The images presented just linger. Describing them in words does them an injustice. Possibly the best thing ever done by an American film-maker. The sound track alone is worth the price of the the discs and it is perfectly attuned. Yes there is a story line but the emotional impact is at times over-powering. I have only seen the film but the second disc in this package perhaps gives some detail on the participants and the circumstances that created this wonder.

This may not be one of Louis Malle's best known films but Pierre Blaise, an untrained actor chosen by Malle for the title role, comes across like a young Brando. As the son of a French landowner who is presently a German P.O.W. he finds himself none too happy with his job scrubbing hospital floors or the takeover of his father's farm by a somewhat agressive neighbour. After being snubbed by a former school teacher who now recruits for the French resistance he stumbles onto a hotel used by collaborators. He finds himself welcomed and adapts quickly. He is a farm boy who doesn't like "being talked down to" and makes this abundantly clear whenever the situation warrants. His scenes with the highly experienced Belgian actor Holger Lowenadler who plays Albert Horn a Jewish tailor equal anything ever filmed in their setting, timing and mood. Lucien is attracted to Horn's daughter France played by Aurore Clement another Malle prodigy who although not quite up to Blaise's talent is stunningly beautiful in her tragic circumstances. Lucien's attempts at urbanity are seen as preposterous by Miss Horn but when he tells her father that he is not too pleased with the golf trousers he has made for him there is a certain menace in his manner that is stunningly real. The young man proves later that he will kill rather than be humbled regardless of who his antagonist happens to be. He is fond of France but with a purely sexual desire which he makes no attempt to disguise. There are certain gaps in the filming or perhaps the editing but Malle obviously wants to let Blaise be himself as he is perfect for the role and in all likelihood would not react well to excessive directing. The musical score is taken largely from Django Reinhardt recordings of the era and the included trailer is a must watch and listen. The Criterion restoration is immaculate as always though the included review by Pauline Kael somewhat misses the mark. Regardless of the historical setting the importance of this film is the performances. Each actor does his or her part with a certain understanding of just what is needed to convince the viewer of the reality of their situation. Very highly recommended as a work that deserves several viewings to assimilate the many nuances included.

This film is supreme. Within ten years it will be known as a classic of modern Russian cinema against which all future European attempts to equal its stunning honesty and power will be measured. The French will create a name for the genre and Criterion will tweak to improve the coloration and release it with new sub-titles.

Buy the D.V.D. now: before it is listed as "out of stock", or "available from these sellers", and you will have something special!!!!

I don't know if Nick Tosches is a great writer or not but he is the right man to tell the story of Sonny Liston. If you have an interest in boxing and the people who were involved at the professional level during the fifties, sixties and seventies read this account.

Tosches neither justifies, villifies nor passes judgment. That is left for the reader. His research is extensive and acknowledged. There is a constant intensity reaching an invetable climax followed by a harrowing denouement and finality.

Familiar names from the not too distant past appear, play their apportioned role in the subject's brutal ascent to boxing's ultimate pinnacle & leave the stage much as they entered: actors in a world of street corners, jails, motels and courtrooms: playing their parts because really, what else can one do?

Sonny with bits of paper in his pocket, mixed with coins and dirt. Sonny, in jail, in the ring, in a car, with a woman, any woman, cruel, moody, unflinching, but with a certain sense of humour as only the devil's plaything can understand humour.

The final snapshot of Sonny, complete with shadow, and captioned "Vegas, near the end." is a study in itself.

Highly recommended for those who appreciate the bitter, not only in their liquor but in their life.

Guillem Morales has been referred to as a Spanish Minimalist. Here he proves that film is truly a visual medium. There is a paucity of dialogue. High school Spanish is enough to make the sub-titles unnecessary. The play of light and shadow, day and night, facial expressions and body language beg our attention. This is not an experimental film. It is what cinema has been and can be today even more so with advanced cinematographic techniques and skilled camera work.

Morales, the writer and director tackles the time worn theme of the 'unseen presence'. His approach to the material he has conceived however is modern and adroit.

Vera (Monica Lopez) is in the process of leaving her lover Felix (Andoni Gracia) for no explainable reason. Felix has recently designed the remodelling of a large and complex home of some 4000 square feet for them to share. They are still friends and, at times, lovers but Vera is adamant in her determination to leave and take up residence in a small apartment.

Felix is overcome by lonliness. On the evening of her departure he admits a stranger, Martin (Augusti Villaronga) who claims he must make an urgent call and asks for privacy. Felix obliges but after some time searches for the 'guest' and cannot find him. Still, he is certain that this person has not left. He becomes increasingly paranoiac and asks Vera for help. She visits and tries to console Felix who breaks down and implores her to stay. They make love but once again she departs.

Felix has made a drawing of the intruder and with the help of some neighborhood children is directed to another large home which the youngsters claim is where he may find the individual that he has sketched.

Felix surrepititously enters this home where he finds a paralyzed woman, Claudia (Monica Lopez) who bears a definitive resemblance to his ex-lover. He is fascinated and takes on the role of unseen guest moving from room to room, lying in her bed and even showering while watching his unwitting hostess from the bathroom window. He eventually startles and terrifies her to the extent that she calls her missing husband's amigo.

Now all of this may sound trite and somewhat dull but the cinematography, precise direction and superb acting skills of the two, or is it three, main protagonists make for fascinating viewing. To reveal more would expose just how Guillem resolves the situation. Suffice it to say he is wise enough to leave the viewer wondering just exactly what did take place, and in my case, to review the film searching for clues to the somewhat bizarre finale. I would strongly advise buying this D.V.D. The approach is decidedly different and in my experience hard to compare with anything I have previously viewed. It qualifies as intelligent film making which does not vanish with the final credits. I would grant the fifth star but have not entirely made up my mind about the final scene.

