The Great Gatsby [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Customer Reviews:

An Uninspiring Remake.......2007-04-13

Although this version of The Great Gatsby should be congratulated for staying true to the original work, for me, it missed the point entirely. Whereas it should have been a visual feast, most of the scenes seemed bland and colourless, and Gatsby's parties lacked any of the real vibrancy that was Fitzgerald's triumph in writing the novel.
Furthermore, some of the acting and transitional scenes between memories and reality seemed almost clumsy, and Nick's monotone voice-over was frequently used as unsatisfactory device to pass vaguely over crucial elements in the themes that made this story great.
Mira Sorvino's casting as Daisy Buchanan was good, but frankly it is hardly difficult to portray a character so well defined and simplistic as Fitzgerald made her. Paul Rudd makes a commendable performance as Nick Carraway, but at times seems to take the character's inherent aloofness a little too far, to the point that his voice lacks any real passion at the times that it is needed most. For me Toby Stephens was just not Gatsby; we who have read the book all have our ideals as to what he should be, however, I felt this portrayal was one with little relation to the character and his depth, and the person before me on-screen seemed at times almost creepy.
Overal, although of exellent quality for television, this version of The Great Gatsby could never really come close to magic created in the pages of Fitzgerald's original literary work. Its emphasis on dialogue was really in definance of the cinematic quality that had already been preformed for it so brilliantly in 1922.

Average customer rating:

“What’s the Matter with Kids Today?”

Bye Bye Birdie [1963] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Janet Leigh , Dick Van Dyke , Ann-Margret , Maureen Stapleton , and Bobby Rydell
Director: George Sidney (II)
Manufacturer: Columbia TriStar
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Musicals | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

All Comedy | Comedy | Categories | DVD | Video

Musicals | Classics | Categories | DVD | Video

Region 1 | Special Features | DVD | Video

DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0767827651
Release Date: 1999-07-27

Customer Reviews:

“What’s the Matter with Kids Today?”.......2006-01-17

Conrad Birdie (Jesse Pearson), a famous self-centered rock and roll star is about to be drafted into the military (shades of Elvis.) A plot/plan to make several people happy and rich is to have Conrad bestow “One Last Kiss” on a randomly chosen young lady from his fan club. The lucky girl is Kim McAfee (Ann-Margret) much to the consternation of her steady boyfriend. This will be done on the Ed Sullivan Show. Many other lives and fortunes revolve around this plan.

Much more entertaining than the story is the interaction of the characters and this is a musical.

From play to stage this was well done. Dick Vandyke however though this was just vehicle for Ann Margaret. I look on it as the measuring stick by which all other versions, stage or movie are gauged by. I find my self singing many of the songs.

Average customer rating:

Rubbish Film, dont buy if you value comedy

How can you not love Mary Katherine Gallagher?

Just brillaint!

The best medicine.

PAROCHIAL SCHOOL AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE...

Superstar [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Molly Shannon , Will Ferrell , Elaine Hendrix , Harland Williams , and Mark McKinney
Director: Bruce McCulloch
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Comedy | Comedy | Categories | DVD | Video
Region 1 | Special Features | DVD | Video
DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
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Men Seeking Women [2007]

A Night At The Roxbury [1999]

Ladies Man [2001]

Men Seeking Woman

Kicking And Screaming [2005]

ASIN: 0792162803
Release Date: 2000-04-11

Amazon.co.uk Review

Superstar is a big-screen vehicle for Molly Shannon, the latest comic from the American sketch show Saturday Night Live to have a movie built around her. She isn't exactly funny--in fact, she's a little unsettling. Her creation, the neurotic Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher, invites laughter because she's a little too close to the bone for anyone who grew up feeling ugly and unloved, which is a lot of people. Mary lives with her grandmother (Glynis Johns), who insists that Mary study business. Mary herself yearns to be famous and admired, though for what isn't exactly clear; she envisions some vague combination of singing, dancing, and acting that will make her a superstar. A talent show promises to be her ticket to stardom (the winning prize is a role in "a movie with positive moral values"), and she won't let her loser status or any hostile cheerleaders stand in her way. Meanwhile, Mary acts out dating fantasies with trees and signposts, envisions the school lunch room bursting into a Fame-like dance number, and longs for the biggest jock in school. What makes Superstar more than just a collection of bad high school memories is that, though the formulaic plot redeems Mary, the movie as a whole isn't so sure. Mary completely loses herself in her obsessive fantasies--many inspired by cheesy made-for-TV movies--but there's always someone watching, aghast, as Mary acts out her inner thoughts. Is she misunderstood or freakish? Superstar never commits to one side or the other, which makes it both comic and uncomfortable. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Rubbish Film, dont buy if you value comedy.......2007-10-17

This film is awful, just awful.
By reading some of the other reviews which gave it 5 stars (how?) I decided to purchase it. I turned it off half way through. Will Ferrell provides the only and very small pieces of comedy in this poor attempt at a mildly funny film.
Perhaps you have to have watched Saturday night live to get the humor but i repeat my own words; awful, just awful.

