The Color of Money (1986) Review

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(More customer reviews)This movie appears to be about pool on the surface. But it's less about pool than it is about what motivates us as people.
Fast Eddie Felson of the classic, "The Hustler," returns to reverse roles in this 80s classic. Instead of being the young champ, he wants to train the young champ in Tom Cruise. But eventually, he realizes the hard way he doesn't have the stomach to play stake horse and in his heart he really wants the thrill of competition.
A lot of people will compare this movie to "The Hustler," since it is the sequel. There is no comparison. This movie really can't even be compared in pool terms. The pool shots that they hit in this movie are, for the most part, average to above-average. This is not the mind blowing pool play from "The Hustler" to be sure.
But this movie does have plenty going for it. For non-pool players, this movie has more character development. This movie also features some of the greatest cinematography of any film. And Newman, Cruise, and the supporting cast all put in stellar performances.
In short, this is a great movie that's worth watching just for enjoyment or on a deeper level for those who appreciate fine cinema. It's not half the movie that "The Hustler" is, but it has enough merits to stand on its own.

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Oliver Stone Collection (1991) Review

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(More customer reviews)Clearly Oliver Stone is not your average film-maker. He is a man guided by passion, rebeliousness, and a burning sense of what is right and wrong. This 10-DVD set really strikes out and reveals the man for what he is, warts and all.
This set represents each of the films in the best condition available, which is both good and bad. The new Transfers of Nixon, Natural Born Killers and Heaven & Earth are stunning, and the extended cuts and bonus materials included with Doors, JFK, Nixon, and Any Given Sunday are more than any fan could possibly have asked for.
However there are flaws, fortunately most of them minor and probably exagerated by the contrast to what the set does actually achieve. Commentary tracks are lacking on Talk Radio and U-Turn, and not all the films are anamorphic widescreen. As noted those flaws are minor. A larger problem is Born of the Forth of July. While I wanted significantly more bonus material, something matching what is or will soon be available with the rest of the Viet Nam trilogy, the real problem is that the print is nearly unwatchable. In transfering this film they set the edge enhancement feature way too high. every scene is filled with images that have a white halo "Ringing" effect surounding the actors or the background. This is a side effect of a bad transfer and is present in many DVD's which have been "Cleaned" or "re-mastered" but I've never seen it this bad ever. It is so distracting here that one wonders if quality control ever checked this disc.
Given the attention to detail that went into several other of the Discs (See Heaven & Earth, Nixon, and Any Given Sunday) from the various studios involved, Universal really dropped the ball here. Director Stone, Ron Kovic, and this film all deserved substantially better than what Universal put in
But like I said, other than this glaring flaw the rest of the package is a real winner!!

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The 10 films included in this collection are (in chronological order) Wall Street, Talk Radio, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, The Doors, Heaven & Earth, Natural Born Killers, Nixon, U Turn, and Any Given Sunday. Also included is Oliver Stone's America, a documentary about Stone's films and career, featuring clips, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and Stone's early student film Last Year in Vietnam.

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