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Gideon58
08-29-23, 01:54 PM
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Harrison Ford once again picks up his whip and dons his fedora for the fifth installment in the franchise, 2023's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, another roller coaster ride from Dr. Jones and company that provides everything we expect from the franchise and respects the fact that Dr. Jones is not a kid anymore, but also had me checking my watch.
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Indy is getting older, getting a little bored with teaching, and even getting bored with the adventure and danger he has become accustomed to, but once again is motivated to retrieve a valuable artifact that could change the course of history, especially if an evil Nazi named Dr. Voller gets his hands on it.
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The screenplay here does try to cover a bit too much territory but I do like the fact that it respects the history of the franchise by having characters return from pervious movies. It also never forgets that Dr. Jones is getting older. Love the scene after he returns home from his most recent adventure and storms downstairs with a baseball bat to his downstairs neighbors to complain about the noise. We also see the importance of family to Indy in that his primary nemesis in this film is a goddaughter who he hasn't seen since she was a child.
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This movie redefines the action sequence with some of the most hair-raising sequences I've seen in a long time. Indy being chased through the subway on horseback was worth the price of admission alone. The underwater sequence with Antonio Banderas was almost as squirm-worthy as was that very narrow passageway where the walls are covered with disgusting insects, revitalizing Indy's fear of snakes. What I loved most though is that in the middle of a lot of this action, Indy would just stop, because he was tired, and he would tell everyone he was "thinking."
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There was some reticence when I learned that Spielberg was not in the director's chair for this, but James Mangold (Walk the Line) does competent work in the director's chair, though I wish he had reined it in a little so it wasn't so long. Though Ford is still wearing this character like comfortable shoes, I did get a sense that he 's ready to hang up the whip and fedora, but I really enjoyed Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Voller and Emmy winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) as Indy's goddaughter, Helena. Fans of the franchise will not be disappointed. 3.5
Gideon58
08-29-23, 05:09 PM
Scenes From a Mall
One of the biggest box office bombs of 1991, Scenes from a Mall, a sophisticated look at a modern marriage, is not as bad as its reputation, thanks to a surprising chemistry between two big stars working together for the first time.
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Woody Allen plays Nick Pfeiffer, an attorney who is married to a psychiatrist who has just written a book named Deborah, played by Bette Midler, who live in their spacious Beverly Hills home with their two teenage children. Nick and Deborah have just sent their kids away for the weekend to ski and are getting ready to throw a dinner party to celebrate their 16th anniversary. They have some shopping to do at the mall before the party and after seeing Deborah being interviewed on TV about her book, Nick decides that this is the perfect time to tell Deborah that he has had three affairs since they've been married, one of which he claims to have ended the night before this movie begins.
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This is another rare occasion where Woody Allen has agreed to appear in a movie that he did not write or direct. Paul Mazursky and Roger L Simon, who also wrote the screenplay for Enemies: A Love Story, have provided a story that has an intimacy that often crosses the line into voyeurism, crossing into private marriage territory upon which we shouldn't be intruding. The problem is that Nick and Deborah take their private dysfunction to a very public place and act it out in front of anyone who is within listening distance.
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Pretty sure this is the first film I've seen where most of the action in the film takes place in a mall, and not just any mall. The exteriors were shot at a mall in Beverly Hills called the Beverly Center which has four floors and hundreds of stores and Mazursky manages to move the stars through most of the stores as they air their dirty laundry. We watch the Pfeiffers fight in front of a yogurt store and have sex in a cineplex. The Pfeiffers are coincidentally followed around the mall by a mime, played Bill Irwin, who does eventually grate on the nerves and we want to cheer when Nick punches him in the mouth. And you know how you're in a restaurant and you have to wait forever sometimes to get service from a waitperson? Not in this mall...every time Nick and Deborah sat down and ordered something to eat or drink and then started an argument, there is a waitperson right there serving or picking up glasses and eavesdropping on their arguments.
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Mazursky either sensed or helped create a genuine chemistry between Allen and Midler because they made a very believable long married couple. Though I can't lie, the Woodmeister seems a little uncomfortable spouting dialogue that isn't coming from his own computer. He has a line in this movie where he has to say something about LA being the center of the universe and New York being crap and you can literally see him choking on the words, but this movie isn't nearly as bad as its reputation. This is also the only movie Woody ever made where his leading lady got top billing. 3
Gideon58
08-31-23, 01:27 PM
The Pope's Exorcist
A powerhouse performance by Oscar winner Russell Crowe almost makes up for the problems with 2023's The Pope's Exorcist, an overheated, fact-based thriller whose story doesn't bear too close scrutiny, not to mention a little too much dependence on a certain 1973 William Friedkin thriller.
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It's Rome in 1987 where we meet the title character, Gabriele Amorth, who is already in hot water with his superiors because they feel his misdiagnosis of a young woman believed to be possessed might have caused her death. Nevertheless, the Pope does discharge Armoth to Italy to investigate the possession of a little boy named Henry, who has just moved into an Abbey with his mother and older sister, that they inherited from Heanry's father.
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Yes, the screenplay owes more than a bit to the 1973 classic The Exorcist, though this reviewer did catch a little lifting from other films like The Ring and The Omen, as well. The main problem though with the story though is that Amorth's investigation into what is happening to Henry leads to century old conspiracy that the Vatican has been covering up all this time and has nothing to do with this family, except for the fact they made the mistake of moving into this Abbey, which apparently released the demon behind all of this.
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That was another thing, in The Exorcist, Father Merrin and Father Karras made no bones about the fact that they were dealing with the devil. For almost half of the film, Amorth refers to what's inside of Henry as "a demon", not the devil specifically. Yet, it is only when Amorth and young Father Esquibel finally determine that they are dealing with the devil, that we find out that the devil's agenda is with the two priests, not with this family, so it kind of makes the first two thirds of the film kind of pointless.
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There's no denying that the presentation of Henry's possession is pretty much identical to what happens to Regan in The Exorcist, except there is a sense that Henry has some awareness of what is happening to him, which wasn't true with Regan. Once the devil left Regan, she didn't remember anything that happened, though what Henry remembered after it was over wasn't really addressed.
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Director Julius Avery puts a lot of care into the look and pacing of the film. It features spectacular production design, makeup, and visual effects. Crowe receives solid support from Daniel Zovatto (Don't Breathe) as Father Esquibel and there's a lovely performance from 60's matinee idol Franco Nero as the Pope. Some might remember Nero as Sir Lancelot in the film version of Camelot. And may I say that Mr. Nero is aging quite gracefully. The film provides some entertainment value as long as you don't think about it too much. 3.5
Gideon58
08-31-23, 07:37 PM
A Bill of Divorcement
The 1932 film A Bill of Divorcement is a moving and bittersweet soap opera about a tattered family that holds a place in cinema history because it marked the film debut of the legendary Katharine Hepburn.
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Another acting legend, John Barrymore, stars as Hillary Fairfield, a man who has just been released from a mental hospital after 15 years eager to resume the life he left, completely unaware of the fact that while he was away his wife, Margaret (Billie Burke) divorced him and is planning to marry her divorce attorney and his daughter, Sydney (Hepburn) is planning to marry as well, but is having doubts because she thought her father was hospitalized due to shell shock not mental illness.
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Full disclosure, this movie ran roughshod over my emotions because I sympathized with all parties involved and could see almost immediately that there's no way this could end well for anyone. First of all, the screenplay is a little fuzzy on whether Hillary was released or he he just left against doctor's orders, which actually brings the character an initial level of sympathy, but his absolute refusal to accept that Margaret has moved on was alternately aggravating and heartbreaking. Equally heartbreaking was Margaret all of a sudden being wracked with guilt over moving on to the point that it's almost halfway through the movie before she tells him that she divorced him without his knowledge.
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Sympathy is evoked for Sydney as well, even though it was kind of hard to believe that she had no idea that her father had mental health issues. On the other hand, it was kind of disheartening that she seemed less concerned about him than she did about the fact that his illness might be inherited by her future children. Hepburn is quite brilliant in the scene where she tries to angrily break things off with her fiancee Kit to spare him.
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This was my second exposure to John Barrymore (the first was the 1939 film Midnight) and his slightly over the top performance brought a definite pathetic quality to the character, though I did keep picturing Fredric March in the role, but the real acting honors here go to Billie Burke, who seven years later would make cinema history playing Glinda in The Wizard of Oz, who is fragile and sad as Margaret. Watch that scene where Hillary hugs her for the first time and she just goes limp. And what can be said about Hepburn? It's no fluke that the following year she would win the first of her four Oscars for Morning Glory, but a nomination for her work here wouldn't have been the worst thing. 3.5
Takoma11
09-02-23, 10:53 PM
Of an Age
An Australian filmmaker named Goran Stolevski, who began his career making short films, absolutely knocks it out of the park as the director, writer, and editor of his second feature length film called Of an Age, a sweet, sad, and tasteful romantic drama that tells a story with leisure without challenging viewer attention spans and is so good that I would have awarded it a 2022 Best Picture Oscar nomination over Triangle of Sadness.
I was trying to remember who had put this one on my radar! Great film, and I just read your review (I only skim when it's a film I haven't seen yet to avoid spoilers) and agree with your thoughts on it.
Gideon58
09-03-23, 07:37 PM
Red, White & Royal Blue
In the grand tradition of films like Gone with the Wind and The Way We Were comes 2023's Red, White, & Royal Blue, a sumptuously mounted, if slightly overlong romantic comedy from Amazon Prime about a romance that seems doomed but we really really want it to work out, thanks to the positively steamy chemistry between the leads.
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Alex Claremont-Diaz is the son of the first female POTUS Ellen Claremont, who is facing re-election and is concerned about winning her home state of Texas. Prince Henry is the Crown Prince of England who is reunited with Alex at his sister's wedding where an embarrassing incident forces Alex to return to England for damage control, which leads to something completely unexpected between the first son and the second in line for the throne.
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Director and co-screenwriter Matthew Lopez really scores here with a story that is challenging on a lot of different fronts. This is not just a gay romance, but a gay romance between two public figures whose lives are under constant scrutiny. This is also happening at a time when Alex's mother is seeking reelection and the last thing she needs is any kind of controversy. Lopez does take a little too much time establishing the initial contempt between Alex and Henry, but once they have that first kiss, we're off to the races. I also loved the idea that the Prince is gay, but Alex considers himself bisexual, having only been with two other men before Henry..
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An emotionally charged story emerges because of this romance which provided one richly entertaining scene after another. That first kiss between Alex and Henry is electric and beautifully performed and photographed. It reminded me of the reunion kiss between Ennis Delmar and Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain. The imaginative way the texting relationship with them was mounted was also a lot of fun as was the West Side Story moment at the club and when Henry makes his karoake debut. Also LOVED the scene where Alex came out to his mother and when presidential aide Zahra first finds Alex and Henry together. As much as I wanted these two together, I also found it a little unrealistic. If this kind of romance happened IRL, those surrounding the parties involved would have it quashed immediately, but, this a movie.
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Production values were first rate including incredible production design and exquisite costumes. What really makes this movie work and let go of the problems with it is the white hot chemistry between Taylor Zakhar Perez as Alex and Nicholas Galitzine (who was the best thing about the Camilla Cabillo Cinderella as Prince Charming) as Prince Henry. Uma Thurman brings a nice sophistication to President Claremont and Clifton Collins was fun as her husband and Alex's father. It's a slightly longer than it needed to be, but this one sucked me in from the beginning and I was all in. 4
Gideon58
09-03-23, 11:30 PM
Barbie
A near brilliant screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach and some truly extraordinary production values are the real stars of 2023's Barbie, a splashy and colorful look inside the world of the most famous doll in the world that provides a balance between a feminist statement and the ultimate battle of the sexes.
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Margot Robbie and at least dozen other actresses play the title role, but Robbie plays "Stereotypical" Barbie, the Barbie archetype that we all think of in the one piece bathing suit driving the pink sports car and living in her Malibu dream house. Barbie has the perfect life including the perfect boyfriend, Ken (Ryan Gosling) and there are a dozen of them too. Barbie has a crisis of conscience that is so serious that when Barbie takes off her high heels, her feet become flat. Barbie learns the only way to resume her perfect life in Barbie World is to travel to the real world and find the little girl who owned and abused her.
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While Barbie is out looking to resume her perfect utopian life, Ken decides to ac company in order to find the real meaning of his life, hoping to find out he is something more than Barbie's boyfriend. Barbie's journey leads her to Mattel, where they want to take control of her again while Ken's journey takes him to Century City, changing his destiny forever.
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Gerwig and Baumbach put a lot of thought into this imaginative look into an institution that everyone on the planet has fleeting knowledge of and actually brings up a couple of thought provoking questions. Just like Barbie in this movie, I found myself wondering if Barbie empowered women or did she set the women's movement back a hundred years since Barbie's life was nothing like the life of real woman. All woman don't have everything and aren't what they want to be. This movie reminded me of a T-shirt I saw once that said "I hate Barbie...that bitch has everything." Gerwig and Baumbach have decided to remind us that she doesn't.
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Director Gerwig was clearly afforded a huge budget for this epic and it's all up there oon the screen. Eye-popping production design, art direction, and set direction which all have a definite through line (pink), not to mention some stunning costumes (of course). Robbie lights up the screen in the title role and Ryan Gosling is electric sex on legs as Ken. And that is Gosling doing his own singing on the homoerotic production number, "I'm Just Ken." Also loved Issa Rae as President Barbie, Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie, Simu Liu as Asian Ken, and Will Ferrell as the President of Mattel. I have to confess I actually screamed as the opening credits began and the words "A Mattel Production" flashed across the screen. And the silly prologue went a little longer than necessary, but this has to be seen to be believed. 4
Gideon58
09-04-23, 09:29 PM
I Love You Beth Cooper
On the recommendation of a friend, I decided to check out a 2009 teen comedy called I Love You Beth Cooper that has a clever hook from which the story springs, but what we get is a silly and ridiculously over the top comedy that provided precious few genuine laughs and seemed about five hours long.
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The film begins at the graduation ceremony for Buffalo Glenn High School, where class valedictorian Denis Coverman delivers the ultimate graduation speech where he says everything he has been dying to say to fellow classmates for years, including the fact that his best friend is gay and doesn't know it, another guy was sexually abused as a child, and most importantly, that he has been madly in love with the head cheerleader, Beth Cooper, forever which leads to a lot of bizarre consequence for Denis.
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Not sure what I expected, but I expected a lot more from director Chris Columbus, whose directorial credits include Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Adventures in Babysitting. The film starts out really great. The speech that Denis gives at the graduation is totally awesome, beautifully written by screenwriter Larry Doyle, but the movie goes downhill from there as the consequences of Denis' speech lead to some outrageous physical comedy, over the top destruction of property, But most important of all, is the introduction of the title character, Beth Cooper. She reminded me a lot of Jenny in Forrest Gump...she pretended to be initially outraged by Denis' declaration of love, but was secretly flattered. She then shows up at Denis' graduation party for the specific purpose of teasing the guy and her efforts to keep Denis from being killed by her psycho boyfriend, Kevin are half-hearted to say the least. And the bit of her being \this terrible driver who never should have been issued a driver's license gets tiresome pretty quickly.
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On the other hand, Hayden Pannetiere's sparkling performance as the title character is the best thing about the movie. The rest of the cast pretty much grates on the nerves, with the exception of Alan Ruck, who plays Denis' father, best known for playing Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a film that I think this film was trying to recapture. but failed dismally. What a mess. 2
Takoma11
09-04-23, 09:32 PM
including the fact that his best friend is gay and doesn't know it
Yikes!
another guy was sexually abused as a child
YIKES!
Gideon58
09-05-23, 04:07 PM
Rock Hudson: All that Heaven Allowed
The director of the superb Judy Garland documentary Sid and Judy scores another bullseye with 2023's Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed, a moving examination of the matinee idol who never could quite reconcile his public image as a cinematic ladies man and his private life as a gay man.
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Director Stephen Kijak provides a brief look at the beginning of Hudson's career, which it was believed was being aimed in the wrong direction until Henry Wilson stepped in as his manager and decided that romance was the way to go with Rock, bringing Rock to his first collaboration with producer Ross Hunter, director Douglas Sirk, and leading lady Jane Wyman in All that Heaven Knows.
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The stories about Hudson's private life are public knowledge up to a point, but have been shrouded in a lot of mystery where specifics have been minimal, but no sugar coating here. This film features men who were friends with Rock and men who slept with Rock and there seems to be a pervading theme through Hudson's love life. According to this documentary, Rock seemed a lot more interest in casual sex than having an actual relationship, which this reviewer found to be an eye-opening reveal. We are introduced to his best friends, actors George Nader and Michael Miller and a man named Lee Garlington, who probably had the closed thing to a relationship with Hudson. It was fun watching Garlington share his memories of Hudson while his current husband sat at his side, listening and fascinated.
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Much has been written about the marriage that the studio manufactured for Rock with actress Phyllis Gates that lasted approximately three years, ending around the time he finished making Giant. It's implied here that Gates had no idea the marriage was a way to save Hudson's career and had no idea that Hudson was gay. I don't believe that for a minute but I digress. Speaking of Giant, I was also fascinated that during an interview about working on the film, that Hudson admitted to not liking James Dean and was very uncomfortable talking about him.
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Of course, the film smoothly glides into Rock's final years as the reveal of his sickness came during his return to television on Dynasty. This part of the film does feature Linda Evans going on record about a lot of what happened during this time. I was also shocked to learn of the way Hudson was treated during his final time in a Paris hospital where he was diagnosed.
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Current and archival commentary is provided by Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Day, Esther Shapiro, Illeana Douglas, Piper Laurie, Howard McGillan, who played Rock's son in the NBC miniseries Wheels, Armistead Maupin and more. An unapologetic look at one of the last great creations of the Hollywood studio system. 4
Gideon58
09-06-23, 02:05 PM
Back to the Future Part III
Robert Zemeckis, with a definite Steven Spielberg influence, brings the trilogy to an action-packed conclusion with 1990's Back to the Future Part III, which lefts off where the second film di, but provides an uncanny connection to the first film that is hard to resist.
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In the final chapter, Marty is once again stranded in 1955, while Doc Brown has been stranded in 1885. Marty learns that Doc Brown will die in 1885 at the hands of Biff's great grandfather, a mission that gets complicated with Doc Brown's attraction to a pretty school marm named Clara.
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Zemeckis and company are to be applauded for a screenplay that beautifully brings this story full circle without as much dizzying plot moves as the second film, and giving it freshness by bringing most of the story to the wild west, while still maintaining the science fiction/comedy aspect of the what is going on and makes this franchise so completely engaging.
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Loved all the connections to the first film...Marty meeting his great grandfather as a baby, still not knowing what to order when he walks into the saloon, being warned by old west Biff not to come into the saloon, the picture of Doc's gravestone which begins to fade when it should. These connections had a cosmic feel here instead of one of sheer coincidence. Loved when Marty first arrives and we get that awesome shot of the courthouse with the clock tower still under construction.
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The most entertaining aspect of the film for this reviewer was the additional layer added to the Doc Brown character through his romance with Clara. This romance allowed Christopher Lloyd to bring an unexpected richness to the Doc Brown character that we definitely don't see coming. Those first couple of scenes right after he meets Clara where they're discussing Jules Verne are a delight. And the sadness in his eyes when he actually considered abandoning Marty to stay in 1885 with Clara...Christopher Lloyd effortlessly steals this movie.
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Not there isn't a whole lot of other stuff to enjoy, including Oscar-worthy cinematography and Alan Silvestri's music, which had a real John Williams flavor to it. Michael J Fox and Marty McFly continue to be the perfect marriage of actor and character and Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen is charming, as always, as Clara. And it has to be said, anytime with Dub Taylor is time well spent. 4
Citizen Rules
09-06-23, 08:24 PM
Back to the Future Part III
Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen is charming, as always, as Clara.rating_4 If you haven't seen Mary Steenburgen in Cross Creek (1983) I highly recommend it.
Gideon58
09-08-23, 12:52 AM
Monica
Redemption, forgiveness, aging, and acceptance are among the topics touched upon in a moody 2022 melodrama called Monica, that features some terrific acting, but is damaged by a deadening pace, and a screenplay that makes the viewer work a little too hard to figure out exactly what the film is about.
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Monica is a beautiful young prostitute who reluctantly makes a journey back to her hometown to help care for her dying mother, who doesn't recognize Monica for a couple of reasons.
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Director and co-screenwriter Andrea Pallaoro has crafted a character study of such discretion in its execution that it's very difficult to tell exactly what this movie is about. The first fifteen minutes of the film try the patience as we watch the title character doing mundane tasks that don't even give a clue to what she does for a living, let alone who the woman really is. We see her reluctance about gong home and we think it's the relationship with her mother that we think is going to be the crux of the story, but it really isn't, even though it should have been. Some very strong clues are provided the viewer regarding Monica's backstory, which took me a good chunk of the running time to put two and two together the part of Monica's story that is never directly addressed.
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Admittedly, the initial reason I was drawn to this film is because an actress I adore named Patricia Clarkson was playing the mother and she does not disappoint, though the role is basically a thankless role. Clarkson makes the most of it though and does a remarkable job of allowing the viewer to decide whether or not she recognizes Monica, even though Monica claims that she doesn't. Watch Clarkson in the scene where Monica is bathing her in the bathtub...a lot of stuff going on there, this scene is alone worth the price of admission
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Pallaoro's direction is a little on the self-indulgent side, making certain things seem a lot less interesting than they really are. Five minutes of screentime is devoted to watching Monica driving to her mother's house with her back to the camera and all we can see is her hair blowing in the breeze as she careens down the highway. Trace Lissette works very hard in the title role and does her best to convey something that the screenplay doesn't. I think the film would have been stronger if it been more about Monica trying to connect, or just be honest with her mother. 3.
Gideon58
09-08-23, 03:36 PM
Memento
A meticulous Oscar-nominated screenplay is the real star of one of the best films of 2000. Memento is a delicately crafted salute to film noir though contemporary influences are present here like Tarantino and the Cohen Brothers, though the fact that the creative force behind films like The Dark Knight and Inception doesn't hurt.
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This is the story of an insurance investigator named Leonard Shelby who is trying to figure out who raped and murdered his wife. This is difficult because of an incident that has caused short term memory loss for him, making it impossible for him to remember exactly what happened, but he does have some clues in putting this puzzle together like some polaroids with hand-written messages to himself on them and similar messages that are actually tattooed onto his upper torso.
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Christopher Nolan received one of his five Oscar nominations for co-writing this extremely deft and initially confusing story with his brother Jonathan that requires complete attention from the viewer and said attention is definitely paid off. There's actually two stories going on here, one about a drug deal gone wrong that is told out of sequence but whose parts connect in a non-linear fashion like the screenplay for Jackie Brown. Then we have the story of poor Leonard trying to piece together exactly what happened with a broken memory, reminding the viewer of Matt Damon in the first Jason Bourne movie...this guy is in complete acceptance of his memory loss, but without the anger of Jason Bourne. He has accepted his condition and has decided to figure out exactly what's going on by following the polaroids and his chest.
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Good pal Citizen Rules mentioned in his review that it took him a little under five minutes to figure out exactly what was going on here, but I have to confess it took me much longer and that's OK, because the journey is so much fun, rich with red herrings and had me initially worried about spoilers in my review but as the film progressed, I realized that was pretty much impossible. LOVED the opening scene where we see a gunshot victim and then see the entire shooting play in reverse...from that moment I knew we were in for something very special. Also discovered Nolan's use of color and black and white photography was an essential storytelling tool that it took me a minute to catch onto. Nolan's crafting of set pieces and plot points is to be applauded. The detail and patience that had to go into applying those to tattoos to Guy Pearce's body so that they could be read in a mirror reflection was genius craftsmanship utilized to tell an incredible story.
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Guy Pearce's powerhouse performance in the starring role should have earned him an Oscar nomination and he is backed by a solid supporting cast, especially the always watchable Joe Pantoliano. Dody Dorn's Oscar nominated film editing and David Juylan's music are the frosting on the cinematic cake here but everything here does exactly what it's supposed to...serve this extraordinary story concept by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, the real star here. 4.5
Gideon58
09-09-23, 12:49 AM
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
A group of popular comic book heroes from the 1980's have been been re-imagined for the New Millenium with an eye popping animated adventure called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem that earns its credentials by concentrating the whole concept of the story around the first word of the title: "Teenage."
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This 2023 action adventure finds our teenage turtle brothers encountering a human teenager named April who wants to be a journalist and leads our heroes to an insect villain known as Superfly whose personal mission is destroy all human beings on the planet. Things get complicated though when the turtles discover a possible familial connection between themselves and Superfly that is in direct conflict with our heroes personal ambition.
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The screenplay for this film seems to have been crafted for viewers, like myself, for whom these characters are unknown. We are provided nicely detailed exposition/backstory that doesn't slow things down too much, revealing that the turtles were exposed to a special "ooze" created by a mad scientist and were then adopted by an elderly rate named Splinter who raised the turtles in the sewers of Manhattan. Splinter, however, has a bad history with humans and has trained the turtles to live in fear of humans and avoid contact at all cost. Still, our turtle teenagers long to be human, evidenced in their love of the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off and their desire to go to high school and have dates for the prom.
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I loved that this story never forgets that these four central characters might b e turtles, but that they are also teenagers. The elaborate excuses they make to Splinter when they get in trouble had me on the floor and whenever they had to explain themselves, they would all talk at once, talking over each other so that nothing they're saying is really being understood. The flashback of Splinter taking the baby turtles out onto the streets of Manhattan were a heartbreaker as were the longing on the boys' faces as they watched the magical life of Ferris Bueller.
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LOVED the look of the film. The color schemes and basic drawings of the settings of the story seemed to be based in charcoal and pastel-colored chalk giving the film the look of animated drawings, rather than the CGI, technology-charged look of Disney Pixar. This is an animated film that never apologizes for being what it is.
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The voice work is splendid and I loved the fact that the four teenage brothers were actually voiced by teenage actors, giving the characters so much more authenticity than they would have voiced by adult actors. There is also standout voice work by Giancarlo Esposito as the scientist Dr. Stockman, Maya Rudolph as the evil Cynthia, John Cena as Rocksteady, Ice Cube as Superfly, and especially Jackie Chan, who pretty much steals the show as Splinter. All in all, a rowdy animated adventure that is true family entertainment. 4.5
Gideon58
09-09-23, 11:07 PM
Indecent Proposal
One of the most talked-about movies of 1993, Indecent Proposal is a slick and sexy romantic drama whose sketchy screenplay is almost made up for by the three terrific performances from the stars.
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Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore play David and Diana Murphy, a happily married couple who are having serious financial problems. David impulsively wakes up Diana in the middle of the night and decides the answer to their problems is a trip to Las Vegas. David manages to accumulate almost $9000 in winnings but loses is just as quickly. Just as they are about to give up and go home, they are approached by a billionaire named John Gage, played by Robert Redford, who offers David a million dollars for one night alone with Diana.
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Jack Englehard's screenplay, based on a novel by Amy Holden Jones, is a little spotty, allowing parts of the story to play offscreen that should have been played onscreen. Most importantly, the night that John and Diana spend together. Other than their first kiss, the story skips over the rest of the night and then moves right to the somewhat predictable repercussions of David and Diana's fateful decision to do this We are led to believe that the decision to do this was something David and Diana made together, but if you watch closely the extremely well-directed scene where they are discussing doing this, it appears that Diana really is attracted to John and wants to do this, using their financial troubles as an excuse, but I'm pretty sure the individual viewer will interpret this differently.
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I was pleasantly surprised that David, Diana, and John didn't do this on a handshake and signed a written contract drawn up by David's lawyer and BFF (Oliver Platt). I also loved that as soon as it was about to happen, David immediately regretted it and tried to stop Diana before swept her away by helicopter to his yacht. But the fact that we didn't see exactly what happened between John and Diana turned Diana into the villain of the piece because she refused to talk about it, and I'm not sure that was fair based on what was supposedly a decision the Murphys came to together. Needles to say, David and Diana's marriage is destroyed by all of this and their reconciliation isn't a slam dunk either.
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Although I didn't like the way the story played out, what I did enjoy about this film was the charismatic performances by the three stars. Redford is elegant and urbane and never allows us to dislike John Gage and if I had seen this movie before I had done my favorite Woody Harrelson performances list, this \one would have been in the top ten, I have rarely enjoyed Harrelson onscreen as much as did here...sexy, intelligent, passionate, he doesn't make a wrong move here. Demi Moore is luminous creating undeniable chemistry with Redford and Harrelson. Adrian Lyne's direction is not so dependent on his eye for the erotic as it is normally, but he nails the romantic angle. With a more courageous screenplay, this could have been something incredible, but it's still quite entertaining. 3.5
Gideon58
09-10-23, 05:29 PM
Strays
Take The Incredible Journey and mix in equal parts of Look Who's Talking and Ratatouille and you have a rowdy and hysterically funny comic fantasy called Strays, which is, so far, the funniest movie of 2023.
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This is the story of Reggie (voice by Will Ferrell) who adores his owner, Doug (Will Forte) an unemployed bum who spends all his time smoking weed and pleasuring himself via internet porn. He also tries to ditch Reggie by playing fetch with him in hopes that the tennis ball is so far away that Reggie won't be able to find his way home. Doug finally succeeds in ditching Reggie, who finds the tennis ball but can't find his way home. Reggie is befriended by an experienced stray dog named Bug (voiced by Oscar winner Jamie Foxx), who, along with two dog pals of Bug's from the dog park, a neurotic pooch named Hunter (voiced by Randall Park) who wears a cone around his head and Maggie (voiced by Isla Fisher, using her actual Scottish accent), decide to teach Reggie the art of living as a stray dog.
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As much as Reggie learns from his new friends, he still misses Doug and wants to go home to him. However, when he describes his life with Doug to his new pals, they are able to convince Reggie that Doug doesn't give a damn about him and suggest a plan of revenge. Reggie decides that the only thing Doug loves more than Reggie is his penis, so he decides the proper revenge is to return to Doug and bite his penis off.
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The screenplay by Dan Perrault displays flashes of brilliance, as a perfect illustration of the world from a dog's point of view. I loved that Bug tells Reggie that the first rule of being a stray is that if you want to own something, all you have to do is pee on it. He offers detailed instructions on how to retrieve food that humans drop as well.
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I have to admit, I LOVED this freaking movie and found myself laughing out loud for pretty much the entire running time. Highlights included the dogs' visit to a carnival where they are terrified by fireworks, their encounter with magic mushrooms that has them tripping out, a hair-raising scene where Bug gets snatched by a bald eagle, their capture and escape from a dog pound, their instant cursing out of a billboard picturing a mailman, and, of course, their revenge on Doug.
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The film is beautifully photographed and features some inventive camerawork with a very effective use of slow motion. The voice work is spectacular with standout work from Ferrell, Foxx, Park, whose character reminded me of Melman the giraffe in Madagasgar, and Rob Riggle as a police dog named Rolf. There's also a very funny cameo by Dennis Quaid. This is delicious entertainment from opening to closing credits, despite some very adult language. What a pleasant surprise. And though it comes off as a family picture on the surface, this film is not for children. 4
Gideon58
09-10-23, 11:25 PM
Adaptation
From the creative forces behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich comes a riveting and unique film experience called Adaptation that doesn't neatly fit into a particular movie genre, combining several to startling effect, leading to a heart-stopping climax that can only be seen to be believed.
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The 2003 film opens with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) being ordered off the set of a movie he wrote called Being John Malkovich because he's in the way. Shortly after, Charlie learns from a movie studio executive (Tilda Swinton) that Charlie has been commissioned to fashion a screenplay out of a book called The Orchid Thief by a writer named Susan Orlean (Meryl Strep) based on an article she wrote for The New Yorker about an eccentric horticulturist named John Laroache (Chris Cooper), whose passion about his work fascinates Susan to a level she did not see coming. Charlie is also dealing with his twin brother, Donald (also Cage, of course), a screenwriting wanna be who worships his brother, but Charlie just finds an annoying distraction.
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Kaufman based his self-deprecating screenplay on Orlean's book, painting himself in an extremely unflattering light as an overweight, self-loathing, romantically-challenged loser, despite his Oscar-winning screenplay for Eternal Sunshine. The story cleverly splits into three parts as we watch Charlie struggling to turn this book, which he loved, into a movie and decides the only way he can do it is by talking to Orlean herself. We also see reporter Orlean being caught up in Laroache's passion and becoming completely bewildered by her attraction to the man. We also see Charlie's bewilderment when Donald puts together a screenplay that Charlie thinks is ridiculous, but a studio instantly snatches it up and wants to pay Donald millions to make it into a movie.
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With the aid of director Spike Jonze, Kaufman manages to take all of his own personal angst as a writer and sling it up on the screen for all of us to see, anchored by a voice over narration that boggles the mind and tickles the funny bone. There's a brilliant moment where Charlie is in a screenwriting class and as his narration takes over, the teacher of the class (a brilliant turn by Brian Cox) screams that voice over narrations are stupid. The three stories provide humor and warmth before Kaufman's obsession with meeting Orlean and her sense of self-preservation lead to a terrifying climax that we don't see coming either.
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Jonze' kinetic direction is a big plus here as is the spectacular, hand-picked cast chosen to pull this story off. Cage's transformation into the unhinged Kaufman brothers earned him a Best Actor nomination, Meryl Streep's vivid performance as Susan earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination and Chris Cooper's dazzling work as Laroache won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. and it goes without saying that Kaufman's screenplay earned him a nomination as well. An air of authenticity is added to the opening with appearances by Being John Malkovich stars John Cusack, Catherine Keener, and John Malkovich. This film can't be explained, it just needs to be experienced. 4.5
Gideon58
09-12-23, 12:33 AM
Smile (2022)
From the "And then I woke up" school of filmmaking comes a so-called psychological thriller called Smile that starts off promisingly with some effective immediate "boos" but plot inconsistencies make it hard to accept any kind of logical explanation for what's going on.
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The 2022 film introduces us to Dr. Rose Cotter, a lonely, workaholic psychiatrist who meets a patient who has a psychotic break in front of her resulting in a brutal suicide right in front of Rose. Rose is so traumatized by the incident that it sends her back to examine personal demons from her own past to provide the answers Rose needs.
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Director and screenwriter Parker Flynn sets up a story that presents a definite through line for the mystery that envelops Rose. It starts with a case that she did not witness but was duplicated right in front of her with a different patient not long after. Rose's guilt about what happened in front of her makes sense but there's another patient who seems to be headed down the same path, but he never really does. Rose decides that some kind of demon or entity, that looks like a smile, enters these people's bodies and forces them to kill themselves. However, when Rose thinks this entity enters her, instead of making her suicidal, she murders her cat, Mustache, and gives it to her nephew for a birthday present. Seriously?
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And this is where the film lost me. Why does this so-called entity cause suicidal tendencies in everyone else, but causes homicidal tendencies in Rose. About halfway through the film, we get a major clue to what's going on, which, of course, Rose brushes initially brushes off, but when she can no longer do so, it leads to an over the top finale based in nothing realistic that can only be a product of Rose's mind.
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Flynn does show some promise as a filmmaker here. He displays real skill with the camera, especially with tracking shots and knows how to set up that instantaneous shock that sends the viewer out of their seat for a second, but when they sit back down, they've been provided no explanation for that brief shock. Shock without a logical explanation doesn't have enough legs to sustain a two hour movie.
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Sosa Bacon, the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick (who is a dead ringer for her dad), works very hard in the starring role but is fighting the screenplay all the way. Most of the supporting roles are thankless and don't disguise an amateur thriller with an amateur behind the camera. 2.5
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albertfu02
09-12-23, 04:21 AM
awsome movie
Takoma11
09-12-23, 06:27 PM
I almost never bail on movies, but I stopped watching Smile about 30-45 minutes into the film. It just felt like a downer, but without being scary or engaging, and I didn't want to stick around to watch cruel things happen to characters.
Gideon58
09-12-23, 06:46 PM
I managed to stick it out until the end, but I can definitely understand bailing on it, and, as mentioned in my review, there was a plot twist that had me seriously tempted to tuning out.
Gideon58
09-13-23, 01:27 AM
Judgement at Nuremberg
It is a story of war, politics, genocide, bigotry, remorse, and redemption, but more than anything, it is possibly the greatest courtroom drama Hollywood has ever produced. The 1961 docudrama Judgment at Nuremberg is a sobering and unapologetic look at a piece of world history, brought to the screen by nine time Oscar nominee Stanley Kramer that earned eleven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
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The setting is 1948 Nuremberg Germany where a recently retired district court judge from Maine named Dan Haywood has been flown to Germany to head a three judge tribunal to preside over the trial of four Nazi judges who have been accused of war crimes that were believed to be responsible for the Holocaust.
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Abby Mann's Oscar-winning screenplay is a balanced, intelligent, uncompromising, turbulent and heart-stopping indictment of a horrible miscarriage of justice that has been slightly condensed to feature film length The terror that was Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler has been whittled down to the crimes of four men who, for the most part, have no remorse for what they did and, even more surprisingly, are not a cohesive unit in their feelings about what they did, On the other side of the courtroom, we have a prosecutor who is trying to do his job despite warnings from his superiors that the United States military still needs Germany as an ally. We also have the defense attorney for the Nazis, who may or may not have the whole story about what his defendants have done, but also believes these men working in the in the best interest of Germany and are not completely responsible for what happened at the concentration camps.
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The scenes right after the opening statements were interesting as we get a look at how the proceedings are affecting those involved personally. The first time we the prosecutor outside of the courtroom he is drunk and we also get to see Haywood get the temperature of the city through touring the city and conversations with his house staff and the glamorous widow of an executed war criminal (Marlene Dietrich). It was an interesting touch to the story that Herr Rolfe, the defense attorney, is the only character never seen outside the courtroom.
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But it's two major courtroom events that turn these proceedings completely on their ear. The appearance of Irene Hoffman, a woman who had an affair with an executed Jew when she was a teenager and the prosecution's decision to present a film of thousands of Jews being sent to the ovens. These two events bring this trial and this film to an even more intense level than we ever anticipate. It's also interesting that the primary defendant, Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster) refuses to speak for most of the trial (or so we think).
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Kramer's depiction of a decaying Germany still trying to reconstruct after WWII is jarring and often hard to look at. The performances are uniformly splendid. In addition to Abby Mann's Oscar for his screenplay, Maximilian Schell won the Oscar for Best Actor for his often explosive performance as defense attorney Herr Rolfe. Watch him when he returns to the courtroom the first day after that film is shown...powerhouse acting that should be studied by students of the craft. I believe this was the first Best Oscar statue awarded to an actor who was billed fifth in the credits. Spencer Tracy also received his 8th Lead Actor nomination for his conflicted Dan Haywood. And can we talk about the gut-wrenching and heartbreaking performance by Judy Garland as Irene Hoffman that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. I know everyone says Grace Kelly robbed her of the Best Actress Oscar for 1954's A Star is Born, but it happened again in 1962. As wonderful as Rita Moreno was in West Side Story, it doesn't touch what Garland did here, but it was the year of West Side Story. Mention should also be made of a devastating performance from Montgomery Clift as a sterilization victim that should have earned him a supporting actor nomination. This is classic Hollywood at its finest...they don't make 'em like this anymore. 5
Gideon58
09-13-23, 03:37 PM
Asteroid City
The ridiculously endless imagination of Wes Anderson is in serious overdrive with one of his most ambitious and challenging undertakings. The 2023 film Asteroid City is a one-of-a-kind celluloid experience that defies genre classification and breaks a lot of basic movie-making rules, but if it didn't, it wouldn't be a Wes Anderson movie. It does require undivided attention and perhaps makes the viewer work a little too hard to keep up.
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The story begins with a narrator (Bryan Cranston) onstage at a theater introducing us to a playwright named Conrad Earp (Edward Norton) who then proceeds to introduce the viewer to the characters in his latest play called Asteroid City. The central characters and hook for the story are a recently widowed photographer named Augie (Jason Schwartzman) with four children who arrive in the title city, population 87, where the widower finally tells his children that their mother has died and he has her remains in a tupperware container. Augie then calls his father-in-law (Tom Hanks) to come take care of his granddaughters while his son participates in a science contest and Augie finds himself drawn to a suicidal method actress (Scarlett Johanssen).
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We then observe Augie and his family are among several bizarre characters who have arrived in Asteroid City for multiple reasons, including the recent landing of an asteroid in the area and a visit from an alien, who steals the asteroid, which prompts a quarantine from the government not allowing the residents of Asteroid City to go anywhere.
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Anderson and co-screenwriter Roman Coppola have crafted a piece that seems to be an overly elaborate valentine to The Twilight Zone. Cranston's narrator seems to be channeling Rod Serling in a story that obliterates the concept of the 4th wall as his introduction of the playwright seems to take him out of the narrative, which the playwright passes onto his characters. Though we are provided with program cards that remind us what act of the play we're in and the two or three scenes we are about to watch. As a matter of fact, at the end of the first act, the program says "intermission optional.": There is wonderful moment where Cranston's character steps into the middle of the play and when characters are confused by his presence, he sheepishly steps out of the scene. Then when we think we have settled into the onscreen madness, the third act invites us backstage where we not only meet the director (Adrien Brody), but an actress whose role was cut before the play opened (Margot Robbie).
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As always with Anderson, the film is a visual feast, but the look is something different that I found difficult to pinpoint at first, but about 30 minutes in, I figured it out. The scenery upon which most of the story plays is theatrical scenery, actual flats mounted on a proscenium that are revealed at the beginning of the third act that actual define a phrase I have used in a lot of my reviews..."photographed stage play."
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Anderson's direction is crisp and offers consistent surprises that keep the viewer on guard. Most of Anderson's rep company is on hand here, with the exceptions of Owen Wilson and Bill Murray, whose roles seem to have been inhabited by Matt Dillon and Steve Carell. According to the IMDB, Carell replaced Murray when he contracted Covid. Scwartzman and Johanssen command the screen whenever they're on and I would like to nominate Jeffrey Wright and Edward Norton for new members of the Anderson rep company. 4
Gideon58
09-14-23, 05:54 PM
Thee Last of Sheila
An insane, Oscar-worthy screenplay and a fabulous ensemble cast are the key components to 1973's The Last of Sheila, a deliciously complex murder mystery that offers multiple mysteries for the viewer to solve, throwing red herrings in the viewers' faces every step of the way..
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Clinton (James Coburn) is an eccentric and wealthy Hollywood bigshot whose young trophy wife, Sheila, was killed by a hit and run driver two years ago. Clinton has announced that he's going to make a film about Sheila and then sends invitations to six friends ito spend a week on his yacht in the south of France, where they will participate in a scavenger hunt-type game, which is, of course, Clinton's way of trying to figure which of these people killed Sheila.
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The guests are Tom (Richard Benjamin) a screenwriter and his insanely wealthy wife, Lee (Joan Hackett); an agent named Christine (Dyan Cannon); a formerly acclaimed movie director who now directs commercials named Phillip (James Mason), a beautiful actress named Alice (Raquel Welch), who Clinton wants to play Sheila in his movie, and Alice's boyfriend/manager (Ian McShane).
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This wonderful story was actually created by novices to the art of screenwriting: Anthony Perkins and Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, who knock it out of the park, creating a story that seems to be setting up a standard mystery, but before the beginning of the final act, three more mysteries bubble to the surface. Of the four mysteries presented during the course of the movie, this reviewer was only able to guess one correctly by the time the credits rolled.
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This is another one of those movies like The Sting, ironically released the same year, that requires complete attention and if you miss five minutes of the film anywhere during the running time, you will be confused. Herbert Ross provides one of his strongest directorial efforts here because it does what it's supposed to and that's serve the ridiculously clever story by Perkins and Sondheim. The cast provide identical service to the story, with standout work from Coburn, Cannon, and Hackett. Lovely on location photography and some solid editing are the frosting on this cinematic cake. 4
Gideon58
09-15-23, 02:08 AM
Sharper
Fans of films like The Grifters, Jackie Brown, and Memento will have a head start with 203's Sharper,a smooth and sexy crime drama that offers an often fascinating look at the art of the con that takes a little too long to travel the full circle it does and not everyone involved gets what's coming to them, but it's never boring.
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There's a lonely bookstore owner named Tom who gets taken by Sandra, who gets taken by a grifter named Max, who gets taken by his partner Madeline, who sells out Max when a much bigger payoff presents itself to her and where that payoff comes from is where everything we've seen begins to unravel.
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I knew I was in for something interesting when the title of the film appeared onscreen and a definition of the title appeared under it, saying the word was a noun instead of an adjective. The screenplay by Brian Gatewood and Allesandro Tanaka, who wrote the 2011 film The Sitter is carefully structured around some really nice people who are scum and scum who turn out to be nice people and the story seems to be told in reverse pieces that connect to each other but just when we think the story is being told in reverse, we learn that the story is moving forward, a full circle press to an ugly finale where everyone goes into self-preservation mode, where what happens to the victims and to the criminals whittles down to a sizzling climax that had this reviewer talking back to the screen
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Director Benjamin Caron, who was part of the directing team for the series The Crown starts this story at such a leisurely pace with such strong sexual undertone that we really don't see exactly where this story is going. We do see Tom get taken for a lot of money in the opening act but we're almost fooled into forgetting that it happened as the canvas begins to expand to a point where we feel heartbroken for Tom, who almost feels like a dangling plot point, but Caron's direction is a great aid in delineating the crooks from the victims and the depiction of the c rooks going into self-preservation mode is a joy to watch. Unfortunately, some people get off easier than I would have liked, but the story unfolds in such an entertaining fashion, it was easy to forgive.
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Oscar winner Julianne Moore hasn't played a character this reprehensible since Magnolia and you just want to see this bitch get what's coming to her. The always watchable Sebastian Stan is a smoldering Max and newcomer Justice Smith is a revelation as Tom. The circle the story makes is too long and John Lithgow's character is made to look dumb as a box of rocks, but this one definitely held my attention. 3.5
Gideon58
09-15-23, 10:45 PM
Meet Danny Wilson
A charismatic performance and some silky vocals by Frank Sinatra make an overripe musical melodrama from 1952 called Meet Danny Wilson worth a look.
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Sinatra's title character is a struggling nightclub singer with a quick temper who makes money on the side hustling pool with the aid of his piano player and best friend Mike. Danny and Mike meet a bubbly nightclub singer named Joy Carroll (Shelley Winters) who hooks Danny up with her boss, Nick Driscoll (a pre-Perry Mason Raymond Burr), a club owner and mob boss who offers to be Danny's manager in exchange for 50% of everything Danny makes.
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Danny falls hard for Joy while becoming a big star in twenty minutes while Nick goes to jail. Meanwhile, Danny has become so successful that he doesn't even notice that Joy is really in love with Mike.
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Screenwriter Don McGuire, whose credits include Bad Day at Black Rock and a couple of Martin and Lewis comedies, comes up with a convoluted show business story that starts off quite promising as a romantic triangle is set up between, Danny, Joy, and this mob boss who is controlling Danny's career, but right in the middle, abandons that story and decides that Joy should come between these two lifelong friends instead. It was a jarring switch in the focus of the story because we never really have clue in the story where Joy stopped loving Danny and started loving Mike. I did like the fact that Mike fought his attraction to Joy as long as he could, out of loyalty to his best friend, but the return of Nick in the final reel leading to a silly climax in Wrigley Field just came off as unnecessary. I will admit that I did love the scene where Danny is trying to keep Joy in California by bribing all the airport personnel to get her to stay.
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Sinatra does offer one of his breeziest performances here, which includes his own special stamp on classic songs like ", "All of Me", That Ol' Black Magic", and "I've Got a Crush On You". Any of the silliness going on with the story becomes irrelevant when Sinatra sings, like it always did. He actually does manage to create some chemistry with Shelley Winters, playing one of the few characters she played during the 1950's that wasn't a doormat. Ironically, Sinatra and Winters did not get along at all during production and that one point Winters actually punched Sinatra in the face. Maybe this had something to do with Danny not getting the girl at the end of the film, but I don't know that for sure. Sterling Hayden-look-alike Alex Nicol works hard not to be blown off the screen by Sinatra, but Burr makes an appropriately greasy villain out of a thankless role. This show belongs to Ol' Blue Eyes though and his true fans won't be disappointed. 3.5
Gideon58
09-16-23, 01:01 AM
Theater Camp
In the grand tradition of the Christopher Guest mockumentary comes 2023's Theater Camp, a near brilliant send up of community theater in the tradition of Waiting for Guffman that provides the same manic energy of Donny's Bar Mitzvah and is so completely on target; unfortunately, because of the subject matter no one is going to see it.
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The setting is a summer theater camp in upstate New York that has been run for decades by one Joan Rubinsky, but right before the summer begins, a freak accident during a performance of Bye Bye Birdie puts her in the hospital in a coma. This puts Joan's idiotic son, Troy, in charge of the camp, even though he doesn't know a thing about theater, which has acting coach Amos (Tony Award winner Ben Platt) and music coach Rebecca-Diane (MollyGordon), sort of a musical theater version of Will and Grace. Amos and Rebecca decide go ahead with their productions this year, Damn Yankees, Cats, and an original musical about Joan called "Joan Still." They, of course, also have to deal with the fact that camp is in serious debt and is being threatened to be shut down and it is up to the moron Troy to handle this with the help of Glen, the technical director, who really dreams of a career onstage, instead of building scenery and adjusting spotlights.
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The near brilliant screenplay by Gordon, Noah Galvin, who also plays Glen, and Nick Leiberman is a perfect comedic valentine to community theater made even funnier because most of the participants are children. From the initial amusement of the audition sequences where kids are singing songs completely inappropriate and not caring (Loved the overweight black teenage boy singing "Defying Gravity" from Wicked) to Amos and Rebecca's haphazard composing of the original musical to Troy's ridiculous schemes to raise money to keep the camp open to a member of the staff ditching the production at the last minute for a real acting job, everything rings true here, for anyone who has had any kind of experience in the theater.
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The other thing that I loved about this movie is that despite all the ridiculous and over the top things that happen in this movie, the kids cast as the camp participants really are incredibly talented and this piece really allows all of them a chance to shine. Love the 12 year old black kid who gets to shine on "Epiphany" from Sweeney Todd, or the kid Devon who learns to be honest with his gay dads about his heterosexuality. And the final production of "Joan Still" is an absolute joy, featuring an elaborate tap number set on Wall Street and a funky dance number set at Studio 54, a place that a lot of kids in this movie nevr heard of before being cast in this movie.
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Ben Platt is allowed to lighten up from the depressing Dear Evan Hansen but it would have been nice if he had gotten to sing a little more. Noah Galvin was a revelation as Glen but Jimmy Tatro was the real scene stealer as Troy. And if you don't blink, you might catch a cameo from original cast member from A Chorus Line, Priscilla Lopez. Despite its obvious limited appeal, this film was still rip roaring funny from opening to closing credits. 4
Takoma11
09-16-23, 09:01 AM
Theater Camp
In the grand tradition of the Christopher Guest mocumentary comes 2023's Theater Camp, a near brilliant send up of community theater in the tradition of Waiting for Guffman that provides the same manic energy of Donny's Bar Mitzvah and is so completely on target; unfortunately, because of the subject matter no one is going to see it.
I just watched this last night on Hulu! I'd hoped it would play at a theater near me, but alas.
The other thing that I loved about this movie is that despite all the ridiculous and over the top things that happen in this movie, the kids cast as the camp participants really are incredibly talented and this piece really allows all of them a chance to shine. Love the 12 year old black kid who gets to shine on "Epiphany" from Sweeney Todd, or the kid Devon who learns to be hones with his gay dads about his heterosexuality.
Yes, the kids were great! I thought that the movie walked such a great line of gently mocking kids who attend theater camp, ("So I look over and she's on the floor! Of course I stayed in character . . ." or the "Oh what a beautiful MORNING" call and response) and showing that they are very intelligent and talented.
My rating will be very similar to yours.
Gideon58
09-16-23, 12:55 PM
This movie was so great and no one's going to see it because of the subject matter.
Takoma11
09-16-23, 05:54 PM
This movie was so great and no one's going to see it because of the subject matter.
Maybe. Yours is the second review I've read of it on this site. I'll be writing a review in the coming week or so. I could see it building a nice little following.
Gideon58
09-16-23, 07:40 PM
The Seduction of Joe Tynan
At the height of his superstardom as Hawkeye Pierce, Alan Alda had the juice to bring his political conscience to the big screen as the star and screenwriter of 1979's The Seduction of Joe Tynan, a glossy political drama with a flawed but likable character center stage, but is hampered by a somewhat cliched screenplay that's a little too predictable to be special.
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Alda's Joe Tynan is an idealistic liberal US senator from New York who lives in Westchester with his wife, Ellie (Barbara Harris) and his two children. His work begins to consume his life when he is asked to form a committee to block a nomination to the Supreme Court, leading to his working with and drifting into an affair with an attractive married lawyer named Karen Traynor (Meryl Streep).
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Alda's screenplay is sincere in its intentions, but the structure of the story smacks of cliche. The establishment of Tynan's allegedly happy home life, the pressure applied to him regarding this supreme court appointment, and the almost instantaneous affair with this Karen Traynor is just so predictable. We even get a five minute scene with Karen and her husband that clearly shows us unhappy she is in her marriage in order to legitimize her attraction to Tynan. As predictable as the story might be, one thing I did like about Alda's screenplay here, as opposed to some of his later screenplays like The Four Seasons and Sweet Liberty, the rest of the characters in the story have their own voices. They don't all sound like Alan Alda.
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One surprising aspect of this Joe Tynan character was a very sexist underlayer to the character, a surprise from Alda, one of Hollywood's most famous feminists. Watch the scene where Ellie is giving Joe a haircut and he wants to discuss their moving to DC or the telephone call Joe makes to Karen suggesting that they meet the following week to work. Tynan is feigning a two-way discussion in both of these scenes, but under the surface, it's obvious he is not taking no for an answer in either of these scenes. The scene where Ellie and Karen finally meet was an eye opener because it's clear Ellie is aware of the affair, but we're never sure how she found out. I did like the ambiguous quality to the ending that doesn't really guarantee anything, the most realistic part of the story.
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Jerry Schatzberg, who directed two excellent Al Pacino movies The Panic in Needle Park and Scarecrow, provides in your face direction that looks into the souls of the three central characters. Alda lights up the screen, as always and creates chemistry with both of his leading ladies.. Especially loved his work with Harris, who he appeared on Broadway with in a musical called The Apple Tree nine years prior to this film. Melvyn Douglas, who won his second supporting actor scar the same year for Being There, Rip Torn, and Charles Kimbrough also score in supporting roles. This film also marked the feature length film debut of Blanche Baker, playing Alda's teenage daughter. Baker made her television debut the year before in Holocaust with Streep! It's a little pat and convenient, but the stars keep it watchable. 3.5
Gideon58
09-17-23, 12:14 AM
Master Gardener
Fans of the 1976 film Taxi Driver will definitely have a head start with a moody tale of redemption and reinvention called Master Gardener, which, coincidentally was written and directed by the writer of the Martin Scorsese classic.
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The 2022 film stars Joel Edgerton as Narvel Roth, a horticulturist with a real passion for his work. He is employed by a wealthy dowager named Norma Haverhill, whose interest in Narvel extends beyond her garden. Norma asks Narvel to take on a rebellious grandneice as part of his crew as an apprentice. A misunderstanding has Norma asking Narvel and her grandneice to leave her home, sending them on a journey that creates a connection between the two people through their individual troubled pasts.
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Though it does display flashes of originality, Paul Schrader's screenplay centers on two characters who immediately brought to mind Travis Bickle and Iris, the 12-year old hooker played by Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster back in '76. The similarities between these two sets of characters leap off the screen as what appears to be a sexual connection between the two turns out to be a protective vibe that Narvel feels immediately for young Maya, though she is several years older than Iris. The incredible thing, and this can only be credited to Schrader's direction, is that even though all Narvel really wants to do is help Maya, there is a smoldering sexual tension underneath every moment they share onscreen.
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There were a couple of troublesome plot points that did gnaw at me. I was troubled by Norma asking Narvel to put Maya on his crew and not actually make contact with her for over two weeks. I also didn't like the way Narvel's police pal (Esai Morales) disappeared on him during the final act. I also couldn't figured out how Maya's ex found out who Narvel was and were able to find Norma's home and destroy her garden.
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It was easy to forgive story problems thanks to the chilling and sexy performance by Joel Edgerton in the title role just galvanizes the movie screen. Even though the character reminded me of Travis Bickle, Edgerton brings a young Clint Eastwood quality to the character, reminding me of Clint in The Beguiled that never allows the viewer to take their eyes off of him or want what he wants. Sigourney Weaver's icy Norma was a post graduate acting course as well. Stunning cinematography was also a big asset in making this haunting film quite watchable for the open-minded. 3.5
Gideon58
09-18-23, 06:15 PM
Since You Went Away
It's not nearly as good as The Best Years of our Lives, but the 1944 melodrama Since You Went Away is a sincere and compelling valentine to the war effort and its effects on people in the war and back home that was a smash hit and received nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, but suffers from syrupy sentimentality and severe overlength.
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As the film opens, we meet Anne Hilton (Oscar winner Claudette Colbert) who has just returned from the train station after sending her husband, Tim, off to war. As she struggles to figure out how she is going to raise daughters Jane (Oscar winner Jennifer Jones) and Brig (Shirley Temple) by herself with limited finances. She decides to take in a retired Army colonel (Monty Woolley) as a border as well, as Tim's best man at their wedding, Tony (Joseph Cotten) who is now in the Navy. Tony has to fight off Jane's attention until the colonel's grandson, Bill (Robert Walker), a West Point graduate, shows up intent on reconciling with Grandpa but falling hard for Jane.
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Producer David Selznick, the producer of Gone with the Wind, also served as screenwriter for this film, based on a book by Margaret Buell Wilder, that just goes on and on and on, trying viewer patience in an attempt to come up with another Gone With the Wind that never really happens. The story touches on a lot aspects of WWII that a lot of films in the 40's tended to gloss over, like food rationing and how simple items like nylon stocks became as valuable as gold bouillon. The problem is a lot of these issues get addressed on the periphery of the story outlined above and the story becomes very hard to stay invested in. We're also privy to a lot of samplers and pillows with classic sayings interjected every ten minutes, carefully photographed so that we can read every word, even though they have nothing to do with the story at hand. The USO dance didn't need to go on as long as it did and we also could have done without all the screentime devoted to the antagonistic relation between the colonel and the Wilton family dog named Soda.
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There are plot points in the story that don't go in the direction we expect that are quite refreshing. It's obvious from his entrance into the story that Tony as always had a crush on Anne and never acted on it because of his friendship with Tim. Even though we think the romantic wall between them will come down, it never does and I liked that. I also liked the way Tony diplomatically handled Jane's crush on him without hurting her feelings, before the character was abruptly removed from the story.
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Despite story and length problems, the film remains watchable thanks to a solid cast. Claudette Colbert is absolutely enchanting, as always, as Anne, a performance that earned her a Best Actress nomination. Monty Wolley received a supporting actor nomination for his colonel as did Jones for supporting actress, though, if the truth be told, Jones kind of grated on my nerves. She does create chemistry with real life husband at the time, Robert Walker as Bill. Unfortunately, this was near the end of their marriage, Jones would marry Selznick a few years alter and seven year later, Walker would pass away at the age of 33.
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Familiar faces pop up throughout including Agnes Moorhead, Craig Stevens, Keenan Wynn, Guy Madison, and Hattie McDaniel, five years after being the first black actor to win an Oscar for Gone With the Wind. And if you don't blink, a young Dorothy Dandridge can be glimpsed as a young army wife at a train station. The film received nine Oscar nominations and the only win was for Max Steiner's music. There's some terrific acting here, especially Colbert, but it's too long. 3.5
Gideon58
09-19-23, 01:48 PM
Talk to Me
Co-directors and co-screenwriters Michael and Danny Philippou scores with 2023's Talk to Me, a creepy Australian psychological thriller that borrows small elements from other classic thrillers but stands on its own with a story that had my stomach in knots and had me jumping out of my chair half a dozen times.
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The film follows a small group of friends who have discovered a new and disturbing new party game involving a disembodied hand, which apparently belonged to a medium. After lighting a candle, a person grabs the hand and says, "talk to me" and a spirit appears before them. Of course, one girl named Mia takes things too far and watches her BFF's little brother get seriously injured before they start coming after her.
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The Philippou brothers immediately amps the squirm on this story by having these kids being amused by what starts happening with this hand. The way that they treat something deadly serious like a drinking game produces immediate tension for the viewer because there's nothing funny about what happens when people do this, not to mention we have seen a murder suicide at the beginning of the film that isn't immediately explained, so we're pretty sure that a connection is coming down the pike.
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Impressive was the way the story seemed to be setting up Mia's BFF Jade as the one in trouble but the danger shifts to Mia before we even realize it's happening. Philippou doesn't allow us to think about what' going, thanks to an economic running time and an undeniable talent for the immediate "boo" that doesn't provide instant explanation, but elements of classic thrillers like The Exorcist and The Omen do help to clarify up to a point where we do start looking for an "And then I woke up" scene.
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The Philippou's direction is stark and unapologetic and gets a strong assist from film editor Geoff Lamb. Sophia Wilde's performance as Mia becomes an effective anchor to the proceedings, making the viewer genuine terrified for her. Something tells me this film will become richer with a rewatch or two. 4
Takoma11
09-19-23, 10:08 PM
Impressive was the way the story seemed to be setting up Mia's BFF Jade as the one in trouble but the danger shifts to Mia before we even realize it's happening.
You and I are very much on the same page in terms of some of our recent viewing, LOL!
In my review, I wrote about how 10 or 15 years ago, Jade would have 100% been the main character here. She's the good girl who doesn't want to participate in this creepy thing, but does so reluctantly at the behest of her wild best friend and her boyfriend. Centering Mia---who is emotional and a screw-up and selfish at times---and keeping us on her wavelength and empathetic makes for a richer film.
Gideon58
09-20-23, 01:21 PM
3 Women
The late Robert Altman seemed to be channeling Ingmar Bergman as the producer, director, and writer of 1977,s Three Women, a moody and bizarre story of what seems to be a by-the-numbers friendship that, with a couple of brilliantly executed plot twists, turns into a psychological acid trip that the viewer doesn't see coming.
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Millie (Shelley Duvall) is a self-absorbed young woman who works as a physical therapist at a hospital in the California desert, who befriends a new employee named Pinky (Sissy Spacek), a painfully shy young woman who comes to worship Millie and shortly after they meet, also becomes Millie's roommate. It's not long before Millie finds Pinky to be an albatross around her neck, but an accident that puts Pinky into a coma changes everything that we have seen up to this point. Millie and Pinky also form a relationship with Willie (Janice Rule), a pregnant artist with a fascination for painting erotic images on the bottom of a swimming pool and with guns, who is married to a womanizing jerk named Edgar.
