film Virgil

Virgil Thomson: Symphony No 1-3
$8.99
I heard this Symphony on a Hymn Tune on one of our
PBS Radio stations and I liked what I heard. I was glad
to find it on line at Amazon. It is good quality and I will
probably look for more. The price and shipping were fair, too.

Lucas van Leyden (Virgil in the basket) White Wood-Mounted Art Poster Print - 13" X 19"
$99.99

Tattoo, a Love Story
$9.98
Tattoo, a Love Story is very differernt from most polished, formulated romanitic comedies I've seen; and for the most part don't relate to.

Sarah Frost(Megan Edwards) is a VERY tightly wound elementary school teacher, who plans and scheduels every aspect of her life, micro managing everything to within an inch of it's life. She dreams of a successful career, a long awaited wedding to her docter boyfriend, and a safe, tame suburbanite existence.

But there's some flaws in the plan, Sarah secretly hates teaching, and oh yeah her boyfriend's about to leave her. Which combined with an unexpected show and tell visitor are the catalyst for the change that sarah desperately needs.

Motorcycle riding, tattoo covered Virgil(Virgil Mignanelli) is that unexpected show and tell visitor. He's a tattoo artist frustrated by clients who are only interested in popularized kitsch. Virg is a big guy with big insecurities, he spends his nights reading and watching the same old black and white movies. In other words Virgil needs a little life in his life.
touching, funny, and entertaining things happen when these two opposites enter each others lives. Their romance is real and relatable. and the film is interspersed with documentary style interviews, in which people from many walks of life discuss their tattoos.

the best romantic comedy I've seen in a long while.

Virgil Bliss [VHS]
$14.95
Virgil Bliss is a likable character. From the beginning you like his manners and earnest demeanor. You realize he's going up against a serious challenge in trying to find love in a street hooker named Ruby. And in overcoming his own disadvantageous position as a recent ex-con. Not helping the situation any is Manny, his room-mate from the halfway house which he occupies a couple of weeks before moving in with Ruby.

For acting, the movie works quite well in proving high budget production isn't all there is to good storytelling through cinema. I hesitate to say low-budget because of the connotations that come with the word. Let's just say that it often looks like a hand-held cam-corder was what they were filming with. It may have been. However, due to the nature of the story and location, it doesn't detract too much from the overall visual experience (in some ways, it adds a level of realism that is already there in the actors performances - and they are strong performances). Grainy and faded color picture are also sometimes a result. Still, I would have liked the volume level on my dvd to have been a little better. I had my set all the way up in order to hear it at a comfortable level (and I don't think I'm hard of hearing). Interviews with the director, which are included on the dvd, didn't seem to be as volume challenged as the movie. Don't worry, turned up high, you'll hear it just fine, though there are no subtitles.

Obviously for mature audiences, this movie has a lot of soul - a search for something sustaining and true amidst the corruption of existence.