DVD Review: Tyson: Mike Tyson, James Toback: Movies & TV

Posted by admin  |  on 19 August, 02:21 AM
DVD  |

DVD Review: Tyson: Mike Tyson, James Toback: Movies & TVDVD Review:  Tyson: Mike Tyson, James Toback: Movies & TV 200981910171295377801

Amazon.com
In his younger days, the former heavyweight champ liked to say, “No one really knows Mike Tyson.” Director James Toback, who befriended him while making 1999’s Black and White, allows Tyson to speak for himself as he illustrates his words through archival footage and fight clips, culminating in a subjective portrait that begins in empathy before ending somewhere more enigmatic. Neglected as a child, the Brooklyn-born youth took solace in his pigeons–much like Marlon Brando’s boxer in On the Waterfront–before turning to stealing and brawling in his teens until legendary trainer Cus D’Amato spotted his talent and helped him to develop the discipline and self-confidence he lacked. Tyson fought many of his most famous bouts after D’Amatos death, but never quite recovered from the loss. Toback tracks the fighter’s rise in the 1980s, followed by his fall in the ’90s and ‘00s: the turbulent marriage to actress Robin Givens, the infamous ear-biting incident, and the notorious rape conviction (about which he maintains his innocence). The filmmaker captures his now-retired subject in a reflective mood, and Tyson comes across as considerably more humble and eloquent than his reputation suggests–he describes boxing impresario Don King as “wretched, reptilian, and slimy” and has a special fondness for the word “skullduggery”–but continues to battle loneliness and feelings of abandonment, even fighting back a few tears at times. Tyson may disappoint those looking for the trash-talking pugilist of old, but Toback proves there’s more to Iron Mike than meets the eye. –Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from Tyson (Click for larger image)

DVD Review:  Tyson: Mike Tyson, James Toback: Movies & TV 200981910171267177801

DVD Review:  Tyson: Mike Tyson, James Toback: Movies & TV 200981910171271877802
DVD Review:  Tyson: Mike Tyson, James Toback: Movies & TV 200981910171276577803

DVD Review:  Tyson: Mike Tyson, James Toback: Movies & TV 200981910171281277804

DVD Review:  Tyson: Mike Tyson, James Toback: Movies & TV 200981910171285977805
DVD Review:  Tyson: Mike Tyson, James Toback: Movies & TV 200981910171290677806

Amazing!,

By Sean Mercutio (Brooklyn, NY USA) -

This review is from: Tyson [Theatrical Release] (Theatrical Release)

I was fortunate to attend an early screening of this film. This movie is incredible. If you ever had any opinion of Mike Tyson, this movie will change it- good or bad. He talks about every single aspect of his life and there is nothing from his amazing or disturbing past that goes untouched…

The Tragedy of Mike Tyson,

By R. Sohi -

  

This review is from: Tyson [Theatrical Release] (Theatrical Release)

James Toback, the director of “Tyson,” has commented in interviews promoting this film that he sees Mike Tyson as “a classically tragic figure.” The story, as presented here, of how he transformed himself from a lispy voiced overweight kid, who was regularly bullied while growing up in one of the toughest neighbourhoods in America, to a fighter, who at his peak was among the most dominant heavyweight champions ever, to the middle-aged man shown as he is today, his face wrinkled and his belly soft, his fortunes squandered, and his sense of self publicly shamed innumerable times for various outrageous acts both in and out of the ring, is a tragedy in it’s truest sense.

Toback has been friends with the former heavyweight champion for several years and it shows as Tyson unguardedly reveals to the camera the damaged contradictive person that exists behind the popular image of his being merely some kind of brutal animal. Other than the numerous segments of archival television footage showing Tyson in the ring, in interviews or being followed in public, Toback’s documentary zeroes in on its subject and leaves Tyson the only person to appear on screen, his voice the only one that is heard. Sometimes he is shown in split screen with snippets of his monologue looped to repeat or overlapped to form a sound collage, presumably to evoke the confusion in his obviously tortured mind, as he recounts the various losses he has suffered, the way he sees the scales of justice always balanced against him. The result is claustrophobic.

Like any tragedy this is not an easy story to watch. At times it feels like you are looking at the wreckage from a violent road accident: once you start looking at it you want to look away but can’t. Anne Carson suggests in her preface to Euripedes’ classical Greek tragedy, “Herakles” (a play those who are interested in Tyson should read), that watching stories of other people who are lost in their grief and rage is beneficial for us. It helps to cleanse us of our darkness. If you believe that, you owe it to yourself to seek out this film.

Well done and what I was hoping for,

By WDB (Vancouver, WA) -

This review is from: Tyson [Theatrical Release] (Theatrical Release)

I’ve seen tons of shows on Mike Tyson and am actually a big Tyson fan and I was hoping that this film would pay justice to such an intriguing story. This film is very well done and captures all of what is Mike Tyson and in many ways that Mike Tyson documentaries in the past have failed to do. While there is plenty of great footage of all of his fights and knockouts, training and of archive footage outside the ring too, a lot of the film is of Mike himself telling his story beginning from the time of his youth.

You can tell that Mike must have been very comfortable with the film makers because his story is told in such a raw and emotional fashion. It seems like it must have been just a “very good day” for him to tell his story so well. Humble and honest, Mike guides us through the different periods and events of his life and gives vivid and raw insights into his thoughts and feelings about them and about how he was feeling at the time.

It really was a very interesting story and my wife who previously didn’t like him at all and every time there was something about Mike Tyson on tv she would always say “There’s that big jerk, what a low life. Turn this off!” was just fascinated by the film and you could tell that she really started to like Tyson after she got the chance to see what he was actually like and not as just the circus act that the media portrays him as sometimes.

