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Streaming Rurouni Kenshin - False Prophet, Vol. 4 Online. Movie Title: Rurouni Kenshin - False Prophet, Vol. 4 Average customer review: Rurouni Kenshin - False Prophet, Vol. 4 is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Rurouni Kenshin - False Prophet, Vol. 4

“False Prophet,” Volume 4 of “Rurouni Kenshin: Wandering Samurai” offers up five episodes from what I am inclined to think is the start of the second season of the Japanese anime because there is a new song for the end titles. After the epic four-episode battle between Himura Kenshin and Aoshi Shinomori these episodes are less ambitious and a probably just a lull before the next major storm. The most important think that happens in these five episodes is the return of Megumi Takani, who is now practicing medicine in town. Since we know that Kenshin and Karou are going to take forever to really notice each other have Sanosuke Sagara pinning for Megumi looks a lot more promising:

Episode 13, “Strive for the Grand Championship: Taramaro’s Sumo Battle Log” has the gang becoming involved in the workings of a sumo school, touching on another aspect of Japanese culture.

Episode 14, “Save a Small Life: The Challenge of the Beautiful Doctor, Megumi” finds the good doctor’s reputation being attacked by a group of con men who promise cures by the gods. Megumi does not want to fight back, but that is what friends are for in such sticky situations.

Episode 15, “Assassination Group of Fire: Jipuu Squad on the Run” is where “Rurouni Kenshin” actually starts offering us teasers before the episode title. The politics of the Meji Restoration comes into play again as the motivation for a series of assassinations. Once again a master swordsman comes upon the scene who has failed to fully understand the teachings of his sensei. The story continues in the next Episode 16, “A Promise From the Heart: The Secret Technique of the Shiden Renga Blade,” and are the two best episodes on the DVD.

Episode 17, “Fly to Your Dreams: The Adventures of Marimo, the Human Bullet” has the gang visiting a new circus where the highlight has young Marimo being shot out of a cannon. Once again “little” Yahiko is smitten and when the girl and her father are in danger from the crooked operators of the circus they left, he leads the rescue effort.

“False Prophet” certainly provides a mixture of both of the type of episodes you see on “Rurouni Kenshin.” Mostly we have cute little episodes where the members of the group have fun doing some verbal sparring with each other and then we have a pair of episodes where things get more serious. Those are the best episodes and they make the quainter onces seem rather out of place, but then this strange balancing act is part of what makes this one of the better anime. The extras this time around consist of a lengthy set of notes involving a lot of sumo definitions (ozeki, yokozuna, dosukoi, etc.) and some more audio “outtakes” (which are R rated, so be forewarned before you let the kiddies watch).

I’ve bought all 3 volumes before this one, and this volume is great! Besides the other kenshin DVDs, this one contains 5 episodes (the past dvds had 4) - so I was pretty suprised and happy! I don’t watch the English version because the “that i am, that i will” stuff annoys me, and I have no idea why they even used it in the subtitles for the japanese version (that they did) - but just like on the 2nd volume, you can check out the extras menu - and find out-takes from the voice actors & actresses of the Enlish dub. It’s very funny to hear them actually mess up on scenes! This dvd is very exciting, and action packed! Looking forward to more Kenshin volumes on dvd! Highly recomended anime!!
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Stream Samurai Champloo: The Complete Collection Online. Movie Title: Samurai Champloo: The Complete Collection Average customer review: Samurai Champloo: The Complete Collection is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Samurai Champloo: The Complete Collection

Mugen is a cocky, rebellious, bandy-legged fighter who incorporates break-dancing techniques into his unorthodox fighting style. Jin is more your typically calm and stoic samurai (or ronin, to be more precise), steeped in martial tradition, who finds satisfaction in the perfect execution of his warrior craft. Mugen and Jin aren’t friends - in fact, they are contentious and want to test their skills against each other - yet they find themselves joining forces, thanks to Fuu, an insistent and kinda quirky waitress who inveigles the two into helping her search for the Samurai Who Smells Like Sunflowers. For 26 episodes, the discordant trio undergo many adventures, some serious, some hilarious, some just plain out weird. The only constants are the bickerings amongst the three, the scrounging for food, and the intrusion of modern day sensibilities. Oh, and the rampant butt kicking as done by Mugen and Jin.

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On the heels of his popular Cowboy Bebop anime series, Shinichiro Watanabe decided to put a new spin on the samurai anime with his irreverent, hip Samurai Shamploo. Shamploo means “stir fry” or a mix, and this is certainly what this series is about, as it fuses the traditional samurai credo and decorum with the unexpected modern day incursions of hip hop attitudes, beatboxing, street tagging, and baseball. The episodes are supported by cool Japanese hip hop music soundtracks and blazing hip hop scratches for scene segues. Watanabe also makes beautiful use of visual metaphors, thereby adding more depth to the shenanigans. The ripping animation and dynamically constructed fight scenes are guaranteed not to disappoint.

