Collection ID 300
Director: Jon Amiel
Starring: Bill Murray, Peter Gallagher, Joanne Whalley, Alfred Molina, Richard Wilson
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Warner Bros.   Release date: 1997   Rated: PG   
Language (Country): English, French, Musical Score (Germany)
Summary: Murray is mistaken for a spy and must stop a plot to assasinate international leaders at a banquet.
My Rating:
My Review: A comedy that still makes me laugh. Starring Bill Murray, one of my favorites, as an unwitting spy in a comic thriller/parody about espionage and the cold war. Bill Murray's plays a video store clerk who drops in on his brother unexpectedly. As a birthday gift, his brother gets him a 'Theater of Life' experience. The 'Theater of Life' turns real when Murray's character mistakenly answers a phone call meant for an assassin. Thinking he's in some great act, the character becomes involved in a cold war spy caper. The directing is very good, the writing is terrific, and Murray delivers like no other. This film is a comic riot run amok. Murray doing the Russian dance act was great. Reminiscent of Chevy Chase's 'Fletch' movies. Not to be compared with 'The Game'. Very little relationship to 'The man who knew too much'.

Collection ID 1009
Director: Jon Amiel
Starring: Bill Murray, Peter Gallagher, Joanne Whalley, Alfred Molina, Richard Wilson
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Warner Bros.   Release date: 1997   Rated: PG   
Language (Country): English, French, Musical Score (Germany)
Summary: Murray is mistaken for a spy and must stop a plot to assasinate international leaders at a banquet.
My Rating:
My Review: A comedy that still makes me laugh. Starring Bill Murray, one of my favorites, as an unwitting spy in a comic thriller/parody about espionage and the cold war. Bill Murray's plays a video store clerk who drops in on his brother unexpectedly. As a birthday gift, his brother gets him a 'Theater of Life' experience. The 'Theater of Life' turns real when Murray's character mistakenly answers a phone call meant for an assassin. Thinking he's in some great act, the character becomes involved in a cold war spy caper. The directing is very good, the writing is terrific, and Murray delivers like no other. This film is a comic riot run amok. Murray doing the Russian dance act was great. Reminiscent of Chevy Chase's 'Fletch' movies. Not to be compared with 'The Game'. Very little relationship to 'The man who knew too much'.

Collection ID 439
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre, Frank Vosper, Hugh Wakefield
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Studio: Gaumont British Picture Corporation   Release date: 1934   Rated: Not Rated   
Language (Country): English, German, Italian, French (UK)
Summary: While holidaying in Switzerland, Lawrence and his wife Jill are asked by a dying friend, Louis Bernard, to get information hidden in his room to the British Consulate. They get the information, but when they deny having it, their daughter Betty is kidnapped. It turns out that Louis was a Foreign Office spy and the information has to do with the assassination of a foreign dignitary. Having managed to trace his daughter's kidnappers back to London, Lawrence learns that the assassination will take place during a concert at the Albert Hall. It is left to Jill, however, to stop the assassination.
My Rating:
My Review: Screenplay by Charles Bennet (Screenplays: Foreign Correspondent, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) and D.B. Wyndham Lewis. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho (1960), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), The Lady Vanishes (1938)). Starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre, Nova Pilbeam, and others. This film is the 1934 original version of the movie. A remake with James Stewart and Doris Day was produced/directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1956 (after he had moved to the US). The remake has an entirely different plot. In this movie, Leslie Banks and Edna Best play Bob and Jill Lawrence, on vacation in Switzerland with their daughter Betty (played by Nova Pilbeam), the couple are asked by their dying friend, to retrieve some secrets information hidden in his room, and take it to the British Consulate. They get the information, but then their daughter is kidnapped in an effort to prevent the couple from revealing the information to authorities. What follows is an tense and thrilling mystery, involving international intrigue and political conspiracy. This film was quite entertaining, an excellent Alfred Hitchcock film, marred only by the poor quality of the transfer. Peter Lorre (A Hungarian of Jewish descent) was quite good in his first English speaking role (he had just fled Nazi Germany when he landed this role), as Abbott the leader of the villainous leader of the assassins. I give this film a 3 out of 5. I wish I had a better copy.

