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

[Sean Mota]

The Ambushers (1967)

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Starring: Dean Martin, Senta Berger Director: Henry Levin

Studio: Columbia/Tristar Studios Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

riffjim4069 : 2 stars: I'll just ditto this with my above review of The Wrecking Crew - substitute the women, poor special affects, and a tad goofier plot and it's the same movie. It must be Matt Helm day on GuyTV.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0792842111.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Based on Thomas Harris's novel, this terrifying film by Jonathan Demme really only contains a couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy, the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, virtually entombed in a subterranean prison for the criminally insane. At the behest of the FBI, agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) approaches Lecter, requesting his insights into the identity and methods of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In exchange, Lecter demands the right to penetrate Starling's most painful memories, creating a bizarre but palpable intimacy that liberates them both under separate but equally horrific circumstances. Demme, a filmmaker with a uniquely populist vision (Melvin and Howard, Something Wild), also spent his early years making pulp for Roger Corman (Caged Heat), and he hasn't forgotten the significance of tone, atmosphere, and the unsettling nature of a crudely effective close-up. Much of the film, in fact, consists of actors staring straight into the camera (usually from Clarice's point of view), making every bridge between one set of eyes to another seem terribly dangerous. --Tom Keogh

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Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins Director: Jonathan Demme
Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 5 stars : So good. And unbelievably creepy. More suspense than any ten of your regular ol' "horror" flicks. Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster are excellent, as is the supporting cast. And what a story. They don't get much better than this.

Sean Mota: 5.0 stars incredible movie. Keep to the edges of your seat. I have seen it so many times and yet do not get bored. Great acting, great transfer, great story. A must to add to any collection.

 

[Sean Mota]

Look Who's Talking, Too (1990)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6302065488.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> If nothing else, the powers that be behind this terrible sequel to the 1989 hit Look Who's Talking will be divinely punished for abusing John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" on the soundtrack. Until then, it's better to push memories of this movie to the back of one's memory. John Travolta and Kirstie Alley reprise their roles from the earlier film, but this time their married relationship is in trouble for sundry reasons. Adding to that complication is the arrival of a new baby (whined by Roseanne Barr) to join the previous one (quipped by Bruce Willis). Mel Brooks and Damon Wayans add their voices to those of some other kids, but this hastily patched-together follow-up wouldn't be funny no matter how may comic minds you threw in the mix. Between the shoddy script and miscasting of Barr, there's enough doom to go around in this thing, but an opening-credits sequence that manages, through crummy special effects, to turn a sperm's path toward an egg into a nauseating experience doesn't help. Stick with the original. --Tom Keogh

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Starring: John Travolta, Kirstie Alley Director: Amy Heckerling

Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 1 star: "Hey, let's go get some pork!". That's the only line in this bomb of a one-trick pony that I found even a little amusing. Their particular one trick isn't so funny anymore, what with this being a sequel to a no-so-funny movie that used the same one trick. Talking babies and toilet humor mixed with foul language and crackpipe & gun jokes make it difficult to figure out who the target audience is. I'm guessin' that whoever the target was -- they missed it. On the bright side the PQ was pretty good and I was pleasantly surprised by how detailed the surround mix was -- not a bad soundtrack either.

 

[Sean Mota]

Stolen Summer (2002)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00007K08E.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> It's a great relief--and not just to the filmmakers--that Stolen Summer turned out so well. As winner of the first Project Greenlight contest, aspiring filmmaker Pete Jones was plucked from obscurity to direct his winning screenplay for this touching drama, in which young Catholic Pete O'Malley (Adi Stein) learns that there's more than one route to Heaven. During summer vacation 1976, this earnest second-grader learns from his fireman father (Aidan Quinn) that "Jews can't get into [Catholic] Heaven," and decides to earn his heavenly passage by attempting to convert the young son (Mike Weinberg) of a local rabbi (Kevin Pollak). Interfaith friendships develop, and the situation yields heartfelt humor in Jones's compassionate, tolerantly sentimental screenplay. Quinn, Pollak, and Bonnie Hunt (as Pete's mom) are exceptional in well-drawn roles, and for all his first-time jitters and penchant for pathos, Jones earns the opportunity that talent and good luck gave him: Stolen Summer is the kind of sweetly humanitarian film that Hollywood could use more of. --Jeff Shannon

