Pina

Why $ 37.98?
Finally an important show of Great Pina's work. But, why $ 37.98 for a zone 2 dvd - plus shipment charges? You could get it direct from the British Amazon site for 8.99 english sterling pounds - plus about $ 5,00 shipment, which altogether is about half the price what the other sellers for this item are requesting. So far, there is available even a 3D blu-ray - and a regular 2D blu ray - in blu-ray-zone 2. Why not for the USA - blu-ray zone 1? Ah!, the merchants ... When will this nonsense about dvd and blu-ray regions stop. Greed is godd and necessary, but excesive greed is bad and stupid for everybody.

For the love of modern ballet and Pina Bausch
"Pina" (106 min.) is a thrilling documentary about/celebration of choreographer Pina Bausch's work. It is important to note that Bausch herself was involved in the preparations of this movie, but she passed away just before shooting beagan after a short but devastating bout with cancer. Director Wim Wenders halted the production, but the dancers of the Wuppertal Tanztheatre convinced him to carry on and to make the movie as a tribute to Bausch. And that it certainly is.

The movie showcases 4 major pieces by Bausch, starting with The Rite of Spring, in which the dancers perform on a thick layer of dark sand. The other pieces are Cafe Mueller, Kontakthoff, and Vollmond. The latter is truly remarkable: there is a huge rock on the stage, and a continuous waterfall onto the stage, which eventually gets flooded for the most part. The dancers splish and splash their way to, through and onto it and it is an incredible visual experience. A number of scenes are also filmed in and...

Wenders is a talented director: Pina Bausch was a giant.
I've never been entirely convinced by Wim Wenders as a narrative film director-- his talents have always been more situated in the realm of conceptual art than that of the storyteller. Here he gets a chance to apply his conceptual art strengths to one of the few great artists of our time, Pina Bausch. The results are often startling, enthralling, and affirmative.

The opening excerpt from Bausch's RITE OF SPRING ranks as one of the greatest pieces of filmmaking I've ever seen. There is no doubt that Wenders has found the best possible use for 3D. To be frank, I would have preferred to see the entire performance rather than the documentary which enfolds it, but ideally we can have both (hint to distributors: there are at least five DVDs to be gleaned from the various dances here. I'd buy all of them!!)

The central section of the film includes excerpts from Bausch's more cerebral work, and it is here that perhaps the film is less effective. While the work...

Click to Editorial Reviews

The Paperboy

Outstanding film about the human condition
I came to this film not knowing what to expect. I hadn't seen "Precious" so I was unfamiliar with Lee Daniel's work. Plus, I had read some of the negative reviews about the film, so I came to the film with some trepdidation. But from the opening sequence in which Macy Gray barges in on Zac Efron to clean up his room, and the hilarious dialogue between these two actors, I was hooked. Nothing about what I had heard about the film had anything to do with the actual film. It was at times sad, funny, bizaare, chilling, grotesque, romantic, menacing, and at times all of the above. It was like nothing I have ever seen, except perhaps for the films of Tod Soldendz.

This film, like so many great films, doesn't have a genre, so if the fact that it doesn't fit into some preconceived notion of a specific type of film upsets you, you are not going to understand this film. It is mostly a character study of all the motives, predjudices, obsessions, and secrets that each character in the...

A Haunting Film ...
This motion picture is difficult to watch in places; but it is without doubt one of the best films I've seen this year. Nicole Kidman's performance deserves an Oscar. Ms Kidman is truly an actress who cannot be forced into cookie cutter roles. She has proven throughout her career that she can assume the character convincingly no matter how different that individual is from herself ... a rare and amazing gift.

Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, David Oyelowo, John Cusack & Macy Gray also give outstanding performances. I especially loved the character played by Macy Gray ... a truly loving and generous character in the midst of a world that did not value her as she deserved.

The Paperboy touches many dark places known to human beings. The film is set in a small Florida town in 1969 ... a place you might expect to find the racism and violence depicted in the film; but by the end of the film, you may view these expected vices tame compared to the other human conditions...

