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tt0055839 | La chambre ardente | Edward Stevens, an editor at Herald and Son's publishing house, is on the train home, recounting the story of the death of the rich uncle of his neighbor, Mark Despard. Uncle Miles had succumbed to gastroenteritis, which had left him bedridden for days. Although this was considered death from natural causes, two strange things were reported surrounding it. A housemaid had spied into Miles's room, around the shade of one of the glass doors leading in, and reported that a woman had been visiting him, who left through a door that had been bricked up for years. And after he died, under his pillow was found a strange piece of string, tied in nine knots, a witch's ladder.
Stevens shrugs both events off. Instead, he opens the book he is bringing home to edit. The book, by noted true crimes author Gaudan Cross, is on murders by poison, and it begins with the trial and execution of Marie d'Aubray in 1861. There is a daguerréotype of her attached to the chapter, which causes Stevens to gasp. The antique photograph is an exact image of his wife, Marie Stevens.
Once home, Stevens confronts Marie, who tries to convince him that the picture means nothing. Stevens leaves to wash his hands, and when he returns, the picture is gone. Then the doorbell rings. It is Mark Despard and a doctor named Partington. Mark explains that he believes his uncle was murdered, and that he, Partington, and Stevens, are going to dig up the body and perform an autopsy.
Miles Despard had been buried in a crypt, sealed with cement. The three men begin the long process of breaking up the cement. That done, they descend the long staircase to retrieve the body. They find Miles's coffin, open it, and reveal nothing. A quick search confirms that the body has disappeared from the sealed crypt.
Later events deepen the mystery. A book of witchcraft is discovered in Miles's room, and a handyman reports seeing Miles waving to him from a rocking chair. Morphine tablets disappear, and the mysterious woman visitor to Miles's room is described as dressed like a long-dead woman poisoner. Nearly every member of the Despard and Stevens households comes under suspicion. | murder | train | wikipedia | The burning court of the nouvelle vague..
The sixties were a very hard time for Julien Duvivier.He was despised,tried for academism by the burning court of the nouvelle vague.
He did not realize that he was much more than them,and thus,he tried some new tricks,some coming from the "modern" artists:the baroque castle might evoke that of "l'année dernière à Marienbad",and he hired two young actors ,one Chabrol's favorite,Jean-Claude Brialy,the other George Franju's darling,Edith Scob,and he tried to imitate Godard's "driving scenes" in "à bout de soufflé".What's bred in the bone comes out in the flesh.Like Marcel Carné before him("les tricheurs"),Duvivier could not do "nouvelle vague" stuff,and anyway he's better at so many other things ,so why bother?John Dickson Carr,whose novels are extremely complicated, provided him with a very strong screenplay:the starting point is the authentic poisons affair,during the Sun King's reign;the marquise de Brinvilliers was one of the main convicts and she died on the scaffold,betrayed by a cop dressed up as a monk.In Brialy's and Claude Rich's uncle's desirable property,come an historian and his wife who is (believe it or not) a Brinvilliers's descendant.That's not all: the uncle is himself the cop Desgrez's descendant.And there's a curse,à la "hound of Baskerville" ,which has stroke every Desgrez since the marquise died.
The uncle is a wealthy and ill old man whose death would be the welcome for his two nephews.It won't be long till it happens.Duvivier managed to sustain suspense throughout the whole movie,with excellent scenes :the bal,with the mourners waltzing to Strauss musicaround the coffin wide open;the foggy ,misty atmosphere of the park;the strange woman who seems to walk through a wall.But he did not succeed in linking the rational and the supernatural together.Edith Scob's character has no connection with the rest of the plot,and Dickson Carr's ending which allowed some doubt ,is turned to a complete "normal solution,in spite of the last words of the captain .Those were hard times for Duvivier.Actor Alain Delon told he was suffering from not getting the esteem he deserved anymore.It was the final straight :three more movies and he was to pass away five years later.Since he's been restored to favor,quite rightly so.NB:Desgrez ,a historic figure ,was also featured in the "Angelique Marquise Des Anges" saga ,with a dog called Sorbonne..
THE BURNING COURT (Julien Duvivier, 1962) ***.
Another "victim" of the French Nouvelle Vague - a distinguished film director who found himself unceremoniously falling out of fashion within critical circles - was undoubtedly Julien Duvivier.
Admittedly, his best work was behind him by then in such classic films like PEPE LE MOKO' (1937), UN CARNET DE BAL (1937; one of Michael Caine's favorite films!) and PANIQUE (1947; a rumored upcoming Criterion DVD release) but, if this obscure but richly rewarding suspenser is any indication, his cinematic and narrative skills did not desert him with age.Apparently, the original source novel by John Dickson Carr is a celebrated (and much more sophisticated) literary piece but even if this film adaptation (by renowned screenwriter Charles Spaak) constitutes an oversimplification, one cannot deny the fact that it is highly polished entertainment nevertheless.
The plot ingeniously combines two prolific subgenres in the horror film lexicon, "the old dark house" and "the witch's curse", dealing as it does with an 18th Century witch being deceived by her lover - a policeman dressed as a monk!
- thereby unleashing a vengeful curse on his ancestors which decrees that every subsequent head of the family dies a violent death.
This event is not depicted in the film but merely referred to throughout and we immediately jump into the present with a female ancestor of the witch - played by the beautiful Edith Scob from Georges Franju's EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1959), here with her hair bleached blonde - being invited with her novelist husband to a château in the country which, as it happens, is owned by the ancestors of the witch's duplicitous lover.
The latter are a despicable bunch of amoral opportunists with the two young heirs greedily awaiting the demise of their cantankerous 75-year old uncle which could occur at any moment.
One night, every member of the household (including his nurse) desert the old man for their own egotistical purposes and Scob and her husband volunteer to stay home and watch over him themselves...
Apart from the illustrious trio in the behind-the-camera personnel (Duvivier, Spaak and music composer Georges Auric), the film boasts atmospheric lighting by Roger Fellous and a cast of willing performers: the afore-mentioned Scob, Jean-Claude Brialy (as the more level-headed of the two heirs), Claude Rich (as his worthless playboy brother), Nadja Tiller (as the lovely nurse who, ultimately, is not as loyal as she makes out to be), etc.
There are elements of the supernatural (when the murderer is seen passing through the walls of a closed room by the housekeeper or when the body vanishes from the interred coffin and reappears sitting in a chair in the family chapel) and black comedy (when the mourners at the funeral waltz around the still open coffin at the deceased's own request) involved which only add to the fun.
It would be a mistake to reveal more of the twists and turns the plot takes in the second half of the film - which also introduces the character of a no-nonsense police inspector - but I'll say only that it all ends rather too abruptly perhaps (immediately after the ironic final revelation) leaving the fate of some of the major characters pretty much unresolved..
Okay mystery.
When this movie came out, a publisher brought out a tie-in edition of the novel, with a nude dancer on the cover.
For this reason I'd been looking forward to the movie; but it never appeared, and I'm only seeing it on video now.
And it's okay: not worth waiting twenty years for, but okay.
Its prefatory sequence promises a story about a family curse laid down by an ancestor who was burned as a witch.
But there's no real curse and no real witch; this is just a red herring.
The story isn't a horror story but a murder mystery with spooky overtones.
As a mystery, it starts slowly but gains in interest as it goes.
It's set in a French château, where a family gathers, officially to hold a ball, but in effect mainly as an excuse for squabbling.
One of them turns up dead; the only witness to the crime swears to an event that seems impossible; presently the body presently vanishes.
In the absence of a detective as the leading character, the script has no solid structure: it starts with one pair of characters and ends with another, the motives for the characters' actions, other than the murder, are obscure, and the surprise ending seems to belong to another movie.
But the direction kept me intrigued most of the way, the black-and-white photography is attractive, and the actors are good enough, as far as can be judged from the dubbing (which is not bad, for dubbing).
It's okay--not not-okay-okay, but really okay.Only, I'm still looking for that nude dancer from the paperback, because there are none in the movie.
And no burning court, either.Oh, well..
A splendid book but one of the worst adaptations ever filmed.
"The Burning Court" may be the most fascinating detective story ever written.After reading it,W.B. Yeats called Carr,the James Joyce of mystery writers.(Remember Yeats had very ambiguous feelings about Joyce's art.) Understandably, Carr never tried to repeat his structural technique a second time.
He had done something which once done could not be repeated and ,furthermore ,did not readily lend itself to adaptation in any other media form.
The book opens with a quotation from Shakespeare,"There was a young man who lived by a churchyard;but that's an unfinished story," and accordingly ends in mid-sentence,most of three hundred pages later.In some editions the last words{"Defense attorneys already claiming newly discovered evidence...")are deliberately run into the end of the page.Carr intentionally conned his readers into believing the last page was deleted.Long,long afterwards,comes the sudden flash ,and the belated certainty.
that we ,like the ever more frenzied characters, have been utterly deceived.Carr sets his diabolical puzzle within an extremely formal five part structure."Indictment","Prosecution","Defense","Summing-Up" and "Verdict".Each of the first four sections builds to a logical climax at the end of which all the expectations which the author have previously built up(four times in turn!) are once again successively destroyed.
The author's primary ploy is that we are never to be quite certain whether he is telling us a detective story masquerading as a horror story or a horror story masquerading as a problem in logic.In the latter case,we have no right to expect a rational solution and the identity of the reincarnated witch becomes increasingly obvious.
However,every alleged supernatural event and every supposed pre-natal memory,is,at some subsequent point or other,given a perfectly rational and satisfying explanation...except that these belated witnesses (in their turn) may be,likewise, either inaccurate or mendacious.By the way,Carr always insisted that he had very subtly inserted the solution to all this in one phrase casually inserted between a pair of commas but apparently went to his grave without informing posterity between which two commas the true answer could be found.The question of what compelled Duvivier, an often splendid director,(and in many other instances a still shamefully underrated artist)to film this work is another mystery which was, mercifully,carried to his grave.He began by scrapping the structure(a little like taking a stream of consciousness novel and shooting it in chronological sequence)and moving the locale from jazz age Philadelphia to country France!And it goes down from there.
Whatever the correct solution to Carr's riddle,we can be sure that this isn't it.
There has been nothing this bad in cinema literary massacre since another great master of mystery,Alfred Hitchcock,decided to improve O'Casey's "Juno and the Paycock".To make matters worse,at approximately the same time that Duvivier launched his ill-starred version,a husband and wife team succeeded,despite the formidable structural difficulties,in winning the Emmy with their adaptation of the same work.Unfortunately it does not appear in the IMDb and has, apparently, never been re-shown.If it survives,it must be worth a close look..
" The pattern juggler lifts his hand; The orchestra begin; As slowly turns the grinding wheel, In the court of the crimson king.".
Taking a look at writer/directing auteur Julien Duvivier's IMDb page after recently re- watching his amazing Film Noir Chair De Poule,I was delighted to find out that Duvivier had directed a Horror title,which led to me excitingly getting ready to enter Duvivier's court.The plot-The 18th century:As a woman and her 2 brothers are burnt at the stake for allegedly being involved in witchcraft.The woman uses her dying breath to put a curse on the lover who betrayed her,with the woman telling the man,that he and all future generations related to him,will experience horrible,violent deaths.The present:Paying a visit to his uncles mansion with his brother Marc, Stéphane Desgrez is caught by surprise,when a historian called Michel Boissard is invited to the mansion,with Boissard revealing that he is visiting the mansion,due to its "cursed" history being something which would be a perfect fit for his magazine.Knowing that Marc and Stephane have come down to pay him a friendly visit solely to get back in his will,the uncle tells nurse Myra that he does not want to see either of them.Taking Boissard on a tour of the mansion, Stephane becomes agitated when Boissard begins to ask him about urban legends related to letters related to the curse,which are said to be hidden in the mansion,that causes Stephane to put his foot firmly down and state that the urban legends are complete rubbish.
Quietly meeting his uncle,Marc is asked by his uncle to keep Stephane as far away from him as possible.After eating a huge meal,Marc, Stephane and their wives decide to leave their uncle at the mansion,and attend a party being held that night.Later that night:Entering the mansion,a maid goes to the kitchen to gather the uncles nightly medicine.Being unable to find the medicine,the maid decides to pay a visit to the uncles bedroom,where she is left completely speechless,when she sees the ghost of the curse woman giving the uncle some burning medicine.View on the film:Showing the mansions shadow to cover up any positive attributes that the characters may have,co-writer/ (along with John Dickson Carr and Charles Spaak)director Julien Duvivier builds an extraordinary atmosphere which mixes gritty Gothic Horror with harsh Film Noir,as Duvivier shows the light attempting to brighten up the mansion,to be unrelentingly stark,with the light revealing the real monsters that inhabit the place.Slowly allowing for a thick mist to appear on the mansions horizons, Duvivier and cinematographer Roger Fellous expertly use quick tracking shots to unleash a tense Supernatural Horror mood,which leads to the characters and the viewer being unsure if a stranger seen from a distance is part of their imagination, or if it's the urban legend coming to life.For the screenplay,the writers show a tremendous skill in increasing the Horror and Film Noir pressure as the characters gradually sink into darkness,thanks to Marc and Stéphane playful arguments being shown to contain an unforgiving sting.Along with Marc and Stephane's relationship,the writers smartly use the Gothic Horror route as a way to give the title a strong mystery edge,which leads to the movie striking with a wonderfully cynical final note.Entering the movie with a straight lace shine (and backed by an icy score from Georges Auric) ,the great Jean-Claude Brialy shows the perfection on Marc's face to crack into a 1000 pieces,as the horror related to the family curse,leads to horrors that Marc attempts to hide,to rise from the dead.
Initially appearing to be rather playful,the terrific Claude Rich shows Stéphane face to turn to stone,as he discovers Marc's hidden horrors,and looks into the burning court..
Burning Issues.
In retrospect we can speculate that Duvivier, a giant, reacted in a similar manner to Gulliver when the pygmies - in this case the spoiled brats responsible for the New Wavelet - attempted to subdue him.
He had begun the sixties, which would turn out to be his last decade, by taking one of Truffaut's non-acting favorites and actually getting a performance out of him in 'Boulevard' and this time around he again used a couple of 'modern' actors in Scoob and Leaud.
With Charles Spaak, a well-tried collaborator, he fashioned a hybrid of Mystery and Supernatural from a 'classic' John Dickson Carr novel and one which no admirer of Duvivier should miss.
Clearly the 'problems' surrounding Black Jack had been left behind and here we get tantalizing glimpses of the old Master albeit paying for it via the abrupt ending.
It's not first-rate Duvivier but even his second-rate leaves the New Wavistas dead in the water. |
tt0100054 | Lord of the Flies | In the midst of a wartime evacuation, a British aeroplane crashes on or near an isolated island in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean. The only survivors are boys in their middle childhood or preadolescence. Two boys—the fair-haired Ralph and an overweight, bespectacled boy nicknamed "Piggy"—find a conch, which Ralph uses as a horn to convene all the survivors to one area. Because Ralph appears responsible for bringing all the survivors together, he immediately commands some authority over the other boys and is quickly elected their "chief", but he does not receive the votes of the members of a boys' choir, led by the red-headed Jack Merridew. Ralph establishes three primary policies: to have fun, to survive, and to constantly maintain a smoke signal that could alert passing ships to their presence on the island and thus rescue them. The boys establish a form of democracy by declaring that whoever holds the conch shall also be able to speak at their formal gatherings and receive the attentive silence of the larger group.
Jack organises his choir into a hunting party responsible for discovering a food source. Ralph, Jack, and a quiet, dreamy boy named Simon soon form a loose triumvirate of leaders with Ralph as the ultimate authority. Though he is Ralph's only real confidant, Piggy is quickly made into an outcast by his fellow "biguns" (older boys) and becomes an unwilling source of laughs for the other children while being hated by Jack. Simon, in addition to supervising the project of constructing shelters, feels an instinctive need to protect the "littluns" (younger boys).
The semblance of order quickly deteriorates as the majority of the boys turn idle; they give little aid in building shelters, spend their time having fun and begin to develop paranoias about the island. The central paranoia refers to a supposed monster they call the "beast", which they all slowly begin to believe exists on the island. Ralph insists that no such beast exists, but Jack, who has started a power struggle with Ralph, gains a level of control over the group by boldly promising to kill the creature. At one point, Jack summons all of his hunters to hunt down a wild pig, drawing away those assigned to maintain the signal fire. A ship travels by the island, but without the boys' smoke signal to alert the ship's crew, the vessel continues without stopping. Ralph angrily confronts Jack about his failure to maintain the signal; in frustration Jack assaults Piggy, breaking his glasses. The boys subsequently enjoy their first feast. Angered by the failure of the boys to attract potential rescuers, Ralph considers relinquishing his position as leader, but is convinced not to do so by Piggy, who both understands Ralph's importance and deeply fears what will become of him should Jack take total control.
One night, an aerial battle occurs near the island while the boys sleep, during which a fighter pilot ejects from his plane and dies in the descent. His body drifts down to the island in his parachute; both get tangled in a tree near the top of the mountain. Later on, while Jack continues to scheme against Ralph, the twins Sam and Eric, now assigned to the maintenance of the signal fire, see the corpse of the fighter pilot and his parachute in the dark. Mistaking the corpse for the beast, they run to the cluster of shelters that Ralph and Simon have erected to warn the others. This unexpected meeting again raises tensions between Jack and Ralph. Shortly thereafter, Jack decides to lead a party to the other side of the island, where a mountain of stones, later called Castle Rock, forms a place where he claims the beast resides. Only Ralph and a quiet suspicious boy, Jack's closest supporter Roger, agree to go; Ralph turns back shortly before the other two boys but eventually all three see the parachutist, whose head rises via the wind. They then flee, now believing the beast is truly real. When they arrive at the shelters, Jack calls an assembly and tries to turn the others against Ralph, asking them to remove Ralph from his position. Receiving no support, Jack storms off alone to form his own tribe. Roger immediately sneaks off to join Jack, and slowly an increasing amount of older boys abandon Ralph to join Jack's tribe. Jack's tribe continues to lure recruits from the main group by promising feasts of cooked pig. The members begin to paint their faces and enact bizarre rites, including sacrifices to the beast.
Simon, who faints frequently and is likely an epileptic, has a secret hideaway where he goes to be alone. One day while he is there, Jack and his followers erect a faux sacrifice to the beast nearby: a pig's head, mounted on a sharpened stick and soon swarming with scavenging flies. Simon conducts an imaginary dialogue with the head, which he dubs the "Lord of the Flies". The head mocks Simon's notion that the beast is a real entity, "something you could hunt and kill", and reveals the truth: they, the boys, are the beast; it is inside them all. The Lord of the Flies also warns Simon that he is in danger, because he represents the soul of man, and predicts that the others will kill him. Simon climbs the mountain alone and discovers that the "beast" is the dead parachutist. He rushes down to tell the other boys, who are engaged in a ritual dance. The frenzied boys mistake Simon for the beast, attack him, and beat him to death.
Jack and his rebel band decide that the real symbol of power on the island is not the conch, but Piggy's glasses—the only means the boys have of starting a fire. They raid Ralph's camp, confiscate the glasses, and return to their abode on Castle Rock. Ralph, now deserted by most of his supporters, journeys to Castle Rock to confront Jack and secure the glasses. Taking the conch and accompanied only by Piggy, Sam, and Eric, Ralph finds the tribe and demands that they return the valuable object. Confirming their total rejection of Ralph's authority, the tribe capture and bind the twins under Jack's command. Ralph and Jack engage in a fight which neither wins before Piggy tries once more to address the tribe. Any sense of order or safety is permanently eroded when Roger, now sadistic, deliberately drops a boulder from his vantage point above, killing Piggy and shattering the conch. Ralph manages to escape, but Sam and Eric are tortured by Roger until they agree to join Jack's tribe.
Ralph secretly confronts Sam and Eric, who warn him that Jack and Roger hate him and that Roger has sharpened a stick at both ends, implying the tribe intends to hunt him like a pig and behead him. The following morning, Jack orders his tribe to begin a hunt for Ralph. Jack's savages set fire to the forest while Ralph desperately weighs his options for survival. Following a long chase, most of the island is consumed in flames. With the hunters closely behind him, Ralph trips and falls. He looks up at a uniformed adult—a naval officer whose party has landed from a passing warship to investigate the fire. Ralph bursts into tears over the death of Piggy and the "end of innocence". Jack and the other children, filthy and unkempt, also revert to their true ages and erupt into sobs. The officer expresses his disappointment at seeing British boys exhibiting such feral, warlike behaviour before turning to stare awkwardly at his own war-ship. | cult, cruelty, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0107166 | Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke | Rahul Malhotra (Aamir Khan) is the caretaker of a garment company that has a pending order of one lakh shirts to Mr Bijlani. Rahul is also the guardian of his deceased sister's mischievous kids: Sunny, Munni, and Vicky. He finds it hard to control the kids, as he is new to this. When the kids cause trouble, Rahul punishes them by locking them in their room. However, the children escape and head for a carnival in town.
Vyjayanti (Juhi Chawla) is the bubbly daughter of a South Indian businessman and music-lover. Her father wants her to marry Natarajan, an Iyer-clan music legend, who is somewhat creepy. Vyjayanti refuses to marry him; as punishment, she is also locked up and escapes. She meets the three kids at the carnival and they become friends. Vyjayanti explains that she has no home so the children invite her to stay with them.
The children go to great lengths to hide Vyjayanti from Rahul. In a row of hilarious sequences, they are always one step ahead of Rahul before he can discover Vyjayanti. Two nights later however, Vyjayanti is revealed. Initially angry, Rahul sees that the children love her so he gives her a job as the children's governess. Vyjayanti begins to live with Rahul and the kids and slowly falls in love with him.
And then there enters seductive, glitzy Maya, Bijlani's daughter, is obsessed with Rahul. She wants to marry Rahul, and Rahul approves, deciding that it would benefit the children. When Vyjayanti and the children find out about Maya and Rahul's upcoming engagement ceremony, Vyjayanti is heartbroken and the kids are upset, as they dislike Maya. On the day of the engagement, Vyjayanti explains to the kids that she loves Rahul and wants to marry him. The kids come up with a plan to stop the engagement. They crash the party with a dramatic act, which successfully postpones the engagement but angers Rahul. Back home, he scolds Vyjayanti and she admits that she loves him, shocking him.
The next morning, Bijlani comes with Maya to offer Rahul a second chance. Rahul defends Vyjayanti against their insults, thereby expressing his own love for her. The mischievous kids chase Bijlani and Maya out of the house with rotten eggs and tomatoes. As revenge, Bijlani and Maya set on auctioning Rahul's house. Rahul asks his workers to work overtime to make up for the shirt orders, which the supportive workers agree to. A successful two lakh shirts are made and loaded onto a truck to be delivered to Bijlani. Bijlani hires some thugs to ensure that the truck doesn't arrive on time. Much to their distaste, Rahul arrives on time with the order, and Bijlani and Maya are arrested.
Vyjayanti is reunited with her father, who disapproves of her marrying anyone outside the Iyer clan. All the factory workers, Rahul's colleagues, and the children ask him to allow Rahul and Vyjayanti to marry. With so much persistence, he accepts and Vyjayanti and Rahul are married in a South Indian ceremony. | romantic, prank | train | wikipedia | Not a great film, but a funny and feel-good family entertainer.
I quite enjoyed watching Mahesh Bhatt's Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, a film that does not take itself too seriously and which can surely provide a decent watch for the entire family.
Mahesh Bhatt made some amazing dramatic and intense films in the 1980s, and this film is totally different in its approach.
Unlike many Hindi films made at that time, this one is very simple, light and entertaining.
It occasionally reminded me of those memorable Mukherjee comedies like Khubsoorat and Chupke Chupke, though I wouldn't say it is as great as these films.
The film stars Aamir Khan as a young businessman who now has to look after his late sister's three mischievous kids, and Juhi Chawla, a Tamil runaway girl who is brought home by the kids and gets later hired by him as their governess.
Together they form a nice romantic couple (as they always do).
The film is fast-paced and is aided by wonderful songs composed by Nadeem-Shravan which contribute to its effervescent style and light mood.
Khan is restrained and effective as Rahul, while Chawla is excellent, vivacious and funny in an all-out comic role with her endearingly chirpy attitude and effortless Tamil line delivery.
The kids also do a fine job.
Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke is not a film for everyone but mostly for those who like light-hearted and musically abundant Hindi masala flicks.
In that genre, it was very successful..
Good romantic drama.
Rahul Malhotra (Aamir Khan) is the caretaker of a garment company that has a pending order of one lakh shirts to Mr Bijlani.
Rahul is also the guardian of his deceased sister's mischievous kids: Sunny, Munni, and Vicky.
He finds it hard to control the kids, as he is new to this.
When the kids cause trouble, Rahul punishes them by locking them in their room.
However, the children escape and head for a carnival in town.Vyjayanti (Juhi Chawla) is the bubbly daughter of a South Indian businessman and music-lover.
Her father wants her to marry Natarajan, an Iyer-clan music legend, who is somewhat creepy.
Vyjayanti refuses to marry him; as punishment, she is also locked up and escapes.
She meets the three kids at the carnival and they become friends.
Vyjayanti explains that she has no home so the children invite her to stay with them.The children go to great lengths to hide Vyjayanti from Rahul.
In a row of hilarious sequences, they are always one step ahead of Rahul before he can discover Vyjayanti.
Two nights later however, Vyjayanti is revealed.
Initially angry, Rahul sees that the children love her so he gives her a job as the children's governess.
Vyjayanti begins to live with Rahul and the kids and slowly falls in love with him..
Good movie.
There are few films that you never get bored of watching and Hum hai rahi pyaar ke is one of those few films that no matter how many times you watch it, you will never feel bored.
It's an out and out family entertainer.
There is no single dull moment that you are gonna experience from the very beginning till the movie reaches its climax.
Its a kind of film one rarely gets to see these days.
I use the term rarely because most films that are being made these days lack story which this particular film has got in abundance.
Not just a story, there are several factors that attribute to a movie's success.
Each time the movie is successful, its usually the hero who will be showered with all praises but in this case, its the heroine who shines throughout the movie.
This has gotta be one of the best performances of Juhi till date..
Aamir and Juhi Reunite in Mahesh Bhatt's Funniest Film.
Mahesh Bhatt's 'Hum Hai Rahi Pyaar Ke' is an out and out comedy.
The film isn't entirely original as it lifts from sources like 'Adventures in Babysitting' but the humour works most of the time.
I don't understand why so many criticize the movie for being too silly.
'Hum Hai Rahi Pyaar Ke' doesn't take itself seriously so why should the viewer?
It's an entertainer from start to finish, that's it.
Why should one expect otherwise?
The soundtrack is of the foot-tapping sort and very hummable.
The romantic songs that include 'Mujhse Mohabbat', 'Ghoongat' and 'Woh Mere Neend' are the best.
They're visualized amusingly.Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla have already proved to be a great on screen pair and here they shine once again.
Aamir Khan it effective in a suitably restrained performance but it is Juhi Chawla who steals the show with her comic nirvana.
Easily she (along with Sridevi) is the funniest actor in the history of Hindi cinema and it would be a tough challenge for any actor to match up to that.
Moreover, her effortless dialogue delivery in Tamil (especially for someone who doesn't speak the language) only further prove what a gifted actress she is.Of the child actors, Kunal Khemu leads the trio while the other two are passable at best.
I found Dilip Tahil irritatingly loud while Navneet Nishan was good as the caricature seductress.'Hum Hai Rahi Pyaar Ke' is Mahesh Bhatt's funniest film.
It does remind one of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's evergreen comedies (even though the execution, in comparison is a little less sophisticated)..
Funny family film.
MaheshBhatt in 80's made some good cinema like ARTH, SARAANSH, NAAM and KABZAAIn 1990's he settled for romantic films and light kind films like AASHIQUI(1990), DIL HAI KI MAANTA NAHIN(1991), HUM HAI RAAHI PYAAR KE(1993)HUM HAI RAAHI PYAAR KE is a light hearted family film which is well handledThe film starts off nicely and the entire kids track is well handled also the Juhi track is entertaining at times the film is childish but you can expect that in a family filmThe film is a nice family film to watch the film ends on a funny slapstick note with people throwing eggs on the villains played by a hammy Dalip Tahil and loud Navneeth NishanDirection by Mahesh Bhatt is good Music is good Aamir Khan is a natural as always, he plays the role very well Juhi Chawla too compliments him well though at times she is too childish for her age yet she does her role well Amongst kids Master Shahrukh is too good while the young Kunal Khemmu is fantastic Amongst rest Dalip Tahil hams, Navneet Nishan is too loud Tiku Talsania is okay.
Very silly at first but gets better and grows on you..
I was not sure if I would like this film because it was so silly and overacted at first by just about everyone except Aamir Khan.
But, the more the film progressed, the more the storyline hooked me and the characters settled into their roles, although it was still a little too silly for my tastes.
I could not believe that Filmfare gave HHRPK their best film award and Juhi Chawla the best actress for 1994 because I did not think it was that good unless there was not that much competition that year.
I like Juhi's performances in most films and felt she did OK here but, since she was made to overact so much and act so immature, I frequently tired of seeing a grown woman act like a small child.
I hope that I am not being too negative because, if the viewer can handle the first 15-20 minutes, they will be in for a very pleasant ride and a few laughs along the way.
It is just not a film for everyone, especially newcomers to Bollywood films. |
tt0431308 | P.S. I Love You | Holly and Gerry are a married couple who live on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They are deeply in love, but they fight occasionally. By winter that year, Gerry suddenly dies of a brain tumor, and Holly realizes how much he means to her as well as how insignificant their arguments were.
Deeply distraught, Holly withdraws from her family and friends out of grief until they descend upon her on her 30th birthday. They are determined to prod the young widow to face the future and explore what her life choices should be. As they rally around Holly and help organize her apartment, a cake is delivered, and with it is a message from Gerry. It proves to be the first of several meaningful messages — all ending with "I Love You" — which he had arranged to have delivered to her after his death.
As the seasons pass, each new message fills her with encouragement and sends her on a new adventure. Holly's mother believes that Gerry's letters are keeping Holly tied to the past. But they are, in fact, pushing her into the future. With Gerry's words as her guide, Holly slowly embarks on a journey of rediscovery.
Gerry arranged for Holly and her friends Denise and Sharon to travel to his homeland of Ireland. They arrive at their destination, a house in the beautiful Irish countryside where they find letters from Gerry for Sharon & Denise, one asking Denise to take Holly to his favorite pub. While there, they meet William, a singer who strongly reminds Holly of her deceased husband. He asks her to stay to see him after his last song, which he dedicates to her. Upon hearing it, she is overcome with emotion and walks out, because it was the song Gerry sang to her shortly after they first met.
During the vacation, while on a fishing trip, they lose the boat's oars, leaving the three women stranded in the middle of a lake. During their wait for help, Sharon announces that she is pregnant and Denise reveals she is getting married. This news causes Holly to relapse emotionally and again withdraw into herself. They are eventually rescued by William, whom Sharon and Denise invite to stay the night because of the pouring rain.
Unable to deny their feelings for each other, they kiss, and William and Holly become intimate. They begin a conversation about her deceased husband and Holly asks William to drive her to visit her in-laws. Upon Holly revealing their names, William realizes she is the widow of his childhood best friend. Revealing this to Holly causes her to panic, but William calms her down and starts to tell stories about his and Gerry's childhood. The next day, Holly visits Gerry's parents and while there, she also receives a letter from Gerry reminding her of their first meeting.
Arriving home, Holly again withdraws from family and friends. As she continues to become more and more lost, she is inspired by Gerry after finding one of his suspender clips next to one of her shoes and realizes she has a flair for designing women's shoes; she enrolls in a class that teaches how to actually make the shoes she has designed. A new found self-confidence allows her to emerge from her solitude and embrace her friends' happiness.
While on a walk with her mother, she learns that her mother was the one whom Gerry asked to deliver his letters after his death and receives the last letter. As the film ends with Holly taking her mother on a trip to Ireland, we see that Holly has opened herself up to the journey beginning with the next chapter of her life, and wherever it takes her she has the hope of falling in love again. | romantic, flashback | train | wikipedia | I know this movie got a lot of negative reviews but when you see your life mirrored on the big screen you can't help but be moved by her struggle to move on and his undying love for her.
Gerry and Holly's relationship is a good example of how couples bring their love to the end quickly.
P.S. Move On. In a poignant scene Gerald Butler's spirit of Gerry confesses to Hilary Swank's Holly, "I'm not asking you to remember me
" and to move on.
There is a heartbreaking scene where Swank's Holly breaks down to her mother saying, "I'm alone!" Later Bates's Patrica says to her daughter, "
If you're all alone, we're all together with you in that, too." So even with its intentional quirks and cheesy trappings-- all is forgiven, because ultimately "P.S. I Love You" is about the courage to love again and live life.As "P.S" opens Holly is furious that Gerry told her mother at dinner that they are not planning on having kids right now.
In a surprising moment in what initially feels like a frivolously long fishing scene with all three women, reminds Holly that her friends are moving on with their lives.
(Synopsis) Holly (Hilary Swank) has been married nine years to a wild Irishman, Gerry Kennedy (Gerard Butler), and her one true love.
Now that I have watched the film, I must say that it came as a pleasant surprise.I found it very fresh: the cast which brings together talents like Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Bates and Hilary Swank; the idea of shooting in Ireland was very refreshing and the beautiful locations were so wonderfully shot that it just makes one want to visit the beautiful country; the screenplay, yes it is flawed as there are a few corny moments and some of the situations are a little too convenient but most of the dialogues are great, the comedic undertone is mostly welcoming and not misplaced, the ending is different from what one would expect; the soundtrack which adds more life into the moments.It's ironic that just the other day I watched 'Reign Over Me' which also dealt with 'grieving over' lost loved ones.
Both the writer and director LaGravenese put a lot of heart into 'P.S. I Love You' and the film is strengthened by the chemistry of the actors.Both Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler are excellent.
By the end of the film, I found this film to be more than just a "chick-flick"; it was instead a bittersweet story about a young widow, played by the strongly talented Hilary Swank, coping with the death of her husband through letters that he'd written for her teaching her how to live and remember how to be happy with herself.
Butler, though he can't hold an Irish accent very well, plays the role of a goofball perfectly, especially in his striptease scene and when he was watching his wife sing a sexy karaoke tune (poor guy was trying to contain himself while covering Marsters' eyes).
It doesn't' hurt that Holly has two loving friends (Lisa Kudrow and Gina Gershon), a hovering mother (Kathy Bates), and a good-looking new friend (Harry Connick, Jr.) looking out for her, also.
Hilary Swank plays Holly Kennedy, a fragile real estate broker who cannot hold down her job and gets married young to happy go lucky Irishman Gerry (Gerard Butler) but he dies of a brain tumour leaving Holly as a grieving young widow whose life comes to a stand still.On her 30th birthday party she gets a surprise posthumous letter from Gerry informing her that he will be regularly sending her messages containing tasks that she is to perform without question or hesitation.
Each message is signed off with the words PS I Love You.With the help of her friends and family Holly follows Gerry's messages such as singing in a bar or going to his Irish village to meet his parents.
This all leads to a possible romance with eccentric but funny bartender (Harry Connick Jr) who admires her from afar but realises that she may not be ready to move on from Gerry.Eventually Holly learns that these tasks from Gerry is for her to put the past behind her and move on with her life.As a romantic comedy the film is a maudlin cringe inducing mess.
But it was just wrong, wrong, wrong..surely these days we no longer need an American star to attract audiences (and don't get me started on the Other Boleyn Girl)but Hilary Swank was just not right for this part - her talent is considerable but she lacked charm and grace in this movie - all the things that made Holly so endearing in the book.
The performances looked forced (except Kathy Bates) - Hollys friends were just annoying and Gerald Butler didn't come over as someone whose demise would destroy you - he was just a cartoon jolly Irishman with a song in his heart and a tear in his eye!
Let's rewrite a scene from 'Terms of Endearment' and spackle it in here." Look some people are saying that loving or hating this movie is about the difference between men and women.
Take a chance on "P.S. I Love You".I desperately tried to love (or at least like) "P.S. I love you" but the many good actors/actresses (Hilary Swank, love her in Million Dollar Baby) (Gerard Butler, great in Dear Frankie) (Kathy Bates, Lisa Kudrow, and others) in the film just couldn't make the really bad script and story work.Unfortunately, this movie is bad.
A film aimed squarely at a female audience, P.S. I LOVE YOU.Holly Kennedy (the handsome Hilary Swank) is a young widow who finds that her late husband (Gerard Butler) has left her a series of letters to help her start a new life.
But the scene is far too drawn out and, after five minutes, starts to feel like a rough cut and becomes tiring.In fact, the whole film is too drawn out and, at times, rather clumsy.
Some scenes labour to be moving, smothered in sorrowful music, which only serves to distance the audience.There's comedy in the form of Lisa Kudrow playing a supportive friend, a leprechaun singing telegram and an Asperger's suffering love interest (Harry Connick Jr.) who says exactly what he thinks without any consideration for those around him.There's a certain unfairness to the late husband's letters.
And the subplot involving her father's separation from her mother (Kathy Bates) feels "thrown in" and makes the film uneven.Equally poor is the use of coincidence late in the story and the final scene which involves a meeting.P.S. I LOVE YOU constantly, unashamedly, reaches for the heart - without any tact or subtlety - and fails to grasp.
The movie rambles on and the true love between Holly & Gerry is never expressed on screen.
This movie was for anybody that has the joy of being madly in love, if you are not, you won't get it.The most powerful line to me was by the character, Daniel, "I want to be somebody's Gerry" was extremely powerful to me..
This movie will make you cry and make you fall in love with Gerlad Butler(what a guy what an accent yum) definitely a chick flick my friend was crying by the second scene however in amongst all the sniffles was some laughs and overall I did enjoy the movie.
Swank, after an oddball role in a Karate Kid movie (not joking, look it up) sort of exploded onto the Hollywood scene and by and large has delivered nothing but great performances since.
Because we actually see Gerry (Gerard Butler) and Holly (Hilary Swank) arguing before he passes away.
So after Swank and Butler annoy me for 12 minutes, Butler dies and the film is a look at love, life and letting go.
What happened here?Hilary Swank looks uncomfortably miscast in this role, she turns in a flat, mediocre performance, and there is a palpable lack of chemistry between her and her on-screen husband Gerard Butler.
Hilary Swank does her very best, and she has a few scenes that are absolutely perfect, but Gerard Butler dons one of the worst accents in a long time and the movie takes a long time to get to an ending that was way too predictable in the first place.
My friends had seen it a couple of days before I did, and they told me it was a good movie and that I would like it, but they did not tell me that I would be crying the entire time.
Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank) and husband Gerry (Gerard Butler) seem to have a happy marriage.
Gerry dies of a brain tumor...but it seems he has arranged to have Holly sent messages AFTER his death telling her how to get on with her life.OK--I love silly romance movies.
The plot rambles all over the place and there are WAY too many coincidences to believe in this.The few good points: There's a trip to Ireland and the movie makes good use of the beautiful locations there; Gina Gershon is just great in a small role; there's a nice flash of male nudity; Jeffrey Dean Morgan is just great as William (a guy Holly meets in Ireland) and Gerard Butler is fantastic.
Also, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (slow dying Denny from "Grey's Anatomy") is pretty believable as Butler's oh-so-charming best friend and replacement.The bad news: for this film to work, we need to understand Butler's adoration of Hilary Swank.
I like Swank she is a great actress, (just not for this movie) her friends were good on their own..
The flashbacks don't reveal anything of significance- When they met isn't really that important by the last fifteen minutes of the movie.The whole time I felt like I was watching a movie made specifically to get sentimental feelings from the audience, but it kept harping on the same points so that those points got in the way of the story and slowed things down to a dull shuffle.
After reading so many good reviews, I was still apprehensive about taking my husband to see the movie P.S. I Love You. I knew the basic story line and the excellent actors to star in it so that was a plus but to my surprise my husband enjoyed it equally as much as I did.
Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler are excellent in portraying their roles as Holly and Gerry as are the rest of the characters especially Lisa Kudrow with her added touch of Michele reminiscent of Romy in" Romy and Micheles Highschool Reunion." This movie drew people from all age groups young and old and appreciated by most, confirmed by the applauding at the end.
Colourful characters fitting their equally visually colourful environments.After seeing previous movies of Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler, they are both wonderful actors true chameleons of their art, throwing their selves into any role they take on and this one no exception.
On a wet Sunday afternoon,there was nothing on telly at all.A friend had lent me this DVD about 2 months ago and because i really did not think it would be my cup of tea i had put of watching it.But i gave it a go ,boy i was right it was a total waste of two hours.For starters there is the over the top irish accents which are laughable ,the film is way to long, 1 and a half hours at the max.I spent the last half an hour on my lap top whilst still being able to follow the thin plot.Your girlfriend or wife might like it to have a good sob to.If you rent or buy this you will be sobbing over the waste of money and time!
The opening scenes of this movie portray a passionate and obviously comic argument between Holly and Gerry (Hilary Swank and Gerald Butler.) For a couple of minutes, the argument was humorous.
If you've gotten to this comment, you pretty much know what this movie is all about: recently widowed Hillary Swank is made whole again by letters that come from her now-dead husband; after a year, she's healed.
Gerard Butler who plays the husband Gerry also does a pretty good job as the sexy Irish man who loves his wife so so very much, and out of his irrevocable love for her, wants to make sure his wife moves on with her life after he is gone.
Holly and Gerry (Gerard Butler) fall in love and get married quickly, starting their lives without a plan.
Gerard Butler plays the Irishman with natural ease and Hillary Swank follows up on her part by being that girl in love, hung over by the death of her husband and yet lively enough to do everything that he asks of her from the afterlife.
Before watching the movie I personally didn't like the lead casts but the on screen chemistry between Swank and Butler is good.
This film (to an extent) is a realistic romcom, there is no happy love story ending with the one made for the main character, Holly.
Have you been in something that you feel it is just not enough, when you do, when you say and yet it is just not enough, you feel that there is something missing and something gone that you cannot being compensated with.i cried a lot and i could not think, the real feel of being watching a movie like P.S. I LOVE YOU, this movie is a 2007 American drama film directed by Richard LaGravenese.
I'm usually a sucker for romantic weepies but this one fails miserably.The problems begin immediately as the film abruptly starts with an argument between the two main characters Holly (Hillary Swank) and Gerry (Gerard Butler).
But you've got to give credit to her agent for getting her roles in movies that have good scripts and decent crews from directors on down because she could no more carry a film on her talent or looks alone than could well, Lisa Kudrow for instance, who should have called it a career the day Friends wrapped (of course that could be said about the entire cast of Friends.)PS I CAN'T STAND YOU.
