50 Favorite Glam Movies of RavenGlamDVDCollector

The book by Jeffrey Eugenides was very emotional. I am the kind of guy who can get very affected by such very sad stuff. I feared that the movie won't get near the book, and unfortunately, that is the case. But, wait, you say, this movie is on your list of favorites? Well, Sofia obviously DID read the book and she HAS at least managed to capture at least something... There is a tone to this movie that is true to the source material, especially with evocative music. It has to be bittersweet, and, yeah, that it is in spades. A pity that she made the major mistake of turning the end into a mass suicide, effectively changing the Lisbon home into a horror house, and even worse, for the Lisbon sisters to have engineered it as such. This is the fatal flaw of the movie. The book could have made you cry for the loss of the trees, symbolic of an age going by. The movie isn't nearly as strong. But on its own, the movie is a good try, and everybody gives a good performance. As much as I can find plenty of fault, it still brings out powerful emotions in me.

Kirsten Dunst and A.j. Cook, who later became the best friend in TRU CALLING, are both stand-outs here. The portrayal of the Lisbon sisters was something I was sure to be very critical of, in my mind they were like little birds that had fallen out of the nest, so really, I am a tough audience. Suffice to say that I would concede they were all on the right track, stilll miles off, but on the right track. Nice healthy actresses portrayed the parts of totally off-balanced, far, far less fortunate angst-ridden individuals, perhaps without ever coming close to understand what was required to be true to the book...

A gold star to Sofia Coppola for a very nice heart-felt try. Up against the book, the movie is a very interesting failure. On its own, it outranks the thoughtless average stuff on the market EASILY.

If this review comes across as being in two minds about this movie, it is because the book is so damn good. Read it.

Darling bunny Piper Perabo + the music of INXS? Can't be anything else but a winner! Violet Sanford has dreams of being a songwriter. She's left her hometown to pursue her aspiration, and ends up working at the hottest bar in town to keep herself afloat earning generous tips. Beautiful girls galore! Plot is kinda thin, check it out on Wikipedia, but highly-successful movie just works. And the music is great, with eye-candy like LeAnn Rimes thrown into the mix as well.

From back in the day when James Bond 007 meant fun, as in escapism, gorgeous girls and impossible gadgets. This movie outdid itself in the latter department. Stromberg's underwater empire, his steel-teethed henchman Jaws, and an oil tanker hiding a fleet of submarines. Crowning it all was the most spectacular car in a movie ever, the Lotus Esprit. Submergible, even. Underwater action, with a helicopter chase thrown in for good measure, piloted by Caroline Munro to boot!

Very best thing about the movie was Barbara Bach, dreamgirl par excellence. That unforgettable train sequence, the hero and heroine fighting off the awful Frankenstein-y monstrous villain... If you're male and red-blooded, you fervently wished you were the dashing hero winning that gloriously beautiful lady.

A thrill a minute, with spectacular chase scenes, not only on roads, but underwater as well. and a stunning heroine that set the standard for others to follow (not that any of them held a candle to her). The quintessential movie that has stood the test of time. It was decades ahead of anything else made at that time. They're just never gonna make them like this ever again...

My current rave. Watched it last month, and posted a review, and still can't stop enthusing about it. Stars three up-and-coming new arrivals, one fresh from her big hit COYOTE UGLY, Piper Perabo, and the other in the time preceding her success on THE O.C., Mischa Barton. As for Jessica Paré, I've just never seen her in anything else, but I'll be watching out.

Mary 'Mouse' Bedford (Mischa Barton) is delivered to boarding school by her father, with whom she has a faltering relationship. She is the shy, quiet newcomer, but is quickly befriended by roommate Victoria (Jessica Paré) and after an unexpected encounter, Paulie (Piper Perabo) follows suit. Mouse soon learns lots about her two roommates. Paulie and Tori both have issues with their parents as well. Paulie because her mother abandoned her, and Tori because hers humiliated her in public. And the two of them are lovers! Mouse accepts this, she is not an aggressively-opinionated type. She is cool. The friendship blossoms. The trio goes on a morning run, and they find a raptor with a broken wing. Paulie decides to take care of it. It is ultimately this bird of prey that would cause a whole lot of trouble. One morning, after taking care of the raptor while the others are still asleep, Paulie gets a bit careless and climbs naked into bed with Tori. She forgot to take into account that a group of younger girls led by Tori's sister tend to visit early, and on this day, she and Tori got discovered. Tori now wishes to end the relationship,.saying that they must grow up, and not behave in such a way anymore.

Mouse is in the middle of all this drama, and sees that Paulie needs her. Paulie tries very hard to regain Tori's love, only to be told time and again by Tori that she does love her, but cannot face her disapproving family. Poor Paulie - you have to see this movie for yourself. A girl spurned, hell hath no fury... Paulie starts identifying with the raptor too much, telling it “if some girl raptor spurned you, you wouldn't just lie there and squawk...”