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This was a real oddity in the Robert Altman resume, as it has a more structured story that a lot of Altman's more famous work, though some scenes still have that free form, improvised feeling that Altman is so famous for. Altman does take his time setting up this story for us so that the the changes that occur in the second act are all the more startling. As we are introduced to Millie and Pinky, we learn that Millie considers herself a social butterfly that is pretty much all in her head. Most of her co-workers can't stand her but she has no idea, so she considers goody-two shoes Pinky a hindrance to her alleged glamorous lifestyle that is really all in Millie's head, but Pinkys accident changes all that.
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Altman initially challenges viewer patience here because as the film begins, what appears to be exposition seems to go on forever, but it turns out the detail that Altman puts into establishing the Millie character during the film's first half was essential in making the second half of the film work, because it flies in the face of everything we've seen up to that point, where stark realism becomes replaced by nightmarish symbolism that effectively anchors the changes we get in the Millie and Pinky characters that eventually have the viewer wondering if everything we've seen up to that point is an elaborate nightmare, except we don't know whose nightmare it is.
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Altman gets strong assists from cinematographer Chuck Rosher and I loved the creepy music by Gerald Busby, which reminded me of Mancini's music for Wait Until Dark. Altman also gets extraordinary performances from Shelley Duvall and Sissy Spacek in the leading roles. Spacek is especially impressive in a performance that should have earned her a supporting actress nomination. Looking back on the supporting actress nominees for 1977, it was obvious that Spacek was robbed of the nomination she should have received by Leslie Browne for her dreadful performance in The Turning Point. This was a riveting motion picture experience that isn't for everyone, but Altman fans will be in heaven. 4
Gideon58
09-20-23, 05:40 PM
Vacation Friends 2
From the "Unnecessary Sequel" school of filmmaking comes 2023's Vacation Friends 2, the ridiculously over-the-top sequel to a 2021 comedy that was no classic itself, but they've really outdone themselves here with a movie that makes no sense on so many levels.
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Once again, Marcus (Lil Rel Howery) and Emily (Yvonne Oriji) have their vacation (this time in the Caribbean) turned upset down by Ron (Jon Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner), who are now parents but have not let that hamper their partying one bit, thanks to the aid of their Latino au pere Maurillio. For some reason, Marcus has scheduled this vacation at the same time he is supposed to court some Korean businessmen on an important business deal and work on having a baby with Emily. The story gets even messier with the arrival of Kyla's father (Steve Buscemi), who has just finished eight years in jail and has never met son-in-law Ron, willing to jump through any hoops he can for the man's approval.
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Director and screenwriter Clay Tarver, who is also to blame for the first film, has to take the heat for this one too, because not even the premise for this story makes sense. Even though they did make peace at the end of the first film, after everything Ron and Kyla pout them through, it makes no sense that Marcus and Emily would want to go on another vacation with these people. And why would he schedule said vacation at the same time and location as a very important business deal? And I really didn't understand the point of giving Ron and Kyla a baby, the last couple on earth who should be raising a child. I would have understood Marcus and Emily being parents in the sequel, but Ron and Kyla? I don't think so.
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This movie gets just as silly and pointless as the first one did. The Korean businessmen insisting on bonding with Marcus through a drinking game and Marcus sending in Ron to substitute was stupid, as was Kyla's father getting her daughter and her husband and their friends in such serious danger with serious drug dealers, that actually finds them, at one point, trapped in a freighter sinking to the bottom of the ocean. The one part of this story that worked for me was everything Ron did to try and get on his father-in-law's good side. Even though the guy didn't deserve it, Ron's intentions were sincere and rather endearing and almost made this movie worth the time.
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Tarver takes advantage of his big budget, but it doesn't really help. Howery (looking considerably slimmer than he did in the first film) works very hard to convince the viewer to accept that he's playing a part that should have been played by Kevin Hart. Cena is just as much fun as he was in the first film and Buscemi brought the greasy to Cena's father-in-law. Also have to give a shout out to Ronny Chieng (who was so much fun in M3gan) as Howery's potential client. If the truth be told, the world could have continued to rotate if this film had never been made. 2.5
Gideon58
09-21-23, 11:28 PM
Something Wild (1986)
Despite some fuzzy plotting and characterizations, 1986's Something Wild is a slick and sexy road trip comedy that has developed a cult following over the years, primarily due to the terrific performances by the three stars pretty early in their careers.
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Lulu (Melanie Griffith) is a free spirited grifter who meets a tight-assed tax attorney named Charlie Driggs (Jeff Daniels) at a restaurant and offers him a ride back to his office. Instead of taking him to his office, she kidnaps the guy and takes him on a memorable road trip down south, teaching him how to loosen up which he does. Lulu, whose real name is Audrey by the way, takes Charlie to meet her mother and to her high school reunion, introducing him as her husband. This is where their adventure takes a dark turn when they meet up with Audrey's ex-husband, Ray (the late Ray Liotta), a psychotic ex-con.
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Screenwriter E Max Frye, who received an Oscar nomination for his writing Foxcatcher a couple of decades later, cut his teeth here with a screenplay that sets up the classic It Happened One Night kind of comic romance between two people never meant to be together, but muddies the waters when he attempts to modernize the story with the entrance of the dangerous ex-husband. For some reason the free spirited and confident Lulu we meet at the beginning of the film turns into a spineless damsel in distress when her ex enters the picture. We are also confused because she is under the impression that Charlie is married when they meet, but then gets upset with him when she learns he isn't. It was all right to kidnap a guy who is married with children, but a single guy is another matter.
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Charlie's brain seems to be removed for thee film. A wizard in business, but socially inept, believing every word that comes out of Audrey/Lulu's mouth, but unable or unwilling to extricate himself from this situation and it is often hard to tell which it is. The oddest thing about the relation between Charlie and Lulu is that she seems to be developing genuine feelings for the man, but he only seems to be thinking from below the waist, that is until Ray enters the picture. Charlie's transformation into Lulu's protector is fun to watch, even though the final showdown with Ray leads to an extra ending that wasn't really necessary.
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The late Jonathan Demme, who would win an Oscar five years later for directing The Silence of the Lambs displays a real skill with the camera here, making this intimate story look like a movie, etched on an inviting cross country campus. Jeff Daniels is a solid leading man in his sixth feature film appearance and Melanie Griffith tries hard to work with a character that's all over the place, but it's Ray Liotta who walks off with this movie with a sexy and dangerous performance that leaps off the screen. I'm sure this performance had a lot do with Martin Scorsese casting him as Henry Hill in Goodfellas because it's a real eye-opener. The screenplay definitely has its problems, but Daniels and Liotta make this worth a look. 3.5
Gideon58
09-22-23, 05:06 PM
Oppenheimer
Never one to shy away from cinematic risk-taking, Christopher Nolan has taken on one of his most ambitious visions with the 2023 epic Oppenheimer, a breathtaking technical achievement documenting some disturbing historical events where everything onscreen serves the story, but in the opinion of this reviewer, Christopher Nolan has done better work.
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This film is a dramatized look at the life of Robert J Oppenheimer, the primary architect in the development of the atom bomb. The film begins at his original conception, the terror it incites, and most importantly, why he wants to do this. We see him assemble the team he needs to do this, including legendary geniuses like Albert Einstein, and how politics, the military, and his personal life all become obstacles in achieving his dream.
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Director and co-screenwriter Nolan sets up the story in a manner that initially confuses, but becomes less so as the film progresses. The film begins with Oppenheimer as the defendant in some sort of legal hearing, but the kind of hearing is unclear, because it doesn't take place in a courtroom, but is inside some sort of conference room where the prosecuting team seems to be cramped on one side of the table while the defendants are questioned on the other side. There is also a sofa in the room where Oppenheimer and his wife are seated when they are not being questioned. This informal setting immediately begs the question of who this prosecuting team is, and, naturally, what Oppenheimer is being charged with. The questioning initially implied that the charge might be treason, but a charge like that would have taken place in an actual courtroom, but as the story flashes back to Oppenheimer's work, this becomes irrelevant until later in the film.
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The meat of the film concentrates on Oppenheimer's passion for this project, which, surprisingly, was not so much about personal satisfaction or accolades, but making sure that he gets this done before the Nazis do. Ironically, Oppenheimer finds a lot of the roadblocks in is work coming from suspicions that he is a communist as constant surveillance of his life seems to indicate, including his marriage to the severely broken Kitty (Emily Blunt). The documentation of the technical aspects of building this bomb (Oppenheimer, BTW, refuses to refer to it as anything but a "device" until it actually comes to fruition) involves a lot of scientific language that boggles the mind, but it is all worth it when that glorious scene comes where the device is a reality and it is detonated and all of the audio in the film disappears with the exception of Oppenheimer's breathing and movement, a storytelling technique that Bob Fosse used to remarkable effect during one scene in 1979's All that Jazz. And the way that initial Oppenheimer ally Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr) eventually morphs into the villain of the piece is just masterful.
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Nolan does take us out of the stark realism of what is involved here with a couple of strange fantasy sequences that involve nudity, of all things. There is a scene where Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt are having a conversation in separate chairs across the room from each other and they are nude, for no particular reason. There are even a couple of moments where Oppenheimer is being questioned during the hearing and when the camera returns to him for his answer, he is nude and a woman is on top of him.
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Nolan has assembled a spectacular cast to serve his vision, and that is all they do here, is serve the filmmaker's vision. Cillian Murphy is the sensitive heart of this powerhouse story, anchored by Nolan's highly theatrical direction. Robert Downey Jr is earning serious Oscar buzz for his two-faced Strauss and Emily Blunt's broken Kitty commands the screen whenever she's on it. And if you pay attention, you will also notice Matt Damon, Tony Goldwyn, Jason Clarke, Josh Hartnett, Tom Conti, Kenneth Branaugh, James D'Arcy, Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Ted King, Rami Malek, James Remar, Matthew Modine, and Scott Grimes all contributing to serving this story. And thanks to the hair and makeup crew, at least two of the actors I just listed I didn't recognize until they spoke and I identified them by voice. Cinematography, editing, production design, and, art direction are all Oscar worthy making this film the unique experience it is, but is it better than Inception or even Memento? I don't think so. 4
Gideon58
09-23-23, 12:24 AM
Three Sailors and a Girl
Warner Brothers goes the MGM route with a bouncy musical outing from 1953 called Three Sailors and a Girl that provides sporadic entertainment despite a spotty screenplay and a leading man who is dumb as a box of rocks.
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In this retread of MGM musicals like Anchors Aweigh and On the Town, three sailors on a 30 day shore leave in NYC named Choirboy (Gordon MacRae), Twitch (Gene Nelson), and Porky (Jackie E Leonard) decide to invest their money and their crew mates' money in the stock market. Once they arrive at the bank, they run into a fast talking Broadway producer named Joe Woods (Sam Levene) who is trying to get the bank to invest in a new musical starring his lady Penny Weston (Jane Powell), even though there is no script, no score, and they are rehearsing in a parking garage. When Woods learns the sailors have $50,000, he convinces them to invest in the show and tricks them from staying away from rehearsals so they don't realize there really is no show.
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The screenplay for this movie is actually based on a play by George S Kaufman that is the kind of thing MGM used to do in their sleep, but this was definitely new territory for Warner Brothers and it shows. It was pretty hard to swallow that three sailors would just give $50,000 to an unknown producer for a musical, especially when they know nothing about the business. but are swayed by the pretty leading ;lady. There's actually a scene where Choirboy insists on reading the script and Woods takes him to a noisy nightclub where Choirboy can't hear a word he's saying but the guy is prepared to hand over the money anyway. Of course at the out of town tryouts in Boston, the show is declared a disaster and the leading man quits and three guesses who becomes the show's leading man?
Even though the Choirboy character is kind of a moron.
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Yeah, it's about as predictable as they come, but there is some fun to be had here. Since this film was made at Warner Brothers, I suspect that the role of Penny was supposed to be played by Doris Day but she was unavailable and certain changes to the score were probably made when Powell came aboard, but her bell-like lyric sprano was a perfect match for MacRae's smoky baritone.
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The exuberant musical score by Sammy Cahn and Sammy Fain includes "Kiss Me or I'll Scream", "There Must Be a Reason", "Face to Face", "Show Me a Happy Woman" and the big production number "I Got Butterflies" The jazzy choreography is provided by Leroy Prinz.
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Powell and MacRae make fine romantic leads and Gene Nelson's tap shoes also get a workout. Sam Levene provides majors laughs as Joe Woods. Levene is best known for creating the role of Nathan Detroit in the original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls and there are cameos by George Abbott, Moss Hart, Ira Gershwin, and Oscar winner Burt Lancaster. MacRae and Nelson would reunite onscreen a couple of years later in the film version of Oklahoma!. It's no On the Town, but there is entertainment here. 3
Gideon58
09-25-23, 01:42 PM
Stephen Curry: Underrated
Regular followers of my review thread know that I love celebrity documentaries, but I went a little out of my personal comfort zone with my viewing of a 2023 documentary called Stephen Curry: Underrated, a comprehensive and often quite moving look at the career of NBA superstar Stephen Curry, taking a heart pumping look at this one of a kind athlete that riveted this viewer to the screen, a viewer who not only knows nothing about Curry, but nothing about basketball.
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The film opens on a very special night for the Golden State Warrior. It is the game where Curry is one shot away from breaking the world record for the most career three-point shots. We are initially under the impression that we're going to get a typical rags to riches biography of a sports legend, but we get anything but as learn that Curry was an underdog from jump whose passion and hard work helped him work through his underdog status to become the star on the court he did. As a matter of fact, this reviewer would have used the word "Underdog" for this film's subtitle instead of "Underrated."
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It was initially surprising to learn that for the sport, Curry was a bit of a runt...he was skinny and by the time he began his career ay Davidson, a small North Carolina college that no one had heard of, he was only 6 ' tall. It is revealed that Curry was aware of his shortcomings, but his passion for the game just made him work all that harder. As much as Curry loved this game, there was a never an attitude of "I'm the Greatest" with him like Muhammed Ali. There is not even a shred of anything resembling ego with this man. He is truly humbled by his success and credits everyone who supported him in his journey.
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The majority of the film concentrates on his time at Davidson, where he would eventually help the team earn five trips to March Madness. Loved when he talked about learning he had been accepted at Davidson and was a little hurt that no cared that he had been accepted at a college that no one had ever heard of. I was also deeply moved to learn that after entering the pros. marrying and having three children, Steph decided to earn the college degree he never received at Davidson, opting to go the NBA a year early instead. Also loved a look at a Rocky Balboa-type training sequence that involved a basketball, a tennis ball, and some kind of monitor in a trainer's hand that he had to alternate with precision like nothing I had seen. .And my heart was so full when he's observed winning his first NBA MVP award.
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There is commentary provided by Steph's parents, who were also athletes in college, Davidson coach Bob McKillop, Reggie Miller, Shonn Brown, Steph's high school coach, and Davidson teammate Jason Richards, among others. I don't know anything about sports, but this documentary about a very special athlete was a joy to watch. 4
Gideon58
09-25-23, 05:53 PM
Raggedy Man
A luminous performance by Sissy Spacek anchors 1981's Raggedy Man, which starts off as a sweetly nostalgic melodrama that eventually slides into an unexpectedly violent finale that sort of sours the warm story that we have seen until the final third.
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The film is set in the fictional town of Gregory, Texas during WWII where Spacek plays Nita Longley, a divorced mother of two young boys who finds herself drifting into an affair with a charming young sailor on a four day leave (Eric Roberts), while being simultaneously stalked by a pair of drooling morons who believe divorced women are hot to trot and won't rest until they have their way with our heroine.
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The screenplay starts off quite effectively as we are introduced to this fiercely independent woman struggling to do what's right for her and her boys. I like the fact that the film begins with Nita catching her husband cheating on her, but skips over the whole accusation/fight/separation/divorce part of the story and introduces Nita as a woman who has put her scummy ex in the rear view mirror and is starting over. Everything that happens with the sexy sailor rings true, including its eventual demise thanks to gossiping neighbors who won't let them be. What I couldn't handle were these two sexist idiots and their obsession with Nita just because she's divorced, leading to a rather ugly finale that we don't see coming.
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The movie is handsomely mounted by director Jack Fisk, the real life of husband of Sissy Spacek, his first time in the director's chair after several years as a set decorator, cinematographer and art director. He lovingly creates the 1940;s for us, and perfectly establishes that small town atmosphere for Gregory Texas, where everybody knows what everybody else is doing.
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Needless to say, Fisk gets a lovely performance from his wife, fresh off her Oscar-winning performance in Coal Miner's Daughter whose performance makes this film worth watching by itself. Eric Roberts is sex on legs as the young sailor and William Sanderson and one of my fave veterans Tracey Walter make the most of their roles as the slimy sex maniacs. And that is Henry Thomas in his feature film debut, playing Spacek's elder son, whose next film role would be playing Elliott in ET The Extra Terrestrial. Fans of Ms. Spacek will not be disappointed. 3.5
Gideon58
09-26-23, 01:42 PM
Fool's Paradise
Hands down, the worst film of 2023 that will surely sweep the next Razzie Awards, 2023's Fool's Paradise, a painfully unfunny show business comedy that gets dumber and dumber, wasting a big budget and a lot of talented actors.
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Charlie Day is the director, writer, and star of this travesty as a mental patient who is released from the hospital because they can't figure out exactly what's wrong with him and don't know how to treat him. Five minutes after his release, he encounters a Hollywood producer who reveals that this guy is a dead ringer for an obnoxious movie star named Sir Bingsley and, even though the guy seems to be unable to speak, he is hired to replace Bingsley in the movie. Our hero also becomes the client of a fourth rate publicist named Lenny whose career is circling the drain.
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I'm just at a loss here. I'm impressed that Charlie Day has the juice to get crap like this on the big screen and actually get some A list actors involved as well. Never watched It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and my only exposure to Day has been the Horrible Bosses franchise, but this movie just comes off as really bad Jerry Lewis. The whole premise that someone who doesn't speak can become a movie star is just ridiculous. A virtual movie star being created out of someone who never says a word just makes every other character in the movie look like an idiot. And not only does this movie get completed, it's a smash and he is immediately signed for another one. Seriously?
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There's just one stupid scene after another here. There's a scene at a chic Hollywood party where every time the guy sits down, he knocks over a coffee table, one with cocaine on it. His leading lady actually falls in love with him, marries him, and adopts children with him. My jaw dropped as I watched all this stuff happen to a mental patient who never speaks. There's nothing based in realism here, the movie is just going for laughs, but it never accomplishes that either.
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Day somehow managed to get some names involved in this mess. The late Ray Liotta is very funny as the producer who discovers the guy and Oscar winner Adrien Brody steals every scene he's in as an arrogant method actor. Edie Falco has some funny moments as the guy's new agent, but Hollywood's most annoying actor, Ken Jeong, is excruciating as Lenny the publicist and a shoo in for the Razzie for Worst Actor. The longest one hour and thirty-eight minutes of my life. 1.5
Gideon58
09-27-23, 01:52 PM
The Electric Horseman
1979's The Electric Horseman is a glossy, big budget look at corporate greed and animal cruelty that, despite some minor holes in the screenplay, remains completely watchable thanks to the professionalism in front of and behind the camera.
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Oscar winner Robert Redford had one of his best roles as Sonny Steele, an alcoholic, former rodeo champion who has sold his soul to a corporation called Ampco in order to be the spokesperson for a breakfast cereal. He has been scheduled to fly to Las Vegas and appear in a commercial where he would ride a $12,000,000 thoroughbred horse in circles around the stage while promoting the cereal. Sonny is outraged when he learns that the horse has been drugged to keep him calm and when it's time to shoot the commercial, he rides the horse off the stage and kidnaps him with the intention of eventually setting the horse free. An investigative reporter named Hallie Martin (Oscar winner Jane Fonda) manages to track Sonny down but circumstances force her to go on the run with Sonny and the horse.
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Three writers collaborated on this slightly complex that is a bit leisurely in setting up the story and the characters. Sonny's present misery is effectively established in the opening scenes and his backstory just as efficiently through one scene with sonny's ex-wife (Valerie Perrine).
Despite his misery, Sonny's likability factor goes through the roof during that scene where discovers the horse is being drugged. Every scene where Sonny is observed caring for the horse is a joy to watch. The motivations of Fonda's character seem to change from scene to scene but there is a point where she understands and respects what Sonny is doing. Yes, feeling of affection do develop between Sonny and Hallie, but that never becomes the focus of the story and I liked that.
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There are a couple of holes in the story...the Ampco people should have been tailing Hallie right after they first interview her and should have been on her tail when she rejoined Sonny in the desert. Sonny's horseback escape in the desert was a little convenient. Not to mention that the taped statement that Hallie filmed of Sonny stating his intentions was shot from a completely different angle than it appeared when it was broadcast on TV. I did love that scene of the Ampco villains watching the statement from various locations.
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The personal history in front of and behind the camera also helped this film work. Director Sydney Pollack directed Redford in Jeremiah Johnson and directed Fonda in They Shoot horses, Don't They and of course, Redford and Fonda worked together over a decade earlier in Barefoot in the Park and spark the same chemistry here that they did in the Neil Simon comedy. John Saxon, Nicholas Coster, Willie Nelson, Allen Arbus, and Will Hare score in supporting roles. And if you don't blink, you will catch a cameo from the director. Willie Nelson's song score is also a big plus. 3.5
Holden Pike
09-27-23, 03:29 PM
95263
I love The Electric Horseman. Nothing new in it, but as an old-fashioned vehicle for two movie stars you can't do much better. Light, breezy, charming, beautifully shot...lots of fun.
I also wind up singing "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" for about three weeks after I watch it.
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Gideon58
09-28-23, 12:39 PM
Champions (2023)
The undeniable screen charisma of three time Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson makes an overlong and extremely predictable sports-oriented comedy called Champions worth sitting through.
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Harrelson plays Marcus, hot-headed former minor league basketball coach who, in response to a DWI arrest, is sentenced to 90 days of community service coaching a team of Special Olympic basketball players who play out of a run down community center in Des Moines. He is also thrown when he learns that one of the team members is the little brother of a struggling actress Marcus just had a one night stand with (Kaitlin Olson).
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Anyone has seen The Bad News Bears or The Mighty Ducks or any other sports comedies involving kids will recognize everything that goes on here. This film offers absolutely no surprises, going pretty much everywhere we expect it to. Can't believe it actually took three writers to come up with this by-the-numbers story that thinks it's being original because the team members are mentally challenged. The film's overlength is primarily due to a couple of subplots that really weigh down the proceedings. One involves a player who keeps missing practice because of his job that falls flat and goes nowhere. The other one involves an excellent player who refuses to play for the team that kind of reminded me of the Jackie Earle Haley character in The Bad News Bears that just takes too long to come to fruition.
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The romance with Olson's character also falls flat, due to the character being all over the place and really hard to like. One scene she is totally enamored with Marcus and the nest she wants nothing to do with him. The kids are a lot of fun though, all given their own little quirks and eccentricities. The one very clever thing that gets addressed with the kids that made me bust a gut was when Marcus' assistant was yelling at a teammate about how well she was doing and she harshly reminded him that she has Down's Syndrome, she's not deaf.
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Harrelson lights up the screen though as Marcus and Ernie Hudson and Cheech Marin try to bring something to thankless supporting roles. Loved those kids though, especially Kevin Iannucci as Johnny, Madelyn Tevlin as Cosentino, and Casey Metcalfe as Marlon. It had no business being two hours and four minutes long, but some grins can definitely be mined out of this one. It might have been nice if a little more imagination could have gone into the title. 3.5
Gideon58
09-28-23, 10:47 PM
Violets are Blue
The 1986 film Violets are Blue is a sweet and sad romantic drama that can tie the stomach in knots if caught in the right mood thanks to sensitive direction and superb performances from the three stars.
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Gussie Sawyer (Sissy Spacek) and Henry Squires (Kevin Kline) grew up in the same small Maryland seaside town and were high school sweethearts certain they would be together forever. Gussie's wanderlust eventually found her leaving and finding a successful career as globe-trotting photojournalist while Henry was content to stay in Maryland and run the local newspaper for his father. Gussie returns home for the first time in 13 years and is reunited with Henry, who is now married to Ruth (Bonnie Bedelia) and has a young son. This doesn't stop Gussie and Henry from drifting into an affair that neither were really looking for.
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The screenplay by Naomi Foner (Running on Empty) is simple on the surface, but it's the complicated emotions that bubble to the surface for both the characters and viewers that make this story so rich. We see what's coming and we know on the surface that it's wrong, but the chemistry, the pull between Gussie and Henry is so strong and it's a little shocking that neither of them really attempt to fight it. Foner attempts to legitimize what's happening by Ruth being jealous of Gussie the second she lays eyes on her and then drawing Gussie and Henry together professionally, but when what we're watching is realistically stripped bare, we know it's wrong and our hearts break for Ruth and Henry's son, the real victims in the story.
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What was most unsettling for this reviewer was watching Sissy Spacek play such a complex and eye-opening character. Hollywood's sweetheart is one of those actresses we just never imagine playing a homewrecker and at the core of her soul, Gussie isn't a homewrecker, but is unable to fight what she's feeling. Spacek beautifully internalizes Gussie's conflicted emotions and somehow manages to evoke sympathy for a character who we're not really sure deserves it.
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Once again, Spacek's husband, Jack Fisk, is in the director's chair and just like Blake Edwards and Julie Andrews, Fisk knows how to make his wife look good and knows her capabilities as an actress. It's clear that Fisk has a lot to do with Spacek's understanding of what she's doing here. Kevin Kline is smooth and sexy as Henry and totally invests in the characters slight descent into slimeball territory, creating a chemistry with Spacek that cannot be denied. Though the real acting honors here have to go to Bonnie Bedelia, one of Hollywood's most underrated talents who never had the career she deserved, who is absolutely heartbreaking as Ruth. It's a powerhouse performance where you never catch Bedelia "acting." Cinematography and music are the finishing touches on this lovely llittle movie that could ignite a tear duct. 3.5
Gideon58
09-29-23, 04:24 PM
Jules
A powerhouse performance by Oscar winner Sir Ben Kingsley anchors 2023's Jules, a deliciously enchanting comic fantasy that is so well-directed and acted that it's very easy to forgive some screenplay issues.
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Set in the fictional town called Boonton, Pennsylvania, Sir Ben plays Milton, a lonely widower who visits the town meetings every week because he wants the town's motto changed and wants a traffic signal installed at a particularly busy intersection. One night Milton is awakened by a crash and goes downstairs and discovers a spaceship has landed right on top of his azaleas. He calls 911 to report it, but they don't believe him and hang up on him. The next night, he goes out to his yard to discover an alien as come out of the ship and is lying comatose in his yard. The following evening, he finds the alien huddled in a corner with the blanket that Milton provided him wrapped around himself, so Milton invites him into the house.
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The alien doesn't speak nor displays any fear or aggression. but seems to understand Milton and pays attention as Milton offers a tour of his home before discovering that the alien likes to eat apple slices. It's not long before Milton's grown daughter hears about the alien and wants to have her father committed. Meanwhile, a pair of Milton's lady friends, Sandy and Joyce discover Milton's houseguest and do what they can to help Milton protect the alien, but the story takes a dark and unexpected turn when the alien gets Sandy out of a sticky situation.
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Screenwriter Gavin Steckler provides an engaging story with interesting characters at its core that is easy for the viewer to become engaged. There were a couple of things that did initially nag as I continued to watch: When his daughter tries to lock him up, I didn't understand why he made no attempt to get her to come to the house to see the spaceship. Also, this is a small suburban community, are we supposed to believe that no one saw this spaceship in Milton's backyard? By the halfway point of the film, I was able to let these things go in favor of embracing the rich elements of the story I was provided by.
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This wasn't just a story about an alien coming to earth, it was a story about ageism and how cancelled senior citizens feel as they age. Milton, Sandy, and Joyce all find someone to listen to them in this alien and we get the feeling that no one has really listened to them for a long time and their joy at being listened to was a joy to watch.
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Director Marc Turtletaub definitely displays his affinity with film classics like ET and Cocoon, keeping this heartwarming story steeped in realism as we watch the bad guys get close enough to our little alien friend to make us squirm, while still providing a couple of story moves we don't see coming. Sir Ben Kingsley buries his British accent and delivers the kind of performance that breaks hearts and wins Oscars. One of my favorite character actresses, the brilliant Harriet Sansom Harris lights up the screen as Sandy, as does Jane Curtin as Joyce, who nails a surprising musical moment. This movie will probably get by a lot of people and I don't see a lot of award love coming its way either, though I think Kingsley and Harris do Oscar-worthy work. Absolutely LOVED this movie. 4
Gideon58
09-30-23, 12:03 AM
Charlotte's Web (1973)
Hanna Barbera Studios, the animation empire behind The Flintstones struck out on the big screen with a charming animated adaptation of a classic children's novel called Charlotte's Web that still will provide entertainment for the youngsters.
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Based on a novel by E B White, this is the story of Wilbur (voiced by Henry Gibson), a pig who was the runt of his litter, raised on the Arable farm. Wilbur is raised by the Arable daughter, Fern (voiced by Pamelyn Ferdin) until he's too big to be a house pet so the Arables sell Wilbur to Fern's uncle, Homer Zuckerman, whose first impulse is to sell Wilbur for ham and bacon. Wilbur is then befriended by a lovely gray spider named Charlotte (voiced by Debbie Reynolds) who, with the aid of the other Zuckerman barnyard animals, comes up with a plan to save Wilbur's life.
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The appeal of this film is probably more aimed at folks who never read the novel, because for those viewers, there are definite surprises along the way. Charlotte's plan to help Wilber is quite clever and I liked the pied pier effect that Charlotte had on the other animals on the Zuckerman farm. It was fun watching Charlotte call a meeting of the animals on the next step in helping Wilbur and the animals would quietly and immediately report to Charlotte, with the exception of a lazy and shiftless rat named Templeton (brilliantly voiced by Paul Lynde), who doesn't care about anything except his next meal.
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The film features a pleasant song score by Richard M Sherman and Robert B. Sherman (Mary Poppins) that includes "There Must Be Something More", "I Can Talk", "Mother Earth and Father Time", "Zuckerman's Famous Pig", and "A Veritable Smorgasbord."
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The animation has sort of a "no frills" look to it, considering how far animation has come since 1973. BTW, though the IMDB lists the film as a 1973 release, the opening credits say that the film was released in 1972. Debbie Reynolds is lovely as Charlotte. The IMDB also states that Reynolds agreed to do the voice of Charlotte without salary because she loved the book so much. Gibson is adorable as Wilbur and I also loved Agnes Moorhead as the voice of a goose who liked to say words three times in a row. This film did feature a couple of reunions for voice actors involved. Dave Madden, who provided the voice of the ram worked on The Partridge Family with Danny Bonaduce, who does the voice of Avery Arable. And, of course, Paul Lynde, who voiced Templeton and Agnes Moorhead, who voiced the goose, worked together on Bewitched and even get to duet together on "A Veritable Smorgasbord." The film was remade as a live action feature in 2006. 3.5
Gideon58
09-30-23, 02:55 PM
John Mulaney: Baby J
To this reviewer, the man is definitely an acquired taste and it took me a few minutes to warm up to him here, but I eventually found myself laughing pretty consistently through 2023's John Mulaney: Baby J, a smart and witty evening of standup that made me laugh, but never put me completely on the comic's side.
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The Netflix special shot from the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra finds the star already onstage, dressed in a burgundy suit, explaining to the audience about his constant need for attention, which is something pretty hard to argue with. For the uninitiated, Mulaney is a former writer and frequent host of SNL, whose appeal has, up to this point, has escaped me for the most part. I have always fund Mulaney a rather off-putting stage presence. There is a layer of unabashed arrogance in his material and the presentation of same that constructs a wall between him and his audience that is pretty hard to penetrate. I found it rather pretentious that we are offered approximately ten minutes of material before the elaborately opening credits rolled.
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The initial distance that I have always felt watching Mulaney was present at the beginning of the concert, but there was a point where a thaw began between myself and the comedian. Early on in the concert, Mulaney's X-ray vision spots an eleven year boy in the balcony and learns his name is Henry. Mulaney's discomfort with seeing a child in his audience comes off as authentic and once he learned that Henry had seen his standup before, he still warned Henry that there was a lot of stuff he was going to hear about but should never do, my defenses came down and was ready to give Mulaney a real shot at entertaining me.
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The concert turned out to be a lot more personal than I thought since the majority of material centered around his recent stint in rehab. He started off strong with his story about being invited to dinner by friends but arriving for dinner finding 12 comedian friends gathered for an intervention. His breakdown of the intervention was hysterically funny,, including a dead on impression of Fred Armisen, which wrapped with a very funny dig stating that whenever he sees any these people out now, he feels obligated to pick up the check.
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His actual time in rehab started off pretty funny, especially his detailed recounting of his time in detox where he was unable to sleep for 50 hours, but he lost me after that with a lot of silly stories about the process, though I was thoroughly amused by his honest admission that he was upset that no one in rehab knew who he was. I did enjoy his story about "Dr. Michael" though. His concluding bit about an interview he gave with GQ while he was high and didn't remember giving kind of fell flat, but overall, a lot more entertaining evening of comedy than I expected. 3.5
Gideon58
10-02-23, 01:42 PM
The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Another practically forgotten gem from a very strong year at the movies, 1994's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a brassy and joyous road trip comedy unlike any you've ever seen that broaches a lot of squirm-worthy subject matter and does so with humor and intelligence.
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The setting is contemporary Sydney, Australia where we meet a pair of drag queens named Tick and Adam and a transsexual named Bernadette who has just become a widow, who get to bring their cabaret act to a city called Alice Springs. The three pack up their eyelashes and pantyhose, purchase a used school bus that they christen Priscilla, and begin the road trip of a lifetime
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Director and screenwriter Stephan Elliott impresses with a rich story that not only addresses the expected message of tolerance but also tackles a couple of issues regarding sexual identity that rarely get addressed in film. It was refreshing that we learned early on that Tick was married to a woman once and we learn later on in the film that he actually wants to be a father. We also are presented a clear delineation of the transvestite and the transsexual in the presentation of the Bernadette character, who was born Ralph and sees red whenever anyone calls her that. The only myth that I was hoping that would be crushed but wasn't is the fact that all drag queens are not homosexual, but so much material is covered so effectively here that it's easy to forgive.
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Needless to say this film is not for all tastes, and anyone who has any issues with homosexuality will find little entertainment value, because Elliott brings unabashed gay pride to this story, but never strains credibility either because our heroines are not met with unconditional acceptance wherever they go. There is one scene where Adam is advised against attending a certain social event and he chooses to anyway and pays the price. On the other side of this coin, there is a relationship that develops between Bernadette and a heterosexual mechanic named Bob that is a joy to watch.
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The film features rich production values, including absolutely gorgeous cinematography. the shots of Adam and Tick on top of the bus wearing flowing scarves as the bus careens through the desert are breathtaking, as are the Oscar-winning costumes, the only nomination the film received. Hugo Weaving nails the complexities of the Tick character and Terrence Stamp buries all images of General Zod in his richly internalized performance as the lonely Bernadette, but it's the dazzling performance by Guy Pearce, of all people, in the role of Adam/Felicia that you will go away from this film remembering. Cannot believe this was the same actor from LA Confidential and Memento who, once gain, proves to be one of Hollywood's most versatile chameleons. There were a couple of unnecessary story detours, but this movie was a lot of fun from opening to closing credits. 4
Gideon58
10-02-23, 10:42 PM
Kountry Wayne: A Woman's Prayer
I've reviewed my fair amount of standup over the years, but this is one genre where I have a tendency to stick to proven commodities. I found out why after viewing a 2023 Netflix concert featuring a comic I've never heard of named Kountry Wayne called Kountry Wayne: A Woman's Prayer.
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Before I watched the special, I decided to check out the guy's IMDB page to see if there was something else I might have seen him in. When I googled Wayne on the IMDB, the only thing that came up was this special, a red flag right there. Netflix took a real gamble here that really didn't pay off. Somehow, this unknown managed to get Netflix to film him live in a front of a sold out audience in Washing DC. I knew I was in trouble when he asked the audience to give themselves a hand three times and babbled incessantly about how great it was to be in DC and to be able to do his first concert from there.
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Wayne enters down the aisle shaking audience members' hands dressed in a glittery blue suit that looked like something left over from Liberace's estate. For some reason, he decided the way to immediately get the audience on his side was by informing them that he is the father of ten kids with various women and that all of the parents coddle their children too much, lying to them about how they can be anything they want to be. His varied stories about child rearing did nothing to endear him to this reviewer or to the audience.
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He attempts to personalize his material by talking about his Uncle Richard who had AIDS and an incident at Thanksgiving dinner when he was nine years old that was even more humorless than his child rearing advice. I got very nervous when he polled the audience via applause regarding their belief in God, which led into an equally unfunny diatribe about his local pastor, Pastor Williams.
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He did get a few chuckles out of me when he started a routine about how black people age better than white people because they don't worry about bills the way white people do and just when I thought he might be able to end the evening on a somewhat positive note, he somehow managed to segue back to Pastor Williams and another dumb story about him and Kountry's wheel-chair bound cousin Pierre. You won't see this reviewer waiting on pins and needles for the next Kountry Wayne special. 1.5
Gideon58
10-03-23, 10:52 PM
Blast From the Past
During the 1990's Oscar winner Brendan Fraser (love being able to refer to him that way) was the king of the "Fish Out of Water" comedies and one of his final entries in the genre was 1999's Blast from the Past, a deft and imaginative comedy that suffers a bit due to a really unappealing leading lady..
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Fraser plays Adam Webber, a 35 year old man who was born and raised in a bomb shelter. See, Adam's father, Calvin (Christopher Walken) was a brilliant scientist, but was also super paranoid about the world being destroyed by the bomb so he spent years building a shelter underneath his home with all the comforts of home. Back in 1961, Calvin hears President Kennedy talking about the Cuban Missile Crisis and his paranoia gets the best of him and takes his pregnant wife, Helen (Sissy Spacek) down to the shelter and they do hear an explosion above ground minutes later, but it's just a plane crashing into their house.
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Calvin doesn't believe this and thinks his family is still in danger and insists they stay underground where Adam is born and receives a thorough education from his parents. Unfortunately, they only had enough supplies for 35 years, so on Adam's 35th birthday, he agrees to venture to the surface with $3000 and a grocery list, where he meets a brassy and cynical young beauty named Eve (Alicia Silverspoon). Adam and Eve, get it?
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Hugh Wilson (The First Wives Club) and Bill Wilson co-authored this extremely clever screenplay that initially starts off as a period piece but quietly creeps into 1999 before we realize it. Love that after the plane crash, a malt shop is built on the property, which is replaced by a bar during the 70's and is now an adult bookstore. The underlying theme of always listening to your parents is prevalent throughout as poor Adam tries to navigate through 199 and the only tools he has are things his parents taught him, which simultaneously get him in and out of trouble throughout the running time..
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The Eve character kind of brings the film down because she's so abrasive and mean to Adam, who is just possibly the sweetest human being on the planet. At one point, she even agrees to help Adam find a wife, but is so jealous she can't see straight the first time she sees him on a dance floor with two other women. And when Adam is finally truthful with her about his situation what does she do? Have him committed. Then once the thaw between the two happens, all of a sudden., Eve starts narrating the film. Seriously?
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Fraser is so sexy and charismatic as Adam, though that we're able to forgive the nasty Silverspoon character. It goes without saying that Walken and Spacek are perfection as Adam's parents and Dave Foley, Nathan Fillion, and Joey Slotnick make the most of supporting roles, but this is Brendan's movie and he lights up the screen. 3.5
Gideon58
10-04-23, 02:43 AM
No One Will Save You
There's no denying that, even though what was happening was making little sense, two thirds of the 2023 suspense thriller No One Will Save You scared the bejesus out of me, thanks to so\me superior camera work, insane set pieces, and spectacular production values, but the final third of the film kind of falls apart.
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Set in a fictional small town called Mill Falls, this is the story of a young woman named Brynn, a guilt ridden town pariah who is treated like dirt by everyone in town apparently because Brynn had something to do with the death of her BFF Maude. One night, Brynn is awakened b y an alien entering her home and, after an intense battle where the alien destroys her home, Brynn thinks she has killed the alien, but the danger is just beginning.
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I was a little hesitant about another movie about an alien after my recent viewing of the wonderful Jules, but this movie is nothing like that one. The alien in Jules is somewhat akin to the alien in ET, but this alien has no interest in being friends with Brynn. And this alien isn't alone either. This alien and his friends had powers that would have allowed them to take Brynn out in about ten minutes but they don't want her dead.. Somewhere near the halfway point, we see the alien pause in pursuit of Brynn and just starts staring at a picture of Brynn and Maude and then we see the alien grab a picture of Brynn and Maude out of Brynn's hand from across the room. There is a connection between this alien attack and Maude's death, but we never actually learn what happened to Maude, which made what was going on more and more confusing.
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Director and screenwriter Brian Duttfield, who directed a 2020 film I liked called Love and Monsters shows a real affinity for the 1980 Stanley Kubrick classic TYhe SHining. In
terms of camerawork and storytelling and most important, the serious lack of dialogue (I don't think there are more than a dozen words of dialogue in the entire film), the overhead shots, and the eerie music had a real Kubrick influence to it as well and a nice handle on Hitchcock-like suspense, keeping us on the edge of our chair when the next attack was going to happen. Eventually we expect an "And then I woke up" scene, which we
get, but even that is a red herring, leading to Maude's first appearance in the story where the movie begins to make less and less sense.
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Duttfield puts a lot of care into the look of the film, which he had to since there is so little dialogue, but it pays off for the most part. Kaitlyn Dever works hard in the physically demanding starring role, but a weak final act hurts this one. 3.5
Gideon58
10-04-23, 01:49 PM
Love Among the Ruins
1975's Love Among the Ruins is a sumptuously mounted blend of comedy, drama, and romance that was originally broadcast on ABC that teamed two acting legends onscreen for the first time.
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This made for television gem is set in 1911 England and stars Katharine Hepburn as Jessica Medlicott, an aging actress who is being sued for breach of promise by a much younger man and has hired a lawyer named Arthur Glanville-Jones, played by Laurence Olivier to defend her. It's revealed almost immediately that Arthur and Jessica had a brief passionate affair after Arthur saw Jessica in The Merchant of Venice, but, to Arthur's dismay, Jessica has no memory of it.
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This movie has an impressive pedigree for a TV movie. Screenwriter James Costigan who wrote the ABC miniseries Eleanor and Franklin and its sequel, provides a witty and sophisticated story that provides an equal balance of comedy and sentiment, with just a dash of heartbreak that completely engage the viewer. I've heard a lot about this movie over the years and I always assumed that the movie was going to be about Arthur trying to make Jessica remember their long ago affair, but that's not what it's about at all. Arthur is able to accept that Jessica doesn't remember their affair, but he uses his love for her in an unconventional way to try and win her case.
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Another Hollywood veteran, George Cukor, who directed Hepburn back in 1940 in The Philadelphia not only applies exquisite detail in the look of this film but in the richly layered performances from the two stars. Love the opening scene where Olivier is running around like a 10 year on Christmas Eve waiting for Jessica's arrival. Hepburn underplays beautifully when she is initially sitting dutifully in the courtroom and we can see just from her expressions how much of the testimony being given is the truth and her explosion in the courtroom when she is removed is high theater. And there's no denying the heartbreak on Olivier's face when he realizes Jessica doesn't remember their affair or the joy when he flashes back to Jessica onstage as Portia.
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This elegant and witty TV movie won six richly deserved Emmys for Hepburn, Olivier, Cukor, Costigan and for the breathtaking art direction and costumes. It's the one and only time Hepburn and Olivier worked together and it is a joy from start to finish. 4.5
Gideon58
10-06-23, 12:28 AM
Heist 88
Emmy and Golden Globe winner Courtney B Vance and his wife, Oscar nominee Angela Bassett are the executive producers of 2023's Heist 88, an overheated and far-fetched crime drama that features solid performances and production values, but is done in by a screenplay with holes big enough to drive a truck through. The opening credits of this movie reveal that it was "inspired" by real events.
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This made for SHOWTIME movie stars Vance as Jeremy Horne, a criminal mastermind who is preparing to serve a five year sentence for his previous crime and is scheduled to surrender himself to authorities in a few weeks. He has decided that it is a good idea to recruit his nephew, a wanna be record producer and his three BFF's, who are all employed in the check clearing/wire transfer department of the First National Bank of Chicago, to help him liberate said bank of $320,000,000.
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I've always had a great deal of respect for Vance and Bassett as actors, so I was completely bewildered regarding what a hot mess this movie was. The screenplay offers clues from the first scene and throughout that this Jeremy Horne character was not to be trusted and somehow his oily charm seemed to work on everyone with whom he comes in contact. In the opening scene, he meets his nephew at his brother's funeral who told him the last thing his dad told him was to stay away from his Uncle Jeremy. Once it's revealed that Jeremy has involved three other people in the plan without telling these kids and has offered them a cut too, with the take being reduced to $80,000,000, we just know it's only a matter of time before this Jeremy Horne attempts to screw them all over and not one of them makes an attempt to get out of the plan. If it helps to clarify, what these bank employees were doing was akin to what Sam Wheat did for a living in Ghost.
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I'm guessing that the title of the film implies that this was the year the film takes place, but that was kind of hard to believe when it's revealed that the three young bank employees are only making $3.35 an hour. I don't believe that anyone employed in a bank, even in 1988 and even being black, was bringing home $3.35 an hour. These people are observed to be having financial problems, but at that salary, they should have been flirting with homelessness. A particularly offensive part of Horne's plan was training his crew how to sound like actual investors on the phone. In other words, teaching these black people how to sound white.
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The film is handsomely mounted but it doesn't help in disguising how dumb this movie is. Courtney B Vance is a wonderful actor and he does his accustomed crisp and polished work here, but it's not enough to make everything that happens viable and his final line at the end of the movie is just ridiculous. 2
Gideon58
10-06-23, 11:07 PM
Queen Bee
Some ferocious scenery-chewing by Joan Crawford anchors 1955's Queen Bee, a sizzling soap opera featuring passion, jealousy, family dysfunction, and betrayal, everything lovers of the genre expect and get in spades.
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A young woman named Jennifer Stewart arrives at the glamorous estate of her cousin Eva Phillips, an arrogant and controlling diva who is in a loveless marriage to Avery and shares her home with two children she spends no time with, her sister-in-;law, Carol who is engaged to Judd, Eva's former lover.
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Director and co-screenwriter Ranald MacDougall, who also wrote the screenplay for Crawford's most famous role Mildred Pierce, provides a juicy melodrama that Crawford could play in her sleep, but she is definitely not phoning it in here. She pulls out all the stops here as a woman who has a tight rein on everyone in her orbit until the arrival of cousin Jennifer. It is kind of amusing the way Jennifer arrives on the scene and thinks she has the ability to put this broken family back together again. It's not long before she realizes the web of deceit and lies that Eva weaves on a regular basis and her transition from defending Eva as misunderstood to realizing what a witch she is is swift and believable.
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The unabashed arrogance of this Eva character is just fascinating to watch. She has no qualms about flaunting her former affair with Judd right in front of Avery, but doesn't have the cajones to tell Carol about it at first. The scene where she confronts Judd alone after everyone else is asleep and explains to him that he will always love her is infuriating. It's also a little sad watching Avery, who ever since being disfigured by a car accident, sleeps in a separate bedroom and spends all his spare time drinking. Avery is such a downer it was hard to buy Jennifer falling for him and the 11th hour twist near the end of the film didn't really make sense. I also have to mention that Crawford wears a fur coat in one scene that reminded me of a coat Faye Dunaway wore in Mommie Dearest.
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Crawford commands the screen the same way she did in Harriet Craig, but this Eva is way nastier. Sullivan is a little one note as Avery and Lucy Marlowe's wooden performance ass Jennifer really hurts the story. I kept picturing Natalie Wood in the role. John Ireland was terrific as Judd though as was Betsy Palmer as Carol and Crawford's Jean Louis gowns were stunning. A must for Crawford fans. 3.5
Gideon58
10-07-23, 01:25 PM
The Equalizer 3
Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua return for another round of high octane action adventure with The Equalizer 3, which not only provides the assumed stomach turning violence we've come to expect from the franchise, but provides some quiet introspection into the demons of the enigmatic Robert McCall.
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The film is set in Sicily, where McCall is recovering from some serious injuries and has possibly found the ideal spot for the retirement he has been contemplating. It's obvious that he has been there long enough to make some really good friends that he can count on, and as they eventually find out, they can do the same. Unfortunately, some of these good friends are having their families and businesses threatened by mobsters who are running an international drug smuggling operation through their town and, of course, McCall is having none of that.
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The screenplay for this film is deliberately paced as it takes its time showing the life has established for himself in Sicily and how he has come to embrace it, while doing his best to keep his past in the past. As the film begins, we see the aftermath of a bloody battle McCall as just had and the guilt about it that is eating him up inside. He's tired of this. The first time he is observed walking down the cobblestone Sicilian streets, everyone watches him walk but it's not made clear right away whether they fear him or angry with him, but it just seemed to be a sort of cinematic red herring to lead us to the reveal that McCall is definitely interested in leaving his past behind.
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Speaking of that first walk down the streets, it was a little unsettling watching McCall make this walk with the aid of a cane. McCall had also seemed impervious to pain in the first two films and always came out of his famous scrapes with nary a scratch. Here we see him on an operating table in a doctor's office (no hospitals or police for obvious reasons) being stitched back together again and the relationship between McCall and this doctor is one of the loveliest parts of the movie.
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Needless to say, Fuqua continues to redefine the action sequence. During the opening gun battle, and I still think I might have imagined this, but I could have sworn at one point that McCall shoots bullets through the head of a corpse to kill someone else. Is that even possible? Denzel is still a viable action hero but I never really bought Dakota Fanning as a rookie CIA agent, though the final reveal about who she is was perfection. This film would make a nice conclusion to the trilogy, because McCall seems happy in Sicily, but if the movie makes a lot of money, I'm sure we'll get an Equalizer 4. 4
Gideon58
10-09-23, 04:25 PM
The Big Easy
The steamy chemistry between the stars makes a 1986 crime drama called The Big Easy worth a look.
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Dennis Quaid plays Remy McSwain, a laid back New Orleans police lieutenant who has spent 11 years enjoying the perks of being a cop, sometimes resulting with the occasional waltz with internal affairs. The most recent murder case to cross his desk has attracted the attention of an Assistant DA named Anne Osborne (Ellen Barkin) whose immediate attraction to McSwain doesn't stop the reveal of a bunch of dirty cope in this particular New Orleans precinct.
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Director and co-screenwriter has crafted a story that establishes a swift and rich chemistry between the two central characters and then messes it up by having them on opposing sides of a courtroom about thirty minutes into the running time. And as hard as McBride tries, he is never able to recapture the chemistry generated by the stars at the beginning of the movie, Said chemistry does realistically tamper with the alleged professionalism of the pair where their actual jobs are concerned, but it's so strong that we really don't care.
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The spread of the corruption on display is a little shocking and it's a little hard to accept that everything that is revealed before the closing credits happened without McSwain having little knowledge. It also smacked of cliche that this supposed hard-nosed Assistant DA played by Barkin had such a weak constitution that every time she saw a dead body she got sick to her stomach. And I'm still trying to figure out how that magnet got from inside that bank to the property room next to the videotape incriminating McSwain, resulting in the damage of the tape and Remy's exoneration.
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Quaid has never been sexier onscreen and he and Barkin work really well together. They receive solid support from Ned Beatty, John Goodman, Lisa Jane Persky, Charles Ludlam (hysterical as Quaid's attorney) and the always watchable Grace Zabriskie as McSwain's mother. The story is on on the sketchy side, but Quaid and Barkin keep the movie watchable. 3.5
Gideon58
10-09-23, 11:28 PM
Sr.
Director Chris Smith and two-time Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr have triumphed with a 2022 Netflix documentary called Sr., a loving, funny, intimate, and deeply moving valentine to Robert Downey Jr's father, underground filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. To avoid confusion, for the rest of this review, the subject of the film will be referred to as Sr and his Oscar nominee son will be referred to as Jr.
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I've seen a lot of celebrity documentaries over the last few years and it would be very easy for me to say that Smith and Jr. have thrown out all the rules regarding making documentaries, but depending on your point of your view, it might be more accurate to say that Smith and Jr have decided to incorporate all the rules of documentary filmmaking into this consistently fascinating look at a person this reviewer knew precious little about, despite the fact that Jr is one of my favorite actors.
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For the uninitiated like myself, Sr made dozens of films dating back to the 1970;s, the most famous of which would probably be Putney Swope, The Harder They Come, and Greaser's Palace. He was a director who always worked outside of the studio system because he says all studios were interested in was making money and he didn't give a damn whether or not his movies made money. He makes it clear that the first studio film he made, Up the Academy was the worst experience of his career.
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It's revealed almost immediately that Sr's health is in a serious state of decline and makes no bones about it as filming begins. As a matter of fact, we learn early on, while Chris and Jr are making their film, Sr is editing his own version of what they're doing from his home. It's insane the way the film jumps from the director talking to Sr and Jr directly, to the father and son talking to each other, to Jr talking directly to the camera about what he's trying to do here, to Sr leading us through his beloved Manhattan and providing stories from his endlessly fascinating life associated with every location.
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There is some brave and squirm-worthy filmmaking going on here. There is one scene near the beginning of Sr's sightseeing where he calmly admits to being dizzy and everyone wants to stop for the day the second he says that but he claims to be OK. Sr is devoid of anything resembling ego and I was very moved by his admitting that he felt his allowing Jr to smoke weed as a child might have led his son into his future with addiction.
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It was great getting a view of Sr from his family. Loved when asked how long she and Sr had been married, her reply was 1500 years. The footage of Elsie Downey, Jr's mother, had almost an ethereal quality to it and it's the only time during the film where we see Sr fighting tears. It should also be mentioned, that anyone who thinks they've never seen Jr, might want to take a look at the 1997 film Boogie Nights. Remember that scene where Mark Wahlberg and John C Reilly pressure that record producer to release their demo tapes? Guess who played that record producer.
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Commentary is also provided by Norman Lear, the late Alan Arkin, Paul Thomas Anderson, and a very special appearance by Emmy and Tony Award winner Sean Hayes, A glorious look at a forgotten artist, and I can't lie, the final 10 minutes of this film destroyed
me. 4.5
Gideon58
10-10-23, 11:38 PM
The Long Walk Home
Remember back in the 50's when Rosa Parks was arrested because she refused to move from the front of the bus to the back? Well, the ramifications of that event are dramatized in an emotionally manipulative drama from 1990 called The Long Walk Home that can stir strong emotions if caught in the right mood and is beautifully anchored by the performances of two Oscar winning actresses.
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It's 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama and word has spread about Mrs. Parks' arrest and in protest, the black citizens of Montgomery organize a boycott where they refuse to ride the bus anymore. Miriam Thompson (Sissy Spacek) is an affluent housewife and mother who initially dismisses the boycott as something that will blow over in a few days. Of course, it doesn't and it starts affecting Mrs. Thompson's ability to run her household because she is so dependent on her black maid, Odessa (Whoopi Goldberg). Unfortunately, Odessa lives quite a distance rom her employer and walking to work is doing serious damage to her feet, so Miriam makes the fateful decision to pick up Odessa and bring her to work herself two days a week.
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As a black man, I felt shame as this story unfolded before me, because I knew about Rosa Parks, but this movie was where I first learned about this boycott. The events here were news to me just as the events of the 2016 film Hidden Figures John Cork's emotionally charged screenplay is unapologetic in its presentation of the racial climate in 1955 Montgomery. LOVED the way the very first scene in the movie beautifully sets up what about to happen without dialogue. We see three black women in maid unforms get on a bus to pay their fare then get off the bus and go to the rear entrance of the bus because they aren't allowed to enter the front of the bus. Cork's unabashed use of the "N" word also was a bit unsettling. I don't think Quentin Tarantino used the word this much in any of his screenplays.
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This movie aroused a lot of anger in this reviewer but it didn't come from where I expected. I was not bothered by the bigoted whites initiating all of the racial tension in this film as I was b y this Miriam Thompson woman. This was a good woman with a good heart and not a bigoted bone in her body but she spends the majority of the running time with her head buried in the sand, in denial of the seriousness of what was going and refusing to take a real stand one way or the other, which was infuriating. The scene at the beginning of the final act where she executes an obviously well-rehearsed speech to her husband about how she was going to do what she felt was right and almost lost her husband in the process, made me want to cheer, but it was too little too late.
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Sissy Spacek is Oscar-worthy, in one of her richest performances, full of warmth and intelligence and Whoopi Goldberg's beautifully internalized Odessa matched her perfectly. Dwight Schulze was surprisingly effective as Miriam's bigoted husband and Dylan Baker does another of his patented greasy turns as Miriam's brother-in-law. I almost didn't recognize Ving Rhames as Odessa's husband because he had a full head of hair and that was Mary Steenburgen narrating. George Fenton's music was another big plus in this riveting drama that I took way too long to watch. 4
Gideon58
10-12-23, 12:11 AM
Bottoms
A novice filmmaker named Emma Seligman scores with an edgy and raucous black comedy called Bottoms that turns teen comedies like Mean Girls on their ear thanks to a deft and uncompromising screenplay, stylish direction and some star-making performances.
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The 2023 comedy is about two plain lesbian high school students named Josie and PJ who are trying to figure out some way to have sex with the prettiest girls in school before they graduate. The girls gain attention when they hit Jeff, the football team's dim-witted quarterback with their car and decide to amp their popularity by telling people that they spent time in juvie. As a last ditch attempt for some female attention, they decide to start a female fight blub that will allow them physical contact with other girls, but are thrown when the girls who join the club begin actually feeling empowered from the group, something Josie and PJ did not plan on. Throw in a subplot of a 50 year rivalry with another school that is supposed to climax with Jeff's murder.
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Director and Emma Seligman really goes for broke here with an often shocking screenplay that doesn't hold anything back in terms of squirm-worthy situations and often shocking dialogue. I can't remember the last movie where I heard the word "vagina" as much as it is utilized here. These girls Josie and PJ are out and proud gay females who have been this way as long as they can remember and have no problem with going after girls they know are heterosexual. The opening scenes where the girls get all tongue-tied whenever they get near the exotic Isabel and Cindy Crawford-look-alike Brittany garner major laughs. Mixed emotions arise for the viewer as we witness Josie and PJ's disappointment as the girls who show up for the initial meeting of the fight club are plain Janes like themselves. It' unsettling when they are actually torn between the empowerment that happens among the women while all they are thinking about is having sex.
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Seligman's direction displays an imaginative cinematic eye and a deep affection for the teen comedies of the 8i0's and 90's which get a definite facelift here. Familiar themes from classic teen comedies are approached here but with lesbian characters everything takes on an air of originality that is refreshing and at, times, shocking. Can't recall the last time I saw a film that featured actual physical fight scenes between male and female characters and Seligman's camera gets right in the center of it, including an eye-popping battle royale finale shot in slow motion that displays ridiculous style.
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Seligman gets a couple of star-making performances from newcomers Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott as Josie and PJ, respectively. Also loved the endlessly versatile Nicholas Galitzine, so good earlier this year as the gay prince in Red White and Royal Blue as the totally straight and totally moronic Jeff. Also have to give a shout out to Seattle Seahawk Marshawn Lynch, making an impressive acting debut as a history teacher with marriage issues. This one caught me by surprise, there's a lot of fun and laughs to be had here. I do have to admit that this is another one of those films where I don't understand the title. 4
Gideon58
10-13-23, 06:13 PM
Garden State
Zach Braff impresses as the screenwriter, director, and star of 2004's Garden State. a loopy and unconventional character study/black comedy that does make a couple of odd detours during its final act, but is engaging entertainment for the most part thanks to Braff's undeniable style as a director and at terrific cast.
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Braff plays Andrew Largeman, a struggling actor in LA who returns to his New jersey hometown for the first time in a decade for his mother's funeral, where emotional issues and old wounds are exposed regarding this young man and his indecisiveness regarding whether or not he really wants to heal.
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Needless to say, since the central character is a struggling actor, it is easy to assume that there is some autobiographical elements to this screenplay and that, for Braff, this was sort of a way doing the therapy he might have needed at some point on screen, like Dito Monteil's film A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, but there's no way to know for sure. What is clear is that this Andrew Largeman is a really messed up guy and has spent his whole life shielding his pain. Around the halfway point of the film, we learn that the young man has been on medication he didn't really need and that he has been in therapy with a psychiatrist, who happens to be his father. This guy has issues.
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It's the possible romance with a vivacious young woman named Sam, who has her own issues, that could be the beginning of a way out of Andrew's pain, but he's fighting every step of the way, but eventually the true issues of Andrew's pain are peeled away like an onion and just when there seems to be a light at the end of Andrew's tunnel, we get a couple of weird detours that just distract the viewer. Though I did love Andrew reuniting with all of his old buddies before he left for LA. I loved when one guy, who now works as a bulk store clerk, tells Andrew that he thought Andrew had committed suicide.
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Braff employs some often dizzying camerawork to his story, with strong assists from cinematographer Lawrence Sher and editor Myron Kerstein. Braff has a solid cats behind him too...Natalie Portman lights up the screen, as always, as Sam and there's great work from Peter Sarsgaard as Andy's BFF Mark, Ian Holm as Andy's father, and cameos by Jackie Hoffman, Jean Smart, and Jim Parsons. A surprisingly solid vanity project that the viewer will eventually get wrapped up in. 4
Gideon58
10-16-23, 05:37 PM
Beau is Afraid
The director of Hereditary and Midsommar takes a big swing and a miss with 2023's Beau is Afraid, an overlong, and pretentious character study/horror/drama/black comedy that is so all over the place and so unsure of exactly it wants to say or I didn't know what it was trying to say, that this reviewer has to classify the film with a handful of films that I just didn't understand and I had mentally checked out less than two thirds of the way through the film.
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Beau is a mild-mannered bundle of neuroses and anxieties who keeps his therapist on his toes thanks to long-standing issues Beau has with his mother. Beau is about to take a flight out of town to see his mother but a bizarre set of circumstances keep Beau from making his flight and he learns that his mother has died shortly afterwards, news that sends Beau on a completely illogical and one-of-a-kind emotional journey to get back home and resolve the aforementioned mentions with his mother.
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Director and screenwriter Ari Aster has crafted a tale that divides itself up into chapters, that starts out quite interestingly, but gets less and less so as this bizarre story progresses. The opening chapter finds Beau getting kept out of his apartment while the odd characters from his neighborhood manage to get in and party in his home while locking him out. It's not long before they are after him and in an attempt to escape gets hit by a truck driven by a couple who turn out to be a doctor and an important CEO who take Beau in, but keep him a virtual prisoner, leading Beau to escape to find a theatrical troupe where he is the audience and the leading character, which finally leads to Beau's long-awaited confrontation with the real demons that have been tormenting him.
