A wonderful introduction to a cinematic master
933481
The only Techin film I've seen before is "Wild Reeds". I've been trying to buy it on DVD, which proved either virtually impossible or cripplingly expensive. Then I saw the listing for this compilation, which was not only cheaper than other copies of the film, but contained four films in total!

In addition to giving a broad idea of Techin's career, the collection allows one to see the wonderful Catherine Deneuve twice (in "Hotel America" and "My favourite season"), as well as other familiar French actors, like Daniel Auteuil ("My favourite season") and Philippe Noiret ("I don't kiss").

"Hotel America" shows how obsessive love can construct and destruct lives. As the film is understated in the European way, it is useful to see it more than once to begin sensing the attraction of the protagonists to each other.

"I don't kiss" portrays the life journey of a young man who has fallen out with his family and works hard to rebuild his life in the seedy underworld of Paris. The young Marcel Blanc was awarded a Csar as Most Promising Actor for his role.

In "My favourite season" an estranged brother and sister (Auteuil and Deneuve) have to decide what is best for their ageing mother. The subtle complexities and interplay of interpersonal relationships are wonderfully depicted.

"Wild reeds" is often regarded as Techin's masterpiece, and the intricate complications of young people coming of age, especially within a difficult period of French history (the years just before Algeria's independence), make this tale particularly enjoyable. Interesting to see the young Gael Morel as an actor - he became a strong director in his own right, making searing and violent films like "The Clan". His co-stars in "Wild reeds", Stephane Rideau and Elodie Bouchez, have made good careers for themselves and have later acted opposite each other for Morel. The film shows some scenes which most people would be able to identify with: unrequited love, the loss of a family member, attraction despite ideological differences, the tension before exam results are published. The scene with Serge(Rideau) and Francois (Morel) on the motorcycle is one that has haunted me for years now.

This collection is surely a solid introduction to Techin's cinematic tales. Like the best directors he shows us stories that are familiar and strange at the same time, forcing us to identify, evaluate and grow.

The set is presented well, with the first two films on one DVD. The three discs are tightly packed in a container of the same size as an ordinary DVD holder.

A final tongue-in-cheek comment: I wonder when European movies, especially films from France, are going to reflect the new vogue of curtailing smoking. Has there ever been a French film with a main character who doesn't smoke?!
2099538
If there are any films that offer a wonderful sense of love for the cinema, they are the films of Jean-Luc Godard. But, as he explains in a brief interview from 1964 that is included with this fine DVD, he was also against film; that is, against the conventions and rules that predominated French cinema. So he introduced unconventional methods of telling stories and making movies and decided to include elements that films typically left out. "Band of Outsiders" is a playful, unconventional, mesmerizing tale of small-time gangsters and young love set in 1960s Paris.  Its source material runs the gamut from the pulp crime novel on which it is based to the American B-movies and film noir that inspired its look. It's Godard's best love letter to Paris since "Breathless," and also one of the last of his true New Wave films.
The story might be simple enough: Arthur and Franz enlist the help of the young, beautiful Odile to stage a robbery. But if the story is simple, everything else around it is not. Here we find allusions and homages to Arthur Rimbaud (the poet whom one of the characters is named after), Franz Kafka, film composer Michel Legrand, "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," T.S. Eliot, Shakespeare, American cartoons, Jack London, Charlie Chaplin, Andre Breton, Andre Malraux, and numerous others. That's Godard doing his thing, and even if we miss those allusions, there's so much more to be cherished: the famous minute of silence, the running visit through the Louvre, the dance scene, the glorious closeups of Anna Karina, riding on the underground metro, the trio driving through the streets of Paris.
"Band of Outsiders" is playful, wondrous, hilarious, breezy, but at the same time melancholic, dark in its undertones. Raoul Coutard's photography gives it a stark look, but its playfulness is its most alluring aspect, along with Godard's wonderfully appealing, inventive visual language. It might not be the finest example of the French New Wave, nor is it as perfect as a work of art as "Breathless" and "My Life to Live," but in its flaunting of cinematic invention, its richness, and its embodiment of pure cinema, it's in a class by itself and certainly a film that should be seen, if not owned, by lovers of cinema. Its most memorable moments will remain in your mind forever.
Many Godard fans, myself included, have been waiting eagerly for this Criterion edition of "Band of Outsiders."  It's a remarkable digital transfer; the images and contrasts are crisp; the mono soundtrack is as clear as possible.  The additional features are worth the price of the DVD alone, including a visual glossary that explains many of the film's allusions and a brief interview in which Godard explains the philosophy behind the New Wave.  Criterion has really outdone itself with this disc, and that's saying something.
I recommend that, even if you do not know French, you should watch this film at least once with the subtitles off since they sometimes obscure the closeups that make this film so memorable. When the camera is on Anna Karina's face, believe me when I say you don't want anything to stand in its way.
2067321
The careers of Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa and actor Toshiro Mifune were so intertwined -- each did much of his very best work with the other -- that it is hardly possible to think of one without the other. It was entirely fitting that a dual bio be attempted, and Galbraith is to be applauded for taking on the job and making good work of it.

