Reviews (42)

Beware of Witches
Firstly it is true that this movie can be extremely frightening to young children, and should not be shown not be seen by them.
Otherwise everyone else should really enjoy this fantastic movie, that takes place in Sweden and modern day England.

A little boy Luke ((Jasen Fisher) is told by his grandmother (Mai Zetterling) all about witches, and of her own childhood experience with these evil creatures, including the mysterious loss of her best friend to their wicked wiles.

When a few months later he goes with his grandmother to a grand old hotel by the seaside in England, he discovers to his dismay that there is witches conference at the hotel, and before he can foil there evil plans to destroy the children of England, he and another boy, Bruno (Charles Potter) are turned into mice at the orders of the Grand High Witch (Angelica Huston)

He and Bruno must now survive while at the same time exposing defeating the witches' evil plans.

A great movie based on the book by Roald Dahl.

Delightful Kids Flick
I discovered thsi movie at the age of eight and became obsessed with it renting it several times then buying it for myself a few years later. Kids flicks don't get any better than this.

This movie is based on the book by Rolald Dahl which is about a boy who comes across a flock of witches while vacationing with his grandma on the English seashore. The witches *led by Angelica Huston* are meeting under the disguise of a "children's charity organization* but really are discussing plans to get rid of all of the children in England by turning them into mice! Unfortunately, the boy whose name is Luke becomes one of their first victims. The story is great fun as are the actors. The end is the best part which takes place at a fancy dinner for the witches, but I won't give it away. Fantastic movie for the young and the young at heart.

5 starz!!!
This movie is just an automatic classic.It is aliitle funny but most of all kind of creepy.The movie starts out kinda slow but then it starts to pick up it's pace, this movie is just a must have.

Campy, but cute, children's story
This is definately for kids, perhaps 8 to 12 years old, where they can separate out fantasy from reality. The slow starting pace and the campy effects might bore adult viewers, but it's a great flick for kids. The cameo appearance of Rowan Atkinson adds a couple of laughs, but filmmaker really underutilized the comedian's talents.

THE WITCHES (ANJELICA HOUSTEN)
i used to watch this film when i was a lil kid and i used to well like it! it was funny cos ma cousin got scared of the grand high witch! and anjelica housten does look quite fit in this- even though she is a witch!!! anyways it is a brilliant film for lil kids and i would even watch it now!! GO 4 IT! 10/10... ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Brilliant : a knock out film!
Since Frances Normand's boyfriend is murdered by british forces in North Ireland , she decides to investigate this weird murder , she plays the role of an American human rights activist .
A punch in the middle of the face , because it concerns about a conspiracy , cover up and ambush policial, inspired by similar events in 1980 .
Filmed in documental mood for Ken Loach. Briiliant performances of Frances Mc Dormand and Brian Cox.
One of my favorites political thrillers of the nineties.

INTERESTING THRILLER ABOUT POLITIC AND BETRAYALS.
*** ½ stars rating for this film. "Hidden Agenda" is a study about the corruption and betrayal that appear in the high spheres of the governments policy. "Hidden Agenda" is set in Ireland, but this kind of corruption could be found everywhere around the world, not only in these modern times, but since the beginning of the human society the corruption has been here as well, so the story that is told in this movie could have happened in every random country.

"Hidden Agenda" has a good cast, among them Brian Cox, Frances McDormand and Brad Dourif, and the movie also has a solid direction by Ken Loach. Without a doubt, "Hidden Agenda" is a good movie that will keep the audiences interested in the plot from beginning to end.