You have Hilary Swank in a decent performance as Holly Kennedy a woman married to hunky Irish singer Gerry(Gerard Butler).
And Hilary provides some sexy and funny scenes and just to mention Harry Connick Jr. gives a likable performance as Holly's potential love interest.
I think the reason I love this film is that everyone could relate to it, wither you've been: widowed, divorced, left by a relative or friend, or had a bad break up, this movie expresses all the emotions and hard times that you'll go through, but to remember that it's OK to live again.Holly had a wonderful husband, Gerry, even though they fought quite a bit, he was the one love of her life, and due to a brain tumor, he was taken so quickly from her.
Leading her to have the courage and strength to do what she didn't think she could do before, and most of all love and live again.Hilary Swank and Gerald Butler have this dead on chemistry that makes the film work so well.
Gerry's letters to Holly were so touching, I usually hate the sappy stuff, but this was just a sweet movie that will touch anyone's heart and also make them laugh at the same time.
P.S. I Love You is a great movie, I do recommend it, it's just a decent movie that is more than worth your time, it doesn't over kill on anything, just makes you feel good.8/10.
Hilary Swank is nice enough as the reclusive Holly, I must admit I was surprised in a good way at Gerard Butler in comedic mode with tagged-on Irish accent and Lisa Kudrow reprises her kooky Phoebe persona from "Friends" one more time as one of the friends (no pun intended).
It's a love-hate situation but in the end it made me feel like I was Hilary Swank so I guess that means the movie did its job.
Hilary Swank is perfectly cast as holly, the young widow who is receiving letters from her dead husband Jerry while trying to get over him and find a new life.
I actually want to see more of how her family and friends helped her through the journey in the movie, because I think they also have major roles in making Holly realized how she had so many people that were more than willing to support her through anything and that they also had a special connection with Gerry I'm also disappointed because the story didn't stick truly to the novel because it has a better plot.
It is a romantic comedy picturing young widow Holly Kennedy (Hillary Swank) going back to life after suffering the loss of her life; death of her husband and best friend Gerry (Gerard Butler) Based on Cecelia Ahern's Bestseller 'P.S. I Love You' which was originally set in Ireland, the screenplay was Americanized for the satisfaction of director Richard LaGravenese.The movie starts with happy and contended young couple having a fight over not having a baby soon & transforms into a scene where a gloomy young widow is attending her husband's funeral.
I have watched this movie at least 20 times and I truly love it and very much recommend it.
Holly (Hilary Swank) is in a tumultuous relationship with her husband Gerry (Gerard Butler).
He leads you right into a brawl between Gerry (Gerard Butler) and Holly (Hilary Swank) when you're supposed to assume they're madly in love, hence the title.
I had watched the movie when it first came out, and the only thing I remembered was that I didn't particularly like it and found Gerard Butler miscast.
I give the movie 3 stars because I liked Kathy Bates' and Lisa Kudrow's performances and Hilary swank was okay. |
tt0090849 | Class of Nuke 'Em High | The film follows the events that unfold at Tromaville High School in New Jersey, which is conveniently located next to a nuclear power plant. An accident at the nuclear plant is covered up by plant owner Mr Paley who does not want the facility shut down by the safety commission. The accident causes a radioactive water leak which ends up gruesomely killing a student at the school after the tainted water reaches the drinking fountain. The gang of the school, called "The Cretins," who were originally part of the honor society, torments the school, and it's implied that they have been turned into violent psychopaths by the runoff from the plant. They pick leaves from a radioactive marijuana plant located in the yard of the nuclear plant and sell it to Eddie for $10. At his "indoor bikini beach party" that night, Eddie pressures his friend Warren and Warren's girlfriend Chrissy into smoking the radioactive joint, but it is accidentally ruined by the dancers before anyone else can try it. The mutated drug shows itself to have potent aphrodisiac effects, leading to Warren and Chrissy having sex in Eddie's loft. However, that same night, both of them have disturbing nightmares about hideously mutating, though these effects are seemingly gone by morning. Some time later, Chrissy discovers that she is pregnant, and spits a little monster into a nearby toilet. The creature travels through the water pipes and lands in a barrel filled with radioactive waste, and mutates into a bigger creature. Meanwhile, Warren, tired of the Cretins' constant harassment, ends up going on a radiation-fueled rampage, killing two of them, with no memory of the event once he comes to his senses. The Cretins, expelled from the school and cut off from their customer base, assault the principal and forces him to use the school's Radiation Alarm to cause an evacuation, letting the Cretins bar the building and occupy it. Capturing Chrissy as bait for Warren, the leader of the gang holds her hostage in the basement and plans to kill her in front of Warren, only to be interrupted by the now adult monster.
Warren goes into the school to save her, and he discovers the adult monster, who kills every one of the Cretins. Warren finally zaps the beast with a laser in the physics laboratory, and he and Chrissy flee from the school, right after the monster explodes along with the school, also killing Mr. Paley inside. The students celebrate victory as over the loudspeakers that the school will be shut down for remodeling. While reconstruction is taking place, one of the monster "babies" appears squirming through the remains of the destroyed school. The screen freeze frames on the creature as the screen inverts, shortly before fading out and the credits roll. | cult, violence, psychedelic, absurd, satire, humor | train | wikipedia | Class of Nuke 'Em High is one of Troma's best loved and most seen films.
This film helped to define the Troma formula that crap addicts the world over would grow to love - gory violence, gratuitous nudity and black humour, all mixed with a large dose of irony and an incredible lack of taste.Class of Nuke 'Em High was released just after "The Toxic Avenger" and it shares a similar nuclear theme.
This ultra-potent pot not only makes Chrissy incredibly horny, but mutates her unborn child and imbues Warren with super-human strength.The film then focuses on Warren's rivalry with the Cretins (former honours students who have turned into freaks after smoking one too many toxic joints) and Chrissy's rampaging miscarried foetus (which lives in the toilet and hides out in a vat of toxic waste).
The creature effects used for Chrissy's mutant foetus are hilarious.The Class of Nuke 'Em High does not quite match "The Toxic Avenger" for originality or style, but it is a great example of what Troma does better than any other studio and why they are still around 20 years later..
Movies like this and the Toxic Avenger played a big part in my childhood and thanks to Lloyd Kaufman's influence I am the sick demented horror fan I am today...as if it's a bad thing.
True, on the surface there is enough melting mutants, gore and exposed female flesh to appeal to the lowest common denominator, however, most Troma movies (like most good movies) make a comment on the world we live in and following the tradition of 50's radioactive monster movies, CONH explores the fears society has towards expanding and growing youth cultures who reject the ideas of the generation before them, just like the fear Rock and Roll created in the 50's that has never fully subsided and our fears about the saftey of radiation, the media and our education system.
When it comes to stupid trash films, Troma have no equal; and while the vast majority of their output is absolute rubbish, now and again you'll find a few gems in the rough; and unlikely as it may seem, Class of Nuke 'Em High is one such gem.
The weed grows faster than normal; and there's a reason for that, as toxic waste has contaminated it and pretty soon the kids of Tromaville High start acting rather strangely...If this film was made by any other production company; I'd probably say it has a point to make about the advent of nuclear power, but since this is Troma it's clear that they've simply lifted a common fear and turned it into a schlock film.
It's good to see a film like this that has a sense of humour, and absolutely nothing in the film is to be taken seriously; shown best by the fact that the central location is 'Tromaville', and is the 'toxic chemical capital of the world'!
The special effects towards the end get a little silly, but it's all in good fun; and while this movie won't be to everyone's tastes, if you enjoy schlock horror - you'll love this!.
The mutations, mutilations and monsters all look good.I've not seen enough Troma films to compare this with, but it's fun for at least one viewing.
The nuclear plant near the school is completely bad-managed and the consequences are terribly funny: at the beginning of the movie, a weak-looking geek turns into a drooling monster after drinking nuclear-polluted water and this makes him become outstandingly strong -- though dead and melt, after jumping through a first floor window!
In Tromaville, New Jersey (Where all Troma movies take place) a power plant is across the street from the local high school.
a good film if you can stand the cheesy acting and weirdness to it.I was terrified of it when i was a kid and even when i watch it now i think its a mad film.The effects are laughable by todays standard but who cares.the film has a really cool 80s feel to it which sorta makes it.i remember asking my uncle what was raising from under the lads blanket when i was a kid which he replied a snake.watching it now i saw it was his cock,that was a nice idea i think you'll agree.this is a film i always seem to put on when I'm bladdered and miss the end most times in all its a fun film to watch were you don't have to think to much about the story.class..
For instance, when Warren is suddenly turned into a radioactive monster that goes around killing cretins (a la Toxic Avenger), well, that's a pretty cool scene.
The film just never reaches the brilliance of some of Troma's other classics, like my favorite, Monster in the Closet (that is much sillier, if less gory (since it's a kid flick) and has a much better screenplay, where everything works out).
It looks to me as if the creators of "The Class Of Nuke 'Em High" wanted it to become a "cult" film, but it ends up as any old high school B-movie, only tackier.
I end every school year by watching this masterpiece, a must see for anyone who likes darkly comical movies, or Troma flicks..
There's even more trouble as a vicious gang of teen bikers called "The Cretins" are becoming a menace to society in the town and there's also some nuclear abominations ready to kill.A cult Sci-fi horror comedy hit from Troma who made the cult masterpiece "The Toxic Avenger".
It's everything you expect from a typical Troma movie with bad acting, funny writing, laughs, sheer tastelessness, and splatter abound with some good make-up effects including the nuclear monster.
Look for R.L. Pat Ryan ( a.k.a. the mayor from "The Toxic Avenger") and Lloyd Kaufman ( head of the studio) in small roles in this movie.Also recommended: "Class of 1984", " Battle Royale", " The Toxic Avenger", "C.H.U.D", "Slugs", "The Crazies", "Akira", " Nightmare City ( a.k.a. City of the Walking Dead)", " The Being", " Basket Case", " Bad Taste", " The Stuff", "Street Trash", " The Incredible Melting Man", " Brain Damage", " From Beyond", " Toxic Avenger 2", "Toxic Avenger 3", "Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger 4", "The Children", " Rabid Grannies", " Scream"..
Your typical 80s Troma film is a trashy low-budget piece of B-movie excess featuring lousy acting, lame humour, comic-book violence, gratuitous nudity, bad music, and even worse fashion; generally, this kind of exceedingly puerile, deliberately crappy nonsense has me cursing the day Lloyd Kauffman was born, but very occasionally I find that the Troma formula actually delivers a pretty good time, as is the case with Class of Nuke 'Em High, which displays just enough manic inventiveness and anarchic energy to ensure that boredom is never an option.
Lots of gloopy gore and the impressive sight of lovely Janelle Brady in (and out of) her bikini also go a long way to make this one much easier to endure.Janelle plays Chrissie, one of the students at Tromaville High School, which lies in the shadow of the town's nuclear facility.
Of course, as everyone knows, unprotected sex while high on radioactive reefer can result in the birth of an ugly slug-baby only a few days later, a creature that can rapidly grow into a massive monster given the right environment—such as a warm basement full of toxic waste, just like the one under Tromaville High!With wee gags, fart gags, a gang of outrageously daft punks, lots of ugly people, a swim-wear frat party, and plenty of surprisingly decent make-up effects (including the monster punching right through a woman's head), this clearly isn't high art, but if you're only going to watch one Troma film in your life, and you cant lay your grubby paws on Poultrygeist or The Toxic Avenger, you might as well make it this..
Class of Nuke 'em High may be trash of the lowest order, but it has a lot of energy, a lot of ideas (no matter how underdeveloped or misunderstood), crazy and interesting characters, is frequently intentionally funny, has mediocre-to-decent gore effects, has a gorgeous female lead in Janelle Brady (a sort of 80s Katherine Heigl, who has sadly massively deteriorated since then - missing and presumed dead in Las Vegas), and is never once boring.If that is all the movie sets out to do then does that make it a huge success?
Aside from obvious similarities to The Toxic Avenger's storyline, I think this is a good movie that should be checked out.The acting is awful but hilarious.
"Class of Nuke 'em High" is bottom-of-the-barrel horror film-making, with dialogs so dumb they hurt your ears and make-up effects that give a whole new meaning to the word tasteless.
I've seen a few other Troma movies which had more by way of makeup and special effects than this did, but if you truly enjoy campy horror flicks (if you even want to classify this as horror), I guess this could be for you..
There's some sort of inherent satire of the high school comedy going on, but nothing is ever taken to the extreme where it would be at best hilarious or at worst offensive.The special effects look especially cut rate.
When one of the nerds-turned-cretins is accused by his girlfriend of caring too much about money, his quick response is something to the effect of, "That's what you get for dating a yuppie." I wanted more of that and less endless footage of the cretins terrorizing the school.Class of Nuke 'Em High shouldn't be anybody's introduction to Troma.
A few months ago they were decent kids but weed cultivated in the toxic sludge from the nearby nuclear plant have driven them to rabid craziness and soon a toxic monster will be unleashed.Class of Nuke 'Em High is a Z grade film from Troma but it still manages to get some kind of social message across through all that gory violence from the high school bullies, tits n ass, bad taste comedy, a monster on the loose and some atrocious acting..
I remember discovering this film in the horror section seeing that VHS cover which is cool looking, of course I couldn't see the film because I was too young back then to rent it out and I couldn't stay up for "USA Up All Night", but now that I was old enough this film it was a pleasant surprise because like the radioactive waste going though the school it was contagious fun.I really like the premise which is absurd which makes it all the more funny, having a nuclear power plant built a mere few blocks from the high school; what idiot thought that was a good idea is any ones guess (same could be said about building plants in general).
So yeah, the whole high school has unsafe written all over it as we see the plant has more leaks than a discount Yakut and is causing nasty side effects to some students.The effects are great really like the make up effects and design on the radioactive creature, that looks like something out of the "Swamp Thing" comic series; as well as the gore effects which are on par; like at the very beginning some random nerd mutates and burns out which was nasty but a cool effect all the same.
From her outfit but mainly just her personal which is feisty and sizzling bad.There are just lots of funny memorable moments I'll say a few I like I certain fight scenes from a fight in the restroom which is decent, it's not like the battle from "The Warriors" but it worked all the same, the funny thing about that was the fact Spike stupidly keep punching the wall, but then again when you fight in limited space that can happen.Or one with a mutated Warren against some gang members which was solid as it delivered on the gore effects and had my favorite kill in the film where we see Warren bury his fist in the throat of a gang member which was jaw dropping, you gotta see it to believe it.But of course my favorite scene is the evacuation of the school itself which was really exciting and hilarious; yeah if I ever heard there was going to be a nuclear meltdown at the school I'd bolt like hell too.
Class of Nuke em High is probably my favorite of all of the Troma films.
The ludicrous plotting of CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH sees a nuclear power plant situated right next to an American high school, where the regular leaks lead to contamination of the students.
I wasn't quite sure what to make of this one, given that I'm no huge fan of Troma movies, but I'm pleased to say it's the best of their productions yet.Things start off on a hilariously blackly comic note, with a geeky student coming into contact with toxic waste and melting from the inside out.
The setup: The pupils at a high school next to a nuclear power plant start acting and looking strange after buying contaminated drugs from a plant worker.The verdict: The first half is actually quite good, as it occasionally borders on being a clever satire.
Following the surprising success of The Toxic Avenger (1984), cult, Z- movie proprietors Troma Entertainment stuck with the toxic-mutation-in- high-school theme and blended it with the zero-taste, smutty humour of the likes of Porky's (1982) to bring us Class of Nuke 'Em High.
Long a cult favourite, this is hopefully due a critical re-evaluation, because if you can look past the many burp and fart gags (although admittedly these probably got the biggest laugh from me), there is an energetic movie underneath, and certainly one of Troma's best works.Tromaville High School has been overrun by formerly respectful honours students, who now dress like punks and sell weed in the school corridors, calling themselves 'The Cretins'.
Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986)** (out of 4) Troma tries to re-capture the magic of THE TOXIC AVENGER but doesn't quite come close.
The film takes place at Tromaville High School where several students get contaminated by a nuclear power plant located nearby.
CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH isn't a good movie but I doubt anyone walking into a Troma movie is expecting one.
For the most part the film delivers everything a Troma fan would want but it just doesn't quite reach the levels of the studio's best work, which is of course THE TOXIC AVENGER.
If you loved The Toxic Avenger then you'll like Class of Nukem High.
The humor is juvenile and stupid and all the better for it; this movie requires that there be bizarre characters, but this goes a step further by making it like a cross between Return of the Living Dead and Lean on Me. The bullies are ass-wipes who are decked out so much you can't see anything like they actually look like (one of which donning a nose ring to rival any one ever worn or seen), and all of the main "good" characters are (near) defenseless dweebs and sweethearts or bad comic relief.And what it comes down to is this - Class of Nuke 'Em High is far from any high art- even its repetitive and sometimes intrusive generic 80's rock track grows thin after the opening theme song- but it's a fantastic party movie.
While it may not be as good as The Toxic Avenger or Tromeo and Juliet, this is one of Troma's best films!
The only other thing I remembered about the movie was boobs, and the hilarious grade F student Gonzo.Well fast forward almost 30 years later and watching Nuke Em High again was like seeing a familiar friend after they had moved back into town after being away for so many decades.
Tromeo and Juliet, The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke Em high are all the best of the worst horror films and they don't pretend to be anything but.
!!!POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!A New Jersey Nuclear Power Plant leaks some radioactive waste onto a nearby High School, causing students to transform into punk rock psychos and causes girls to give birth to mutants.
Haines, Michael Herz & Lloyd Kaufman as Samuel Weil I thought Class of Nuke 'Em High was better than most of the crap Troma make although that by no means makes it a masterpiece, far from it.
It moves along at a fair pace, something is always happening even if it's not very entertaining at times, it doesn't take itself too seriously & it works on a basic level.I can't quite understand why it took three people to direct Class of Nuke 'Em High (& four people to write it, four!?) because it's a pretty shoddy looking production throughout but is still better than most Troma films.
The acting was variable but again better than the usual crap I've come to expect from the average Troma film.Class of Nuke 'Em high is an OK way to pass 90 odd minutes, it's not brilliant & has virtually no story but there's enough twisted & depraved Troma nonsense here to make it worth a watch.
Okay, like everything that comes from Troma, this is not for the faint of heart and if you don't like senseless violence in your movies then steer clear of CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH.
I absolutely adore the 'Toxic Avenger' series, but this weak offering by the Troma people didn't make any sense, and it had me yawning all the time.A leaking nuclear plant (and the growing weed next to it) makes the youngsters of Tromaville High go nuts, which causes them to join a gang, have sex, explode, and whatever.
It wasn't until "Combat Shock" that the movies got a little weird, but "The Toxic Avenger" and "Class of Nuke 'Em High" really started the whole toxic love obsession that has become associated with Mr. Kaufman and Troma."Class of Nuke 'Em High" is a simple story about Tromaville and it's one big problem, the nearby nuclear powerplant is infecting all the town's weed with toxic materials. |
tt0079182 | Fukushû suru wa ware ni ari | The film's story is told in a series of flashbacks. In the opening scenes, Iwao Enokizu (Ken Ogata), is a prisoner of the police. A huge crowd of journalists and an angry mob greets him as he enters a cell. The police quiz him but he refuses to answer. The story goes back to the initial murders. Enokizu tricks and then kills two men and steals a large sum of money. He puts on a suit and disappears. Enokizu travels to another city. At the train station, he asks a taxi driver to take him to an inn where he can get a prostitute. Enokizu is sexually insatiable. He tells the innkeeper, a woman called Haru (Mayumi Ogawa), that he is a professor at Kyoto University. The police, searching for Enokizu, put out bulletins with his face on television. The prostitute thinks the professor is Enokizu, but she is told not to go to the police because of her job.
Enokizu's background is the son of a Catholic father (Rentaro Mikuni) who lost his fishing boats to the Japanese navy in the 1930s. Enokizu is a rebellious, violent child. As a young man, he is convicted and imprisoned. His mother is ill. His wife (Mitsuko Baisho) is attracted to his father. She divorces Enokizu, but then is persuaded by Enokizu's father to remarry him, due to the father's Catholic beliefs. After the remarriage, she tries to seduce the father, but fails. Enokizu accuses her of sleeping with his father when he was in prison.
Enokizu travels to Tokyo. He tricks the mother of a young defendant into giving him the bail money for her son. Escaping, he befriends a lawyer who lives alone. He kills the lawyer and uses his apartment. He sends some money to Haru, and travels back to her place. Haru's mother is a convicted murderer who has recently been released from prison. Haru had lost her job, and had to run the seedy inn because she could not find other work. Haru and her mother realise that "the Professor" is the wanted man. Enokizu kills both Haru and her mother and pawns their goods. The prostitute (Toshie Negishi) sees the pawnbroker going to the inn and decides to go to the police.
Five years later, Enokizu has been executed. His father and wife go to the top of a mountain to scatter his ashes. They throw the bones into the air but the bones remain hanging in the air. | violence, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0182295 | Love's Labour's Lost | Ferdinand, King of Navarre, and his three noble companions, the Lords Berowne, Dumaine, and Longaville, take an oath not to give in to the company of women. They devote themselves to three years of study and fasting; Berowne agrees somewhat more hesitantly than the others. The King declares that no woman should come within a mile of the court. Don Adriano de Armado, a Spaniard visiting the court, comes to tell the King of a tryst between Costard and Jaquenetta. After the King sentences Costard, Don Armado confesses his own love for Jaquenetta to his page, Moth. Don Armado writes Jaquenetta a letter and asks Costard to deliver it.
The Princess of France and her ladies arrive, wishing to speak to the King regarding the cession of Aquitaine, but must ultimately make their camp outside the court due to the decree. In visiting the Princess and her ladies at their camp, the King falls in love with the Princess, as do the lords with the ladies. Berowne gives Costard a letter to deliver to the lady Rosaline, which Costard switches with Don Armado's letter that was meant for Jaquenetta. Jaquenetta consults two scholars, Holofernes and Sir Nathaniel, who conclude that the letter is written by Berowne and instruct her to tell the King.
The King and his lords lie in hiding and watch one another as each subsequently reveals their feelings of love. The King ultimately chastises the lords for breaking the oath, but Berowne reveals that the King is likewise in love with the Princess. Jaquenetta and Costard enter with Berowne's letter and accuse him of treason. Berowne confesses to breaking the oath, explaining that the only study worthy of mankind is that of love, and he and the other men collectively decide to relinquish the vow. Arranging for Holofernes to entertain the ladies later, the men then dress as Muscovites and court the ladies in disguise. Boyet, having overheard their planning, helps the ladies trick the men by disguising themselves as each other. When the lords return as themselves, the ladies taunt them and expose their ruse.
Impressed by the ladies' wit, the men apologize, and when all identities are righted, they watch Holofernes, Sir Nathaniel, Costard, Moth, and Don Armado present the Nine Worthies. The four lords – as well as the ladies' courtier Boyet – heckle the play, and Don Armado and Costard almost come to blows when Costard reveals mid-pageant that Don Armado has got Jaquenetta pregnant. Their spat is interrupted by news that the Princess's father has died. The Princess makes plans to leave at once, and she and her ladies, readying for mourning, declare that the men must wait a year and a day to prove their loves lasting. Don Armado announces he will swear a similar oath to Jaquenetta and then presents the nobles with a song. | romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0022243 | The Painted Desert | Two cowboy friends, Jeff (J. Farrell MacDonald) and Cash (William Farnum), are traveling through the desert in the southwest U.S., when they come upon a baby who has been abandoned in the back of a covered wagon. They can't leave the defenseless child, so decide to take the baby with them, however, they argue over which of them would be better suited to raising the child. When Cash ends up prevailing in the debate, this creates a lifelong rift between the two friends.
Years later the baby has now grown into a young man, Bill Holbrook (William Boyd), who works with his adoptive father on their cattle ranch. Cash's erstwhile friend, Jeff, has remained in the area where the infant was found and has established his own ranch, centered on the water hole where the entire feud originally began, a feud which is still in full force. Jeff lives with his grown daughter, Mary Ellen (Helen Twelvetrees). The feud escalates when Cash wants to use the water hole on Jeff's property to water his cattle. Jeff is ready to confront Cash in a stand-off, preventing him from watering his cattle on the property Jeff has claimed, assisted by an itinerant cowboy, Rance Brett (Clark Gable), who has been smitten with Mary Ellen's beauty. The confrontation is temporarily avoided when Cash's herd unexpectedly stampedes.
When Bill discovers tungsten on Jeff's property, he attempts to use it to close the division between his father and Jeff, however this only results in his father kicking him out. He turns to Jeff, and begins a mining operation, which actually has the opposite effect of Bill's original intention, only exacerbating the tension between Jeff and Cash. Bill and Jeff's partnership also causes tension with Rance, since Mary Ellen now shows an interest in Bill. After a shipment of tungsten which was on its way to pay the loan they had taken out to develop the mine is waylaid, Bill works furiously with the miners to replace it with another load. He is successful. However, as he is celebrating the success of the mine, as well as his impending nuptials with Mary Ellen, the mine is sabotaged by a series of explosions.
Everyone believes the mine sabotage is the work of Cash, but it turns out to have been an act of jealousy on the part of Rance, who confesses, leaving the two old friends to reconcile, and their two children to marry. | romantic | train | wikipedia | During this time four key action sequences were removed to be used as stock footage in later RKO films, among them the 1938 re-make also titled The Painted Desert.
The version shown on Turner Classic Movies, though of superior visual quality, having been derived from the surviving original 35MM material, is still missing these key sequences, though no mention is made of it on the air.Even with what must have been some well executed and nicely photographed action sequences, The Painted Desert would still suffer from many of the same problems that make it so hard to take today, only less so.
The direction by Howard Higgin is of the burdensome, slow moving style that typifies so many early sound films, best and most often described as "creaky." But William (billed as Bill) Boyd displays all the positive and natural characteristics that made him popular with audiences five years later as Hopalong Cassidy.
Farnum and MacDonald give just exactly what we've learned to expect from them, on target performances of the old school.Under ordinary circumstances, such a film would be of little value today, and probably rarely, if ever shown.
But The Painted Desert is Clark Gable's first prominent role, and his first sound film, granting it a permanent place in film history, as well as an object of interest.
Promoting Clark Gable's presence, usually with latter day publicity photos in which he appears older, and hence, the film younger, a lot of usually inferior copies of the truncated version have found their way into a lot of videotape collections and/or thrift shops.
If a complete, original print could be located somewhere, at least Turner Classic Movies could be alerted to upgrade their version; in the meantime, at least an awareness of what we've got, and what's missing, might make The Painted Desert a little more tolerable for Clark Gable completests if no one else..
Two long time friends find a baby boy left behind within an abandoned camp in old Arizona, and their conflict over who should take charge of the infant quickly lowers their relationship to the freezing point, where it remains for over 20 years although they are neighbouring ranchers, and the grown youth's attempt to bring about a reconciliation forms the heart of this interesting early western.
William Boyd, later renowned as Hopalong Cassidy, is featured as the young man, Bill, raised by Cash Holbrook (William Farnum), with J.
Farrell MacDonald as Jeff Cameron, the other of the feuding pair, and when Bill, a mining engineer, discovers a valuable lode of tungsten ore on Cameron's land, he forthwith fosters a mining project which he believes will be putting an end to the longstanding conflict.
Actually filmed in Arizona's scenic Painted Desert region, the work is efficiently directed by Howard Higgin, who is abetted by the fine camerawork of Edward Snyder, with excellent sets arranged by Carroll Clark, and the cast generally performs well, a strong performance being given by Clark Gable as a completely unrepentant villain, only the tasteless characterization by Helen Twelvetrees as Cameron's daughter tainting the production..
It's a different kind of western, with little action, all right, but it has a good plot and excellent performances, especially from the veterans William Farnum (Cash) and J.
Helen Twelvetrees (Mary Ellen) is a flesh and blood Betty Boop and shows with her faces the transition from silent film heroines to those of the sound era.
In the whole, "The Painted Desert" has not much of action but it's an enjoying western movie to watch..
The Painted Desert is a less than average western in which Clark Gable made his first film with any billing.
Farnum takes the infant and raises him as his own.The infant grows up to be William Boyd in his pre-Hopalong Cassidy days and he becomes a mining engineer and discovers tungsten ore on the MacDonald property.
Also in the race for her hand is Clark Gable.Gable's performance as the roughneck rival to Boyd caught some attention at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and he became within a year, the studio's biggest star ever in its existence.Possibly due to bad editing, possibly to bad writing, but The Painted Desert is far from the greatest western I've ever seen.
The star of this film is William Boyd, who made a bunch of westerns for Pathe in his time.
Later, when they name the entire cast he is mentioned, but he comes way behind top rated Boyd and even now largely forgotten Helen Twelvetrees.Two pioneers, Cash Holbrook and Jeff Cameron, are trekking across the desert when they find a deserted encampment with one survivor, a baby boy.
In all of this time Cash and Jeff have agitated one another - Jeff is still angry at Cash for stealing the baby boy that is now a man, refusing to let Cash's herd use his watering hold for any price and makes him go 27 miles around.
Along comes a stranger - Gable as Rance Brent, and with him instantly taken with Mary Ellen, Rance decides to back them up in the shootout.Cash's adopted son comes out and stampedes the cattle away from the watering hole to prevent the deadly shootout.
Bill is acting Gandhi-like saying that he takes neither side, he just wants Cash and Jeff to be friends again and that neither is bad or wrong.
First he uses Bill the infant as a human shield, and when Bill keeps something from escalating into bloodshed, Cash throws that son out of his life.In the meantime, Jeff and Bill's mine is yielding lots of ore, and out of nowhere - certainly not out of any dialogue that I could perceive - Bill and Mary Ellen are in love.
One steals away with the boy and becomes a wealthy rancher while the other stays put beside a waterhole and remains an impoverished homesteader.Years later the boy has grown up to become a fair-minded man who tries to reconcile the two bitter enemies, partnering with his father's old friend in a mining operation beset by mistrust due to unexplained sabotage.The Painted Desert is mostly remembered nowadays for featuring future Hopalong Cassidy star William Boyd and the first talking performance by Clark Gable.Though undoubtedly harmed by having nearly all it's action sequences carved up as stock footage for later films, it's still worth watching and has a nice Hollywood sheen not seen in later B-westerns..
The Painted Desert is best remembered as Clark Gable's first substantial role for good reason.
Farrell MacDonald, early silent era star William Farnum, and a stiff-as-a-board Bill Boyd deliver their lines one distinctly enunciated word at a time as if speaking toward a microphone hidden in a cactus.
Those who would excuse the stiff direction and acting as caused by unavoidable problems with early sound equipment should first take a look at Joseph Von Sternberg's Morocco (1930), released the year before The Painted Desert, but showing a marvelously sophisticated and artistically pleasing use of sound.
Other than Gable, the only other actors who managed to rise above the restraints of the over-compensating sound technicians and Higgin's stodgy direction were gorgeous leading lady Helen Twelvetrees and Boyd's beautiful white horse.That's not to say that The Painted Desert doesn't have some good points -- especially for die-hard Western fans.
The sets and costumes, along with a folksy, real-to-life dialog, as plodding as the delivery was, gave the movie an authentically quaint, rustic 19th century ambiance missing in many a better produced Western.Best of all, and almost worth the price of a DVD -- a cheap one anyway -- was having a tense, climactic, sixgun showdown between two elderly gentlemen!
Despite Gable's being in a purely supporting role, this is in fact a film starring the future mega-star of Saturday morning kiddie Western, Hopalong Cassidy.
Fast forward twenty-odd years, and the baby grows up to be William Boyd.
On the whole, though, it is worth a look due to the peculiar nature of the subject matter, and to see Clark Gable as a bad guy minus his customary charm, and William Boyd before he hit the bigtime as Hopalong Cassidy..
THE PAINTED DESERT (Pathe, 1931), directed by Howard Higgin, stars William Boyd, billed simply as Bill Boyd, in a slightly atypical western story set in the landmark territory of Arizona.
Before achieving fame and popularity as "Hopalong Cassidy" on both screen (1935-1948) and later TV series (1952-54), Boyd was a blond-haired actor assuming all sorts of character parts since the silent era of the 1920s.
For THE PAINTED DESERT, Boyd was the center of attention, supported by notable veteran silent screen actors as J.
Farrell MacDonald and William Farnum, along with Helen Twelvetrees, the only female credited in the cast.
In later years, however, it's earned the reputation as being the early screen appearance of future major star, Clark Gable, who's strong presence and distinctive voice helped rise above the level of being just another mediocre outdoors western.The ten minute prologue begins with an written diary passage which reads, "Feb. 25 ...
Four months since we headed west into the Painted Desert, about sundown today, we come to a deserted camp." Jeff Cameron (J.
Farrell MacDonald) and "Cash" Holbrook (William Farnum), are introduced as two prospecting pals who encounter an abandoned covered wagon.
Jeff asks, "Give me a hand with the boy." Cash replies, "You know I will." While the infant initially brings the two men closer together in roles as father figures, he also splits them apart when one claims custody of the boy.
With Jeff wanting to name the infant, "Daniel Boone Cameron," it's Cash who takes "Buffalo Bill Holbrook" as his own, thus starting a lifelong feud between two best friends.
Next diary passage: "Well, looks like after all these years, me and "Cash" Holbrook was coming to a showdown.
He's had all the luck, but he ain't never going to get this water hole." For the rest of the story, Cash, who has converted the land around the water hole into a cattle ranch, has raised Bill on his own son while Jeff, now a widower, has raised his daughter, Mary Ellen (Helen Twelvetrees).
Problems arise when vicious rumors about Jeff and Cash spread around town, causing Bill going through extremes to end this feud before it's too late.Slow pacing with lack of underscoring quite common in 1931 talkies, the proposed original screenplay by Howard Higgin and Tom Buckingham breaks away from traditional western form of staged Indian massacres, bank robberies, chase scenes on horseback or extended bar room brawls and dancing saloon gals in favor of "Romeo and Juliet" courtship prevented by family rivalry, in this instance, two fathers.
Though the leading players occasionally act their roles in low-key manner, it's the up-and-coming Clark Gable who plays his part with natural conviction.
Though Gable westerns were few and far between, it was that same genre that marked the end of his thirty year movie career with John Huston's THE MISFITS (United Artists, 1961).
His presence with unshaven face, high hat, rolling of cigarettes and horseback riding are enough to draw attention whenever he's on, especially the confrontation sequence between he and Bill Boyd that would be clipped as part of the many Gable movies inserted into the 1968 documentary narrated by Burgess Meredith titled "Dear Mr. Gable" (ABC television network.Close to being forgotten, THE PAINTED DESERT earned its rediscovery during the wake of home video in the early 1980s with VHS cardboard boxes using either still photos of Clark Gable (giving the impression that he was the star) or of Gable and Boyd's face-to-face confrontation on the package.
THE PAINTED DESERT did have its share of television broadcasts in the late 80s either public or local broadcasting systems, usually during the after midnight hours, before commonly found on cable television's American Movie Classics (prior to 1999) and Turner Classic Movies, especially during some of its Clark Gable tributes.Contrary to sources indicating the 1938 release of PAINTED DESERT (RKO Radio) starring George O'Brien as being a remake.
Will William "Bill" Boyd make good as a movie cowboy?
In "The Painted Desert" of Arizona, William Farnum (as Bill 'Cash' Holbrook) and J.
Farrell MacDonald (as Jeff Cameron) happen upon an abandoned covered wagon; in the deserted carriage, they find a baby boy.
Mr. MacDonald may have lost the boy, but he gained a girl, pretty blonde Helen Twelvetrees (as Mary Ellen Cameron).
Ms. Twelvetrees attracts Montana cowboy Clark Gable (as Rance Brett), who helps at the ranch.
When Twelvetrees gets a hankerin' for Mr. Boyd, the spurned Mr. Gable gets jealous.Often described as Gable's first "talkie", this film might more accurately be described as his first role of consequence.
Considering the successful careers had by Farnum, Boyd and Gable, this film is quite disappointing.
*** The Painted Desert (1/18/31) Howard Higgin ~ William Boyd, William Farnum, Clark Gable, Helen Twelvetrees.
Beautiful Arizona locations but terrible production and poor acting aside from Gable and the leading lady, playing opposite western star William Boyd.
Fun to see Clark Gable in one of his earliest films..
Clark Gable's acting potential is evident in this cowboy film of feuding families.
Helen Twelvetrees, Our Heroine, seems like she's stepped right out of silent films into talkies without realizing the difference between them..
Nobody gets hurts and the feel is of a Saturday morning cartoon from the 1970's, where no one was allowed to use any violent action of any type.It's evident that Gable was going to make it and Boyd's role is just a precursor of his Hopalong Cassidy films.Alright for it's time but the non-action,stilted dialogue, stiff acting and long pauses all make for a dull film that seems to go on far longer than it's short 79 minute running time..
The opening sequence almost suggests that it IS a silent film, until broken by the cry of an abandoned baby in a covered wagon, discovered by a pair of codgers named Cash Holbrook and Jeff Cameron (William Farnum and J.
At odds over who'll bring him up, Cash takes the baby and heads West with 'Bill'.Fast forward some twenty years, the baby has grown into Bill Boyd, or at least his character, Bill Holbrook.
At the time of the movie, Boyd at age thirty six looks somewhat heavier around the middle than he would as his alter ego, Hopalong Cassidy.
When Bill discovers tungsten ore on Cameron's property, he throws in with the Cameron's to develop a mining operation and get closer to Miss Mary Ellen (Helen Twelvetrees).Most self references to "The Painted Desert" use the opportunity to promote the movie as the first speaking role for Clark Gable.
You can tell his acting is a bit forced, especially in the final confrontation with Bill when he outs himself.As others have mentioned, the lack of typical Western style action is apparent, but what makes the film difficult for a lot of viewers is that every...
The Painted Desert (1931)Two wondering cowpokes, Cash Holbrook (William Farnum) and Jeff Cameron (J.
Guns are even drawn and Cash leaves in a huff with the baby.These two become bitter rivals years later when young Bill Holbrook (William Boyd) and Jeff's daughter, Mary Ellen Cameron (Helen Twelvetrees) become adults.
Cash sneaks his cattle onto Jeff's land to drink from his water and a gun battle almost ensues.This is where a wondering stranger rides onto the property, Rance Brett (Clark Gable) who offers to be an extra gun for Jeff and Mary Ellen.Meanwhile, Bill see's the ridiculousness of this feud.
This is an old western with old stage and silent era acting styles that come off more funny to watch with today's eyes.
This is one of Clark Gable's first talkies, and you know he's the heavy in this movie and frankly is the most three dimensional character in the whole film.
William Boyd, who later is known for TV's Hopalong Cassidy is your typical stiff blond hero in all this..
Farrell MacDonald) stays where he is - Helen Twelvetrees played his daughter.
Cash Holbrook takes baby Bill and becomes a wealthy cattle man.There is a bitter feud between them - Holbrook needs to water his cattle and Cameron won't allow them near his lake.
Bill (Bill Boyd) finds tungsten ore on Cameron's land and tries to get the two men to reconcile.Someone is trying to sabotage the mine - most of the towns folk suspect Cash Holbrook.Clark Gable has a dynamic credited debut as villain, Rance Brett.
"The Painted Desert" was his first film for the year - by the end he was starring with Joan Crawford in the fantastic "Possessed".Rugged, good looking William Boyd played Bill Holbrook.
Bill Boyd (Bill Holbrook), Helen Twelvetrees (Mary Ellen Cameron), J.
Farrell MacDonald (Jeff Cameron), William Farnum (Cash Holbrook), Clark Gable (Rance Brett), Charles Sellon (Tonopah), Wade Boteler (Bob Carson), Will Walling (Kirby), Guy Edward Hearn (Tex), Edmund Breese (Judge Kirby), Al St John (Buck), James Donlan (Steve), Richard Kramer (Provney), Edgar Dearing (Buck's partner), William Le Maire, Clem Beauchamp, James Mason, Cliff Lyons, Brady Kline, George Burton, Cy Clegg, Jerry Drew, Hugh Adams.
Farrell MacDonald and silent-movie-sinister William Farnum who make all the running.
"The Painted Desert" (1931) is an interesting old (tight budgeted) western.
Jeff Cameron, the man who finds him, wants to raise him.
Bill 'Cash' Holbrook steals the baby daring Jeff to try to stop him.
There will be no gun play.Jeff marries and has a daughter, Mary Ellen.
There is an interesting piece of gun play between Cash and Jeff towards the end.Cast: Bill Boyd....young Bill Holbrook (Good guy who later becomes well-known as Hopalong Cassidy), Helen Twelvetrees....Mary Ellen Cameron, William Farnum....Bill 'Cash' Holbrook, J.
Farrell MacDonald....Jeff Cameron, Clark Gable....Rance Brett (Bad guy who later becomes well-known as Rhett Butler)..
William Boyd before Hopalong Cassidy--and a little early Clark Gable.
An inferior, low-budget western, whose only distinction is a very early part played by Clark Gablehe's not a good guy.
The main star is the incredibly wooden William Boyd in his pre-Hopalong Cassidy days. |
tt0041883 | Slattery's Hurricane | Disgruntled with the service, in part because he was disciplined instead of decorated for a hazardous mission, Willard Francis "Will" Slattery left the US Navy and became a private pilot for candy manufacturer R.J. Milne (Walter Kingsford) on the recommendation of his girlfriend, Dolores Grieves (Veronica Lake), Milne's secretary. He lives an easy life, until the day he literally bumps into "Hobby" Hobson (John Russell), an old Navy buddy. Amused that Hobson stayed in the Navy, he nonetheless accepts an invitation to fly along on a weather flight into the heart of a hurricane. Slattery is disturbed to find that Hobby is married to Slattery's former lover, Aggie (Linda Darnell), who ended their unhappy relationship years before. At dinner for the two couples, he pretends to have just met her, but Dolores immediately suspects their past attachment. Slattery invites Hobby to fly with him the next day, maneuvering Aggie into coming along, to show off his lifestyle, and introduces them to Milne and his shady partner, Gregory (Joe De Santis).
Slattery tricks Aggie into meeting him alone while Hobby is away, and although she initially rejects his "fast one", he seduces her. Dolores confronts Slattery and they argue over his betrayal of Hobby and the effect his job is having on him. He soon discovers Dolores not only moved out, but quit her job as well, alarming Milne and Gregory, who fear she knows too much about their dealings. In the meantime, Slattery's affair with Aggie continues. Milne has Slattery fly him to a remote Caribbean island, where Milne has a heart attack. Slattery tries to save his life on the flight back, and discovers that Milne is smuggling drugs, taped to his chest. Milne dies and Slattery keeps the "parcel". Dolores telephones him and warns him again to get out, but he gets drunk instead. Gregory beats him up to get back the "parcel", but Slattery counters with a warning that he has hidden information about the smuggling ring in a safe deposit box, should anything happen to him.
