Amazon.co.uk Review
Bleak as its South Central Los Angeles setting, Harsh Times is like a suicidal vortex swallowing men who ought to know better but can't stop their self-destruction. Christian Bale stars as Jim Davis, a stressed-out, former Army Ranger who becomes a very bad influence on his weak-willed buddy, Mike Alvarez (Freddy Rodriguez of Six Feet Under). Together the two meander through streets at night, getting drunk and stoned, finding trouble for its own sake and inviting danger as a ritual of machismo bonding. Mike's wife, Sylvia (Eva Longoria), a lawyer whom Mike, working as a telemarketer, put through school, is repelled by Jim and watches in pain as her spouse chooses a downward spiral over renewal and redemption with her. When Jim's application to join the L.A. police is turned down, he leads Mike into pure anarchy. An impractical change of fortune doesn't help any, and first-time director David Ayer, who wrote the screenplay for Harsh Times years before his script for Training Day, goes to some lengths, dramatically and visually, to convey Jim's unhinged condition. The dreariness of it all, and a sense that Bale has constructed--but not exactly lived in--another in his gallery of lost, misfit souls, makes it hard to connect with this film. Still, it is hard to turn away from these desperate and dangerous characters. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews:
Overrated.......2008-02-08
I bought this on the basis of it being another 'Training Day'.
Unfortunately it's not!
Depressing as the content is, you strangely find yourself not caring what happens to the characters. There's hardly any action, and the dialogue would only appeal to teenagers. If you want to see how this film could have been - see training day.
Of human weakness.......2007-08-22
Apparently the film is based on real persons... It is a dark tale of illness, moral ineptitude, and human weakness. And also of making the wrong choices at every turn when other opportunities beckon.
There is some fine acting, but the dialogue comes across as just cumbersome, at times with too many 'dudes' and 'homeys' and a plethora of superfluous ritual handshakes.
But if you have ever worked with US soldiers you will find some similarities in the depiction, down to the constant alcohol guzzling and being spaced out on weed.
The senseless shootings, just because I have a gun and can, do reflect modern day areas ofthe the US, at leats that's what my cop friends there tell me.
A ' dude' too far .............................2007-07-30
Where do I start ? aware of Christan Bale's unusual character portrayals I expected a no nonsense, graphic , violent, earthy film.
A great disappointment from him and all others as the characters per se were just not believable.
Far too much DUDE, DOG, MAN and S--T , If I counted one 'DUDE' I counted a hundered !!
Absolutely not worth anyones time at all .
Terrible ...............
Pointless.......2007-07-30
A pointless story about people leading pointless lives. (Maybe that was the point??) Bale pulls off some good acting, in spite of some of the laughable dialogue, but I can't help wondering why Eva Longoria needed to be associated with this dire piece. Surely she didn't need the money that badly.
It worked for me.......2007-07-10
Depressing, gritty saga of an Iraq veteran slowly imploding in the City of Angels, not due to war trauma, but because he's basically a psycho.
Good performances from the entire cast. Bale is outstanding. He provides an American persona that most British actors could only dream of recreating (you have to pinch yourself when you realise that he hails from Bournemouth).
A bleak image of LA (probably accurate) and some shocking scenes, but it works well on the second run.
Customer Reviews:
They shoot....and miss....badly.......2006-11-18
Footballers Wives Extra Time is a very poor spin off of the better written (up until season 5) and better acted (also up until season 5) Footballers Wives. It makes some faint hearted attempts to tie in characters and stories with Footballers Wives season 4.
By the 2nd episode, you are laughing to yourself and asking "are these guys serious?'(these guys being the script writers, ITV2 and the actors).
It is boring, not viewable and, in short, it sucks eggs. After each episode, you feel inclined to ask ITV2 for 30 minutes of your life back.
Yes, there is an abundance of T&A/flesh time in Extra Time, but sadly this does nothing to rescue the series...it is that bad even with page 3 esque totty being dangled in your face.
Unless you are going to buy this for a quid and some pennies...save your time and money. Do something more interesting with your time like taking up Latin or trainspotting.
A turkey is a turkey.
+ you will thank me for reading this and not buying this DVD.
Extra time, Extra stars, Extra hot drama!!!.......2006-06-01
On the heals of the phenomenal success of Footballers Wives, ITV2 brought its spinoff series Footballers' Wives: Extra Time to television on 26 May 2005. Following the dramatic season finale of the original FBWs season 4, ITV2 aired the first episode of the spin-off series introducing Anika Beevor the sister of everybody's favorite original footballer's wife Tanya Turner. Along with Bruno Milligan and his twins, a host of other characters, the first episode essentially picks up where Bruno is faced with the consequences of his unexpected confrontation with Conrad Gates. Many familiar faces of the cast of FBWs make appearances in the pilot episode to introduce the new characters of Extra Time. Lucy Milligan, Seb Webb, Harley and Shannon Lawson, Katie Jones and Amber Gates, appear in the series. Fans of the original show are divided in their opinions of the spinoff. But if the glamorous, over-the-top antics and story lines of the original series have kept fans captivated all these years, there is no doubt that this little spicy side dish will keep you going. Extra Time in essence is exactly that - what happens after FBWs S4 ends, the filler before S5 - the final season. So how can you possibly miss this one???