Though _The Emperor and the Wolf_ looks intimidatingly thick, only 650 of its 825 pages are actual narrative (the rest is taken up by an impressively detailed filmography of the two principals which scholars will love, and extensive notes and index), and that narrative reads easily and fairly swiftly.

The emphasis is clearly on the FILMS rather than the lives of these extraordinary artists. Galbraith moves calmly over such developments as Kurosawa's 1971 suicide attempt and Mifune's mistress Mika Kitagawa. He doesn't avoid, but he doesn't dwell, either.

On the other hand, assuming the Western reader's basic ignorance of such matters (and rightly so), he takes care to summarize the work of other directors, writers, and actors whenever they crossed paths with our two heroes. Descriptions of even really bad and forgettable films that have never made it to the U.S. sometimes make one yearn to see them, never mind the many decent ones.

There are plenty of quotes from American film reviewers -- good, bad, and ugly. (I was surprised that among my favorites, Stanley Kauffmann missed the boat a few times, and John Simon utterly dismissed "Ran.") Kevin Thomas of the LA Times seems to have done the best, most consistent job of grasping what these two geniuses were doing, each time a new film came out.

Galbraith gets overly defensive about Kurosawa's final two projects, "Rhapsody in August" and "Madadayo," but is harsh with "Dreams" and doesn't hesitate to disagree with famed Japan and Japanese film expert Donald Richie on some judgments, or to point out where other commentators have missed the boat (such as in the role William Holden played in championing Japanese films -- in particular, Inagaki's "Samurai" -- in the United States).

He's not a great prose stylist -- he regularly treats "none" and "each" as plural nouns, as in "none ... have been," "each ... have been" -- and I scratched my head over the conclusion "as lightweight films go, it is something of a masterpiece" (of "Sanjuro," p. 331), as well as the meaningless "infinitely more transcendent" (p. 558).

The book includes 44 b&w photos. Most are merely okay (perhaps Richie got most of the great ones for his books), although the one of Mifune in full costume driving off the set of "Yojimbo" in his MG is priceless.

One comes away from this largely reverent book with increased respect for both its subjects (yes, that is possible!), particularly the actor, about whose modesty and professionalism there are endless testimonials.

Even as a world famous star and head of his own production studio in his 40s, Mifune would clean bathrooms and ashtrays, spray the sidewalk, fetch chairs for others. He always knew his lines, and was unfailingly kind to new, young actors. Because he acted as his own agent, he rarely received top dollar for his work, which usually meant greater gate receipts for even truly bad films after the mid 1950s.

