42nd Street Forever, Vol. 5: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)4.6 stars
The first review here makes me realize how good we have it with the Alamo (actually Alamos; there's a bunch in town now). We've been watching random collections of clips just like this before most every showing of any movie since the original Alamo on 4th was crankin' in the 90s, and I've just always taken it for granted and assumed that every town has a rep theatre that does stuff like this.
I guess not! For that we can say thanks to the Alamo founders, Tim and Carrie League, and all the film freaks who put these things together. They done good, and continue to do it.
This collection really shows off the endless amount of cinematic cheese that has surfaced from the primoridal b-movie auteur muck and then disappeared over the decades. And believe it, there's lots more stuff like this in the Alamo vaults! I've seen some reeeeally obscure stuff in the previews, and with luck there'll be another Alamo dvd (or three) in this series.
Sex! Murder!! Mayhem!!! Coming soon to a drive-in near you...

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WELCOME TO THE ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE CINEMA, the most awesome post-modern hot spot for exploitation movie revival, deep in the heart of Texas! Home to world-famous events such as The Quentin Tarantino Film Fest, Fantastic Fest and Butt-Numb-A-Thon, the Alamo is one of the last places on earth where you can still see grindhouse classics such as THE DEVIL WITHIN HER and MAD MONKEY KUNG FU. Now, the Alamo has opened their vaults for a peek at some of the most outrageous cinematic gems from several golden ages of sleaze cinema. Digitally re-mastered in high-definition from the actual reels that show every week at the Alamo, this exciting edition of the 42ND STREET FOREVER series is the most bizarre, the most terrifying and the most hilarious one yet! FEATURING TRAILERS FROM: A LIFE OF NINJA - STING OF THE DRAGON MASTERS - THE BODYGUARD (CHIBA) - MAD MONKEY KUNG-FU - WONDER WOMEN - LUCKY SEVEN - THE SHARK HUNTER - BIRDS DO IT, BEES DO IT - LET S DO IT - CHATTERBOX - DANISH LOVE ACTS - GROUP MARRIAGE - VIOLATED - CAGED VIRGINS - MESSAGE FROM SPACE - THE TERRORNAUTS - MIND WARP - ZEBRA FORCE - BLAZING BATTLE - INTERNATIONAL DIAMOND TRAP - MACHINE GUN MCCAIN - STACEY - LIGHTNING BOLT - MISSION THUNDERBOLT - 3 SUPERMEN IN THE WEST - PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW - PUTNEY SWOPE - REDNECK COUNTY - MOONRUNNERS - THE FABULOUS WORLD OF JULES VERNE - THE MAGIC CHRISTMAS TREE - PINOCCHIO S BIRTHDAY PARTY - THE MAGIC OF THE KITE - THE SECRET OF MAGIC ISLAND - KARZAN: MASTER OF THE JUNGLE - THE NORSEMAN - SORCERESS - TERROR IN THE WAX MUSEUM - THE MANSON MASSACRE - THE DEVIL WITHIN HER. . . AND MORE!Also includes a 30 minute documentary, REMEMBER THE ALAMO, documenting the Alamo Drafthouse phenomenon.

