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Reviews (338)

Perhaps my favorite movie of all time!
This is an exceptionally wonderful, entertaining film;I've watched and enjoyed it many times, and my teen and 'tween daughters have also fallen in love with it.The other reviewers have more than adequately described the outstanding performances of Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina, and Johnny Depp. One of my own favorites in the film, however, is Hugh O'Conor as the young parish priest, Pere Henri.His rendition of "Ain't Nothin but a Hound Dog" (while working in his garden) is priceless.Kudos also to Lena Olin in her role of Josephine, who evolves from battered wife to confident tavern owner. I can't imagine anyone not loving and enjoying this movie.

Boring
Highly acclaimed. That, I knew. I watched the first 30 minutes, which is 1/4 of the movie, before I decided to hang it up. New lady moves into a conservative French town and opens a chocolate shop. This upsets the local church, even before she begins unleashing secret desires and so forth with her sinful chocolate. Okay. Can you really carry 2 hours with this single plot? Nope. This one's boring.
A nice movie
I enjoyed this movie very much.It's not your average love story of tortured hearts.It is mixed with some fun whimsy and a sexy Gypsy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (215)

give it a chance
some might pass over this movie because of of the material on abortion, but I think that would be a mistake. True, there will never be a movie where they show the typical face of abortion, women who have other options but don't take them, but at least this film doesn't ram its views down your throat. Rather, the story is a lot like the music, gentle and relaxed, moving at the pace of the wide eyed innocent, Homer. I love Lasse's movies anyway, and wasn't disappointed with this one. He brings you along without any high drama, infusing things with a sweetness most directors pass over in favor of over the top action and dialogue.
Loved the book, liked the movie
I enjoyed this movie.It was well-made and well-acted.My only issue with it is that it lacks the depth of Irving's novel.Obviously, recreating that would be a near-impossible feat in this medium.They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case I'll take the words.

A good adaptation of a wonderful book
The film version of the book has some great performances, especially from Michael Caine. It helps that John Irving himself wrote the script. It's a nice, touchy-feely movie but the plot somewhat drags in the middle and the characters become somewhat fuzzy as well. But I enjoyed it very much. It's one of Tobey McGuire's strongest performances pre-Spiderman. Charlize Theron also showed her pre-Oscar dramatic chops here. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

This is the movie that Leonardo DiCaprio received an Oscar nomination for, five years before Read more

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Reviews (189)

'Gilbert Grape' is sheer cinematic brilliance!
`What's Eating Gilbert Grape' is one of those rare accomplishments in cinema where you learn something about yourself while you watch the credits role.This is a film that, instead of focusing all its efforts in developing a plot heavy script, creates an atmosphere that absorbs the viewer into the hearts of the central characters, forcing us to look at these people, their everyday lives, their ordinary, and compare their feelings and emotions to our own.We watch Gilbert (Johnny Depp) as he takes the reigns of his dysfunctional family and tries his hardest to make things better for them, with almost no recognition and or appreciation.We watch Gilbert battle his feelings of abandonment and his almost innate desire to abandon those around him, to think about himself for a change.We watch Gilbert selflessly do the right thing regardless of the fact that no one notices and we pray that we have a little Gilbert in is all.
I look back and am ashamed
When I was much younger, I remember watching this with friends (one friend advertised it as "a movie about a really fat lady") and laughing at the mother's obesity. Laughing when the little kids would run up to the window to take a peek at her, laughing at her little feet stomping under the table, laughing when they drove into town and the car was heavily tilted on one side, laughing when she died and they had to burn the house down.
this time they were wrong!
It is a crying shame how voters in the oscars do not know what talent is. Leo did the performance of his lifetime. I laughed at tom hanks in Gump, I laughed at Foster in Nell. In my mind I knew they were acting but Couldnt act. Leo on the other hand made me convinced that he was a mentally disabled child. "I dont like the word retarded". THAT IS ACTING. Should have won that hands down and I dont blame him one BIT for not showing up for the oscars the next year. After seeing Leo lose, I give up on the oscars and are disapointed in them and do not consider them really good judges. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-comedy    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

