Therese Raquin (1981) Review

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(More customer reviews)I keeping echoing over and over....I watched this presentation because I aspire to see every possible iota of work available by the outstanding actor, Alan Rickman.
Each time I view Rickman's work solely for that reason, I am rewarded with an outstanding piece of entertainment I would have otherwise missed. This Masterpiece Theater presentation of Emile Zola's acclaimed novel,'Therese Raquin', is one more gem in that growing list of eclectic, but always exceedingly high-quality, films that make up the body of Rickman's work.
This tragic drama of a simple household populated by complex characters quietly unfolds in a sparsely stated manner, completely divergent from the shocking passion and emotional turbulence bubbling and smoldering under the surface of this story of illicit love, its requisite deceit, and the tragic explosion of events which are born of its temptations.
Kate Nelligan (The Cider House Rules) in the title role reminded me of Tiny Louise in what I believe was Tina's debut role as another dallying daughter-in-law, Robert Ryan's in her case, Griselda, simmering with adulterous lust for Aldo Ray in 'God's Little Acre'. Brian Cox, as Laurent, Therese's passionate lover, bears little resemblance to his recurring role of Ward Abbott in the recent 'Bourne' films or even his smaller role as Doug Durwin in 'Minus Man'. Simply said, his Laurent is 'deadly sexual'. Kenneth Cranham was seemingly perfectly cast as Camille, Therese's doomed cuckold, and certainly far removed from the villainous hitman, Gibson, in Britain's 2001 film, 'Shiner'. English actress, Mona Washbourne, shines herself in her role as Madame Raquin, with whom Camille, her son, and his wife Therese reside, and over whose literal head Therese and Laurent shockingly cavort sexually, while in truth nothing about Therese goes over her mother-in-law's head, either before or after she becomes a helpless invalid left to the care of Therese.
Alan Rickman (Vidal) in his role as artist/friend is resplendent in curls and could be my friend any day. Alan always makes the most of his role, no matter how small. Vidal is absolutely no exception, showing all the talent, charm, and creativity Alan's dedicated fans would swoon over in the years following this early TV role.

Rickman fans must watch this early work of Alan to be able to truthfully say they 'could see his talent unfolding even then'. Lovers of drama and tragedy, love and lust, and a simple time-old story very well told will love this TV series dubbed by the "DAILY EXPRESS" to be 'One of the best serials ever seen on TV....electrifying'. They were not exaggerating by even one volt.

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King Lear (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)Now a celebrity, courtesy of Bilbo Baggins (the keepcase to this King Lear DVD bills him as "of the Lord of the Rings"), Ian Holm was a great actor long before he was Bilbo. On this DVD he delivers a Lear on a par with the twentieth century's greatest, including Olivier's. But the excellence of this version results not just from one bravura performance, but from an intelligently conceived approach to the play, seamlessly executed by a competent, superbly chosen cast. Of innovative productions there is no end, but what a rarity, and what a joy, when innovation comes across as deeply authentic, rooted in the text and the humanity of the play, as if the new take had always been there, concealed in the text, waiting for centuries to be discovered. One can argue whether Lear should be presented as a "psychological" drama of broken family relationships, and I have mixed feelings about the approach; but if, as our leading Shakespeare critic maintains, Shakespeare "invented" our understanding of human nature, then surely this approach should be tried. And it works to perfection here. Goneril and Regan, the "bad daughters," evolve into monsters of pure evil, but along the way we see, via some remarkable facial expressions that play particularly well on the small screen, flashes of the agonizing pain and hurt that their overbearing father has inflicted on them. This is true also of Cordelia, the "good" daughter; all these daughters are visibly tormented in the presence of their father, though Cordelia overcomes her past through love and forgiveness. What keeps this from being the greatest Lear on video is that the text is heavily abridged. Those who know the play will have trouble escaping the occasional feeling that they are trapped in a "60 Second Lear" from Tom Stoppard or the Reduced Shakespeare Company. The greatest of Shakespeare's lines remain, but how much greater they are when they emerge from his larger linguistic context. At points the cutting even confuses the plot. One gets no hint from this version that the "bedlam" Edgar is only feigning madness; for awhile you would think he's actually gone bonkers.

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MacBeth - The Shakespeare Collection Volume 2 (1983) Review

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(More customer reviews)I teach this play in High School and was looking for an alternative to the Welles and Polanski versions to help my students understand the play. This is not it. This one is horrible. Badly acted and directed and very difficult to follow. If anyone is looking for a video version of this play that is easy to understand and useful for teachers, there is a pretty new version of the play on DVD available on this site directed by J. Bretton Truett and E.J. Kerwin ( B0000639O1 ) that is outstanding for educators. They perform most of the play and include a great deal of video analysis as well. The performances are very good and they use a modern setting which is very effective. There is also a wonderful feature that lets you get right to the text from the video and back again.