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Starring: Kevin Pollak, Amara Balthrop-Lewis Director: Pete Jones

Studio: Buena Vista Home Vid Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 3 stars: A quirky little movie about a quirky little kid who spends his summer on a "quest" to put himself on the path to Jesus by converting his Jewish friend so he can get into the Catholic version of Heaven when he dies of leukemia. Not the stuff of a light-hearted comedy, but there are a few laughs along the way as they deal with some pretty heavy themes -- and deal with them well. Bonnie Hunt, Aidan Quinn, and Eddie Kaye Thomas are good. Kevin Pollack is exceptional. Characters are interesting, and well-developed.

 

[Sean Mota]

Female Misbehavior (1993)

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Starring: Director: Monika Treut

Studio: First Run Features Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 3 stars : This was really four mini-movies, seperated with their own credits and all, put together around the common theme of strong women who eschew the traditional role of women to live life their own way. I found two of the mini-movies to be well-done -- and fascinating -- and the other two not so much. The first one showed what they called an "academic feminist" -- a really smart woman with a rapid-fire fastasyoucan style of talking that takes some getting used to; but once you do you realize she's saying some very interesting things. It does however, feature one very annoying interviewer who needs to learn to shut the hell up and let the subject speak. The other good one was the last one, with a transsexual named Max who's in the process of a female-to-male transformation. Max is well-spoken and open, and goes into depth about his life and reasons for the change. Fascinating. PQ is hit-and-miss (mostly miss) as they switch from one source to another. Sound is pretty bad throughout.

 

[Sean Mota]

Food of the Gods (1976)

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Starring: Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin Director: Bert I. Gordon

Studio: Lionsgate Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 3 stars: Pretty cool movie, even with the less-than-spectacular 1976 "special" effects that on occasion make the creatures more amusing than menacing. PQ is very good, especially for a movie this old. I really like this movie, but it can be hard to overlook the lack of attention to detail and the sometimes-awful dialogue.

 

[Sean Mota]

Starman (1984)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6303589170.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> While most movie buffs are likely to call Halloween the best movie from John Carpenter, others--die-hard romantics and anyone who cried while watching E.T.--might vote in favor of the director's 1984 hit Starman. It's easily Carpenter's warmest and most beguiling film, and the only one that ever earned an Oscar nomination. That honor went specifically to Best Actor nominee Jeff Bridges for his performance as an alien visitor to Earth who is knocked off course and must take an interstate road trip to rendezvous with a mothership from his home planet. To complete this journey he assumes the physical form of the dead husband of a Wisconsin widow (Karen Allen) who responds first with fear, then sympathy, and finally love. Carpenter's graceful strategy is to switch the focus of this E.T.-like film from science fiction to a gentle road-movie love story, made believable by the memorable performances of Bridges and Allen. It's a bit heavy-handed with tenacious government agents who view the Starman as an alien threat (don't they always?), but Carpenter handles the action with intelligent flair, sensitivity, and lighthearted humor. If you're not choked up during the final scene, well, you just might not be human. --Jeff Shannon


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Starring: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen Director: John Carpenter

Studio: Columbia/Tristar Studios Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 2.5 stars : Has sort of a been-there-done-that haven't-I-seen-this-story-before kind of feel to it. Maybe it felt more original back in 1984? Hardly anything happens that you don't see coming a mile away. That being said, the story is a fun one. Good PQ and nice surround sound (albeit one with a cheesy sound effect or two). Pretty bad performance by Jeff Bridges IMO, although I did laugh at his reaction to his first puff from a cigarette.

 

[Sean Mota]

Futureworld (1976)

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Starring: JefPeter Fonda, Blythe Danner Director: Richard T. Heffron

Studio: Goodtimes Home Video Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

deeann: (1976) 2.5 stars (genre thriller/science fiction)

"Nothing can go wrong" (again)...

Some plot background: This is the sequel to 1973's "Westworld" which takes place at a middle of nowhere resort for the elite called "Delos" . Each section (or "World") of the resort has a theme (Roman, Medieval and Western World) with a hedonistic appeal as you can interact with the characters of the resort (even kill them if you want) without consequence as they are robots. Without giving too much away something *does* go terribly wrong resulting in human fatalities and closure of the resort.