an agenda not so occult
This movie is excellent, but one thinks after having seen it that humanity not only has physical or mental limits but ethical ones also, and that is preferable not to rub them.
When I was a child I heard for first time to speak about the OAS, the armed secret organization that wanted to eliminate De Gaulle. Franco protected the OAS discreetly at the time in Spain for being related to the extreme right wing. The film "Day of the Jackal" shows these days.
Before that, my parents knew the "Maquis": the attempt of invading Spain at the finish of II World War across the difficult valley of Aran in the Pyrenees. These experienced "Red" guerrillas hardened in two wars and with allied armament thought that the allies would help, but it was not like that and they were exterminated by the Spanish army in a obscure but expeditious form. The last episode was that of the GAL, a parapolicial group which was created in the decade of the 80's to finish with ETA's terrorism, the separatist Basque organization. His methods were coarse and they performed brutally open confrontations sometimes even in the streets of France so the scandal was too big and Spanish government had to stop these crude actions. France protected for a long time ETA, going on to Spain an invoice for the episode of the OAS. Well, in this movie is shown an equally dark episode on the performance of forces against the IRA. I think "hidden agendas" are owned by parts, but not all the members of the different governments excepting when there are a dictatorship.

Disturbing, Accurate Depiction of British Rule in N.Ireland
This movie, like "In the Name of the Father" and others, will leave you appalled and depressed about the ruthlessness and deceit of the British rule in Northern Ireland (just as in the Republic of Ireland, before its independence). Frances McDormand is, as usual, excellent in the role of a representative of an international group concerned about civil rights violations throughout the world and, in this particular case, Northern Ireland. The scenes dealing with the IRA (back rooms, Republican clubs, etc) and the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary, i.e., the British police force) are gritty, sinister, and very convincing. Brian Cox, in a performance to match McDormand's, plays an honest investigator sent over to determine the truth of the killing of an American member of the civil rights organization and the progress of his inquiry and the roadblocks he encounters which finally defeat him and destroy his integrity are depicted with chilling accuracy. This is a gripping and, ultimately (sad to say),demoralizing film about the "Troubles" which still plague Northern Ireland.

Should you trust any government?
Charles deGaulle once observed, "The State is a cold-blooded animal. Often even to it's own people. It must be so in order to survive." This movie is about British agents operating in Ireland to quash any IRA resistance to British rule, by any means necessary and any means possible. To give some semblance of respectability to the investigation of the murder of a U.S. citizen who was in the company of an IRA agent when he was assassinated the British secret police employ a fairmined and respected investigator who really believes he is charged with the responsibility of finding the truth. The closer he gets to the truth the more pressure the secret police put on him to back away. First they use blackmail, then threats to his own life. He is forced at last to betray everyone he has made promises to and return to England without a shread of respectibility. The secret police continue business as usual and set about arresting everyone whose confidence he has gained.
This is a film noir that takes a back seat to none. Be prepared to be angry, depressed and paranoid at the end. Not for the weak in spirit. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Significant Minor Film
Tyrone Power appeared in a number of famous and glamorous films, but this simple story remains the one I remember best.

It raises some basic ethical questions. If some of those who survive a disaster are sure to die because of their injuries, should they be kept alive even if doing that threatens the survival of the others in the group? If resources are scarce and some of the healthy survivors--possibly most or even all--will eventually die, should some eventually be selected for earlier death so that the others might survive longer? If so, which ones should be kept alive and why? How should these decisions be made? What price should those who make these decisions and those who simply acquiesce pay if they themselves survive?

A number of books and other films, some very well done, have addressed such issues too, but this low budget, low-key drama served me better than any of those would have on several occasions when I was dealing with moral and ethical questions in government classes I taught to high school students.