Like I said, the film is also really well done which is so important to the entertainment value of any documentary or film for that matter whereas no matter how interesting the story, if the film is done poorly it’s really not that fun to watch. This film is highly recommended whether you’re a Tyson fan or not.
Search Tyson: Mike Tyson, James Toback: Movies & TV from AmAzon

[asa]B001UV4XBA[/asa]

Tags: ,

Related posts

DVD Review: The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary Edition: Lance Guest, Catherine Mary Stewart, Ed Berke, Al Berry, Ellen Blake, Geoffrey Blake, Barbara Bosson, Owen Bush, Maggie Cooper, Cameron Dye, Chris Hebert, Kay Kuter, Britt Leach, John Maio, George McDaniel, Charlene Nelson, Dan O’Herlihy, John O’Leary, Peggy Pope, King Baggot, Craig Safan: Movies & TV

Posted by admin  |  on 19 August, 01:51 AM
DVD  |

DVD Review: The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary Edition: Lance Guest, Catherine Mary Stewart, Ed Berke, Al Berry, Ellen Blake, Geoffrey Blake, Barbara Bosson, Owen Bush, Maggie Cooper, Cameron Dye, Chris Hebert, Kay Kuter, Britt Leach, John Maio, George McDaniel, Charlene Nelson, Dan O’Herlihy, John O’Leary, Peggy Pope, King Baggot, Craig Safan: Movies & TVDVD Review:  The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary Edition: Lance Guest, Catherine Mary Stewart, Ed Berke, Al Berry, Ellen Blake, Geoffrey Blake, Barbara Bosson, Owen Bush, Maggie Cooper, Cameron Dye, Chris Hebert, Kay Kuter, Britt Leach, John Maio, George McDaniel, Charlene Nelson, Dan OHerlihy, John OLeary, Peggy Pope, King Baggot, Craig Safan: Movies & TV 200981910161715677801

Product Description
“Greetings, Starfighter! You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Kodan Armada.” So begins an adventure of galactic proportions in The Last Starfighter. After Earthling Alex (Lance Guest) conquers the Starfighter video game, he is recruited by alien Centauri (Robert Preston) to be part of an elite legion of fighters. Leaving behind his trailer park home for the outer regions of space, Alex becomes the last hope for the beleaguered Star League and hundreds of worlds – including Earth. Loaded with out-of-this-world bonus features and digitally remastered for optimum picture quality, The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary Edition is the ultimate video game fantasy come true!

80’s CGI Fun,

By SRFireside “ZOOM!” (Houston, TX United States) -
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)
  

The Last Starfighter is essentially a space opera hinged on the fantasy that video game skills will save the day. Obviously this movie was made for the young teen crowd (essentially 13 yr old boys with Ataris/ Intelivisions/ColecoVisions/etc) and has its share of action and comedy that, like most space operas in the 80’s, has more than one similarity to Star Wars (but then again Star Wars was a homage to the classic space operas of the golden age of television). So it’s not high caliber sci-fi, but it’s not B-movie fodder either.

The story is pretty simple: Evil leader of evil aliens wants to attack good aliens, so in walks a single hero who is the last hope for freedom. That’s about it. The movie doesn’t deviate too far from this premise other than to further flesh out the fish-out-of-water scenario of an 80’s Earthling thrust into space (as well as a little fun with an alien in 80’s Earth) as well as the inner battle of said Earthling to stay and fight for a Star League he doesn’t know or stay home and go to community college. A serviceable story, if not deep.

The acting does make the simple story enjoyable to watch. Lance Guest seems to have fun with the role, which works for the character. Biggest props go to esteemed Robert Preston’s Centauri, who plays the role with the style of a magician and the charisma P.T. Barnum. Another esteemed actor, Dan O’Herlihy, does a surprisingly good performance. Especially when you consider he is wearing full prosthetics with less facial mobility than the costumes from the original Planet of the Apes. Yeah there is a bit of theatrical “drama”, but that works with the whole space opera motif.

Special effects are a benchmark here because this is the first film to incorporate live action elements to computer generated animation. The CGA is pretty barbaric by today’s standards and even back then was noticeable. The biggest glare in this are the scenes flying in around asteroids, which look pretty “plastic” CG-wise. However the CG ships looked awesome and you can’t beat the camera angles and fly-byes that computer animation affords. Plus back then this was pretty state of the art.

Not a lot of details have come out regarding The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary DVD, but this is what I found out so far:

- Digitally remastered video (finally!) so it should be MUCH cleaner than the first DVD release. Anamorphic wide screen.

- It will have the same commentary with director Nick Castle and production designer Ron Cobb as in the first DVD release.

- It will have the documentary Crossing the Frontier: Making The Last Starfighter. This also was on the previous DVD release and as far as 30 minute featurettes are concerned it covers all the bases well.

- A new featurette, Heroes of the Screen, will be included. Will post more information when I found out.

- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround in English and subtitled in English (SDH), Spanish and French.

- Theatrical and teaser trailer.

- Image gallery is likely, but not confirmed to be the same as the original release. This includes images from an alternate ending.

Now they are releasing a Blu-Ray version too and as far as features are concerned will be identical to the DVD release. The differences are of course 1080p high def picture, 5.1 DTS-HD audio and BD-Live.

This movie is definitely a time capsule for 80’s science fiction. If you like that sort of charm then by all means pick this one up. If you already have the original DVD you may still want to grab this for the remastered picture surround sound more than just to have the one new featurette.

Best Ever,

By Nostalgic Nancy -

The best motivational movie that kids don’t know is motivational. Fun for kids and adults alike. Teaches everyone that you can do anything if you just stick to it. One of the best movies of its time - EVER. I ordered regular edition in June for my grands and this one for my husband and me!
Search The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary Edition: Lance Guest, Catherine Mary Stewart, Ed Berke, Al Berry, Ellen Blake, Geoffrey Blake, Barbara Bosson, Owen Bush, Maggie Cooper, Cameron Dye, Chris Hebert, Kay Kuter, Britt Leach, John Maio, George McDaniel, Charlene Nelson, Dan O’Herlihy, John O’Leary, Peggy Pope, King Baggot, Craig Safan: Movies & TV from AmAzon

[asa]B0024FADAQ[/asa]

Tags: , , , ,

Related posts

DVD Review: Pete’s Dragon (High-Flying Edition): Jim Backus, Walter Barnes, Calvin Bartlett, Red Buttons, Charlie Callas, Al Checco, Jack Collins, Jim Dale, Robert Easton, Robert Foulk, Jane Kean, Sean Marshall, Gary Morgan, Roger Price, Joe E. Ross, Henry Slate, Charles Tyner, Shelley Winters, Ben Wrigley, Jeff Conaway, Frank Phillips, Joel Hirschhorn: Movies & TV