Futureworld picks up 3 years later. Delos has been reopened, the flaws that caused the problems with the first version of the resort have been worked out, they have opened up two new sections (Future World and Spa World, though Western World remains closed) but have both a serious public relations problem and apparently some political agenda involving world leaders.

Two television reporters (Blythe Danner, Peter Fonda) have been invited (well, Peter just kind of invites himself, explained early on) to the resort to take a tour and do some preliminary research on the new version of the park in preparation for a feature story to be done a couple of weeks later, and discover that things are not as rosy as they seem...

*****

It really helps if you've seen "Westworld" first to understand the movie better but it's not absolutely neccesary. The chemistry between the reporters is okay and the story is interesting, but "Futureworld" lacks the charm of it's predecessor. The angle here is more of what's going on under the resort than the resort areas themselves (which is good as it's not just a rehash, but I would have liked to seen a bit more of the different "worlds").

Yul Brynner (who was a total badass in Westworld) has a much smaller role here, and it's not very scary. Actually- it's a little (ok-more than a little) embarassing.

Futureworld also has a couple of major story issues.
Spoilers ahoy!

Spoiler

The first one is that they break a rule established in "Westworld"
- if the robots are so vulnerable to the effects of liquids how could they drink alcohol and come into contact of umm.. various "other" liquids in "Westworld".

Also a character set up in the beginning (a contest winner) who would seem to be important to the story for some reason is dropped without explanation.

Unless I missed something. I could have.

PQ rating to follow after the encoders are fully set up (I'll rewatch a bit then), but didn't see any obvious transfer problems and the sound is good.

 

[Sean Mota]

Arguing the World (1998)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6305347956.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Ideas are important. This century has seen a war--the Cold War--fought almost exclusively with ideas, and now we have the luxury of tracing them through all their twists and turns. Arguing the World follows four "New York intellectuals" from their radical socialist days in the 1930s through their successful careers and widely diverging political beliefs. Irving Howe, Daniel Bell, Nathan Glazer, and Irving Kristol were all strongly sympathetic with the international socialist struggle as young men, but by the time they arrived at City College they had lost faith in Stalin. Interviews and footage from 1930s protests, World War II, and the 1960s resurgence of radicalism show the intensity and the passion with which these men and their peers grappled with the ideas that would decide the fate of the world. From Howe's lifelong commitment to radical socialism to Kristol's neoconservatism that drove the Reagan-Thatcher revolution, we see brilliance and integrity in the face of anti-intellectualism, anti-Semitism, and generational differences. Arguing the World is a must for anyone who wants to understand the 20th century. --Rob Lightner


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Starring: Director: Joseph Dorman

Studio: First Run Features Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 1 star : Documentary. Bunch of blowhards with inflated senses of self-importance. And the movie itself did little or nothing to make these people more interesting to me. Could barely watch it.

 

[Sean Mota]

Pet Sematary (1989)

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Starring: Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby Director: Mary Lambert

Studio: Paramount Studio Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 3 stars : Not a perfect movie -- in fact far from it, as a good portion of it is kinda lame/stupid. But overall it's a pretty fun time that builds up to an excitingcreepycool ending. And I thought it had just the right amount of grossness -- enough blood'n'guts so it won't be teased by the other horror films, but not so much that I wanted to turn my head in disgust. Thought the PQ was good, and was impressed with the surround sound effects -- especially in the last half hour.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Hawk (1993)

<p><img border="0" src="http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/x-site/icons/no-img-lg.gif" align="left" hspace="5"> Housewife Annie Marsh suspects her husband might be The Hawk, a brutal serial killer. Complicating matters is the fact that she once was incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital. When she discovers she does not have the happy marriage she always believed and begins to piece together the times and dates of her husband's frequent absences, her fears begin to take hold, and her sanity deteriorates.


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Starring: Daryl Webster Director: David Hayman
Studio: Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 1 star : Didn't like it much at all. The plot was alright, but very familiar. PQ wasn't very good -- nothing very sharp, colors kinda dull. And artistically speaking it was just filled with too many dark scenes where I could barely even make out the faces of the actors, let alone any nuances in their acting. Sound wasn't much better -- the dialogue seemed muffled to the point where I could barely understand what was being said (the accents didn't help me here). At least some of the surround effects were decent.