Abandon Ship
The performance of Colin Broadley as cabin boy Mickey Stokes in his drowning scene is among the most moving I have ever seen in the cinema ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Yeegh!
Woh G, this is money! I love this movie! Word!

mad, bad and dangerous to know
This Rank period drama directed by David MacDonald begins with George Byron on his deathbed, then taking us to a pergatorial courtroom where a faceless judge presides over his fate. Is he to be remembered by posterity as a poet and a liberator, or a seducer and libertine? Witnesses are brought to testify in flashbacks with prosecution clad in black and defence in white, with the set reminiscent of the stylised courtroom used in John Ford's Mary of Scotland. However the legitimacy of this treatment is undermined by the performance of Dennis Price as Byron. Price plays his womaniser like a vampirish Oscar Wilde, with an odd scene of him sharing a glass with the brother of a woman he is involved with, a mysognystic conversation with a friend - "You're far too bright a flame to be extinguished by a woman's fan" - and a pop psychological explaination given about how his mother treated him miserably and he mistreats women as revenge. It's a pity that the only woman of the 4 associated with Byron presented here as an individual is the one the first to be disposed of. This kind of paper thin betrayal and the dialogue being a series of howlers - "She's purer than the driven snow", "Your British sense of fairplay is inplacable", "You can't keep an eagle in a cage" - makes the film unintentionally hilarious until tedium sets in. It's no coincidence that the testimony of the defence's witnesses reduce Price to dull sincerity. The society presented here is one which races to buy Byron's first collection of poetry which sells out the first morning it is on sale, then snubs him when his wife leaves him and he seeks overseas exile for a crime presumably on a par with Wilde. Price delivers a speech to the troops which is meant to be inspiring but we observe that it might be more effective if he could speak the troops' language or vice versa, and though Byron moans about his being lame we can't see how it has held him back any. As Lady Caroline Lamb, Joan Greenwood easily steals the movie. Her throaty voice makes her very likeable, and MacDonald gives her a good scene where she cuts her wrist to get Byron's attention, as well pulling the camera back slowly to frame she and Price in long shot for their first kiss. Oh, and the verdict for the courtcase? It's one of those you decide's. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

This splendid adventure-fantasy from 1990 was adapted from Roald Dahl's book and directed by maverick British filmmaker Nicolas Roeg, who turned out to be a perfect (if seemingly unlikely) interpreter of Dahl's fiendishly clever tale of witchcraft in contemporary England. Scary, funny, and wildly entertaining, it's all about a young boy named Luke (Jasen Fisher) whose parents have died in a tragic accident, and whose grandmother (Mai Zetterling) takes him to a posh hotel in England, where a secret coven of witches is holding its annual convention. The Grand High Witch (Anjelica Huston, in a scene-stealing performance) has decreed that all children in England be turned into mice, and Luke and his pal Bruno (Charles Potter) are the first victims on the list. That's when the movie magicians from Jim Henson's creature shop have their work cut out for them, turning Luke and Bruno into clever little rodents and The Witches into a dazzling display of imaginative special effects, using a seamless combination of real mice and superb animatronic puppets. Director Roeg doesn't compromise the sinister edge of Dahl's story, but comedy gets equal time from the brilliant cast including Brenda Blethyn (from Secrets and Lies and Little Voice), Rowan Atkinson (of Black Adder and Mr. Bean fame), and Jane Horrocks (Little Voice) as the Grand High Witch's beleaguered assistant. Although it was largely neglected during its brief theatrical release, this wonderful movie has since enjoyed a thriving appreciation on video--see it and you'll understand why. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (42)

Beware of Witches
Firstly it is true that this movie can be extremely frightening to young children, and should not be shown not be seen by them.
Otherwise everyone else should really enjoy this fantastic movie, that takes place in Sweden and modern day England.

A little boy Luke ((Jasen Fisher) is told by his grandmother (Mai Zetterling) all about witches, and of her own childhood experience with these evil creatures, including the mysterious loss of her best friend to their wicked wiles.

When a few months later he goes with his grandmother to a grand old hotel by the seaside in England, he discovers to his dismay that there is witches conference at the hotel, and before he can foil there evil plans to destroy the children of England, he and another boy, Bruno (Charles Potter) are turned into mice at the orders of the Grand High Witch (Angelica Huston)

He and Bruno must now survive while at the same time exposing defeating the witches' evil plans.

A great movie based on the book by Roald Dahl.