The Navy unexpectedly awards Slattery the Navy Cross from his wartime heroics. Dolores attends the ceremony, but when she sees Slattery embrace Aggie afterwards, collapses and is hospitalized in a psychiatric ward for "pharmacopsychosis," or drug addiction. Slattery is called in by her doctor and castigated for his role in her illness. He leaves his Navy Cross with Dolores and goes to Aggie's to end the relationship. A drunken Hobby is there, however, having discovered the affair. He beats an unresisting Will, but is ordered to report for a hurricane mission. Slattery sees that Hobby is in no condition to fly the mission and knocks him out to prevent it. He then steals his employer's plane and flies into the storm...
Slattery flies into the eye of the hurricane and reports its position. His warning is instrumental in saving Miami from serious loss of life and property loss, but in returning to Miami, he loses an engine. Believing he will crash, he also radios the tower about the location of the drug-smuggling information. When the plane does crash, he unexpectedly survives. Slattery is accepted back on active duty, and by Dolores. | flashback | train | wikipedia | Storm Number 9-Slattery's Hurricane..
Lt. Willard Francis Slattery {Richard Widmark}, a former Navy pilot, is in control of this Grumman Mallard Aeroplane.
He's flying right into the centre of a storm, a ferocious storm gathering momentum, here Slattery reviews his latter day life.Slattery's Hurricane is directed by André De Toth and also stars Linda Darnell, Veronica Lake, John Russell and Gary Merill.
It's based around a story written by Herman Wouk, and it's with Wouk that the interesting back story to the film belongs.
Herman Wouk was of course the writer of Pulitzer Prize winning novel-The Caine Mutiny {also made into a fabulous film starring Humphrey Bogart}.
It was while Wouk was researching weather data for "Mutiny" that he got the genesis for Slattery's Hurricane.
Pitching it to 20th Century Fox, he got the go ahead for a screenplay, and feeling inspired he turned his short story into a fully fledged book.Adapted by Richard Murphy, Slattery's Hurricane is a real good film stopped from being a great one due to the inevitable interference from the Production Code Administartion.
Research into the film, and those who know the novel, shows the story to be a spiky one about adultery, drug smuggling and drug addiction, with closely formed characterisations leading the way.
The observant will spot these things in the film anyway, but the toning down leaves us with a more melodramatic picture than a sharply dark one that the story deserved.
However, it's with much credit to De Toth and his cast that the film is still an engrossing mood piece set around the birth of a raging hurricane, a hurricane that is not just of the storm itself, but of the emotional state of Will Slattery too.
Grim nature and the troubled human condition dovetailing to create our finale of Slattery's Hurricane.Richard Widmark is good value {wasn't he always?} as the lead protagonist, mean, moody and even menacing in his selfishness, Slattery called for an actor capable of blending emotional layers.
The studio had wanted Tyrone Power for the role {perhaps showing the high hopes they had for the film?}, but they got Widmark instead, who rewards them {and us} with yet another memorable performance.
Linda Darnell, softly spoken, sexy and exuding a femme fatale sheen, does well with what is a surprisingly underwritten part, tho we can probably thank {not!} the PCA for that issue.
Veronica Lake, then married to director De Toth, had hoped for the film to signal a comeback for her faltering career, it wasn't to be, and that's sad because she's really rather great here.
Heartfelt and giving the story a crucial counter point edge to Widmark's unfolding state, Lake served notice that she still had some quality to offer cinema.
John Russell and Gary Merrill {whose opening narration sets the tone} do what is needed, but rightly play second fiddle to the three principals.It could have done with better villains than the portrayals given by Walter Kingsford and Joe De Santis, but Slattery's Huricane remains a fine movie begging to be seen by more people.
Still not given a DVD release and rarely shown on television, it's a film that if you get a chance to see it then you should grab that opportunity with both hands.
Widmark and Lake.
Slattery's Hurricane (1949) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Mildly entertaining melodrama benefits from some nice performances by the leads.
Pilot Slattery (Richard Widmark) takes off in a plane, flying through a hurricane where he looks back on his life.
Most of this flashback centers on him running into a friend (John Russell) who he eventually stabs in the back and tries to steal his wife (Linda Darnell) while his own girlfriend (Veronica Lake) begins to lose control.
While Slattery tries to steal the wife he has even more trouble from the men he works with who just happen to be involved in narcotics.
At just 80-minutes this thing flies by pretty fast thanks in large part to the performances but in the end it's just way too predictable and full of too much melodrama to really work.
I think the best aspect is the performance by Widmark who gets to act tough, as usual, but also manages to be very believable as the man simply struggling with his attitude and look on life.
Widmark takes what could have been a simple tough guy role and adds some soul to it by really delivering a full character and one we can't help but feel as if we know.
The cruelness that the character has towards anyone but himself is perfectly brought to life by the actor.
Darnell doesn't get too much to do but she's certainly easy on the eyes.
Russell's role is pretty thankless as well but I enjoyed all of his scenes with Widmark as the two certainly had a nice chemistry.
Lake, who was married to the director at the time, doesn't come off nearly as good.
I'm not sure what it was but just watch any scene she's in and it appears as if there's something really bothering her as she's constantly looking around and can't seem to keep her eyes still.
Her role really wasn't written all that well but I still wasn't too impressed with her performance.
The special effects of flying inside the hurricane were pretty good and it should be noted that Ray Kelloogg, director of classic drive-in fluff like THE KILLER SHREWS and THE GIANT GILA MONSTER, did the visual effects.
I think the well-known cast will make people check this film out but the end results are rather mixed.
There's some nice scenes and a couple decent performances but in the end you can't help but feel as if you're going through the motions and that you've seen this countless times before..
solid performance by Richard Widmark.
Richard Widmark flies into what becomes known as "Slattery's Hurricane" as he looks back on his life in this 1949 film.
Directed by Andre de Toth, the film also stars Linda Darnell, John Russell and DeToth's wife, Veronica Lake.Widmark plays Slattery, a former Navy man who, with his girlfriend Delores (Lake), works for drug smugglers.
Slattery is unaware of this, though subconsciously he probably knows, but Delores, an addict, knows everything.
(Delores' addiction is only hinted at.) When Slattery meets an old Navy friend, Hobbie (John Russell), he finds out that Hobbie married his former love, Aggie (Darnell).
Though Delores is in love with Slattery, Slattery is still in love with Aggie and goes after her, not caring about Delores' feelings or Hobbie's marriage.
When a hurricane hits, Hobbie is called in for pilot duty so he can get the hurricane coordinates, but he's too drunk to fly.
Slattery takes his place, and while flying through the storm, looks at his mess of a life.This isn't a particularly good film, but Richard Widmark does a great job, creating a fully fleshed-out character.
It's impossible to believe that Lake, her signature haircut gone, was only 27 when this film was made.
Even with her husband directing the movie, she's not well photographed.
It's a shame, because the petite actress was perfect for films, radiant, beautiful, with a great presence; no matter the role, she projected an intelligence and femininity.
The gorgeous Darnell has very little to do.All in all, mediocre, but worth it for Widmark..
Lake without the peek-a-boo hairstyle is only fair....
VERONICA LAKE was married to director Andre deToth at the time she made SLATTERY'S HURRICANE, a tale told in flashback by RICHARD WIDMARK as he pilots a plane through a horrendous storm and recalls a love affair he had with his best friend's wife (LINDA DARNELL).
The friend is well played by JOHN RUSSELL, an actor under contract to Fox who never got to do much of anything but seemed as competent as any of the other up and coming contract players.LINDA DARNELL, looking every inch a femme fatale, is only given a minor role in the proceedings and is quite forgettable.
VERONICA LAKE, on the other hand, this time playing a good, sensible woman and not her usual femme fatale, is convincing enough as the right gal for Widmark.Slow in getting started, it actually only gets into high gear once the storm scenes reach hurricane proportions--but by that time, you might have trouble staying awake through a very mediocre plot.Based on a book by Herman Wouk (THE CAINE MUTINY), it's hardly a distinguished work..
A bumpy ride that benefits from its reasonably short length and solid leading man..
I hardly recognized Veronica Lake when she first appeared.
Too bad she had so little success beyond her first few successful films."Slattery's Hurricane" is a well polished black and white action film that does hold the viewer's interest.
It's not a great film, nor even an exceptionally good one.
Widmark is good as always, and the location work and flying scenes are interesting.
I see in the cast that nearly half a dozen actors had their scenes deleted.
That's a sign that the producers decided to tighten the film up a bit, and I think they probably were right in doing so.As I said, it's worth a look, if only to see how Hollywood in the late 40s was breaking the bonds of the sound stages in which such a high percentage of movies were made prior to that time..
Richard Widmark plays a real jerk in this one!.
"Slattery's Hurricane" is not a particularly good film and is a rare career misfire for a young Richard Widmark.
Oddly, the bizarre and unlikable plot was from a story by Herman Wouk--a very accomplished writer.
Perhaps the screenplay completely botched his story...perhaps he just had a misfire.Slattery (Widmark) is flying into a hurricane when the film begins.
He then has a series of flashbacks that take up most of the rest of the film.
It seems that after leaving active duty in the Navy, Slattery's made money flying charters.
While he might be working for drug dealers, the money is good and Slattery asks no questions.
Additionally, while he has a long-suffering girlfriend (Veronica Lake), he completely ignores her and begins chasing after a friend's wife!!
All in all, he's a total jerk and only later, when receiving the Navy Cross (awarded for service during WWII--it was given to Slattery while he was in the Naval Reserves) does he start to reassess his life.
But who cares?!The film has many problems--the biggest of which is the blandness of most of the characters.
Darnell cheats on her husband...but you know nothing more about her.
Lake is a doormat and nothing more.
And Slattery's 'friend' (John Russell) is also quite bland--which is odd considering he often had a commanding presence in films.
Add to that that Slattery is thoroughly despicable, you really wonder why you're even watching this film in the first place!.
This Hurricane Movie Doesn't Blow.
It has adultery, addicts, and drug dealing gangsters living in a mansion on the water with a private dock and hanger.
All it needs are pastel colors and a Ferrari.The movie starts off with a guilt ridden Richard Widmark flying into a hurricane, reflecting on his screwed up life.
We learn in a late reveal that his downward spiral started during WW2 when he was a Navy pilot who disobeyed orders, broke formation and bombed and sank a Jap cruiser.
He was punished, not rewarded, so he left the Navy and was paid very well to fly a private Grumman Mallard around the Caribbean on errands for wealthy but shady Italian "candy distributors" from Chicago.
Nudge nudge wink wink, but the word Mafia is not used.His girl Veronica Lake is an addict, but this was deemphasized and she is given little to do.
She just complains about being sick, and looks like dog food.
This is sad since the movie was made only seven years after Lake's dazzling magic act in This Gun For Hire.
Considering that Lake's husband Andre De Toth was the director, and that they were trying to restart her career, they did a horrible job.
Anyway, Widmark runs into his old Navy pal John Russell and his hot wife Linda Darnell, who had previously been Widmark's girl friend.
Widmark immediately reignites the old flame, and they start an affair.
Jumping on your best friend's wife is bad form and they know it, but that doesn't stop them.
In sum, Widmark does a fine job of acting like a creep on many levels.There are good aerial scenes with the Grumman Mallard, and Widmark's pal takes him on a ride through a hurricane in a four engine weather plane, probably a Privateer which is a B-24 with a single tail.Of course Widmark hits bottom and his shady life style falls apart because The Wicked Are Punished, at least in the movies.
A drug deal involving an absurdly small amount of white powder goes sour, and heavies are sent to kill Widmark.
His pal learns about the affair, gets drunk and attacks him.
Since the pal is in no condition to fly into an approaching hurricane, his Navy career will be ruined.
Thus Widmark, feeling guilty as hell, snags a plane and flies solo into the hurricane, gathering crucial data for the hurricane warning system.
Good footage of wind and wave damage is spliced in.
Widmark's heroic act redeems him; he rejoins the Navy and is even belatedly decorated for his WW2 feat of arms.
He takes an overseas assignment and wisely ditches Lake.
After being a creep for most of the movie, Widmark straightens up and flies right after all.
The Eye Of The Hurricane.
Slattery's Hurricane has Richard Widmark as a former Navy Pilot who know is a private pilot for Joe DeSantis who is a narcotics smuggler.
Widmark does not look too hard at what he's doing nor at the characters around DeSantis.
One reason he's hanging around is because of Veronica Lake who is the 'secretary' to DeSantis.
By the way DeSantis says he's a candy manufacturer.All that changes when Widmark meets up with John Russell and his new wife Linda Darnell.
Widmark and Darnell have history which Russell doesn't know about and history starts to repeat itself.
Which makes Lake unhappy because she has a real thing for Widmark.This film was Widmark's second with first billing.
The film was directed by Andre DeToth who was married to Veronica Lake at the time.
This was Lake's loan out film from Paramount to 20th Century Fox and as it wasn't her studio, Fox gave Widmark and Darnell their stars billing over Lake.
DeToth however gave his wife the best scenes and Lake does perform admirably.
This film would also be the one in which she walked away from Hollywood after.It was rather obvious that Widmark was supposed to die in this film, yet the studio cheapened it to allow a happily ever after film.
Sadly that decision drops Slattery's Hurricane into a list of mediocre films, not the best for any of the principal players involved..
"Hurricane." An interesting word with curious features, borrowed and mangled by the Spanish from the Arawak Indians of the Caribbean who, in turn, had borrowed it from the Mayan god of storms, Huracán.
He must have been even meaner than Yahweh, who was at least more discriminating in his deployment of destruction.Richard Widmark is Slattery, the pilot who flies his Grumman Goose into the storm and muses about his life course.
He's pretty mean too.
The film open with Widmark preparing to take the seaplane out and beating hell out of the well-meaning guy who tries to stop him.Another guy who gets belted, John Russell, is an old friend of Widmark's from their days as naval aviators during the war.
Russell is still in the service while Widmark has become a civilian pilot for a Florida magnate who imports and exports "chocolate".
(Read "drugs".) Widmark's girl friend, Veronica Lake, works as the magnate's secretary.
The plot is a little twisted at this point, and gets moreso.
When Russell and Widmark first bump into one another in Florida, Russell introduces his wife, Linda Darnell.
We discover, while Russell and Lake are dancing, that Widmark and Darnell had been lovers in San Diego.
How do you think I felt?" Neither Russell nor Lake know about this earlier liaison.
Widmark is so mean that, old friendship notwithstanding, he puts moves on Darnell and succeeds.The noirish interior monologue by Widmark lacks any poetry.
DIDN'T YOU?" At any rate, we get to like John Russell, a typical standard Navy officer, cheerful, competent, uncomprehending of women.
And there's an adrenalin thrill when Widmark takes Russell up for a check flight in that Grumman Goose.
Widmark shuts off one engine and flies it around in a steep bank, while Russell checks out the manifold pressure and so forth.
Russell flies a Privateer for the Navy, a modified B-24.
I flew in one too, in the Coast Guard, and the pilot also shut down an engine over the Pacific.
I didn't care for the flight.It's a complex role for Widmark.
It must be difficult to play a drunk in the movies because Widmark is a competent actor but he can't handle a drunk scene believably.
I was a magnificent drunk in two scenes in the much underrated art house classic, "Too Young The Hero." Lee Marvin does a good drunk too.
Not Widmark.
And Richard Egan and Doris Day were embarrassing to watch when they had drunk scenes.Veronica Lake is not the diminutive femme of ten years earlier.
Her features are slightly more pronounced and they look ready to express some subtle emotion but they never get around to it.
Linda Darnell looks fine.It's not a bad film.
The romantic drama turns the story more sluggish than it ought to be, but, as in Herman Wouk's "The Caine Mutiny," the romance merely reflects the development of the protagonist's character.
The business of flying and dealing with storms is fun. |
tt0442674 | The Godfather | In 1945, at his daughter Connie's wedding, Vito Corleone hears requests in his role as the Godfather, the Don of a New York crime family. Vito's youngest son, Michael, who was a Marine during World War II, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams, to his family at the reception. Johnny Fontane, a famous singer and Vito's godson, seeks Vito's help in securing a movie role; Vito dispatches his consigliere, Tom Hagen, to Los Angeles to talk the obnoxious studio head, Jack Woltz, into giving Johnny the part. Woltz refuses until he wakes up in bed with the severed head of his prized stallion.
Shortly before Christmas, drug baron Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, backed by the Tattaglia crime family, asks Vito for investment in his narcotics business and protection through his political connections. Wary of involvement in a dangerous new trade that risks alienating political insiders, Vito declines. Suspicious, Vito sends his enforcer, Luca Brasi, to spy on them. However, a Tattaglia button man garrotes Brasi during Brasi's first meeting with Bruno Tattaglia and Sollozzo. Later Sollozzo has Vito gunned down in the street, then kidnaps Hagen. With Corleone first-born Sonny in command, Hagen is pressured to persuade Sonny to accept Sollozzo's deal, then released. The family receives fish wrapped in Brasi's bullet-proof vest, indicating that Luca "sleeps with the fishes." Vito survives, and at the hospital Michael thwarts another attempt on his father; Michael's jaw is broken by NYPD Captain Marc McCluskey, Sollozzo's bodyguard. Sonny retaliates with a hit on Bruno Tattaglia. Michael plots to murder Sollozzo and McCluskey: on the pretext of settling the dispute, Michael agrees to meet them in a Bronx restaurant. There, retrieving a planted handgun, he kills both men.
Despite a clampdown by the authorities, the Five Families erupt in open warfare and Vito's sons fear for their safety. Michael takes refuge in Sicily, and his brother, Fredo, is sheltered by the Corleone's Las Vegas casino partner, Moe Greene. Sonny attacks his brother-in-law Carlo on the street for abusing his sister and threatens to kill him if it happens again. When it does, Sonny speeds to their home, but is ambushed at a highway toll booth and riddled with submachine gun fire. While in Sicily, Michael meets and marries Apollonia Vitelli, but a car bomb intended for him takes her life.
Devastated by Sonny's death, Vito moves to end the feuds. Realizing that the Tattaglias are controlled by the now-dominant Don Emilio Barzini, Vito assures the Five Families that he will withdraw his opposition to their heroin business and forgo avenging his son's murder. His safety guaranteed, Michael returns home to enter the family business and marry Kay, who gives birth to two children by the early 1950s.
With his father at the end of his career and his brother too weak, Michael takes the family reins, promising his wife the business will be legitimate within five years. To that end, he insists Hagen relocate to Las Vegas and relinquish his role to Vito because Tom is not a "wartime consigliere"; Vito agrees Tom should "have no part in what will happen" in the coming battles with rival families. When Michael travels to Las Vegas to buy out Greene's stake in the family's casinos, their partner derides the Corleones for being run out of New York; Michael is dismayed to see that Fredo has fallen under Greene's sway.
Vito suffers a fatal heart attack. At the funeral, Tessio, a Corleone capo, asks Michael to meet with Don Barzini, signalling the betrayal that Vito had forewarned. The meeting is set for the same day as the christening of Connie’s baby. While Michael stands at the altar as the child's godfather, Corleone assassins murder the other New York dons and Moe Greene. Tessio is executed for his treachery and Michael extracts Carlo’s confession to his complicity in setting up Sonny's murder for Barzini. A Corleone capo, Clemenza, garrotes Carlo with a wire. Connie accuses Michael of the murder, telling Kay that Michael ordered all the killings. Kay is relieved when Michael finally denies it, but, when the capos arrive, they address her husband as Don Corleone, and she watches as they close the door on her. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0118969 | Detention: The Siege at Johnson High | Years ago, Jason Copeland, now 24, failed his final exams and did not graduate Johnson High School, for which he still holds his History teacher, Mr. Kroft responsible. He decides to take revenge and enters the school with a 12-gauge shotgun, a revolver, and a massive supply of ammunition. He first starts shooting around, hitting several students. After shooting Mr. Kroft, he decides to take as many hostages as possible in one room. Among them is Aaron Sullivan, a gifted but lazy student who is assigned to answer the phone. Meanwhile, Frankie Rodriguez, the class clown, is ordered to be the message boy, picking up and delivering information and other things from the FBI to Jason.
Skip Fine is the only hostage negotiator in town, despite being generally regarded as less than the brightest penny on the local police force. Over the telephone he attempts to convince Jason to release his hostages and is almost successful, until Jason suddenly hears a noise from the halls. Frankie is set out to locate the remaining persons in the building and although he finds a filled classroom, he returns with only one pupil. Jason soon realizes there are others still in the building when he hears an FBI agent trying to break into that room. He ends up shooting him and taking the remaining students hostage.
Meanwhile, Skip decides to quit, feeling he is not prepared enough to be involved with such a responsible job. Jason, however, refuses to talk to the FBI and insists on speaking to Skip only. From this point, Jason softens up, allowing the hostages to order food. Not realizing the seriousness of the situation, most hostages still think Jason is only using the weapons as a threat, and most of them do not realize he has already fatally shot people, including Mr. Kroft. Meanwhile, Aaron wins Jason's trust and is able to deliver local cop Matt Eckert a list with the names of all 62 hostages. Matt is shocked to find out that among them is his daughter Samantha. On his way back, Aaron and Frankie find the body of Travis McGill, one of the few students killed, and they finally realize how dangerous Jason really is.
After being back in the room where the people are taken hostage, Aaron is allowed to let 15 people go. He offers Samantha to be one of them, but she insists on staying. When Jason finds out six students have already been rumored to be killed, he loses his temper and puts a gun to Samantha's head. Skip, however, is able to talk him out of shooting her. Afterwards, he loses his attention for a moment, during which Aaron and Samantha help several people escape. A sniper is ready to shoot Jason, but Skip insists on convincing Jason to give himself up instead. Soon, another 20 students are released and Jason signs a contract in which he agrees to let go the remaining hostages if he is sent to jail for under five years.
Despite an attempted attack on Jason by Frankie, for killing Travis, every student is eventually released. Jason thanks Aaron for his help and gives himself over to the police afterwards. Aaron and Samantha are embraced as the heroes of the tragedy and Jason is sent to death row for killing four people. | violence, revenge, cruelty, murder, sadist | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0110137 | The Inkwell | Set in the summer of 1976, the film follows the adventures of Drew Tate (Larenz Tate), a shy 16-year-old from upstate New York, when he and his family spend two weeks with affluent relatives on Martha's Vineyard. Drew's parents, Kenny (Joe Morton) and Brenda (Suzzanne Douglass), worry that their son is emotionally disturbed. His favorite companion is a doll, in which he names Iago (after the character in the Shakespeare classic Othello), with which he engages in animated conversations. They also fear that a fire he accidentally set in the family garage foreshadows a future as an arsonist.
On Martha's Vineyard, Drew is thrown into an affluent, party-loving black society that congregates on a beach known as the Inkwell. The visit is also the occasion of some bitter family strife. Drew's Aunt Francis (Vanessa Bell Calloway) and her husband, Spencer (Glynn Turman), are conservatives whose walls are plastered with pictures of Republican dignitaries such as Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan (who they keep saying will become President someday). Kenny, a former Black Panther, and Spencer argue furiously about racial issues.
The Inkwell follows Drew's bumbling pursuit of the insufferably snooty Lauren (Jada Pinkett Smith). He also befriends Heather (Adrienne-Joi Johnson), a young woman whose husband, Harold (Morris Chestnut), is a faithless louse. The movie comes to an end on the Fourth of July, when the Bicentennial fireworks end up symbolizing not just America's 200th birthday but Drew finally losing his virginity with Heather. | prank | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1663143 | Fun Size | In Cleveland, Ohio, high school senior Wren DeSantis' opening narration describes Halloween in Cleveland as a time for its citizens to dress up and be less ashamed of themselves, citing the nickname "the mistake by the lake." This Halloween though would be the first that she and her family spend since the death of her father, a former Def Jam Records production assistant. She also focuses on the fact that she, her mother, Joy, and 8-year-old little brother, Albert are touched by the death of her father in their own way. Albert, who also has reputation as a legend at video games, has apparently chose a life of elective mutism. Wren's widowed mother, Joy, dyed her hair blonde and is dating a 26-year-old boyfriend named "Keevin." Wren has her heart set on college life at New York University. Her friend April has her eyes set on social status, and nerdy friend Roosevelt has his heart set on Wren. The two girls are surprised when they find they are invited to a Halloween party by local heartthrob Aaron Riley, even as she performs a seemingly uncool "explaining rap," about her friend Roosevelt's proposed E.O. Wilson costume. Wren decides on a Dorothy Gale costume, and April decides to dress as a sexy cat. Albert wants a costume with a fake severed arm, while Wren tries to talk him into selecting a Spider-Man costume. He chooses both. On the day she is supposed to go to the party, she is also ordered by her mother to take Albert trick-or-treating so she can go to a party with her boyfriend. Despite Wren's pleas to not watch her brother, Joy offers to sign her applications for NYU if she does. The party that Keevin invites Joy to turns out to be run by Keevin's friend Nate Brueder who is roughly the same age. None of the people at the party even recognize that she is dressed like Britney Spears during the early period of her career. Brueder and friends engage in behavior such as binge drinking, farting in her cell phone, and causing other juvenile chaos.
At a haunted house later that night, Wren and April run into her nerdy friend Roosevelt and his friend Peng, dressed as Aaron Burr, complete with an 1814-style pistol. During this time, she finds out that Albert has wandered, so she must find him. On his own, Albert meets a convenience store employee named Fuzzy who seeks revenge against Jörgen, a mixed-martial arts fighter, who won the heart of his ex-girlfriend Lara. Recognizing Albert for his well-known reputation from a video arcade, he seeks his help to get even with his ex, and the boy accepts his offer and friendship. Wren and April just miss him at the convenience as Fuzzy drives off with Albert, and they both encounter Roosevelt and Peng again. Wren coerces Roosevelt into driving his mother's car around the city to look for her little brother. Roosevelt's parents are semi-eccentric pacifistic lesbians, and Wren previously thought his reference to them as his "Moms" was an attempt to mimic rappers such as Li'l Wayne. Roosevelt asks his mothers to borrow the car, but when they insist that he asks it in ancient Greek; he does so, and they say no. Citing his lack of ability to translate the word "seat belt" into ancient Greek, he sneaks the keys to the car and drives off with them anyhow. The car is a yellow 1986 Volvo 245 station wagon with mechanical issues. Peng turns on the car stereo, which is set to an NPR station and starts messing with it, and as he and Roosevelt fight over it, the knob breaks causing it to blare Josh Groban's cover of "You Raise Me Up" at full volume, thus making them appear uncool as they roll onto a street that's popular for kids who cruise with their cars at night. And to make matters worse, the car stalls right in front of the SUV driven by Mike Puglio the "Wedgie King" and his sidekick dressed like The Incredible Hulk. Both harass the four kids, until one of them bangs on the hood, causing it to start up again, giving them an opportunity to escape.
Across town, Fuzzy and Albert arrive at Lara's apartment building, and he climbs the building to throw toilet paper all over her apartment while Albert keeps lookout for the police, only to find that he not only threw it into the wrong apartment (Lara's was the one next to it), but he also accidentally set it on fire from some candles. The owners of the wrong apartment turn out to be a Samoan couple who begin to beat Fuzzy, but he manages to escape. During this time a police tow truck confiscates his car for parking in a tow-away zone, not noticing what's going on in the building, but not before Albert climbs in the back seat to retrieve his Halloween candy. Fuzzy tells Lara about Albert and how his car was towed away. She doesn't believe him, but goes along with it, anyhow. Wren suspects that Albert might be at a local Captain Chicken restaurant, a pirate-themed fast food chain that has a giant statue of a chicken with an eye-patch and a hook on one wing. Again they arrive just too late to find him, almost running him over while fleeing Mike Puglio before he is rescued by Denise, a young college girl dressed in a "Galaxy Scout" (a fictional anime character) costume and is invited to another party. The four kids ask the girl in the drive-thru window about Albert's whereabouts, but have no success. While leaving, they find their way out of the drive-thru blocked off by Puglio. Roosevelt tries to get away from the bullies, but instead he crashes the car into the statue of the chicken, which lands on the car and appears to be engaging in doggy-style sex with it. The whole incident embarrasses April to the point of tears, provoking Peng to get out of the car and challenge the bully to a duel. Initially, Puglio does not take the challenge seriously, believing the gun is not real until he fires it at him, blowing apart a chicken drumstick Puglio used as a mock weapon. The drive-thru girl calls the police, and Puglio and his friend flee the scene while April escapes. Police officers arrive and try to arrest the three of them, but they drive off only to find their patrol car covered with toilet paper.
Albert seems to be having a good time with Denise and her friends, until Jörgen crashes the party and takes some of his candy, throwing most of it on the ground, and tries to dance with the girls at the party, who throw him out. Remembering Fuzzy's description of Jörgen, Albert stows away in his convertible, just as Fuzzy and Lara arrive at the same party, which Lara wanted to attend. Denise and her friends tell them that they were partying with Albert, and Lara soon realizes Fuzzy was telling the truth, just before Jörgen throws Albert's Halloween pumpkin basket at Fuzzy, who suddenly spots Albert in the backseat of Jörgen's car, evidently with his own revenge plot. Wren, Roosevelt, and Peng drive off looking for both Albert and now April, who later calls from Aaron Riley's party with the false impression that she has found Albert. Wren, Roosevelt, and Peng arrive at the party, and for at least this night, the earlier duel gives Peng some level of social acceptance, whereas he had previously became convinced he and Roosevelt were pre-destined to be social outcasts. Wren calls the police to ask if Albert has been arrested, since he gets into a lot of mischief, but Albert was still out there. Later, April fulfills a promise she made earlier to Peng to let him touch her breasts. When he gets nervous about the chance to feel her up, she grabs his hand and puts it on one of them herself, but still tries to conceal her own desire for him by slapping his face in case anybody saw them together.
Seeking to escape Keevin and the party, Joy tries to find the bathroom and unexpectedly stumbles upon Brueder's parents. All three share a cup of tea, and Joy tearfully confesses that she's dating their son's friend not only to compensate for the loss of her husband, but also the potential loss of her daughter to college and her son to silence. Eventually she leaves the party and returns home, discovering the children are not home. Jörgen arrives at his home, unaware that Albert stowed away in his car. Soon after, Fuzzy arrives, and he and Albert hatch a plan to get revenge on Jörgen by leaving a flaming bag of dog feces and fireworks on his front porch. When Jörgen investigates what's going on, the bag explodes, hurting his foot. He spots Albert but not Fuzzy. Albert attempts to run away, but Jörgen catches him and locks him in his bedroom, leaving Fuzzy to come up with a rescue/revenge plan. Back at Aaron Riley's party, just as Roosevelt is about to confess his love for Wren, Aaron Riley sings a song dedicated to Wren, but she turns him down and tries to chase Roosevelt as he drives away in frustration. Just then Wren receives a phone call on her cell phone from Jörgen, who is holding Albert hostage at his house, and threatens to turn him over to the police for pulling the stunt with Fuzzy, unless she gives him $400 in cash, which she doesn't have. After Jörgen gives her his address, Wren desperately runs through the streets of Cleveland trying to find his house. Arriving there and telling Jörgen she doesn't have the money, he calls the police but puts them on hold when Wren finds out that he is a big fan of the Beastie Boys, and offers to give him the collectible jacket she inherited from her late father which was left behind by Mike D as a substitute for cash. Jörgen seems satisfied and takes it as a better offer, but he decides to turn them over to the police anyhow. Just then, Fuzzy breaks in to rescue the boy and his older sister, by throwing bricks and fireworks throughout the house. Jörgen is slightly injured in the explosion. Before the police arrive, Fuzzy strips down naked and runs off in order to divert attention from the two kids.
Wren and Albert visit the cemetery where their father is buried and place a plastic pumpkin with flowers on his grave. Albert thanks Wren for finding and rescuing him, just before their mother picks them up and drives them home. It is morning when they arrive home. Upon their arrival, they find Roosevelt trying to prevent Wren's mother from entering her house without the opportunity to profess his love for her, something which he was encouraged to do by his parents despite coming home with the Volvo severely damaged and confessing to them about the night's events. Meanwhile, April wakes up to find herself in the arms of Peng, and after looking around for witnesses decides to make out with him again. Fuzzy meets Denise, who asks him out on a date. Fuzzy also reveals that his real name is Manuel. Later, Albert reveals that he secretly has been pulling prank phone calls on both his mother, sister, and his sister's friend for six months, which includes the uploading of a video to Wren's Facebook page, making fun of Wren's bug dance and "explaining rap" that she did during the period of Riley's invitation. | romantic | train | wikipedia | I watched this movie on demand, and although there was some flaws, I thought it was very good, for reference, I'm 17 years old.The story covers Wren, played by Victoria Justice, trying to find her trouble-making, prankster brother on Halloween.There was a few cliché's, but I found them very easy to overlook, especially when you consider the fact that the cliché's are just sub-plots.A lot of people are complaining that Nickeloden made a movie that isn't family friendly, but this wasn't the first time Nickeloden did this (Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging!!) so I didn't have a problem with this film being produced by Nickeloden and I honestly don't see why other people do.I found this movie VERY funny and the main characters very compelling, Jane Levy's character is probably one of my favourite supporting character's in a comedy film at the moment.Overall I enjoyed this movie for the overall atmosphere and give it a 7/10..
A teenage girl and her best friend want to attend the Halloween party with the cool kids, but are stuck trick-or-treating with her little brother.
Victoria Justice, who plays the girl, is pretty and likable enough, but that is not enough to make this movie fun to watch..
Thomas Middleditch & Thomas Mann play charming characters, Victoria Justice and Jane Levy are likewise talented actors who tried their best to bring lukewarm material to life.
The company's penchant for bottom-brow humour, borderline-insulting stereotypes and colourful sets over a competent plot again rears its disfigured head with Fun Size: a film so utterly contrived that even its target market of bright-eyed tweens may begin to question Mum and Dad's sanity in stringing them along.The film follows socially awkward teen Wren's (Victoria Justice) efforts to help her single mom (Chelsea Handler) take care of hell-raising baby brother Albert (Jackson Nicoll).
When Wren has to babysit him during Halloween, Albert creates his own adventure, forcing his sister to band with the local nerd patrol and bring him back home safely.
It's Halloween and Wren (Victoria Justice) just wants to party with her best friend (Jane Levy).
"Doug" and "Rugrats" soon gave way to "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "The Wild Thornberrys."The channel briefly redeemed itself with the Japanese Anime'-inspired animated fantasy-adventure series "Avatar: The Last Airbender" (and later its follow-up, "The Legend of Korra").In more recent years, however, Nickelodeon seems to be catering almost exclusively to the demands of teenagers, with shows like "iCarly," "Zoey 101," and "Victorious" ruling the airwaves; I actually really liked "iCarly" and "Victorious" - before Nick unceremoniously canceled them.And this is how we arrived at this new film from Josh Schwartz - the creator of "The O.C." and "Gossip Girl" who makes his directorial debut here, while working from Max Werner's screenplay.
"Fun Size" takes equal bits of classic teen flicks such as "Sixteen Candles" (1984) and "Adventures in Babysitting" (1987).
Whipsmart high school geeky nobody Wren (Victoria Justice, of the aforementioned "Victorious") gets invited to a Halloween-night bash headed by the hunky Aaron Riley (Thomas McDonnell), who has a habit of dressing up as the lead character from his favorite movies, in this case Johnny Depp's Capt.
Jack Sparrow from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film series.Her plans get sidetracked when her cradle-robbing widowed mother Joy (Chelsea Handler) gets invited to a grown-ups-only Halloween party of her own by her current immature man-boy obsession Keevin (John Pence).
This means that Wren must now babysit her eight-year-old younger brother Albert (Jackson Nicoll), who hasn't spoken a single word in almost year, ever since the death of their father.
But also like their father, Albert still maintains a strong penchant for crude pranks and general raising hell whenever the opportunity presents itself.Things get complicated when trick-or-treating during the course of the night, Albert winds up missing (thus becoming the unlikely companion of a slightly miffed convenience store clerk named Fuzzy - played by Thomas Middleditch - on his Halloween-night quest of vengeance against his ex-girlfriend and her new boy-toy) and it's up to Wren, her best friend April (Jane Levy) and two nerdy classmates - Roosevelt (Thomas Mann, of "Project X") and Peng (Osric Chau) - to track him down and get him back home before her mother finds out.
The story's central emotional tussle is Wren realizing her mutual attraction to her nerdy, E.O. Wilson-obsessed classmate Roosevelt - who actually understands her lousy jokes about not only biologist E.O. Wilson, but also Ruth Bader Ginsberg - rather than the hunky Aaron Riley."Fun Size" offers a nice performance from Victoria Justice as the high-strung, improbably gorgeous nerdy-girl Wren.
But of course, it's young Jackson Nicoll who has the most fun as Albert, the Tasmanian Devil eight-year-old kid from hell.
And then there's comedienne Chelsea Handler's Halloween get-up as a "Hit Me Baby One More Time"-era Britney Spears, attire she wears out of profound grief for the death of her husband.Lastly, there's also a nice twist near the end of the picture involving, all else, the Beastie Boys, from their "Licensed to Ill" era back in the mid-'80s."Fun Size" is 86 minutes of pure fun, fun, fun!8/10.
However, he goes missing and she has to set out with her nerd friends to find him...wow, that is a bland plot.I have to admit, I didn't admire the idea of watching it judging from the trailer, but my friends wanted to see it, so I decided to give it a shot...what a dreadful mistake that was.I must have slept through most of the movie, as I can't really remember what happened, but I was jumping for joy in my seat when it finished.
This is a plain, dim-witted, over-the-top and rarely funny film, which has an uninteresting storyline, stereotypical characters (the glamorous girls who fall in love with hot boys and the nerds with big glasses and rabbit teeth) and gross jokes (gross as in reference to sexual acts).The film is clearly aimed at young teenage girls, (it certainly didn't hit me)and is good for the drama queens..
Thomas Mann, playing Roosevelt, shows off nerdy without overkill, and makes the audience root for him as the movie goes on.
Not Fun At All. I must first clarify that I like this kind of movies, is not a difficult formula to work, the popular and the losers young or teenagers, familiar faces or trendy, funny and absurd situations, etc.
In the case of "Fun Size" which reminded me of "License to Drive" despite having known faces such as Victoria Justice, Chelsea Handler and Johnny Knoxville, nothing seems to work.It is one of the least funny comedy movies I've ever seen, I didn't get a laugh or even a smile, the characters are recycled, pretentious and soulless.
It even looks at the mother who now finds her life at a loose end.But of course this movie is mostly about fun!
movie was bad bad story bad writing bad acting bad talking i do not know how to spell the other that,s why i said talking bad jokes a little boy gets kidnapped by Cubans,s that sounds funny doesn't it and of course the car crash were no one is hurt that is just stupid oh my god it is boring if no one gets hurt think people think for god sake wheres the mom where is the mom oh of course having good times with Cubans real good parting there leaving your kids alone and the award goes to the jokes and what joke you ask this one fart thats the funniest joke in this movie god save me take me away from this movie pretty please.
And I was disappointed that Victoria justice contributed to this movie, I have always liked the characters she has played but this one was not good and 20 minutes in we did not allow our daughter to watch anymore.
I am a huge Victoria Justice fan.Just a fun movie from beginning to end.
Everyone in the cast did a great job and there were some really fun cameos from stars like Abby Elliot, Johnny Knoxville, and singer Carly Rae Jepsen.Also, if you are a Beastie Boys fan you seriously don't want to miss this movie.
I knew from the first 10-15 minutes that this was going to be mind-numbingly stupid, and even my sister agreed upon the film's conclusion that it just wasn't very good at all.For a basic plot summary, "Fun Size" sees teenage Wren (Victoria Justice) and her crazier friend April (Jane Levy) forced to babysit her younger brother Albert (Jackson Nicoll) on Halloween night instead of going to the "cool kids" party.
'Fun Size' is in the mold of movies like 'Adventures in Babysitting', and though it dusts off all of the old genre tropes, it does so with a likable enough charm.In typical Hollywood fashion we're supposed to believe that girls who look like Victoria Justice and Jane Levy are unpopular, but both young actresses are talented enough to pull off their somewhat dorky characters and make us forget--for 90 minutes at least--that they're drop dead beautiful.
But it's young Jackson Nicoll (of 'Bad Grandpa' fame) as little brother Albert who steals the show.Not really funny so much as amusing, 'Fun Size' is an entertaining, if disposable, little treat..
"Fun Size", which marks the directorial debut of Josh Schwartz (co-creator of "Chuck", "The O.C." and "Gossip Girl"), is a spunky and good-natured teenage comedy.
It's kind of shocking, of course, to see certain moments that are happening in a PG-13 film released by Nickelodeon Movies (the amount of swearing like three uses of the S-word and of the word that rhymes with "witch", farting jokes and sexual innuendo will help you determine that if it's safe for your kids or not).
Unlike Jonah Hill's "The Sitter", "Fun Size" gets that "Adventures in Babysitting" feel just right, although it would've worked better as a film released by MTV instead of Nickelodeon.
She wants to go to NYU, has an annoying, but likable, 8-year-old brother, Albert (Jackson Nicoll) and a single mom (an appropriately toned-down Chelsea Handler) who "shops at Forever 21" and is dating a boringly dumb model named Keevin (Josh Pence).
But she likes having friends around with April ("Suburgatory"'s Jane Levy), who is desperate to be in the popular crowd and Roosevelt (Thomas Mann from "Project X"), the nerdy but smart kid who is co-captain of the debate team.
When she gets invited to a party run by Aaron Riley (Thomas McDonell), the popular kid in school on Halloween, her plans gets thrown out the window when her mom (dressed up in her Britney Spears getup) ditches the kids to party with Keevin and leaving Wren (dressed up as Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz") to go trick-or-treating with Albert.
"Fun Size" is definitely a good movie, but has some flaws in there.
The flaws I know are that Schwartz and screenwriter Max Werner tries too hard to make some of the gags work, however I did laugh at a lot of things (Albert using the toilet while his sister is in the shower, Albert dancing with his iconic heroine, Galaxy Scout (Riki Lindhomme), Peng taking on a high school bully with an antique period pistol and the iconic moment in which a giant chicken mascot from a restaurant humps a car that belongs to Roosevelt's mothers).
But no matter, I thought that Victoria Justice and Thomas Mann were charming and Chelsea Handler was incredible, but the scene-stealers are Jackson Nicoll, Thomas Middleditch and Ana Gasteyer & Kerri Kenney as Roosevelt's lesbian "Moms".
Just in time for Halloween, Fun Size offers a storyline that will appeal to a teen audience.
This movie will make Halloween more fun with Teenagers.
This comedy movie is about a senior in high school name Wren (Victoria Justice) and her mom Joy (Chelsea Handler) and her brother Albert (Jackson Nicoll).
