Reviews

This is not an awful movie nor isn't it a recommendation of mine but Augusten Burrough's life seems gypped with this rendition. Obviously, Annette Bening was glorious as the misdirected, doped, self-important woman who has been stripped of a goal in life, something she is not innocent in ruining herself. Additionally, Jill Clayburgh hits another high note as she inhabits her role as expertly as Bening. Obviously, the women shine here. In fact, none of the actors fail the film for acting chops. Unfortunately, the bent and disturbed early life of Augusten Burroughs almost seems zapped of his personal joy and awe at his wild surroundings. Augusten was inspired by these events not just a victim of them. A problem the casting had was for its main character. Joseph Cross seems miscast in that he is clearly much too old to fill his shoes. An important fact is that Augusten was a minor involved in a lopsided affair with a man much older than he. In this casting, Fiennes and Cross could have been schoolmates so the legal point of "statutory rape" seems quite lost nor is there any indication of how his strength evolved out of this relationship. Augusten's writings delve into and reveal his flamboyance and vanity as well as his apparent jubilation at having such a disturbed upbringing. Augusten in the film becomes merely a secondary character with very little interaction. It's almost not about him. As a heartbreaking dissection of how family members can cripple each other and have their dreams implode, this film soars. It might have been better as fiction but Augusten Burroughs' personality on film doesn't evolve except for some minor wardrobe changes. There's a lot more pain, destruction and crying here than any amazement at it all, a much more distinct element in Burroughs' writing. It hardly skirts how funny and clever he is on paper.

Apart from some odd dialog in the beginning, this thriller/horror/monster flick is very tight, nasty and thoroughly frightening. From the uneasiness created by the tight spaces as a prelude to the action, the creepy photography and speed at which this film propels, the audience is rarely given time to breathe. Little is offered of the characters' background but enough development is in place to frame a harrowing circumstance neither these women nor the audience is ready to confront. From their point of entry into the dark hole, you always have a sense that you're in trouble and once the action takes off, you feel as hopeless as they do. It's sprinkled with references in tone, visuals and music to other films like "Alien", "Dawn Of The Dead," "Carrie" and even John Carpenter's, "The Thing" but it never steals from them. And you rarely have a moment to even worry about how much it may resemble other films. Certainly, gore is a major element in this so be ready to cover your eyes but for those who appreciate a monster film with violent action and a predominant sense of originality, this flick will smack you upside your head and often. It never feels cheap. Except for 2 cheesy scares(which are very minor and you don't have a moment to care), this film stands tall on it's own, even offering a couple of "morally questionable" scenarios that don't get tidied up(a plus in my book). It's a breath of fresh air for the audience if not for the trapped cavers. I can't wait to see the DVD version with the original, downer ending. Because of the "committee" decision to not use it, I've kept from giving this film another star.

You won't be offended, in the least, by this film. It's very pleasant to watch and the story line doesn't require much dissection. Unfortunately, it doesn't offer much more either. It tries to be deeper than it is. The story's been told a million times before and better. Natalie Portman is the surprise here but her character starts to dull down by the end. And some of the love dialog gets pretty pretentious and trite. I might have given it a 6 had it not been for the annoying and unnecessary(and sometimes bombastic)addition of too many pop songs that seemed to be crammed into the film to fill gaps in action or dialog. It sometimes sounded like a commercial for VH1. The last scene was far too predictable for words.

It's hard to tell if this film is about the effects of mescaline and LSD on the mind of the two main characters or is actually filmed while being on both drugs. At points, it's so frenetic that I was tired just sitting there watching it on my couch. But it's also much too interesting to look away. Nothing important is said by this manic slice of life, it's more like a melting piece of art on fire than a great narrative and it takes a while to wrap your head around the dialog. (almost like trying to understand a film spoken in a heavy accent). There's something infectious about it at the same time though. You might want to keep the kiddies away too.

This is far from an original story and Kathy Bates over-hams her part way too often. This should never have been her Oscar, rather, Dolores Claiborne should. This film is nothing more than a poor man's re-working of "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?," but without any of Bette Davis's nuance and subtlety. Kathy Bates merely rants through this like she's desperately "acting" crazy instead of "being" crazy. To make it worse, it has that infamous and oft-repeated, "Halloween" or "Fatal Attraction" ending where the evil character refuses to stay dead. Fortunately, Bates would improve at light speed in the following years but the audience's opinion of this film would stay the same; overrated.

