DVD Collectors Online

Payback: Straight Up- The Director's Cut, a review by Jon

Payback was released in 1999 and it was based on a book called The Hunter by Richard Stark. The same source material for John Boorman's Point Blank starring Lee Marvin. I must give that earlier film another go; I saw it years ago and liked the story, but not the style, or even the ending.

When Payback came out I really liked it. It was the same story, but low key and to the point. And the point was usually being used to batter someone! Grimy, violent little film that it is!

I didn't know that the film I saw in 1999 wasn't what was originally intended and that apparently it didn't test well, so Brian Helgeland the director was kicked off because he refused to change it, a new section filmed with a new ending and the whole thing edited different. Now Brian has gone back to his original footage and pieced it back to how it originally was. As I said, I did like that theatrical version, so I was reluctant to get Straight Up. Especially when you think he directed The Sin Eater, so maybe he doesn't know what the heck he is doing and perhaps the theatrical Payback was a rescue job.

I just watched Straight Up and I like it more than the standard Payback. Leaner and meaner, it harks back to the 1970s (Helgeland's original intention apparently) and removes a lot of stuff that was added just to spell things out to the audience. It's lost some humour, but the stark brutality makes more sense. Somehow the theatrical version seems a bit silly to me now. You may think different, but both versions are worth seeing.

So anyway, if you like gritty 1970s style crime films, I recommend this. If you've seen the original Payback, I really recommend it, if only for novelty value. But if you don't fit either of those slots, I still implore you to get this modestly priced DVD because the extra features give a fantastic glimpse into the bonkers world of Hollywood. Payback demonstrates all that is right and wrong and right again with the filmmaking business, and the 'Making of' featurette is one of the best I've seen.

Normally in situations like these you have to wait until someones dead (Orson Welles, Touch of Evil) or it becomes tit for tat grudge crap (The Exorcist: Dominion) before you see definitive (or hacked!) versions. Here though, the 'making of' is made up of interviews by people with only positive things to say about the whole affair, including Mel Gibson. They still stick strongly to their original intentions, but I think the fact Straight Up exists at all is miraculous. They are all gracious about each others intentions, so it's a pleasant half hour.

Parts of the interviews, especially the composer of the new score, are often quite moving even. And Brian Helgeland has the last line and tearfully puts everything in perspective, especially if you were starting to think of Gibson as the villainous producer... 

There's a good interview with Richard Stark too.

(From Payback: Straight Up- The Director's Cut on December 13th, 2007)

Calamity Jane and Sam Bass, a review by Antares

Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949) 60/100 - Strange little film from Universal International, the studio that gave us all those Audie Murphy westerns in the fifties. This one, though, stars Howard Duff as Sam Bass, a lesser known bandit and Yvonne DeCarlo as a way too pretty Calamity Jane. There is no historical foundation beyond the two characters as to what happens in the film, because none of this occurred in real life. And it's even a stretch to say that they ever met during their rough and tumble lives in the old west. You basically are watching this film to gaze, not only upon Miss De Carlo, but Dorothy Hart, who has the thankless task of playing the forlorn woman who is in love with Bass, and believes he's been wronged by her lawman brother. Duff, who plays Bass, has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. When he's reciting lines, he comes across very mechanical and a bit unbelievable. But I can forgive all the faults in the film, because I love Yvonne DeCarlo. You can say what you want about Ava Gardner, but DeCarlo was every bit as beautiful as she was, and at least Yvonne could act. It's a shame she's only remembered for a stint on TV, because she was a very talented woman.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on March 30th, 2015)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

Title: Father Ted: Series One

Certificate:15
Year:1995


Plot:The irreverent BritCom that has been called 'undoubtedly the finest comedy about three Catholic priests stuck on a tiny island off the Irish coast ever made' is now available on DVD. Features all six episodes of the highly-acclaimed premiere season, in which the trio's shaky grasp on reality is challenged by such things as the arrival of the world's worst funfair and the All Priests Stars-in-Their-Eyes Competition.

Good Luck, Father Ted
Ted gets his chance to be on TV when he is to be interviewed by a magazine programme. But 'FunLand', the most pathetic travelling fair ever invented has come to Craggy Island, and while Ted is distracted with Father Jack, Dougal seizes his moment of glory.


My Review:
Witty and intelligent comedy, that literally created a cult following in UK.
It felt a bit disjointed as the actors feel their way into their roles, and begin working together for the first time. Ardal O'Hanlon has the best lines in this opener, with Frank 'Feck Off' Kelly in top form. Personally I never found Dermot Morgan funny, but obviously a great loss nonetheless that he died young.
It's a nice blend of British comedy, at times quite subtle and character based, at others in your face brash and crass.
I've probaly seen 20 or so episodes at different times over the years, but will one day plan to watch the whole series in order, I will, I will, I will.
 

(From My PILOT Marathon on September 29th, 2009)