 

[Sean Mota]

A Brooklyn State of Mind (1997)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004U29U.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Al Stanco has lived all of his life in Brooklyn and does some work for the local crime lord, Danny Parente. New to the neighborhood is Gabriela, a filmmaker shooting a documentary on the real Brooklyn. Al and Gabriela become friendly but the relationship is strained when he discovers her true goal is to expose Parente's criminal activities. When Al sees the evidence Gabriela has uncovered, which implicates Parente in the death of many locals (including Al's own father), he seeks revenge in a dangerous confrontation with his boss.


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Starring: Director: Frank Rainone

Studio: Hallmark Home Entertainment Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 2.5 stars: Not bad. Not exactly groundbreaking material here -- and an ending you can see coming a mile away -- but it's well acted by a very talented cast.

 

[Sean Mota]

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/079283755X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> "Something familiar, something peculiar, something for everyone: a comedy tonight!" Those words from the opening song pretty much describe the menu in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, a frantic adaptation of the stage musical by Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove. The wild story, set in ancient Rome, follows a slave named Pseudolus (Zero Mostel, snorting and gibbering) as he tries to extricate himself from an increasingly farcical situation; Mostel and a bevy of inspired clowns, including Phil Silvers, Jack Gilford, and Buster Keaton, keep the slapstick and the patter perking. The cast also includes the young Michael Crawford as a love-struck innocent. This project landed in the lap of Richard Lester, then one of the hottest directors in the world after his success with the Beatles' films. Lester telescoped the material through his own joke-a-second sensibility, and also ripped out some of the songs from Stephen Sondheim's Broadway score. The result is a pixilated romp and very close to the vaudeville spirit suggested by the title--though anyone with a low tolerance for Zero Mostel's overbearing buffoonery may be in trouble. Oddly enough, amidst all the frenzy, Lester creates a grungy, earthy Rome that seems closer to the real thing than countless respectable historical films on the subject. --Robert Horton


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Starring: Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers Director: Richard Lester

Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 2.5 stars: Over-the-top musical/comedy/farce type thing. I found the opening sequence a bit off-putting and annoying, but once I settled in to the rhythm and style of this thing I actually enjoyed it and got a few chuckles out of it. Thought the strengths were the one-liners, and the complexity of the plot. The songs I didn't like so much.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Visitors (1996) - English subtitles

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Starring: Christian Clavier, Jean Reno Director: Jean-Marie Poiré

Studio: Miramax Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

Sean Mota: 4.0 stars Excellent movie with Jean Reno (the professional). It little over the top in the story but still funny and well acted. OAR does not get better. Quality was quite good.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Trials of Henry Kissinger (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"> Even as it preaches to those who will relish its witch-hunting zeal, The Trials of Henry Kissinger makes a potent assertion that the legendary diplomat and former Secretary of State is guilty of crimes against humanity. Produced for the BBC, seductively narrated by actor Brian Cox, and based on the scathing book by Christopher Hitchens (a Kissinger-bashing journalist featured heavily here in talking-head interviews), this film is clearly biased against its target, but there's ample documentation to support its claims that Kissinger prolonged the Vietnam war and orchestrated the illegal and indiscriminate bombing of Cambodia; supervised the 1973 coup against democratically elected Chilean president Allende; and played a role in U.S.-backed atrocities in East Timor. Expert interviews on both sides of the political fence (but mostly damning Kissinger) make this a compelling, information-packed example of situational ethics in action; additional viewings simultaneously deepen the film's conviction and reveal the weakness of its one-sided embrace of Hitchens. Either way, this is essential viewing for anyone interested in the labyrinthine machinations of international power. --Jeff Shannon


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Starring: Director: Eugene Jarecki
Studio: First Run Features Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 1 star : It just couldn't hold my interest. In all fairness I'm not very interested in the subject matter, but a good documentary shoud be interesting regardless. I fell asleep after about an hour.

