DVD Collectors Online

The Last of Sheila, a review by Antares

The Last of Sheila (1973) 4/5 - Has anyone been watching TCM the last two weeks? Instead of having some actor, director or film scholar pick films for the evening, they've been having TCM employees in the guest host spot, picking three of their favorite films. This has been so refreshing because they don't pick the atypical films that the more film associated person normally does. The Last of Sheila is one of those forgotten films from a time when murder mysteries were extremely popular. I saw this in its original run back in 1973, but hadn't seen it since probably the early 80's on Cinemax. It takes place on a yacht in the south of France and features seven film industry acquaintances who gather together on the one year anniversary of the yacht owner's wife's death at the hands of a hit and run driver. He has decided to play what he calls a gossip game, but in reality is really a murder mystery, which in the end, will reveal the murderer of his wife, who is among the six guests. What makes it really unique is the way the game is played out. Each of the six guests has a secret in their past, that will be revealed as the game progresses. Before the game can be finished, one of the seven is murdered and through this murder, the original murderer will be revealed. What I loved about this film then and still love about it now, is the many layers of intricacy in the plot concerning not only the murders, but the game itself. This is a very well written screenplay. The only downside to the film, is the horrible acting at times by Dyan Cannon and every thing Raquel Welch does onscreen. She should thank God every day for her natural beauty, because she has to be one of the worst actresses in the history of film. If you haven't seen this, seek it out, I think you'd be surprised at how good a film it is.

(From Antares' Short Summations on April 2nd, 2011)

Women Of The World, a review by Jimmy

Title : Women Of The World (1963)

OverviewMy Impression
This one is really interesting and the subject is certainly the most interesting of all the documentary that I've watched this week. This is a good presentation of the different woman sides in different culture. Good beginning with a regiment of israelien woman soldier (they look certainly better than the one when I was doing my millitary training). We travel from Japan (pearl diver) to algeria (insane women risking their live to collect shrapnels) to Germany (Hamburg women in the window : looks like the German version of the Amsterdam Red Light District, never heard of this one before) to Italia (woman working as mourner for funeral) to New Guinea (a tribe where the woman do all the work because the man pass the complete day doing girly thing) and many other place. The documentary countains as usual many weird things : an european clinic where the woman go to regenerate their face skin by removing all of it (really insane if real and scary) or a make-up and clothes demonstration done for an isolated African tribe by some european business (the situation is so ridiculous, do they really need that).

Very good documentary, a little bit dated by moment in the naration but fun to watch.
 
Rating :

(From Shockumentary/Mondo Week Marathon on February 5th, 2009)

Tom's TV Finales marathon, a review by Tom

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The Ben Stiller Show: The Complete Series (1992/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (United States) Length: 299 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Plot:
The Los Angeles Times called it "Rip Roaring Hilarious." Entertainment WeeklyThe Ben Stiller Show as well as an originally unaired thirteenth episode AND nearly an hour of unaired sketches, outtakes and rare, behind-the-scenes footage with commentaries by the entire cast and writing staff.

So sit back and watch as Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick and Bob Odenkirk lead an inspired array of sketches and deft parodies with guest stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Miller, Flea, Garry Shandling, Susan Anton, and many, many more.

The Ben Stiller ShowThe Ben Stiller Show
Season 1.13 Episode 13
Writer: Ben Stiller (Created By), Judd Apatow (Created By), Judd Apatow (Writer), Robert Cohen (Writer), David Cross (Writer), Brent Forrester (Writer), Jeff Kahn (Writer), Bob Odenkirk (Writer), Dino Stamatopoulos (Writer), Ben Stiller (Writer)
Director: John Fortenberry
Cast: Ben Stiller (Host/Regular Performer), Andy Dick (Regular Performer), Janeane Garofalo (Regular Performer), Bob Odenkirk (Regular Performer), Francis Bay (Gertrude), Shannon Dobson (Cupid Woman), Dana Gould (Otto), Sherman Hemsley (Himself), Whit Hertford (Kreepee Kid), Jeff Kahn (The Edge and Jacques' Assistant), John F. O'Donohue (Engineer), Isabel Sanford (Herself), Jim Trenton (Cupid Man), Howie Mandel (Himself)

I didn't find this last episode all that funny. Maybe at the time it was something refreshing, but the jokes that work have been seen many times since (or maybe even had been already at the time). Which is sad because this series had a great cast. Best one probably is Bob Odenkirk, who later did Mr. Show.
I don't really remember any of the other episodes, except that I also didn't really enjoy the first episode when I watched it in my pilot marathon.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Finales marathon on January 27th, 2013)