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Aster asks a lot of her audience in terms of patience because this story lays down an undeniably interesting canvas and continues to let the central character fight to get answers that everyone seems to be keeping from him purposely. The film reminded me of the Adam Sandler movie Punch Drunk Love with its relentless torture of the central character, providing so little mental solace, not to mention actual danger that this guy doesn't really incite or deserve. The film is filled with bizarre set pieces and situations that defy any kind of explanation. There's a scene where Beau gets into an overflowing bathtub that he didn't fill and looks up and sees a guy he doesn't clinging to the bathroom ceiling like Spiderman trying not to fall in the tub on top of Beau. This movie is jam-packed with "And then I woke up" scenes, but refuses to admit that's what they are. And they get more and more bizarre as the film goes on and the film does go on and on and on. There was no legitimizing this film's three-hour length. If you're going to make a three hour movie, something in the movie has to be rooted in some kind of realism and we get nothing here.
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The role of Beau is an actor's dream and Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix puts his heart and soul into this performance, it's just a shame that everything else in the film is working against him. The film features some incredible art direction, editing, visual effects, makeup, and music, but it's all for nothing because I just didn't understand what the hell was going on here. 2
Gideon58
10-17-23, 06:37 PM
Goodbye Columbus
Despite some steamy chemistry between the stars, 1969's Goodbye Columbus hasn't aged too well, but it does mark the film debut of a gorgeous actress named Ali McGraw.
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Based on a best-selling novel by Phillip Roth, the story of the romance that develops between a handsome and intelligent librarian named Neil and a pampered Jewish American Princess named Brenda, who has some unconventional beliefs regarding pregnancy and birth control.
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Arnold Schulman's adaptation of Roth's novel was allegedly kind of groundbreaking back in the day due to its frank talk about sex and birth control and a couple of very sexy love scenes between the stars, but whenever the young lovers aren't in bed we get a lot of tired romantic comedy cliches like the mother's instant hatred of Neil or the kid sister who follows Neil around or Brenda's dad complaining about "kids today" in every other scene.
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I guess it was supposed to shock 1969 movie audiences because this was probably the first film with a screenplay featuring the word "diaphram", not to mention the fact that Neil is the one who brings up the whole subject of birth control instead of Brenda, which is what you'd expect. Probably considered pretty daring subject matter back in 1969, most of what goes on here seems kind of tame in 2023, which leaves the viewer with some discreetly filmed sex scenes, some possibly offensive Jewish stereo types, and a terrific performance by Jack Klugman as Benda's father.
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Larry Peerce's direction is mostly focused on getting the sex scenes past the sensors and more care could have definitely been put into the rest of the film, which moves at a snail's pace. Richard Benjamin is quite charming as Neil though, but Michael Meyers' twitchy performance as Brenda's brother worked my last nerve. According to the IMDB, Bette Midler, Michael Nouri, Susan Lucci, and Jacklyn Smith all appear as extras in the wedding scene, but Nouri is the only one I spotted. The bloom has definitely worn off this cinematic rose. 2.5
Gideon58
10-18-23, 03:48 PM
The Grass Harp
The recent passing of Piper Laurie motivated my first viewing of 1995's The Grass Harp a warm and emotionally charged coming of age period piece that works thanks to solid direction from a second generation artist and a spectacular all-star cast all working at the top of their game.
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Based on a novel by Truman Capote, the setting is the depression era south where we meet a young man named Collin (Edward Furlong) who, after the death of his parents, is sent to live with his two spinster Aunts, the Talbo Sisters. Verena Talbo (Sissy Spacek) is this town's Elvira Gulch/Ebeneezer Scrooge, the wealthy witch who owns half the town and her sister, Dolly (Laurie) is a dreamy-eyed loner who has never been with a man and spends all her time concocting her own medicine with the assistance of the Talbo's cook and Dolly's BFF Catherine (Nell Carter). When Verena convinces a slick doctor from out of town (Jack Lemmon) to invest in patenting Dolly's medicine, Dolly, Catherine, and Collin flee the house and move into a treehouse. They are eventually joined by a retired judge (Walter Matthau), a romantic rival of Collin's (Sean Patrick Flanery) and a female evangelist with 15 children (Mary Steenburgen).
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Just like Breakfast at Tiffany's this is just not the kind of story one expects from Truman Capote, but is apparently based on Capote's own childhood. The adaptation of Capote's book by Stirling Stilliphant (In the Heat of the Night) and Kirk Ellis, who wrote the miniseries John Adams is rich with small town sensibility and is a little on the manipulative side, setting up some definite black hats and white hats in the story, but the manipulation totally works.
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Walter Matthau's son, Charles is in the director's chair for this one, who you might remember from his film debut playing Glenda Jackson's son in his father's film House Calls. According to the IMDB, Charles has 8 directorial credits but he proves that he may have found his real niche in this business, crafting a nostalgic look at a time gone by, a very turbulent time where racism was still an issue and it is addressed here, but it doesn't overpower the story and is not pounded over our heads with a sledgehammer.
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Charles Matthau also manages to pull some remarkable performances from this sparkling all-star cast. Sissy Spacek's icy Verena is a revelation because it's the first time I can recall in her long and distinguished career that she has played the straight up villain of the piece and she crushes it. The director's dad is terrific as the judge as are Roddy McDowell as a gossipy barber, Joe Don Baker as the Sheriff, Charles Durning as the preacher, and Bonnie Bartlett as his wife. But it's the gifted Piper Laurie, who actually is the standout in this amazing cast as the fragile and vulnerable Dolly, reminding me again what an incredible actress this woman was who never had the career she deserved. She's Oscar-worthy here and this film is appointment viewing for serious acting students. 4
Gideon58
10-19-23, 05:52 PM
Down Low
Falling right behind Fool's Parade as the second worst film of 2023, Get Low is a silly and snooze-worthy black comedy that features plot points as old as chestnuts and attempts to contemporize them by the fact that the central characters are gay.
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Gary is a wealthy businessman and closeted homosexual who meets a gay masseur named Cameron who, upon learning that he will be Gary's guide into the world of homosexuality. Cameron goes on a gay app and finds someone who he thinks will be appropriate for Gary and gets the guy come over, but through some bizarre circumstances, ends up dead. Cameron decides the solution to their problem is to go back to the app, where he finds someone else on the site whose profile implies that he enjoys sex with corpses, so he invites him over too.
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Screenwriters Phoebe Fisher and Lukas Gage, who plays Cameron, seem to be some sort of show-biz oriented Will & Grace who have come up with this, what seems to be, on the surface, a black comedy and believe the lack of imagination in the scripting is easy to overlook thanks to gay characters speaking frankly and participating in gay sexual situations. I did like the fact that Gary was married with two children when his family found out about him and left him. Another layer was added to the character we didn't see coming when it's revealed he has an inoperable brain tumor, which seemed to be superfluous initially but it does work its way back into the story leading to an absolutely ridiculous finale
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There's so much old school scripting going on here. The scenes with Gary trying to hide the body while Cameron dealt with the drug-riddled neighbor played by Judith Light, reminded me of Samantha Stephens trying to hide stuff from Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched and the scene where Cameron decides that Gary needs a makeover just screamed Cher and Dionne making over Tye in Clueless. There's also a disco fantasy sequence with Gary and Cameron that came off like a bad drag show that just seemed to pad running time.
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Zachary Quinto is just way too an intelligent a screen presence for the role of Gary, but I guess this was his way of coming out, career wise, which wasn't really necessary, but he certainly could have found a better vehicle than this one. it's no surprise that Gage was a perfect fit for a role he wrote for himself and Simon Rex, who was so good last year in Red Rocket, works hard as the corpse lover, but this movie is such a mess nobody really comes off that great and the last ten minutes are beyond ridiculous. 1.5
Gideon58
10-20-23, 06:06 PM
Victim
A blistering adult tale of blackmail, tolerance, and mob sensibility,1961's Victim is a literate and engrossing story that was way ahead of its time and maybe that's why it packs such an emotional wallop now.
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The film stars Dirk Bogarde as Melville Farr, an English barrister who been living as a closet homosexual for many years, despite the fact that he is married. When a former lover of his is blackmailed and, upon arrest, hangs himself in a jail cell, Farr decides to risk his comfy existence being exposed as a scam by going after the blackmailer himself, who is going to be coming after him next.
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The richly complex screenplay by Janet Green and John McCormick manages to cover a lot of ground very effectively for subject matter that was pretty much forbidden in, though released the same year as The Children's Hour, which was pretty tame compared to what we get here. First of all, this was another film that addressed the idea of a man being married having nothing to do with his sexual orientation. Also impressive was the reveal that Farr's wife knew who her husband was and thought she was the woman who could change him. The idea of a group of thieves photographing gay men and then extorting them for money and most horrifying of all, that in 1961 London, homosexuality was illegal.
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My favorite scene in the movie was when Farr's wife, Laura (Sylvia Syms) finds out about this young man. This scene is so beautifully directed and acted because it is through the performances of Bogarde and Syms and not necessarily the dialogue, we learn that this is not only not the first man Farr has been with, but that Laura knows all about Farr's history and has accepted to a point, thinking if she loves him enough, it will change who he is. Syms is especially brilliant in this scene, you can just see her putting the pieces together of what is happening in her mind, while Bogarde is simultaneously trying to present as a minor dalliance that has nothing to with his past. Bogarde, Syms, and director Basil Deardon really knock it out of the park.
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The gorgeous black and white cinematography only enhances the darkness of the piece and Phillip Green's music also sets an appropriate mood. Both Bogarde and Syms are superb and I also loved Peter McEnery as Bogarde's tragic paramour, Norman Bird as Harold, and Charles Lloyd Pack as Henry. A shattering motion picture experience that will haunt as the credits roll. 4.5
Gideon58
10-23-23, 03:11 PM
Old Dads
Bill Burr does some solid work as the screenwriter, director, and star of a 2023 comedy-drama called Old Dads, a tale of friendship and ageism that hits some solid bullseye in terms of issues that aren't necessarily considered politically correct.
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The Netflix feature is about Jack, Connor, and Mike, BFFS and business partners who all became parents late in life and recently lost their business to a snotty kid young enough to be their son. Jack loves being a dad but messed up big when he called the principal of his son's school a really nasty name. Connor is terrified of aging and of his emasculating wife, who is spoiling his son rotten by refusing to discipline him. Mike doesn't want to have anymore kids and is not happy when his live in girlfriend gets pregnant anyway.
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Burr's screenplay starts off rather brilliantly as the film, starts off as an examination of new millenium sensibilities and how these three guys have completely lost track of the world we live in, being completely ignorant of anything that happened since 1985. The first half the film is very funny as we watch these three guys attempt to scratch and claw their way into 2023, but have a really difficult time of it. Unfortunately the beginning of the second half takes a dumb detour when the three guys think their lives are over and pile into a car, driving to Las Vegas and wasting thousand of dollars on lap dances.
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The opening scenes of Jack being chastised by the principal for being late for pickup and then being forced into a public apology in front of all the kids and their parents are on the money. A sort of reverse look at the theme where the guys hit the road with one of their new employees and goad him into using the "N" word also generated a lot of laughs. The whole first half of the film was a dead on examination of three guys being clueless about living in 2023 and if the entire film had stayed on this trajectory, this would have been something pretty spectacular, but as the film winds down, we learn that guys haven't really learned anything, which was a bit of a disappointment.
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Burr's gutsy performance as Jack fascinates, though I thought Bokeem Woodbine's Mike was the film's most interesting character. The usually solid Bobby Cannavale kind of grated on the nerves here, but I loved Rachael Harris as the principal, Katie Aselton as Jack's wife, and Miles Robbins as the guy who bought the guys' business from them. There are also a pair of terrific cameos from the long absent from the screen C Thomas Howell as the business' new spokesperson and two time Oscar nominee Bruce Dern as an Uber driver. It's not a home run, there is definite entertainment value here. 3.5
Gideon58
10-24-23, 06:16 PM
The River (1984)
Melodramatic direction and an overstuffed screenplay prevent a beautifully photographed epic from 1984 called The River from being everything it should have been.
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The Garveys a hard working farm family who live on a Tennessee river that is virtually being destroyed flooding rains, which have, of course, affected crop sales and have the family in such financial straits that patriarch Tom Garvey is forced to accept another job away from the farm and leaving matriarch Mae to keep the farm going.
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This was one of three "Save the Farm" movies that were released in 1984. The other two were Places in the Heart which won Sally Field her second Oscar and Country, which starred Jessica Lange. This is the weakest of three films because the screenplay meanders from the family at the center of the story and gets a little too involved with these people at Tom's second job, which reveals that Tom is actually a scab at a warehouse where the employees are on strike. Now this could have made an interesting movie all by itself, but inserted into the middle of the story that had already been established, it felt like second movie had been edited into the first one. There are also scenes here that are slightly disguised scenes from A Place in the Heart and Country.
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The direction by Mark Rydell (On Golden Pond) is slightly overheated and unfocused. There's a completely unnecessary scene revolved around a community softball game where Rydell's camera spends an inordinate amount of time exploring Mel Gibson's physique. There's also a scene at the warehouse where a deer wonders in that not only stops all the workers but brings the film to a dead halt. One heart-stopping scene where Rydell does score a bullseye is a scene where Sissy Spacek's Mae gets her arm stuck in a piece of equipment on a tractor and has to goad a bull into helping her get out of it.
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The film actually received four Oscar nominations, including a lead actress nomination for Spacek, Vilmos Zsigmond's breathtaking cinematography and John Williams' lush music. There's a lot to recommend here, but the movie never quite gels as a complete cinematic experience. 3
Gideon58
10-26-23, 02:05 PM
Fair Play (2023)
The 2023 Netflix production Fair Play is an overlong and unimaginative soap opera that manages to hold viewer attention through some stylish directorial flourishes and some palatable chemistry between the stars.
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Emily and Luke are a recently engaged couple who work at the same hedge fund and have somehow managed to keep their relationship a secret from their co-workers. Their relationship begins to methodically unravel when Emily receives a promotion at work that they thought Luke was going to get.
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Director and screenwriter Chloe Domont, whose primary experience is in television as a writer and director for shows like Ballers, Shooter, and Billions, has provided us with a story that is nothing special, resembling a feature length episode of The Young and the Restless, that initially titillates, but becomes more and more predictable as the film progresses.
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Domont's directorial style does make the film appear a little more special than it really is. The opening scene where they have sex in a bathroom is a real eye-opener and we think what happens during this scene is going to work into the plot later, but it really doesn't. I like the way their desk were on opposites sides of a cubicle when the film begins, but after Emily gets promoted, her office is still across from Luke's, just from a different angle. Domont allows the camera to tell a lot of the story from Luke's desk and Emily's office, without dialogue and it's much more effective. I just wish the story offered more surprises than it does.
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Emily Blunt-look-a-like Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich (Hail Ceasar, Cocaine Bear) generate some serious chemistry as Emily and Luke, respectively, but because the story tears them apart it's hard to notice. Rich Sommer, Sebastian DeSouza, and Eddie Marsan make the most of thankless supporting roles, but this is watchable, but nothing special. 3
Gideon58
10-27-23, 02:06 PM
Matinee
Pretty much ignored at its time of release but now considered a cut classic, 1993's Matinee is a lavishly produced, sweetly nostalgic valentine to sci-fi horror that features deft scripting and imaginative direction from the director of Gremlins.
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It's the Florida Keys during the recently announced Cuban Missile Crisis that has the town in a panic but young Gene, his mom, and little brother are trying to keep their chins up since Gene's dad is in the navy and stationed right at the center of the conflict. A schlock movie producer named Lawrence Woolsey has decided that this is the perfect time and place to introduce his latest movie about a man turned ant called "Mant", along with some of his personal technology to get audiences more involved with what's going on up on the screen.
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Charles A Hasse (Gremlins 2: The New Batch) and Jerico Stone (My Stepmother is an Alien) have crafted a near brilliant homage to 1950's science fiction that not only brilliantly recrates the 1950's for the story, but manages to incorporate real life figures and events from the period into the fictional story, something I usually find dangerous in screenwriting, but it totally works here.
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Lawrence Woolsey, though not a real life character, seems to be based on producer Roger Corman. It's so much fun the way this character looks past just the making of the film to produce box office receipts. Loved his idea of placing electrical devices in the seats to shock the audience the first time Mant attacks someone in the movie. He also has his star and girlfriend dress as a nurse in front of theater and make ticket buyers sign a disclaimer relieving the filmmakers of liability if they get scared to death. Also loved that the school bully was Harvey Stockweather, half of the real life crime duo Starkweather and Fugate, who were the inspiration of the 1973 film Badlands. And the movie within a movie "Mant", is hysterical.
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Director Joe Dante put a lot of care into the execution of this story, particularly in some spectacular visual effects and a pretty much unknown cast of young actors in the principal roles. It was so refreshing to see teenage character in a movie actually played by teenage actors. Simon Fenton was charming as young Gene as was Kellie Martin as the bubbly Sherry. John Goodman was perfection in his first and only real leading role as Woolsey and was well-paired with Cathy Moriarty as his actress/girlfriend. Gene's little brother, Dennis, was played Jesse Soffer, who two years later would play Bobby in The Brady Bunch Movie and this film also featured cameos by William Schallert and, in the final feature length film appearance of his career, Hollywood legend Jesse White. A joy from start to finiash. 4
Gideon58
10-30-23, 03:20 PM
Tom Cruise: The Last Movie Star
Four time Oscar nominee and Hollywood icon Tom Cruise is the subject of a pretentious and pandering unauthorized documentary called Tom Cruise: The Last Movie Star, which works very hard at making Cruise look like a God of the movie industry, but offers little if no insight into Tom Cruise the person.
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The movie begins with the gushing of several movie critics and entertainment writers about the phenomenal success of Top Gun: Maverick and how it not only revived Cruise's career but got the entire motion picture industry off life support. Then the film hints at the meltdown of his career during the middle of the first decade of 2000, leading us all the way back to the beginning of his remarkable career.
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The gushing surprisingly stops when the film moves back to the beginning of his career, with brief glimpses of his work in Taps and The Outsiders, but quickly glosses over in an all too economic films like Risky Business, All the Right Moves, The Color of Money, Rain Man, barely mentioning films like The Firm and A Few Good Men, but this isn't what my problem with this film. My problem is precious little is offered regarding what went behind the scenes with these films. We are offered no interviews with actors or directors who worked with Cruise and, of course, it goes without saying that there are no interviews with the man himself. There's nothing in this film that couldn't be found on a google search.
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The gushing also stops when the commentary switches to circa 2005-2006 when Cruise went public about his scientology beliefs and when he was having heated arguments with Brooke Shields, Matt Lauer, and jumping on Oprah's couch. Unfortunately, the commentary for this part of the actor's history are glossed over as quickly as possible to go back to interminable praise about Cruise's stunt work on his movies.
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Commentary is provided by film critic Richard Roeper, co-screenwriter AA Dowd, director Thomas Arnold, and Dan Jolin. This might be interesting to people who know absolutely nothing about the star, but hardcore cinephiles looking for some real insight into the star will be severely disappointed. 2
Gideon58
10-30-23, 05:56 PM
James Dean (2001)
Some flashy directorial touches and a solid performance from James Franco in the title role help make a 2001 TV movie entitled James Dean worth a look.
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This is a relatively detailed look at the life and career of the original Hollywood rebel whose starring filmography consisted of three films, two of which would earn him Oscar nominations before his tragic death in a car accident on November 30, 1955.
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The screenplay by Israel Horvitz (Author! Author!) is oddly constructed. The film begins on the set of East of Eden where Dean is driving his co-star Raymond Massey (the late Edward Herrmann) nuts with his method acting techniques, ignorantly unaware that director Elia Kazan was pushing Den with his techniques behind Massey's back, then the film flashes back to Dean's troubled childhood with his mentally ill mother and his distant father (Michael Moriarty, who won an Emmy for this performance).
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The story doesn't provide a lot in terms of shocking reveal of the man behind the movie star. Dean is portrayed here as a spoiled child who wanted movie stardom on his own terms and only wanted to do things his way and the way he wanted. In addition to his troubles with Raymond Massey, we observe him telling directors and co-stars how he was going to play scenes whether they liked it or not. There was one totally unbelievable scene where Broadway showman Billy Rose (John Pleshette) actually comes out of his own pocket with $10.00 so that Jimmy can have his glasses fixed, but he spends it on food instead, tells Rose what he did with money and is instantly forgiven because Rose wants him in his play so badly.
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I don't believe for a minute that a Broadway director was so hypnotized by the guy that he gave him money, or that he kept leading lady Geraldine Page waiting on an opening night or that he made Eliza Kazan drive him to his father's house, but the closing credits begin with a disclaimer stating that most of what we saw here was based on fact and the rest was speculation. I was impressed that this is the first look at Dean's life that even mentioned his bisexuality, though it is glossed over. On the other hand, it was refreshing to see that Jack Warner didn't put up with a lot of Dean's prima donna crap. Warner is played by the film's director, Mark Rydell (The Rose, On Golden Pond). There was also something kid of disturbing about the mounting of the car accident that killed the star that was kind of disturbing.
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The physical resemblance between him and the star notwithstanding, James Franco really sinks his teeth into the title role and delivers a performance that did earn him a Golden Globe. Enrico Colantoni and Barry Primus were also solid as Elia Kazan and Nicholas Ray, respectively. It's no classic and I don't buy everything here as truth nor do they claim it to be, but the work of Franco and Rydell make it worth a look. 3.5
Gideon58
10-31-23, 03:23 PM
The Miracle Club
Gorgeous scenery, compelling direction, and three superb performances lead performances do make the 2023 melodrama The Miracle Club worth a look.
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The setting is a small community right outside of Dublin called Ballygar in the year 1967. The death of a woman named Maureen has brought together her childhood friends Lily and Eileen and their friend Dolly, who have just won tickets to a trip to Lourdes where the three women are seeking their own personal medical miracles: Lily hopes to have her injured leg repaired; Eileen is looking for a cure for her breast cancer, and Dolly is hoping that the journey will provide speech for her mute son. Also journeying to Lourdes is Maureen's daughter, Chrissie, who returns to Ireland for the first time in 40 years and is motivated to make the trip in order to reconcile with Lily and Eileen.
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The screenplay for what initially seems to be a pretty simple story turns out to have layers that we don't see coming at all. Though we're not really sure why, neither Lily nor Eileen's families want them making this pilgrimage to Lourdes and have threatened not to be there when they return. More importantly, once the ladies arrive in Lourdes, backstory explaining Chrissie's 40 year absence from Ballygar comes to light, a story with enough pain and angst to fill a Eugene O'Neill play and the completely different ways that Lily and Eileen view what happened. We're intrigued as it seems that Lily wants to let bygones by bygones but Eileen cannot let go what happened 40 years ago.
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The real joy here is watching the remarkable work director Thaddeus O'Sullivan does in establishing this extremely appealing canvas. Of course, Ireland is always a welcome location for film, automatically establishing an enchanting canvas on which the story can unfold that becomes even more lavish as the story moves to Lourdes. Every shot of the film establishing a location looks like a postcard.
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And the performances he gets from three of the best actresses in the business will distract from the occasional slow spot. Laura Linney is crisp and vulnerable as Chrissie, who initially seems to be the villain of the piece but the character's thaw is believable. Kathy Bates lights up the screen as the explosive Eileen, a rich performance that even allows Bates to sing for the first time since Annie back in 1999. As expected, the divine Maggie Smith steals the show as the sad and sweet Lily, allowing us to see all the wisdom and grace in every wrinkle on her face and making us want anything Lily wants. It's not for all tastes, but the three actresses did make it worth my time. 3
Gideon58
10-31-23, 06:43 PM
Single White Female
Despite a predictable screenplay and overheated direction, the 1992 psychological thriller Single White Female is worth watching because of an extraordinary performance by the queen of "hot mess" movie characters, Jennifer Jason Leigh.
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Bridget Fonda plays Allie, a fashion designer who lives with her boyfriend, Sam (Steven Weber) until she discovers that he has cheated on her. She impulsively throws him out and decides to advertise for a roommate, ultimately deciding on a woman named Hedy (Leigh), who initially seems a little needy until Allie reconciles with Sam, causing something to snap inside Hedy, eliminating anything in her mission to have Allie to herself.
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The screenplay by John Lutz and Don Roos is an uncomfortable combination of confusion and predictability, starting from the opening scene, which is a clearly a flashback but we really don't know who these girls are in the flashback. Once Hedy move in with Ally things begin to come into focus to an extent. The story attempts to confuse by having Hedy appear jealous every time she catches Allie and Sam in a romantic situation, but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that Hedy's priorities are with Allie, not Sam as she begins to eliminate people who are getting between her and Allie, the same way Michael Beihn started eliminating everyone between him and Lauren Bacall in The Fan.
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The film features stylish direction from Barbet Schroeder, who had just received an Oscar nomination for directing Reversal of Fortune. His camerawork lets us inside the heads of these characters as much as he wants us to. He takes a little more care in revealing exactly who Hedy is. We are waffling on what's going on with Hedy until that scene in the beauty parlor where she coyly slithers down those stairs with her hair the same cut and color as Allie. When Allie finally figures out exactly what's going, which takes way too long, the story gets harder to swallow, especially when Allie and her gay BFF (Peter Friedman) are unable to overpower Hedy together.
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But no matter how silly the story gets, it never becomes unwatchable thanks to the magic of Jennifer Jason Leigh, whose beyond creepy Hedy leaps off the screen. Fonda, Weber, and Friedman make the most of their roles, but this is Leigh's show and she delivers what is required of her here. 3.5
Gideon58
11-02-23, 06:18 PM
A Million Miles Away
Despite a solid, Oscar-worthy performance by Michael Pena in the starring role, 2023's A million Miles Away is an overlong and emotionally manipulative biopic about the first Mexican astronaut to go into space that's pretension in telling this story does not justify this film feeling five hours long.
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This is the story of Juan Hernandez, the son of a California migrant worker who picked grapes for a living, who worked alongside his father picking grapes when he wasn't in school, but did have bigger dreams which led him to engineering school and his long term goal of becoming an astronaut.
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Director and screenwriter Alejandra Márquez Abella displays a great deal of affection and respect for the story and its subject, but it's a little overly detailed and moves at a snail's pace. The beginning of the film spends too much time on Hernandez as a kid trying to connect with his teacher and gain his father's respect and his romance with devoted wife, Adela,is glossed over and after a discussion of their dreams, where she confesses to wanting to own her own restaurant, she spends the majority of the film barefoot and pregnant. She does get her own restaurant before the film is out and they attempt to justify it by showing Hernandez waiting tables and washing dishes before he begins preparations for being part of the Discovery Space Shuttle crew.
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Abella borrows story elements from The Right Stuff, Top Gun, Hidden Figures,First Man, and I Dream of Jeannie, but doesn't do an efficient job of disguising them. There are so many corny and predictable scenes here. The scene where Hernandez hand delivers his 12th application for the space program is almost laughable as is the scene where Hernandez helps a fellow astronaut escape a water test. The IMDB also reveals a major historical faux pas in the story. Hernandez is revealed to already be training when the Columbia space shuttle explodes. That tragedy occurred in 2003 and Hernandez did not begin his space training until 2004, sucking all the credibility out of the scene where Hernandez witnesses the tragedy.
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Despite all of the problems with this movie, a lot of it can be forgiven thanks to the charismatic performance by Michael Pena as Hernandez. The little moments are the best. I love an early scene where he confesses to Adela his dream of being an astronaut and his reaction when she laughs at him or when he asks Adela if he can take her wedding ring with him on the Discovery. There are the moments that make Pena's performance so special and want to invest in for the entire running time. Rosa Salazar and Bobby Soto are also solid as Adela and Jose's BFF Beto, respectively. A really eclectic classic song score also helps keep this film watchable during the slow spots. 3.5
Gideon58
11-06-23, 04:51 PM
Road House (1989)
After becoming an official movie star with his performance in Dirty Dancing, the late Patrick Swayze took on a much different role with 1989's Road House, a testosterone-charged action comedy that devoted fans of the FOX sitcom Family Guy will tell you, is Peter Griffin's movie.
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Swayze plays Dalton (we're never told if this is his first name or last), a martial arts expert who works as a bouncer and has just been hired to clean up a seedy bar in Missouri called the Double Deuce. Dalton's does begin to clean the place up but it also gets the attention of Brad Wesley (the late Ben Gazzara), the local wiseguy who runs the town and is not happy with Dalton's interference.
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There's nothing here in terms of a compelling story or characters that we care about, so if you're looking for that sort of thing, you've definitely come to the wrong movie. However, if you are a fan of the late Mr. Swayze, who enjoyed watching him flex his muscles in Dirty Dancing in various states of undress, you get much of the same here, except without the music. This is the first movie hero who I've seen who is able to do his own stitches when he gets hurt and just like Mel Gibson in The River, this film spends more than an inordinate time with the camera focused on Swayze's upper torso.
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The story does attempt a romance for the hero with a pretty doctor, played by Kelly Lynch, but the romance falls flat because Swayze has absolutely no chemistry with Lynch, though I have an idea how she may have gotten the part. I couldn't help but notice a more than passing resemblance between Lynch and Swayze's wife, Lisa Reimi and I have to wonder if that had anything to do with Lynch's casting. Unfortunately, whenever Swayze isn't beating up on someone, the film screeches to a dead halt.
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Director Rowdy Herrington, who directed the underground classic Repo Man, shows an energetic cinematic eye and a real talent for staging onscreen fight scenes, but like I said, whenever the fighting stopped, so did the film's appeal. Gazzara's flashy performance as Wesley and a charismatic turn from Sam Elliott as another famous bouncer and friend of Dalton's command attention, but not enough to make this film a solid film experience. Swayze made up for this small misstep with his next film, a little something called Ghost. 3
Gideon58
11-07-23, 03:22 PM
Quiz Lady
Hulu and Will Ferrell Ferrell's production company struck gold when they cast two actresses opposite each other who should have made a film together long before this, not to mention the fact that both actresses are cast against type. The result is a goofy 2023 comedy called Quiz Lady that not only provides laugh out loud comedy but unexpected doses of warmth.
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Awkwefina stars as Anne Yum, a 28-year old, socially awkward office worker who lives with her dog, Mr. Linguini and is obsessed with a game show called "Can't Stop that Quiz" that she has been watching since she was 4 years old. She even has a bobble head doll of the show's host, Terry McTeer (Will Ferrell) on her book shelf. Anne is reunited with her self-absorbed, unemployed sister, Jenny (Sandra Oh) when they learn that their nursing home housed mother has an $80,000 gambling debt. Guess how Anne and Jenny decide to earn the money to clear their mother's debt?
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What can I say, I LOVED this movie. Awkwefina and Oh turn out to be a distaff reincarnation of Martin and Lewis, anchoring a comedy premise that shouldn't have been nearly as funny as it was. The characters in this movie are all classic comic archetypes, nothing we haven't seen before but Awkwefina and Oh manage to breath new life into these archetypes that keep them fresh and funny throughout. Screenwriter Jen D'Angelo, whose writing credits include television shows like Cougar Town and the recent sequel Hocus Pocus Two, also scores by making Awkwefina the brainy introverted sister and Oh the flighty and ditzy sister, which I didn't see coming at all.
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Remember in White Men Can't Jump when we learn that Rosa Perez' character's dream is to go on Jeopardy? Well, that premise is tweaked here as we watch Anne enjoying her show and getting every question correct. Once we see this, the only thing this movie becomes about is seeing Anne get to be on her favorite show and the fact that she might be able to help her mother on the way would be nice, but it's not a gamebreaker for us. There are some realistic roadblocks provided for Anne, even though her drug-induced hallucinations at the show audition might have been a little over the top, we just know the story wouldn't bring us this far and not let Anne get on that show.
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Director Jessica Lu keeps thing breezy for the most part, especially her clear control over the two leads who work so well together. Ferrell is fun as the game show host as is Holland Taylor as Anne's nasty Debbie Downer neighbor and Jason Schwartzman as the game show's obnoxious returning champion. The film also features the final feature film appearance of the late Paul Reubens in a cute cameo near the end. I liked this movie so much and I hope it's not ruined with a sequel. You know those epilogues they have at the end of movie comedies where they explain what happens to each of the characters? This one had the best epilogue I've ever seen. 4
Gideon58
11-07-23, 05:19 PM
Crimes of the Heart
Despite the presence of three Oscar winning actresses in the starring roles, the 1986 film version of Crimes of the Heart is a slow and unimaginative movie that keeps pretending to lead to something and never gets there.
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This is the story of three eccentric sisters who are reunited in the small southern town where they grew up when their mother commits suicide and one of the sisters gets arrested for shooting her husband. As two sisters try to get to the bottom of what the third did, they find themselves once again at the center of town gossip, thanks primarily to their snarky and prudish cousin, who has been the bane of their existence forever.
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Lenny (Diane Keaton) is a lonely woman whose birthday is being quietly celebrated by herself. Meg (Jessica Lange) was the town tramp when she was younger but left town to try to become an actress, a dream that never really panned out. Babe (Sissy Spacek) is the baby sister married to a wealthy but tyrannical lawyer who she shoots after seeing his wife spending innocent time with a hunky young black man.
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The film is based on a play by Beth Henley that opened in November of 1981 and ran a little over a year. Henley was allowed to adapt her own play into a screenplay, which is always a risk that, in this case, didn't really pay off. The screenplay is very talky, rich with long rambling Tennessee Williams-type monologues that seem to offer insight into who these sisters are, but it never really does.
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Director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) provides some directorial flourishes that do offer something the screenplay doesn't. I don't know if it was in the play, but I loved the attention Beresford put into the attention of the early scene of Lenny attempting to put a birthday candle on a cookie speaks volumes because we assume she has the only one who has remembered it is either Meg or Babe's birthday, but we're a little startled when Meg reveals that it's Lenny's birthday. Also loved a tiny throwaway moment of Meg on the bus home and notices a location memorable to her, that causes just the tiniest smile to appear.
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A serious shot of star power helps. Keaton and Lange are solid, as always, and Sissy Spacek's Babe earned her a fourth Best Actress nomination. Tess Harper's bitchy Cousin Chick earned her a Supporting Actress nomination as well. Like all of Beresford's work, the film is beautifully photographed, but considering all the talent involved, should have been a lot more interesting than it was. 3
Gideon58
11-08-23, 03:04 PM
Sly
The life and career of Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone is profiled with some semblance of imagination in a 2023 Netflix documentary called Sly.
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The documentary begins in an interesting way as we have apparently caught Stallone at a crossroads in his life and he think his life is stagnating, so he has decided to pack up his mansion and move back to the east coast. This allows us an extensive look at Stallone's art, adorning every walls and the millions of souvenirs from his career that fill his home, including a duplicate of the Rocky statue that stands in Philadelphia. I loved the shots of several shots of scripts from his movies where most of what is on the page has been crossed off in magic marker followed by leather bound copies of all his screenplays.
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This brings me to what was the biggest surprise that I learned about Stallone. After an overview of his hellish upbringing in Hells Kitchen with his abusive father, we learn that Sly's real passion in movie making was really in screenwriting. Apparently, Stallone pretty much re-wrote his first major film The Lords of Flatbush, which led him to writing Rocky. Loved hearing from his own mouth that there was a lot of interest in Hollywood in doing the film, but they wanted someone else to play Rocky Balboa. Needless to say the writer and the actor were a package deal. I also heard for the first time that none of his supporting cast in Rocky were his original choices for the roles.
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One thing he talks about that sort of shocked me and considering his career it shouldn't have. Stallone is the only actor I have ever heard talk about the virtue and importance of the sequel. Considering so much of his career has been spent making sequels, it still surprised me. Also loved hearing that he went off book during a scene with De Niro in Cop Land to get what he wanted from the actor. He also proved to be a student of film, showing us the importance of the film A Lion in Winter.
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Commentary is provided by Talia Shire, Quentin Tarantino, Henry Winkler, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Herzfeld, Frank Stallone, and Jennifer Flavin. Loved this revealing documentary that introduced me to a man nothing like his screen persona...a man of intelligence and taste. 4
Gideon58
11-08-23, 04:43 PM
Kate & Leopold
The fish out of water story and the romantic fantasy blend to pretty credible effect in an overly complex comedy from 2001 called Kate & Leopold whose overstuffed screenplay can be forgiven thanks to the performances from the leads.
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An actual 19th century Prince, Prince Leopold, the Duke of Albany, has been tracked from modern day Manhattan by a young scientist who, when discovered to be tracking Prince Leopold, is pursued by the Duke for answers as to why he is following him. In his pursuit for answers, he falls through a hole in the space time continuum, landing him in modern day Manhattan, where he finds himself falling for the scientist's ex and downstairs neighbor, an effervescent advertising executive.
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Let's be honest, if you strip this story to the bone, there's not a lot of originality to it, except for the fact that this Duke of Albany was an actual person, who research revealed, did invent the elevator. We've seen the unhappy prince in millions of reboots of Cinderella and the time travel in the Back to the Future franchise and, of course, the Duke becoming a star of the lady's television commercial was pretty much a retread of every episode of Bewitched made, and maybe that's why the screenplay seems a little top heavy because what we're seeing isn't exactly. And the climax will definitely bring to mind the Tom Hanks comedy Splash.
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Director and co-screenwriter James Mangold (Walk the Line) makes up for the problems in his story with the casting of Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan in the title roles. Jackman's performances is a perfect marriage of actor and character, making some of the less believable elements of the story hard to swallow. He is absolutely charming during his opening moments in modern day Manhattan encountering all of the modern conveniences of 2001. Though by the halfway point of the movie, he seems to have mastered 21st century technology pretty quickly. Ryan, the queen of 90's romantic comedy, offers another charming character, though she's not much different than a lot of other Ryan characters.
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There is a subplot involving Kate's little brother, Charlie that slows things down, but Breckin Meyer is quite charming in the role and Liev Schreiber's loopy performance as Kate's ex is fun too, but this is Jackman's show and he makes you forgive just about anything that's wrong with the movie. 3.5
Gideon58
11-09-23, 04:44 PM
Dane Cook: Above it All
I remember when I first saw Dane Cook do stand up on HBO during the early 2000's, I wasn't really impressed but it seemed like everyone in his second special thought he was the funniest human being on the planet (the fact that the special was filmed in his hometown probably didn't hurt). Unfortunately, the last couple of decades have not been good to the comedian, but he did stage the beginning of a renaissance last year with a special called Dane Cook: Above it All.
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For a little context, it should be known that at the beginning of the 21st century, Cook was the hottest standup on the planet, one of three people to sell out Madison Square Garden (George Carlin and Eddie Murphy being the other two), but went through a lot of career turmoil after that. A panic attack kept him from being hired as an SNL cast member. He had a very public feud with fellow standup Louis CK, who had accused Cook of stealing jokes from him, and had millions of dollars stolen by his siblings, an event that actually became a question on Jeopardy. He was also lambasted for some very inappropriate humor, including a joke he made about the shooting at the movie theater in Colorado that brought his career to a halt.
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This special finds Cook hitting the stage wearing a burgundy hoodie, jeans, and white sneakers as he descends the stairs of his palatial home in Los Angeles. Research revealed that the audience were strangers who were bussed to Cook's home not knowing where they were going. Yes, the concert is shot from his house and we know this because he mentions it approximately 27 times in the first ten minutes of the show. He also thought it was important for us to know that the money he made from the movie Good Luck Chuck built the house. Once he finally decided that the audience understood they were at his house, he launched into an interminable routine about his encounter with a stalker that took almost half the screen time and provided precious few laughs for this reviewer.
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Though his audience loved the stalker story, he almost lost them when he started talking about his new girlfriend, who is 23 years his junior. He seemed to sense this and got off the subject of her pretty quickly. He did do some funny stuff about television crime and how to survive in court, but there was a point during one story where as he ended it, he made it clear to his audience that he didn't get the reaction that he expected to get from the story.
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One thing that I remember from the last time I saw Cook do standup that hasn't changed a bit is the unabashed arrogance of this guy. Despite all of the hills and valleys of this guy's career, this guy still thinks he's the funniest guy alive and puts up a definite wall between himself and his audience. Right after he ended the show, he immediately followed with, "You can go home now." Nice guy. 2
Gideon58
11-11-23, 05:08 PM
Days of Heaven
My recent viewing of the Terrence Malick's Badlands motivated my first viewing of 1978's Days of Heaven), a visually opulent tale of loneliness, greed and lust that rivets the viewer with its visuals and it's emotionally-charged story.
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It's turn of the century midwest where we meet Bill (Richard Gere) and Abby (Brooke Adams) who work as day labor for a wealthy farmer (Sam Shepherd) who we are immediately informed is dying. Bill and Abby have been together for a long time, but for some reason, at work they claim to be siblings. Whatever they are, it's not long before the farmer becomes obsessed with Abby. Bill decides to push a reluctant Abby into pursuing a relationship with the farmer so that they can possibly get a hand on the man's fortune, but when Abby marries the farmer and begins developing actual feelings for the farmer, the story moves into several places we don't see coming.
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Malick employs a lot of detail into establishing the atmosphere of this film and I don't mean just in terms of settings. He leisurely shows us what this day labor life is like, looking like something akin to indentured servitude if not outright slavery. We see employs being drafted for the job at the beginning and there is absolutely no screening process. They pretty much hire whoever wants the work, men, women, and children. As a matter a pre-teen character named Linda (Linda Manz) serves as the film's narrator, even though I found the narration to be unnecessary.
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The meat of this film is the fiery love triangle that develops between the three principals. Malick establishes at the beginning of the film that Bill has a temper so that we will watch for it later. Even though he doesn't admit it, Bill does regret his plan the minute it is set in motion. Most fascinating though is the apex of the triangle, smart but vulnerable and confused Abby. It starts off as a simple con and I don't think she or Bill actually planned for her to marry the guy. But what intrigues the viewer is the possibility that Abby might have developed feelings for the farmer, but it's never made really clear and that's OK. And just as this triangle comes to a fever pitch, it is shoved to the side for a horrifying insect infestation that puts everyone but the farmer in danger.
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Malick's attention to production values is first rate, especially the Oscar-winning cinematography by Nestor Alamendros. Richard Gere and Brooke Adams make perfect-star crossed lovers and as much of his work that I've seen, I don't think I've ever enjoyed Sam Shepherd more as the tyrannical and tortured farmer. I haven't enjoyed him this much since Frances. An instant classic at the time of its release that earns its reputation. 4
Gideon58
11-13-23, 04:52 PM
Nyad
Annette Bening is a deadlock for a fifth Oscar nomination for her complete command of the title role in 2023's Nyad, an often heart-stopping docudrama that despite a slightly sentimental approach to telling the story, brought enough stark realism to what we're watching that there were moments where this reviewer was fighting tears.
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Bening plays Diana Nyad, the former Olympic swimmer and 30 year correspondent for ABC's Wild World of Sports, who, at the age of 60, decided to make her first attempt at doing something she knew she was not going to be able to die happily without achieving: swimming from Cuba to Florida, without the aid of a shark net and with the aid of her lifelong friend and coach, Bonnie Stoll (two time Oscar winner Jodie Foster).
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Julia Cox's screenplay, adapted from a book by Nyad, impresses from the beginning as a biopic of authenticity and sincerity. Initially impressed that the film begin with an actual clip of the real Nyad appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Normally with films like this, real footage of the subject is reserved for the end of the film, but by beginning the film with this footage, an air of honesty pervaded everything we saw after that. Also liked that we didn't get a birth to death chronicle of the subject. The movie begins when Diana is 60 years old, though it does provide flashbacks to her past, these flashback have a spontaneous feel initially, but as the film progressed, each flashback had a connection to where the story is present, providing just enough backstory without ever bringing the present story to a halt.
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Also loved the fact that Nyad did not succeed her first time and never gave up. We know this story wouldn't have been told if she did not succeed before the film was over, but I liked the fact that it didn't help without some serious bumps along the way. Loved that after her second or third attempt, she was about to give up when she saw another swimmer on television who said she was going to attempt the same swim but ended up not making it.
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Compelling and detailed direction add to the constant fascination that pervades over the whole movie...not just some of the intense underwater storms and dangers Nyad encounters, including a very dangerous storm where the water looks like it's on fire, an insane concept, but also a fantasy sequence near the ending which features Nyad meeting her 14 year old self, which looked like something out of an Esther Williams musical.
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Annette Bening's extraordinary performance is the heart of this film. She forsakes all pretense of glamour hear, I don't think she wears a drop of makeup throughout the entire film. Foster matches Bening note for note and an Oscar nomination is not out of the question for her either. Though I would prefer to see Bening honored since Foster already has two Oscars. Gorgeous cinematography, underwater photography and music are the frosting on this cinematic cake, a veritable textbook on how to make a biopic. 4.5
Gideon58
11-15-23, 01:28 PM
Tommy Boy
It ain't Merchant Ivory and it's not exactly steeped in realism, but the 1995 comedy Tommy Boy provides non-stop laughs from opening to closing credits thanks to the undeniable chemistry between David Spade and the late great Chris Farley.
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Farley plays the title, the under achieving son of an auto manufacturer (Brian Dennehy), who dies on his wedding day to a gold digger (Bo Digger) trying to steal his fortune with help from her partner (Rob Lowe). Tommy learns that the company is in serious trouble and about to be bought out by another company and, in order to save his father's company, is sent on a road trip with a snotty accountant (Spade) to sell enough brake pads to save the company.
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I have not seen an actor command a movie comedy like this since Eddie Murphy did in Beverly Hills Cop. Farley is exhausting, but exhausting in a good way, creating a character with Jerry Lewis type physical comedy, Chevy Chase cynicism, and a layer sweetness that makes you like this guy immediately. And a lot of this comes from the relationship that established Tommy and his dad. Farley and Dennehy are so perfect in these scenes that we think the heart of the movie is gone, but another heart does develop.
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That other heart is the relationship that develops between Tommy and Richard, Spade's character. Yes, it's a very slow burn, Richard is very nasty to Tommy as the trip commences but we do see Tommy poking holes through Richard's icy exterior as well as unexpected moments of bonding that provide big laughs. LOVE the scene where the song "Superstar" by the Carpenters comes on the radio and they both pretend to be indifferent to it then in the next shot we see them both belting out the lyrics at the top of their lyrics. It would have been nice if the story had concentrated a little more on the relationship between Tommy and Richard than all the over the top stuff that happened on the road, like the destruction of Richard's car and the deer incident. The whole thing came full circle for this reviewer when Richard admitted to being Tommy's friend and admitted Tommy was his only friend. I also love that the through line of the Tommy character always stays at the forefront of everything he does...to save his father's company.
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Director Peter Segal does manage to keep a cap on this big budget comedy written by the creators of Third Rock from the Sun, but never reins in the manic Farley, which is OK. Over a decade after making "10", Bo Derek still looks sensational and Rob Lowe is very funny as Paul. We also get a terrific mustache-twirling villain played by Dan Aykroyd, but this is Chris Farley's show and shows why this guy was taken from us much too soon. 3.5
Gideon58
11-15-23, 07:46 PM
Dumb Money
An absolutely insane true story has slickly been brought to the screen with stylish direction and an impressive ensemble cast in a 2023 docudrama called Dumb Money that was, at times, hard to follow, but never boring.
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This is the story of a Wall Street blogger named Keith Gill (Paul Dano) who has been guiding his 412 follows to a stock called Gamestop, but has also attracted the attention of a couple of hedge funders with deep pockets, though some of Gill's followers have less than $200 to invest but believe in Gill. It's not long before we see the price of Gamestop leap from $20 a share to $350 a share, putting a lot of money in people's hands who should have sold at this point, but the stock begins to drop as quickly as it rose, putting Gill and a whole lot of other people in very hot water.
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The richly complex screenplay is from the writers of The Social Network and Orange is the New Black and requires complete attention which doesn't really pay off, but what it does is endear the viewer to a handful of those 412 followers, including a nurse and single mom, an electronics store employee, and a pair of lesbian college students, who really don't have the money to be investing money in the stock market,. but their blind worship of this Keith Gill has them following him down a path that leads Gill to a subpoena from the US congress.
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I had a difficult time following exactly what was going on as this film moved to its halfway point. The connection between what these regular Joes were doing with their money and what these hedge funders were doing became muddy, but its sizzle to an emotionally charged David VS Goliath story kept the film watchable. Was especially moved by everything that happened in the story affected Keith's relationship with his brother, Kevin (Pete Davidson).
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The music video style direction by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) is a little distracting, but it's this cast that really makes this movie worth watching. Backing up Dano and Davidson are Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman, America Ferrera, Vincent D'Onofrio, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, Kate Burton, and Clancy Brown, working together as an ensemble serving the piece. The story was a bit confusing, but that cast made it worth wading through. 3.5
Gideon58
11-16-23, 04:06 PM
The Shootist
Never been much of a John Wayne fan but was impressed by the final film of his amazing career, a lovely and moving film from 1976 called The Shootist that seemed to be a wonderful swan song to the legend's career.
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Wayne plays JB Bookes, a famous gunfighter who arrives in 1901 Carson City to get a second opinion from his friend Doc Hostetler (James Stewart) about a diagnosis he received from another doctor that he is dying of cancer. When Doc confirms the diagnosis and suggests that JB stop travelling and find a place to rest, JB finds lodgings at the boarding house of the handsome Mrs. Rogers (Lauren Bacall) and her teenage son Gillom (Oscar winner Ron Howard). Mrs. Rogers and Gillom seem willing to let JB live out whatever time he has left in peace, but there are a few townfolk who don't feel the same way.
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Still a little in shock about how much I enjoyed this movie. The screenplay is constructed in a series of vignettes that allow some backstory for Bookes to be revealed while simultaneously showing Bookes trying to adjust to his uncertain future. Loved the first scenes with Bookes and his doctor where Bookes wants to know exactly what he's in for and the doc can't or won't give him any definite answers. We love Gillom's wide-eyed hero worship of the man affect his mother's fear of him. We are even privy to watching people who want to profit from the man's death, including the cynical Carson City Sheriff (Harry Morgan).
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I loved that no matter what kind of conflict Mrs. Rogers or Gillom were having with JB it would disappear anytime he would wince in pain. The nastiness of the sheriff near the beginning was really hard to take and we understood when JB pulled a gun on him to get him to leave. Was also impressed that Mrs. Rogers didn't kick JB out after the gunshots that riddled her house and caused her to lose other boarders.
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This film features quietly focused direction by veteran Don Seigel (Dirty Harry, Two Mules for Sister Sara) and is beautifully photographed, featuring outstanding set design and music. Lauren Bacall brings the quietly conflicted emotions of Mrs. Rogers to the surface and Ron Howard has never been better as young Gillom, but believe it or not, it is the 100-megawatt movie star performance by Wayne in his final performance, that makes this movie so special. Wayne passed away three years after the release of this film, RIP. 4
Gideon58
11-17-23, 04:06 PM
Trevor Wallace: Pterodactyl
A somewhat funny evening of standup is provided by an unknown commodity in a 2023 Prime Video special called Trevor Wallace: Pterodactyl.
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As I was looking for a comedy special to watch, I pulled up the IMDB page for this special and discovered that an actor named Nick Swardsen was featured in it. Swardsen is a long standing member of the Adam Sandler rep company and that was enough reason to give this guy a shot. Swardsen appears in the pre-taped opening set in Wallace's dressing playing his very nervous stage manager. Wallace also plays about a dozen different characters briefly and garners few laughs for the effort.
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When Wallace does finally get onstage live from Austin Texas, the David Spade look-alike spends a good 15-20 minutes sucking up to his audience talking about what a fantastic city Austin is, This is a problem I have always had with unknown comics. They love to gush to their audience about how wonderful their town is and how happy they are to be there and always spend the first fifteen minutes onstage praising the town where the venue is. That's fine for this night, but when the concert goes to video, nobody else really cares what this guy is talking about.
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Wallace's pace onstage is initially exhausting, reminding me of a very young Howie Mandel when he started out in standup and I really didn't like the way he kept referring to the audience as "Dog", like one of those white guys who talks like he's black. It was about halfway through the concert before the guy got a laugh from this reviewer was when he started talking about how big his nose was. Which led into some humorous stuff about drugs, sex, and male birth control.
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I was amused that he wrapped with a story about his dad giving him the birds and bees talk, right after introducing us to his parents in the audience. I think Wallace is a talent to watch but he's working a little too hard at being funny to actually be funny. 3
Gideon58
11-20-23, 04:28 PM
Heart Beat (1980)
Despite solid performances from the leads, the 1980 film Heart Beat, a look at the relationship between Beat Poet Jack Kerouac and fellow poets Neal and Carolyn Cassady, suffers due to a confusing screenplay that is trying to be two different kinds of movies but doesn't really succeed at either.
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This film is an allege chronicle of three leaders of a literary movement that would become known as the Beat Generation. Jack Kerouac and Neal and Carolyn Cassady, who became friends during the 50's and 60's, perhaps too good friends, and how their feelings for each other were affected by the times but never really changed.
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Director and screenwriter John Byrum (Inserts, Duets) has crafted a messy look at what is supposed to be a shocking look at a romantic triangle, supposedly made more intriguing by the fact that the participants were real life public figures at the forefront of an important movement. Unfortunately, this film, what these three people did in terms of the Beat Generation is shoved in the background in favor of an up close, sometimes a little too up close look at a very convoluted love triangle.
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We are initially introduced to Carolyn, this intelligent and sophisticated woman who is initially involved with Kerouac until she meets Neil Cassaday until she finds herself developing feelings for him as well. Jack and Neil seem to be willing to share Carolyn until Carolyn comes home and finds Neil in bed with a woman and another man, which she feels is the perfect time to let him know that she's pregnant. Things get even more heated when Jack writes a book with Neil as the fictionalized central character and it becomes a bestseller. It gets even sadder when the triangle involve innocent bystanders into their triangle, oblivious of the hurt they cause them. We get an intimate look at the free love period of the 1960's, but little insight into these three influential writers from the 1960's.
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Byrum's direction is not much better than his screenplay. The film moves at a snail's pace but the actors are so good you almost don't notice. Nick Nolte lights up the screen as the enigmatic Neil and the late John Heard also offers one of his strongest turns as Kerouac. As always, Sissy Spacek enchants as Carolyn, and there are some effective support from Ray Sharkey, Ann Dusenberry, and John Larroquette, but if you really want to learn about Jack Kerouac and the Cassadays, I would google them. 3
Gideon58
11-22-23, 06:00 PM
David Spade: Nothing Personal
David Spade makes a less than spectacular return to the standup mic in a 2022 Netflix special called David Spade: Nothing Personal
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Shot live from some theater in Minneapolis, Spade works very hard to keep the slightly snotty attitude that has come with his work in check. Don't get me wrong, David Spade first came to my attention when he would do "The Hollywood Minute" on SNL and that might be the secret of Spade's appeal that it works a minute at a time, but he has made some memorable movie appearances...he pretty much stole Coneheads from its all-star cast and he never allowed the late Chris Farley to blow him off the screen either.
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He does garner some laughs here as he talks about his mother's dog and about his experience while filming The Bachelor and he was put up in a crab-infested hotel room. He was getting some laughs talking about a physical he had to take in order to make the film Grown-Ups and actually stopped the story and reminded the audience about the movie and would not go on with his story until the audience acknowledged via applause. I have to admit I was very amused when he talked about the fact that whenever he doesn't get what he wants when looking for service, he drops Adam Sandler's name. I don't know if he really does this, but the way he talked about it was really funny. Didn't really care for his stories about Sylvester Stallone or Kaitlyn Jenner.
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The story about how he tried to avoid a colonoscopy did have me on the floor, as did his story about "other films you may like" on internet porn. His bit about those internet photos where they show how a star from the 80's aged but you have to go through 60 other photos to get to it, was very funny. I have to admit though that he had a point about a condom being too big.
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Spade is a funny guy, but he spends a lot of time talking above his audience and for someone whose career pretty much died with the death of Chris Farley, this guy really needs to think about the way he interacts with an audience. 3
Gideon58
11-25-23, 02:30 PM
The Wizard of Oz
There are a handful of films that cinephiles immediately associate with the adjective "classic" and one of those films is the 1939 timeless confection from MGM studios called The Wizard of Oz that not only made an official movie star out of a seventeen year old Judy Garland but became an annual television staple for decades.
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Based on a novel by L. Frank Baum, this is the story of a little girl named Dorothy Gale, who lives on a farm in Kansas with her Aunt Em. her Uncle Henry, and her dog, Toto. A monumental twister hits the farm and magically transports Dorothy and Toto to a magical land called Oz populated with good witches, bad witches and singing little people called munchkins. The munchkins send Dorothy to Oz to get help getting back home where, enroute to the Emerald City, she meets a scarecrow, a tinman, and a cowardly lion who are in search of a brain, a heart, and courage, respectively. It's no coincidence that the scarecrow, tinman, and lion look exactly like Hunk, Zeke, and Hickory the three farmhands that work on Dorothy's farm.
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Three writers do an admirable job of adapting Baum's novel into a workable screenplay, providing a lot of clever word play that foreshadows a lot of what happens to Dorothy during the story without actually giving it away. I love that during the opening scenes on the farm, Hunk, Zeke, and Hickory all use words that connect to the characters they become in Oz, which was something that it actually took several viewings for me to make the connections.
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Director Victor Fleming (King Vidor is credited as a director on the IMDB but only Fleming receives onscreen credit) put a lot of thought into the way the story is presented. I love that the film starts in a delicate black and white and doesn't switch to color until Dorothy arrives in Oz. The attention to production values is unprecedented, the eye-popping sets and costumes for munchkinland and for the Emerald City are perfection. I also loved that in the closing credits, the scarecrow, the tinman, and the lion are billed as Hunk, Zeke, and Hicko9ry.
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Looking at casting, research reveals that original casting could have made this a very different movie. The suits at MGM were nervous about pouring all of this money into a movie starring an unknown Garland and tried to borrow Shirley Temple from 20th Century Fox for the role of Dorothy. But Temple couldn't handle the vocal demands of the score and Fox wouldn't release her, so the role finally went to Garland. During early screenings of the movie to MGM execs, they wanted to cut the scene where Garland sang the Oscar winning "Over the Rainbow" because they felt it slowed the movie down. WC Fields was originally approached to play the Wizard, but that role and three other roles eventually went to the wonderful Frank Morgan. Ray Bolger is a delight as the Scarecrow and Bert Lahr steals every scene he's in as the Lion. His rendition of "If I Were a King" is definitely one of the film's highlights. As many people already know, Buddy Ebsen began working on the film playing the tinman but developed an allergy to the makeup which forced him out of the role and brought Jack Haley in. Margaret Hamilton was robbed of a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her Wicked Witch of the West, one of cinema's most frightening villains.
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The legacy that this film has left behind is hard to beat. It's not just the fact that film became a television staple, broadcast annually on CBS for over 50 years. The film has also produced an animated and a live action sequel, a Broadway musical called The Wiz, which reworked the story with an all black cast, winning the Best Musical of 1975 Tony Award. That musical was brought to the screen in 1978 with Diana Ross, but this is definitely one case where I absolutely must say: Please! Stick to the original. 5
Gideon58
11-26-23, 05:38 PM
Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas
For those of you out there who are still mourning the final season of Ted Lasso, Apple TV has provided a Christmas present for you called Hannah Waddington: Home For Christmas, a lavish musical TV special starring the actress who won an Emmy for playing Rebecca Belton on the series for three seasons.
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Shot live from the London Coliseum Opera House, Waddington immediately commands the stage wearing a gold evening gown that appears to have been painted on her. After her opening "Winter Wonderland" which features the London Gay Men's Chorus, dozens of dancers and cast members of Ted Lasso including Brendon Hunt, Kola Bokinni, Nick Muhammed, Toheeb Jimmoh, and James Lance.
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Wasn't sure what I was in for when I initially tuned into this. I think I though it was going tobe an evening of Waddlingham doing stand up, but what we got her was a sweet and slightly syrupy throw back to the kind of TV specials that Bing Crosby and Perry Como did in the 1960's. I have to wonder if this is what Ted Lasso fans are looking for. If you're looking for a reunion special or the beginning of a fourth season of Ted Lasso you will be disappointed.
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Hannah does do a duet with Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr.and offers a powerhouse rendition of "O Holy Night" that she dedicates to her daughter and her parents, where it is revealed that Waddingham's mother performed as a singer at this venue in her youth.
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We get backstage for two costume changes which feature Juno Temple and Brett Goldstein and when she returns to the stage Phil Dunster, another Ted Lasso cast member joins her onstage for a number with a couple of her gay friends. She also does a duet with actor Luke Evans and even though she really makes us wait for it, Jason Sudekis does make an appearance. I don't know, it's kind of fun to see the Ted Lasso characters out of character, really don't see the appeal for non-fans of the show. 3.5
Gideon58
11-27-23, 02:11 PM
A Night at the Roxbury
SNL producer Lorne Michaels has had some success bringing some of his more memorable TV skits to the big screen (Coneheads and Wayne's World come to mind), but he had a big swing and a miss with 1998's A Night the Roxbury, based on an SNL skit about club-hopping brothers that has been brought to the screen with a backstory that brings a truly icky underlying theme to the surface as the film progresses.
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Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan star as Steve and Doug Butabi, brothers who live with their father (Dan Hedaya) and stepmother (Loni Anderson) in Beverly Hills and work part time for their father in his plant store. Dad has become tired of his sons' obsession with clubbing and their laziness about the rest of their lives. He takes away their car and arranges a marriage for Steve with the daughter of the owner of the store next door (Molly Shannon).
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Now, if memory serves, the original SNL skits upon which this movie was based, were pretty thin stuff to begin with. It was basically these two brothers in pastel suits bopping their heads in exact unison to the music, trying to pick up women in a bar. in order to justify a full-length movie, we learn that the brothers want to open their own club, but their plans are thwarted when their father cuts them off and a rival club owner (Chazz Palminteri) trying to steal their idea for a club.
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First of all, the screenplay has a real sexist tone to it, evidenced in the fact that, aside from Molly Shannon's character, none of the female characters have actual names. The rest of the female characters in the film are billed with names like "Credit Vixen", "Hottie Cop", "Hot Girl", "Porsche Girl", and "Grieco's Lady". The story also takes a very disturbing path where the brothers seem to remove anyone from their lives who seems to be trying to keep them apart, implying that the brothers seem to be in love with each other, evidenced by the bizarre scene where Doug interrupts his brother's wedding to Shannon's character.
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Director John Fortenberry is to be credited for the detail he put into staging the head bopping choreography for the stars and his shooting of these sequences was a master class in camerawork and there is funny work along the way by Hedaya, Michael Clark Duncan as a bouncer, and Colin Quinn, but the weird, almost incestuous relationship between the brothers was just too weird. 2
Gideon58
11-27-23, 05:38 PM
Rustin
The director of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and the Oscar-winning writer of Milk are the creative forces behind Rustin, a melodramatic overlook at another heretofore unsung and unheard of architects in the battle for Civil Rights more specifically, the 1963 March on Washington DC.