I snapped this book up as soon as I ran across it, just over a week ago, and I'm glad I did.
3094092
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition Gift Pack is a fantastic DVD boxed set and a brilliant tribute to the genius of JRR Tolkien.
I will start by reviewing the film itself. While I thoroughly enjoyed The Two Towers theatrical edition, the extended edition is even better.
The story, while a slight departure from the books, is nothing short of genius. Integrating three distinct and complex story lines into one film is a fantastic achievement on the part of Peter Jackson and his writing team. It follows on directly from the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, with each group of characters now having seperate but related adventures throughout Middle-Earth.
The film features some of the most talented actors of our age, people like Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellan, Christopher Lee, to name just a few. One person worth special mention is Andy Serkis, who plays Gollum, and does a fantastic role with this complicated character.
The camera work in the films is also extraordinary, and features some truly magnificent photography of the NZ landscape, while keeping the film in line with what Tolkien wrote in his books.
But the real gold of the extended edition is just that, the extended scenes. These scenes help to reinforce and add more depth to the various scenes in the theatrical edition, expanding the story and, in some parts, paying tribute to parts of the books that were absent from the films.
For myself, the most enjoyable extended scene was a flashback that Faramir has of Boromir, to a time when Boromir led the forces of Gondor in retaking Osgiliath. To see the Boromir-Faramir-Denethor dynamic in play is something very special indeed. The scene also helps to explain why Boromir was seduced by the Ring in the first film.
The behind the scenes part of this DVD set (2 discs worth) are also well worth watching. The Lord of the Rings represents a pioneering effort in film-making, and to see how it was all done is fascinating. Some of the most interesting documentaries concerned the computer animation aspects of the film, and the way that computer programs were designed to simulate realistic  battles on a huge scale, with each participant responding like a real person would. These documentaries make for truly fascinating viewing.
In addition to the DVD, this set includes a statue of Gollum and an accompanying DVD and booklet. The statue is wonderful, beautifully carved and hand-painted, it really captures Gollum well. The DVD to me seemed to be little more than an advertisement for similar collectible statues, with some of the big name production personnel going into detals of their personal collections, and the company that made the LOTR statuettes going into details about how the statues were made. It seemed like little more than an advertisement to me.
To a more trivial point, the overall box itself is beautiful, featuring a lovely picture of Gandalf leading the Rohan cavalry charge at Helm's Deep. I normally don't keep product boxes, but this box was simply too good to throw away, just like the box for the FOTR DVD Gift pack.
If you are a Lord of the Rings fan of any description, then this boxed set would be a great purchase. If you can afford it, then I highly recommend you buy it.
4932925
William Wyler is without a doubt one of the all-time great directors in motion picture history. Jan Herman's book on his life and work also ranks as one of the very best works on a Hollywood artist that I have ever had the opportunity to read. At first I spot read chapters dealing with of the Wyler films that I especially admire, but before long I started at the beginning and found it hard to put the book down. I now have a deeper understanding of the man and of how his films came to be made the way they were. How exciting to have a written work like this and the ability to see on DVD and Blu-ray the works of this fascinating artist. Highly recommended.
1685272
engaging story; superb acting; wonderful cinematography
4338513
Readers who already know Chris Marker well should be very happy to see this essential film on home dvd at last--and will add it to their libraries immediately.  Other readers may know this singular artist through his better known films LA JETEE (the basis of Terry Gilliam's great movie 12 MONKEYS) or SANS SOLEIL. GRIN is much longer and much more historically focused. That said, it is a spectacular documentary by a great artist so what can you say but... HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Many of Marker's films are documentary memoirs of and philosophical reflections on the radical left's political dreams of the 20th century in the form of refined and at times explosive film-essays. Although certain critics argue otherwise, these are not propaganda or one-dimensional films in that Marker's own political position is obscured through layers of regret, anger, and irony. His is the elegant voice of the revolution's unhappy consciousness. If he wasn't so attached to cats, one might want to call Marker the owl of Minerva. He is often reflecting on the history of revolutionary propaganda and campaigns from a position of sorrow that nothing goes according to plan, not in this vicinity at least.

So, this is a three-hour film essay and careful argument about the rise and fall of the international New Left in the 1960s and 1970s and its later aftermath. Formally, much of it seems to be found news footage, with additional voice-overs, and spare use of music. The film focuses on political and social developments in Marker's home country of France, but follows the "revolution within the revolution" elsewhere as well.  Marker uses Regis Debray's New Left phrase to feed his melancholic argument about a revolutionary "grin without a cat."  Much attention is paid to developments involving Castro, Che, and Allende  (with lots of great footage of early Castro and Allende), as well as the cultural revolution in China, and the flickering New Left movement in the US. Marker's voice-over "essay" is read by a number of fine voices (available in assorted languages on the DVD) and his selection of documentary footage is amazing as always). This film is like a set of essays that you return to time and again to glean new insights or recall terrific turns of phrases, but you get to see the original speakers making their statements in public. Wonderful.