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Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1991) Review

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(More customer reviews)Query: what are the minor characters in Hamlet doing when they are not actively engaged in carrying the plot forward? Answer: floundering around, not entirely clear as to who they are, and absolutely clueless about what is going on. I remember being electrified by the play's genius when I first read it six million years ago, and only stumbled on the film adaptation by chance while channel surfing in San Diego. The film is a gem.Gary Oldman is a treasure as Rosencrantz, a follower if ever there was one, innocently and accidentally discovering the laws of physics then shrugging them off. Rosencrantz is a trifle slow at times, and he doesn't seem to know- or care- whether he is Rosencrantz or Guildenstern. Mostly, he just wants to go home. Tim Roth is brilliant as Guildenstern, who does know who he is but doesn't know what he can do about it. The interactions and wordplay between these two are dazzling. Richard Dreyfuss is perfect as the slightly sinister Player. Dreyfuss tends to chew scenery which is entirely apt for this character. The production values are wonderful and you get a real feel for the ambience- cold Denmark, even in cold castles, where actors saying their lines can see their own breath. If you love drollery and wordplay and fine acting, this is your kind of movie.

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In this cleverly inspired twist on William Shakespeare's Hamlet, two of the outrageous supporting players take center stage for a dazzling game of illusion and reality that delivers one-of-a-kind entertainment! World Class Cast featuring Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus, Jaws), Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Planet of the Apes) and Gary Oldman (Bram Stoker's Dracula, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

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Stage Beauty (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)Perhaps thought patterns are changing and prejudices against gay characters are indeed abating. At least hearing the audience delight after viewing STAGE BEAUTY makes a case for more mainstream male actors to shed the fear of taking on roles that feature gender and sexuality variations: Russell Crowe, Colin Farrell, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Antonio Banderas, Javier Bardem, Rodrigo Santoro, Gael Garcia Bernal, et al have all performed sensitively as gay men despite their macho image - the once small list is now respectably large. And now add Billy Crudup and Ben Chaplin to that ever-growing list. Bravo to that change.
STAGE BEAUTY (in the screenplay version of his own play 'The Compleat Female Stage Beauty' by Jeffrey Hatcher) is set in the mid 17th century with all the frills and foibles of British dandies and ladies visually intact. This is the time when female roles were assumed by male actors (the theater was simply no place for ladies to participate) and we are introduced to Mr. Kynaston (in a brilliant, multifaceted performance by Billy Crudup!) as he portrays Desdemona in Shakespeare's 'Othello'. He is attended by a dresser Maria Hughes (Claire Danes, another superlative acting achievement) who longs to act and steals away after performances in the theater run by actor Betterton (Tom Wilkinson) to a tavern where she assumes the memorized roles Kynaston performs on the royally approved stage.
Kynaston has been raised to portray women on stage (and indeed in life) and responds to men as a woman (his lover is the Duke of Buckingham - Ben Chaplin). King Charles II (a thorough-going hilarious fling for the gifted Rupert Everett) is convinced by his tart du jour to allow women to play women's roles on the stage, thus dethroning Kynaston as the actress of the time, driving him into tawdry masquerades in pubs after a severe beating from thugs beckoned by the bloated Sir Charles Sedley (Richard Griffiths). Maria Hughes thus becomes the first 'compleat female actress' and this transition between Kynaston and Maria results in desperate tutoring lessons before Maria can play Desdemona for the King. For the first time in his life Kynaston must examine his own sexuality and his successful final curtain after playing Othello to Maria's Desdemona gratefully leaves that choice up in the air.
The script is a delight, the actors are all first rate, especially the wholly immersed Crudup and Danes who could well be part of the Royal Shakespeare Company, so fine is their British sound, demeanor, and Shakespeare! The supporting cast is a kaleidoscope of jewel-like performances from Everett, Wilkinson, Edward Fox, Hugh Bonneville among others. The mood is appropriately British - all dark, candlelit stagecraft and foggy marsh vistas - and the music matches the overall picture. Richard Eyre has directed a film that deserves many kudos, but the main glory should shine on his ability to explore the spectrum of gender and sexuality with dignity, intelligence, and tremendous sensitivity. A welcome delight!


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Since women are forbidden to act in 17th century england mr ned kynaston became the most popular leading lady of his time - until the rules changed and the actress had to finally make a man of himself.Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent.Release Date: 05/22/2007Starring: Claire Danes Rupert EverettRun time: 109 minutesRating: R

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The Good Doctor (Broadway Theatre Archive) (1978) Review