Simultaneously elegiac and raw, this uneven--but unforgettable--tearjerker tells the story of Ingemar, a 12-year-old working-class Swedish boy sent to live with his childless aunt and uncle in a country village when his mother falls ill.Beginning with several representations of the most savage, unsentimental domestic intensity imaginable (interplay between a sick parent and loving child has never looked anywhere near as explosive), Read more

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Reviews (42)

My favorite movie
Why is this my favorite movie? Because it simply presents life, in all its joys, griefs, paradoxes and mysteries. What puts this movie in a class by itself is the spirit of hope that runs through the movie, especially in the main character, Ingmar, whose indomitable spirit shines in the face of change and tragedy. Yet the movie never drifts into sentimentality. In the end, it's a movie about the mystery of love.
One Part Humor, One Part Poignant, One Part Disturbing
"My Life as a Dog" is a most unusual and most enjoyable movie.It is a Swedish film which I watched with the aid of subtitles.It would seem to qualify as a "coming of age" movie because it is about a 12 year old boy and his learning about sex and human fraility.Yet there is so much more to the story that it seems wrong to limit its' definition.
One of the top ten films ever made
This movie tugs at your heart strings in a completely honest way. The movie does not patronise or make pathetic the boy hero who has to endure. It is the very opposite of saccharine glop.
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The Children of Noisy Village - video
It wasn't clear that the movie was dubbed in English. I wanted the Swedish version with subtitles. I was going to use it in teaching and now I just wasted good money that I could have bought other material for.

The Children of Noisy Village
The story would delight any child, but the dubbing is terrible! Wonderful and beautifully done!
The video was wonderful!It was set back in time to simpler days where children had lots of real fun!My children ages 4-8 years, loved it!They want to see it again.No violence, no bad language and a quick glimpse oflittle nude children swimming.Overall a good wholesome movie.Thescenery is beautiful!It is set in a country village in Sweden.Thedubbing was not the least bit offensive or ditracting to this greatchildren's movie which is enjoyable for adults too! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children    2. Comedies    3. Family    4. Feature Film Family    5. Movie   

Editorial Review

This well-intentioned but strangely cold tale concerns an emotionally repressed Southern belle (Julia Roberts) who separates from her husband (Dennis Quaid) after discovering he is an unabashed philanderer.Pressed by her dominating father (Robert Duvall) into reconciling with her spouse, Roberts's character chafes against so much male control over her destiny.Defended by a fiercely independent sister (a catchy performance by Kyra Sedgwick), the heroine develops the nerve to plot her own course in life while her mother (Gena Rowlands) finds the gumption to throw her own mate out of the house. The script by Callie Khouri (Read more

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Reviews (30)

one of my favorites
I don't expect anything more of a movie than to enjoy it and be entertained. I don't seek to psychoanalyze or offer up in-depth critique, it's only a movie. I either enjoy it or I don't. I just really love this movie. Kyra Sedgewick is hysterical, and the little girl that played "Caroline" was just adorable. The whole cast is very good, but those two are scene-stealers.

Taking a Second Look at an Older Movie!
Odd to term a 1995 film as an 'older movie', but SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT was rather dismissed in its initial release as a bit of fluff: looking at the film now reveals a tight little message movie garnished with a fine writer (Callie Khouri - 'Thelma and Louise', 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'), and first class director (Lasse Hallström - 'Casanova', 'An Unfinished Life', 'The Shipping News', 'Chocolat', 'The Cider House Rules', 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' etc), and a cast that has not only grown in importance from the time of this film but has also become acknowledged as the creme of the cinema.
Great Fall Movie
I love Julia Roberts and Gena Rowlands.Kyra Sedgewick is in this one as well.The film is awesome.It has an awesome plot and the setting is beautiful.The horses provide a good sub-plot to the main marital-problem part of the movie.Kyra plays my favorite character, Grace's fiesty sister.Her quips are fantastic and Julia Roberts and Quaid totally make their roles beleivable.It's a cute, funny, drama--who knew they still existed?Love IT! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Comedies    2. Feature Film-comedy    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (338)