Posted by admin  |  on 19 August, 01:41 AM
DVD  |

DVD Review: Pete’s Dragon (High-Flying Edition): Jim Backus, Walter Barnes, Calvin Bartlett, Red Buttons, Charlie Callas, Al Checco, Jack Collins, Jim Dale, Robert Easton, Robert Foulk, Jane Kean, Sean Marshall, Gary Morgan, Roger Price, Joe E. Ross, Henry Slate, Charles Tyner, Shelley Winters, Ben Wrigley, Jeff Conaway, Frank Phillips, Joel Hirschhorn: Movies & TVDVD Review:  Petes Dragon (High Flying Edition): Jim Backus, Walter Barnes, Calvin Bartlett, Red Buttons, Charlie Callas, Al Checco, Jack Collins, Jim Dale, Robert Easton, Robert Foulk, Jane Kean, Sean Marshall, Gary Morgan, Roger Price, Joe E. Ross, Henry Slate, Charles Tyner, Shelley Winters, Ben Wrigley, Jeff Conaway, Frank Phillips, Joel Hirschhorn: Movies & TV 200981910155751577801Charming & Heartwarming Film; excellent extras!,

By Dave “Davelandweb” (San Diego, CA) -
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)
  

“Pete’s Dragon” (1977) has become a somewhat forgotten Disney movie that was originally inspired by the success of Mary Poppins (45th Anniversary Special Edition) as a live-action/animation musical. The story finally got the green-light in 1975; songs were by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, and an all-star cast was assembled: singer Helen Reddy in her first film role, Broadway’s Jim Dale, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons, Jim Backus, and Mickey Rooney. Sean Marshall, in his first acting job, portrayed the title character of Pete.

Pete is a young orphan who has escaped the abusive family that adopted him: a dirty bunch of hillbillies known as The Gogans (Jeff Conaway, Kenickie from Grease (Rockin’ Rydell Edition) [Blu-ray] plays one of The Gogans). They adopted Pete to use him as a slave. Elliott, a large green dragon who can become invisible at will, helps Pete escape, and acts as his friend and protector. Pete ends up in the small village of Passamaquoddy, where he is taken in by kindly Nora (Reddy) and her father Lampie (Rooney). The two own the lighthouse in town, where Nora waits for her boyfriend Paul to return, even though he was lost at sea years before. The Gogans find Pete and attempt to steal him back, with the aid of Doc Terminus (Dale), a medicine showman, and his shill, Hoagy (Buttons). Although fairly predictable, it is a heartwarming story with an excellent cast and music that is light and breezy. Definitely good fare for the young!

Nominated for Best Original Score and Best Original Song (”Candle in the Water”), pleasantly sung by Reddy.

When watching today, the animation looks a little antiquated, as digital animation and the ability to combine live-action with cartoons has obviously improved since 1977. Still, with the limitations of the day, what the Disney team was able to create is still quite impressive. The entire town of Passamaquoddy was built on the Disney backlot, with a functioning lighthouse built above Morro Bay, California. The US Coast Guard had to give permission to Disney to actually light it so as not to confuse real ships in the water. Disney’s Golden Oak Ranch in Santa Clarita was also used for a number of outdoor shots.

SPECS:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound * Widescreen (1.66:1)–Enhanced for 16×9 TVs. This was the first Disney film recorded in the Dolby Stereo sound system. The clarity and color of the image of the DVD are excellent; sound is good too, but nothing that will really blow your speakers away. Running time of approximately 129 minutes, which is just about 5 minutes short of the original roadshow version.

BONUS FEATURES:

Sneak Peeks: Snow White on Blu-ray, The Prince & The Frog (theatrical), Disney Blu-ray, Hannah Montana the Movie, Up, D23, Earth, and Tinkerbell: The Lost Treasure.

Brazzle Dazzle Effects (25:23): Narrated by Sean Marshall (Pete) who is heard present day, but never seen! Sean takes us on a journey telling the history of live-action/animation in Disney films, beginning the Alice Comedies. Virginia Davis (Alice) recalls pantomiming to invisible animals. “Children love to pretend. I loved to pretend, too.” Disney thought that by putting a live girl in an animated setting he could get a leg-up on the competition. Ub Iwerks joined the Disney team early, left, and then returned in the 1940’s. Many of the special effect processes that have made Disney film magic possible were a result of his genius. “The Three Caballeros” was a milestone in 1945 in combining color live-action film with animation. Using rear-screen projection and special process-lab effects, Iwerks helped the film accomplish many things never seen before. The real jump came in 1959 with “Ten Who Dared,” a film that used the Sodium Vapor Process Screen. Using yellow lights/filters, filmmakers were able to block out backgrounds that made it easier to combine the animation. Without this process, “The Parent Trap” and “Mary Poppins” would never have been possible. Marshall recalls filming “Pete’s Dragon” in the summer of 1976. He loved the entire process: special effects, acting, dancing, makeup. “The only thing I didn’t like was the fame!” He recalls Red Buttons and Mickey Rooney attempting to upstage each other, and how choreographer Onna White’s instruction helped prepare him to be a college pole-vaulter. In this featurette, you will see the original live-action film and learn how it was combined with the animation. Very interesting to watch documentary.

Deleted Storyboard Sequence: “Terminus & Hoagy Hunt Elliott” (2:25)–Nothing really missed here!

Original Song Concept: “Boo Bop BopBop Bop (I Love You Too)” (2:35): Very pop-sounding; almost a little out of place. Not missed from the storyline, it featured both Pete & Elliott.

Original Demo Recordings (all from February 11, 1976):

Brazzle Dazzle Day: Alternate song, first attempt. The song was liked by re-written.

Every Little Piece: Alternate melody. Thought to be too somber, the lyrics were kept, but the melody was rewritten.

The Greatest Star of All: Deleted song for a deleted character. Artist Ken Anderson thought 2 villains were not needed, so both song and character were cut.

Promotional Record:

Pop versions of songs from the movie released on a 7″ Vista record are presented here: It’s Not Easy, Brazzle Dazzle Day, There’s Room For Everyone, Candle on the Water.

Art Galleries: Concept Art, Behind-the-scenes, and publicity galleries. Varying quality, but still very cool to see, especially the behind-the-scenes shots.

Trailers: International & Theatrical Trailers

“About Pete’s Dragon”: 5 screens with production notes about the movie.

