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

[Sean Mota]

Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005R24D.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Thoroughly safe and mild compared to Going Places--the anarchic, something-to-offend-everyone earlier collaboration of Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere, and French director Bertrand Blier--the 1977 Get Out Your Handkerchiefs is an outwardly civilized satire with a heart so dark it's a wonder you can see the film's images. Depardieu plays the bellicose but well-meaning husband of a beautiful and depressed woman (Carole Laure) who wants to be pregnant but isn't. Hubby's solution to her woes is to talk another man (Dewaere), a complete stranger, into becoming her lover. When that fails to lift her spirits and fill her womb, the two men--both of them now slavishly devoted to the cult of her misery--bring in a boy (Riton) with whom Laure's character seems to be in perfect emotional synch. As with many of Blier's films, Handkerchiefs is an intellectually brutal but slaphappy variation on traditional comedies of manners. What makes this film a bit different was its obvious jibe at frothier French sex farces of the day (Yves Robert's Pardon Mon Affaire, for example, was released the same year) as well as then-contemporary adult comedy-dramas from the U.S. about the vicissitudes of relationships (Blume in Love, Kramer vs. Kramer). Seen in that context, Get Out Your Handkerchiefs looks like a wolf in sheep's clothing, though it isn't necessary to bring any context to Blier's acid wit. --Tom Keogh .</p>

Starring: Gérard Depardieu, Carole Laure Director: Bertrand Blier Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment Aspect ratio 1.66 : 1

Voomer Reviews:

barth2k : 0 star. I tuned in to find out they dubbed the movie!! I know French movies ain't everybody's cup of tea but one of the pleasures of watching a French movie for me is to hear French spoken. And they dubbed it! It's called WorldCinema. People who don't like foreign language ain't watching this channel. Duh! I didn't even bother to watch this.

 

[Sean Mota]

Butterfield 8 (1960)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004TX2E.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> "I was the slut of all time!" declares Elizabeth Taylor in the role for which she won her first Academy Award®. Taylor plays Gloria, a model of loose morals who discovers a last chance at love and redemption when she spends a week with Weston Ligget (Laurence Harvey), a man who married into money and hates himself for it. They fall in love, but before they can find happiness they have to overcome their own worst natures. BUtterfield 8 (named after Gloria's answering service) is a big boozy melodrama, full of gorgeous clothes, catty comments, and emotional showdowns--but along the way it plumbs some genuine sadness. No one can be simultaneously overblown and utterly sincere like Elizabeth Taylor; the movie is mired in the morality of the time, but her performance makes Gloria's mixture of grief and anger seem immediate and genuine. --Bret Fetzer .</p>

Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey Director: Daniel Mann Studio: Warner Studios Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm : 2.5 stars : I think this is the first Elizabeth Taylor movie I've ever seen. She's pretty damned good! Who knew? The movie wasn't the greatest, but the PQ was ok and ol' Liz ain't too bad to look at. Sounds ok, I guess, for an old movie anyway.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1967)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6304698798.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Clint Eastwood (the Man with No Name) is good, Lee Van Cleef (Angel Eyes Sentenza) is bad, and Eli Wallach (Tuco Benedito Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez) is ugly in the final chapter of Sergio Leone's trilogy of spaghetti westerns (the first two were A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More). In this sweeping film, the characters form treacherous alliances in a ruthless quest for Confederate gold. Leone is sometimes underrated as a director, but the excellent resolution on this digital video disc should enhance appreciation of his considerable photographic talent and gorgeous widescreen compositions. Ennio Morricone's jokey score is justifiably famous.</p>

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef Director: Sergio Leone Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1

Voomer Reviews:

squicken : I don't know if it's data rate or bad transfer, but noisy PQ. Non-OAR. Very good sound on both. Both great films that get knocked down to 3.5 b/c of technical deficiencies in presentation. If you've got a good DVD player and a nice copy of these films, do yourself a favor and watch it on DVD.

barth2k : once you've seen a movie like this oar, it just looks wrong cropped. doesn't have that dramatic epic feel. not to mention losing stuff. during the climatic 3-way shootout, the cropped version loses one of the guys in the long shot. d'oh!

but do these movies have some of the best musical scores EVER or what?

