Chav-tastic!

Corolo's latest DVD continues in the 'chav porn' vein with a series of vignettes about streetwise straight boys persuaded to dabble with gay sex. It's got an attractive cast and it's well shot and edited. The 10 lads all look like they're having the time of their lives - Tommy Haine in particular plays his part with gusto, clearly relishing every second. If trainers, trackie bottoms and gold chains are your thing, this one's highly recommended.

Good but it goes nowhere!

This story of young girls being brainwashed, or"conditioned", to play the role of assassin is actually quite good: it's beautifully animated; its characters are well fleshed-out and I did find myself caring about them; it has good voice acting (Japanese language version) and great music; but it just doesn't go anywhere!

It's such a shame that the series ending is just like the ending of any episode and doesn't provide any resolution or grand finale that I was expecting. After spending the day coming to care about the characters and following their adventures I was left with feeling of,"Oh, is that it then?" It was deflating and I'm really quite disappointed by the whole thing now.

There is a sequel to Gunslinger Girl currently airing across Asia entitled, Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino, and I must admit that I still have enough affection left for the original series to want to watch the sequel, in the vague hope it might actually go somewhere this time... but I won't hold my breath.

All in all this is a lovely series which provides several hours of joy, laughter, sadness, more joy and a lot of action, followed by one great big flat pancake of a disappointment. Up until the finale this programme scores 5/5 but having seen the ending I can only give it 3/5 if I'm being honest.

Haruhi Special Edition volume 2 GET!!

I was stunned to find my Haruhi special edition volume 2 had arrive today!! Stunned and delighted!! (No one told me it dispatched....And thank you Amazon for the fast delivery!!)

I knew what bonus's came with this volume, and was excited to see what the armband was like. I, for one, am pleased, like most Haruhi fans should be. Much better quality than the ribbon in the first SE volume. The CD is again awesome, with a sweet pic of Aya Hirano on the front and 4 tracks on it to boot. Bouken Descho Desho?, Kazeyomi Ribbon, and the karaoke versions of both those songs. We have the pencil board once again and the Haruhi transfer.

Possibly the best thing with this volume, and the next 2, is the bonus DVD with the first 5 episodes in original airing order, the way its meant to be watched. The audio only comes in Japanese, but if your like might, you won't mind, cos Mikuru-chans voice is so much cuter/funnier in Japanese.

The one thing I dont quite get is why give us another pretty box? When people who have bought this probably already have the first SE volume. I spose they do need something to put the extra's in... but its just more cardboard to put somewhere and I have no clue....spose we could cut out the main pics and keep them somewhere.

Overall, fantastic 2nd volume. (I'm not saying anything about the actual episodes apart from they're fantastic, because if I explain it, I'll probly do it badly or ruin the story for you. As someone mentioned in a previous review for the 1st SE volume, you get more extra's with these DVD's than any others I've seen recently. Great value for money considering anime DVD's are usually £20ish anyway. We're lucky to get all the extra's America got, and I am eternally grateful to Beez for releasing it like this.

(On a side note, the release date for this was slightly confused I think, it was meant to be released 30th of June, but went 3-5 week wait for some reason, and other online shopping sites have it listed for release as the 7th July. So feel glad Amazon has it closer to the real release date.)

Patchy; stellar moments

This is an essential purchase for anyone interested in the short film form. I give this five stars for the films I like: although there were a few films that did nothing for me, the high points easily out-weigh these. Also worth noting for Chris Morris fans is the inclusion of his daft but amusing 'My Wrongs...' film.
The highlights for me are Roy Andersson's 'World of Glory', a massively powerful, bleak, and disturbing meditation on that old favourite, the Human Condition. Filled with washed-out colours, and pale people, this has definite Beckettian overtones, not least in the various character's frequent turning-to-camera, lending the camera/viewer/Other a relationship with the film that remains ambiguous but highly stimulating, especially considering the overriding theme of guilt.
More fun, possibly, are Godard's hugely charming 'Charlotte Et veronique' - flighty girls, Parisian cool, nifty black & white photography. Also the highly inventive 'Copy Shop', by Virgil Widrich, about a man who repeatedly photocopies himself. The film was made by animating thousands of photocopied images. Other personal favourites making this worth my money are a nice moody abstract by Lars Von Trier, and a highly entertaining madcap romp from Jan Kounen, director of Doberman. There are a number of other films worth more than one viewing, and only four or five that I probably wouldn't bother with. I don't think this is rated, but there are some scene that could disturb those who aren't unshockable, and there is some strong language in Peter Mullan's excellent 'Fridge'. Definitely worth a purchase if you want something different in your dvd collection, and worth supporting this series.

ha ha haaaaaa

good for abdominal muscles, my son and I laughed till our tummy ached...bloody good comedy i say.....Oye Surjeeeeetaaa!!!!!!!!