Wren's mother, Joy, wanted her to babysit her little brother Albert on Halloween night.
The adventure begins when Wren and her best friend April, Peng and Roosevelt begins their search for little Albert.
Nickelodeon Movies made a gamble with Fun Size which, while it wasn't as successful as I'm sure they wanted it to be, has nonetheless made the company seem like more risk-takers than, I believe, the public thought they were.
There have been a number of films banking off their own characters, but Nickelodeon Movies doesn't play it safe when it comes to making family comedies or dramas.
This is, yes, another entry in the tired genre I call, "maximum antics, minimum laughter," a film that has so many different setups and quirky events that it forgets to make them funny and entertaining.Our story concerns unpopular high school teen Wren DeSantis (Victoria Justice - take one look at her and you know that in no American high school would she be unpopular), who lives with her irresponsible mother (Chelsea Handler) and her psychotic deviant of a brother named Albert (Jackson Nicoll) in a classic suburbia setting.
That sweet-talk the hell out of their nerdy classmates Roosevelt (Thomas Mann) and Peng (Osric Chau) to give them a ride to help them look all over town to find the little tike and, as you imagine, trouble of unprecedented caliber ensues.Victoria Justice, who is gifted here as a conflicted teenager, has unfortunately been placed in the center of the mediocre teen-sitcom Victorious, which airs daily on Nickelodeon.
One thing Fun Size capitalizes off of is cursing, which for a Nickelodeon-billed movie, is quite an accomplishment.
It's definitely significant, and provides the film with a bit more realism with the way teenagers talk and communicate than shows like Victorious or movies like Prom willfully neglect.
Wren's friend April, another self-indulgent character, only upset about the fact that she is missing the party being thrown by the hottest kid in school, is not even remotely likable, either, and Roosevelt and Peng are simply love-interests and helpful nerds that come in the nick of time.This is director Josh Schwartz's first motion picture after quite a resume of primetime cable programs, none of which I've seen.
Much like Prom, there's a strange lack of a demographic here, that always seems to young or too old.Fun Size, also, features one of the most immature, juvenile, and off-putting movie endings in quite sometime, which shows the darkside of Albert, as if his personality already wasn't dark enough.
"Fun Size" is a fun movie if you are a kid or a young teenager.
However, the fun starts to wear off once you get out of your teens and watch this movie.
Yeah, this is first and foremost a movie for the younger audience.The story is about Wren (played by Victoria Justice) whose Halloween plans becomes complicated and the evening turns out entirely different from what she had planned.
Not only doesn't she get to hang out with the cool guy from school at a party, but she also loses her younger brother and end up having to run from two bullies chasing her and her friends in their car.Overall, then for a young audience, then "Fun Size" does have its laughs and moments.
Lots of good chemistry between the various people and their characters.Fun for those younger viewers, and I am sure that this is something great to watch for that particular age group.
I thought it was an horror comedy movie but it is really a comedy.I started laughing in the beginning and the best character is Albert, the 8 years old boy that needs to be babysitted because his widow mother has a party with her new 26 year old boyfriend.The nerds are great, specially the jap/korean/oriental guy, I do not know where he comes from.The scene in the chicken fast food is hilarious.Maybe everybody was expecting a more sexual content like in the OC but the director delivered very well.
It has lost some timing near the end but the last scene with Albert made me give this movie an 8..
My guess is they needed a reason for the mother to be leaving the house for the night.)To summarize, there were some pretty funny moments, but as a movie, it's below average at best.
Fun Size (2012): Dir: Josh Schwartz / Cast: Victoria Justice, Jane Levy, Chelsea Handler, Thomas Mann, Jackson Niccol: Perhaps the title references the young kid that runs about throughout in a Spider-Man costume on Halloween night but it doesn't matter.
I think a strong director with a good sense of who the audience was for this movie could have made a little bit better film..
Victoria Justice is a likable enough actress, and a good comedienne to boot, so I was intrigued to see whether she'd be able to make the transfer from TV shows, to headlining a film, albeit a teen one.Will her character Wren be able to find her brother who has gone AWOL?
Teenager Wren (Victoria Justice) had been looking forward to going with best friend and social climber April (Jane Levy) to the Halloween party at the hot guy's house.
She is therefore devastated when Mom (Chelsea Handler) lands her with taking younger brother Albert (Jackson Nicoll) trick or treating so that Mom, dressed inappropriately as Britney Spears as schoolgirl, can go on Halloween party date with hot young stud Keevan, her first date after being widowed.
I think that it tries very hard to capture those classic teen romp films like Adventures in Babysitting and John Hughes films however, sadly I think Fun Size doesn't quite hit that level of intelligence.
You'll enjoy the sheer silliness of it.Nickelodeon starlet Victoria Justice is very good in the lead role of Wren.
The film is about: a teen-aged nerd girl growing up, thinking about college, boys, school.The film is about: a single mother's attempt to have romance with two kids on hand.The film is about: losing a pudgy, mischievous, pre-school aged boy on Halloween night, then trying to find him.How well do these themes fit together?Joy is going to a party with Keevin, so she assigns Albert to Wren. |
tt0363473 | Beyond the Sea | Rather than providing a straightforward biography, the film weaves fantasy sequences with scenes containing somewhat fictionalized accounts of events in Darin's life, and throughout it, the adult singer interacts with his younger self. It chronicles his determination to rise from his working class roots as Walden Robert Cassotto, a frail Bronx boy plagued by multiple bouts of rheumatic fever, and become a singer more famous than Frank Sinatra. To achieve that goal, he forms a band and struggles to find gigs at any nightclub that will hire him.
His agent gets Darin a recording contract with Atlantic Records, where the singer enjoys teen idol success with "Splish Splash". Not wanting to limit his appeal to rock and roll audiences, he changes his niche to big band singing and records major hits, such as "Mack the Knife." To capitalize on his popularity with teenage and young adult audiences, Darin is cast in Come September opposite Sandra Dee. He falls in love with the eighteen-year-old actress and, determined to marry her, he romantically seduces and enchants her with songs like "Beyond the Sea" and "Dream Lover." The two elope, angering her mother. Darin finally realizes his own mother's dream when he is signed to appear at the famed Copacabana nightclub in Manhattan.
As success takes him on the road and away from home, Dee begins to drink heavily, and the couple fights frequently. Eventually they separate, then reconcile. She gives birth to a son, Dodd. To his actress wife's chagrin, Darin is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a shell shocked soldier in Captain Newman, M.D..
In the late 1960s, Darin becomes involved in the campaign to elect Robert F. Kennedy for President and contemplates a political career of his own. His sister Nina, knowing his past will be investigated closely if Bobby opts to enter the political arena, shocks him with the news his beloved mother actually was his grandmother and he is Nina's illegitimate child, the son of a father she cannot identify.
Devastated, Darin becomes a recluse living in a trailer on the Big Sur coast in California. He finds himself out of step with changing music trends, and when he tries to adapt by incorporating folk music and protest songs into his repertoire, he finds himself rejected by the audience that once embraced him. Undaunted, he stages a show, complete with a gospel choir, at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, and against all odds it is a huge success.
But his triumph is short-lived. Suffering from blood poisoning following surgery to repair his mechanical heart valve, Darin is rushed to the hospital, where he dies at the age of thirty-seven. Following his death, he meets the younger counterpart of himself once again, and the two duet with "As Long As I'm Singing." | romantic, flashback | train | wikipedia | I'm mentioning this because I realize it's impossible for me to be completely objective about the movie, feeling about its subject as strongly as I do; I think that anyone who loved Bobby Darin cannot be thoroughly objective regarding Spacey's film.That having been said, I can tell you that I was profoundly affected by Beyond The Sea. Spacey lives up to his surname in spades with this project, by tossing out all the 'normal' bio-pic story-telling tools, instead resorting to a spaced-out show biz fantasy-type structure which does work because Bobby himself did use his career as an antidote against the reality of his ever-failing health and inevitable early death - his overwhelming drive and beyond-intense focus stemmed from the fact that he knew he had only so much time to do anything with his life; this is what made him so great on stage, and this immediacy and strength of purpose is conveyed brilliantly in the movie not through the usual talking and explaining sequences but rather through Darin's actions.
All untrue.The clever way in which he stages the film acknowledges the fact that he knows he's chronologically older than the perfect age to play this part, and he sings the songs himself because he CAN - his voice is more than serviceable; in fact when I saw the trailer for the first time a few months back and heard him singing Mack The Knife I was in the theatre telling the person I'd come with "That's Bobby, that can't possibly be Kevin Spacey" - this from a person who has listened to Darin's recording of that song literally hundreds and hundreds of times.The thing that is most interesting about the negative criticism is the one about this being a vanity project for Spacey; his desire and enthusiasm to share his feeling for Darin via this project is being interpreted as an ego trip, when in reality it's an unabashed and pure labor of love.
It's only in the close-ups that I was reminded it wasn't actually Bobby on the screen, and in the later scenes, when he becomes politically aware, grows the mustache and bills himself as Bob Darin, Spacey looks like him even in the close-ups.By the end of the film, I found myself feeling profoundly moved by what I was experiencing, even though, oddly enough, I didn't feel up to that point that the film was particularly profound, and so my reaction was very surprising to me.
-=-END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER I want to include this: the person I saw the film with hadn't been a fan of Bobby's the way I had for years, and I asked her after we'd left the theatre if she'd felt moved by what she'd experienced - I was trying to get a more objective idea how the movie would play to someone who wasn't so emotionally connected to the material.
She said that after seeing it, she wanted to know more about Bobby, how she'd had no idea what he'd gone through in his life and how she felt tremendous compassion and respect for him.Spacey has said that his motivation in doing the movie was to remind people who hardly remembered him what a monumental talent Bobby Darin was, and to hopefully introduce a new generation to the man.
I've been a big fan of Bobby Darin's music for decades, particularly his renditions of standards and I have to agree with Gene Shalit on this, Kevin Spacey nails as best he can, without plastic surgery the late great singer.
For the rest of us, "Beyond the Sea" is a delight.I read critics who said Kevin Spacey is too old to pull off a 20-something Bobby Darin.
His singing, acting, dancing were awesome, and it's a performance that should not be short-changed in this year's awards' season (although I fear it might be overlooked).Kate Blodgett, too, did a great job of portraying Sandra Dee (but I wish they had kept her hairstyles more true to Sandra Dee of the 1960's).My only disappointment is that so many important details about Bobby Darin's life were quickly glossed over or totally omitted.
It was quite obvious in the way this movie was written, acted, and so beautifully directed that Kevin Spacey really likes Bobby Darin.
If you can overcome what I can't, you will enjoy Beyond the Sea: Kevin Spacey is too old to play Bobby Darin, the 50's pop singer who died from long-term effects of rheumatic heart at 37.
As John Irving said in "My Movie Business" about the choice of actors, "Looks do count." Although others have criticized Beyond the Sea as a Spacey vanity project, I found his performance believable and engaging with style appropriate to the best lounge singers of the time (Sinatra included) and spot-on perfect for Darin, if not better than the original.
I've heard Spacey is touring with his band to promote this biopic; I'd go just to enjoy Spacey as a gifted singer.The only moments to get past the many Darin songs and into his life are those centering on the influence of his "mother" (Brenda Blethyn, "Secrets and Lies") and his marriage to Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth).
Spacey doesn't take himself as seriously as critics do (witness an early scene where in the framing device of Darin filming his own life, he is accused of being too old to play himself).The conjunction of subject and biographer is challenging at best.
Paul Murray Kendall in "The Art of Biography" says, "On the trail of another man, the biographer must put up with finding himself at every turn: any biography uneasily shelters an autobiography within it." In that sense, Beyond the Sea is as much about Kevin Spacey as it is Bonny Darin.This biopic ranks third next to Ray and De-Lovely; in another less-full year, it would be the best..
Beyond The Sea - the movie: It all kicks off when Bobby Darin (Spacey) enters the stage and sings "Mack The Knife".
I don't know anything about him and I don't want to know, because when I watch "Beyond The Sea" it's not Kevin Spacey I see - but Bobby Darin..
Watching Kevin Spacey's new film musical biography about the life of Bobby Darin, "Beyond the Sea", I couldn't help but think of the great film critic, Pauline Kael's assessment of Diana Ross in the film version of the 70's Black retelling of "The Wizard of Oz", "The Wiz".
But having directed as well as co-produced, co-written, starred and done all of his own singing, one cannot escape that "Beyond the Sea" is ultimately much about Spacey as it is Bobby Darin;in the same manner that "Citizen Kane" is about Orson Welles as William Randolph Heart or, a.k.a. Charles Foster Kane.
And both, clearly, know how to sing.Owing some stylish influence to Fosse's "All That Jazz" and even Coppola's "One From the Heart", "Beyond the Sea" shows off Spacey's strong grasp of cinematic story telling moving between surrealism and reality, and his even stronger vocalizing ability in sounding about as close to Darin as you could expect.
In the second, he portrays a rheumatic singer who defied doctors and male-pattern baldness to become a star.Although the film flicks back and forth between the two modes, they never gel as one seamless story, which is a problem for a biopic of a man whose life contained only a handful of interesting events.It doesn't help that Spacey's Darin interrupts the plot every so often by stepping back from the narrative and discussing the film with his younger self.
Beyond my wildest dreams did I think that respected actor Kevin Spacey had such a spectacular voice singing Bobby Darin songs in the Darin bio flick "Beyond The Sea".
Some people don't like it because: Yes, Kevin Spacey looks his age throughout the film, and is too young to play Bobby Darin in the first place, and, yes, not all of the film is factual.
Kevin Spacey might not be able to fool anyone that he is Bobby Darin, but he can sing and dance as well as anyone I've ever seen!
He had it all.Although some parts of the movie are a little strange like some of the random dance sequences, it it tied nicely together with the making of a movie and how he interacts with the memory of his childhood.What Spacey has given us is an enjoyable film that tells a story of a man once considered to be the greatest singer in the world.
The film has some wonderful moments, terrific musical numbers, an unrecognizable and very funny Greta Scacchi as Sandra Dee's mother, but it would have been such a great, intelligent move,on Mr Spacey's part to keep himself behind the camera and find the perfect Bobby Darin to nurture the legend.
The fact that "Beyond The Sea" is mostly a musical tribute rather than a traditional biography suggests a lack of substantive material on which to base a two hour movie.The film's complex structure is unusual, in that the adult Darin (Kevin Spacey) talks with himself as a child (William Ullrich) and the two of them, via flashbacks and fantasy, direct a movie about the adult's life.
"Beyond the Sea" is Kevin Spacey's musical biography of Bobby Darin's life.
Everyone should set aside some time to go see this movie, we spent a year helping Kevin make this film which he has truly put his heart and soul into, never have we worked with such a dedicated actor/director who has had so much passion for his project.
I left wanting to dig out my old Bobby Darin LPs. Once again, Kevin Spacey has proven what a talented, versatile entertainer he is and now what a wonderful director he is.
I like Kevin Spacey as an actor and he does a very good job of bringing out the person in the Darin character.
From the movie one would think that they never divorced, and that they were separated for only a brief period while Darin moved to an isolated spot and lived in a trailer in an effort to discover himself.I was shocked when I first heard that Kevin Spacey was going to play Bobby Darin.
The movie made me laugh and cry, but in such a way that it brought such a joy in knowing we were blessed to have known a talent as Bobby Darin and to know a talent as Kevin Spacey.
It's not merely that liberties are taken with the facts of Darin's life (standard in movies), that the narrative itself is hardly straightforward, or even that the film is almost all-Spacey, all the time (he sings!
Mr. Spacey would have been better off letting someone else direct the film, so he could concentrate on Bobby Darin."Beyond the Sea" feels, at time, like a soap opera where horrible revelations come out, as a matter of course.
As I sit here writing this on a Sunday afternoon, I am listening to the soundtrack of "Beyond the Sea, Kevin Spacey" sings Bobby Darin.
The song is "Once Upon a Time" and perhaps that is appropriate for this review.My short term memory is recalling the movie Agnes and I saw yesterday and how she reached across the armrest separating us and took my hand, the kiss we shared in the car following the movie, the "different" feel of each other last night, and an early morning dance in our bedroom this morning as we listened to Spacey and his version of the song "Beyond the Sea."Yes, Beyond the Sea was that kind of movie.My long term memory goes back those days in the '60's of first date, first kiss, embarrassing and awkward moments, the war, and so much more."Beyond the Sea" was that kind of movie.Even before this movie was released, the critics railed that Kevin Spacey past 40 was playing the part of a man whose successful period came in his mid 20's and that the film would probably not depict the true story of pop idol Bobby Darin.Spacey succinctly blew put them down in the first 10 minutes of the movie.
Kevin Spacey wrote, produced, directed, starred, danced, and sang his way through two decades of the life of a singer who wanted to be bigger than Frank Sinatra.Kate Boshert captured the essence of the time, innocent, naïve, and a young teenage boy's dream.Finally, I won't give away the ending but as you would expect a singer dying young in 1973, the movie would end on a somber note, but
just go see it.
Many of the initial scenes could have presented the audience with more facts, helping them to empathize, or at least care about who Bobby Darin was, what kind of life he led.Kate Bosworth looks cute, and is believable as Sandra Dee, a woman who probably was more enmeshed in Hollywood than she ever wanted to be.
I enjoyed the humor in the movie.At times, the age difference between Spacey and Bobby were too evident.I thought Kevin Spacey did a nice job, and his voice sounded good.I thought the way that they ended the film could be better and more dramatic.If you were a teen or young adult during this time, you should enjoy the movie.
I was concerned that Kevin Spacey was too old to play the young Bobby, but I was wrong, I felt that he did more than a passable job at capturing the essence of Darin at all ages.
I would have liked some original Bobby Darin recordings for the lead in to the movie and as the credits rolled, but Spacey did a great job with the vocals and I liked the concept with the young Bobby as part of the dying Bobby's imagination in how to film his life's story.
The performances of Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth and the kid who plays Bobby Darin at a younger age are Oscar-Worthy.
Kevin Spacey, a purported major fan of Bobby Darin goes all the way on this one, he produces, directs, acts, sings and dances, all fairly competently.
Others come off even worse.From watching "Beyond the Sea" one learns a whole lot more about Kevin Spacey than one does about Bobby Darin.
It was only at the end credits, once Spacey had already won me over and I was ready to delve into Bobby Darin's music, that I learned all the roles he had taken on the movie; director, writer, producer, singer, dancer and actor.
Kevin Spacey is very good as Darin, and so is Kate Bosworth as Sandra Dee. The film is worth seeing because of the interesting subject but it lacks a script that could make it more meaningful.
It is still a remarkable film and captures what a wonderfully talented person he was.Forget the fact that Kevin Spacey was too old to play Darin - he made the film possible in the first place and I doubt if any other (younger) actor could have pulled it off AND sang all his own songs.
I remember watching "If A Man Answers" with Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee - as a child - and thinking now upon the man that played Darin in this film, I can see him side-by-side with the real Sandra Dee.I believe Kevin Spacey is a paradox - how else is he able to transcend the present and go so easily back into the past.
I have known that Kevin Spacey was an incredible actor and have enjoyed his performances thru the years, but, this movie has to be by far the best.Who knew that he possessed a voice like that?
I don't care what anyone says about Kevin Spacey being too old to play the part of Bobby Darin.
First, as much as we like Kevin Spacey, who could do a movie about bubblegum and be good, we were skeptical about him playing a real person with the talent of Bobby Darin.
I didn't know a thing about Bobby Darin and his music so his story and everything I saw in the movie was completely new for me.
For this reason I can't say anything how fair it was to real life of Bobby Darin and all my comments are about the movie as a piece of art and Spacey's work both as director and actor.To begin with I liked it, actually liked very much from beginning to the end.
Kevin Spacey was very good and almost seemed to be bobby Darin..
Kevin Spacey was very good and came close to sounding and acting like Bobby Darin.
In a season peppered with the introduction of Oscar-contender-worthy films, a real candidate in those difficult to measure categories of Class and Risk is at hand: "Beyond The Sea" is solid fare, a meritorious work that was brought to fruition by a man impassioned with the life of an American original.Bobby Darin may not have been the most important entertainer of his time, but Kevin Spacey (dancer, singer, actor and director) makes us realize how intriguing Mr. Darin's story really was, and in the telling demonstrates why Spacey's own talent and interest is uniquely showcased.
Fun Beyond the Sea. Yes, Kevin Spacey appears somewhat too old as the young Bobby Darin.
Just terrible - Kevin Spacey is way too old to be playing Bobby Darin - he could have at least hired some decent make-up artists to try to make him look younger.
The scenes with "Sandra Dee" were just nauseating - such an old guy with such a young girl, when in fact Bobby Darin was not that much older than Ms Dee. I had a hard time trying to watch the movie because Spacey's age was such a distraction.
Kevin Spacey plays a spot on Bobby Darin with amazing singing and dancing.
Anyone who doesn't think that Kevin Spacey can sing, I challenge you to watch this movie and then listen to some live Bobby Darin.
The last mistake director/writer/producer/star Kevin Spacey makes in the stylish (and empty) 'Beyond The Sea' is not to play one more Bobby Darin song during the end credits.
I was a big Bobby Darin fan and Kevin Spacey did him justice and treated his life story with respect. |
tt0120430 | Vanishing Point | Jimmy Kowalski (Mortensen), a Gulf War veteran and former stock car racer, works as an automobile restorer and delivery driver at a shop in Idaho. He takes an assignment delivering a 1971 Plymouth Roadrunner to New Mexico, to pay his wife's mounting medical bills. While in New Mexico, he is offered another job: delivering a 426 Hemi-powered 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T to Salt Lake City, Utah. On the way, he's informed that his wife's already-difficult pregnancy has taken a turn for the worse, so he heads back home to Idaho, refusing to stop for police when flagged down for speeding.
An interstate chase develops. Throughout the rest of the journey he is pursued by a relentless Utah sheriff and an FBI agent who, while trying to make a name for himself and the organization after the incidents of Ruby Ridge and the Waco Siege, becomes convinced Kowalski is either running drugs or is a domestic terrorist. Kowalski is aided in his flight by a radio shock jock called "The Voice" (Priestley), a libertarian DJ with a Gadsden flag in his studio, who is constantly giving homilies on topics such as income taxes and government oppression. The Voice, intrigued by Kowalkski's run across country, sets out to find the truth about Kowalski. As he does so, he discovers the truth of Kowalski's "drug run" and that Kowalski is really rushing home to be with his wife during her now dangerous pregnancy.
Along the way, Kowalski runs into the desert where he gets lost, blows a tire, and spends the night on an Indian reservation. He finds his way back onto the road where he continues on his way to Idaho, tricking the FBI into going the opposite direction of his intended path. However, as the day rides on he falls asleep and drives into the salt flats. A woman on a motorcycle finds him just after he wakes up and informs him he has damaged his oil pan. He follows her to her hideout, where he meets her boyfriend, who is hiding from the IRS and is at first suspicious that Kowalski is from the government. After the girl and Kowalski convince the boyfriend that Kowalski is "one of them", the boyfriend offers to ride 30 miles to try to locate a replacement oil pan. He arrives back after successfully finding one but warns Kowalski that the roads and intersections are teeming with police and agents. After they help Kowalski fit the pan, the couple offers to help him with a plan to run a roadblock.
Kowalski successfully gets through the roadblock by having flashing police lights mounted on his roof and rushing at the roadblock; in the dimming light the police think Kowalski's vehicle is another police car and hurriedly let him through. However, an officer fires a shot at the retreating Challenger and blows out the rear screen. Afterward, Kowalski shuts off his headlights and vanishes into the woods, using night vision goggles he bought from the guy with the scanner. The police helicopter has infrared detectors, but Kowalski evades being seen by hiding the car under a large piece of tin. He awakens from a nightmare about his wife at 7:19 a.m., finds a phone booth, and calls the hospital, speaking to the same doctor as previously.
Kowalski then drives down the road to where the movie began. Upon seeing the roadblock, he stops where we first saw him in the beginning. A flashback reveals that his wife died at 7:19 a.m., from kidney failure. He then drives his car into the roadblock at full speed. An epilogue by "The Voice" reveals that although the authorities claim he died in the crash the body was never found, and some witnesses claim Kowalski bailed out just before the crash and escaped authorities with the help of sympathetic onlookers. A scenario is given whereby his former Mexican friend finds Kowalski's tags and shows he is now living in the wilderness with his newborn daughter. | romantic, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0036716 | Cobra Woman | The beautiful Tollea is abducted and taken to the Cobra Island, where the Queen is her grandmother. Hava warns the angered Ramu not to go after her, but Ramu sets sail for the forbidden island, with his young friend Kado accompanying him as a stowaway.
A panther attacks Ramu, who is saved by a dart from Kado's deadly blowgun. They continue the search for Tollea, unaware that the high priestess of the island is Naja, her twin sister. The queen has ordered Tollea to be forcibly returned to Cobra Island only so she can displace her evil sister.
Ramu mistakenly becomes mistakenly involved with Naja, who falls in love with him. Kado is captured and torturned by the brutal Martok, but refuses to reveal Ramu's whereabouts. Martok proceeds to murder the Queen.
When they finally meet, Naja attempts to kill her sister with a spear, but plunges to her own death instead. Martok insists that Tollea perform a forbidden cobra dance, whereupon the island's volcano begins to erupt. It ceases when Martok is killed by Hava, and when Ramu is about to return home, Tollea asks him to remain and help her rule Cobra Island. | cult, romantic | train | wikipedia | This immortal camp classic stars the sublime Maria Montez as twin sisters - one Good, one Evil.
(Uncharted this island may be, but every drag-queen in the world seems to go shopping there.) And lest we in the audience harbour any lingering doubts about her acting skills, she follows up every speech with the deathless words - "I HAVE SPOKEN!"The insipid good sister Tollea really is no match.
(Believe it or not, Jean Cocteau offered her the role of Death in his film Orpheus, but couldn't afford her fee!) Yet it's fascinating to see director Robert Siodmak sketching out the schizo psychology he would explore fully in films like The Spiral Staircase and The Dark Mirror.Appalling as much of it undoubtedly is, Cobra Woman may still be the greatest film of its kind...and if anyone can work out what 'kind' that is, please write and tell me..
Released in 1944, COBRA WOMAN was precisely the sort of escapist fare demanded by audiences seeking relief from the horrors of World War II--and over the years it has become something of a cult classic, a wild and riotous mixture of outrageous sets and costumes, ridiculous plot and dialogue, and faintly absurd performances.
If you are seeking a mindless romp with tremendous camp appeal, look no further: this film is the goods.Directed by Robert Siodmak, who go on to become a noted director of film noir, COBRA WOMAN concerns an innocent South Seas maiden (Maria Montez) who is to marry a sailor (Jon Hall)--but who is suddenly kidnapped and whisked off to Cobra Island, where she discovers she is actually the twin sister of the evil high priestess.
Can Maria, Jon, a half-naked Sabu, a heavily made-up Lon Chaney Junior, and sarong-wearing monkey overthrow the evil priestess and return the island to peace?
The best way to describe it is as pure Hollywood: costumes and sets are a truly wild mixture of Arabia, the ancient Aztecs, South America, Carmen Miranda's hats, Dorothy Lamour's sarong, and Joan Crawford's shoulder pads, and Cobra Island comes complete with a bad special-effects volcano just for good measure.The cast plays with a mixture of sincerity and inadequacy that is very entertaining.
Maria Montez was a great beauty of the era and she wears the brilliance of Technicolor like a second skin, and if she clearly wasn't known for either acting chops or dancing skills...
Might as well quote from the recent career article I wrote on MARIA MONTEZ, due for publication in CLASSIC IMAGES some time soon:"She began work in 1944 on a film requiring her to play twin sisters--usually a stretch for any actress but even more so for Maria Montez, whose acting ability had never really convinced anyone except diehard fans that she was up to performing solo.
Nevertheless, she took it as a challenge to do "Cobra Woman" ('44) and ardent fans of the actress consider it their top "camp" favorite.She was so visible in "Cobra Woman" that it was impossible to ignore her still heavy accent, literally talking to herself on screen, as when she tells the Queen, "I have dee-cided to marry Martok and I dee-mand your consent." She played two opposite types, Naja, the evil Queen leading a tribe of snake worshippers, and Tollea, a simple, kind-hearted peasant girl.Only a few critics came to her rescue, one of whom was Lee Mortimer, N.Y. Daily Mirror: "If you were a producer with a cast of thousands, a corny tale, a stage-set volcano island, several reels of technicolor film and Miss Montez, what would you do?
Undress her in both, as much as the law and Will Hays allow, and let nature take its course." Others were more inclined to simply state: "It has every known variety of corn." (Alton Cook, N.Y. World Telegram) Still, the sight of Montez in a twin role (one good, one bad) writhing in a weird sort of belly dance to King Cobra, selecting subjects with a wave of her hand to be sent to their death by volcanic fire, is something to behold.
It was also noted that here her royal deportment was never on more display, strutting around her island domain with all of the natives at her beck and call.Despite the silliness of the script, it was directed (of all people) by Robert Siodmak, who would later demonstrate his skill in directing another actress in a more serious dual role at the same Universal studio--Olivia de Havilland in 'The Dark Mirror'.".
Fabulous performance by Maria Montez as good and evil twins with able support from Sabu, John Hall, and the old lady who plays Maria's grandmother.
There's little point in rehashing the plot, which centers on twins separated at birth: Tollea, a sweet native girl engaged to marry an American; and Naja, high-priestess of a snake cult that practices human sacrifice.
Supporting parts are taken by Jon Hall, Lon Chaney, Jr., Sabu and a loinclothed chimpanzee.A thickly-accented native of the Dominican Republic, Maria Montez plays, sensibly, both twins (giving Siodmak good practice for Olivia De Havilland's similar dual role in The Dark Mirror).
COBRA WOMAN (Universal, 1944), directed by Robert Siodmak, is the fourth Technicolor adventure pairing Maria Montez and Jon Hall, in not only their best known movie, but has been labeled a top "camp" favorite among Montez fans.
A statement to that affect was once said by actor Roddy McDowall in a TV interview back in the early 1990s on the American Movie Classics cable channel in an interview opposite host Professor Richard Brown.The story begins on the day of the marriage of Tollea (Maria Montez) to Ramu (Jon Hall).
Tollea is kidnapped by the Cobra people, a tribe of snake worshipers, and taken to Cobra Island where she learns from the Queen (Mary Nash) that she is actually the older twin sister of Princess Naja (Montez), the island's wicked High Priestess.
Ramu is accompanied by his young native friend, Kado (Sabu), who not only tries to help his friend out of trouble, but gets into trouble himself.While the accented Maria Montez assumes two roles, it appears that most of the footage in this 70 minute adventure goes to Indian boy, Sabu, along with his pet monkey, Koko, each adding some "comedy" relief to the plot.
Unlike most South Seas tales of jungle movies of that era, which find many of the central male characters wearing only loincloth, like Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan, for example, Sabu, as in many of his previous prime adventure films, including the timeless classics of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (UA, 1940) and THE JUNGLE BOOK (UA, 1942), appears bare-chested and wearing only a trim white bathing suit that might have been a rental from a Hollywood beach club.
Although a young man in his late teens or early 20s, Sabu's screen character appears more child-like, a role that might have been more suited possibly to a younger actor, particularly when he finds Ramu's love making Tollea a lot of nonsense.
Tree stand up, stretch little fellow") until he confesses.Special screen credit in the opening and closing cast list goes to Lon Chaney Jr., Universal's resident screen actor of horror, taking time off from playing The Wolf Man, Klaris, the living mummy, and character leads in six "Inner Sanctum" mysteries (1943-1945).
Hinds as Father Paul, who, in the opening of the story, relates the legend of Cobra Island; with Moroni Olson and Fritz Leiber appearing in smaller roles.Aside from the unheard of character names used in this screenplay, it's obvious that any movie like this cannot be taken seriously.
As for tropical romance, Hall and Montez even get to have an underwater kissing scene together - but which sister is he kissing?Yes, COBRA WOMAN all has these ingredients and more.
While the other Montez-Hall films have ceased airing on AMC, COBRA WOMAN has survived on that channel the longest.
Maria Montez (the queen of Camp) plays a pair of sisters, one good and one bad, who vie for control of a voodoo island.
and about as sophisticated as can be expected of any picture featuring a beautiful, wicked snake-priestess, human sacrifice into a volcano, good and evil twins separated in infancy, a gigantic mute assassin, a lost heir(ess), a cobra-worshipping cult and a pet ape wearing a skirt for decency!
There are a couple of suggestions that hint at something deeper: the idea that perhaps Tollea really ought to stay and improve life for her people instead of marrying her rescuer, for example (though the final outcome makes sense -- she was only ever herself a pawn in the hands of the would-be reformers, after all), and, despite the missionary upbringing of the main protagonists, an unexpected treatment of the cobra cult as a genuine religion, where offending the Powers can have consequences and people deserve to worship as they see fit.The special effects are rather better on the costume front than they are where dangerous items are concerned, although there is a brave attempt at showing an advancing lava front by merely illustrating its effects, which works surprisingly well.
Maria Montez plays a naive South Seas islander and a power-crazed priestess with aplomb and smoulders out of the screen (her snake dance in a scintillating costume is definitely a memorable scene).Jon Hall makes an engaging romantic lead, though the plot suggests that the character is perhaps more honest than bright: his approach is generally to walk straight into danger and hope that circumstances will work out in his favour.
"Cobra Woman" brought together two of Universal's biggest box office stars of the war years, Maria Montez and Lon Chaney, in a Technicolor extravaganza helmed by director Robert Siodmak, who proves better than his material by going at such a linear, fast paced clip that one simply goes along for the ride.
Chaney fans can only be disappointed however, for after starring in two of his greatest films, "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" and "Son of Dracula," he is sadly reduced here to a mute supporting role as Hava, powerful priest/bodyguard for Mary Nash's Queen, hoping that Tollea will save her people from the tyranny of evil twin sister Naja (both played by gorgeous Maria), whose immunity to the poisonous bite of the King Cobra makes her the all powerful ruler.
Of what I have got to see It was very interesting.I liked Maria Montez a lot a very exciting woman.
Anyone who calls the 40's Hollywood's "Golden Age" and bemoans that "they don't make movies like that any more" should see this, and realize that, for each "Casablanca", or "Gone with the Wind" made in the 40s, the same people made a dozen films like "COBRA WOMAN.
Even though this movie was somewhat kind of cheesy but the reason I was watch this movie cause I can't get enough of how beautiful Maria Montez is and it's too bad that she died at such a really young age cause she was the beautiful queen of technicolor.This movie is about Tollea and her fiance Ramu (Maria Montez and Jon Hall, respectivly) who are about to get married on their wedding day and Tollea is forced to go back home to her Cobra people to stop her cruel twin sister Naja's (also done by Maria Montez) wickedness and Ramu and his young buddy Kado (Sabu) go out and try to find her and Ramu mistook Naja as Tollea and as the Cobra law against strangers, they are executed and when the fire mountain gets angry, the people are sentenced to die without question.Overall if you love old cheesy technicolor movies then you should go watch this movie cause it is a clever way to spend 75 minutes of your time and it needs to be released on video and DVD, it's much better than watching most of today's junk.
It has what was well on the way to becoming Maria's "stock company" Jon Hall, Sabu and Turhan Bey (except Cobra Woman was without Turhan Bey).
Mary Nash plays, I think, the high-priestess of the Cobra Temple or maybe even Maria's nanny(it's been a while since I saw it and it's not available on VHS or DVD so you must depend on the very occasional TV showings to catch it)with her very best Maria Ouspenskaya (the slowest taking woman on the screen...by the time she finished you either forget what she was talking about or no longer cared!).
Spurred on by the success of ARABIAN NIGHTS (1942; see my comments below), Universal reteamed its star trio of Jon Hall, Maria Montez and Sabu (but also villainous Edgar Barrier) in a handful of other exotic adventure pictures with this one, directed by German stylist Robert Siodmak, being the best-known.
The latter had just scored a success at the same studio with the atmospheric SON OF Dracula (1943) where Lon Chaney Jr. had donned the proverbial vampire cape and he engaged the horror star yet again for COBRA WOMAN as the benign giant protector of the good Montez.
Jon Hall and Sabu are adventurers who reside in the mainland and, respectively, love and have befriended the good Montez (unaware of her royal lineage).
The evil sibling had been tyrannically ruling over her people with a decidedly unwelcome penchant for sacrificing a great number of her subjects to the Cobra god; this springs Chaney into action who (dressed as a blind, pipe-playing beggar) kidnaps the good Montez in order to replace the deadly queen.
These sequences which are aplently, despite the film's lean 71-minute duration, are both corny and embarrassing never more so than when the King Cobra (real for the close-ups and a fake and hilariously overgrown one for the long-shots) is carried in a golden platter to do the honors personally!; the rubber snake shots here are about as bad (perhaps even more so) than the similar ones in Fritz Lang's latter-day entry into the exotic sub-genre, THE Indian TOMB (1959).The film is extremely handsome to look at and reasonably entertaining while it's on but, in hindsight, could have been a lot better and thus rather unworthy of both its director and considerable reputation as a camp classic; the late British critic Leslie Halliwell hit the nail squarely on the head, then, with his memorable assessment of it "A monument of undiluted hokum"!.
The official synopsis for this film is upon discovering his fiancée Tollea (Maria Montez) has been kidnapped, Ramu (Jon Hall) and his friend Kado (Sabu) set out for a Pacific isle where all strangers are to be killed on arrival and the inhabitants, who are frequently sacrificed to an angry volcano god and worship the cobra.This film kicks off on an island where Ramu and Tollea are set to be married.
Ramu has to try to find Tollea and figure out what can be done to save those that live here.Now this is interesting as it is a lesser known Universal horror film.
Maria Montez, the star of the film, who plays twin sisters, is breathtaking, while her acting skills leave something to be desired.
Jon Hall is the male lead, and the performance by Mary Nash as the aging Queen is probably the best in the film..
Maria Montez plays twin sisters---one good, one evil---vying to be queen of Cobra Island, a dazzlingly lush tropical location.
Some think of Montez as the first method actress in the movies, which is to say that she took her roles so seriously that she was known to act as if she had 'become' her character even to the point of appearing off-screen in full costume and expecting to be treated as some sort of exotic royalty.
The twin sisters subject was much better applied on "Dark mirror" (1946) ,where there would be the good one and the villain again.And one should add that Olivia de Havilland is immensely superior to decorative Maria Montez.Man sails to Cobra Island (how subtle!) in search of his fiancé who disappeared just before the wedding.There he will meet a queen and two sisters,one of whom the high priestess of a Vulcano God.And she's making life hard for anyone!Too bad for the poor virgins she points out.This is comic strip quality .There are so many Siodmak movies better than that childish tale:"dark mirror" "phantom lady" "the killers" "pièges" "spiral staircase" etc etc etc...
Cobra Woman (1944) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Universal fantasy in Technicolor has more camp than any film from that era.
A bride to be (Maria Montez) is kidnapped and taken away to Cobra Island where her evil twin sister is.
During a private showing of "Arabian Nights", she stopped the film, turned to the executives and asked - "Isn't that the most beautiful woman you have ever laid eyes on!!" If Deanna Durbin singlehandedly saved Universal Studios during the 30s, Maria Montez ran a close second.
Her exotic Technicolor fantasies earned millions for Universal during the 40s.I don't know about being the most beautiful but she was extremely gorgeous and in "Cobra Woman", with its lush tropical settings, Technicolor and playing twins - one good, one evil - she had never been shown to better advantage.
peddler comes to the village just in time for the wedding of Ramu (Jon Hall) and the beautiful Tollea (Maria Montez).
Once again, Montez has Sabu and Jon Hall as co-stars, protecting the kindly older sister, while Lon Chaney Jr. is branded to protect evil.
Cobra Woman is the high camp epitome of Maria Montez's Technicolored career.
Cobra Woman he avers, offers "all that you desire in adventure and romance: the horror of masses trapped by King Cobra, the sinuous dance of the temple beauties in their waltz of the snakes; all the fabulous wonders and dangers of the tropics!" Plus Maria Montez, "more ravishing, more bewitching, more alluring!" Plus Jon Hall at his "dynamic best", "a rascally Sabu".
you're ahead of me here; one Naja, 'high priestess' of the island and one, Tollea, who wouldn't know a cobra from a decent screenplay. |
tt0116353 | Foxfire | Foxfire is narrated by Maddie Wirtz, a high school senior living a rather normal life in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. Maddie is in control of her life, with a boyfriend, as well as plans to go to art school. One day in science class, the students are watching the teacher Mr. Buttinger try to make Rita Faldes dissect a frog. A mysterious and beautiful leather jacket-clad "new student" stands up to Mr. Buttinger and releases Rita's frog. When Mr. Buttinger sentences them both to detention, the drifter reveals that she's not a new student after all and escapes through the same window as the frog.
Later, in the girls' restroom, the drifter and some other girls are listening to Rita describe Mr. Buttinger's untoward advances. When the drifter says the only way to stop the teacher is to stick together, the only girls to stay are Rita, Violet and Maddie. When detention time comes, Mr. Buttinger indeed begins his advances toward Rita, but is startled by Violet's entry. When Maddie and the drifter come in soon after, he realizes the situation is becoming serious. The girls confront the teacher about his abuse and they become involved in a physical altercation, which ends when the ordinarily shy Rita slams his face against a lab bench and tells him "if you ever put your hands on me again, I'm gonna snip your little nuts off with my toenail clippers." At this point Goldie Goldberg walks in, and joins the assault by declaring "this is great; Buttinger is such a fuck." The girls run from the school and then decide to go home.
At Maddie's house, Maddie is surprised by a knock at the window, which turns out to be the stranger from the earlier assault, there to return Maddie's dropped address book. The girl tells Maddie she's a drifter who got kicked out of school "for thinking for herself." Maddie agrees to let her sleep on the floor. The next morning, Maddie catches up with the girl on a bridge. The girl tells Maddie her name is "Legs" and brings Maddie's art supplies up onto the bridge. Maddie, who is afraid of heights, can't join her. A truck startles Legs, who drops the art portfolio over the edge of the bridge. Legs climbs over the edge of the bridge to retrieve the bag, which deeply impresses Maddie. As they part, Maddie tells Legs of an abandoned house up the river where Legs could stay.
At school, the girls are called in to the principal's office, where their claims of sexual harassment fall on deaf ears and they are suspended for three weeks. The girls are escorted off campus and Maddie is not allowed to retrieve her art school portfolio. Instead of going home with the news of their suspension, they all decide to go to the abandoned house up the river. There they meet Legs, who suggests they break into the school to get Maddie's portfolio.