Dvlos : 5 stars- Clint Eastwood stars as the man with no name in this classic flic, about a bandit and Eastwood's who initially swindle towns with a scheme to turn in the bandit collect the reward, and then Eastwood frees him. Down the line they learn of a grave that is holding $200,000 (probably 2 billion in todays terms).. Look if you haven't seen this movie you were probably just born, suck on some milk, grow up a little, and then watch it, this is a must see spaghetti western classic.

TheTimm : 4 stars : A little funky on the PQ, but loved the sound - just one of the best soundtracks ever! Clint and the movie pretty well speak for themselves -- both are top-shelf.

 

[Sean Mota]

A Fistful of Dollars (1967)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00000K0DM.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> A Fistful of Dollars launched the spaghetti Western and catapulted Clint Eastwood to stardom. Based on Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai picture Yojimbo, it scored a resounding success (in Italy in 1964 and the U.S. in 1967), as did its sequels, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The advertising campaign promoted Eastwood's character--laconic, amoral, dangerous--as the Man with No Name (though in the film he's clearly referred to as Joe), and audiences loved the movie's refreshing new take on the Western genre. Gone are the pieties about making the streets safe for women and children. Instead it's every man for himself. Striking, too, was a new emphasis on violence, with stylized, almost balletic gunfights and baroque touches such as Eastwood's armored breastplate. The Dollars films had a marked influence on the Hollywood Western--for example, Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch--but their most enduring legacy is Clint Eastwood himself. --Edward Buscombe.</p>

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volonté Director: Sergio Leone Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1

Voomer Reviews:

squicken : I don't know if it's data rate or bad transfer, but noisy PQ. Non-OAR. Very good sound on both. Both great films that get knocked down to 3.5 b/c of technical deficiencies in presentation. If you've got a good DVD player and a nice copy of these films, do yourself a favor and watch it on DVD.

barth2k : once you've seen a movie like this oar, it just looks wrong cropped. doesn't have that dramatic epic feel. not to mention losing stuff. during the climatic 3-way shootout, the cropped version loses one of the guys in the long shot. d'oh!

but do these movies have some of the best musical scores EVER or what?

 

[Sean Mota]

55 Days At Peking (1963) [Epics-HD]

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6302424909.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> In 1900 Peking, Boxer fanatics are encouraged by the Empress to take over the city and besiege the international diplomatic quarter.
.</p>

Starring: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner Director: Andrew Marton, Nicholas Ray Studio: Best Film & Video Aspect ratio 2.20 : 1 2.35 : 1 (35 mm prints)

Voomer Reviews:

Sean Mota : 3.0 stars not OAR. Much better in OAR. An Epic for sure. Charles Herston I always like.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Time Machine (1960)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0790747324.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> After scoring popular hits with When Worlds Collide and The War of the Worlds, special-effects pioneer George Pal returned to the visionary fiction of H.G. Wells to produce and direct this science-fiction classic from 1960. Wells's imaginative tale of time travel was published in 1895 and the movie is set in approximately the same period with Rod Taylor as a scientist whose magnificent time machine allows him to leap backward and forward in the annals of history. His adventures take him far into the future, where a meek and ineffectual race known as the Eloi have been forced to hide from the brutally monstrous Morlocks. As Taylor tests his daring invention, Oscar-winning special effects show us what the scientist sees: a cavalcade of sights and sounds as he races through time at varying speeds, from lava flows of ancient earth to the rise and fall of a towering future metropolis.
The movie's charm lies in its Victorian setting and the awe and wonder that carries over from Wells's classic story. The pioneering spirit of the movie is still enthralling, but it gets a bit silly when Taylor turns into a stock hero, rescuing a beautiful blonde Eloi (Yvette Mimieux) and battling with the chubby green Morlocks whose light-bulb eyes blink out when they die. Although it's quaint when compared to the special-effects marvels of the digital age, the movie's still highly entertaining and filled with a timeless sense of wonder. --Jeff Shannon.</p>

Starring: Rod Taylor Director: George Pal Studio: Warner Studios Aspect ratio 1.66 : 1

Voomer Reviews:

Sean Mota : 3.5 Very good PQ. Excellent movie. I watched the new one and now the original and I have to say that both were excellent. This one is a classic.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6303439748.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Very much in the tradition of such Columbia Three Stooges period shorts as "Back to the Woods," the 1962 costume epic The Three Stooges Meet Hercules is 100% pure Moe-Larry-Curly Joe comedy, with the barest of a ho- hum love interest to detract from the nonsense at hand. Working at the pharmacy of an ill-tempered boss (George N. Neise) and friends of a budding time-machine inventor named Schuyler (Quinn Redeker), the Stooges and Schuyler, along with the obligatory attractive female, Diana (Vicki Trickett), are transported back to the time of Hercules. Here the legendary hero (Samson Burke) is the enforcer for King Odius (Neise in a double role), and anachronisms are rampant in an English-speaking ancient Greece.
Twice condemned as galley slaves, the Stooges see that Schuyler now has the muscles but not the self-confidence to rescue Diana and the rest of Greece from the odious Odius. Schuyler is tricked into thinking himself all-powerful and performs many Herculean labors (with many a stuffed animal and some decent backscreen projection).

Although Curly Joe seems a few notches above his namesake in the brains department (which is not saying all that much), his reactions at times of real and supposed danger are quite ordinary compared with the old Curly. In fact, it is Moe who takes on the Curly bark at a recalcitrant prop. But the old sound effects are there to punctuate blows to belly and head, although eye pokes are out, due to parental objections to the influence of the trio, newly popular on television. --Frank Behrens.</p>

Starring: Moe Howard, Larry Fine Director: Edward Bernds Studio: Columbia/Tristar Studios Aspect ratio
Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm : 3 stars : I've never been a huge fan of the Stooges, and Curly Joe isn't on my list of top four favorite Stooges, but I laughed out loud several times while watching this by myself so obviously they're doing something right!

Sean Mota : 3.0 This is not their greatest movie. The small episodes are much better but this one was real good.

 

[Sean Mota]

Robocop 2 (1990)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0792845749.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> With the surprise success--both critical and commercial--of Robocop, it was inevitable that a sequel would emerge (actually, two sequels). But this follow-up lacked the dyspeptically funny vision of filmmaker Paul Verhoeven and wound up skimming the surface to repeat only the most superficial elements of the original: the big, clunky hero (played by Peter Weller), the ultra-violence (minus a dark sense of humor), and the plethora of action sequences. What plot there is deals with the corporation that runs the cops and its two-pronged attempt to squeeze every dime out of the populace and the city: create a new drug crisis (with an incredibly addictive synthetic drug the corporation manufactures, spread by a charismatic drug lord) and then attack with a bigger robot, one that eliminates Robocop at the same time. Would that they had. --Marshall Fine.</p>

Starring: Peter Weller Director: Irvin Kershner Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Aspect ratio 1.85 : 1
Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm 3 stars : Okay, so the acting is atrocious - but I really did like the story. The PQ was quite good, and if you have a decent surround system you'll love the way it sounds - especially the orgy of gunshots, bullet ricochets, explosions, and shattering glass that is the last half hour or so. I think I saw my subwoofer smile. And it's always nice when the so frequently under-utilized surround channels get a proper workout.

 

[Sean Mota]

Robocop 3 (1993)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0792845757.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Early on in Robocop 3, an action figure of our metal hero on the nightstand in a little girl's room informs us that he's now become a children's toy. The image is right on the money; despite following up two of the most violent, hilarious sci-fi/action films ever made, Robocop 3 is strictly for the kiddies. It's not just that the gore has been toned down considerably to make for a PG-13 rating; also excised is the straight-faced portrait of a world run by corporate fascism. When evil corporation OCP, and its even more evil Japanese parent company, plan to raze a Detroit neighborhood to put up the shining new Delta City, the residents (including the aforementioned adolescent, who conveniently happens to be a computer expert) gang up to fight back, just like the angry neighbors in Death Wish V. Robocop (played this time out by Robert John Burke, Peter Weller having wisely passed) could be a hindrance to the companies' plans, so a ninja android is sent in to deal with him. Even all this could have been enjoyable, in a campy sort of way, but nothing pays off as either comedy or action--tellingly, the two big showdowns with the ninja start exhilaratingly (Robocop's clunky movements hilariously counterpoised by the android's acrobatic leaps), only to end just when they're getting good. Director Fred Dekker has some nice stylistic touches scattered about, but not nearly enough to save the film. One high note, though: The animated "Johnny Rehab" spot may be the funniest ad in the whole series. --Bruce Reid .</p>

Starring: Robert John Burke Director: Fred Dekker Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Aspect ratio 1.85 : 1

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm 2 stars : I didn't like the story as much as Robo 2, but other than that, they're pretty comparable. PQ was pretty good and the best thing about this was a surround mix suitable for this type of cops-and-robbers-shoot-'em-up. I did feel it was a little too violent for a PG-13 rating.

