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The very first movie I took my oldest son to was George of the Jungle. I think he was about 4 at the time.

He was pretty amazed with the large stadium style theater. Just before the lights went out, he gave me a golden moment that I will treasure always when he looked up at me and said:

“Daddy, I like being with you.”

7 years later

These memories came to me today as my oldest son and I sat in the exact same theater waiting for King Kong to begin. Before the movie started I told him the story of what he had said seven years earlier.

I knew going in that the Kong on the screen was computer animation. Even knowing that, this Kong looked so real, so life like.

Remember how real the dinosaurs looked in the Jurassic Park series? These dinos make those look like guys in a dino suit.

Many times when you see a fight or battle in a preview, you worry that you have seen all the good parts. Not so here. The battle between Kong and the T-Rex that you see in the preview lasts for at least ten minutes in the movie.

At the end of this and several scenes, you can hear the audience take a collective breath.

Picture the attention to detail of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy combined with the intensity of the first Jurassic Park.

At the end of the time on Skull Island, I found myself thinking that we have gotten to see all this and they have not even arrived in New York yet.

Even thought you know how it is going to end, it is still a great ride.

Rating: 5 out of 5 ticket stubs.

Toward the end of the movie, my 11 year old son grabs my arm, curls up next to me and says:

“Daddy, I like being with you.”

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A sequel to the 1994 movie Stargate, Stargate SG-1 is one of the premiere science-fiction series on television. First airing in July 1997, the show has been nominated for 7 Emmys and 23 Saturn Awards. The brainchild of creator Dean Devlin, producer of such Hollywood blockbusters as Independence Day (1996) and The Patriot (2000), Stargate SG-1 chronicles the further adventures of the Stargate Command (SGC) as Earth and its citizens advance forward into a new era of space exploration in the aftermath of Dr. Daniel Jackson’s discovery of the galaxy’s numerous stargates…

Stargate SG-1 follows the exploits of the SG-1 Unit (i.e. the “explorer” unit) of Stargate Command. When a new code is broken that reveals the location of stargates throughout the galaxy, Earth and its inhabitants are given the ability to travel through time to any point they wish instantaneously. Earth’s military sends out stargate (SG) teams to scour the universe for new technologies, new planets, and methods of defense against the oppressive Goa’uld. Brigadier General Jonathan “Jack” O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) is the commanding officer of SG-1. He’s accompanied by Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), the brilliant professor whose investigations originally helped uncover the existence of the stargates, and fellow teammates Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and Teal’c (Christopher Judge). Together, they face numerous obstacles as they attempt to uncover the many mysteries of the universe…

The Stargate SG-1 DVD features a number of exciting episodes including the series premiere “Children of the Gods” in which the System Lord Apophis launches an attack via the stargate, hidden by Earth’s military following the events of the original film. Earth orders a counterattack to find and destroy the alien invaders. Colonel Jack O’Neill comes out of retirement, tasked with the mission of locating Dr. Daniel Jackson on Abydos… Other notable episodes from Season 1 include “Brief Candle” in which Jack becomes infected with the rapid aging indigenous to the people of Argos, and “Tin Man” in which the team members of SG-1 are knocked unconscious only to find that they are robots when they awake…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Stargate SG-1 (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (Children of the Gods: Part 1) Air Date: 07-27-1997
Episode 2 (Children of the Gods: Part 2) Air Date: 07-27-1997
Episode 3 (The Enemy Within) Air Date: 08-01-1997
Episode 4 (Emancipation) Air Date: 08-08-1997
Episode 5 (The Broca Divide) Air Date: 08-15-1997
Episode 6 (The First Commandment) Air Date: 08-22-1997
Episode 7 (Cold Lazarus) Air Date: 08-29-1997
Episode 8 (The Nox) Air Date: 09-12-1997
Episode 9 (Brief Candle) Air Date: 09-19-1997
Episode 10 (Thor’s Hammer) Air Date: 09-26-1997
Episode 11 (The Torment of Tantalus) Air Date: 10-03-1997
Episode 12 (Bloodlines) Air Date: 10-10-1997
Episode 13 (Fire and Water) Air Date: 10-17-1997
Episode 14 (Hathor) Air Date: 10-24-1997
Episode 15 (Singularity) Air Date: 10-31-1997
Episode 16 (Cor-Ai) Air Date: 01-23-1998
Episode 17 (Enigma) Air Date: 01-30-1998
Episode 18 (Solitudes) Air Date: 02-06-1998
Episode 19 (Tin Man) Air Date: 02-13-1998
Episode 20 (There but for the Grace of God) Air Date: 02-20-1998
Episode 21 (Politics) Air Date: 02-27-1998
Episode 22 (Within the Serpent’s Grasp) Air Date: 03-06-1998