Also highly recommended for use in university classroom, though students will need lots of assistance identifying the many historical figures treated here. My only quibbles: the cover is very misleading (my partner thought it was a new Penthouse video), there should be chapter selections, and there are no extras (not that we would ever expect to see Marker on screen talking about his films). That said, it does come with a nice insert including a short essay by Marker. The film itself is three hours long, and miles deep, so it's certainly well worth the price.
3384906
The hero of David Lean's cinematic masterpiece of 1962 is unforgettable to anyone who has seen this marvelous movie. Jeremy Wilson attempts a meticulous, factual biography of T. E. Lawrence. His book provides a less romantic portrayal of Lawrence, who however remains a towering and distinctive personality, but emerges more as a tragic hero than the movie character. Wilson shows Lawrence's compromises with the diplomatic maneuverings of Britain and France come to the fore in this book. Another interesting chapter of Lawrence's life --not shown in the movie -- is his own writings. This book explains the context in which Lawrence's own work Seven Pillars of Wisdom came into being. While there have been several other books on Lawrence, this one is easily one that serves as the basic reference, and which looks at other biographies, some of which questions Lawrence's own accounts of his life. In one of two appendices, for example, Wilson takes up a controversy surrounding the veracity of Lawrence's claim and torture at Deraa (which is strongly hinted in the scene in the movie where Lawrence is tortured by his Turkish captors). Overall, this book is invaluable for anyone with a curiosity to go beyond the movie.
3585984
For some reason I have always like this Toshiro Mifune character more than any of his other roles. And that is saying quite a lot, considering that this late, great legendary actor portrayed so many wonderful characters throughout his wonderful career. Just as Takashi Shimura's role in "Ikiru" is my favorite role with him [even though he acted in many great films] there is something about the nature of their characters in these two great Kurosawa films that humbles me. One of the reviewers wrote that they don't make films like this anymore. And he is right. And this is our loss, as well as the Film Industry's. This film is magical and a true masterpiece of cinema.

In the film, when the young and arrogant Dr. Yasumoto (Yuzo Kayama) finds that he will not be the attending physician at the Imperial Court; but instead working for the lowly peasants [in his mind] with Dr. Niide, (Toshiro Mifune) a.k.a., 'Red Beard,' he is resentful. Yet the patience that the elder Dr. Niide shows this arrogant young Doctor-to-be is one of showing, not telling. Red Beard's example as to what a physican is meant to be, not what one wishes to be, sets a great example to Dr. Yasumoto. Which in turn transforms Dr. Yasumoto into a better human being. His time spent in the company of the peasants and Dr. Niide show him that he is needed, not at the Imperial Court, but with those truly in need.

There are many films that Toshiro Mifune did in his career which I have, and without a doubt his acting abilities in many films are standout, however, this film has always been the one that I find him to be stellar in. And I have quite a few of his films. Many not so well known in the west. This film gives the viewer a lesson in humanity about what is important in life: The helping of one's fellow human being. And this is one of the reasons I have always liked this film. Truly remarkable. This film was also the last collaboration between Toshiro Mifune, and Akira Kurosawa. Nonetheless, they both left behind enough films which will always be treasured by those who admire such great works of cinema. This film is highly recommended. It is in black and white. And belongs in your cinema collection.
390646
I run a website that focuses on the history of motion pictures, and have a library of over 500 volumes devoted to that subject. In my library I have quite a few volumes devoted to film's silent-era including Brownlow's "The Parade's Gone By"; Abel's "Encyclopedia of Early Film"; Musser's "The Emergence of Cinema" (and all of the other volumes in the University of California Press' "History of the American Cinema" series); Spehr's "The Man Who Made Movies"; and Ramsaye's "A Million and One Nights" to name but a few. I say this merely to indicate that I have a fairly good idea of what's out there on the subject.

"One Thousand Nights at the Movies" was given to me as a gift, and I was thunderstruck at the number and quality of the many (often rare) illustrations included in the book. The text gives a concise overview of almost every subject of interest to the non-specialist, and after reading the book and studying the illustrations I believe any reader would have a very clear idea of what was going on during the motion picture industry's first 20 years, and what it was like to be part of that industry.