 

[Sean Mota]

Winners Take All (1988)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6300145921.01._PE_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Set in the exciting arena of motorcycle Supercross, two young men compete for high stakes and beautiful girls in this action film combining the stunt riding of Motocross Champ Broc Glover with spectacular race scenes.</p>

Starring: Director: Fritz Kiersch Studio: Nelson Entertainment Aspect ratio

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm 1 star : Cheesy 80's flick featuring motocross racing. Pretty awful. PQ actually was good - it was helped by the colorful bikes and uniforms in the races, I think. Soundtrack was a big disappointment. What a waste - we're talking about motorcycle racing and there wasn't a damned thing happening in the surround channels! And the music! Almost painful to listen to. But all is well in the world at last - someone was finally able to climb "Suicide Hill"! Retarded.

 

[Sean Mota]

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6300270351.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif" align="left" hspace="5"> One of those legendary missed opportunities, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes is a movie that should have been great but wound up the victim of conflicting egos and wrong-headed choices. Based on a screenplay by Robert Towne (who took his name off it when he wasn't allowed to direct) and directed by Hugh Hudson (riding high on the basis of Chariots of Fire), the film tried to rethink the Tarzan legend of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and boy, did it have to: By casting French-accented Christopher Lambert as Tarzan, the filmmakers had to transform his white-hunter mentor Ian Holm into a Frenchman to explain those inflections in Tarzan's monosyllabic speech. The film has some amazing jungle footage and a truly touching relationship between Tarzan and the apes--but it gets pretty silly when Tarzan gets to London and hooks up with Sir Ralph Richardson, as his grandfather. -–Marshall Fine.</p>

Starring: Christopher Lambert, Andie MacDowell Director: Hugh Hudson Studio: Warner Studios Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm 2 stars : Long title, but the second half of the movie seems even longer. First part, in the jungle being raised by the apes, wasn't too bad - and had some pretty cool landscape footage with waterfalls. After he went back to civilization, it was just pretty stupid.

 

[Sean Mota]

A Hard Day's Night (1964)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000542D1.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> The Fab Four from Liverpool--John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr--in their first movie. Nobody expected A Hard Day's Night to be much more than a quick exploitation of a passing musical fad, but when the film opened it immediately seduced the world--even the stuffiest critics fell over themselves in praise (highbrow Dwight Macdonald called it "not only a gay, spontaneous, inventive comedy but it is also as good cinema as I have seen for a long time"). Wisely, screenwriter Alun Owen based his script on the Beatles' actual celebrity at the time, catching them in the delirious early rush of Beatlemania: eluding rampaging fans, killing time on trains and in hotels, appearing on a TV broadcast. American director Richard Lester, influenced by the freestyle French New Wave and British Goon Show humor, whips up a delightfully upbeat circus of perpetual motion. From the opening scene of the mop tops rushing through a train station mobbed by fans, the movie rarely stops for air. Some of the songs are straightforwardly presented, but others ("Can't Buy Me Love," set to the foursome gamboling around an empty field) soar with ingenuity. Above all, the Beatles express their irresistible personalities: droll, deadpan, infectiously cheeky. Better examples of pure cinematic joy are few and far between. --Robert Horton .</p>

Starring: John Lennon, Paul McCartney Director: Richard Lester Studio: Walt Disney Home Video Aspect ratio 1.37 : 1 (negative ratio) 1.75 : 1 (intended ratio)

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm 5 stars : While not technically on Cinema HD, it was so good I couldn't ignore it. I found the PQ to be excellent and the sound to be near perfect. The movie itself is a classic, with Ringo in perhaps the funniest unintentionally funny performance ever and some great-sounding songs ( I particularly enjoyed the harmonies on If I Fell and the rhythm guitar on And I Love Her).

