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Watch The Bela Lugosi Collection Movie Online
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Watch The Bela Lugosi Collection Movie Online.
Movie Title: The Bela Lugosi Collection The Bela Lugosi Collection is available for streaming or downloading. |
I have enjoyed the well-priced Universal Legacy Collections featuring their classic monster films of the 30s and 40s and have been waiting and hoping for them to release the balance of their classic awe titles. This DVD collection is the one I have been wishing for. Now I will finally have two of my current awe films of the 1930s, “The Unlit Cat” and “The Raven,” on DVD.
Buy,Download, Or Stream The Bela Lugosi Collection! Click Here
As mighty as I am elated by this residence I win it an enthralling and somewhat murky epic of Lugosi’s early film career. The disc features an early 30s film following his success in “Dracula” where he is the main star (“Murders in the Rue Morgue” 1932), two films which team him in a role of equal stature with his rival, Boris Karloff (“The Unlit Cat” and “The Raven,” 1934 and 35 respectively), a film which exploited the marquee value of his name but gave him a more minor role (“The Invisible Ray” 1937), and, finally, a film which saw him lag into a rather demeaning supporting role (“Unlit Friday” 1940) beside his mature equal, Karloff.
Within eight years Lugosi had gone from full-fledged leading man to supporting actor. It must have compounded matters for Lugosi to have Karloff continue to receive leading roles while he was reduced to shrimp supporting roles in Karloff’s films. The duo would work again in 1945 in RKO’s “The Body Snatchers” where Lugosi, again, played a minor role opposite Karloff’s grand meatier portrayal. Lugosi’s career was on a precise downward whisk by this point (with few exceptions like “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein”) and would continue to decline through the next decade until his death in the mid-1950s.
Buy,Download, Or Stream The Bela Lugosi Collection! Click Here
The best fragment of this collection are the earliest films (pre-1937) which relate Universal’s golden age of scare. This era saw the novel “Dracula” (1931), “Frankenstein” (1931), “The Invisible Man” (1933), and Universal’s masterpiece “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935) . In the early 30s Universal was a studio committed to making quality terror films. In fact, these alarm films saved Universal from obvious bankruptcy in the unlit days of the Large Depression (Abbott and Costello and Deanna Durbin would do the same for the studio ten years later) . With the benefit of Carl Leammle, Jr. they produced A films with agreeable scripts, profitable directors (Tod Browning, James Whale, etc.), fretful sets and photography, fantastic makeup by Jack Pierce, and astounding casts.
As mentioned earlier, “The Murky Cat” and “The Raven” are the two films I will like most on this area and they alone are well worth the $20 dollar brand label. Both films hold their titles from the works of Edgar Allen Poe but, unlike “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” that is where the connection ends. “The Gloomy Cat” is a pre-code account of revenge and Satanism plot in a spectacular art deco mansion built on the region of a bloody World War I battlefield. Lugosi and Karloff are bitter enemies who meet for one final battle of wits. “The Raven” sees Lugosi as a demented, Poe loving, plastic surgeon who disfigures Karloff and blackmails him into aiding him in a set to punish a woman who has scorned him. Both films are perfect vehicles for their two stars and describe the well-mounted, quality dismay product Universal became celebrated for.
These portray the Universal films outside the “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” franchises that starred Bela Lugosi–or more accurately, Karloff and Lugosi in all but one. Once Karloff entered the Universal scene a few months after “Dracula” (1931) and created such a hit with the Frankenstein monster–eclipsing Lugosi’s Dracula, the studio wasn’t alive to to feature Lugosi as their panic star any longer: very ungrateful of them. So it leaves a “Lugosi Collection” from Universal largely as pairings with Karloff. “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1932) is exclusively a Lugosi vehicle. In “The Dim Cat” (1934), the two are matched. Lugosi dominates in “The Raven” (1935), while “The Invisible Ray” (1936) is more a Karloff vehicle. “Gloomy Friday’ (1940), by far the weakest film, shouldn’t be here at all, as Lugosi only has a microscopic role.
Since others have already spoken at length about the films, and since most people buying this two-sided disc know what they’re getting, I want to address the DVD mastering problems experienced. Many have illustrious that, regardless of player, films on the disc pixelate and freeze at random points. This is a plight with Universal’s DVD-18 mastering process, which has flaws that have since caused Universal to return to their earlier, more ample DVD-9 process.