The girls sneak into the high school through a vent and go into the art room. While the other girls are busy collecting Maddie's work, Goldie is put off by an unflattering Polaroid and moves into a side room to smoke a joint. She throws her match into a pile of oily rags, starting a fire and setting off the sprinklers. The girls have to escape the police who come to investigate and eventually reconvene at the house.
Back at the house, Legs decides to commemorate the night by giving herself a tattoo of a flame on her breast. One by one, the other girls ask Legs to give them the same tattoo.
This act dictates the final bond that ties the girls together. However, things start to go terribly wrong. First, Maddie is threatened by a group of jocks who dislike the idea of the girls reporting their abusive teacher, since he is also the coach of their football team.
During an attempt to "teach her" a lesson, she is rescued by the rest of the group and they steal Dana's (the main bully) car, with Legs driving. Eventually, after running into some cops on patrol, they continue their run after Legs refuses to stop, leading to an accident which in turn leads to Legs being put in a correctional facility. The girls continue on, but aren't as close-knit anymore.
Goldie gives in to the pressure and runs away from home. Maddie somehow finds her and brings her back to the abandoned house. After Legs gets out, she returns to the "hang out" and is shocked to see Goldie's state. She, together with Maddie, go to Goldie's (adoptive) parents home, demanding 10 grand for rehabilitation purposes for Goldie. When her father refuses, Legs threatens him with his own gun and takes him hostage in the house, where they tie him to a chair and pressure him for the money.
Goldie, oblivious to this, is startled to see her dad and calls out to him in surprise. This however, surprises Rita, who accidentally shoots Goldie's father in the chest. Chaos ensues, but the girls keep calm and decide to take him to the hospital. Rita drives the others, while Maddie and Legs stay back.
The scene toward the end of the film centers around Legs and her relationship with Maddie. Legs is done with her current circumstances and surroundings and is shown walking the highway again, looking for a ride. It is this same highway upon where Maddie almost lost her art portfolio. Maddie finds Legs and calls out to her in an attempt to make her stay. Legs is hesitant, but holds to her decision to leave. Upon Maddie's disappointment, Legs asks her to come along. After thinking for a while about her future, Maddie decides to stay but assures Legs that she will never forget her. Legs, hopeful that Maddie will choose to come along, is slightly overwhelmed, but understands and reciprocates, by telling Maddie she will always be in her heart.
As Legs boards a truck that stopped, Maddie watches it disappear down the road and walks over to climb the bridge (in the same way that Legs did, thus conquering her fear of heights. In a voice-over, we hear that Maddie has graduated high school, gotten accepted into art school, and traveled half way around the world, stopping at airports and bus stops along the way. She has not seen Legs again, but she meets the others once in a while and they get together to reminisce about the past. | revenge, queer | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0055312 | Pocketful of Miracles | Dave the Dude (Glenn Ford) is a successful, very superstitious New York City gangster who buys apples from street peddler Apple Annie (Bette Davis) to bring him good luck. On the eve of a very important meeting, he finds Annie terribly upset.
Annie, it turns out, has a daughter named Louise (Ann-Margret), who was sent to a school in Europe as a child, but is now a grown woman. Louise believes her mother to be wealthy socialite Mrs. E. Worthington Manville, and she is bringing her aristocratic fiancé Carlos and his father, Count Alfonso Romero (Arthur O'Connell), to meet her. Annie has been pretending that she resides in a luxurious hotel (writing her letters on stolen hotel stationery) and has Louise's letters mailed there, then intercepted by a friend and handed over to her.
Dave's good-hearted girlfriend Queenie Martin (Hope Lange) persuades him to help Annie continue her charade. Queenie takes on the task of transforming the derelict into a dowager. Dave arranges for cultured pool hustler "Judge" Henry G. Blake (Thomas Mitchell) to pose as Annie's husband. He installs her in an out-of-town friend's suite in the hotel, complete with Hudgins (Edward Everett Horton), his friend's butler.
When Dave keeps postponing a meeting with an extremely powerful gangster to help Annie, his right-hand man Joy Boy (Peter Falk) becomes increasingly exasperated. Dave manages to engineer a lavish reception with New York's mayor and governor as guests. Louise and her impressed future husband and father-in-law return to Europe, none the wiser about her mother's real identity. | dramatic, comedy | train | wikipedia | With "Pockeful Of Miracles" Frank Capra remakes his own "Lady For A Day" with Capraseque results - that means a mix bag with mostly delightful stuff in it - The major problem here is Glenn Ford, not as an actor but as a producer.
A collection of wonderful character actors: Thomas Mitchell, Ellen Corby and in particular Edward Everett Horton makes the whole thing a smashing pleasure.
Dave the Dude Conway (Glenn Ford) is a prominent gangster, who believes that Annie's apples are magic and brings `good luck' to him.
The cast, direction and screenplay are delightful and although being talkative and long, it is such a good film that the viewer does not feel the time passing.
Didn't even know who Bette Davis or Frank Capra were, but already loved the film.
Glenn Ford and the late Hope Lange in a comedy with Bette Davis taking a supporting role.
They even provide a husband for her-Thomas Mitchell!As if this isn't funny enough, we have Peter Falk, in a truly worthy Oscar nominated supporting performance, as Dave's sidekick who can't fathom what is going on.Edward Everett Horton is the butler who can't take bad endings.
The tough mobster (Glen Ford) believes Apple Annie's apples bring him daily good luck because she says, "God Bless You," to everyone who buys from her.All along Apple Annie's been writing her daughter on stationary from an upper-crusty city apartment complex, in order to pretend that she's a well-to-do lady.
When her daughter, Louise (Ann Margaret, in her film debut) writes that she's coming to the city with her potential fiancé', whose father is a Spanish count, Apple Annie's pretense is not only about to be exposed but it could ruin her only child's chance for marrying well enough so that she'll never live in poverty as her mother has.The rest of the story is fabulous: humorous, ingenious, well-casted, scripted and acted.
I can think only of three directors who were capable of blending drama and comedy in a way that makes you applaud after the film ends.Billy Wilder,his mentor Ernst Lubitsch and of course,Frank Capra.Pocketful of Miracles(1961)is Capra's final feature and he ended his glorious career in a truly miraculous fashion.I have read many reviews which pointed out many flaws of this film,but I have to disagree.There are many elements that make this film a true masterpiece.Firstly,the screenplay based upon the story by Robert Riskin and Damon Runyon is wonderful--it is filled with witty one-liners that make you laugh and cry,and it embodies the spirit of Broadway.It is wrong to say that this film doesn't make you think after seeing it-it is much more than just a morality story,with tastefully and artistically presented characters.Secondly,there is absolutely top-notch cast,most of the actors make truly memorable performances(except for Peter Mann,who was rather stiff).Glenn Ford is a fantastic,somewhat forgotten actor,who embodied Dave the Dude superbly.As a prominent gangster and bootlegger who has a thing for Annie's apples,he is simultaneously tough,ironic,charismatic,and incredibly charming in his obstinacy and tenacity.Bette Davis again demonstrates why she was considered the best actress ever.She masterfully portrayed the complex and nuanced character of an alcoholic beggar who controls the beggary on Broadway.She actually shows that even a beggar can be stylish.And the love she has for her daughter Louise-that's magical.Beautiful Hope Lange is great(as always)in the role of Dave's lover Queenie,who wants to move to Baltimore with him and have children.Her change of heart towards Annie is wonderful.The supporting cast is adorable.Peter Falk deserved an Oscar for his inspirational and truly funny portrayal of a distrustful gangster Joy Boy.Thomas Mitchell made his last performance as a pool-hall-junkie-judge who stands in for Annie's husband.And he did it exceptionally.Ann Margret makes her debut as Annie's loving daughter.The direction is flawless,as usual when Capra is in charge.All these elements should make this film an unforgettable experience,and not just a film you watch for fun(no classic film lover should watch films just for fun).
I agree that Lady for a day is a great,memorable film,special in many ways.But,the significance of Pocketful of Miracles should in no way be diminished on account of being a re-make.The sixties differ greatly from today,when irritating blockbusters,re-makes sequels and comic-book adaptations unfortunately prevail.Pocketful of Miracles is a must-see for any Capra lover,classic film lover in general,and for all the people who still believe in miracles.I'm one of them and I truly believe that both Hollywood and Europe will live again through the films who would touch the people over the mental age of three,if you know what I mean..
Bette Davis turns in a great performance as "Apple Annie".
The title highly appealed to me and how can one say no to a film with Frank Capra and Bette Davis?
Existing in a Damon Runyon universe this charmer has only the most ephemeral touch in common with the real world but is that necessarily what you watch a Frank Capra movie for?
And their final scene with them gathered on the jetty waving goodbye to "the daughter of Apple Annie with her Prince Charming" wasexcellent.As there are many stars and character actors involved in this brilliant film, as not to overlook the fine work of all of them, it is a giant thank you to the whole team!Another film that puts the word "Class" in classic!.
The film centers about Bette Davis , an old , ugly and poor woman called Annie on his own resources , she splits luck to a mobster played by Glenn Ford giving him apples .
Ford helps her and he sets up a masquerade for her daughter Louise - Ann Margret's first movie - , who has lived all her life in a Spanish convent, is coming to America and she goes to marry to a high class man and for him to believe than Bette/Annie is a countess .In the film there is a mingle of comedy , drama and humor , it's a very amusing movie .
Although this is not as good remake as ¨ Capra's Lady for a day ¨ , the former and early classic movie .
First-range acting , especially by main actors : Bette Davis , Glenn Ford , Hope Lange , Peter Falk , Ann Margret but the secondary actors are also excellent : Edward Everett Horton , Thomas Mitchell , Arthur O'Connell , among others .
Before Bette Davis accepted the role, Shirley Booth was Capra's first choice for boozy as well as brassy Apple Annie .
After Glenn Ford was cast he helped finance the movie through his production company and he asked his sweetheart Hope Lange as Queenie .
Frank Capra's final feature film is a remake of his earlier movie Lady for a Day, one of my favorite movies from the '30s.
This one has more well-known stars, Bette Davis and Glenn Ford, but isn't as good.
On the plus side, Peter Falk and Hope Lange are good in supporting parts, Ann-Margret is fine in her screen debut, and reliable vet Thomas Mitchell enjoyable as ever in his final film.
A bevy of stars highlight this silly film about a bootlegger Dave the Dude (Glen Ford) who is convinced that the apples he buys from Apple Annie (Bette Davis)-a street peddler- bring him luck.
His right hand man, Joy Boy (Peter Falk), gives an Academy Award Nominated performance, which, according to Frank Capra, was "a bright spot in this 'miserable film'"Annie's daughter Louise (Ann-Margaret), believing the lie that her mother is a well-to-do socialite, sends a letter that she is engaged to marry into royalty and is on her way to New York to introduce her intended and his father, a Count to her..
Glenn Ford and Bette Davis are both good and Peter Falk was nominated for best supporting actor.
like many of movies by Capra, Pocketful of Miracles is a superb fairy tale.
Frank Capra got out of the directing feature film business right after Pocketful of Miracles, creating a symmetry of sorts in his career because this is a remake of Lady for a Day, his first film to garner any kind of award nominations.
I still remember seeing it and enjoying it as a lad.Originally Frank Capra wanted to do Pocketful of Miracles with Frank Sinatra with whom he had done good work in A Hole in the Head.
He's wonderful as the smooth talking pool shark that Ford drafts into being Davis's husband.One career ends, another begins; this was the debut film for Ann-Margret playing Davis's daughter.
Great performances from Bette Davis, Peter Falk, Thomas Mitchell, Edward Everett Horton, and other vintage character actors.
This was Capra's last film as a director and is a remake of his 1933 film "Lady for a Day," which is also enjoyable, although I prefer this remake mostly for Davis's performance.
The story revolves around Dave The Dude (Glenn Ford), a gangster, who is connived into helping Apple Annie (Bette Davis), a down and out panhandler, into perpetuating an aristocratic facade to fool her daughter and fiancee.
Surrounded by a terrific supporting cast (in particular Peter Falk and Hope Lange), this movie weaves an almost fairy-tale like scenario.
The remake is just LOUDER and brash--like it is a "dumbed-down" version of the original.However, despite my complaint, the basic story itself is still excellent and couldn't help but produce a good movie.
This is still a fun, lighthearted movie that's a charming way to spend a couple of hours.The immortal Bette does a wonderful job here as Apple Annie, a street peddler turned socialite.
Betty Davis, Glen Ford, Hope Lange, and Peter Falk (best supporting actor?) come together under Frank Capra to bring a wonderful story to the screen.
from the panhandlers on the street to the very top of the underground economy.Pocketful of Miracles is a wonderful fairytale about a man who began with nothing and went all the way to the "top", only to be rescued by his lady, with help from Apple Annie, "The Little People", and a miraculous coming together of events.
Woefully sentimental comedy-drama directed by a sadly out-of-touch Frank Capra, here remaking his own 1934 picture "Lady For a Day" but not updating it much--"Pocketful of Miracles" plays just like 1934.
Bette Davis looks lost in extravagant but unconvincing role of a straggly street-peddler who is turned into a grande dame by petty gangster Glenn Ford in order to fool her jet-setting daughter.
Supporting players Peter Falk, Jack Elam, Ellen Corby and Ann-Margret in her film debut add some sparkle to the heavy-handed proceedings, but Ford is smug and tiresome as Dave the Dude, Hope Lange colorless as floozy singer Queenie.
Maybe this remake isn't as good as Capra's original, but the superb cast of actors makes it dynamite!
This is not the feel good film that makes you cry at the end like Capra's other movie "it's a wonderful life" was.
Frank Capra brought magic to the silver screen and A Pocketful Of Miracles is as good as movie making gets!
It uses classic 30s character actors, from Capra's films and others, at the end of their careers, which is a nice touch, as it's good to see them.
Sort of a spin on "Pygmalion" - the play that inspired "My Fair Lady" - Frank Capra's Academy Award-nominated "Pocketful of Miracles" is a lightweight but passable movie.
Obviously we have Bette Davis and Glenn Ford, but look who else is here: Hope Lange (also a babe), Peter Falk, Edward Everett Horton, Thomas Mitchell (in his final role), Doodles Weaver, Hayden Rorke, Barton MacLane, and Sheldon Leonard.
Unfortunately, it suffers by comparison with the original and plays as a dumbed-down version that has no soul.Glenn Ford plays Dave the Dude, a flamboyant mobster who relies for his luck on Apple Annie, played by Bette Davis.
Peter Falk is the real standout, playing Ford's sidekick Joy Boy who has a wisecrack at every turn and several funny bits early in the film (he virtually disappears midway through, and the film suffers noticeably.Unlike in the original, the rest of the supporting cast is fairly dull, especially Ann-Margret as Louise.
"Lady luck" smiles on Ford in the form of nubile Hope Lange (as "Queenie" Martin); they quickly hook up, and she becomes the "blonde bombshell" attraction at Ford's speakeasy.Somehow, Ford and his gangsters survive the repel of prohibition.The plot thickens when Davis receives a letter from lovely long-absent daughter Ann-Margret (as Louise), announcing her voyage to New York City.
This is filmmaker Frank Capra's last film; and, it is a re-make of his own "Lady for a Day" (1933).While enjoyable, "Pocketful of Miracles" is neither as charming nor successful as was certainly anticipated.
Mainly, it's sustained by Davis and a slew of Runyonish supporting characters, including the top-tiered quartet: Arthur O'Connell, Peter Falk (a "Best Supporting Actor" nominee), Thomas Mitchell (in his last appearance), and Edward Everett Horton.
Ann-Margret makes an inauspicious film debut; to borrow the title of her then current hit single, "I Just Don't Understand" why Capra didn't make this picture a musical.****** Pocketful of Miracles (12/18/61) Frank Capra ~ Glenn Ford, Bette Davis, Peter Falk, Hope Lange.
Pocketful of Miracles (1961) ** (out of 4) Legendary director Frank Capra's final film had him working with Bette Davis and Glenn Ford in a remake of his 1933 film LADY FOR A DAY.
The homeless Apple Annie (Davis) is considered a hero by gangster Dave the Dude (Ford) who believes that her apples bring him luck.
The main reason to watch this film is for the performance by Davis who really shines in both parts of her character.
Hope Lange, Peter Falk and Ann-Margret, in her first film, all turn in nice supporting performances.
Even though there's some nice stuff here, in the end you can't help but look at this as a disappointment considering Capra, Davis and Ford are doing the work..
But Hope Lang (who was dating Ford at the time) is out of her element in what should have been the brassy role of "Queenie Martin." And two other casting goofs seriously marr the picture: Ann-Margret in a very early role is simply awful, a simpering and cloyingly sweet young thing who makes you wince in pain.
This particular adaptation of his work by the renowned director Frank Capra tells the tale of Apple Annie (Bette Davis) a ragged street drunk who has a friendly relationship with Dave the Duke (Glenn Ford).
This invites the attention of Chicago gangster Steve Darcey (Sheldon Leonard) who wants to run New York now.In the midst of this impending confrontation, Ford and his principal goons (Mickey Shaughnessy and Peter Falk) discover that Apple Annie has a daughter (Ann-Margaret) who has been living at a boarding school in Spain for years.
Pocketful of Miracles is Frank Capra's Technicolor re-make of his brilliant 1933 film, Lady for a Day. The same enchanting story only this time set during the Christmas season for delivering a miracle to the grey-haired Cinderella.
Bette Davis turns in a good portrayal of Apple Annie as does Glenn Ford playing gangster, Dave the Dude.
Beautiful Hope Lange plays Dude's girl Queenie Martin and the film debut of a very young Ann-Margret playing Apple Annie's charming daughter Louise.
What really makes this film fun is a host of amazing character actors of the time, Edward Everett Horton, Mickey Shaughnessy, Sheldon Leonard, Thomas Mitchell, Ellen Corby, Arthur O'Connell and many more recognizable faces.
The source for this movie is a Damon Runyon short story, "Madame La Gimp." It was first made into a movie in 1933, entitled "Lady for a Day." Frank Capra directed that film, which received four Academy Award nominations for the then second-tier Hollywood studio, Columbia.
This movie has a lot of history behind it – Capra's desire to remake it, different scripts and studio interests, different casting, conflicts between stars, etc.
I've watched and enjoyed very much the original "Lady for a Day." I was in the Army when this film came out, and we didn't get to see movies until long after they came out.
I think I can see why Capra wanted to remake the movie – and in its original setting and time, the 1930s.
While his earlier version, LADY FOR A DAY, was more compact, this one runs 40 minutes too long, extends scenes that could have trimmed the fat off the plotting and still have had the film look great, and seems too fairy-tale even for 1961 when it was released.
Bette Davis shines as Apple Annie, though, and makes this escapist film worth watching even when its subject matter has not aged well and seems like a caricature of its earlier version..
Or was this just a Capra miracle that is never quite explained and we're to think that they were touched by Apple Annies story and wanted to do the right thing by her?
So, it's worth watching this film just to see Bette Davis in this most unique role.
It is actually a remake of a 1933 film called Lady for a Day.This film stars Glenn Ford as Dave the Dude, a highly superstitious gangster who buys an apple every day from a peddler named Apple Annie (Bette Davis) because he believes her apples bring him good luck.
Ann-Margret makes her film debut here, playing Louise, but the most pleasant surprise here is the performance by Hope Lange as Queenie Martin....this kind of character is such a refreshing change of pace for Lange.
The only redeeming value in this film is Glenn Ford, Peter Falk, and the rest of their gangster goodfellas.
I fail to see any redeeming quality in Ms. Davis' portrayal of Apple Annie or in this film.
With Capra though, the egos of Bette Davis and others in a large big name cast are not carried over into the film.
"Apple Annie" - Bette Davis did it like the old days, out of all of them! |
tt0086817 | Transformers | Several thousand years ago, the planet Cybertron was consumed by a civil war by the two Transformer factions, the Autobots led by Optimus Prime and the Decepticons led by Megatron. Optimus jettisoned the AllSpark, a mystical artifact that brings life to the planet, into space, but Megatron pursued it. Megatron crashed in the Arctic Circle and froze, and was discovered in 1895 by explorer Archibald Witwicky. Witwicky activated Megatron’s navigational system, which scanned the AllSpark’s coordinates into his glasses. The glasses end up in the possession of his great-great-grandson Sam Witwicky. In the present, Sam buys his first car, a rusting Chevrolet Camaro, but discovers it has a life of its own.
In modern Qatar, Blackout attacks and destroys a United States military base in a failed attempt to hack the military network to find information on Megatron and the AllSpark. A team of Army Rangers led by Captain William Lennox escape across the desert, pursued by Blackout’s drone Scorponok. They fight Scorponok off, aided by aerial reinforcements, and travel home with Scorponok’s stinger, discovering sabot rounds damaged the armor. At the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense John Keller leads the investigation into the attack. Sound analyst Maggie Madsen catches another Decepticon, Frenzy, hacking into the network while onboard Air Force One. While the hack is thwarted, Frenzy downloads files on Archibald’s glasses, tracking down Sam with Barricade, disguised as a police car.
Sam and his high school crush Mikaela Banes are rescued by the Camaro who turns out to be Autobot scout Bumblebee, but he is mute and has to communicate through his car radio. Previously sending a beacon to his fellow Autobots, Bumblebee takes Sam and Mikaela to meet the new arrivals – Optimus, Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet. Optimus explains the details of their situation, revealing if Megatron gained the AllSpark he would transform Earth’s machinery into a new army and exterminate mankind. Sam, Mikaela, and the Autobots travel to Sam’s house to retrieve the glasses, but the teenagers are captured by agents of Sector Seven, a top secret government branch led by Seymour Simmons. The Autobots stop the agents, but Simmons calls for backup, who take Sam, Mikaela, and Bumblebee into custody, while Optimus obtains the glasses.
The respective groups connected to the Transformers are gathered together at Hoover Dam by Sector Seven’s director Tom Banachek. Inside, the group discover the frozen Megatron and the AllSpark, but Frenzy, who smuggled away in Mikaela’s bag, summons the other Decepticons to attack. Bumblebee is released to protect the AllSpark, shrinking it down to a handheld size so it can be transported to safety. Megatron escapes the dam after thawing out. A lengthy battle occurs in Mission City, with most of the Decepticons being killed, but Megatron murders Jazz. He prevents Sam’s attempted escape with the AllSpark, and begins to fight Optimus. After a long brawl Megatron seems to get the upper hand. Optimus then tells Sam to push the cube into his chest in order to ensure their mutual destruction, but Sam rams it into Megatron's chest instead, extinguishing his spark. Starscream is the only Decepticon to escape, but Barricade remains on Earth.
Optimus salvages a shard of the AllSpark from Megatron’s body. The United States government shuts down Sector Seven, disposing of the dead Decepticons in the Laurentian Abyss. Sam and Mikaela then start a relationship while the Autobots secretly hide out on Earth, Optimus sends a transmission into space inviting any surviving Autobots to join them. | good versus evil, psychedelic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt2375255 | Liz & Dick | Throughout Liz & Dick, Elizabeth and Richard appear in a dark room and reminisce about their life together. On August 5, 1984 in Celigny, Switzerland, an elderly Richard is writing what would be his last letter to Elizabeth and recalls the first time he saw her at a Hollywood party. He then finishes the letter and goes to rest.
In July 1961, Richard flies to Rome, Italy to begin filming as Mark Antony in Cleopatra, which stars Elizabeth. He tries to compliment her but it comes off as rude. Later he goes to a restaurant where Elizabeth is dining and attempts to make her like him; again he comes off as rude and she leaves abruptly. His wife Sybil (Tanya Franks) is suspicious of his intentions. Later, during filming of Cleopatra, Elizabeth has a change of heart and invites Richard into her trailer for a drink. However, she accuses him of trying to seduce her.
Eventually they succumb to their attractions and begin an on-set affair that soon makes national news. Later, during a private gathering, Richard publicly asks Elizabeth whether she loves him or her husband, Eddie Fisher (Andy Hirsch). She confesses that she loves him more and splits from Eddie. Richard showers Elizabeth with expensive jewels in Rome, but returns to Sybil after she attempts suicide; Richard and Elizabeth part ways after Sybil refuses to divorce him. Elizabeth is briefly hospitalized for overdosing on pills and Cleopatra's filming ends bitterly.
Three months later, Elizabeth is relaxing in Gstaad, Switzerland with her family, but feels bored. She meets up with Richard and they resume their affair. When she learns that Richard will be filming The V.I.P.s (1963) with Sophia Loren, she convinces the film's director Anthony Asquith (Charles Shaughnessy) to fire Loren and hire her, which he eventually does. The relationship is derailed again when Sybil and Eddie refuse to divorce them; then Sybil gives Richard a divorce. They are heavily criticized by the media; their union is labeled "erotic vagrancy" by The Vatican. Eddie divorces Elizabeth, who marries Richard in March 1964.
The couple sign on to film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, in which their characters have long arguments, as they do. Richard is saddened after missing out on an Academy Award for the film The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965). Elizabeth begins gaining weight and becomes insecure. They are both Academy Award-nominated for their roles in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, but only Elizabeth wins, causing Richard to become hostile again.
To escape the media, the couple travel to Portofino, Rome and buy a yacht, where they reside—and constantly fight. He makes a remark about her "pudgy fingers" and promptly apologizes. She asks him to buy her a ring and he purchases a 69-carat diamond which becomes known as The Taylor-Burton Diamond. Richard's brother Ifor Jenkins (David Hunt) becomes crippled by an accident Richard blames himself for; after Richard and Elizabeth have returned home, Ifor passes away. Richard becomes depressed and starts cheating on Elizabeth and drinking. They decide to divorce.
Months later, Elizabeth experiences a colon cancer health scare and asks to see Richard. She turns out to be fine, Richard realizes he needs her in his life, and they remarry in Africa; unfortunately, they re-divorce mere months later.
Richard dies in his sleep in Celigny. Elizabeth's mother Sara (Theresa Russell) informs her of his death, and she faints. His wife bans her from attending his funeral; the next week she visits his grave in Celigny—yet another moment with him that is intruded on by the paparazzi. | romantic | train | wikipedia | Lohan does not sound like Taylor at all, does not bring anything that remotely captures the essence of the woman to this film pairing.
The Wrong Liz. One of Hollywood's most publicized and scandalous relationships is that of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
When I saw previews for the 2012 film Liz and Dick, I was excited about it; despite my feelings against Lindsay Lohan for the part of Taylor, I was going to be open-minded and see the movie anyway.
However, once I saw the Lifetime movie, Lindsay Lohan did nothing but solidify my initial feelings against her as Elizabeth Taylor.
Lohan was simply, and very clearly, the wrong casting choice to play the great Hollywood diva, Elizabeth Taylor.
Taylor is one of Hollywood's most prominent and influential actresses of all time, and the honor of playing her in a movie is one that should have been given with much more scrutiny and contemplation.
Grant Bowler did an exceptional job at becoming Burton, unfortunately, his efforts were lost whenever Lohan had the next line.As atrocious as Lindsay's performance as Taylor was, Lohan was not the only reason Liz and Dick failed to be a successful Hollywood biopic.
The screen writing and storyline were extremely lacking in substance and failed to represent the better aspects of Taylor and Burton's love story.
Lohan failed to give the great Hollywood starlit the justice she deserves, and it's a good thing Taylor isn't around to see the abomination.
A glimpse and dramatization of the great Liz and Dick love story could have been a romantic and successful movie.
Capturing Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's life and love on film is no easy feat, and it shouldn't have been handled the way it was; if they were going to do it, they should have done it right or at least without Lohan.Here are a few of my favorite Tweets about the film: @campsucks This is the weirdest episode of Mad Men.
As someone who (as a HUGE fan of Burton's life, career, and legacy) has researched the actor for 25 years, I have to say this movie is an utter DISGRACE to him as well as Taylor!
Everything that both Burton and Taylor had going for them and what made them captivating to the public back in the 60's, 70's,....and even today is completely overlooked (if not lost) in this awful movie.
Based on my research of Richard Burton I have a hard time believing what the movie claims, but it's a well made film nonetheless..
The guy who played Burton was quite good, I thought, but Lohan sank the whole ship with the both of them on it.Didn't really like the inter-cuts either, with "Liz" and "Dick" sitting in director's chairs chatting about their past to the camera, breaking the fourth wall.
Awkward and odd structure that didn't really work.As I said, I wasn't disappointed because I had no expectations of seeing a good biopic, but anybody looking for a convincing portrayal of Elizabeth Taylor definitely will be.
This movie Liz and Dick is one of the most boring and trying films I have ever attempted to watch.
Lindsay Lohan is terrible in this role and I don't even care to know who tried to play Richard Burton.
I hope to God in real life that LIFE was better for Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton because this movie shows something disgusting and tasteless..
I do think that Grant Bowler did a better job playing Richard Burton than Lindsay did playing Liz. But it would be difficult to play two of Hollywood's royalty, let alone royalty couples.
One cannot expect to see Liz Taylor and Richard Burton to play themselves.
Even somebody who isn't familiar with the porcelain skinned, exquisitely beautiful Elizabeth Taylor with her precise, breathy, slightly British way of talking, and her expressive eyes could watch her films and at least TRY to embody her smoldering sensuality and physicality.
Then Lohan speaks, and that's when I know: It was just cruel to cast Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor and expect her to pull it off because she has this hoarse voice that sounds like it has spent too much time in smoke-filled bars, or screaming at people; a voice with a flat affect, rushing her lines as if she just wants to wrap the scene so she can go to the mall.
Grant Bowler did a great job of embodying the late Richard Burton, but his wig was terrible and distracted from his performance.
There are so many talented actors in Hollywood who could have made this film worth watching, and had somebody gone to the effort to cast a better actress to play Taylor, I feel like Grant Bowler's Burton would have been more believable.
It was like she was rushing through each scene so she could go somewhere more important rather than stick around and try to perform in this dumb movie.Taylor's body was very curvy--most of her adult life she struggled with overweight, yet, she always projected a raw sexuality that jumped off the screen.
Yet, Lohan appeared scrawny and flat chested in many scenes, as she moved clumsily around trying desperately to be sexy.Overall, Lohan's performance was almost laughable--sort of a cartoon version of the remarkable Liz Taylor.The guy who played Richard Burton was much better than Lohan.
This movie had all the potential to be something great, but in the end it was too unbelievable and scarce in good qualities to be redeemable.It can't be blamed on just one person's performance, but I would put a vast majority of the blame on Lindsay Lohan, the script and the production.
Grant Bowler showed a lot of potential and often it either seemed like he was either the only one actually acting in a scene (with Lohan) or he was trying to illicit some kind of emotional reaction in her performances that her responses to this was almost always met with a flat note.
it felt more like you were going through a change-of-set at a high school play than a cinematic transition like really any movie.Looking back, had they cast someone more reliable than Lindsay Lohan in terms of acting and personality, they would've stood a better chance of finding someone whose chemistry would've matched Grant Bowler's acting.
However, her acting felt 'rushed' as there was no real energy there and she was sleep walking through the scenes.On the plus side, my interest in Elizabeth Taylor grew so much after this film because I felt like it did her so little justice...
For anyone who wants to know more about Elizabeth Taylor, they would do better to read a biography and watch a few of her movies than to watch this film...
I am in shock that this movie ever aired.How can anyone think Lindsay Lohan could play Liz Taylor.
I grew up watching Elizabeth Taylor, and was hopeful that this movie might have been at least watchable.Honestly I found myself stalking the scene ends, and wondering how they had managed to allow this to happen.
As we begin, the aged Shakespearean actor Grant Bowler (as Richard "Dick" Burton) appears to be near his death bed, writing a letter to Hollywood temptress Lindsay Lohan (as Elizabeth "Liz" Taylor).
There simply isn't much story here.*** Liz & Dick (11/25/12) Lloyd Kramer ~ Lindsay Lohan, Grant Bowler, David Hunt, Theresa Russell.
Liz and Dick was like watching two people dressing up like Liz Taylor and Richard Burton for Halloween and pretending that they were the famous movie duo.
I've seen Benny Hill do better impressions....Sorry---This is absolutely the WORST vehicle for Lindsey Lohan to consider making a comeback---The only hope is that this movie ends up as a cult flick in some old abandoned movie house----so pass this one by--wait for better days, actors, writings and screen plays!.
Liz & Dick (2012) * 1/2 (out of 4) Made-for-TV film about the up and down relationship between Elizabeth Taylor (Lindsay Lohan) and Richard Burton (Grant Bowler).
If you don't know who Taylor and Burton were and just tune into this film then you're going to come away that they were both spoiled, drunk idiots who fought and had sex a lot.
LIZ & DICK is a pretty poor movie that has some very good stuff in it but there's just no getting around some incredibly big and fatal flaws.
Even embarrassing when it comes times for Lohan to re-enact some of the famous scenes from Taylor's movies.
Bowler, on the other hand, does a pretty good job capturing the voice of Burton and he handles the dramatic scenes much better.
The film remains watchable because of the train wreck of a performance by Lohan but thankfully neither Taylor or Burton lived to see this..
As others have pointed out, Grant Bowler does a good job mimicking Richard Burton's voice.
Lindsay Lohan has captured the look of Ms. Taylor in this film, but couldn't get close to the essence of Elizabeth (which is what she preferred to be called) in her countenance or in her voice.I think the producers should have dubbed Li-Lo's husky voice with one more like Elizabeth's or just recast the role with an unknown actress.
.The actor that played Richard Burton, Grant Bowler, had his Welsh accent down well enough, but was not rough enough in his physical features to be believed.
But I think the real problem was that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton lived real lives that were "large" even among Hollywood celebrity standards.
Lindsay did not seem very vulnerable in her voice--she seemed more, "Whatever, lady." The acting was misguided because the director really should have worked harder to bring more of Liz out of Linds.What I could not get over was how bad the script was and even worse was the editing.
So, don't expect Oscar nominations.I think the film and performances could have been a lot better, but overall, it was enjoyable to watch but probably not noteworthy..
The character of Elizabeth Taylor in this film was so unlikeable and a bit all over the place.Lindsey Lohan was surprisingly not awful, just mediocre.
She doesn't look like Liz Taylor, but she's okay in some very emotional scenes.
I can't help to think that some of it is directed at Ms. Lohan's personal life, which is grossly unfair and has nothing to do with her performance.I was very excited about seeing this movie.
It has been a while since Lindsay Lohan graced us with her acting ability on the screen and I was glad to have seen it portrayed in this biopic story.
The romance between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was very exposed and scrutinized in the public media and the way they dealt with it according to "Liz and Dick" movie was usually through fights usually with one of them ending in a drunken stupor.
There were some awkward moments and Lindsay sounded nothing like Taylor's solemn voice but she did a great job trying to portray the glam diva.
Although her personal life is in the swings, I've never really seen a bad 'Lohan' movie until I Know Who Killed Me. Since she has been off set for nearly 5 years, I can understand why she wasn't at her Cady Heron status from Mean Girls in 2004.
Maybe one has to be older and familiar with the Taylor/Burton saga to appreciate this movie, but I thought it was great.
Lots of interesting historical details, like how Burton never wins his Oscar and gives up an Oscar to act with Taylor in a movie.
Lindsay is a great actress, and looks gorgeous in this, hope she gets more good roles..
I think people who gave it anything less than a 4 were predetermined to hate it simply because Lindsay Lohan was playing Elizabeth Taylor, because Liz, for some overly idolized notion "deserved better." Please.
Lindsay does look very similar to Elizabeth Taylor - more so than any other actress I can think of.
She was a great little actress as a child, which, coupled with her resemblance, made her the perfect actress to play Elizabeth who also acted as a child, and in Liz & Dick she proved to me that she still has it.As for Grant Bowler, he too gave a wonderful performance as Richard, and I thought Bowler and Lohan had an electricity between them which was fitting.
Everyone from the public to the critics and the previous reviewers came to this movie with their minds made up to trash the film and the star, Miss Lohan.
I don't know if it's that Lindsay is a terrible actor, or Elizabeth was a terrible person but this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen.
Lindsay Lohan was magnificent in "Liz And Dick." She looked beautiful.
Just like Liz Taylor, Lindsay would randomly speak with a British-American accent, which I loved.
BTW the actor playing him had a voice VERY similar to the real Richard Burton.IMO - what was wrong with this film was that it was boring -- and that was because the two people being portrayed were boring.
let's forget (if we can) that Lindsey Lohan cannot act, either in this film or any of her past endeavors and try to ignore the fact that Bowler has also been criticized as being a terrible actor.
He wasn't always physically convincing as Burton but he CAN act and I only watched this this film to see his performance...
There may be some bias in my review, because I am a big Lohan fan, but I thought she did a fine job as Liz Taylor.On the other hand, it's definitely not her best performance, but there are moments when she does a great job, more towards the end when she's playing the older Taylor.The script is terrible, however.
If anyone is able to portray Elizabeth Taylors wild sense of untamed demeanour, carelessness for negative publicity and undying need for love, it's Lindsay Lohan.
I actually liked this movie, not only because I'm a huge fan of Lindsay Lohan but also because I think Lindsay together with Grant did their characters so well.
I think Lindsay could be a decent actress since in some scenes her portrayal of Taylor's heartbreak and sadness were moving, but other times simple subtle moments she missed by a mile by either overplaying it (when her and Richard first meet on the set of Cleopatra and she overacted Liz's disgust) or massively underplaying it (when she first sees Richard by the pool and she is supposed to be giving him a cold glare but instead she appears to do nothing).
The dude playing Richard Burton (Grant Bowler) wasn't terrible but Lindsay Lohan sure lived up to all the hype about her performance.
At least she kinda looked like Taylor, the make up and costumes were well done and I enjoyed seeing some of Liz's iconic wardrobe, hair and jewelry.But jeez the over the top acting from Lohan.
If Lindsay's performance was considered for quality of acting alone, without any consideration of her likeness to Liz, it wasn't bad.
This is a Lifetime movie about the love affair between Elizabeth Taylor (Lindsay Lohan) and Richard Burton (Grant Bowler).
It's an unflattering volatile love story.Elizabeth Taylor fans are not going to like this movie.
Grant Bowler sounds like Richard Burton but is too lean looking.
Lohan was the WORST choice to play Elizabeth Taylor.
Lohan fails to come even close to portraying the great Elizabeth Taylor.
If you are a Taylor or Burton fan, skip this film.
Both Taylor and Burton are out of character for most of the film.
Going into the movie I did not know much about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
As for actors and actresses, I feel that Bowler played a believable role at Richard Burton, but Lohan she had played to many other roles that I am familiar with to successfully fill this role.
I'm exhausted from watching this trash so here's my honest opinion: 1) Lindsay Lohan does not work as Liz Taylor.
Some of the wigs and makeup and camera angles give Lindsay a fleeting resemblance to Elizabeth, but the faint likeness dissolves as soon as she speaks or moves.Grant Bowler seems like a good actor who's doing his best and he projects a reasonable similarity to Richard Burton, but his wigs are way too distracting and he also faces the same horrible dialogue and outlandish situations.
Elizabeth Taylor (Lindsay Lohan) and Richard Burton (Grant Bowler) were known for their love affair that started on the set of 1963's "Cleopatra it changed these once respected actors into the first people who could be classified as celebrities.
Also another big problem probably the biggest of all was the awful casting these casting directors choose by using wild child Lindsay Lohan as the legendary actress and less known Grant Bowler as the alcoholic Richard Burton.
First is Grant Bowler as Richard Burton who compared to the horrible mess that is his co-star comes off as a more standard lifetime performance but still he comes off bad going to much over the top rather then playing Richard as he really could have been then.
Then there is Lindsay Lohan who plays Miss Elizabeth Taylor and it is just laughable first she was cast but then that her performance was just so hard to watch.
Mostly I feel ashamed that Elizabeth Taylor is being given this type of film, but the only thing making me happy is Martin Scorsese wants to make a film about their relationship and that is the film I would love to see.MOVIE GRADE: G (MVP: Grant Bowler).
Lindsay Lohan gives an almost complete churlish performance as legendary star Elizabeth Taylor in this made for Lifetime television movie.
Lindsay Lohan is a talented actress and did a very good job as Elizabeth Taylor.
Grant Bowler looked very much like Richard Burton and sounded just like him. |
tt1848902 | Game Change | The film opens in 2010 with a frame story: Republican strategist Steve Schmidt is being interviewed by Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes. Cooper poses a difficult question regarding former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin: was she selected because she would make the best vice president or because she would win the election?
The story flashes back to Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, which is struggling to compete with other Republican candidates during the primary season. A desperate McCain places a call to Schmidt, who tells him that he has decided to sit out the 2008 race. McCain, however, convinces Schmidt to reconsider.
Months later, Schmidt is serving as McCain's Senior Campaign Strategist, and with his help, McCain has clinched the Republican nomination. McCain's preferred running mate, Senator Joe Lieberman, is rejected by the majority of his senior advisers – including Schmidt – because he will not help compete with the celebrity of their opponent, Democratic Senator Barack Obama. The strategists quickly look for a "game change" candidate. The replacement must do four things: excite the conservative base, win the vote of independents, distance the campaign from the Bush administration, and close the "gender gap" – the GOP's 20-point deficit with women. Investigating prominent female Republican politicians, the campaign finds Palin, the governor of Alaska, to have the charismatic qualities they want. After an exceptionally brief vetting process, she is selected. Palin's eventual public reveal creates the buzz that Schmidt and McCain were looking for, bringing them to even or better with Obama in the polls.
While Palin's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention is well received, the campaign becomes concerned that she is ignorant about many political issues and grossly unprepared. Schmidt handles controversies from her past, such as Troopergate and "Bridge to Nowhere", while other staff attempt to fill broad gaps in her understanding of domestic and foreign politics. While prepping for the interviews, she is preoccupied with her approval ratings in Alaska and the absence of her family while campaigning, eventually becoming unresponsive to advisers who begin to question her mental state. Several prominent blunders in major interviews, such as those with Katie Couric, are a source of mockery in the media and frustration in the campaign. Overwhelmed and poorly prepared, Palin lashes back at attempts by Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace to give her a crash course on the major issues, then blames them for setting up public interviews that ultimately reveal her lack of knowledge. Schmidt opines that YouTube has altered the media landscape in that Palin's gaffes are seen online repeatedly rather than being forgotten in the news cycle.
By late 2008, with prospects appearing poor, the campaign staff boosts a negative campaign against Obama's past associations with the liberal elite, which Palin supports but McCain resists. The staff also comes to accept that Palin is better at memorizing and delivering lines than she is at actually understanding issues. Thus they grudgingly prepare her for the Vice-Presidential debate by simply having Palin memorize about forty minutes' worth of talking points, which manages to get her through the debate without major incident. However, Palin's growing popularity with the Republican base, even as she alienates mainstream voters, soon overshadows the campaign; Palin becomes uncooperative, rejecting – and conflicting with – Schmidt and the rest of the campaign staff as she gains her own following. Palin, in fact, rebuffs McCain by publicly disagreeing with his decision to end campaigning in Michigan. McCain, meanwhile, becomes discouraged by the negative campaigning, watching growing hostility and vitriol emerge toward Obama among McCain's supporters. With Election Day approaching, senior campaigners express regret that Palin turned out to be style without substance, with Schmidt lamenting that they neglected to vet her competency. McCain consoles Schmidt by reaffirming that taking a risk with Palin was better than fading away.