 

[Sean Mota]

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6304111347.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> One of the first Hollywood films to deal openly with white racism toward Japanese Americans during World War II, this drama directed by 1950s action maestro John Sturges (The Great Escape) stars Spencer Tracy as a one-armed stranger named MacReedy, who arrives in the tiny town of Black Rock on a hot day in 1945. Seeking a hotel room and the whereabouts of an ethnic Japanese farmer named Komoko, MacReedy runs smack into a wall of hostility that escalates into serious threats. In time it becomes apparent that Komoko has been murdered by a local, racist chieftain, Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), who also plans on dispensing with MacReedy. Tracy's hero is forced to fight his way past Smith's goons (among them Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin) and sundry allies (Anne Francis) to keep alive, setting the stage for memorable suspense crisply orchestrated by Sturges. Casting is the film's principal strength, however: Tracy, the indispensable icon of integrity, and Ryan, the indispensable noir image of spiritual blight, are as creatively unlikely a pairing as Sturges's shotgun marriage of Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven. --Tom Keogh .</p>

Starring: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan Director: John Sturges Studio: Turner Home Video Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm 1 star : Dull. Dull dull dull dull dull. Zzzzz...

 

[Sean Mota]

Salaam Bombay! (1988)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00007KQ9V.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding) adds her angry voice to the cinema of forgotten children in this wrenching drama of an 11-year-old boy (real-life street kid Shafiq Syed) who heads to the big city and joins a sea of homeless kids and down-and-out adults scrambling to survive the pitiless streets. The fantasy of Bollywood dreams hangs just out of reach in posters, movies, and radio tunes, momentary respites from the hard reality of a world ruled by brutal pimps and drug dealers. In the tradition of Los Olvidados and Pixote, former documentarian Nair's feature debut is shot entirely in the slums of Bombay with a largely nonprofessional cast from the same streets. Though the drama is at times misty and melodramatic, her clear-eyed look at the mercenary world around these ultimately fragile forgotten children earned her the Caméra D'Or at Cannes in 1988. --Sean Axmaker.</p>

Starring: Shafiq Syed, Sarfuddin Quarrassi Director: Mira Nair Studio: MGM/UA Video Aspect ratio 1.85:1

Voomer Reviews:

Sean Mota: 4.0 What a sad story. It gave me the chills watching and knowing that this situtation still exist today. The HD transfer I thought was excellent. Don't miss it. This movie really puts life in perspective. How easy is for a lot of us to have it all and how difficult is for innocent children to have to deal with life (as miserable as it is portrayed in the movie). Wow!

 

[Sean Mota]

Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6300268535.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> A moody drama about a career Army officer and his nymphomaniacal wife. Based on a novel by Carson McCullers. Recommended for mature audiences.</p>

Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando Director: John Huston
Studio: Warner Studios Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 2 stars : Might be worth watching just for the stars - although frankly, Brando didn't impress me much here. E.T. seemed to be on her game though. The story itself was somewhat less than gripping. PQ good, sound not so good.

 

[Sean Mota]

Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001GF2I8.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> A capable cast led by George Kennedy helps make this third-go round for the Magnificent Seven franchise a worthwhile adventure for Western fans. Kennedy is a more-than-capable replacement for Yul Brynner as Chris, who must round up a new Seven to help rescue a revolutionary leader (Fernando Rey) held captive by a sadistic military leader (Michael Ansara, adding another notch to his long list of villains). Comparisons to the original Magnificent Seven are inevitable, and while Guns doesn't match up in terms of scope or quality of writing, the solid cast--which includes James Whitmore, Joe Don Baker, and Bernie Casey as members of the new Seven--overcomes any limitations by delivering energetic performances; the Spanish locations and veteran TV director Paul Wendkos's nods to spaghetti Western conventions are also a plus. --Paul Gaita.</p>

Starring: Director: Paul Wendkos
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 2 stars : Just good enough to keep me watching, but that's about the best I can say about it. Frustrating PQ - mostly pretty sharp, but loaded with dust blemishes and scratches (probably part of the original film?). Sound was nothing special, but alright for an older flick.