Those of the heart will take away the bride.................

First of all what a title. This is a film for the true romantics.The story is about Simran(Kajol) a girl who dreams of a stranger whom she is destined to love; someone she has never seen or known. Enter Raj Malhotra (Sharukh Khan), scallywag extraordinaire. He finds Simran intriguing; she finds him disturbing!

The songs are melodious and catchy and the acting is superb. Sharukh Khan convincingly alters his character from a rascal to a devoted man of the heart.

Sunglasses After Dark

The third in Director Andrej Wadja's war trilogy, Ashes and Diamonds is set in Poland on the last day of WW2. The German High Command have issued their unconditional surrender and the Communists quickly fill the vacuum left by Hitler's goose-steppers and set up shop. Warsaw is lousy with rats and not all of them are of the rodent variety as power hungry bureaucrats jostle for position in the new order.

Having spent the last half a decade under the Nazi junta; the prospect of a future under Stalin's jackboot is met with keen opposition. Maciek, a resistance fighter, is ordered to kill a local Socialist party official, which he is more than happy to do, but soon discovers he has killed two innocent civilians instead.

Maciek books a room at a rundown hotel where his quarry is staying. While he waits for the right moment to make amends he meets and falls in love with the barmaid Krystyna. His connection to the girl leads him to rethink his part in the endless cycle of violence.

The central role of Maciek was played by the brilliant Zybigniew Cybulski who came to be known as the `Polish James Dean.' Dean's death in a highway smash in 1955 meant he would never fulfil his promise and so would forever be frozen in movie goer's minds as a deeply troubled boy. Cybulski was 30 when he played the role that made him and gives us a glimpse of what his western counterpart could have achieved. Cybulski's Maciek is a worldly wise, vodka fuelled skirt chaser, (not a million miles away from his real life persona allegedly) and far from being made twisted and bitter by his war experiences, Cybulski plays the character as a man who laughs at the cruel joke of life that his been played on all of us and is determined to"have fun and not be swindled" even in the face of imminent annihilation.

It was a conscious decision on Wadja and Cybulski's part that despite their story taking place in 1945, ASHES AND DIAMONDS' central character was going to be `all out' 50's cool. Parts Brando, Dean and Clift - Maciek, in his army fatigues and `sun-glasses after dark' became a symbol for Polish teenagers who would emulate his style for years to come; and his Anna Karenna-esque death beneath the wheels of a late night train in 1967 only exacerbated his legendary status. Even now we see shades of him in any number of Hong Kong `glock operas' and John Cusack's `assassin in Raybans' from Grosse Point Blank is a clearly a direct ancestor.

Often charged with being overloaded with symbolism as scenes are obscured by upside down crucifixes; characters rendered almost invisible in morning light whilst unfurling flags or inexplicably joined by white horses as they ponder the possibilities of a brighter future, ASHES AND DIAMONDS makes no secret of its Expressionist credentials. The youthful hero dying on a mountainous rubbish dump to the accompaniment of screeching crows is an image lifted almost directly from Van Gogh's apocalyptic `Crows over Wheatfield's'.

Two years after Cybulski met his destiny on the snowy platform of Wroclaw station Wadja made EVERYTHING FOR SALE about an actor missing from the set of a film. The missing actor was clearly meant to be Cybulski who even in death dominated every scene. It still stands as probably the best film an actor never made.

Average Bollywood movie

The film is quite a typical Bollywood production. Comic and tragic elements are often interwoven, the film starting more with the former and ending with the latter. The good thing with Indian movies is though that even if the story is a bit naive and the emotions are obviously overacted, the song and dance are always fun, quite impressive, actually. This film also features at least a couple of memorable tracks ("Let the kite loose","The drums beat"). What makes this film unique for Bollywood is that the last part of it is supposed to take place in Italy. Actually, it is of course Hungary, with all the"Italians" speaking sheer Hungarian. You even get introduced to Hungarian folk dancing as one of the dance acts of the film. It's fun alright but unless you're a real Bollywood fan, you can just as well pick any other Salman Khan/Aishwarya Rai et al. production instead.

9 Rota - Afganistan, USSR's Vietnam War

The film is based on real events. Based! that is and certainly not a true story any more than Full Metal Jacket is a true story but based on the Experience of the Vietnam War. Anyone looking up the real events this film is based upon will be greatly disappointed, it is not a true story but an interpretation of the War the Soviets fought in Afganistan. Good to clear that up!

This film was very popular upon its release in Russia, the culture is changing and as was with Vietnam movies in the US now a generation in Russia is looking for the untold story of Afganistan. In fact these experiences are on par. Full Metal Jacket is also the movie to compare it with for the story unfolds in a like manner, we follow new recruits from the start then through training on to deployment in Afganistan then to combat and finally a last battle.