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Stargate SG-1 (DVD).

In 1998 the creators of 3rd Rock from the Sun introduced That ’70s Show. It’s a very hilarious sitcom that takes place in, believe it or not, the 70s. Located in a fictional suburb of Green Bay, Wisconsin known as Point Place, the series revolves around the comical daily interactions of the Forman family and their friends and neighbors. This third season has twenty-five great episodes and tackles similar issues as the earlier seasons like sex, drugs, dating, friendships, and family values. These issues turn into a few sticky situations that should leave you rolling over with laughter. Like the earlier seasons, the third is filled with some really great comedy, which is mostly due to its great cast and funny episodes.

For season three, there are a lot of fun episodes and stories. The first bunch we’ll talk about have to do with relationships. In the first two seasons Kelso and Jackie have been an item. In season two Jackie found out Kelso cheated on her with Laurie and they broke up. In this season Jackie sets her eyes on Hyde. Despite Hyde’s expressed dislike of Jackie, she continually pursues him and he finally asks her out on date in “Jackie Bags Hyde”. They find out the chemistry isn’t quite there. Meanwhile, Kelso is trying to make things work with Laurie, but also still has feelings for Jackie. As for Fez, this season marks his first girlfriend. Midway into the season, he meets a girl named Caroline. Unfortunately for him, she turns out to be a bit crazy in the head. This eventually turns into the fun episode “Fez Dates Donna”, where Fez pretends to date Donna to get away from his crazy girlfriend.

The other young lovebirds, Donna and Eric, are still together in this season. Many of the episodes are about their cozy little relationship. “Romantic Weekend” is a perfect episode about the couple. In it, Eric takes Donna away for a few days of romance. Unfortunately for Eric, he left the brochure for the bed and breakfast they are staying at on the counter and Red whisks Kitty away to the same place. When Eric and Red find out they’re staying in the same place, they try their best to pretend the other isn’t there, as not to disturb their romantic weekends. Of course nothing goes their way and when things get messed up, you’ll laugh. “Baby Fever” is another solid episode, where Eric and Donna image what their future will be like together. The reflection segments are an absolute riot.

The rest of the episodes we’ll look at are just plain silly. “Dine & Dash” is a ridiculous episode, where Kelso treats his friends to an expensive lobster dinner. When the meal is over, he informs everyone they are going to leave without paying. One by one they trickle out of the restaurant, leaving poor Eric alone. “Holy Craps” sees the return of Pastor Dave (Kevin McDonald, Kids in the Hall) and it is a blast. Kitty gets Red, Eric, Kelso, and Hyde to help at a church fundraiser. To Kitty’s dismay, they abuse their posts. The episode also includes a hilarious performance from Cheers’ John Ratzenberger. Pastor Dave also shows up in “Eric’s Drunken Tattoo”. The episode has some great segments with Kitty, Red, and Dave.

This season also has two episodes with the word panties in the title and they are unequivocally funny. In “Donna’s Panties”, Eric pulls down Donna’s pants in front of Fez, Hyde, and Kelso. She’s wearing big white cotton briefs and they start poking fun at her by calling her granny panties. It’s a Valentine’s Day Eric will never forget! The other episode “Eric’s Panties” has Eric afraid that Donna might be jealous of him because he is spending a lot of time with his attractive female lab partner. But she laughs at him and won’t believe an attractive girl like her would be interested, until she finds a pair of panties in the Vista Cruiser.