“Disney Family Album” (excerpt, 2:20): About artist Ken Anderson. He describes how he based Elliott on Wallace Beery - large, bumbling, but loveable. He also is seen at the Disney ranch, which he describes as his Laughing Place.

“The Plausible Impossible” (excerpt, 3:36): From the Disneyland TV show, October 31, 1956. Shows the Disney Art of Animation book, with chapter 5 about the Plausible Impossible–using animation to make the unreal look real. Clips from Fantasia shown.

“Lighthouse Keeping” (1956, 6:45): Donald Duck cartoon

Includes a game for the very young, where you must find Elliott.

Overall, a really great DVD with enjoyable extras.

Song demos and groovy “pop versions” alone are worth the new edition,

By Gregory Ehrbar “mousetracksonline.com” (Orlando, FL) -

  

“I was the number one star of Hollywood back in 1940…and I worked alongside someone who would become a close friend and a great star. Her name was Frances Gumm. You know her as…Judy Garland.”

Surely during the production of PETE’S DRAGON, the great Mickey Rooney shared these facts with young Sean Marshall, who — as an offscreen adult — narrates a new documentary about the 1977 Disney musical fantasy on the new “High-Flying Edition.”

The new doc makes it easier to understand that sodium screen process so often used in Disney films of the period — a kind of yellow light behind the subject that somehow vanishes and allows two images to be combined. Maybe that yellow sheen is the reason that you could always spot a seam along the two separate images — a problem solved by today’s digital technology.

When PETE’S DRAGON premiered in 1977, I was extremely excited that a MARY POPPINS/BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS-type Disney movie was arriving. I listened to the various records over and over. I even was fortunate enough to see Wally Boag himself appearing at the Lakes Mall in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, in which the “Every Little Piece” sequence was recreated with an Elliott puppet that popped out of the box.

I loved the movie, though probably not as much as MP or B&B. It’s very much like the other frothy Disney comedies of the period, only an hour longer and with songs. I would have preferred something with just a tad more gravity, though not as dark as today’s movie fantasies.

That said, it’s still very entertaining and captures a period when the Disney studio had a backlot and you could smile at the sight of familiar faces like Jane Kean and Jim Backus. The score deserves better appreciation that it has received in recent years.

The idea of an animated Elliott cavorting with humans was not miraculous even in 1977, since Tony the Tiger and friends did it frequently on TV). It of course reached the next level with ROGER RABBIT. Thanks to outstanding animation, Elliott’s soars beyond a mere gimmick.

A couple of trivia gems: the screenwriter, Malcolm Marmorstein, was one of the writers for TV’s DARK SHADOWS and, if you’re a fan of the TV classic THE PRISONER, many of its episodes were directed by PETE’S DRAGON director Don Chaffey.

The new DVD, while not including an audio commentary, does improve on the previous edition in a major way — at least to a Disney music buff like me. There are a selection of demo recordings and a handful of Kids of the Kingdom-style “pop versions” of the songs I had not heard before. “Brazzle Dazzle Day” had a different melody with mostly different lyrics. “Every Little Piece” had the same lyrics with an “If I Were a Rich Man”-like melody. “It’s Not Easy” had alternate lyrics that transformed it into a romantic love song. And there’s even a deleted song called “The Greatest Star of All,” clearly intended for Jim Dale’s character, Terminus. These alone make the new DVD worth getting.

The extras from the previous edition are all still there except the 25-minute 1973 live-action/animated documentary MAN, MONSTERS & MYSTERIES, narrated by Sebastian Cabot with Sterling Holloway voicing the Loch Ness Monster (aka “Nessie”).

Before Barney, there was Elliot,

By Christian McCallister “dr dolphin” (The waters of the Great Lakes) -
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)
  

  

Pete is an orphan living in the hills with a bunch of crude people who treat him poorly. He does have one ally, though: Elliot. Who is Elliot? Why, he is Pete’s dragon, of course.

This Disney production, from 1977, blends live action and animation. Actually, all of the movie is live action, except for Elliot. The movie begins with Pete, played by Sean Marshall, running from his adoptive family, the Gogans, with their matriarch played by Shelley Winters. Elliot helps him escape, and the duo moves along to the Maine fishing town of Passamaquoddy. As Elliot can be invisible whenever he so chooses, and as he usually reveals himself only to Pete, the two inadvertently cause a bit of a ruckus. One man, Lampey, does see Elliot once. Lampey, portrayed by Mickey Rooney, is the keeper of the lighthouse, and has been known to have a drink or four now and then. Thus, no one believes he saw a dragon.

As Pete begins to fit in with the town, with Lampey and his daughter Nora (Helen Reddy) taking him into their home, and Elliot living in a cave on the seashore, things keep happening to interfere. Some of the problems occur because of Lampey’s drinking, some because of Elliot’s habit of occasionally revealing himself to others, and some because of Dr. Terminus (Jim Dale), a traveling snake-oil salesman and charlatan, who wants to obtain Elliot, chop him up, and get rich off the resulting medicines he can concoct. Oh, and the Gogans show up, too, to claim Pete.

By the way, did I mention that this movie is a musical? I had not seen the movie before now, and I was not expecting that. Most of the songs are silly, cheerful, happy songs that children will enjoy. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Nora, whose love is missing at sea, climbs up the lighthouse and sings to the sea a beautiful, somewhat haunting song, (I’ll Be Your) Candle on the Water. This song was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost out to You Light Up My Life. Personally, I prefer Candle on the Water. It’s appearance in the movie startled me. I had heard it before, and always liked it, but never knew from whence it came. For me, when this song occurs in the movie, it has a moment of magic, akin to the song Hallelujah in Shrek.

Sean Marshall has to carry a lot of screen-time in this movie and, while I cannot say he was great, he certainly did okay. Mickey Rooney is hyper and silly and likeable as Lampey. Helen Reddy is fine as Nora. Shelley Winters is good, albeit almost unrecognizable as the grimy, grubby Lena Gogan. Jim Dale does Dr. Terminus perfectly, as the epitome of sleazy hucksterism. Red Button is his sidekick, who is prone to drink a bit.