There is tragedy looming up ahead in this beautiful, beautiful drama that seems to have had a limited release. I just shook my head afterwards and said that if they slapped a foreign* soundtrack on it, it would have won Oscars right, left, front and center. The heart-breaking tears of longing and despair by all three gorgeous main cast members is something to experience.

My highest rating!

* movie was filmed in Canada. Not foreign enough :)

Awesome. Spectacular. All you'll need is a pack of chips. Like the trailer says, You Will Be Unprepared. Every bit as good as the trailer. Okay, nix on those lobotomy bits, hell, was that necessary?

Apparently, Amanda Seyfried was the actress they had in mind for the lead as Babydoll, and Evan Rachel Wood as Rocket. Interesting. But I am more than satisfied with this. Action takes place on many levels: reality and fantasy. All I can say is sit back and enjoy the ride. Many ugly scenes, many awesome scenes, and with Emily Browning to keep you company. A dragon, lovely girls, World War I trenches, lovely girls, a World War ii B-25 Mitchell bomber, lovely girls, reanimated dead German soldiers, lovely girls, an assault helicopter, lovely girls, Zeppelins, lovely girls, double-decker World War I planes, lovely girls, a futuristic train and, oh yes, lovely girls make for totally engrossing entertainment.

Seems movie is taken apart elsewhere. So, movie audiences don't go for a female action hero? Strange, TV audiences lap them up, from comedy (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) to thriller (NIKITA) so that isn't why it 'fared poorly at the box office'. And if you look at the trainload of money it did bring in, its real sin was that the movie cost a trainload in the first place. But that's past history, and the spoils are here for us lucky flick-watchers to enjoy. Get it on DVD! Okay, there are feminists out there who don't like the way the girls are portrayed as victims. Movie is uplifting, though. And if we let our tastes be ruled by feminists, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear... Enough yammering! Sage advice: RavenGlamDVDCollector just says “Miss it and miss out!”

Jungle love. John Guillermin's much-maligned 1984 movie starred Tanya Roberts as the eponymous Sheena, an easy target for two-bit critics because of the presence of a horse painted as a zebra. They really rode that one at the time, pun intended! Tanya was a breath-taking Sheena, and she plays her with a certain haughtiness befitting one raised as a goddess. So, if she comes across as icy at first, perhaps that was the intention?

It's always been simply standard reflex with critics to fault movies with nude scenes, especially nude scenes of the delectable kind, and as this showed the scrumptious former CHARLIE'S ANGELS star all naked, it caught a lot of flak. Overlooking that it was a fun action-adventure & fantasy love drama. With a blonde goddess as its major selling point, yes, but also with a whole lot more. Putting it down with nasty terms is like so misleading, folks! Try it out! Thousands of DVDs were sold, for the reason that in their private lives people are more honest. They might not admit to liking something that is unfashionable, it was easier to put this down in public by branding it negatively, BUT ON THE QUIET, WHEN NOBODY'S WATCHING, OUT COMES THE GUILTY PLEASURE AGAIN... :) Only until caught wet-handed, and then it's time to criticize as 'Turkey' and 'Bomb' again... Ain't no turkey, folks, is a real sleek chick, every man's dream, and a jealous wife's nightmare. Put that in your ovens and bake it.

The character had a rich, colloquial vocabulary, some of which stay with me till today (the water the wagons drink = fuel). I would also like to point out that the very first time I saw this movie, at a drive-in theatre, it was sans nudity. I am a South African and in those days everything sexual was rigorously censored, and I mention this just to prove that it's so damn cute that even stripped of its daring bits it charmed me for life. Had a hell of a time initially to find it on DVD, big search!

I think your appetites should be whetted now. Find yourself a copy!

Daryl Hannah's best ever! (Also her most fun ever! Is any other Daryl Hannah movie even half as much fun?) She is unforgettable as Madison the mermaid in the Disney movie the Disney empire was initially so ashamed of they created Touchstone Pictures to distribute it. Movie fact! Knew that? Also features Daryl's best nude scene, which was the reason for the Disney empire's embarrassment. Fortunately they didn't opt to cut it from the movie - obviously knew it would keep the customers pouring into the cinemas.

As a young boy, Allen, who couldn't swim, vacationing with his parents at Cape Cod, fell off a ferry when he saw a girl in the water. They fell in love instantly. She rescued him, and when she turned to leave, he saw her fish-tail disappearing under the waves. A mermaid! But Allen believes it was a hallucinatory near-death false memory. In later life, he fails to make the connection he made with the wondrous girl, with subsequent girlfriends. Longs for her...