Collection ID 1156
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre, Frank Vosper, Hugh Wakefield
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Studio: Gaumont British Picture Corporation   Release date: 1934   Rated: Not Rated   
Language (Country): English, German, Italian, French (UK)
Summary: While holidaying in Switzerland, Lawrence and his wife Jill are asked by a dying friend, Louis Bernard, to get information hidden in his room to the British Consulate. They get the information, but when they deny having it, their daughter Betty is kidnapped. It turns out that Louis was a Foreign Office spy and the information has to do with the assassination of a foreign dignitary. Having managed to trace his daughter's kidnappers back to London, Lawrence learns that the assassination will take place during a concert at the Albert Hall. It is left to Jill, however, to stop the assassination.
My Rating:
My Review: Screenplay by Charles Bennet (Screenplays: Foreign Correspondent, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) and D.B. Wyndham Lewis. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho (1960), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), The Lady Vanishes (1938)). Starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre, Nova Pilbeam, and others. This film is the 1934 original version of the movie. A remake with James Stewart and Doris Day was produced/directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1956 (after he had moved to the US). The remake has an entirely different plot. In this movie, Leslie Banks and Edna Best play Bob and Jill Lawrence, on vacation in Switzerland with their daughter Betty (played by Nova Pilbeam), the couple are asked by their dying friend, to retrieve some secrets information hidden in his room, and take it to the British Consulate. They get the information, but then their daughter is kidnapped in an effort to prevent the couple from revealing the information to authorities. What follows is an tense and thrilling mystery, involving international intrigue and political conspiracy. This film was quite entertaining, an excellent Alfred Hitchcock film, marred only by the poor quality of the transfer. Peter Lorre (A Hungarian of Jewish descent) was quite good in his first English speaking role (he had just fled Nazi Germany when he landed this role), as Abbott the leader of the villainous leader of the assassins. I give this film a 3 out of 5. I wish I had a better copy.

Collection ID 676
Director: John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien
Genre: Westerns
Studio: Paramount   Release date: 1962   Rated: Unrated   
Language (Country): English, French (USA)
Summary: "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." That's more than the code of a newspaperman in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"; it's practically the operating credo of director John Ford, the most honored of American filmmakers. In this late film from a long career, Ford looks at the civilizing of an Old West town, Shinbone, through the sad memories of settlers looking back. In the town's wide-open youth, two-fisted Westerner John Wayne and tenderfoot newcomer James Stewart clash over a woman (Vera Miles) but ultimately unite against the notorious outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Ford's nostalgia for the past is tempered by his stark approach, unusual for the visual poet of "Stagecoach" and "The Searchers". The two heavyweights, Wayne and Stewart, are good together, with Wayne the embodiment of rugged individualism and Stewart the idealistic prophet of the civilization that will eventually tame the Wild West. This may be the saddest Western ever made, closer to an elegy than an action movie, and as cleanly beautiful as its central symbol, the cactus rose. "--Robert Horton"
My Rating:
My Review: A western in the classic sense. Directed by John Ford, this movie featured John Wayne, James Stewart and Lee Marvin in the lead roles. Here's a classic western that's got more going than some simple gun-play. It's a portrait of the two types of people required to build our nation. John Wayne and James Stewart play ideals in their characters. One is pure and driven. He sets out to conquer the west by the power of justice alone. Then there's John Wayne's character. A rough, tough realist, who sees the west for what it is. Lee Marvin represents all the worst things in western society. Disregard for others, brutality and the vigilante ethic. When Stewart learns the hardships of western life (at the hands of Lee Marvin), John Wayne steps in to defend his own 'stake' in this community. Together, Wayne and Steward work to make the west a better place. Excellent characters and great acting. John Fords direction was exceptional film.

Collection ID 1370
Director: John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien
Genre: Westerns
Studio: Paramount   Release date: 1962   Rated: Unrated   
Language (Country): English, French (USA)
Summary: "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." That's more than the code of a newspaperman in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"; it's practically the operating credo of director John Ford, the most honored of American filmmakers. In this late film from a long career, Ford looks at the civilizing of an Old West town, Shinbone, through the sad memories of settlers looking back. In the town's wide-open youth, two-fisted Westerner John Wayne and tenderfoot newcomer James Stewart clash over a woman (Vera Miles) but ultimately unite against the notorious outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Ford's nostalgia for the past is tempered by his stark approach, unusual for the visual poet of "Stagecoach" and "The Searchers". The two heavyweights, Wayne and Stewart, are good together, with Wayne the embodiment of rugged individualism and Stewart the idealistic prophet of the civilization that will eventually tame the Wild West. This may be the saddest Western ever made, closer to an elegy than an action movie, and as cleanly beautiful as its central symbol, the cactus rose. "--Robert Horton"
My Rating:
My Review: A western in the classic sense. Directed by John Ford, this movie featured John Wayne, James Stewart and Lee Marvin in the lead roles. Here's a classic western that's got more going than some simple gun-play. It's a portrait of the two types of people required to build our nation. John Wayne and James Stewart play ideals in their characters. One is pure and driven. He sets out to conquer the west by the power of justice alone. Then there's John Wayne's character. A rough, tough realist, who sees the west for what it is. Lee Marvin represents all the worst things in western society. Disregard for others, brutality and the vigilante ethic. When Stewart learns the hardships of western life (at the hands of Lee Marvin), John Wayne steps in to defend his own 'stake' in this community. Together, Wayne and Steward work to make the west a better place. Excellent characters and great acting. John Fords direction was exceptional film.