When Obama wins on Election Night, McCain and his advisers stop a rebellious Palin from giving a concession speech along with McCain's, as it was unheard of for a vice-presidential candidate. McCain tells Palin that she is now one of the party leaders, and warns her not to let herself be hijacked by extremism. Rick Davis (McCain's campaign manager) comments that Palin will soon be forgotten. During McCain's concession speech, he thanks Palin, who receives enormous and sustained applause, chants, and enthusiasm from the crowd, which is noted in the faces of McCain's advisors. The film returns to the 2010 interview; regarding Cooper's question about whether he would pick Palin again if he had the chance to go back, Schmidt replies that life does not give you do-overs. | historical | train | wikipedia | Their book, detailing the entire 2008 Presidential election and allegations thereof in both parties, had been criticized for relying on too many anonymous sources and lacking explicit sourcing.This movie, written by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach, takes the most intriguing segment of the 2008 election, namely the nomination and introduction of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and lets the ridiculousness of the events surrounding her expose itself.Like "Recount" (2008), the previous collaboration between Roach and Strong, what is most astounding about this movie is not the events in it, but that we actually lived through them not too long ago.
"Game Change" shows the interactions between those in and out of the spotlight, and how candidates in an election can be the cause of their own undoing.The film centers around Steve Schmidt (Woody Harrelson), Senator John McCain's chief political adviser during his 2008 campaign for President.
It's all completely believable.While there was less pressure on Harrelson to play a public figure, he also did a great job as an adviser whose recommendation to nominate Palin truly seemed like a good idea at the time.
This film is a fascinating look behind the scenes of the most failed act of political cynicism in recent American history: the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate for his 2008 presidential campaign.
HBO's dilution of the real story as it unfolded, in an attempt to seem "unbiased", does a disservice to this otherwise brilliant film, and to history.Game Change shows us the worst in political gamesmanship - the unbridled cynicism that lead an all male campaign staff to choose a political bimbo to be "a seventy-two year old heartbeat away from the presidency".
Julianne Moore did an excellent job playing Sarah Palin and she got it right in saying this movie shows what's wrong with our democracy.
He makes a decision that would not only have significant impact on the race, but the entire Republican party and ultimately define his political career.First off the casting is excellent; both Julianne Moore and Ed Harris are perfectly cast and they deliver uncanny performances of Sarah Palin and John McCain.
Julianne Moore is very deserving of all the buzz she's been getting and I'm disappointed Ed Harris hasn't quite got as much publicity; his John McCain was not that far behind Moore's Palin (but make no mistake, Moore is the star here).I loved the editing of the film as they fused together actual footage from the campaign trail and with scenes recreated in the film to great effect.
They feel John McCain needs to appeal to both women and the right and find the perfect candidate, Sarah Palin (Julianne Moore), Governor of Alaska.
There are moments showing Palin to be competent when being asked questions in a personal interview, thinking on her feet during a her convention speech and her great strength to the Republican party was see was seemingly relatable to middle Americans and approachable when she was governor and has a great care and understanding for people with Downs Syndrome.
But it was clear she was not well educated, not even having a basic understanding issues and the world and cannot even answer questions that even people would little understanding of politics could answer.There is a strong cast in the film, Moore, Harrelson, Ed Harris and Sarah Paulson.
Well, there's the usual proviso that any film purporting to portray real people, real events and 'what really happened' has to be taken on trust, and I have no way of knowing just how accurate or not this film is.Game Change has been accused of being liberal propaganda but to be honest if that's the case everyone apart from La Palin herself doesn't come out of it too badly, and Ed Harris's John McCain presents us with a principled, decent and honest man.
From the moment I first saw this movie, back when it aired on HBO, I have hailed this as one of the greatest TV movies of all time.Following the campaign trail of John McCain and his crazy running mate Sarah Palin, we are introduced to behind the scenes and it is done remarkably well.
I liked this film because the writing was spectacular, the acting was so superb that there were times I forgot I was watching Julianne Moore and not the real Palin.Of course this is my opinion about it so check it out for yourself.
The movie Game Change about the campaign of the Presidential ticket of John McCain with Sarah Palin as his Vice President is such an awesome movie.
Sarah Palin is the kind of person who would go on the game show Are You Smarter then a 5th Grader and lose every single time.Don't get me wrong since I think that McCain would've made a much better president then George W.
It examines the people who participate in those events and doesn't try to take the route of humanizing the actual event while almost completely ignoring those involved with it.Director Jay Roach and writer Danny Strong (the same two who made the HBO film Recount - still unseen by me - which dealt with the Gore and Bush election), Game Change deals with the Obama-McCain election of 2008, the most historic election in history.
The film focuses on McCain's campaign, starting with their search for a competent vice president who can drum up support for the slumping support of women and also invigorate the press with the same kind of "movie star charisma" as Barack Obama seems to do during his speeches.The McCain campaign settles on the Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, a fearless woman whose heart always seems to be in the right place and whose mindset is always devoted to bettering the lives of her children and husband.
Game Change is the 2012 HBO film about the John McCain-Sarah Palin campaign against Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2008.
I only started paying attention to politics in the 2008 election: when Sarah Palin made her acceptance speech after being picked to be VP Candidate, I remember her first words to the public as being more antagonistic over her party's then-opponent than this film shows.Julianne Moore becomes Sarah Palin for this 2-Hour jaunt back to 2008: So much so that it scares me, just like the original Sarah Palin did in 2008 when I walked out of a friends house on the night she made her acceptance speech, when I had been planning on voting for McCain and changed my mind due to the first words out of Sarah Palin's Mouth.Why did it take the McCain campaign so long to see what I saw within thirty seconds?
And this film shows step by step how the phrase "Not Enough Experience" when referring to their opponent came back and bit them on the rear end.As and actress, Julianne Moore shows more talent in representing an historical figure than Palin did when being coached in world politics by the best experts that could be hired by the republican party at the time.This film depicts the real reason why Palin was selected with clarity and this is what frightens me, I was not aware of the other two possibilities, if McCain had chosen one of his other possibilities, that would have been as much of a bold move as choosing Sarah Palin.I understand why McCain made the choice after watching this, this movie shows us why this was a mistake.
Since 2010 and the unfortunate "victory" of "citizen's united" this voice now has to work much harder than ever in being heard.But we also see that even with obstacles like "citizens united" people who believe will do what it takes to make that voice heard.I believe the biggest mistake of the McCain/Palin campaign was that the party did not learn from that mistake and instead of having what was needed-A Change of Heart over a Change of Game - They have gone for burying the people's true political voice, by loud special interest group noise, by trying to suppress voters who will likely vote against them, and by changing policy on issues more times per minute than any transistor J/K Flip-Flop circuit.If the republican party wants my vote ever again in the future, it will take more than a change of game.
Plucked from obscurity Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (Julianne Moore) became the darling of the American neo-conservative elite when Republican nominee John McCain (Ed Harris) selected her to be his running mate in 2008 presidential election.Whilst providing the failing campaign with significant momentum and seemingly bridging the gaping divide between the far-right and the American political mainstream her impressive facade diminished rapidly when she was asked a few simple foreign policy questions on camera by the mainstream media.
We see the seemingly formidable candidate the McCain campaign team (seasoned veterans of immense political acumen) thought they were getting contrasted so starkly with the resulting debacle.What 'Game Change' captures are the terrifying moments when it becomes clear that a candidate does not possess the kind of general knowledge one expects from someone running to be vice-president of a world superpower or even that which the lowest level of government official would know.People who followed Palin's arc are aware of those cringe-inducing moments where she made errors in geography, misinterpreted foreign policy questions and couldn't even name a newspaper or magazine she has read.This film goes well beyond that and Palin is depicted occasionally going into catatonic stupors during briefings in which she appears completely incognisant and campaign staff question whether she is mentally unbalanced.
You actually feel sorry for Palin as her ignorance is revealed, and delight in her rare victories.Also very interesting to see the US political machine in action.Great performances from Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin, Ed Harris as John McCain and Woody Harrelson (especially) as Steve Schmidt, McCain's strategist..
Much of this film contained Palin's own words, and this can easily be checked by referring either to one's own memory or to the Internet.One reviewer even said that the film was based on only a small portion of the book, but this isn't true -- the book can be broken down roughly into three parts (like Gaul): one third on Obama; one third on Hillary Clinton; and one third on McCain and Palin.It's hard to believe the righties when they claim that Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace are liberals with an axe to grind.
While Julianne Moore was great as Sarah Palin, and I had much more sympathy for Ed Harris' John McCain than I ever did for the actual John McCain, I felt the best performance was that of Woody Harrelson as Steve Schmidt.
The movie Game Change is part documentary (it uses real footage of Obama, Biden, Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, Tina Fey, etc.) and part reality show docudrama using actors to portray Palin & McCain.
The worst part of the movie is that the liberal democrats who wrote/acted in this movie couldn't even show the character of the people they were "portraying." While the movie did paint McCain as the great statesman's he his (regardless if you agree with his politics)they had him cursing all time, which he doesn't do, and the character in the movie didn't think or act the same way he does in real life.
Based on a book about the entire 2008 Presidential election, this movie focuses on a narrow subset of the book, specifically the choice to run Sarah Palin as Vice President and the consequences it had for John McCain's campaign.
While the movie is obviously designed to attack Sarah Palin, exaggerating every mistake or misstep, which happens in every campaign, and ignoring every part about how she energized an otherwise flagging McCain campaign.Instead, the people who come off worst are the McCain campaign staff, in particular Nicolle Wallace who appears to be a remarkably foolish person, without much grasp of real politics.
One example was 2012's "Game Change", about John McCain's hiring of Sarah Palin as his running mate, only to see the Alaska governor make a fool of herself and eventually sink his presidential campaign.The star is Julianne Moore - who won a well deserved Emmy for the role - as Palin, perfectly impersonating the self-proclaimed mama grizzly in all her blithe ignorance and lack of preparation.
McCain (Ed Harris) takes more of a backseat to strategist Steve Schmidt (Woody Harrelson), who slowly but surely realizes that he made a mistake in hiring Palin and not sufficiently vetting her.The movie certainly took me back to 2008.
Arizona Senator John McCain (Ed Harris), selects Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (Julianne Moore), as his 2008 Republican Presidential running mate against Democratic candidate, Barack Obama.
I waited a long time to see this on DVD and I loved every minute of it.Julianne Moore was phenomenal and so was Woody Harrelson.HBO have got their house in order - this was one of the best things they have ever done.I didn't realize how little interaction there was between McCain and Palin, they barely saw each other.
Ed Harris and Julianne Moore star with Woody Harrelson and Jamey Sheridan in "Game Change," a 2012 film that looks at the 2008 campaign of John McCain, based on the book by Mark Halperin.Conscious of a need to go up against Obama, a black American, the McCain campaign suggests a woman, Sarah Palin (Moore), Governor of Alaska.
Encouraged by her husband, she realizes that the most important thing is that she be herself and get out and talk to the people.From there, she becomes arrogant and impossible to deal with.Excellent film with a fantastic performance by Julianne Moore, who is perfect as Sarah Palin, the wrong woman in the wrong place.
Harrelson has a showier role as Steve Schmidt, and how this man avoided a total nervous collapse is a real mystery.Even though we know how this came out, the film is still absorbing and incredibly interesting as it takes us through this disaster otherwise known as the 2008 Presidential campaign and the star who flashed so brightly for such a short time, Sarah Palin..
Ed Harris looks and sounds like John McCain and Julianne Moore pulls off the impossible, she may be a better Palin then Tina Fey. The actual movie though is just OK to me.
The thing that really stands out are the Emmy-caliber performances of Ed Harris (as John McCain), Julianne Moore (as Sarah Palin) and Woody Harrelson (as Steve Schmidt).
Well done to HBO for this well directed, scripted and acted movie about Sarah Palin's role in the McCain campaign of 2008.
Julianne Moore gives a truly miraculous performance - there were many times when I thought: "How can that NOT be the actual Sarah Palin!" Before I saw this movie I had chalked most of Palin's success up to her good looks.
The film also showed actual news footage covering the 2008 presidential election.Julianne Moore was a perfect choice to portray Sarah Palin!
This film follows the John McCain presidential campaign, particularly about the game-changing choice of heretofore nationally-unknown Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin.The caliber of acting talent they chose for this project, you would wonder why they did not make it for the big screen.
This was what was documented in the Mark Halperin/John Heilemann book "Game Change", which has become a made-for-cable movie from HBO.The book focused on the GOP side of the 2008 presidential ledger than the Democratic side (even though Obama had his moments against former First Lady Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary), and thus the focus of the film is on McCain, well played by Ed Harris.
After having considered several of the guys who challenged him in the GOP primaries, on the advice of his campaign adviser Steve Schmidt (Woody Harrelson), the choice is made for Palin (Julianne Moore), who at that time had barely any political experience, first being mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and then having spent barely eighteen months as that state's governor.
Harrelson, who I thought was well overblown as a religious nut in 2009's "2012", is equally cagey as Schmidt, whose technical advice was well used by director Jay Roach and screenwriter Danny Strong in the making of the film.Edited with a lot of TV footage from the various campaign stops that McCain made during the campaign, GAME CHANGE vividly depicts not only what the 2008 campaign looked like, but also gives us an idea of what future presidential campaigns will be, with the presence of cable news, Internet blogs, and, most especially, YouTube.
As Sarah felt the spotlight is all about her and not John and interesting is seeing the behind the scenes disagreements with adviser Nicolle Wallace(Sarah Paulson)who as shown in the film's ending revealing to campaign manager Steve Schmidt(wonderful job by veteran Woody Harrelson)that she was so discouraged by the antics of Sarah that she couldn't even cast her vote for the McCain-Palin ticket.
The film shows Palin as an insecure broken down woman who couldn't handle the limelight and by trying for exposure she helped contribute to an already weak and lazy risk taking campaign with mistakes and bad choices made by both Steve Schmidt and John McCain as both were not dirty enough for presidential politics, plus it didn't help that the republican party was out of favor in 2008 with the general public.
Sarah Palin was totally unprepared to run for this office and I think the movie does a good job showing how unfair this process really was for her and her family.Watch it and you will be amazed.
HBO original movie based on the book of the same name about John Mccain's choice of Sarah Palin as vice president..
But that fact makes me believe that this movie is fair, because I felt somewhat more sympathetic toward Sarah Palin after watching this.Making a film depicting recent history, as this does, is difficult, because it portrays people that, for the most part, we know.
I am unsure about the cussing, but it was a Presidential campaign and it is likely that they have cussed, and Sarah Palin did not cuss.This movie has given me more respect for John Mccain. |
tt0100343 | Peacemaker | In an Eastern Orthodox church in Pale, Bosnia and Herzegovina, an unidentified man (later revealed to be a Bosnian diplomat to the UN) is murdered after being paged to meet someone outside.
At a missile base in Russia, SS-18 ICBMs are being decommissioned. Ten nuclear warheads are loaded onto a train and sent to a separate site for dismantling. However, Russian General Aleksandr Kodoroff, along with a rogue tactical unit, kills the soldiers on board the transport train and transfers nine of the warheads to another train. Kodoroff then activates the timer on the remaining warhead and sends the transport on a collision course with a passenger train. Minutes later, the 500-kiloton warhead detonates, killing the survivors and delaying an investigation.
The detonation immediately attracts the attention of the U.S. government. White House nuclear expert Dr. Julia Kelly believes that Chechen terrorists are behind the incident. U.S. Army Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Devoe interrupts her briefing to suggest that the crash and detonation were staged to hide the hijacking of the other warheads. A call to Devoe's long-time friend and Russian counterpart, Dimitri Vertikoff, adds credence to his hypothesis and he is assigned as Dr. Kelly's military liaison.
Kelly and Devoe try to track the terrorists through an Austrian trucking company which is a front for the Russian Mafia. When the Mafia realizes they are U.S. government agents, they send thugs to kill them. Vertikoff, attempting to pay them off, is killed. Devoe kills most of the would-be assassins, and he and Kelly escape. Information from the trucking company shows that the nukes are bound for Iran. Spy satellites place the truck in a traffic jam in Dagestan, and Devoe uses a ruse to identify it. The satellite, tracking in real time, is able to verify its license plate.
Stopped at a checkpoint, Kodoroff and his men kill the guards. Devoe then leads a special forces unit to stop them. Denied entry into Russian airspace, one of the helicopters is shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile battery, but the remaining helicopters are able to locate the truck carrying the warheads. A gunfight ensues in which Kodoroff is killed and the warheads are seized. Interrogation of the surviving member of the group reveals that one warhead was taken by another man.
Further work on the information from the trucking company leads IFOR to a Sarajevo address. Inside is a video cassette of a Yugoslav named Dušan Gavrić. Gavrić disclaims any allegiance in the Yugoslav Wars ("I am a Serb, a Croat, and a Muslim"), but blames other countries for supplying weapons to all sides in the war. Dr. Kelly realizes he intends to bomb a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York City and the city goes into lockdown. Gavrić arrives in Manhattan with the Bosnian diplomatic delegation. A flashback shows that Gavrić wants to avenge the death of his wife and daughter, who were killed in Sarajevo. He and his brother are finally found by the NYPD. When his brother is killed by Devoe, a wounded Gavrić is followed into a parochial school and then a church. Devoe confronts Gavrić, who commits suicide, knowing that the bomb is set to go off in a matter of minutes and cannot be deactivated. With only seconds to spare, Dr. Kelly is able to remove a part of the explosive lens shell of the bomb, preventing the primary explosion from establishing critical mass within the plutonium core. The primary wrecks the church, but the warhead itself does not detonate. Devoe and Kelly both survive with minor injuries. | cult | train | wikipedia | Aliens, non-stop action, and Hilary Shepard.
What more do you want?.
Due to budgetary limitations, this movie isn't quite up to the same standard as similar films from the Eighties/early Nineties that it was clearly influenced by (for example, THE HIDDEN, DARK ANGEL, and THE TERMINATOR).
The use of familiar stock footage from BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS to portray the alien's arrival on Earth is particularly disappointing.
However, despite these problems, PEACEMAKER is still a highly entertaining sci-fi/action hybrid that has been undeservedly overlooked and is ripe for rediscovery.
It's also one of the few films in which the gorgeous and talented B movie actress Hilary Shepard was given a leading role..
A fun cable surprise!.
Peacemaker came on cable one night.
Didn't know anything about it, but boy I'm glad I stayed with it!
Not only is it full of well-executed action, but the plot is ingenious - a good and a bad alien both land on earth, and each claim the other is the "bad guy" and we're kept guessing right up until end of the movie as to which is which!
Not terribly well-written, but the clever idea, tongue-in-cheek tone, and quality action count for a lot..
Why I enjoyed Peacemaker.
This movie was one of the more fun ones that I've seen in a while.
There isn't 2 minutes that go by without explosions, gunshots, car chases, and other fun treats.
Peacemaker is a movie that, when you first start watching, you think will be a big waste of time.
Nope, just the opposite.
This movie is packed with testosterone pumped fun.
After about a minute, when the action started to pick up, I knew already that this wasn't going to be your average, boring B-movie.
Yep, it is a B-movie, but even though the plot is hokey, it manages to pull out a few twists and turns that keeps you guessing who the hero is, and more importantly, it keeps you interested.
One of the only flaws is bad dialogue, with some corny one-liners and such.
But, I suggest that if you spot this at your video rental store on a Friday night, and you're in the mood for some fast-paced action scenes, go for it..
Better than it ought to be..
Okay, the story is kind of dumb (funny how one of the aliens doesn't know what a "joke" is, yet he can use words like "rejuvenate") and won't please sci-fi purists, but if you're more of an action fan, you should find this film unexpectedly entertaining.
It has some truly amazing stunts (including the best motorcycle-passes-under-truck stunt I've ever seen), and it's clever in one respect at least: it jerks us around until the end regarding the question of which of the two aliens is really the "good" one.
"Peacemaker" is a prime example of a movie that is made with a little (money), but works hard and accomplishes a lot.
In fact, it's hard to believe that this film was directed by the same man who made the awful "Night of the Demons".
It's also hard to believe that it's so little-known.
"Starman" + "The Hidden" = lots of stunts!.
God help me, but I enjoyed this movie a great deal.
Jewell Shepard is funny and beautiful and irresistible when gratuitously tied up in phone cord (don't ask), Robert Forster does his usual sturdy work, there is an interesting flip-flop in character sympathies part of the way through and yes, there are some great car stunts and some great fight gags.It was entertaining in spite of its low budget and obviously derivative origins and looked good, too (in terms of lighting and cinematography).
It's nice to see people working in the movie industry that do a good job, a professional job, despite working on what is essentially a piece of junk..
Tenney can make a movie.
First of all, let me proclaim my bias: I am the President and CEO of the Kevin Tenney Fan Club, therefore I enjoy his work.
Granted, the man has never made a blockbuster, but his work is far more entertaining than anything Woody Allen or Michael Bay could ever dream of making.
That being said, I enjoyed this flick but not quite as much as I enjoyed Pinnochio's Revenge or Witchboard.In this film we have a doctor (Hilary Shepard) torn between two aliens, both claiming to be police officers from another planet.
Hilary has a hard time trusting the aliens in human form since they are both tricky and each have the same story - flipping roles to confuse Ms. Shepard.
Hilary changes her allegiance to the men on several occasions throughout the film, but you really can't blame her.
Although this isn't Tenney's finest film, it is much better than other sci-fi films out there.VIOLENCE: $$$$ (I swear, this film employed more stunt men than any other film in the history of cinema.
There are numerous car chase scenes, which I don't usually enjoy, but Kevin makes them great, as well as several explosions.
SInce the aliens can regenerate, Tenney shoots Robert Forster and Lance Edwards about a thousand times each).NUDITY: $$ (Hilary Shepard removes a robe and steps into the shower with one of the aliens and then makes love to him.
Tenney's love scenes are never gratuitous.
You hardly see any of the forbidden flesh).STORY: $$$ (Although the main premise is a recycled one, Tenney is a master story-teller with a superior knack for writing one-liners.
Most of the jokes are spoken through Hilary Shepard's character since the aliens don't have jokes and pranks on their planet.
Unlike most writers, Tenney doesn't write females as the helpless, screaming, wait-for-the-man-to-save-me characters.
He gives his female characters substance).ACTING: $$$ (The acting is alright.
I've always been a fan of the Dos Roberts - Forster and Davi.
Robert Davi's role isn't very substantial but he is solid in it.
Lance Edwards got on my nerves with his alien accent and his acting is a tad stiff.
Hilary Shepard proves to have a knack at delivery one-liners.
She could be described as a female Bruce Campbell.
She does a wonderful job with Tenney's dialogue)..
Boldfaced Ripoff of The Hidden.
As a director, Kevin Tenney's body of work is mixed at best.
But as a writer it's clear that he has no problem stealing the plots of other movies.
This is a blatant ripoff of a 1987 movie called The Hidden, which had the same storyline but much better action sequences.
His later film, Endangered Species, is clearly a ripoff of Terminator.
Witchtrap ripped off The Haunting and Hell House and his own Witchboard, which featured an equally cheesy villain.
The opening set-up of the one Night of the Demons script he wrote (#3) was his attempt to steal Quentin Tarentino's crime action thunder, mixed with his usual rehash of plot points from the original film in the series.
With all the struggling young writers out there trying to make a buck, you'd think that Tenney would throw away his keyboard and hunt for original material.
Looking over his credits on this site, his best films were written by other people..
Hokum.
PEACEMAKER is a not-bad B-movie slice of pure hokum from director Kevin Tenney, the man who brought us NIGHT OF THE DEMONS and WITCHBOARD.
The plot is heavily derived from THE TERMINATOR and sees a woman caught between two men who are aliens masquerading as humans.
One of them's a cop, one's a killer, and she must work out which is which.It's a mixed bag of a movie in terms of execution but the mystery angle of the plot keeps it going, just about.
There's plenty of violent action here, carried out reasonably well on a low budget, and a sense of momentum which means that the narrative is never boring despite the sometimes repetitive nature of the scenes.
Cast-wise, the only actor to really shines is the always-fun Robert Forster, although Robert Davi also shows up in support as a cop..
A very lively, exciting and entertaining sci-fi action romp.
This pleasingly straightforward and unpretentious low-budget sci-fi/action rehash of "Starman" and "The Hidden" depicts two alien adversaries -- brutal escaped convict Yates (the almighty Robert Forster in peak nasty form) and dedicated cop Townshend (hunky Lance Edwards) -- landing on Earth and proceeding to duke it out between themselves, causing a great deal of death and destruction in the process.
Caught in the middle of the aliens' lunatic fray is Dr. Dori Caisson (the gorgeous, but extremely annoying Hilary Shepard), a fiery, tart-tongued pathologist who cuts loose with an endless stream of groan-inducing stupid one-liners ("The only difference between a brown nose and a s**thead is depth perception") and dutifully doffs her duds for the obligatory gratuitous sex scene.Efficiently directed in a taut, punchy, streamlined fashion by underrated B-movie maestro Kevin S.
("Witchboard," "Night of the Demons") Tenney (who also wrote the derivative, but functional script), "Peacemaker" has the right rousing stuff to pass muster as a really satisfying flick: a peppy, barnstorming pace which rarely flags, accomplished, hyper-kinetic cinematography by Thomas Jewett (the manic Steadicam work is especially strong), a furiously pile-driving score by Dennis Michael Tenney, fine acting from an able cast (besides Forster and Edwards in powerhouse leads, pockmarked tough guy Robert Davi as a gruff police sergeant, Bert Remsen as an amiable coroner and Wally Taylor as a friendly hospital security guard are on hand to give sturdy supporting performances), copious and often quite gory violence, and, most importantly, the wildly out-of-control and adrenaline-charged full-bore action scenes are executed with tremendous hair-raising verve (said action includes frenetic foot chases, guys crashing through doors and glass windows, mucho painful hand-to-hand combat, frenzied firefights, heavy falls from high places, and one particularly awesome protracted automobile pursuit set piece).
Only a lousy sense of tiresomely smartaleck humor detracts somewhat from this otherwise nicely dynamic, heart-racing and entertaining little winner..
Pretty decent flick for the budget..
"Peacemaker" joyfully rips off "The Hidden," "Highlander," and half a dozen other S-F flicks, but you won't really care.
This could be a pretty straightforward thriller without even resorting to the S-F elements.
(This is a good thing, too, because it's obvious that the director and producer have no desire to shoot major S-F scenes.
The arrival of the "rover" ship is stock footage...you never see it on the ground.
The one scene of an alien healing his hand is pretty simple stop-motion.
There are no futuristic weapons.) On the other hand, there are plenty of car crashes.
Good, old-fashioned physical effects rule the day.The plot and writing are so-so, but serviceable.
I'm used to being yanked several different ways during a movie, but I honestly didn't know for sure which alien was "good" and which was "bad" until about 2/3 of the way through the film.Robert Forster and Robert Davi turn in satisfactory performances.
Lance Edwards makes a valiant attempt to simulate some weird speech impediment throughout the film, but doesn't really pull it off.
(He's just learned to speak English by watching TV all night...sound familiar?) Hilary Shepard just plain chews up the scenery.
Still, they all work together and nobody stands out as being way superior or inferior to the other members of the cast.It's a B-movie that stands just a little bit taller than most of the other dreck out there..
A mysterious alien lands on earth and is seemingly unstoppable by the cops because on the planet he comes from, any kind of wound can be quickly healed.
He ends up convincing Dori Caisson (Shepard) to help him get back to his home planet.
Learning English overnight from watching TV, he ends up calling himself Townsend (Edwards).
You can't really blame him, Robert Townsend was huge at the time.
But there's trouble in the form of fellow alien Yates (Forster), who Townsend claims is an intergalactic serial killer and must be brought back to justice.
But it's not going to be easy, as the two are causing all sorts of havoc all over L.A. But who can Dori trust?
Both claim to be "Peacemakers", their planet's version of police officers.
One must be lying, and Dori is caught in the middle.
Meanwhile, Sgt. Ramos (Davi) is trying to put law enforcement into the middle of this mess, all the while hitting on Dori.
Who is the real Peacemaker?
Find out today!
Fries Home Video was never a major player back in the video store days.
They were just one of many labels vying for the patron's dollar.
Peacemaker seems to be their attempt at competing with very similar but higher-tier titles like I Come In Peace (1990), The Hidden (1987), The Borrower (1991) and even Critters (1986).
Plus Lance Edwards' accent and overall demeanor is unquestionably Terminator (1984)-esque.
Thankfully, it's all done with enough energy, enthusiasm and humor, ensuring that this movie is not a slog at all; it's actually quite enjoyable.
In our personal estimation, one of the main reasons for that is that it's more of an action thriller, and the sci-fi elements, such as they are, aren't oppressive, they're just enough to support the plot.
Stunts (courtesy of BJ Davis and Mike Norris, among many others), chases, shooting and other action scenes firmly place Peacemaker in the action camp, and we're grateful it weighs more heavily on that end of the scales.Robert Forster looks cool with his bomber jacket and giant gun, and fan-favorite Robert Davi puts in an interestingly low-key performance.
We were also very thankful that the character of Dori was not annoying.
So many times before we've seen situations where that type of character is always irreparably confused or whining the whole time.
But Dori is likable, perhaps because she was a classic 90's-style jokester.
1990 was when having a wry, referential and somewhat cynical sense of humor was cool, before it became overdone, and before things were dripping with irony.
Dori, like the movie itself, hits that sweet spot before things went to hell because of MTV and such.
Come on, apparently this movie was made at a time when cops at the precinct still smoked pipes for goodness' sake.
Pipes!
Well, at least one guy did.
This "PipeCop" as we called him, intrigued us and we wished we knew more about him.
Perhaps a spin off TV show would have answered all of our questions.
Sadly, to date this has not happened.
But with Hollywood dredging up everything from cartoons to board games because they're bereft of ideas, hasn't PipeCop's day truly come?
Peacemaker is well-made and fun to watch.
Peacemaker is well-made and fun to watch.
While they may have overdone the twist of "who's really the bad guy?" (you can't keep doing that over and over - it would have been more effective if they had done it less, in our opinion) there are far more positives than negatives here.
We say check it out..
One of the many regenerating alien that never dies movie's....
1st watched 10/18/2001 - 4 out of 10 (Dir- Kevin Tenney): One of the many regenerating alien that never dies movie's has some good scenes and a little bit of whodunit(being tricked into who is the bad alien and who is the good alien).
Despite a few good scenes, overall this is pretty much a retread from many of the same kinds of movies.
It has a few car crashes, chase scenes, violent fights with of course the ever-popular regenerating aliens which we've all seen before, and of course there has to be alien-sex (leaving the possibility for a sequel.) And finally, an Arnold Schwarzenegger sound-alike complete with speech impedement who happens to be the good alien.
If this all doesn't sound familiar you haven't been watching some of the most popular science fiction movies of all time.
Go back and watch them instead. |
tt3916762 | Rabhasa | Karthik (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.) returns to India after completing his graduation in the United States, and his mother (Jayasudha) decides to get him married to her brother Dhanunjay's (Sayaji Shinde) daughter Indu (Samantha Ruth Prabhu). When Karthik's father (Nassar) goes to Dhanunjay's house to ask the same, he gets insulted. Dhanunjay plans to be a mayor and Karthik decides to teach him a lesson and marry his daughter. Firstly, he kills the possibilities of Dhanunjay becoming a mayor. Later he joins Indu’s college to somehow convince her for the marriage, where he encounters Bhagyam (Pranitha Subhash) who falls in love with him whom he misunderstood as Dhanunjay's daughter. Conflicts arise between Karthik and Indu. By the time he comes to know that Indu is his cousin and not Bhagyam, he has broken up with Bhagyam because of Indu's revenge.
Karthik ends up challenging Dhanunjay, who then approaches a gangster Obul Reddy (Ajay). Indu acts as if she loves Karthik so that she can escape from there and find her lover whom she never saw. That person helped her friend elope with her lover on the night of her marriage and neither Indu nor that person knows each other's features and looks. On seeing Karthik's photograph, Obul Reddy asks his whereabouts as he was that person who helped his brother's fiancée who actually was Indu's friend who eloped with her lover that night. Meanwhile, Karthik and Indu escape from there and on learning her love story, Karthik decides to help her and gives up his word given to his mother. Meanwhile, Karthik saves Peddi Reddy (Jaya Prakash Reddy) from Gangi Reddy's (Nagineedu) men and Indu poses as Karthik's lover who eloped with him as her parents did not approve their marriage and also a gangster is looking for them. As an act of gratitude, Peddi Reddy takes them to their house where they are kept in safe custody. But shockingly they find out that Obul Reddy is Peddi Reddy's son and Indu's friend actually was Gangi Reddy's daughter.
The person who helped Gangi Reddy's daughter that night from her marriage was Karthik himself and he is unaware that the person who spoke to him in a phone to help that girl was Indu. Indu is unaware that Karthik was that person whom she loves. Dhanunjay uses this situation and introduces Nandu as that person who actually is the son of a rich millionaire with whom Indu's marriage was planned by him. Obul Reddy and his brothers bring a liar named Raju (Bramhanandam) and misrepresent him as the person who helped the bride run away that night. But he is not killed instantly as the bridegroom, Obul Reddy's brother Bulli Reddy (Sravan) who is in a coma due to Karthik, has to kill him once he recuperates. He is cheated on several occasions by Karthik, who meanwhile manages to create a good impression in Indu when he unites Gangi Reddy and Peddi Reddy, thus rescheduling the marriages, and saves Nandu from Peddi Reddy when he broke the house's ancestral statue by taking the blame himself. Indu proposes Karthik to marry her and declares that she cannot live without him.
But he is not in a position to accept her proposal as Dhanunjay warned him before that if he makes Indu fall in love, he would reveal that Karthik helped Gangi Reddy's daughter to escape thus breaking the newly formed bond between the two families. Thus he rejects her proposal and sacrifices his love for the welfare of the two families. After an unexpected fight with Obul Reddy, Karthik is confronted by Peddi Reddy and Gangi Reddy, who now know the truth. They forgive him and the marriage of Peddi Reddy's daughter happens as scheduled, with Karthik and Indu getting married in the presence of their parents on the same day at the same venue. The families of Gangi Reddy and Peddi Reddy are united and all are happy except Dhanunjay. | romantic | train | wikipedia | Rabhasa.....
Hmmmm nice movie.
The movie has the same theme like other Telugu action movies.
NTR's action is very nice, direction is good, Samantha best fits her role.
Bramahanandam Ji "ur the best" his role will bring charm in the audience which the film fails to bring in the first half.
The second half of the film will make the film a super hit.
The songs in the film are good and the dance by NTR is as expected very nice but Not much expected duologue's are in the script.
The story is very nice but doesn't look like a different one.
It can easily be expected what happens in the next part of the story.
Overall it will be a super hit for NTR fans and for others it is one time watchable..
Movie is as expected with disappointment.
Movie is below average.
Headache old routine story.
Not able to use the comedians in full level.
1st half is confusing 2nd half is less confusing and a bit better.
One of the heroine's character ended abruptly.
Screenplay is not good.
Better to watch once for the fans.
For others, its better not to waste money and watch it on television channels when it gets displayed.
What Is Good?
Jr NTR & Brahmanandam Comedy.
What Is Bad?
Fights, Graphics, Editing, Bad Screenplay, Predictable Narration of the next scene, Routine Story, No full length comedy.
My overall rating to this movie as an NTR Fan is 2.5/5.
Rabhasa collections were not affected till the future films release, like Ravi Teja's Power, Mahesh's Aaagadu, Ram Charan's Govindhudu Andarivaadele.
Best way to blow your Mind.
First of all, I want to make it clear that I used to be a big fan of NTR until he used to make movies like Adhurs and Brindaavanam and I still gave him a chance after the disappointing Baadshah and Ramayya Vastavayya, but this one is seriously frustrating.The director had no plot in his mind, he just wanted to project the hero as a larger than life as most of the films these days do.
He just created a couple of scenes in which the hero is projected as 'God' for all the 'divine' stuff he does(like sacrificing his love, forgiving others, trying to patch up a family for no reason,etc.)and then combined them all with a senseless screenplay.
The screenplay doesn't any sense at all.
And the fights are hilarious.
I think NTR is trying to beat Balayya in this department(and he is successful I must say!)The way the story progresses is truly hilarious.
And look at the coincidences in the movie: The guy who the heroine calls randomly to save a couple(and that guy can be anywhere in the whole country, but he is just few kilometers away from her!!!
wow) - is the same guy who happens to be her cousin - the same guy who comes to cast cheap tricks to impress her(and the way he confuses with someone else instead of her is something you should not miss).
The way the heroine is convinced that the guy who saved the couple is also praise-worthy.
The villains are eager to kill their own brother-in- law but the hero who is a stranger to that family is vying to save him!!!!Acting: NTR is as usual good but gets nothing new to do in this stale script.
Samantha is okay.
Nassar, Jayaprakash and Jayasudha are plain mediocres who are palying their routine characters once again.
Rest all: ajay, brahmanandam, ali, shinde and others are only overacting.Verdict: One of the worst films ever made in Tollywood.
I hope NTR becomes carefull while choosing 'masala' scripts from next time because even balayya and kalyanram are these days coming up with watchable stuff..
Do not waste your time on this nonsense.
First thing is first, this is one of those routine usual mindless idiotic movies you can find.
Words can't describe how annoying this film is.
A routine story, clichés throughout, good for nothing female leads, gravity defying fight sequences, absolutely insane songs, soulless dialogues, obnoxious camera work and terrible writing all together make this film.
The villains are so furious and scary at parts and literally act like clowns at parts and in addition to all this nonsense you have an inserted comedy track which looks so awful.
The scary and frightening villains who are possessed to kill the hero from the beginning of the film change their minds and become good at heart just because of a mere speech about how good the hero is.
A countless number of characters are thrown in which are absolutely useless and contribute nothing to the story.
I have countless other reasons to justify how bad the film is.
To put them all into a single sentence 'this is a paisa vasool mindless telugu movie', so you can't really expect anything good from the movie.
Stay away from this junk and save your valuable time..
Please Wake-up NTR.
Story - Is there a story ??
I wonder !!
Pretty Routine..Performances - NTR has nothing to do.
Even his strengths, like dances, are also not well utilized.
He is okay.
Samantha and Pranitha have no significant roles.
They're adequate.
Brahmanandam is nicely utilized.
But again, it is a routine role for him.
Others are okay.Music - Music by Thaman is not nice.
Only one song, sung by NTR, is good on ears.
Background score is poor.Other Departments - Art work, Cinematography are nice.
Editing is okay.Story, Screenplay, Dialogues & Direction - Story is full of clichés.
It is an extremely routine plot.
Screenplay and treatment given are poor.
Director made a mess in second half.
He unnecessarily made it complex there.
Direction is partly good.Final Piece - Story is a routine revenge drama.
Screenplay is a mess.
Comedy is only partly successful.
NTR has not been well utilized.
I wanted Santosh Srinivas to taste huge success with this film, from the moment he told what happened to him and how NTR supported him, in the audio function.
But, a director who comes out of that situation would strike back with a powerful script.
But Santosh has chosen a weak one.
He couldn't come up with an engaging screenplay either and NTR's poor show at the box-office continues.
Watch it if you don't mind clichéd scripts..
please don't watch.
For you future interest on telugu films please don't watch it.No more wordsBut this review page needs 10 lines so i just want to warn you guysIts just like a strange feeling not to go near telugu films.Iam fan of nobody.
I watch movies for just relaxation.But this one blowed my mind.Horrible sounds, unnecessary over actions and additional dialogues.We like hero kicking goons...but not like he doesn't even get a small sweat drop from his body.Telugu industry is telling there are no stories to make movies.
But how come other southern states are experimenting new type of movies?Is the fans are not ready to receive or the heroes are facing ego issues??No matter what, they wont try new type of stories like tamil or malayalam guys do, but need full set of heroism to satisfy their egoism.......
ignore this Rabhasa.
Jr.ntr,one of the best actors at present in tfi,is worst at choosing the scripts.this movie,rabhasa ,does not offer anything new for the audience.the only thing which you will like in this movie is comedy sequences involving brahmi.ntr does his part in acting,dance-etc.the fight sequences are horrible.thaman offers some passable tracks,but disappoints you with his bgm,and the sentimental scenes were not executed well,Samantha,as usual did well.comedy sequences are the only plus points for this movie.watch this movie only if you are a great fan of ntr.ignore this movie if you are not his fan.finally,if you have decided to watch this film,watch it with no expectations.or else you will leave the theatre in the interval itself |
tt0066771 | Angels Hard as They Come | Somewhere in Southeast Asia, the present day. A group of five extreme outdoor female Chinese backpackers arrives at the entrance to Kana Jungle, home of the untamed, aboriginal Tiger Tribe. The group's leader is Bai Xue (Yu Nan), a wealthy company CEO; the others are Ta (Mavis Pan), a wild animal protectionist, Yanyan (Patricia Hu), a dancer and martial artist, Tongtong (Wu Jingyi), an archaeologist and polyglot, and Bai Xue's cousin Dingdang (Wang Qiuzi), who sells outdoor clothing on the internet. All of the women have been friends since childhood; also joining them is former professional soldier Wang Laoying (Collin Chou), best friend and former comrade-in-arms of Bai Xue's late younger brother Bai Yun. Meeting them at the entrance to Kana Jungle is US-educated Dennis (Andy On), who says he's making a documentary for National Geographic, and his Tiger Tribe friend Sen (Shi Yanneng), who is engaged to Princess Haer (Wangdan Yili) and will act as guide for Dennis' group. Bai Xue's group and Dennis had met by chance in Pattaya Beach, Thailand, three days earlier and had decided to team up. However, after they're all threatened by a tiger the first night in camp, and Dennis' men suddenly produce Uzis to scare it off, the women become suspicious and next day decide to go on their own. They're later attacked by the Tiger Tribe, and Yanyan, Dingdang and Tongtong are captured for sacrifice. Ta goes missing, but Bai Xue and Laoying try to rescue their three friends. Meanwhile, Dennis' group is also attacked by the Tiger Tribe, and only he and Sen separately survive. Dennis, whose real mission was to steal the tribe's store of precious stones, reports back to his father. Enraged, the latter decides to send in an elite force of mercenaries, led by Black Dragon (Kohata Ryu), to get the job done. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | Fans of 1960/70s exploitation movies will flip over this one!