Saving the best for last, “Canadian Road Trip” is the funniest episode this season has to offer. Eric, Fez, Kelso, and Hyde join Leo on a road trip into our northern neighbor, Canada. There the drinking age is lower and the boys can legally purchase beer. Unfortunately, Fez doesn’t have his green card and the Mounties working border patrol are less than willing to let them return to the states. They’re convinced they are smuggling illegal aliens. How this episode builds and the way it concludes is pretty damn funny. It’s a fun episode you’ll want to over and over again.

Overall I was quite happy with season three. If you couldn’t tell from my reviews of season one or season two, I really love this show. The episodes in this season were just as rich, if not more, than what you find in past seasons. If you are looking to laugh over and over again, then season three of That ’70s Show has more than enough fun packed in its episodes. It comes highly recommended.

Episode Guide

1. Reefer Madness

2. Red Sees Red

3. Hyde’s Father

4. Too Old To Trick Or Treat, Too Young To Die

5. Roller Disco

6. Eric’s Panties

7. Baby Fever

8. Jackie Bags Hyde

9. Hyde’s Christmas Rager

10. Ice Shack

11. Who Wants It More

12. Fez Gets The Girl

13. Dine & Dash

14. Radio Daze

15. Donna’s Panties

16. Romantic Weekend

17. Kitty’s Birthday (That’s Today?!)

18. The Trials Of M. Kelso

19. Eric’s Naughty No-No

20. Holy Craps

21. Fez Dates Donna

22. Eric’s Drunken Tattoo

23. Canadian Road Trip

24. Backstage Pass

25. The Promise Ring

The DVD

Video:
This release is given in its original television aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame color. The picture quality is very good, providing a clear and clean picture with minor color distortions and compression artifacts. Overall, it looks substantially better than its original television broadcast presentation, providing less grain in the picture.

Audio:
The audio track in this release is given in English Dolby digital stereo surround. The audio in this release comes off fairly flat. However as with most TV on DVD releases it’s not necessarily bad, as the majority of the audio is spoken dialogue. The sound quality is very good, providing an audible and clean audio track. There is also very little distinction between audio channels. This release also has subtitles in English and supports closed captioning.

Extras:
The first extra included in this set, found on disc 1, is “A Look Back At Season Three” Featurette (23:14). It involves David Trainer, Danny Masterson, Don Stark, Kurtwood Smith, Debra Jo Rupp, Mila Kunis, and Wilmer Valderrama talking about season three, where they discuss the characters, their relationships off camera and how it affected their on camera performances, the stories tackled, and so on.

Next the TV spot promos are included with each episode and you can view them before watching the full episode. Selected episodes also come with cast introductions, with Danny Masterson: “Reefer Madness”, “Hyde’s Father”, “Hyde’s Christmas Rager”, Kurtwood Smith: “Jackie Bags Hyde”, “Who Wants It More”, “Romantic Weekend”, Debra Jo Rupp: “Kitty’s Birthday (That’s Today?!)”, “Red Sees Red”, Don Stark: “The Trials Of M. Kelso”, “Dine & Dash”, “Fez Dates Donna”, Mila Kunis: “Backstage Pass”, “Ice Shack”, ” Too Old To Trick Or Treat, Too Young To Die”, and Wilmer Valderrama: “Canadian Road Trip”, “Fez Gets The Girl”, “Roller Disco”.

The last item is a collection of audio commentaries for episodes “Too Old To Trick Or Treat, Too Young To Die”, and “Eric’s Panties”, “Dine & Dash” with David Trainer and Patrick Keinlen, “Radio Daze”, “Eric’s Drunken Tattoo”, and “The Promise Ring” with David Trainer. Like the season two commentaries, they tend to be a little dry, but contain a few interesting details about the series and the episodes they cover. For the fans they are worth sitting through.

Overall I found this season set’s extras to be much better than previous seasons. While they hold very little replay value, they are nonetheless informative about the show from many different perspectives.