 

[Sean Mota]

The Evil Dead (1983)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005R24K.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> In the fall of 1979, Sam Raimi and his merry band headed into the woods of rural Tennessee to make a movie. They emerged with a roller coaster of a film packed with shocks, gore, and wild humor, a film that remains a benchmark for the genre. Ash (cult favorite Bruce Campbell) and four friends arrive at a backwoods cabin for a vacation, where they find a tape recorder containing incantations from an ancient book of the dead. When they play the tape, evil forces are unleashed, and one by one the friends are possessed. Wouldn't you know it, the only way to kill a "deadite" is by total bodily dismemberment, and soon the blood starts to fly. Raimi injects tremendous energy into this simple plot, using the claustrophobic set, disorienting camera angles, and even the graininess of the film stock itself to create an atmosphere of dread, punctuated by a relentless series of jump-out-of-your-seat shocks. The Evil Dead lacks the more highly developed sense of the absurd that distinguish later entries in the series--Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness--but it is still much more than a gore movie. It marks the appearance of one of the most original and visually exciting directors of his generation, and it stands as a monument to the triumph of imagination over budget. --Simon Leake.</p>

Starring: Bruce Campbell Director: Sam Raimi
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertain Aspect ratio 1.85:1

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 4 stars: I'm not really fan of the horror genre, but this is a really well-made movie. Thoroughly enjoyed it! Artistically shot with obvious attention to detail, although the PQ wasn't the sharpest ever. Wish the sound was a little more surroundy, but it was ok. The story, the acting, and - perhaps most importantly - the style make this one of the best horror films I've seen.

FredOh: Recent viewings that rocked: Mad Max with original australian soundtrack, Dream Lover, Evil Dead, Original Solaris, and Heaven and Earth. Better average than I usually get from A month of HB) (sopranos and Deadwood exlcuded)

 

[Sean Mota]

Mad Max (1979)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005R2IS.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> The Road Warrior is already a classic, sans condescending genre distinctions like "sci-fi" or "action." But the story of Mel Gibson's stately antihero begins in Mad Max, George Miller's low-budget debut in which Max is a "Bronze" (cop) in an unspecified postapocalyptic future with a buddy-partner and family. But unlike most films set in the devastated future, Mad Max is especially notable because it is poised between our industrialized world and total regression to medieval conditions. The scale tips towards disintegration when the Glory Riders burn into town on their bikes like an overamped cadre of Brando's Wild Ones. Representing the active chaos that will eventually overwhelm the dying vestiges of civil society, they take everything dear to Max, who will exact due revenge. His flight into the same wilds that created the villains artfully sets up the morally ambiguous character of the subsequent films. --Alan E. Rapp.</p>

Starring: Mel Gibson Director: George Miller (II) Studio: MGM/UA Video Aspect ratio 2.35:1

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 4 stars : Cool. Really cool. More flicks like this is just what Voom needs. PQ was really good -- and so was the sound (although I had to jack up the speaker levels a bit to get any decent surround action). Throw in a better soundtrack and some hotter, naked-er chicks, and we're lookin' at a five -star.

Dvlos: 4 Stars - Great movie, my biggest problem with watching older movies is at times, the quality of the picture and sound effects. This movie would have probably been better OAR as I do not think this was an open matte transfer in any case this is a must watch and I hope this brings on the other Mad MAx movies to Voom Cinema 10.


Sean Mota: 4.5 Yes I love the Mad Max movies. The problem here is not the PQ; it is not the movie; it is the fact that it as not shown OAR. My biggest problem with it. Love the movie and futuristic Mad Max; bring on the other ones.

FredOh: Recent viewings that rocked: Mad Max with original australian soundtrack, Dream Lover, Evil Dead, Original Solaris, and Heaven and Earth. Better average than I usually get from A month of HB) (sopranos and Deadwood exlcuded)

 

[Sean Mota]

The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0790742446.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif" align="left" hspace="5"> Handle with care--this one's a bomb! Director Brian De Palma seemed an unlikely choice to transfer Tom Wolfe's mammoth bestseller-- a vibrantly satiric story about race, politics, and greed in 1980s New York--to the screen. In this case, the first impression was correct. Made with a tin ear to everything that made the book so real, the movie gets it wrong every time, starting with casting Tom Hanks in the central role (which, as anyone with brains knew, should have been played by William Hurt). Move along to the choice of Bruce Willis for the sneaky British tabloid journalist and, well, need I say more? As stylish as any De Palma film, this story of a Wall Street broker whose extramarital shenanigans trigger a racial incident that becomes front-page news gets no help from Michael Cristofer's tone-deaf script. After watching it, read Julie Salomon's behind-the-scenes book about its making, The Devil's Candy, which is much more entertaining. --Marshall Fine.</p>