Fans of 1960/70s exploitation movies will flip over this one!
Jonathan Demme originally pitched the project to Roger Corman as "a biker Rashomon".
Now that's not exactly how it ended up, but it's still terrific viewing for cult fans nonetheless.
Demme co-wrote and co-produced and his pal Joe Viola directed.
Viola and Demme were then involved with the women-in-prison movies 'The Hot Box' and 'Black Mama, White Mama' before they parted ways.
Viola concentrated on writing for TV while Demme eventually became a major Hollywood director.
Scott Glenn, who in the 90s co-starred in Demme's enormously successful 'The Silence Of The Lambs', plays Long John, a biker who gets invited to a ghost town where some Hell's Angels are partying with some local hippies.
Unfortunately a girl is murdered and Long John and his pals are accused by the bikers leader The General (Charles Dierkop, of 'Police Woman' fame, and the Killer Santa in 'Silent Night, Deadly Night').
They face a kangaroo court and then...
well, imagine your worst.
Glenn and Dierkop are both great to watch but the real icing on the cake is the supporting cast which includes Gary Busey as an unlikely hippie, biker regular Gary Littlejohn, 'Vanishing Point's nude motorcycle girl Gilda Texter, James Inglehart (Randy Black in Russ Meyer's trash classic 'Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls'), Janet Wood (who as Sweet Li'L Alice featured in the unforgettable naked knife fight with Raven De La Croix in Meyer's 'Up!'), and even - get this!
- the fat guy from Sam Fuller's 'Shock Corridor' (Larry Tucker) as a cat called Lucifer!
Such a cast makes 'Angels Hard As They Come' essential viewing for all fans of psychotronic cinema!
Don't overlook this forgotten biker gem..
a gritty, almost lost classic in the biker movie era.
On the one hand, after watching Angels Hard as They Come, I could understand why it's not higher rated or even been seen anymore than the common garden-variety B-movie biker flick, as it is true shamelessly Corman-style.
On the other hand, I ended really liking how it was executed.
The collaborators, Joe Viola and Jonathan Demme, wring out plenty of dirty fun out of such violent and twisted material without 'softening' it up like some biker movies of the period.
It's got almost no characters from the 'outside' world, just bikers, and maybe a few hippies (and yes, one of them an out-of-place and amusingly one-note Gary Busey).
So part of the entertainment comes from bikers just being as rough and crazy as possible.
But with this the writers come up with some unexpectedly funny moments, some more harsh than others, and sometimes even commenting on some of the absurdities of the Dragons.
This is done dialog-wise many times- as Viola's style isn't nearly as strong or affecting as Demme provides- and sometimes through ideas shown and it all being realistic even as its crudely artificial.One such scene, as a quick example, is when the leader of the pack General (Charles Dierkop as a well-played maniac) is seen from the waist up having short moment of pleasure, then as the camera pans down his motorcycle is getting a cleaning (pun intended, but then the title itself is almost there just for a goof).
Or in having one of the side characters, the one black character of a story, adrift in the desert, almost putting to a stop the Corman rule of there being almost constant danger &/or fights &/or sex/nudity/et all.
Other ideas abound in the crazy extremities that the Dragons go through against the three Angels (one being Scott Glenn in maybe the best 'acting' of the film), including a final idea that never does come to fruition.
All through, the filmmakers basically acknowledge what kind of film they're making, and don't skimp out on the early biker movies might not have dealt with, at least as much.
Rape, racism, torture, pure decadence and decay in the devastation.
But the factor of it all having practically a Western-movie element to it, a B-Western at that, is not thrown away for a story without focus.It's arcane and simplistic in music, usually exploitative in themes and character, and it's got the cinematic flavor of a beer soaked ashtray.
But to hell if it isn't one of my favorites of its kind, if only on the most guilty-pleasure level..
Big Leap From This Starter Movie.
I, John Hand, was the editor of CUSTOM CHOPPER Magazine in 1971 and I had a car and bike painter friend named Bill Carter who was appearing in the movie with his Harley.
So I went out to the desert and watched them shoot some scenes.
I put a report of this movie in my magazine but I have to admit that I never saw the movie later.
Mr Demme the director sent me a letter with some clarifications about the movie and I put the letter in my magazine.
Jonathan Demme, the director also told me to keep my eye on Scott Glenn, because he was going to go places.
Well, as it turned out, they both went on to make and star in the big blockbuster and award winner SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.
Who would have thought?.
Lost Cause.
What an awful movie ...
A bunch of "hip" motorcyclists invade a California ghost town called "Lost Cause".
There, they confront a rival gang of bikers and some hippies.
The story has no real point to it, nor any theme that I could detect.There are way too many characters.
And none of them are interesting.
But they sure are "tough".
They drink lots of booze.
They smoke.
They swear.
They fight.
They kiss their babes.
They kick up a lot of ruckus.
They emit dialogue like: "Lay it on me man" ...
"I don't want a beer now, man" ...
"Let's dig it, man" ...
"I hope this works, man" ...
"Make it good, man".
They all act like rowdy ten-year-olds on a school playground.And that playground is not the least bit interesting.
Lost Cause looks like the back lot of some movie studio.
The film's color cinematography is dreadful.
Some of the images are either blurred or out of focus.
Interior lighting is too dim.
You would think that the filmmaker could have at least inserted some good music from that era; alas, no.Just because it's a biker movie doesn't mean that viewers will tolerate a shabby screenplay, bad acting, or poor quality visuals.
There are good biker films out there.
"Angels Hard As They Come" is not one of them.
At least the ghost town has an appropriate name.
It's a good metaphor for this film..
Terrible.
I mistakenly watched this DVD thinking it would offer something slightly different from the usual Hell's Angels road movies.
The fact that the title suffixes "As hard as they come" I was literally expecting a proper blood & guts flick-instead I got a 2nd rate movie length version of a staple A-Team story line!
The basic premise is Long John (Scott Glenn) is seen arranging a shady drugs deal out in the desert with his buddies Juicer (Don Carrera) and Monk (James Inglehart).
They get tailed by the police but eventually lose them and end up at a petrol station.Here they meet fellow road warriors "The Dragons" and are invited to a hippy commune that the Dragons have gatecrashed-for a party.Basically, we discover that the Dragons are a little heavy handed with the hippies, climaxing in the attempted gang rape of one of the hippy chicks that Long John has taken a liking to.
Long John intervenes and in the melee the hippy chick gets stabbed.After a Kangaroo court presided over by the Dragons leader "the General" (Charles Dierkop) the Angels are found guilty and sentenced to "fun & games" (dragged around on the back of the Hogs) and eventually death.Monk escapes and alerts the rest of the gang and the Hippies finally get some backbone to help the Angels.
The movie's finale is of the Angels whupping the Dragons and everyone going their separate ways.The "violent" scenes are marred by terrible lighting and really bad 70's fisticuffs, the movie is clichéd and doesn't work on any level-it's not even amusing from a nostalgia point of view.Rent/Buy this movie at your peril!.
Angels as 70's as they come.
Saw this on netflix when I looked up The Harder They Come.
Really fun movie until the virginesque girl gets gang raped and killed but for some reason no one is really freaked out and the movie sorta continues on without missing her.
There are some fun gems in this movie like the really smooth drug dealer guy in the beginning who seems half asleep and the funny dialogue between the bikers in the beginning.
Also mixed in is a little racial conflict.
Like when the dune buggying wasp couple finds the escaped good guy who happens to be black.
The guy wasp admonishes the tired/thirsty man for being on welfare but then asks his girlfriend to have sex with guy, when he refuses they try to run him over with the dune buggy!
The bad guys come straight outta sixties westerns except for the gang raping parts-which can be really upsetting but the fact that the movie was made by Jonathan Demme(Silence of the Lambs) sorta makes sense, as the late sixties and seventies B movies were training grounds for future directors("Duel"-Spielberg).
This movie is basically a sexplotation and violenceplotation flick but it has its unique moments, netflix it now.
And while your at it, get "Inglorious Bastards." When people say the 1970's was a focal point for which creativitey exploded away from itself into separate factions-I believe it when I see this movie..
Bikers Vs. Bikers Vs. Hippies.
As a biker movie, this is great.
As an action film, it is pretty good.
As a drama, it's awful.But if you want sleazy 60's style biker action, this film delivers in spades.
I've seen most of the biker films from 1965-1973 (the original era), and I'd put this one near the top.
These bikers are convincingly dirty, scummy and backstabbing (in more ways than one).
They are some of the most bearded, shower-needing, dirt-eating, denim vest wearing reprobates that I have seen on film.
I had the DVD of this film for a long time before I watched it, and I'm sorry I waited so long.You get sleazy, evil bikers lured to a ghost town and challenged and put upon by some other, even more sleazy, supremely evil bikers.
There's also some hippies there, but they are basically pawns in the power game between the two biker factions.
Soon enough, things move from drinking, sex and drag racing, to fist fighting, injuries and murder, as things get more and more intense and people's "honor" comes into play more and more.The bikers here don't meet up with with straight society; such people are barely seen in this film (a few police cars pass by a few times).
There's just an arena, and two groups of gladiators doing combat with each other.
Pure conflict between two wild animals, with no outside influences coming in to complicate things.I'd put this film right up there with The Wild Angels and Hells' Angels 69 for biker movie thrills.
Also check out a crazy over-the-top biker thing, The Tormentors, if you can find it.I'd like to add that this film is Public Domain due to some idiot at Roger Corman's company failing to place a copyright notice on it.
Therefore, you might be able to find a DVD of this film for as little as $1, or part of a multi-pack for cheap.
If you do find this film for a dollar, then you have no excuse to avoid picking it up.
It's a don't miss recommendation at that price, unless you don't like biker movies at all..
Cool 70's biker flick.
Several members of the outlaw biker gang the Angels are framed for the rape and murder of hippie gal Astrid (a solid and appealing portrayal by the fetching Gilda Texter, who was the nude motorcycle rider in "Vanishing Point") by psychotic rival biker gang leader the General (fiercely played with fire-breathing ferocity by Charles Dierkop).Director Joe Viola keeps the enjoyable and engrossing story moving along at a brisk pace, maintains a gritty tone throughout, makes neat use of the dusty desert ghost town main location, and delivers a satisfying smattering of tasty gratuitous female nudity.
The clever script by Viola and Jonathan Demme makes valid points about loyalty, betrayal, the abuse of power and authority, and the failure of the 1960's hippie love generation, with the passive pacifist mentality embraced by the hippies being taken cruel advantage of by the more hostile and aggressive bikers.
The sound acting by the capable cast keeps this movie humming: Scott Glenn as the confused, but basically decent Long John, James Iglehart as the amiable Monk, Gary Littlejohn as the traitorous Axe, Gary Busey as easygoing longhair Henry, Janet Wood as the friendly Vicki, Dirty Denny as the scrappy Rings, Don Carrera as the addled Juicer, and Brendan Kelly as the sarcastic Brain.
The rough'n'tumble fight scenes deliver the exciting goods.
The funky-throbbing score by Richard Hieronymous hits the get-down groovy spot.
Best of all, the bikers are drawn with some depth and come across as the genuinely grungy article.
A worthwhile grindhouse item..
Yes, I'm admitting I was there, and enjoyed the entire film process.
Yes, the director included the rape scene, and filmed an "Insert" close-up shot of the girls face just for dramatic effect.
The young lady in question was placed against a tree trunk, and four of us held her down while she thrashed about dramatically.
Great performance, kudos.
As I recall, I was stationed on her right hand, and great fun was had by all.The party scene, took at least two tries, due to the over enthusiastic performance by all in the room.
The beer was warm, and spewed all over the place.
Some of the girls needed to be paid additional money to go topless, and others needed to be paid to leave the top on.
We filmed at the old (now closed) Calabasas movie ranch, some on the El Mirage dry lake, some at the still operating "Rock House".
The entire production was supported by "Cinemobile Systems" and I drove the small Cinemobile Ford truck with all the equipment aboard.The second unit I believe was near Glamis CA.
for the dune-buggy stuff.
(I was not on the second unit crew) I recently found this entire film on YouTube.com and enjoyed watching it again..
Crap Don't Waste Ur time.
Terrible Just TerribleI picked this up on VHS at the Salvation Army I was excited because it was a 70's film and obviously by the title it was some Hell's Angels knock off film, so hell how could it be bad.Bikers doing bad stuff, fist fights!NOThere is one fist fight and it's so dark on the VHS you can't see anything, in fact half the movie is that way.The Movie is garbageA guy even gets stabbed with a plastic hatchet!Don't Watch this, even if you want to see it for nostalgia value it's really not worth itThe only good scene in the damn movie is when this black guy is walking through the desert and he comes upon a couple on a dune buggy, and the black asks him for some gas then the guy continues to say hey I ain't welfare so then the guy offers him his girlfriend to some jungle lovin in which the black guy turns down FOR SOME REASON!?!?!?!?
AND THIS WAS NOT A MIRAGE.
One talky biker movie.
Jonathan Demme (Married to the Mob, The Silence of the Lambs) impressed Roger Corman with his writing ability and was asked if he wanted to try a motorcycle movie.
His idea?
Rashomon on motorcycles.
He turned to his friend Joe Viola, a commercial director, and created this film.Long John (Scott Glenn, The Silence of the Lambs), Juicer and Monk (James Inglehart, Randy Black from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls!) get caught up in a busted drug deal before meeting up with the Dragons gang and heading to a ghost town.
There, they meet a hippie commune, where Long John falls for Astrid.
They argue over the bikers being evil because of Altamont while he counters that hippies have been tainted by Manson.The Dragons do, too.
A fight ensues and Long John's girl gets raped and stabbed, with the Dragons framing the Angels.
Their leader, the General (Charles Dierkop, the gas station attendant in Messiah of Evil) sentences them to fun and games, which means they all get dragged behind motorcycles.
Monk escapes and organizes the rest of the gang, leading to a violent battle to end all biker battles.This movie is packed with long bike riding montages, sex, drugs, debauchery, mayhem and a young Gary Busey.
It's talky, though and if you're not super into biker movies, this is probably not the one to start with. |
tt0064990 | La sirène du Mississipi | Louis Mahé (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a wealthy tobacco plantation owner on Réunion island in the Indian Ocean, is awaiting the arrival of his bride to be, Julie Roussel (Catherine Deneuve), whom he has never met. They became acquainted through the personals column of a French newspaper and have been corresponding by mail. At the Hotel Mascarin he meets his partner Jardine who accompanies him to pick up the ring. Louis drives to the dock to greet Julie who is arriving on the steamer Mississipi (spelled with one p according to the French spelling of the river at the time) from Nouméa, the capital of New Caledonia. When they meet he is surprised by her beauty and does not recognize her; she is not the woman in the photo that she had sent him. She explains that she sent the photo of a neighbor to assure the sincerity of his intentions. He confesses that he too has not told the complete truth, having hidden the fact that he was wealthy.
Louis and Julie quickly marry, and his adoration of his new bride makes him overlook inconsistencies with what she wrote in her letters. He gives Julie access to his bank accounts and prints her image on the cigarette packs his company manufactures. After receiving an angry letter from Julie's sister, Berthe Roussel (Nelly Borgeaud), demanding to know the whereabouts of Julie, Louis returns home to find that Julie is gone, and that she has absconded with nearly 28 million francs, all but emptying his bank accounts. Soon after, Julie's sister Berthe arrives and informs him that the woman he married was not Julie and that she saw her sister board the Mississipi. They hire a private detective, Comolli, to track down the impostor and bring her to justice.
On a flight to Nice, France, Louis suddenly collapses from exhaustion. While recuperating in the Clinique Heurtebise sanitarium, he sees Julie('s impostor) on television, dancing at a nightclub in Antibes. He buys a gun and travels to Antibes where he breaks into her room at the Hotel Monorail, intent on killing her. When she returns and is confronted by Louis, she offers no resistance. Explaining that her real name is Marion Vergano, she tells him of her sordid past; of the years she spent in prison; and of her association with a heartless gangster, Richard, who was with her on the Mississipi. She recounts that when they met Julie Roussel and learned of her forthcoming marriage, Richard fabricated a plot to kill Julie and send Marion in her place to rob Louis. Afterwards Richard forced her to go through with the robbery and then abandoned her. She tells Louis that she still loves him, and Louis forgives her.
Louis and Marion buy a red convertible and drive to Aix-en-Provence where they move into a house together and spend their days traveling the region and making love. Their happiness is interrupted, however, by Comolli, who has arrived in Aix on the trail of the impostor. After trying in vain to bribe the detective to drop the case, Louis shoots him dead and buries him in the wine cellar of the house. Louis and Marion flee to Lyon, but she grows increasingly dissatisfied with their fugitive existence and longs for a life of luxury in Paris. Louis returns briefly to Réunion and sells his share in the plantation to his partner Jardine. Upon his return he finds the police are on their trail. Again they are forced to flee, leaving most of his money behind.
They head into the mountains where they find an isolated cabin in which to hide. They hope to cross over into Switzerland, but Marion is restless and unhappy with their life on the run. Louis becomes increasingly ill, and after nearly collapsing, he suspects that Marion has been putting rat poison in his coffee. He attempts to escape, but Marion brings him back to the cabin. As she pours him another glass of coffee, he reveals his knowledge of her plan, accepts his fate with no regrets, and expresses his overwhelming love for her. Ashamed at her actions, Marion knocks the glass from Louis' hand and vows to make amends. She acknowledges that no woman deserves to be loved like this, but she assures him that she loves him and that they can still go away together. Crying in his arms, Marion tells him, "I'm learning what love is, Louis. It's painful." After Louis regains his strength, they leave the cabin behind them in a snow storm and head off together toward the border. | murder | train | wikipedia | This is one of the best films I've seen in the last years.Belmonndo and Deneuve shine in their respective roles, he as a naive plantation owner and she as an enigmatic trickster.Words won't do this masterpiece justice,suffice it to say that this is a movie that explores the darker side of love and the pain,humiliation and capacity for self-delusion that go with it, although it's dressed as a film noir.
I've slowly been collecting the films available on DVD of both Catherine Deneuve and Francois Truffaut.
Both actress and director have done some stinkers in their time - fortunately Mississipi Mermaid is not one of them.Next to "The Soft Skin", coincidentally staring Deneuve's sister (the late Francoise Dorleac), this would have to be my favourite Truffaut film.As well as directing, Truffaut also wrote the screenplay.
Something that always strikes me about Truffaut is his almost childlike innocence when presenting a story -- one could almost call it naivety.There's a scene towards the end of the film where Belmondo returns to the apartment in Lyon with the remains of the loot.
It's a scene that could almost come from the mind of a child - but that's Truffaut for you.Watching Catherine Deneuve in her films of the late 60's is indeed a sensory pleasure.
It certainly gives films of this period a unique look.Highly recommended for both Deneuve and Truffaut fans.......
The only vantage that the remake has over Truffaut's film is the awesome sex scenes which makes voyeuristic viewers go crazy over the bold moments of a poor film.The French version has Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Paul Belmondo in a more romantic story that breaks into a good thriller.
It has some weak moments but still a good film that is directed by one of the most incredible and hard working directors of all time.
The performers are elegant, and the way both actors portray their roles, in a mysterious and complex style makes of "Mississippi Mermaid" a very intriguing film where the next moment is the most interesting, the most awaited, it's full of surprises (by the way the ending is different than the one unbelievably made in the remake).Watch it without creating too much expectations and you'll enjoy it.
In Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, the owner of a cigarette factory Louis Mahé (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is engaged through correspondence with Julie Roussel and he does not know her.
He recovers and finds that the woman, actually Marion Vergano (Catherine Deneuve), works in the Phoenix Club Privé in Antibes and lives in the low-budget Monorail Hotel.
But Comolli is chasing Marion in France accused of murdering Julie."La Sirène du Mississipi" is a film-noir by the great director/writer François Truffaut, with an unconventional love story of passion, murder and love that hurts.
Catherine Deneuve makes this film worth and gives credibility to the passion and lust of Louis.
There, like here, it is hard to know if crime or patient love will win out in the end.I did not care much for the New Wave style editing, which seemed out of sync with the dramatic story at times.
The many shots of Belmondo driving kept reminding me of the beginning of "Breathless." The color seemed a bit dull and washed out.The locations are lovely, but Truffaut seems to have only one thing on his mind, the relationship between the lead characters, Louis and Juli/Marion.
For example, Louis has been telling Juli/Marion how much he loves her and how beautiful she is and then suddenly he gets upset and tells her how there are many of her kind - she is not really a woman or a girl, but a "chick".
Watching the scene, one thinks about how easily and naturally men can degrade women, even women they love.The film is a bit long and occasionally meanders, but it is emotionally intense at many points along the way.
It seems that nothing is happening and then suddenly there's a surprise that makes you think, "Oh my goodness, I didn't expect that." It may not be one of Truffaut's best films, but second-rate Truffaut is still better than 90% of other directors' best stuff..
This agreeable French movie deals about a millionaire owner of a tobacco factory on an African island nearly to Madagascar named Louis(Jean Paul Belmondo).
Good performances by Jean Paul Belmondo as young proprietary of a cigarette company who seems determined to fall under the spell of a femme fatale and a wonderful Catherine Deneuve as suspect heroine.
Loosely based on the novel titled'Waltz into darkness' by Cornell Woolrich (Rear window and screenwriter of Alfred Hitchcock hour) who also was adapted in 'Truffaut's The bride wore black'.Colorful cinematography by Denys Clerval(Stolen kisses) and atmospheric musical score by Antoine Duhamel, Truffaut's usual musician.This is one of the best of his suspense movies along with ¨Farenheit 451 and Shoot the piano player¨.
The film is a joy to watch, not just for the plot, which is gripping, but also for the superb performances of the actors, Deneuve and Belmondo.
I would recommend this film to all Truffaut or Deneuve fans.
It is a brilliant Hitchcockian style thriller with exciting twists and interesting relationships and characters that develop as the film does.
Deneuve steals the show in this film, and it is clear that at the time of making the film Truffaut was very much smitten with her.
On the surface, Francois Truffaut's Mississippi Mermaid is a taut, well- made Hitchcockian thriller that features good looking actors (including the alluring, icy blonde), exciting chases and bizarre circumstances.
Jean-Paul Belmondo puts aside his typical suave and cool demeanor to play a wealthy but lonely and somewhat naive tobacco plantation owner who puts in a request for a mail-order bride, only to discover that she looks like Catherine Deneuve.
The best I can muster is that Truffaut wanted to make a movie as tedious, painful, puerile, annoying, illogical, and brainless as the experience of being in love.
I'm not sure what Truffaut intended, because from the start Monsieur Belmondo does not convince that he's a man who's spent his life on Reunion Isalnd, running a cigarette factory.
It focuses on Reunion resident Louis Mahe (Jean-Paul Belmondo) marrying Julie Roussel (Catherine Deneuve), who may or may not be what she seems.Anyway, it's okay just to watch, but I wouldn't make it my first choice.
Among other things, how a woman as beautiful as Deneuve could be a person such as Julie/Marion is simply beyond anyone's ability to suspend disbelief; the role absolutely demands someone not so beautiful.
A title like this makes a film flop, even the French title is not much better.
Too bad - Truffaut & Deneuve must have been enough to sell it..This is a long film, but largely worth it.
We do like films to have a real sense of finality, and that is missing here.It was the case in many of her films that Deneuve became a canvas for Directors to play their fantasies out on, and this time it doesn't work as well.
Mississippi Mermaid : A supreme example of bad film making by French new wave pundit Monsieur Truffaut..
Every major director has experienced inevitably laborious phases of making really bad films.This happens as there are times when all creative people tend to hibernate.French new wave wonder kid Truffaut is also no exception to dreadfully malevolent rule of bad film making.
There have been some phases in his cinematographic career wherein he has made some really atrocious films.One can quote films like "The Bride wore black"/La Mariée était en noir, "The Man who loved women"/L'Homme Qui Aimait Les Femmes and "Mississippi Mermaid"/La Sirène Du Mississipi as some of the bland films which have been directed by Truffaut.
Mississippi Mermaid is a colossal failure as its star studded caste is largely wasted.One of French cinema's most vibrant pairs actors Jean Paul Belmondo and Catherine Deneuve look interesting but hardly offer any proofs of good acting.This film about a mail order bride is a good example of foregone conclusion as there is neither proper suspense nor any kind of well developed mystery.Truffaut has attempted to make a good film about love but ended creating a farce about a woman who gets the better of a stupid man..
MISSISSIPPI MERMAID is a disturbing and unsettling examination of what it means to be in love with the "wrong" person.Truffaut's directing is his usual outstanding work.
You know - I seriously think that this 1969 "WTF!?" French film should be promptly re-titled - "The Bad, the Beautiful, and the Boring." - 'Cause, in my eyes, that's all that this wretched "Francois Truffaut" production amounted to.Filled-to-overflowing with one laughably preposterous situation after another - This, to me, was one of those ludicrous romance stories that literally cried, begged, and demanded to be spoofed, big-time.Starring Catherine Deneuve (one of the most vacantly frigid actresses that French cinema has ever produced) - This film's scenes of sexual intimacy were (thanks to Deneuve) some of the most flaccid and non-arousing ever recorded on celluloid.Put plain and simple - I rank Mississippi Mermaid as being just pure adulterated excrement - Nothing more.
Some have said that this film poignantly explored the heart ache of love between two people who are wrong for each other but I can't help but wonder if Truffaut was trying to be funny..
This was Truffaut's second attempt at a "Hitchcock" movie, and I think "The Bride Wore Black" succeeds better than this one because Truffaut maintains the suspense throughout.
Frankly Bouquet was not so impressive in this film, but less than that was the performance of Catherine Deneuve.
This movie feels a bit like 'Truffaut doing Hitchcock', which has its good points and bad points.
Knowing absolutely nothing about it, I was intrigued by the first part, when a tobacco plantation owner on Reunion Island (Jean-Paul Belmondo) meets his fiancée (Catherine Deneuve) who he met and fell in love with through the mail, soon realizing that not is all as it seems.
However, on the negative side (and without giving away the plot), as the movie went on, the actions of the characters (and Belmondo in particular) were not always believable.
It kept my interest and had some great shots by Truffaut, including a fantastic scene between Belmondo and Deneuve at a fireplace, but ends up 'good' and 'not great' as a result..
"Julie, you are adorable," says Louis Mahe (Jean-Paul Belmondo) to his beautiful new mail- order bride, Julie Rousel (Catherine Deneuve).
Most of the movie places us in France after Louis has found her and accepted her as Marion Vergano Mississippi Mermaid, written and directed by Francois Truffaut, is a movie of Louis' obsession, of sexual psychosis, of parasitic selfishness, of stolen identity and of rat poison, with a lot of self-revealing (some of it even true) dialog thrown in.
Still, murder at the top of the stairs, the star power of Deneuve and Belmondo and some eccentric passing opinions (Louis thinks Johnny Guitar is "a love story, with lots of feeling in it."), all handled with Truffaut's characteristic confidence isn't something to pass by.
I think Truffaut with Mississippi Mermaid started with a nice, nasty, obsessional pulp tale, but then tried to do too much with it..
This movie begins at the languorous tropics,in the tropical,colonial languor,and it ends in snow,winter and cold winds.The music contributes a lot to the film's pace.La Sirène Du Mississipi is dedicated to Renoir,yes,but it constitutes an implicit tribute to Hitchcock,and there are many Hitchcockian elements that can be listed here:the score (notice that Truffaut did not like it:"the score of Mississippi Mermaid isn't very good",in a '70 interview); the photography;a certain sense of the movie as an object,as a thing of art;the irony (a bed scene is juxtaposed to the image of the money greedily caressed by Mrs. Deneuve);the fevered dream-sequence;the suspense;Mrs. Deneuve's beauty;a certain weirdness;the foreboding music.Yes,La Sirène Du Mississipi looks,indeed,very Hitchcockian,but in a meritorious and creative way.I think Truffaut saw in the Hitchcockian thrillers a genre on its own.His film is not a pastiche,but a creation in this genre.The gentleness,the ardor,the smoothness,the gentlemanly comic,the smooth-tempered frankness,the contemplation in such a dynamic show,are all Truffaut's.Mrs. Deneuve looks jaunty,fetching and fervid,and La Sirène has some fetishist notes:Belmondo burns Mrs. Deneuve 's lingerie,as if to punish his missing wife;playing the fool with Mrs. Deneuve,he hides her underwear.This is building Mrs. Deneuve's sexual myth,in a low-brow,fetishist key.Belmondo knows how to look dispassionate, credulous,agile, scatter-brained,delusion-ed, puzzled,scathing,pushing, resigned, feverish:a businessman from the Tropics,a believer in some values,educated,somehow naive and trusting ;he wears his white pullovers.As a character,"Louis Mahé" changes,evolves,multiform and malleable,and becomes more and more interesting as a man.I see Truffaut put heart in La Sirène:as I said,he dedicated it to Renoir,followed in Hitchcock's footsteps,and used an Hitchockian aesthetics,and made "Louis Mahé" read eagerly Balzac ("I love books and films equally, but how I love them!
My feeling is expressed in that scene in The 400 Blows where Antoine lights a candle before the picture of Balzac.",Truffaut in '70) .But Truffaut later disowned,repudiated his fine show.The critics also treated bad "La Sirène ...".(Truffaut said:"The critics didn't like it, nor did the public--perhaps because Deneuve and Belmondo didn't appear in their usual sort of roles.")Maybe,maybe it didn't live up to its author's expectations ,he wanted to make more than an amusing and thrilling show;Truffaut wanted to make,I guess,a Vertigo or a North by Northwest of his own-that is,an ultimate masterpiece,something very poetic,etc..Well,maybe it's not all that.
("Whatever is wrong with that film is my fault and not the fault of my stars.")Though,despite the critics' coolness and even Truffaut's own disappointment,"La Sirène ..." is a movie I admire.It may not be the masterpiece wished for,it may not have lived up to Truffauts ambitions,yet it is a thrilling show and it offers much delight;it certainly has its own beauty,its picturesque,its poetry,its suspense.He wanted a masterpiece;he got a very good movie instead.It is better than "Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me".I must say I am as excited as Truffaut was with Belmondo climbing Mrs. Deneuve's balcony.Truffaut said his "Mermaid" was "a smash" in Japan;it is obvious he did not considered it as a bad movie,but as one that could have been better..
The first 1/3 of this movie I loved and thought it was going to be one of Truffaut's best films.
Reuniting with cinematographer Denys Clerval after Stolen Kisses, Truffaut continues to open up on his Hitchcock inspiration via graceful tracking shots capturing the boiling heat on the Reunion island, back-screen projected car scenes creating a lovers on the run thriller atmosphere, and a return to the Switzerland safe house from Truffaut's first Noir Shoot The Piano Player,snowing in the romance between Mahé and Vergano on a doomed poetic note.Whilst his other Noir's of the era had a firm foundation for their playing around with time, (the extended flashbacks of Piano,the kill list of Bride,and the 4th wall breaking of A Gorgeous Girl Like Me) the time-frame Truffaut springs here feels incredibly disjointed,as the passage of time between Mahé and Vergano (played with an alluring Femme Fatale edge by Catherine Deneuve) romance stutters between feeling like it has taken place over years-from her appearance and Mahé (a restless Noir loner Jean-Paul Belmondo) being in a mental hospital, to a chance encounter with a detective stating that it has only been a matter of weeks.
Leaving behind Mahé almost penniless, Truffaut aims for Hitchcock-style twists that miss due to the revelation that Vergano is not who she claims,(who has sent piles of letters to Mahé)making Mahé's passionate love for a total stranger feel rather random,as Mahé searches for the Mississippi mermaid..
I've been working my way through Francois Truffaut's filmography & after viewing about a dozen of his films I just don't think that he's as great as so many other people say he is.
The rest that I've viewed are really just varying shades of CRAP.After watching Mississippi Mermaid, I just have to give up on Truffaut altogether because I just can't take any more !!!There is just NO WAY that any man could be as utterly STUPID as the protagonist Louis Mahe is portrayed in this film, much less a big businessman who owns a big plantation & a big factory, Sure!
3)After the FANTASTIC coincidence of running into Julie/Marion 7k miles from home in Nice France & confronting her in a hotel room with a pistol, STUPID Louis actually believes Marion's sob story & falls even more in love with her.
I mean this FOOL never even considers that this gal who was involved in killing the real Julie, who fraudulently marries him, & who runs away with 28mil of his dough could be just lying once again.4)Even if he did fall even more deeply in love with Marion in the Nice France hotel room & bought her story, any guy with an IQ above 30 would've just walked out on her & wrote off the whole thing as a bad experience, because the cops are still looking for Marion & any continued contact with her would implicate him as aiding a fugitive.
Overall, the GROSS, FANTASTIC, & TOTALLY UNREAL STUPIDITY of the protagonist Louis Mahe in Mississippi Mermaid makes the whole story line of this film so OUTRAGEOUS that I just can't take this film seriously AT ALL..
This man would have had local girls in droves.Truffaut, like Goddard, started out great, but was making mostly garbage by the late 1960s.
They ended up being captured, propped up and supported by the Hollywood/French film industry that they had first rebelled against and criticized.After viewing most of Truffaut's catalogue, I just don't think he was as good as everyone has been led to believe.
I believe that when it all comes down to it, most of Truffaut's movies are a pain to watch.
Not to mention the ridiculous love angle.I believe that Belmondo and Deneuve did the movie just for the money. |
tt0995752 | Tashan | Jimmy Cliff (Saif Ali Khan) is a call center executive who also teaches English. Pooja Singh (Kareena Kapoor) shows up outside his class and says she needs private tutoring. Without any hesitation, Jimmy quickly agrees as he has already fallen in love with her; he later finds out that Pooja's boss Lakhan Singh Ballebaaz a.k.a. Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor) is the one who has to be tutored. As their love grows, Pooja reveals that she is only working for Bhaiyyaji to pay her debts so she can then go to Haridwar to scatter her father's ashes. They decide to steal Bhaiyyaji's money and run away. The couple succeeds in their mission, and Jimmy asks Pooja to guard the money while he goes to the call center to tell them he is leaving.
At the call center, Jimmy learns that Bhaiyyaji is a maverick gangster who enjoys killing people and goes home to warn Pooja. Unexpectedly, Pooja has run away with all the money and she meets a bank manager to deposit the money in bank locker. He initially disagrees and Pooja puts her hands inside his pocket and he agrees. Bhaiyyaji hires Bachchan Pandey (Akshay Kumar), a gangster, to catch Jimmy. After getting caught, Jimmy and Bachchan head towards Haridwar to find Pooja and recover Bhaiyyaji's money. When they reach there, Pooja sees them and runs away. Unable to find Pooja there, Jimmy and Bachchan set off to find her again. While on the road, the duo get into a silly fight about the radio station and their car falls into the water.
Along with Jimmy and Bachchan, Pooja comes out of the water too. She had been hiding in their trunk the whole time. She tells them that she has hidden the money in seven different places across India. Jimmy and Pooja decide to run away with the money. The duo decide that Pooja should seduce Bachchan just like she did Jimmy. She tries to seduce him but finds out that they are each other's childhood loves, and they both fall in love. After recovering all of the money, Bachchan decides to leave with it, not knowing that Jimmy has replaced the money with stones.
When Pooja realises what he has done, she tells Jimmy the truth about Bhaiyyaji killing her father. To save Bachchan, Pooja and Jimmy head to Bhaiyyaji's lair with the money. When they get there, Jimmy pretends to betray Pooja and slaps Bachchan. He tells Bhaiyyaji to give him his gun so that he can kill Bachchan. After getting the gun, Jimmy instead points it to Bhaiyyaji and takes him hostage. He heads towards a car with Pooja and Bachchan following him. Surrounded by Bhaiyyaji's henchmen with guns, Bhaiyyaji manages to jump out of the car and everybody begins shooting at them. After a lengthy fight scene, Bhaiyyaji is killed by Pooja who stabs him with a knife. In the end, Jimmy opens up his own call centre, where only girls work, and Bachchan and Pooja get married. | romantic, revenge, murder, violence, flashback | train | wikipedia | This movie is cool.Some d**b f*** critics compared it with Ramgopal Varma Ki Aag.Either they have not seen Aag or Tashan.I saw both of them.Aag is the worst movie I have ever seen.It was a complete disaster in every department.Cult classic Sholay did not receive such a punishment.As in the case of Tashan, it is 1 billion times better than Aag.It is not for intellectuals or for people looking for a solid script.The truth is the script is as old as the hills.But the movie is not boring.Not even for a nano second.The credit goes to the four main actors(Akshay,Anil,Saif and Kareena delivered superb performances.),the dialogues,the songs(Tashan Mein and Dil Dance Maare rocks), the choreography, the sets, the background music the action scenes and the pace of the movie.The action scenes could have been better.
Also the henchmen of Anil Kapoor were ridiculous.The movie would not have been half as entertaining without Akshay.You will love his character.A wannabe shooter with a heart of gold.He is the soul of the movie.A perfect weekend movie.Just sit back and enjoy.NB: Maybe I should also say that you have to be an Akshay Kumar fan in order to enjoy the movie.I am one.For the past 14 years.
Let me tell you whether you like or hate Tashan, the fact is that this is a movie unlike you have ever seen in India or anywhere else.
Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on what you went into the theater expecting.Also the point of this post is not as much as to review the movie but more to explain what Tashan was supposed to be.
The whole mood of the film can be summed up in one song -Dil dance mare which has been outrageously choreographed and actually in a good way with lyrics which are really very innovative.
While action sequences in Dhoom 2 kept annoying me and dialogs put me to sleep, the dialogs and conversations in Tashan are actually quite interesting with that completely gone crazy mix of Hindi and English.
Akshay Kumar is brilliant as Bachhan Pandey and Anil Kapoor is good in first half.
Someone said before me that the movie is ahead of its time..it surely is, people still believe in all of real films that invented these formulas to not find them funny when they are mocked so loudly.
Bhaiyyji (Anil Kapoor) had a certain ishtyle as the villain of old tradishun, Akki was the usual Ishtyle of the tasteless Tradishun (that was actually the only effective ishtyle in this film), Saif had the pathetic Ishtyle of a "cool dude" who sports a droopy mustache (now how many cool dudes can do that?), and Kareena had the size zero figure ishtyle - sadly the size zero removed all the b (as in booty) from her assets - minus boobs and butt she was almost androgynous.
I have nothing against the studio or the cast (in fact I quite like Saif and Kareena), but if this film works then action movies will never be the same again and I will have to stop watching Hindi cinema that is action oriented.
I CANNOT BELIEVE I WROTE THAT!!!I had the good fortune to view this one again on DVD - I humbly wish to revise my opinion.We have a film that is truly unique in concept, shows small time people realistically, and even does a pretty good job of showing their ambitions and yearning to be "superior" - just like Jarj Bus!
Wah Bhai Wah. Music rocks, Akshay delivers his life's best acting, Kareena looks yummy (except in that size zero bikini), Saif is adequate.
Anil Kapoor is one negative - he speaks Bhaiyya speak well early on, but gets totally incoherent as the film proceeds, and I think the audience was not ready for the spoof filled action sequences.
Sorry,everybody who choose movie bad and good according to the box office status.I am very sorry for them who watch and comment on movies.Bur the actual thing is that they don't know anything about cinema and the labor behind making cinema.If everything goes right then Mera Naam Joker will be hit as Shakti,Sadma...........and the list is too long to write.
The thing I want to say is that Tashan is a pure homage to 80's Masala Bollywood movies where Dharmendra can jump over 10 stored buildings, a canny man like Rajkumar can defeat tones of villains with great body by slapping only.
On the negative side the action scenes were totally unrealistic, totally clichéd where our main leads are showered with bullets but escape without a scratch while bad guys and pathetic side actors fall like a bunch of leaves in autumn.
But on the positive side the acting was really great especially by Akshay Kumar, Kareena looked smoking hot, Saif, though not a significant role, did good justice to his part and last but not the least Anil Kapoor who was brilliant with his bihari hinglish.
I read the critics reviews of the movie, and the report didn't scare me to watch it in the cinema...and Iam glad I saw it.The movie is a well done movie, the story could have been stronger, but the effects and camera work is Super.Akshay Kumar is the best in the movie, and specially the way the fighting scenes have been choreographed was a delight to watch.Kareena Kapoor is good,but she is too thin now..it doesn't suit her to look so skinny just cause of a Bikini scene...but her acting was good.Saif was good too..And Anil Kapoor was OK.All in all, forget the critics and go watch the movie..
The songs have been added without situations, the story have been stretched to fill the 3 hrs gap and most disgusting are the action stunts performed by the actors it's like everyone are having superpowers they can run in between the bullets are fire and nothing happens to them and one person fighting with 100 people.
Only the best performance was by Anil Kapoor man he is all time at his best playing the role of villain with a comic act speaking Hinglish...
From the trailers it looked like a action movie, but it turned out to be a out & out comedy(a bad comedy).
Nevertheless the way the intrinsic beauty of these places was shot made me want to find out exactly where those places were and when I could go there ;-)Action sequences were shot very shabbily, no one could make out head & tail of the stunts, they've used Akki(akshay kumar) very well but could've been done much much better..Animation is the worst i've seen in recent movies(90's movies had better animation scenes i guess(initial scene where the car is falling off 'flying should be better word' the road into lake).And the movies name has been mentioned nearly every 20 to 30 mins, just to make sure audiences don't forget the movie name i guess...
the Director's 40 Crore Went STRAIGHT LOSS!!!Saif, Akshay, Kareena and Anil were the only people who were HOLDING on this movie!!
He Played it Nicely as a Killer and a Big Gangster!Well Acting Marks They Deserve!Saif --------- 8/10 Kareena -------- 10/10 Akshay --------- 10/10 Anil Kapoor ----- 10/10The Story which is gracefully AWARDED at the B.O is 2 and Half Stars out of 5 but ill give it 8 basically Indian Audience is expecting a MASALA movie!
It just grabs you from the start and sucks you in all along with the corniness, cheesiness and sheer colours of great action, music and star presence..This is one movie that left me satisfyingly entertained in a long long long time!
No brainwork required.From Anil's corny comic yet violent gangster to Akshay over the top superhuman actions in fight scenes to the sexiness portrayed by Kareena and Saif's coolness.Go watch this!!
Heavily influenced from The Matrix and Kung-Fu Hustle but very poorly executed.I did not go a lot of expectations, but watching this movie is an exasperating experience which makes you wonder "What were these guys thinking??!!".The only thing you might remember after watching it is an anorexic Kareena in a bikini.The reason why I did not give a rating of '1' is that every time I think I have seen the worst, Bollywood proves me wrong..
the only and I mean ONLY good part of this movie is Kareena Kapoor in a 2 piece.......
akshay kumar is OK and does manage to raise a coupla laughs.....saif ali khan has been wasted, actually I don't know how he agreed to do this role as a sidekick..