This collection is exactly what it purports to be. Miles, Trane, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Cannonball Adderley & Bill Evans play Classic Ballads. The eight minute rendition of Bye Bye Blackbird is worth the price of the disc in itself but it is followed immediately by a superb rendering of Old Folks.

This stuff is not altogether "cool". It sure ain't Bop and it precedes "fusion" but these musicians can do it all and two of Miles' own compositions, Circle & Blue in Green are included.

Stella & Thought About You are Miles standards. What more do you want on one disc from one of the greatest jazz groups of all time. The copy I found doesn't even have liner notes but it does point out that there is forty-eight minutes of music enclosed. Buy this gem before it disappears.

This is the only piece of fiction I have read that has grabbed me to the point that 'I could not put it down'. Juan Pablo Castel is obviously insane ---- but then why do I keep reading his confession? This is 115 pages and it just does not stop. Don't bother trying to categorize this work. It is one of a kind.

This is, by far, Barbet Shroeder's best effort. Perhaps his familiarity with the language, the country and its people themselves are contributing factors although Shroeder (Playboy August 2001) tells of the many problems and dangers he encountered while filming in Medellin.

I have not yet read Fernando Vallejo's novel, on which the film is based, nor have I visited Columbia so I can deal with Shroeder's work at face value only. Still I was able to appreciate his accomplishment at a number of levels. As an introduction to the streets and los barrios of Medellin I was fascinated. As a documentary of the lives and sufferings of the resident populace I was moved. As cinema I was greatly impressed with the performance of German Jaramillo who plays Fernando, a man so jaded with life that he has surpassed the fear of death yet has difficulty making his exit for any number of reasons... One last love, a visit to a long ago cantina or church, the sound of a once familiar melody.

His youthful lover Alexis (Anderson Ballestros) by way of contrast kills rather than engaging in senseless argumentation, or to preclude personal affront but most of all to avoid being killed. The pace of Alexis' life can only be slowed by sexuality, sleep or death. The music which soothes him is loud and frenetic. His sometime outward languidity cannot hide a turbulence bred of violence and danger yet he is unable to watch as Fernando mercifully kills a suffering animal.

The killing portrayed here is not for those impressed with the Hollywood blood-bath type featuring good guys vs bad guys where the good guys somehow always prevail by way of superior cunning or fire-power. Here there is no justification. Only futile vengeance and self preservation. Nobody is right. No one wins.

Shroeder keeps the film short and uses a bare skeleton of plot to extend the running time to ninety-eight minutes. It is only slightly more than enough and Shroeder can be forgiven for conforming to acceptable feature time length considering what he has been able to achieve.

The dialogue is superb, cutting away the veneer of myth and civilization, as humanity is reduced to an insane parody of breeding, feeding, dying and removal of bodies. In one memorable scene Fernando rails sardonic at the determination of residents to dump corpses down a mountain side in spite of a sign clearly prohibiting the practice. Vultures circle above awaiting the opportunity to feast on the distorted carrion.

The soundtrack ranges from pasodobles to Maria Callas and is beautifully integrated into the moods of Fernando and his youthful lovers.

Anyone interested in how much can be communicated through the art of cinema should see this film and see it more than once -- in a cinema.

This film belongs to Thora Birch. Expanding on her American Beauty character Birch demonstrates an uncanny knack of bouncing other characters off her own with no attempt at scene stealing or undercutting. As Enid she plays a recent high school graduate who in contrast to her only friend Rebecca, played by Scarlett Johansson, finds herself living in a world given over to vacuous banality and pretense.

The increasing alienation scares Enid and she armors herself with heavy boots, a series of costumes & a sketch book and defends her fragile hold on sanity with cutting sarcasm and put-downs.

Unlike Rebecca for whom this type of disdain is merely a convenience Enid is not popular & knows it, hence her gradual rejection of 'cool' and increasing interest in the affairs of Seymour (Steve Buscemi) a collector of archaic 78RPM records and other nefarious vintage material.

The history of this film, unconventional director Terry Zwigoff (Crumb) and the semblance of plot are discussed elsewhere & in any case nothing more than an open mind is necessary to appreciate the scathing critique of American Pop. Phony is routed out and exposed in every possible way and co-opted victims wander like zombies through their assumed personifications.

The fact that these erstwhile comic book creations are now being played out by animate human beings lends a pathos difficult to define. Enid's father, (Bob Baliban), his fiance 'The Maxine', (Teri Garr), Seymour's room-mate, the clown like employees at restaurants, movie houses, book shops, Enid's air-head art instructor (Illeana Douglas). None are spared.

As Enid begins to realize that she has crossed a line with no hope of return her search becomes more frenetic and unpredictable. Her relationship with Rebecca crumbles. Seymour becomes a victim & Enid herself departs in a hauntingly allegorical final scene, beautifully filmed against a blueish background of telegraph poles, concrete, mindless grafitti and the emptiness of Americana.

There is comedy here, fortunately, but Birch with a mastery reminiscent of the young Jodi Foster plays her part straight to the very end & end it surely is. Any other interpretation is as fanciful as the 'cool' now so blatantly issuing forth from every media source and advertiser nation wide.

If you liked " You Can Count On Me" see this film. It is a companion piece in every sense.