There are several things about this movie that I saw as less than optimum. One has to do with Elliot’s voice, done by comedian Charlie Callas. Is he actually saying words? Most of the time, it just sounds like gibberish, but then I catch a word here and there. I guess I like things more cut-and-dry: have him speak comprehensibly or only make animal noises. The in-between annoyed me. It’s a minor point, but there it is.

When the movie starts, Pete tries very hard to keep Elliot a secret. Later, he matter-of-factly tells Lampey and Nora all about Elliot. He had not known them very long at that point. This is another minor issue that annoyed me.

I am more concerned about the fact that there is quite a bit of drinking in this movie, and it is portrayed humorously. I know this is partly a function of times changing, but it is being re-released. If this were not a movie clearly aimed at young children, I would not be worried, but it is a children’s movie.

The weakest part of this movie is the animation, which is a surprise coming from Disney. Elliot is a completely flat character, in appearance, with minimal shading. He is mostly green, with some purple. His movements are fluid but unsophisticated, and reminded me of a Saturday morning cartoon, although many of them have more elaborate animation. Perhaps I have been spoiled by the wondrous animation we see nowadays, in movies like Shrek (Full Screen Single Disc Edition), Ratatouille, and Wall-E (Single-Disc Edition).

In the end, this is a cheerful, upbeat movie, with many pleasant songs, that is aimed at children. And then, there is a moment of movie magic, when Helen Reddy does what she does so well, with Candle on the Water.

– Chris McCallister, author of Coming Full Circle

P.S.: I received the DVD from Disney in exchange for an objective review.
Search Pete’s Dragon (High-Flying Edition): Jim Backus, Walter Barnes, Calvin Bartlett, Red Buttons, Charlie Callas, Al Checco, Jack Collins, Jim Dale, Robert Easton, Robert Foulk, Jane Kean, Sean Marshall, Gary Morgan, Roger Price, Joe E. Ross, Henry Slate, Charles Tyner, Shelley Winters, Ben Wrigley, Jeff Conaway, Frank Phillips, Joel Hirschhorn: Movies & TV from AmAzon

[asa]B002BIGCXS[/asa]

Tags: , , , ,

Related posts

DVD Review: Jesus in India: Paul Davids, Brian Thomas Lambert, Anil Urmil: Movies & TV

Posted by admin  |  on 16 August, 06:40 AM
DVD  |

DVD Review: Jesus in India: Paul Davids, Brian Thomas Lambert, Anil Urmil: Movies & TVDVD Review:  Jesus in India: Paul Davids, Brian Thomas Lambert, Anil Urmil: Movies & TV 200981610263525077801

Product Description
A seeker’s quest across 4000 miles of India in search of answers about where Jesus was during the “Hidden Years” from ages 12 to 30. The New Testament is silent on those years, however in India there is an ancient tradition that young Jesus joined a caravan and took the Silk Road to the East, where He lived with both Hindus and Buddhists before returning to begin His ministry. Scholars and religious authorities are joined in this film by the Dalai Lama and an Apostolic Nuncio of Pope John Paul II.

The adventure of a life time!,

By A. Khan (New Malden, Surrey United Kingdom) -

  

This is a must see for anyone interested in the historical Jesus. The idea at first seems far fetched - Jesus in India? Yet, as we look in to the legends and traditions we find out that it is accepted by most people, including the Catholic Church, that one of Jesus’ disciples - Thomas - founded a Church in India - so could Jesus have gone there?

The documentary leaves no stone unturned. The film makers talk to Catholic professors, Biblical scholar Elaine Pagels, the esteemed Hindu leader the Shankaracharya of Puri, a Muslim scholar, the Dali Lama. One of the most colourful characters is Corrado Balducci from the Vatican who flatly denies all the claims about Jesus in India and claims they are fabrications. A very interesting section of the film contrasts his comments with the Shankarcharya who insists Jesus was India during his youth.

The film is a visual and audio treat - the rich colours of India combined with a wonderful musical soundtrack - so rich that its been released as a 40+ track CD.

The DVD comes with a ton of bonus material - which allows viewer to dig deeper in to some of the questions and issues surrounding this material. One interesting inclusion in the bonus feature is the Q&A session that took place after a screening of the film with questions from the audience put to a panel of those involved in the film.

A wonderful adventure and a thought provoking journey - get your copy ASAP!

Interesting and Unbiased,

By The Bodhiman “The Bodhiman” (USA) -

Although a familiar assertion and the subject of a number of books, never has the question been more thoroghly and without bias been reported on before, at least not to my knowledge. If you are at all interested in the facts about the possibility of Jesus having been in India learning about Buddhism and other insights to life, this DVD does a more than admirable job in presenting the facts in both an enjoyable and informative way. I’m a teacher of Buddhism and I am showing it to my classes of students, who are Christians, Jews and Muslims. I recommend Jesus in India.

This is a fascinating DVD for both religious and non-religious viewers,

By Anne Strieber -

  

We interviewed this filmmaker about “Jesus in India” on our internet radio show and it was listened to by people with a wide range of religious beliefs and they all found it fascinating. It doesn’t TELL you what to think, it just offers information so that YOU can make up your own mind. I think that only the most close-minded people would reject it (and I wonder if they really saw it or just object to the title?)–Anne Strieber, [...]
Search Jesus in India: Paul Davids, Brian Thomas Lambert, Anil Urmil: Movies & TV from AmAzon

[asa]B001PLIGFO[/asa]

Tags: ,

Related posts

DVD Review: St. Elmo’s Fire [Blu-ray]: Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham, Martin Balsam, Andie MacDowell, Joyce Van Patten, Jenny Wright, Blake Clark, Jon Cutler, Matthew Laurance, Gina Hecht: Movies & TV

Posted by admin  |  on 16 August, 05:40 AM
DVD  |

DVD Review: St. Elmo’s Fire [Blu-ray]: Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham, Martin Balsam, Andie MacDowell, Joyce Van Patten, Jenny Wright, Blake Clark, Jon Cutler, Matthew Laurance, Gina Hecht: Movies & TVDVD Review:  St. Elmos Fire [Blu ray]: Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham, Martin Balsam, Andie MacDowell, Joyce Van Patten, Jenny Wright, Blake Clark, Jon Cutler, Matthew Laurance, Gina Hecht: Movies & TV 200981610244981277801

