About this product: 1999 may be remembered as the year of Joan of Arc: NBC created a miniseries in her honor, Carl Dreyer's long-lost The Passion of Joan of Arc was discovered in a mental hospital, and Facets re-released Jacques Rivette's Joan the Maid. Luc Besson rounds out the corpus with his stylistic and vaguely heretical grand-scale feature, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.
Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Fifth Element) challenges established notions about the Maid of Orleans as he creates a decidedly more human heroine than have previous biopics. The story line is the same--a young, illiterate peasant girl convinces the dauphin of France to give her an army, and she leads them to victory in Orleans, only to be burned at the stake for heresy--but Milla Jovovich, in the title role, is a woman possessed. Her influences are less than heavenly; as a child she witnesses the murder of her sister by the English, a death caused by the sister's giving her hiding place to young Joan, which causes an intense desire for revenge. Yes, God still speaks to Joan, but even this is undermined, as Dustin Hoffman, playing The Conscience, questions her motives.
Cinematically, The Messenger is stunning, with fantastical sequences of Joan in communication with higher powers. Yet the graphic violence (scenes include random decapitation and a dog gnawing on a body); the uneven accents, which make it difficult to tell who is fighting on which side; and the rewriting of lore may make this version of Joan of Arc appeal only to Besson fans. Jovovich is convincing, and while at times the film may drag (at times you wish they'd hurry up and burn her), it is a remarkable and insightful retelling of a well-known piece of history. --Jenny Brown
About this product: 1999 may be remembered as the year of Joan of Arc: NBC created a miniseries in her honor, Carl Dreyer's long-lost The Passion of Joan of Arc was discovered in a mental hospital, and Facets re-released Jacques Rivette's Joan the Maid. Luc Besson rounds out the corpus with his stylistic and vaguely heretical grand-scale feature, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Fifth Element) challenges established notions about the Maid of Orleans as he creates a decidedly more human heroine than have previous biopics. The story line is the same--a young, illiterate peasant girl convinces the dauphin of France to give her an army, and she leads them to victory in Orleans, only to be burned at the stake for heresy--but Milla Jovovich, in the title role, is a woman possessed. Her influences are less than heavenly; as a child she witnesses the murder of her sister by the English, a death caused by the sister's giving her hiding place to young Joan, which causes an intense desire for revenge. Yes, God still speaks to Joan, but even this is undermined, as Dustin Hoffman, playing The Conscience, questions her motives. Cinematically, The Messenger is stunning, with fantastical sequences of Joan in communication with higher powers. Yet the graphic violence (scenes include random decapitation and a dog gnawing on a body); the uneven accents, which make it difficult to tell who is fighting on which side; and the rewriting of lore may make this version of Joan of Arc appeal only to Besson fans. Jovovich is convincing, and while at times the film may drag (at times you wish they'd hurry up and burn her), it is a remarkable and insightful retelling of a well-known piece of history. --Jenny Brown
About this product: Lithe and tomboyish Kristen Stewart (Panic Room, The Safety of Objects) anchors the derivative but potently atmospheric horror movie The Messengers. The story--a troubled family moves into one of those creepy farmhouses that scream "serial murder site" and find their lives disturbed by unearthly occurrences--is a puree of plot elements from The Sixth Sense, The Birds, The Amityville Horror, The Shining, the recent spate of Japanese horror remakes, and more. Despite this, the movie may get under your skin; between the bleached sunlight, the effective ambient sound, and scenes that linger unexpectedly on quiet suspense, The Messengers creates a vivid and unsettling mood. There are still plenty of the abrupt jolts that make teenager girls clutch their dates, but this artful creepiness--combined with Stewart's engaging presence--will have a longer effect. Also featuring Dylan McDermott (The Practice), Penelope Ann Miller (Carlito's Way), and John Corbett (Northern Exposure, Sex and the City). Directed by the Pang Brothers, the duo responsible for Hong Kong hits like The Eye and Infernal Affairs. --Bret Fetzer
Beyond The Messengers at Amazon.com
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About this product: Chris Rock is not just a comedian. He doesn't just tell jokes (anymore). He's a truly smart guy that sees the world for what it is...and then shares his view of it with you. And the world is clearly a very very funny place.
Political views. Racial views. Religious views. Social views. His views on plain old common sense....Whether you agree with his views or not, he'll make you laugh. He might even make you mad with some of his views...but that's the point. Oh, you mean the stuff you agree with is funny, but the stuff that you don't agree with isn't??? C'mon!
Rock's 2008 HBO special Kill the Messenger is Chris Rock at his best. Some of the act does seem familiar just because (most of us?) now know his routine so well after so many fine years. You have his previous HBO specials: from "Big *** Jokes" 14 years ago when he used to simply "tell jokes", to his breakthrough specials starting in 1996 that established Rock for the unique style and delivery that he is now famous for {Bring The Pain (1996), Bigger and Blacker (1999), and Never Scared (2004)}. And of course you also have years and years of TV and movies to go with his signature HBO persona.