Perhaps my favorite movie of all time!
This is an exceptionally wonderful, entertaining film;I've watched and enjoyed it many times, and my teen and 'tween daughters have also fallen in love with it.The other reviewers have more than adequately described the outstanding performances of Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina, and Johnny Depp. One of my own favorites in the film, however, is Hugh O'Conor as the young parish priest, Pere Henri.His rendition of "Ain't Nothin but a Hound Dog" (while working in his garden) is priceless.Kudos also to Lena Olin in her role of Josephine, who evolves from battered wife to confident tavern owner. I can't imagine anyone not loving and enjoying this movie.

Boring
Highly acclaimed. That, I knew. I watched the first 30 minutes, which is 1/4 of the movie, before I decided to hang it up. New lady moves into a conservative French town and opens a chocolate shop. This upsets the local church, even before she begins unleashing secret desires and so forth with her sinful chocolate. Okay. Can you really carry 2 hours with this single plot? Nope. This one's boring.
A nice movie
I enjoyed this movie very much.It's not your average love story of tortured hearts.It is mixed with some fun whimsy and a sexy Gypsy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

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Reviews (26)

Obnoxious, totally unbelievable, contrived
This movie richly deserves to be overlooked.Dreyfuss plays the part of a totally self absorbed, but rich, condo salesman.His character never had any redeeming qualities at all and was just arich, obnoxious, sleeze.The way Dreyfuss played him, it was impossible to believe the guy was sincere about anything.Hunter's character comes off as a spoiled, superficial, money-grubbing, Daddy's girl, thirty-something (still living with dad) who was rebounding off one relationship when she saw Dreyfuss (who looks to be in his mid sixties) giving his sales schtick.She realizes he's rich, and you almost see the dollar signs light up in her eyes as she realizes "He's the one."She engineers a way to sit at his table...he stares at her chest, she admires the size of his wallet and they are married soon after.Then after this beginning we are supposed to believe these two really care for each other.
That's Italian!
I have watched this movie over and over and I still love it!Danny Aiello is awesome, as are Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter.Excellent cast!Being of Italian descent, I can certainly identify to this movie and the Italian traditions.Danny Aiello is the typical domineering and controlling Italian "head of the family" father.Gina Rowlands plays the submissive, protective wife wonderfully.If you are of Mediterranean background, you will definitely enjoy this movie!!If not, you will still enjoy a lot of laughs...although there is a very sad part near the end...get the Kleenex out, sit back and enjoy this movie with the entire family.Alla famiglia!!

One of the Best Films of the 90's..........
I saw this film when it first came out back in the mid-nineties on the recommendation of the late film critic Gene Siskel who hailed it as one of the best films of the year. After that first viewing it became one of my favorite films of all time. If you enjoyed director Lasse Hallstoms "Chocolat" or "The Cider House Rules", you'll enjoy this one even more. It's his best movie though sadly it was over-looked at the time of it's original release. Danny Aielo is un-believably good in this movie (whatever happened to him anyway??), and the rest of the cast is spot-on. My only criticism is that there are no extras at all. A commentary track from Lasse and even Richard Dryfeuss whould have been wonderful as well as a look back documentary. Perhaps that is coming on a new version in the future. I'm just happy to have it on DVD after a long wait. Fly Me To the Moon, indeed!!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-comedy    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

Fans of Lasse Hallström's truffle, Read more

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Reviews (102)

bizarre
Its almost surrealistic. Spacey isn't just depressed, he really acts retarded. Blanchett is almost unrecognizable as the town slut who somehow manages to stick it out for years with Spacey. Dench is mysterious and effective. The scenery is fascinating but the story is quite modest and I never cared for any of the characters. Spacey's various stages of drowning are filmed nicely.