The Most Underrated Film of 2012
With The Paperboy, we have the arrival of a major new cinematic talent - Lee Daniels. Though his first two films (the bizarre Shadowboxer and the extremely well-acted Precious) had their merits, only with The Paperboy do we finally see the maturation of his craft, the arrival of a distinct new voice. It is a hypnotically bold, daringly original, and utterly fearless film that seemingly effortlessly dances between drama and comedy, tenderness and tension, completely unafraid to go to shocking, dangerous places. It feels totally unpredictable, and nothing about it feels safe, which is something far too many movies are these days. The Paperboy hearkens back to the audacious spirit of American cinema in the 1970s, when filmmakers weren't afraid to make outrageous works like Deliverance and Prime Cut. In this film's world, nothing is sacred, and because Daniels is so assured with this approach, so completely in control of every moment, watching it is an enthralling, absorbing, exhilarating...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Officer Down [HD]

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Keep the Lights on

Sundance, berlin
I watched this film at Sundance and then again at Tribeca after it had won the Teddy Award at Berlin. I think the film is superbly done, and it approaches a relationship without judging its characters. It is also extremely well acted, and the lensing is fantastic, with a grainy beauty and a cinematography that reflects the 10 year journey the characters go through.

Great Film,
Highly Recommend it.

Superb acting, hopeful and heartbreaking, verismatic.
True love can be difficult to realize in the face of innumerable and unknown life impediments. These impediments, along with self-inflicted wounds from the emotional DNA we all carry (and which often expresses itself in relationship(s) with others), leaves these two people blissful, vulnerable and ignorant. Drug addiction or an addiction of any kind is anathema to any relationship(s). Often there is the enabler/co-dependent and the addicted one, who doesn't perceive the danger ahead. We get all of this in Keep the Lights On. It is a roller coaster of discovery for both of the individuals in the relationship, fascinating and heartbreaking to watch, but never vapid. Over a decade, the individuals in this story really do try to find a way to make their relationship work and it was refreshing to see the enormous, even herculean effort the two principals in this love drama expend in order to save each other and their relationship. The acting is superb and the attention to detail in the...

Bavo
An amazing film of another time that is unlike anything else..love, sex, community, forgiveness. Unsentimental and funny at times and true to what it is.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai [HD]

A Faithful Update Of A Slow Burn Morality Tale, Not A Typical Samurai Action Picture
We all have certain films that really resonate with us, that we remember distinctively and decisively for any number of reasons. For me, Masaki Kobayashi's 1962 classic "Harakiri" is one of those experiences. I didn't know anything about the movie before I sat down to watch it, and it absolutely blew me away. A quiet morality play that really challenges the notion of what honor means, "Harakiri" has a power, honesty, and emotional impact that is earned through a surprisingly understated narrative device. Instead of explosive dramatics, the screenplay takes its time in unraveling. And this focus on character development makes the ultimate confrontation both heartrending and harrowing! When I heard that prolific Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike was on board for a remake, I had feelings of both optimism and apprehension. I think the original holds up quite well and there is little to improve. But I've followed Miike for years and loved much of his work. Though, to be fair, I don't know...

super
The movie is not spectacular, but like "the twilight samurai", it moves at a slow pace presenting an intimate view of the life in the lower strata of the samurai caste.
Using an intense story for an exploration on the nature of that culture's concept of honor.

Prettier Than the Original But Is That a Plus?
Takashi Miichi's remake of the iconic 1962 "Hara Kiri," directed by Masaki Kobayashi, in color and 3-D for theater-goers, would surely be acclaimed as a near masterwork, a return to the cinematic artistry that made Kobayashi and Kurosawa sublime in their time. Unfortunately for Miichi, too many of us remember the original in all its black-and-white starkness and moodiness. Remaking Hara Kiri is as presumptuous as rewriting Hamlet or recomposing The Marriage of Figaro. The good news is that Miichi follows the script and the ineluctable timing of Kobayashi's classic almost scene for scene... until the climax, the furor that erupts in the last ten minutes. To compare the climactic scenes would constitute an atrocious spoilage, so I won't. But I will say that Miichi's finale discards the profound historical significance of Kobayashi's. Both films are quite worth seeing, believe me, even on successive evenings.

