The Bridges of Madison County (Deluxe Widescreen Edition)
from Warner Home Video
Some called it a snooze-fest, while others tearfully clutched their Kleenex. In any case, Clint Eastwood was an unusual and (as it turned out) perceptive choice to direct and costar in this lush adaptation of Robert James Waller's phenomenally bestselling novel. Meryl Streep costars as Francesca, the lonely Iowa farmer's wife who is instantly attracted to Robert (Eastwood), the photographer from National Geographic who is in the area to photograph the bridges along Iowa's rural roadways. The two fall in love while Francesca's husband and children are away at a county fair, but the story's passion and lasting appeal derive from their decision to part forever after just a few brief days of intimate connection. Superbly acted with an emphasis on quiet, graceful moments of tender revelation, the film builds to a crescendo of powerful and conflicting emotions. Like David Lean's Brief Encounter (to which it bears marked similarities), The Bridges of Madison County is destined to become one of the classic movie love stories. --Jeff Shannon
World-traveling National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid and Iowa housewife Francesca Johnson aren't looking to turn their lives upside down. Each is at a point in life where expectations are behind them. Yet four days after meeting they wont want to lose the love they've found. Academy Award winners' Meryl Streep (earning her 10th Oscar nomination for this performance) and Clint Eastwood (who also produces and directs) bring blazing starpower and powerful conviction to the beloved characters of Robert James Waller's best seller of love choice and consequence. With luck a love like that happens to some of us sooner or later. For Robert and Francesca it was later. And it was glorious.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/LOVE & ROMANCE UPC: 085391157212 Manufacturer No: 115721
If These Walls Could Talk
by Savoca, Nancy
from Hbo Home Video
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK is a powerful intimate portrait of how times and freedoms have changed It will shock you. It will surprise you. And no matter where you stand on the issue it will force you to think again. A recently widowed nurse (Demi Moore) struggling to take control of her life in the early 50's. A mother of four (Sissy Spacek) overwhelmed by trying to raise a family and maintain a career in the 70's. A young student (Anne Heche) making a decision with the help of one woman (Cher) that will change the course of both their lives in the 90's. These women living in the same house at different times share one thing in common-The decision they must come to on how to deal with an unplanned pregnancy.Running Time: 97 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 026359136528
Virtually no one is ambivalent about abortion; the issue polarizes people like no other. HBO tackles the subject head-on with a trilogy of shorts, and, regardless of your opinion on the topic, If These Walls Could Talk is a bold and provocative examination of how the laws and attitudes about abortion in the United States have both changed drastically and remained so much the same.
Three women, three time periods, one house: each finds herself in trouble and must face the overwhelming decision about what to do with the unwanted pregnancy. The first segment is the most powerful, featuring Demi Moore as a young, recently widowed nurse in 1952. With no one to turn to and limited financial means, her options are few. Catherine Keener costars as her harshly judgmental sister-in-law. The next piece occurs in 1974, as Sissy Spacek, a mother of four who is trying to earn a college degree, discovers she's pregnant with her fifth child. Her utterly modern feminist daughter encourages Spacek to get a newly legal abortion, but it's a complex decision. In the final segment, college student Anne Heche becomes pregnant by her married professor. Her best friend, played by Jada Pinkett, is resolutely against abortion and the two wrangle over right and wrong. As the young woman tries to learn about her options, she finds herself enmeshed in the pro-life demonstrations outside the abortion clinic. Cher, who directs this segment (the other two are directed by Nancy Savoca), costars as a doctor at the clinic.
While trying to be evenhanded and demonstrating the different choices different women make, the film does have a decidedly pro-choice leaning. Yet the power of the movie is undeniable and it raises significant questions on both sides of the abortion debate, making it an important film for women (and men) everywhere to watch and talk about. --Jenny Brown
The Bridges of Madison County (Full Screen Edition)
from Warner Home Video
Some called it a snooze-fest, while others tearfully clutched their Kleenex. In any case, Clint Eastwood was an unusual and (as it turned out) perceptive choice to direct and costar in this lush adaptation of Robert James Waller's phenomenally bestselling novel. Meryl Streep costars as Francesca, the lonely Iowa farmer's wife who is instantly attracted to Robert (Eastwood), the photographer from National Geographic who is in the area to photograph the bridges along Iowa's rural roadways. The two fall in love while Francesca's husband and children are away at a county fair, but the story's passion and lasting appeal derive from their decision to part forever after just a few brief days of intimate connection. Superbly acted with an emphasis on quiet, graceful moments of tender revelation, the film builds to a crescendo of powerful and conflicting emotions. Like David Lean's Brief Encounter (to which it bears marked similarities), The Bridges of Madison County is destined to become one of the classic movie love stories. --Jeff Shannon
The Bridges of Madison County
World-traveling National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid and Iowa housewife Francesca Johnson aren't looking to turn their lives upside down. Each is at a point in life where expectations are behind them. Yet four days after meeting they wont want to lose the love they've found. Academy Award winners' Meryl Streep (earning her 10th Oscar nomination for this performance) and Clint Eastwood (who also produces and directs) bring blazing starpower and powerful conviction to the beloved characters of Robert James Waller's best seller of love choice and consequence. With luck a love like that happens to some of us sooner or later. For Robert and Francesca it was later. And it was glorious.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/LOVE & ROMANCE UPC: 883929029419 Manufacturer No: 1000040475
Sorority Boys [Region 2]
Take off your thinking caps, kids! Given the crude promise of its low-concept title, you'd be forgiven for wanting Sorority Boys to be a passable hybrid of Animal House and Some Like It Hot. Reduce those expectations and you'll find this college comedy to be at least mildly amusing, beginning when three frat-rats (Barry Watson, Harland Williams, Michael Rosenbaum) are forced by circumstance to pledge--in drag, of course--at a nearby sorority. They can't begin to pass as females, but the movie's loaded with idiots who don't seem to notice. Even more problematic is the movie's attempt to teach a lesson about sexual politics; better, in this case, to stick with gags about dueling dildos and erections in coed showers, and relish cameos by Animal House alumni and the good-natured charm of Heather Matarazzo (Welcome to the Dollhouse) in another nerdy role. With your brain on hold, a few belly laughs are an unexpected bonus. --Jeff Shannon
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