Reviews

If you like comedies the whole family can see and enjoy. This is a movie for you. But it is more than a good comedy of life an wonderful characters in a poor Mexican community in Monterry California. First is the most improbable casting that worked so well. I can picture Spencer Tracy cast as most any character except for a Mexican passion, wise in somethings and dumb -- plain foolish -- in others. He managed the role wonderfully. Hedy Lamar -- a peasant girl looking for a man with a job who could make her a work at home mom with many babies. She pulled it off with a sizzle. Most of all it was a very thought provoking movie. If followed the ideas of the famous book by John Stienbeck most accurately. Showing how we tend to get into ruts in life and using the wonderful Northern California landscape to show some overlooked opportunities to live well. If you want to really get into this movie read the book first.

The music of the fifties generation showcased wonderfully -- along with some of the problems of that time. Both music and message are powerfully presented. Ray Charles though blind could hear and then embellish music with his style. Having lived through the fifties and sixties in the South I can vouch for the authenticity of this film. In my book and ear Elvis did not hold a candle to Ray. The acting was excellent especially Jamie Foxx as Ray. I normally either get up and leave or hit the clicker when the final credits roll. I watched them all in this movie -- just to hear the music. When it was over I was aching for more. Listening to this film will give you a new appreciation for the music of the fifties. A must see and hear.

Beautifully ties together the nation's struggle to get out of the depression and become the richest nation in the world to a small horse and big jockey overcoming many adversities to become the horse of the century. It was somewhat slow until all of the characters were set then WHAMOO! what a finish. Just like Seabiscuit ran his races.

This play demonstrates Oscar Wilde's genius at the character development of his players. An excellent job of acting with plenty of meat to chew on. It starts with Lady Windermere receiving a fan for her birthday and then, with some help from friends, begins to suspect her husband of infidelity. That's when Oscar begins twisting things. Delightful -- You must get this one.

The film is about a wealthy Frenchman who has a dinner party where everyone brings an idiot. The question is `Who is the Idiot' I believe it is the writer producer Francis Veber. Rather than funny the show is more toward sick. Maybe I do not like French humor. I know I did not like this film.

I liked Impromptu, I liked the characters, their development, the setting, the costumes. I like it all. It was a genuinely funny film. The kids, the duel, the horse's commentary were priceless gems. The story was well written and the acting was outstanding.

George Sand (Judy Davis) a very independent character falls for Frederic Chopin (Hugh Grant) a sensitive basket case who is a genius when it comes to the piano. I understand this is a true story. I hope the original was as fresh and funny as the movie portrayal.

Henry Fonda gives a wonderful performance as the president in Fail Safe. This movie grabs you and doesn't let go until the end. All the actors did a wonderful job, including Walter Matthau who seemed out of place until I realized he has be `type cast' in my mind.

A computer breakdown sends our planes off the Moscow to deliver send it to nuclear destruction. A combination of US and Russia Fail Safe devices makes it difficult to stop this attack. The resulting action is gripping.

After forty years this show is still appropriate and well worth seeing. Then realizing – we haven't solved the problem yet.

Alice wanders aimlessly through the first half of the film. The setting is New York and the lifestyle of the wealthy. I was confused and had no idea where the movie was going. Then the film started giving some hints of what it was about. Life is not so pretty among the beautiful people. Finally Woody Allen crowns his confusing creation with a pretty good ending.

Overall -- it is not worth your while.

A Woody Allen film is either very good or very bad. Bananas is worse than bad. The acting is as shallow as the story. There wasn't even anyone to pull the character out of Woody.

Fielding Marsh (Allen) needs a girl and is will to go anywhere and do anything to get one. He winds up in San Marcos a small South American country in the middle of a revolution.

I would leave this one on the shelf

I certainly enjoyed the Killing. It was presented like a puzzle. Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) is planning a racetrack robbery. Each piece of the puzzle is presented with much craftsmanship together with a good but not great acting. Then the major pieces come together to show how the robbery will come off. Finally things start to go wrong -- piece by piece ending with some surprises. I would not call it a thriller but it was an interesting, well presented story that kept your attention from the beginning to the end. A good watch.

A Woody Allen film is either very good or very bad. Bananas is worse than bad. The acting is as shallow as the story. There wasn't even anyone to pull the character out of Woody.

Fielding Marsh (Allen) needs a girl and is will to go anywhere and do anything to get one. He winds up in San Marcos a small South American country in the middle of a revolution.

I would leave this one on the shelf

Sometimes a subject is so serious it can only be looked at in satire. Nuclear mistakes and dooms day arrival are such. Dr. Stangelove is a classic satire covering this subject. It was very effective. The acting was outstanding or even better than that. The technical end was remarkable for 1963 and still excellent today.

We have a serious problem today with North Korea and a funny little fat dictator. No one really wants to think about the implications. Maybe we need a sequel of Dr. Strangelove.

I have seen over-acting in films but `Touch of Evil' is an example of over-producing. Orson Welles tried so hard to get a new style and dimension in this film that he messed up on too many technical issues, which really detracted from the sense of the film. Orson Welles playing the American police Captain and Dennis Weaver playing the Motel night manager did notable acting jobs. Heston and Leigh had marginal performances. The movie was very complex and maybe I need to go to movie school to better understand it. I don't understand all I know about it; I am still trying to figure out who was the villain?

A movie 3 hours and 23 minutes long has got to have some dull or unnecessary components. Seven Samurai did not, every second and scene was needed. This film sets the style and standard for many great films that follow it.