Delightful Kids Flick
I discovered thsi movie at the age of eight and became obsessed with it renting it several times then buying it for myself a few years later. Kids flicks don't get any better than this.

This movie is based on the book by Rolald Dahl which is about a boy who comes across a flock of witches while vacationing with his grandma on the English seashore. The witches *led by Angelica Huston* are meeting under the disguise of a "children's charity organization* but really are discussing plans to get rid of all of the children in England by turning them into mice! Unfortunately, the boy whose name is Luke becomes one of their first victims. The story is great fun as are the actors. The end is the best part which takes place at a fancy dinner for the witches, but I won't give it away. Fantastic movie for the young and the young at heart.

5 starz!!!
This movie is just an automatic classic.It is aliitle funny but most of all kind of creepy.The movie starts out kinda slow but then it starts to pick up it's pace, this movie is just a must have.

Campy, but cute, children's story
This is definately for kids, perhaps 8 to 12 years old, where they can separate out fantasy from reality. The slow starting pace and the campy effects might bore adult viewers, but it's a great flick for kids. The cameo appearance of Rowan Atkinson adds a couple of laughs, but filmmaker really underutilized the comedian's talents.

THE WITCHES (ANJELICA HOUSTEN)
i used to watch this film when i was a lil kid and i used to well like it! it was funny cos ma cousin got scared of the grand high witch! and anjelica housten does look quite fit in this- even though she is a witch!!! anyways it is a brilliant film for lil kids and i would even watch it now!! GO 4 IT! 10/10... ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Another twisted Peter Sellers classic!
I quite enjoyed this variation on the seven year itch....very entertaining, Yayaon!

Peter Sellers stars in this humorous 1960s Black and White comedy about temptation, and the seven year itch, in marriage. He almost commits adultery in this light hearted film, but all kinds of quirky and ironic situations combine against his success in this effort and endeavor. He finally realizes that his one true love is his wife, and that she is the woman of his desires.

4 stars! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good, but can't live up to expectations.
When I first saw this movie, it was labeled "INGMAR BERGMAN'S TORMENT," marked all over as "His directorial debut!" To be fair, this movie is an Alf Sjoberg work, and you can tell right from the opening scenes. To see Bergman's "directorial debut," you can catch the last 30 seconds or so, when an absentee Sjoberg handed over the reigns to the ambitious, if callow, Bergman. How much of this work deserves Bergman's name? The screenplay, though that was altered by Sjoberg too, and thats about it.

Its a shame that this work has been so over-publicized. Ostensibly, it couldn't be a more auspicious project: a collaboration of two of Sweden's greatest film-makers (we can lament the fact that Sjoberg's fame has so faded over time, for he really was a talented film-maker). Unfortunately, it can be written off as an opportunity missed. The film was being made for Svenski Film's anniversary and seems to have been somewhat hastily, maybe dispassionately, put together. This isn't Sjoberg's best work by a long shot, even for its few gem moments. The writing is harmlessly mediocre; an angst-ridden story about a tortured student intellectual. Clearly its a film Bergman must regret, for the brilliance of his later writing is little evident. It has a flavor of Bergman, but the most immature of all of his writing.

The plot centers around a young woman who keeps two lovers: one, the chief protagonist, a bright young student full of youthful idealism: the other one of his instructors, whom we only know as Caligula -- a lonely old man who lashes out and torments every human who he comes in contact with. Eventually, and predictably, the two come into conflict.

Torment is not a bad film by any measure, but one can't help but be disappointed by it. It should be of some interest to both Sjoberg and Bergman fans. Mild recommendation.