The most salient difference, nevertheless, needs to be expressed...

Click to Editorial Reviews

The Perks of Being a Wallflower [HD]

Adolescence Has Not Changed
I am 74 years old. The world is different now; there are more risks and more choices than when I was 15, but this movie reminded me of what it felt like to be 15 and 16 in 1954 and 1955. In those days homework was accompanied by radio with Rock and Roll music thanks to Alan Fried, Ranger hockey against Maurice Richard, and Gene Shepard,the best story teller of all time. Most of us had after school jobs which gave us enough spending money to begin making choices independent of our parents, and every day we left home and entered the world alone, with very little confidence but with the hope that everything was going to work out. Watching Charlie going through his day, observing the antics of his friends and trying to make sense of it all, brought tears to my eyes. The beauty of the movie is that it captures the universal experience of adolescence, and fortunately, as difficult as the experience may be, just like Charlie, most of us make it through.

"And in this moment I swear, we are infinite."
Every now and then, you come across a film where everything was done just right. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of those films. Directed by Stephen Chbosky, who wrote the screenplay as well as the popular young-adult novel of the same name from which it was adapted, The Perks of Being a Wallflower seems to hit every note just right, capturing all of the tumult and the extreme highs and lows of adolescence as experienced by a group of friends in high school in Pittsburgh back in the early 1990's.

(*** Note: this review contains what some people feel to be spoilers, so if you're sensitive to such things, please stop reading now and just take my word that this is really well-done, enjoyable film and is well worth going out of your way to find and see. ***)

The film begins with 14-year-old Charlie (Logan Lerman) writing a letter to an anonymous "Dear Friend" about his nervousness about starting his first year in high school. He writes because he doesn't feel...

An underrated movie worthy of awards.
When I think of this movie, I think about perfection. Everything about it is spot on. The acting, the directing, the music, the story, everything. Had their not been so much focus on Argo, Lincoln, Zero Dark, and Les Mis, this movie would have won many awards.

The story keeps you guessing and is anything but predictable. There are several things hidden from you as the plot unfolds and right away the mind gets busy trying to figure everything out.

You feel very involved when watching Charlie's freshman year in high school progress. You root for him and are riding on his emotions, but you are also trying to understand who exactly he is.

Without spoiling anything, the basis goes like this: Charlie's best friend shot himself the summer before Charlie goes to high school. As a result, he enters high school as a loner and outcast, and has to try to get through the year with as little resistance as he can. Luckily he starts to make friends and you are brought...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Leap Frog: The Magnificent Museum of Opposite Words

Did not hold the attention of our kids as previous LF videos
Leapfrog has fallen to number three in our house after their last two videos of Shapeville and Magnificent Museum of Opposites. It does not hold the attention of our children and was not as well made as Phonics Farm or Numberland. Still cute, but I would e expected better from LF.
We love Preschool prep series
And Baby signing time when it comes to educational DVDs. This is now borderline entertainment when it comes to LF





Click to Editorial Reviews

The Rite

Satanic Activity/Demonic Possession/Exorcism
I just saw this in the theater and it was excellent! Our story begins with a Catholic mortician (Rutger Hauer) and his young son, Michael (Colin O'Donoghue). Fast forward about 10 years, Michael is a man and leaves the Kovak & Son family business to study to become a priest. Four years later, Michael is graduating the seminary college but is very confused about his future. He has not taken his final vows when he is sent to Rome for two weeks training on The Rite of Exorcism. When he is encouraged to meet the less orthodox Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), he sets out on a path of understanding that far exceeds his expectation that demonic possession is just a psychological condition.

This slightly less than 2 hour film is well done, sufficiently scary, suspenseful, and reminds us that Satan is the master of illusion. It is also a film about the importance of having faith. Sir Anthony is outstanding in his role as a priest who has been performing exorcisms for some time...