Years later, she came ashore (apparently there are deleted scenes (which weren't on the DVD I obtained) explaining why she has the use of legs for 'six fun-filled days while the moon is full' = she visited a sea hag who granted her this favor) to search for Allen. She finds him, but they get separated, all she has of him is his ID card. She causes quite a commotion in front of visitors to the Statue of Liberty as she isn't wearing a stitch (Daryl Hannah has a lovely body (your eyes will pop out, dude, you will, like, have sleepless nights); this was back in the old days before the glut of surgical 'enhancement', tattoos and the trend to over-eat) and gets arrested for indecent exposure. The pony press run a front-page article which is seen by a scientist, Kornbluth (Eugene Levy) who now has a renewed interest in his search for unusual sea creatures. Remanded in custody, the blonde girl has only the ID in her possession, and the police leave her in Allen's care. Wow, to be that lucky, oh, gee, but okay, I digress...

Out walking romantically one evening in the main street of New York, the mermaid spots a street sign, and exclaims “Ooh, pretty!” at the hum-drum thing, but united with his childhood love, Allen now also sees the beauty of the everyday items in the world around him, and decides to name her Madison after the street sign (Madison's native sound is a high chirping squeal a la dolphins, but she mastered English by watching TV) and life just looks rosy for Allen, it's just that he doesn't know yet that she is a mermaid. She does plan to not deceive him any longer, but then ol' Kornbluth comes running along with a bucket of water and pours it over her, and then it is really a fish-out-of-water story...

Movie is surprisingly popular, research shows, considering that it is 30 years old. It is charming and has an endearing heroine, and it is nice to see that its legacy survives.

Anna Wintour, editor of American Vogue, at first didn't like this movie. She was part inspiration for it. Yes, the character of Miranda Priestly was based upon Anna Wintour, who has since come around and now counts among this movie's fans.

Andrea Sachs, normally not enamoured with fashion and its shallowness, becomes the junior personal assistant to Miranda Priestly, the boss from hell, editor of Runway fashion magazine. She's really only there for a year, she has her heart set on a job as a reporter, she is here for the experience. Around her, in this world, the people are cold despite their extravagances. She is a warm person. Miranda doesn't spare her. She has to do menial tasks to exacting degrees. Walk Miranda's dogs, fetch cappuccino at Starbucks... At the same time? Andy has a hell of a time to keep up with the demands. She also gets a hard time from Emily, the senior personal assistant. Eventually she wins over Nigel, art director, who loans her designer outfits, and this helps her out a lot. One night she is allowed to bring The Book home to Miranda. It is a mock-up of the next issue of Runway magazine, and as such, is to be treated reverently, like a religious icon. She becomes unsure of just exactly where to place it inside the big house. Miranda's twins play a prank on her and tell her she may leave it at the top of the stairs. As she does so, she overhears Miranda having an argument with her husband. There are obviously cracks in Miranda's perfect lifestyle.

Next assignment, Andy must obtain the next Harry Potter novel for Miranda's twins... Before it is published! Or be fired! Her friend Nate, who has contacts in the publishing world, helps her out. She has managed to do the impossible.

One night, at an event, she rescues Miranda from a personal emberrassment, and is invited to attend a Parisian fashion show along with Miranda, an honor originally meant for Emily, who soon after gets run down by a car, and Andy must break the news to her in hospital. Andy, who had once ridiculed the fashion industry, has now become one of them, and her boyfriend dumps her for this. She finds her Parisian experience empty, and discovers that Miranda has betrayed Nigel. Turns her back on her.

Lots of life's lessons to be learned... in style.

TV's PARTY OF FIVE star Jennifer Love Hewitt's hit movie. And she's great in this too.

4 July 1996. Quiet coastal town of Southport. Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) wins the Miss Croaker Queen beauty pageant, and together with her best friend Julie and both their boyfriends Barry and Ray, they drive off to celebrate, but end up running over a pedestrian. Instead of owning up, the four friends decide to get rid of the evidence by tossing the body off a pier into the sea, but the man wasn't really dead, comes to, there is a struggle, he falls into the water, and drowns. They try to live with this. A year later college freshman Julie gets a note which reads “I know what you did last summer” and the suspense is on. Based on the 1973 book by the same name, and influenced by The Hook urban legend, this rivetting story will have you on the edge of your seat. As a slasher movie, it is at least not one of those inane super-dumb gory entrails nasty jobs... if RavenGlamDVDCollector likes it, there is bound to be some worthwhile eye candy and a gripping storyline.

Hell, you have to be really, really mean if you'd wanna kill poor li'l snookums Jenny-baby. Only the truly deranged would stalk her with a fishing hook...

Set during the last two days of 1999, this futuristic science-fiction thriller will shock the more timid among you out of your skulls if you even dare to take a look at it. Plot involves the use of a SQUID, a quantum device hooked up to your cerebral cortex that records your experiences in full living 3-D as seen through your eyes and reverberating through your brain onto a mini disc that enables other viewers to experience your experiences in exact detail. Which leads to black market 'blackjack' snuff movies as a rapist gets his kicks laid down for posterity, and a bank robbery captured from the culprit's view.