Series 2 debuted on 23 February 2006 with a longer episode run time of 45 minutes, with Peter Ash as Darius Fry and Julie Legrand as Janette Dunkley from the original series as regular cast members. The series ran parallel to the final season of Footballers Wives. ITV2 has yet to announce if Extra Time will see a possible season 3. So savor this while you still can! I for one can't wait!
Running time Series 1: 30 minutes - 12 eposides - 2 DVD set
Cast
Georgina Mellor - Anika Beevor (Tanya Turner's sister)
Travis Oliver - Oliver Ryan
Nicholas Ball - Garry Ryan (series 1; crossed over to series 5 of Footballers' Wives)
Courtney Akers - Angelica Milligan
Tom Swire - Seb Webb (from Footballers' Wives)
Marc Bannerman - Matt Bryant
Frances Da Costas - Yasmin Salter
Elaine Glover - Katie Jones
Marc Hendrey - Rees Salter
Sarah Matravers - Joly Salter
Louise Plowright - Michelle Thorn
Ben Richards - Bruno Milligan (from Footballers' Wives)
Helen Latham - Lucy Milligan (from Footballers' Wives)
Jamie Davis - Harley Lawson (from Footballers' Wives)
Sarah Barrand - Shannon Lawson (from Footballers' Wives)
Laila Rouass - Amber Gates (from Footballers' Wives
Customer Reviews:
Deeply touching..........2008-01-19
Melvil Poupard dishes out an amazing performance here!
From being a slightly annoying, egocentric fashion photographer he takes you on a 'tour de force' and delivers you at the end - with a lump in your throat - on a beach, with a deep sympathy/love for the brave, beautiful man who - in the span of a few months - grew into a human being, reconciled with himself and the world he is leaving. Cheers!
Heart breaking in parts.......2007-02-08
Death is too big to be dealt with without the occasional touch ofmelodrama and bathos - but who can blame the dying, specially if the Big C is going to claim the life of a 31 years old. On the whole - moving, and in parts heart breaking, due to the excellent actors in the major roles - with Poupaud as the main character, Moreau in a small but important part, and of course writer-director Ozon. Well chosen music too. Deserves watching more than once.
Melvil Poupaud is a Sensation---Sexy & Sad, Often At The Same Time.......2007-01-24
This movie joins two of my favorite artists now working in film:
director Francois Ozon and actor extraordinaire Melvil Poupaud. This
movie is beautifully shot, exquisitely seductive in many parts and
finally movingly sad. A true work of art. Ozon is the best thing to
happen to movies since Almodovar. And Melvil Poupaud is not only one of
the best actors of his generation but he is also sexy beyond belief.
Bravo to all involved.
I hope that Ozon will work again with Melvil because the two are exquisite together. It is like watching Almodovar's work with Penelope Cruz or Carmen Maura.
Melvil Poupaud should be an international star any time soon.
One of the best!.......2007-01-03
I think this is an amazing film, and i'd thoroughly recommend it. Perhaps what i love is that it never lets itself feel cliched. The direction of the film is aimed at making you dislike and fall in love with the character all at once. It's a very moving film and it made me cry most of the way through, but in a cathartic way. Give it a try!
A future classic.......2006-12-13
This film is really monumental. A story that could easily lead to pathos is treated with intelligence and warmth. The young man who finds out he has about 6 months to live (superbly portrayed by Melvil Poupaud) leads us through his private little world when he decides it is time for closure. This results in fantastic moments as he confronts his family and friends, and soars to heights of sheer genius in the scenes with his grandmother (impressive performance by Jeanne Moreau). The delicacy with which these scenes are treated are proof yet again that François Ozon is one of the true great European filmmakers of our time.
I'd have given this film six stars if the system let me....
Customer Reviews:
Just what we wanted!.......2006-11-14
After many years of waiting, finally Jamiroquai have released a video collection. I am happy to say that there are no annoying adverts or logos at the beginning, as soon as you pop in the DVD it goes straight to the menu, and then you can select "Play All" and it's 25 videos in a row, just how it should be!
From award winners like Virtual Insanity to Jamiroquai's first ever video; When You Gonna Learn, which never gets played on TV. Also not listed on the back for some reason, but I promise you it is on here is the Black Capricorn Day video which is hilarious. It was never released but it is a great addition to this collection. There is a whole range of video's here, they are all entertaining and how many other bands can say they've got 25 high quality videos to put out?
Some nice extras too, especially the interviews with JK. I can confidently say that this is one of the best music video DVD's I have ever seen. The only thing missing is the most recent video for Runaway. Other than that this is perfect!