 

[Sean Mota]

Knife in the Water (1963) - English subtitles

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6302969778.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> This simple but taut psychological thriller was the first full-length film from the great director Roman Polanski. A bickering couple pick up a hitchhiker, a good-looking young man whom they invite to go for a sail. But on the water the two men, separated by age, class, and experience, subtly and not-so-subtly jockey for status and fight for the attentions of the woman--a struggle that threatens to turn fatal. In Polanski's hands, this lean, spare movie, without any special effects or spectacular scenery, manages to lay bare the driving forces of machismo, envy, and marital spite. It's the beginning of a truly remarkable career that's ranged from the heights of Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown to the more dubious realms of Bitter Moon and The Ninth Gate. Knife in the Water is particularly significant to Polanski fans, but also a striking movie in its own right. --Bret Fetzer

Description
For those who know Roman Polanski (Chinatown, Repulsion) only for his acclaimed English-language films, Knife in the Water will come as a revelation. Polanski's first feature--his doctoral dissertation from the Polish Film School--is


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Starring: Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka Director: Roman Polanski

Studio: Home Vision Entertainment Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

Sean Mota: 3.5 stars. A Roman Polanski (The Pianist) film. It is a B&W 1:33:1 movie which is beautifully shot. The angles capturing the actors and what's happening makes it worthy to watch. The story is not over the top but it is fine. You will see only three people acting on this movie. One of them is Jolanta Umecka (Krystyna) who looks beautiful and hot (I wonder how she would look in colors). One cannot take the eyes away from her as she moves in her bikinis in that boat. In my opinion it was an excellent movie. The story again is not for everyone.

TheTimm: 3 stars: I agree with everything Sean liked about this movie. The creative way it was shot and the lovely Jolanta Umecka make this movie a winner. The story isn't so great, but does take some interesting and somewhat dark turns toward the end. This movie looks beautiful.

 

[Sean Mota]

Fat Girl

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002V7O10.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5">Fat Girl is a typically shocking, utterly discomfiting provocation from director Catherine Breillat, whose excursions into female psychology and movie sexuality are anything but clinical. (See 36 Fillette and Romance for further proof.) Two adolescent sisters journey to the seaside on vacation with their parents; the younger sister is overweight and brooding, the older girl a beauty who attracts the attention of a smooth-talking boy. Much of the film is built around two painstaking seduction scenes, characteristically shot by Breillat with both comic and horrific overtones and long, uncomfortable takes. The final section then tips into an outright descent into hell--you can never let your guard down with Breillat. So complicated were the seduction scenes that Breillat subsequently made a feature about the shooting of them, Sex Is Comedy. Fat Girl was released under an alternate title, A ma soeur!, but Fat Girl, in English, is Breillat's original and preferred title. --Robert Horton

Description
Twelve-year old Anaïs is fat. Her older sister, Eléna, is a teenage beauty. While on vacation with her parents, Anaïs tags along behind Eléna, exploring the dreary seaside town. Eléna meets Fernando, an Italian law student, who seduces her with promises of love, as the ever-watchful Anaïs bears witness to the corruption of her sister’s innocence. Precise and uncompromising, Fat Girl (À Ma soeur!) is a bold dissection of sibling rivalry and female adolescent sexuality from one of contemporary cinema’s most controversial directors.




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Starring: Anaïs Reboux, Roxane Mesquida Director: Catherine Breillat

Studio: Criterion Collection Aspect ratio 1:85:1

Voomer Reviews:

riffjim4069 : 2.5 stars : What the hell did I just watch! This film is about sibling rivalry and interaction between two sisters (one a hottie, one a fatty) and their dysfunctional family. The interaction between two sisters, their parents, and the older sisters boyfriend---stereotypical male trying to seduce the lovely young virgin--are well done. However, this film was disturbing on multiple levels. There's no sense if trying to analyze this film beyond concluding that each and everyone involved in its making should receive intense psychotherapy and electroshock.

TheTimm : 3 stars: Every so often a movie comes along that leaves me scratching my head wondering exactly what point the filmmaker was trying to make. In this case, it is called Fat Girl. I guess it just boils to a study of the relationship between two sisters who have little in common other than their parents. Throw in some awkward sex and a bizarre ending that I was convinced (and part of me still is) had to be a dream or fantasy, and you have a rather unusual movie that left me wondering what I was supposed to be feeling when it ended so abruptly. I found it fascinating, disturbing, entertaining, enjoyable, confusing. I thought it did a good job of portraying the awkward confusion of adolescence, but it took a couple turns I wouldn't have necessarily taken -- but it made me think, which is usually a good thing in a movie.