Ralph Fiennes as anti-hero Lenny, Juliette Lewis as Faith, and Angela Bassett as Mace. Super-violent and highly sexual, sure to cause sensation. Riveting fast-paced edge-of-your-seat thriller with highly controversial scenes.

Movie wasn't a commercial success? Perhaps not in theaters. Watch 'em snap it up in disc form, though...

A dying lounge-room act, the Baker brothers are stuck in the past with their piano performances. They decide to hire a singer, to liven it up, and get way more than they bargained for in feisty Susie Diamond, an ex-hooker gone straight, gloriously portrayed by none other than screen legend Michelle Pfeiffer, in her most memorable performance ever. You could say they start off as The Fabulous Baker Boys, then they are The Fabulous Baker Boys ft. Susie Diamond, and then it escalates to being Susie Diamond, Susie Diamond Superstar. And they just hang on in her wake. Stand-out scene: A malfunctioning mike. Susie can't be heard as she sings. She taps it impatiently. Utters the f-word. As life is, then the thing pops into action, and all and sundry heard that. Afterwards, she exclaims “I said it, I didn't do it!” Critics raved at the time, and it is not often that The Raven concurs. Yes, this is the one with Michelle in that red dress on the grand piano singing 'Makin' Whoopee'. Movie is a glorious metaphor for girl power at the end of an age in which there was absolutely no such thing. Highly recommended. A thrill, with style. In fact, among the choices of elite people. Show some class, order THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS, ideal after champagne and candle-lit dinner.

Rona de Ricci. I had never heard of her before, and never seen anything else since, but this unrelentlessly suspenseful movie comes highly recommended with no reservations at all. It's not well known, so thank RavenGlamDVDCollector for pointing it out here. Set during the days of the Spanish Inquisition, it features material that is most definitely not for the squeamish, ranging from brutal torture, maiming, forced nudity and a harrowing execution scene, so don't come complaining to me about nightmares afterward, you have been warned...

Lance Henriksen as witchfinder Torquemada is creepiness personified. His quiet manner makes him doubly dangerous. And that way he can have torture inflicted, and condemn to death, and then just looks as if he is washing his hands in innocence in the air... Rona is the beautiful maiden, innocently accused of being a witch. She did nothing more than try to save a boy from getting a beating, but her 'major sin' is to inspire lusty feelings in this 'holy man of God' Torquemada, and for that she must be punished.

There are those three guys inspecting her naked body, ostensibly to find evidence that she is the devil's mistress ('A third nipple, for Satan to suck!'), but for two of them, it is just a ruse for having their way with her vulnerable young body. One is an absolute oaf, the other a roguish scoundrel. They definitely will find a blemish of some sort to fuel the fire, for if they don't, they will pinch to provide a proof. The third guy, the one with the horn-rimmed glasses, is like an accountant, earnest and even fair-minded. The suffering of poor Maria is likely to upset viewers who cannot stand nudity, and this isn't even lovey-dovey romantic nudity, but enforced nakedness... Will make everybody cringe, even the horny bastards.

The worst scene in this movie involves the most brutal act I have ever seen committed on film. Mentioning it by name would be a spoiler, so I won't. Personally, I wouldn't have wanted this heinous atrocity, even worse than rape, in the story, but that's how it goes. Made Torquemada the most hated character on film ever, and Maria the beloved martyr...

Climax of the movie is a scene involving rats and a pendulum, which is a giant swinging scythe. Same goes for this... You will need to go see for yourself. Rent it or buy it, pirate it or steal it, just make sure that you do treat yourself to it. NOT a good Valentine's Day choice...

The movie with all those cats milling about. Nasty piece of work, what's it doing on this list? Two words: Mädchen Amick. To see her in this is to fall in love. Alone in the cinema... wow, to come home to that!

Story itself is ultra-creepy with those two catty alien tiger creatures hunting virgin's blood and selecting Tanya Robertson (was that name inspired by the SHEENA actress?) as their objective. There's a whole lot of morphing, and even a TransAm that can go invisible, which was really stretching it. Lots of gore, but kinda campy, yes.

For all its shortcomings, movie has a very pretty, very likable heroine.

The Ravine, to call it by its English name. Set during the Second World War, in Yugoslavia. Very simple movie memorable for the chemistry between its leads. Oh, very, very far off from actually being a good movie, but it has a few truly magical stand-out scenes in it. So, yes, even if the war scenes are haphazardly filmed, and the ending as poorly presented as can be, it's that middle part of the movie that gets it right. Well, at least occasionally. Look, if you're going to be critical, don't even think of trying this out, it will be a waste of time to you.

