Reviews

I guess that only power hungry preachers like Pat Robertson are allowed to talk to Jesus. There is nothing wrong with the symbolism of Daniel's conscience being represented by a Christ-figure. And his dysfunctional family is nothing more than a conglomerate of the situations and problems that face families everywhere. Told with seriousness and, at times, some outlandish humor this show is very well written and entertaining. But, as usual, the religious right rattles its threatening saber and sponsors drop like flies, and the show gets canceled. I noticed during the third airing that all the breaks had only ads for other NBC programming. The only commercial ads were seen during the local station break half way through the program. So sad.

Everyone should be familiar with the story, so I won't go there. I'll just mention some personal points, both good and bad. On the plus side: 1.)Except for a few minor adjustments to the storyline the film stays true to the original. Most remakes (excpet for Van Sant's "Psycho") take the story and go way off on a tangent with it. 2.)The special effects are mind-boggling, especially the climax on top of the Empire State Building. 3.)Jack Black in a semi-serious role was so refreshing. 4.)The subtle references to the original 1933 film were clever. I noticed two; a mention of "Cooper(Marion) at RKO", and during the rehearsal filming on the ship, the actors are reciting corny dialog used in the original film. On the minus side: 1.)Too long! Jackson could've easily cut out at least a half hour and still kept the integrity and quality of a fine film. It did have a tendency to drag in some spots. 2.)Some sequences ask us to accept a little too much. The men running underfoot of a brontosaurus stampede without getting trampled? Kong fighting off 3 tyrannosaurs with one hand while clenching Ann in the other hand gently enough as not to injure her? Ann must be used to big apes just from being a pretty woman in depression-era New York, because she overcame her shocking fright of Kong awfully fast. Overall, I liked this film a lot. Rating 8 out of 10.

Anton Diffring plays the definitive psycho-narcissist, using all those around him as pawns for his personal pleasures and goals. I saw this film on it's initial theatrical release in 1960. (As a young boy of 10,I recall,I was pleasantly shocked at seeing the scantily clad female circus performers!) And I now own the film on laserdisc. The suspense still holds up well, and though the violence is not as explicit as you find in today's horror films, it is still on the gruesome side. Call me sentimental, but I like the theme song that is sung during the performance of the circus's female headliner ("Look for a Star"). It is typical early 60's love song ala Frankie Avalon, but it is a pretty song inserted within all the gruesome murder and violence around it. Very effective if you think about it. My rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

So much has already been said about this camp classic. Here are some observations:

1.) Black & white is appropriate for this film, it sets the mood, more dreamlike and creepy. 2.) In the early summerhouse scene, Charlotte is suppose to be a young ingenue, but Aldrich actually used Davis in the scene, albeit in the shadows. This was very distracting, especially when she shrieks in her raspy middle-aged voice, "I could killll you!". 3.) Similarly, in the following scene, we see Big Sam approach young Charlotte, telling her to come to him. Though Aldrich did use a young actress as Charlotte this time (who looked nothing like Davis from the previous scene), he still used Davis' dubbed voice for her dialogue ("No Papa, I don't want to."). Even though the young actress is filmed with her face in shadow, as we hear the words, we notice the actress' lips aren't moving! What was the point? Aldrich should've simply used the young actress in both scenes, camouflage her with shadow, and have her speak with a southern accent in her own voice. It's only a couple lines for goodness sake! 4.) When shown on TV (now on Fox Movie Channel and previously on AMC before that once wonderful channel fell apart), or even on laserdisc, the film is pan&scan. I saw "Charlotte" in a theater when it was originally released in 1964, and I seem to recall it being a widescreen feature (Cinemascope). I hope when the DVD is released it will be in the original screen ratio. 5.) Why didn't they have Al Martino sing the full song at the end? He just sang the chorus, yet gets single screen credit for singing the "title song". 6.) Agnes Moorehead got robbed of an Oscar. 7.) The little boy who goes into the house on a dare in the film's prelude (John Megna) was actress Connie Stevens' younger brother, who tragically died of AIDS 30 years later.