Kudos, too, to the voice actors, especially Steven Jay Blum (aka Daniel Andrews, who also voiced Cowboy Bebop’s Spike) as the bestial Mugen. Kirk Thornton as Jin and Kari Wahlgren as Fuu are both excellent. The voice actor for the sometimes series narrator Policeman Sakami Manzou (”the Saw”) is also very good.

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These episodes are definitely rated PG-13. This anime series doesn’t hesitate to throw in scenes of drug use and graphic violence. Some episodes even contain mild sexual scenes.

My favorite episodes are “The Art of Altercation” (for the rapping samurai and his beatbox backup), the atmospheric “Cosmic Collisions” (where the trio fight the undead), the hilarious “Baseball Blues” (where the American pitcher couldn’t find the strike zone with the dog at bat, and he ends up inadvertently hitting the mutt - not to worry, no animated dogs were hurt in the making of this anime), and the concluding 3-episode arc “Evanescent Encounter” (where Mugen and Jin are challenged to their very limits, resolve their rivalry, and Fuu at last catches up to the Sunflower Samurai).

Here are the 26 episodes (American titles first, with the original Japanese titles in parenthesis):

- “Tempestuous Temperaments” (”Storm and Stress”) Episode 1

- “Redeye Reprisal” (”Veritable Pandemonium”) Episode 2

- “Hellhounds for Hire” Parts One & Two (”Tacit Understanding”) Episode 3-4

- “Artistic Anarchy” (”Utter Indifference”) Episode 5

- “Stranger Searching” (”RedHeaded Foreigner”) Episode 6

- “A Risky Racket” (”Surrounded on All Sides”) Episode 7

- “The Art of Altercation” (”Self-Conceit”) Episode 8

- “Beatbox Bandits” (”Evil Spirits”) Episode 9

- “Lethal Lunacy” (”Fighting Fire with Fire”) Episode 10

- “Gamblers and Gallantry” (”Fallen Angels”) Episode 11

- “The Disorder Diaries” (”Learning from the Past”) Episode 12

- “Misguided Miscreants” Parts One & Two (”Dark Night’s Road”) Episode 13-14

- “Bogus Booty” (”Through and Through”) Episode 15

- “Lullabies of the Lost” Verses One & Two (”Idling One’s Life Away”) Episode 16-17

- “War of the Words” (”Pen in One Hand, Sword in the Other”) Episode 18

- “Unholy Union” (”Karma and Retribution”) Episode 19

- “Elegy of Entrapment” Verses One & Two (”Generous Elegy”) Episode 20-21

- “Cosmic Collisions” (”Anger Shot Toward Heaven”) Episode 22

- “Baseball Blues” (”Heart and Soul into the Ball”) Episode 23

- “Evanescent Encounter” Parts One - Three (”Circle of Transmigration”) Episode 24-26

It’s hard to take “Samurai Champloo” too seriously. The series features a breakdancing samurai, hip-hop music, beatboxing and rapping.

But “Samurai Champloo” is a masterpiece in light comedy, action and even a compelling story involving a daughter of a samurai who smells of sunflowers.

As the two samurai heroes say in episode two, there’s something silly about a samurai who smells of sunflowers. However, this series truly shows off some of the best battles ever seen in an anime, embellished with the gorgeous environment of ancient Japan. There’s a wide variety of stories, from a complex episode about a dying mother, an episode about the origins of Japanese manga and even an episode about a traveling geisha.

There’s just one catch–the series is chock full of hip-hop references. Episode 8 alone is a goofy comedy tidbit about a samurai traveling the world with a beatboxing companion. Episode 16 features three samurai travelers rapping rumors they’ve heard on the road. Episode 18 gives us a closer look at the dangerous life of taggers in ancient Japan.

Okay, maybe this isn’t the most realistic period piece series ever made. However, this series has so much fun with blending hip-hop, Christian missionaries and samurai fighting together that one can’t resist loving this series.

It’s no surprise that this is one of the most accessible action anime series around. Director Shinichiro Watanabe, responsible for the excellent series “Cowboy Bebop,” has a flair for creating some of the slickest battle sequences ever made. His storylines might be more simplistic than, say, “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.” However, this is exactly why American audiences enjoy his anime series the most. They are simple stories of men who fight for something they care for.

There’s no better time to buy the box set of “Samurai Champloo.” The box set is $30 cheaper than the Geneon set, so anime fans have to get this collection. Hands down, this is one of my absolute favorites.
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Full Contact Streaming. Movie Title: Full Contact Average customer review: Full Contact is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Full Contact

Plot Outline: After Sam (Anthony Wong) gets in trouble with some triads over a gambling debt, his best friend Jeff (Chow Yun-Fat) has to bail him out. Sam gets word that his cousin Judge (Simon Yam) wants him and his friends to help them pull a job robbing a truck. Once on the job Jeff finds out it was all a trick set up by the triads to kill him. In a turn of betrayal, Sam is forced by his cousin to shoot Jeff. They leave Jeff to die in a burning building, only Jeff makes it out alive. Now he looks for revenge.