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This 2023 film tells the story of Bayard Rustin, who apparently was a very close friend of Martin Luther King and his family, who faced an uphill battle as Dr. King pretty much handed over the logistics of organizing the march, despite the problems when Mr. Rustin's personal life started taking focus away from his work as a Civil Rights advocate.
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Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar for writing Milk has created a complex screenplay with Julian Breece, that like the 2016 film Hidden Figures introduces us to another figure in the Civil Rights movement that I have never heard of, though his story does feature a lot of civil rights leaders I have heard of surrounding him like Roy Wilkins, A Philip Randolph, and Adam Clayton Powell. All the films that have come out over the last couple of decades on this subject, how do we continue to be introduced to people so important to this part of history via screenplays written by white people? At least Breece is African American.
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The story initially titillates when it is revealed that this Rustin guy might have had a sexual relationship with MLK Jr., a revelation that immediately grabs the viewer, but they clear it up almost immediately and then the story goes back and forth between Rustin's struggles with getting march organized and his affairs with two different men, one black and one white, though Rustin's personal life takes such a backseat here, it almost becomes irrelevant to the rest of the film.
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There were a couple of disturbing scenes that stuck with me...the scene where Rustin is removed from a bus because he won't sit in the back. There's also a scene where Rustin arrives in DC and is confronted by a police officer, well played by Cotter Smith, who icily informs Rustin of the laws he must adhere to during the march.
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I wish a little more attention had been paid to the technical aspects of the production. Some scenes were poorly lit and made it difficult to tell exactly what was going on. George C. Wolfe's direction was slightly overheated but he did get some solid performances from Colman Domingo, who I last saw in The God Committee, as Rustin, Ami Ameen as Martin Luther King, Chris Rock as Roy Wilkins, and Jeffrey Wright as Adam Clayton Powell. Another piece of Civil Rights history has been dragged out of the closet with some semblance of sincerity. 3.5
Gideon58
11-28-23, 02:17 PM
Running on Empty
Evocative direction by the incomparable Sidney Lumet, an edgy and disturbing story and some powerhouse performances are the primary reasons a 1988 drama called Running on Empty had me riveted to the screen with my stomach in knots.
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The film stars Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti as Arthur and Annie Pope, who have two sons but have had to live their lives on the run because back in the 60's, Arthur and Annie participated in the destruction of a weapons lab that caused the near death of a janitor. The Popes seemed to have adjusted to the way they have to live and at the beginning of the film, they are observed moving their lives again from Florida to New Jersey, where they once again begin a new life, but this new life may have been compromised by older son's Danny's desire to study music at Julliard.
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Screenwriter Naomi Foner has crafted a compelling story that almost immediately haunted this reviewer. Initially, because, even though this is a fictional story, I couldn't help but think about how many real Pope families there are out there who are still running and there is no doubt in my mind that there are, which gave an added layer of sadness to this story. It was so sad that these two young boys had to pay for their parents' mistakes in such a way. Most aggravating of all, as the story progresses, we begin to wonder if it is absolutely necessary for this family to live this way, or is this whole thing about the fact that Arthur just doesn't want to go to jail...a horrible thought that occurred to me about 2/3 of the way into the film, which may have not been true. This element of the story might be open to individual viewer interpretation.
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Director Sidney Lumet, who had nailed gritty urban crime dramas like Dog Day Afternoon and Serpico, seems a little out of his element with a family oriented drama like this one, but he really captures the isolation that this family is feeling. I love that quiet little scene when they've arrived in New Jersey and the four of them are cramped in that tiny motel room. It's so obvious that Annie and her sons are tired of living like this, but Arthur is calling the shots.
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Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti work beautifully together as the Popes and the late River Phoenix's sensitive performance as young Danny earned him a Best Supporting actor Oscar nomination, the only one of his too short career. Also enjoyed a young Martha Plimpton as Danny's music teacher's teacher, who falls for him. Steven Hill shines in one amazing scene as Annie's father. Foner's screenplay also earned her a nomination and I loved Tony Mottola's music too. Great film. 4
Gideon58
11-28-23, 04:34 PM
Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter
On July 27, 2022, show business icon Norman Lear turned 100 years old and a lavish television celebration was produced and broadcast on ABC at the end of last year called Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter, a deserved tribute to the legend, but a surreal and an oddly unmoving experience.
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The celebration was divided into two parts. Stars gathered in a large ballroom and came onstage announcing how old Norman Lear was when they were born, and then offered their own tributes to the man, and then offered their own tributes to Lear. Which was strange, because a lot of the stars who appeared onstage either never worked with Lear or weren't even alive during the zenith of the man's career. A couple of tributes came from actors Assante Black and Isabella Gomez, who are both still in their teens! Having these children onstage gushing about Norman Lear felt hollow and insulting.
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The other half of the show interspersed with the ballroom madness was a roundtable discussion with Lear, Jimmy Kimmel, Amy Poehler, Octavia Spencer, and Jennifer Aniston. First of all, how was it decided that these four people were qualified to sit down with the man and discuss his work. Aniston felt particularly out of place here, seemingly completely clueless abou why she was here.
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This was such an odd film that I felt guilty about being disenchanted with because the subject is so worthy of celebration, but couldn't understand why people like George Wallace, Laverne Cox, Kristen Bell, Lisa Whelchel, Jay Pharoah, and Stephen Tobolowsky were doing there? We were also provided unremarkable musical sequences including Anthony Anderson and Tracie Ellis Ross performing the theme song from All in the Family, Kelly Rowland doing the Jeffersons theme and Justina Muchado performing the One Day at a Time theme. And after Tom Hanks' lengthy breakdown of Lear's military background, we got a five minute rendition of America the Beautiful that brought the show down. Yet, Marla Gibbs was in the audience and didn't get to say a word.
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There aren't a lot of stars from Lear's shows who are still alive and it was disappointing that a few didn't show up, Sally Struthers in particular, though Rob Reiner did give a lovely tribute to the man. This film was just kind of dull and all over the place and so not worthy of Norman Lear. What a shame. 2.5
Gideon58
11-30-23, 07:30 PM
'night, Mother
The superb performances by two Oscar winning actresses anchor the disturbing 1986 film version of a Pulitzer Prize winning play called "night, Mother that focuses on one my least favorite subject matters for the movies.
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This is the story of a woman named Jessie Cates, seen cleaning and organizing the home she shares with her mother, Thelma. Not long after Thelma arrives home, we are shocked when Jessie pulls out a gun to clean it and quietly announces to her mother that she plans to kill herself in a couple of hours.
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This movie aroused all kinds of jumbled emotions in me because of my personal feels regarding suicide. There is no rationalizing the act of suicide in my opinion and I don't think it solves anything. I believe suicide is an act of cowardice. I also believe that committing suicide is agonizing for everyone who loves the victim because they will always feel guilty and feel they could have done something to stop it.
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With that said, it took almost the entire running time for me to break down what Jessie was doing and why. First of all, I had to understand why Jessie was doing this and that does come to light relatively early in the running time and, for this viewer, suicide was not the only answer for this woman, but she did and if she didn't want to be talked out of it, why come home and announce to her mother that she's going to do this in a couple of hours and offering her a million final instructions. There is no justification of the burden she puts on her mother here and I just couldn't get behind it. I did enjoy the glimmers of hope provided through Jessie's request for her mom to make her cocoa and a baked apple and agree to her mom's request for a manicure.
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This was right up there with some of my most uncomfortable evenings at the movie but the Oscar-worthy performances by Sissy Spacek as Jessie and the late Anne Bancroft as Thelma, taking over the roles that were originated in 1983 by Kathy Bates and Anne Pitoniak, respectively, made this truly stomach-churning journey worth taking. 4
Gideon58
12-01-23, 03:01 PM
Back to the Strip
A couple of months ago I reviewed a film called Fool's Paradise and stated that I was sure it would sweep this year's Razzie awards. Any Razzies that don't go to that film should go to a debacle called Back to the Strip, a juvenile comedy that makes the Magic Mike franchise look like Merchant Ivory.
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This 2023 film is about a 24 year old black guy named Merlin whose passion is to be a professional magician. After giving up on magic and losing his girlfriend, he is sent to Las Vegas by his mother, where he actually finds a new career as a male stripper, backed by a stripper group who reunites after 20 odd years called the Chocolate Chips.
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Director and screenwriter Chris Spencer, who wrote Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the hood has crafted a really silly story that expects the viewer to accept a whole lot. A 24 year old black dude who wants to be a magician? Really? The Chips are way past their prime...one of them is played by 300+ pound Faizon Love, who we are supposed to believe still has appeal to strip club audiences. We're also supposed to accept that one of the Chips is white (Gary Owen) but none of the group ever knew it 20 years ago, not to mention that Faizon's character is having an affair with another Chip's wife. There's a scene where Merlin and his ex are trapped together and he is wearing a mask, but she doesn't recognize his voice. We also get a dumb scene of Merlin and Robin bonding over the NBC sitcom A Different World.
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The main problem with this movie is severe overlength. It takes too much time getting going, including a scene where Merlin is a clown at a kid's party (though Kevin Hart is very funny as the dad). The film also features a ridiculous narration by Tiffani Haddish that is unnecessary.
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Doesn't seem to be a lot of thought put into casting either. Spence Moore II is decorative in the lead, but Wesley Snipes just seems to be phoning it in as the director of the Chips and Bill Bellamy and the always annoying JB Smoove seem to be just going through the motions. Two hours of my life I'll never get back. 1.5
Gideon58
12-04-23, 03:46 PM
Sidewalks of New York
Edward Burns definitely channels Woody Allen as the director, screenwriter, and star of a quirky rom-com from 2001 called Sidewalks of New York that looks at the interlacing relationships between six New Yorkers that loses focuses about halfway through, but the superb ensemble cast keep the viewer invested.
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OK, let's see if I can get this straight...Tommy (Burns) is a TV producer who meets a commitment shy schoolteacher named Maria (Rosario Dawson) in a video store. Maria is commitment shy because of her failed marriage to Benjamin (David Krumholz), a doorman who really wants to be a musician who still has feelings for Maria. Benjamin finds distraction in an effervescent young waitress named Ashley (the late Brittany Murphy) who is having an affair with a married dentist named Griffin (Stanley Tucci), who is married to Annie (Heather Graham) a tightly wound real estate agent who is trying to get Griffin to confess to his affair while trying to find an apartment for Tommy.
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The construction of Burns' screenplay is clever if not terribly original. The film actual begins as a documentary where the six principals are being interviewed with the first question asked is when they lost their virginity. It's kind of a cute opening for the movie, but it goes on a little too long as after every major scene from a relationship, we find the character explaining what happened in the scene we just saw. Not to mention that the documentarian starts interviewing secondary characters who really don't care about. Burns also introduces a couple of major plot twists way too late in the story that really slow down the movie. This might have something to do with why the film feels five hours long.
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Burns does display a little imagination with the camera and displays the same kind of skill as Woody Allen utilizing Manhattan as a cinematic canvas. This movie floats all over the city following these deeply flawed and neurotic characters who will provoke all kinds of emotions in the viewer. I also liked the fact that the movie didn't tie up everything we had seen in a neat little bow.
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Burns did work wonders with his hand-picked ensemble cast though, with standout work from the always watchable Murphy, lighting up the screen as Ashley. I have to admit I have never enjoyed David Krumholz more as Benjamin. This guy has been making a movies since he was a kid and this the first time he has really made me sit up and take notice of him. Best of all, was the brilliant Stanley Tucci, in one of his greasiest performances as the married dentist. Tucci loses himself in this Oscar-worthy performance playing one of his most unlikable characters, which is saying a lot since the actor has played more than his share of skeevy characters over the year. Also a quick shout out to Dennis Farina, who steals every scene he has as Burns' dad. It definitely goes on a little longer than it needs to, but Burns does display skill as a filmmaker and it's never boring. 3.5
Gideon58
12-06-23, 04:28 PM
Leo
Despite being slightly longer than necessary, Netflix and Adam Sandler score with a smart, colorful, and very funny animated musical called Leo that provides solid laughs, a touch of warmth, and effectively conveys multiple themes on its complex campus.
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The 2023 film takes place in Fort Meyers, Florida where we are introduced to Leo (voiced by Adam Sandler) and Squirtle (voiced by Bill Burr) a lizard and a turtle, respectively, who have been the class pets for the fifth grade at an elementary school for over seven decades. When the regular 5th grade teacher, Miss Salinas, goes on maternity leave, the substitute, Miss Malkins (Cecily Strong), insists that the students take turn taking the pets home for the weekend, the kids start taking Leo home, who provokes profound change among these kids when he starts helping these kids with their individual issues, but when Miss Malkins finds out about Leo, she tries to take credit for Leo's miracles.
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I was initially hesitant to watch this, because Adam Sandler's last venture into animation, Eight Crazy Night, was underwhelming to say the least. However, just about everything works here, anchored by an extremely deft and imaginative screenplay by Sandler, Robert Smigel, and Paul Sando that is not only rich with contemporary humor that will appeal to the 18-34, but has an underlying messages regarding how kids today don't know how easy they have it, as well as some knowing winks to old school education. I would even go out on a limb and say I wouldn't be shocked if the screenplay earned an Oscar nomination.
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Smigel, Robert Marianetti, and David Wachtenheim are billed as the directors of this film and they are to be applauded for the look and attention to detail for this film. The color pallets are eye popping and the mounting of scene backgrounds are extraordinary. Loved the scene where Leo is flashback over his life trying to figure out how old he is, and we see him reach the 70's and if you don't blink, you will notice a poster of Mark Spitz on the wall behind Leo and Squirtle. It was so many little things, like when Leo packs for his first weekend away from school, he takes lettuce leaf and packs three bugs in it. I also lost it when, on her first day, Miss Malkins takes away all the students' computers and replaces them with encyclopedias.
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Loved the songs too, some of the funniest songs I have heard in a movie since This is Spinal Tap, and two of them, "Malkins Confesses" and "Dear Drone" should receive Best song nominations. Every now and then as I listened to Sandler singing in this movie, I would flashback to him as Opera Man on SNL.
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Production values are flawless, with a special nod to Sound, which also deserves an Oscar nomination. Loved Sandler, Jason Alexander as Jayda's dad, Sunny Sandler as Summer, but Cecily Strong totally steals the show as Miss Malkins. It could have wrapped a little quicker, but this was so much more fun than I expected. 4
Gideon58
12-07-23, 04:28 PM
Fools Rush In
Wanted to watch something featuring the late Matthew Perry and settled on the pleasant but predictable 1997 comedy Fools Rush In, which provided sporadic grins, but was not exactly Perry's finest hour.
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Perry plays Alex Whitman, a construction contractor who lives in Manhattan and builds nightclubs for a living. Business sends Alex to Vegas where he meets Isabel (Salma Hayek), a pretty photographer with whom he has a one night stand. Three months later, she shows up on Alex's doorstep to inform Alex that she's pregnant. She says the only thing she wants from him is to meet her huge family and have dinner with them. That even finds Alex swept up in the moment, impulsively proposing to Isabel, but of course as soon as they leave the wedding chapel where Isabel was escorted down the aisle by an Elvis impersonator, the realities of what they have done begin to rear their ugly heads.
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The screenplay by actress Joan Taylor and Katherine Rebeck is kind of by-the-numbers, though I was surprised that after the one night stand, it was Isabel who ran out on Alex without a word. Unfortunately, after the dinner with Isabel's family, we see a really unattractive turn in the Isabel character, who quietly begins manipulating Alex and when she learns that Alex lives in New York, she just expects him to give up his life in New York and stay in Vegas.
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Compromise does eventually creep its way into the relationship, but other circumstances keep pulling this pair apart in such a convenient fashion, that we begin to not really care whether these two get together. The appearance of Alex's parents ignites some racial stereotyping that had been smartly avoided up to this point. Perry works very hard at keeping Alex sympathetic, especially when Isabel sends him to the desert with her five brothers and ex-boyfriend to go hunting. Of course, Alex and Isabel are both getting a lot of bad advice from their BFFs, not to mention Isabel lighting candles at church in order to influence her future? Seriously?
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Perry and Hayek manage a semblance of chemistry, but there's no sizzle to it. Alex's parents are played by the late Jill Clayburgh and Perry's real-life father, John Bennett Perry, but as a testament to Perry's talent, this one doesn't really cut it. 2.5
Gideon58
12-11-23, 03:55 PM
Fast Charlie
Despite a solid performance by Pierce Brosnan in the title role, 2023's Fast Charlieis an overheated and confusing crime drama that lost me about halfway through, except for the likability of Brosnan's character.
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Charlie Swift is a professional fixer/assassin who has just arrived in the deep south with his latest assignment, only his victim has had his head blown off and is unidentifiable. Charlie finds help with this by contacting the victim's ex-wife for help in identifying the guy, unfortunately, this meeting leads Charlie and the pretty taxidermist into a deadly journey involving both of their pasts, predictably crashing into each other.
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Richard Wenk's screenplay, based on a novel by Victor Gischler, starts off rather credibly with the idea of an aging professional assassin at the center of the story. We are immediately put on Charlie's side as his past is revealed to us through the introduction of the many criminal lowlifes who are part of a large criminal organization led by a guy named Stan Mullen (the late James Caan, in his final film role). This is when the story begins to lose me when, about 10 minutes after Charlie introduces us to his criminal family, most of them are dead and the one who aren't, Charlie kills before the credits roll.
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What kept this movie watchable was this Charlie character and his loyalty to Stan, which became the heart of this movie, though that's not really saying much. It was exhausting watching Charlie ahead of the bad guys one minute and with a gun to his head the next. One scene which had Charlie stuck in a laundry chute hiding for his life was kind of fun and Beggar seemed to be an odd character name for the main bad guy.
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Phillip Noyce's direction is rather pedestrian, making this film seem a lot longer than 90 minutes. As he ages, Pierce Brosnan is proving to be an impressive character actor, embracing his graceful aging and picking age appropriate roles. Watching Caan in his final film role was very difficult, because he looks frail and unhealthy here, probably aware that he's dying but thrilled to still be working. Caan's work here will probably be the only legacy this film will ever create. 2.5
Gideon58
12-12-23, 04:12 PM
Jane Austen's Mafia
The creative force behind the Airplane and Hot Shots franchise mine for similar laughs in the 1998 lampoon of mob movies called Jane Austen's Mafia!.
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This mob movie satire follows the adventures of the son of a Mafia king taking over his father's business while trying to control his power hungry older brother and the two very different women in his life.
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Director and screenwriter Jim Abrahams has constructed a story that is a pretty accurate melding and lampooning of The Godfather and Casino that features elements of both movies that will be familiar to fans of the genre. The film starts off with a perfect take-off of the opening scene of Casino, moving to gags related to Godfather I and II and back to Casino again and giving them an authenticity by featuring a lot of actors lampooning themselves in some of their most famous roles.
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Abrahams is a long time veteran associated with these kind of satires and sometimes lets the gags go on a little longer than they should, especially a sequence at a mob funeral that gets way out of hand, but his on target handling of the Ace Rothstein narration in Casino, the on target spoof Sharon Stone's Ginger in that movie and the send up of Don Vito Corleone via the late Lloyd Bridges are a lot funnier than expected.
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Jay Mohr provides just enough of a straight face to his Michael Corleone take off worth investing in and Christina Applegate is fun as this film's Kay Corleone who drops the mob prince and becomes the POTUS. The late Lloyd Bridges made his second to last film appearance as Vincenzo Cortino and the film is dedicated to him. 3
Gideon58
12-13-23, 04:03 PM
May December
Screenwriters from The Hunger Games and Ant Man and the director of Far From Heaven and the 2011 mini-series Mildred Pierce have collaborated on an emotionally charged fictionalization of real life events called May December that had this reviewer talking back to the screen. Will try to review without spoilers.
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The 2023 film stars Oscar winner Natalie Portman as Elizabeth, a television actress who has just been given a role in a movie about a sexual relationship between a woman named Gracie (Julianne Moore) and a 13 year old boy that scandalized their hometown and still is providing repercussions on the Long Island suburb where they live. This film shows what happens when Elizabeth travels to meet the couple in order to research the role.
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Screenwriters Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik do a superb job of providing a slightly disguised look at the story of May Kay Letourneaux, the middle school teacher who slept with a sixth-grader and ended up on trial for statutory rape. The screenplay delivers the story in such tiny slivers that it takes a few minutes to figure out what story we're seeing. We get flashes of tabloid covers stating that this version of Mary Kay, renamed Gracie for this movie, had a baby while she was in jail but aren't offered much more information beyond that. For my money, this screenplay is a dead lock for an Oscar nomination, for its complexity and manipulation of the viewer.
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I love the initial premise of an actress researching a role as the entrance for the viewer to this devastating story that affected and is still affecting so many people and how for so many of the people who were collateral damage, it was like this happened yesterday, despite the fact that the events occurred almost three decades ago. The initial clue to the audience of the gravity of this relationship was demonstrated in such unexpected fashion. Elizabeth finds a package on their steps and we learn it's a box of excrement.
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We're initially impressed with Elizabeth's determination to get this right and wanting to get inside the head of this woman that she's going to playing in a movie. The interviews with this woman and especially the other people involved seem to be sincere as an actress who wants to get this character right, but a shadow sets over that when we see Elizabeth in the storeroom where Gracie and Joe's first encounter happened. A pall is cast over what Elizabeth is doing and then we get that lovely scene in the classroom where she takes control of a high school class as she talks honestly about her craft and gets the viewer behind her again, at least for the moment.
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Todd Haynes' direction is a little Adrian Lyne, a little Ingmar Bergman. Moore is superb as Gracie, as expected and newcomer Charlie Melton seems like a solid Best Supporting Actor nominee for his damaged Joe, but it is Natalie Portman as Elizabeth, whose performance keeps this film on sizzle and could finally earn her the second Oscar she should have won for Jackie. This one still has me a little rattled. 4
Gideon58
12-15-23, 02:45 PM
A Cinderella Story
2004's A Cinderella Story is yet another overly cute retread of the classic fairy tale that borrows from a lot of other movies, in an attempt to present a semblance of originality that it never quite does.
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The film stars Hillary Duff as Samantha Montgomery whose life as Daddy's princess is crushed when he passes away, leaving her in the clutches of the gold digging stepmother (Jennifer Coolidge), who works Samantha to the bone at her father's restaurant. It is then revealed that Samantha has been falling in love over the internet with the big man on campus (Chad Michael Murray) and plans to finally meet him in person at the Halloween dance.
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First off, this movie made me realize how sick I am of Hollywood reimagining Cinderella and they need to stop. Screenwriter Leigh Dunlop expects us to swallow a lot here...primarily, the fact that Samantha and her Prince Charming hook up at the dance 20 minutes into the running time and the next day at school, we learn he didn't recognize her because she had mask on. Seriously? He sees this girl every day at school, he hangs out at the restaurant where she works, he has talked to her, but she puts on an evening gown and slaps a mask over her eyes and he has no idea who she is? It's like Lois Lane being fooled about Clark Kent by a pair of glasses, it's just a ridiculous hook upon which to hang a ninety minute movie.
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The whole falling in love over the internet was so The Shop Around the Corner and the way Sam is treated by her evil stepsisters and most of the girls at the school was so Mean Girls. The subplot of Sam's male BFF falling for the popular girl dumped by Prince Charming so smacked of Sixteen Candles. Again, he has been tutoring her in math for years in school, but because he came to the dance in a Zorro mask, she didn't recognize him either, despite a kiss that made them both weak in the knees.
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Director Mark Rosman's allows the movie to trudge along the screen at a deadening pace. It's hard to distinguish this performance from anything else Hillary Duff has done, though Jennifer Coolidge is a lot of fun as the stepmother. Dan Byrd and future Oscar winner Regina King are wasted in thankless roles though. Unless you have a hard on for Chad Michael Murray, not a lot to recommend here. 2.5
Gideon58
12-15-23, 05:39 PM
The Holdovers
The star and director of Sideways are reunited for a warm and slightly edgy comedy-drama called The Holdovers that provides solid entertainment despite a screenplay that definitely could have used some tightening.
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The film takes place during Christmas of 1969 at a small prep school where we meet three characters who find themselves remaining on the campus while everyone else has gone home for the holidays: Professor Hunhum is the stuffy and intensely disliked history teacher who has no life or family and was going to stay on campus anyway; Angus Tully is an intelligent but lonely senior who has been kicked out of three previous schools and faces military school if he gets kicked out of this one; Mary Lamb is the cafeteria manager who recently lost her son in Vietnam.
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First of all, a shout out to screenwriter David Hemingson for the way he let us know when the film took place. Angus is seen packing to go home and he explains to a classmate that a pair of underwear he has is an exact duplicate of a pair that George Lazenby wore in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Backstory is efficiently provided for the three principals, but the film is slowed down when four other students are scheduled to stay on campus, set up some friction with each other, and then they are all conveniently sent from the school, leaving the Professor, Angus, and Mary alone on the campus, which is where the film kicks into gear, but Hemingson could have saved us about twenty minutes of running time if he had sent those other four students home with everyone else.
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Professor Hunham and Angus Tully are classic film archetypes...Humham is the teacher whose entire life is his work and doesn't give a daman if all of his students hate him and Angus is the gifted loner, feeling unloved by his family and the butt of his classmates jokes. The expected meltdown between these two does happen because some juicy plot twists do develop during the second half of the film, but they do take a little too long to materialize. Didn't understand Mary's temporary removal from the story only to return her to the story about 15 minutes later, but the final fifteen minutes of the film almost ignited the tear ducts.
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The film has been nominated for three Golden Globes. including Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy. Director Alexander Payne gets the same kind of blistering performance out of Paul Giamatti as the professor he got out of him in Sideways and most likely get him the Oscar nomination for Best Actor that he should have gotten for Sideways. Dominic Sessa makes a superb film debut as young Angus Tully and Da'Vine Joy Randolph's Mary has also earned her an Globe nomination. It's a little longer than it needs to be, but it's richly entertaining, thanks primarily to an Oscar-worthy performance from Paul Giamatti. 4
Gideon58
12-18-23, 01:44 PM
The Informant!
A superb cast help to keep 2009's The Informant!, one of the strangest films I have ever seen, watchable, despite a confusing story that takes a little too much time to come into focus.
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This the true story of the vice president of a food additive business named Mark Whitacre, who has been developing a new product called lysine for years, but once the product starts to go into production, Mark learns that the people in the finance division of the company are involved in a price-fixing scam involving crooked businessmen from all over the globe, and are setting Mark up to take the fall, Mark reports the company to the FBI who force Mark into being an informant against the company, which not only gets him in trouble with his job, but once the FBI have the information they need, they have no compunction about throwing Mark under the bus.
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This reviewer found myself scratching my head early on into this film thanks to a confusing screenplay that initially finds this Mark Whitacre being put into a lot of danger as a double agent, but the film's narrative is mangled with a very confusing narrative by the Whitacre character that is an uncomfortable combination of a recollection of the events of what happened here and a lot of incoherent ramblings about Mark personally that really have nothing to do with the story. This narration is also completely void of a reveal about halfway through this film that, despite what he was doing, Whitacre was also embezzling millions of dollars from his company.
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Oscar winner Steven Soderbegh brings an uncomfortable breeziness to the story, making it seem not as serious as what the viewer sees. With a huge assist from, of all places, the music score by Oscar winner Marvin Hamlisch, an atmosphere is created for the story that is more in tune with a comedy, or a musical, or an Austin Powers movie, that made it seem like the viewer was being presented something that was not to be taken seriously or never really happened. The viewer is confused for most of the running time until it slowly comes to light what Soderbegh is doing here, making the entire cinematic experience very surreal. It's almost as if Soderbergh and the writers are making fun of Whitacre and I'm not so sure how appropriate that is.
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The one thing that does keep this movie watchable is the superb cast that Soderbegh assembled to pull this thing off. Matt Damon's powerhouse performance as Mark Whitacre rivets the viewer to the screen and did earn him a Golden Globe nomination. Mention should also be made of Scott Bakula and Joel McHale as FBI agents, Melanie Lynskey as Mark's wife, plus Rick Overton, Thomas F Wilson, Scott Adsit, Ann Dowd, Clancy Brown, Ann Cusack, and, believe it or not, in their final film together though they share no scenes, the Smothers Brothers! It's an often incoherent film experience, but hardcore Matt Damon fans should definitely check it out. 3.5
Gideon58
12-18-23, 04:58 PM
The Lesson (2023)
Emotionally charged performances from the stars keep a 2023 psychological thriller called The Lesson watchable despite a swiss cheese screenplay.
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This is the story of a writer named Liam (Daryl McCormack) who is hired as the tutor for the son of a famous writer named JM Sinclair and his wife. The Sinclair's son, Bertie, initially rejects Liam's help. but it's not long before it comes to light that Sinclair and his wife have their own agenda regarding Liam that has nothing to do with their son.
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Alex MacKeith's vague screenplay initially sets up one kind of story before veering off in more than one alternate direction. At first, the story seems to be setting up a sexual relationship between Liam and the much younger Bertie, which would have had a similar "ick" factor to the main characters in Call Me By Your Name, but MacKeith diverts from that pretty quickly into a possible romantic triangle triangle between Liam and Mr. & Mrs. Sinclair, but it turns out that what is happening here has very little to do with sex, though the story has a very sexually charged atmosphere.
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Director Alice Troughton sets up this atmosphere almost immediately upon Liam's arrival upon the Sinclair estate. It is no accident that the window to Liam's room is almost always in view of wherever the Sinclairs are, separately or together. There is a white hot scene of the Sinclairs getting down to business and when Mrs. Sinclair spots Liam watching, she just smiles at him. Ironically, the sexual heat that anchors this film has very little to do with what's going on here. It has to do with the opening scene that occurs before a flashback to Liam and the Sinclaires.
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Troughton's direction is steamy, employing some impeccable production and the performances she gets from her stars definitely aid in keeping the viewer invested. Richard E Grant, Oscar nominee for Can You Ever Forgive Me? does some effective scenery chewing as JM Sinclaire and the lovely Julie Delpy is luminous as his wife. Daryl McCormack, so good last year in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, adds another sex on legs performance to his resume as Liam. This film keeps threatening to go to various places that it never goes and somehow still commands viewer attention. 3.5
Gideon58
12-19-23, 04:55 PM
American Splendor
Paul Giamatti was robbed of a Best Actor nomination for his blistering performance in 2003's American Splendor a riveting and richly imaginative biopic centered around underground comic book artist Harvey Pekar.
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Harvey Pekar worked as a file clerk in a Cleveland hospital but the real passion in his life was in collecting antique jazz records and reading and writing comic books, even though he has no talent for illustration and just draws stick figures. This all changes when Harvey has an accidental meeting with another underground comic book writer named Robert Crumb who agrees to illustrate Harvey's stories for him, leading to recognition in the comic book world, multiple appearances on Late Night with David Lettermanand an unconventional romance with a bookstore owner that leads to an unconventional marriage.
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Co-directors and screenwriters Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini also do Oscar-worthy work here, jumping off a cinematic cliff offering several things I have never seen in a movie before. The primary jump is the first biopic that features both the actors portraying the subjects as well as some of the real subjects, giving the film a bit of a documentary feel, but we're delivered from the sometimes dryness of a documentary with a lot of the scenes being mounted in the form of a comic book, including dialogue bubbles for the characters as they speak and one fantastic scene in a supermarket where Harvey is in line in a supermarket, about to lose his temper, when he is suddenly symbolically accosted by animated versions of himself advising him on how to handle the situation.
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The directors and screenwriters offer one surprise after another their story presentation. Harvey's loneliness and social ineptitude is apparent throughout, evidenced in his inability to look people in the eye or smile. The relationship between Harvey and Joyce has one bizarre scene after another. Was totally thrown by the very first thing he tells her about himself when they first meet and I loved the fact that Harvey made no attempt to clean his apartment before Joyce's arrival. Found the choice of using the real footage for the initial Letterman appearances and then having Giamatti crush the final one was a bold choice that totally worked.
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Production values are rich, with special shout outs to production design, sound, and editing. Paul Giamatti completely loses himself in this complex role and looking over the Oscar nominees for Best Actor that year, I've decided that his nomination was stolen by Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Carribean. Hope Davis is impressive as Joyce, validated when we meet the real Joyce, which I didn't see coming. And if you look closely, when Harvey and Joyce go to see a play about themselves, they are being played by Donal Logue and Molly Shannon. A provocative movie experience for those who are game. 4
Gideon58
12-20-23, 03:09 PM
Mel Brooks Unwrapped
If Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and History of the World Part I are part of your video library, then the 2018 HBO documentary Mel Brooks Unwrapped should be appointment viewing.
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This 2018 documentary features the then 91 year old Hollywood icon in London to promote the London opening of his musical Young Frankenstein, where he is scheduled to be interviewed by a reporter from the BBC named Alan Yentob, who had interviewed Brooks twice before. Brooks gets us off to a comical start trying to locate Yentob's office and then telling the guy that he's not sure if he wants to do this, because the last three celebrities Yentob interviewed all passed away shortly after.
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Needless to say, a documentary about Mel Brooks isn't going to go the expected route of a celebrity documentary. Brooks jumps all over the place as he reveals information with no particular form to presentation. It should be mentioned that if you're hoping to get a lot of behind the scenes dirt on those movies we know and love, you will be disappointed. What we do get is a pretty thorough overlay of everything that happened to Brooks before his Oscar-winning screenplay for The Producers.
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The man born Mel Kaminsky reveals that he was one of five brothers and the only one who became a success and proves it by sending his mother a monthly check of $6.93 month. We get clips of his 2000 year old man routine with Carl Reiner (who died two years after this film's release), which actually leads to a reunion of the pair in Reiner's bedroom, where the two share scrapbooks and memories. Their onstage relationship definitely recalls the work of Harvey Korman and Tim Conway, who lived to see which one could make the other break character first. Brooks also proudly declares that everything he learned about making people laugh came from Sid Ceasar.
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Brooks is also documented here as the perfect talk show guest who, like the late Robin Williams, didn't need a lot of help with having a talk show audience rolling in the aisles. He had me on the floor with a story he shared about the first time he met Cary Grant. Brooks' musical gifts are also highlighted as he provides perfect percussion accompaniment to a tape recording using his hands on his desk and, in my absolute favorite moment in the film, does a dead on impression of Dean Martin singing "Just in Time." This special ran 69 minutes and when it was over, I wanted another hour and a half. Thank you HBO. 4.5
Gideon58
12-21-23, 03:04 PM
Albert Brooks: Defending My Life
HBO and Rob Reiner have offered us a fascinating and roll on the floor funny look at the life and career of the Oscar-nominated actor, director, and screenwriter in a 2023 documentary called Albert Brooks: Defending My Life.
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Brooks, who was actually born Albert Einstein, sits down with his high school classmate Reiner (we are shown yearbook photos of Brooks, Reiner, and Richard Dreyfuss), while commentary is offered that is dominated by the adjective "different", a word that seems everyone in the business seems to offer regarding Brooks, even though they all seem to have difficulty in articulating what different means in terms of Brooks. This documentary also wins the title of the celebrity documentary from which I learned the most about the subject that I never knew before.
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Brooks offers vivid recollections of his father, a restaurant owner and comedian who was actually on the dias when Lucille Ball was the first woman honored as a member of the Friars Club in 1958. He passed away during the ceremony right in front of the audience. Brooks and Reiner also grace us with a peek at the mausoleum where Brooks' father is buried right next to the Three stooges.
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We are treated to some outrageous comedy that Brooks provided in over 30 appearances on The Tonight Show, including a routine where he plays a ventriloquist who moves his lips and a routine about an elephant trainer whose elephant was unavailable so he does the same routine with a frog. There's also a very funny clip of Brooks actually lighting up and sharing a joint with Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon on the air.
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A big reveal for me was when we learned that Lorne Michaels originally wanted Brooks to host SNL, but it was Brooks who suggested that he have guest hosts each week. I was also bowled over by an appearance by Oscar winning director Steven Spielberg who revealed that he and Brooks used to drive down Hollywood streets at night in order for Brooks to interview people on the street from the window of the car.
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I was actually touched about the section of the film where he talked to Reiner about his phobias regarding relationships and told his future wife Kymberly that she was "the first woman he wouldn't mind being divorced from." In addition to Spielberg, commentary is also offered by Chris Rock, Jonah Hill, Larry David, Alana Haim, Conan O'Brien, James L Brooks, Judd Apatow, Ben Stiller, Sharon Stone, and Albert's brother Cliff. What can I say? Appointment viewing for Brooks fans. 4.5
Gideon58
12-21-23, 05:52 PM
Rustler's Rhapsody
Director and screenwriter Hugh Wilson followed the first Police Academy movie with a spoof of B movie westerns called Rustler's Rhapsody that does provide some laughs, but it sure takes its time getting to them.
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The 1985 film begins in black and white introducing us to Rex O'Herlihan (Tom Berenger), a singing cowboy whose latest adventure is being narrated by a narrator who wonders aloud what this movie would be like if it were being made today. The film then suddenly turns color and we find O'Herlihan in the middle of what is supposed to be a more contemporary western where he find himself battling an evil cattle baron (Andy Griffith) and a group of Italian cowboys led by an Italian cattle baron (Fernando Rey), with the town drunk (GW Bailey) becoming his sidekick.
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It's hard to figure out what Wilson is doing at first because it initially comes off as a Blazing Saddles rip-off, which it isn't at all. Confusion ensues when the film goes from black and white to color because the film isnt any different when the film goes to color, but it does eventually come clear that O'Herlihan is transported to color west he takes a lot of his knowledge of black and white west with him. On the other hand, he has trouble adjusting to contemporary sensibilities that interfere with his mission, most of them having to do with the cringe worthy amount of gay subtext in the screenplay.
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The bond between O'Herlihan and Peter the drunk is established with an uncomfortable alacrity that had this reviewer wondering if I was actually seeing what I was seeing. Then we see O'Herlihan dealing with two very different leading leading ladies (Marilu Henner, Sela Ward) and the great deal of thought he puts into his wardrobe choices and we realize it's not our imagination. Also have to acknowledge a very funny scene where Rex distracts the villainous posse with a performance on his dancing horse.
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Wilson's attention to production values is on target. The film is beautifully photographed and features first rate editing, sound, and costumes. Berenger is a little too straight-faced as O'Herlihan, but Griffith and Rey are very funny as the villains of the piece and mention should also be made of a terrific cameo from Patrick Wayne. The laughs take way too long to start, but Blazing Saddles fans might enjoy it. 3
Gideon58
12-26-23, 02:51 PM
Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only
Netflix had what, seemed like a good idea on paper, but the 2023 documentary Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only is an uneven, surreal, and slightly dull look at a mutual admiration society between two comic icons that loses focus, but provides sporadic entertainment.
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Apparently, when Chris Rock made his Golden-Globe nominated standup special Selective Outrage, it was part of a tour that Rock organized with Hart that would climax at Madison Square Garden, where Rock confesses he once saw Eddie Murphy do standup four nights in a row. There are several shots of Rock onstage wearing the clothes he wore in Selective Outrage, but no actual clips from that concert are offered so we're wondering exactly what's going on here.
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The film starts off with the stars seated onstage on folding chairs on the stage at Madison Square Garden claiming how much they admire each other and how long they have wanted to do something together and this was the beginning of trying to figure out what was going on here. Neither Rock nor Hart are known for ass kissing but this is what they seem to be doing here. It was as if some rumors have been going around about some sort of feud between these two and this film was suggested as a way of quashing any rumors, because this whole thing just appears over written and over rehearsed. Though it was amusing when it was revealed that at the time Chris Rock's HBO special Bigger and Blacker received six Emmy nominations, Kevin Hart was still working in a shoe store.
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As we struggle to control our interest in watching these two drool over each other, the film branches out as Chris' brother Tony and Kevin's brother Robert begin to pontificate about their childhood and how their brothers never forgot who they were. Robert Hart is given way to much screentime to talk about when his mother got sick and how Kevin was there for her. I feel bad for the Hart family and their struggle with their mother's illness, but this film was supposed to be Hart and Rock, not Hart's mother's illness.
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In addition to Tony Rock and Robert Hart, commentary is provided by Jerry Seinfeld, DH Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Dave Chapelle, Wanda Sykes, Tiffany Haddish, and Dave Becky, who was a co-producer on Everybody Hates Chris. Not sure what the purpose of this was, but it doesn't really work for me. 2.5
Gideon58
12-26-23, 04:09 PM
Mannequin
Despite a hard working cast, the 1987 comic fantasy Mannequin suffers due t an overstuffed screenplay and music video direction that just appears lame in 2023.
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The film stars Andrew McCarthy as Jonathan Switcher, a young artist who can't hold onto a job because normal jobs just don't fulfill the artist in him. He accidentally stumbles into a job at a large, but financially-challenged, department store where he his hired as an assistant to the window dresser when, one night, a mannequin he has dressed comes to life, thanks to being inhabited by the spirit of an ancient Egyptian princess (played by a pre-Samantha Jones Kim Cattrall), who becomes Jonathan's muse, allowing him to create memorable store windows that make him the new window dresser.
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Director and screenwriter Michael Gottleib tries to disguise a pretty thin story with a lot of decoration that initially dazzle the eye, but grows pretty tiresome before halfway through the film. The music video scene of McCarthy and Cattrall dancing through the department store to disco music and changing outfits every two minutes is initially cute, but goes on way too long. Once the secret of Jonathan's mannequin appears, suddenly we have all kinds of people after the guy, including the weasley human resources director (James Spader), a moronic security guard (GW Bailey), his ex-girlfriend (Carole Davis) and her boss (Steve Vinovich), the movie degenerates into a bunch of silly slapstick and car chases that even a mannequin's possible demise into a wood chipper can't make anymore interesting. Jonathan's only allies are the store owner (Estelle Getty) and the flamboyant window dresser named Hollywood (Meshach Taylor).
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This film seemed like it was seven hours long and I don't think I laughed out loud. Andrew McCarthy was his usual adorable self and Cattrall had not discovered her inner Samantha Jones yet, but they do manage a semblance of chemistry, but the rest of the cast is just annoying. I can't believe this was the same movie I saw when first came out. Time has not been kind to this one. There's even a sequel if you can imagine. 2
Gideon58
12-27-23, 05:09 PM
Saltburn
From Emerald Fennell, who won an Original Screenplay Oscar for Promising Young Woman a couple of years ago, comes 2023's Saltburn, an edgy, challenging, stomach churning comedy fraught with sexual tension and constant surprising detours. It doesn't deliver the story that we are set up for, but it holds our attention with an iron grip.
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The story is set at Oxford University in the year 2002 where we meet a seemingly introverted young student named Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) who finds himself immediately attracted to Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), a charismatic student from an aristocratic family, who invites Oliver to spend the summer with him at his family's magnificent estate for an unforgettable summer providing a sexual awakening of Oliver that we don't see at all.
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Fennell's screenplay plays fast and loose with story whose underlying theme seems to be the often gray areas of sexuality and how the rules are just not the same anymore. Starting off as what seems to be a simple love story between two men, as they arrive at Satlburn, the Catton's estate, we learn that nothing is as it seems and that in terms of the sexuality of the players in this story, nothing is in black and white. Oliver does seem to be in love with Felix, but Felix's feelings are never really made clear, while putting Oliver through an emotional and sexual wringer that's really hard to watch. What we don't see coming, however, is Oliver not sitting back and letting Felix walk all over his feelings, through his own forms of sexual exploration.
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What's frustrating about the movie is the fact that the set up of a relationship between Oliver and Felix is solid enough that the audience is willing to sit back and wait for it to happen, Sadly, as the film unfolds across the screen, we realize that this romance is never to be, though there are several other plot detours that we don't see coming and never allow our interest in what happens to wane and in one dramatic plot twist, Felix's family completely turns on Oliver making the final third of the story completely squirm worthy. Fennell's rendering of the cinematic tension in this film rivals some of Adrian Lyne's best work. There's a scene in the bathroom that Oliver and Felix share and a bedroom scene shot in silhouette that are shocking and arousing. The final bizarre scene featuring a nude Keoghan will also raise eyebrows.
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Fennell's camerawork is extraordinary as is her attention to all production values. Barry Keoghan's charismatic performance as Oliver has earned him a Golden Globe nomination and he creates viable chemistry with Jacob Elordi, who you might remember as Nate on the HBO series Euphoria, in a sizzling sex-on-legs performance as Felix. Rosamond Pike's delicious scenery chewing as Felix's mother has earned her a Globe nomination as well. Fennel doesn't deliver the story that she starts to, but this is solid entertainment right through the closing credits. 4
Gideon58
12-28-23, 05:38 PM
Wonka
Roald Dahl's most famous literary character makes a third trip to the big screen in 2023's Wonka, a lavish musical prequel to the 1971 and 2005 films that despite a slightly padded screenplay, reimagines the character without the darkness and lights up the screen thanks to Timothee Chalamet's dazzling performance in the title role.
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Wonka is introduced as an illiterate part time magician and chocolate maker who is determined to travel to a city he learned about from his mother where the best chocolate in the world is made. Upon Wonka's arrival, he finds himself imprisoned by a greedy innkeeper named Mrs. Scrubbit and threatened by the Chocolate Cartel, the three chocolate makers, led by a character first mentioned in the 1971 film, Mr. Slugworth, who we technically never met in that film,
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Mrs. Scrubbit is also holding a handful of other slaves under her hotel, including a little girl named Noodle, who helps Wonka sneak out of the dungeon so that he can get hold of the giraffe milk that he needs for his latest creation. Meanwhile, the Chocolate Cartel, after having sampled Wonka's wares, have bribed the chief of police with tons of chocolate if he tells Wonka that he is forbidden to make anymore chocolate.
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Director and co-screenwriter Paul King, who directed the two Paddington movies, has legitimized bringing this character back to the screen by making it a prequel and does succeed in bringing a lot of joy to the character that was especially absent from the colorless and depressing 2005 film starring Johnny Depp. Wonka is a guy who finds complete joy in chocolate making and wants to use the talent he possesses to make everyone in the world feel better. In both previous films, the Wonka character seems to hate children, but that is gone here. As a matter of fact, his number one ally in this film is this little girl Noodle and so much of what he does in this film is predicated on promises he makes to her.
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There are some minor plot points that it's a little difficult to reconcile. Primarily, how does Mrs. Scrubbit not catch onto Noodle sneaking out of the factory with Wonka in her laundry cart? And while he's doing these spectacular production numbers in the middle of town square, it never gets back to Mrs. Scrubbit what he's up to? Wonka and his fellow slaves even manage to get out of their dungeon long enough to open up Wonka's new chocolate shop without Mrs. Scrubbit knowing, but just when we decide to let that go, we find out that the Chocolate Cartel has somehow gotten into Wonka's new shop and sabotaged his chocolate so that it causes bizarre side effects. This makes the journey to the happy ending a little longer than it needed to be.
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The film still provides solid entertainment for the most part. Composers Neil Hannon and Joey Talbot have provided an infectious new score for this story which includes songs like "A World of our Own", "Scrub Scrub", "You've Never Had Chocolate", "A Hatful of Dreams", and "Sorry Noodle." Only one song from the 1971 film is reprised here for the finale and I'm sure you can guess which one.
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Timothee Chalamet continues to prove to be an actor incapable of a bad performance, commanding the screen in a performance that has earned the film its only Golden Globe nomination. Also loved Keegan-Michael Key as the police chief, Oscar winner Olivia Colman provides a perfect blend of Miss Hannigan from Annie and Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd with her wicked Mrs. Scrubbit and let's not forget a fall on the floor turn from Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa. The journey is a little longer than it needed to be, but it's a lot of fun. 4
Gideon58
12-29-23, 03:06 PM
Summertime (1955)
Despite Katharine Hepburn in front of the camera, David Lean in the director's chair, and some breathtaking Italian scenery, this reviewer still found a 1955 romantic drama called Summertime a little on the thin side.
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Based on a play called The Time of the Cuckoo by Arthur Laurents, this is the story of a lonely spinster named Jane Hudson (Hepburn) who travels to Venice on a very specific mission of romance, even though she might be in denial about it. Jane may have found what she is looking for in the form of a handsome shopkeeper named Renato de Rossi (Rossano Brazzi).
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Lean not only served as director, but also assisted Laurents in adapting his play for the screen and I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing. The movie is a visual feast, filmed entirely on location in Venice and I think Lean tends to let the scenery distract us from seeing how thin the story is. The first twenty minutes of the film seem to deal exclusively with Jane trying to keep up with her luggage, finding her hotel, and being tricked into spending a lot of money than she needed to courtesy of Italian bellman, waiters, and gondola operators. She also spends a little too much screentime with a little boy who is also trying to con her. Brazzi doesn't even hit the screen until almost thirty minutes into the running time.
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Lean is no stranger to intimate romantic drama, having directed the classic Brief Encounter, but this one just takes too long to get started. Once it does, Hepburn does prove that she is always worth watching. She gives us a character who is fighting to keep everything she's desiring and feeling on the inside but we get the exact opposite effect. This Jane Hudson wears every emotion she's feeling all over her face and we feel for her. There's a moment during her second meeting with de Rossi where he approaches her table, greets her, then walks away while she struggles to think of a way to get him to stay, but she is unable to verbalize what she wants...it's a heartbreaking moment and so is the final scene.
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Hepburn's luminous performance in this film earned her a sixth Oscar nomination for Best Actress and makes us believe this romance. True Hepburn fans will not be disappointed. Ten years later, the film was turned into a Broadway musical called Do I Hear a Waltz? with music by Richard Rogers and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. 3.5
Gideon58
12-30-23, 03:53 PM
Priscilla
Oscar winner Sofia Coppola provides an initially romanticized look at one of the great show biz romances in 2023's Priscilla, a lavishly mounted valentine to the romance between Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu, that tells a completely different story than Baz Luhrman's film last year and definitely from a different point of view.
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The film begins with the pair's first arranged meeting in Germany while Elvis and Priscilla's father were in the army and moves through an initially dreamy romance that becomes toxic with issues of obsession, infidelity, drug abuse, and physical abuse that does eventually destroy the marriage.
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In addition to directing the film, Coppola also co-wrote the screenplay with Sandra Harmon and Priscilla, herself, who is also billed as Executive Producer. With Presley clearly overseeing every step of this production, there is a pretty good chance that the story presented here is factually accurate. The screenplay is based on a 1988 min-series called Elvis and Me that starred Dale Midkiff and Susan Walters as Elvis and Priscilla. The screenplay has been revamped to tell the story from Priscilla's point of view. The story begins a little romanticized in the opening scenes where Elvis appears to be a perfect gentleman, but as the film progresses, we find his gentlemanly exterior being peeled away like an onion, progressing to the point where we don't understand why Priscilla stayed with the man as long as she did.
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There were a couple of things presented here that were eye-openers for me. First of all, I didn't know that Priscilla was 14 years old when she met Elvis and equally shocked when, after their first date, Elvis gave her a pill to keep her awake in school the next day, which apparently led to a dependence for Priscilla. There's also a scene where he says he has a gift for her and we're expecting it to be an expensive piece of jewelry, but it was a gun It was unsettling watching Priscilla being kept a virtual prisoner at Graceland while Elvis was supposedly having affairs with Nancy Sinatra and Ann-Margret. The scene where Priscilla gets on a plane to Hollywood to confront Elvis about Ann-Margret and is practically sent back to Nashville on the same plane was one of the best in the film. Loved the scene after their wedding in front of the wedding cake...I haven't seen a bride and groom look so unhappy since Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin in This Boy's Life. The film makes Priscilla awfully silly at times, which is strange since she probably had final say on what ended up on the screen.
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Cailee Spaeny has been nominated for a Golden Globe for Leading Actress in a Drama for her performance in the title role, though I found the performance a little one-note. Jacob Elordi, who also lit up the screen this year in Saltburn, delivers another sexy performance as Elvis, never resorting to impression but capturing the essence of the King. Coppola, who I've never been much of a fan, is a little heavy-handed in the director's chair, but with Priscilla in her ear, keeps the film more than watchable. 3.5
Gideon58
01-02-24, 03:20 PM
George Carlin: Life is Worth Losing
He was the first standup comedian who not only made me laugh, but when I really listened to him, I realized that everything he said was correct. George Carlin: Life is Worth Losing was the 13th special Carlin did for HBO three years before his death.
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Shot live from the Beacon Theater in New York, Carlin struts onstage and does another one of his poetic diatribes using whatever were the most popular cliches invading pop culture in 2005 when this special was filmed. I was then delighted when Carlin announced that he was 341 days sober and was celebrating his 50th year in show business.
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As sad as it was, this was the first special I've seen of Carlin where I really got the feeling that he man was starting to age. His delivery is not as razor sharp as it was when he was doing things like Class Clown or Toledo Window Box. Carlin has always been known for a form of patter where he makes long lists of items for his audience in rapid manner that requires complete attention and totally pays off if he nails it. Unfortunately, as sharp as Carlin's writing was, his memorization skills are beginning to slip here. On multiple occasions during this concert I caught the comedy icon fumbling over his words and having to repeat phrases that didn't really need to be repeated. This reviewer would have preferred that Carlin have slowed down his delivery a little and get the words out as he wrote them without the speed. The man was in his late 60's at the time, we would have understood.
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His choice of material is edgy as ever. He devotes a lot of time onstage to one of my least favorite subjects" Suicide. He even suggests that cable television should have an all-suicide network. Cannibalism and genocide get their share of time as well and Carlin has the ability, like Louis CK, to take a subject to the edge of the comedy cliff in danger of losing them, but is able to bring them back. I haven't seen a lot of comics get a lot of laughs from subjects like suicide, natural disasters, obesity, homelessness, cannibalism, and autoerotic asphyxiation. but somehow Carlin manages to do it RIP, George.
Gideon58
01-04-24, 04:41 PM
Maestro
Bradley Cooper's dedication and passion to his work as an actor, director, and screenwriter are all over 2023's Maestro a sweeping yet intimate look at legendary composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein that is completely riveting until a descent into melodrama that takes the film from its original intended purpose. This doesn't change the fact that Cooper's work as an actor and director on A Star is Born was no fluke and that he is a filmmaker who has a long and distinguished career ahead of him.
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As a refreshing hook for biopics these days, this film actually begins at the beginning of Bernstein's career where he learns that the Philharmonic conductor has been snowbound somewhere and Lenny is asked to step in, right through his mentoring of young classical musicians through his Young People's Concerts.
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Cooper and Josh Singer, who co-wrote the screenplay for the 2015 Best Picture Spotlight provide a slightly pretentious screenplay with an edge that I didn't expect. The screenplay makes no bones about Bernstein's bisexuality (news to me, though I always suspected). As a matter of fact as the film opens, Bernstein is in a relationship with a young man named David (Matt Bomer). Then when Lenny meets the glamorous actress Felicia (Carey Mulligan )like other films like De-Lovely, she claims that she has her eyes open about who Lenny is and is OK with it. And just like Linda Porter, she seems to be comfortable with the perks of being Mrs. Leonard Bernstein instead of being with a man who loves her completely and exclusively. There's a shocking scene where Lenny is observed at a music event in the balcony with Felicia on one side of him and a man seated on the other side of him and he's holding his hand. There's a heartbreaking scene with Lenny and his daughter where she has inquired about rumors she's heard about him and he just sugarcoats the whole thing...the first scene in the film that made me not like the guy.
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Unfortunately, once it is revealed that Felicia has a life-threatening illness, the screenplay seems to forget all about Lenny and concentrates on Felicia and Lenny's unflinching dedication to her, which had been questionable up to this point in the story. Carey Mulligan crushes the scenes where Felicia is observed being nauseous from the chemo and is unapologetic in its presentation. I was also a little disappointed that Bernstein's most commercially successful work as a composer, the music for West Side Story is barely mentioned.
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On the positive side, Bradley Cooper is to be applauded for all the work, research, and training that had to be involved in bringing this character to the screen. His work is on par with Cate Blanchett's work in Tar...learning how to conduct and some very convincing piano playing in an early scene, He pitches his voice much lower than we're accustomed to hearing and there is a scene near the end of the film where he observed conducting an orchestral piece with two female soloists where it is obvious that Cooper spent hours just watching video of Bernstein conducting.
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It's hard to deny the artistry that Bradley Cooper put into this film and would love to see him win at least one of the Golden Globes he's been nominated for and I think he should be recognized at Oscar time as well. So should Carey Mulligan who, after two previous nominations, is definitely due for some award love. It's not quite a home run, but Bradley Cooper definitely knows the ins and outs of being in front of and behind the camera. 4
Gideon58
01-05-24, 01:57 PM
American Masters: Marilyn Monroe: Still Life
Just when we thought that just about everything we could possibly think of had already been provided for we Marilyn junkies, PBS provided an intriguing new angle from which to study the icon with a 2006 documentary called Marilyn Monroe: Still Life.
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This documentary takes a different tac than the traditional look at the movie star through clips of her movies and interviews with stars she worked with or even family members, of which Marilyn had precious few. This is not an examination of the woman as an actress but as the subject of a photographer's camera.
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I had thought that at this point in my life as a cinephile, I had seen and heard everything there was to see or hear about Marilyn, but this film offered literally thousands of photographs of Marilyn that I had never seen before. The only people interviewed for this documentary are photographers who actually took pictures of Marilyn. These pictures and interviews are interspersed with snippets of the late Norman Mailer reading excerpts from the book he wrote about Marilyn, which for the most part were very unflattering and really seemed in direct conflict with director Gail Levin's purpose.
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Despite the fact that she was adored by fans everywhere, this film provides definitive proof that Marilyn's greatest affair was with the camera. The photographs of Marilyn on display in this film provide more insight into the actress than anything she did on the movie screen. Hugh Hefner offers details about the infamous nude calendar shots and what he had to do get them on the first cover of Playboy. A photograph is offered of Marilyn in the early stage of her career with twelve other models and the other models just fade into the background. Oscar winning costume designer Cecil Beaton recalls his photo session with Marilyn and a photographer named Douglas Kirkland offered details of his session with her that may or may not have gotten intimate.
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The most interesting aspect of the film was where we were offered still photographs from the filming of the subway grating scene from The Seven Year. Itch, which featured a 2006 interview from a photographer who was actually there. He offers one incredible shot of the sex symbol on the set that he says was taken at the moment Marilyn saw Joe DiMaggio walk off the set because he couldn't stand all these people gawking at his wife. Truly, one of the most revealing photographs of Marilyn I've ever seen. Another photographer shows us some private photos from his collection, describing Marilyn as the saddest, most messed up and unhappy person he has ever seen. If you think you knew everything there was to know about Marilyn Monroe, this is eye-opening stuff. 4
Gideon58
01-09-24, 08:03 PM
The Color Purple (2023)
Admittedly a story I never imagined being turned into a musical, but 2023's The Color Purple is a brassy musical version of the Broadway musical based on the 1985 Steven Spielberg film based on a novel by Alice Walker (everybody got that?).
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This is the story of a young black girl named Celie, during the 20's who gets separated from her sister, Nettie and sold to a sexist beast named Mister, who treats her as a maid and prostitute. The relationship is a nightmare for Celie, which becomes even more complex with the arrival of Shug Avery, a trampy nightclub singer of whom Mister is obsessed but Shug and Celie develop feelings for each other as well. There's also a subplot involving Mister's son, Harpo, who tries to keep his wife, Sophia in line the way Mister does Celie, but Sophia's not having it.
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The musical version of the 1985 Steven Spielberg film first came to the Broadway stage in December of 2005 and ran for over 900 performances, so a film version was going to happen at some point, but every time I pictured the 1985 film in my mind, there's no way I could picture a film that broaches subjects like incest, rape, domestic abuse, and lesbianism as a musical, but screenwriters Marcus Gardley, Marsha Norman, and Alice Walker somehow manage to keep the story in a realistic vein for the most part while bringing some toe-tapping musical sequences to give the story a sparkle we didn't know it needed until we saw it, because, face it, that 1985 film is a real downer. The story does feel cleaned up a bit but that's okay because it's a musical.
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Director Blitz Bazawule applies an imaginative eye to the mounting of this story without ever going full out fantasy like Disney or MGM. Only two musical numbers really journey into a fantasy mode and oddly enough, they both involve Celie and Shug. One involves their first meeting where Shug is bathing and asks Celie to wash her back. The bathroom turns into a giant phonograph record with the bathtub on top of it. The other. "What About Love?" features a set that resembles the set the Nicholas Brothers did splits down in the Betty Grable musical Down Argentine Way.
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Fatima Robinson's athletic choreography is also a big plus in bringing the musical numbers to life. Fantasia Barrino lights up the screen as Celie, but I thought Colman Domingo was a little over the top as Mister. Danielle Brooks lit up the screen as Sophia and Corey Hawkins, who was so good in In the Heights made a terrific Harpo. Taraji P Hensen works very hard in the pivotal role of Shug Avery (especially loved her rendering of "Sister"), but, for some reason, I kept picturing Jennifer Hudson in this role, but a small quibble in what was otherwise a warm and joyous musical experience. 4
Gideon58
01-11-24, 04:20 PM
No Down Payment
Emotionally charged direction by Martin Ritt of a first rate ensemble cast make 1957's No Down Payment, a sizzling soap opera well worth the time.
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The movie is set in a California suburb called Sunrise Hills where we find David and Jean (Jeffrey Hunter, Patricia Owens) move into a neighborhood where they meet their new neighbors whose homes are close enough to see into each other's living rooms: Troy (Cameron Mitchell) is a troubled war hero who is trying to get hired as the town's chief of police and his wife, Leola (Joanne Woodward) is unable to let go of issues in their past; Jerry (Tony Randall) is a womanizing, alcoholic used car salesman who is causing consistent heartbreak to wife Isabelle (Sheree North) who can't get him to stop drinking. Herman (Pat Hingle) is a store owner who is afraid to step up for his Japanese employee who is being refused housing in Herman's neighborhood and won't step up for Troy either when the opportunity presents itself.
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This is cinematic soap opera at its zenith, that probably never got the attention it deserved due it being released the same year as acclaimed Best Picture Oscar nominee Peyton Place, but when you look at the two films side by side, this film is just as good, if not slightly better. The screenplay centers primarily on six characters, making it much more intimate than Peyton Place and making it a lot easier to follow since the six characters are effectively tangled together, especially in two well-directed party scenes that bring all the characters together and then methodically begins tearing them apart. David and Jean initially serve as our tour guides into this twisted tale of dysfunctional suburbia that we can't help but get wrapped up in as it becomes clear pretty quickly that none of the marriages in this movie are happy ones.
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The story takes a lot of squirm-worthy turns that will rivet the viewer and might even have him talking back to the screen. Heartbreaking is the only way to describe the reveal of Leola's past and Jerry is one of the slimiest movie characters I have ever seen and suffers precious few consequences for his behavior. Herman really arouses emotions as well when it is revealed that he has an employee who he thinks the world of and can't do without, but will not lift a finger when the guy wants to buy a house in Herman's neighborhood. The subject of attempted rape is even broached.