In the meantime, both this disc and the 2-DVD “The Hammer Terror Series” have more than their portion of dreadful discs. Contacting Universal itself will aid no purpose: even though they are aware of the quandary, the pressings are out there and are not being remastered. You unprejudiced have to be persistent and preserve exchanging sinful copies at retailers–even if you have to gather a refund and initiate again with another dealer; the films are worth it. Eventually, you *will* gather one without glitches. It took me three copies from two places for both this and “The Hammer Scare Series.” Importantly, you don’t have to play through all the films in trusty time to know if you have a flawed copy: unprejudiced scan through the films in the player at 4x-10x accelerate (no faster), and if there is a glitch, the player will freeze at the position. That draw, you don’t have to behold through eight 90-minute movies on every copy you try out; it will lift only 10% of the time to check the area, and you don’t even have to be in the room. If you reach relieve and the image is frozen, rather than having finished the film being scanned and having returned to the menu, then you have a awful one.
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Buy Five Card Stud At Amazon!
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Buy Five Card Stud At Amazon!
Compare & Purchase Five Card Stud at Amazon by clicking here! List Price: —- Amazon Price: $5.99 |
Five Card Stud Description:
- Amazon Sales Rank: #13761 in Movie
- Released on: 2010-01-12
- Running time: 103 minutes
Customer Reviews:
Five Card Dud
The idea of teaming Robert Mitchum with Dean Martin certainly had potential, but no one bothered to provide a worthwhile vehicle. “Five Card Stud” (1968) is a ludicrous Western “whodunit” directed by the usually reliable Henry Hathaway. Nothing works here – even Dino’s title song falls flat. It’s hard to believe Mitchum turned down “The Wild Bunch” in favor of this turkey.
Entertaining Mystery Western.
This is a fine mystery thiller under the guise of a western.
The movie opens with a card game and one player accused of cheating,this player is hanged. Soon members of the card game
begin to die one by one. Card player Dean Martin attempts to
find out who the killer is before he ends up dead. While there
are a few suspects, most viewers will soon figure out who the
killer is. Why is not revealed till the end. Still this is a
movie that works, this is due to the entertaining cast. Dean
Martin retains his easy going style, while Robert Mitchum brings
a performance that is edgy and not as straight forward as he
appears. Roddy McDowall delivers an entertaining performance
as the spoiled rich kid at odds with Dean Martin. Yapphet Kotto
gives a strong performance as the bartender who helps Dean work
out the mystery. I have seen this movie a few times and enjoy
it due to the cast, as well as to the scenery. Attention to detail is well thought out in this western town. So saddle up.
A mystery western
A poker game ends in a hanging when one of the players is accused of cheating. Shortly thereafter, the players are murdered one by one. A western with a novel mystery angle, “Five Card Stud” is certainly no classic, but it is an easygoing, thoroughly enjoyable oater with Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum well-matched as adversaries. It is Roddy McDowell, however, who steals the show as the bad seed brother of Katherine Justice.
Buy For Love of the Game At Amazon!
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Buy For Love of the Game At Amazon!
Compare & Purchase For Love of the Game at Amazon by clicking here! List Price: —- Amazon Price: $2.99 |
For Love of the Game Description:
- Amazon Sales Rank: #3276 in Movie
- Released on: 2008-11-24
- Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
- Running time: 139 minutes
Customer Reviews:
For The Love of the Game
Kevin Costner gives a very compelling performance as a baseball player at the end of his career. He is very realistic in the role and brings thought provoking issues to light. How do you decide to hang up your glove and leave a game that has been the most important thing in your life? It was great that he could personally do the pitching in this movie because it would have lost a lot of the realism and credibility if they had to use someone else.
Not a baseball fan
I am not a baseball fan but i can tell you this movie is really good it is really deep full of emotion. I don’t know anything about the game basball i live in England but yet i was able to really enjoy it bcoz it doesn’t really focus on the game but on the personal life of a successful baseball player. Brilliant buy it.
Excellent Baseball Story
This is an excellent baseball movie and a decent romantic entry as well. Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is a veteran pitcher with an accomplished career who is headed for the Hall of Fame. On the day we meet him he has a lot on his mind. He is informed that his team is being sold, he is being traded and the love of his life is moving to England. Add to this the pain in his pitching arm, his impending decision on whether to retire and the fact that winning this game is critical in determining if the Yankees go to the playoffs, and you have a man with overloaded neurons.
The story unfolds as an introspective retrospective. As he is pitching this important game, he is thinking about his childhood, his relationship with Jane (Kelly Preston) and how he is going to get the next batter out. He is so preoccupied that it doesn’t even dawn on him until the eighth inning that there have been no Yankee hits and he has been pitching a perfect game.