The Review: Full Contact is easily the sleaziest, grittiest and downright most vulgar HK action film I’ve ever seen. Now that I’ve said that, it’s also just one outright cool film. Taking what could have been just an average tale of revenge, Ringo Lam injected the film with the style of the 80’s and a healthy dose of brutal violence. The film represents all that was great of the all but dead Heroic Bloodshed genre. It’s still around, but you don’t see too many films like Full Contact anymore.

Don’t misunderstand me, the violence in Full Contact, while plentiful, doesn’t quite top the likes of A Better Tomorrow II, but the film is just a whole lot seedier. The violence in John Woo’s films are usually comical to some point, but here the violence takes place somewhat in reality. The gunplay is actually fairly minimal really. There’s only a couple of gunfights, and excluding the first person bullet effects, they aren’t really all that spectacular. The violence in the film is just accentuated by the feel of the film. In one of the more brutal scenes in the film, Anthony Wong’s character shoots a man in the head about seven times, covering the guy in blood. It’s just an ugly image, and made uglier by the scenery and characters. It takes place in a dingy warehouse and watching his blood splatter all over his hands can almost make you feel uncomfortable.

When I first sat down to watch Full Contact I didn’t know much about it and wasn’t expecting much. I had read on a message board somewhere in the past that it was supposed to be a great non-Woo HK action film so I decided to give it a chance. Within the first five minutes of watching the film, it makes it’s case strongly, and lets you know exactly what kind of film it’s going to be. Simon Yam’s gang robs what appears to be a jewelry store, in the process he stabs a innocent woman through the chest then proceeds to have her open the vault. We’re introduced to the rest of his gang too. Mona, the promiscuous and Deano the muscular freak (played by Frankie Chin, best known as the guy who tries to strangle Ricky in Ricky-Oh). The introduction is so simple, but it’s just so perfect. It’s hard to put my hand on it, it’s just the perfect way to start the film. A kick to the gut for the audience.

If one thing bothered me most about the film the first time I watched it, it was surprisingly enough Chow himself. Not that he gives a bad performance or anything like that, it’s just his clothing style is just terrible. He wears a short sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Add to that a crew cut and a leather vest over the shirt, and you’ve got one goofy looking chow. The second time I sat through it I just took it in as part of the cheesyness of the film. The roaring electric guitar solos, the clothes… it’s all so classic 80’s.

The style, the violence, and the characters are what makes the film. Simon Yam is repulsive in his role as a flamboyantly gay sociopath who let’s nothing stand in his way. Chow puts in a great effort, but it doesn’t really take much from Chow to please. He could be playing a coma patient and would still ooze ‘cool’ from his pours. When I first watched the film I wasn’t familiar with Anthony Wong, so I didn’t actually ever notice him, but now that I’ve seen Beast Cops I was surprised to find out that it was he who played Sam. He’s gained a whole lot of weight over the years, but I think he’s actually more suited with the weight on. In this film, when his character becomes a tough guy it’s kind of hard to take serious, but with some weight on him Wong comes off a bit more intimidating. As far as acting goes, those are the central characters. Everyone else puts in decent enough performances even though the girls just seem to be there for eye candy. Nice eye candy, but eye candy just the same.

To wrap things up, Full Contact stands out as one of the best Heroic Bloodshed films made not by John Woo. That actually sounds a little harsh, I don’t compare the film to Woo’s work, but it’s just unavoidable. Anyway, I’ve debated with myself whether to give it a four or a five for a while now, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s getting the Stubbing Award. Sure, it doesn’t add a whole lot more to the genre, but it delivers what is one of the funnest rides the genre has ever produced. Full Contact is a classic, not to be missed by HK film fans, or gritty gangster film fans for that matter.

After Tsui Hark and John Woo, Ringo Lam is probably one of the greatest HK directors. Some innovative POV shots make this a must see. Plot is predictable but it has some great lines.

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If you like HK action, this is worth owning.
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Streaming Crossroads Online. Movie Title: Crossroads Average customer review: Crossroads is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Crossroads

This movie has everything you could ever wish for to become an Academy Award Winner. With each passing minute, the plot thickens and leaves you wondering what will happen next. “What happens after Britney sees her long-lost mom? Who’s the real father of the baby? Why did Britney give up her virginity to that guy and not to the other one?, etc.” Such issues would have a profound impact on how the viewers would look at their own lives and would make them reflect on what they have been doing for the past 1.5 hours of watching this film. Indeed, the issues presented in this movie such as getting deflowered, getting pregnant without the guy knowing, running away from home to discover oneself and then found by dad and then to run away again to be with the boy who popped her cherry, etc. are very unique and settled in a very appropriate and convincing way as the viewers are treated to a finale of a croaking, whining, earwax splitting vocal spectacle which drills into the minds of the viewers that we should always remember to treat Britney as someone special; not a girl, but not yet a woman. Britney drives home the message that she’s a little girl trapped in a woman’s body; which of course makes pathetic, lifeless, looser men like me want her more. It’s like reaching out to something so near yet so far away but then I just can’t keep my eyes off her navel. I’m sure that Britney would surpass her mentor Mariah Carey in terms of acting talent and would get the recognition she deserves. With her starry-eyes transfixed on everything and everyone at the same time, she makes acting look so easy and dumb. Of course, it’s not surprising because it seems so natural for her to look like that. All said, this film thrives on Britney’s charm and persona, and nothing else, which is enough to make me patronize every move she makes and consequently, pour more money into her deep pockets so that she could pay her house, while I watch her from my trailer.