Starring: Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis Director: Brian De Palma Studio: Warner Studios Aspect ratio 1.85:1

Voomer Reviews:

TheTimm: 2.5 stars : I didn't find this movie to be as horrible as the critics seemed to think - but I wouldn't go so far as to call it good either. Quite a cast - though none of them are doing their best work. PQ and sound are both decent. Overall, the movie just doesn't seem to capture the tone of the book -- which is a much better way to spend your time if this story interests you.

 

[Sean Mota]

Heaven & Earth - Oliver Stone (1993)

<p><img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000542DF.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"> thought the movie was highly enjoyable and overall really good. But, there were a lot of themes, and they were all mashed into one, so it wasn't quite clear what the movie was trying to get across. There was person vs. person, person vs. self, Le Ly against her own human nature, her religion, and her needs. And throughout the movie it would focus on one of those ideas, but it would never really be resolved and therefore it was left just floating around. Like with Le Ly against her religion. She couldn't leave Steve to just be self destructive, but if she helped him, she'd be going against Buddhism because he was a devout Christian. But, if she didn't her karma would be thrown off and she would never reach any type of peace with herself. The movie never really resolved that conflict, even with Steve's suicide. Was she really ready to give up her faith for him? After he died that theme was sort of just left out in the air.
Another thing I was confused about was why Tommy Lee Jones was made out to be the main character of the movie, and the entire thing was supposed to be him or something. In fact, the back of the movie box said he, "lead the cast," but, there was no leading of the cast by Jones. He was good in the role he was supposed to play; he was creepy and dangerous yet somehow he had a redeeming quality to him that made you feel sorry for him. But he was in the movie for a total of maybe thirty minutes and then he died. Yes, he was a big character and was important to the story, but he didn't "burn through the screen like white phosphorus."
I thought the movie was very realistic. It was based on a true story, so it was very factual and accurate in its representations of events. I think that it tried to take the viewer from one part of history to the present, and to portray what life is like in Vietnam for the people living there. There was no holding back in the scenes, and there was no sugar coating of events. Le Ly was really raped by a fellow villager, and her husband really held a gun to head, ready to pull the trigger. The visions of Vietnam that Stone presented the viewer were absolutely amazing. It is a more beautiful country than I ever thought, and the cinematography was excellent. One scene that stuck out to me was when Le Ly and her mother were working in the big house where Le Ly fell in love with the house head because of the colors. The house itself was very white and beautiful, and the way that the cameras caught the angles of the sunlight was really dazzling.
The movie definitely held my interest. It never dragged and it was really interesting the way Stone took us, the viewers, into all the aspects of the life of Le Ly. I hate to use this cliché, but it really was a `roller coaster' of emotions. I cried in some parts, laughed in other parts, was touched, was inspired, and was hurt right along with Le Ly. I really enjoyed watching the movie, beginning to end.</p>

Starring: Haing S. Ngor, Hiep Thi Le Director: Oliver Stone Studio: Warner Studios Aspect ratio 2.35:1

Voomer Reviews:

Sean Mota: 4.0 Suffering, crying, hell, heaven, it is all in this movie. It makes you sad, angry, joyful, cry and a good evening of entertainment. Based on a true story, the story of a young woman caught between two worlds and two cultures. A woman who suffers and at times you think what else can go wrong but situation gets worse and worse. What a fantastic movie! PQ was very good.

TheTimm: 4 stars : How have I never heard of this movie? So good! Beautifully, creatively, artistically shot with all the style you expect from Oliver Stone - the lighting, angles, flashbacks, dreams, colors, black and whites, moments of pure brilliance. No less attention is given to the detailed surround sound. This movie sounds great. Oh, yeah - it's a pretty gripping story, too. Don't miss this one.

FredOh: Recent viewings that rocked: Mad Max with original australian soundtrack, Dream Lover, Evil Dead, Original Solaris, and Heaven and Earth. Better average than I usually get from A month of HB) (sopranos and Deadwood exlcuded)