A Japanese village hires seven samurai to help protect them from bandits. The story is well told and the flow is excellent. Instead of just seeing actors on a set you look into their eyes, their souls. Then you see the combination of how these individuals, working together, solve their problems and conversely, when they don't, they fail.

I know I will have to see this film many times to even start getting from it what it offers. It is more than a classic it is a gem.

I read the Rainmaker and loved it. Of course I wanted to see the film. What a disappointment. So much was left out. It was so chopped up. Then after it was over I came to the conclusion that the essence of the film was captured. In fact the movie did a better job of showing how Rudy (Matt Damon) was way over his head. You will lose a lot if you watch the movie without reading the book. Do both and you will enjoy both.

Without a doubt this is Woody Allen's best effort. It is funny, has great pace, clever story line, and a surprise ending. In fact I can't think of anything I didn't like. Like all of Woody's films the photography, and sound are first rate, and as usual technically very good. It is a must see for any movie fan.

Inherit The Wind is a study drawn from the Scopes `Monkey Trial'. A debate about truth; Bible or Science. A story of how truth and justice can be blocked by local bias. Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy) defending science calls the Bible thumping Matthew Brady (Fredric Marsh) the prosecution as a witness and the debate is on. The fireworks soon follow. Powerful acting.

A must see (over and over).

I watched 400 Blows and for the first time with the commentary running with English subtitles. It was very effective. This movie is definitely different. It is the first of what is to be called the `New Wave', where there are no sets. The picture is shot in real life situations. It was very effective. The photography, and directing in this film was outstanding. I think this film is called low budget but it is not low quality.

Les quatre cents coup roughly translates to `paint the town red'. It is a story of a young lad who gets in trouble in school and, instead of getting out of it; he manages to fall into a spiral of more and more trouble.

I was also in school during the period of this film and really relate to it, even if I wasn't in Paris. The pen and ink, we used fountain pens, dressing up, coat and ties in school. I felt Antoine's pain because I had been there. Truffant did a magnificent job of putting the feeling into this movie. I liked the change of pace at the end even though I was thinking – slow down, I don't want this to end.

If you like realism in movies this one is a must see. I really enjoyed it.

Bogey, Gina Lolobrigida, Jennifer Jones, Peter Lorre, Robert Morley and directed by John Huston - how could it fail in being a great movie? I guess after paying for the cast there wasn't anything left for lights, sets, music or sound equipment. The quality of this film is so poor it hurts to watch it.

Yet I enjoyed the film. The majesty of the acting carried it. Leading all that talent was Jennifer Jones in a very funny film. It is worth watching but don't expect much.

It is comedy to laugh at sick people. I guess that is OK as long as we don't begin thinking that sick people are `normal'. I thought the acting was excellent in this film. Especially Nathan Lane as Mother Coleman. A gay couple (Williams and Lane) who own and run a drag queen show must meet and appear straight to a right wing, moral majority senator(Hackman) who is running for office and his very straight wife. William's son and the senator's daughter are to be married. They meet for dinner and things go the way you would expect. It is a very funny show but I don't think I would want to see it again.

John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn in a movie called `Rooster Cogburn'? Wow pop some corn and turn it on. Then I noticed in the credits that Katherine's gowns were by Edith Head. Wait a minute isn't this film about the Oklahoma badlands? And isn't Eula Goodnight a poor preachers daughter? – Something funny going on here. Then the movie starts with grandeur vistas of mountains and pine trees. Sure aren't the rolling hills and scrub hardwood of Oklahoma's Arkansas River country west of Fort Smith. My first thought was they have really messed up. Then it dawned on me. How could you properly show off this magnificent couple in the scrub of Oklahoma in a cotton sack dress. The movie and the story and everything else is just a showcase. If you were expecting a plot, depth of dialog, or realism don't go here. However if you love either John Wayne or Katherine Hepburn, as I do, this will be part of your collection after you see it. I saw in the trailer the film was shot on location in Rouge River country in Oregon. It was a truly wonderful showcase.

A comedy about a young couple kidnapping a child sound like a good plot for a comedy. What turned out was no story only mayhem, disaster, and a big pile of poor taste. If that is what turns you on you may enjoy this film. Otherwise skip this one.

Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper . ) lived quietly and simply in Mandrake Falls Vermont until he inherited 20 million dollars and had to go off to New York. With his Yankee common sense he was able to handle the greed and the need and discover a far better treasure. It is so funny you will laugh till tears come in our eyes. This movie is a must see for anyone who likes a good clean comedy with a heart. You have to go way back to get them but well worth the trip.

With the death of Katherine Hepburn I was looking over her movies and found Summertime which I had not seen. I got a copy and settled in for an enjoyable evening. The beginning of the film was wonderful with Katherine at her best as an independent tourist to Venice. The photography was outstanding. Then Jane Hudson (Katherine) fell in love and the wheels to Katherine's wonderful acting fell off. I was astonished. Katherine Hepburn over acting? Impossible. Yet there it was in front of me. The story line was having to accept `second best' and the ending was definitely not the Hepburn style. It was eye-opening to discover that, like the rest of us, Katherine Hepburn, the professional with ice water in her veins was human too.

The movie was framed in Italy during the second world war. A clown (Roberto Benigini) meets a girl, falls in love and "Life is Beautiful" except they are Jewish. Can love, humor, and imagination conquer bigotry and hate?

It is a wonderful film. When I wasn't laughing I was crying. My only criticism was just a little too much slapstick. Benigini and his film deserve the awards. It is certainly worth seeing.