Zodiac (Widescreen Edition)

Amazon.com

Closer in spirit to a police procedural than a gory serial-killer flick, David Fincher's Zodiac provides a sleek, armrest-gripping re-invention of the crime film. It surveys the investigation of the Zodiac killings that terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the late -60-early -70s; Zodiac not only killed people, but cultivated a Jack the Ripper aura by sending icky letters to the newspapers and daring readers to solve coded messages. But the film's focus isn't on the killer. We follow the reporters and detectives whose lives are taken over by the case, notably an addictive crime writer (a sartorially splendid Robert Downey Jr.), an awkward editorial cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhaal), and a hard-working cop (Mark Ruffalo). Fincher and his brilliant cinematographer Harris Savides are deft at capturing the period feel of the city, without laying on the seventies kitsch, and James Vanderbilt's script doles out its big moments to major and minor characters alike. Fincher's confidence is infectious; the movie glides through its myriad details with such dexterity that even the blind alleys and red herrings seem essential. The well-chosen cast includes unexpected people popping up all over: Anthony Edwards as a lunch-bucket homicide cop; Charles Fleischer as a mysterious suspect; Elias Koteas and Donal Logue as small-town policemen whose districts are hit by Zodiac; Chloe Sevigny as Gyllenhaal's sweet-natured wife; Brian Cox as the media-friendly lawyer Melvin Belli, so famous he once appeared on Star Trek; and the mighty John Carroll Lynch, as a supremely creepy suspect. The film is based on non-fiction books by Robert Graysmith (he's portrayed by Gyllenhaal), although Fincher and co. did extensive research on their own. The result is a propulsive whodunit without (thus far) an ending, but the uncertainty makes the film even more intriguing. --Robert Horton

Beyond Zodiac

The Zodiac (2005)
Curse of the Zodiac (2007)
The Novel

Stills from Zodiac (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews:

A Tale of Twin Obsessions.......2007-09-15

David Fincher invites his viewers on a nearly three hour journey into obsession in Zodiac. Two obsessions ,really, one the story of a person with a obsession for killing and the second of the police and journalists on an obsessive quest for the truth.

Zodiac is a departure from normal Fincher fare. The film is more a tight police procedural than a gory serial killer film. The story is the stuff of urban legend and needs no real explanation. The three principal leads in the film Jake Gyllenhaal as cartoonist Robert Graysmith, Mark Rufallo as Inspector David Toschi and Robert Downey, Jr. as reporter Paul Avery are excellent. The film offers insights into all of its characters great and small that are not usually found in films of this type. We go on an emotional ride with these people and begin to care about what the strain of the case is doing to them both professionally and personally.

Fincher has always been a director for creating atmosphere ans Zodiac is no different. Using cinematographer Harris Savides and production designer Donald Graham Burt he effectively recreates late 1960's/ early 1970's San Francisco without ever going over the top. Writer James Vanderbilt provides a complex screenplay that keeps you guessing throughout. There are more false leads and red herrings here for a film twice its length.

If there is a problem with this film it's that Paramount has decided to release a bare bones edition of the film but promises a new bonus filled Director's Edition early in 2008. Having this trailer on the film feels like a slap in the face to those of us who bought the early edition.

This is one of the better and more intelligent films of the year thus far and deserves a look. You may want to rent it now and wait for the special edition before purchasing it though.

ONE OF THE BEST FILMS I'VE SEEN IN A LONG TIME........2007-09-15

THIS FILM IS SO GOOD, I HAD TO GET THE BOOK BY ROBERT GRAYSMITH. THE BOOK IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN THE FILM. NAME CHANGES, STUFF LIKE THAT. I FIRST HEARD ABOUT THE ZODIAC ON THE A&E CHANNELL. IT WAS AN INTERESTING YET FRIGHTFUL TRUE STORY THAT HAPPENED IN THE LATE 60'S AND 70'S. IT REMINDS ME OF THE SON OF SAM, WHICH I KNOW MORE ABOUT BECAUSE I AM FROM AND STILL LIVE IN NYC, THAT HIT CLOSER TO HOME, BUT THE ZODIAC IS A LITTLE BIT MORE SCARY TO HEAR AND READ ABOUT. STEVE MCQUEEN'S BULLET, WAS BASED ON THE LEAD INSPECTOR, DAVE TOSCHI. MARK RUFFALO WHO PLAYS THE POLICE DET. IS FANTASTIC. HE HAS THE ITALIAN LOOK, THE CURLY HAIR, YES HIS HAIR IS REALLY THAT CURLY. I HEARD ABOUT THE ACTOR, BUT I THINK IT'S THE FIRST TIME I SAW HIM ACT. HE IS SO BELIEVEABLE. I READ IN THE BOOK HE ACTUALLY MET WITH DAVE TOSCHI TO PICK UP THE MANNERISMS AND THE CLOTHES DET. TOSCHI WORE. JAKE G. IS ALSO BELIEVEABLE. THE ACTORS BRING HEART AND SOUL TO THE ROLES. ROBERT DOWNEY JR. BLEW ME AWAY. THE CLOTHES IN THE FILM BRING ME BACK TO THE ERA. ROBERT IS SUCH A GOOD ACTOR. I THINK THIS FILM WILL BE A CLASSIC, LIKE JFK WITH KEVIN COSTNER. I RENTED IT, AND I HAD TO BUY THE DVD, THEN I GOT THE BOOK. I BOUGHT THEM ALL ON AMAZON. I HOPE THE FILM GETS NOMINATED FOR OSCARS, IT'S THAT GOOD. THERE ARE A FEW SCENES THAT ARE HARD TO WATCH, WHEN THE ZODIAC ATTACKS HIS VICTIMS AND KILLS SOME OF THEM. THIS FILM IS WORTH RENTING AND BUYING IT. IT'S KINDA LONG, ALMOST 3 HRS, BUT IT NEVER GETS BORING. YOU FOLLOW THE STORY FROM ONE OF THE MURDERS, TO THE ENTRANCE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS: JAKE G. RUFFALO, AND DOWNEY. ON THE DVD,COMING IN 2008, THERE WILL BE A EXTENDED VERSION OF THE FILM. DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY, BEHIND THE SCENES. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT VERSION. I HOPE THIS REVIEW HELPS. THANK YOU