Final Thoughts:
That ’70s Show has a lot going for it. Not only is there some fine writing and excellently plotted episodes, but the cast works together so gracefully that it is hard not to laugh at every single joke. I have seen all of the episodes in this season set, some more than once, and they are just as funny as the first time. Overall I think this box set is worth every penny. It is funny, entertaining, and has a very high replay value. Highly recommended.

Lots of other great dvd movie reviews at: http://www.dvd-movie-shop.org
View That ’70s Show dvd’s at: http://www.dvd-movie-shop.org/search-dvd/That%2070s%20Show/

With so much misery going on in the world, it’s nice to have a feel-good escape from it all. Television has always been a good diversion, but lately it seems the schedule has been inundated with gross-out procedural dramas that involve examining dead bodies… not exactly my idea of feel-good entertainment. One show that succeeds in the mission of creating a warm fuzzy is “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” A family facing hard times and receiving a glorious new house always tugs at the heartstrings and delivers with a happy ending. While this program provides great escapism, I find it very flawed and, at times, wonder if the producers think the viewing audience is made up of idiots.

While “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is considered to be a reality program, it could not more scripted. The show makes it look like these families are totally shocked by their selection for the makeover, but in actuality, the show’s producers notify about four families they are in the running and that the bus might be stopping by “unannounced.” Do these people not wait with bated breath, peeking out the window in hope of their dreams coming true? They act surprised when the always-annoying Ty Pennington greets them with the unnecessary bullhorn, but you just know they heard that loudmouth and his crew coming a mile away.

The overly-peppy design team would like us to think they are miracle workers, but I doth protest. Sure, they come up with some great ideas, but they surely don’t so on the spur of the moment. After the family is sent off on a week-long vacation, the producers of the show create a scenario with the design team putting their heads together for an idea on the house after taking one short look at the property. Uh, ya think these people actually have these ideas pop into their heads in mere minutes and not once argue over what to do? What about permits, zoning laws, architecture, and the hiring of the hundreds of people contracted to do the physical labor? This has got to take months of planning, but we are supposed to suspend all belief and go with the notion that Ty and company are working magic before our very eyes. They haven’t fooled me one bit.

As much as this show bugs me, I still watch it every week. Do I view every frame of it? Hell no. I check out the intro to see what plight has afflicted the selected family, then I fast forward (thanks TiVo) to the part when the family comes back to the amazing transformation. They cry; I cry; everyone seems right in the world again. Enjoy the wonderful moment, but don’t, for one second, fall for the illusion that is being shoved down our throats.

About the Author: When not watching TV, Brian Kohlmeier is a co-founder of SwapThing.com, which changes the way people exchange goods and services through the Internet. SwapThing http://www.swapthing.com is a site focused on building a strong swap community online. The ShareThing http://www.swapthing.com/user/Nonprofit.jsp program helps non-profits get access to item & cash donations as well as volunteers and professional services. This article comes with reprint rights. You are free to reprint and distribute it, as you like. All that we ask is that you do not make any changes, that this resource text is included, and that the links above is intact.

Casino Royale, the 21st James Bond film, is due to start shooting shortly and is to be released November 2006.
It is already a hot topic amongst fans of the 007 franchise, with the new Bond, Daniel Craig, generating much debate amongst fans.

Fans of the original Ian Fleming books will be hoping for a more authentic portrayal of both the character and the book.
The producers seem to have been reluctant to take a risk with the formula in the past, presumably for purely financial reasons.
The time has come now were they, perhaps, have no choice other than to bring in a new era.

We hope to see a more realistic and gritty film, less gadgets and explosions, more dialogue and less of the quips.
Something of an opportunity was lost when the very real possibility of a Tarantino/Brosnan collaboration fell through.
The director of Goldeneye has returned and is charged with delivering us a new Bond. His work on Goldeneye
resurrected the franchise so he has the qualifications to do it again.
Speculation is, as ever, rife as to leading ladies and Bond girls. The charcter of Vesper Lynd will be the most crucial female role and we expect it to
go either to a very big name or a complete unknown.

Time will tell whether they have the courage to make a film worthy of the original creation of Ian Fleming - let’s hope they do.

