The Neon Bible

Rating:
Summary: impressionistic masterpiece
Review: a dream film--haunting and sa

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Summary: hell hath no fury like growing up in the south
Review: God will save us all, if you want to be saved. The Neon Bible is an excellent rendition of what it is like to be taken to the tent for salvation. Growing up in an environment as this movie depicts will tell you why you might want to kill those who come to save you. Save you from what???? The acting was right on, this folks, is how it is in the backwoods, not only then but now. I felt like I was back home and glad I ran like hell. sorry! The young boy could have gone on to be a serial killer, who knows. Blood is thicker than water. I loved this film. It's bold, dark colors. It may seem slow to some but hit right home with me. Thank you Jesus!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Gena does it again!!
Review: The powerful novel written by 16-year-old John Kennedy Toole is brought to life in this likewise powerful movie about the life of a dysfunctional family in a small southern town during World War II. The focus of the story is shifted from the novel's young boy to the character of Aunt Mae, played by the inimitable Gena Rowlands, in an acting tour de force - ably supported by a cast of accomplished actors. The cinematography and editing are appropriately discomforting, making for an impact akin to an unexpected back-of-the-hand slap across the face. You won't be the same for a long time after seeing this one!

Rating:
Summary: Wasted talent on a Borrrrring film...
Review: There IS some talent at work here, but -MAN- does this need a heavy guiding hand...and...some serious editing. I just watched about three days of this movie, and still can't figure it out.

Rating:
Summary: Neglected Masterpiece
Review: This beautiful and underrated film, ignored at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival in favor of bloated works like UNDERGROUND and ULYSSES'GAZE, and poorly distributed in the United States, may at least find some kind of audience on video. Fox/Lorber has offered both a letterboxed and pan and scan videotape of this film, although only the letterboxed version even remotely captures the original Panavision compositions essential to the experience of the film. Fox/Lorber has also made the film available on DVD. Unfortunately, their packaging gives no indication as to whether they have letterboxed the film for the disc or not. Both Amazon's listing as well as the listing for Ken Crane's laserdisc and DVD site describe the transfer as full frame, in this context meaning pan and scan. But, in fact, the disc has been letterboxed. Why Fox/Lorber has not indicated this is a mystery. Their transfer of the film is no more than adequate and in a manner that is consistent with their work in general. They are to be commended for releasing many obscure foreign titles but they often fail to do them justice visually. (Their transfer of de Oliveira's THE CONVENT to VHS, for example, is very careless.) THE NEON BIBLE appears to be transferred directly from their videotape master. No special care has been taken with the DVD. (If the proponents of DVD hope to convince the public of the superiority of its picture quality over VHS and laser they're going to have to do better than this kind of cheap and sloppy work.) Picture quality is OK (although the blacks lack the necessary deep saturation and the colors are not rich enough). Chapter stops are very skimpy (there are only eight) and poorly placed, with many major sequences (such as the song Gena Rowlands sings) not immediately accessible. Still, this is better than nothing and the disc at least gives a faraway impression of the quality of this extremely moving film. Fox/Lorber, please try harder.