Amazon.com
A collective vanity piece for the so-called Brat Pack of the 1980s, this coming-of-age movie–written and directed by Joel Schumacher (A Time to Kill)–is a largely unbelievable ensemble piece about college grads having trouble getting a lift-off into adulthood. As in John Hughes’s Breakfast Club–which has a lot of casting overlap with this film–each actor plays a rather narrow type with problems common to his or her classification. Some (as with Rob Lowe’s seemingly doomstruck character) are more absurd than others. But absurdity isn’t the issue in this movie; a general sense of indulgence is. Schumacher not only presumes an undeserved mystique about this cast, but he also exploits it and comes up empty. –Tom Keogh

One of the reasons the 80s was…the 80s.,

By Escapay The First (New Jersey) -

This review is from: St. Elmo’s Fire (DVD)

A forerunner to Friends and a Brat Pack movie with the most…Brat Packers, St. Elmo’s Fire was a romantic comedy that bowed out to theatres in 1985. Seven of the eight stars were in the enviable “Brat Pack” group, young and precocious actors and actresses that were considered the best of the best of their generation. While St. Elmo’s Fire is often considered a mellow and almost overblown teen romcom by the starchiest of critics, it’s a favorite of many 1980s film lovers.

Summary in 13 words:

Seven college graduates try and struggle with real life, some succeed, some don’t.

DVD Details
2.35 Anamorphic Widescreen
5.1 Dolby Digital Surround (English),
2.0 Dolby Surround (Director’s Commentary)
English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai, Korean Subtitles
Release Date: 1999
Single-Sided Single-Layered Disc
Suggested Retail Price: $14.99
Black Amaray Keepcase

Video and Audio

The video is remarkably clean. The film was issued in the early years of DVD, when most transfers looked more like cable TV quality, but the video here is exceptional. Presented in its original widescreen is always a good thing, and the print quality is great. The colors are vibrant and accurate, and there’s little to no grain or dust. One minor complaint would be the main titles, in its unsettling red font, but other than that, the video is great.

Audio is offered in English, but the subtitles are in so many languages that if you wanted, you could learn Chinese by reading the film enough times. It’s pretty balanced in terms of dialogue vs. background noise/music.

Bonus Features

A commentary by Joel Schumacher is one of the many audio tracks given on this disc. He does a pretty good job talking about making the movie, including various tidbits about the actors and the story (which he wrote). The guy’s pretty good with a microphone. If only he could have done a commentary for his film The Phantom of the Opera in 2004.

A faded and dirt-filled 8-minute EPK about the making of the film is also presented, made at the time the film came out. It has quick interviews with the cast and director, with a narrator talking during much of the behind the scenes footage. Is it an exhaustive documentary? No. Is it a useless 8 minutes of your life taken away? No. It’s pretty rewatchable, though a longer more substantial featurette would be welcoming.

“Man in Motion” is the music video that uses the St. Elmo’s Fire theme with lyrics. It’s got a real 80s look to it, and features most of the cast as well as video clips from the film.

There are four trailers: St. Elmo’s Fire, About Last Night, Groundhog Day, and Jerry Maguire. The trailers for St. Elmo’s Fire and About Last Night are not the best video-quality-wise, while Jerry Maguire is not the best movie-quality-wise. Groundhog Day is okay for what it is.

There are also cast/director biographies and filmographies up until 2000.

Closing Thoughts

Perhaps the second best brat pack movie of the 80s (The Breakfast Club, of course, is THE best), St. Elmo’s Fire is a wonderful “coming-of-age…now what?” kind of film that is best enjoyed in the company of your closest friends.

my all-time favorite,

By A Customer

This review is from: St Elmo’s Fire [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Well, let the critics say what they may. I love this movie. I think it’s fabulous.

Quite honestly, I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve seen it; I’ve worn out two videotapes of it, and am making good headway on my third copy.

And why do I love it? I think the messages in it–about love and loyalty, friendship and betrayal, growing up and growing apart–can be applied to every stage of life. The first time I saw it, I was six years old; it was a "Tuesday Night at the Movies" movie…somehow, it related to my life. Fourteen years later, as a junior in college, it still makes sense. I firmly believe that it still will, years down the line. The actors are fabulous, too.

Good for 80’s nostalgia—but not much else,

By Edward P. Trimnell “edwardtrimnell.com” (Cincinnati, OH USA) -

  

  

This review is from: St. Elmo’s Fire (DVD)

St. Elmo’s Fire is a coming-of-age movie that will have a certain nostalgic appeal to anyone who was a teenager or a 20-something in the mid-1980s. It will be of limited interest to anyone else, unless you are excessively interested in the pop culture of that era.

The main characters of St. Elmo’s Fire are seven recent college graduates who are beginning their professional lives. As other reviewers have noted, these people aren’t credible as an ensemble of friends—nor are they particularly believable on their own merits. Somewhere in this mess is a story about the transition from adolescence to adulthood; but the inconsistent characters and disjointed plotlines distract the viewer from the larger themes.

To cite just one example: Emilio Estevez’s character, Kirby, develops a severe infatuation with an older woman. He acts out his obsession in ways that would disturb anyone, even threatening the woman’s roommate at one point. But the woman who is the object of his desires seems to regard these antics as vaguely cute. People were not quite as sensitive about stalking and sexual harassment in the 1980s as they are today; but this behavior would have been over the top even then. No woman would have tolerated this, much less found it endearing.

Demi Moore’s character, Jules, is a compulsive liar who becomes addicted to cocaine. No adequate explanation is ever given for her behavior. Throughout the movie, she moves from one unexplained crisis to the next. Nor does the partial resolution of her conflicts at the end of the movie make any sense.