This is a very tight little shocker that knows how to pull a ton of scare out of most of its scenes. It never goes over the top and the dialog is quite natural. Except for some scenes where the main female character seemed to act on a 2 note level, the entire cast seemed genuinely into what they were doing and fleshed-out their roles well. Even, Eileen Brennan's cameo was never too long to seem out of sync. She was simply a character along the way that gets offed and her scenes are quite scary and effective. Even the photography is top-notch. There was always a sense that something ugly was just off camera. The budget was used well and there weren't too many ideas crammed into the story. Obviously, this was made without too many "opinions by committee." Oddly, this film contains the hunkiest police force this side of Central Casting. A lot of fun packed into a little story.

What keeps this at full strength are several elements. Combined with some of the best acting by its secondary actors, which gives this version more depth and color, is the truer connection to the original narrative despite some Hollywoodisms. The biggest mistake made in the later versions and equally by the later popcorn- shoveling audiences is the revisionist misconception that the book was originally geared to be a romance. It's the later versions that go along this flatfooted path and careen very close to being schmaltz and empty-headed. This older version stands tall because it bolsters up the mental games played by the main characters while rarely bowing to conventional expectations. It is much better than the trite, fluffy romance that the newest version is and much more closely resembles a personality jousting which the novel had as its main intent. And to imagine and even suggest that Keira Knightly is in a league with Greer Garson is to believe that vapid staring and lip-pursing are signs of talent.

This is one of the worst films to be exposed to acetate. It was the last film I saw at the Beach Theater on Randall Avenue in the Bronx. The theater turned into an "Iglesia" the next year. The previous year, I sat through ten viewings of "Night Of The Living Dead" and had a ball. Cheap popcorn and flat soda. It was great. By having added color, "Mad Doctor" became way to graphic for me and I left the theater by the middle of the film. Intestines were everywhere. Even more bizarre, I brought my 5 year old brother to see it and left without him. He sat mesmerized for the whole film. To keep the ushers from throwing him out, I had to come back in and watched until the end. It was a strange, scary experience with a stupid premise attached to it. But it was a hoot. I'd love to see it again one day. It was a great, disturbing piece of junk. It's probably very tame by now.

At the time this film viewed in theaters, I was about to "come out," and wondered what a "gay" themed movie might be like by 1980. Still reeling from the tacky, flaming stereotypes in "Boys In The Band," I really didn't expect much from this freak show. I got what I paid for. This is one of the most repellent, mean-spirited and hateful films I've witnessed (and I've seen the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" twice). There is absolutely no redeeming value to this film even as exercise in gore. Strangely, although unknowingly, it ended up being a metaphor for what would be the AIDS epidemic and the initial reaction to it. The audience seemed in collusion with the menacing main character by applauding and laughing as these exaggerated gay men were stabbed and slaughtered as though they should be taught an evil lesson. I've never forgiven Al Pacino for being part of this mess or the director for passing this off as entertainment or as incisive narrative. It would be years before this kind of reaction to gay men's existence would not be considered acceptable, even in New York. It should be held as an example of the end of an ugly era.

Obviously, the 1980 strike of the overpaid, overrated Hollywood Screenwriters Guild didn't see the demise of enough of its members. Painfully written for the same lobotomized audience that thought "Mork and Mindy" and "Happy Days" were actually funny, this movie retains as much cheese factor as the overstuffed original, even down to the same cheap Christmas tree. True to form, it has been staffed with the exact brand of "out of work" actors that sank the first bloated epic disaster. Only Shelley Winters could have saved this glorified "Love Boat" bomb but she's nowhere to be seen. I hope she's somewhere laughing. Another good reason to vote for Doctor Assisted suicide in California.

I was very lucky to see this beaut. For years, I felt Anne Bancroft's best role was as Annie Sullivan until I sat down to dinner in front of this TV flick. I don't think anyone else could have put a spin on this role better than she did. It was touted as a comedic film but it's hardly that. It's more tragic and melancholy than anything and Anne's performance will wreck you for days. Forget The Graduate, this will make you remember her forever. It's reminiscent of Judy Garland's performance in "A Child Is Waiting," which I feel is the best thing that Garland ever did. It will hit a note with anyone who has felt trapped and unfulfilled or walked upon and needed to strike back.

