Collection ID 628
Director: György Pálfi
Starring: Ferenc Bandi, Józsefné Rácz, József Forkas, Ferenc Nagy, Ferencné Virág
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Homevision   Release date: 2003   Rated: Unrated   
Language (Country): Hungarian, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (Hungary)
Summary: Hungarian director György Pálfi's debut is a mesmerizing symphony of sight and sound that chronicles a series of mysterious interconnected events both idyllic and sinister. From an elderly man's hiccup (or hukkle) to a microscopically observed menagerie of animals, "Hukkle" lovingly magnifies the little moments of a summer day that usually pass unnoticed. With minimum dialogue, "Hukkle" brims with subtle secrets waiting to be unlocked and etches a quirky portrait of a rustic village where things are not what they seem.
My Rating:
My Review: A foreign gem, this stylish movie is shot without dialog in vivid scenes of exceptional quality. The camera work, sound work, and production are flawless. At first, one wonders what it's all about. Just in case you weren't paying attention, it's a murder mystery. Pastoral and pedantic scenes of seemingly harmless villagers going about their boring lives. These seemingly mundane scenes of citizenry are interwoven with fateful glimpses into the natural world. As the reel unravels, I began to notice that a lot of people were dying. There were no scenes of violence, no glimpses into the killers psychotic and twisted mind, and the investigator didn't strike me as being all that smart. In the end, it's a couple of folk songs, sung at a wedding that reveal the true nature of the murders. The revelation without dialog was well worth the journey. This movie definitely deserves high marks. I'd like to see more by this director (György Pálfi) his ability to tell a story without dialog speaks well for his talent.

Collection ID 1327
Director: György Pálfi
Starring: Ferenc Bandi, Józsefné Rácz, József Forkas, Ferenc Nagy, Ferencné Virág
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Homevision   Release date: 2003   Rated: Unrated   
Language (Country): Hungarian, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (Hungary)
Summary: Hungarian director György Pálfi's debut is a mesmerizing symphony of sight and sound that chronicles a series of mysterious interconnected events both idyllic and sinister. From an elderly man's hiccup (or hukkle) to a microscopically observed menagerie of animals, "Hukkle" lovingly magnifies the little moments of a summer day that usually pass unnoticed. With minimum dialogue, "Hukkle" brims with subtle secrets waiting to be unlocked and etches a quirky portrait of a rustic village where things are not what they seem.
My Rating:
My Review: A foreign gem, this stylish movie is shot without dialog in vivid scenes of exceptional quality. The camera work, sound work, and production are flawless. At first, one wonders what it's all about. Just in case you weren't paying attention, it's a murder mystery. Pastoral and pedantic scenes of seemingly harmless villagers going about their boring lives. These seemingly mundane scenes of citizenry are interwoven with fateful glimpses into the natural world. As the reel unravels, I began to notice that a lot of people were dying. There were no scenes of violence, no glimpses into the killers psychotic and twisted mind, and the investigator didn't strike me as being all that smart. In the end, it's a couple of folk songs, sung at a wedding that reveal the true nature of the murders. The revelation without dialog was well worth the journey. This movie definitely deserves high marks. I'd like to see more by this director (György Pálfi) his ability to tell a story without dialog speaks well for his talent.

Collection ID 158
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones
Genre: Action
Studio: Paramount Pictures   Release date: 1990   Rated: PG   
Language (Country): English, French (USA)
Summary: In 1984, the USSR's best submarine captain in their newest sub violates orders and heads for the USA. Is he trying to defect, or to start a war?
My Rating:
My Review: The Hunt for Red October - 1990 (Action, Adventure, Thriller) An excellent movie. Too bad it wasn't done by Russians in Russian. John McTiernan does a fine job directing an all-star cast in this taught action packed thriller. Starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones and several others, the casting helps immensely. Despite the fact that the dialog was done primarily in English, I really liked the way they transitioned from the original Russian dialog (admittedly strained by Connery's accent) to English. There was some very good camera work here. The plot! What a fantastic story. Thank you Tom Clancy! Commander of the latest Soviet submarine decides to defect, taking a super-silent nuclear sub with him. How will he manage to evade the combined ire of the motherland and the cautionary nature of the American military? An invisible nuclear threat off the coast of Washington DC! Sound the klaxon, non-stop thrills ahead! Excellent movie. I give it a 5 out of 5.

Collection ID 777
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones
Genre: Action
Studio: Paramount Pictures   Release date: 1990   Rated: PG   
Language (Country): English, French (USA)
Summary: In 1984, the USSR's best submarine captain in their newest sub violates orders and heads for the USA. Is he trying to defect, or to start a war?
My Rating:
My Review: An excellent movie. To bad it wasn't done by Russians in Russian. John McTiernan does a fine job directing an all-star cast in this taught action packed thriller. Starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones and several others, the casting helps immensely. Despite the fact that the dialog was done primarily in English, I really liked the way they transitioned from the original Russian dialog (admitedly strained by Connery's accent) to English. There was some very good camera work here. The plot! What a fantastic story. Thank you Tom Clancy! Commander of the latest Soviet submarine decides to defect, taking a super-silent nuclear sub with him. How will he manage to evade the combined ire of the motherland and the cautionary nature of the American military? An invisible nuclear threat off the coast of Washington DC! Sound the klaxon, non-stop thrills ahead! Excellent movie.

