DVD Collectors Online

Two-Lane Blacktop, a review by Jon

TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971)
4 out of 5



James Taylor (Driver) and Dennis Wilson (Mechanic) are driving across America in a souped up Chevvy, drag racing for money. Along the way they pick up a hitchhiker, played by Laurie Bird, and get into a race for "pinks" with Warren Oates in his G.T.O.

Time for change of pace. So far this marathon has featured people driving for a reason, but the early 1970s American cinema was defined by several classic movies that were more about the road than the journey. Aimless quests for freedom matched only by aimless filmmaking in some cases, started by Easy Rider in 1969. That's a film I found hard to really like, but I do admire it and it's importance can't be undervalued.

Two-Lane Blacktop is in some ways, Easy Rider in cars, though the characters have more interest in their vehicles than Fonda and Hopper who were more interested in drugs. It certainly shares it's laidback, cool vibe. Or is that lazy and comatose? Depends on your point of view, but Two-Lane is definitely better without compromising the idyllic idea of freedom.

The script is so lean the characters don't have names. Driver and Mechanic as they are credited, are also played by singers who can't act. That sounds like a criticism, but it's just an observation, because their manner was ideal and they weren't tasked with any sort of development. This is a film about mood and, I felt, a melancholic nostalgia for a time that surely couldn't last. The very final shot is as memorable and poetic as any.

The story, such as it is, follows the two as they drive across America challenging other drivers and entering competitions in drag racing to earn money. Get a proper job, you might say! But that's kind of the point. They pick up a hitchhiker... well, actually she just gets in the car when they stop for food. Then they get in and ignore her and carry on the journey. They say nothing for miles! Which pretty much tells you the whole style of things just kind of happening without argument or commentary. An urban natural order perhaps.

They keep tussling with the driver of a G.T.O. and finally make a bet for the cars on who can get to Washington first. That might sound like a plot, but trust me, it isn't! You have to see it to see why. Warren Oates plays an incredible character in a very poignant role as "G.T.O.". He's a show-off seemingly trying to fit in and be hip who annoyed me at first, but he gives the film a purpose and some much needed dialogue and by the end, he's a heartbreaking figure. For a film that seems so light, his part is brilliantly written. He picks up a string of hitchhikers (each one a comedy moment in their own right, especially Harry Dean Stanton) and gives each one a different story. One he tells the story to twice, so used as he is to lying. He reminded me a little of Leonard in Memento; it's impossible to know how long he has been out on the road or why. It gives the film a mysterious sad quality.

That character and the commitment to the mood make for a powerful screenplay, while Monte Hellman's direction is similarly restrained. There's plenty of driving of course and plenty of talk about cars, but very few stunts unless you count track shots at drag races. There is one highlight when they spin off the road to avoid an accident, but this isn't a pure petrol head experience. They do sound great though!

It's very hard to commit and say whether this film, like might be said about Easy Rider, is monumental work of art or a pointless exercise in boredom. It's wide open to interpretation. I loved it. G.T.O. made sense of the whole lot for me and made it a very memorable experience and I look forward to seeing it again. If you fancy challenging your conceptions about what makes a good film, give it a shot. It's a little bit of French New Wave played out on the American highways!

The Criterion DVD is superb. If you enjoy the film (big "if" possibly!) the interviews and features expand on it brilliantly. Nice feature about tracking down and restoring the Chevy too. Comes with a "book". Wasn't sure what to do with that; certainly wouldn't fit in the DVD player...

The Car's the star: Custom Chevy versus Ford Pontiac G.T.O.


Trailer

(From Car Movie Marathon on August 20th, 2008)

Dil Chahta Hai, a review by Tom

Title: Dil Chahta Hai
Year: 2001
Director: Farhan Akhtar
Rating: PG
Length: 185 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.20
Audio: Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish

Stars:
Akshaye Khanna
Saif Ali Khan
Aamir Khan
Preity Zinta
Sonali Kulkarni

Plot:
Akash, Sameer, Siddharth

These names were synonymous with friendship. Through their schooling, their college days they were regarded by all who knew them, as inseparable. Nothing could come between them. Until something did.
This is where the story of Dil Chahta Hai begins.