Anthony Hopkins at his best
The Rite looked like it would be a mixed bag right from the start. The film seemed to suffer the same fate many other films before it fell victim to and that's giving away too much of the storyline in the trailers. On top of that, it was a film that revolved around exorcism which is a subject that usually leads to disappointing results. Expectations would lead one to believe that The Rite would have enough momentum to reel you in only to drop the ball during its finale similar to last year's The Last Exorcism (except hopefully without the appearance of a neon red, glow in the dark fetus). Luckily, the film has a few surprises up its sleeve.

The cinematography in the film is probably the first thing you'll notice visually. The opening of the film makes things like dripping embalming fluid, a swing set on a playground, and an overturned shopping cart seem more interesting than they really are. Rain is an element used fairly often in the film to usually signify when something...

Hypnotically fascinating...intense thriller with strong performance from Anthony Hopkins...
THE RITE may well have produced some mixed reviews, but I have to admit that having just seen it at my local multiplex theater, I found it a gripping enough experience although I was not particularly fond of the limp ending. The script should have provided a more satisfying conclusion.

ANTHONY HOPKINS, manages to create a full-bodied character from some very thin material. Matching him every step of the way as a young priest who is beginning to have too many doubts about his faith is COLIN DONOGHUE. He holds his own in every scene with Hopkins, who gives his creepiest performance since "Silence of the Lambs."

A major asset is the film's cinematography, especially for the scenes in and around Rome, and whether photographed in rain or shine. The film, in fact, owes a lot of its spellbinding power to the fantastic camerawork and the delicately haunting background score with its occasional uses of strong chords for shock value.

But it's Hopkins who anchors...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Thomas & Friends: Muddy Matters

Thomas rocks
my son loves trains, he loves Thomas too I have purchased several Thomas but most are watched through prime which is worth every dime.





Click to Editorial Reviews

Thomas & Friends: Wobbly Wheels & Whistles [HD]

Thomas and Friends
This was send to our great grandaughter in Florida and it came on time and was exactly what was expected.

Good for train loving todlers
My son really like Bash Dash and Ferdinand so this one was perfect. It streamed without a problem to an Ipad during a long road trip too.

Surprise!
I ordered this because my little boy loves Thomas, but we were very pleasantly surprised to find a sweet little story played by a "live" actor woven between the cartoon episodes. My son loved it!

Click to Editorial Reviews

The Awakening (2012) [HD]

HORROR/THRILLER SLEEPER
Rebecca Hall stars as Florence Cathcart an educated woman who debunks spiritualists. The movie opens with a seance in 1921 London. Our heroine springs into action.

She is then requested to come to an orphanage where a ghost of a boy has been spotted and photographed. She dismisses the ghostly images, and accepts the task.
Florence is an independent and educated woman, who smokes. She reminded me of Anne Hathaway in this role. As her investigation proceeds, Florence begins to doubt her skepticism/atheism.

Interesting film with a twist that has clues. Good use of sound. Enjoyable. 4 1/2 stars.

PARENTAL GUIDE: Sex and nudity (male and female)

Well done
This is a very well done ghost story set in early 1920's Great Britain. It is shortly after the first World War and terrible influenza epidemic and "a time for ghosts". Florence Cathcart is a nonbeliever who investigates claims of the supernatural and has never found evidence to support any kind of haunting. Then she is asked to investigate a boys' boarding school where the ghost of a boy is haunting the halls and has led to the death of one of the pupils. Florence is a strong minded, modern woman who goes about her task a bit like Sherlock Holmes does when solving his cases. Everything, in her mind, has a scientific explanation. She sets up tests to record temperature, measure magnetic fields, and even track footprints. As her investigation proceeds, what started out as just another false claim begins to get more complicated. The story is interesting and the actors are perfect in their roles. It's a bit predictable at times but never boring. This is a film that I would...

"TRULY TERRIFYING!"
This creepy gothic thriller/horror is set in old England, 1921. This production is your typical British Haunted House Movie, starring Rebecca Hall who plays Florence Cathcart. Florence is hired to investigate a haunted boarding school, who has her doubts at first that ghosts are haunting the school. However, as the investigation continues, so do the eerie occurences around the school. The ghost hunter then becomes convinced that spirits of the dead are angry as the terror begins. Acting Performance of Rebecca Hall is perfect for this chilling movie, along with England as the spooky setting. Delightful for horror and thriller lovers on a dark, summer evening!