Customer Reviews:
A MOVING DOCU - IF A LITTLE DATED NOW.......2007-05-10
It would be easy to dismiss this film, made within a few years of Britten's death, as a piece of uncritical hagiography. It starts with a memorable piece from Leonard Bernstein where he expands in his usual articulate way on the ever-present dark side in Britten's music - the `gears constantly clashing' as he describes it. But the film itself touches relatively little on that side of the composer. There's nothing here about his reprehensible tendency to cut close colleagues and friends out of his life the moment they expressed the least criticism or even just became superfluous to his needs (Britten's `corpses' as he himself called them): there's also nothing here about his always controlled but undeniable paedophilia, movingly explored in John Bridcut's much more recent documentary: nor anything of his intolerance of performances of his own music that strayed too far from the way that he (and Peter Pears) saw it - e.g. the Vickers Grimes - or of new music that strayed too far from his own style - e.g. the walkout from Punch and Judy at his Aldeburgh Festival. All these less than attractive aspects of his personality are avoided.
Nevertheless, Tony Palmer conjures his familiar magic in constructing what is still a vivid and enlightening film study of his subject (cf. his musical biographies of Wagner, Walton, Arnold, etc.). As in much of his work, Palmer demonstrates the deftest of hands in combining archive footage plus his own original material with lengthy, illuminating interviews with family, friends and contemporaries. There is much delightful stuff from the archives - seeing the wonderful and humorous rapport between two keyboard masters as he plays 2-piano Schubert with Richter at Aldeburgh for example - as well as elucidating looks at Britten's rehearsal techniques for a performance (the premiere?) of The Building of the House - he was, it would seem, strict and workmanlike but friendly as a conductor, always concentrating on practical musical matters.
Among the interviews there is much that must now, nearly thirty years on, count as primary biographical material. Brother, sister and cousin are all interesting on his precocious childhood, egged on by an ambitious mother. His housekeeper on his dining tastes, the nurse from his final illness on his fears and acceptance of death, Imo Holst on the incredible speed of his writing, are all fascinating. But Pears, of course, is the primary source having been the composer's musical and personal partner for most of his adult life. Here, for the first time, he comes `clean' about the nature of their personal relationship - `gay' was apparently a word Britten didn't approve of in this context - and is deeply moving about his lover's death in his arms.
Musically, there is much to intrigue, too. Clips from BBC productions of Grimes and Billy Budd are reminders that these are notable historic performances that deserve to be issued on DVD. Janet Baker is riveting in the cantata (really a super-concentrated opera), Phaedra: the climax of Curlew River with Dickerson as the Madwoman, too, shows a master dramatic composer at the top of his form. The familiar, but still relevant, thread of `innocence outraged' is followed through the whole canon of works. The fascinating corollary - Britten as a Peter Pan who never wanted to leave his childhood (A time there was...) behind - is left hanging as a thought, one that others have subsequently pursued more fully.
Palmer can also be deeply moving in his use of cameras roaming round Britten's homes and especially his work areas. This is particularly so at very the end of his film where we pull slowly back from the desk and chair in Britten's last composing cottage in Sussex (bought to escape the noise of planes from the military airfields in his beloved Suffolk) to the desolate, lonely sound of his final orchestral work, the folksong arrangements he called A Time There Was... which Palmer adopted as the title for this film. The phrase itself, of course, is taken from the Hardy poem that Britten had previously set so memorably as the final song of Winter Words.
Inevitably there is much biographical material that has come to light since the making of this film. But Tony Palmer's piece still remains a moving tribute to one of the great composers of the last Century and is much recommended to anyone with an interest in its subject.
Enthralling.......2007-01-11
With the exception of the first quarter of an hour (too much footage of Britten's elderly cousin), this is a a very rewarding piece of film making, documenting Britten's life with lots of footage of live performances and interviews with those who had been important in his life - ranging from those who had been personally close to him (his nurse in his last illness) through to musical colleagues and friendss - with interviews with Pears having rightful pride of place. Some wonderful footage of Pears as Peter grimes and captain vere - and a young joan baker.
Plenty about his major works - though surprisingly nothing about the War Requiem. (Nevertheless I found very interesting the insights into his and Pears's pacifism and its effect on his music. From this distance, it is easy to forget that Britten's work did not immediately command the standing that it has now.
I found Pears modest and profoundly moving about his own contribution to Britten's life - and open about his relationship with him. I rented it from Amazon but bought it the following day - a DVD that i will want to watch again. A must for any Britten lover.
Customer Reviews:
The greatest players in a great final.......2006-12-22
When I purchased this I was slightly disappointed that it was only one frame of snooker that was on offer, as i thought there would be much more to this DVD. The commentary by legends Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor are humorous, and its great to see TV broadcaster veteran David Vine once again - but the fact that Davis and Taylor only offer commentary on the final frame of this marathon match is an anti climax!
UK DVD:
- Head In The Clouds [2004]
- Heartless
- Heavenly Creatures [1995] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Heidi - Series 1 [1978]
- Hell [2005]
- Hells Angels
- Henry And June [1990]
- Hideous Kinky [1999]
- Higher Learning [1995]
- Histoires De Marie Et Julien [2003]
UK DVD List
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