The hit Broadway musical from the 1940s gets a lavish if not always exciting workout in this 1955 film version directed by old lion Fred Zinnemann (High Noon). Gordon MacRae brings his sterling voice to the role of cowboy Curly and Shirley Jones plays Laurie, the object of his affection. The Rodgers and Hammerstein score includes "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top", "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "People Will Say We're in Love", and Agnes DeMille provides the buoyant choreography. Among the supporting cast, Gloria Grahame is memorable as Ado Annie, the "girl who cain't say no", and Rod Steiger overdoes it as the villainous Jud. --Tom Keogh
Rodgers and Hammerstein's charming and vigorous tale of romance and adventure set in the Wild West. Songs include 'People Will Say We're In Love' 'Oh What A Beautiful Morning' and the title song 'Oklahoma!'
A Man and His Music is part of a series of Sinatra DVDs assembled by Warner Music Vision. It's a fine idea, and would have been finer still if someone had roused themselves to make a bit more of an effort with the packaging. As it is, it is possible to deduce that the performances here were recorded for television in 1965, and involve the orchestras of Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins, but beyond that, we're on our own. That minor quibble aside, there is no serious reason why every man, woman and child alive should not want to own this. A Man and His Music focuses on the upbeat lounge-lizard portion of Sinatra's incomparable oeuvre, showing him snapping his fingers through a series of impeccable songs ("I've Got You Under My Skin", "I Get a Kick Out of You", "The Lady is a Tramp", among others) in a series of impeccable suits. On the DVD: Those responsible for A Man and His Music are clearly of the (not unreasonable) belief that Sinatra doesn't require garnish: the only special features are a menu for selecting individual songs, a catalogue of other DVDs in the Sinatra series and, last and most certainly least, an enragingly superfluous trailer for the DVD you've already bought. The pictures are in 4:3 format, and subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian are available.--Andrew Mueller
Rodgers and Hammerstein's charming and vigorous tale of romance and adventure set in the Wild West. Songs include 'People Will Say We're In Love' 'Oh What A Beautiful Morning' and the title song 'Oklahoma!'
Part of the gritty, punk-inspired wave of US independent cinema of the early 1980s, Out of the Blue is a bleak, harrowing drama. Essentially the vision of actor and director Dennis Hopper, the film finds the man behind the sepia-tinged soul searching of Easy Rider at a far lower ebb, in terms of the tone of the film and his own character, Donny. The undoubted star of the movie, however, is Linda Manz, who plays the troubled 15-year-old CB, a troubled teenage girl on the brink of adulthood. Waiting for Donny to return from a jail sentence for manslaughter, CB is living with her drug-addicted mother and seeking solace in the Sex Pistols and Elvis Presley. The events that unfold on Donny's return are often unbearably grim (the final scenes are practically unwatchable) but produce a movie that is worthy of its hallowed status. Hopper in particular is an uncomfortable sight, made all the more unsettling by the knowledge that it is hard to tell where his character ends and he begins. It's hard work, but more than worth the effort. On the DVD: for its first release on DVD much effort has been made to give Out of the Blue the treatment it deserves. The enhanced visuals are excellent, focusing on Hopper's inspired direction. The audio soundtrack is available in Dolby Digital sound, particularly effective on the recurring use of Neil Young's fragile "Hey, Hey, My, My (Out of the Blue)", the song which gave the movie its title. Hopper's audio commentary is fascinating and reflects his dedication to the project, a film that he practically rewrote on set after stepping in to replace the original director. The movie's place in both Hopper's career and alongside works such as Repo Man and Driller Killer is also examined in an excellent 12-page booklet. --Phil Udell
"Dear Wendy" is a story about a young loner who finds a small handgun.
In this light comedy Rogers plays an attorney who marries then divorces a rugged cowboy. When he gets into trouble with the law she feels compelled to defend him. Naturally he turns out to be not so tough after all.
Together: 1975 Sweden. Tired of her abusive husband Elisabeth packs her bags and moves with her children to her brother's commune 'Together'. As a fairly ordinary housewife from the suburbs the commune's freewheeling attitudes towards sex and politics will open Elisabeth's eyes and change her family's life forever. Together is a film about people trying to live together. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It's about love and divorce and happiness and unhappiness and children and adults and ABBA and sex and football. (Dir. Lukas Moodysson Swedish 2000) Dear Wendy: One shot is all it takes..... Dick a loner living in a poor US mining town happens upon a small antique handgun and finds himself strangely drawn to it. He convinces other young outcasts to join him in a secret club he calls 'The Dandies'. It's a club based on the conflicting ideals of pacifism and guns; with the most important rule: 'never draw your weapon'. But they soon find themselves in a predicament where they realise that rules are made to be broken... (Dir. Thomas Vinterberg 2005) Vodka Lemon: In the tiny Kurdish village of Caucasus lives widowed army veteran Hamo. A few precious comforts - an old armoire an archaic television set his old uniform and a seven dollar monthly pension - keep him company until some long-awaited correspondence (and more pressingly money) reaches his remote village from his son who has begun a new life in Paris. Each day Hamo wakes to the rabble of eccentric villagers before making the long bus journey through the snow to an isolated cemetary and the grave of his beloved wife. Each day he brushes the fresh snow from her grave. Each day he spies on Nina an attractive widow taking a few contemplative hours out from her lowly job on a roadside lemon vodka stall. With the sporadic letters from his son yielding little in the way of comfort or money Hamo's thoughts turn to his burgeoning friendship with the beguiling Nina on the silent empty bus journey from the village to the cemetary and back... The multi-award winning 'Vodka Lemon' a surreal love story in the style of independent icons Aki Kaurismaki and Emir Kustrica is a captivating tale of quiet simple pleasures and the effect they have on the delightful town and its vibrant inhabitants. Official selection of the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival and winner of the San Marco prize at the 2004 Venice International Film Festival. (Dir. Hiner Saleem 2003)
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