First of all I want to say that I have been a Britney Spears fan from before she became god’s gift to pop music, so my view is fairly objective. Secondly, if I could give this film 0 stars, I would. The acting in this film is deplorable, the characters are a bunch of talking heads, and the story is far past the point of ridiculous. Britney and Anson Mount have zero chemistry in the love scene in the film. Perhaps the best part of the movie is in the beginning when virginal Lucy (Britney’s character) and the scared high school boy (obviously also a virgin) who wanted to sleep with her after the prom were fumbling around in a hotel bedroom. At least that part came off as funny, because the rest of the film was trite.
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The Berenstain Bears: Springtime Surprises Movie Streaming. Movie Title: The Berenstain Bears: Springtime Surprises Average customer review: The Berenstain Bears: Springtime Surprises is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download The Berenstain Bears: Springtime Surprises

We love the Berenstain Bears, especially the older shows. This DVD has the Easter special which is one of our favorites. We have been looking for it for several years and were very glad to finally find it available.

This is a newly released DVD?? It is soooo old, the quality is TERRIBLE, the voices are different - there is some really odd singing - and it does not seem at all like the current episodes we see on TV. Glad we just rented it from the library!
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Watch The Twilight Samurai Movie Online. Movie Title: The Twilight Samurai Average customer review: The Twilight Samurai is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download The Twilight Samurai

This Japanese film, directed by Yoji Yamada, won many awards in Japan. I can certainly understand why. It breaks the mold of films usually associated with Samurai warriors, and instead shows us the human side of a man who lived for his honor and who also wanted to just simply live.

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The time period is 19th Century Japan. The strength of the Samurais is fading. And our hero, played by Seibei Iguchi, is a recent widower who is trying to support his two young daughters and aging mother. Yes, he’s a Samurai, but of a minor caste. This means he works a day job, the equivalent of bookkeeper, along with a group of other men. He’s a sad man, ignoring his personal hygiene, which embarrasses his boss. And he always goes straight home after work, never accepting the invitations of his co-workers to go out for a drink.

His relatives want him to marry again but he rejects the marriage broker who comes to visit. And then a lovely woman does come into his life. She’s a childhood friend who has married badly. Because she was so mistreated, she has come home to live with her family. She’s beautiful and kind and gentle, ad the sad Samurai’s children love her. Later, he shows his valor with some swordplay with her abusive husband.

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But as the story continues, and a romance blossoms, the man feels unworthy, even though it is clear that he and this woman would make a good match. And then, suddenly, the head of his Samurai clan calls upon him to commit a murder for the honor of the clan. Reluctantly, very reluctantly, he accepts, understanding that it is likely he will die.

I learned a lot about Samurai life and the details of living in a harsh environment every day. I felt I was right there, in a culture that is indeed different from mine. And, as I absorbed the atmosphere, I also felt the plight of a very troubled human being who had to make a hard choice about what he personally felt was right as compared to what his culture demanded of him.

This is a really fine film. The acting is extraordinary. The directing is flawless. There is romance, action and adventure. There’s a serious glimpse in the world of the Samurai. And, most of all, there is a human story that tugged at my heartstrings. Highly recommended.

In “The Twilight Samurai”, director Yoji Yamada conceived a more realistic interpretation of life in 19th century Japan than is often seen in “samurai films”. The result in a genuine period film that spends time on the daily struggles and family life of its protagonist, Seibei Iguchi, without adrenaline-pumping swordplay. Yamada based the film’s screenplay on 3 stories by novelist Shuuhei Fujisawa. The story is told partly from the point of view of Seibei Iguchi’s daughter, Ito, who is 5 years old in the film, but provides voiceover narration as a grown woman.

Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada) is a low-ranking samurai of the Unasaka Clan, living under the Shogunate of mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration. Already the days of the samurai seem numbered, which casts a certain fatalism over the events of the film. Iguchi’s wife has recently died after a long and taxing illness, leaving him to care for his two young daughters and senile mother with insufficient income. Iguchi actually enjoys the life of a farmer and watching his daughters grow, but his poverty leaves him without even proper clothing to fulfill his professional responsibilities. His spirits are lifted when he learns that Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa), a woman he has adored since childhood, has received a divorce from her abusive husband. But when his clan’s leader dies, the ensuing struggle for power may prove fatal for many samurai.