If you want to watch a funny Ferrell film buy anchorman or Talladega knights because this is not worth giving away, let alone buying it.

How can you not love Mary Katherine Gallagher?.......2007-07-08

The real Superstar is Molly Shannon, who never gets enough credit for her comedic and bona fide acting skills. It's great to have the always-funny Will Ferrell (as well as Harland Williams, one of my favorite comics) alongside her for the ride, but her portrayal of Mary Katherine Gallagher is all you really need to laugh it up for the 80 or so minutes of this SNL skit - turned full-fledged movie. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be one of the lucky people who were always cool and made great sport of putting the Mary Katherine Gallaghers of the world down. I'll never know because Mary Katherine is definitely "my people," a unique character who suffers the insults and humiliations of life among her cooler, prettier peers even as she dreams of having just a taste of the kind of life they take for granted. In the context of this movie, what Mary Katherine yearns for is a real slobber-knocker of a kiss - and, like all of us losers, she falls for the most popular guy/girl in school. In other words, she does not have an easy row to hoe.

She is realistic enough to realize that the likes of Sky Corrigan (Ferrell) isn't going to drop the head cheerleader and come smooching her way any time soon (even after he tells her she has some nice moves). No, she thinks the only way she can get the hunky guy is to emulate her Hollywood heroines and become a - wait for it - Superstar! And just when she thinks she's exhausted all of her options, along comes a school talent show (with the winner getting the part of an extra in a morally positive film in Hollywood) that just might be the answer to her prayers. Winning the talent show would definitely impress Sky, she tells herself.

To make her dreams come true, she's going to have to talk her grandmother into letting her audition, scratch and claw her way through a catfight or two with the head cheerleader (who also happens to be Sky's girlfriend), and overcome several other less than surprising obstacles in her way. She does have some help, though - from her fellow Special Education students, her new best friend, and even her own personal image of Jesus (also played by Will Ferrell).

Yes, it's oftentimes low-brow humor, especially in terms of the whole armpit thing, but somehow Mary Katherine's story always manages to remain above the fray of tastelessness and vapidity. There's a little (or maybe even a lot) of Mary Katherine Gallagher in many of us, and there is actually a good story in here beyond all of the jokes. The filmmakers even manage to pull off a really good ending without insulting our intelligence. This is just a fine, really funny movie.

Just brillaint!.......2007-02-12

I also saw this first overseas in Dom Rep. There weren't may videos in the store there so I thought I would give it a try. It was initially unimpressed as it takes a while to get into the characters. But once I got the joke I loved it. I rented it every few weeks and never tire of it.

I got a copy once I got back to the UK and it still tickles me. My friends love it too.

A great movie to chill out to and have a giggle!

The best medicine........2005-08-25

This film never fails to make me laugh my socks off. I have introduced it to as many of my friends as I can get to watch it and almost all of them have had to go out and buy their own copy. If you are looking for something to cheer you up then this is the one for you!!!!

The only flaw is the lack of any features on this disc but to be honest with a film this funny you dont miss them too much!!!

PAROCHIAL SCHOOL AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE..........2002-11-17

Comedienne Molly Shannon recreates her Saturday Night Live character, Mary Katherine Gallagher, the gawky catholic school girl, for the big screen. At times, the film is very funny. Unfortunately, it is not very funny as often as one would like. What works great as a five minute skit on Saturday Night Live does not necessarily make for a great, full length, feature film, even though quite a few of the Saturday Night Live regulars have parts in it.

The film revolves around Mary Katherine Gallagher and her attempts to fit in and make the most popular boy in the school want her the way she wants him. She also wants to be a superstar in the worst way, even though her grandmother with whom she lives wants her to become a business woman. She does get her big break, however, when her school has a talent contest.

UK DVD:

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