Collection ID 1531
Director: Buzz Kulik
Starring: Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, Kathryn Harrold, LeVar Burton, Ben Johnson
Genre: Action
Studio: Rastar Pictures   Release date: 1980   Rated: PG   
Language (Country): German, English, French, Italian, Spanish (USA)
Summary: The story of professional bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson.
My Rating:
My Review: Steve McQueen's last film. McQueen plays Ralph "Papa" Thorson, a Bounty Hunter. Based on the exploits of a real-life bounty hunter. Here's a film with some original themes. Papa Thorson doesn't pretend to be tough guy, and there's no posing for the camera in this dramatic story of a man with a job to do. Plenty of focus on the character and his social life. Not an action movie by design, but a damn fine character study. The acting was outstanding, natural and well matched across the cast. Production is TV quality, but the direction and acting make up for any production problems. Excellent movie. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Collection ID 16
Director: Buzz Kulik
Starring: Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, Kathryn Harrold, LeVar Burton, Ben Johnson
Genre: Action
Studio: Rastar Pictures   Release date: 1980   Rated: PG   
Language (Country): German, English, French, Italian, Spanish (USA)
Summary: The story of professional bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson.
My Rating:
My Review: Steve McQueen's last film. McQueen plays Ralph "Papa" Thorson, a Bounty Hunter. Based on the exploits of a real-life bounty hunter. Here's a film with some original themes. Papa Thorson doesn't pretend to be tough guy, and there's no posing for the camera in this dramatic story of a man with a job to do. Plenty of focus on the character and his social life. Not an action movie by design, but a damn fine character study. The acting was outstanding, natural and well matched across the cast. Production is TV quality, but the direction and acting make up for any production problems. Excellent movie. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Collection ID 159
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Starring: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas, Steve James, Isaac Hayes
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Front Films   Release date: 1988   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: In this parody of blaxploitation movies, a black hero wannabe reunites former black heroes from the 70s to help him get revenge on Mr. Big.
My Rating:
My Review:

Collection ID 776
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Starring: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas, Steve James, Isaac Hayes
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Front Films   Release date: 1988   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: In this parody of blaxploitation movies, a black hero wannabe reunites former black heroes from the 70s to help him get revenge on Mr. Big.
My Rating:
My Review:

Collection ID 659
Director: Mike Judge
Starring: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews, Anthony 'Citric' Campos
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox   Release date: 2006   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: Officer Collins has been spearheading one of the US Army's most secretive experiments to date: the Human Hibernation Project. If successful, the project would store its subjects indefinitely until they are needed most. Their first test subject - Joe Bauers - was not chosen for his superiority. Instead, he's chosen because he's the most average guy in the armed services. But scandal erupts after the experiment takes place, the base is closed, and the president disavows any knowledge of the project. Unfortunately Joe doesn't wake up in a year, he wakes up in 500 years! But during that time human evolution has taken a dramatic down turn. After waking up, Joe takes a prison-assigned IQ test and finds that he's the smartest guy alive! Awaiting a full presidential pardon if he can solve one of the country's biggest problems - the dwindling plant population, Joe races against time to solve this problem. But in doing so he alienates half the country in the process! Can he make things right ...
My Rating:
My Review: Written and directed by Mike Judge (Office Space, Beavis & Butthead). This brutally satirical comedy, starring Luke Wilson, pokes a stick directly into America's sleepy, half-open, lazy eye. Average joe soldier and a street walker, are chosen to be subjects of an army experiment which goes awry. Placed in suspended animation, they're awakened in the year 2505. In this dystopian future, the dimwit of today is a genius of the future. While the acting is mediocre, the story is a biting satire on the state of American culture, and the laughs are a bit distressing - It makes you think, could this really be our fate? This controversial film, which pokes serious fun at corporate sponsors, was penalized by it's parent (who can't take a joke) for being too up front about the dumbing down of America. Thankfully, it was released, and we're the lucky consumers. Some of the lines are very funny. "It's got 'lectrolytes".

Collection ID 1647
Director: Morten Tyldum
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech
Genre: Biography, Drama, Thriller, War
Studio: Black Bear Pictures   Release date: 2014   Rated: PG-13   
Language (Country): English, German (UK, USA)
Summary: Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.
My Rating:
My Review: Screenplay by Graham Moore, based upon a novel (Alan Turing: The Enigma) by Andrew Hodges. Directed by Morten Tyldum (Headhunters, Passengers). Starring Bennedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, and others. A World War II movie - A True Story that focuses behind the front lines, way behind the front lines, not at the headquarters, not in the cities and homes of those besieged in bunkers, but at the hidden places and seldom mentioned men and women who toil away in windowless buildings to solve puzzles before, during and after the worst of the war. One of those people was Alan Turing, who for many years was shunned by the government in England; finally recognized, despite his sexual 'proclivities' for the great debt that he is owed by millions upon millions. How different would the world be today, if we had not been able to crack the German's Enigma code? I was very happy with the movie. While they didn't give much credit (in the movie) to the Polish Mathematician's efforts to break the code (yes - they broke the code before the English). I definitely liked the look and feel of the movie as well as the pacing and characters. I really liked the MI6 character (Stewart Menzies) played by Mark Strong. While the movie has been criticized for some of its historical inaccuracies, one can only laud it for its theatrical accomplishments. A great movie. I give it a 5 out of 5.