Shipping News Review
If you don't read the book, you'll miss a lot of detail, but the movie is a great adaptation. Julianne Moore worked hard on the accent and Spacey did a terrific 'doormat', allowing his self-absorbed wife, Petal, walk all over him. The transition in his character is inspiring! Wonderful scenery and human emotion. A 'broken man can heal'...
The Shipping News
I watched this movie once and could not wait to purchase itso I could watch it again andagain. I have shared it with friends too. The acting is superb and the story is beautiful, how so much can happen in a family to do damage but the human spirit is so strong, it overcomes all and in the end, is better for it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

Simultaneously elegiac and raw, this uneven--but unforgettable--tearjerker tells the story of Ingemar, a 12-year-old working-class Swedish boy sent to live with his childless aunt and uncle in a country village when his mother falls ill.Beginning with several representations of the most savage, unsentimental domestic intensity imaginable (interplay between a sick parent and loving child has never looked anywhere near as explosive), Read more

Features

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• Original recording reissued
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Reviews (42)

My favorite movie
Why is this my favorite movie? Because it simply presents life, in all its joys, griefs, paradoxes and mysteries. What puts this movie in a class by itself is the spirit of hope that runs through the movie, especially in the main character, Ingmar, whose indomitable spirit shines in the face of change and tragedy. Yet the movie never drifts into sentimentality. In the end, it's a movie about the mystery of love.
One Part Humor, One Part Poignant, One Part Disturbing
"My Life as a Dog" is a most unusual and most enjoyable movie.It is a Swedish film which I watched with the aid of subtitles.It would seem to qualify as a "coming of age" movie because it is about a 12 year old boy and his learning about sex and human fraility.Yet there is so much more to the story that it seems wrong to limit its' definition.
One of the top ten films ever made
This movie tugs at your heart strings in a completely honest way. The movie does not patronise or make pathetic the boy hero who has to endure. It is the very opposite of saccharine glop.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Foreign Film - Swedish    2. Foreign Film [Dub Or Subtitle]    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

In adapting his own novel Read more

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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-drama    3. Movie   

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Reviews (2)

nice vicarious childhood times
What I love about this movie is you get to spend vicarious time playing with children, like you haven't since childhood. It's a nice group of kids, no really mean tricks and the acting is naturalistic, not phony. Lots of outdoor fun, humor, and just nice times with six kids and a dog and toddler. Another nice thing is the kids are similar in ages, but not all one age, which would be another phony problem. Finally, it is interesting to see everyday life and times on a Swedish farm in the late 1920's. Sequel of "The Children of Noisy Village"
Here, those six adorable... kids(Ellen Demerus, Anna Sahlin, Linda Bergstrom, Crispin Dickson Wendenius, Henrik Larsson, Harald Lonnbro) return to tell us more of author Astrid Lindgren's childhood years. Taking up right where The Children of Noisy Village left off, we find our cast heading off to school and lots of vignettes about it as well as of holidays, a blizzard and a first try at babysitting. If you liked the first one, this is bound to be hit. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children    2. Comedies    3. Family    4. Feature Film Family    5. Movie   

Editorial Review

Fans of Lasse Hallström's truffle, Read more

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Reviews (102)

bizarre
Its almost surrealistic. Spacey isn't just depressed, he really acts retarded. Blanchett is almost unrecognizable as the town slut who somehow manages to stick it out for years with Spacey. Dench is mysterious and effective. The scenery is fascinating but the story is quite modest and I never cared for any of the characters. Spacey's various stages of drowning are filmed nicely.