Too long makes this film forgettable........2007-09-14

Zodiac directed by David Fincher starts off really well even though the first 30 minutes are the most violent but as the film goes on, the characters become too cluttered and the progression is a bit slow and lackluster. I have always liked Fincher's films but this one doesn't flow well and since the San Franciso Police Department never found out the identity of the Zodiac killer, you kinda expected an ambivalent ending. The use of the song, Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan is played many times during the film, and that song is perfect and kept me watching this film the whole way through. There are some great performances by Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo but sadly even their acting can't save this so-so film.

I expected more.......2007-09-09

After years of pondering the Zodiac murders, I thought that this movie was going to bring all the pieces together by placing the final piece into the puzzle. So I was really disappointed that the final piece still leads to the person the law and writers always thought it was....But with no true ending. But it's a good movie.

Like the book, like the movie.......2007-09-09

If you have problems with Graysmith you'll have them with the film - very close to the book and a fine set piece for the era. Definitely worth your time.

The Big Lebowski (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

Dude...this movie is awesome man
Not always hard on the logic enough
High Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter
Hilarious
Great Movie....

The Big Lebowski (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
Starring: Jeff Bridges , John Goodman , Julianne Moore , Steve Buscemi , and David Huddleston
Director: Joel Coen
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000A7DVR2
Release Date: 2005-10-18

Product Description

The Coen brothers irreverent cult hit comes to DVD as a Collector's Edition, with all-new bonus material. The hilariously twisted comedy-thriller stars Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Julianne Moore. Join the Dude and his bowling buddies on their journey that blends unforgettable characters, kidnapping, a case of mistaken identity and White Russians. Enter the visually unique and entertaining world from the creative minds of the Coen brothers and remember: the Dude abides.

System Requirements:

Running Time 118 Mins.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

After the tight plotting and quirky intensity of Fargo, this casually amusing follow-up from the prolifically inventive Coen (Ethan and Joel) brothers seems like a bit of a lark, and the result was a box-office disappointment. The good news is, The Big Lebowski is every bit a Coen movie, and its lazy plot is part of its laidback charm. After all, how many movies can claim as their hero a pot-bellied, pot-smoking loser named Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) who spends most of his time bowling and getting stoned? And where else could you find a hairnetted Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro) who sports dazzling purple footgear, or an erotic artist (Julianne Moore) whose creativity consists of covering her naked body in paint, flying through the air in a leather harness, and splatting herself against a giant canvas? Who else but the Coens would think of showing you a camera view from inside the holes of a bowling ball, or an elaborate Busby Berkely-styled musical dream sequence involving a Viking goddess and giant bowling pins? The plot--which finds Lebowski involved in a kidnapping scheme after he's mistaken for a rich guy with the same name--is almost beside the point. What counts here is a steady cascade of hilarious dialogue, great work from Coen regulars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, and the kind of cinematic ingenuity that puts the Coens in a class all their own. Be sure to watch with snacks in hand, because The Big Lebowski might give you a giddy case of the munchies. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Dude...this movie is awesome man.......2007-08-26

Ok, the first question you must ask yourself is, "Do you like the Coen Brothers?" Raising Arizona, Fargo, O' Brother where art thou, Do you like these movies. Well if you like their unique take of life and colorful characters then you also like this one. This has a lot of the same actors that are in most Coen Bros stuff and all of them are played to utter perfection. There is not a miscue to be found in these performances. The biggest problem this film had when it was realized is it was the Coen's follow up film to their Oscar winning Fargo. Many people who loved that movie were not Coen fans, went and saw this one, and didn't have the same appreciation for what this movie was suppose to be. This is one of the funniest movies you will ever see and is only equaled by other Coen movies. It's unlike Fargo is this is a niche film that will only be liked by a select few that "get" what it's about.

"The Dude" played by Jeff Bridges is an aging old California hippie that just wants to bowl and smoke pot but finds himself caught up in a complex kidnapping plot of Someone's wife that shares his last name. John Goodman plays the "dudes" best friend and is one of the funniest characters in the film. This is one to watch over and over. Like many smart comedies the jokes in this film are muti-layered and found only funny after a second or third viewing. Sometime it goes right over your head.

The Dude is such a great character you can't help but love him. Don't we all wish we could walk though life as clueless as the Dude...I know at times I wish I could. At first viewing I didn't get a lot of it's "jokes". I've seen this film about 10 times and feel like it's a truly remarkable character study due to the writing and brilliant acting. I can't watch it without having to stop it because I'm just laughing my ass off at the subtle brilliance displayed by these characters. The Dude abides.