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Ritt always keeps this story in a realistic mode, evidenced by a clearly limited budget. Cameron Mitchell seems to be channeling Brando in the bully Troy and Owens brings a surprising allure to the initially uncomplicated Jean. Pat Hingle (who I've never seen so young) nails the conflicted Herman but the high drama in this film comes from Joanne Woodward as the pathetic Leola and Tony Randall, in the performance of his career that should have earned him an Oscar nomination as the slimeball Jerry. My jaw was consistently dropped as Randall, cast completely against type, brought this monstrous character to the screen. Well-acted, well-directed and apparently forgotten 1950's melodrama that had this reviewer mesmerized. 4
Gideon58
01-12-24, 03:46 PM
Sound of Freedom
Definitely not an easy watch, but 2023's Sound of Freedom is a disturbing docudrama about what is, according to this film, the second biggest criminal moneymaking enterprise on the planet.
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The film opens with what appears to be an audition for child models, but it is quickly revealed that these children are being trafficked for child pornography and prostitution. A government agent named Tim Ballard has made it his mission to rescue as many of these children as possible, but his mission becomes personal when he rescues a young boy named Miguel but learns from the boy that his sister is still a slave. Because he has no solid evidence, Tim must give up his job and return to South America as a vigilante working on his own to find this little girl.
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Save a couple of episodes of Law and Order: SVU, this is relatively foreign territory as entertainment for this reviewer and the disturbance factor of what I was seeing here was off the charts. It wasn't just watching the ugliness of these traffickers luring young children into their lair with the promise of stardom. It wasn't just the drooling customer case who had oddly specific requirements regarding exactly what they wanted in a child playmate. It was these children, these victims and the different levels of knowledge regarding exactly what was happening to them.
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It stars when we see Ballard rescue young Miguel at the US/Mexican border, a remarkable scene that documents how sometimes these kids aren't exactly sure what they are involved in. Director and co-screenwriter Alejandro Monteverde nails this scene where we see the border patrol officers drag the driver of the van off in cuffs, Detective Ballard still has his work cut out for him convincing young Miguel that he is safe and it is OK for him to get out of the van. It isn't until Ballard takes Miguel out for a burger that we see the wall he has built up to protect himself come down. So much of this story is told with the eye of the camera rather than dialogue. The reality of what we are watching here really comes through the faces of these young victims...looks of confusion, terror, and hopelessness.
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Monteverde gives the film a very authentic filming in Columbia and provides an emotional heart for the film with his casting of Jim Cavieziel in the role of Tim Ballard, whose beautiful eyes convey exactly how important what he was doing was to him. It's a smidge longer than it needs to be, but it's a well made film on an important subject and I'm a little surprised that it has received little or no attention during award season thus far. 4
Gideon58
01-13-24, 03:05 PM
Matchstick Men
Matchstick Men is an edgy comedy drama from 2003 that had this reviewer laughing and taking back to the screen, thanks to a clever story and the professionalism in front of and behind the camera.
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Roy Walker (Oscar winner Nicolas Cage) is a professional grifter who is also a chain-smoking mass of phobias, neuroses, and superstition who is convinced that he can't survive without his medication. Frank Mercer (Oscar winner Same Rockwell) is Roy's fast-talking partner who respects Roy's skill at grifting, but is driven to distraction by Roy's hot mess of a personality. Roy and Frank are about to embark on their biggest mark ever, but a major wrench is thrown into their works with the arrival of Roy's 14-year old daughter, Angela (Allison Lohman), who barges her way into Roy's life for the first time.
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The somewhat complex screenplay roots this film effectively as it provides some three dimensional characters and throws them into some unexpected places. The Roy character is established immediately as sympathetic with his eye twitching and superstitious behavior which may or may not be psychosomatic. On the other hand, we have Angela who arrives on her father's doorstep unannounced, demanding instant access to his life and doing whatever she wants. There are at least four different moments in the film where Roy gives Angela a direct order and she just ignores him, which, naturally, does get her in trouble, but by this time it's actually difficult to sympathize with her, but the storyline somehow manages to do just that during the final act.
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Four time Oscar nominee Ridley Scott provides a lot of style in his direction, anchored by some dizzying camerawork that should be headache-inducing, but instead piques viewer curiosity as to exactly what we're in for, receiving solid assistance from editor Dody Dorn. We can also see the attention paid to the actors, particularly Cage's character. It's easy to see his contribution to keeping the quirkiness of Roy consistent throughout the film.
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Nicolas Cage delivers one of his most fascinating performances as Roy, a character he disappears inside and never forgets about all of Roy's phobias. His tourette's- like explosive confrontations with various character throughout startle and rivet the viewer and Sam Rockwell's slick Frank perfectly counterparts Roy's thunder. Allison Lohman who triumphed the year before in White Oleander, proves that performance was no fluke in another star-making turn that arouses complex emotions. Bruce Altman and Bruce McGill also make the most of their roles as Roy's shrink and his latest mark. A well-acted dramedy that, if caught in the right mood, will tie your stomach in knots. 4
Gideon58
01-17-24, 01:08 PM
The Last Movie Stars
HBO/Max and CNN Films knocks it out of the park with a 2022 six-part documentary/limited series called The Last Movie Stars, a brilliant examination of the last great Hollywood couple of acting...the late Paul Newman and wife Joanne Woodward.
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While on lock down during the pandemic, actor Ethan Hawke was contacted by screenwriter Stewart Stern (Rachel, Rachel) to see if he would be interested in putting together a documentary on the couple based on thousands of audio taped interviews with the stars, their friends, families, and people who had worked with the Newmans. Giving the standard documentary mounting a clever tweak, Hawke contacted several actors and asked them if they would be interested in recreating the interviews on audio where each actor would play someone being interviewed. We watch Hawke sharing face time with the various actors as the recreated the interviews juxtaposed with a myriad of film clips and home movies of the stars.George Clooney is cast as Paul Newman, Laura Linney plays Joanne Woodward, Allesandro Nivola plays Robert Redford, Karen Allen plays Newman's mother, Frances, Jonathan Sherman plays Martin Ritt, and Josh Hamilton plays George Roy Hill.
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The film also features interviews with almost all of Newman's children, who share intimate memories of their father. I was especially moved by the interview with Paul's stepdaughter, Stephanie, who is candid about the pain she felt when Neman's affair with Joanne Woodward broke up her parents' marriage. Newman and Woodward were such a gold standard for Hollywood marriage for so long that so many people forget that Newman was married at the time he met Woodward and there are interviews with Newman's wife, Jackie McDonald, who is played by Zoe Kazan.
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The film offers a very effective overview of the careers of both Newman and Woodward from their first meeting at Lee Strasberg's Actor's Studio, where they were classmates with people like Marlon Brando, Geraldine Page, and Marilyn Monroe. Newman shares his thoughts about early comparisons to Brando as well as how he never thought he was anywhere as good an actor than Woodward was. A story is shared about how Woodward persuaded Newman to do one of their biggest box office bombs called A New Kind of Love that had me on the floor. Woodward also offers some surprising revelations on how she thought having children impacted her career.
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Commentary is also offered by Martin Scorsese, Billy Crudup, Sam Rockwell, Sally Field (the only person featured who I think worked with both Newman and Woodward o separate projects), LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Vincent D'onofrio, Steve Zahn, Bobby Cannavale, and Richard Linklater among others. Yes, it's a bit of a time commitment, but for me, the fastest six hours of my life. When it was over, I wanted to sit down and watch the sixteen movies that Paul and Joanne worked on together. 5
Gideon58
01-17-24, 03:54 PM
Pete Davidson: Turbo Fonzarelli
My first review of a 2024 release is Netflix's second special with Pete Davidson called Turbo Fonzarelli, which provides more laughs than the last time I watched him do standup, but this guy, as funny as he is, does still need a little seasoning,
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The last time I saw him do standup, I remember being irritated by his abrupt transitions from subject to subject and too much looking at the floor while he was talking. He displays some improvement with these things this time around, but this time I found myself annoyed with a couple of routines that went on WAY too long.
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Davidson knows who his audience is and gets them on his side immediately by talking about drugs. He garners laughs about the fact that he can't do drugs anymore because he recently turned 30. This somehow segues into a routine revolving around his mother, who a lot of Pete's comedy has been centered, but he walks a little bit of a tightrope in this reviewer's opinion as Pete begins a lengthy and detailed tirade about the fact that his mother needs to get laid because she hasn't been on a date since Pete's dad died. There's funny stuff here, but I couldn't help but think that his mother has to be the most tolerant and open-minded woman on the planet. Yes, she probably is aware that hes joking and apparently has asked Pete to include her in his material, but if I were the guy's mother, some of the stuff he said here would have made me cringe. It made me think about the way Ali Wong talks about her husband in her standup.
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For my money, Pete gets his biggest and best laughs when he talks about thinking he was gay when he was 13 because he was obsessed with Leonardo di Caprio. I don't know if any of this was true, but it was roll on the floor funny and again managed to put his mom at the forefront of the routine and utilized just the right amount of time. I wish the same could be said of his piece about meeting his stalker for the first time. Again, hard to gauge if this piece was real or a figment of Pete's demented imagination, but the more he went on, the more unfunny it became. He did manage to cleverly loop the story back to his mom, but he was losing me at that point. Davidson shows promise as a standup but I still think he's a better actor than a standup comedian. It should also be mentioned that I have no idea who or what "Turbo Fonzarelli" is it is never referenced during the concert, but I loved the black and white photography...the concert was beautiful to look at. 3.5
Gideon58
01-18-24, 02:13 PM
Switch (1991)
Blake Edwards' penchant for slapstick comedy helps a 1991 comedy called Switch remain watchable, but not much.
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This is the story of a womanizing advertising executive named Steve Brooks (Perry King) who has used and abused so many women that three of them get together and decide to murder the guy. Upon his death, Steve arrives at Purgatory and is told that he has to repent for the way he treated women while he was alive live and is told that he was going to be given his life back if he could find one woman on the planet who likes him. The only catch is that to help Steve better understand the error of his ways, he is reincarnated as a woman (Ellen Barkin).
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Edwards attempts to mine a lot of laughs through physical comedy that become tiresome pretty quickly. Barkin's awkwardness in learning how to walk in high heels is initially hilarious, but it gets tedious pretty quickly, even though it occurs for about 2/3 of the running time. Wouldn't it have been more efficient if, after her first day stumbling on high heels, for the JoBeth Williams character to give her a lesson or two in walking in heels instead of watching Barkin's Amanda falling over things and knocking them down for most of the running time? It was also kind of hard to accept Amanda being clueless on how to seduce a lesbian client (Lorraine Bracco)...she was a woman, he still felt like a man, that whole subplot shouldn't have been so complex or maybe should have been left out all together.
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Ellen Barkin works very hard at being believable in the leading role, but sometimes it's just a little over the top, she's just trying to hard. As previously mentioned, the leading man's role in this film is thankless, but Jimmy Smits does put a lot of effort into bringing the role some substance. Mention should also be made of Tony Roberts as Amanda's boss and Bruce Payne as the Devil. And yes, that is Catherine Keener in another thankless role as Amanda's secretary. There's a lot of talent involved here, but it is all for naught. 2.5
Gideon58
01-22-24, 12:32 PM
Six by Sondheim
In a career as a composer that spanned over five decades, he won eight Tony Awards, eight Grammy Awards, an Olivier Award, an Oscar, and the Pulitzer Prize. Arguably, the most influential composer in Broadway history, the recently deceased Stephen Sondheim was the subject of a 2013 HBO documentary called Six by Sondheim that will be heaven sent to his fans and required of anyone who is a student of music.
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Co-directed by Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) and lJames Lapine, the documentary examines Sondheim's life and career through a clever linchpin...six songs that Sondheim wrote for six different musicals and the presentation of these songs, their origin and the creative process behind them are each presented in a different context.
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When talking about his beginnings in the business as strictly a lyricist, they talk about the song "Something's Coming" from West Side Story and how it was written to help Broadway's Tony Larry Kert connect to the character. Sondheim talks frankly about the hell that was working on the musical Gypsy with Ethel Merman and how he wanted to write the music in addition to the lyrics, but Merman wanted a more experienced composer. Sondheim does share an absolutely hysterical story regarding Merman and Loretta Young.
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When discussing the song "Opening Doors" from Merrily We Roll Along" the song was recreated from the original score with Darren Criss, Jeremy Jordan, and America Ferrera stepping into the roles. A look at "Being Alive" from Company featured clips from the recording session for the original cast album and a look at Sondheim's most famous song "Send in the Clowns" revealed how Sondheim considers the song his least significant work written to cover up the vocal deficiencies of Broadway's original Desiree, the recently deceased Glynis Johns.
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What was most fun for this reviewer was a look into Sondheim's actual process for writing. This begins with his effervescent musings about his mentor Oscar Hammerstein, who he lived with as a child, and was the most important influence in everything he ever did. It's little things described by the composer in only a way he can that made this film so memorable. Sondheim is such a wordsmith, which I'm sure is why he is probably the best lyricist in musical theater history. He describes his music as conversational...he writes the way people talk, not the way they sing.
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Sondheim offers candid stories about his extremely troubled childhood that he says was saved by Oscar Hammerstein. The other unprecedented treat offered in this film was my first and only opportunity to hear Sondheim sing. This was worth the price of admission all by itself. For anyone who has any interest in the art of writing music, this documentary is must-see viewing. A joy from start to finish. 5
Gideon58
01-23-24, 03:48 PM
Past Lives
Director and screenwriter Celine Song scores with an enigmatic 2023 melodrama called Past Lives, a sweet and soulful tale of reconnection and possible regret that has earned Song an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, weaving a tale that ends up telling a completely different story than the one she establishes.
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Nora and Hae Sung grew up together in Korea and were attached at the hip until they were 12 years old. Then Nara's filmmaker father decided to move their family away from Korea to Toronto and from there, Nora eventually found her way to New York where she began working on a writing career. One day while online, Nora discovers via her father's website, that Hae Sung has been looking for her. Nora reaches out and the pair reunite and video chat, since Hae Sung is still in Korea and still lives with his parents. After months of failed attempts to get Hae Sung to visit her in Manhattan, Nora suggests they take a break and during said break, both find romance. Nora marries a fellow writer named Arthur but Hae Sung's romance doesn't work out and Nora finally convinces him to visit her in New York.
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Song's screenplay definitely deserved the Oscar nomination it earned because it sets up one kind of movie and delivers another. We think we're going to get this star-crossed romance about two people who were separated as children and will somehow, someway reunite before the credits roll but that's not what happens at all. Love the way the film starts out. The opening scene we see the three principal characters sitting at a bar and we hear two voices on the audio playing that game where people pick out strangers in a restaurant and try to assess exactly what the relationship is that they're witnessing. Two or three possible scenarios are suggested over the audio and they are all wrong.
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The film takes a minute to get going because it takes a little too long to establish the relationship between Nora and Hae Sung, but the story really heats up once Nora finally convinces Hae Sung to visit her in Manhattan. Song does save some time by skipping over Nora and Arthur courtship and short-handing the relationship during one scene when they're in bed. Love the moment when Hae Sung and Arthur meet for the first time and Arthur greets him in Korean and Hae Sung attempts to respond in English. And the tension that Song creates in that scene at the bar where Hae Sung and Nora are speaking in Korean and practically ignoring Arthur was unlike anything I've seen in a long time. There's even a moment where the camera moves to Arthur and we actually wonder if he might really understand Korean and everything that they're saying. There is quite a bit of material here that is left to viewer interpretation.
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The film has also received a Best Picture nomination, but in the days when there were only five nominees in this category, I'm not sure this film would make the cut, but I still found this film a sweetly compelling experience that was nothing that I was expecting but just about everything I hoped. Greta Lee, who some might recognize as Stella from The Mornin Show, turns in a star-making performance as Nora and Teo Yoo and John Magaro bring a richness to Hae Sung and Arthur as well. A lovely little film. [/I]4
Gideon58
01-24-24, 02:35 PM
I Don't Know How She Does It
Sarah Jessica Parker attempts to breathe some life into a cutesy 2011 comedy called I Don't Know How She Does Tt, but the film never becomes more than a tiresome feminist statement that seems to explore a lot of the same territory that Parker explored in Sex and the City.
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Parker stars as Kate Reddy, who is married to the charming and hard working Richard (Greg Kinnear) and is the mother of two adorable children. Kate also has a high powered job as an investment broker that has her traveling constantly and having her children sometimes forgetting what she looks like. Just as things start to slow up for her a bit, she is given the opportunity to broker a megadeal with a New York power player named Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan) that could set her and her company up for her life, but it is wreaking even more havoc on her already hectic home life. She can't turn down the job though because an obnoxious co-worker named Chris Bunce (Seth Meyers) is jumping at the bit to take the assignment from her.
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The screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) and Allison Pearson is an oversimplified look at the sexist treatment of women in the workplace that even includes a Carrie Bradshaw-like narration that redefines unnecessary. We can see what's going on, we don't need Kate on the audio rehashing it for us. Another gimmick that doesn't really work is having several of the characters outside of Kate's family talking directly to the camera as if they're being interviewed for a documentary, seemingly trying to make us dislike Kate, even her personal assistant, who is all about her job and has no desire to ever marry or have children. Don't know why the writers decided that on top of everything else Kate goes through in the movie, that they had to have other characters talking smack about her directly to the camera.
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And if the truth be told, the character of Kate Reddy is pretty much a rehash of Carrie Bradshaw. Just imagine if Carrie and Big had married during the original series and had had a couple of children, except that Carrie was the primary breadwinner. That's the basic premise here and we are reminded every ten minutes that some of the behavior that Kate resorts to get her hob done is frowned upon because she's a woman, but if she were a man, no one would blink an eye. Kate is not the clothes horse Carrie was either.
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Douglas McGrath, whose primary experience in movies was as a screenwriter, is in the director's chair for this one and really brings nothing special to the table in that capacity. The performances are pretty much by the numbers, though there is standout work from Olivia Munn as Kate's no nonsense assistant, otherwise this is a pretty meh experience only recommended for hardcore Sarah Jessica Parker fans. 2.5
Gideon58
01-24-24, 05:37 PM
Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Scorsese's 2023 epic Killers of the Flower Moon initially confuses as its attempt at looking at a proud Indian culture encountering racism, but eventually what we get is just another Scorsese movie, borrowing storytelling tools from himself.
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The setting is 1920's Oklahoma and as it opens a proud Indian tribe called the Osage discover oil on their land, and begin to enjoy genuine wealth for the first time in their lives. A former soldier named Ernest Burkhart (Oscar winner Leonardo Di Caprio) arrives in town to reunite with his Uncle William (Oscar winner Robert De Niro). William immediately starts encouraging his nephew to initiate a relationship with an elegant Osage princess named Molly (Lily Gladstone). It's not long before hundreds of the Osage begin getting murdered so that they're wealth can be taken from them and it's not long before the true villain of the piece is revealed and his plan to set up or silence anyone in his way.
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The screenplay initially displays some semblance of originality due to the canvas upon which the story is set, convincing the view they are about to be let in on something really different, but around the halfway point of the film, the confusing plotting starts to come together and it's pretty easy to follow what's going on from there, because the plot borrows elements of Goodfellas and The Departed and put them in a period setting.
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I have to admit that the relationship between Ernest and Molly really sucked me in and had me routing for them as a couple, but as their relationship progressed, William was manipulating it from behind the scenes and in the blink of an eye, Molly's mother and sister both end up dead and when Ernest is seen participating in a plan to silence his wife, I had checked out on Ernest and William. This whole story makes Ernest look dumb as a box of rocks and Di Caprio is way too intelligent for a character like this. Loved the epilogue even if it took a little too long.
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The film has been nominated for ten Academy Awards including Lead Actress for Gladstone, Supporting Actor for De Niro, and Best Director for Scorsese, though I don't see it winning any of these awards. Production values are first rate though and awards in technical categories are definite possibilities. Di Caprio works very hard at bringing some meat to this dumb character, Gladstone brings dignity and intelligence to Molly, and De Niro brings his accustomed slime to Uncle William. Jesse Plemmons, Cara Jade Myers, Oscar winner Brendan Fraser, and John Lithgow also make the most of their screentime, but when it comes down to it, this is just another Scorsese movie. 3.5
Gideon58
01-25-24, 02:55 PM
License to Drive
The two Coreys- Haim and Feldman, appeared in seven films together before Haim's death and the most famous of them was a 1988 comedy called License to Drive that suffers from a silly plot and too much Haim and not enough Feldman.
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Haim plays a teenage daydreamer named Les who is obsessed with getting his driver's license and already has planned out everything he plans to do when he gets said license. He has even promised to take out Mercedes (Heather Graham), the hottest girl in school, who, unbeknownst to Les, is just using him to make him jealous. Unfortunately, Les fails his driver's test, but that doesn't stop his from ending up on the town in his grandfather's car, with his two buddies and a drunk, passed out Mercedes in the back seat.
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The screenplay by Neil Tolkin, who also wrote Macauley Culkin's Richie Rich and the Pauly Shore comedy Jury Duty is rich with a lot of physical comedy and teen fantasy; unfortunately, most of the story is centered around Haim's character Les and this Corey isn't anywhere near as funny as the other Corey, who steals every scene he's in, along with Richard Masur as Les' dad.
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The film gets off to a very slow start thanks to intricate dream sequence that finds Haim chained to a school bus and making an escape through the rear exit. The scene where Les is taking his exam on the computer goes on way too long as well as Feldman's diatribes about the joys of having a driver's license, though I do understand their presence in the story, as the whole through line of the film seems to be that Les' life is going to change completely for the better because he has a driver's license. The story attempts to elicit sympathy for the Les character, but that just doesn't happen because Les fails his driver test and lies to everyone about it.
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Haim works very hard in the starring role, but he's just not funny. Masur and Feldman steal every scene they're in, but it really doesn't help because the movie is completely centered around Haim's character, though Graham does impress, in her 4th feature film, as Mercedes. Unless you're a hardcore fan of the Coreys, I'd give this one a pass. 2.5
Gideon58
01-27-24, 04:24 PM
All of Us Strangers
Initially confusing, but ultimately deeply moving, 2023's All of Us Kind Strangers is an uncomfortable blend of romance, fantasy, and psychological drama that requires some work from the viewer and had this reviewer's stomach in knots for the majority of the running time.
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The setting is contemporary London we where meet Adam, a gay screenwriter who has just begun a relationship with an enigmatic neighbor named Harry. Almost simultaneously, we find Adam visiting his childhood and visiting his parents who upon initial glance, appear to be only a few years older than he is. We then learn that Adam's parents died in a car crash almost 30 years ago.
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Director and co-screenwriter Andrew Haig really scores here with his unapologetic delivery of what are really two separate stories that initially don't connect at all, leaving viewers initially scratching their collective heads trying to figure out exactly what's going on. The story of Adam and Harry is pretty straightforward. I love the fact that during their first meeting, Adam closes the door on a very drunk Harry. We can't help be confused though when we meet Adam's parents, who just don't look old enough to be his parents. We are further confused though when his parents begin communicating with him and we put it together that this is the first time Adam's parents have seen him since they died, though they are now acknowledging the fact that he is an adult.
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As fascinated I was with what was going on here, my emotions were all over the place as this story unfolded before me. The scene where Adam comes out to his mother absolutely made my blood boil...the scene defies description you just have to experience. We keep waiting for Adam to bring these two worlds together but they remain separate without explanation. Haigh makes the viewer figure out what's going on instead of spelling it out for us. Loved that with each visit with his parents, Adam become more accessible to Harry; however, when Adam attempts to bring his two worlds together, the story turns undeniably heartbreaking.
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This film was nominated for six BAFTA's and a Golden Globe, but was completely shut out of the Oscar nominations and I don't know why. Haigh deserved a nomination for either his direction or his screenplay. Too much competition for him to have received nominations, but if the truth be told, I would have nominated his directing over Scorsese, yeah, I said it. Andrew Scott lights up the screen as the conflicted Adam and Paul Mescal, Best Actor nominee last year for Aftersun creates mad chemistry with him as Harry. Also LOVED Claire Foy and Jamie Bell as Adam's parents. Terrific camerawork and editing are the frosting on this loopy and fascinating cinema cake. 4.5
Gideon58
01-29-24, 03:57 PM
Black & White (1999)
James Toback, who received an Oscar nomination for the screenplay to the Warren Beatty epic Bugsy, makes an attempt to tackle some relevant issues in 1999's Black and White, but what we get here on said issues barely scratches the surface.
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This alleged look at contemporary race relations links multiple stories that are supposed to be related to each other, the primary one being a look at white teenagers being influenced by black hop hop culture, through the eyes of a documentary filmmaker. We also see back thugs hassling the white owners of a new club and a basketball player being bribed $50,000 to throw a game but then learning it was a set up.
The primary issue tackled in Toback's screenplay is one that has always fascinated me. There are few things that annoy me more than white people talking and acting like they're black, something actor Michael Rappaport is famous for. We actually see kids tailed all over Manhattan by an annoying documentary filmmaker, played by Brooke Shields, accompanied by her gay husband, brilliantly played by Robert Downey Jr. Shields' character reminded me of Opal from the BBC in Robert Altman's Nashville. The other stories being told do eventually form paper thin connections, but they are so thin we just don't care.
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Toback's intentions seem to be honorable here, but the guy is over his head approaching things that he clearly doesn't know much about it. The film uses Downey's character to address homophobia, but it doesn't work because Downey's character doesn't suffer the consequence he should have. This character unapologetically comes on to two clear heterosexuals, one being heavyweight champ Mike Tyson, of all people, and doesn't get the crap beaten out of him? IRL, that's these scenes would have been played out and this guy just walks away? Not to mention, why is Sheilds' character married to this guy? And this cop who set up the basketball player becomes more and more repellent as the film progresses.
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Toback does put together an interesting ensemble cast to pull this story off, despite an obvious limited budget. Needless to say Robert Downey Jr steals every scene he's in, but Ben Stiller is surprisingly effective as the filthy cop and there are some flashy guest turns from people like Claudia Schiffer, Scott Caan, Joe Pantoliano, Bijou Phillips, Eddie Kaye Thomas, who played Stifler in the American Pie movies, Method Man, and Oscar winner Jared Leto. I don't think it accomplishes what Toback wanted, but the cast does it make it worth a look. Loved the epilogue done without dialogue. 2.5
Gideon58
02-05-24, 01:23 PM
The Peanuts Movie
The beloved animated characters created by Charles Schulz return to the big screen for the first time in over 40 years in 2015's The Peanuts Movie, which features all the characters we've loved since the 1960's and a lovely story at its center, but too much silly and not very funny stuff going on around it that distracts from a nice primary story.
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The film begins by introducing Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, and all of the other characters we know and love and then moves into its primary plot which is the arrival of the little red haired girl moving into town, who Charlie Brown becomes immediately obsessed with. As obsessed as he is, needless to say, Charlie can't look the girl in the eye, but he has to face his fear when he and the little red haired girl are paired in school for a book report.
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Charles Schulz' son and grandson are two of the screenwriters for this zany animated comedy that respects the legacy of these characters and was smart to center this story on a story that was always sort of peripheral in the original comics and was never central to any of the animated television specials made during the 60's and the 70's. Charlie Brown's crush on the little red haired girl was never really a central story in the comics so it made a logical and fun center for this story and it is handled quite competently, but the story is only about a third of the screentime her and therein lies the problem.
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A large portion of the screentime is devoted to Snoopy's fantasy as the WWI flying ace who, instead of pursuing the red baron, is pursuing Snoopy's first love interest ever in the history of this franchise, a pretty French poodle named Fifi, with the aid of a troop of Woodstocks, who have multiplied like oompa loompas This story is told in such a manic and confusing manner it is exhausting to watch. The school talent show where Charlie Brown helps his little sister, Sally save face wasn't exactly appointment viewing either. I did like the school dance, which borrowed images from A Charlie Brown Christmas and Charlie Brown's psychiatric session with Lucy, but frankly, when the film wasn't focused on Charlie Brown and the little red haired girl, I didn't care what was going on. I did love the way we never saw the little red haired girl's face until the final five minutes, giving the character a shroud of mystery that was very appealing. It reminded me of Suzanne Somers as the girl in the convertible in America Graffiti. This film also introduced a new romance: We learned that Violet's girlfriend, Patty, has been crushing on Pig Pen but the film doesn't really take time to explore it.
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The animation is rich and the voice work is pretty much on the money, especially Noah Schnapp as Charlie Brown and Hadley Belle Miller as Lucy, I just wish the story had been more concentrated on Charlie Brown/Red Haired Girl romance. It even featured the 80's rom-com device of rushing to the airport for that final declaration of love, only this time it's a bus headed for summer camp. The movie should have been more in this vein. 2.5
Gideon58
02-06-24, 07:01 PM
American Fiction
After almost 35 years in this business as a supporting actor, Jeffrey Wright has finally nailed a lead role and earned a Lead Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in 2023's American Fiction, a blistering black comedy and character study that tackles some pretty prickly subject matter and might be labeled racist by some.
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Wright plays Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, a writer who hasn't had a lot of success trying to find success in the white literary culture, but is also disgusted with the way white artists have been profiting from the black hip hop culture. He decides to write a book completely in the style of hip hop culture using phonetic spelling for the title and for the pen name he writes the book under. While away from Manhattan dealing with family issues, Monk is shocked and angered to learn that the book has become a runaway bestseller that has been submitted for a literary award, for which he is one of the judges.
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This film initially reminded me of a 2000 Spike Lee film called Bamboozled which starred Damon Wayans as a television executive who decides to bring a minstrel show to 2000 television, but the tone director and co-screenwriter Cord Jefferson's story is lot less offensive here because Jefferson is laughing at the white people in this story, but not the black people. It's a bit troublesome saying this, because Jefferson's story makes every white character look like an idiot and you know what? I didn't have any problem with that because this film will be found offensive by anyone who was offended by the 2005 Best Picture Oscar winner Crash.
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Jeffrey Wright provides perfect balance to the tightrope that this character has become. Whether he he yelling at his publisher (Jon Ortiz) for not producing a lucrative career on his limited turns, trying to stay connected to his brother (Sterling K Brown) and sister (Tracee Ellis Ross) or struggling with being primary caregiver for his mother (Leslie Uggams) who is drifting into Alzheimers, His stilted attempted at romance with a neighbor (Erica Alexander) is a little messy on the side and his complete attempt to sabotage the success he is finally having often doesn't make sense, but Jeffrey Wright makes you believe every second of it.
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In addition to Wright's well deserved Best Actor nomination, Brown has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Cord Jefferson and Percival Elliott's screenplay has received a nomination as well. The film is beautifully photographed and scored, but Jeffrey Wright makes this film appointment viewing all by himself. 4.5
Gideon58
02-08-24, 05:33 PM
Miller's Crossing
Joel and Ethan Cohen again impress with 1990's Miller's Crossing, an atmospheric and evocative salute to 1930's crime noir that might be a little overprotective of its central character, but the viewer comes to expect as the story progresses.
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Gabriel Byrne plays Tom, an advisor of sorts to a mob boss named Leo (Albert Finney), whose personal gambling debits have fueled the fires between Leo and and fellow mob boss Johnny (Jon Polito), who is willing to forgive Tom's debt if he will take out a gambler named Bernie (John Turturro), who is the brother of Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), who is sleeping with both Tom and Leo.
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Once again, the Cohen Brothers have constructed another story that is a little more complicated than necessary, but is rich with such complex characters and authentic 30's noir drama dialogue that we can't help but get caught up in the spirit of what the Cohens are trying to do. Love the dialogue in this movi...as it came out of these characters mouths, I could have sworn I was watching people like Cagney, Bogart, Edward G Robinson, and Veronica Lake being resurrected on the screen for me.
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It was interesting the way the story initially seemed about Tom's gambling debts and his affair with his boss' mistress, but the reveal of the Bernie character brought another level to the story that we really don't see coming and we wonder how poor Tom is going to get out of all this. It seems impossible, but, like it or not, he's the hero here and the story's smartest character, but when he is taken to that wooded area so that he can kill Bernie, the character seems to have been written into a corner from which he can't escape, but he does, though not in the way we expect and the story gets even more sticky. The Cohens work very hard to convince the viewer there's no way Tom can come out of this alive, but we hope they don't succeed.
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As always, the Cohens provide spectacular production values for this movie. The detail of the production design, cinematography, and costumes reminded me of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, the movie is a visual feast, rivaling another of their most visual offerings, Barton Fink. Byrne underplays beautifully as Tom and Albert Finney brings a surprising grittiness to Leo. Turturro brings the accustomed explosiveness to his performance and I kept waiting for Polito's head to blow up. Marcia Gay Harden has never been so sexy onscreen and if you don't blink, you'll catch a cameo from Joel's wife, 4-time Oscar winner Frances McDormand. Another bullseye from the Cohen Brothers. 4
Gideon58
02-14-24, 04:16 PM
Ferrari (2023)
Michael Mann takes the director's chair for 2023's Ferrari a lavish but overlong combination of biopic and melodrama that provides a lot more entertainment in the melodrama portion of the story.
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This look at former car racer and manufacturer Enzo Ferrari begins in 1957 Italy where we find the automobile mogul embroiled in crises in both his professional and personal life. His company is circling the bankruptcy drain but could bail himself out with the assistance of his wife, from whom he is estranged but she still holds major shares in the company. He is advised that his company will go under with his wife's shares, but he has to figure out how to do this without letting his wife know about his current mistress, Lini, with whom he shares a son.
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The screenplay by Troy Kennedy Martin and Brock Yates is kind of sketchy and doesn't offer a lot of insight into who Enzo Ferrari was. He appears to be a man of passion but we're never sue of exactly what. We're never really offered any explanation as to how this iconic mogul allowed his company to slide to the edge of bankruptcy, but we do see a man who doesn't have a lot of compassion for his employees. Less than 15 minutes into the running time, we see Ferrari witness the death of a driver and barely bat an eye.
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The film does work when it concentrates on Ferrari and his relationship with these two women in life. This seems to be the part of his life where Ferrari executes very little control and can't keep either woman in his life happy, especially wife Laura, who doesn't mind an open marriage as long as it doesn't involve her in any embarrassing sound bytes. Love the scene where Enzo goes to Laura to try and persuade her to sell her shares and the scene ends in sex. There are a lot of scenes of driving involving lovely photography that just about put me to sleep until a shocking plot twist 20 minutes before the end that I should have seen coming but didn't.
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Mann gets strong assistance from his cinematographer and his film editor in setting up the canvas for this story. Both Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman turned down the role of Ferrari before it came to Driver, who delivers a solid performance in the title role, but it is Oscar winner Penelope Cruz, who steals every scene she has Laura, providing the majority of the film's thunder and ice. 3.5
Gideon58
02-17-24, 01:12 PM
Dicks: The Musical
The Parent Trap meets The Rocky Horror Picture Show in a vulgar, tasteless, and unfunny 2023 musical called Dicks: The Musical that was, hands down, the worst film I saw in 2023, and just might be the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life.
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A pair of gay cabaret performers named Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson have conceived this ridiculous musical comedy about a pair of rival businessman who learn that they are identical twins who were separated at birth by their now divorced parents, so they decide to pull a Hayley Mills on them in order reunite them as a family, and ,in the process, fall in love with each other.
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Yes, that synopsis is pretty accurate and I'm not sure what these two guys were thinking when they came up with this, but this movie just appears to be a drug-influenced hallucination thrown up on the screen as a musical that just baffles, confuses, and repulses the viewer from the opening credits . Even before the credits roll we get a disclaimer on the screen explaining that this film was written by two gay men who are playing two straight men and that this is, indeed, "brave." I don't know why these guys thought that this piece might have appeal for anyone outside of an off-off Broadway cabaret in the village. Once we meet the boys' father played by Broadway legend Nathan Lane, a gay man who lives with two tiny alien creatures he keeps in a cage and feeds them bits of ham, I was ready to check out, but morbid curiosity somehow kept me watching, despite the fact that I don't think I laughed once during the entire 90-minute running time.
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Don't get me wrong, Sharp and Jackson do possess some talent as singers and songwriters and it is their musicianship that is the one redeeming quality of this movie. The songs are quite engaging with "I'll always be on Top", "No One Understands", "Mimosas with Daddy", "Desperate for your Love" and "Out Alpha the Alpha being the highlights. The musical numbers are well-sung and choreographed, but frankly, whenever the singing and dancing stopped, so did any possible appeal this movie had. The story is rich with every gay stereotype you can think of and the song lyrics consist mostly of gay sexual double entendres.
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My jaw dropped when the credits revealed that this film was directed by Larry Charles, who helped Larry David create Seinfeld and I have to wonder what motivated him to do this because this movie redefines hot mess and I found myself embarrassed for Charles, Sharp, Jackson, Lane, Megan Mullaly who played the boys' mom, Megan Thee Stallion as the boys' boss, and SNL's Bowen Yang as God (don't ask). Have no idea how I managed to stay awake for the whole 90 minutes, but I did and I totally regret it. Even the bloopers attached at the end of the film weren't funny. 1
Gideon58
02-17-24, 04:20 PM
For Pete's Sake
Even the considerable screen charisma of Barbra Streisand can't save 1974's For Pete's Sake, a silly slapstick comedy that probably only got made because Streisand is in the starring role.
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Fresh off her Oscar-nominated performance in the smash The Way We Were and in a very unflattering wig, Streisand plays Henrietta Robbins, a housewife struggling with the high cost of living while trying to help support her cab driver/college student husband, Pete (Michael Sarrazin). When Pete gets insider information regarding an investment in commodities that will cost him $3000. Without Pete's knowledge, Henrietta gets the money from a loan shark and, needless to say, this is only the beginning of Henrietta's troubles.
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Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin, who won Oscars for writing the 1959 Doris Day comedy Pillow Talk, are the culprits behind this lame and predictable comedy that takes way too long to get where it's going. Almost 15 minutes of screentime is spent on Henrietta being lectured by grocery store clerks, bank clerks, and insurance adjusters reading her the riot act for buying pot roast. Then after meeting Pete's older brother and sister-in- law, we finally get to the meat of the story, which consists of Henrietta's multiple screwups at earning the money back (including prostitution) while the interest on her original loan keeps increasing.
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Streisand is given a character who is likable and sympathetic, a lot of which comes after her encounter with her bitchy sister-in-law, played by Estelle Parsons, but once Henrietta can't pay back the loan on time, the character becomes dumb as a box of rocks and finds herself in one stupid situation after another, including a chase down a Manhattan street riding a bull. It goes without saying that in order for the story to work, Pete is no Einstein either.
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Director Peter Yates (Bullitt) provides rather pedestrian direction to this dumb story that barely sustains interest for its running time. A lot of familiar faces turn up along the way in supporting roles and glorified cameos including William Redfield, Richard Ward, Louis Zorich, Joseph Maher, Anne Ramsey and Vincent Schiavelli. The legendary Molly Picon also garners laughs as a little old lady madam named Mrs. Cherry. There are selective laughs for hardcore Streisand fans only. 2
Gideon58
02-19-24, 03:47 PM
The Iron Claw
Despite a screenplay that could have used a little tightening, 2023's The Iron Claw is an emotionally manipulative look at a sports dynasty that, at times, made my blood boil, thanks to a tragic story and some terrific performances.
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This movie is an up close and personal look at the legendary Von Erich family who were the cornerstone of the original professional wrestling company called World Class Wrestling where after his own retirement, Fritz Von Erich pretty much bullied his four sons into professional wrestling, including one who was really an Olympic athlete, grounded because of the Moscow boycott and the other, who really wanted to be a musician. Kevin Von Erich reveals that his family was believed to be cursed, but what Kevin believed to be a curse, might have just been the machinations of his father.
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Director and screenwriter Sean Durkin (Martha Macy May Marlen) has put a great deal of care in bringing the story of the Von Erich family to the screen without too much melodramatics for us to wade through. The establishment of the family dynamic is carefully crafted to set up the villain of the piece during a scene where the family is sharing a meal and Fritz emphatically lists for his boys who his favorites are, from most favorite to least favorite, without batting an eye. I've never seen a movie dad do that before. This scene made me hate the guy for pretty much the remainder of the movie. No matter what tragedy or negativity overcame this family. Fritz refuses to be accountable for any of it. We see Kevin choke his father near the end of the movie and I cheered the same way I did when Jack Nicholson choked Louise Fletcher at the climax of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
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I also found myself disliking two major characters in the story that I don't think I was supposed to dislike. One was Pam, the love interest for Kevin who pretty much bullied the man into a relationship with her. She didn't try to come between Kevin and his brothers, but as bad things start happening to the family, she just didn't seem to care outside of how it affected her. The other was the matriarch of the family, who it was hard to watch just stand silently in the background and watch her husband emotionally abuse these boys. There are multiple scenes in this movie that aroused such anger in me.
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Durkin assembles a top-notch cast to pull this often squirm-worthy story off. Even though he looks like he's on steroids, Zac Efron still manages to provide a solid performance as Kevin Von Erich and Emmy winner Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) is equally intense as Kerry. Stanley Simons made his Michael Von Erich worth watching, but it's Holt McCallany's richly internalized performance as the demanding Fritz Von Erich that really keeps this movie on boil. It's a little longer than it needed to be, but the cast still makes it worth watching. 4
Gideon58
02-21-24, 02:22 PM
The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers
A convoluted romantic triangle is at the center of a noir-ish melodrama from 1946 called The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers that is best known today as the official film debut of a young actor named Kirk Douglas.
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Martha Ivers, Sam Masterson, and Walter O'Neil were childhood friends who were all privy to a terrible secret that could easily send any of them to prison. As the film flashes to their adult lives we see that Martha (Barbara Stanwyck) is now the town's wealthiest woman and is unhappily married to Walter (Douglas), who is now the town's wimpy, alcoholic DA. As their misery is established we see Sam (Van Heflin) return to town and immediately pursued by a sultry blonde fresh out of jail named Toni (the throaty-voiced Lizabeth Scott) and you have all the ingredients for classic 40'snoir.
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The screenplay starts off quite effectively, quickly establishing the hate/hate relationship between a pre-teen Martha and her wealthy aunt (Dame Judith Anderson) but once the three central characters are taken into adulthood, the screenplay becomes very murky in terms of what is going on between the three of then. Martha and Walter look so miserable and it's never made clear what got them together and why they are still together. As for Walter, he is equally tight-lipped why he's returning to Iverstown and gets the same treatment from the needy Toni, who clings to Sam like a vine from the moment he pulls into town. Ironically, the film received its only Oscar nomination for Best Original Story.
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The connection of the plot points and the characters here takes a lot longer than it should, It was especially frustrating watching Toni because her character seems to be getting in the way of the initial story set up. Not to mention, as drawn as Toni initially seems to be drawn to Sam, her devotion to him does have a price. We also get two different stories regarding what happened to Sam when he grew up, but the actors are so good in their roles that we just kind of roll with it.
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Kirk Douglas steps up in his film debut, playing a character we really want to have sympathy for but Douglas and the screenplay make that difficult. Heflin and Scott definitely establish chemistry, but it is the icy performance by Stanwyck, that rivals her work in Double Indemnity that really makes this movie worth investing in. Lewis Milestone's direction is solid and I loved Miklos Roza's music too. 4
Gideon58
02-21-24, 05:55 PM
The Zone of Interest
2023's The Zone of Interest is a crisp and compelling Holocaust drama that looks at the horror from a provocative point of view, even if it does start to lose steam around the halfway point.
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Aufschwitz is the setting for this chilling drama, but instead of brining us inside the walls of the concentration camp to witness the horror up close and personal, we are brought inside an elegant residence next to the camp where we learn that Aufschwitz commandant Rudolf Hoss resides with his wife, Hedwig, his two sons, and a dog named Diller. We are shocked as we learn that Hoss has provided an elegant home for his wife and family, where the horrors of the concentration camp are just over a brick wall and electric fencing.
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Jonathan Glazer, the director of Sexy Beast, is the director and screenwriter for this drama, work for which he has earned two Oscar nominations. Glazer has taken a chilling piece of history and given us a unique perspective as we watch the cameras pan beautifully manicured lawns and well taken care of gardens cared for with pride by the Hoss family. We see the kids playing in the yard and Hedwig having coffee and gossiping with her friends, while just a few feet away, we not only see windows of the camp peeking into their yard, but the horrified screams from what is happening on the other side of that brick wall.
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This is such an uncomfortable experience because we're never really sure exactly how much Rudolf's wife and children know about what's going on next door and I'm pretty sure that was Glazer's intent. And just when we've settled into a semblance of comfort about what we're witnessing, we learn that Hoss is being transferred and Hedwig doesn't want to go. It's upon arrival at his new post where the movie begins to lose focus, where scenes go on much longer than they need to leading nowhere, but bouncing back for a haunting finale.
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Glazer's Oscar-nominations are richly deserved, but in the year of Oppenheimer, I don't see him winning, He definitely deserves the nods though for his spectacular attention to the visual feast this film is as well as the performances he gets from Christian Friedel as Rudolf and Sandra Huller (Best Actress nominee this year for Anatomy of a Fall) as Hedwig, but this is just not Academy friendly subject matter, riveting as it might be. 4
Gideon58
02-23-24, 04:12 PM
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Danny Kaye had one of the best hits of his career with a ;lavishly produced comic fantasy from 1947 called The Secret Life of Walter Mitty that provides solid entertainment for hardcore Kaye fans, even if the film does suffer from overly complex plotting and overlength, despite an impressive pedigree.
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The title character is a nerdy proofreader at a publishing company who is getting ready to get married but his tendency as a daydreamer is getting him in constant trouble at work, with his fiancee Gertrude, and his clingy overbearing mother. Walter's daydreaming and real life seem to become one when he meets a beautiful girl on a train who gets him involved in a secret conspiracy that involves a black book, a dangerous criminal called The Boot, and witnessing a murder.
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The screenplay by Ken Englund and Everett Freeman is actually based on a story by legendary writer and cartoonist James Thurber, a story that provides an uneven blend of comic fantasy and film noir that never quite comes together because the fantasy elements of the story are so much more entertaining than the noir sections of the film that come off more like Grade Z Hitchcock that never quite connect the way Walter's fantasy world does because the Thurber's expertise in fantasy makes the rest of the film rather labored and keeps the movie at a too leisurely pace that made the film much longer than it needed to be.
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What does work here is the wonderfully gifted Kaye and the complete commitment he provides to the demanding physical comedy and precise comic timing provided to pull this role off. The only real laugh out loud sequences in this film come from these fantasy scenes that are elaborately mounted by director Norman Z McLeod, who also directed Kaye in The Kid From Brooklyn. I especially liked the wild west fantasy, the French hat designer, and the riverboat gambler fantasies. Two of the sequences are musical, with songs written by Kaye's wife, Sylvia Fine, that allow Kaye to show his gift for patter songs that was also so beautifully utilized in The Court Jester.
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Kaye completely commits to this larger than life comedy with an exuberant and sweet-natured performance that helps to keep the viewer invested in the sometimes awkward proceedings. Virginia Mayo is lovely in one of the five films she made with Kaye as the girl on the train and movie icon Boris Karloff is an impressive comic villain. Oscar winner Fay Bainter is lovely as Walter's mother, as is Ann Rutherford, who was given a little time off from the Andy Hardy movies to play Walter's fiancee. The film has some slow spots, but Kaye still makes this movie worth watching. The film was remade in 2013 with Ben Stiller.
3.5
Gideon58
02-26-24, 12:57 PM
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling
Having binged The Larry Sanders Show a couple of months ago, this reviewer was naturally drawn to a 2018 HBO documentary called The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling, a funny and often genuinely moving look at the beloved comedian that offered a lot of new information about the comic, including the demons that were in his head that he did an admirable job of keeping private.
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Judd Apatow is the creative force behind this movie begins with a look at Shandling's childhood, where it was revealed that Shandling had an older brother who died when Garry was 10 years old. For some reason, Garry's parents decided that to protect Garry from the pain, that he was initially not told about what happened and was not allowed to attend his brother's funeral, a critical misstep in Garry's childhood that destroyed his relationship with his mother and stayed with Garry for the rest of his life, affecting the rest of his life. A life that is presented to the viewer via a hand-written journal that Shandling kept for most his life, random thoughts that he scribbled down as they occurred to him, effectively revealing a lot of Shandling's internal struggles.
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There are a couple of messages about the comedian that come through loud and clear in this documentary. First of all, despite the impressive career he carved out for himself as a stand up and actor, Garry was first and foremost a writer and this was his true passion. This is first documented in a story about Garry's first meeting with the legendary George Carlin after sending Carlin some material he wrote. We are offered a look at Shandling's first appearance on The Tonight Show, as well as the first time he was asked to guest host the show for Johnny, where he appeared happier than I have ever seen him. Shandling is seen writing, constantly writing and re-writing and never really being satisfied. It's also revealed that dozens and dozens of writers were hired and fired during the run of The Larry Sanders Show.
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The other message about the comedian that comes through regarding Shandling is that he was a serious commitment-phobe and I'm not just talking about relationships, but his career as well. He didn't like to commit to any job for any serious length of time. He was thrilled when he signed a contact to be a permanent guest host of The Tonight Show, but when he got It's Garry Shandling's Show, he got out of his contact with Johnny, certain he could not handle both jobs. We also get an up close and personal look at the long and complicated relationship with his manager, Brad Grey, which climaxed with Shandling suing the guy for a hundred million dollars. Grey is now a high level executive at Paramount Studios, who was a producer of the 2005 Best Picture winner The Departed and was also an executive producer on The Sopranos. We are also introduced to Linda Doucet, the actress who was Shandling's longtime girlfriend and played Darlene on Larry Sanders. When their relationship ended, so did Doucet's role on the show.
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Shandling's inner circle who provide commentary for this film is impressive. Was especially impressed with his relationship with Jerry Seinfeld. I've never seen anyone make Seinfeld laugh the way Shandling did. We also get commentary from Jim Carrey, Bob Saget, Kevin Nealon, Dave Coulier, Sarah Silverman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Linda Doucet, Jeffrey Tambor, Sasha Baron Cohen, Peter berg, and Alan Zweibel. For fans of the comic, appointment viewing. 4.5
Gideon58
02-26-24, 01:43 PM
7 Days in Hell
In the tradition of great mockumentaries like This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping comes 7 Days in Hell, a crude, raunchy, and ridiculously over the top live action short comedy that had me laughing out loud for its entire economic 42 minutes.
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This 2015 mockumentary follows two professional tennis players named Aaron Williams (Andy Samberg) and Charles Poole (Kit Harrington), who are embroiled in a match at Wimbledon which has lasted a record-shattering seven days. While the match reaches a temporary intermission, we are led through the wacky backstory that led to these two pros spending seven days at Wimbledon.
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Screenwriter Murray Miller, who used to write for animated shows like American Dad! and King of the Hill and director Jake Szymanski, who worked with Samberg on Brooklyn Nine Nine work in perfect tandem giving a legitimate look to this silly story about a professional rivalry that features Aaron having sex on the court, Charles' unnatural relationship with his mother (Mary Steenburgen), a visit to a Swedish prison and the Queen threatening Charles with bodily harm if he didn't win this match.
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If you're looking for political correctness in comedy, give this film a hard pass, as the film spends most of its brief time trying to offend the audience through things like male and female frontal nudity and the curse-laden voicemails left to Charles by the Queen.
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Szymanski and Miller score by realizing that this would have been a little too much for a feature length film, but as a 42-minue comedy action short, it pretty much work. Andy Samberg is hilarious, as always, as Williams and there is also standout work from Howie Mandel as the Duke of Kent, Fred Armisen as Edward Puddington,Will Forte as Sandy Pickard, and June Squibb as the Queen. Michael Sheen also has a very funny cameo as a sports show host with the hots for Charles. John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Serena Williams, David Copperfield, and Jim Lampley also appear as themselves. The movie works very hard to shock and offend, but it also works very hard at generating laughter and, for this reviewer, it did. 4
Gideon58
02-26-24, 04:16 PM
The Beekeeper
Jason Statham is the star and executive producer of 20224's The Beekeeper, a big budget actioner that provides what action fans are looking for, despite some flimsy writing that takes its sweet time pointing out who the good guys and the bad guys are.
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Statham plays Adam Clay, man who takes vengeance on a company that just scammed a woman out of her life savings, motivating her to suicide. His burning this company to the ground leads to an investigation that reveals him to actually be an operative for an international organization called The Beekeepers.
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Kurt Rimmer, who wrote the screenplays for the remakes of Total Recall and Point Break, provides a story that starts off very promisingly as we watch a woman, beautifully played by Tony Winner Phylicia Rashad, lose her entire life savings with one keystroke on her computer. This scene terrified this reviewer, motivating me to never wanting to reply to another text or email for the rest of my life and was pleased when Statham's character, who is actually introduced in the story removing bees from her property, made sure the people who did this to this woman, paid, but as the story revealed a double meaning to the term beekeeper that is never really explained, but employing empty analogies that are never explained.
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An extra layer is added to the story when an FBI agent is brought onto the case, who turns out to be Rashad's daughter, comes into the story initially seeking Clay's help in avenging what happened to her mother but for the rest of the film, is seeking Clay's help one scene and hunting him down the next. Somehow the FBI's investigation leads to the POTUS (Jemma Redgrave), her spoiled son (Josh Hutcheson), and a sociopath (Oscar winner Jeremy Irons) manipulating both of them, but by the time the story works its way to here, I was working too hard to really care. I just couldn't stop thinking about poor Phylicia Rashad losing all her money in the opening scene and didn't care about anything after that. That scene haunted me.
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Director David Ayer (Suicide Squad shows solid experience in the mounting of an action sequence, providing exactly what action fans want. Statham's action hero durability makes it easy to overlook his lack of acting skills, but Irons, Hutcherson, and Redgrave deliver the goods, and needless to say, Rashad is just heartbreaking in her few moments on the screen. It holds attention, but it's nothing special though it does set up a sequel. 3.5
Gideon58
02-27-24, 03:00 PM
Spinout (1966)
Elvis Presley seems to be phoning it in with his lackluster performance in 1966's Spinout, a silly, by-the-numbers Elvis musical that is pretty hard to distinguish from half a dozen other Elvis musicals.
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Elvis plays Mike McCoy, the lead singer in a rock and roll band who finds himself being romantically pursued by three different women: Cynthia Foxhugh (Shelley Fabares) is the spoiled daughter of a millionaire (Carl Betz) who wants Mike to drive a car he's sponsoring in a big race; Diana St. Clair (Diane McBain) is a famous writer who is writing a book about the perfect man and wants to use Mike as her prototype; Les (Deborah Walley) is the drummer in Mike's band who hasn't quite found her inner girl, but sees red whenever another woman looks at Mike.
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Nothing special here, just another tired vehicle for Elvis where no matter what the story is, it allows him to sing a song every ten minutes of the running time. And if the truth be told, Elvis seems to be tired of it too, he really just doesn't seem invested in this story of three different women literally competing with every tool in their personal arsenals to get this guy's attention. Just like classic films like Tom, Dick, and Harry, we have three very different women competing for this guy's attention and don't even care that the man has expressed interest in them, despite the fact that there are other male characters on the canvas who have expressed interest in the women, but they not only are only interested in Mike, but won't settle for anything less than marriage.
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It's past the halfway point of the film by the time Les attracts the attention of a cop (Will Hutchins) and Cynthia's father is attracted to Diana, and Cynthia's father's toadie (Warren Berlinger) as options for the leading ladies and they still only have eyes for Mike and we just don't care anymore.
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The score provided for Elvis by Sid Wayne and Dolores Fuller doesn't sound any different from the other movies Elvis made during his film career. The songs include "Adam and Evil", "Stop Look and Listen", "Never Say Yes". "Beach Shack", and "Smorgasboard", which features a young actress named Dodie Marshall, who would appear as Elvis' leading lady in his film Easy Come Easy Go. It was fun seeing Betz and Fabares playing father and daughter, who played father and daughter on The Donna Reed Show and Will Hutchins, who played the cop, also starred with Presley and Fabares in Clambake, And can anybody deny how adorable Deborah Walley is? It should also be mentioned that this is the only scripted Elvis film I've seen that breaks the fourth wall, not that it makes it anymore special. 2.5
Citizen Rules
02-27-24, 03:58 PM
Spinout (1966)
....It should also be mentioned that this is the only scripted Elvis film I've seen that breaks the fourth wall, not that it makes it anymore special. rating_2_5Elvis also breaks the fourth wall in G.I. Blues which I just watched last Saturday. I'm currently watching all of Elvis' movies in order. I've seen five so far: Jailhouse Rock and King Creole are probably his best films, I enjoyed them. Love Me Tender was OK and Loving You (1957) was fun but G.I. Blues had one weak script, and bored me at times and I like Elvis too...At least it co starred a young Juliet Prowse who does do a couple of dance routines.
Gideon58
02-27-24, 04:04 PM
I think King Creole was his best film and I agree that GI Blues was one of his worst, despite the presence of Juliet Prowse. I really liked Loving You...my first exposure to Lizabeth Scott.
Citizen Rules
02-27-24, 04:08 PM
I think King Creole was his best film and I agree that GI Blues was one of his worst, despite the presence of Juliet Prowse. I really liked Loving You...my first exposure to Lizabeth Scott.Yes, Lizabeth Scott was really good in Loving You and she's become a favorite of mine.
Gideon58
02-28-24, 04:15 PM
Poor Things
From the director of The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Favourite comes 2023's Poor Things, a loopy and visually opulent cinematic nightmare that so imaginatively seizes viewer imagination that the film has earned 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Will try to review without spoilers.
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We are introduced to a disfigured mad scientist named Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) who rescued a young woman named Bella (Emma Stone) after she jumped off a bridge by performing an unprecedented surgery on her that makes her appear non-human with her inability to speak in proper sentences and her often animal or machine-like behavior. Baxter asks a student of his named Max (Remy Joussef) to help him refine Bella and eventually persuades him to marry Bella and have the couple live with him forever. However, these plans change when Bella is abducted by a sexually deviant lawyer named Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), initiating a disturbing and confusing journey of self-discovery that promises surprises with each scene.
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Tony McNamara's Oscar-nominated screenplay, based on a novel by Alasdair Gray, initially comes off as a re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend, but once Wedderburn abducts Bella, the story starts going in directions we don't see going on. Bella's cinematic journey takes on a sexual component that improves Bella's English as well the ability to possible run her own life. We're surprised when Bella disappears that Baxter doesn't really make any attempt to get Bella back nor does Bella make any attempt to escape, even though she does remember that she's engaged to marry Max, even if it has been pushed to the back of her mind. The story constantly moves in unexpected directions, even a return to the mad scientist and Max that also travels in directions that we don't expect.
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Director Yorgos Lanthimos has provided an absolutely breathtaking look for this film. The film often looks like a live action painting, with a particular shout out to those shots of Bella and Wedderburn on that cruise ship. Production, art, and set design are given equal care and the film also features the creepiest music score I have heard since Wait Until Dark. Would love to see Holly Wadding's costumes and hair and makeup honored as well.
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Would be very surprising if Emma Stone doesn't win her second Oscar in less than a decade for her mesmerizing performance as Bella. Stone is genuinely frightening as she effortlessly disappears inside this complex character. Mark Ruffalo has also received a supporting actor nomination for his sicko Wedderburn and Dafoe makes every moment he has onscreen count as well. This was a bumpy cinematic ride that often shocks and repels and probably improves with re-watch. 4.5
Gideon58
02-28-24, 04:50 PM
Rocky V
Easily the weakest film in this iconic franchise, Rocky V starts off promisingly reintroducing us to these characters with acceptable story, but the film eventually drowns in a lot of melodramatic soap opera and a few really terrible performances.
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As this 1990 film opens, we learn that Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) has suffered serious brain damage from his bout with Ivan Drago and has lost his money and home thanks to an unscrupulous accountant. As Rocky, wife Adrian (Talia Shire), Paulie (the late Burt Young), and his son, Rocky Jr (the late Sage Stallone) return to Philly, Rocky gets a chance for redemption when a young unknown boxer named Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison) approaches the Italian Stallion to train him.
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Even though John G Avildsen, who directed the first 1976 Oscar winning film, returns to the director's chair , the film really suffers thanks to Stallone's screenplay, which gets mired in too much soap opera stuff like Rocky ignoring his son while training Tommy and a sleazy Don King-like promoter who decides to use Tommy as a way of getting to Rocky because Rocky refused to fight another fighter the guy was trying to get a title match for. The scenes of Rocky Jr are a waste of screentime and Tommy's manipulation by Don King makes him look like an idiot, taking all the legitimacy out of his original approach to Rocky. And just when you think the movie can't get sillier, the expected showdown between Rocky and Tommy doesn't take place in a ring, but outside in a dirty alley, punctuated with Rocky experiencing flashbacks of his fight with Drago. By this time, I was trying to keep a straight face.
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Stallone manages to keep our hero likable, but for the first time in the franchise, Talia Shire begins to grate on the nerves as Adrian. The film also features terrible performances from Morrison, Sage Stallone, and especially Richard Gant as the crooked promoter. I thought Rocky Balboa was bad, but this film made that one look like a masterpiece. 2
Gideon58
02-29-24, 04:16 PM
Waitress: The Musical
Sara Bareilles stars in and wrote the musical score for 2023's Waitress: The Musical, a film version of the edgy and unconventional Broadway musical that Bareilles wrote back in 2016.
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This is a filmed performance of Bareilles' musical just like Disney filmed Hamilton a couple of years ago that features the actress playing the lead role, which she did not on Broadway. Bareilles plays Jenna, a waitress in a small diner, where she bakes all of the pies for the restaurant and gives them special names. The musical opens with Jenna's co-workers, Dawn and Becky learning that Jenna is pregnant by her physically and emotionally abusive husband. Apprehensive about being pregnant with a man she wants nothing more to do with, Jenna goes to see her gynecologist but learns that he has been replaced by the charming Dr. Pommeter. Jenna and Dr. Pommeter are immediately attracted to each other and make no qualms about it, even though Jenna is pregnant with her husband's baby and Dr. Pommeter is also married.
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Sara Bareilles is a very talented actress and singer who has appeared in films like She's Out of My League and Battles of the Sexes, as well as playing Mary Magdalene to John Legend's Jesus in NBC's mounting of Jesus Christ Superstar. Bareilles wrote the music and lyrics for this musical that premiered on Broadway on April 24, 2016 and ran for over 1500 performances until COVID-19 shut down the production. Actor Nick Cordero, who originated the role of Jenna's husband, Earl, contacted the virus and passed away on July 5, 2020. He is replaced in this production by Joe Tippett, who became engaged to Bareilles in November 2023.
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I can't lie, my eyebrows were a little raised when I realized that pregnancy and domestic abuse were part of the storyline. Back in 1984, there was a Broadway musical called Baby about three women who become pregnant, but that musical featured three happily married couples. Jenna is miserable in the prison that Earl is keeping her in and is hoping that a baking contest that has a $20,000 prize will get her out of her misery. And despite the fact that this is a musical, I did not hold my breath waiting for the proverbial happy ending that we expect from a musical. The ending is not happy, but it is hopeful.