Shipping News Review
If you don't read the book, you'll miss a lot of detail, but the movie is a great adaptation. Julianne Moore worked hard on the accent and Spacey did a terrific 'doormat', allowing his self-absorbed wife, Petal, walk all over him. The transition in his character is inspiring! Wonderful scenery and human emotion. A 'broken man can heal'...
The Shipping News
I watched this movie once and could not wait to purchase itso I could watch it again andagain. I have shared it with friends too. The acting is superb and the story is beautiful, how so much can happen in a family to do damage but the human spirit is so strong, it overcomes all and in the end, is better for it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Feature Film-drama   

Editorial Review

A light farce dressed up as a lush 18th century costume drama, Read more

Reviews (56)

Delightful Romp
This movie is simply rich and sumptuous to look at.To these days, I can never comprehend why movies of substance are always spoken in English theatre accent particularly when this particular movie is set in Venice.That aside, Heath Ledger seems to be enjoying himself playing the title role after Brokeback Mountain, and what contrasting movies they are.Sienna Miller is simply brilliant as the head-strong, independent feminist whose character despises and abhors towards the reputation of Casanova but who in the end, would succumb to his sincerity and charm, and the one woman who would tie Casanova down to a monogamous relationships.Oliver Platt is hillarious as the fiance of Siena's character but who in the end would fall in love with her mother instead; need we say anymore about Jeremy Irons and Lena Olin who are also tremendous in their portrayal of the Vaticans authority that is to bring Casanova to "justice" and Sienna's character's mother who wish for her daughter's marriage to the prince of Genoa to offset the family's mounting debt; and then, there are also Casanova's loyal sidekick, Sienna's character's younger brother who is infatuated with his neighbour's daughter and who, on the other hand is totally obsessed with Casanova.The whole cat and mouse chase and of Casanova needing to be ahead of everyone else before he gets caught is what made this movie so pleasurable and funny to watch.I thoroughly enjoy this movie and would recommend all matured viewers to share the experience.

Venetian beauty enhanced!
Set all in Venice, this movie is beautiful.Many
Wonderful - but an R Rating????
This is a light, romantic, fun (and poignant) film that all ages can enjoy, much like the Richard Lester Three Musketeers films. That it received an R rating from the clueless idiots at the MPAA is testimony to their irrelevance, and you may see a resemblance between the baddies in "Cassanova" and the MPAA itself. That said, this one's a gem - for everyone and anyone! ... Read more

Editorial Review

This well-intentioned but strangely cold tale concerns an emotionally repressed Southern belle (Julia Roberts) who separates from her husband (Dennis Quaid) after discovering he is an unabashed philanderer.Pressed by her dominating father (Robert Duvall) into reconciling with her spouse, Roberts's character chafes against so much male control over her destiny.Defended by a fiercely independent sister (a catchy performance by Kyra Sedgwick), the heroine develops the nerve to plot her own course in life while her mother (Gena Rowlands) finds the gumption to throw her own mate out of the house. The script by Callie Khouri (Read more

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Reviews (30)

one of my favorites
I don't expect anything more of a movie than to enjoy it and be entertained. I don't seek to psychoanalyze or offer up in-depth critique, it's only a movie. I either enjoy it or I don't. I just really love this movie. Kyra Sedgewick is hysterical, and the little girl that played "Caroline" was just adorable. The whole cast is very good, but those two are scene-stealers.

Taking a Second Look at an Older Movie!
Odd to term a 1995 film as an 'older movie', but SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT was rather dismissed in its initial release as a bit of fluff: looking at the film now reveals a tight little message movie garnished with a fine writer (Callie Khouri - 'Thelma and Louise', 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'), and first class director (Lasse Hallström - 'Casanova', 'An Unfinished Life', 'The Shipping News', 'Chocolat', 'The Cider House Rules', 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' etc), and a cast that has not only grown in importance from the time of this film but has also become acknowledged as the creme of the cinema.
Great Fall Movie
I love Julia Roberts and Gena Rowlands.Kyra Sedgewick is in this one as well.The film is awesome.It has an awesome plot and the setting is beautiful.The horses provide a good sub-plot to the main marital-problem part of the movie.Kyra plays my favorite character, Grace's fiesty sister.Her quips are fantastic and Julia Roberts and Quaid totally make their roles beleivable.It's a cute, funny, drama--who knew they still existed?Love IT! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Comedies    2. Foreign Film - Spanish/Misc Sa    3. Movie