Not always hard on the logic enough.......2007-08-23

A simple film of total disorganization that is supposed to be funny. It is another "Pulp Fiction", but this time in chronological cutting order. The disorganized impression comes from the totally airy and eerie behavior of the characters. One more or less fake Jew who respects Sabbath when it is practical. An unemployed idler who lives on thin air, fresh water and all kinds of little gains and benefits he can find. A third rather detached younger one who will end up with a massive heart attack on a parking lot. They all play with theirs balls, I mean their bowling balls, because that is the only profession we know they have. Then they get entangled into some kind of embezzling by some rich man who is not rich but wants to pilfer some good amount of cash from the foundation he is a trustee of and at the same time get rid of his youngish latest wife who is hardly grown out of teenage puberty, without going through a divorce. Simple when you are as naïve as dumb can be and you don't know the alpha from the beta, not to mention the omega of crime in LA where you can end up playing the angel in no time. And they manage rather well since two will survive and one will die of too much emotion. Entertaining though slightly slow at times.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne

High Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter.......2007-08-22

Easily one of the strangest movies I have ever seen, but oddly a title that I felt I needed to own. When I finally added it to my collection, I couldnt figure out why. This is a movie that should be watched by all. Even if you dont like it, you can still say you have seen it and tell your friends just how strange of a movie it really is.

Hilarious.......2007-08-16

Somehow, it never gets old. I've seen it a dozen times and still love it.

Great Movie...........2007-08-05

This is prob in my top 10 favorate movies of all time. its a great buy and definently must have movie.

Average customer rating:

My Guilty Pleasure!
Amazing movie...even better video quality
Even if you'd already own the special edition, this one's definitely worth it!
Where is the Blu Ray Release?
The Dude

The Big Lebowski [HD DVD]
Starring: Jeff Bridges , John Goodman , Julianne Moore , Steve Buscemi , and David Huddleston
Director: Ethan Coen , and Joel Coen
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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ASIN: B000O179EK
Release Date: 2007-06-26

Customer Reviews:

My Guilty Pleasure!.......2007-09-04

When I got my HD-DVD player last year one of the titles I couldn't wait for was Big Lebowski. I hadn't seen it in several years and when I finally put it in the player, I was so glad I had waited. Not only is the picture and the sound excellent, but this is one of the greatest movies of all time.

The writing is so good. The acting is fantastic (Jeff and John's best acting performances by far). The comedy is still funny after 11 viewings. I still giggle to myself anytime I think about the scene where Walter jumps out of the car "To take the hill" and the machine gun is going off, while the Dude crashes into a telephone pole. Hilarious hilarious all the way through.

Just remember not to spread human ashes on the beach when the wind is blowing. LOL LOL LOL

Amazing movie...even better video quality.......2007-08-29

this HD DVD is amazing! The video and sound quality is amazing and the movie itself is a classic. Oh and as far as the guy below saying Blu-Ray is outselling HD DVD...times are changing quick my friend, check around.

Even if you'd already own the special edition, this one's definitely worth it!.......2007-08-16

I guess I don't need to say much about the movie.
Apart from being my favorite movie with superb acting of the entire cast (including the dog and the toe) and the incredible dumb and hilarious dialogue which still manages to blow my socks off everytime I watch the movie, this version truly is a must have.
No matter which character you (try to) analyze, they are all insane and ingenious, funny and inspiring (except of course the nihilists...)
The HD DVD transfer is far better than anything that came out before. Brightest colors when needed, good natural ones in the shades, sharp as .... well, you almost cut your feet at the rug that used to tie the room together. Sound is perfect, what is there left to say?
Stranger:"Sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar eats you."
The Dude:"That some kind of Eastern thing?"
Com'on folks, let's go bowling! But only after having watched this one, PLEAEAEASE!

Where is the Blu Ray Release?.......2007-08-13

I hate it when a studio does preferential releases. Especially when Blu Ray is outselling HD-DVD 2 to 1! I'm sure once the format was is over, this will see a release on the opposing format. It just sucks we have to wait for one of the funniest movies ever made to be watchable on the PS3.

The Dude.......2007-08-08

The Dude definitely says that this is one of the greatest movies ever made - wow - what a great picture - have to love HD

Average customer rating:

Suspenseful, but...
Excellent movie!
Slow in parts, but I still liked it...
Rear Window
Brutally...Boring!!!!

Rear Window (Collector's Edition)
Starring: Ross Bagdasarian , Benny Bartlett , Sara Berner , Raymond Burr , and Frank Cady
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00003CXC7
Release Date: 2001-03-06

Amazon.com essential video

Like the Greenwich Village courtyard view from its titular portal, Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rear Window is both confined and multileveled: both its story and visual perspective are dictated by its protagonist's imprisonment in his apartment, convalescing in a wheelchair, from which both he and the audience observe the lives of his neighbors. Cheerful voyeurism, as well as the behavior glimpsed among the various tenants, affords a droll comic atmosphere that gradually darkens when he sees clues to what may be a murder.

Photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries (James Stewart) is, in fact, a voyeur by trade, a professional photographer sidelined by an accident while on assignment. His immersion in the human drama (and comedy) visible from his window is a by-product of boredom, underlined by the disapproval of his girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), and a wisecracking visiting nurse (Thelma Ritter). Yet when the invalid wife of Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr) disappears, Jeff enlists the two women to help him to determine whether she's really left town, as Thorwald insists, or been murdered.

Hitchcock scholar Donald Spoto convincingly argues that the crime at the center of this mystery is the MacGuffin--a mere pretext--in a film that's more interested in the implications of Jeff's sentinel perspective. We actually learn more about the lives of the other neighbors (given generic names by Jeff, even as he's drawn into their lives) he, and we, watch undetected than we do the putative murderer and his victim. Jeff's evident fear of intimacy and commitment with the elegant, adoring Lisa provides the other vital thread to the script, one woven not only into the couple's own relationship, but reflected and even commented upon through the various neighbors' lives.

At minimum, Hitchcock's skill at making us accomplices to Jeff's spying, coupled with an ingenious escalation of suspense as the teasingly vague evidence coalesces into ominous proof, deliver a superb thriller spiked with droll humor, right up to its nail-biting, nightmarish climax. At deeper levels, however, Rear Window plumbs issues of moral responsibility and emotional honesty, while offering further proof (were any needed) of the director's brilliance as a visual storyteller. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

Suspenseful, but..........2007-08-17

Despite some fine acting by James Stewart, Grace Kelly and Thelma Ritter, there were quite a few improbables in this story that unsuspended my suspension of my disbelief. The "characters", if you want to call them that, did things that no normal person in those circumstance would do, unless there was something wrong with the character which compelled this but which the audience was not privy to know.

I found the movie cluttered with many unrelated bits--scenes--that had neither plot nor character significance and which were just time wasters--they didn't advance the plot or suspense one mite. I found the music terrible, too jazzy and breezy for the suspense that was trying to be evoked--it did the very opposite.

Yes, there were some smart lines in the dialogue, especially Thelma's and Jimmy's, which you rarely get today. All in all the film was entertaining but hardly believable. Do not be fooled by the name Hitchcock--there are many better directors than he, director's whose work is far less contrived and manipulative--but the glamour and iconistic pizzazz of his name often blinds critics to his obvious flaws--flaws that they would and have condemned in other lesser known directors.

By the way, Vertigo is far better than this movie--I found it highly believable and recommend it.

Excellent movie!.......2007-07-29

It's Hitchcock- what else? This movie is on the slower-moving side, but it still works well. It's very craftily put together and keeps your interest. I can't wait to watch it again! I love the apartment community and layout and the main character's apartment as well as the side story of him and the woman as well.

Slow in parts, but I still liked it..........2007-07-08

This movie is interesting from the beginning, despite some slow banter between some of the characters. Jimmy Stewart's character is temporarily in a wheelchair with a broken leg, and Grace Kelly is his girlfriend. He spends a lot of time in his apartment watching the neighbors through their windows. He sees a woman dancing in her underwear throughout the film--very funny. He also sees something more sinister--a man who might've killed his wife. He tries to convince his friend, a cop or detective, to check it out, but he refuses. His girlfriend takes matters into her own hands, as does his therapist. Then he's discovered, and the man comes after him. The end is a nailbiter. I can't say whether or not this is the best Hitchcock movie, because I haven't seen many of them. But I can tell you that this is definitely worth seeing again and again. The actors and their characters are likable, and despite a few slow parts, it's a good movie that makes people think--a quality which today's movies just don't have.

Rear Window.......2007-06-26

One of the most celebrated films in history, this classic takes its time, but once the tension starts building, it doesn't stop until the heart-pounding conclusion is upon you. A new peak for Hitchcock in blending the story of a crime that may have happened with the dark side of human obsession--in this case, voyeurism. The movie marks a high point for James Stewart, who would be remembered as Hitchcock's most human and vulnerable hero. And who can resist the bewitching Grace Kelly?

Brutally...Boring!!!!.......2007-05-21

Alfred Hitchcock made approximately zero good movies in his life except maybe The Birds, which I liked a lot. But most of his movies, including and especially Rear Window are just two hours of people sitting around talking about suspenseful things. I know because they're old these movies are supposed to be so great, but you can't tell me that Rear Window is as exciting as a movie like Disturbia!!! I guess you can tell me that, but I don't plan to listen to you.

Here's what happens in Rear Window:

No, I didn't make a mistake in that paragraph. I was proving a point that nothing happens (by leaving a lot of blank space after the colon). It's a movie about Jimmy Stewart sitting in a wheelchair and watching real action happen through binoculars. Guess what, Alfred Hitchcock? Maybe it would have been a better movie if we had been watching whatever was going on in that other building and not wasted our time watching the guy who was watching all the cool stuff go down!

That would be like if Steven Spielberg decided to make E.T. a story about a scientist in a lab coat who does nothing for 2 hours and then at the end he gets to poke and prod a little alien fella for about a second. Hey, Steven Spielberg: thanks for not making that movie!!!

Anyway, Rear Window is not recommended for the young or the young at heart, but maybe for the young at brain.