“The Twilight Samurai”’s success depends upon the performance of Hiroyuki Sanada, who makes Iguchi’s humility, heartbreak, and eccentricities convincing. Mutsuo Naganuma’s delicate, subtly hued cinematography draws our attention to character development and small gestures. This is a period drama, not a martial arts film. There are only one and a half sword fights, which director Yoji Yamada uses to impress upon the audience that samurai didn’t conquer one another with quick fatal cuts, as we so often see in movies, but normally delivered and received many cuts and subsequently bled to death. “The Twilight Samurai” is slow and probably a bit too long at 2 hours and 9 minutes. But it is a lovely film of one man’s acceptance of the difficulties his life has brought him. Japanese with English subtitles.

The DVD: Bonus features include interviews with director Yoji Yamada and actor Hiroyuki Sanada and 3 theatrical trailers, one of which is for “The Twilight Samurai”. The interview with Yoji Yamada (10 minutes) is dubbed in English. The director explains why he wanted to make a realistic period film, why it was well-received by Japanese audiences, and casting actors Sanada and Min Tanaka, who fight in the movie. Hiroyuki Sanada speaks English in his interview (17 minutes). He talks about the character of Seibei Iguchi, his acting career, and his work on the film “The Last Samurai”, in which he had a supporting role. The English subtitles for the movie cannot be turned off.
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Beau Brummell - This Charming Man Streaming. Movie Title: Beau Brummell - This Charming Man Average customer review: Beau Brummell - This Charming Man is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Beau Brummell - This Charming Man

Who knew that Beau Brummell was the tabloid celebrity of his day. James Purefoy is just amazing as Beau - the man that changed the way men dressed. Matthew Rhys from Brothers & Sisters has a small but great role as Lord Byron.

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The music is very catchy and I just had fun with this story.

Period dramas are my favorite type of movie. James Purefoy (Rome,Vanity Fair, Mayor of Casterbridge, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Mansfield Park)is one of my favorite actors, so this movie was destined to be a favorite! Historically it is of great value. Just think, if it weren’t for Beau Brummel, our men might still wear ruffles. The most excellent supporting cast includes Hugh Bonneville(also of Mansfield Park)and Matthew Rhys. My only complaint is that this movie is too short. I am sure this story deserves more than it’s length of only 79 minutes and someone should be “horse whipped” or at least ashamed of the stunted state of this production. Now, if we might only be able to purchase “Blackbeard” starring James Purefoy, on DVD as well! One may only hope!
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Stream House on Haunted Hill Online. Movie Title: House on Haunted Hill Average customer review: House on Haunted Hill is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download House on Haunted Hill

Say what you want about producer/director William Castle (The Tingler, 13 Ghosts, Mr. Sardonicus) but one thing was for sure…he knew how to fill seats in a movie theater, primarily by forcing some sort of direct interaction between the audience and the film (at least in his horror themed features). In House on Haunted Hill (1959), he utilized a technique he called `Emergo’, which essentially featured a skeleton, suspended from wires, coming from the screen towards the audience during a specific part of the movie, the intent being to scare the pants off those in the theater. From what I’ve heard, it didn’t sound like many were frightened, but it didn’t really matter as Castle was a master at selling the sizzle, rather than the steak, as they say, and audiences flocked to his films…produced and directed by William Castle, the film features the merchant of menace himself Vincent Price (The Fly, The Tingler, House of Usher) in the first of two films he made with Castle. Also appearing is Elisha Cook Jr. (Shane, The Haunted Palace), Carolyn Craig (Giant), Richard Long (Ma and Pa Kettle), Carol `homina homina’ Ohmart (Spider Baby), Alan Marshal (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), and Julie Mitchum (Edge of Hell), sister of actor Robert Mitchum.

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Price plays Frederick Loren, an eccentric millionaire who, along with his wife Annabelle (Ohmart), has thrown together an interesting little party involving five, seemingly random strangers gathering at a haunted house with ten thousand dollars to each who dare stay through the night. In attendance, along with Frederick and his wife, is Watson Pritchard (Cook), whose brother, one of the previous owners, was murdered within the house, Lance Schroeder (Long), a test pilot, Dr. David Trent (Marshal), a psychiatrist, Nora Manning (Craig), a typist, and Ruth Bridgers (Mitchum), a newspaper columnist. Seems all have agreed to play Frederick’s little game for one reason, they need the dough, and if some crazy rich dude is willing to part with his green for such a seemingly easy task, what the hay, right? Well, the guests arrive, introductions are made, and Frederick gives them the full lowdown. The secluded house is like a fortress (steel doors and bars on the windows) in that once they’re locked in (at midnight, to be precise), there’s no getting out until the caretakers arrive the next morning. Also, there’s no electricity or telephones, and the nearest neighbors are well beyond yelling distance. After a tour of the house, highlighting where various grisly events occurred (including a visit to the acid vat in the cellar…man, this place has everything), a few drinks, and some scares (the ghosts seem to have a thing for Nora), Fredrick passes out some party favors in the form of loaded handguns (nothing like being drunk and armed), not that they’d do anyone much good if there are ghosts out and about…anyway, midnight is coming so if anyone wants to cut out of this ghoulish get together, they’d better get while the getting’s good…