AKA Hets
This feature is notable as the first screenplay written by Ingmar Bergman. It's only a pity that the direction by Alf Sjoberg is so plodding. It's easy to read the hero as Ingmar, a sensitive student played by Alf Kjellin who writes and plays the violin (he's creative) and is misunderstood by his parents. We see him singled out by the sadistic Latin master affectionately known as "Caligula" (his real name is never given) who teaches by intimidation and carries a stick in class. When Alf befriends the girl in the cigar store, Mai Zetterling, we can predict that she is also Caligula's "lover". It's probably because Mai is so tortured that Alf is attracted to her. The screenplay brands her of "questionable reputation" and only Alf is able to see beyond this shaming judgment. And we know she has a good heart since she lives with a kitten. The kitten reveals character. Caligula holds it as he tells the story of a cat he drowned, it's claws having to be surgically removed from him, while Alf plays with it when Mai attempts a seduction. The story of the drowned cat is a gothic Bergman touch in a screenplay which provides some enjoyable comaraderie between the schoolboys, a dream sequence, and a surprising depth for the latin master. Caligula is both terrifying (is it a coincidence that he is made to resemble a Nazi?) and pitiful, yet still unlikeable. I particularly liked how he comes back to Alf with a coded threat, after he is warned by another school master. There are 2 unnecessary and melodramatic exisential comments - "Why did this have to happen to me?" and "How could you?" which betray Bergman as a fledgling writer, but also a delay in Mai telling Alf of her victimisation by Caligula, and even when she does speak of it, her details are unexpectedly non-specific. The school itself is as big as a museum, and Sjoberg gives us images of the large population running up and down levels. And Alf's family reside in an affluent looking apartment. Bergman doesn't tell us much about them, but their conversatism is established for Alf to react against. Sjoberg must be congratulated for not making Caligula's torment of Mai like a horror movie - if anything the horror is implied rather than shown - and the class scenes of students pressured to recite latin come across as far more stressful. Sjoberg doesn't utilise the close-ups Bergman would later employ, which therefore distances us from the characters, and one can overlook the seemingly advanced age of the schoolboys if one considers how they grow em big in Sweden. Note Bergman's own voice as a radio announcer. ... Read more

Reviews (42)

Beware of Witches
Firstly it is true that this movie can be extremely frightening to young children, and should not be shown not be seen by them.
Otherwise everyone else should really enjoy this fantastic movie, that takes place in Sweden and modern day England.

A little boy Luke ((Jasen Fisher) is told by his grandmother (Mai Zetterling) all about witches, and of her own childhood experience with these evil creatures, including the mysterious loss of her best friend to their wicked wiles.

When a few months later he goes with his grandmother to a grand old hotel by the seaside in England, he discovers to his dismay that there is witches conference at the hotel, and before he can foil there evil plans to destroy the children of England, he and another boy, Bruno (Charles Potter) are turned into mice at the orders of the Grand High Witch (Angelica Huston)

He and Bruno must now survive while at the same time exposing defeating the witches' evil plans.

A great movie based on the book by Roald Dahl.

Delightful Kids Flick
I discovered thsi movie at the age of eight and became obsessed with it renting it several times then buying it for myself a few years later. Kids flicks don't get any better than this.

This movie is based on the book by Rolald Dahl which is about a boy who comes across a flock of witches while vacationing with his grandma on the English seashore. The witches *led by Angelica Huston* are meeting under the disguise of a "children's charity organization* but really are discussing plans to get rid of all of the children in England by turning them into mice! Unfortunately, the boy whose name is Luke becomes one of their first victims. The story is great fun as are the actors. The end is the best part which takes place at a fancy dinner for the witches, but I won't give it away. Fantastic movie for the young and the young at heart.

5 starz!!!
This movie is just an automatic classic.It is aliitle funny but most of all kind of creepy.The movie starts out kinda slow but then it starts to pick up it's pace, this movie is just a must have.

Campy, but cute, children's story
This is definately for kids, perhaps 8 to 12 years old, where they can separate out fantasy from reality. The slow starting pace and the campy effects might bore adult viewers, but it's a great flick for kids. The cameo appearance of Rowan Atkinson adds a couple of laughs, but filmmaker really underutilized the comedian's talents.