Average customer rating:

A Tim Curry Showcase
Finally saw Clue for the first time last night
256 5-Star Recommendations Should Mean Something
Clue
hilarious movie

Clue
Starring: Eileen Brennan , Tim Curry , Madeline Kahn , Christopher Lloyd , and Michael McKean
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305882649
Release Date: 2000-06-27

Amazon.com

Undoubtedly the first movie in history to have played in theaters with three different endings (depending on which theater you attended), Clue is a silly whodunit based on the familiar board game featuring Colonel Mustard, Mrs. Peacock, and all the other usual suspects. A broadly comic cast play the sundry suspects gathered in a mansion to solve a murder, knowing that one of their numbers is the culprit. Michael McKean, Eileen Brennan, and Tim Curry are the best of the bunch, and the film is as lightweight an experience as a round of the game itself. Directed by Jonathan Lynn (My Cousin Vinny). The video release contains all three endings. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

A Tim Curry Showcase.......2007-09-04

The classic board game comes to life in this film. A bunch of characters have been summoned to a strange mansion where they are given aliases. Eventually they meet a strange character named Mr. Body. When he is mysteriously killed the fun really begins. Who killed Mr. Body? The characters don't know and they all suspect each other. The police are on the way and everyone could be guilty. The only hope is to solve the murder before the police arrive.

Despite the strong cast this movie really showcases Tim Curry the most. The film was originally released in three versions, each with a different ending. On this disk you can choose to watch the theatrical release with a random ending or you can watch the video release that includes all three endings back to back. Other than that, there are no real features other than the basics (chapter menu, subtitles, etc). The story works well and moves at a madcap pace obviously inspired by movies such as Murder By Death and The Cheap Detective while still managing to make the plot and action true to the board game. A good choice if you are looking for a zany comedy. Check it out.

Finally saw Clue for the first time last night.......2007-08-17

Even though I was only on this planet one year before Clue was released you would think I would have watched this little gem by now. I loved all the characters (especially Tim Currey) and the murder/mystery aspect made it even more enjoyable. I saw it for free, but now I just ordered my copy here. I suggest you do the same, if you weren't smart enough to already do so years ago. Prepare to sit back, relax and laugh of course!

256 5-Star Recommendations Should Mean Something.......2007-08-02

It means you should see this film, that is if you haven't already. There are few movies which I would give a 5-star rating to and this is one of them. The movie is only 90 minutes in length and very easy to sit through. It has a nice mix of both verbal and physical comedy. It takes multiple viewings to catch all that's going on. But, it isn't like you have to sit and concentrate or you will miss something, totally the opposite. This is a fun movie. Just put it on and relax.

The basic synopsis is: guests are invited to a isolated country mansion for dinner. They are confronted with the fact that they have something in common, they are all being blackmailed. Locked in the house with the blackmailer, murder (and comedy) ensues. There are 3 endings to the movie which you can program to either play one after the other or just one at random.

The only disappointing thing to the DVD is the lack of extras. I was hoping for a 20-year anniversary edition filled with extras, but alas.

Clue.......2007-07-03

Another great classic! You can't go wrong buying this movie. It's still good and funny no matter how many times you've seen it.

hilarious movie.......2007-06-02

This is one of my favorite movies and has been since I was a little kid. I'm not sure it would hold up to most people's tastes, but it makes me laugh every time. Some of the best movie quotes made into inside jokes. Playing the game when I was little only made some of the references more amusing.

One of the best parts is the end - there are three! You can watch one randomly or all three. Something I wish would happen more often with silly movies made nowadays.

Average customer rating:

Absolutely Great Film, absolutely worthless commentary.
Essential film genius: Antonioni's 'Blowup.'
Antonioni gem
Blow-Up
Red Sun

Blow Up
Starring: Vanessa Redgrave , Sarah Miles , David Hemmings , John Castle (II) , and Jane Birkin
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000WN0ZK
Release Date: 2004-02-17

Amazon.com essential video

This 1966 masterpiece by Michelangelo Antonioni (The Passenger) is set in the heady atmosphere of Swinging London, and stars David Hemmings as an unsmiling fashion photographer hooked on ephemeral meaning attached to anything: art, sex, work, relationships, drugs, events. When a real mystery falls into his lap, he probes the evidence for some reliable truth, but finds it hard to reckon with. Vanessa Redgrave plays an enigmatic woman whose desperation to cover something up only seems like one more phenomenon in Hemmings's disinterested purview. This is one of the key films of the decade, and still an unsettling and lasting experience. --Tom Keogh

Description

Taking photographs of a couple making love proves deadly when the photographer enlarges the image and discovers murder. The film and pictures are stolen from his studio and the body vanishes. In this elegant balance of deciet and trickery, the photographer must question the reality of what he has actually seen.

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely Great Film, absolutely worthless commentary........2007-09-06

It's tragic, not giving this disc 5 stars. The film deserves more then 5 stars. But the commentary, is so unbelievably poor, it's almost beyond belief. It's as if this person hasn't seen it in a while, and just gave some worthless criticisms as he watched it for the second time.
I've had discussions with friends while watching this film that would be 100 times more interesting, and enlightening.
Like someone else suggested, please Criterion, do a serious release of this phenomenal film.

Essential film genius: Antonioni's 'Blowup.'.......2007-08-15

The world lost one of its greatest film directors recently. Known for his radical narrative style, Italian film genius Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007) depicted the alienation of man in the modern world in his powerful films. His films typically pondered existential questions of mortality, loneliness, emptiness, and moral decadence. While his quintessential film, L'Avventura - Criterion Collection (1960), earned Antonioni international recognition--exemplifying his film aesthetics of slow pacing, spare plot, a narrative structure that relies upon a series of apparently disconnected events, and a theme of spiritual isolation in a world obssessed with material wealth--it was his first English language film, Blowup (1966), that brought Antonioni major success.