While not my favorite Castle feature (that goes to The Tingler), House on Haunted Hill is still a hoot and a half for all of its campy, good-natured fun. The one thing this film has going for it, above and beyond everything else, is Vincent Price. No matter how rotten the feature was (which wasn’t the case here), Price always brought with him a real sense of class and sophistication to the proceedings, especially true of the number of Poe based films he and Roger Corman made throughout the 1960s for American International Pictures. The absolute best parts of this movie for me occur early on as Price’s character is interacting with his wife, and we see the pair have an interesting hate/hate relationship…here’s an example of their often snide and insinuating banter they engage in behind closed doors…

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Fredrick: Of all my wives you’re least agreeable…

Annabelle: But still alive.

Here’s another bit…

Frederick: Do you remember the fun we had when you poisoned me?

Annabelle: Something you ate, the doctor said.

Frederick: Yes, arsenic on the rocks…

There are a few more excellent exchanges between Price and Ohmart, worthy alone of seeing this film. As for the rest of the performers, I had no real complaints. Elisha Cook Jr.’s character did get on my nerves after awhile, with his constant dour outlook punctuated by his persistent `doom and gloom’ predictions. Drink some more booze, you rummy…seriously, all this guy did was talk about how the ghosts were going to come and take them all away. Perhaps this attitude was assisted by his excessive alcohol intake, but really, what’s the point of accepting an invitation to spend a night at a house you believe you won’t come out of alive? The money? Won’t do you much good if’n you’re dead, fool. If I was in that house I probably would have shot him just to be rid of him. At least I learned one thing…never invite Elisha Cook Jr. to your party and ply him with lots of booze as he’ll turn into a real poison pill. I did like Ms. Ohmart, and not just because she was a smoking babe with a large rack, but because she held her own with Price, even if it was for just a handful of scenes. If you’ve got a hankering to see more of her, and you like ookie horror features, you should really check out another film she appeared in called Spider Baby (1968), featuring Lon Chaney Jr. There are a few, minor scares scattered throughout the film (a crusty crone, a disembodied head or two), but nothing that will make you soil yourself…some scenes will make you snicker, though, like the one where Pritchard chucks a dead rat into the acid vat, if only to demonstrate the acid is really acid. After some bubbling effects, a fully articulated rat skeleton bobs to the surface, indicating to those watching it truly is the real deal. Yes sir, that be some powerful acid…the movie may not be much for scares, but it does have plenty of atmosphere created by Castle’s direction, groovy, cobweb laden set pieces, spooky music, and usage of the Ennis Brown House in Los Angeles, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, for the exterior shots.

It seems this film has fallen into the public domain (i.e. the copyright expired), as I see there are a number of DVD releases by various companies. I can’t speak for those other releases, but the one I own, put out by Warner Brothers (it has a large headshot of Price in the lower right hand corner and Ohmart in a nightgown being menaced by a disfigured hand in the upper left), looks exceptionally good, and features both the fullscreen and widescreen formats, along with a excellent Dolby Digital mono audio track. The only extras included are a theatrical trailer for the film and subtitles in both English and French.

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By the way, this movie saw a remake of the same titled, released in 1999, oozing with high tech special effects. It was decent enough, but I still liked the original better.

William Castle at his gimmicky best! A Classic, spooky Black and White, with deliciously devilish Vincent Price as millionaire with a bored gold-digger wife. She wants a Halloween party with her friends, Price tosses a party all right, but not with the people of her choosing. He offers $10,000 dollars to five stranger if they will join him and his wife in spending Halloween night in a truly haunted house. One of the 5 is a young Elisha Cooke, family of the former owners who died in the house, and he leads them on a murder tour. To jazz things up, Price passes out “party favors” - guns. And it’s a race to find out whether Price of his wife will be the last one standing. This movie is a grandfather of nearly every clichés, blooding dripping from the ceiling, dark mysterious corridors, a witchy woman floating around and vanishing - and the topper that organ music!! This is more like a Halloween Fun house ride than a movie! Price is campy and has great fun with the role, with super lines, especially when fussing with his less than happy wife.

Castle originally devised this movie with “special touches” for the audiences, like ghost on wires gloating through the audience of people in costume sitting down beside you to enhance the fun house feel.

Just plain fun and a wee trip down memory lane.
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Watch Gasaraki - Fires of War Online. Movie Title: Gasaraki - Fires of War Average customer review: Gasaraki - Fires of War is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Gasaraki - Fires of War

You need a lot of patience to watch Gasaraki but it is well worth it. With every episode the show gets more and more mysterious. The look of the show is amazing, the animation is great, but its the compeling and complex story that keeps me coming back. There are a lot of parts where people are discussing strategy. I had to watch some parts twice to understand what was being said. Even though Symbol and the Gowa family seem to want the same thing: control of everything going on, we never shown why this control is so important to them and how the two kai, Yushiro and Micharu, fit into the equation. I’m sure by the end we’ll have more questions than any answers.