This film is so pretentious and by-the-numbers it could only be recommended to people who actually cry at beer commercials. It's chock-full of articulate kids with cancer who, naturally, have the capacity to channel dead people and the infamous 1 1/2 note performance that only Kevin Costner can muster. Kathy Bates had to have been involved with this film as some form of community service for a felony she committed in a past life. Even she can't out-act her stupid haircut. Anyone who thinks there is any quality acting in this must also believe Keanu Reeves should do Shakespeare. I just loved the 40 minute drowning sequence where Susanna Thompson floats, arms outstretched, smiling like a faerie on Thorazine. Half the film is spent on flashbacks of scenes we already suffered through. The melodramatic dialog is glommed from every cheesy, feel-good movie of the week so much so that I fully expected Obi-Wan's ghost to appear inside a rainbow. And, of course, we do get to see a rainbow. What a surprise! I'd be tempted to say this is the most brain-dead and unnecessary film ever made except that Patch Adams is one peg worse.

This glorified home economics project is neither masterful nor necessary. It's nothing more than an expensive gore film made worse by the fact that it's all done in slow motion. If this overrated chainsaw massacre was speeded up to real time, the movie would be about 3 minutes long. The only worthwhile acting done is by the body makeup. Everyone else just stares into space. I'm sure someone will interject their religious mythology into how this film makes any sense but if a man was sliced, pummeled, chopped, pierced, stomped, punched, crushed, ripped, pounced and smote as often as the main character was, he'd be dead by the opening credits. More frightening than intellectual.

There's nothing deep or important going on here, so a critique of this film is almost unnecessary. What passes for quality film making is nothing more than an overproduced, loud, stunning "Imax" experiment in eye-candy that masks, once again, a slowly moving, thin story line. Obviously, the members of SAG have dispensed with background checks on film editors. There's enough slow-motion footage here to circumnavigate the globe twice. Many people will be amazed by the neverending, in-your-face action sequences but for those who still pine to see the actors perform also, you'd better search elsewhere. It's like trying to read the Latin version of "War And Peace" while simultaneously being pulverized inside a blender. And if having way too many computerized fight scenes forced down your throat wasn't enough, just wait the full ninety hours for the saccharine-glazed, overlit endings. And there are at least 5 of them. For a while, I was expectin Obi Wan Kenobi's ghost to show up and smile goodbye. And Cate Blanchett never looked so vapid. It's brass, tacky, loud, long, obvious schlock and thus hugely popular. Beautiful looking rarely translates to quality in content and this is a prime example. Giving so many awards to this fillibuster is just a waste of gold-plating.

This feature animation puts Disney to shame for all its brain-dead, middle-of-the-road, theme park-oriented, schmaltzy, claptrap nonsense that's popular with the masses in this world. Beyond the fact that this animation is all of stunning, beautiful, thought-provoking, funny, artistic and frightening enough to make anyone with talent doubt their worth, "Les Triplettes de Belleville" happily refuses to assault its audience with mind-numbing, cloying, useless, overrated, saccharin, and trashy music and songs by the likes of Elton John and Andrew Lloyd Weber. (How's that for hyphenating) It achieves as much as, if not more than, what Jacques Tati could do with real actors. It should make anyone who ever thought a stuffed animal or "Happy Birthday" balloons was tasteful, crawl into a corner where they belong.

While it has some new blood pumped into it, some things suffered from unintended anemia. The first 7 minutes gave it a great sense of urgency, it covered the outside world quite well and it seemed to be a hint of things to come. But once they were intrenched at the mall, there never seemed to be a real threat nor a sense of dread. Too many characters suddenly possessed a GI Joe personality rather than a true fear of what was happening around them, so it seemed fine just to hang out at the mall. Even the older woman seemed like she could take on anything so why not just sit tight and slowly pick them off. The zombies rarely were given a role to play so the eeriness and morbidity of the original was erased. The effects were quite beautiful but I didn't feel frightened of the what was out there. If the zombies periodically made their way in, it would have been more unsettling. Beside this remake being the most "ungory" of gore films, it all had the feeling of being done before especially with obvious references to earlier horror films like Aliens, Dawn Of The Dead, Body Snatchers and even Rosemary's Baby. Who didn't see that coming? This is from someone who is scared of his own reflection: I never flinched. The trailers and credits were more frightening. A pretty show, with some striking images but kinda flat at the same time, not to mention another 1 note performance by Ving. I will hope for better in the DVD release which will obviously have more ghastly footage. Oh, well.