Nicoletta Machiavelli as the Russian sniper, David McCallum as her German counterpart. It's not exactly a talky. I have the DVD of the original Italian movie, and while my Italian isn't up to scratch, I can sort of follow the story. Originally saw THE RAVINE as a child at a drive-in theatre, and concept of 'first they are enemies, then they are lovers' stayed with me for life. Especially that bit where he tied her to the tree, and when he came back, the cold had nearly overcome her, and he had to take care of his former 'adversary'...

Love in the snow. You've not seen such a cold, cold, icy-snow love story before.

Don't expect much of it. Just watch it for Nicoletta. She's absolutely gorgeous! And then there's that wonderful sequence with the two lovers cavorting in the snow...

Heather Graham as devoted girlfriend Joline being taken for granted by a very, very stupid guy because a girlfriend like this is worth more than her weight in diamonds! So the guy had to take off to go 'find himself'? Good riddance!

A must for all Heather Graham fans! Her best, in my opinion.

Big studio epic involving a man realizing he is part of an underground group of people being bred for spare parts. Organ harvesting and surrogate motherhood. Only one thing to do then: Grab his love interest and escape. Modern-day version of Seventies flick LOGAN'S RUN. But without the corniness. With Scarlett looking her very best! Wow!

Pity IMDb doesn't show the original poster. Peter Fonda's aviator sunglasses, a police helicopter and a highway patrol car bursting through it, and Susan George in blue jeans, blue bikini top, sandals, and licking a green ice-sucker... Peter Fonda, Driving Hard! Susan George, Riding Easy! The quintessential drive-in movie of the Seventies. Anti-heroes on the run from the law in a speeding Dodge Charger pursued by a police helicopter on a merry chase through a walnut grove. With the most abrubt-est end a movie ever had!

Starring Cassandra Delaney. Made in Australia. Not to be confused with the 1995 Cindy Crawford movie, not to be confused with that waste-of-time 2010 Naomi Watts movie. This one, being from foreign soil, is comparatively unknown. It is loosely based, or at least formatted on I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (1978), and, as such, is a rape & vengeance thriller. Its star is the prettiest little Sheila ever. You'll cheer for her! But be warned, not for the faint-hearted, as the tribulations befalling our pretty heroine get to be too much to bear.

Jessica is taking care of the kangaroos on an Australian outback farm. She is very attractive, slightly built, and brings to mind the tagline of EXTREMITIES: 'Vulnerable, alone, the perfect victim. Or so they thought.'

Out buying supplies, just minding her own business, Jessica meets three rough types who try to chat her up. And when she doesn't exactly give them the time of day, they decide to have fun with her. Like running her off the road with their immense huge truck, a red bull of a thing. She comes to realize they were responsible for the kangaroo poaching on the farm. They leave the charred remains of a kangaroo in her pick-up. Sneak in through a window photographing her as she sleeps nude.

She retaliates every time they do something, refuses to give in to them, for this she is a bitch in their eyes, and they wish her to suffer. In the prelude to the movie's climax, she is draped half-naked across the front of the truck, strapped spread-eagled, a mounted trophy, as they take her for a victory ride.

Which doesn't break her. When released, obviously bruised and hurt (if any rape took place, it happens off-camera, that's how I've always seen it, but some reviewers reckon no), she decides to really fight back, and prepares for the showdown.

Described over at BizarroFilms.com as the Diet Coke of trashy rape & revenge films, as it doesn't feature a rape scene. Not to be missed. My highest rating. And what a classy chick! Who'd want to hurt her?

Possibly one of the tallest tales in action movie history, because of the implausibilities in the script relying heavily on those implausibilities - but what the hell, look past the fact that the millions of police riflemen only needed to knock out a tyre or two on that bus otherwise riddled like Swiss cheese... Look at the poster, drawn by Frank Frazetta, faithfully reproduced here by IMDb, and you need look no further. Two words for you: Sondra Locke.

Ol' Clint is a hard-nosed cop, Ben Shockley, assigned to transport a felon, one Gus Mally, from Las Vegas to Arizona to testify in 'a minor court case'... But there are surprises along the way, not least of which is that Gus turns out to be an attractive young girl, a fiery, feisty little tigress of a prostitute, and she warns Ben that there are dangerous people (think Mafia) who do not want her to testify against a crime boss. Ben's boss, Blakelock, who has a shady past that Gus knows about, is one such.

Everything is thrown at them. There is a helicopter chase scene, with Ben and Gus on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a hand-to-hand fight on a goods train, and the climax with the armor-plated bus they are hell-bent on driving up the courthouse steps, despite the entire police force being the gauntlet of the title.

There's not one believable moment in this one. It's as implausible as can be. But it's a team to cheer for! Action movie fans will love every minute of it. Roger Ebert famously summed it up as 'Classic Eastwood: Fast, Furious and Funny!' And that it is in spades!