Yushiro and Miharu finally make there way to Kyoto but I don’t want to spoil any of the episodes so I won’t discuss them. However, I do want to say that ADV tries so hard to make a good DVD yet they seem to fail so miserably. This being the 6th volume I finally had to say something.

The DVD menus are fair. They look nice but the main menu takes time to load and the menu music which is great within the context of the show gets really annoying.

The extras are great with the interviews, behind the scenes sketches, glossaries, and meccha & character explanation. HOWEVER, they are almost impossible to view in that the text is so small making it very difficult to read and I have a 25″ screen.

The subtitles are hard to read at times. ADV seemed to have this great idea where when people talked over each other they’d use white for one person and yellow for the other. HOWEVER you never know which text is for whom, and the text is so lengthy that sometimes you have to pause to read it all.

Three (3) episodes on this disc. Sigh. I’m not sure which company made it common place to stick 26 episodes on 8 dvds but I know they could have easily stuck them on 4 to 6 dvds.

Here is a quote from earlier in the show:

“I would prefer to not make inquiries into affairs that are already in the past. However, I will not sit by and let the seeds of future problems take root.”

Just as Daizaburou Gowa questioned Kazukiyo’s intentions for sending the TA’s to Belgistan, I have to question Charles Solomon’s editorial review of this volume.

Yushiro and Miharu traveled to Kyoto (in the previous volume) ‘following the path of the kai’ in order to learn why the Kugutsu threw away their power and abandoned their kugai, but more importantly to learn about themselves and their past. They reached Kyoto and they learned, so now we no longer need to lement over this ‘path of the kai’. As a result, the story moves on, not losing any track of where it is going. In this DVD all of the stuff that Nishida & company have been talking about beings to fall into place. As the back of the box says, “the seeds sowed by Symbol and Gowa begin to reap their bitter fruit. Like dominoes toppling over one by one, the barriers holding back the fires of war begin to crumble and the futures of Japan hangs in the balance.”

I’ll admit it, Gasaraki isn’t easy to follow, but it is ment to be this way. Gasaraki is not a linear anime where episode after episode after episode is spent lementing over one goal. The fact that everything is not layed out one thing after the other and that not everything is fully explained right away is what is so wonderful about this series.

That said, if you do your best to watch this in a linear fashion, thinking that there is only one central goal (like ‘Symbol is the bad guy, kill them’ or ‘following the path of the kai’) you are going to be just as uninterested and just as lost and confused as Mr. Solomon. It seems to me that detractors are passionate about bashing this series because of this.
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Streaming Last Year at Marienbad Online. Movie Title: Last Year at Marienbad Average customer review: Last Year at Marienbad is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Last Year at Marienbad

Last Year at Marienbad is a “love story,” although not a “story” in the conventional narrative sense, since the fragmented images cannot be scanned chronologically. The “story” is not told rather it is described using a juxtaposition of physical images, through memories and associations, projected through a space-time continuum, which destroys both linear chronology and fixity. Resnais built a captivating puzzle-like film, a labyrinth, which at time resembles the optical illusions of Escher or the surreal world of Magritte. Any attempt to provide a satisfying chronology for the film would contradict the assumptions upon which it was built, as well as the manner in which it is presented.

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Marienbad is a cine-roman, a cinematic novel, that is, a particular way to tell a story, which by definition involves space and time. It is not simultaneously a novel and a film, but it uses certain techniques of the novel and of the cinema. Resnais uses a variety of cinematographic techniques: the use of “atmosphere,” or mise-en-scene, to provoke an emotional response on the audience’s part; the use of “dream” sequences, flashbacks and flash forwards as they relate to imagistic or observational characterizations of a character’s imagination; the use of visual and audio montages to disrupt the chronological time and replace the temporal and linear narration by his mise-en-scene’s spaces. As a result, it is necessary to view each Resnais film completely in order to understand its structure and discourse. This is especially true for Marienbad, where a second and even a third viewing are necessary to fully appreciate the structure and the details.

Marienbad is lyrical, but by its framings, has the precision of a documentary, undermining the cinematographic writing and heralding the future films of Duras, Robbe-Grillet, or Jean-Luc Godard. Resnais uses extremely short scenes, with purposely too dark or over-exposed shots, obscure image flashes, shot with reframing that allow for the intrusion of characters. Certain scenes are repeated several times, with variants. At times, the actors’ clothing changes in the same scene, resulting in blurring the distinctions between past, present, and future, reality and fantasy The fluid camera moves everywhere with unrestricted freedom, a character unto itself. The dialogues are in the form of leitmotifs. The secondary characters utter disjointed, repetitive bits of conversations, and have a strange tendency to freeze in mid-sentence, or even to speak without making a sound. All of these effects are mesmerizing, and contribute to destabilizing the viewer. The mystery is further sustained by the names of the characters, which are only initials.