Sean Mota : 3.5 stars. I do not know whether to be happy, be crying, scare or what. I do not know what the movie was all about but it only leaves you with an empty feeling and you say to yourself, "what did just happen?". After reading the reviews here, I was waiting for an ending but I never expected it this way. The movie itself has... well what can I say. You have to see it to understand it

 

[Sean Mota]

Short Eyes (1977)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00009L4U9.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Though time and HBO's Oz have eclipsed its ground-breaking impact, Short Eyes remains a milestone of American independent film, and a vital entry in the prison-film genre. Adapted by Miguel Piñero from his acclaimed play, this gritty drama was filmed in Manhattan's infamous Men's House of Detention (better known as "the Tombs"), giving a rough, authentic edge to Piñero's unflinching portrait of men trapped in legal-system limbo. Inmate tensions intensify when an alleged pedophile ("Short Eyes" in prison slang, played by Bruce Davison) is dropped into detention, and instantly ostracized by white, Latino, and black inmates alike. Under the documentary-like direction of Robert M. Young, this claustrophobic, emotionally raw study of hopelessness was a real eye-opener for its time (1977), revealing depths of anguish, danger, and cruelty that had never before been dramatized on film. Paving the way for harsher prison dramas that followed, Short Eyes features Piñero in a supporting role, and look closely for Traffic's Luis Guzmán in his screen debut. --Jeff Shannon




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Starring: Bruce Davison, José Pérez (II) Director: Robert M. Young

Studio: Wellspring Media, In Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm : 1.5 stars : Didn't think much of this one. I don't necessarily expect to find characters I like in a prison movie wherin the main character is a child molester, but I'd at least like to find a character or two that stir up feelings on way or another. These guys were just sort of boring, uninteresting. I didn't care what happened to any of them. Maybe there was some originality in these characters back in '77, but they pretty much all came across as stereotypes to me. And neither the pq nor the sound were anything to write home about.

 

[Sean Mota]

Maybe We're Talking About A Different God

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Starring: Director:
Studio: Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm : 2 stars: In short, a Presbyterian church chooses a lesbian as their minister and all hell/hate breaks loose. Kind of a tough one to rate. It's certainly not entertaining -- but I don't think it was intended to be. And it doesn't really follow the process of the nomination/protests/discussions/conclusion in the way you would expect a true documentary to. It mainly comes across to me as an emotional plea for people not to hate people based on their sexuality. It does that well enough, but a running time under a half hour doesn't give it much time to thoroughly explore anything.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Castle (1999)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00001U0DW.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> The title of The Castle refers to a ramshackle suburban tract house so close to an airport that planes fly mere yards above the roof. Worse than that, it's built on a toxic landfill and right beside humming high-power lines. But to patriarch Darryl Kerrigan (Michael Caton) and his dim-witted but cheerful brood it's home. Darryl has devoted himself to constantly improving it with modifications like a false chimney that, as he brags to a man sent to estimate the value of the property, makes the house look more picturesque. When the owners of the airport serve Darryl notice that his home is being compulsorily purchased, Darryl hires a small-time lawyer and pursues his case all the way to the Australian Supreme Court. This Australian box-office smash wasn't as successful as The Full Monty in American theaters, but it has something of the same buoyant spirit. The Castle actually plays better on the small screen; its relationship with its characters is much like the farcical intimacy of classic British sitcoms like Fawlty Towers, in which crazed behavior is balanced by the genuine warmth of the whole cast. Caton in particular is a sweet, engaging presence; Darryl Kerrigan is a fool, but a fool with dignity, and he carries you through the movie. --Bret Fetzer --

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Starring: Michael Caton, Anne Tenney Director: Rob Sitch
Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment Aspect ratio 1.85:1

Voomer Reviews:

Sean Mota : 3.0 stars. A very simple story but it has some pretty funny moments. A basic man fights for his right to a home that he comes to love. Do not think the movie was based on a true story but it was entertaining.