The flashback elements are expertly woven into the game, giving us a genuine feeling for his distraction. This is a fresh perspective for a sports movie. Instead of simply focusing on what the player is doing, the film focuses on what he is thinking while he is doing it. It gives us an authentic look at how athletes get “in the zone”, filtering out all the noise and concentrating totally on their performance. Those who have been involved in athletic competition can identify with this state, although only the best can achieve it at will.
Sam Raimi’s direction on this film was excellent. His direction of the love story was nothing special, but he did a superb job on the baseball scenes. The combination of on the field action, commentary by Vin Scully and simulated TV telecast footage was so well done that it was impossible to differentiate it from a major league game in progress.
The acting ranged from fair to excellent. Kelly Preston was very good as Jane. She brought a full range of emotional expression to the part, though she sometimes got a little shrill, like the scene in the hospital where she screams out “Is this America? Is baseball still the national pastime.” Overall though, she played the part of the torn lover very well.
Kevin Costner is no great lead actor and it is hard to understand why he is so popular. Perhaps it is his whiny lost boy charm that makes women want to mother him. In the love story, he again presented as listless and uninspired. But in the baseball scenes, he came alive. In fact, in these scenes Costner was not acting so much as acting out. He loves baseball and was obsessed with doing all his own baseball scenes. He is a top notch athlete, so he really could throw a curveball and his fastball had plenty of pop. His ability to portray a professional athlete in this instance was superlative, probably due to his having played the game scholastically. So overall, I would have to rate his performance here as very good.
John Reilly gets a very honorable mention as Chapel’s catcher. He was quietly supportive and unobtrusive, the way catchers usually are. He portrayed intense desire in a demure and low key way without overacting. It was a nice performance by an actor in a supporting role playing a baseball player in a supporting role.
I love baseball and this was a great baseball movie so I rated it 8/10. Anyone who enjoys sports will probably enjoy this film.
John Grisham’s The Rainmaker Discount.
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John Grisham’s The Rainmaker Discount.
Compare & Purchase John Grisham’s The Rainmaker at Amazon by clicking here! List Price: —- Amazon Price: $9.99 |
John Grisham’s The Rainmaker Description:
- Amazon Sales Rank: #15600 in Movie
- Released on: 2009-03-02
- Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
- Running time: 136 minutes
Customer Reviews:
Great Movie, Fair Disc
The Rainmaker 2.35:1/Dolby Digital 5.1 Paramount Pictures
The first adaptation of a John Grisham tale that I’ve really enjoyed, “The Rainmaker”, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, looks at the life of a poor young Southern lawer, Rudy Baylor(Matt Damon, in a great performance) as he battles against an insurance company and it’s staff of lawers(led by Jon Voight).
Baylor is battling for Donny Ray Black, a young man who’s insurance claims have been turned down time and time again; Kelly Riker(Claire Danes), who lives in continuing fear of her abusive husband and Miss Birdie, an older woman who simply wants to keep her money from her greedy offspring.
This is really the best of the Grisham adaptations and I’m fairly positive it’s the hand of director Coppola that has it rising above the rest; the film is crowd-pleasing sure, but it’s also very smart and very well acted, with a lot of rich dialogue and some very interesting and entertaining characters. Danny Devito, as Damon’s aid, has a lot of fun in a great performance; like in “LA Confidential”, we’re seeing Devito as his absolute peak lately. He’s been picking bigger and especially, much better roles lately. Matt Damon’s first major performance in this film is also very well done, yet another in his line of subtle, wonderful performances along with “Courage Under Fire” and “Good Will Hunting.” Much like Damon’s last film “Rounders”, I also thought his narration in this film was well done and well written(by Michael Herr)
Overall, it’s an excellent film, well directed, acted and written. It’s a well-told tale by Ford Coppola and it’s highly entertaining. “The Rainmaker” was one of my picks for the top 10 films of 1997.
The DVD: Picture: Well, where there’s good, there’s also bad. It’s unfortunate that Paramount did an unsatisfactory job with this disc. Colors are not terribly well defined or vibrant; contrast is only fair; the whole disc looks, to my eyes, like an “okay” laserdisc would. There is definitely a noticeable amount of pixelization and some shimmering. It makes a point I was talking about with another person a couple of weeks ago all the more apparent to me. I said, “the best DVD material will absolutely blow your mind; at worst, it’ll make you shrug your shoulders and say, ‘well, that’s sort of okay’ “. “The Rainmaker” simply made me shrug my shoulders in dissapointment. It’s probably the least impressive picture transfer in my collection of discs, and that’s too bad since this is really a great film that deserves a great disc. In a time where Tristar is making discs that look as good as “Godzilla”, there’s no excuse for a film that’s not terribly old like “The Rainmaker” to look like this. It looked this way on my Panasonic A110. Hopefully, although I highly doubt it, people will have better luck on other players.
