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A Room with a View (2-Disc Special Edition) (US Version)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Actor)
| Helena Bonham Carter (Actor)
| Tom Stoppard (Actor)
| Judi Dench (Actor)
This film from the mid-80s transfers poetry into movie form. E.M. Forster's classic novel A Room with a View shines with perceptive comments on old-fashioned social norms and much more. James Ivory adapted the author's idyllic tale set in Italy and England to the big screen. Helena Bonham Carter gives a memorable performance as female protagonist Lucy Honeychurch who runs into the love of her life, George Emerson (Julian Sands), while going on a trip with her chaperone Charlotte Bartlett (Maggie Smith) in Florence. How Lucy denies her love for the romantic Emerson and later withdraws the promise to marry her fiance Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day Lewis) is just as charming in the movie as it is in... [read more]
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Hero (US Version)
Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Actor)
| Maggie Cheung Man Yuk (Actor)
| Jet Li (Actor)
| Christopher Doyle
Zhang Yimou has many tales to tell in Hero. Most of my relatives were not really impressed by Zhang Yimou's interpretation of Chinese history in this larger-than-life epic. As for me, I can forgive him for staying vague as far as the historical details are concerned in return for the cinematic tour de force he offers in his grand portrayal of a group of would-be assassins. Everything has been elevated to a point of sublime visual beauty, starting from the martial arts duels and the romantic conflicts all the way to the imagined confrontation with China's legendary first emperor. Viewed from an artistic angle, the fantastic performances by Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai as star-crossed... [read more]
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Nowhere In Africa (Korean Version)
Ninidze Merab
| Habich Matthias
| Caroline Link
A family's desperate attempt to survive...Caroline Link's film depicts a Jewish family's dramatic struggle for survival far away from home. Based on true happenings, this movie adaptation of Stefanie Zweig's same-titled novel Nowhere in Africa revolves around the flight of the Redlich family to Kenya as Nazi activities in Germany start to escalate. In the middle of it all is daughter Regina (Lea Kurka/Karoline Eckertz) who retells their hostile encounters in Germany and her parents' difficulties adapting to the African environment and way of life. Whereas her parents only conform to their new surroundings out of necessity, Regina's immediate affinity to her new home becomes apparent through her friendship with their cook Owuor... [read more]
December 28, 2007 Picked By A-Xiang Joe See all this editor's picks
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2001: A Space Odyssey (DVD) (2-Disc Special Edition) (US Version)
Keir Dullea (Actor)
| Stanley Kubrick (Actor)
| Tony Masters (Actor)
| Gary Lockwood (Actor)
There are a lot of things that may appeal to viewers in Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi classic. Shot around four decades ago, 2001: A Space Odyssey is perhaps the grandest space epic ever captured on the silver screen and somehow it seems to get better with each additional viewing. The movie takes the audience on a fantastic journey across the boundaries of time, starting from an early pre-historic tribe to man's conquering of outer space and beyond. Dating back to the end of the 60s, Kubrick's film imagines earth's first encounter with another intelligent being and the consequences this brings about. Among the memorable scenes is the one that reinvents how man managed to distinguish himself from... [read more]
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The Warriors (Hong Kong Version)
Remar James
| Michael Beck
Walter Hill's The Warriors from the late 70s is one of those movies that is worthy of its cult following. The Warriors revolves around an underdog gang framed for murder, and the members have to fight their way back to Coney Island against all odds. In this typical Hill movie, a pack of individuals are caught in a life-deciding situation that they have to overcome at all costs through physical strength, clever tactics, or both. This unavoidably leads to chasing scenes that, in the case of the protagonists of this movie, never seem to end as they are shown running from and fighting against the likes of the Lizzies, Baseball Furies, Turnbulls, and other gangs that would like to see them dead... [read more]
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Notorious (Japan Version)
Alfred Hitchcock (Director)
