out (1987)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0792841808.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> This implausible, but effective 1987 film stars Kevin Costner (Bull Durham, Wyatt Earp) as a naval officer and CIA agent who may not be what he seems. This sexy thriller is an espionage mystery and an enigmatic character study of two men trying to be faithful to the loyalties they hold. Costner begins a torrid love affair with the mistress (Sean Young) of the Secretary of Defense, but when she turns up dead, Costner is implicated in a web of intrigue that threatens national security and exposes personal secrets at the highest levels. The Secretary and his men try to cover up the affair while simultaneously searching for a Soviet mole in their ranks. Featuring an exciting chase sequence through the Washington, D.C., subways, No Way Out is a standard issue thriller that nonetheless keeps the action coming. --Robert Lane

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Starring: Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman Director: Roger Donaldson
Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 4 stars: Good movie -- suspenseful, exciting, slowly builds up to an exciting ending. Solid performance by Kevin Costner. Was a little disappointed in the pq, but the sound was nice. I also got a kick out of how all the "high tech" 1987 stuff just doesn't seem all that high tech anymore.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Last Picture Show (1971)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6301955293.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Like Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, The Wild Bunch, and The Graduate, The Last Picture Show is one of the signature films of the "New Hollywood" that emerged in the late 1960s and early '70s. Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry and lovingly directed by Peter Bogdanovich (who cowrote the script with McMurtry), this 1971 drama has been interpreted as an affectionate tribute to classic Hollywood filmmaking and the great directors (such as John Ford) that Bogdanovich so deeply admired. It's also a eulogy for lost innocence and small-town life, so accurately rendered that critic Roger Ebert called it "the best film of 1951," referring to the movie's one-year time frame, its black-and-white cinematography (by Robert Surtees), and its sparse but evocative visual style. The story is set in the tiny, dying town of Anarene, Texas, where the main-street movie house is about to close for good, and where a pair of high-school football players are coming of age and struggling to define their uncertain futures. There's little to do in Anarene, and while Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) engages in a passionless fling with his football coach's wife (Cloris Leachman), his best friend Duane (Jeff Bridges) enlists for service in the Korean War. Both boys fall for a manipulative high-school beauty (Cybill Shepherd) who's well aware of her sexual allure. But it's not so much what happens in The Last Picture show as how it happens--and how Bogdanovich and his excellent cast so effectively capture the melancholy mood of a ghost town in the making. As Hank Williams sings on the film's evocative soundtrack, The Last Picture Show looks, feels, and sounds like a sad but unforgettably precious moment out of time. --Jeff Shannon

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Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Studio: Columbia/Tristar Studios Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 4.5 stars : Almost perfect. An excellent small town coming-of-age slice-of-life film featuring the debut of Cybill Shepard. After seeing this, it is no mystery why she went on to become the star that she did. Surprisingly good pq for a 1971 black and white movie, and an excellent soundtrack of Hank Williams tunes. At times it moves just a little slow for my taste, but I really thought the characters rang true, and was impressed with the actors who portrayed them.

 

[Sean Mota]

Avanti! (1972)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6303091970.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> The complete obscurity of Avanti! is a cinematic injustice that needs to be rectified. Jack Lemmon and director Billy Wilder made their share of hits together (Some Like It Hot and The Apartment, for starters), but this wry, melancholy comedy was completely out of touch with its time (which recalls a Wilder one-liner from the '70s: "Who the hell would want to be in touch with these times?"). It may have flopped badly in 1972, but it wears well in retrospect. Lemmon plays a jerk American businessman called to Italy to pick up the body of his father, who died while enjoying a secret (and, it turns out, annual) liaison with a mistress. With the help of a delightful Englishwoman (Juliet Mills) who happens to be the daughter of the "other woman," Lemmon finds himself stepping in a few of Dad's footsteps, and falling under the sway of the beguiling Italian atmosphere. A very leisurely movie, but that's part of its effect. Clive Revill delivers a gem of a performance as a heroic hotel manager, and Juliet Mills (sister of Hayley, daughter of Oscar-winner John) had her finest screen hour here. As a director, Wilder spent much of his early career camouflaging his romantic streak under a cynical front; here, despite many acerbic touches and the presence of death as the central plot device, the romance is in full flower under the rich Italian sun. --Robert Horton

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Starring: Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills Director: Billy Wilder
Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

adidadi: 4 stars. 1970's Jack lemmon film written and directed by Billy Wilder and filmed in Ischia Italy. Need I say more. Just beautiful. Film is not his best, but it is so worth watching just for the feeling in Ischia and a classic of that time.

 

[Sean Mota]

Cat Ballou (1965)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6302276578.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Long before Unforgiven deconstructed the Western, or Blazing Saddles lampooned it, Cat Ballou poked the genre in the eye. An altogether enjoyable comedy, the film is full of small surprises, big laughs, and wonderful character turns. Catherine Ballou (Jane Fonda) is a schoolteacher until a hired thug kills her daddy. To protect what she loves, she collects two petty criminals, a wisecracking hired hand, and a hired killer, Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin). Unfortunately, Shelleen is a raging drunk who is so inebriated and unsteady with a gun he literally misses the broad side of a barn. However, Cat, has, as they used to say in those days, a mind of her own, and she masterminds a spectacular train heist that puts them all on the lam. Marvin won an Academy Award for his role as the derelict Shelleen, and his performances (he actually has two) are still topnotch and on target. The framing device, two wandering minstrels, played by Stubby Kaye and Nat "King" Cole, are the maraschino cherries on the top of this Wild West confection. --Keith Simanton

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Starring: Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin Director: Elliot Silverstein
Studio: Columbia/Tristar Studios Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 2.5 stars : Disappointing. Program guide gave it four stars -- very generous. It never really decided if it was a western comedy, romance, or shoot-em-up-you-done-me-wrong revenge movie -- so it ended up doing a little bit of each, and badly. Oh, it wasn't horrible -- it did hold my interest for an hour and a half or so -- it just wasn't good. Jane Fonda was as cute as can be, but not very convincing. Lee Marvin played two juicy roles, but only one of them well. PQ was hit-and-miss and the sound was disappointing, even with a few catchy tunes by Nat King Cole and some other dude.

timjf: 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the movie - kept smiling all the way through. Sort of like a western comedy/parody, had a lot of funny moments. I thought the banjo playing singing narrative of Nat King Cool set the tone for the movie well. Not quite "Blazing Saddles" but still a bit of a hoot. Don't look for deep drama or intense gunfights here. Also, appropriate for families - no language/sex/nudity, just some mild violence.

Sean Mota: 3.0 stars. Just to watch Jane Fonda is worthy! She looked real good.