THE WITCHES (ANJELICA HOUSTEN)
i used to watch this film when i was a lil kid and i used to well like it! it was funny cos ma cousin got scared of the grand high witch! and anjelica housten does look quite fit in this- even though she is a witch!!! anyways it is a brilliant film for lil kids and i would even watch it now!! GO 4 IT! 10/10... ... Read more

Reviews (42)

Beware of Witches
Firstly it is true that this movie can be extremely frightening to young children, and should not be shown not be seen by them.
Otherwise everyone else should really enjoy this fantastic movie, that takes place in Sweden and modern day England.

A little boy Luke ((Jasen Fisher) is told by his grandmother (Mai Zetterling) all about witches, and of her own childhood experience with these evil creatures, including the mysterious loss of her best friend to their wicked wiles.

When a few months later he goes with his grandmother to a grand old hotel by the seaside in England, he discovers to his dismay that there is witches conference at the hotel, and before he can foil there evil plans to destroy the children of England, he and another boy, Bruno (Charles Potter) are turned into mice at the orders of the Grand High Witch (Angelica Huston)

He and Bruno must now survive while at the same time exposing defeating the witches' evil plans.

A great movie based on the book by Roald Dahl.

Delightful Kids Flick
I discovered thsi movie at the age of eight and became obsessed with it renting it several times then buying it for myself a few years later. Kids flicks don't get any better than this.

This movie is based on the book by Rolald Dahl which is about a boy who comes across a flock of witches while vacationing with his grandma on the English seashore. The witches *led by Angelica Huston* are meeting under the disguise of a "children's charity organization* but really are discussing plans to get rid of all of the children in England by turning them into mice! Unfortunately, the boy whose name is Luke becomes one of their first victims. The story is great fun as are the actors. The end is the best part which takes place at a fancy dinner for the witches, but I won't give it away. Fantastic movie for the young and the young at heart.

5 starz!!!
This movie is just an automatic classic.It is aliitle funny but most of all kind of creepy.The movie starts out kinda slow but then it starts to pick up it's pace, this movie is just a must have.

Campy, but cute, children's story
This is definately for kids, perhaps 8 to 12 years old, where they can separate out fantasy from reality. The slow starting pace and the campy effects might bore adult viewers, but it's a great flick for kids. The cameo appearance of Rowan Atkinson adds a couple of laughs, but filmmaker really underutilized the comedian's talents.

THE WITCHES (ANJELICA HOUSTEN)
i used to watch this film when i was a lil kid and i used to well like it! it was funny cos ma cousin got scared of the grand high witch! and anjelica housten does look quite fit in this- even though she is a witch!!! anyways it is a brilliant film for lil kids and i would even watch it now!! GO 4 IT! 10/10... ... Read more

Description

With MAI ZETTERLING, BIRGER MELMSTEN. Directed by INGMAR BERGMAN. One of the first films by the great Swedish director: a moving drama of a musician tragically blinded in an accident and forced to adjust to a new world of perpetual darkness. Coming from a comfortable upper-class existence, he is brought down to unaccustomed subservience. After being rejected by a prestigious music academy, he gets a job playing piano in a restaurant, where hes humiliated by the boorish owner and exploited or robbed by others. Driven to the depths of despair, he finally gains renewed faith in life by studying to become a church organist and by finding the love of a beautiful, simple woman (whom he spurned earlier because he thought she merely pitied him). In this early work, Bergman already exhibits his sensitivity to psychology and his ability to evoke worlds of emotion from a human face. Although the film is not as bold cinematically as Bergmans later works, the sequence - where the musician loses his sight - a nightmare/hallucination in which he falls through a strange landscape dominated by a gigantic eye, drowns in a pool of bubbling mud filled with terrifying, groping hands and floats helplessly in a sea of huge fish is a startlingly original tour-de-force of surrealistic filmmaking that points the way to the directors subsequent masterpieces. In Swedish with English subtitles. 87 minutes. ... Read more