Click to Editorial Reviews

Detropia [HD]

Fascinating... but also misleading.
I was born in Detroit, and spent the first 33 years of my life living there, and even after moving out, I'm still just two miles away. I spent most of my adult life working there. I just watched Detropia, and my first reaction was that visually it gives an excellent picture of what much of Detroit has become. Where is falls short is in the history- it's as if the past 40 years of political mismanagement and outright theft never took place. The filmmakers present a narrative in which big companies outsourced all the jobs, and the rich got together and decided to destroy the middle class and oppress the poor. But that's nonsense. Detroit's problems aren't easily explained in terms of bankrupt Marxist ideology.

We had several mayors who chased working people out of the city and plundered the public treasury. But we also had one- Dennis Archer- who had the city on a path to renewal before he was replaced by his criminally corrupt successor. Detroit's property taxes are the...

A Striking Documentary Contrasts A Great City Of Yore With The Decaying Metropolis of Today
The new documentary "Detropia" by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp) is, at once, an homage to a great city and its eulogy. In 1930, Detroit was considered the fastest growing city in the world. Today, it is shrinking at an alarming rate having lost a quarter of its population in the last decade alone. In this striking film, a diverse cross section of Detroit citizens muse about days gone by as they struggle with the economic reality of their city in crisis. Shot in almost a post-apocalyptic splendor, "Detropia" has an almost haunting quality that is hard to describe. Its cameras take in the landscape of an abandoned metropolis and fill this canvas with snippets of real life stories. In many ways, these are tales of survival complete with happy memories and a nostalgia for the way things were. While it doesn't offer many solutions to the current conditions (nor could it really), it paints a pretty vivid picture of the unpleasantness associated with contemporary economic...

Disturbing yet intriguing
I was born in Detroit, and lived in the area until 10 years when both my husband and my companies closed and we had to move out of state. I was so sad to watch this film. Detroit has a great history and I am old enough to remember when it was strong and vibrant and also have seen its fall. Its current state is the result of years of mismanagement, racism and nearsightedness that drove out the middle class and left its current shell. What the film maker shows is real, but what she doesn't show is why it is so. The collapse of the auto industry definitely had an impact but frankly even if that didn't happen Detroit would be in the same position. This movie is bleak but I think it missed its mark. Detroit is not an innocent victim. It has allowed itself to be the victim and has done nothing to help itself for over 40 years. That does not come through in the film.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Keep the Lights On

Sundance, berlin
I watched this film at Sundance and then again at Tribeca after it had won the Teddy Award at Berlin. I think the film is superbly done, and it approaches a relationship without judging its characters. It is also extremely well acted, and the lensing is fantastic, with a grainy beauty and a cinematography that reflects the 10 year journey the characters go through.

Great Film,
Highly Recommend it.

Superb acting, hopeful and heartbreaking, verismatic.
True love can be difficult to realize in the face of innumerable and unknown life impediments. These impediments, along with self-inflicted wounds from the emotional DNA we all carry (and which often expresses itself in relationship(s) with others), leaves these two people blissful, vulnerable and ignorant. Drug addiction or an addiction of any kind is anathema to any relationship(s). Often there is the enabler/co-dependent and the addicted one, who doesn't perceive the danger ahead. We get all of this in Keep the Lights On. It is a roller coaster of discovery for both of the individuals in the relationship, fascinating and heartbreaking to watch, but never vapid. Over a decade, the individuals in this story really do try to find a way to make their relationship work and it was refreshing to see the enormous, even herculean effort the two principals in this love drama expend in order to save each other and their relationship. The acting is superb and the attention to detail in the...

Bavo
An amazing film of another time that is unlike anything else..love, sex, community, forgiveness. Unsentimental and funny at times and true to what it is.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Taken 2 Uncut

Loved It
Action packed and suspenseful - a little similar to Taken 1 but still loved it! Liam Neeson is as great as ever!!