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An Awfully Big Adventure (1995) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an excellent film, moving, sad, even tragic. It is NOT a "warm hearted comedy," as it says on the back of the DVD. And it certainly is not "hilarious". The blurb on the cover is quite possibly the most misleading I have ever come across. Despite that, it is a lovely film. It is a solid, serious British drama, with an excellent all round cast. The humour where present is decidedly low key. Its predominant mood is one of sadness and loss, there is warmth to be sure, but certainly not what is projected on the cover or in the trailer. One wonders why the publicists chose to so misrepresent such a fine film. Was it because they were worried its serious and even dark nature would put off the popcorn munchers? Perhaps it would have been better if they had. Then we wouldn't have been saddled with so many negative reviews from viewers who naturally felt short-changed. Then again, this is not a movie that American audiences would readily take to.
Set in 1947, it tells the story of a 16 year old girl, Stella (Georgina Cates), abandoned at birth by a wayward mother and brought up by her aunt and uncle, who aspires to join the Theatre. Into this milieu she willingly plunges herself. She encounters sordid seedy characters. She takes on menial tasks without pay. She embraces all with a gushing eager naivete. She falls for the stage director (Hugh Grant) who in her young innocence she doesn't realise actually has a preference for boys. She then latches on to an aging Lothario (Alan Rickman) who does appreciate young girls. In this darkness in which she finds herself, past and present intersect. The absent mother she faithfully places a call to everyday, the same mother who gave her away years ago, becomes the silent confidant of her hopes and fears. The aging Rickman character constantly pines for his own past even as he happily deflowers the young girl. The stage director's sordid history of seducing and then spurning young men finally comes to a head. All combine to create an air of loss and decay. A nice touch was the use of a lone flute playing "The Last Rose Of Summer" whenever the Rickman character thinks back to his lost love. If you know the song, it perfectly encapsulates the mood of this movie. And yes there is a twist at the end, but if you have been paying attention, it won't come as too much of a shock. Although the prudes and the self-righteous will as usual recoil in moral outrage.
New Line Entertainment has given us a fine if bare-bones DVD. The film is transferred in it's original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 (enhanced for widescreen TV). Picure quality is good, clean and clear with natural warm colors. Black levels are just right. Audio includes the original stereo plus both DTS and Dolby 5.1 remixes. Excellent presentation. There are even optional English subtitles for people who can't get round the British accents. Thank goodness not everybody makes sanitized, Hollywood dross.

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Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman star in director Mike Newell's (Four Weddings And A Funeral) engaging comedy about a star-struck young girl lured into the grown-up world of the theater. From a crush on the company's heartless director to her first sexual encounter with the show's biggest star, young Stella Bradshaw quickly discovers what it takes to make it in the theater.
An intriguing blend of comedy and passion this provocative story is a hilarious look at what really goes on when the lights go down.

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Mrs. Henderson Presents (Full Screen Edition) (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS is easily one of the best films of 2005. That it didn't garner an Oscar for Judi Dench is amazing as this is one of her finest roles (in a long line of superb films!). Director Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, Dirty Pretty Things, The Grifters, Liam etc) has put together a film that is at once nostalgic, sophisticated, intelligent, witty, sad, and thoroughly entertaining. This little film is a winner.
London, 1937, and Laura Henderson, having lost her only son in WW I is discovered at the graveside of her recently departed husband. Not wanting to be stuck with the British widow stance, she decides on a hobby to occupy her time: she buys, renovates and readies a theater in the West End of London, hires Vivian Van Damm (Bob Hoskins) to be her impresario and the two successfully begin a music hall type of entertainment. Their efforts are soon so imitated that their income falters, giving Mrs. Henderson a new concept: she will introduce full nudity into her theater to replace the French postcard surrogates the soldiers carry. Mrs. Henderson is indefatigable, has a laceratingly funny relationship with Van Damm, and even manages to cajole the politicians to go along with her 'new concept'. By now WW II is at it s peak and despite the London blitzkriegs the theater manages to survive, but not without some sacrifices and some self-revelations between Mrs. Henderson and Van Damm. There are many little subplots involving the company of performers, but they all blend nicely into the poignant story.
Judi Dench is absolutely radiant in this role, a role that allows her to cover a wide gamut of moods, each of which she handles expertly. Likewise, Bob Hoskins gives the performance of his rich career and the other cast members in this ensemble piece could not be better. The music and staged numbers are delightful and the atmosphere of London under siege is very realistic. In every way this is a successful movie, one that deserves a wide audience and one of those DVDs worthy of placing in your film library. A hearty Bravo! to all concerned! Grady Harp, April 06

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Academy Award winner1 Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love) received her fifth Oscar® nomination for her saucy, hilarious performance in Mrs. Henderson Presents. Laura Henderson (Dench) may be a widow in London but she is certainly not going to spend the rest of her days playing bridge. In a time when England is brought to its knees by war, she brings a nation to its feet in applause-with a live show featuring nude girls!Dench and Academy Award nominee2 Bob Hoskins have won critics’ hearts in this stylish gem that Joe Morgenstern from The Wall Street Journal calls "one of the wittiest comedies to come our way in a very long time!" "Judi Dench in the performance of her life." - Rex Reed, The New York Observer

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