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Everything contributes to destroying chronology and setting an ambiguous mood. The music at the film’s “beginning” is typically “end of film” music. Using staggered sound tracks of the narrator’s (X’s) voice after the music further enhances this impression. Through most of the film, the sound of a single organ, playing an excruciating music score mostly in a minor key which seems to have come from a horror film, accompanies the action. Minor keys conjure melancholy and insecurity. X and A, dancing a slow waltz whose music, instead of being joyful and exuberant, recalls Sibelius’ Valse Triste, does not contribute in any way to lighten the mood.

Games are pervasive in this film, symbolizing destiny (dominoes), and also the domination of M (who plays poker with determination and coldness, successfully bluffing his adversaries). But the most notable game shown in the film is a variation of the game of Nim, which from the release of the film on became known as “the game of Marienbad.” M haughtily announces “I could lose, but I always win.” In this particular version of Nim, which is based on binary representation of the number of items in the game at any give time, the one who first starts the game cannot win against an experienced player, such as M. And M, who proposes the contests, always manages, under the cover of courtesy, to make his adversary begin the game.

The first theme of Marienbad is love, which does not require much explanation. X is or was in love with A (or was it with A? If not, then A will do), and A, as befits any beautiful woman, plays hard-to-get (or maybe she is not attracted by a bore such as X).

The second theme is Resnais’ favorite: the elusiveness and subjectivity of memory, but also, its persistence and inescapability. As in Hiroshima Mon Amour, Resnais explores the effects of time and memory on the emotions of a pair of would-be lovers. In his hands, the time elements of memory, whether retrospective or prospective, find realization as cinematic images, which the author manipulates through editing, effusing a non-chronological structure to his work. In Marienbad, Resnais shows us the hotel, its corridors, its salons, and its garden, together taken as an explicit metaphor for the “mind,” traveled by the roving camera, the “self” exploring its memory.

There are so many things to discover in Marienbad that, like the “story,” the possibilities are endless. There are two possible ways of viewing this film. In the first, a Cartesian approach, the viewer will try to somehow impose a linear, rational structure and invariably will find the film difficult, if not totally incomprehensible. In the second way, the viewer will just let him or herself be carried away by the extraordinary images and the mise-en-scene, and he or she will find the film completely obvious. And the “bonus” resides in the fact that upon subsequent viewings, one can reassemble this puzzle-like film in as many different ways as one’s imagination allows, making it each time a new viewing experience. Viewers in the first category will probably give the film a negative rating; those in the second category will give it a five-star rating. I give it a five star.

LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD is virtually without peer in the cinema. It has caused a great deal of controversy over the years, with some claiming it as one of the greatest films ever made, others claiming that it must be some sort French joke on the audience. For those of you familiar with French films in general, you know that bad French movies tend to consist of a few characters discoursing about love in a stilted, soap-opera-like manner. Set against this context, LYAM is indeed a joke, a brilliant satire. The banality of the love triangle also pokes very Gallic fun at the annoying cliches of Hollywood melodrama. Part of the confusion caused by this film comes from the standard nature of the plot - our expectations about how this type of film should work are constantly set up, then thouroughly compromised from the opening sequence of the movie. Viewers are rarely cognizant of just how much we have internalized standard Hollywood techniques as the ONLY way of using cinematic forms to tell a story, which should have a beginning, middle and end, but MARIENBAD cannot be understood this way, although there is indeed a progression to this bizarre narrative, which takes the form of Man Y’s increasingly elaborate explanations of what might have happened between him and the Woman in her room, which might have been either rape or seduction. It is a profoundly VISUAL film that can only be understood if you use your eyes carefully. The action is split completely from the dialogue, which goes over the same issues again and again in settings that indicate different times of day and of the year. Some of these scenes are flashbacks, some may only be the narrator’s fantasy. In MARIENBAD, past, present and future coexist simultaneously. What MARIENBAD dramatizes is the relative quality of human memory. We tend to organize our perceptions of the world in linear fashion, but memory is non-linear, collapsing past and present into a single entity. Subjectivity is crucial to understanding MARIENBAD, which examines the way in which each participant in a given event experiences the same event differently. Lawyers know that if you have six different eywitnesses to an event, you will get six different stories about what happened, and this relativity of memory is basically what MARIENBAD is about. Once you know this, MARIENBAD is actually quite easy to understand and to follow, at least in terms of the “plot.” Now just sit back and admire the unbelievably rich technique the film uses to explore this idea. The moving camera tracks by frozen humans, assimilating them within the overall decor, are combined with astonishing editing techniques which alternately slow down or extend time itself through fragmentation or repetition. The performances (and the actors REALLY ARE BRILLIANT - I can hardly imagine how difficult this film must have been to act) accomplish the same thing through similar means. This film should be watched at least 3 times, once just to accustom yourself to its unique rhythms, a second to appreciate the complex structure, and a third for the humour of it. MARIENBAD is a truly mind-boggling experience.
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