Liam Does it Again!
This is a real Dad! To watch the level of commitment for his family was memorable. This was a good family movie. The younger set loved the action and we agreed on the moral.

cool movie
love the movie, great locations, good entertainment. Liam Neeson is good as ever, I recommend this movie to anyone that wants to relax.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Dead Sushi

A mid-level entry to the Tokyo Shock genre which tries to rely on a stupidly clever premise. It's alright. OK, it's fun.
A mid-level entry to the Tokyo Shock genre which tries to rely on a stupidly clever premise. It's alright, I guess. But the premise doesn't carry it along as well as the writers hoped. I'd only recommend this for devout fans of Tokyo Shock.

Keiko (Rina Takeda; Ninja Girl, Karate Girl, High-Kick Girl) is training under her father (Jiji B

As Goes Janesville

Great inside look into politics
Helped explain a lot of things. Exceptionally well done documentary. Well edited also. Worth watching if you are interested in politics or sociology.

Absolutely Interesting! Must See.
As goes Janesville is an exceptionally good film. The film makers paint a portrait of the painful predicament facing about 90% of America today: is the American Dream gone? Is it deferred? The film hints at some of the root causes but doesn't hit you over the head. The working class women at the center of the story are incredible humans, as so many women trying to make ends meet are. I highly recommend this film.

OK
It was a documentary of the war in Wisconsin. I was very much part of this war and found it OK from a different view point.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Amy Schumer: Mostly Sex Stuff

She's a comedian, not a politician
The only other review on here is stupid. Why would anyone buy a comic's movie without some idea of what they talk about? Go on YouTube, do some research. Her title is "Mostly Sex Stuff". Why are you expecting Hillary Clinton or Katie Couric jokes? Does anyone find a woman talking "ladylike" to EVER be funny?

This special is fantastic. If you like Sarah Silverman or Bonnie MacFarlane (sp?), then you will love her. Definitely check this out if you like any of her YouTube 1 minute clips.

Amazing
Amy Schumer is awesome. Great story teller, very witty, very funny and .... as the title suggests, her comedy is about "Mostly Sex Stuff". So if you are easily offended take note of the title of this video and move on.

Amy's raunchy comedy had me in stitches
If you mixed Whitney Cummings with Robert Schimmel, and then made the mix a LOT cuter and a bunch funnier, you'd end up with something almost as good as Amy Schumer. Amy is cute as a button and her comedy is as filthy as doing it in a nightclub's public bathroom. The combination is funny in itself. The jokes are funnier. I hope to see a lot more of Schumer's act in the future.

Click to Editorial Reviews

The Man With The Iron Fists [HD]

Fun, Tarantino-esque movie, but overextends itself
The Man With the Iron Fists is a movie that was 'presented' (not produced) by Quentin Tarantino and directed by RZA. It centers on the story of a black blacksmith in China, who is trying to leave his hostile home village that's entrenched in between good ol' clan wars.

If you are seeking to be entertained, look no further. RZA blends the 'hip-hop samurai' type of music and feel -- prevalent in a lot of anime in recent years -- with the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-floating-around-style of fighting to create a high-flying (no pun intended) and adventurous parody of the genres with a Spaguetti Western flare. Needless to say, visually this movie is great in many respects.

However, beyond that, the movie suffers from more than a few noticeable stumbling points. The first being dialogue. Not only is the writing over-simplified, but the fact that some of the Chinese characters have Oriental-English accents while others speak perfectly clear English is something that...

if you love 70's kung fu movies...
fantastic movie! i saw a lot of very unique and fun kung fu ideas that could only come from a true movie fan such as the rza! there is a brass statue of a man that is in many movies as a training dummy for qi (chi) blocking attacks. in this movie there is the statue and a man with skin that can become brass at will, it links up toward the end in such a cool way i was blown away. i imagine the rza back in the 70's thinking "what if someone had to fight the qi training statue? then they would be really f*&%ed!"

i could see where he deliberately paid homage to old kung fu films with some of the camera work, hair and acting styles, this kind of thing might look odd too someone who hasn't seen older kung fu movies as some of it seems corny or stilted (which is how those old movies are, something fans love!). but even so, they would get over it every time one of the AMAZING battles started.

at first the rap music came off as out of place. this is coming from a wu tang...

good kung-fu movie reminded me of the old ones
good movie for a martial arts film. would have like to seen more fighting styles and the other clans in this movie.