This book was not meant to be an academic treatise, although I believe even a jaded academic would find something of interest in it. This is a beautifully produced introduction to the early years of motion picture history and, I say this with no hesitation, the finest introduction for the layperson I have yet seen. Fun and easy to read, and spiced up on virtually every page with delicious eye-candy (is that a mixed metaphor?), I would recommend this enormous volume to anyone with an interest in the subject. (Is there going to be a second similar volume covering the years 1915-1930?)

With all of that said, however, I would like to agree with the other reviewers about the quality of the binding. When I opened the cover of my first copy I noticed a two-inch long tear where the cover was joined to the book. I sent it back as defective only to receive a replacement copy with two similar (although smaller) tears in the same place. I decided to keep the replacement even with the tears.

To Q. David Bowers and Kathryn Fuller-Seeley, "Well done!" I believe your book will make a perfect companion to Peter Kobel's "Silent Movies: The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture."
3437169
This is a *great* book. I am former student of David Bordwell's MA program in Film at the Univ of Wisconsin-Madison. This is a wonderful introduction to and keen analysis of the whole of cinema, not a mean feat for any book on film! A bit pricey, you might think, but it's jam-packed, ranging from the broad strokes to the minutiae of film. I can remember back to the first edition, decades ago, that I think sold for something like a then-whopping $15 in paper. Yes, it's designed mainly for textbook use for "film appreciation," but I don't think any serious student or film enthusiast can speak inteligently about film without this book. David Bordwell is one of the most respected voices in film studies today -- who would have thought he used to be a door-to-door vacuum salesman back in Iowa in the early early 1970's! Devoid of the jargony style [read: post-structuralist, semiotic, etc] analyses of so many other film books. [And, this from a guy who can sling the jargon with the best of them! Just read some of his scholarly essays in the film studies journals.] Seriously, though -- what a expansive writing career -- from general film studies textbook to scholarly works on Asian cinema, individual film artists like Eisenstein and Dreyer, to more recent works on Hong Kong action films. What a treat to see a great mind at work. Highly recommended for all! Studying at UW-Madison with people like Bordwell was one of several factors in my going into film preservation archive work.
1968324
The recent passing of Charlton Heston this April is a sincere loss for Hollywood. The actor took on characters larger than life and somehow made them accessible to a generation of moviegoers.  Moses, Michaelangelo, Andrew Jackson, El Cid, Ben Hur---Heston brought these historical icons to life physically and intellectually--and spoke to the hero in all of us.

Although rather short, this is a fine disc in which to savor Heston's greatest and most unforgettable moments on the screen.  All the classics are included here as well as the actor's personal favorite, Tom Gries' "Will Penny," (1968). For fans of the actor, or if you wish to learn more about Hollywood's "greatest generation," this DVD is a celebration of an actor who gave the Hollywood epic stature, fire, and guts.
1357149
Stanley Kubrick has a well-deserved phenomenal reputation with moving film. But few know that he got his start with film photography - in the careful study of shadows and lights, with scene and emotion. It is this foundation that helped make him the stellar director he became.

The book is not a light read. It's a tome with references to repoussoir and Gestus, to his sociological studies and mise-en-scenes. It's the type of book you can read again and again and each time draw something new from it.

And the photos!

You get subway trains and cramped apartments. Shoe shine boys and circus families. Foreign lands and celebrities. There's a great range of photos in here. Some seem almost ordinary while others are stunning in their emotion. The photos are presented quite well, large size, so you can examine their different aspects and truly appreciate them.

Well recommended for anyone who wants to be inspired by photography.
4613110
I will begin my review by mentioning the most basic problem with this book, namely it's price that may prevent it obtaining the wider circulation that it deserves. However, as the author has stated on several occasions, writers, especially those of academic texts, usually have no control concerning the prices publishers charge for their works. Hopefully, this collection of new and past essays may be available in a much more accessible form some time in the future but until then many of us must be content by obtaining it via libraries.

Having said this, I will now begin by saying that this collection represents one of the most worthwhile texts of film criticism current today and even those who may disagree with the approach taken will find it challenging and learn much from it - assuming we study it with unbiased perceptions and be ready to debate with its findings. The introductory essay defining historical poetics represents one of the best informed example of a certain type of practical criticism of its type. Among the other excellent essays, those of cinematic construction and vision, cognition and comprehension in MILDRED PIERCE, the three dimensions of film narrative, and the extraordinary investigation of how several classical Hollywood cinematic craft practices informed 1950s cinemascope films are extraourdinary in their lucid presentation of arguments. Vistually all of the essays are informed by frames from scenes within the various films discussed.