Suzanne Stone's quest to become a celebrity in fictional little town of Little Hope. She wants to be a major TV news anchor, but has to start small, as the weather girl on local TV station WWEN. She marries wealthy Larry, not for love, but so that his business can keep her dream afloat. Then Larry, poor sap, has the nerve to expect of her to start raising a family with him. Got to get rid of this dumb critter then, for that's for sure not the way to become a celebrity. She organizes Teens With Dreams at the school, and leads on Jimmy and his friends to help her murder her husband. Eventually they pay the price while she gets acquitted, but then the truth catches up with her. There's an icy scene at the end that would spoil everything if I gave the game away now, so suffice to say, there is a come-uppance in the offing!

It's not often that something like this crosses my path. A deeply moving portrayal of a guy who really didn't do anything wrong, who gets caught up in the middle of something big, which drags him down. John Hurt gives an Oscsr-worthy, truly magnificent, deeply moving performance as Stephen Ward. Tagline: “In 1960, Christine Keeler met Mandy Rice-Davies. Three years later they brought down the British Government.” Dramatization of incidents relating to the 1963 Profumo scandal. Which was in fact, a media-generated storm in a tea-cup. Except for the people directly involved. It launched two young women to infamy, and caused a bon vivant (or social gadfly) osteopath who had introduced an exotic dancer to the Minister of War, to have to commit suicide to escape a lengthy jail sentence.

The Profumo scandal explained in a nutshell: Press caught wind of the British Minister of War having a girlfriend who was an exotic dancer/callgirl and also the girlfriend of a 'communist sympathizer' and as this was the time of the Cold War, threw up conjecture of pillow talk. In truth, no concrete evidence. It's unlikely that anything transpired. But the press made a hell of a fuss, sold a hell of a lot of newspapers, and an official inquiry loomed. Caused the disgraced Conservative Party to be ousted the next year. History lesson brought to you by RavenGlamDVDCollector, in the interest of a better understanding of this movie.

Movie features a spectacular rendition of the hit 'Apache' as montage theme for dressing up sequence involving stockings. As an IMDb reviewer points out, you have to see this movie in a cinema to hear this over those gigantic speakers. I make do with a large, large TV with stereo sound, and it is indeed a feel-good experience. (Explanation: Dressing up. Make-up. Lipstick. War paint. Apache. Geddit?)

Somewhere along the line in recent history, the youth broke free from the older generations. Lost respect. I personally feel it happened during the Sixties. It is perhaps even here, at the real-life court case depicted in this movie. To wit, the following transcript: Mervyn Griffith-Jones, official on the bench, addressing young Mandy Rice-Davies: “Are you aware that Lord Astor denies any improprieties in his relationship with you?” Mandy Rice-Davies (regarding him with a look that also suggests she might be chewing bubble-gum): “Well, he would, wouldn't he?” Courthouse crowd bursts out laughing. Advantage Miss Rice-Davies. And perhaps this is where it happened? Where the youth finally and irrevocably lost respect for the old?

Tagline: “On the run and having fun!”, starring Peter Fonda and Susan Saint James.

Bobby Ogden (Peter Fonda) wrote the Country & Western song 'Outlaw Blues' and Nashville star Garland Dupree stole it. In an ensuing argument with a brandished firearm, Garland accidentally shoots himself, but tells everybody Bobby shot him. Pretty soon it is just Tina Waters (Susan Saint James), a back-up singer fired by Garland, who believes him. Bobby and Tina go on the run through a series of hijinks giving this film Chase Movie status. All the while their song is a hit, every law enforcement officer in town is looking for them!

Highly likeable performance by the two leads! And Susan Saint James with her long hair is a magnificent chick!

The movie that is just impossible to find on DVD also has only a promo clip available on the Net. Could it be that somebody waylaid this funny old gem and nobody wants to own up to it? Is this lost forever? :(

Please bear in mind that my only reference for this is (a) the downloaded promo which I think is the same as the movie trailer, and (b) fond memories dating back 30 years at a struggling-to-exist drive-in theater.

Daniel Stern stars as Joel Keefer, an up-and-coming young stockbroker struggling to get (a) his wife pregnant, and (b) noticed for promotion. Mr Roalvang, the boss, was Christopher Plummer, and he has a thing about trains. He's also got a hot wife, Louise, the title character, played by French actress Arielle Dombasle, who is a raging nymphomaniac (when it suits her). Joel competes against king of the brown-nosers Tony Dugdale for promotion, and this scheming ol' bastard is full of dirty tricks. On a train trio to Palm Springs where the choice is to be decided, it is Joel and Carlos (Fisher Stevens), the Mexican friend that only escalates the fiasco, being hotly pursued by pretty, oversexed Mrs Roalvang who is in the mood for love and doesn't worry about getting caught out by her husband. While Joel is at a loss the whole time, having to consider his wife and his boss and that bothersome butt-fly Carlos. Hijinks a-plenty ensue.