So, while some of the act may seem a bit familiar, rest assured that the subject matter is fresh. The only annoyance (albeit a slight annoyance) with the Kill the Messenger performance is the 3-venue video splicing presentation. In other words, you'll see Rock start a joke in New York, but then finish it in London or South Africa (not necessarily in that order); this splicing effect was distracting for me, but may not bother you.
So do go ahead and hit the buy button for a night of laughs if you didn't have the good fortune to catch this on HBO. One other word of caution is that the material is very timely. When the DVD is finally released in early 2009, some of it will actually be dated...mostly the pre-election stuff.
About this product: Chris Rock is not just a comedian. He doesn't just tell jokes (anymore). He's a truly smart guy that sees the world for what it is...and then shares his view of it with you. And the world is clearly a very very funny place.
Political views. Racial views. Religious views. Social views. His views on plain old common sense....Whether you agree with his views or not, he'll make you laugh. He might even make you mad with some of his views...but that's the point. Oh, you mean the stuff you agree with is funny, but the stuff that you don't agree with isn't??? C'mon!
Rock's 2008 HBO special Kill the Messenger is Chris Rock at his best. Some of the act does seem familiar just because (most of us?) now know his routine so well after so many fine years. You have his previous HBO specials: from "Big *** Jokes" 14 years ago when he used to simply "tell jokes", to his breakthrough specials starting in 1996 that established Rock for the unique style and delivery that he is now famous for {Bring The Pain (1996), Bigger and Blacker (1999), and Never Scared (2004)}. And of course you also have years and years of TV and movies to go with his signature HBO persona.
So, while some of the act may seem a bit familiar, rest assured that the subject matter is fresh. The only annoyance (albeit a slight annoyance) with the Kill the Messenger performance is the 3-venue video splicing presentation. In other words, you'll see Rock start a joke in New York, but then finish it in London or South Africa (not necessarily in that order); this splicing effect was distracting for me, but may not bother you.
So do go ahead and hit the buy button for a night of laughs if you didn't have the good fortune to catch this on HBO. One other word of caution is that the material is very timely. When the DVD is finally released in early 2009, some of it will actually be dated...mostly the pre-election stuff.
About this product: Lithe and tomboyish Kristen Stewart (Panic Room, The Safety of Objects) anchors the derivative but potently atmospheric horror movie The Messengers. The story--a troubled family moves into one of those creepy farmhouses that scream "serial murder site" and find their lives disturbed by unearthly occurrences--is a puree of plot elements from The Sixth Sense, The Birds, The Amityville Horror, The Shining, the recent spate of Japanese horror remakes, and more. Despite this, the movie may get under your skin; between the bleached sunlight, the effective ambient sound, and scenes that linger unexpectedly on quiet suspense, The Messengers creates a vivid and unsettling mood. There are still plenty of the abrupt jolts that make teenager girls clutch their dates, but this artful creepiness--combined with Stewart's engaging presence--will have a longer effect. Also featuring Dylan McDermott (The Practice), Penelope Ann Miller (Carlito's Way), and John Corbett (Northern Exposure, Sex and the City). Directed by the Pang Brothers, the duo responsible for Hong Kong hits like The Eye and Infernal Affairs. --Bret Fetzer
About this product: Charles Bronson stars in yet another tale of murder and vengeance. After the brutal massacre of a Colorado family, reporter Garret Smith (Bronson) investigates the blood feud between two brothers of an isolationist Mormon sect, only to uncover a conspiracy that leads to the heights of Denver society. Messenger of Death aspires to be some mixture of Witness and Chinatown; the movie has a workmanlike structure, but there's not much inspiration to be found. Bronson, puffy-faced and graying, isn't doing much more than earning a paycheck. Also featuring Trish Van Devere and Daniel Benzali. --Bret Fetzer
About this product: It is hard to resist the Alpha Video titles with their great cover art and low prices even after buying some of their early releases that were of such poor quality. However, the quality of their recent releases is improving dramatically. The Devil's Messenger fits into that category.
The Devil's Messenger is actually just 3 episodes of an unreleased TV series filmed in Sweden called "13 Demon Street." Curt Siodmak wrote and directed the series but was unable to find a US distributer. No company ever wants to see their celluloid go to waste, so 3 of the best episodes of the series were linked together using Lon Chaney as the Devil to form the Devil's Messenger.
A woman has committed suicide and meets up with the Devil (Chaney) at the gates of Hades. He offers her a deal if she will deliver 3 messages to the surface. This is how the three episodes are introduced. I won't spoil the stories. While this is no classic, it is nice to see Chaney and the transfer is quite good. Plus, you just can't beat the price and DVD cover art. I hope Alpha continues to release these obscure titles for genre fans.
About this product: This is a VERY unusual movie in that all the stars wear makeup to hide their identies until the end. The fun is trying to identify each star as they make their appearance in the movie. The "List" is a group of names on a list that Adrian Messenger has in his pocket when the plane he is flying in crashes. A fellow passenger is with Messenger when he dies. Together with a retired MI-5 agent played by George C. Scott (and a friend of Messenger) they investigate the crash and determines the crash was a planned murder of Messenger. The hunt is on to find the killer and his motive for killing Messenger and the people on the list. Stars Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. A 4**** movie!!
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