Click to Editorial Reviews

Seven Psychopaths [HD]

Living and dying for the sake of Shih Tsu
Martin McDonagh, among the best known Irish directors previously won an Oscar for the short movie Six shooter A Collection of 2005 Academy Award Nominated Short Films although he is perhaps best known for the acclaimed In Brugesalso starring Colin Farrell, a dark comedy with tragic overtones about two hitmen on the run.

I first heard of this movie last year when I saw the movie The Guard directed by his brother Michael John. A trademark of the McDonaghs is dark humor mixed with some irony and perhaps even some philosophy together with some absurdity. As I loved The Guard so much and it has the biggest domestic box office of any Irish movie ever made, I looked forward to this latest movie with more than a little anticipation.

If you're like me and like American directors who also write such as Tarantino with Reservoir Dogs...

If you liked "In Bruges", you'll love this one
Some 3-4 years ago, director Martin McDonagh teamed up with Colin Farrell in an absurd but very funny crime comedy called "In Bruges". I loved that movie (and not just because it was filmed in the Belgian city of Bruges, where I spent my high school years). Now comes another crime comedy from the same team.

"Seven Psychopaths" (2012 release; 110 min.) brings the story of Marty (played by Farrell), a struggling writer who is working on a movie script called "Seven Psychopaths". His buddy Billy (played by Sam Rockwell) is volunteering to help in any way possible. At some point Billy steals a little dog, and only later do we learn that the dog's owner is Charlie (played by Woody Harrelson), a dangerous gangster who is out for revenge. Last, but certainly not least, there is Hans (played by Christopher Walken), a buddy of Billy's. There are a bunch of smaller characters in the movie. To be honest, I had a hard time keeping track of the multitude of characters, and the fact that...

Original, hilarious, and a must-see
Being a big fan of "In Bruges," getting excited for writer, director, and now producer Martin McDonagh's latest film "Seven Psychopaths" was like second nature. "In Bruges" is begging for a revisit, but it added a lot of humor to hitmen and crime situations that usually try to be gritty or as serious as humanly possible in films before it. "In Bruges" had this uniqueness to it and "Seven Psychopaths" is even more creative and hilarious in comparison.

A struggling screenwriter named Marty (Colin Farrell) has an idea for his next screenplay; a movie entitled "Seven Psychopaths." The problem is Marty is having difficulty coming up with the actual story or the psychopaths for that matter and his alcoholism often gets the better of him. His strange best friend Billy (Sam Rockwell), who kidnaps dogs with a religious man named Hans (Christopher Walken) and returns them to get the reward, has extreme interest in helping Marty write his story. What Marty doesn't count on is Billy...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Love Section, The

The Love Section
Great characters, simple fun. Well written, well shot. The characters were real, wonderfully developed ( especially the main characters) and great dialogue. I really enjoyed this film and identified with the characters. New up and coming actor Davetta Sherwood was great. Well done.

Very Good and Relateable
This movie was very good. (4 Stars). It dealt with some adult contemporary relationship aspects such age differences in relationships, treatment of the love interest's family (noteably her son and mother) as well the mother's baby father when he came to visit, and the test that the relationship undergoes toward the end when things seem to be going well. The male lead character was a cool-headed likeable 32yr old melancholy player/white collar working class dude that was at the end of sowing his oats when meeting Ms 20 yr laid back old soul diva. This guy was a cool smooth cat although he has a bit of dog in him running around. While there were some messy things he did I still like how he handled defusing what could have been a very ugly situation with his love interest's baby father. He handled it like a real man - real talk. Davetta Sherwood (aka Davetta Stone) is very pretty!! She hails from $$ Earning Mt Vernon so yes..she knows her old school hip hop mc's like the late great Heavy...

Typical
This movie is wack and starts off very weak and confusing. Maybe it works for someone else but not me though.

Click to Editorial Reviews