It is a crying shame that this genuinely funny movie has been overlooked when it came to a DVD release. People who haven't seen it, have no idea what they are missing out on.

Italia! Many highly popular, much sought-after stuff admired by RavenGlamDVDCollector originates from Italy. And this one is the leader of the pack. Unavailable on DVD, except as a dubbed German version. Original Italian available to download on the Net, but English dub not available despite an available set that is misleadingly titled not DESIDERIA E L'ANELLO DEL DRAGO but the promising English title, but alas! no such luck! I ask you? A German translation? DER RING DES DRACHEN. That's gonna suck! I have the DVD, but keep putting it off, hoping for a miracle that is never gonna happen!

A fairy tale for adults, starring Anna Falchi as Desideria. Actually, there are three actresses involved, a toddler (who is quite darling), a young teen, and then the spectacular nymph that is Anna Falchi.

Desideria's father is The Dragon King (excellent performance by Franco Nero). He wields unlimited power, and rules unfairly by force of hand. After yet another opponent got slain by him, he got lost in a blizzard, and when the skies cleared up, he found a little baby girl being taken care of by a pack of wolves. To show his gratitude to the forces of Nature, he vows to take care of the little child as if she were his very own. Which he does. Little Desideria goes to welcome the baby, but as she reaches out to the crib, a mysterious hand takes a swipe at her, and she is bitten as the baby falls out of the crib. Father is furious. This sets the trend. Selvaggio (in the English dub, Wild) can do no wrong in his eyes. Desideria falls out of favor. But she is still set to inherit The Dragon Ring, the key to unlimited power, as she is the first-born. But she renounces a fearful object like this, doesn't want it, while Selvaggio/Wild schemes to have it all to herself. She is a supreme evil eager to usurp the throne. A tournament is to be held to determine who will win the hand of the fair princess in marriage. Desideria rejects all suitors - they are a brusque, unseemly lot - except rebel prince Viktor (Joel Beeson, another great performance, a dashing actor ideal for the part) who escapes with her help from captivity. He chases off those nasty old Sand Witches who was threatening our lovely runaway Princess. Selvaggio is pleased to find out that she is now 'first prize' in the tournament. She utilizes her witchy powers to cast a spell on Viktor, and he is now besotted with her, enters the tournament to win her for himself, and thus the key to the Kingdom. Desideria experiences heartbreak. How will she regain his love? You have to watch for yourself. But a download in English you can forget about.

A complicated story to present to a specific target audience. Too childish in places to be to adult's liking, so obviously meant for the young, but then again, with American/British/Canadian/Australian sensitivities being what they are, many parents would object to letting their children watch this show with the creepy puppets, so, on the other end of the scale, it is too scary (in places) for the average very young child. Then again, this might have been true back then, but children watch some super-violent junky little dreadful atrocities nowadays, and this is tame by today's standards, so I'm really just regurgitating explanations I encountered researching this one and to why this show didn't make it big in the US back then. It is wonderfully filmed, looks like the work of someone proud to be filming a movie. What it lacks in big-bucks special effects, it more than makes up for in style and decor. Any jaded American director could just look at this for inspiration when it comes to a magical approach filling the screen with vibrant colors. So what does it matter that there weren't really enough horses, or that the dragon looks like a parade float? The charm eminating from this presentation shows Hollywood how it should be done! With wonder in every frame!

It gets my vote as the most exciting foreign movie I've ever seen, and you should check it out as well (if you are in the mood for a fairytale). Finding it in English is impossible, and the Net provides only the original Italian, but then again, that is the original! I've had to settle for a German dub. {Currently watching this in German, und ich kanne nicht Deutsche spreche, zo hilfen mir, but I am doing my best, and the screen lights up with a magical fairy-tale that is worth the effort, which I have divided into four parts (second part tomorrow), so bear with me, I will report back, danke schön, 8 January 2015} {every bit delightful, I am in love with Anna Falchi, watched the second part of first episode several times this weekend, better than some of top Hollywood favorites, lavishly filmed, beautifully done, 11 January 2015} {just watched first half of second part, the tournament bit had a weak flow of events, but Anna Falchi, that Falchick, wow, what more can I say, European eye candy prima quality... 16 January 2015} {have just finished watching, gonna miss this next week! Lovely, actually quite gentle story, gorgeous heroine, 23 January 2015}

Michelle Williams looks absolutely stunning. No deception in that.

Husband-and-wife team Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in this huge undertaking by famed director Robert Altman prior to his death. Concerns underground activities involving several lean, tanned runway supermodels who are naked except for their masks, so what do you need the plot for? It's every bit a must-see, so go treat yourself!

The movie that launched Tom Cruise's career also gave a promising start to that of Rebecca de Mornay.