I watched this DVD with high expectations. I was a teenager in 1985; and I remember that this movie was heavily hyped at the time. But after spending 108 minutes on St. Elmo’s Fire, I could not help thinking that I might have gone another 22 years without this experience—- and been no worse off.
Search St. Elmo’s Fire [Blu-ray]: Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham, Martin Balsam, Andie MacDowell, Joyce Van Patten, Jenny Wright, Blake Clark, Jon Cutler, Matthew Laurance, Gina Hecht: Movies & TV from AmAzon

[asa]B00164GD96[/asa]

Tags: , , ,

Related posts

DVD Review: The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu-ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV

Posted by admin  |  on 16 August, 05:20 AM
DVD  |

DVD Review: The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu-ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TVDVD Review:  The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV 200981610241845377801

Amazon.com

Stills from The Class (Click for larger image)

DVD Review:  The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV 20098161024187877801

DVD Review:  The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV 200981610241812577802
DVD Review:  The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV 200981610241817177803

DVD Review:  The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV 200981610241820377804

DVD Review:  The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV 200981610241825077805
DVD Review:  The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV 200981610241828177806

DVD Review:  The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV 200981610241832877807

DVD Review:  The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV 200981610241837577808
DVD Review:  The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV 200981610241840677809

Product Description
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 08/11/2009 Run time: 130 minutes Rating: Pg13

Cantet’s French Class Has Oscar Potential.,

By G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) -
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)
  

  

  

This review is from: The Class (Entre les murs) [Theatrical Release] (Theatrical Release)

I recently saw this film at The Denver Film Festival. It premiered at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, and has since been nominated for a Spirit Award in the category of Best Foreign Film. Because it was the first French film in 21 years to win the Palme d’Or at the Festival de Cannes in 2008, I’m predicting it will also be nominated for an Oscar, and it should win that Oscar. Directed by Laurent Cantet, and based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Fran鏾is B間audeau, The Class (Entre les murs, which translates as “Between the Walls”) tells the story of Fran鏾is Martin, a teacher in a rowdy, inner-city middle school in Paris, which represents a microcosm of the conflicting cultures and attitudes in contemporary France. Fran鏾is B間audeau stars in the role of the teacher.

Cantet filmed The Class (http://www.sonyclassics.com/theclass/) in a faux documentary style, using multiple improvised shots of real students and real teachers in a multi-ethnic French class in the 20th arrondissment of Paris. Shot almost entirely in a single classroom, much of the film chronicles Fran鏾is’ verbal confrontations with his French, African, Caribbean, Moroccan, Turkish, and Asian students. While he may not be a perfect teacher, Fran鏾is is highly effective in his pedagogic methods, much like Sidney Poitier’s Mark Thackeray character in To Sir, With Love. (The films have much in common.) In one pivotal scene, he uses the word “p閠asse” to describe two of his street-savvy female students (which translates as “skank”), which prompts a classmate, Soulaymane (Franck Keita), to defend them at the risk of being expelled and sent back to Mali. In another pivotal scene, one student tells Fran鏾is at the end of the school year that she has learned nothing and has understood nothing in his class. The Class is a not only a brilliant film, it is a perfect example of why French cinema surpasses nearly everything being produced in Hollywood these days. It plays out as a thought-provoking metaphor of the diverse ethnic mix of 21st-century Paris. Highly recommended.

G. Merritt

The More He Teaches, the Less They Learn,

By Chris Pandolfi (Los Angeles, CA) -
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)
  

This review is from: The Class (Entre les murs) [Theatrical Release] (Theatrical Release)

The first thing director Laurnet Cantet did right when making “The Class (Entre les Murs)” was asking the author of the original novel, Fran鏾is B間audeau, to write the film’s screenplay. He then went a step further and cast B間audeau as the teacher, M. Marin, which is only fitting since his novel is a semi-autobiographical account of his experiences as a literature teacher in a Parisian inner-city middle school. “The Class” is telling a story, yet it often feels as authentic as a documentary, not just because the actors are incredibly convincing, but also because it has been stripped of traditional cinematic embellishments. There are no special effects or elaborate camera tricks. There isn’t even a basic musical score. There are just the actors and the classroom set, and we’re watching the events naturally unfold.

I suspect most Western audiences will respond to this movie, despite the fact that it takes place in France. It tackles issues many students and teachers will find relatable, not the least of which is the sense that bridging the gap between student and teacher is sometimes impossible. Marin starts the semester with the hope that he will connect with his multiracial students, who live in urban areas and come from lower income families. But as time goes on, he slowly realizes that they don’t want to connect with him. I got the sense that neither side was able to see the opposing point of view; Marin has a hard time understanding why his students don’t want to learn, whereas the students have a hard time understanding why Marin wants them to conform.

Take, for example, the fact that one of Marin’s lessons covers sentence structure, which involves highly confusing terms like “imperfect predicate,” or something along those lines. The students take none of this in, but when you stop and think about it, does anyone? In the grand scheme of things, diagramming a sentence hardly seems like a necessary skill … unless, of course, you’re planning on becoming a linguistics professor. It’s not that Marin’s students are stupid–they just don’t see what the point is. Besides, it’s not as if society wants them to be anything more than what they project; it seems that when you’re automatically written off as a bad kid, there’s little point in trying to be something else.

Mind you, none of this is directly stated. This movie is more interested in implications, which is to say that we have no real idea why there’s such a disassociation between the students and the faculty. All we know is that it exists, and neither side knows how to make the other understand where they’re coming from. And then there’s the fact that most of the faculty base disciplinary decisions on statistical facts, and whenever a student faces a behavioral committee, they hear only generic spiels about how he or she isn’t living up to his or her potential. This isn’t quite the way Marin works; he bases disciplinary decisions more on emotion, which ultimately does more to harm his reputation than improve it.

There’s a fascinating sense of camaraderie amongst the students, as if they all share the belief that teachers are the enemy. One of the most troublesome is Souleymane (Franck Kieta), the son of Mali immigrants with a bit of an anger management problem. There are also Esmeralda (Esmeralda Ouertani), who’s of Middle Eastern descent and never feels valued by Marin, and Khoumba (Rachel Regulier), whose attitude seems to have soured since the last semester; just as smart as they are temperamental, both girls seem to know just how to use Marin’s less conservative teaching methods against him. The only distant character is Wei (Wei Huang), the brainy son of Chinese immigrants. We don’t learn much about him, although we suspect that his scholastic achievements are influenced more by duty than by a need to prove himself.

One of the best achievements of “The Class” is making us feel like we know the characters, and this is despite the fact that personal details are mostly kept hidden. We know, for example, that Marin is approachable as a human being, and he gets along just fine with the rest of the faculty, many of who are just as frustrated by their students as he is. But when it comes to being a mentor, something is seriously lacking; he can “teach” in the strictest sense of the word, but that doesn’t mean his students are actually learning anything.