Information on the origianl books can be found here Ian Fleming

The latest updates, news and rumours about the film can be found here Casino Royale Film News

I really like movies. I really like books. I really like television. All three of these statements are true but all three of these statements have qualifiers. What is really interesting to me is that despite being very different mediums, they all have the same qualifiers. I like movies, books and television that compel me to think about them. I like some things that I am intellectually ashamed of but I have to confess to anyway. I love really funny movies. (And since it’s just you and me here, I will tell you that it isn’t that hard for a good movie to make me cry.) Most of all what they all have in common is that in each medium there are huge chunks of work that I just can’t stand on general principle.

I have cable television with over 250 channels. When I first encountered that number of channels on sales brochures, I fantasized. I fantasized for years because I have spent the bulk of my life with fundamental 2 premises. You don’t pay to watch television and there are 6 channels to choose from in the big city.

I understand the, “I don’t own a television crowd.” I get the idea that going outside and doing stuff is better for your body than planting it on a sofa and going into a television coma. One of things people like to say about television is that it is all (insert your preferred expletive)! Honestly, that’s just snobbery. There is fantastic programming on television. It is as elusive as the yetti but it is there to be seen.

There are these fabulous series offered on history, popular culture, all manner of science and the cooking shows, oh! the cooking shows (I have a huge crush on Ming Tsai, I love a man who cooks.) What is ridiculous is with over 230 channels; at any given time I can turn the television on and say to myself that there isn’t a gall dern thing worth watching. How is this possible?

If I just focus on movies and if we just focus on “talkies”, they have been making movies since the late 1920’s. That means that they have been making movies for the past 85 years. (Warning: I am about to go nerd on you.) Let’s assume that between Canada and the United States movie production averages 140 feature films per year and for easy arguments sake we assume that is a stable average for the past 85 years. That would mean that the feature film pool from the United States and Canada alone would be 11,900 films. I know that they make movies in other parts of the world. I have proof. I saw Siddartha and Un Chien Andalou with my very own eyes.

There are only 8760 hours in a year. That means, if the average movie is 90 minutes long, one channel can only show about 5840 movies a year. If all this is true, explain to me how it is possible that at three o’clock in the morning when I need a little something from my television, the same life-draining, mind numbing, stupid movies are always on?

In short, (I know it’s a little late for that) since we are directly paying for television now, can’t we all rise up as one and make them put something good on at 3am. I don’t know what you pay for cable but for what I pay, my television should do dinner theatre on demand, offer me a nightcap, tuck me in and tell me a story about Ming Tsai.

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While you will soon be able to view movies in high definition on DVD right in your living room, there is a fight shaping up between two competitive formats — HD DVD and Blu-ray.

Toshiba leads the group committed to HD DVDs, which also includes consumer electronics manufacturers Sanyo and NEC. HBO, New Line Cinema, Paramount Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video are also in the HD DVD camp as are Intel and Microsoft, which recently announced that it has voted in favor of the HD DVD format.

Why is Microsoft supporting HD DVD?

Microsoft said it felt the 50GB version of Blu-ray was “nowhere in sight,” giving the 30GB HD DVD the capacity advantage for the time being. Microsoft also said HD DVD guarantees a feature they want called “manage copy,” which lets a computer user copy a high def movie to a computer hard drive to it can be beamed around the house.

Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Pioneer and LG Electronics support Blu-ray. So do PC makers Dell, HP and Apple Computer; video game maker Electronics Arts; and entertainment companies Twentieth Century Fox, Vivendi Universal and Walt Disney.

These Blu-ray supporters say in response that 50GB disks will arrive in the spring, that HD DVD has no advantage in the manage copy area and it has a hybrid disk technology as well.

Who’s winning this war?

At this point, neither HD DVD nor Blu-ray is winning the war. You, as a consumer, will have to gamble your investment in disk players and video collections on which format will prevail. Studios and video rental stores that will have to maintain duplicate high definition movies in the two formats worry that one format might have all the content consumers want. And electronics retailers will have to carry and explain the different formats.

It’s sort of like Beta vs. VHS except, in this case, there may not be a clear winner for years.