This rehash of trash from a million other lousy films was a perfect end to a decade of bad clothing, bad sitcoms, 3 awful presidents and so many unneeded Donna Summer songs. Unfortunately, the 80's and beyond ushered in their own form of overrated junk. Obviously, the overpaid, union, SAG members did their homework oh so well. How else would the audience get to know that All Russians drank vodka on the job!! It's quite amazing to think that the same year that this was made, the glorious film, "Alien," hit the screens. But then, that was made in England. Not much of a surprise, there! I don't know which was worse; that so many tired actors were to make a poor attempt at reviving their dead career in this film or that someone didn't do us all a favor and bump them off sooner.

Forget all your slasher and gore films, this is what is truly meant by the term "Horror Film." It tears every exposed nerve and no one goes unpunished including a large part of the audience who has forgotten their parents. This film through me off kilter for days.

If John Wayne didn't seem like the lousiest, stiffest actor on Earth before, he sure proves he is here. And if that weren't enough, he drags his poor son into this corn ball fest and in the process proves the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Big Jake is one large blob of ham, cheese, hilarious stereotypes, amateur dialog, lousy acting and some of the worst sound dubbing this side of a high school review. I'm not sure what the need for this film was other than to illustrate how a whole movie set could be constructed out of balsa wood. But just try not to enjoy it. It's as guilty a pleasure as watching a Brady Bunch Musical.

If you think that punch lines miraculously become funnier if you scream them at the top of your lungs, need to be batted over the head with teeth-shattering

sound effects or believe in your heart that "The Producers" is the finest film ever created, than this farce is made for you. On the other hand, if you don't need a dictionary to understand the meaning of "obvious" or "subtlety," then this film will come off as nothing more than a brass, overrated novelty, best viewed once and only as a High School stage production. The best part of this film is the spine- tingling face of Raymond Massey.

Let's see.. in a large bowl, mix together effortless acting, extremely overlit sets, a made-for-tv, afterschool special script, cliches about how all men are either pigs or ineffectual and all women know what they want, obligatory, gap-filling scenes involving an easy listening pop tune where all the major characters get to dance together and, finally, the inevitable soft ending where the world gets back

together, somewhat changed but somehow still the same, and you'll have this

"home ec" project of a film. I'm not sure which was worse; the film's existence, the money I paid to see it or the fact that Julia Roberts was actually paid $12 milllion to act out of this bag. That money should have gone to the "continuity department" to do its job and actually pay attention tot how many hairstyles Julia Roberts goes through in each and every scene.

If you ever dreamed of living in a world where children think, act and speak like 62 year-olds with long years of hard life-experience and I.Q's of 173, then this film is for you. There isn't one bit of dialog out of these kids' mouth that was ever spoken by a real 10 year old. They all seem to be wiser and more perceptive

than their parents and each actor gets to drool out some eloquent pearl of

wisdom. To make it more unbearable, they all seem to do it in slow motion. The pretentious (and typically unnecessary) naration only makes it all the more

cloying. I almost went into diabetic shock before the end credits. A low-budget, afterschool TV special, at best. Anthony Hopkins couldn't seem more bored.

Good, lord, How overrated can a film become? While it certainly is

fun to watch, amazing scenery and mattework do not add up to a

"great" film. It was one long loud soundtrack surrounding hours of

screaming, wailing screaming, actors talking in gutteral tones to

denote seriousness with some more screaming on top. Half the

dialog centered around telling Frodo that he was the one to

complete the journey. I couldn't believe how many times each

actor got the chance to scream the word, "NO" in slow motion

because I lost count one hour before it ended. If you like pretty

packaging, a smattering of schmaltz, non-ending slow motion

photography to fill in for gaps and dialog lost in unintelligible

accents, this film will be a winner for you. But if you've decided that

ET was not the best film ever made, you'll have long realized that

it's a flashy re-working of a book with tons of pretty window

dressing to replace quality storytellng. In fact, Ralph Bakshi's

partial animation version, not only achieved more suspense and

fright but he did it with a lot less that $4 billion dollars worth of

computer technology, thus automatically making it a superior film.

We've all seen this kind of eyecandy before.

Initially, it seems as though it would fail in its attempt at competing with its predecessor but it amazingly captures the mood, charm, harmlessness and irreverence of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." It's pace is even much better although it's hard to replace the mouthiness of Ethel Merman. Sorry, but the last 5 minutes, even among the wild sense of the rest of the film, seems out of place and "unrealisitic." It even has a disjointed, unfunny, christian moralist feel to it that undermines itself. It seems tacked on and quickly thought out by last minute writers.