DVD Collectors Online

Anna and the King, a review by Rich

Enlightenment through Malaysia...





A joy to watch, superb acting by Foster and Yun-Fat, great 'based on fact' storyline and splendid momentum contributed to make this an 8/10. The initial culture clash, political background, and developing respect and love between Anna and King Mongkut are brilliantly directed and a film that would happily be enjoyed by all ages.

(From Around the World in 80 DVD's on February 26th, 2008)

Touki Bouki, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are: Senegal
wikipedia



Touki Bouki

Year of Release:  1973
Starring:  Magaye Niang, Mareme Niang
Directed By:  Djibril Diop Mambety
Genre:  Drama, Adventure, Avant-Garde

Overview:
Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambety's story of two young lovers who long to escape to Paris is a legend in African cinema. Like their New Wave counterparts in France, young Mory and his girlfriend Anta are alienated from their own society and imagine freedom far from the dusty streets of their hometown Dakar. Living at the edge of the heaving, crystal-blue ocean, their dream city doesn't seem so far away, and the lovers embark on an exhilarating picaresque adventure as they try to hustle the money for their passage. They try gambling but lose; they steal the receipts of a charity wrestling match, but take the wrong strongbox. Finally, they manage to rob a rich, predatory man and escape in his roadster. Flushed with victory, Mory imagines himself riding triumphantly into Dakar like a Wolof prince, and suddenly Paris and all its mysteries are within their reach.

A rueful parable about fear and freedom, Touki Bouki has the restless energy of modernity and all the power of traditional African symbolism. Mory's motorbike is accessorized with a pair of cattle horns mounted on the handlebars, and Josephine Baker's sweet voice leads them on thorugh their journey. But the rift between these two worlds is all too real. Though both Mory and Anta board the ocean liner that will take them to their destination, only one of them will stay on to face the truth of realizing a dream.

My Thoughts:
A powerful and challenging film, Touki Bouki is film for exercising your brain.  It was very good, but a lot of the points of the film are in its symbology.  Africans are the cattle lead to the slaughter of colonialism/imperialism, a white "cave man" living in a baobab may be both the off-color of white images of Africans and the death of the wilderness when he is slain in a motorcycle accident.  It's a film with questions:  Can the traditions of the past reconcile with the press of modernity?  Can we have both?  What is freedom and what is success and how do we obtain it?  Is it better to be nobody in your own land or try for something else in a foreign land? 

I think I might have had an easier time with this if I was more familiar with Senegalese culture, but I still found it to be a very good film and I'm glad we watched it.

For anyone who might consider watching Touki Bouki, I should warn you that the cattle slaughter scene at the beginning of the film is VERY graphic and disturbing.  Also, don't touch this with a ten-foot pole if you aren't up for figuring out symbolic meanings, allusion and non-linear storytelling.  Strictly for foreign film lovers and those who like avant-garde film.

Bechdel Test:  Yes, barely

Overall:  4/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on February 4th, 2013)

Birds of Prey Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

5. Sins of the Mother
Dinah learns of her family link to Batman. Family ties - a crime family - also impact Reese.

My Thoughts:
This was a great episode. In this one we discover Dinah's birth mother is Caroline Lance (The Black Canary). Plus Dinah also discovers her abilities are growing when she starts to show signs of telekinesis. This episode guest stars Lori Loughlin (Becky on sitcom Full House) as the Black Canary.

6. Primal Scream
Caged Bird. When Helena works undercover for Reese, her identity becomes compromised. Does Oracle fear intimacy?

My Thoughts:
This was a good episode... but pretty standard. It seemed a little on the weird side to see Helena undercover in a gang... but it did fit her character... after all Cat Woman was her mother... so she has a little of the bad in her as well.

7. Split
Helena is attracted to 'Darkstrike', a simpatico crime fighter who isn't as perfect as he seems to be.

My Thoughts:
This is another good episode. But unfortunately for some reason... even after 6 years... I remembered how this one ended. That did take away from the enjoyment just a hair... bur was still a lot of fun watching it again. The guy that played "The Crawler" (the serial killer Darkstrike was after) was Brian Thompson. He is one of those guys I never knew his name... but was highly recognizable since I seen him in so many other shows.

(From Birds of Prey Marathon on July 17th, 2008)