You should also know about HD Radio. This amazing, new, digital technology makes AM sound as good as FM and FM sound almost like you were listening to a CD … and its free! To learn more about this amazing new technology, just go my Web site, http://www.hd-radio-home.com, to get all the buzz. Douglas Hanna is a retired marketing executive and the author of numerous articles on HD radio and family finances.

Clearly, many shows are carried by the personality of the presenter though they frequently reflect a triumph of style over substance. This, arguably, excludes Dickinson, who dominates the screen, demonstrating boundless enthusiasm and an opinion on almost everything. He is somewhat redolent of the eponymous Lovejoy, that roguish, careworn but charming dealer, so successfully played by Ian McShane in the BBC series, but his piece de resistance surely has to be his hair. Whatever authority he may exude examining a Victorian tortoise shell box or a chipped Minton plate, one cannot but be drawn to his vertiginous mullet, a shock of hair so dense it could comfortably accommodate a nest of birds. I think he could probably make a passable living as an Elvis impersonator such is his showmanship but this is in marked contrast to another member of the bouffant brigade, the erstwhile host of The Antiques Roadshow, Hugh Scully, who looked as though he’d taken a dose of mogadon every time he stepped in front of the camera.

Then again, The Antiques Roadshow experts generally come over as a pretty uninspiring crowd. Some of them are well qualified on their specialist subjects and, indeed, are often a fount of knowledge but I’ve seen more verve from a blind man crossing a busy dual carriageway. They come from near and far, many representing leading auctioneers, but their delivery and mode of questioning are so entirely predictable, this show must possess the most threadbare autocue in television history. Can it be a complete coincidence that The Antiques Roadshow is scheduled alongside another BBC stalwart, Songs of Praise, a programme that appears to be populated by precisely the same audience, albeit the host is in a frock? Perhaps they’re all seeking salvation for ghastly misjudgements or overinflated expectations.

Anyhow, some experts are notably well informed so should, for example, James Braxton of Edgar Horn or Roy Butler of Wallis and Wallis pop up on your screen talking about Tunbridgeware and guns respectively, please pay attention. These guys know what they are talking about. The problem is that the producers seem hell bent on incorporating all manner of rubbish in their desire to be egalitarian and inclusive and fail miserably in the process. It would be far better television, frankly, if the nominated expert took one look at a given object, profusely thanked the owner for shlepping it over land and sea, and then recommended it for firewood. Why has The Antiques Roadshow not created a Christmas special of all those unmitigated disasters brought in by the deeply earnest, deeply greedy and deeply ignorant? Don’t you secretly long for a sarcastic appraiser to enquire “You really dragged this piece of crap in here thinking it was worth something? What do you use for brains? Stop wasting my time!” Is anybody home at Broadcasting House? And is anybody listening?

Part two in the series of articles by Howard Lewis.
(Read part one… The Price is Right: Appraisal, Valuation and Inspired Guesswork or the Rise of TV Antique Shows and the Collecting Bug in the invaluable blog at www.invaluable.com).

Howard Lewis,
Chairman, Invaluable group of companies.

http://www.invaluable.com

Only Invaluable gives you unrivalled access to pre-sale and post-sale information for auction houses and salerooms across the globe.

Find art, antiques and collectables. Try our Keyword search, register at http://www.invaluable.com for a free 14 day trial.

While reality based TV shows come and go the originator is still going strong. Jeff Probst returns to host the popular Survivor series as contestants are abandoned in an ancient Mayan city in Guatemala. In Season 11 the familiar premise of 16 castaways divided into two tribes continues, however producers will keep things interesting with not one big surprise this year but two.

The contestants will spend 39 days in Yaxh-Nakum-Naranjo National Park located in the jungles of Guatemala. The site is the third largest Mayan city complete with ziggurat pyramids, burial grounds, sacrifice altars and legends of spirits from past. The contestants will build shelters and live in communities, work, and play and compete against each other on a weekly basis. They build alliances, friendships and enemies, and vote one member out each week at tribal council. They will be trying to outplay, outwit, and outlast each other in an attempt to become the sole survivor and win the 1 million dollar prize.