An important metaphor is introduced towards the end of the film, but to describe it would do you a great disservice. Let it suffice to say that the final few shots say volumes about the relationship between students and teachers, or lack thereof. It may not be immediately obvious, but if you pay close attention, I’m sure you will pick up on it. It’s a refreshing approach to the typical Hollywood version of a school drama, where eager but inexperienced teachers are able to reach out to their at-risk students and forever change their lives. This isn’t to say that “The Class” is a French version of school drama; it feels so genuine that genre doesn’t even come into play. It’s a compelling character study that enables us to see various points of view all at once, and it does so without lingering on extraneous details. I’d say that’s quite an achievement, considering how easily it could have gone wrong.

“The Class” Provides a Lot For Discussion,

By thornhillatthemovies.com (Venice, CA United States) -
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)
  

  

This review is from: The Class (Entre les murs) [Theatrical Release] (Theatrical Release)

“The Class (Entre Les Murs)”, France’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar this year, is an interesting, insightful, almost Cinema Verite look at one teacher and one class of his students in a high school in a Paris suburb.

Based on a book by the film’s star, Francois Begadeau, about his own experiences as a teacher, the film concentrates on Francois’ French class in a high school in a tough suburb of Paris.

But director Laurence Cantet focuses the film even further, heightening the documentary feel of the story. We focus on one group of students in one of Francois’ classes. These students are a melting pot of ethnicities, all trying to learn in the same environment even though they are clearly at different levels. So Francois’ job involves just trying to communicate with and maintain discipline with his students. Interestingly, each of the actors plays an eponymous student. I don’t a lot about the background or history of the story behind this film, but this fact leads me to believe that each actor is playing a fictionalized version of himself or herself.

As the school year begins, Francois arrives at his school to find char women cleaning the rooms. He begins to prepare and then meets with the other teachers. They go around the group, introducing themselves to each other, identifying the new teachers and the department chairs, offering welcome and help coping with the school year. Later, we see a teacher pointing out the good and bad students to a newbie, helping them sort out who will be trouble. This is the first moment when I really connected with the story and felt the film was going to show us an in-depth look at the French education system. Before this moment, everything looks and feels too perfect, too clean, too idyllic and well prepared. Early on, you get the feeling we should prepare for a fairy tale or a romanticized tale of an educator, ala “Dead Poet’s Society” or “Stand and Deliver”. When one teacher begins rolling down the class list, telling the new teacher “He’ll be trouble. He’s OK. Trouble” and then begins going down the whole list, with one word summaries of each, you realize this school is probably a lot more like the schools we are familiar with. When this moment happens, you have hope this film will dig deeper.

And it does. The story concentrates on Francois’ interactions with the students in one of his classes. We learn he had most of these students the previous year. He has a history with them and this leads him to have a familiarity of how they will act up, how they will test him. He asks one black girl to read a passage from “The Diary of Anne Frank”. She protests and accuses him of picking on her, she doesn’t want to read, why can’t he pick someone else. When he realizes the student, who provides the standard for many of the other girls in the class, has just become unreasonably unruly, he confronts her. “We got along well last year, what happened?” When she looks down, we know she realizes she is giving him a hard time. But she’s a teenager and it is difficult to express her feelings.

As the school year progresses, we see a few brief moments with the other teachers, but the main focus of the story is Francois and his attempts to try to teach his students. And throughout the film, Begadeau is able to portray Francois, showing us his conflict. He is a young man, I would guess mid thirties, young enough to still be a little idealistic, but also a teacher long enough to realize he won’t be able to reach very many of his students, he won’t be able to provide them with the education they so desperately need. As he interacts with his students, we get a sense of how quickly each of these emotions plays through each interaction with each student. When a student announces there is a rumor floating around that he is gay, he playfully responds by trying to teach them some French, making the student restate the accusation using proper grammar. Later, his frustration gets the better of him and he lashes out at some of the students. Later still, another student answers one of his questions indicating a deep knowledge and understanding of the topic he is talking about. These are the types of students he longs for and you can see the delight register on his face when he realizes this student is actually paying attention, actually trying to learn amid all of the disruptive behavior of the other kids.

An extended subplot concerns one of Francois’ students, an African kid whose parents don’t speak French at home and wear the dress traditional to their country. In a moment of frustration, Francois gets in an argument with two of the girls who are the most disruptive. At the same time, the young man, who has been problematic, gets fed up and ends up accidentally injuring another girl. But because of his history at the school, Francois and his superiors decide to hold an administrative meeting to decide whether he should be expelled. As all of the preparations for this meeting take place (two representatives of the student body must be in attendance and two representatives of the parents must also be in attendance), Francois begins to doubt if this is the right path. What will it accomplish? The student’s mom speaks no French and her son must translate everything for her. She doesn’t even believe her son is a troublemaker; he does his work, he never misses school. Francois tries to convince her this isn’t true. But she knows what she sees. Then during the meeting, we see how serious the school faculty takes this matter. It is almost a court trial, with people making statements, others asking questions and ultimately the student and his mom leave the room while they vote.

These moments help to illustrate Francois’ growing frustration with the situation. On the one hand, expelling his student will accomplish nothing. He will still have troublemakers in his class. In fact, it will probably only hurt the student. But on the other hand, if they don’t enforce the rules can the situation get anything but worse? So he feels a reluctance to follow the protocol, to continue with the proceedings.

There is a moment about midway through the film when the new teacher, the one receiving advice from a veteran about who will be good students and who will be bad, rushes into the teacher’s lounge, infuriated. “They’re nothing but animals”, he shouts. While this moment is a little ‘on the cuff’, it is a helpful illustration. We can completely imagine Francois being in this same mind frame a few years ago. But now that he has a few more years of experience under his belt, he realizes he has to simply do the best he can.

“The Class” is an interesting, almost Cinema Verite look at one teacher’s attempts to teach his students. It is a very good, very well made film. And the parallels to the American school system are almost shocking.
Search The Class (Entre Les Murs) [Blu-ray]: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel, Boubacar Toure, Burak Özyilmaz, Carl Nanor, Cherif Bounaïdja Rachedi, Dalla Doucoure, Damien Gomes, Esmeralda Ouertani, Eva Paradiso, Pierre Milon, Laurent Cantet, Robin Campillo, Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo: Movies & TV from AmAzon

[asa]B002AG2NU2[/asa]

Tags: , , , ,

Related posts