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Bareilles' score is brassy and melodic. The musical highlights for me were "The Negative" performed by Jenna, Becky, and Dawn, a chorus number called "Club Knocked Up", a duet for Jenna and Pommeter called "Bad Idea" and a production number called "Never Ever Getting Rid of Me", performed by an actor named Christopher Fitzgerald that stopped the show. Also loved "The Contraction Ballet". Charity Dawson (Becky) also stops the show with "I Didn't Plan". Leading man Drew Gehling has one of the most gorgeous lyric tenor voices I have ever heard which combines so smoothly with his gangly Jim Carrey body and uncanny comic timing. The show also features Hollywood veteran Dakin Matthews in a supporting role that even allows him to sing. He's no Sinatra but he made his solo work. An offbeat piece of musical comedy that took me by surprise. 4
Gideon58
03-01-24, 05:15 PM
Blackboard Jungle
Long before To Sir with Love, there was 1955's Blackboard Jungle a daring, if slightly melodramatic, look at juvenile delinquency that is best known for bringing several future stars together to tell this hard to swallow story that almost becomes credible thanks to powerhouse performances.
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Glenn Ford stars as Richard Dadier, a new teacher at a turbulent inner city school who thinks he can make a difference in the lives of these kids, while caring for his pregnant wife (Anne Francis). Unfortunately, Dadier makes the mistake of looking the other way when the kids start acting out, initiating a hopeless battle for ever getting any respect from these kids.
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Director and screenwriter Richard Brooks received his first Oscar nomination for his bold, if at times, hard to believe screenplay that creates unbearable tension almost immediately between Dadier and these hoodlums, but Dadier makes a big mistake when these guys begin to lash out and Dadier chooses to say nothing instead of turning these guys in. Of course, not suffering any consequences for their behavior only causes it to escalate and Dadier doesn't seem to understand why. We actually see a student try to rape a teacher and watch students jump Dadier and a fellow faculty member, beating them to a bloody pulp and the kids show up the next day ready to run the school and Dadier actually appears confused. The battle for control of the hoods between West (Vic Morrow) and Miller (Sidney Poitier) does ring true though.
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The deficits in Brooks' screenplay are more than made up with the direction. Brooks keeps this story at a high level of tension throughout, despite some often contrived story twists and turns, not to mention missed opportunities. At the beginning of the film we learn that Dadier's wife's pregnancy is her second, having miscarried the first. We then see the wife being warned by the landlady that she shouldn't be walking around in snow and walking up snow-covered footsteps at the school, but the baby is born complication-free. But we're supposed to believe that the wife had a difficult birth because of a threatening letter the students sent her. Where did a student get a teacher's address?
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Despite the problems with the story, Brooks does get some solid performances from a cast of once and future stars. Ford brings a quiet intensity to Dadier and Poitier impresses in his second film appearance as Miller. Veteran Louis Calhern and future Tony and Emmy award winner Richard Kiley make the most of their screen time as Dadier's fellow faculty, as does a very young Vic Morrow, bringing a real Brando quality to West and you will also catch a young bespectacled Jamie Farr in his film debut, where he has one line and if you don't bink, you might recognize future writer/actor/director Paul Mazursky as one of the hoodlums. The screenplay goes some odd places, but the acting and direction make it worth a look. The opening credits also introduce a song you might have heard of called "Rock Around the Clock." 3.5
Gideon58
03-04-24, 04:39 PM
The Family Plan
Despite a charming performance from Mark Wahlberg in the starring role, 2023's The Family Plan is a long and lumbering story that starts off promisingly, but starts to run out of gas around the halfway point before providing a surprising twist for the finale.
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Wahlberg plays Dan Morgan, a man living a quiet existence in Buffalo, New York with his wife and three kids. Morgan seems perfectly content in his existence until his past catches up to him in the local supermarket with his youngest son strapped to his chest. Dan busily makes plans to relocate and then gathers his family, informing them that they are going on vacation in Las Vegas. It seems that Dan used to be a government assassin and has been hiding from someone in suburbia for decades
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David Coggeshal's screenplay takes a little bit too much time establishing the Morgans as the perfect family, especially the part where the kids think that they hate him. We've already been provided a clue as to what's going on when we get two separate scenes revealing that Dan doesn't like to be photographed. The showdown in the supermarket was beautifully staged and photograph with an extra layer of tension provided because Dan's baby was still strapped to his chest, Of course, Dan doesn't have the nerve to tell his family what's really going on, so to expand running time we have to watch daughter Nina whine about her cheating boyfriend and son Kyle blame Dad for making him stop gaming, though Kyle's gaming skills do conveniently come into play later. I also didn't buy that high speed chase that Dan's family conveniently slept through.
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Simon Cellan Jones' direction does reveal a skill with the action sequence, though the pacing of the film is deadly. Wahlberg is sincere as Dan and Michelle Monaghan is usual charming self as his wife. This film also provided a welcome return to the screen for Maggie Q, who I haven't seen onscreen in a minute. Still, the longest two hours of my life. 2.5
Gideon58
03-05-24, 01:09 PM
She's Out of My League
A charming performance by the very talented Jay Baruchel and a screenplay with a few surprise make a 2010 comedy called She's Out of My League a little better than it really is.
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Baruchel plays Kirk, a nerdy airline security officer who finds himself in a dream relationship with a beautiful former lawyer turned party planner named Molly (Alice Eve). Howver, Kirk's lack of self-esteem and outside interference from his and her family and friends eventually begin to eat away at the relationship.
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Screenwriters Sean Anders and John Morris, who would later collaborate on Instant Family and Spirited have concocted a story that initially seems to be a retread of a lot of 80's teen comedies that found the nerdy guy somehow finding romance with a girl that we all know there is no way he would have a chance with in real life. At about the halfway point of the story, we are ready to write everything off as horny male fantasy and then during the scene where they are about to have sex for the first time, all the issues that the viewer is having difficulty swallowing are addressed onscreen and what was waning interest in what was going on begins to gain cinematic legs, leading to an outrageous variation of the "rushing to the airport" scene that was a staple of 80's rom-coms that has the viewer re-invested in the story again.
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Baruchel gives us a completely likable character in Kirk, a guy who knows exactly who he is and has resigned himself to being alone for the rest of his life. Of course, there are the accustomed roadblocks for Kirk and Molly, especially the exes who decide that they want them back. Love the scene where Molly's ex interrupts her first date with Kirk and the scene where Kirk's ex agrees to take him back because she thinks Molly has broken up with him. Neither of these scenes play out the way we expect them to.
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Director Jim Field Smith keeps things bouncy and exuberant and works really well with his cast. TJ Miller, who I LOVED in Office Christmas Party is a total scene stealer as Kirk's BFF, as is Krysten Ritter as Molly's BFF and Lyndsey Sloane as Kirk's ex brings new meaning to the term "psycho hose beast." It's no When Harry Met Sally, but it was a lot better than I expected it to be. 3.5
Gideon58
03-05-24, 04:15 PM
Scrambled
Leah McKendrick is the director, screenwriter, and star of a disturbing and often unpleasant biopic disguised as a 2023 black comedy called Scrambled that does provide the occasional giggle but is hard to engage in due to a central character this reviewer found difficult to invest in.
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McKendrick plays Nellie, a 34 year old single gal who broke up with her soulmate, Shawn, a year ago because he wanted kids and she didn't. Nellie has now moved back in with her parents and feels spinsterhood knocking on her door and even though she sure she's still not ready to have children, she has decided that she wants to have her eggs frozen, a process that motivates her to look at her past and the mistakes she has made with men.
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It's obvious early on that McKendrick is documenting her own experience with freezing eggs, a cinematic subject new to this reviewer. Unfortunately, the first two thirds of the film are spent putting Nellie's promiscuous lifestyle and her horrible choices in men under a microscope. McKendrick's odyssey of self-discovery initially seems to be blaming everyone else for the emptiness of her life, but it becomes clear pretty quickly that this is not the case as she arranges actual reunions with men from her past and some are still wearing scars from their time with Nellie and she isn't feeling a lot of remorse about it either.
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A look at inside Nellie's family reveals that they aren't exactly the Bradys. The relationship between Nellie and her brother is toxic but doesn't stop her from asking him for the money for the procedure and her father can't even wrap his head around the fact that Nellie broke up with Shawn, much less that she is lazy and useless and will never change. Then if that wasn't enough, we are then subject to Nellie deciding that she has to see Shawn and his new pregnant girlfriend. Maybe other viewers will feel differently, but I never felt the sympathy for Nellie that I was supposed to. Maybe that's also because I wasn't convinced that she would make a great mother.
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McKendrick does show some skill as an actress and screenwriter, but her direction is suited to make sure that the rest of the cast stays out of her way and it works on that level, though Clancy Brown, June Diane Raphael, Adam Rodriguez, Andrew Santino, Brett Dier, and SNL's Ego Nwodim do make the most of their screentime, but I had a hard time staying with this one, and the fact that it felt four hours long didn't help. 2.5
Gideon58
03-06-24, 01:27 PM
Class Action
Solid performances from the leads make the problems with a 1991 legal/family drama called Class Action seem less important.
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Oscar winner Gene Hackman stars as Jedediah Ward, a lawyer who specializes in whistle blower type lawsuits, where one guy takes on an entire business empire in search for justice. His latest client is a gentleman who was severely burned in an auto accident due to the installation of faulty equipment. The case appears to be a slam dunk until Ward learns that the opposing counsel is the lawsuit is going to be Maggie Ward (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), his daughter, whose relationship has been strained for years for a multitude of reasons.
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The screenplay really nails the complicated relationship between this father and daughter and almost makes up for the predictability of the legal side of the story. We know something's fishy the minute Maggie tells her boss (Colin Friels) that she wants the case and that facing her father is not an issue and he is reluctant to do so. It was also a little predictable that the buffer between Jed and Maggie, his wife and her mother, is taken out of the story about ten minutes into the movie.
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The convenience of a lot of the plot is made up for by this very complex father/daughter relationship. Maggie refuses to forgive her father not only for the misery that was her childhood, but for everything he put her mother through. We're not surprised that Jed is not feeling a lot of remorse for the past and he is not going to let it get in the way of winning this case, reigniting a father/daughter tension that had begun to defrost.
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Director Michael Apted (Nell) keeps the tension in the drama pretty taut despite the predictability of most of the proceedings. As always, Hackman commands the screen as the unapologetic Jedediah but works beautifully with Mastrantonio, who minimalizes the potential scenery chewing that this role could have provided. The solid supporting cast includes Donald Moffat, Matt Clark, Lawrence Fishburne, and Fred Dalton Thompson. It's no The Verdict, but Hackman is always worth watching. 3.5
Gideon58
03-06-24, 03:40 PM
Kevin James: Irregardless
Kevin James, the star of films like Hitch and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and star of the CBS sitcom The King of Queens, makes a solid return to the standup in a 2024 concert entitled Kevin James: Irregardless.
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Filmed live from The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts in Worcester, Massachusetts, makes a very athletic entrance onto the stage and then immediately informs the audience that he might have over exerted himself, which leads into a very routine about the difference between being diabetic and being "pre" diabetic, branching out into a very funny routine about why we shouldn't trust the medical community at all.
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Like a lot of comics, James does talk about his kids, but he definitely takes a different tac than most comics. He is quick to inform us that his children are the laziest people on the planet. Apparently, they don't even dress they just get up and throw a blanket around themselves. This leads into a funny routine about how James tried to wean his son off video games by buying him a virtual reality game. He also did a very funny routine, which I could totally relate to, regarding how difficult it is to delete an app from your phone.
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Talking about his son led James into a diatribe about how we coddle children, how they don't know how good they have it, and that we need to bring back corporal punishment. James gets big laughs with his speech about the power of "the belt" and how ridiculous the concept of "the time out" is. Also loved his routine about being caught in the middle of a conversation where you have absolutely no knowledge of the topic.
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There's nothing groundbreaking or extraordinary here, but there are laughs to be found. I am also pleased to announce that James is the first comedian I have seen since Jerry Seinfeld who does not work blue...not a single curse word in the entire concert. It's not necessary to curse to be funny and James proves it here. 3.5
Gideon58
03-08-24, 03:53 PM
Angel Face
Fans of the Gene Tierney melodrama Leave Her to Heaven will have a head start with a moody noir-ish drama from 1953 called Angel Face that tells an edgy and sexy story that provides surprises and is centered around a predatory female with ice water in her veins.
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Robert Mitchum plays Frank Jessup, a former race car driver who now works as an ambulance driver and dreams of his own garage. The day following his answering a call to take her wealthy stepmother to the hospital, Frank finds himself being drawn into the tentacles of Diane Tremayne, who is instantly attracted to Frank and offers to make all of Frank's dreams come true via her stepmother's money. Thirty minutes into the running time, Frank has blown off his girlfriend, Mary (Mona Freeman), accepted a job as a driver with Diana's family. But just as Frank is starting to realize that Diane might be too much for him to handle, a tragedy might just bind them together for life.
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Can't lie, this movie sucked me in from the beginning, thanks to the dark and atmospheric direction by Otto Preminger that sets the mood for the story we're about to see and a screenplay that doesn't waste anytime with exposition but allows us to figure out what we need to as the story makes forward motion. I knew I was in for something special when, right after her first meeting with Frank where she pumped him for all kinds of information, she invites Mary to lunch and made her intentions clear that she was planning to take Frank away from her. I was also impressed when we are introduced to Diane's father (the eternally bland Herbert Marshall) and stepmother Catherine Tremayne (Barbara O'Neill) that she was the one with money, not Diane's dad and because of that, the man was basically her lapdog. There are also discreet moments throughout the film that imply there are mental health issues going on with Diane.
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It was really interesting seeing both Simmons and Mitchum playing roles that approach the area of against type. I've seen a healthy chunk of Jean Simmons' work and I have never seen Simmons play such a scheming and duplicitous woman who seems incapable of taking no for an answer. Even during that first scene where she is questioning Frank about every aspect of his life, this woman had the hair on the back of my neck standing up. I haven't seen as much of Mitchum's work, but I have never seen him play a character so easily manipulated by a woman, though once he realizes the woman has gotten him in a lot of trouble, his brain does start to return to its proper place.
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Preminger's direction gives this film almost a Hitchcock quality and I couldn't help wonder what Hitch could have done with this screenplay. The chemistry between Mitchum and Simmons is white hot and I also loved Jim Backus and Leon Ames and the DA and the defense attorney. A minor noir classic that had me riveted to the screen. This movie was produced by Howard Hughes. 4
Gideon58
03-11-24, 03:41 PM
Anyone But You
Despite gorgeous scenery and a really pretty cast, 2023's Anyone But You is an overly cute, contrived and predictable romantic comedy that takes way too long to get to a foregone conclusion.
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Ben (Glen Powell) meets Bea (Sidney Sweeny) at a coffee shop and end up spending the night together, but a misunderstanding ends their magical evening together on a sour note. A few months later, they are reunited as guests at the wedding of Bea's lesbian sister, which is taking place in Australia. The brides and guests can see there are still feelings between Ben and Bea and work effortlessly shoving them together. Ben and Bea decide the only way to get everyone off their backs is to pretend they have already made up and are a couple.
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Director and screenwriter Will Gluck (Easy A) has taken all the classic elements of romantic comedy from other films and jumbled them all together in one movie, even referencing a couple of them in a couple of scenes...by the time we actually watch the leads re-enact the scene on the front of the ship in Titanic, i was literally ready to check out. All the usual suspects are gathered to simultaneously bring these two together and keep them apart...her parents, her sister, his BFF, his ex-girlfriend, her ex-boyfriend, and the parents of the lesbian bride, all working together so hard to get these two together that they seem to forget why they all came to Australia in the first place.
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We're only about twenty minutes before the conclusion of the film that everyone realizes that the wedding has been shoved to the back burner, but by this time we just don't care, despite the fact the film features one of the most attractive group of actors I've ever seen assembled. Unfortunately, they aren't given a lot to work with and frankly, I expected more from the director of Easy A.
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The Australian scenery is lovely, but it takes more than scenery to make a movie. The perfectly sculpted Glen Powell continues his quest to become the next Ryan Gosling, but he has been unable to find that vehicle to push him over the top. Sweeney, who has been featured in featured roles on HBO's Euphoria and Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale does show some leading lady potential. The parents are played by actors who have been absent from the big screen for awhile: Dermot Mulroney, Rachel Griffiths, Michelle Hurd, and the charismatic Bryan Brown. Sadly, Gluck's direction is also slugglsh, making the film seem four hours long. 2.5
Gideon58
03-12-24, 03:53 PM
It Happened to Jane
An underrated gem from the resume of the legendary Doris Day, 1959's It Happened to Jane is a sweet and slightly zany comedy that features a surprisingly substantial screenplay for a 50's comedy and a terrific cast that delivers the goods.
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Day plays Jane Osgood, a widow with two children who lives in fictional Cape Anne, Maine, where she runs a lobster business. When the local train carrying one of her orders is delayed and the order is ruined, Jane decides, with the help of her lawyer, George Denham (Jack Lemmon), to sue the owner of the railroad, one Harry Foster Malone (Ernie Kovacs), kicking off a David vs Goliath story that garners national attention.
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The very deft screenplay for this comedy is by Norman Katkov, a television writer who wrote for shows like Studio One, Ben Casey, and Mission Impossible. There is a bit of a sexist subtext behind this whole story as we see Malone underestimate Jane because she's a woman. We are behind Jane from jump as we watch Malone's people trying to buy her off with chump change that didn't begin to cover expenses and her turn it down without batting an eye. This begins a deliciously entertaining cat and mouse between Jane and Malone, despite the fact that Jane and Malone don't even meet until eight minutes before the movie ends. All of Malone's machinations are done from his cozy Manhattan offices, where he is observed trying to destroy Jane while playing poker and getting shaves and massages.
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The real joy in this film is watching this central character, Jane Osgood. Once again, Day is onscreen as one of the few actresses in 1950's Hollywood who was consistently playing working women. Day's Jane is no nonsense and serious about getting what's coming to her, but never uses her feminine wiles to get it either. The relationships with her two leading men (Lemmon and Steve Forrest as a reporter) are believable as well. We can tell from their first scene together that George has been crushing on Jane forever, but seems content in the "friends" zone until Forrest's Larry arrives in town and falls in love Jane the minute he lays eyes on her. I also loved when Malone's people have had enough of his bullying of this woman and they start walking out on him and Malone doesn't bat an eye.
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Richard Quine's exuberant direction keeps things moving at a nice pace here and he works wonders with this cast. Day and Lemmon are just magic together. According to the IMDB, Lemmon said this was one of his favorite movies and he thought that the reason the film wasn't a success was because the title was terrible. He also said he regretted never making another film with Dayand that is a shame because they are terrific together. Lemmon looked absolutely adorable in a boy scout uniform. Ernie Kovacs is nothing short of brilliant as the comic villain, Harry Foster Malone, which I'm assuming was based on Charles Foster Kane. Also loved Russ Brown (Damn Yankees, South Pacific) as the engineer and Mary Wickes as the switchboard operator who really wants to be a reporter. There are also cameos by Dave Garroway and the cast of I've Got a Secret...Garry Moore, Bill Cullen, Henry Morgan, and Betsy Palmer. Another reason why I miss Doris Day so much. 3.5
Gideon58
03-15-24, 04:00 PM
What Happens Later
The queen of 1990's rom-coms, Meg Ryan,. returns to the screen for the first time in eight years as the director , co-screenwriter, and star of a 2023 romantic comedy called What Happens Later that is jammed to the rafters with gimmicks that just didn't work for this reviewer.
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Willa (Ryan) and Bill (David Duchovny) meet at an airport on their way to connecting flights for the first time in 25 years, but because of weather conditions, find themselves stranded at the airport, where it is slowly revealed that these two were involved in a very serious relationship all those years ago that apparently ended badly.
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Ryan wrote this film with Steven Dietz and Kirk Lynn that works overtime at being unique but what attempts to be unique just comes off as contrived. First of all, the characters that Ryan and Duchovny play are the only people on the screen with speaking parts. Unfortunately, when you have a cast of two, a truly compelling screenplay is required in order to sustain viewer interest and this story stays within the confines of the airport and takes way too long in detailing what went wrong in the relationship these people had 25 years ago. They spend almost half the film bickering and throwing blame at each other for what went wrong. There's an important reveal at the halfway point that seems like it's going to lead to something but it never really does. I did love Duchovny's monologue revealing what's going on with his daughter.
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Another gimmick involves the PA voice (voiced by Hal Liggett) providing travelers with information about departures and delays. It's only marginally intrusive as the film begins reminding passengers to check the boards for changes in flight schedules, but as the film progresses, the voice begins speaking directly to our protagonists, sort of pushing them together in order to examine their relationship and it is at this point, that I checked out of what was going on intellectually and emotionally. It refers to Ryan as "Passenger Boston" and Duchovny as "Passenger Austin." The voice even informs the couple during the final third that the airport is shutting everything down so that they can be alone, which, again, might have been acceptable if it led to something but it doesn't.
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This is Ryan's second directorial effort and she does show a little promise in this department, providing some interesting camerawork despite being confined to a single location. Acting wise, Ryan tends to grate on the nerves, seemingly under the impression that she's still Sally Albright, but Duchovny lights up the screen as Bill, almost making this overlong journey worth the bother. 2
Gideon58
03-16-24, 12:33 PM
Vacation (2015)
The 2015 comedy Vacation is technically a sequel to the 1983 classic, it's another one of those films that isn't really sure if it's a sequel or a remake.
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The film stars Ed Helms, as an adult Rusty Griswold, who now is a pilot living in Chicago with his wife, Debbie (Christina Applegate) and his two sons. After overhearing Debbie complain how she is bored with their annual family vacation at a cabin in the woods, Rusty decides that in order to reconnect with his family, he is going to take his family where his dad took him and his sister in the original film, Wally World.
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John Hughes, who directed the 1983 film, is one of the screenwriters on this film, which becomes apparent pretty quickly as there is stuff lifted directly from the first film, like Rusty encountering a girl in a convertible on the highway while the family is snoozing, though the conclusion of that vignette is definitely different here. The story does try to provide some new elements to the story, but they're not as funny as the screenwriters seem to think they are. The stop at Debbie's college alma mater, which reveals that Debbie was a drunken tramp in college was not funny at all, nor was the family's dip into what they thought was a hot spring, but actually turned out to be sewer waste.
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The family being stalked in their car by a psychotic truck driver and their visit to a point in the Untied States where four states connect, which prompted the appearances from cops from all four states redefined stupidity. The family's stop to visit Rusty's sister, Audrey (Leslie Mann) and her hunky husband was also a wasted opportunity whose highlight was a five minute glimpse at Chris Hemsworth's body. It would have been nice to see Rusty and Audrey reminisce about their Walley World adventure in 1983 but it is barely mentioned. For some reason, I did find the plot point of Rusty's younger son bullying his big brother kind of funny. At least when the family does get to Walley World, it wasn't closed.
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Co-directors and screenwriters John Francis Dailey, the creative force behind the cult sitcom Freaks and Geeks and Jonathan Goldstein, who wrote Horrible Bosses, just seem to be trying too hard here. This movie is all over the place, making it seem a lot longer than it really is. Helms and Applegate work very hard here and yes, there are a couple of not too surprising cameo appearances near the end, but the laughs in this movie are sporadic and it doesn't hold a candle to the original film. 3
Gideon58
03-16-24, 04:51 PM
Anatomy of a Fall
Stylish and intense direction, an Oscar winning screenplay, and some spectacular performances anchor 2023 Best Picture nominee, Anatomy of a Fall, an astonishing murder mystery/courtroom drama that simultaneously provides equal doses of evidence of guilt and reasonable doubt from one scene to the next.
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Sandra Voyter is a German writer who lives with her British husband, Samuel in a French chalet with their visually impaired son, Daniel. Shortly after cutting short an interview she is giving, her husband's body is outside in the snow after tumbling out of the third floor window of the attic of their under renovations chalet. Of course, Sandra is immediately suspected of murder which sends young Daniel into an emotional turmoil of wanting to protect his mother but being unsure of whether or not he is able of doing so.
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This film is a triumph for director and co-screenwriter Justine Triet, whose Oscar-winning screenplay is perfect melange of murder mystery and courtroom drama that unfolds slowly enough for the viewer to gather evidence even though they don't realize they're doing it, without playing any cinematic cards providing answers for the viewer. This reviewer sensed a sexual tension between Sandra and the woman interviewing her during the opening scene and almost dismissed it until it become relevant during the opening courtroom scene.
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A true air of originality simmers to the surface here, thanks to the lack of theatrics associated with murder mysteries and courtroom dramas. The straightforward presentation of the forensics in the case (make sure closed captioning is on for this) and an actual re-enactmant of the crime, a rarity in stories like this, presents the facts in a very clinical manner that only tell the viewer one thing: that Samuel did not go out of that window on his own power but Sandra's DNA is nowhere to be found either. It's also obvious during her first meeting with her attorney that he isn't totally convinced of her innocence either.
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The reasonable doubt in the story comes through Sandra's sketchy defense of what happened and its effect on Daniel. The discovery of Samuel's body is given short shrift in order to pique our curiosity when we see absolutely no evidence of Sandra going through any kind of grief regarding what happened to her. On the other hand, Daniel seems to want to do what he can to help his mother, while not being convinced of her innocence either. Triet achieves a startling cinematic dichotomy during the scene where the recording of the fight the day before the murder is played for the court while we are privileged with a live action flashback of the fight, startling but, again, offering nothing concrete in terms of gilt or innocence. I also LOVED the first character to discover the body: Daniel's dog, Snoop, who also remains relevant throughout the story. The court's sensitivity regarding protecting Daniel was admirable, even if some their methods were questionable.
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Triet is also to be applauded for a quartet of remarkable performances she elicits from her cast. Sandra Huller's chilling and powerful performance as the central character earned her a richly deserved Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress and she is provided perfect support by Swann Arlaud as her attorney, Antoine Reinartz as the slick and serious prosecutor and wide-eyed Milo Machado-Graner as the tortured Daniel. Just a breathtaking movie and can't wait to see what's next for Justine Triet. 4.5
Gideon58
03-18-24, 12:46 PM
Men at Work
1990's Men at Work is a pointless and over the top action comedy whose primary novelty is that the writer and director co-stars in the film with his real life brother.
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The setting is a fictional California seaside community called Las Playas, where a city councilman is trying to get out of a deal with a criminal industrialist who is dumping toxic waste in the councilman's ocean. Not longer after, the councilman is murdered and stuffed in a waste container. The following morning a pair of garbage men and BFF's named James and Carl, along with their Vietnam vet PTSD afflicted boss, discover the can on their route and, instead of reporting it, decide to take the body back to their apartment. Once they discover that their pretty next door neighbor worked for the councilman, they are led towards a criminal conspiracy that puts them in danger as well.
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This film was written and directed by Emilio Estevez, who plays James and his younger brother, Charlie Sheen plays Carl, which is understandable incentive to get on board. It's always fun watching real life family members making movies together, but this novelty wears off quickly as the film becomes dumber and dumber as it progresses. The initial irritation begins with ripping off the previous year's Weekend at Bernie's by taking the body back to their apartment and getting in several situations where they have to pretend that the corpse is still alive, a running gag that becomes tiresome pretty quickly.
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The only other time I have seen Estevez and Sheen work together was when Estevez did a guest shot on Sheen's sitcom Two and Half Men and it is fun watching them share the screen, though I wish Estevez had provided better story for himself and his brother, which appeared to have shades of their relationship as we watch James resent Carl when the neighbor becomes romantically with Carl and it is implied that this is not the first time this has happened with these guys. The bad guys are all dumb as a box of rocks and there's a character on the canvas, a pizza delivery guy, who proved to completely superfluous and adds absolutely nothing to the story.
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Estevez was clearly afforded a limited budget and does what he can with it. The brothers Estevez do provide a spark to the proceedings, as does Keith David as their PTSD boss. John Getz is ridiculously over the top though as the mustache twirling villain and Dean Cameron is just a waste of screen time as the pizza delivery guy. It's no shock that Estevez has only five other theatrical directing credits on his resume and he's probably lucky he has those. 2
Gideon58
03-18-24, 03:36 PM
Lisa Frankenstein
Fans of Tim Burton films like Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice will definitely have a head start with 2024's Lisa Frankenstein, a loopy and bizarre comic thriller that features a screenplay that's kind of all over the place, but it does hold viewer attention right up to a truly nonsensical finale.
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Lisa is a teenage social outcast whose mother was brutally murdered a year ago and has been taken in by her best friend Taffy's family. Lisa confesses to Taffy that she is having a relationship with a corpse and not long after that, said corpse shows up at Taffy's house when only Lisa is home, covered in mud and feces. Lisa hides him in the house and is somehow able to communicate with him, despite the fact that he cannot speak. It's also revealed that the corpse is missing a few body parts that, with the aid of few minutes in a tanning booth, make him almost human again, though still mute and all it cost were the death of two people and the dismemberment of a third.
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Diablo Cody, who won an Oscar for writing Juno, takes a completely different and hard to follow look at teen angst that spends a whole lot of time with exposition and introducing characters than really necessary. After she moves in with Taffy's family, there is a very long sequence where Lisa is at a party and she drinks something that appears to have been drugged with something. She is observed stumbling all over the party and we think it's going to lead to something specific about the corpse, but it doesn't. The contrived ignorance of Taffy's family to the corpse is also a little hard to take. And just when it looks like Lisa and her corpse are going to live happily after ever, she says she wants to lose her virginity to Michael Trent, the big stud on Lisa's high school campus. I expected a tighter screenplay from Diablo Cody.
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Despite the odd story, I found myself oddly riveted to this film that is watchable as you don't think about it too much. The film featured impressive production values, including dazzling color schemes, similar to the ones utilized by Burton in Edward Scissorhands and some truly bizarre characters. The title character reminded me of Lydia Deitz in Beetlejuice, who goes through a lot of changes before the credits roll. The weird animated opening credits even reminded me of another Tim Burton film: The Nightmare Before Christmas.
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Kathryn Newton, who I haven't seen since she played Reese Witherspoon's daughter on the HBO series Big Little Lies, gives a star-making performance in the title role and she is well matched by Cole Sprouse, who played Ross; son, Ben, on Friends and starred with his twin brother Dylan on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, matches her scene for scene as the corpse. Mention should also be made of a hysterical supporting turn from Carla Gugina as Taffy's mother. It doesn't provide answers to all of the answers it poses, but it's never boring. Director Zelda Williams is the daughter of the late Robin Williams.
3.5
Gideon58
03-20-24, 01:30 PM
In the Gloaming
Polished and sensitive direction by the late Christopher Reeve and superb performances from a hand-picked cast make a quiet but emotionally charged 1997 HBO movie called In the Gloaming worth the price of admission despite a screenplay that is a tad cautious.
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Danny (Robert Sean Leonard) is in the final stages of his battle with AIDS and decides to return home for the final months of his life, seeming to want to reconcile with his parents (Glenn Close, David Strathairn) before he passes away.
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The earnestly intended screenplay by Alice Elliott Dark and Will Scheffer tells a tough story with some degree of sensitivity. It features minimal use of words like "AIDS", "HIV", and even "Homosexuality" as the story unfolds. As a matter the story begins with a flashback of Danny playing in the yard with his mother and his sister that actually speaks volumes about the story we are about to witness; however, we don't realize it as we actually watch the scene. We learn that Danny wants to resolve certain issues with his smothering mother, his seemingly insensitive father, and his jealous sister before his passing. Unfortunately, just when characters get down the crux of what they really want to say, the scenes abruptly end without true resolution. Danny wants his mother to admit that she has never really accepted his sexual orientation, he wants his father to admit that he is ashamed of him, and Danny's sister wants her mother to admit that Danny was always her favorite and that her coddling might have mad Danny gay. These potentially explosive family confrontations could have made for high drama, but the screenplay backs down just before the real issues bubble to the surface.
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Despite several missed opportunities in the screenplay, some of the roads to these opportunities make for some intense family drama. The reveal that Mom has stopped her volunteer job in order to devote her self to Daniel's care has real power because of Mom's complete devotion to being at Daniel's side to the end. The scene where Mom can't refer to Danny's lover as his lover and wants to know why they were never invited to Thanksgiving dinner as a couple was a hard watch, as was the scene where Danny's sister implied that Mom's coddling had a lot to do with Danny's sexual orientation, a scene that made my blood boil because it implied that homosexuality is a choice, though it is abruptly ended before getting really ugly.
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Reeve gives this emotionally charged story power with sensitive direction and stunning production values. The look of the film reminded me a lot of the look of 1981's On Golden Pond...absolutely gorgeous and a possible distraction to the potentially painful story we're about to witness. Robert Sean Leonard completely invests in the role of Danny, which should have earned him an Emmy nomination. The film was nominated for five Emmys. including Outstanding Television Movie, Outstanding Actress for Glenn Close, for her beautifully controlled performance as the mom, Bridget Fonda for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her resentful sister, Reeve's direction, and Outstanding Cinematography. Reeves passed away five years after the release of this film. 4
Gideon58
03-20-24, 04:28 PM
Bob Marley: One Love
Full disclosure, an excellent trailer lured this reviewer into 2024's Bob Marley: One Love, a pretentious and by the numbers biopic that starts off promisingly, but eventually degenerates into a vague and conventional look at the reggae icon, despite some impressive musical sequences.
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As the film opens, Marley is preparing for a benefit concert that he is convinced will bring a cease fire to all of the political and military unrest in his native Jamaica. But then he is shot twice and decides to abandon his wife and 12 children for London, which leads to the creation of his album, "Exodus" which went gold and led to a world tour where fame goes to his head and where the love of his family and country, well established in the first half of the film, pretty much disappear during the second half.
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The screenplay for this film initially sets up Marley as some sort of musical who believes the problems of the universe can be solved with his music. We are initially impressed when he leaves Jamaica to protect his family, but once he does, his children are pretty much forgotten for the rest of the film, even with devoted wife Rita by his side. Once Marley embarks on his world tour, the screenplay takes on an ambivalence that implies a lot of Marley's story is being glossed over. The second half of the film feels completely different from the first in the fact that it feels like the subject is being protected and they're trying to hide something on the viewer. And on a technical note, I cannot lie that the very thick Jamaican accents employed by most of the cast made it very difficult to understand a healthy chunk of the dialogue.
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On the positive sides, the musical sequences elevate the movie when they do come up. Was especially impressed with the scenes where "Jammin" and "I Shot the Sheriff" was performed, and the presentation of the song "Exodus" brought up some questions. Marley hears a band member listening to the movie soundtrack of the Paul Newman movie and just picks up his guitar and starts making up a song called "Exodus" right there n the spot. I found myself wondering if all of Marley's work came off the top of his head like that without writing anything down, but it definitely made up for the movie's most compelling scene.
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Reinaldo Marcus Green, who directed Will Smith to the Oscar he won for King Richard provides slightly melodramatic direction to the proceedings, making the film a little on the sluggish side. Kingsley Ben-Adir, who impressed as Malcom X in the Regina King film One Night in Miami, works very hard in the title role as do Lashana Lynch as Rita, and James Norton, who appeared in Greta Gerwig's Little Women, as Chris Blackwell as Bob's manager, but overall, this one was a huge disappointment and documentation that a great trailer is not guarantee of a great movie. 3
Gideon58
03-21-24, 03:43 PM
Me, Natalie
Seven years after winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, Patty Duke took on an equally challenging role in a 1959 character study called Me, Natalie, a hopelessly dated look at a young woman's journey into adult and self-esteem that is now almost laughable in its datedness, but Duke still makes it worth a look.
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Duke plays Natalie Miller, a young woman who suffers from self-esteem issues ever since she was a small child because she believes that she is ugly. She makes her self a social pariah because she refuses to believe that she is pretty and, after years of alienating everyone in her life, including her favorite Uncle Harold, she finally branches out on her own and moves to Greenwich Village, where she bullies her way into the life of a sensitive young artist.
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Stanley Shapiro, who won an Oscar a decade earlier for writing Pillow Talk co-wrote this talky and unfocused drama with A. Martin Zweiback, centered around a character who clearly has a lot of issues going on other than the desire to be pretty. There are mental health issues going on with this character, but they are never addressed as such, making it difficult for us or the other characters onscreen to deal with her. In her narration, Natalie informs us how much she loves her Uncle Harold, but when he passes away, she won't even attend his funeral. When she first meets David, her artist/neighbor, she appears repulsed and shocked that he paints nudes, but when he asks her to pose for him fully clothed, she is mortally offended.
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There are dated elements to the story that would just not fly in 2024. When she first arrives in New York, Natalie gets a job waiting tables at a restaurant where she wears fake boobs, a fake butt, and glow in the dark paint on her face. It reminded me of the restaurant in The April Fools where the waitresses were dressed as cavewomen and the male patrons were given clubs to get their attention. Natalie also spends a healthy chunk of screentime in the dumbwaiter of her apartment, which is, by the way, she first meets David the artist while painting one of his also somehow ends up in the same dumbwaiter during a hallucination she has after drinking a party punch spiked with acid. The movie works too hard at trying to be hip and cool and shocking the audience than it does evoking sympathy for the central character.
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Patty Duke works very hard in the title role, though according to the IMDB, there was a lot of tension on the set between her and director Fred Coe, which many attributed to a very manic period in Duke's life before she was officially diagnosed with OCD. She also wears false teeth in the movie that are extremely distracting and seriously affect her speech. James Farentino is smooth and sexy as David, Martin Balsam is lovely as Uncle Harold, and so is Nancy Marchand as Nat's mother. Other familiar faces pop up including Elsa Lanchester, Salome Jens, Deborah Winters, and if you don't blink, you might catch the three minute film debut of future Oscar winner Al Pacino as pig who tries to pick up Natalie at a dance. It's not a great movie, but Duke fans should check it out. 3
Gideon58
03-22-24, 04:08 PM
Cujo
The 1983 movie version of Stephen King's novel Cujo does provide some scares on the surface as long as you don't examine what's going on too closely.
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The story takes place in a small rural community where we see a friendly St Bernard named Cujo get bitten by bats and giving the dog rabies. Meanwhile, we meet an advertising executive's wife who is having an affair that she's trying to hide from her husband and young son, even though the affair isn't making her happy either. Then we see the rabies taking effect in the dog, actually causing him to murder two people. Mother and son arrive at the home of the mechanic who owns the dog and encounter the dog, now a drooling, matted-hair mess, who goes after the mother and son, actually trapping them inside their tiny economy car which they have brought there for repairs and now won't start.
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King adapted the screenplay with Don Carlos Dunaway and Barbara Turner, widow of Vic Morrow and mother of Jennifer Jason Leigh. The screenplay takes its sweet time with exposition, putting way too much time into establishing the fact that Donna Trenton is unhappy and that her husband is completely oblivious of the fact. So much detail is put into this setup that the second Donna's lover made his initial appearance in the story, I knew she was having an affair with the guy. I wasn't so bothered by the fact that this was telegraphed but more by the fact that it really didn't have anything to do with the story we were about to see. The fact that the little boy, Tad, was first shown to us having nightmares about monsters in his closet also seemed a little convenient. None of this really had anything to do with the primary story that finally rolled across the screen, but it definitely could have been tightened up, knocking about 20 minutes off the running time.
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Though I don't know anything regarding the subject, the effects that rabies have on a dog are also a little suspect here. Before he traps Donna and Tad in the car, we see this dog actually murder two grown men, yet, during two separate encounters with Donna, he is unable to take her out. It was also strange the way the dog would run to the house whenever the phone would ring and when it would stop, he would run back to torment Donna and Tad. And though a tiny nitpick, I was very troubled by the fact that as the danger of their situation intensified, Donna got very short with her son, like it was his fault.
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Director Lewis Teague (The Jewel of the Nile) does capture the claustrophobic danger Donna and Tad are in beautifully. I love when the camera is creeping around the side of the car while Donna is trying to get her son out his seatbelt and we think the dog is going to bite her and then the dog actually attacks from the other side of the car, possibly the film's most effective "boo." Dee Wallace, fresh off her role in Spielberg's ET is very effective in the physically demanding role of Donna. She works well with Daniel Hugh Kelly, who plays her husband and her lover was played by her real life husband, Christopher Stone. A very young Danny Pintauro also put himself on the map as little Tad. There are scares here, but they are surface deep and they take too long to materialize. 3.5
Gideon58
03-23-24, 04:26 PM
Road House (2024)
Despite Jake Gyllenhaal's effective stepping into the late Patrick Swayze's shoes in the starring role, the 2024 testosterone-charged remake of Road House does suffer thanks to a severely overly complex screenplay that makes the film about thirty minutes longer than it needed to be.
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Gyllenhaal plays Dalton (we do learn whether or not Dalton is his first or last name in this version BTW), a former UFC fighter who is hired to clean up a bar in the Florida Keys and finds a lot more problems than a rowdy bar when it turns out that he is interfering in the plans of a so-called crime lord named Ben Brandt, a second generation criminal whose father is incarcerated. Word gets to Daddy that Ben is being bamboozled by Dalton so he sends a psychotic beast named Knox to take care of Ben and Dalton.
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Three writers were involved in the screenplay here, which is a little more light hearted than the 1989 film. Dalton is infused with a snarky smart ass likability that immediately endears him to the viewer. During his first fight scene at the bar, he is allowed to explain to the half dozen guys he's about to take out how he's going to do it, the exact nature of the injuries he plans to inflict, and makes sure the guys know where the nearest hospital is. Dalton is given an added air of mystery he didn't have in '89 by having him appear on the run, leading to flashbacks explaining why he isn't in the UFC anymore, which add about twenty minutes to the running time and really weren't necessary.
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I did like when the Ben Brandt character was finally revealed, we learn that the guy is still being manipulated by his incarcerated father. He's a bit nutty too...when the waves transporting his yacht get a little jumpy, he punches the guy navigating the boat and when he gets angry and throws his cell phone into the ocean, he tells one of his minions to go get it. And let's talk about this Knox, a monster who puts characters like Ivan Drago and Bane to shame. He is first observed stark naked in a farmer's market until he finds someone wearing clothes he likes and beats them off the man, Dalton's final confrontation is memorable, reminding me of the final battle between Mel Gibson and Gary Busey in Lethal Weapon, but, again, went on way too long. The pretty doctor who Swayze romances in the first film is here too, but the role is given more layers than necessary and the role is just as pointless as it was in the '89 film.
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What does keep the viewer invested in this unnecessary remake is the movie-star performance by the seriously pumped Gyllenhaal, who just gets more sexy and charismatic as he ages. He makes this movie worth sitting through, as do the underrated Billy Magnussen as Brandt and Conor McGregor as Knox. It's not necessarily worse than the original, but Gyllenhaal definitely makes it worth a look. 3.5
Gideon58
03-25-24, 02:02 PM
61 *
A memorable slice of baseball history is brought to life in 61*, a handsomely mounted drama about the friendship/rivalry between two baseball legends that provides sparking entertainment thanks to HBO and meticulous direction from Billy Crystal.
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This 2001 film recounts the friendship between New York Yankees Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris and how the friendship is almost destroyed with their battle to break Babe Ruth's long standing record of 61 home runs in a single season, a battle that not only threatens to destroy this friendship but tear the entire team apart as their journey to the World Series is also impacted by this internal friction in the ball club.
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Hank Steinberg's screenplay lovingly details the evolution of this very complicated relationship which effectively documents how different Mantle and Maris are. Mantle is portrayed as being adored by fans, adoring said adoration, and having no problem with the pressures that come with being a sports icon until it is revealed that his release is manifesting itself into heavy drinking and womanizing. Maris is the polar opposite: a happily married man with kids who enjoys his job but not everything that comes with it. He hates dealing with the press and is resentful of the way they are manipulating a rival between him and Mantle. We actually see Maris take Mantle into his home when he thinks Mantle's partying is getting out of hand, but the pressure gets to him as he is observed tying the Babe's record and then wanting out. Not to mention the fact that the press, the fans, the baseball commissioner, and even some of his teammates want to see Mantle break the record. at which time, Mantle's interest in the record seems to wane as well.
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Billy Crystal, in his seventh assignment in the director's chair, takes a very public feud and puts very flawed and human faces on it, without ever taking the sides that we observe on screen. It was disturbing watching the baseball commissioner manipulating league rules in order to make it more difficult to Maris to break the record, not to mention Ruth's widow who naturally doesn't want to see her husband's record shattered. Even the fans forget about Yankee unity and in one shocking scene, we see a fan actually throw a chair at Maris.
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Crystal displays real talent behind the camera that was rewarded with 12 Emmy nominations with wins in two technical categories. Barry Pepper received a nomination for his sincere and intense Roger Maris and is matched scene for scene by Thomas Jane's sizzling interpretation of Mickey Mantle. Mention should also be made of Richard Masur and Peter Jacobson as sports writers, Donald Moffat as the commissioner, Renee Taylor as Babe Ruth's widow, and Anthony Michael Hall as Whitey Ford. It says a lot that, as a non baseball enthusiast, this reviewer was thoroughly entertained by this film. 4
Gideon58
03-26-24, 03:33 PM
Passages (2023)
The 2023 French import Passages is a sexually charged drama centered around a toxic love triangle that goes to so many disturbing places that it had this reviewer talking back to the screen and my blood boiling.
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The film takes place in contemporary Paris where we meet a film director named Tomas, who has been married to Martin for 15 years, who actually finds himself drifting into an affair with a woman named Agathe, throwing the lives of all three into turmoil because even though Tomas thinks he has found a new life that he wants to embrace, nothing could be further from the truth.
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Director and co-screenwriter Ira Sachs, who directed a film I really liked called Love is Strange, has mounted an alleged romantic drama that is troubling on so many levels I don't even know where to start. The initial premise here was just a little hard to accept. It was pretty hard to accept that a man who had spent 15 years married to another man could so easily move into a relationship with a woman. Their first sexual encounter was just too easy to believe...there was no discussion as to whether they really wanted to do this, there was no discomfort from Tomas about his first encounter with a woman, and most unbelievable of all, Tomas told Martin all about it the next day and just expected Martin to accept it.
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As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Tomas is a self-absorbed prick who doesn't care about anyone but himself. He is shocked by Martin's anger, yet before the halfway point of the film, he is moving out of their home. It's a real struggle to accept that Tomas is just going to ease into this heterosexual relationship and not look back, but then comes the moment where he sees Martin with someone else and that's where everything explodes and a bombshell dropped around the halfway point of the story assures that no one can come out of this unscathed. This love triangle also leaves more than its share of collateral damage.
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Sachs' direction is rich with emotion and sexual tension. He exposes a lot of the feelings of these three central characters through the sex scenes that recalled some of the work of Adrian Lyne. Sachs eventually makes it clear that this triangle has resulted because of sexual heat, not so much from romance. Loved the scene where after having moved out on Martin for awhile, he shows up at their house on a pretense, but it is clear his only mission is to get Martin back in bed. On the other hand, I could never get the thought of Agathe being completely satisfied sexually, which made a lot of this film hard to invest in.
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Sachs does get superb performances from his leads though...Franz Rogowski lights up the screen playing the very hard to like Tomas and Ben Whishaw, robbed of an Oscar nomination last year for Women Talking is warm and vulnerable as the conflicted Martin. Adèle Exarchopoulos works hard at keeping Agathe sympathetic but she's really fighting the screenplay here. It moves slowly, seeming a lot longer than it really is, but it certainly kept my attention. 3.5
Gideon58
03-27-24, 02:48 PM
Hello Frisco Hello
Lavish production values from 20th Century Fox and the legendary Alice Faye center stage, 1943's Hello Frisco Hello, a surprisingly entertaining musical package that rivals some of MGM's strongest work in the genre.
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Set at the turn of the century in San Francisco, this is the story of a quartet of vaudeville performers, featuring Faye as Trudy Evans, Jack Oakie as Dan Daley, June Havoc as Beulah Clancy and the leader of the act, Johnny Cornell (John Payne). As the film opens, we see the quartet being fired from a cheap honky tonk, which suits Johnny just fine because he thinks his act can go places and it's not long before Johnny has opened up several clubs and has made Trudy a big star without noticing that Trudy has fallen in love with him. Trudy doesn't seem to mind being taken for granted until Johnny attracts the attention of a beautiful and wealthy socialite named Bernice (Lynn Bari).
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Fox poured big bucks into this production, assuming in an attempt to cover the paper thin plot and some gaping holes in it, primarily, it is never really made clear where Johnny got the money to finance all of the nightclubs that he builds. He is observed lending money to a grizzled gold prospector who promises to pay him back when he hits gold, but I guess we're supposed to assume he did, because we never see him do it. But there's enough going on here that we're allowed to let little plot holes slide. One surprising plot twist though was instead of Bernice trying to buy Johnny with her money, she is observed losing all her money and Johnny trying to bail her out.
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The film features some wonderful musical numbers. The highlights include "The Dance of the Grizzly Bear" and "Hello Frisco" performed by the quartet, "Bedelia", Faye's production number with dancing cops, and "When I Wore You a Tulip", an extravagant production number with the dancers on roller skates. Faye also has a solo near the beginning of the film called "You'll Never Know" that won the Oscar for Best Song of 1943.
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The film features absolutely breathtaking settings and costumes and the cast is impressive, led by the throaty voiced Faye who is enchanting, as always. Payne is a charming leading man and my first real exposure to Jack Oakie was a pleasant surprise...was especially surprised at what a good dancer he was. BTW, June Havoc, who played Beulah, is the real life version of the character of Dainty June in the 1959 Broadway musical Gypsy with Ethel Merman, which came to the screen in 1962 with Rosalind Russell. If you're an Alice Faye fan, this one is a must. 3.5
Gideon58
03-31-24, 10:55 AM
Ricky Stanicky
Jon Cena provides the only real laughs in 2024's Ricky Stanicky, an overlong and for the most part unfunny comedy that runs out of gas long before the closing credits roll.
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This is the story of three childhood buddies named Dean, JT, and Wes who,as kids, pulled Halloween prank that resulted in setting a house on fire. They managed to slither out of trouble by blaming the prank on an imaginary friend named Ricky Stanicky. The guys continue to use Ricky into adulthood to get out of trouble or sneak off to male bonding rituals whenever they feel like it. Eventually, a situation develops where the guys realize they actually have to produce Ricky and, one night at a bar in Atlantic City, they meet an alcoholic nightclub singer/actor named Ricky Rimestead,who likes to put pornographic lyrics to classic rock songs, to becomw Ricky Stanicky, a charade the guy pulls off. but the charade doesn't end where the guys planned, putting Dean and JT's jobs in jeopardy.
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Peter Farrelly, director of the 2018 Best Picture winner Green Book is the culprit behind this flm as the director and one of six writers involved in putting together this movie, which comes off as an extended episode of a sitcom that never seems to end. From the second we see Dean take a phone call in front of his wife saying that Ricky has to have surgery for testicular cancer, but is unable to be with him, we know exactly what's going and as the guys' lies get them in so deep that they have to produce a real Ricky, we know that no good can come of their plan, even providing an actual "bible" with a backstory for Rod to get into this character they've created.
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The only real laughs in this film come from Jon Cena, still working on his quest to become the next Dwayne Johnson, in the role of Rod/Ricky. The role require a lot of physical comedy and outrageous costuming and the re-written songs primarily on the subject of masturbation, are funny as hell. We also get to see Cena dressed like Britney Spears' schoolgirl in "Oops. I did it Again" and do an uncanny impression of Owen Wilson.
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After two superb performances in The Greatest Beer Run Ever and The Iron Claw, Zac Efron takes a serious misstep with this film, where he appears to be phoning it in as Dean and Andrew Santino and Jermaine just seem miscast as JT and Wes. There is also a fun supporting turn from William H Macy as Dean's boss, but it doesn't help our tolerance of too many endings and the film feeling about four hours long. 2.5
Tugg
03-31-24, 11:06 AM
I'm laughing just reading your review.
Gideon58
04-01-24, 03:43 PM
Dumb and Dumber
Peter and Bobby Ferrelly, the creative forces behind films like There's Something About Mary and Shallow Hal had one of their biggest box office smashes in 1994's Dumb and Dumber, an over the top road trip buddy comedy that does provide laughs as long as you don't think about it too much.
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The comedy stars Jim Carrey as Lloyd, a not too bright limo driver from Providence who drives a beautiful girl named Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly) to the airport, who is enroute to Aspen. While pulling away from the front of the airport, Lloyd notices Mary leaving a briefcase in the middle of the airport, which actually contains the ransom for her kidnapped husband. Before the kidnappers can pick it up, Lloyd manages to pick it up first and convinces his best friend, Harry (Jeff Daniels) to accompany him to Aspen so he can return the briefcase to Mary.
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This is pretty typical Ferrelly brothers material on the surface, predictable and silly comic situations accentuated by a lot of gross out bathroom humor and over the top sight gags adding up to a movie that is about thirty minutes longer than it needs to be. This one is given a bit of a boost with the casting of Carrey and Daniels in the starring roles, a master of physical comedy and an extremely versatile actor who create a one of a kind chemistry that we don't see coming, but we do allow the chemistry to allow us to overlook how silly this movie is.
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As much as tried to let them slide, there were more than a couple of things that happen in tis movie that didn't make a lot of sense. First of all, what kind of kidnappers request that the ransom money be left for them right in the middle of the floor of a busy airport? Also, when Lloyd is leaving the airport and he notices Mary placing the suitcase on the ground, I really don't think there is anyway that Lloyd could actually see all that while driving outside the terminal and then park the car, go inside the terminal and actually beat the kidnappers to the briefcase? Seriously? Then they thought it was all right to spend the money in the briefcase as long as they left IOU's in the case? They were unemployed when they left Providence, how did they expect to replace the money? Thus the title of the movie, I suppose.
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Despite all of this, there are laughs to be found here: The opening scene with Carrey and Holly was very funny as was the restaurant encounter with the psycho Sea Bass, the pretty woman makeover that concluded with Lloyd in that gorgeous orange tux, and every moment Charles Dance had on the screen as the kidnapper. Carrey and Daniels are an unexpectedly well-oiled machine and it was also great to see Teri Garr as Holly's stepmother and Mike Starr as Dance's muscle. I'm pretty sure that was James Franco making a cameo at the end of the movie. It's not as funny as its reputation, but there are laughs to be found out. 3.5
Gideon58
04-03-24, 03:08 PM
The Hill (2023)
Despite some solid performances, 2023's The Hill is a corny and predictable fact-based sports drama that suffers from sluggish direction and a syrupy and sentimental screenplay that makes the film seem seven hours long.
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This is the story of Rickey Hill, a young man who was born with a degenerative spinal disease that had him in leg braces for most of his childhood, but apparently this never quashed his desire to play major league baseball, despite strong objections from his dad, Reverend James Hill. The film follows Rickey as we watch him leave his leg braces behind him and begin a serious pursuit of a career in professional baseball. Unfortunately, another injury to one of his ankles may keep him from playing and possibly walking.
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It's pretty obvious that three writers are credited with this film because it is overly busy and moves at a snails pace. There is almost ten minutes of screen time devoted to Reverend Hill requesting that two members of his congregation stop smoking and chewing tobacco in church, which totally blew me away. I have never in my life or in a movie, seen someone smoking or chewing tobacco in church. And the tobacco chewer was a woman! Then we have the family with their car packed like the Beverly Hillbillies, break down on the side of the road and get a ride to a town that coincidentally needs a minister. We learn right away that Reverend Hill doesn't want Rickey to play baseball but we have to wait almost to the end of the movie to find out why Rickey is so scared of his father that he is initially observed practicing batting with a stick for a bat and rocks for a ball.
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Actor turned director Jeff Celentano does show some knowledge of mounting a sports drama even if said knowledge isn't terribly imaginative. The trick of Rickey always getting two strikes before hitting the ball and the slow motion when the pitcher throws that third pitch...it just took any suspense out of what was happening. It also seemed calculated and convenient that the three child actors playing Ricky and his siblings are replaced at almost the exact halfway point in the film. Celentano also should have spent a little time with his screenwriters trying to consolidate this story because it had no business being 2 hours and six minutes long.
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There are some strong performances that almost make it worth sitting through. Dennis Quaid is excellent as Reverend Hill as was Colin Ford as 17 year old Rickey (though he looked 27). Also loved Bonnie Bedelia as Grandma and there's a classy cameo by 85 year old Hollywood vet Scott Glenn as professional scout Red Murff. Sadly, the film takes so long to get to Rickey's tryout for the pros that we have to wait for a prologue to learn exactly what happened to Rickey. Unless you have a real hard on for Dennis Quaid, give this one a pass. 2.5
Gideon58
04-05-24, 03:51 PM
The Magnificent Ambersons
Orson Welles followed his triumphant instant classic Citizen Kane with a dark and riveting melodrama called The Magnificent Ambersons that took an up close look at class struggle and star-crossed love with the aid of some innovative storytelling techniques that were probably considered groundbreaking in 1942.
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Welles is billed as co-director and co-screenwriter of this look at a wealthy family in a small town who are the fodder of gossip as their every move is scrutinized during this period of change in the world of transportation, where the country is in the process of going horseless, a concept many consider evil and the end of civilization as they know it. Eugene Morgan is a penniless man who is in love with Amberson matriarch Isabell, but is driven out of town through the machinations of Isabell's son George and her sister, Fanny. Morgan does return to town though, a big shot in the automotive industry but his attempts to reconnect with Isabell are still thwarted by George, who even puts his romance with Morgan's daughter, on the back burner in order to protect his mother.
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The screenplay by Welles and Joseph Cotten (though Cotten doesn't get credit on screen) is based on a novel by Booth Tarkington that uses a couple of screen story techniques and puts a spin on them. Exposition for this story is effectively provided through Welles' narration and commentary from minor characters who initially gather in front of the Amberson mansion and then pop in off and on, offering insights into this important family and making it clear that the citizens of this town monitor every single thing that the Ambersons do, somewhat akin to the Kennedys. This is also the first film I've seen where the closing credits are done on the audio by the director.
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Once the lay of the cinematic land has been set up for us, we get a voyeuristic look at some family dynamics that do have a familiar flavor, though there is a flavor of distaste to what we're watching that makes us think we're definitely missing, the same darkness that Welles provided to Citizen Kane. George's obsession with keeping his mother away from Morgan was creepy and incomprehensible. The truly bold cinephile might find an incestuous component to the relationship between George and his mother, but nothing overt. It was something akin to the alleged gay relationship that Hitchcock implies between John Dall and Farley Granger in Rope.
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According to the IMDB, four minutes were cut out of the original print of this film, but it sure felt like more than that to me because a lot of the transitions from scene to scene seemed very abrupt but didn't deter a but from Welles' atmospheric direction. Joseph Cotten lights up the screen as Eugene and Dolores Costello is luminous as Isabell. She would only make one more film after this one. Tim Holt was a little one-note in the pivotal role of George but Anne Baxter sparkles as Lucy Morgan and Agnes Moorhead almost steals the movie as Aunt fanny, a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The film received three other nominations, including Best Picture. It's not as good as Citizen Kane, but this one has Welles' creative hand all over it. 4
Gideon58
04-08-24, 03:57 PM
Stranger in My Own Skin
2023's Stranger in My Own Skin is a pretentious and slightly dull look at a punk rock legend whose career has simultaneously been guided and destroyed by his heroine addiction.
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This is the story of singer/songwriter Pete Doherty, who was the front band behind two different groups but was into his own worst enemy his addiction. The film, which was filmed over a period of 10 years by director and co-screenwriter Katia de Vidas, documents Doherty's military-influenced childhood through his intense relationship with two different bands, and his half-hearted attempts at rehabilitation.
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The film starts very strangely with us watching Doherty being fitted for a plaster of cast of his body and we get a brief shot of it when it's completed but are never really told what it's for. The film then flashes back to his childhood, which reminded me a lot of the Kenneth Branaugh drama Belfast to his meteoric rise to the top of the punk genre, but the film is unapologetic in its depiction of an addict...the guy vacillates from scene to scene saying that heroine makes him a better musician and then saying that if he doesn't stop, it will destroy his life. At one point, he is revealed to be in so much legal trouble, the courts have ordered him to have a heroine blocker transplanted into his body or go to jail.
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The main problem with this film is the appeal of the subject. Maybe my feelings I colored by the fact that I had never even heard of this guy before viewing this film. The man clearly has a following, documented by the sold-out crowds he is observed performing for, but as the subject of a documentary, this guy is not exactly viewer friendly. There's only about 15-20 minutes in the film where he appears sober, he looks dirty like he hasn't bathed in a week and I understand the desire to presented an unfiltered biography of the man, but I can't see this film appealing to anyone who has never been in a Pete Doherty mosh pit.
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DeVitas clearly has mad love for this guy and is hoping that her love for the man will reach people who have never heard of Pete Doherty, but I just don't see that happening. As the film concludes, we learn the guy is clean of cocaine and heroine, but it's clear the man is not working any kind of program and a relapse is an inevitability. A reunion with his dad near the end of the film is kind of sweet. This is the longest 90-minute film I have ever seen. 3
Gideon58
04-09-24, 03:10 PM
Where the Boys Are (1960)
For a movie that is over 60 years old, the teen comedy based on a hit Connie Francis song, Where's the Boys Are, holds up pretty well, providing a lot more entertainment than expected.
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The movie is about four college girls in the frozen wastelands of the Midwest looking forward to their Easter break trip to Fort Lauderdale. Merritt (Dolores Hart) is a student who has expressed liberated ideas about sex in school but is not so sure when she meets handsome playboy Ryder Smith (George Hamilton); Tuggle (Paula Prentiss) has marriage on the brain but the aimless goofball named TV (Jim Hutton) not so much; Melanie (Yvette Mimeux) is a painfully shy girl looking forward to exploring her sexual freedom and Angie (Connie Francis) just wants a boy, any boy, to notice her and is thrilled when she attracts the attention of a nearsighted jazz musician (Frank Gorshin).
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The screenplay by George Wells, who won an Oscar for the screenplay to Designing Woman and Glendon Swarthout, author of Bless the Beasts and Children is surprisingly efficient in the way it sets up backstory, brings the girls to Florida, and provides well-balanced screen time for all four girls. I had to chuckle that Merritt and Melanie are first observed taking a course called Love and Courtship, where Merritt first offers her "shocking" views about sex before marriage. Loved Chill Wills' monologue as chief of police to his officers about what is going to happen in the next two weeks. The word "sex" comes up more than once during the course of this film but because it's teenagers in Florida we're not going to see anything onscreen, though the story does eventually hint at one of the girls being sexually assaulted.
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Director Henry Levin, whose credits include the third and fourth Matt Helm movies, provides a nice blend of breeziness, sensitivity, and slapstick to the proceedings. Loved the scene in the restaurant with the underground water tank. This would be Dolores Hart's final screen appearance before leaving Hollywood for good to become a nun, but she does try to create some chemistry with a rather wooden Hamilton. The real acting honors here go to Hutton, Mimeux, and especially Prentiss as the wisecracking Tuggle. Mention should also be made of fabulous cameos by Barbara Nichols and Vitto Scotti. This film spawned several rip-offs and imitations, and probably inspired the Frankie and Annette Beach Party movies as well. Remade in 1984. 3.5
Gideon58
04-11-24, 03:52 PM
Shirley (2024)
Despite a superb performance from Oscar winner Regina King in the starring role, 2024's Shirley, is still a long-winded and somewhat sanitized look at Shirley Chisholm and her 1972 campaign for POTUS, the first ever by a black woman.