Audio:Pretty good. It’s definitely a dialogue film, backed by a nice, subtle score. Both are well recorded and pleasant to listen to. Nothing terribly mind-blowing. Again, the annoying problem is still there; you can not switch the audio during the film, only from the menu. Try during the film and you’re out of luck.
Menus: Very weak. The picture on the front of the box with some simplistic bordering and big, dull buttons.
Extras:Nothing. No 16×9, No Trailer, Not A Thing. Absolutely zero.
Overall: It’s a great film and if you liked the film as much as I did, it’s worth a purchase at some of the very low prices found on the internet, but after watching this disc, I would *definitely* not pay full price for it. If you’re considering it, I’d highly suggest a rental first, unless you like the movie itself as much as I did.
Film:**** Picture:* 1/2 Audio:** 1/2 Extras:Zero Menus:Zero
Overall Disc Quality:**
This is Damon’s show.
Matt Damon was a relative unknown when he was tapped to play the hero of “The Rainmaker”, based on a novel by John Grisham & directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It was a twist of fate that launched Damon’s career and definitely lifted this movie. (Ironically, Matthew McConaughey got his start the same way- being an unknown cast in a movie based on a Grisham novel.)
The plot is a classic David-vs-Goliath story- fresh out of law school Matt Damon sues an insurance company for denying treatment to a family with cancer. Ultimately Damon triumphs- the righteous cause succees and the system works. Damon is a major talent, as evidenced by his performance in this film. He’s shy, unsure of himself, but basically a good person committed to doing what’s right.
I wasn’t too impressed by the rest of the cast- Claire Danes is a talented actress but fails to shine here. Danny DeVito is okay as Damon’s law partner, and Jon Voight comes across as a none-too-interesting arrogant villain. The rest of the cast? Nobody stands out- this is Damon’s show.
What impressed me about “The Rainmaker” was its hard, unflinching portrayal of the legal profession. A lawyer’s life is not glamorous and does not necessarily guarantee a huge paycheck. Those quick to criticize lawyers ought to take some law courses before they open their mouths- the road to becoming a lawyer is rough and a considerable commitment of both your time and financial resources. Despite his law degree, Damon’s financial picture at the beginning of the film is decidedly precarious.
Watch “The Rainmaker” along with “A Civil Action” and “Erin Brockovich” to get a pretty good idea about the way the law works & how courts give the little people an avenue to even up with big shots like corporations and insurance companies. Watch this movie in particular to see a terrific performance from Matt Damon.
Heartwarming. Satisfying. Vindicating. Heroic,
I wasn’t expecting much when I dropped this 1998 movie into the DVD player…
There is a lot to commend itself. Matt Damon gives a convincing performance of a wet-behind-the-ears lawyer who finds himself with a big case on his hands just as he passes the bar exam! Danny Devito is slimy, shady, sarcastic, and sleazy (in other words, perfect Devito) as Damon’s partner.
The main story involves a poor family whose son is denied needed medical treatment for leukemia. The sleazy Big Insurance Company has denied his claim and betting that they will not press the matter. They bet wrong! Our hero, guided by some unlikely supporters and a sympathetic judge (Dixon from Alias), come to the rescue.
The pieces fit together quite nicely. Justice is served, bad guys are taken down, and Matt Damon establishes himself as an unlikely, unwilling hero and endears himself to the pretty girl in the process.
Nothing wrong with this story or this film. Very delightful and satisfying in every respect.
End of Line HD Lowest Price!
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End of Line HD Lowest Price!
Compare & Purchase End of Line HD at Amazon by clicking here! List Price: —- Amazon Price: $2.99 |
End of Line HD Description:
- Amazon Sales Rank: #633 in TV Series Episode Video on Demand
- Released on: 2010-03-27
- Running time: 44 minutes
Customer Reviews:
Video looks great. Easy to Navigate
I like the idea of this instant player…
The problem is the stream…
I get everything else fine with my current laptop except this content…
I don’t see any sort of buffering…
The video is choppy and sloppy…
They’ll get it right in a week or two…