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HBO Originals - Gia, The Rat Pack, Gotti, A Bright Shining Lie, Truman, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and RKO 281

HBO Originals - Gia, The Rat Pack, Gotti, A Bright Shining Lie, Truman, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and RKO 281

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: yes, but...
Review: i will not disagree with most of the reviews here, 'gia' the movie was powerfully absorbing, strangely addictive and highly provocative. a very sad biography detailing what happens to a person whose seemingly glorious life is in fact experienced as vacuous, lonely, and without direction. the tragedy is heightened when that life is erroneously perceived by the majority on the outside to be glamourous and wonderous. the tragedy becomes incredible when these 'others' clamour around the 'wonderous' beauty with no intention of uplifting or affirming, rather to greedly devour her very essence in the hopes of having access to the qualities that makes her unique....such was the life of gia carangi. the movie reinforces the phrase "it is the beautiful bird that gets caged."

while i would agree with most of the reviewers here that angelina jolie's performance was outstanding i would like to add a couple of caveats: the first is that she had quite a meaty role to work with..the story sells itself, you are riveted simply because gia's life is so riveting, regardless of the mode of presentation! secondly, i truly believe that angelina was not necessarily acting but possibly re-living a portion of her life (the actress admitted that gia carangi's life amazingly paralleled her own). the role was not a stretch for joli (who seems to select characters who embody much of herself) and so her realistic portrayal should not be so astonishing. don't get me wrong, i admire angelina jolie's talent, she has a raw realism in her performances that is mesmerizing, i am a real fan...'gia' however did not provide significant breadth for the actress, rather permitted jolie to re-address a part of her life which she admitted was difficult to go back to.

i will end by highly recommending this movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A very moving, absolutely gorgeous film
Review: Michael Cristofer couldn't have selected a more perfect actress to portray Gia Carangi than Angelina Jolie - Jolie's in-your-face attitude complements Carangi's bad-girl persona perfectly. Elizabeth Mitchell's portrayal of Linda is similarly excellent - the chemistry between the two women is phenomenal. Even apart from the casting, though, the movie is outstanding - aesthetically, it blows me away every time I see it (and only partly because Jolie is so beautiful.) The direction, the sound track, everything about this film is top-notch.

The story itself is touching, engaging, and heart-wrenching; watching the young Gia destroy her life with drugs, even choosing drugs over the love of her life, is a very emotional experience. I end up in tears every time I see the movie, and I enjoy it every time. Mercedes Ruehle does a great job as Gia's mom, expertly conveying the nuances of her own neuroses, and expressing her conflicting emotions regarding her troubled daughter.

I can't say enough good things about "Gia;" I really recommend it to Jolie fans, Carangi fans, or anyone who enjoys a good, tragic love story.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Angelina Jolie does this film marvelously!
Review: If you like Angelina Jolie then you will love this movie and have to see it. I just saw the movie for the first time last week and it is now one of my favorite movies! Its a true story based on the life of supermodelGia Carangi. This movie is great and I loved it!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Powerful film based on a powerful personality!
Review: I have to imagine that the toughest films to pull off are the ones on the verge of cliche-dom; a familiar premise that still manages to flawlessly hook you. 'Gia' covers much trodden ground. By now, it's a natural stereotype- the model who blows her looks, her career and her youthful optimism on drugs.

If the premise is so well known, how did 'Gia' avoid the E True Hollywood Movie trap? Angelina Jolie was simply too convincing, the directing was simply too unique and the script was too crafty. This film avoided the averageness of countless other 'drug films' simply by painting a mosaic so raw, that you couldn't help but love, hate, cringe at and root for Gia at the same time. The film, while letting you glimpse into the insecurities and motivations of our tragic hero, consistently pushed her just out of reach so as to keep us puzzled and curious. All said and done, though, Jolie and the gang have created a flawless work of tragic art.

The only reason not to give it 5 stars is that as most movies based on life stories, it is a bit anti-climactic and unbalanced. With most plots, the writers are at liberty to create an upward story with a clear climax and this film simply didn't have it. It slid up and down, high and low, mirroring Gia's confusion. Although it didn't detract from the film's emotion- believe me, it still comes through- it just left the film feeling a bit muddled.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I applaud Angelina Jolie
Review: This HBO film is based on the real-life supermodel, Gia Carangi. Angelina Jolies plays Gia, and she delivers a knockout performance. I was suprised at how talented she really was. The film is about a woman who is so beautiful that she is automatically turned into a supermodel. However, being beautiful isn't always easy and she turns into a drug addict and catches the AIDS virus. I found this film to be very depressing and realistic. I reccomend this to any Jolie fan.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What an experience
Review: I first saw this movie when it was released a number of years ago on HBO. It was, and still is, one of my top five favorite movies. I am awed by how the life of Gia was presented; visceral certainly, and honest without worrying about how it would affect the audience. In this role, Ms. Jolie charms, appalls, seduces and touches...you run the gamut of emotions as you see this young woman struggle with life, and finally lose it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very sad
Review: Gia was the first movie I saw Angelina Jolie in and I have to say she blew me away. Even though the film and book are different it seems to hold true to the basic fact that Gia was looking for someone she could depend on and someone to love. I thought Elizabeth Mitchell was fantastic. Not a lot has been said about Mitchell, but the scenes with her in them had me memorized. The book makes no mention about anyone in Gia's life that was like Linda. From what I understand Linda is a compilation of several different people in Gia's life. I found myself wishing, while I was reading the book, that Linda was real. Maybe Gia would have had someone to help her before it was too late. It was a great movie, bringing me to tears more times than one, but worth it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: why not the Unrated version
Review: I saw this movie orginally on HBO , then got hold of the unrated version on VHS , the one thing I can't figure out is why they didn't bring out the unrated version on DVD , this is the on aspect of DVDs that I love, you can put all the additives as well as the movie on this media , they should have brought this one out with the orginal version and unrated version available , then I would have bought it in a second.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An exciting film
Review: This film is too interesting for two reasons:
Firstly, for its sharp subject concerning the dirty that is hidden behind the glamorous fashion world where the sensitiveness has no any position.
Secondly,for the alive,realistic,and hot playing of both actresses, Angelina Jolie, who is already famous and amazing actress, and mainly Elizabeth Mitchell, who unfortunately, has been overlooked by the majority of reviewers. I think that Elizabeth is a very good actress and she worth to be supported and first roles to be given to her.
I think that her success in the role of Gia's lover was due mainly to her talent of course, but also to the interaction and chemistry between these two young actresses.This exciting appearence I am afraid that could not be repeated. It was unique. I don't think that Elizabeth is suitable for lesbian films. "Gia" was not a lesbian film. It was rather a film in which an ideal, tender relationship of deep love between two girls, a love from the first sight, that I don't know if there was in Gia's real life, was appeared.
If Elizabeth reads these reviews I would like to advise her to be more careful in the choice of her roles and also to wish have more success in her career and happy birthday.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a very good film....
Review: This film was the first I was with the actress Angelina Jolie. I was blown away by her acting! I think there are many things that contribute to this really good movie---the direction, the main actress, the supporting actors, particularly Elizabeth Mitchell. The relationship between Gia and Mitchell's character was touching and heartbreaking. This story follows Gia's rapid rise to supermodel stardom and follows her reckless behavior and finally her death of AIDS. If you want to see the pre-Oscar Angelina Jolie, give this dvd a try. You'll see exactly why she won the Oscar later.


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