The first part of the movie I thought was really good, the cast is a mismatched bunch of men turn into soldiers. Not many Hollywood faces and very gritty stories to the side make it very entertaining. One could say brutally funny. The second part at trainig is also impressive (even if you have seen movies like it before), they have the drill sergeant from Hell: Praporshik Dygalo. He pushes them and breaks them down harder than any other drill sergeant but as it turns out because he wants them to survive. The third part, deployment in Afganistan is also good, soldiers life of hurry up and wait, what to do to spend time, alcohol and such. Also the newcomers are nothing to the veterans. And then on to the forth part which is a bit of a let down. Plenty of explosions but not very good battle scenes and it is more reminiscent of old action movies with a lot of silly heroics. And an end that has nothing to do with the events the movie is based upon. As with Star the Russian film industry is just making an entry into modern filmmaking and they have a lot of catching up to do, but I think they will get there fast.

The first 3 parts of the movie are very entertaining and then it lets you down a bit but is still very watchable. Cinematography is here and there excellent and the Russians seem to have access to a considerable amount of military hardware. There is a scene with two Hind Helicopters flying that is very impressive but then you also have battle scenes that have plenty of explosions but bad choreography.

I enjoyed the film but don't consider it a masterpiece. But then I am not of the lost Soviet generation and I can understand why the movie would have a greater impact with them.

Haven't seen anything like it before.

This film does a wonderful job of portraying the utter joy and utter heartache that can exist when you're in love.

The actors speak rarely, but still manage to convey their feelings and thoughts via actions and body language. I felt the actors in this film were really very good at getting across how their characters were feeling.

This film was very enjoyable to watch, it is unusual and beautifully shot, Why not give it try!

The mother of all Indian films

Mother India is probably the greatest film in the history of Indian cinema and looking back it should have got an Academy award in the foreign film category. It depicts the lifelong struggles of Radha, a woman in a rural Indian village that is being oppressed by a greedy money-lender. By enduring her husband's incapacitation and later departure, facing poverty, natural disaster, death of a child and the choice between her son and the law, she demonstrates how women are the pillar on which families and homes are built.
The cast is top drawer; Nargis and Sunil Dutt play the lead roles (they actually tied the knot after this film), with support from Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar and Kanhaiyalal, all excelling under the inspired direction of Mehboob Khan. The music by Naushad is unforgettable with songs that are still played in many households today. On top of that the movie is entirely in colour which is rare for 1950s Indian cinema, but a treat as we can appreciate the vivid colours of Indian dress, dwellings and countryside during that period. They certainly don't make Indian films like this anymore.

Melville's first resistance movie

Le Silence de la mer is Melville's first film, and in his"resistance" genre dealing with France during the nazi occupation. The film is very well made, actually one of Melville's better films. Also this MOC DVD has an excellent transfer, and the extras are really interesting with Jeanette Vincendeau introducing Melville as a film maker. Highly recommended!

Superb study of a donkey as a Christ-figure

On first viewing, this is simply the beautiful life-story of a donkey, Balthazar, and of the girl Marie who is one of a succession of owners. On second viewing, you begin to see that Balthazar is a Christ-figure, taking upon himself the sins of the world (in the form of beatings and other cruelties). On subsequent viewings this becomes clearer, and you also realise with what subtlety and skill Bresson has woven in a whole novelistic story of financial skullduggery between Marie's father and the father of the boy who loves her. More questions are raised in the viewer's mind, such as: what is the significance of the child's death in the opening minutes, which you barely notice first time round?
This is arguably the supreme masterpiece of a master director, and each viewing reveals more of its riches. It is incredibly fast-moving, not in the"crash-bang-wallop" Hollywood sense but in the amazing amount that happens in a relatively short running time. The final image is truly haunting, and deeply uplifting despite its apparent sadness.

A Bargain at the price

This was the first anime I ever saw, back on VHS. It should be seen together with Acts III & IV for full impact, although the first two acts are hilarious on their own; the last two will make you think about what constitutes a person....

Just don't have your mouth full when Buaku deploys his secret anti-tank weapons against the Tank Police unless you want to spray the TV....

Oh yes this ones a good 'un.

Olmi's masterpiece

This is one of the all-time greats of the cinema. Olmi's knowledge and love for this part of Italy burns like a flame and he gets very deeply into the lives of the people. The boy who is being lifted out of his class by education needs clogs for his long walk to school and his father's destruction of a tree leads to the family's expulsion by the landlord. Many social and political problems of the region at the beginning of the 20th century are touched upon in this long and unforgettable film. The characters live rather than act their parts and the photography is excellent

Goodness Gracious Me does it again

This program is hysterical.

From 'Check Please' to 'Smeeta Smitten' the characters are all golddust.

Great performances from the entire GGM team make this an essential buy for fans of comedy sketch shows