Rating: 
Summary: All future generations shall see this movie
Review: "The Book of Life" as most reviewers say here it's very thought provoking, and powerful film, and it's like a dream that in the rest of your life, you shall never forget, every human being on this planet should see it, the music, the camera work, the script, the acting, make this movie feel very real, i strongly recommend you to buy the DVD, not the VHS,on VHS the movie almost looses it's power, but in any format specially on DVD, it's still captivating, on amazon, now "The Unbeliveable Truth" another movie by our dear friend Hal Hartley has camed up, and as this movie it's one of his best movies, also i also strongly recommend you to buy the soundtrack, and if you loved this movie, or at least liked it, check out "Ghost in the Shell", "Henry Fool" or "Princess Mononoke".
Rating:
Summary: All future generations shall see this movie
Review: "The Book of Life" as most reviewers say here it's very thought provoking, and powerful film, and it's like a dream that in the rest of your life, you shall never forget, every human being on this planet should see it, the music, the camera work, the script, the acting, make this movie feel very real, i strongly recommend you to buy the DVD, not the VHS,on VHS the movie almost looses it's power, but in any format specially on DVD, it's still captivating, on amazon, now "The Unbeliveable Truth" another movie by our dear friend Hal Hartley has camed up, and as this movie it's one of his best movies, also i also strongly recommend you to buy the soundtrack, and if you loved this movie, or at least liked it, check out "Ghost in the Shell", "Henry Fool" or "Princess Mononoke".
Rating:
Summary: A review abot a great movie with a great DVD.
Review: After four months waiting, i have my "Book of Life" DVD now, and finally it has a 24 hours aviability on amazon, so now, i just bought it yesterday at a Barnes and Noble bookstore, and i go to see it at my house, and guess what it's a great DVD, i will not review the movie, i had already donde that like two or three times, that reviews are scattered,on this page, i truly loved the DVD, the picture quality it's excellent, i have it on VHS, but now i am selling the VHS edition, because it was recorded from cable TV, and this is a demonstrartion of how good it is to have DVD, the audio quality is very good, the Dolby Digital Stereo, sounds very good, but they are some sound effects and background music that dosen't hears, only if you buy a Dolby amplifier and but it a almost very hard volume, the bonus features, aren't enough, just the filmographies of Martin Donovan and Hal Hartley,production credits, scene access and a DVD Rom feature, wich is a link to a Winstar Video DVD newsletter, so now, if you have seen this movie, and you want to own it, buy it!, before it changes of aviability, on Amazon, or it becomes out of print or stock!
Rating: 
Summary: It takes time but.....
Review: At first I didn't like this film. It was too artsy, too frumpy, too fuzzy. Far too fuzzy. Frankly I bought it because I am a big PJ Harvey fan, no surprises there right? But after watching it a few times I begain to find importent and often funny moments. The interaction between Jesus and the Devil are often quite amusing.
The acting is lacking. Donovan has done better work in my opinion(Nadja, for example). PJ Harvey is surprisingly good, speaking as a critic and not a fan, perhaps the best actor in the film really besides maybe Thomas Jay Ryan. As for her looking like "Jack Skellington", as my friend pointed out, well she has always looked that way.
If you like independent films or are an art student then this is a good choice for you.
Rating:
Summary: FINALLY IT'S AVIABLE
Review: Finally this film it's aviable!, it's a great film , way to go Hal!, The only problem was the distribuitors, they are nothing but a bunch of lazy guys, but at least they do a good work.
Rating: 
Summary: touching and thoughtful
Review: I bought this DVD a couple years ago. Being a PJ Harvey fan, I was curious to see her acting debut. Well, turned out to be her only role actually, as she hasn't acted since. She did a fine job, certainly didn't embarrass herself anyway. I was familiar with Hal Hartley, but hadn't seen anything by him prior to this movie. I've since seen 'Henry Fool' and enjoyed that. The same lead in that film plays Satan in this film and does a good job. He's quite amusing.My initial reaction to this film was a little indifferent. Somewhat amusing and interesting, but not much beyond that. I've watched it several times since then, in bits and pieces mostly, and I enjoy it much more now. I do share some of the complaints about the jerky camera motion, which gets annoying quickly for me. I like some of the other unique touches, like the microphone set-up throughout the movie in various locations for the Devil to pontificate from. It was a risky maneuver, but it works here. I thought the last scene was quite touching, with Jesus on a barge, tossing the "book of life" into the water as he contemplates the fate of mankind. That speech makes me tear-up everytime! For those interested in getting the DVD, just be aware that there are no extras on this disc. Maybe that's good news. I know sometimes I find the extras to be a burden as you feel obligated to watch all the extras. I strongly endorse the soundtrack (if you can find it). Lots of good stuff there. If you are a fan of either Hartley or PJ Harvey for that matter, I see no reason why you shouldn't watch this movie. I really think it's worth owning too, if you are a big fan of either.
Rating:
Summary: TOTALLY MESMERIZING
Review: I brough this DVD four months ago, and i just cannot stop watching it, it's my favourite one, tough the Dolby soundtrack is not 5.1, it sounds truly great, the picture quality, is well good, but blurry, due because of the digital filming, the film is funny, smart, the acting it's truly great, but you have to be a very open person to watch it, this is the first one i saw from Hal Hartley, and when i have the chance i will buy the Unbeliveable Truth, from which i have seen the trailers and cannot wait to own, i just hope that in within five years, all the Hal Hartley films, are aviable on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent, but still quite slow and tedious film.
Review: I give this film three and a half stars actually, i think it was very slow and tedious, but it was a great work of art, I specially loved the camera work, it' gives the viewer a feel of this movie, it's slow, but stil it's a great buy.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating concept, curious execution
Review: I love the quirkiness and daring of Hal Hartley but I must admit that I do not intend to keep this one in my collection.
Having said that, a negative review would not have stopped me
from seeing this film. I enjoy the difference that Hartley
brings to film. I watch the short "Surving Desire" regularly
and I also love "Simple Men", "Trust" and "Henry Fool".
Basically, I wasn't convinced of the necessity of the
camera contortions and I didn't follow what he ws trying to say
through his charachters. Hartley's technique walks a fine line
in his films and sometimes a viewer simply says "Oh, please!"
Didactically, I don't think you can learn anything in "Book
of Life" that hasn't been said in his other films.
Of course, if you're a Hartley fan like me, you'll see this regardless. You won't let a sourpuss detur you from your curiousity.
Either you'll feel slighlty burned like me, or you'll love it and change your life. I wish you the best.
Rating:
Summary: Great, even by Hartley standards.
Review: If you don't like Hal Hartley, this film will not change your mind. It is more abstract, more talky and even more cheaply made than most of his stuff. But it is Awesome! It's basically Jesus (Martin Donovan) up against Satan (Thomas Jay Ryan) battling it out for the souls of men on New Year's Eve 1999-Armageddon. Jesus, as played by Donovan, is a self-doubting, earnest, hard-working, God-Fearing(pun intended),normal guy with the weight of the world on his conscience. Satan, as played by Ryan, is like an extra sleazy used car salesman, not to far off from Ryan's title role as Henry Fool. The two of them have excellent verbal battles which are as funny as you might imagine. Jesus's best line come when he says to Satan, "you know, it's not that you're so dispicable, it's just that you're so damn trite". It's almost as if the actors are speaking to each other... Throw in funny Mormon jokes, an appearance by PJ Harvey, as Jesus's assistant, and digital video style for miles and miles and you have the best one hour independent film about the Apocalypse ever made.
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