Blowup is about the reliability of memory. Inspired by Julio Cortázar's short story, "Las Babas del Diablo," Blowup tells story of a mod London photographer, Thomas (David Hemmings) who, in the course of a single day, discovers he may have inadvertently preserved evidence of a murder while taking photos of two lovers in a park, a murder which may or may not involve an enigmatic woman, Jane (Vanessa Redgrave), who later visits him in his studio desperately seeking the film. Once the film is developed, blowups (enlargements) of the grainy photos seem to reveal a body. Or do they? Upon returning to the park without his camera, Thomas finds the body, but the film, pictures, and body vanish while he attempts to find a witness. Like L'avventura, Blowup is an unsolved mystery, so don't expect a typical Hollywood ending. Throughout the film, there is a sense of ennui amidst a swinging 1960s culture of fashion, pop music, marijuana, and easy sex.

The film includes celebrity cameo appearances by Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck playing together as The Yardbirds, and Monty Pythoner Michael Palin in a crowd scene. Blowup was also the first British film to depict full frontal female nudity.

Hopefully the Criterion Collection will add Blowup to its catalog, digitally remastering the film and enhancing the sound quality. Highly recommended

G. Merritt

Antonioni gem.......2007-07-31

With yesterday's death of Antonioni, I feel compelled to say something about this film. Its 1966 release in the U.S. was an adrenalin rush, its plot captivating, its mood seductive. It made a star of Hemmings, not to mention the model Verushka. It caused a frat brother watching it to shout, "There it is!" Watch it and figure out what he was shouting at. Watch it and ask yourself, "What's the significance of the number 3?" This film created lively discussion in my college English class upon its release. A must-see Antonioni film.

Blow-Up.......2007-06-27

Antonioni's existential mystery scandalized some in the 1960s with its cool, casually erotic atmosphere of sex and drugs, but still made a sizeable dent at the box office. In addition to the film's central puzzle--was there a homicide or not?--Hemmings himself is a kind of cipher, playing a detached, unsmiling artist bored with his decadent life. With its mod flavorings and occasional surrealist touches--like a pantomime tennis game--"Blow-Up" is an intriguing, unconventional thriller that makes you question the nature of reality and illusion.

Red Sun.......2007-05-22

BLOW UP (1966) was Michelangelo Antonioni's second color film, and his first in English. Interestingly it was his first film that had a male protagonist. He is considered the master of abstract cinema, and this film continues in that vein. The cinematography was presented in very abstract ways, with most shots framed oddly, blocked by beams, banisters, photographic equipment, windows, and furniture. The camera made no effort to clear these objects in order for us to see the actors. Primary reds were the dominant colors, and in London that seemed easy, passing the double-decker buses and phone booths and pubs, all painted blood red. He painted one apartment building bright blue just for the contrast.

Swinging London of the Mods in the mid-60's seemed so wonderfully dated, captured in its spectacle. Those beehive hair-dos and mini-skirts, smoking that demon joint, the beginnings of the British invasion, that hard rock sound presented in the film by the Yardbirds, the first stages of long hair on men, and the casual way nudity and promiscuity is handled; all old hat to us now, but very brazen then.

I loved the way Antonioni gave us the skewed perspective of an unnamed photographer snapping candid shots of a young couple in the park, while the director shot him doing so; an overlapping sense of three perspectives. What the movie camera saw was not exactly what was snapped by the photographer. I loved the parallel of the photographer hopping over the low fence to hide in the bushes to shoot some shots, and then later discovering in exactly the same pose and framed shot, the sniper, the killer, behind the fence in the bushes. And of course the obvious parallels of the artist's abstract paintings, just so many random dots of color, until he capped the painting with some point of view, some detail that drew it all together -and the blow ups themselves, those photos of photos, with pixels blown up so large that they too look like abstract paintings to be interpreted.

Some have argued that the park represented Nature versus the pandemonium of the city, and yet what is a park? It is just an artificial large garden planted in the middle, or on the edge of a city, and it "represents" nature. We go there and have picnics or our lattes and imagine that we are off in the forest or field. This illusionary concept is important to Antonioni. Add to this the sense of each of us remaining strangers midst the teeming masses. The photographer and the mystery lady (David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave) both remain nameless. People seem to know them, but never refer to them by their name; very existential. It has been suggested that the director gave us several plot lines that were never meant to make sense, like the antique store scenes; and yet that would be a place that a photographer might haunt. His suggestions that his agent would bid on the store, that he might be a real estate speculator is never explored. Unlike a real photographer who asks permission to shoot a subject, Hemmings always shot secretly; even in the opening scenes, where he pretended to be homeless to shoot those old men in the shelter. Then there is the issue as to what was reality. Hemmings thinks he saw a corpse in the park when he visited it again, and yet he was not carrying his ever present camera. Why not? It seems to suggest that any of us alone witnessing something has no validity. We must find another human being to collaborate our find, to verify our conclusions.

Then the director gave us the "Merry Makers", the 8-10 Mimes that traveled around in an open jalopy, panhandling and performing, providing a prologue and epilogue. Their wordless game of tennis became the most "real" thing the photographer encountered, as he accepted their non-reality. As Antonioni made the character disappear in the grassy field, it made us wonder if any of the story had happened, or was it an allegory or dream. A complex and provoking film, it never fails to tantalize, a provoke attempts to make sense out of a senseless act.