Star pairing caught behind enemy linesSuspense is looming in the air as Ingrid Bergman teams up with Cary Grant in this taut espionage thriller by master director Alfred Hitchcock. Bergman plays the involuntary heroine in this black and white classic from the mid-40s. Appearing as Alicia Huberman, she delivers one of her best performances and a perfect example for Hitchcock's preferred cool blonde female protagonist. As Alicia, she tempts Nazi leader Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains), an accomplice of her father, and enters the lion's den by faking a marriage with the enemy. All of this is organized by the FBI whose agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) has been assigned to monitor Alicia because of her infamous background. Infatuated with... [read more]
December 4, 2007 Picked By A-Xiang Joe See all this editor's picks
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The Gods Must Be Crazy (US Version)
Marius Weyers (Actor)
| Sandra Prinsloo (Actor)
| Jamie Uys (Director)
| Lena N!Xau
Coke bottle becomes Bushmen's worst fearWhat's a bottle of coke to you? In a far away village somewhere in Africa, it could mean everything according to this over-the-top comedy. The Gods Must Be Crazy revolves around a peaceful tribe of Bushmen who make their shocking premier encounter with the world at large. After a careless pilot drops an empty bottle of Coca-Cola out of his window, the life of this special race that communicates by means of clicking sounds is suddenly turned upside down. Shot in the beginning of the 80s, this movie is probably at its best during the passages presented in a semi-documentary style, following the journey of Bushman Xixo (N!xau) who sets out to reach the end of the world to return the gods'... [read more]
November 22, 2007 Picked By A-Xiang Joe See all this editor's picks
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The Graduate Digitally Remastered Edition (Japan Version)
Dustin Hoffman
| Anne Bancroft
| Mike Nichols (Director)
Ever since I watched The Graduate around a decade after its release, it has become a film that I like to revisit from time to time. The movie's essential plot is quite simple: the story's protagonist, Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), is seduced by Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), the wife of his father's friend, only to later on fall in love with her daughter Elaine (Katherine Ross). Of course this kind of frame has ensuing unforeseeable results written all over it. Hoffman is ideally cast in the leading role, offering a tour de force performance. Bancroft may never have been more convincing than as middle-aged temptress Mrs.Robinson, while Ross charms as always in the role of her adorable... [read more]
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The Getaway (US Version)
Quincy Jones (Actor)
| Gordon Willis (Actor)
| Slim Pickens (Actor)
| Sally Struthers (Actor)
Ali MacGraw and the late Steve McQueen go on the run in this reckless western-style actioner. Sam Peckinpah's classic The Getaway was shot in the early seventies, and unveils a male, weapon-dictated society in which the undermining of moral values walks hand in hand with illegality. Caught in the middle of it all are MacGraw and McQueen as an outlaw couple trying to outwit a corrupt state official with both their marriage and a half-million dollars of loot at stake. Though not to be mistaken for role models, the two leads will no doubt draw viewers to their side, as they represent Peckinpah's iconic headstrong individuals. The late director found an ideal collaborator in scriptwriter Walter... [read more]
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The Wild Child (US Version)
Jean-Pierre Cargol (Actor)
| Paul Ville (Actor)
| Charles Grandval (Actor)
| Francois Truffaut (Actor, Director)
Known as the principal representative of the French nouvelle vogue movement, Francois Truffaut invites viewers to an extraordinary happening of the past in The Wild Child. Based on the notes recorded by doctor Jean Marc Gaspard Itard (Truffaut), this documentary-style black and white movie revolves around a feral child (Jean-Pierre Cargol) spotted in the wilderness of Aveyron, France in the early 18th century. Suspected to be mute at the time discovered, the boy is kept like an animal until doctor Itard takes him into his care with the goal of finding out whether he can re-adapt to human society. Also attempting to find out how man develops his intelligence and what differentiates him from... [read more]
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Laurel and Hardy II - Way Out West/Block-Heads (US Version)
Laurel Stan (Actor)
| Hardy Oliver (Actor)
| Gordon Douglas (Director)