Another change that will create some interest is the inclusion of celebrities into the cast. One of the contestants for this season is ex Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Gary Hogeboom. The second is sports radio personality Danni Boatwright who was also Miss Kansas in 1996. While these popular figures will create interest for the viewers it’s unclear if this fame will be an asset or liability with other members of their tribe.

To keep up with all of the latest news from Survivor Guatemala be sure to visit SurvivorScoop.com. This article was written by Gary Mitchell who runs SurvivorScoop and several other entertainment based websites.

NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end).

“The Talented Mr. Ripley” is an Hitchcockian and blood-curdling study of the psychopath and his victims. At the centre of this masterpiece, set in the exquisitely decadent scapes of Italy, is a titanic encounter between Ripley, the aforementioned psychopath protagonist and young Greenleaf, a consummate narcissist.

Ripley is a cartoonishly poor young adult whose overriding desire is to belong to a higher - or at least, richer - social class. While he waits upon the subjects of his not so hidden desires, he receives an offer he cannot refuse: to travel to Italy to retrieve the spoiled and hedonistic son of a shipbuilding magnate, Greenleaf Senior. He embarks upon a study of Junior’s biography, personality, likes and hobbies. In a chillingly detailed process, he actually assumes Greenleaf’s identity. Disembarking from a luxurious Cunard liner in his destination, Italy, he “confesses” to a gullible textile-heiress that he is the young Greenleaf, traveling incognito.

Thus, we are subtly introduced to the two over-riding themes of the antisocial personality disorder (still labeled by many professional authorities “psychopathy” and “sociopathy”): an overwhelming dysphoria and an even more overweening drive to assuage this angst by belonging. The psychopath is an unhappy person. He is besieged by recurrent depression bouts, hypochondria and an overpowering sense of alienation and drift. He is bored with his own life and is permeated by a seething and explosive envy of the lucky, the mighty, the clever, the have it alls, the know it alls, the handsome, the happy - in short: his opposites. He feels discriminated against and dealt a poor hand in the great poker game called life. He is driven obsessively to right these perceived wrongs and feels entirely justified in adopting whatever means he deems necessary in pursuing this goal.

Ripley’s reality test is maintained throughout the film. In other words - while he gradually merges with the object of his admiring emulation, the young Greenleaf - Ripley can always tell the difference. After he kills Greenleaf in self-defense, he assumes his name, wears his clothes, cashes his checks and makes phone calls from his rooms. But he also murders - or tries to murder - those who suspect the truth. These acts of lethal self-preservation prove conclusively that he knows who he is and that he fully realizes that his acts are parlously illegal.

Young Greenleaf is young, captivatingly energetic, infinitely charming, breathtakingly handsome and deceivingly emotional. He lacks real talents - he know how to play only six jazz tunes, can’t make up his musical mind between his faithful sax and a newly alluring drum kit and, an aspiring writer, can’t even spell. These shortcomings and discrepancies are tucked under a glittering facade of non-chalance, refreshing spontaneity, an experimental spirit, unrepressed sexuality and unrestrained adventurism. But Greenleaf Jr. is a garden variety narcissist. He cheats on his lovely and loving girlfriend, Marge. He refuses to lend money - of which he seems to have an unlimited supply, courtesy his ever more disenchanted father - to a girl he impregnated. She commits suicide and he blames the primitiveness of the emergency services, sulks and kicks his precious record player. In the midst of this infantile temper tantrum the rudiments of a conscience are visible. He evidently feels guilty. At least for a while.

Greenleaf Jr. falls in and out of love and friendship in a predictable pendulous rhythm. He idealizes his beaus and then devalues them. He finds them to be the quiddity of fascination one moment - and the distilled essence of boredom the next. And he is not shy about expressing his distaste and disenchantment. He is savagely cruel as he calls Ripley a leach who has taken over his life and his possessions (having previously invited him to do so in no uncertain terms). He says that he is relieved to see him go and he cancels off-handedly elaborate plans they made together. Greenleaf Jr. maintains a poor record of keeping promises and a rich record of violence, as we discover towards the end of this suspenseful, taut yarn.