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(More customer reviews)The cream of the Broadway Theatre Archive, this production has it all--the stories of Anton Chekhov, Neil Simon to mold the stories into exquisitely timed and hilarious theatre, and a cast that is hard to duplicate. Starring Marsha Mason, who plays everything from a maid to a lady of the night; Ed Asner who is a terrific, blustering general; and Lee Grant, who ranges from a wily and assertive employer to a wild woman with a "nervous disorder," the production also includes Bob Dishy, who has an elastic face and expressive eyes, starring in "The Sneeze" and "The Seduction," and Gary Dontzig as the "Drowned Man" and a 19-year-old son about to be introduced to sex for the first time.
The seven Chekhov stories which become one-act plays here are filled with dry humor, surprise endings, and clever common people in confrontations with "superiors" which end in absurdity. "The Sneezer" cannot apologize enough to the general who is his boss at work, then believes that he himself has been humiliated. In "The Governess," an employer (Grant) tricks a subservient governess (Mason) out of 80% of her pay. "The Seduction" shows a man-about-town (Chamberlain) using a husband as the conduit for his seduction of the man's wife, a story with a twist at the end. "The Drowned Man" (Dontzig) claims to be in the "maritime entertainment business" and will "drown" for a small fee. "The Defenseless Creature" gives Grant her star turn, and she is hilarious as the clever wife who wants money from a banker (Chamberlain), threatening him with a curse if he refuses. In "The Arrangement" a father takes his shy, 19-year-old son to a house of ill repute, then realizes that the son will no longer be a boy.
The most stunning episode is "The Audition," and anyone interested in acting would do well to study Marsha Mason, who is magnificent here. Playing the parts of all three sisters from the conclusion of Chekhov's The Three Sisters, she is sensitive, bursts into tears on cue, then becomes rational and straightforward. As Mason convincingly plays the three different roles, one witnesses a truly great acting moment. Each of the scenes is beautifully produced and sensitively acted, and the viewer comes away from the production awed by Chekhov's writing, Simon's dramatic sense, and the ensemble cast's incredible talent. Mary Whipple


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Monkey Monkey Bottle of Beer, How Many Monkeys Have We Here? (Broadway Theatre Archive) (1974) Review

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(More customer reviews)The title for this play originates from a counting nursery rhyme that indicates who is "it" or "out", so, it may seem apropropriate for the theme of the play. Five women arrive separately to the basement of a hospital to learn the results of an experiment conducted on their mentally challenged 8-year olds. Little is known to the women regarding the experiment, except that it is "needle to the brain with no pain." So, no one knows how the experiment turned out, which of their sons could be improved or worse. Therefore, the title of counting rhyme may indicate one or another's son may have a different outcome.
The setting is the basement of a hospital, and we listen as the five woman sit in a circle, taking her place, and waiting to be called for the doctor. As they wait in closeness, the women's personalities are soon revealed, why they are in the program, their personal issues, attitudes, doubts, finances, fears, etc. There is some dramatic confrontation. So, the gist of the play is mostly that, sitting, chatting, confronting, while waiting.
The character roles are well-defined in the short time we learn about them, and, the acting is well-done. Toward the end, one woman meets with her 8-year old, and realizes he is changed. However, the kid, about 8 years old is not a good actor and unfortunately he had more than enough lines. His acting was so forced and on the brink of noticeable and irritating. It was highly distracting to the work.
Other than that, the play was nothing too memorable. Playwright Marsha Steiness, who has written about 5 plays, is new to me. ........Rizzo.


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Deathtrap (1982) Review

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(More customer reviews)When DEATHTRAP was first released, the poster--reproduced on the cover of this DVD--offered a graphic akin to a Rubik's Cube. It is an appropriate image: originally written for the stage by Ira Levin, who authored such memorable works as ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE STEPFORD WIVES, the play was one of Broadway's most famous twisters, and under Sidney Lumet's direction it translates to the screen extremely well.
DEATHTRAP is one of those films that it is very difficult to discuss, for to do so in any detail gives away the very plot for which it is famous. But the opening premise is extremely clever: Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine) is the famous author of mystery plays, but these days he seems to have lost his touch. After a particularly brutal opening night, an old student named Clifford Anderson (Christopher Reeve) sends him a script for a play he has written. It is called "Deathtrap," and Sidney recognizes it as a surefire hit. Just the sort of hit that would revive his career... indeed, a hit to die for. And when Clifford visits to discuss the play, events suddenly begin to twist in the most unexpected manner possible.
Like Anthony Shaffer's equally twisty SLEUTH, DEATHTRAP is really a story more at home on the stage than the screen--to reach full power it needs the immediacy that a live performance offers. Still, under the expert guidance of director Sidney Lumet, it makes a more-than-respectable showing on the screen. Much of this is due to the cast, which is remarkably fine. Michael Caine gives a truly brilliant performance, Dyan Cannon is funny and endearing as Sidney's relentlessly anxious wife, and Christopher Reeve gives what might be the single finest performance in his regrettably short acting career. If you can't see it in a first-rate theatrical production, this will more than do until one comes along.
Unfortunately, the DVD does not offer the film in its original ratio--it's pan and scan here, and that's a clear strike against the DVD so far as I'm concerned. And sadly, although this is an ideal subject for them, there are no bonuses of any kind. But even so it is DEATHTRAP, and it is DEATHTRAP very expertly done, the perfect movie to curl up with on a dark and stormy night. Keep the lights on!
--GFT (Amazon Reviewer)--

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Ira Levin's cat-and-mouse Broadway suspense smash about a playwright's deadly game of murder gets diabolically comic screen treatment.

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