Another Fine Mess from Laurel & HardyLaurel and Hardy head Way Out West to prove that they are masters of the comedy in this classic black and white Hall and Roach studio production. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have blessed me with years of cheerful laughter through their funny short films that were repeated numerous times, always with hilarious effects. The comedy duo's full-length movie Way Out West is the main feature on this release which includes as extras the 1938 World War I farce Blockheads and the short Chickens Come Home in which Hardy attempts to cover up an affair. Way Out West sees the comic pair performing at the top of their game, appearing as messengers who have to deliver a deed to the heiress of a gold mine.... [read more]
October 18, 2007 Picked By A-Xiang Joe See all this editor's picks
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Linda Linda Linda (DVD) (US Version)
Maeda Aki (Actor)
| Kashii Yu (Actor)
| Yamashita Nobuhiro (Director)
The Japanese make great zero-to-hero stories, and Linda Linda Linda looks like another one of them. The story of four high school girls - three Japanese and one Korean - who mount an effort to perform at the next school festival, Linda Linda Linda sounds like it possesses everything it needs to join the ranks of such crowd-pleasing films as Waterboys or Swing Girls. Basically, we get to watch the girls show their ineptitude at music, then persevere, get better, and eventually win the big show. Right? Wrong. Not that this is a subversion of the genre where the girls lose, or end up in a knockdown mud-wrestling match (though that could be an as-yet-unproduced variation on the genre that would... [read more]
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The Jungle Book (2-Disc Set; 40th Anniversary Edition) (US Version)
Dodie Smith
| Ken Anderson (Writer)
| Walter Sheets
| Eva Reitherman (Director)
Classic Jungle Beat Keeps On SwingingThe final movie made under the supervision of the late, legendary Walt Disney, The Jungle Book invites viewers to a story full of adventures and laughs. Disney's classic work The Jungle Book was also the first movie that I had the joy to watch in a cinema and it still hasn't lost any of its past splendor. Loosely based on the same-titled novel by Rudyard Kipling, the Wolfgang Reitherman-directed animation revolves around Mowgli, a man-cub who grows up in the jungle. He is kept company by some of Disney's most unique characters to date including happy-go-lucky bear Baloo, the jungle V.I.P orangutan King Louie, and Kaa, the perhaps cutest man-eating python to ever crawl on screen. Ever since I... [read more]
October 16, 2007 Picked By A-Xiang Joe See all this editor's picks
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The Natural (Director's Cut; 2-Disc Set) (US Version)
Glenn Close (Actor)
| Kim Basinger (Actor)
| Robert Duvall (Actor)
| Robert Redford (Actor)
Redford strikes a winner with WonderboyBaseball has always been a no no for me. I have never cared to watch a game broadcast, let alone participate in a game. Nevertheless, I was quite impressed by Barry Levinson's movie The Natural which was inspired by the same-titled novel by Bernard Malamud. Featuring a striking cast including Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Robert Duvall, Richard Farnsworth, and of course Robert Redford in the leading role, this film revolving around a baseball myth clearly delineates good and evil. Accordingly, the movie in many ways resembles the story of a larger-than-life hero. Not invincible, the film's protagonist, Roy Hobbs (Redford), has his ups and downs and is prone to give in to... [read more]
October 3, 2007 Picked By A-Xiang Joe See all this editor's picks
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Fried Green Tomatoes (Anniversary Edition Extended Version) (US Version)
Stan Shaw (Actor)
| Nick Searcy (Actor)
| Chris O'Donnell (Actor)
| Gene Hackman (Actor)
Female ensemble serves Fried Green TomatoesFried Green Tomatoes is one of those movies that lets you know where you're at right from the beginning. Jon Avnet retells Fannie Flagg's novel Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop with such finesse that viewers are bound to be immersed in the movie's happenings. Weaving a tale of eternal friendship that crosses the boundaries between the present and the past as well as race, gender, and age, Fried Green Tomatoes offers an excellent springboard for its female leads. Mary Stuart Masterson shines in her role as the stubborn but good-hearted Idgie Threadgoode, and Mary-Louise Parker gives a convincing portrayal of her lifelong pal, adorable Ruth Jamison. Kathy Bates gives another splendid... [read more]
September 20, 2007 Picked By A-Xiang Joe See all this editor's picks
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Arsenic and Old Lace (US Version)
Jean Hersholt (Actor)
| Jack Carson (Actor)
| Josephine Hull (Actor)
| Susanne Marsee (Actor)