Collection ID 474
Director: Joel Coen
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, James Gandolfini, Katherine Borowitz
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Good Machine   Release date: 2001   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English, French (USA)
Summary: A laconic, chain-smoking barber blackmails his wife's boss and lover for money to invest in dry cleaning, but his plan goes terribly wrong.
My Rating:
My Review: A Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan) film. Co-directed, co-authored. This movie is filmed in 'Film noir' style, shot on color film in black & white with narration from the principle character. Starring Billy Bob Thornton (Edward 'Ed' Crane), Frances McDormand (Doris Crane), Michael Badalucco (Frank) and James Gandolfini (David 'Big Dave' Brewster). An excellent story. Ed cuts hair. He suspects that his wife is cheating on him, and he decides to blackmail her lover in order to better his station in life. Things don't go exactly as planned (do they ever?), and Ed ends up at the center of a poignant tragedy. Three problems with this movie. The pacing was too slow, Billy Bob's acting was lackluster and the black & white didn't help the movie at all.

Collection ID 1186
Director: Joel Coen
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, James Gandolfini, Katherine Borowitz
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Good Machine   Release date: 2001   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English, French (USA)
Summary: A laconic, chain-smoking barber blackmails his wife's boss and lover for money to invest in dry cleaning, but his plan goes terribly wrong.
My Rating:
My Review: A Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan) film. Co-directed, co-authored. This movie is filmed in 'Film noir' style, shot on color film in black & white with narration from the principle character. Starring Billy Bob Thornton (Edward 'Ed' Crane), Frances McDormand (Doris Crane), Michael Badalucco (Frank) and James Gandolfini (David 'Big Dave' Brewster). An excellent story. Ed cuts hair. He suspects that his wife is cheating on him, and he decides to blackmail her lover in order to better his station in life. Things don't go exactly as planned (do they ever?), and Ed ends up at the center of a poignant tragedy. Three problems with this movie. The pacing was too slow, Billy Bob's acting was lackluster and the black & white didn't help the movie at all.

Collection ID 638
Director: Dziga Vertov
Starring: Mikhail Kaufman
Genre: Drama
Studio: Kino Video   Release date: 1929   Rated: NR   
Language (Country): (Soviet Union)
Summary: This is where it's at, editing, cinematography and originality, everything a film maker could ever ask for, it's a text book in moving pictures, this is the film that changed film making as we know it, I love this film for all it's worth.
My Rating:
My Review: (Russia - Chelovek s kino-apparatom) Black and white movie made in Soviet Russia. Astonishing! An amazing work of cinema. Directed by Dziga Vertov this movie was really amazing. A artful composition with no dialog. An experimental movie which portrayed a day in the life of one industrious soviet city. From daybreak to sunset. This movie was a masterful composition of color (yeah, even black & white movies have 'color'), motion, emotion and perspective. Combined with an absolutely brilliant musical score, this work of art caressed my senses and stimulated my imagination, without so much as a single word, I was swept away by the movie. Shots of a 'Man with a camera' traveling across the width and breadth of this city. Looking for just the right shot. Giving us countless new perspectives, insights and revelations. This one gets 5 out of 5. I'll have to see what else he's made.

Collection ID 1334
Director: Dziga Vertov
Starring: Mikhail Kaufman
Genre: Drama
Studio: Kino Video   Release date: 1929   Rated: NR   
Language (Country): (Soviet Union)
Summary: This is where it's at, editing, cinematography and originality, everything a film maker could ever ask for, it's a text book in moving pictures, this is the film that changed film making as we know it, I love this film for all it's worth.
My Rating:
My Review: (Russia - Chelovek s kino-apparatom) Black and white movie made in Soviet Russia. Astonishing! An amazing work of cinema. Directed by Dziga Vertov this movie was really amazing. A artful composition with no dialog. An experimental movie which portrayed a day in the life of one industrious soviet city. From daybreak to sunset. This movie was a masterful composition of color (yeah, even black & white movies have 'color'), motion, emotion and perspective. Combined with an absolutely brilliant musical score, this work of art caressed my senses and stimulated my imagination, without so much as a single word, I was swept away by the movie. Shots of a 'Man with a camera' traveling across the width and breadth of this city. Looking for just the right shot. Giving us countless new perspectives, insights and revelations. This one gets 5 out of 5. I'll have to see what else he's made.