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FNHS (Film Noir High)
The high school underworld
Not from professionals, comes from students
Reality is in the Eyes of the Beholder
Brick

Brick
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt , and Emilie De Ravin
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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ASIN: B000FVQM2Y
Release Date: 2006-08-08

Amazon.com

High school collides with hard-boiled film noir in the twisty, cunning Brick. When he gets a mysterious message from his ex-girlfriend, a high school loner named Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mysterious Skin) starts to dig into a crisscrossed web of drugs and duplicity, eventually getting entwined in the criminal doings of a teenage crime lord known as the Pin (Lukas Haas), his thuggish henchman Tugger (Noah Fleiss, Joe the King), and a mysterious girl named Laura (Nora Zehetner, Fifty Pills). Brick has not only the seductive, labyrinthine plot of a crime thriller by Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon) or Raymond Chandler (Farewell, My Lovely) but also a dense high-school version of hard-boiled lingo that's both comic and poetic. The movie unfolds with headlong momentum as Brendan manipulates, fights, and staggers his way through layers of high-school society. Gordon-Levitt is excellent; between this and the equally compelling Mysterious Skin, he's left his 3rd Rock from the Sun days behind. Also featuring Meagan Good (Waist Deep) and Richard Roundtree (Shaft). --Bret Fetzer

Description

Brendan Frye is a loner, someone who knows all the angles but has chosen to stay on the outside. When the girl he loves turns up dead, he is determined to find the "who" and "why" and plunges into the dark and dangerous social strata of rich girl Laura, intimidating Tug, drug-addled Dode, seductive Kara, and the ominous Pin. But who can he really trust? These are the ingredients of Brick, a gritty and provocative thriller that critics describe as "a clever, twist-filled whodunit!" (Claudia Puig, USA Today)

Customer Reviews:

FNHS (Film Noir High).......2007-09-16

I had seen a preview or two of this movie and was interested immediately, but it was only when I saw this movie listed somewhere as one of the top 20 high school movies of all time, in the same category as such classic as Heathers and Ferris Beuller, that I was now fully intrigued. What makes a film about high school a classic for me is when it studies the absurdity of high school, the social circles that are designed more to torture individuals than promote them. And this is someone who was not just ostracized in high school, but has also come back to teach in it.

And to boot, this film also has the edge of making the world of this high school the setting of film noir.

The main story has to do with Brendan, an outsider who eats lunch behind the school building nowadays, who gets a note of desperation from her old flame, Emily. Emily is in trouble, but she can't say exactly what trouble she is in, which leads Brendan on a search through the culture of his school. With an informant named Brain, a classic geek who even works on a Rubrics Cube, Brendan delves into the world of the jocks, the beautiful people, and the burn-outs to work a plan that will have all involved exposing themselves to his limelights. There is, of course, a beautiful but possibly treacherous femme fatale, a Tolkein-reading drug dealer along with his fists-for-brains muscle, and a vice principal who sounds more like a police seargant in a crooked town than a suit with a degree.

But this film doesn't just work on the level of film noir appreciation. The social hell that is high school seems a fitting setting for this homage, so the technique seems quite fitting. The dialogue is wonderful to listen to, though it gets a little troublesome when it is being used to advance the plot, for the delivery is quick (as it is supposed to be, but still sometimes hard to follow) and the names almost too numerous to keep an even handle on. A bit of a score card is needed to keep track of some things, but a lot of this works out in fascinating ways, the plots within plots within plots led on by this tough plain-T-shirt wearing smart mouth who can throw a punch when he has to but also gets beat up about as much as Gabriel Byrne's character in Miller's Crossing.

Not the top 5 in the realm of high school film, but definitely within the top 20. Well worth a watch.

The high school underworld.......2007-09-06

I guess I disagree with all of the people who wrote bad reviews. Yes, some parts of the movie are not quite realistic. It's a movie!! Movie does not equal reality. I think it provides a good look into the underworld that exists in many middle class American high schools. So if you grew up sheltered from the drug world in your high school it may be difficult to relate. However if you grew up in a high school with drug prevalence it will really resonate with you.

The movie deals heavily with drugs and their presence in American high schools. I felt that I could really relate to the movie. A guy in my high school got a bullet in the head when he didn't come up the money from a brick of coke that was fronted to him. Another guy got a gunshot wound to the leg when he knew too much about something with the message that the next one would be in his head. Four guys beat a guy to death for his wallet. I'm sorry if the movie and the plot seems unrealistic to some, perhaps if you hadn't led such a sheltered life it would seem more real to you.

The fact that the characters seem a bit too intelligent is again a product of perception. My high school group of friend's was very Dawson's Creek, our conversations seemed to be beyond our years. The main character brilliantly brings down everyone who was involved in his ex-girlfriend's death. The best revenge I've ever seen in a movie.

Not from professionals, comes from students.......2007-08-19

The whole things about this movie seems did as a movie's student. The script, the directing, the acting, the music, the timing, the tricks...all seems a student's homework or project to pass some test in a movie college.
If were my son's first movie perhaps I'll love it, but is not.