Tom plays Joel Goodson, clearly a good son with his sights set on Princeton University. To this effect, mother tells him to stress his involvement with Future Enterprisers to college interviewer Bill Rutherford. But when the parents go on a trip, this becomes HOME ALONE for the slightly older set as Joel gets urged by friend Miles to live a little. He was told not to touch the stereo system or his Dad's beloved Porsche, so he plays the stereo real loud, raids the liquor cabinet, dances around in his underwear, socks and pink dress shirt (this was 1983 and shocking over-the-top behavior for a young white boy at the time) and then they of course take the Porsche for a spin through town. Next day Miles calls in a prostitute, Jackie, who turns out to be a man. Reluctantly, Joel pays him nearly all the money in the house just to get him away, but he does give Joel the number of Lana, whom he describes as every white boy's dream. And, yes, he wasn't lying! He phones her during a restless night with a persecution nightmare, and she turns out to be a gorgeous blonde, and they make love all night. Next morning though, she charges him $300. He is off to the bank. She is gone when he returns, and so is his mother's ultra-expensive Steuben crystal egg. Joel has to find her, but along the way, he runs into Guido, her pimp, who threatens him with a gun, and there is a car chase, Joel in his Dad's Porsche 928. Joel and Lana have an argument, and when she retrieves her purse from the car, she accidentally hits the shifter, and the car rolls back onto a pier, which collapses, and the Porsche ends up in Lake Michigan.

You get the idea, it's a rough ride for Joel. In the middle of a hookerfest to pay for all the upcoming expenses, the college interviewer arrives. Seems Joel will have to settle for the University of Illinois... But what the hell, sometimes you just gotta say “What the *beep*

Rebecca de Mornay sports a darling fringe, a come hither look, and, well, she is really just being Rebecca de Mornay, but believe me, people, the two most beautiful film actresses at that time were Rosanna Arquette and Rebecca de Mornay. Unfortunately they weren't exactly in the greatest of movies. Here, one of them appeared in a big hit - one of the biggest of the early Eighties.

A classic of its time. Big fun must-see!

Nicole Kidman's tour de force as the terminally-ill cabaret actress and courtesan Satine, wasting away from tuberculosis. And another fine achievement for director Baz Luhrmann! The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return... The other greatest thing is of course this movie!

Loved it. Made a point of also seeing the original 1962 black-and-white movie. The only problem with that one was that it was in black-and-white :) This entry, however, concerns itself with the 1997 Dominique Swain version. Because of the subject matter, preconceived in prudish minds to be child 'molestation', it is not a popular picture, but there is nothing such in the movie, it isn't even what the original book was about. Humbert Humbert, in 1947, just has this fascination with nymphets and falls in love with them, with Dolores, the coquettish daughter of his landlady and wife-to-be, being his latest obsession. And when her mother learns that Humbert has no interest in her, that he married her only to be near her daughter, she runs out into the street, and is struck, very conveniently, by a car, and Humbert is off with the child on a miles-long journey. Followed by the mysterious Clare Quilty, the true predator. Anyway, the one truly enjoying the thrill of the chase is Lolita (DoLOres = LOlita) herself... Great performances by both Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain.

Throw out the constraints of morality, and give this movie a chance. The main male character is totally repressed himself, so he is far from the sexual predator you'd think he would be. Too nice to be anything nasty. Movie is the same. Directed by Adrian Lyne, who is famous for much raunchier subjects. It is just that here the subject is the forbidden, the ultimate taboo, the underaged... The point is, though, that Humbert truly loved Lolita, while she was just being a naughty little tigress sharpening her kitty-claws on him. Humbert Humbert becomes the victim of his love for what might well not be unattainable, but impossible for him to hold on to.

Watch it yourself and tell me what you think. Movie might be hard to find. Noticed on Wikipedia it is out of print on DVD. Fortunately obtained my copy years ago.

Hark, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the sun, my lord, the sunshine in Claire Danes' eyes. When Romeo meets Juliet in this updated version of Shakespear's immortal classic, they gaze at each other through an aquarium, and Claire is just so beautiful that the bard would have wept (for not living long enough to see his creation so gloriously incarnated)! She gets my vote for being one of the prettiest actresses ever!

***spoiler alert*** Alas, poor Juliet! Not even the remake all these cartloads of decades later spareth thee from thy miserable fate, but truly, forsooth, thine is the MOST DAMNED GUT-WRENCHING DEATH SCENE ever filmed. Hardened men will cry. Dying young, what a waste!

Amanda Seyfried rules the screen as the feisty heroine desperately trying to save her abducted sister while nobody believes a crime took place. Engaging thriller that does perhaps have a lame, unsatisfactory ending, the actual perpetrator isn't real enough to be satisfactory, much more should have gone into the climactic bit, but the build-up towards the confrontation is well-done. Movie leaves you guessing all the way with a series of weird-assed suspicious people who all turn out to be red herrings. Could have gone this way, could have gone that way, well, like I said, might have been better with a more substantial villain, but Amanda is Amazing!