Well acted by Barbara Stanwyck, and, in a lesser role, Bette Davis. Stanwyck's make-up to age her throughout the film is remarkable. I must mention one part of the film that, though unintentional I'm sure, to me was funnier than the campfire scene in "Blazing Saddles". In several scenes Stanwyck asks her small child, "How big is my boy? How big is my son?" The small boy stretches out his arms and says, "Sooooo big!". Thus the name of the film. But toward the end, Stanwyck, as an old woman is in bed, and she asks her now grown adult son who is standing at her bedside, as a way of remembering the past, "How big is my son?". And he replies by taking his two index fingers and expanding then about 10 inches apart, and say with a smile "So big!"

"Can't Stop the Music" is the definitive "guilty pleasure", a film you love to hate! After Alan Carr hit the stratosphere with "Grease", he was hoping lightning would strike twice. Unfortunately, he missed the mark entirely. He made the mistake of playing it safe and trying to make a "family" musical. If he didn't try to hide the gay theme, and if he would've used some major supporting talent, this might have been a minor classic. Let's be honest, Bruce Jenner is not an actor by any stretch of the imagination, nor was Nancy Walker a film director. Carr should've tried to incorporate some of his "Grease" cast and crew. For example, cast Jeff Conaway (Kinicki) instead of Bruce Jenner. He did go the nostalgic Hollywood route as he did in "Grease" (with Eve Arden and Joan Blondell) by including minor roles for Barbara Rush and June Havoc, who were both a joy to see on film once more. Finally, a golden opportunity was missed at the end of the film when the entire cast is on stage. A classic campy ending would have been to have June Havoc (Gypsy Rose Lee's real life sister) step to the edge of the stage and yell out the gay crowd, "Hello everyone, my name is June! What's yours?!!" I agree that American Movie Classics or VH-1 should show "Can't Stop the Music" just for fun. But it has to be in its original widescreen format, and with full stereo surround sound! What a hoot!

Short and to the point. "Hannibal" is one of the most repugnant pieces of garbage I've seen in a long time. It is stomach-churning gore just for gore's sake. Totally unlike "Silence of the Lambs", it is NOT scary, it is NOT suspenseful, and it definitely is NOT entertaining. What is so sad is this is the type of trash that makes money, which is the bottom line for studios that produce it (which, I'm sorry to say, says a lot for the taste and sophistication of the movie-going public.) Artistic value and quality be damned! Yes, there have been more disgusting films, but that doesn't make this one acceptable just because it is not the most disgusting. Shame on Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Ridley Scott, David Mamet, and Steve Zaillian. Your talents are way above this abomination.

There are two establishments that have me thoroughly confused. They are the MPAA ratings board and The Academy Awards. First, a gruesome, disgusting gore-fest titled "Hannibal" gets an R-rating, which, in essence, allows children of any age to see it (with a parent, granted). Yet "Requiem for a Dream", which shows very graphically the potential horrors of drug use, and which should be seen by teenagers, was threatened with an NC-17 rating, barring anyone under 17 from seeing it at all. The film was eventually released as unrated. Secondly, I cannot begin to understand how "Requiem for a Dream" wasn't even nominated for a Best Picture Oscar in a year when that award was actually won by a such a mundane piece of rubbish as "Gladiator". And probably an even bigger travesty is that Ellen Burstyn's performance in this film, a performance of a lifetime, lost out to the ho-hum, no-effort work of Julia Roberts in "Erin Brockovich". "Requiem for a Dream" is disturbing, shocking, and at times, difficult to watch. But it is one of the most important films ever made.

Albert Brooks' and Julie Hagerty's portrayals of the definitive yuppie couple are hilarious. They're so typical, especially with their attitude at the beginning about what is important in life, (a house with a tennis court and a Mercedes). Everything Mr. and Ms. Blue Collar America hates about the Reagan-era generation is portrayed here. They have everything, just to have it all blow up in their faces. The success of this film comes from the sum of its small parts. Brooks' phone conversation with Hans, the Mercedes salesman (voiced by Brooks himself), the firing scene with "Brad" and his ad jingle for Ford, the check-in at the Las Vegas hotel, and, of course, Brooks' sales pitch to the casino manager (Gary Marshall), are just a few of the gems, which, when added up result in one of the funniest films ever made.

This film really tried my patience. Fifteen minutes of star-studded entertainment spread out over a two-hour endurance test. The editing is pathetic. I've seen better cinematography in home movies. Most of the songs are totally forgettable, as are half the acts, especially Joan Crawford, who has all the dancing grace of a bull in a china shop (and a singing voice to match). All but a few jokes fall flat. Even the brief appearance by the immortal Laurel and Hardy was an embarrassment. The one saving feature was the closing color production of "Singing in the Rain".