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The Netflix production begins with Chisholm's election to Congress and being immediately dissatisfied with her freshman congressman assignment to the agriculture committee, the last place she wanted to be, prompting her to put her hat in the ring in 1972, refusing to make an issue out of the fact that even though she was the first black female to do this, she was not doing this for blacks, she was not doing this for women, she was doing this to get Richard Nixon out of the White House.
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Director and screenwriter John Ridley, who wrote the screenplay for 12 Years a Slave, shows a lot of respect for his subject here, perhaps a little too much respect. The woman is painted as a saint who refuses to take any shortcuts or play any political games in order to achieve her goals. On the other hand, she is observed picking a close-knit group of advisors and often ignoring their advice. It's hard to believe that Chisholm didn't care that visiting George Wallace after he was shot would do irreparable damage to her campaign. The primary problem with Ridley's screenplay is that we never hear anyone in this story say the one thing that is never actually verbalized here and that is that in 1972, there was no way a black woman was going to be elected President.
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Ridley's screenplay adds elements to the story that bring an unnecessary level of melodrama to the story. We are provided clues from jump that Shirley's husband was against this campaign from jump. According to this film, he was just getting used to his wife being a congresswoman and had no interest in being First Lady. The story of Shirley being rejected by her sister (played by King's real life, sister Reina), because when their father died he left all his money to Shirley, just seem to pad running time. And Sis' sudden change of heart as the Democratic National Convention approached just didn't ring true.
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As she always does, Regina King completely immerses herself into this role, almost winning her battle with the screenplay. The late Lance Reddick is excellent as Shirley's advisor Wesley. According to the IMDB, this was Reddick's last released work but he has three other projects he completed before his death. It was nice to see Terrence Howard who I haven't seen in awhile, as Arthur, whose only purpose in Shirley's campaign seemed to be making sure she had her McDonald's every day, but the epilogue revealed that Arthur eventually became Shirley's second husband. I also believe Ridley should have put a little more thought into the title of the film. Four years ago, a film about writer Shirley Jackson called Shirley was released and it could really affect people finding this film, which I might have titled Mrs Chisholm. 3
Gideon58
04-12-24, 01:41 PM
Blood Simple
Joel and Ethan Cohen put themselves on the Hollywood map with an undeniably stylish and cleverly mounted noir-ish tale of lust, blackmail, greed, and murder from 1984 called Blood Simple whose real beauty lies in its simplicity.
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The story, on the surface is, quite simple: Marty is the wealthy owner of a Texas bar who suspects that his wife, Abby, is having an affair with one of his employees, Ray. He hires a sleazy private detective to get the goods on Abby and Ray and when he does, Marty is unable to deal with what he has learned that he decides to have Abby and Ray murdered, which sets off a bizarre series of incidents that we don't see coming.
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Joel and Ethan Cohen's deceptively simple screenplay is so deft in its execution we don't even initially realize what the Cohens are doing. Remember in the old Peter Falk series Columbo how each episode would begin with us witnessing the crime in its entirety and then we would watch Columbo try to piece the crime together? Well, that's what happens here. We see the crime, or to be more specific, crimes being committed so that we know exactly what's going on but none of the characters onscreen have the whole story and because of that, they all go into self-preservation mode because they don't have the whole story and everybody in the movie makes a lot of dumb moves in the name of self preservation that aren't really necessary. The viewer is the only part of the movie experience who has the whole story.
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As we start yelling at the screen because we want to fill in the characters on what they do and how a lot of the moves they are making are unnecessary, we find ourselves distracted by some clever directorial techniques that, despite us being the only ones equipped with all the facts, there is an often Hitchcock-calibre suspense created as we watch and hope that these people don't incriminate themselves in order to protect themselves. We see a character discover a dead body and make the decision to get rid of the body in order to protect himself, but all he does is dig an even deeper hole for himself.
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As always, the Cohens apply first rate production values to make their story leap off the screen, including stunning cinematography, editing, and dizzying camerawork that almost gets us too close to what's going on. Dan Hedaya is bone-chilling as Marty and John Getz offers the best performance of his meh movie career as the not so bright Ray. Frances McDormand, the real life Mrs. Joel Cohen, as the woman at the center of this mess, but the film is effortlessly stolen by that late M Emmett Walsh as the nasty private investigator. It's easy to see why this film made Hollywood sit up and take notice of the Cohen Brothers. 4
Gideon58
04-13-24, 01:08 PM
House Party (2023)
Even though remakes are rarely a good idea, it's understandable to consider remaking a classic, hoping against hope to bring something fresh to the piece, but I just don't understand the impulses that make filmmakers want to remake a crappy movie, evidenced in the 2023 remake of House Party, one of the dumbest movies I've seen in awhile.
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Kevin and Damone are a pair of financially-strapped losers who work for a Los Angeles housecleaning service. In the middle of their latest assignment cleaning a mansion, they receive a call and learn they have been fired because they were spotted by security cameras smoking weed on the job. Before they leave the house, they discover the house belongs to NBA superstar Lebron James. Instead of getting out of there as fast as they can. the guys decide that the answer to all their problems is to throw a house party in James' house and then use part of the money they make to hire a cleaning service to clean up the house before Lebron returns to town.
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Donald Glover's brother Stephen and Jamal Olori, who were both writers on Donald's show Atlanta, are the culprits behind this ridiculous story that they thought they could dress up with an upgrade in location from the original film and a dash of star power in the form of Lebron James. I must admit that James was behind the single moment in the film that found me laughing out loud. Kevin and Damone discover James' trophy room which contains a hologram of the basketball star that offers self-affirmations to him every day including one that says, "Everyone says you were great in Trainwreck...Vincent Canby of the New York Times said you were the best thing in the movie."
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Other than that, this movie offers scene after scene of stuff that didn't make sense or was just too stupid to be funny. They were going to hire people to clean up after the party? Wouldn't the cost of that wipe out most of the money they made? The told the DJ they hired that he couldn't drink but it was all right to smoke weed? They asked a heroine addict to guard Lebron's trophy room? Damon invites his girlfriend to the party, the girlfriend who works for the cleaning service that fired them. The neighbor's koala bear gets into the party and it is decided it is a good idea to get the animal stoned. And when Lebron comes home early and wants to throw Kevin and Damone in jail, Kevin decides his only way out of it is to challenge Lebron to a one on one basketball game?
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Jacob Latimore and Tosin Cole attempt to pump so likability into Kevin and Damone, but it's hard to stay invested in the two stupidest screen characters since Lloyd and Harry in Dumb and Dumber. James does indeed inject a little life into the proceedings when he appears during the final third of the film, but we're pretty much checked out by then. There is an obligatory cameo from the stars of the original 1990 film, Kid and Play. 1.5
Gideon58
04-13-24, 01:41 PM
Ricochet
Despite the presence of Denzel Washington and John Lithgow in the starring roles, a 1991 crime drama called Ricochet falters thanks to a swiss cheese screenplay and overheated direction.
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Denzel Washington plays Nicholas Styles, a former beat cop who was responsible for putting away a slightly insane drug dealer named Earl Talbot Blake (Lithgow) behind bars. Many years later, Styles has graduated from law school and is now the DA, while Earl Talbot Blake has managed to break out of jail without anyone noticing and has sworn revenge on Styles.
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Can't believe it actually took three writers to come up with this convoluted story that just strain credibility with each scene. Couldn't figure out why Styles wasn't immediately informed when Styles had escaped, giving him plenty of time to have him grabbed and held prisoner at the bottom of an empty swimming pool and that's another thing...where was this swimming pool and how was a freshly out of jail drug dealer able to get access to it? And during the over-the-top finale, none of the police officers present noticed escaped convict Blake standing right in front of the tower screaming at Styles?
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As Talbot begins his plan to methodically destroy Styles' life, no one he works for even considers the fact that he might be being framed and the scenes of Blake plying Styles with drugs and alcohol and then sitting a nude hooker on top of him and taking pictures of him were just as laughable. The only thing that was more laughable was Styles trying to explain the frame up and realizing he's not getting anywhere. If it weren't for the fact that Denzel Washington was playing this character, a lot of what happens to Styles borders on laughable.
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Russell Mulcahy's direction is frenzied and scattered, making it rather exhausting one scene and trying not to giggle the next. Washington and Lithgow are pros who almost win their battle with the screenplay and they do get help from Kevin Pollak, Ice-T, Lindsey Wagner, John Amos, and John Cothran, but this is for hardcore Denzel fans only...if the truth be told, hardcore Denzel fans will just watch Training Day again. 3
Gideon58
04-15-24, 03:00 PM
Lousy Carter
A terrific performance by a Hollywood veteran playing a very likeable character is the most appealing part of 2024's Lousy Carter, a weird and quirky black comedy/character study that works a little bit too hard at being quirky and is rich with really unlikable supporting characters.
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The title character is a 40 year old college professor who is teaching a graduate course about The Great Gatsby, trying to complete some kind of animated tribute to Vladimir Nabokov, caring for his ailing mother, aggravated by a student in his class who he's having trouble reading, is having an affair with his best friend's wife, and has just learned that he has about five months to live.
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This film is the brainchild of a somewhat experienced director and screenwriter named Bob Byington, who is really trying to find a voice as a filmmaker but apparently has decided someone else's voice until he discovers his own and that voice seems to be Woody Allen. This story has the bizarre and loopy sensibility as some of Woody's more out there work like Alice and Irrational Man. Byington has provided us with a central character who is actually likable and easy to relate to, but everything in Lousy Carter's orbit is just ridiculous and hard to believe.
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This character is afforded no respect through out its mercifully brief running time. Right after he is told he is dying, the receptionist reminds him as he's going out the door that he has a balance over $6000 that he needs to take care of immediately. His alleged best friend, Kaminsky, never gives him a straight answer to a question and doesn't crack a smile throughout the entire film. Byington also actually gives Lousy's therapist a German accent so he sounds like Sigmund Freud, which just wreaked of cliche. His wife is just using Lousy to wake up her husband. One of his students, Gail, accuses him of being a pediphile and when she learns of his mother's death, insists on going to the funeral because she loves going to funerals, People loving to go to funerals is about as stupid as people being afraid of clowns. And having the funeral in a bowling alley wasn't as funny as it was meant to be either.
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I was drawn to this film because of the casting of David Krumholz in the title role. Krumholtz has been in the business since he was a child, making his film debut in the 1993 Michael J Fox comedy Life with Mikey, and though he has worked steadily since, most people don't know him by name, but he is a talented actor and he does make this film worth a look. So does Martin Starr as the stone-faced Kaminsky, but the best thing about this film is that it clocks in under ninety minutes. 2.5
Gideon58
04-16-24, 02:14 PM
Bridget Jones's Diary
Though there's a definite air of predictability around it, 2001's Bridget Jones's Diary is a classic chick flick with a British accent that provides solid entertainment, even though it takes a minute to get going and is a little slow wrapping things up.
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The title character is a thirty-two year old employee of a publishing firm who feels she's overweight and needs to stop smoking. Bridget has been secretly crushing on her boss, Daniel Cleaver, for awhile and, as the film begins, she is slowly drifting into an affair with the man but is totally oblivious to the fact that the man is using her for sex and is not interested in anything resembling an actual relationship. Around the same time she and Daniel begin their affair, Bridget is reunited with an attorney named Mark Darcy, who she hasn't seen since they were children and has a past with Daniel as well.
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The screenplay is based on a best selling novel by Helen Fielding that initially presents Bridget as a British re-working of Carrie Bradshaw. Even the narration presented in the form of Bridget's diary, bears a strong resemblance to Carrie's narration to Sex and the City, but as the narration takes a backstage to the romantic triangle that emerges here, the story becomes a lot more interesting, even if it really makes us work really hard for the happy ending that we just know has to come at some point. The in your face style of the triangle actually leads to a beautifully shot and staged physical altercation between the men that demands viewer attention, but leads to an extra ending that wasn't really necessary.
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Renee Zellweger received her first Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress for her sparkling performance in the title role (she lost the statue to Halle Berry for Monster's Ball). Admittedly, as the film began, I couldn't help but wonder why an English actress wasn't cast in this role. As a matter of fact, for the first twenty minutes or so, I kept picturing Emily Blunt in the role, but Zellweger nails the accent and makes the role hers and by the halfway point, I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role.
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Hugh Grant adds just the right layer of smarm to his accustomed sexy charm with his Daniel and Colin Firth's performance as Mark is a textbook example of "less is more" acting. The romantic tension he creates with Zellweger without barely cracking a smile for most of the running time cannot be denied. Gemma Jones steals a few scenes as Bridget's mother as does Jim Broadbent, who won the supporting actor Oscar the same year for Ed, as her dad. The tacked on ending which features a half naked Bridget running through London streets during a snowstorm, is a bit corny, but for the most part, this is appointment viewing for chick flick fans. 3.5
Gideon58
04-16-24, 05:18 PM
Argylle
The director of Lock Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels attempts to reinvent the Bond action action movie with 2024's Argylle, an action thriller that is stupid with state of the art production values, but like last year's Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once eventually falters thanks to an overly complex script and severe overlength.
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The film stars Bryce Dallas Howard as Elly Conway, a spinsterish writer who has written four spy novels about a fictional spy named Argylle (Henry Cavill). At the end of the fourth book, it is revealed that Argylle and his partner have gone rogue, while it is simultaneously revealed that everything that happened in the first four books mirrors in real life and Elly encounters a spy named Aidan Wilde (Oscar winner Sam Rockwell), who is seeking Elly's assistant in searching her a mind what to do next because Aidan is the real life counterpart of Argylle.
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Screenwriter Jason Fuchs, who also appears in the film, has provided us with a headache-inducing story that confuses and aggravates for the first ninety minutes, providing little for the viewer to cling to. There are clues provided along the way to help us figure out what's going on, but we don't know they're clues as they zip across the screen at such lightening speed and when they connect to later scenes in the film, they don't register at all. The screenwriter does effectively set up the relationship between Elly and Aiden to the point that the relationship is carrying the story and then rips them apart for the confusing final third of the film that seemed about four hours long by itself.
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Director Matthew Vaughn keeps things moving at a lightening pace in order to distract the viewer with the problematic story, with the aid of exemplary production values. Rockwell and Howard are almost charismatic enough to pull this off and they do get assistance from Bryan Cranston, Catherine O'Hara, Samuel L Jackson, Jon Cena, and Oscar winner Ariana Dubose, but this one runs out of steam about 45 minutes before it actually ends. Sam Rockwell deserves better than this. 2.5
Gideon58
04-17-24, 01:47 PM
Fruitvale Station
Five years before their box office smash Black Panther, director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B Jordan scored a bullseye with a quietly powerful fact-based story of racism and violence from 2013 called Fruitvale Station that left this reviewer numbed with anger.
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Jordan stars as Oscar Grant III, a 22-year old resident of the Bay area in Oakland, California. Oscar is a former drug dealer who is trying to start his life over again after a stint in jail. He has a girlfriend and a daughter who he adores, but as the story begins, we learn that Oscar lost his job two weeks ago and is keeping it secret from his girl and his long suffering mother. He considers getting back into drug dealing, but rethinks it, goes home and confesses to his girl about losing his job and decides to start fresh after New Year's Eve. Oscar, his girl Sophina, and Oscar's crew want to go to the city to celebrate New Year's Eve. He decides to take his mother's advice and take the subway instead of driving, but the ride on the subway leads to a horrifying, racially-fueled tragedy.
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Most of the credit for why this is such a compelling screen experience has to go to director and screenwriter Coogler, who does an exemplary job of establishing who this Oscar is without spelling everything out for us and without playing all of his cards too quickly. Very little of what I offered in the above paragraph is presented overtly but in the movements of the central character. The film reminded me of Spike Lee's masterpiece Do the Right Thing in the way that Cooer methodically sets up a canvas for us to get comfortable in while igniting an underlying layer of tension and suspense without giving us a single clue of where it's going. There is an early scene of Oscar being visited in jail by his mom, beautifully played by Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, that we suspect implies the film is going to end with Oscar back in jail, but the placement of the scene almost confuses us due to its chronological place in the story and I don't think that was an accident.
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Just like when Mookie sets the pizza place on fire in Do the Right Thing, the explosive presentation of the incident on the subway puts the viewer in the middle of a conflict that starts so innocently, but our shock turns to anger when we only see half of the people involved in the conflict literally pulled off the subway by police while the other half got to ride away. Exactly why only selected people, including Oscar, were pulled off the train isnt clear and I can't deny that what happened to Oscar made my blood boil. The effect of this piece might have been heightened for this reviewer because I never heard about this incident so people who knew Oscar's story before seeing the film might be less shocked, but I don't think they will be any less angry. I imagine for those on the front lines for this story, this probably feels like 9/11 to them.
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Coogler's direction is simultaneously methodical and brutally unapologetic, offering nothing but pure racism as the catalyst for the events. Michael B Jordan commands the screen even more effectively than he did in Black Panther or Creed, creating a character we are in love with long before the events on the subway. This one left my stomach in knots and a lump in my throat, especially after reading the epilogue. 4
Gideon58
04-18-24, 02:06 PM
Internal Affairs (1990)
Not to be confused with the other eight films listed on the IMDB with the same title, the 1990 crime thriller Internal Affairs stretches story credibility and takes way too long to bring the bad guy to justice, despite some solid performances.
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The film stars Andy Garcia as Raymond Avila, a police officer who has just been transferred to Internal Affairs, is immediately assigned to a case revolving an officer he was in the academy with named Van Stretchy (William Baldwin), but Van's case leads him to another officer named Dennis Peck (Richard) who is way dirtier than Van ever was, but for some reason, Avila can't get anything to stick to this guy.
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Screenwriter Henry Bean (Deep Cover) seems to be the primary culprit in what's wrong with this movie. I liked the idea of placing a film inside Internal Affairs because the Internal Affairs division is usually on the periphery of most police dramas, but this one takes liberties that this reviewer found a little hard to believe. It's doubtful that on his very first case in the department, that Avila would be allowed to work on an investigation centered around an officer with whom he had a personal relationship. It's not long before he appears to be taking the lead on his very contest and because of other personal circumstances, finds himself acting in ways that appear way outside the law and he doesn't appear to suffer any consequences for said behavior.
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The most troubling of the above reference personal consequences are how Avila's wife (Nancy Travis) is thrown into this cinematic frying pan, that also involves Van's wife (Faye Grant) and Peck's wife (Annabella Sciorra). Interesting touch to have all the major players be married (some with children) and get them all involved in this investigation, ending up as varied examples of collateral damages of the actions of all three principals, not just Peck. The screenplay is way too protective of Dennis Peck, making the film slightly longer than need be, especially an unbearably dragged out conclusion.
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Director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) attempts to employ elements of anger and erotica that don't really accomplish anything but slowing up the film. Garcia's slick Avila commands the screen (his scene in the restaurant with Travis reminded me of the "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy" scene in Scarface) and Richard Gere has rarely been better as the dirty cop in self-preservation mode, but the whole thing need to have been concluded more economically than it was. 3.5
Gideon58
04-19-24, 04:06 PM
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
The film is stupid with technically razzle dazzle, but the 2024 installment to the Ghostbusters entitled Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was a real letdown from Afterlife and just comes off as going to the well once too often.
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The Ghostbusters are back in Manhattan busy as ever, only this time the Ghostbusters are Egon Spengler's daughter, Callie (Carrie Coon), and grandkids, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), Phoebe (Mackenna Grace), and Phoebe's teacher, Gary (Paul Rudd). Their latest adventure has grounded Phoebe while the rest of the Ghostbusters find themselves looking for assistant from the old crew in finding the source of an ancient curse that froze the famous firehouse and all of its inhabitants, way back in 1904.
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Director Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman, who directed the previous entry Afterlife, have collaborated on a talky and confusing screenplay (giving screen credit to Jason's dad, Ivan, to whom the film is also dedicated) that has a whole lot of moving parts that take way too long to come together. Once Phoebe is not allowed to bust ghosts anymore, she encounters her own private female ghost while playing speed chess in the park, leading to a relationship with a ghost that had serious lesbian overtones and almost seemed like a separate movie. Phoebe's ghostly lesbian encounter does make its way back into the story but it takes way too long to do so.
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Of course, as the story progresses the Spenglers must seek help from the original Ghostbusters and their hooking up with Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) is one of the nicest part of the stories, along with the reveal that Winston Jedimore (Ernie Hudson) is now a billionaire. Even Walter Peck (William Atherton) returns, but now he's the Mayor!
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Unfortunately, Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) just feels conveniently shoehorned into the story. His role is severely underwritten and Murray felt like he was phoning it. Also loved the brief clip of Ray Parker Jr and his video of the original title song.
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Like Afterlife, the film features some spectacular visual effects and editing, but not enough to make up for the messy story that came very close to losing me around the halfway point. Aykroyd, Rudd, Hudson, and Grace are terrific, but the majority of the laughs here come from Kumail Nanjiani as the Louis Tully of this story. The final scene of the film does imply the possibility of another film, but It's really time to put this franchise to rest. 3
Gideon58
04-20-24, 01:41 PM
Casablanca
After avoiding it for the longest time, the time came for this reviewer to experience the Oscar winning Best Picture of 1942 that is one of the first films serious cinephiles apply to the word adjective "classic"....the wartime romance that left similar films in the dust and for very good reason. Talking about Casablanca.
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For those who have been living under a rock for the past 60 or 70 years, Humphrey Bogart, in the performance of his career, plays Rick Blaine, the owner of his own nightclub in Morocco, who has put a lot of effort into his neutrality regarding the war. He is informed by Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) that a fugitive soldier named Victor Lazlo (Paul Henreid) is headed this way and that he has orders to keep Lazlo prisoner in Morocco. Rick is floored when Lazlo arrives with his wife, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), a woman with whom he had a passionate romance with in Paris many years ago that ended when she disappeared without explanation. It turns out that Rick has the power to help Victor and Ilsa escape Morocco; however that would mean never seeing Ilsa again, which Rick is not sure he can deal with,,,again.
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The story is actually based on a play called Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray burnett and Joan Alison wrote in 1940; however, they were unable to get anyone to agree to produce the play on Broadway, so they sold the rights to Warner Brothers for $20,000 (an unprecedented amount in the 1940's). The actual play did make it to the stage in 1991 but nobody really noticed. Julius J Epstein, Philip G Epstein, and Howard Koch won Oscars for the screenplay they crafted, which apparently went through several other hands, but what finally ended up on the screen was an intoxicating, slightly confusing, but riveting look at the ugliness of war that still managed to take a backseat to one of the most enchanting star-crossed romances to ever hit the screen. Ironically, neither Bogart or Bergman liked the original script and several re-writes were employed to get them to reconsider and they did, thank God.
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The story unfolds slowly and doesn't telegraph everything we're about to see. The first clue we get to what might be going on here is when Ilsa recognizes Sam (Dooley Wilson) the piano player at the bar and Sam dodges all of Ilsa's questions about Rick. Love when Rick hears Sam playing "As Time Goes By" and blows his stack right before he sees Ilsa. The nest thing that happens is Sam gets out of there as quickly as he could...this was a laugh out loud moment for me. BTW, just to set the record straight, Rick never says "Play it again, Sam", he says "You played it for her, you can play it for me...play it." Every moment Dooley Wilson has onscreen is gold.
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But it's the burn-a-hole-through-the screen chemistry between Bogart and Bergman that makes this film sparkle. The flashbacks to their Paris romance are a joy to watch as is the heartbreaking moment Rick realizes that Ilsa is not going to make the train they planned to take together. Rick and Ilsa both make serious mistakes in this relationship, but we know they love each other and we're on their side from the moment they lay eyes on each other again.
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After four previous nominations, Michael Curtiz finally took home the Oscar for Best Director for his moody and elegant work here Haven't seen a lot of his work, but I have never enjoyed Bogart onscreen more and think he was robbed of the Best Actor Oscar. I have never seen the Best Actor winner that year, Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine, but I have seen the film that did win Bogart an Oscar, The African Queen and that award had to be a consolation prize for not being honored for his tortured Rick Blaine. Bergman is luminous, as always, though I have to admit that Notorious is still my favorite Bergman performance. She is also the undisputed queen of one of my favorite acting techniques...no one in the history of cinema had the ability to fill her eyes with water and not drop a tear the way Bergman did. My heart melted every time she did it, God, the camera loved her. Also have to give a tip of the hat to Claude Rains, who provided unexpected comic relief as Captain Renault, resulting from his inability to keep his head straight whenever he was within 20 feet of Ilsa, a performance that earned him a supporting actor nomination. Anyway you slice it, a classic that more than lived up to its reputation. 4.5
Gideon58
04-22-24, 02:04 PM
Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero
The 2023 documentary Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, a documentation of the young music superstar's first national tour offers nothing groundbreaking in terms of crafting a celebrity documentary, but just like documentaries like Dean Martin: King of Cool and Tina, the subject is so fascinating we neither notice nor or care.
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For those who are as unfamiliar with Lil Nas as I was, the singer was born in April of 1999 in Lithia Springs, Georgia. On December 3, 2018, he created an entire new genre of music that has become known as country rap with his record "Old Town Road" and during the 19 weeks that the record was #1 on the billboard country charts, the artist came out of the closet and became the only openly gay artist to have a #1 record on the charts. His music is hard to place in a single genre, but there is country, R&B, rap influence in his work, which has earned him thus far two Grammys, two MTV Video Awards, an American Music Award and a Country Music Award and he's only 25 tears old.
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The film begins as the young artist is simultaneously experiencing excitement and nerves as he prepares for his first national tour. A brief look at his dance rehearsals and meetings with costumers and stage designers displays a real hands on attention to every aspect of his work. He also displays an impressive understanding of social media and exactly how to use it. We are also provided brief interviews with his fans, a lot of whom were motivated by Lil Nas to come out of the closet themselves. During the concert we actually get a glimpse of someone in the audience holding up a sign that read "You made me gay' and there is a sweet interview with a gay white couple. well into their 60's, who talk about how Lil Nas motivated them to be themselves.
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Lil Nas is also revealed to be aware of the fact that he has broken down some walls, but not all of them. At one of the concert stops. we observe protestors outside the venue where he's performing yelling at the concertgoers in line that they are all going to hell. We then see Lil Nas deliver pizzas to the protestors and admit that one of them was kind of hot.
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I was particularly moved when the performer talks about the coming out process in regards to his family. I could totally relate when talking about his divorced parents learning who their son really was. He made it clear that his father has accepted who he is on the surface, but he also knows that he could never bring a boyfriend home for Thanksgiving, no matter how much money he has. We are even introduced to one of Naz' older brothers, who discovered his own bisexuality by watching his brother's process.
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We are also treated to a lot of actual concert footage of the star onstage, which includes elaborate settings and costumes that brought to mind Madonna's Truth or Dare tour. This is an intimate and fascinating look at a music superstar who, if he continues on the path he is on right now, will be the next Beyonce. 3.5
Gideon58
04-22-24, 04:35 PM
Moment by Moment
Incredible that the careers of John Travolta and Lily Tomlin survived a 1978 debacle called Moment by Moment, one of the earliest attempts of Jane Wagner to make her wife Lily Tomlin a movie star that was an epic fail, that produces equal doses of yawns and unintentional giggles.
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In her third feature film appearance, Tomlin plays Trish Rawlings, a wealthy Beverly Hills divorcee, living on the beach and unable to sleep due to her cheating ex. At Schwab's Drugstore, she runs into a sexy young drifter named Strip (maybe cinema's worst character name ever, they don't even give him a last name), who stalks her until he wears her resistance down so that they can begin a May/December romance that provides the expected bumps.
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Director and screenwriter Wagner probably thought she had a winning formula here. Tomlin, who had just received an Oscar nomination for her film debut in Nashville, was on the fast track and Travolta, was fresh off the biggest hit of his career, Grease, which would eventually become the biggest musical moneymaker at the box office, taking the title from The Sound of Music. Unfortunately, Wagner's screenplay is paper thin and doesn't give the viewer a lot to invest in. Strip's appeal is destroyed during the initial 15 minutes of the film where he is basically stalking her and we don't understand why Trish doesn't call the police on the guy, when he actually shows up at the back door of her beach house, claiming his invisible friend "Greg" lives there. We never meet Greg and don't believe a word of Strip's story regarding buddy Greg, but once Strip tells her Greg is dead, she's ripping off his clothes and her panties are coming off.
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Wagner is to be credited for not going a couple of expected directions with the story. Strip never asks Trish for money and Trish never offers him money to stay, though she does pay to have his car repaired. We know we're in trouble though when after a couple of bedroom romps, Strip threatens to cut Trish off unless she actually says those three little words. In addition to Wagner's lackluster direction, the other major problem with this film is an undeniable lack of chemistry between the stars. Anyone who ever doubted that Tomlin was a lesbian will have said doubts quashed after viewing this movie. Every time Tomlin touches or kisses Travolta, she appears physically repulsed by the guy.
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At least Travolta has rarely been prettier in a sex on legs performance based purely on Travolta's appeal rather than this one dimensional character, but Tomlin's one-note performance brings absolutely nothing to the table. Any doubts about the quality of this film were confirmed when I went to the IMDB and checked the resume of James Luisi, who had a supporting role in this film as a second rate mobster. This film isn't even on his IMDB page, so take from that what you will. The film is not on Travolta's IMDB page either. 1.5
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Gideon58
04-23-24, 03:59 PM
LaRoy, Texas
Fans of the Cohen Brothers will have a head start with 2023's LaRoy, Texas, an intricate and loopy black comedy that requires complete attention, providing rewards that I will try not to reveal through spoilers.
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Ray is the milquetoast co-owner of a hardware store with his older brother, Junior. Ray meets a wanna be private detective named Skip who provides proof to Ray that his wife, a shrewish former beauty queen named Stacy-Lynn, is having an affair. Instead of confronting her about it, Ray is so devastated by the news that he decides he's going to commit suicide. He's sitting in a parking lot about to put the gun to his temple when a guy jumps into the passenger side of his car, throws a pile of cash at him and an address and asks him if he can still kill someone by tomorrow because it's time sensitive. Ray's about to explain that he's not a hitman until the guy implies that he's a wimp and Ray says he'll take care of it.
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To reveal anymore of what happens would be wrong, because this is one of those movies that morphs into a giant jigsaw puzzle that doesn't exactly put itself together at lightening speed but is peppered with such interesting and pathetic, three dimensional characters that the viewer can't help but empathize with a couple of them, especially this poor schlub Ray, whose pain about learning of his wife's infidelity is palatable. It's obvious from the second that he learns the truth that he would have been perfectly happy living the rest of his life without knowing about it. Ray's pain is compounded when we get to know Stacy-Lynn, who is a tramp so not worthy of his love.
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Of course, there's another side of the story because not long after Ray agrees to do this, the real hitman shows up, looking for his payday and his pursuit of Ray is relentlessly unapologetic and in the center of it all, we have this amateur detective in complete denial about his amateur status, most likely a police academy reject because it is established early on that the local police like messing with him. They are observed having his car impounded and vandalized, making the man look like an idiot. We begin to empathize with him as much as we do with Ray. And the pleasant surprise of this film, is that we do see change in these guys in terms of self esteem, even if everything doesn't end up wrapped in a perfect bow.
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Director and screenwriter Shane Atkinson is relatively inexperienced but he shows some real promise here as a filmmaker. John Margaro, who was so good last year in the Oscar-nominated Past Lives gives a star making performance as Ray as does the always watchable Steve Zahn as the fake private eye, Megan Stevenson as the pathetic Stacy-Lynn and Dylan Baker who channels Steve Buscemi in his chilling interpretation of a hitman. It sags a little in the middle, but there's more good here than bad. 3.5
Gideon58
04-24-24, 03:37 PM
I Can Get it For You Wholesale
An effervescent performance by Susan Hayward in the starring role makes a slightly predictable, but still compelling little melodrama called I Can Get it For You Wholesale worth a look.
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The 1951 film features Hayward as Harriet Boyd, a model at a large Manhattan fashion house, though her real passion is to be a fashion designer. She has even submitted her designs as the work of a male designer to get them seen. The opportunity to start her business with her own designs credited to her comes up when a salesman (Dan Dailey) and a dressmaker (Sam Jaffe) agree to go into business together. Things begin to go off the rails when a wealthy department store owner (George Sanders) is entranced by Harriet and agrees to sponsor her fashion empire, but has no interest in her partners.
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Based on a novel by Jerome Weidman, this is the story of a woman trying to compete in man's world, not an uncommon thing in the 1950's, even though the setting is the world of women's fashion. Even more important, this film is focused around a working woman, something you didn't see too much of during the 1950's. This was also a woman who had no problem with stepping over a few people to get what she wanted and then is observed selling herself to get what she wanted, though she doesn't see it. Nor does she seem to see that she is in love with her salesman/partner.
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Director Michael Gordon (Pillow Talk)) keeps things moving at a nice pace and had a strong cast to work with, Having already earned two Best Actress nominations, Hayward commands the screen here in a tailor-made role for the bold screen presence she has always been. Love the scene near the beginning of the film where she is trying to get money out of her sister and fakes a phone call pretending that the funding for her project has fallen through. She also manages to create chemistry with both Dailey and Sanders.
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I've always felt Dailey was one of the most underrated actors from the era and proves that he can command the screen without his tap shoes. Sanders, fresh off his Oscar win for All About Eve is effective in a similar role, though this guy isn't quite as manipulative as Addison DeWitt. Jaffe, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for The Asphalt Jungle, but lost the award to Sanders, is lovely as the dressmaker. A Hollywood veteran that I've seen on television for years named Marvin Kaplan has a major role here and eternal classic movie grumpy old man Charles Lane can be glimpsed here as well. The movie was actually turned into a Broadway musical in 1962 that was the Broadway debut of a young singer named Barbra Streisand playing a secretary named Miss Marmelstein. 3.5
Gideon58
04-26-24, 03:11 PM
Dying of the Light
Another deliciously unhinged performance from Nicolas Cage makes a 2014 action thriller called Dying of the Light worth a look.
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Paul Schrader, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Taxi Driver wrote and directed this intense if improbable drama which features Cage playing Evan Lake, a semi-retired CIA agent who has contracted a specialized strain of Alzheimers that doesn't deter him when he receives intel regarding the location of a terrorist who tortured him 22 years ago. And because he is dying too, the CIA won't assist Lake in tracking the man down, but a disgraced junior agent, played by the late Anton Yelchin, does offer assistance and they are both off to Bucharest to find the guy.
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Schrader surprises with a story that springs from a much larger canvas than we are expected from him. Schrader usually concentrates on more intimate yet equally intense character studies like Travis Bickle or Nick Nolte's tortured protagonist in Affliction but the straight 007 route is something new for Schrader, not to mention there are logistical and timeline inconsistencies here that make this whole thing a little hard to. As the film opens, we see Cage being tortured with no attempt to make him look younger, but we're supposed to believe that 22 years pass as he is now observed struggling with Alzheimers and lecturing future agents about how America is so screwed up since 9/11, not to mention that his superiors are trying to force him to retire. So we're supposed to accept Nicolas playing a character who has to be in his late 60's . at the least, flying to another country with little back up and no plan to get even with a terrorist.
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It was also hard to believe that, even if they didn't want Lake to do this, once they learned what he was planning, that they would have offered some sort of assistance, but once Lake is off to Bucharest, the CIA is not heard from for the rest of the film. They weren't even concerned about the younger agent who agreed to help Lake. It was very troubling that the CIA showed no concern for what these guys were doing, even though we hear Lake being told early on in the film that "We take care of our down".
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Schrader was provided a big budget for this and he utilizes it effectively, but the absurdities of the story just made it all kind of difficult to invest in. Cage does offer a bombastic performance in the starring role that demands attention (though , if the truth be told, even back in 2014, Cage was getting a little long in the tooth for action heroes like this one) and he gets surprisingly solid support from Yelchin, who again reminds us of what a loss to the industry his death was. 3
Gideon58
04-29-24, 03:31 PM
Monkey Man
Dev Patel, star of 2008 Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire and Best Supporting Actor nominee for 2016's Lion goes over the top as the star, director, and co-screenwriter of 2024's Monkey Man, a long and rambling vigilante actioner that suffers from an overstuffed screenplay, ruining all of it's good intentions. It should be mentioned that this review is coming from someone who watched 30 minutes of Slumdog Millionaire and turned it off.
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Patel plays Kid, a lonely and angry young Indian male living a life of anonymity working in an underground fight club wearing a monkey's mask who finds a trail to revenge on the man who murdered his mother, as well as other poor and defenseless, unable to exact their own revenge.
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The screenplay starts off logically enough introducing us to Kid and his mother and their very special relationship, right after watching him get his ass kicked in the ring. But once he is given a shove in the right direction regarding his mother's killers, through an elaborate nightclub of drugs and prostitution, the movie gets more and more confusing as he has to murder his way through hundreds of people trying to stop him and a couple of people claiming help, but offering him a lot of useless guidance through Kung Fu type advice that finds Kid back in the ring. And the fact that the story is told of out of sequence doesn't help either.
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This is Patel's third project as star, writer, and director and though I haven't seen the other two films he wrote and directed, it's obvious that the guy still needs a little seasoning as in what seems to be his journey to become the new Clint Eastwood. He definitely knows what an action film looks like, employing first rate camera work that often found this reviewer dizzy and some absolutely stomach churning violence, but he almost lost me with the pretentious and underwritten story that found this reviewer stifling yawns.
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Patel made the most of his $10,000,000 budget, but it's pretty well utilized and will probably make back its budget. Patel's work and passion for the project are evident in every frame, but it didn't do much for me. I did watch the whole thing though, something I never did with Slumdog Millionaire so I guess that means something. 3
Gideon58
04-30-24, 01:41 PM
Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway
1985 was a banner year for EGOT winner Whoopi Goldberg. She not only made her film debut in The Color Purple, that earned her an Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress, but she also won a Tony Award for Whoopi Goldberg: Direct for Broadway, a one woman show which displays the true genius of Whoopi as she plays four very different characters.
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This is an HBO recording of the Broadway show that Goldberg opened at the Lyceum Theater on October 10, 1984 and did 156 performances, closing in March of 1985. This film version shows Whoopi arriving at the theater and then going backstage to a CGI dressing room where she greets the four characters she is about to perform, asking if they are ready for the show.
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As the show opens, we are introduced to a drug addict who ends up on a plane that takes him to Anne Frank's house; a 13 year beach bunny who discovers she's pregnant; a Jamaican nursing home aid, and a 7 year old black girl who wears a shirt on her head because she wants blonde hair,
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Goldberg displays such artistry here because as characters that she created, she has complete control over the evening, something I don't think Goldberg ever had for the rest of her career. Loved when the drug addict came onstage and didn't like the greeting he got from the audience, Whoopi just walks offstage and starts the show over again. The little girl with the shirt on her hair is the only character who actually interacts with audience members. Adult language is very controlled but adult subject matter is not. Goldberg offers no kind of introductions to the characters, as one character leaves the stage, the stage goes back and comes back seconds later and a new character is onstage with absolutely no warning.
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This is a brilliant and challenging evening of comedy that mesmerizes from curtain to curtain and one of my great regrets in life is that I didn't get to see it in person. Whoopi is a revelation here and, though it's an often abused phrase, she has, literally, never been better. She has never been better because Whoopi had complete artistic control over what she was doing here. Thomas Schlamme is billed as director, but basically he just points the camera where Whoopi tells him to. Think about everything you've seen Whoopi do over the years, and I am including Ghost, Sister Act, Soapdish or any other vehicle where Whoopi made you laugh, those laughs pale next to the ones provided here, because these laughs come from Whoopi's very singular, very unique voice, that was silenced forever when this show closed on Broadway. 4.5
Gideon58
05-01-24, 02:47 PM
Dream Scenario
An Oscar-worthy performance by Nicolas Cage is at the center of a bizarre little 2023 film called Dream Scenario that rivets the viewer to the screen without providing a shred of logic or reality to what we're watching.
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Cage plays Paul Matthews, a slightly nerdy, tenured college professor who is thinking about writing a book and is more than content with the state of anonymity that is his life. Starting with his elder daughter and then expanding all over the small town where he lives, people he knows and perfect strangers start having dreams that Paul appears in for no reason, which finds Paul becoming a media sensation, but then the dreams change drastically and people are now terrified of him and just want him to vanish.
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Director and screenwriter Kristoffer Borgli has constructed a tale that, on the surface, comes off as an extended episode of The Twilight Zone, but has so many moving parts for which the viewer is provided no explanation. When people initially start having dreams, Paul is observed just walking through bizarre situations but not becoming involved in the dream at all, then one woman has a sexual dream about him and another has a dream where he's strangling her? The change of the way Paul appeared in the dreams made no sense at all.
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Borgli's direction trumps his screenplay, providing startling visualization of these dreams and no two dreams are exactly alike. His daughter is observed floating in the air while Paul watches her float away, while in another dream, the campus is going up in flames and Paul just walks through like nothing's happening and the way he rises to fame and falls just as quickly reminded me of recent cancelled celebrities like Bill Cosby and Kevin Spacey or even more simply, the story of Jesus and how his adoring worshippers eventually morphed into a mob that wanted him crucified. What was more aggravating though was Cosby, Spacey, and Jesus' disciples had control over what happened to them, but Paul Matthews is crucified for something he had no control over and we are never offered explanations as to why. Though we do see people find a way to market what was happening to Paul. Some work and some don't and the ending implies the whole movie is a "And then I woke up" thing but never commits to it.
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Cage generated a bit of Oscar buzz for this performance and it is totally warranted. His performance does make us care about poor tortured Paul. Solid support is also provided by Julianne Nicholson as Paul's wife, Michael Cera as an advertising executive, Tim Meadows as the college dean, and Dylan Baker, in his accustomed slimy turn as a friend of Paul's. It's a curious piece of filmmaking that cage does make worth checking out. 3.5
Gideon58
05-02-24, 04:49 PM
When My Baby Smiles at Me
As the 20th Century Fox version of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Dan Dailey and Betty Grable made five musicals together and one of their stronger efforts was 1948 gem called When My Baby Smiles at Me, which features a terrific score of tin pan alley classics and an exceptional performance from the leading man.
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Bonny Kane and Skid Johnson are vaudeville performers who are touring the country and dong pretty well, despite Skid's battle with the bottle. Skid gets an offer from producer Sam Harris to do a Broadway show, leaving Bonny in the mid west but happy for Skid's success. As soon as she can, Bonny arrives in New York and is distressed to learn that Skid is still drinking and when she sees a picture of him in the paper with his pretty co-star, she promptly files for divorce.
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Can't believe it took three writers to come up with this paper thin screenplay that is pretty hard to distinguish from the other four films that Dailey and Grable did together. There chemistry is solid as usual, but this story does attempt to make Skid Johnson more flawed than the usual 1940's musical comedy leading man and Dailey is up to the task, but it doesn't change the fact that just like an Astaire and Rogers picture, we're just happy unless Daily and Grable are together again.
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The film is jam packed with classic songs like "Bye Bye Blackbird", "Sweet Georgia Brown", "Ain't We Got Fun", and "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady". Can't deny being a little disturbed by the "Birth of the Blues" which featured Dailey backed u by four chorus girls in blackface. Grable is also given a solo on a huge set called "What Did I Do" which had Grable dancing on a huge stage all by herself but most of it was shot from the waist up so we're unable to see her footwork or those famous million dollar legs.
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There's no denying that Dailey lights up the screen in one of his most interesting characters, who doesn't always behave like a good song and dance man. Dailey was so good here the performance earned him his only Oscar nomination for Best Actor, which he lost to Laurence Olivier for Hamlet.. Jack Oakie and June Havoc provide the same comic support they did to Alice Faye in Hello Frisco Hello and as he always did, James Gleason steals every scene's in. But if you're like me and think Dan Dailey was always underrated as a song and dance man, this one's for you. 3.5
Gideon58
05-03-24, 03:06 PM
Louis CK: Back to the Garden
Louis CK finally made his way back to the mike last year in a 2023 concert called Louis CK: Back to the Garden that provides the laughs we're accustomed from the comic but, God, does he make us wait for them.
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Louis, like a lot of other live entertainers, has acts opening for them, but Louis has now decided to include his opening acts on his videos. We first have to endure some jazz musician I have never heard of named Ravi Coltrane, whose music recalled the jazz odyssey scene in This is Spinal Tap. When that ends, we are then treated to ten-minute comic routines from not one, but two different aspiring standups, one male and one female, who were so unmemorable I can't even remember their names. The running time on the tape is 1 hour and 58 minutes and Louis doesn't hit the stage until fifty-one minutes into the video. Ironically, the concert's IMDB page lists only the amount of time Louis is onscreen, so be forewarned if you just want to watch Louis, you need to FF through the first fifty-one minutes of the tape.
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When Louis does finally hit the stage at Madison Square Garden, we are further aggravated that he doesn't seem to be any hurry to get started. When he finally gets started, he immediately and very cleverly addresses the legal issues that have kept him away from the mike for awhile. The way he directly addresses the issue, without getting into any specifics was nothing short of brilliant. A lot of his material is darker than usual and I have to say a lot of material was stuff that I have thought about a lot but have never actually said out loud. While speaking on the subject of self-confidence, he states true male self-confidence is a guy who has the courage to wear white pants. I was also on the floor when he was talking about when one of your parents die, but it's not the bad parent. His bit about farting on a plane as well as his interpretation of certain Bible passages walked a real tightrope too. He also does some stuff about the homeless that borders on offensive.
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There were a couple of weird camera things going on here. There was one point where the camera went to a few audience members for reaction and it was weird because I realized that I had never seen audience reactions in a Louis concert before. There was also this very odd moment where Louis delivered a punchline and the camera went to the back of his shoes. Not sure what that was about. As long as you remember to FF through the first fity-one minutes, Louis deiivers the goods as usual. 4
Gideon58
05-07-24, 04:00 PM
Unfrosted
Despite an undisciplined screenplay. I can't remember the last time a movie made me laugh out loud so hard as 2024's Unfrosted, a satirical look at the invention of pop tarts, that with the proper marketing, could become this year's Barbie.
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Jerry Seinfeld is the star, co-screenwriter and makes his directorial debut here playing Bob Cabana, an executive at Kellogg's Cereal company in the 60's who, as the film opens, is observed watching a young runaway enter the diner and order pop tarts for breakfast, at which point Bob tells the kid about his key role in the creation of the breakfast snack, in elaborate flashback.
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Fans of Seinfeld's iconic NBC sitcom will definitely be ahead of the game as Seinfeld fans are well aware of Jerry's obsession with cereal so it should come as no surprise that Jerry, with the aid of Seinfeld writers Spike Feresten and Andy Robin have collaborated on this elaborate screenplay that not only provides an amusing look at the Battle Creek Michigan battle for cereal supremacy between Kelloggs and Post, but a broad look at 1960's consumerism in general. This story elicits the same kind of childhood recollections that Barbie did, but instead of connecting them to the present, keeps them rooted in the 1960's and what 1960's consumers were buying and makes fun of them in typically unapologetic Seinfeld fashion.
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The battle between Kellogg's and Post is very cleverly set up with an awards ceremony that finds Kelloggs winning all the awards and Post trying to figure a way to dig themselves out of their #2 spot. The reveal of where the idea of the pop tart actually came from is a little tasteless, but it becomes irrelevant as the battle for a new breakfast concoction has the two companies looking for help from NASA, Chef Boy R Dee, Jack LaLanne, and Nikita Kruschev.
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As he did with his sitcom, Seinfeld plays straight man to the amazing ensemble cast he has pulled together to make this comic roast a reality. I especially loved Hugh Grant as the method actor playing Tony the Tiger, Jim Gaffigan as the head of Kellogg's, Amy Schumer as the owner of Post, Max Greenfield as Marjorie's flying monkey, Melissa McCarthy as the NASA scientist drafted by Kellogg, Kyle Mooney, Mikey Day, and Drew Tarver as Snap, Crackle, and Pop, Kyle Dunnigan as Walter Cronkite, Bill Burr as JFK, Bobby Moynihan as Chef Boy R Dee, Peter Dinklage as the CEO of the world's milk supply, and Jon Hamm and John Slattery are even allowed to reprise their Mad Men roles. The screenplay goes off on the occasional unnecessary tangent, but it's been a long time since a movie made me laugh out loud this hard. 3.5
Gideon58
05-13-24, 01:14 PM
Radio
The screenplay is a little on the syrupy side, but the 2003 fact-based melodrama Radio is so well-acted you almost don't notice.
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James "Radio" Kennedy is a mentally challenged black man who walks around the small town where he reside pushing a shopping cart full of possessions until he meets Coach Jones, the head coach of the local high school football team. who after recusing Radio from a cruel prank played on him by the team, decides to make him part of the team as an assistant, which the kids initially resist, but they learn to tolerate him until some over the top behavior by Radio causes the team to start losing games, and Coach Jones begins losing respect from the school and the town, but Coach Jones refuses to give up on Radio.
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Mike Rich and Gary Smith's screenplay places the viewer's sympathies on Radio from jump and makes it a little hard to see why Coach Jones is getting so much flack for trying to help Radio. The small town where this film takes place is one of those towns, like the Tom Cruise movie All the Right Moves where the whole town is completely involved with the high school football team, primarily because they have nothing else going on. Unlike the Cruise film, this is a true story as we learn as the credits roll, but the story is predictable and offers no surprises, including the subplot involving the Coach seeming to care more about the football team than he does for his wife and daughter.
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Cannot deny that the scene where Coach finds Radio tied up in the equipment shed is one a heartbreaker, but the scenes where Radio gets more and more integrated into the team were kind of silly and I also found the team's immediate acceptance of Radio in their orbit a little swallow, though we do learn later on that a couple of team members aren't as accepting as we were led to believe, but by this time in the film, we know that no matter what trouble Radio gets in, Coach is going to get him out of it.
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Eight years after winning the Best Supporting Oscar for Jerry Maguire, Cuba Gooding Jr puts a lot of work and detail into the title character, which he literally disappears in , leaving all images of Rod Tidwell behind him. Three time Oscar nominee Ed Harris is beautifully understated as Coach Jones. Also enjoyed Debra Winger as Coach's wife, Alfre Woodard as the principal and S Epatha Merkeson as Radio's mom. The film really manipulates viewer emotion, but the manipulation works. 3.5
Gideon58
05-13-24, 01:39 PM
A Serious Man
A friend of mine was asking my how many of the Cohen Brothers films I had seen and as he rattled off the list for me, I realized the only one I hadn't seen was 2009's A Serious Man. bizarre black comedy that is definitely the kind thing you would expect from the Cohens, but it also reminded me of some of Woody Allen's loopier work.
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The film stars Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry Gopnik, a Jewish physics professor who seems to be content in the rut that his life has become until his life begins falling apart personally and professionally, and begins questioning why his life is tumbling and believes he can find some answers in his life as a Jew as to why his wife is leaving him and then the guy she leaves him for dies and Larry has to pay for the funeral, why one of his students has offered him a bribe to give him a higher grade on a final exam, why he has to support his loser brother who is drowning in gambling debt, and anxiety over his son's upcoming bar mitzva.
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The Cohens' screenplay seems to be aimed at a very specific demographic. The film actually opens with a scene set during Fiddler on the Roof Russia where a woman is reunited with a relative she thought died three years ago. The scene is performed in Yiddish with subtitles and I'm not exactly sure what it had to do with the rest of the film, unless it was just a demonstration of the strength of faith in the Jewish community, but if the truth be told, it tempted me to turn the film off.
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What was interesting was the fact that Larry thought he could find easy answers to his problems discussing them with a Rabbi, but the Rabbi he wants to talk to keeps making himself unavailable. The second Rabbi actually tells Larry bizarre story about a dentist who found carvings in the back of a patient's teeth and I was cracking up waiting to find out what this story had to do with Larry's problems and, imagine my surprise to learn that it had absolutely nothing to do with Larry. I also fell on the floor when Larry learned via telephone that his son had gotten him into some serious debt with the Columbia Record club.
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The Coens put a great deal of detail into the look of the 1960's, the period in which the film took place. Stuhlbarg, who you might remember as Samuel Rothstein on Boardwalk Empire is effectively channeling Woody Allen in the starring role and there are also standout performances by Richard Kind as his loser brother and George Wyner as the second Rabbi, Once you get past that pointless opening fantasy scene, this one delivers the nervous laughter intended. 3.5
Gideon58
05-14-24, 03:42 PM
Snack Shack
Cinematographer turned director and screenwriter named Adam Rehmeier attempts to revive the spirt of the 80's teen comedies with 2024's Snack Shack that does provide some giggles but suffers from an unfocused screenplay and a really unlikable leading lady.
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The setting is 1991 Nebraska where we meet BFFs AJ and Moose, who are all about get rich quick schemes, including a plan to sell their own homemade beer. When that plan goes nowhere, they decide to raise enough money to re-open the snack bar at the city pool, with the aid of their lifeguard buddy.
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Reheimer does do an excellent job of resurrecting the spirit of the 80's teen comedy. As a matter of fact, as I watched, I kept picturing the two Coreys, Haim and Feldman playing these roles. AJ and Moose are efficiently established as BFFs who know each other better than anyone and would walk through fire for each other and the classic nerd bullying they receive throughout is familiar and we're actually surprised when the snack shack doesn't turn out to be a front to sell their beer. Unfortunately, as in a lot of films like this, the film's appeal begins to nosedive when a girl starts to come between our heroes.
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And it's not just that the girl pretends to have feelings for both boys, but she just isn't that likable. She's arrogant and self-absorbed and she never refers to AJ by his actual name until her final scene in the film. She speaks in her own secret language and pretends to be offended when everyone doesn't get it, and shows little to no remorse about destroying the relationship between AJ and Moose. Most of the scenes here go on a lot longer than they need to and we also get an 11:00 plot twist that was unnecessary and a total downer.
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Conor Sherry and Gabrielle LaBelle, who impressed as young Steve Spielberg in The Fabelmans light up the screen as AJ and Moose and a shout out to Gillian Vigman and David Constabile as AJ's parents as well. Rehmeier is not the first cinematographer to go into directing and screenwriting, but he does display some promise. 3.5
Gideon58
05-16-24, 04:02 PM
Peeper
Despite the presence of Michael Caine and Natalie Wood in the leading roles, 1975's Peeper, a send up of 1940's film noir, turned out to be one hour and twenty seven minutes of my life I'll never get back.
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The setting is 1947 LA where we meet a British private investigator ( or peeper" as their known across the pond) named Leslie Tucker who has been hired by a mysterious strange to finds his long lost daughter, an investigation that leads Tucker to an eccentric Beverly Hills family that includes sisters, one of which is suspected to be the girl Tucker is looking for.
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The film gets off to a terrific start with the opening credits. We are treated to trench-coated figure emerging from the shadows, who lights a cigarette, and then the figure, doing an uncanny Humphrey Bogart voice, speaks the opening credits, just like the closing credits of The Magnificent Ambersons. My dreams quickly turned to dross as the opening credits turned out to be the best thing in the movie.
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There were issues, with this central character, Leslie Tucker. Screenwriter WD Richter, working from a novel by Keith Waumer, seems to want to give this character a fish out of water quality that had a lot to do with the character being British, which didn't really seem important to the character or the story, or was this done because Michael Caine was playing the role. It was made worse by giving Caine one of those classic film noir narrations to guide us through the movie that Caine either didn't understand or was just uncomfortable with. Honestly, his entire performance was one-note and he just seemed embarrassed to be involved in this debacle.
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Natalie Wood doesn't fare much better, looking equally embarrassed to be involved. Sadly, Wood did a lot of films of this quality as her career began to wind down, reminding us of how Hollywood spit out this lovely actress near the end, who made her film debut a few weeks before her 5th birthday. It goes without saying that Wood did look breathtaking, which should be of no surprise. Six years after the release of this film, Wood suffered her mysterious, watery death in Catalina.
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Some interesting actors do pop here though, like the amazing Thayer David, Timothy Carey, Michael Constantine, Robert Ito, Margo Winkler. The intentions here were on the money, but frankly I found myself fighting turning this one off before it was over. 1.5
Gideon58
05-18-24, 02:11 PM
Poltergeist (2015)
Cannot believe that this was done back in 2015 without my knowledge or consent, Steven Spielberg actually participated in a remake of the 1982 classic Poltergeist, which is an overblown, over the top, in your face re-imagining of the perfect original, that is presented as if the viewer is five years old.
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The Frelengs from 1982 become the Bowens in this version: Eric Bowen (Oscar winner Sam Rockwell), his wife, Amy (Rosemarie Dewitt) and their three kids move into a house that seems to be inhabited by evil forces that want them out and waste no time in making their intentions known.
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Let me start by saying that I think the 1982 film is perfect. I would rate it 5, so I cannot deny that I went into this expecting to hate it and the film did not disappoint. Spielberg, Michael Grais (who wrote the original) and David Lindsay collaborated on this screenplay, that like a lot of horror remakes, plays all of its cards too quickly and spells out absolutely everything for the viewer, relieving us the use of our imagination. This story also loses all of the lovely tongue in cheek humor that the first film provided. Remember the dueling remote controls? The funeral for tweety? The eldest daughter flipping off the construction worker,? Diane's joy at watching Carol Ann slide across the kitchen tiles? All the humor from the '82 film is gone. The leisurely pacing of the '82 film is gone. The Bowen son has his first encounter about 10 minutes into the film.
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There's a lot of rearranging of characters and their personal orbits that I really didn't understand. In the original film, Steven Freleng works for the company that built the house but in this film, Eric is unemployed...why would an unemployed father of three be moving into a brand new house? They have also switched the gender of the character played by Zelda Rubinstein in the original and given him a romantic past with the character played by Beatrice Straight in the first film. The evil is swift and powerful here in the form of some thundering special effects that overpower the little humanity on display here. On the positive side, I did like that that the eldest daughter didn't bail on her family the way she did in the original. I also liked the fact that Eric actually feels guilt about what happened to his daughter, something I never felt in the original.
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The explosive direction by Gil Kernan, who directed the last two Ghostbuster films, is impressive, considering the pressure that must have been on him, with Spielberg probably on the set most of the time, which I imagine he was during the original. Needless to say, Sam Rockwell is terrific and there are fun supporting performances from Jared Harris and Nicholas Braun (Succession), but this is essentially a case of "If it Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It." 2.5
Gideon58
05-20-24, 01:48 PM
The Pink Panther (2006)
It required major cajones of Steve Martin to attempt to step into the late Peter Sellers' shoes, but his 2006 remake of The Pink Panther is not the worst remake ever, providing some giggles, though it's definitely a case of parts being better than the whole. It definitely captures the spirit of the original franchise, but no matter how you want to place the blame somewhere else, Steve Martin is not Peter Sellers.
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Martin is also one third of the screenwriting team credited with this story, which is not a scene for scene remake of the 1964 Blake Edwards classic (though Edwards does receive onscreen credit). In this film, Martin's Clouseau is assigned by Dreyfuss (Oscar winner Kevin Kline) to learn who murdered a world champion soccer player and stole the infamous Pink Panther diamond. Dreyfuss wants to send Clouseau in for him to do the work so that he can swoop in and take credit once the footwork is done. He sends a fellow officer (Jean Reno) to act as a double agent, aiding Clouseau in his work while reporting everything he does to Dreyfuss, There's also a beautiful nightclub singer (Beyonce Knowles) who was involved with the soccer player at the time of his murder.
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Martin is to be applauded for the respect and research that went into his attempt to revive this franchise and it's hard to put a precise finger on what went wrong here, other than the fact that Steve Martin is not Peter Sellers. Apparently, Clouseau is one of those movie characters , like The King in The King & I, Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, where the actor who originated the role is the gold standard for the role and anyone attempting the role will draw immediate comparison and never live up to the task. Kline was an acceptab;e substitute for Herbert Lom though.
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Martin's got a strong cast behind him though and despite the presence of Knowles and Emily Mortimer as a bespectacled secretary, the best relationship Martin's Clouseau has in the film is with Jean Reno's character. The evolution of Reno's character as he is originally sent on assignment to discredit Clouseau, but eventually learns to respect the man, is a joy to watch and almost makes everything else that's wrong with the movie not so bad. Reno delivers one of the funniest tour-de-force performances II have ever scene with very limited dialogue, this is a comedy performance to be studied.
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Beyonce's third feature film appearance, once again proves that there are few women out there who look more breathtaking stretched across a 40 foot screen, but the woman can't act. I don't place all the blame on her though...the character seems to have been shoe-horned into the story because she was the hottest musician on the planet and they wanted her in the movie. She had no chemistry with Martin or anyone else in the movie and her character seems to have wondered in from another movie. Director Shawn Levy does show skill with physical comedy, though he would fare a little better with Date Night. It's better than a hot poker in the eye, but not much. Martin actually made a sequel, though I can't imagine what he was thinking. 2.5
KeyserCorleone
05-20-24, 09:58 PM
No matter how much you insulted the movie, you liked it more than I did. And I've seen every Pink Panther movie.
Gideon58
05-21-24, 03:44 PM
Late Night with the Devil (2023)
A pair of novice filmmakers named Cameron and Colin Cairnes take a serious shot at becoming the next Joel and Ethan Cohen with a bizarre, repugnant, and, at times, brilliant blend of horror and black comedy called Late Night with the Devil, a low budget indie that is unapologetic in its mystery and does falter a bit at the finishing line, but for most of the running time is bloody and enigmatic entertainment.
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It's 1977 where we meet a second rate talk show host named Jack Delroy, who has recently returned to his show after a self-imposed hiatus because of the death of his wife. Jack has big plans for his special show for Halloween where his guests include a psychic named Christou, a cynical magician named Carmichael Haig, and a young teenage girl named Lilly who we are told is possessed by the devil. Haig is prepared to offer Christou or Lilly a half million dollars if they can prove they are the genuine article, beginning the unleashing of an unspeakable and unexplainable evil over the proceedings in front of a live television audience.
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The Cairnes brothers co-directed and co-wrote this cinematic nightmare that does borrow from films like The Exorcist, Carrie, and Network, but still craft a compelling often frightening story that offers mind-boggling events that cannot be explained away, despite the presence of the Haig character, who does arouse viewer anger as he refuses to accept anything offered here as genuine psychic phenomena. Was especially impressed with the time the Cairnes took to set up the story with exposition and backstory of the Jack Delroy character, which provides understanding as to why this show is so important to Jack. Said backstory initially seems to go on too long, but as the film progresses, we realize how essential it is.
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Some of the events that occur on this fateful Halloween night appear to be generic product of a lot of horror movies, but what I loved about this story is that the Cairnes brothers never forget that the events of this film are occurring on live television. We see Jack questioning the audience about whether they see what he sees, we see Gus, Jack's Ed McMahon, beg him halfway through the show to stop, we learn at about the two thirds mark that three crew members have walked off the set and that they have received a call from the FCC. We also see that no matter how bizarre the events presented here get, all Jack sees is a Neilsen rating bonanza. The climax of the film implies a "and then I woke up" scenario but doesn't completely commit to it.