Like all of his books, POETICS OF CINEMA is not an easy read. It is demanding but not in the realm of obsurantist film theory of several decades before. Bordwell covers European, Hollywood, Hong Kong and Japanese Cienma in several learned essays in a cogent and disciplined manner based upon the type of logical and reasoned argument very difficult to find in most journals today. Again, I will conclude by saying that despite the different paths we may follow and various disagreements we may have with the methodology, his arguments can not be ignored or avoided. In fact, if we engage with them seriously, we may end up being better makers of meaning than before.

This book is highly recommended to all serious readers whether inside or outside the academy.
1011017
Budd Schulberg is not only a keen observer but also a wonderfully talented writer.  His memoir about growing up in the movie industry -- from its very earliest days under the tyranny of the Edison patent agents, is a great read for anyone interested in cinema history and the studio system.  Highly highly recommended by this old undergraduate film major!  My only complaint -- which has nothing to do with the book -- is after reading these fascinating first hand accounts of the stars and, in many cases, their silent pictures, trying to hunt down the films (on amazon and elsewhere) is near impossible!
4264302
The idea behind the title of the book is that the film-goer goes to the cinema to experience time, and that the director's job is to sculpt the time that the audience experiences-- cut away the inessential words and  seconds and pieces. This book is an introduction to the rules that  Tarkovsky set for himself in achieving this goal.
The book covers his  thoughts around a wide range of his films, beginning with "Ivan's  Childhood" and finally ending with "The Sacrifice". On the  way he covers his view of various aspects (both concrete and philisophical)  of the cinema. Other chapter titles include "Cinema's destined  role" and "The author in search of an audience".
The book  is beautifully written and the ideas are important and relevant. It's  useful on the level of the student learning film techniques (he provides  some wonderful examples of the difference in how major and minor directors  handle the same character moments in different films. It's also useful as a  book about the philosophy of art in general (and cinema, obviously, in  specific).
1204518
It's odd that at writing I didn't seem to see any reviews for this book-- which is weird, considering it's been out for a few months now. I think that may be in part due to the underground nature of BFI's library. To be fair, I didn't even know these books existed until my film professor at college brought in his copy of the BFI Terminator book to help us get a grip on narrative development.

To any readers who are unaware (much like I was until recently,) the British Film Institute publishes neat little paperbacks that analyze popular films of the past few decades under their Modern Classics series, and Alien finally got its turn! In a nutshell, they analyze the film from many different angles-- to its thematic elements, to physical things such as how it was made. These books are well-written and I hope some of the other, older ones I ordered (Blade Runner and The Thing) stack up as well.

It has some nice pictures and concept art from a multitude of Ridley Scott films, not just Alien, which was a nice touch-- this book considers all aspects of a film production and how it holds up in a modern age with fresh eyes and ears. Ridley is a sci-fi master, from his eponymous Alien, to the cult classic Blade Runner, and to his much-debated epic, Prometheus, his work will be talked about for the decades to come, even as Alien nears its 40th anniversary.

While it certainly doesn't bring forth much new trivia or tidbits of pictures, it does allow the reader to get a better creative grasp on Ridley Scott's sci-fi masterpiece and offers some great inspiration for the budding writer or director. The avid fan of xenomorphs and Space Jockeys will almost certainly have unearthed most of the information and pictures contained in this book, but for the price, the Alien addition to the BFI library of publications is a great resource, whether to fans of sci-fi cinema, film majors, or just fans of Alien in general.

The cover painting by Marta Lech is a masterpiece as well-- it's not been since Giger's original "Big Chap" that the world has seen such a ghostly, perfect organism. Her rendering of the Alien serves as a great keystone to complement the aesthetic and design of both the original creature itself, as well as that of the film.

All in all, this is a well-written, gem of a book totally (in my opinion) worth it's sticker price, and makes for a nice addition to the collection of an Alien fan, or a sci-fi fan in general.