That this film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar says that either 1929 was a terrible year for films, or that MGM had a lot of influence with the nominations. Somewhat similar to the film's of 2000 and the influence of Miramax ("Chocolat")!!

By the way, this was not MGM's first "talkie". In the film, references are made to "Broadway Melody", which was also a "talkie".

It's low budget shows in its grainy print and poor sound, but the quality performances by the entire cast make up for the films shortcomings.

The late Craig Russell pulls out all the stops as he displays his talent for female impersonation. Hollis McLaren is the ideal nut case. And Helen Shaver, in one of her earlier roles, is ideal as the friend who is accepting of people for who they are, embellishing their positive traits.

My one criticism of the film is the costuming. Not Russell's drag apparel, which matched each of his impersonations perfectly. But other wardrobe choices in the film were distractingly awful, especially during the Christmas party scene. Russell's jumpsuit was about 3 sizes too small, and Shaver's dress was something out of Ringling Brothers' clown reject closet.

Still, students and lovers of independent film will admire this one for its style, its daring, and its overall effort.

When this film was released in 1961, I remember the ads saying this film was for "Adults Only". (The MPAA rating system didn't exist then.) A film about four soldiers stationed in Germany who gang rape a 16 year old girl and the trial that followed was pretty heavy stuff for audiences back then. I recently saw the film on Turner Classic Movies, and it still holds up very well. It is still startling and powerful, even without nudity and foul language, which should show Hollywood it can be done. You can be "adult" without being unnecessarily vulgar or obscene. As it stands, I would still give this film an "R" rating today.

And, of course, there is the memorable title song, sung by Gene Pitney, which accounted for the film's only (surprisingly) Oscar nomination. Even that lost out to the syrupy "Moon River" from "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

My one complaint about Turner's presentation was with the film's aspect ratio. Instead of showing a widescreen version, they showed a full-frame version with the framing "squeezed" so that faces were somewhat elongated and cars appeared "stubby" and compacted. This became very annoying. Even a pan & scan version would be better than this.

Nonetheless, for sheer power, as well as excellent acting by Kirk Douglas, E.G. Marshall, Christine Kaufmann, and a very young Robert Blake, I highly recommend "Town Without Pity".

OK, it's not "An Affair to Remember". So what? Christian Campbell would make a terrible Deborah Kerr anyway. You say the story line isn't real? You want "real", go see "Schindler's List". For me, "Trick" was a very funny, moving film. No gratuitous sex, no in-your-face messages, except maybe that gay love is just as awkward, just as unplanned, and just as rewarding as straight love.

Stereotypes? Yeah, there were some, but they were so well done. You laughed with them, not at them. And for me, the final two minutes through the ending shot was worth the entire wait. If you want some good laughs, a warm, all-is-right-with-the-world feeling when it's over, I highly recommend "Trick".

Finally, "Trick of Fate", the song heard over the closing credits, is beautiful and poignant. The music branch of the Motion Picture Academy blew it big time by not nominating it in the "Best Song" category.

I find myself mesmerized by this film. I identify with its characters because either I had friends who had similar situations (playing in a local rock band, trying to make good), or I myself went through some of the same "growing pains" of adolescence, such as parental upset, and the joy and sorrow of a first love.

The songs (especially the title tune) are catchy, yet simple, and at times annoying (due to overplay), but, hey, that's the way rock 'n' roll was at the beginning of the "British invasion". At least they have a good beat and are easy to dance to!!

Baby-boomers will appreciate how Tom Hanks catches the true flavor and feel of the era. The young actors showed their capabilities by getting the personalities of their characters down just right. You'd think they actually lived through the early 60's themselves. It's sort of an "American Graffiti" with a different set of teens.

Watch for a cameo by Peter Scolari, who, on TV, was Hank's co-star in "Bosom Buddies".

For those familiar with the characters in this film, you'll notice my internet name reflects my admiration for this masterpiece. The sharpest, wittiest screenplay ever written. The best ensemble cast ever! Bette Davis was robbed of an Oscar for her Margo Channing. George Sanders at his peak. Thelma Ritter is a treasure. And of course, there's Marilyn!!!