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The budget is clearly limited, but as is often the case with films like this, the no frills look often amps the appeal and gives more focus to the story. No stars also indicated a limited budget but David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy, Fayssal Bazzi as Christou, and Ian Bliss as Carmichael offer mad charisma in their roles. The ending is a bit of letdown, but horror/sci-fi fans will find solid entertainment here. The Cairnes Brothers are filmmakers to watch. 4
Tugg
05-22-24, 03:03 AM
I agree, the ending was the weakest part of otherwise good movie.
Gideon58
05-22-24, 04:07 PM
Sleuth (1972)
The thunderous performances by Oscar winners Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine anchor a slightly talky but sparkling comic mystery from 1972 called Sleuth which I will, to the best of my ability, attempt to review without spoilers.
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Based on a play by Anthony Shaffer (Frenzy), this is the story of an eccentric writer named Andrew Wyke (Olivier), a man who enjoys theater, games, jokes, and gadgets, has arranged a meeting with Milo Tindle (Caine), a hairdresser who is having an affair with Wyke's wife, initiating a battle of wits between the two men that goes in several unexpected directions.
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Shaffer's play first opened at the Music Box Theater in November of 1970 and ran for almost three years, and something tells me this piece was a lot more interesting on the stage because the single setting and the fact that there are only two characters in the story were probably a lot less distracting than they are on the screen. A single setting and only two actors onscreen set up a claustrophobic film experience that either traps the viewer or bores them to death. These traps can be dodged with the right story and the right actors in the roles.
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Olivier and Caine take over the roles originated on Broadway by Anthony Quayle and Keith Baxter, not only because they are movie stars, adding to the box office appeal of the piece, though with a piece like this, I'm not convinced that making money was a priority here. Someone thought that this was such important piece of theater that the movie was released while the play was still running on Broadway.
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Every time the viewer is convinced where the story is going, it moves quickly in another direction. Not only does the story move in unexpected directions, but viewer allegiance with the two characters changes from one act to the next. We know we're in for something different when Milo arrives at Wyke's estate and has to navigate a giant maze resembling the one in The Shining, to get to his host, who initially speaks to the guy through a bush before letting him in.
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This film was the final directorial directorial assignment for Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who won four Oscars for writing and directing A Letter to Three Wives and 1950's Best Picture All About Eve, providing the aforementioned claustrophobic atmosphere through his supervision of superb production design, art direction, and set direction that is unparalleled, not to mention the one man acting class from Olivier that sparkles enough to keep us distracted from the fact that the film is a little longer than it needs to be. Don't sleep on Caine though, who provides constant surprises in a performance that completely disarms the viewer. Caine, Olivier, and Mankiewicz were all nominated for Oscars (Caine and Olivier lost to Marlon Brando and Mankiewicz lost to Bob Fosse), as was John Addison's superb music. If you are a fan of the 1982 Sidney Lumet film Deathtrap, you will defiitely have a head start here. The film was remade in 2007 with Caine in Olivier's role and Jude Law in Caine's. 4.5
SpelingError
05-22-24, 11:06 PM
That's a very good film. I suspect a rewatch would bring about diminishing returns, but I had a blast with it with my one viewing.
KeyserCorleone
05-23-24, 12:36 AM
I just saw that this month! It made my number 3 of 1972 and is in my top 100.
Gideon58
05-23-24, 03:52 PM
Nikki Glaser: Someday You'll Die
Amy Shumer fans will have a head start with comedienne Nikki Glaser's second HBO concert, a 2024 event entitled Nikki Glaser: Someday You'll Die.
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This is my first exposure to the woman, but the reason I mentioned Amy Shumer as a point of reference is not only because this woman's style and timing reminds me a lot of Shumer, but she does appear in two of Shumer's films, Trainwreck and I Feel Pretty, both of which I've seen but don't remember Glaser, but this woman's handling of the mic is so much like Shumer that she is either a mentor or her lover.
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Taped from the Moore Theater in Seattle, Washington, Glaser is already onstage as the special begins, she is dressed in a silver lame' minidress that leaves very little to the imagination, that looked like something the female cast members of Rowan and Martin's Laugh In would wear. This dress was so revealing that I'm pretty sure I could see her black thong right through it and it was obvious that Ms Glaser had to be very careful with her movements because one spontaneous physical bit, this audience would have a completely different show than they had come for. On the flip side, Ms Glaser has the most beautiful pair of legs I've seen since Cyd Charisse.
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Glaser broaches a wide variety of topics here, starting off very strongly with a routine about the fact that she has no desire to have children, new territory for a female standup as far as I know. She cleverly begins by stating that she is in the middle of post partum depression because her best friend is pregnant. It was weird hearing a woman talk about not wanting children, but I have to admit to laughing when she talked about how so many woman consider it some sort of noble profession. Unfortunately, this routine did segue into a routine about women with fertility issues that began to walk the line of good taste, but she realized it and got off it pretty quickly.
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She made some funny observations about staving off the aging process. I loved when she said that with the right makeup, she could look just like Kristen Bell and faked indignance at the audience laughing at that. There were enough scattered laughs here to keep me interested but Ms Glaser needs to concentrate on developing her own style instead of aping Amy Shumer. 3
Gideon58
05-24-24, 05:58 PM
The Fall Guy
After his Oscar-nominated performance in Barbie, I was hoping for a really special project for Ryan Gosling to sink his teeth into; unfortunately, 2024's The Fall Guy, a big budget re-imagining of the 1980's action series with Lee Majors. just isn't it.
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Gosling plays a Hollywood stuntman named Colt Seavers, who is working as the stunt double for an action star named Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his current crush, Jody (Emily Blunt) is a camera operator. A dangerous stunt on the film breaks Colt's back and puts him out of commission for 18 months. He is then contacted by a producer (Hannah Waddingham) who sends him to do stunt work on a movie without telling him that Jody is the director. In the middle of Colt and Jody trying to co-exist on the set of this film, Tom turns up missing and Colt has to find him before Jody has to replace him in the movie.
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The messy screenplay was co-written by Glen A Larson, who produced the original television series and Drew Pearce, who wrote Iron Man 3 that rambles across the screen raising constant questions along the way. The first one was when Colt arrived on Jody's movie set and he was met with instant hostility. Once Colt receives his assignment, instead of seeking the assistance of a professional, who does he get? The stunt coordinator on the movie! Was never sure how the search for Ryder led all the way to Australia and the 11:00 big plot twist was corny and predictable.
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Don't get me wrong...this movie does provide entertainment, per the expected CGI technology, car crashes and explosions as it should since its basically a movie within a movie that provides a nice look into a lot of movie-making techniques like the Peter O'Toole movie The Stunt Man, but the story takes way too long to unfold and is about 45 minutes too long. One thing I did like about the movie is that, unlike the TV series, this movie never forgets that Colt is a stuntman. He makes a lot of dumb moves that a cop, or a detective, or a spy wouldn't dream of making, keeping the character human and vulnerable for the most part. The over the top finale will be catnip for that cherished 18-34 demographic. This movie is going to make some money, but high art?
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Gosling works very hard at making this seem like something more substantial than a popcorn movie and Emily Blunt seems to be phoning it in as Jody. Hannah Waddingham, hidden under a hideous brunette wig is a bit much as the producer, but I did like Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once) makes the most of a thankless role, but this is is basically another one of those movies that is a pretty gift wrapped package with nothing inside. 3
Gideon58
05-28-24, 02:02 PM
Paris, Texas
The late Harry Dean Stanton spent decades in Hollywood providing solid work in supporting roles, but in 1984, he was finally given a chance to step center stage and crushed it with his performance in Paris, Texas, an enigmatic and moody character study of family, redemption, and forgiveness that is alternately riveting and cringe-worthy from opening to closing credits.
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Stanton plays Travis Henderson, an aimless drifter whose family haven't seen him for four years. Travis is found wandering a Texas desert and passes out in a diner, where he is taken to a local clinic, where his ID leads the doctor to contact Travis' brother, Walt (Dean Stockwell), who flies across the country to retrieve his brother so that he can possibly rebuild a relationship with his son, who Walt and his wife have been raising for the past four years.
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The pedigree of this film is kind of odd. Even though it was filmed in the United States with American actors, the film is a French and West German production and directed by three time Oscar nominated directed Wim Wenders, who is probably best known for directing Wings of Desire, but there seems to be a Ingmar Bergman influence here in the extremely delicate establishing of the canvas and taking its time to tell this story and providing us with precious little backstory or exposition, though we do get backstory later.
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Wenders immediately establishes audience discomfort by putting Travis in the middle of a desert appearing to be lost and provides further cringe when Walt finds his brother and Travis refuses to speak. Like a similar scene in Best Picture winner Rain Man, Travis refuses to get on a plane with his brother, forcing them into a road trip where Walt has to wait a long time for his brother to speak. We suspect that Travis has lost his memory or that he might be autistic, but a little before the halfway mark, Travis does inform us that he bought some land in Texas and wants Walt to see it. Travis attempting to bond with the son he is reunited with burns with tension and we're a little taken aback when Travis reveals a single-minded mission that initiates another road trip.
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This Travis Henderson character is so mesmerizing in its mystery. By the time credits roll, we understand Travis a lot better than we did in the opening scenes, but it's never really made clear why he initially refuses to speak to Walt and we understand more as we watch Travis watch home movies of him and his family, which seems to trigger his mission to reunite his family, which leads to another squirm worthy place where hope is provided, but there's no fairytale ending here.
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Wim Wender's direction provides a film that is a visual feast (robbed of a cinematography Oscar) in constant conflict with an often ugly and uncomfortable story. Harry Dean Stanton was robbed of an Oscar nomination for his understated and agonized Travis and Stockwell also offers one of his best performances as Walt. Hunter Carson, who plays Travis' son, is the real life son of co-screenwriter LM Kit Carson and the late Karen Black. A must for Stanton and Wenders fans...this one really haunted me. 4.5
Gideon58
05-29-24, 01:34 PM
Celeste and Jesse Forever
The rich performances by Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg in the title roles definitely raise the bar on a standard romantic comedy from 2012 called Celeste and Jesse Forever and make it worth a look.
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Celeste is a hard working marketing executive and Jesse is a lazy, daydreaming artist who is not working very hard at anything. Celeste and Jesse were married and have been legally separated for six months, but despite that, they are still the best of friends who spend every moment together. Jesse even still resides in the studio behind the apartment where he and Celeste lived as a married couple. Friends and co-workers think it's weird that the pair get along better now than when they were married, but Celeste and Jesse don't see anything wrong with it until two events change everything: One, Celeste and Jesse have a drunken one night stand and two, Jesse gets another girl pregnant.
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Jones actually co-wrote this screenplay with Will McCormack, who also appears in the film as Celeste and Jesse's friend Skillz, that has a real When Harry Met Sally quality to it. This two are such soulmates which is made apparent five minutes into the movie as we watch them in a car singing to a song on the radio. They seem so right together that we are actually shocked to learn that they are divorced. It is eventually revealed that Celeste was tired of being the husband in the relationship and was tired of waiting for Jesse to put his big boy pants on, but the love they have for each other is clear as crystal, as is the fact that Jesse is probably never going to change.
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Jones and Samberg create a magical chemistry that keeps the viewer invested in these kind of sad and flawed people who are fighting what's right in front of them. Jones is spectacular in the scene where Samberg tells her that he's going to become a father with someone else. Her shock and sadness are all over her face as she runs to the bathroom to make sure she's not crying. Or watch Jesse, a couple of months away from becoming a father to someone else, waiting for Celeste to come home so that he can tell her he misses her. This is a romantic dance that, at times, makes the viewer want to pull their hair out.
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Lee Toland Krieger's direction is just intrusive enough to make us wonder where this is going, because we get no clues regarding a happy ending. The solid supporting cast includes Chris Messina, Elijah Wood, Emma Roberts, Erich Cristian Olsen, and Ari Graynor, but Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg are the ones who really make you care about Celeste and Jesse and whether or not they really are forever. 3.5
KeyserCorleone
05-29-24, 03:36 PM
Once again, I saw Paris Texas last week or so, and I have it the same rating.
Gideon58
05-31-24, 02:31 PM
Mean Girls (2024)
I had been avoiding the 2024 version of Mean Girls ever since I learned of its existence because I think the 2004 film is pretty much flawless and was pretty sure that a remake would dull its luster. As I finally broke down today and gave the film a shot, I discovered that this film is not a remake of the 2004 film at all.
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Fourteen years after the release of the original film starring Lindsey Lohan, the piece was turned into a Broadway musical that premiered on April 8, 2018 and ran for over 800 performances which is a respectable run, but not enough for Hollywood to go into a major battle over the film rights. It wasn't until Janice and Damian began their opening number that I realized that this was a musical. Just as they did when Sweeney Todd was brought to the screen with Johnny Depp back in 2007, the trailers completely disguised the fact that this is a musical. When the musical filmmakers feel they have to market the film by concealing it's a musical, that is never a good sign.
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The story is basically the same as it was back in 2004. Cady Heron attempts to fit in during her first year at high school and ends up being torn between genuine friends Janice and Damian and the cool girl clique, the Plastics, led by the bitch Regina George and trying to steal Regina's ex-boyfriend, Aaron Samuels. Needless to say, story has to be trimmed in order to make room for the musical numbers leaving the story a little messy and hard to follow. Questionable casting of leading characters is also a problem here. Angourie Rice, who was so wonderful several years ago as Ryan Gosling's daughter in The Nice Guys, is just lifeless here and doesn't make us care about Cady at all. Bebe Wood and Aventika redefine annoying as the other two Plastics, but I have to admit I found Renee Rapp quite riveting as the nasty Regina George as was Auli'i Cravalho, who provided the lead voice in Moana, as Janice.
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The score by Jeff Richmond and Neil Benjamin is nothing special, though I did enjoy Janice and Damian's opening "Cautionary Tale", Karen's production number at the Halloween party "Sexy", and Janice's finale "I'd Rather Be Me."
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Tina Fey was actually allowed to collaborate on her original screenplay with Rosalind Wiseman, which actually gets watered down to the point of muddiness here. Fey also gets to recreate her original onscreen role as Ms Norbury as does Tim Meadows as the Principal. Busy Phillips redefines annoying as Regina's mother and Jon Hamm makes the most of a tiny and pointless role as a teacher. And yes, Lindsey Lohan does make the expected cameo appearance as the Mathletes Moderator. It didn't ruin the original film for me, but I definitely feel like I didn't miss anything when I didn't see the stage musical. 2.5
Gideon58
06-03-24, 02:25 PM
Down to Earth (2001)
Loves me some Chris Rock, but he really missed the boat when he tried his own take on some very familiar cinematic territory with 2001's Down To Earth.
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Rock plays Lance Barton, a bike messenger and aspiring stand-up who is looking forward to participating in a contest at the Apollo before they close their doors forever. Unfortunately, before the contest takes place, Lance is hit by a truck and dies. We see Lance arrive at the pearly gates and learn that he was taken prematurely and informed that he can return to life in a different body that is already dead but he has to take possession of the body before anyone discovers it. Lance finds a temporary home in the body of a ruthless billionaire named Charles Wellington, who has been murdered by his wife and his private secretary.
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If this premise sounds familiar it should. The first version of this story came to the screen way back in 1941 in a film called Here Comes Mr. Jordan, where the protagonist wants to be a professional boxer. The film was remade in 1978 by Warren Beatty and retitled Heaven Can Wait where the principal character wants to become a pro football player. This version of the story received 9 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture The film was written by Warren Beatty and Elaine May, who actually receive onscreen credit for this film, though I don't know why they would want to claim association with this film. The really messy and illogical screenplay for this film was a collaboration of Rock, Ali LeRoi, the head writer for Everybody Hates Chris, and Louis CK.
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In a nutshell, this story just doesn't work with the soul of a 30 year old black man entering the body of a 60 year old white guy. Once Lance enters Wellington's body, all story credibility goes out the window as Lance makes absolutely no attempt to act like a 60 year old white man and not a single character in the movie questions the changes in Wellington. The scenes where Lance holds a press conference regarding the hospital Wellington was planning to shut down and the scene in the comedy club where he actually tells jokes to a black audience that, as a white man, should have gotten him killed, are borderline offensive. One thing I did like that the 1978 film didn't do was we would get occasional glimpses of the original Wellington with Rock's voice coming out of him, which actually reminds us how ridiculous the whole premise is with a black man entering a white man's body.
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Rock tries to make us believe what's going on here, but he never really does. Ironically, he does create chemistry with Oscar winner Regina King as his love interest, but in context of the movie, the romance just doesn't make sense. Jennifer Coolidge and Greg Germann are very funny as the duplicitous wife and secretary though. Chazz Palminterii is fun as this film's version of Mr Jordan and Wanda Sykes steals every scene she's in as Wellington's maid, but this film is rife with enough political incorrectness that I'm not sure it could even be made today. 1.5
Gideon58
06-04-24, 03:48 PM
Love Lies Bleeding
Thelma and Louise meets Bound in 2024's Love Lies Bleeding, a stylish and gritty crime thriller that provides consistent surprises along the way and had this reviewer talking back at the screen.
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Lou is a gym manager who makes extra money selling steroids to her patrons. She also has serious daddy issues, who owns an operates a gun rang nearby. Jackie is a body builder who is passing through town on her way to a body building competition in Vegas, but she is delayed when she begins a steamy affair with Lou. Jackie convinces Lou to accompany her to Vegas because she wants Lou to see her win, but a tragedy involving Lou's family might tear them apart permanently as they go into self-preservation mode.
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Director and co-screenwriter has crafted a story that starts off as an almost erotic love story between two women, making the viewer think we're getting a story of star-crossed female lovers, but the story makes a complete 180 as the women are neck deep into something that could put them behind bars for a long time, but there's nothing predictable or safe here. No one in Lou and Jackie's orbit is to be trusted. Once they decide not to go to Vegas, all bets are off as to exactly where this story is headed.
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The viewer is initially confused when the girls don't just take off to Vegas together and are confused when Jackie actually makes it to Vegas, but it is no guarantee of her safety from the horrific crime that she and Lou are involved in. The motivations of other characters in the movie, including Lou's father, seem to change from scene to scene and it's not long before we realize that Lou and Jackie can't trust anyone. The story keeps tearing them apart and shoving them back together, but with no guarantee of an outcome except for the fact that we want to see them come out of this alive and together. The uncompromising reality of what we've been drawn into is interrupted with a couple of dips into illogical fantasy, but it's not enough to take us completely out of the dirt we've seen up to that point.
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Kristen Stewart completely invests in the complex Lou and Katy O'Brien is a revelation as Jackie. Mention should also be made of Dave Franco as the slimeball JJ and the always reliable Ed Harris as Lou's father, a role in which I kept picturing Christopher Walken. If you've got the stomach for it, this is, for the most part, unapologetic and dangerous moviemaking. 4
Gideon58
06-07-24, 03:54 PM
The Trouble with Girls
It is not only the nadir of Elvis Presley's hit and miss movie career, but 1969's The Trouble with Girls just might be one of the worst films I have ever seen and am wondering what the hell Elvis was thinking.
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Set during the roaring 20's, Elvis plays Walter Hale, the manager of a traveling carnival troupe called The Chatauqua that arrives in a small town to hold auditions for a talent show, that is the springboard for multiple storylines including a smarmy local storekeeper who can't keep his hands off a single mother, whose daughter wants to be in the show. Walter's talent scout, who apparently is fighting some sort of attraction to Hale, and a poker game occurring on the outskirts of town that somehow has resulted in a murder.
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First of all, don't be misled by the title...this film has absolutely nothing to do with Elvis' magic with the ladies and how they fawn all over him. Yes, there are various female characters that are part of this bizarre screenplay, but most of them are kept at arms length of our hero. Second, the other thing that made this film a strain for viewers, is that there's just not enough of Elvis. Elvis only appears in about one third of the movie and he doesn't sing until thirty-one minutes into the running time and only sings one more song after that. I have to wonder if Elvis agreed to do this movie without reading the script because I don't understand why he would accept a role where he is basically playing emcee to a bunch of talented character actors in tiny, thankless roles. Not only does Elvis appear to be phoning it in here, there are several moments throughout where he seems to be working very hard at not breaking character and not always succeeding.
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This movie is like a Fred and Ginger movie where they don't dance or a Judy Garland movie where she doesn't sing. When we watch an Elvis film, there are certain things we expect...lots of songs, lots of pretty girls, and our hero front and center singing a song every fifteen minutes, but we don't get that here, making this film a very long, very boring experience.
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Peter Tewksbury's unimaginative direction doesn't offer much help. including some really headache-inducing film editing. Familiar faces do pop up in Elvis' supporting cast though. Marlyn Mason, one of the busiest actresses of the 1960's and 70's. is, sadly, like nails on a chalkboard here and the usually reliable Sheree North has to work extra hard to keep our attention. The recently deceased Dabney Coleman had one of his earliest smarmy roles as the storekeeper and veteran Edward Andrews is fun as Walter's partner. There are also appearances from two child stars from the era, one at the beginning of her career (Susan Olsen, who became Cindy on The Brady Bunch) the same year, and one near the end, Anissa Jones of Family Affair who would overdose on drugs seven years after this film. Even hardcore Elvis fans are going to find getting through this one agonizing. 1
Gideon58
06-10-24, 01:34 PM
The Great Lillian Hall
A fragile and heartbreaking performance by two-time Oscar winner Jessica Lange is at the heart of an enchanting drama called The Great Lillian Hall, which had this reviewer fighting tears for the majority of the running time.
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Lange plays the title role in this HBO original, a legendary Broadway actress who has been treading the boards for decades, never dropped a line, and never missed a performance. Lillian has just begun rehearsals for a revival of The Cherry Orchard and a few weeks into rehearsals, starts having trouble remembering her lines. She pretends it's nothing in front of the company. but quietly goes to see a doctor and learns that she is developing dementia. Not wanting to give up the show, Lillian attempts to continue rehearsals without telling anyone about her diagnosis, which eventually leads to the producer postponing the previews.
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The screenplay by Elisabeth Seldes Annacone is loosely based on the screenwriter's real life Aunt, Broadway legend Marian Seldes, who is perhaps best known for creating the role of Myra Bruhl in the original Broadway production of Deathtrap. This film beautifully brings the spirit of live theater to the screen, featuring some inspiration from film and theater classics like All About Eve, The Country Girl, and A Streetcar Named Desire. As a matter of fact the relationship between Lillian and her assistant reminded me a lot of the relationship between Margo Channing and Birdie Coonan in All About Eve. Lillian's assistant is actually given an exact line that Thelma Ritter had in All About Eve, and Lillian gets to lift a couple of lines from Blanche DuBois, a role Lange actually revived on Broadway during the 1990's.
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In addition to Lange's rich work in the title role, we are also lucky to have her assistant played by her American Horror Story co-star, Kathy Bates, who works with Lange like a well-oiled machine. One of the strongest scenes in the movie is when Bates finds out about Lillian's diagnosis and blows up at her because she didn't tell her Another American Horror Story castmate, Lily Rabe, does some impressive work as Lillian's daughter, who always felt she took second place in her mother's heart, followed by her career. Loved the scene where Lillian first drops a line and comes up with seven instant excuses as to why and the scene where she gets in a cab and has to look at her driver's license to tell him where she's going.
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Director Michael Cristofer, whose work has primary been in television, provides nuanced and sensitive direction to the proceedings and gets a performance out of Lange that could add another Emmy to her trophy case, Bates as well. Also have to give a shout out to former Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams as the sensitive and charming director of the production. For Lange and Bates fans, appointment television. 4.5
Gideon58
06-12-24, 01:37 PM
Moneyball
A ferocious, Oscar-nominated performance by Brad Pitt anchors a riveting, fact-based 2011 sports drama called Moneyball, placed in the world of professional baseball, but is really a character study of a real life icon in the business and his mastery of the business behind baseball.
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Before getting into specifics, a couple of things I should clarify, especially for anyone new to my review thread. First of all, you couldn't fill a thimble with what I know about sports, but I LOVE movies about sports. And in the spirit of full disclosure, I attempted to watch this movie a few years ago and turned it off after about 15-20 minutes. But like the similar experiences I had with Gravity and The Social Network, the film grabbed me this time and boy did it hold on tightly.
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Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's who is tasked with rebuilding the losing baseball team. He initially thinks the problem is money that's keeping him from purchasing the talent he thinks he needs. When it becomes clear that Billy is getting no assistance from the front office, he goes out and poaches Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) a player consultant with the Cleveland Indians, who doesn't have a lot of baseball knowledge but knows a lot about economics and statistics,
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The screenplay by Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, and Stan Chervin scores points for painting Billy Beane in fascinating, if not very flattering light. As he is presented here, Beane is seriously passionate about his job and what is best for the team. Unfortunately, what he thinks is best for the team isn't always best for the players themselves and he doesn't really seem to care. Beane is seen building a concrete wall between himself and the players that he claims makes it easier for him to trade players when necessary. My jaw dropped at about the halfway point of the film where Billy revealed to Peter he doesn't actually watch the games. There's a great scene where Billy makes Peter rehearse having to tell a player that he is being traded and about ten minutes later in the film, Peter actually has to do it. We also meet Billy's ex-wife (Robin Wright) and his daughter (Kerris Dorsey), who were obviously casualties in Billy's obsession with his job, but they have come to be able to survive amicably in the same orbit.
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Pitt is the real story here, completely sinking his teeth into a character who does a lot of wrong for all the right reasons. Love that scene in the locker room where he catches a player dancing after a loss. On the positive of Billy Beane, I did love of his fierce defense of Peter, whose hiring Beane apparently took a lot of flack for. I also like that after hiring Peter, Billy actually listened to what he said and trusted that he hired this guy for a reason and that he knows what he's talking about.
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Director Bennett Miller, who directed the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman to an Oscar in Capote, employs first rate production values and rich motivations for the characters for most of this cinematic canvas. In addition to Pitt's Best Actor nomination, the film received five other nominations including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Hill, and for Adapted screenplay. The supporting cast shines, with standout work from Chris Pratt as Scottie Hatteberg, Hoffman as Art Howe, Glenn Morshower as Ron Hopkins, Reed Diamond as Mark Shapiro, and Stephen Bishop as David Justice. The movie runs over two hours, but I didn't even feel the length. Everything works here, especially Pitt, who once again, documents that he is more than a pretty face. 4.5
Gideon58
06-13-24, 04:09 PM
Wish
Disney's 2023 film Wish is an animated adventure mounted in the form of a Broadway musical, that, despite some interesting characters, a handful of fun songs, and some first rate voice works, falters do a confusing story that this reviewer was unable to get a complete handle on.
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The story takes places in a mythical place called Rosas, where we meet a teenage girl named Asha who is being interviewed for a job as an apprentice to Magnifico, Rosas' king who is a wizard and apparently has complete control of all the wishes of every citizen of his kingdom. He keeps all the wishes in his palace and there are inside bubbles and Magnifico decides, at his leisure, which wishes are going to be granted and which won't. Asha errs during the interview and asks for a wish by her 100 year old relative to be granted. When Magnifico refuses and banishes Asha from the castle, she eventually makes a wish on a star that actually comes down to earth and promises to help Asha get all of Rosas' wishes away from Magnifico.
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It might have been nice if director and co-screenwriter had put a little more effort into a comprehensible screenplay because I just couldn't figure out what was going on here. What's the deal with a kingdom where all the people give their wishes to the king amd he keeps them and decides which ones will be granted and which wont? Even more confusing was when it was revealed that the citizens don't know what the wishes are. How do they give up wishes not knowing what they are and why should they care so much about them not knowing what. Magnifico's all-consuming power is then suddenly by a single star falling out of the sky that gives all the non-human characters in the movie voices but doesn't speak himself.
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On he positive side, the characters have some individuality to them that I didn't see coming, especially the villain, Magnifico. I found every moment this character (brilliantly voiced by Chris Pine) had onscreen riveting because he wasn't straight up evil for the most of the story. He had a smarmy quality that reminded me of the late Dabney Coleman. He didn't motivate outright hostility from this reviewer, but I did want to punch him in the face.
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The songs written by Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice served the story, a couple of them having a real Lin Manuel-Miranda quality to them. Highlights for me were "At All Costs", "Knowing what I Know", and the huge production number where all the non-human characters come to life called "I'm a Star."
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The film is gorgeous to look at and, in addition to Pine, there is standout voicework from Oscar winner Ariana DuBose as Asha, Angelique Cabral as Amaya, and Alan Tudyk as Valentino, but I never felt like I had a clear grasp on exactly what was going on here. 2.5
Gideon58
06-19-24, 12:58 PM
Mona Lisa
The late Bob Hoskins, an actor who rarely, if ever, made a false move onscreen, received the only Oscar nomination of his esteemed career for his performance in 1986's Mona Lisa, a gritty and unapologetic love story set on a disturbingly original canvas that doesn't spoon feed the viewer and allows us our own insights on exactly what might be going on here.
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The setting is London's lower West End where we meet George (Hoskins), a man who has just been released from prison after seven years who, after an unpleasant reunion with his ex-wife and daughter, goes to the underworld figure who had a hand in his going to prison for help in securing employment. George is less than thrilled when the only job he is offered is working as a chauffeur to a high class call girl, who seems just as unenthused about his hiring as he is, but as his attraction to her becomes apparent, she decides to use it in order to help her locate someone from her not so recent past.
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Neil Jordan, who would win an original screenplay Oscar for The Crying Game, is the director and co-screenwriter of this edgy and unconventional love story that establishes its credentials in an original and efficient manner. Of course, we have a story set across the pond, but we're placed in London's red light district, a canvas that provides an eye opening look at a subculture that hasn't been explored in a lot of British films. Jordan also forces his central character back into this frightening world with the frightening and heartbreaking fight he has with his ex and daughter and we are relieved when it appears that his daughter still wants a relationship with him, but once George begins his new job with Simone the call girl, we seriously wonder if these two can ever be a real father and daughter again.
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Jordan and co-screenwriter David Leland also do a nice job in establishing a three-dimensional character in this call girl, Simone, who is far from the accustomed cinematic hooker with a heart of gold. It is made clear from the beginning that this girl is the property of someone with a whole lot of power and money who has plucked her off the streets where she was just another hooker and has taught her how to be someone in her profession who is possibly unattainable but worth the money. Love when she makes it clear to George that he is going to have to clean up his act if he's going to work for her and she actually gives him money to buy clothes, sort of a role reversal Henry Higgins/Eliza Doolittle thing.
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The story gets hopelessly complicated though when finding the girl for Simone puts George into all sorts of danger without realizing for a good chunk of the running time who is behind all of the danger he is in. The viewer must accept the fact that George is willing to walk through fire for Simone, who is definitely using the man, but George doesn't realize it or doesn't care.
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Hoskins' Oscar-nominated performance is an acting class all in itself and the chemistry he creates with Cathy Tyson (whatever happened to her?) is inexplicable and anchors this uncomfortable story. Also loved Michael Caine, playing a character who morphs into the most evil character Caine has ever played A cinematic love story that almost gets mangled beyond recognition and doesn't promise a happy ending. 4
Gideon58
06-19-24, 03:31 PM
IF
After his triumph a few years ago with A Quiet Place, I expected a lot more from director and screenwriter John Krasinski than 2024's IF, an impressive technical achievement that is buried under a convoluted and confusing story that takes an interminable journey to what we were supposed to believe was a foregone conclusion.
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Bea is a vivacious and intelligent 12 year old who recently lost her mother and is now freaking out because her father is now ill and has to have surgery. Right before Dad's surgery, Bea is confronted by Blue (voiced by Steve Carell) and Blossom (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge) who seem to be under the control of Cal (Ryan Reynolds) who reveals that Blue and Blossom are imaginary friends who are lost because their kids are now grown, which leads Bea on a journey to Coney Island, where she finds an institution full of imaginary friends and is asked to assist in finding them new places to inhabit.
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Director and screenwriter Krasinski (who also appears onscreen as Bea's dad) has a nice basic premise here...what happens to children's imaginary friends after they grow up. However, we're confused that these IF's approach a child. Initially, it seems like they want to distract her regarding her father's surgery, but that doesn't turn out to be the case when Cal, Blue, and Blossom invite Bea back to IF headquarters and ask for her assistance in finding an imaginary friend for a little boy in the hospital with two broken limbs but that plot point doesn't pan out either. Eventually we do get to see Blue reunite with his kid, who is now an adult (Bobby Moynihan), but we're wondering why we had to wait until the final third of the film for this to happen. we're also wondering why Cal is fighting everything that is happening throughout the story.
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Krasinski puts a lot of imagination into the physicality of the IF's...they are animal, vegetable, and mineral and are presented in imaginative fashion. It was fun seeing a small group of them presented in the form of an AA meeting and the auditions for the little boy in the hospital are funny, but there's no rhyme nor reason to the events that make up the story and they take so long to get where they finally go, but by this time, we just don't care, including a sequence with Bea's grandmother that almost brings the film to a screeching halt. .
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Krasinski puts a lot into the look of the film. It's a feast for the eyes and ears and there is some impressive voice work bringing the IF's to life, especially Krasinski's wife Emily Blunt as a unicorn, George Clooney as the Spaceman, Bill Hader as a banana, Bradley Cooper as an ice cube in a glass, Sebastian Maniscalco as the Magician Mouse, and the late Louis Gossett Jr. as Lewis, but this story is just a little all over the place to keep the viewer engaged. 2.5
Gideon58
06-24-24, 12:55 AM
The War Between Men and Women
The humor and cartoons of the legendary James Thurber are at the heart of a plesant if unremarkable cinematic battle of the sexes called The War Between Men and Women.
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The 1972 satire stars Jack Lemmon as Peter Wilson, a fictinalized version of Thurber, a nearsighted confirmed bachelor who keeps women, children, dogs, and anything resembling commitment at arm's length untl he meets Terry Kozlenko, a sweet-natured divorcee with three children who somehow manages to get under Peter's skin and gets him to put a ring on it.
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Director and co-screenwriter Melville Shavelson, who directed a lot of Bob Hope and Danny Kaye comedies. collaborated on the screenplay with Thurber and Danny Arnold, which attempts to interweave this unconventional love story with Thurber's writing and animation, though iI'm not sure how smooth the mix is, making the journey for the two prinicipals a lot longer than it needs to be and the consistent complaining by various characters about the way Thurber draws his female characters doesn't really do anything but make the film longer than it need be.
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The live action romance does work for the most part, thanks to gifted farceurs like Lemmon and Harris who play beautifully off of each other They also get a strong assist from the always reliable Jason Robnards playing Terry's long lost ex who shows up at Peter and Terry's wedding just in time to stir the pot. Peter adjusting to be a stepfather provides scattered laughs as well, even if he is a little hard on the kids at first. Was especially impressed with the relationship Peter develops with Terry's son (Moosie Drier), who is afraid of everything.
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Terry's daughters are played by a very young Lisa Eilbacher, who would grow up to star with Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman and with Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop and Lisa Gerritsen, who not only played CLoris Leachman's daughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show but also played William Windom's daughter on the James Thurber inspired sitcom My World and Welcome To It, but Lemmon, Harris, and Robards keep this one humming, even if it gets a little heavy-handed toward the end, fans of the stars and Thurber wll want to take a look. 3
Gideon58
06-25-24, 03:24 PM
Brats
Andrew McCarthy, who burst onto the Hollywood scene with films like Class, St Elmo's Fire and Pretty in Pink, is the director and writer of a 2024 documentary called Brats, which is allegedly an in depth look at the young group of actors during the 1980's who became labeled "the Brat Pack", but what we get here is a pretentious, angry, and pointless 90 minute therapy session for McCarthy, trying to blame this label for the slow fade of his career and his inability to get others in his orbit at the time to validate his feelings.
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First of all, it was important to establish what actors were actually part of the Brat Pack, but for some reason, this subject isn't tackled until two thirds of the way into the documentary. It is finally determined that the real members were McCarthy, Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, and of course, Emilio Estevez. The title was bestowed on this group after a scathing article was published in New York magazine on June 10, 1985 by David Blum which basically called the actors spoiled, not really interested in their careers, but obsessed with being famous and partying. It was also determined that Tom Cruise, Jon Cryer, Sean Penn, Lea Thompson, and Oscar winner Timothy Hutton were all, as Thompson put it, "Brat Pack Adjacent", but not actually in the pack.
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The distance put between McCarthy and the viewer is uncomfortable from jump, deliberately created by McCarthy. Not sure whether it was to keep the audience from seeing how pointless this all is, or an artsy directing technique, but this reviewer found it cringe-worthy that neither McCarthy nor anyone else in the documentary ever looks directly at the camera. It's almost like McCarthy knows what is happening here is deeply personal and how likely it is that no one is really going to care. There's a very telling moment near the final third of the film where McCarthy stops at a fast food restaurant for something to drink and the worker serving him (not seen on camera, only heard) asks what McCarthy is filming and when he mentions the Brat Pack, the person says, "I think I've heard of them." Needless to say, the worker did not recognize McCarthy.
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McCarthy is eventually able to connect with fellow members Estevez, Moore, Sheedy, and Lowe, but these people, though admitting that the label might have been troubling at the time, they have gotten over it and moved on with their lives, unlike McCarthy. He made every attempt to get these actors angry and over to his way of thinking but it never really happens. The silliness of what McCarthy is trying to do here is further documented by the fact that both Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson refused to appear in the film.
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My feelings about exactly what was going on here were brought home near the end of the film when McCarthy sat down with David Blum, the writer who wrote the article that caused the firestorm and pulled out every trick he could think of to get the guy to admit that the article was wrong, that he shouldn't have written it, or at least should have some remorse about it now, but I wanted to cheer as Blum refused to do any of that and basically told McCarthy to get over it. Which is exactly how I felt when the movie was over. Get over, it Andrew. 2.5
Gideon58
06-26-24, 04:31 PM
Hard Eight
Before his direct bullseyes with Boogie Nights and Magnolia. director and screenwriter Paul Thomas Anderson had a near bullseye with a sometimes chilling crime drama called Hard Eight that definitely proves Anderson was a filmmaker to watch.
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The 1996 film takes place in Vegas where we meet Sidney (Phillip Baker Hall), a professional gambler who meets a not so professional gambler named John (John C Reilly) sitting outside a diner and offers to buy him a cup of coffee. For some reason, Sidney offers to loan John $50, take him to a casino and teach him how he can turn that $50 into a hotel room and a meal. John listens to everything Sidney tells him and acquires a tidy little bankroll for himself. Sidney and John begin to form a tentative friendship that is complicated by cocktail waitress named Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow) who gets the guys in the middle of a very messy situation.
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Anderson's screenplay is initially a little vague because we don't understand why Sidney would want to help teach this stranger how to make money, but we also know there's some backstory regarding Sidney that's being hidden from us. We don't understand why he's helping a stranger make money or why he's keeping a very low profile in the casino. We just know this guy is hiding something, but Anderson doesn't tell us a thing. As our imaginations run rampant, we do notice that the guy is definitely in possession of a moral compass and has a great deal of respect for the fairer sex. There's a wonderful moment where Sidney gets furious because someone uses the word "pussy" within Clementine's earshot.
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Until the halfway point of the film, we think we're getting sort of a dual character study as we watch this relationship between two virtual strangers develop but still unsure of where it's going...we're not sure if Sidney is setting up John for something because the way he approaches John at the beginning of the film doesn't make sense. But things start to come into focus at the halfway point when it is revealed that, among other things, both Sidney and John have history with Clementine that occurred before this film.
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Anderson's direction is atmospheric, staying away from the glitz and glamour associated with Vegas and focusing more on its underbelly. His camera work is superb, with a couple of superb tracking shots. Phillip Baker Hall is Oscar worthy in a performance that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and John C Reilly is solid, as always, as John. Paltrow is a little one note as Clementine, but Samuel L Jackson is a lot of fun as Jimmy and there is a pointless cameo by Anderson rep company member Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It's not grade A Anderson but it's better than Licorice Pizza. 3.5
Gideon58
06-27-24, 03:07 PM
White Bird
Fans of The Diary of Anne Frank will definitely have a head start with 2023's White Bird, a breathtaking take on an ugly disturbing time in world history that makes a time that threatened millions extremely personal and provides lessons on the consequences of hate and random acts of kindness.
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I love the false start of the film. We meet a young man named Julien who has just begun school at a new prep school. We learn later that he had been expelled from his previous school but we don't why it appears he thinks what happened was unfair or unjustified. Julien comes home from school and is reunited with his grandmother, Sara (Oscar winner Helen Mirren, nailing a French accent), who, without saying it, reveals that Julien's expulsion was justified and tries to explain to him why through telling him about her heartbreaking and dangerous teenage years growing up in Nazi occupied France.
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Sara reveals that she is one of the few students at her school who shows any kindness to a crippled student named Julien and Julien doesn't forget this, because when the Nazis arrive at the school one day to take away all of the Jewish children, Sara somehow manages to escape capture, but still has nowhere to go until Julian offers her refuge in her parents' barn where she is forced to hide for over a year.
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Mark Bomback's screenplay, based on a book by RJ Palacio, is not technically a factual story but characters and certain storylines are are fictionalized versions of real people involved during this awful period of world history. What I loved about the way the story that's presented here is its intimacy, the fact that the story really only focuses on a handful of characters, making it easier for us to empathize and the slow burn of the events...it starts with Sara's mother losing her job and by the end of the movie, Nazis are literally hunting down and killing any and all Jews for no other reason than their existence.
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I also loved the way there were certain things that happen in one part of the film that we don't understand at the time, but they come into play later. There's a scene early on where Sara's father warns her to keep her winter boots but she takes them off when she gets to school, which turns out to be a big mistake. Or when Julien is visiting the school and takes it upon himself to steal back Sara's sketchbook when he sees it in the principal's office. The film is rich with scenes that had me holding my breath or on the edge of chair and tears. The scene where the children are rounded up at the school, that shoot out in the movie theater, that final chase with Sara with the soldier who she thought she had a crush on in school. Also loved the addition to the canvas of a Nazi soldier who definitely has conflicting feelings about what the Nazis are doing.
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Marc Forster, whose other directorial credits include Monster's Ball and Finding Wonderland, might have created his masterpiece with this sweeping, visually stunning epic, beautifully photographed and some exemplary camerawork, not to mention some terrific performances especially Gillian Anderson as Julien's mother, Ariella Glaser as young Sara and especially Orlando Schwerdt, whose Oscar-worthy performance as young Julien is extraordinary and just about carries the movie. If you have the stomach for it, this is appointment movie viewing. 4
Gideon58
06-28-24, 06:20 AM
The End (1978)
The late Burt Reynolds scored a bullseye as the star and director of a slightly over the top black comedy called The End that provides pretty consistent laughs thanks to a smart screenplay, a terrifc supporting cast and one of Burt's richest performances.
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The 1978 film finds Burt playing Sonny Lawson, a real estate agent who learns that he has a toxic blood disease and has about a year to live. Sonny decides he wants to control his impending death, so h decides to commit suicide via a bottle of sleeping pills. He then decides to tell his girlfriend, ex-wife, his daughter, and his attorney about his prognosis. His lawyer doesn't believe him, his ex-wife doesn't seem to care and he just can't bring himself to tell his daughter the truth. The suicide attempt fails and lands Sonny in a psychiatric hospital where he meets a fellow patient named Marlon who is more than willing to help Sonny end it all.
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The screenplay is by veteran writer and producer Jerry Belson, whose writing credits include The Odd Couple and The Tracy Ullman Show and actually mines a lot of humor around the subject of suicide, but most of it is centered around the fact that even though Sonny keeps telling everyone he wants to kill himself, he really doesn't and a lot of the humor in the story involves us waiting to see how long it's going to take Sonny to figure this out.
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There is a lot of nutty physical comedy here, that mostly involves Sonny and wingnut Marlon, played by Dom De Luise, who garners major laughs here. Though if the truth be told, the most pleasant surprise in this film is the superb performance that director Reynolds gets out of actor Reynolds. I have rarely enjoyed Reynolds onscreen more, a beautifully modulated performance that gets laughs but never goes over the top. For this reviewer, the best scene in the film is when Sonny tries to tell his daughter Julie (the fabulous Kristy McNichol) what's going on and he just can't get the words out. She knows something's wrong but can't put her finger on it. This scene seriously had me fighting tears. I also loved the scene where Sonny is disappointed because girlfriend Mary Ellen didn't have an orgasm during their alleged final roll in the hay.
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Sally Field is sexy and fun as Sonny's girlfriend, Mary Ellen and Joanne Woodward seems to really be enjoying herself playing Sonny's ex-wife. Mention must also be made of a hilarious cameo by Robby Benson as a priest named Father Dave Benson, a scene which prompted my favorite line in the film: "Bless me, Dave, for I have sinned." Burt Reynolds did a lot of mediocre movies in his long career, but I really enjoyed this one. 3.5
Gideon58
06-29-24, 03:06 PM
Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go
Hannah Einbinder has been nominated for two Emmys for her work as Ava Daniels on the Max series Hacks with Jean Smart and I have really enjoyed her work on that show. Unfortunately, I found her 2024 comedy concert debut Everything Must Go a pretentious disappointment.
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The concert provides a rather strange beginning watching the actress driving, with her nose placed well in the air, to the El Ray Theater in Los Angeles, where we see her enter the theater and the camera is at her back, where she takes a bow before anything happens and we then see the curtain in front of her open as she turns back around and takes a bow to her audience.
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I found myself actually shocked by the differences between Hannah and Ava, the character she portrays on Hacks. Ava is a bundle of insecurities, but there is nothing that even resembles an insecurity here. Einbinder's onstage presence conveys the presence and experience of someone who has been doing stand up for 50 years, but her actual writing and delivery don't match the attitude that she presents onstage.
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The actress displays talent as a writer and as a comedienne, but the two talents don't really seem to gel. Her writing seems to be above her audience's head most of the time and actually lets the audience know when a joke doesn't get the reaction she wanted or expected. There is a point early on in the show where she finishes a story and informs the audience that they did not react the way she wanted and that she would re-phrase the joke in order to get the reaction that she wanted.
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It's about twenty minutes after this where she garners the first real laughs from this reviewer when she begins to talk about her bisexuality, which she claimed gives her the authority to talk about the differences between men and women. There is definite talent here butt it's still underneath the surface a bit. Her writing possesses imagination, her delivery has variety and she can do amazing things with her voice, but they don't all work together yet. The biggest laugh Einbinder got from me was when she confessed that even though her father is heterosexual, he does cry when Julie Andrews hits the high "C" at the end of "Do Re Mi" in The Sound of Music. Love Einbinder on Hacks, but this was the longest fifty-four minutes of my life. 3
Gideon58
07-01-24, 03:40 PM
The Horizontal Lieutenant
A minor classic that didn't come close to living up to its reputation, the 1962 comedy The Horizontal Lieutenant features solid chemistry between its leads, unfortunately they don't spend enough time onscreen together to keep this viable entertainment.
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Jim Hutton plays Sec. Lt. Merle Wye, a military intelligence officer who dreams of being a military spy, but is stuck at a military base in Hawaii, away from anything resembling combat or espionage. One day, he is hit in the head with a baseball and sent to the GI hospital where he is reunited with Molly Blue (Paula Prentiss), a nurse with whom he has a past that he attempts to revive, but this mission is put on hold when he is transferred to a remote army outpost where he has been assigned to find a Japanese leader who is hiding out in the mountains and stealing food and other supplies from the locals.
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I guess the primary culprit here is the screenplay by Oscar winner George Wells and Gordon Cotler that does a very good job of setting up the romance of Merle and Molly during the first twenty minutes of the film and then removes Molly for the next forty minutes, where we are then plunged into Merle's lackluster mission that recalls a lame episode of the old ABC sitcom McHale's Navy, featuring racial stereotypes, silly slapstick and characters that are dumbed down to serve the not-so-interesting story that, even at an economic 90 minutes, still seems overly long.
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I've wanted to see this film for a long time because I have been impressed by the chemistry between Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss, who made five films together, three of which I have now seen. Unfortunately, this story keeps the characters apart for too much of the story and interest definitely begins to wane. Hutton and Prentiss make every moment they have onscreen together count, unfortunately the film just doesn't have enough of said moments.
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Director Richard Thorpe. whose most famous directorial work was probably the Elvis Presley film Jailhouse Rock, doesn't bring anything special to the proceedings. Thorpe worked pretty steadily during the 50's and 60's, but mostly because he was adept at bringing films in under budget, not necessarily displaying any flair or imagination as a director. Future comic legends Jack Carter, Jim Backus and Marty Ingels can be glimpsed in supporting roles, as well as Oscar winner Miyoshi Umeki, fresh off her triumph in the screen version of Flower Drum Song and Yuki Shimoda, who was probably best known for playing Ito, Mame's manservant in the film version of Auntie Mame, but for the most part, this one was a disappointment. 2.5
Gideon58
07-04-24, 03:02 PM
Knox Goes Away
Michael Keaton impresses as the producer, director and star of Knox Goes Away, a 2024 drama of crime and family dysfunction that makes up for the mostly unimaginative screenplay with some terrific performances, some from unexpected sources.
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Keaton plays John Knox, a hit man who has just been diagnosed with an Alzheimers-like disease, except for the fact that the disease progresses a lot quicker than Alzheimer's. His doctor tells him he only has weeks before he'll have trouble remembering the simplest things and the most important people in his life. He goes on a job with his partner that goes horribly wrong and while still reeling from that, he gets an unexpected visit from his estranged son, who is looking for dad's assistance with his own ugly situation.
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One thing I did like about Gregory Poirier's screenplay is the way Knox deals with his diagnosis. Most stories on this subject we see people defy their doctor, thinking that the doctor has to be wrong and that they can somehow outsmart the disease, but not Knox. This is the first movie character I've seen in a long time who does everything his doctor tells him. Though he only confides in one person about his condition, which is typical of stories like this. I loved when Knox asks the doctor what the treatment plan is and the doctor tells him there is no treatment for and Knox turns white as a ghost.
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I also enjoyed that initially, it appeared that Knox would walk through fire to help his son and we see him doing what appears on the surface to be all the correc t things to help someone who is in the kind of trouble that his son is in, but slowly it's revealed that Knox is throwing his son under the bus and we don't understand why, but it is explained in the 11th hour to this reviewer's satisfaction.
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I was also fascinated by the initial scenes of Knox covering up his son's crime. He knew exactly what to do, even though he would occasionally have difficulty with some of the steps involved . Loved when he drove to the scene of the crime and noticed that he was spotted on the security camera. He's then observed choking out the guard and erasing the tape with his entrance, though he did have some difficulty remembering the entire procedure. Alo loved what he did with the whiskey tumbler with his son's DNA on it.
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Keaton the director gets a superb performance out of actor Keaton that reminded me a lot of his performance in My Life. Oscar winner Al Pacino steals every scene he is in as Knox's boss and there were two surprisingly good performances from James Marsden, who I don't think has ever been better as Knox's son and Suzy Nakamura, an actress usually cast in comic roles, displaying a heretofore unseen flair for the dramatic as the lead detective on the Knox cases. There's also a very classy cameo by Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden as Knox's ex-wife It's not quite a home run, but Keaton displays some real talent as a director. It should also be mentioned that I LOVE the title of the film and once you watch it, you'll see why. 3.5
gbgoodies
07-06-24, 02:48 AM
I haven't seen Knox Goes Away yet, but I read an article about it a few days ago that said it was one of Michael Keaton's best movies, so I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Gideon58
07-11-24, 01:24 PM
I liked it, but I'm one of those people who thinks Michael Keaton can do no wrong onscreen.
Gideon58
07-16-24, 02:28 PM
17 Again
Zac Efron and his baby blues are put to the ultimate test in a silly 2009 comedy called 17 Again that features a confusing story where the time travel comedies, the body switch comedies, and the teen comedies of the 1980's all collide causing a traffic accident of a comedy that is hard to take seriously.
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Mike O'Donnell (the late Matthew Perry) is a 37 year old executive who is divorced with two kids. We also learn that 17 year old Mike (Efron) was the star of his high school basketball team, but his basketball dreams were derailed when he learned that he got his girlfriend, Scarlet pregnant and agreed to marry her. Adult Mike has just lost a big promotion at work and decides to cheer himself up by visiting his old high school. While perusing the basketball trophy case, Mike runs into a mysterious janitor (Brian Doyle Murray) who instantly sees what Mike is going through and asks him if he would like a chance to do things over again, knowing what he knows now. Later Mike observes the janitor preparing to jump off a bridge and falls in after him, throwing Mike into some sort of time warp where Mike becomes 17 again, but he remains in the present and ends up going to high school with his teenage son and daughter.
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There's a good movie in here somewhere, but you really have to dig for it, because the premise requires a lot of prep for the viewer that, frankly, gets exhausting. At first, it seems like we're going to get a story about adult Mike deciding that his family is the most important thing in the world to him and that he will do anything to get them back. Then the story flips and now Mike seems to be blaming the fact that Scarlet trapped him into marriage via pregnancy and that this ruined his life and now is curious about the road not taken. This revelation takes away a lot of the character's appeal and before the story has actually gained any traction, we already aren't liking this Mike guy too much.
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The fact that Mike becomes 17 again but stays in the present instead of going back to the time when he was actually 17 again, overcomplicates the plot, because the reason he wanted to go back to being 17, is literally shoved to the backburner because he spends most of his time looking out for his kids. His son is being bullied and his daughter is dating the creepiest guy in school. And, of course, once he gets his daughter away from the creep, she decides she wants Mike, which leads to more predictable complications. The subplot of adult Mike's best friend (Thomas Lennon) trying to romance the school principal (Melora Hardin) does nothing but pad the running time.
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Zac attempts sincerity here, but even he seems a little embarrassed of the things this story puts him through. Leslie Mann is fine as adult Scarlet though and I did like Michelle Trachtenberg as Mike's daughter, but this movie was exhausting. 3
Gideon58
07-25-24, 03:25 PM
Hit Man
Hunky Glen Powell continues his mission to be the next Ryan Gosling with 2023's Hit Man, a fact-based black comedy that attempts to mangle a well-worn cinematic concept to pieces but does provide some entertainment, despite some hard to ignore plot holes, with a big assist from the director of Boyhood and Dazed and Confused.
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Powell plays Gary Johnson, a New Orleans college professor who moonlights with the police department as part of a sting operation where a cop poses as a hit man, meets people looking for the services, makes them admit what they want verbally, and then arresting the person trying to hire the hit man. Gary gets thrust into the position from tech support and finds he has a real knack for it, until a beautiful young woman named Madison married to an abusive creep seek out his services and he allows his attraction to the woman to interfere with his job.
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The sketchy screenplay for this film was actually written by director Linklater and star Powell, who have concocted a central character, despite being based on a real person, makes a very unrealistic transition from nerd to super cop that was really hard to believe. This movie also attempts to perpetrate the theory that there is no such thing as hit man and that what we have been seeing in the movies for the last century is pure fiction. If there is no such thing as a hit man, then all the legitimacy is taken out of movies like Prizzi's Honor and Mr & Mrs Smith (2005) and we are now supposed to wonder what was really going on in those movies. Not to mention that the sting operation on display here just screams entrapment to this reviewer.
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It also didn't make sense that Gary wasn't fired from his position after he decided to let Madison off the hook. It was also very strange that Jasper, the nutburger that Gary replaced, was able to figure out everything that was going on between Gary and Madison, but none of Gary's other co-workers had a clue what was going on. And were we supposed to believe that no eyebrows were raised when Gary would meet a potential sting in a diner and they would sit back to back in a restaurant and talk to each other?
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Fortunately, Glen Powell has such a charming screen presence that I was able to put a lot of this on the back burner and just accept what was going on. Linklater's direction could have used a little more pacing, the movie moves at a snail's pace, but Powell' charm makes a lot of the problems with this movie tolerable. 3.5
Tugg
07-25-24, 03:46 PM
I liked Hit Man more than you. I'm glad the movie kept things light and shun away from clichéd road blocks for main character and psychological turmoil related. I don't hope comedies to be realistic so I don't mind plot holes or hard to believe situations. I'd rather these are brushed aside in the name of fun.
Gideon58
07-26-24, 10:44 PM
One From the Heart
Fans of the 1977 Martin Scorsese film New York New York will have a head start with 1981's One From the Heart, an eye-popping and lavishly produced romantic drama done in the style of an old fashioned movie musical that found Oscar winning director Francis Ford Coppola stepping out of his comfort zone as a director and screenwriter.
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This is the story of Franny (Teri Garr) and Hank (the late Frederic Forrest) who have lived together in Las Vegas for five years, and on the eve oif their fifth anniversary have a huge fight because she wants to go out and he wants to stay home, resulting in them coming to the conclusion that their relationship has been a big mistake and decide to seek new romantic partners. Franny meets a waiter and aspiring nightclub singer (the late Raul Julia) while Hank finds himself drawn to an exotic circus performer (Natassia Kinski).
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Coppola really pulled out the stops here in an attempt to bring movie audiences something they had never seen before. Most movies in their approach to onscreen storytelling basically use the screenplay and the actors to tell the story and the rest of the technical aspects behind filmmaking are in support of that, but Coppola frees his directorial imagination enough to allow the camera and the music to tell the story, sometimes alongside the actors and other times, they actually take center stage away from the actors and directly participate in telling the story while the actors take supporting positions.
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There are moments in the film where the Oscar-nominated song score, beautifully performed by Crystal Gale and Tom Waits, actually steps in and takes over where the actors leave off, providing perfect musical interpretation the characters' emotions at the moment. There are moments where the characters are apart and they are visualized for us as looking directly at each other. As a matter of fact, there is one remarkable moment, where Hank and Franny are with their new lovers but Hank actually seems to speak to Franny through the celluloid universe and she seems to answer him, which seems to be the impetus for these two to find their way back to each other, though it's not a given.
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The film is staged and photographed like a musical, but there are only three scenes in the film that I would consider musical numbers. There's an intimate tango in a jazzy nightclub with Julia and Garr, which allowed Garr to utilize her long dormant dance skills that segues into huge production number on the streets of Vegas and a number that starts with Forerst standing in front of a large marquee of a female that morphs into a giant Kinski face leadng to ballet type number where Kinski actually conjures images of a young Leslie Caron.
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Coppola's direction is sweeping and imaginative, much more effective than his other dip into the musical genre The Cotton Club and the performances are pretty much on the money. With the possible exception of Tootsie, I don't think I have ever enjoyed Teri Garr onscreen more, giving a rich and vivacious performance that lights up the screen and displays her talents with comedy and drama. This move also proved to me that Garr is one of those rare actors who has chemistry with anyone she works with. Frederic Forrest brings the same bruised vulnerability that he brought to Huston Dyer in The Rose and Raul Julia is sex on legs as Ray. The music earned the film its only Oscar nomination, but I think the production design and the art direction/set direction are Oscar worthy as well. And there are shots every now and then that are like live action paintings...that shot of Garr walking down the street with her back to the camera on the golden, rain-spattered road is just jaw-dropping. It's not for everyone, but if you're looking for something a little different...3.5
Gideon58
07-29-24, 04:06 PM
Marlon Wayans: Good Grief
Marlon Wayans manages to mine some major laughs from what might appear to be very depressing sources in his 2024 concert Marlon Wayans: Good Grief.
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Shot from the legendary Apollo Theater, we watch Wayans stroll onstage, dressed in his accustomed black, and are a little bit surprised when the comic begins waxing philosophical about what a precious journey life and how we should never take it for granted. Wayans then reveals that he lost his father a couple of months ago. We also learn that his mother passed three years ago and this is the launching pad for a lot of funny stuff about Marlon growing up as the baby of the ten children that Holland and Elvira Wayans brought into the world. I have to admit that I got caught up in a lot of Wayans' feelings here because I lost my mother last year.
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Wayans makes it clear that it was his mother that brought the joy and love into the household and that he is the man he is because of her. He had some nice words for his dad too, though there are lingering issues...he never got over the fact that his father never once wished him happy birthday. But this didn't prevent Marlon from taking care of his parents in their golden years, including a every comic description of what it's like to change an adult diaper. Was also impressed that Wayans mentioned how growing up with his parents was so much different than it was for the rest of the kids , because by the time they had him, they were tired.
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Wayans stumbled into some dark and dangerous territory when he decided to broach the subject of celebrity deaths and why God chooses to take some celebrities and not others. I have to admit to being tickled when he mentioned being baffled by the fact that Magic Johnson is still with us after being diagnosed with AIDS thirty years ago..."What kind of AIDS does he have? Financial Aids?"
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Loved his closing of the set with a lovely tribute to his mother, which found Marlon getting a little emotional and I have to admit for just a second I wondered if this was genuine emotion or if Wayans was acting, but as it continued I concluded it to be genuine and a lovely ending to an edgy, but solid evening of comedy. 3.5
Gideon58
07-31-24, 03:53 PM
The Shrike
Jose Ferrer has some success with The Shrike, the 1955 film version of the somewhat dated Broadway play that he directed regarding a marriage destroyed by career conflicts and possible mental illness that is only partially successful due to an attempt by the leading lady to step out her acting comfort zone that doesn't quite work.
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Ferrer plays Jim Downs, a Broadway theater director, who is emotionally manipulated by his shrewish wife, Ann (June Allyson), who not only uses Jim to advance her own career, but starts interfering with his directing until a miscarriage brings about even more shrewish behavior which eventually drives Jim out the door into the arms of another woman, and then into a mental institution after a suicide attempt.
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The film is based on a Broadway show, also starring and directed by Ferrer, that premiered in January of 1952 and closed in May and the film never really escapes its theatrical origins. I suspected that major changes were demanded by the studio to get this made into a movie, including script revisions, because we are never really told exactly what led Downs to his suicide attempt, not to mention we don't see Jim do any work to get better, but somehow manages to lie his way out of there, like a prisoner meeting with the parole board, but it's obvious he is exactly where he belongs. Ferrer really shines in this scene, the best one in the film.
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I've heard about this film for years and have wanted to see it forever because I had always heard what a departure the role of Ann Downs was for the sugary sweet June Allyson and it definitely was, but Allyson never really convinces as a manipulative shrew. While watching the film, I kept picturing actresses like Susan Hayward, Anne Baxter, Ava Gardner, or even Judy Garland in the role. This would have been a real departure for Garland as well, but I think she might have been up to it, even if it might have hit a little close to home for her. The title of the film always intrigued me as well, because I had never heard the word or knew what it meant so before watching the film, I googled the word and that's exactly what Ann Downs is, but I love the way it's defined in the movie.
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Ferrer does an acceptable job mounting his Broadway success, though I definitely have the feeling he had to sacrifice a lot to get this made, including a budget that might have allowed for more expensive production values. Apparently, Allyson was determined to change her image with this role, but it never really worked for me. Veteran comic Herbie Faye appears briefly as a hospital inmate as does Edward Platt, best known as "the Chief" on Get Smart, as Jim's brother. This could have really been something with a bigger budget and a leading lady up to the assignment. 3.5
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