Nostalgic Grant-Capra collaboration with a kickCary Grant stars in Frank Capra's dark screwball comedy classic Arsenic & Old Lace. The formula of this 40s movie revolving around an elderly pair of sisters who share a deadly hobby still hits the marks after all these years. Shot in black and white, the film is a blend between macabre and laugh-out-loud humor that ignites like a well-lit firework. Caught in the middle of it all is none other than Grant as Mortimer Brewster, whose honeymoon with Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane) gets postponed again and again by an accumulation of unforeseen happenings that leave the viewer chuckling more often than not. Jean Adair and Josephine Hull are marvelous as cute spinsters whose secret lies in their... [read more]
September 13, 2007 Picked By A-Xiang Joe See all this editor's picks
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On Golden Pond (DVD) (Special Edition) (US Version)
John Fox (Actor)
| Sidney Lumet (Actor)
| Katharine Hepburn (Actor)
| William Lanteau (Actor)
An ensemble cast featuring the late Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda as well as his daughter Jane Fonda light up the atmosphere of the touching Mark Rydell movie On Golden Pond. Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda play the elderly couple Ethel and Norman Thayer in this early 80s movie revolving around the fear of getting old and being left alone. Henry Fonda as Norman Thayer, who hides his fear of aging behind bitingly ironic and sarcastic remarks, towers above the rest of the cast who deliver remarkable performances of their own. Putting the art of acting back to its well-deserved place, Rydell's perceptive film is carried by such unforgettable dialogues like the following: Billy Ray: "So, I... [read more]
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Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Full Frame) (US Version)
Ralph Fiennes (Actor)
| Helena Bonham Carter (Actor)
| Nicholas Smith (Actor)
| Liz Smith (Actor)
Cartoons may never have looked better or acted cooler than in The Curse of The Were-Rabbit. The heroes of this movie, namely Gromit and Wallace, were first introduced to me by a friend during my university days. At that time we went out to see a special short movie feature about the clever dog and his inventive master, including The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave, and I became an instant fan. As for this full-length movie, it lives up to or even surpasses the fun and the creativity found in the earlier works of this franchise. Creator Nick Park's imitation of suspense works very well, one of the best examples being perhaps the scene in which Gromit chops the carrots. Applause must also go... [read more]
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Grease
John Travolta (Actor)
| Olivia Newton-John (Actor)
| Stockard Channing (Actor)
| Kelly Ward
Olivia & John - Rockin' 'n' Rollin'In the end of the 70s, Grease was the word, and it comes as no surprise, as this musical with its chemistry-charged leads, Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, sparkles with the style and charm of a nostalgic era. Taking the viewer back to a time when rock 'n' roll and love song crooners were on the top of the list of all teenagers, Grease revolves around the happenings in and around Rydell High School. It's also the romantic tale of Sandy and Danny, two summertime lovers who are hopelessly destined for each other, even if it runs counter to the hip traditions of the school's commanding Pink Ladies and super chic T-Birds, whose head happens to be Danny. Caught in a world were falling in... [read more]
August 16, 2007 Picked By A-Xiang Joe See all this editor's picks
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Enter the Dragon (25th Anniversary Special Edition) (US Version)
John Saxon (Actor, Director)
| Bruce Lee (Actor)
| Bob Wall (Actor)
| Michael Hubbs (Writer)
Still classic after all these years...Enter The Dragon presents the arguably most successful Hong Kong-Hollywood collaboration to date. Completed shortly before its leading star, Bruce Lee, passed away, it contains some of the finest moments in martial arts movie history. Enter The Dragon has essentially been divided into 3 sub-plots that merge together as the main tale moves on. Bruce Lee portrays Mr. Lee, a highly ambitious Shaolin student who works for the British police to bust a drug trafficking organization led by a certain Mr. Han (Shih Kien). John Saxon plays Roper, a happy-go-lucky playboy who is in need of a little extra cash to pay off his debts. Jim Kelly as Williams on the other hand is more than happy to leave his... [read more]
August 9, 2007 Picked By A-Xiang Joe See all this editor's picks
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