Ripley himself lacks an identity. He is a binary automaton driven by a set of two instructions - become someone and overcome resistance. He feels like a nobody and his overriding ambition is to be somebody, even if he has to fake it, or steal it. His only talents, he openly admits, are to fake both personalities and papers. He is a predator and he hunts for congruence, cohesion and meaning. He is in constant search of a family. Greenleaf Jr., he declares festively, is the older brother he never had. Together with the long suffering fianc©e in waiting, Marge, they are a family. Hasn’t Greenleaf Sr. actually adopted him?

This identity disturbance, which is at the psychodynamic root of both pathological narcissism and rapacious psychopathy, is all-pervasive. Both Ripley and Greenleaf Jr. are not sure who they are. Ripley wants to be Greenleaf Jr. - not because of the latter’s admirable personality, but because of his money. Greenleaf Jr. cultivates a False Self of a jazz giant in the making and the author of the Great American Novel but he is neither and he bitterly knows it. Even their sexual identity is not fully formed. Ripley is at once homoerotic, autoerotic and heteroerotic. He has a succession of homosexual lovers (though apparently only platonic ones). Yet, he is attracted to women. He falls desperately in love with Greenleaf’s False Self and it is the revelation of the latter’s dilapidated True Self that leads to the atavistically bloody scene in the boat.

But Ripley is a different -and more ominous - beast altogether. He rambles on about the metaphorical dark chamber of his secrets, the key to which he wishes to share with a “loved” one. But this act of sharing (which never materializes) is intended merely to alleviate the constant pressure of the hot pursuit he is subjected to by the police and others. He disposes with equal equanimity of both loved ones and the occasional prying acquaintance. At least twice he utters words of love as he actually strangles his newfound inamorato and tries to slash an old and rekindled flame. He hesitates not a split second when confronted with an offer to betray Greenleaf Sr., his nominal employer and benefactor, and abscond with his money. He falsifies signatures with ease, makes eye contact convincingly, flashes the most heart rending smile when embarrassed or endangered. He is a caricature of the American dream: ambitious, driven, winsome, well versed in the mantras of the bourgeoisie. But beneath this thin veneer of hard learned, self-conscious and uneasy civility - lurks a beast of prey best characterized by the DSM IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual):

“Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behavior, deceitfulness as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others to personal profit or pleasure, impulsivity or failure to plan ahead… reckless disregard for safety of self or others… (and above all) lack of remorse.” (From the criteria of the Antisocial Personality Disorder).

But perhaps the most intriguing portraits are those of the victims. Marge insists, in the face of the most callous and abusive behavior, that there is something “tender” in Greenleaf Jr. When she confronts the beguiling monster, Ripley, she encounters the fate of all victims of psychopaths: disbelief, pity and ridicule. The truth is too horrible to contemplate, let alone comprehend. Psychopaths are inhuman in the most profound sense of this compounded word. Their emotions and conscience have been amputated and replaced by phantom imitations. But it is rare to pierce their meticulously crafted facade. They more often than not go on to great success and social acceptance while their detractors are relegated to the fringes of society. Both Meredith and Peter, who had the misfortune of falling in deep, unrequited love with Ripley, are punished. One by losing his life, the other by losing Ripley time and again, mysteriously, capriciously, cruelly.

Thus, ultimately, the film is an intricate study of the pernicious ways of psychopathology. Mental disorder is a venom not confined to its source. It spreads and affects its environment in a myriad surreptitiously subtle forms. It is a hydra, growing one hundred heads where one was severed. Its victims writhe and as abuse is piled upon trauma - they turn to stone, the mute witnesses of horror, the stalactites and stalagmites of pain untold and unrecountable. For their tormentors are often as talented as Mr. Ripley is and they are as helpless and as clueless as his victims are.

Sam Vaknin ( samvak.tripod.com ) is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He served as a columnist for Global Politician, Central Europe Review, PopMatters, Bellaonline, and eBookWeb, a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101.

Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.

Visit Sam’s Web site at samvak.tripod.com