Reality is in the Eyes of the Beholder.......2007-07-23

Far-fetched as this may sound, "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" kept popping into my head when I saw "Brick". Think about it: both share the same basic conceptual premise, i.e. the improbable crossing of very specific film genres with a high school universe, both have larger-than-life, charismatic and virtually unstoppable protagonists, and both are propelled by fast, sharp, intelligent dialogue. They also raise similar problems concerning suspension of disbelief, of course, but Rian Johnson and Buffy's creator Joss Whedon deal with those very differently.

In "Buffy" the conflict between the supernatural and the prosaic not only isn't disguised in any way but actually highlighted for humoristic purposes, and self-deconstruction is even a trademark of the series. Not so with Johnson's work. Although obviously conscious of the film's lack of "realism" the director never lets his guard down, and these extremely articulate, focused, serious and animally elegant teenagers remain strangely believable throughout. There are a couple of buffyesque moments, like when the mysterious villain's mom prepares a nice snack for the boys and the "noir mood" just switches off for a few seconds, but the film simply returns intact to its previous intensity.

"Brick" has a definite dreamlike quality to it. Incongruous and unbelievable as most dreams, the film has the same ability to hold the viewer's attention regardless. In fact, one could even see "Brick" as an intricate, vivid dream by a Raymond Chandler loving, high school misfit who's just lost his girlfriend and is unconsciously dealing with it in his sleep. The almost complete absence of teachers, parents or any other grownups would be just a reflection of how he sees the world. And, returning to "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer", weren't the vampires and monsters that she fought simply metaphors for her growing pains?

Brick.......2007-07-18

With a tough-talking teenage argot harkening back to the hard-boiled noir movies of the forties, and a cast of high-school-age characters with names like Dode, Tugger, and The Brain, Johnson's ingenious murder-mystery set at a Los Angeles high school is pure movie fancy. But what a clever, fascinating ruse he's devised--the plot itself is a mind twister worthy of "Kiss Me Deadly." And the acting, like the dialogue, is utterly sincere, even at its most outrageously hip. With hands jammed in his tattered coat pockets, specs dropping down the bridge of his nose, Levitt epitomizes shabby cool. Great support from Haas, Noah Fleiss, and Norah Zehetner give this "Brick" extra heft.

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The Invisible
Starring: Justin Chatwin
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000TAN904
Release Date: 2007-10-16

Description

From the producers of The Sixth Sense comes the gripping suspense-filled mystery, The Invisible. Nick Powell is a handsome young writer with a future as bright as he is. Then one tragic night he's brutally attacked and left for dead — except he's not. He's trapped in a ghostly limbo where no one can see or hear him. Except for Annie, the one person who must get closer to Nick in order to save him from beyond his worst nightmare. If together they can quickly solve the mystery of his murder before it is too late, there's a chance he'll live again.

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"Noirish Coolness" collides with Martial Arts brutality...SUCCESS!!

City of Violence
Starring: Jeong Du-hong , Ryu Seung-wan , Lee Beom-su , Kim Seo-hyeong , and Ryoo Seung-wan
Director: Ryu Seung-wan , and Ryoo Seung-wan
Manufacturer: Weinstein Company
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ASIN: B000R7HXZQ
Release Date: 2007-09-04

Description

A group of old friends returns to their hometown for a friend's funeral. When two of them begin to investigate the suspicious circumstances of his death, they uncover a shocking and deadly conspiracy.

Customer Reviews:

"Noirish Coolness" collides with Martial Arts brutality...SUCCESS!!.......2007-07-31

CITY OF VIOLENCE (aka: Jjakpae) is the 4th film by acclaimed action director Seung-Wan Ryoo (Arahan, Crying Fist). His films usually have that commercial appeal which is why they have enjoyed more success in most other countries in Asia than in South Korea itself. "City of Violence" is no exception, as with most martial arts films, it may have more "Style over substance" but no one can deny that it is very entertaining and quite intense that this film is worth a watch.

A Seoul cop named Taesu (Du-hong Jung, Fighter in the Wind, Arahan) is summoned back to his hometown to attend a funeral for an old high school buddy named Wang Jae. Once there, he runs into two more of his old group, Pilho(Beum-Su Lee) and Seok Hwan( Ryoo Seung-Wan). The four apparently forged their own lives; Taesu is a cop, Wang Jae gave up being a gang boss for his family and gave the reins to Pil-ho(who outgrew his goofy kid image), but Seok Hwan, still likes to start fisticuffs. Pil-ho assures Taesu that he owns the town and he will get to the bottom of Jae's murder. But Taesu, being the cop that he is, decides to do a little investigating along with Seok and they find Jae's killers have been brutally beaten to death, except for one. They find that Pil-ho was having an issue with Wang-Jae over a real state deal and it seemed that Pil-ho could have a hand in the murder.
Taesu and Seok must go through a gauntlet of Pil-ho's goons and a very tough QUARTET to bring Pil-ho to justice. The inevitable climactic showdown is a sight to behold.

The plot is unoriginal, and is quite simple. The screenplay gets a tad blurry with too many characters and with the flashbacks. It is also hampered with the fact that Pil-ho is revealed to be the culprit early on in the movie. It reminds me of the films; "Stand By Me" and the Korean Hit "Friend".

However, "City of Violence" succeeds in the action/fight scenes as well as its visual style that I forgave its shortcomings. The fight scenes (choreographed by Du-Hong, actor who played Taesu) are very well done and limits th