AKASH (Aamir Khan) is a non believer. He thinks the whole concept of love is created to ruin perfectly healthy two week long relationships. He has been heard saying and we quote "Woh do hafte bhi zayaada the". SAMEER (Saif Ali Khan) is a believer. He wants to be in love. He loves being in love. Unfortunately for him though, he hasn't quite grasped the concept of it just yet. Wearing his heart on his sleeve, he is out there persevering, believing that he will find that "special her" as long he keeps looking.
SIDDARTH (Akshaye Khanna) just is. Mature, sensitive and understanding, Siddharth a.k.a Sid knows the true meaning of the word. He feels it everyday, every hour, every minute. He has, in a manner of speaking, attained modern day enlightenment.

Dil Chahta Hai is a film about these three distinct characters, their individual relationships and the effect that those relationships have on their friendship.

Awards:

Filmfare Awards	2002	Nominated	Best Actor Award	Aamir Khan
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Choreography Award	Farah Khan
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Comedian Award	Saif Ali Khan
Filmfare Awards	2002	Nominated	Best Director Award	Farhan Akhtar
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Editing Award	Sreekar Prasad
Filmfare Awards	2002	Nominated	Best Movie Award
Filmfare Awards	2002	Nominated	Best Music Director Award	Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Screenplay Award	Farhan Akhtar
Filmfare Awards	2002	Nominated	Best Supporting Actor Award	Saif Ali Khan
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Best Supporting Actor Award	Akshaye Khanna
Filmfare Awards	2002	Won	Critics Award for Best Movie
IIFA Awards	2002	Won	Best Supporting Actor	Saif Ali Khan

Extras:
Booklet
Featurettes
Scene Access
Trailers

This movie was okay. Nothing really extra-ordinary. It focuses on three good friends who have a falling out. And their respective meeting and falling in love with a girl. I liked the story of the relationship between Akash and Shalini (Preity Zinta) best.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on July 28th, 2009)

Babylon 5: Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: The personal physician of the former president Santiago and the former vice-president (now president) Clark is on the run and tries to hide on B5.

My opinion: The intersting thing about this episode is not really the run of the doctor, but the relationship between Kosh and Sheridan. For the first time we see Kosh doing a bit more but standing around. And Sheridan must have made quite an impression for Kosh allowing him to hide the doctor within Kosh's ship.


Synopsis: Sheridan shoots a Minbari in self-defence but is accused of murder. Meanwhile a gift shop has opened on the Zocalo that sells stuff like Mollari dolls and Sheridan "Babearlon" teddy bears.

My opinion: The whole episode is build around the fact that Minbari do not lie. It is an OK episode, but definitively  not a must-see one.


Synopsis: An ISN News team has arrived on the station and makes a "36 hours on Babylon 5" report and the whole episode is told from that angle. Meanwhile the Narn destroy a Centauri ship just outside the station under the accusation that the Centauri ship has loaded weapons of mass destruction to be used against the Narn.

My opinion: Very interesting approach for an episode. One could see that Earth isn't entirely sure anymore that B5 is worth all the trouble, while the stations command crew as well as Deleen are sure that it is the only way to - not maintain, but to - make peace.


Synopsis: Sheridan's wife died on an expidition to the rim. Now we see that she was on the Icarus and that they were on Z'ha'dum when they died: And one other person was also on that expidition: Mr. Morden, Londo's associate. Meanwhile a man from the "Ministry of Peace" arrives and recruites people for a new-founded organisation called "Night Watch".

My opninion: Great episode. Loved to see Sheridan clinging to his wife's death and the hope she might not be dead after all. And we learn that the great enemy Delenn (and also G'Kar) is talking about are the Shadows and that they are Londo's allies. And that the Vorlons are one of the First Ones - one of the oldest races in the universe.
I also liked the other storyline very much because if you listen with care you'll see immediately where this is going when the recruiter speaks of "harmful ideas" the society has to be protected from. And I also liked the hint in the direction of "1984" when the Ministry is called MiniPax.


(From Babylon 5: Marathon on August 10th, 2007)