Well, I was hesitant to watch the movie because this was done by the same man who wrote the story for Dhoom franchise because I hated Dhoom 2; but if Dhoom 2 is compared to Tashan, I would say Dhoom 2 is very realistic.
Phew...you got to see this to understand how bad the action sequences are.The other thing about the movie is the far too predictable story.
Except for the typical Akshay Kumar and Anil Kapoor comedy I cannot see anything positive in this film.
The sight of Kareena Kapoor in a two-piece bikini is about the only thing that wakes you up from your sleep while watching Tashan — the mega-disappointing, mind-numbing new film at the cinemas this weekend.
Saif Ali Khan stars as Jimmy Cliff, a call-centre executive who's hired to teach English to Bhaiyyaji - that's Anil Kapoor playing an ambitious UP gangster, desperate to go cool.
So you have Akshay Kumar as Bachchan Pandey, the gangster's faithful aide from Kanpur, who tracks down the culprits and recovers the stolen money that's hidden across the length and breadth of the country.Much like those bad eighties potboilers, Tashan too is held together by a threadbare script centred on a vendetta plot.
One may have complained a little less if the characters were more engaging, but Anil Kapoor's grating Hinglish dialogue makes you want to slit your wrists, and Saif Ali Khan fumbles through the film foolishly, unable to find his feet.
If there is one film which is the worst of this year- it's TASHAN The first promo gave an indication that the film will be a boring Dhoom 2 style film, and well i knew first only it would be a bad film whatever it maybe Because of it being a Yashraj film Or maybe seeing the cheesy promo But this film gave me a shock, it was even worst then Dhoom 2 and what i expected First Saif's introduction which is boring Then Saif- Kareena meet, Kareena is so artificial and then Anil Kapoor oh god, what he is doing in such a weird film?
His first scene is alright but then his act gets repetitive and he overacts Then came Akshay who provided some nice scenes, but then the film became more boring and with all the outdated stuff Childhood romance, overdose of childish Rajnikant style action scenes and all boring scenes The ending is another jokeVijay Krishna Acharya would have got 3 films more to direct, if this film had worked, thats the strategy of yashraj, only money nothing else So Vijay is another addition to their list of crap filmmakers Music( Vishal Shekhar) is ordinaryPerformances Akshay Kumar comes in the film as a whiff of fresh air, he actually provides some engaging moments Saif Ali Khan is irritating, Kareena is equally bad Anil Kapoor hams outrageously and spoils the show even more Rest are okay.
I had a lot of expectations from this movie and more so since it was a Yashraj Film.Jimmy operates a call centre and one day he is invited by Pooja Singh to teach her boss, Lakhan Singh, English.
But they decide and steal money from him and its only then that Jimmy finds out that Bhaiyyaji / Lakhan Singh is a Don. In the meantime, Bhaiyyaji hires a man, Bachchan Pandey, to track down Jimmy and Pooja.Starring Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and Akshaye Kumar, the movie is directed by first time director Viay Krishna Acharya and is produced by both Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra."Tashan" has to be one of the worse films that I have ever watched.
But plot is extremely thin on story and at times makes no sense from one scene to the other - hence why I have said at the beginning that I had expected more from this film as it was a Yashraj Production.
His is the character that brings the movie to life after the lifeless early exchanges of the other three protagonists Anil's Hinglish 'Bhaiyyaji', Saif's English guru 'Jimmy Cliff' and Kareena's hot and smart 'Pooja Singh'.
Akshay's 'Desi' goon character's quirky presence and Kareena's hot looks are the ones that keep the movie from falling flat.
And finally the exhausting 'kungfu hustle' and 'kill bill' wannabe type climax sequence just creates a new height of self indulgence in Bollywood, something that may only look pale in front of southern super star action movies.This has been the Yashraj formula for catering its urban audience, a thin storyline filled with stylized action like 'Dhoom'and its sequel.
Tashan = Yash Raj Film's worst movie in Bollywood.
The action scenes are more like than comics or cartoon movies made for exhausting the audiences.The story also loses in its meaning and substances to tenderly win the audiences' hearts.
And Tashan loses in this way, and unexpectedly failed to become a hit.Akshay's has nothing new to show off his comedian talent here but still reminds of his previous movies.
And the cast does a great job with their characters, with Anil Kapoor and Akshay Kumar as the stand-outs.
The current scene in Bollywood is really sad for action movie fans like me.
I have always wanted to go to Greece.Anyway, as for Saif, you'd expect a great performance, but even he let down the people.Akshay Kumar, recognized as the pimp of Bollywood and the voice of Singhs.
yes one thing worth watching in this movie and something that kept me glued too is Kareena's new look.
Character developing is admirable and I couldn't help but notice that the story actually unfolds rather than a flowing as a predictable stream.Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, everyone looked terrific.
Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan also did what they do best, i.e. being gaudy.All in all, the entire movie as a whole looks sumptuous.
the film is at times dull when some over imaginative things happen such as the car falls from the cliff yet both akshay(Bachchan Pandey) and saif(jimmy cliff) manages to stand on the water...but all in all the film is lot influenced from the stylish English flicks and uses rustic humor to tickle your funny bone.
Anil Kapoor:: Leaves a mark with his performance.Akshay/Saif/Kareena:: Average.
A note on Akshay/Saif - every time they shared screen, why were they reprising characters from "Main Khiladi Tu Anari".Story: Emphasis is more on style and action (and the twists and turns) owing to which doesn't leave an impact.
If this is a 2008 product from one of the biggest production houses of Indian Film Industry (Yash Raj) then I am afraid it is a very long ahead for us to reach the right standards.If you can go wrong to this length with such an enormous star cast of Anil, Akshay, Saif and Kareena, then movie making is still to be studied much harder by everyone associated with this film.
:-( If you plan to watch this movie, i would say, watch it to listen to that background song which goes something like ...'Bachchan Bachchan Pandey...'Overall very disappointed even with the way Bhaiyyaji has made attempt to speak bad English!Go away man, i need to puke!.
Tashan:Except performances of Akshay Kumar,Kareena Kapoor and Anil Kapoor,nothing in the movie actually works!.
Tashan directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya is a bad movie.The film may be very high on style but is equally low in substance.Performances of Akshay Kumar,Kareena Kapoor and Anil Kapoor make this a "watchable" film.But is this one would really want from a movie belonging to Yash Raj?
The direction is bad.The music is equally bad.The cinematography is excellent.Performances: Performances are the only thing worth in this movie.Akshay Kumar steals the show with his superb performance.Kareena Kapoor looks gorgeous and is good too.Anil Kapoor after a hiatus seen donning a villainous role is mind-blowing.Saif Ali Khan is subtle.Yashpal Sharma is hardly there.Sanjay Mishra and Manoj Pahwa provide few laughs.All in all,Tashan is a very very bad movie.Do not watch even by mistake.I am giving it a two on ten.Major Disappointment!.
Also the action was daft & unrealistic e.g. 1 man with a handgun managed to kill about 100 men with machine guns.While I was watching Tashan it reminded me of 3 films:Sin City: During the opening credits.Koyla: Anil Kapoor's terrible English like Amrish Puri in Koyla.Jhoom Barabar Jhoom: The outrageously ridiculous jokes that are not even a jot funny.I also heard the budget is 40 crores which is the same amount as Dhoom 2 and I don't know where all the money went to.
Jimmy (Saif Ali Khan) is hired by Pooja (Kareena Kapoor) to teach English to her disreputable looking boss, Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor).
It seems apparent that director Vijay Krishna Acharya was strongly influenced by Tarantino, and there are what look like obvious nods to some of his films.Khan and Kareen Kapoor give solid performances, but Anil Kapoor and Kumar are extraordinarily good in their roles.
But if you're looking for more, then stop here because it all goes downhill once the tashan has been established.The main plot initially revolves around Saif Ali-Khan and Kareena Kapoor's characters Jimmy and Pooja but later develops into a love-triangle when Akshaye Kumar's character is introduced.
everything looks copied including action, first appearances in the movie, songs, dialog delivery, etc etc. |
tt0254481 | Koi... Mil Gaya | Scientist Sanjay Mehra (Rakesh Roshan) creates a computer program from which he sends variations of the syllable om into space, hoping to attract the attention of extraterrestrial life. When he believes he has finally gotten a response, the scientific community mocks him. While driving home, an alien spacecraft appears overhead. Mehra veers off the road, causing the car to hit a stone, flip over, and explode. While Mehra dies, his pregnant wife Sonia (Rekha) survives the wreck and returns home to India. When their son Rohit (Hrithik Roshan) is born, he is mentally disabled due to the injury he received in the accident while still being a fetus. Sonia later learns from a doctor that although surgery is the only solution to Rohit's disability, it could potentially result in his paralysis or even death. His mother raises him in the town of Kasauli, where he grows up to be a man of limited intellect and childish personality, but with a loving and emotional heart. Rohit has a number of much younger friends: loyal children who play with him.
Nisha (Preity Zinta), a young lady comes to Kasauli and is initially antagonistic to Rohit due to his childish pranks against her. This causes her suitor, Raj (Rajat Bedi), and his friends to constantly harass Rohit, resulting in them breaking his scooter. Later, Nisha is sympathetic towards him and humors him, knowing about his mental disability from his mother, who chastises Nisha and Raj for assaulting Rohit and breaking his scooter. She invites Rohit to her house and introduces him to her parents, who are also sympathetic to Rohit and humor his childish interests.
Rohit and Nisha, now good friends, find Sanjay's old 'om' computer and inadvertently summon the aliens. The visiting aliens leave in haste, leaving one behind by accident. Rohit, Nisha and Rohit's friends find and befriend the alien, naming him Jadoo ("Magic") when they discover his psychokinetic abilities. Raj does not like Nisha's friendship with Rohit and spreads a fake rumour that he and Nisha are going to get married. This does not bode well with Nisha, who becomes upset with Raj. Rohit, however, is hurt as he was under the impression that Nisha and him were 'boyfriend and girlfriend'.
Jadoo discovers that Rohit is mentally abnormal so he uses his special powers, derived from sunlight, to enhance Rohit's mind. The next morning, Rohit finds himself independent of wearing glasses and has clear vision; he later solves a 10th standard mathematics problem, surprising his mathematics teacher and principal immensely. He later lectures his computer teacher for underestimating and insulting him and to understand the responsibilities of being a computer teacher. As a result, Rohit finds himself accepted by most of his peers and other students at the school.
Due to Jadoo, Rohit also becomes good at dance and sport, due to his physical strength and agility being increased to superhuman levels. Raj and his friends attempt to embarrass Rohit and his little friends by challenging them to a basketball match, although are surprised when Rohit uses his new physique to score several baskets at the beginning of the match. Raj and his gang become desperate and begin to play dirty; this causes the game to turn to their favor. After the Sun comes out, Jadoo uses the sunlight to help Rohit and his young friends in the basketball game with humorous results and Rohit's group eventually win the game when Rohit scores the match point in under 10 seconds, greatly amazing the judges and announcer.
Nisha and Rohit spend more time together, and Nisha begins to see Rohit in a romantic light. Rohit later proposes to her and she accepts. Jadoo's presence is kept a secret from everyone except Rohit, Nisha, Rohit's friends and mother.
Raj and his friends later corner Rohit's friends on their supernatural performance at the basketball game. Rohit's friends are forced to flee and Jadoo accidentally falls from their grip. Inspector Sukhwani, (Johnny Lever) sees Jadoo in his bag and informs the other policemen of him. The policemen capture the bag, although Rohit arrives in time to rescue Jadoo, leaving the Police behind. He is later confronted by Raj and his buddies. Rohit, now infuriated by the bullies, easily takes down Raj and his buddies but not before the police catch up to him. It is then revealed that Jadoo was not in the bag and had escaped when Sukhwani was busy calling the Police.
However, the Policemen are suspicious of Rohit and confront him in his house. They take Jadoo and knock Rohit out. When he regains conscience, Rohit uses his superhuman speed to catch up to the police cars and arrives just in time to save Jadoo from being taken to America by aeroplane. The spaceship, which he had summoned with his father's computer beforehand, arrives and Rohit bids farewell to Jadoo. As Jadoo leaves, Rohit loses the physical and mental powers bestowed upon him and reverts to his childish, disabled self, which saves him from prosecution by the Indian government. After everything dies down, Raj and his buddies return to harass Rohit, causing the latter to kick Raj's ball into the bully's face with astounding force as Jadoo returns Rohit's powers permanently. Rohit and Nisha thank Jadoo and live a peaceful life forever. | romantic, cruelty | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0046374 | The Story of Three Loves | === The Jealous Lover ===
On an ocean liner, a passenger recognizes famed ballet creator Charles Coudray (James Mason), and asks him politely why one of his works has never been performed since its debut. When Coudray remains silent, the fan leaves him alone with his thoughts, leading to a flashback.
Ballerina Paula Woodward (Moira Shearer) auditions for Coudray. Coudray is impressed, but then Paula collapses and has to be carried off stage. A doctor informs her aunt Lydia (Agnes Moorehead) that she has a heart condition that will force her to give up dancing.
Some time later, Paula attends a performance of Coudray's latest ballet. After everyone else has left, she goes on stage and starts dancing. However, she is not alone. Coudray has been watching. He is dissatisfied with certain aspects of his work; from what he has seen of Paula's impromptu performance, he believes she can help him fix the defects.
At first, Paula declines his invitation to dance for him at his studio home, but eventually agrees. Paula lives up to Coudray's high expectations, but exhausts herself in the process. Coudray tenderly kisses her before she goes to change. She slips away and returns home to Lydia with the news of what she has done. But on her way upstairs, she dies, her last words a lament that she had promised Coudray that she would be with him always.
=== Mademoiselle ===
The story then shifts to a second passenger, referred to only as Mademoiselle (Leslie Caron). A chance remark by a passerby about a governess triggers her flashback.
She is the governess and French tutor to Thomas Clayton Campbell Jr., a bored eleven-year-old American boy (Ricky Nelson) left in her charge at a hotel by his absent parents. One day, another boy dares him to visit Mrs. Hazel Pennicott (Ethel Barrymore), who lives next door and is reputed to be a witch. When he wishes he were a man, she tells him to wrap a red ribbon around his finger and recite her name at 8 pm, but she warns him that the spell will only last until midnight. The incantation works, and he is transformed into a young man (Farley Granger).
In his new form, he goes to find Mademoiselle, and is surprised to find that he no longer despises Mademoiselle, nor the romantic poetry that she kept reciting to him. They embark on a whirlwind romance, but he warns her that he has only a few hours before he has to go away. He does however promise that he will see her off at the train station the next day. He flees as the clock strikes midnight.
He keeps his word, but as the young boy. Mademoiselle quits her job to remain in Rome. While waiting for her lover to show up, she bumps into Mrs. Pennicott and spills the contents of the old woman's purse. Mademoiselle gathers up the various items, but after Mrs. Pennicott thanks her and leaves, she picks up an overlooked red ribbon.
The film shifts back to the ship. While Mademoiselle is knitting in a deck chair, the red ribbon blows away. When she goes to retrieve it, she encounters a handsome young man who informs her that he saw her before, from the train as it departed the station.
=== Equilibrium ===
The camera moves to Pierre Narval (Kirk Douglas), leaning over the rail and gazing at the ocean.
In Paris, Narval saves a suicidal Nina Burkhardt (Pier Angeli) after she jumps from a bridge over the Seine River. He goes to visit her in the hospital, and finds her still very depressed. He gives her his address and asks her to come see him.
When she does (having nowhere else to go), he tells her that he was once a great trapeze artist. However being the best was not enough for him; he kept trying more and more dangerous tricks, and two years before, his partner was killed as a result. After that, nobody would work with him. As Nina has demonstrated that she has no fear of dying, he asks her to be his new partner. When she agrees, he starts training her, despite his friends' warning that his obsession will kill her too.
Narval learns Nina's own dark secret. She and her husband had been imprisoned by the Nazis in a concentration camp during World War II. She was released. Sensing that he was planning an escape, she had written him a letter begging him to wait, that the Allies would liberate him soon enough. However, she entrusted the letter to a man who betrayed them. Her husband was executed.
At last, the act is ready. They audition for an important American, who insists they perform the climax, the "Leap of Death" (a blind jump by Nina through a screen to Narval on the trapeze), without a safety net, just as they would before a live audience. They do the trick, but then Narval makes a decision. They walk away, leaving the circus behind them. Back aboard the ship, Narval is joined by a loving Nina. | romantic | train | wikipedia | Several years ago, when I first saw this movie, I felt that it was melodramatic with awkward dialogue and clumsy direction, and not worth my time, except for the dancing segment with Moira Shearer and James Mason ("Jealous Lover").
After this recent viewing, I have a better appreciation of the finished product and wonder at the curious division of directors, Minnelli and Reinhardt, and committee of script writers, which may account for the structural and dialogue flaws in the film.
Both script and direction fall short of their work, such as "The Red Shoes" or Stairway to Heaven." Yet on this second viewing I still felt it worth my time.
First, the casts are well chosen and the camera loves them, especially the three female leads: Shearer, Caron and Angeli.
Being English, French and Italian (in that order), they also embody the international strength of post-war Hollywood, and are strong complements for the male leads, Mason, Granger and Douglas, all of whom made their careers in America (Mason was born English, I believe).
These three leading ladies were certainly chosen for their youthful radiance and sensitivity, and the luminous close-ups plus the saturated color and lush music by the great Rozsa (who appears as the conductor in the first segment) lend a baroque richness to each of the segments reminiscent of Visconti's "Senso," or possibly even "Il Gattopardo."Second, the camera work and lighting are excellent, both subtle and dramatic at the same time, fully enhancing the flashback aspect and sense of fantasy in all of the stories and revealing the delicacy and individuality of the three women, not to mention the great Agnes Moorehead in the first segment.
The delicacy of Shearer, Caron and Angeli with the differences in each of their coloring and bone structure, contrasts dramatically with their respective male leads, the forceful articulateness of Mason (given an incredibly weak script stilted and overwrought when compared to P & P's dialogue for Lermentov in "Red Shoes"), the boyish tenderness of Granger in the second segment, and the snappy personality of Douglas in the high wire segment.In the latter, which other reviewers seemed to like the least, I found Angeli's combination of vulnerability and inner strength very moving, all of the emotion held back, but pouring out of those great expressive eyes.
Certainly the circumstances of the war that led to Angeli's suicide attempt in the story lent a depth to the plot that was very much of the time and may be difficult for Americans to understand today.
However, Europeans were still deeply affected by the war even in the mid-fifties (see "Act of Love," another film of Douglas's).
What each of the female stars gave to the film, as the focus of the "three loves" of the title -- Shearer in her role as a ballerina with the exquisite choreography by Frederick Ashton (celebrating the centennial of his birth this year); Caron, in an early non-dancing part actually using her French in the dialogue if not in the poems by Verlaine; and in Angeli cast as a victim of the war-- was a sense of authenticity and genuineness.
One final thing I liked about "Equilibrium" was showing how Douglas trained Angeli step by step in the high wire act to build up her strength and courage.
The three passengers are James Mason, Leslie Caron, and Kirk Douglas and each one had things turn out quite differently.The first story The Jealous Lover concerns ballet impresario James Mason and his protégé Moira Shearer.
As for Mason who is it he really loves, the woman or the ballerina?The second story, Mademoiselle, could have served as the inspiration for the Tom Hanks movie Big. Leslie Caron is the French governess of a rich American kid, Ricky Nelson, who's both spoiled and bored with his French lessons and eager to grow up.
He's everything the love lost Caron could hope for.The last story is Equilibrium with former circus trapeze artist Kirk Douglas saving Pier Angeli from drowning herself in the Seine.
Angeli may just have the right stuff to be that partner, but Douglas is also looking at her in more than a professional way.Equilibiium got the most acclaim, Kirk Douglas and Pier Angeli were given a film of their own, Act Of Love, later to do.
Each of the three love stories would have been worthy of a movie to itself.
The third, with Pier Angeli and Kirk Douglas was a treat even for a viewer who does not usually like Kirk Douglas.
It rates a 9 on the basis of the marvelous sequences as he teaches Pier Angeli the art of high wire performance.
There are long, uninterrupted sequences of the marvelous Moira Shearer dancing to one of Rachmaninoff's fabulous Variations on a Theme of Paganini.
As icing on the cake, James Mason is the audience of one as she dances, an irascible impresario who is, quite understandably, overwhelmed by the magic of Shearer's performance.
At full length, with three times the dancing, and a better love story between Shearer and Mason, it would be a movie I might expect to see in Heaven.
I loved this movie especially the the third segment featuring Pier Angeli.
She really did her best portraying a suicidal widow of a Holocaust victim who becomes a trapeze artist after she is saved from drowning by Kirk Douglas's character.
The first of three stories, "Jealous Lover," offers sheer bliss as the great ballerina, Moria Sherer, dances to Rachmaninov's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini." One is reminded of the exquisite beauty of Sherer, who thrilled audiences for many years at the Sadler's Wells.
"The Story of Three Loves," remains a good piece of work, unusually artistic coming from a major studio..
(Yes, believe it or not, there was a time when good music was popular!) At the time, I knew it was featured in a movie, and I probably knew the title, but I never saw it.
This morning I discovered "The Story of Three Loves" (1953) on Turner Classic Movies, and there was Moira Shearer dancing to Rachmaninoff.
Speaking of shades of the future, in the first scene of the aerialist segment, "Equilibrium," Pier Angeli attempted suicide but was saved by Kirk Douglas.
Although this movie has three rather uneven stories in separate segments, the overall package succeeds, is quite beautiful artistically and is highly entertaining.
However, I must say that I've seen this film several times and it did get better the more I watched it.The first story is the best.
It concerns Moira Shearer as a ballerina who has a heart condition but MUST dance, as to her ballet is a compulsion.
This segment reminded me of The Red Shoes (also starring Shearer) but was thankfully MUCH shorter and interesting--a definite plus for those like me who really DON'T like ballet!
It's cute and a bit sad as well.The final is the weakest story about a trapeze artist who lost his last partner but now has discovered another,...and LOVE!
In addition to that, I enjoyed: 1) the timing--the movie consists of three shorts and I appreciate the order in which the three are presented; 2) sense of humor--the second short is quite charming and I thought well written from a child's point of view--it avoids being an adult pretending to be a child; 3) long dance scenes--there must be several three minute scenes with no editing cuts (the music is so strong that whenever I hear a piece by Faure, if it's not the piece in this one scene it reminds me of it, that I must stop a few seconds because the memory is so alive); 4) the deep exploration of "what is right" --I not only appreciate the presentation of the two sides of every decision presented in all of the shorts, but also that a quick Hollywood solution is resisted; and finally 5) a young Kirk Douglas--which is the old fashioned manly-man.
Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" is the gorgeous music to which Moira Shearer danced her lovely ballet in the first story.
The awed & inspired look on James Mason's face as he watches her dance expresses what we, the audience, see: how dancing makes Moira's character feel.
It's a moving scene and there are 3 beautiful, emotional performances: Moira Sheara, James Mason, and the music.This Rachmaninoff piece has been featured in several movies.
These include, among others: The Story of Three Loves (1953); Rhapsody (1954); Somewhere in Time (1980); Dead Again (1991); Sabrina (1995); Ronin (1998).It's a beautiful, moving, "timeless" piece of music.
There are some great actors giving good performances (at times melodramatic - but that's the nature of the script more than their acting abilities), plus (suprise!) a young Ricky Nelson in the only thing I remember seeing him in as a boy besides the Ozzie & Harriet TV series - and he wasn't stilted like he was on his family's show (probably good directing!!!).
Some great face shots throughout, too, showing emotion that the script couldn't (using the classic face-lighting techniques that have fallen out of favor with most of today's contemporary film directors).In spite of some beautiful and memorable scenes in this movie, I'll probably remember the way the music made me feel longer than I'll remember the rest of the movie - and it's worth watching for that alone!.
The first with James Mason and Moira Shearer has beautiful music and dancing but a rather overwrought storyline and wastes Agnes Moorehead in a nothing role.
The last with Kirk Douglas and Pier Angeli is suffused with sorrow made especially poignant since she plays a girl saved by Kirk from suicide, such was not the case in real life and she ended up taking her own life several years later.
The real charmer is the middle episode, a precursor to the film Big, with Ethel Barrymore as an elderly enchantress, Leslie Caron and Farley Granger sweet in a story of young love.
See the story of three strangers as they cruise the Atlantic and remember what it's like to fall in love.The first stars Kirk Douglas as a circus artist.
Artistic, uneven, but still a satisfying blend of three love stories....
While not a flawless film by any means, THE STORY OF THREE LOVES has so many elements in its favor that it's better to talk about them first.MOIRA SHEARER is pure magic as a ballet dancer with a secret and JAMES MASON does well as the man who encourages her to dance again after a long spell of inactivity.
Shearer dances to some vibrant music by Rachmaninoff where her versatility is comparable to that displayed in THE RED SHOES.
The story itself is on the thin, transparent side.LESLIE CARON plays a governess hired to teach young RICKY NELSON a love for language, stressing French irregular verbs.
It's silly and unfortunately Nelson is too peevish as the spoiled boy before he transforms himself into FARLEY GRANGER.But the last story is extremely well acted by KIRK DOUGLAS and PIER ANGELI and interested me the most.
He gave me the clues of many great old stars and something about a Paganini piece, trapeze aerialist, ballet, suicide and Farley Granger.
At length, I had to rely on my memory and thought of Bert Lancanster and Kirk Douglas in a film concerning circus performers.
Nothing under Bert Lancaster, but when I looked at Kirk Douglas' list in this data base; voilà, I found this film.
Trio of stories--a popular movie gimmick in the 1950s--linked by an ocean-liner and three disparate characters on-board.
James Mason is intense and snarling as a demanding ballet impresario who falls for ill-fated ballerina Moira Shearer, who, unbeknownst to him, is suffering from a bad ticker; Leslie Caron plays governess to ungrateful brat Ricky Nelson, both magically touched by the powers of Ethel Barrymore, reputed to be a witch; Kirk Douglas (as Pierre!) is a former star of the trapeze who trains suicidal Pier Angeli to be his new partner under the Big Top. The first two episodes are hurt by a weak narrative (the protagonists appear to recall information they should not be privy to), while the last chapter is hurt by miscasting (neither Douglas nor Angeli looks quite comfortable doing these gymnastic moves).
Douglas is so mercurial in his angst that he's amusing unintentionally, while sullen Angeli is made up to look like a corpse in a silent movie.
There's an impressive line-up of marquee stars in this triumvirate of love stories that leans heavily on Rachmaninoff's music and little else as it listlessly moves from one tale to the next with little time to develop plot or character.In the first we have The Red Shoes meets The Seventh Veil as Moira Shearer and James Mason do what they do best (dance and display disdain) in a would be Svengali scenario short circuited by a bad ticker.
The second has little Ricky Nelson in a Cinderella situation where he becomes Farley Granger for the night romancing his previously detested French teacher Leslie Caron.
The third features Kirk Douglas as a French trapeze artist attempting to rescue cold and detached Pier Angeli from herself.Unimaginatively tied together by an ocean liner each improbable brevity sinks as fast as the Lusitania without ever gaining any depth.
Old pros Agnes Moorehead and Ethel Barrymore do the most with the crumbs they are thrown and Ricky Nelson is surprisingly effective as a bratty child while Caron, Shearar and Angeli along with a two sentence performance by Zsa Zsa Gabor provide window dressing in this lushly designed but soulless production..
I liked James Mason as the ballet director, and I was impressed by Moira Shearer's dancing, although I'm not generally a great fan of ballet dancing.
And I love the music they used for the soundtrack, the 'Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini' by Sergei Rachmaninoff.Next in sequence there is the story of a teacher (played by Leslie Caron) who hasn't known love yet.
I also liked Pier Angeli; she plays Nina Burkhardt, a woman who is so disillusioned she tries to commit suicide.
They fall in love, but then there is a very dangerous stunt they have to perform without a safety net...I liked the third story best.
I think the order in which the stories are told is well chosen for a sentimental love movie.I think if you like the genre, this movie is well worth a look..
This was an interesting film, but not an extremely compelling one.It was all kind of predictable since you could see the handwriting on the wall: the death of Moira, the growing up of Ricky Nelson / Farley Granger, and the ultimate success of Douglas and Angeli.
Finding a new love added to her happiness, so it would have been cruel to audiences back then to have her die in the end.I have not yet seen The Red Shoes, so I was not shocked or disappointed how much the sequence resembled the earlier film.
Nelson, Barrymore, and Granger were also fine.Kirk Douglas looked Hollywood hunky and totally like a leading man, one who was almost too handsome for his own good; Angeli's performance had the doe like look of innocence she portrayed well.
The trapeze sequences did look realistic, and I suspect Douglas did most of his stunts himself.
Angeli also looked quite believable as well.The film is worth seeing, even if nothing for the great stars of classic Hollywood.I also enjoyed hearing the Paganini theme; I had loved it in Somewhere in Time as well, so I was surprised to hear it in another earlier film as well.It's worth checking out, but not a film I think I would have the patience to see over and over..
"The Jealous Lover" is especially anemic plot-wise (and a little too close to The Red Shoes (1948) for its own good) and "Equilibrium" wanders on far too long.In spite of these shortcomings, The Story of Three Loves is a lovely melodramatic anthology, shot beautifully in Technicolor.
Though it utilizes the love at first sight trope so mocked by contemporary audiences, Moira Shearer and James Mason share great chemistry and make the brief love between their characters poignant, masking how thin the plot really is."Mademoiselle" is a charming precursor to Tom Hanks' Big (1988), with Farley Granger as a child in a grown man's body who comes to fall for his French governess, Leslie Caron, whom he had previously bullied and deemed too "mushy" for his respect.
This segment is perhaps the best of the three: it has both a good story and good pacing."Equilibrium" has the strongest love story of the three, with Kirk Douglas and Pier Angeli as two lonely people who find a chance to come to terms with their tragic pasts after he rescues her from a botched suicide attempt.
As I mentioned previously, it does run on too long, but Douglas and Angeli make sure it is never unbearable.Overall, not a bad way to spend time if you love melodrama or any of the actors involved..
I'm a very sentimental person, as my wife would tell you, and typically enjoy an old-fashioned love story on film, but this film struck me as odd.
During the intro to the film I was intrigued--three love stories woven together on a ship.
Consider that the first story is about ballet and heart attacks, the second about witches and wishes, and the third about suicide and circus trapeze artists.And within the stories there were issues that nagged me.
James Mason was great in the first vignette, until the young lady begins dancing in his studio.
Three people on a passenger ship recall love stories..
I thought the first story (Moira Shearer and James Mason, Ballet) was pretentious and dull.
I wish the TCM commentator would not pronounce her name as Moria.The second story (Leslie Caron) was done better by Big, even though I love watching Leslie Caron.The third story (Kirk Douglas and Pier Angeli as trapeze artists) was well-written, well-acted, well-filmed and very moving, better than the other two put together. |
tt0166387 | Under a Killing Moon | Under a Killing Moon takes place in post-World War III San Francisco in December 2042. After the devastating events of the nuclear war, many major cities have been rebuilt (as is the case with New San Francisco), though certain areas still remain as they were before the war (as in Old San Francisco). The war also left another mark on the world: the formation of two classes of citizens. Specifically, some people have developed a natural resistance against radioactivity, and thus are normal or "Norms"—everybody else are Mutants in some form. Tensions between the two groups have risen dramatically and Norms and Mutants usually do not get along. The Mutants are usually forced to live in the run-down areas of cities such as Old San Francisco. Tex Murphy lives on Chandler Avenue in Old San Francisco. All his friends are Mutants, though he is a Norm.
In Under a Killing Moon, Tex Murphy, a private investigator, has hit rock bottom. Recently divorced from his wife Sylvia, out of work, low on cash, and living in a rundown part of Old San Francisco, Tex realizes that he has to get his act together. Tex sets out to hunt for work. He finds it quickly once he discovers that the pawnshop across the street from his apartment has been robbed. Tex quickly solves the case, and feels his luck has begun to change. Then a mysterious woman calling herself Countess Renier, having heard good things about Tex, hires him to find her missing statuette. Everything seems great at first and the Countess is promising to pay Tex more money than he has seen in his life. However, everything quickly goes downhill when Tex finds out about doomsday plot by a deadly cult calling themselves the Brotherhood of Purity. | cult, neo noir, sci-fi | train | wikipedia | A Classic of Computer Cinema.
This remains, for all time, my favourite computer game.
There has never been a better blend of game and movie.
Not only is the game challenging and fun, but the movie happens to be exceptionally well written.
Chris Jones directs the action and stars as the main character, Tex Murphy, a loveable blend of Humphrey Bogart and Peter Sellers.
The story is a P.I. drama with a twist--it's set in post WWIII San Francisco, in a world where flying cars, space stations, laser beams, and mutants are all run-of-the-mill occurrences.
Beginning with a simple robbery investigation, the game slowly builds to a much more frightening level.
It is a tale of the far-reaching dangers of bigotry and hatred.
The story encompasses all of recorded history, and is written so cleverly that it could very well come true.Although the game contains many frightening moments, as well as points where the fate of the ENTIRE WORLD rests on Tex's shoulders, it is balanced out by the gumshoe's caustic wit.
One especially memorable scene is when, in the boardroom of a mysterious corporation, hiding from a killer security robot, Tex can look at the pictures of the board members and come up with a witty remark for each and every one.
I would recommend this game to anyone who likes detective stories, futuristic tales, and problem-solving computer games.
Again, it is the perfect blend of game and movie.
The game will keep you on your toes, while the movie will keep you in stitches..
One of the best computer games around.
This game is a great role playing game.
The game is so real that you feel like you are in it.
This game has great mystery elements in it and also has the voice of James Earl Jones in it.
It has great sound.
Only the background is not real but all the people are..
If you have XP and Google you can play this game again.
I have to admit that I just love Tex and all the gang.
I got a new computer with a Duel Processor and felt I would never be able to play any of the Tex Murphy Games again.
I went to Google and type in "Tex Murphy installation on XP" and low and behold, I was sent into the instruction of how to install and play this old DOS game on my Windows.I now enjoy the movement of Tex Murphy again.
So go out to Ebay and pick up a cheap game and role play again.I have also loaded the Other Tex Murphy Games: "The Pandora Directive" and "Overseer" which all stars Chris Jones, as the Bogart-style detective..
Simply superb adventure.
This 'interactive movie' pushed the envelope when it was released in 1994.
It still is the only game series to use FMV well and to its advantage.
A computer classic..
Humor makes all the difference...
Tex Murphy's been around, for a while.
I owned Mean Streets, the game with the 1940's detective in 2000+ future (Does the year really matter?
)But in this game, two huge leaps are made.
Firstly a new interface has been integrated, featuring a 3D movement screen, and (slightly less impressively ) a full-motion video dialogue screen.
The 3d engine is gorgeous, but the full-motion video only ever has one person moving at one time, and it is distracting.But the more important leap is in Tex's character.
Practically an invisible entity in "Mean Streets", here, Tex is given a wry, self deprecating sense of humor.
It makes the game, and makes it work.
He pleads for his life (embarassingly), he falls off chairs, and crashes into a brick wall playing alley basketball, one on one.His commentary..
Fouled..." |
tt0322282 | Final Examination | A police officer fails in capturing a drug dealer in Los Angeles, so his boss Hugh Janus transfers him to Hawaii for disciplinary reasons. On the island some former female students are just gathering in a luxury hotel. The young ladies once belonged to the sorority "Omeaga Kappa Omega" and are now invited to an erotic photo shoot which is organised by Derek Simmons, the editor of the Cavalier Magazine. Shortly after their arrival, Terri Walker, one of the former students, is strangled in the pool while her friend William Culp is absent for some minutes. Detective Newman begins to investigate the murder together with his new colleague Julie Seska and the coroner Ferguson. Next to Terri's corpse they find a document which resembles a final examination certificate and has the imprint "Failed" on it. William tells them to observe Derek Simmons very closely.
In the following night, the next student dies. Amanda Calvin is lured outside to the pool by a phone call and falls victim to the unknown murderer. Later the cops find William in the hotel room of the student Megan Davidson, who also belongs to the group. They just had sex and now they are questioned. The cops get to know the background of the series of murders. Five years ago, Rachel Kincaid committed suicide by falling from a bridge in her car. At that time she was the favourite for the election of the sorority's speaker, but she was mobbed by her competitor Kristen Neal, who is also present in Hawaii now.
After Newman and Seska have clarified these connections, William wants to inform them about something. But before Newman meets him, the young man is killed by the murderer and can only indicate that there is some problem with Rachel. Newman again gets in contact with his colleague Rita in Los Angeles, who had already provided him with the file about Rachel, and asks for Simmons. Rita gets to know that the editor of the magazine is actually called James Derek Kincaid and that he is Rachel's brother. He has gathered the students in the hotel to take revenge for his sister's death.
Megan and Kristen, who are the only surviving people among the invited students, meet at the hotel room. It is the fifth anniversary of Rachel's suicide. Kristen suspects Megan and threatens her with a pistol. Suddenly the lights go out and she forces Megan to go into the hallway where she runs across the murderer. Kristen is able to expel the killer, but accidentally shoots at Seska. Newman just arrives in time to stop the killer who really proves to be Simmons alias Kincaid.
With the help of a photo, the detective realises that the case is not yet complete. As he has been intimate with the photographer Tayler Cameron before he recognizes her necklace. She is a sister of Rachel and Derek. Now she overwhelms Kristen and threatens to strangle her. When Newman intervenes, she escapes to a rock over the pool. She stabs a knife in her body and falls down into the water. The cop just wants to announce the next corpse, but she attacks him. Newman shoots Taylor in self-defense.
At the same time his colleagues in Los Angeles arrest professor Andrews, who was not only Rachel's study adviser, but also impregnated his student before she died. When they arrive at the police station, the cop Sam reveals to be another brother of Rachel. He shoots the professor. | revenge, murder | train | wikipedia | Final Examination is a murder mystery film and not what the front cover suggests.
No supernatural element here, just a good old fashioned who done it.Starring Kari "Sliders" Wuhrer we see a girl killed off during a hawaiian sorority reunion and a new cop transferred in from the big city is on the case.
Teamed up with Wuhrer who is a terrible actress but on better than usual form here, it plods along like a standard made for television movie and provides no surprises.For what it is it's not terrible, it looks solid, it sounds solid and the writing is competent.What let's it down is just the overwhelming unoriginality and just how predictible the whole thing is.If by the halfway point you haven't worked things out then I would find that all kinds of concerning.For fans of murder mysterys this is lackluster, for every else.........worse.The Good:All made competently enoughThe Bad:UnoriginalVery by the numbersThings I Learnt From This Movie:When a killer is loose within a resort it makes perfect sense to go off alone......at nightHugh Janus is a realistic name to use in a serious movie.
While there, a group of sorority sisters start being killed one by one, with the killer leaving what looks to be a term paper marked "Failed Examination" with the victim's name on it near the body.
Amy Lindsay and Debbie Rochon were my favorite actresses in this movie.
From the car chase scenes in the opening, it's apparent that this film had some sort of budget but it's never properly used.
The women who are supposed to be the hot ones are rather nasty about the face, they are completely made of plastic and couldn't act their way out of a paper bag.
(Listen for her phone conversation when she can't say the word "suicide.")This is a terrible movie.
If you want a great sorority girls thriller, rent Black Christmas instead..
And the car chases are good for a film of its budget.
The very pretty Kari Wuhrer is a good actress, but the rest of the cast seem to be delivering their lines in their sleep.
The movie could have been good, if it wasn't a watered down porn, there was way too much sex and boobs (silicone being the leader there) and water scenes like the shower scene or the hot tub scene, not to give anything away, but who gets naked in a hot tub at a resort in the middle of the day?
I'm sorry that I wasted the $4 on renting a movie as unrealistic as Final Examination..
My all-time favorite Scream Queen, Debbie Rochon delivers the goods here, although that is the only reason to watch this stinker.
Rochonoholics need to watch American Nightmare, and not this, as she wasn't used to her full potential.The plot, which revolves around a group of sorority sisters getting murdered at a Hawaii resort, constantly becomes sidetracked by numerous sexual encounters, which is basically the main draw for this film.Although my loyalty to Debbie Rochon and Kari Wuhrer feels the impulse not to write this, I found very little value to this film.
Granted Kari has a very steamy swimming pool scene, in a barely there bikini, and Debbie unveils her assets, this film was aimless and sophomoric.
I enjoyed most of all the last 15 minutes of the movie with the climax at the waterfall scene.
It was fun seeing Kari in the movie too, I enjoy most of her films.
I thought the actress in the opening scene driving the car off the bridge was beautiful.
It provide absolutely nothing to the plot or movie whatsoever (The 10-votes are probably a result of these scenes).
This god-awful turkey is one of those flaccid b-movies which is half b-thriller and half soft-core pornography.
Actually, pretty much the entire film seems like filler material in terms of execution and development.The fact lead actress Kari Wuhrer is in the position of the actress considered respectable enough to not have at least one gratuitous boob shot is indicative of the quality of the film given her oeuvre and work ethic.
Pretty much everything about this movie is bad and every scene incompetently staged in terms of script, direction, acting and editing.
Obviously this isn't a subgenre that sets high standards, really only existing to provide a few cheap thrills and some T&A but this movie, and most others like it are just painful to watch, failing to provide any real entertainment on any level, even in providing those simple elements.
The only bits that work on a so bad it's almost entertaining level are the car chases, which are quite obviously mostly footage from another far higher budget movie clumsily spliced with shots of characters from the movie we're watching.
What makes these particular scenes even dumber is how little they have to do with the rest of the movie- both chases are possibly even more gratuitous than the numerous sex scenes.
The tone and amount of in jokiness is indicative that the movie is not meant to be taken seriously and only meant to be a bit of fun but the problem is that it isn't.
The inclusion of character called 'Hugh Janus' and the way the movie clumsily brings attention to this lame and rather childish joke is indicative of the level of script there is here.
This movie is one of the worst films I have seen in several years.
Though this movie clocks in at only 98 minutes it seems like an eternity and nothing really happens or even tries to grab the viewers attention.
Even if you find this movie at your local megastore's bargin bin (and you likely will) its still best to keep walking..
It has the same dreadful acting, unconvincing plot, poor filming, continuity and awful sets.It was better than 'Titanic' because it was much shorter.
I'd recommend it as a good film to watch when under the heavy influence of alcohol.I did like the idea that sending somebody to Hawaii was a normal form of punishment - it probably is a horrid place to be, but most people don't realise that!If you do watch it, look out for the bloody handprint on the lift - it is obviously supposed to be some sort of clue, but it is completely ignored by everybody..
That is, if you like terrible movies!.
There was no point of this scene in the film as it did not advance it in any way.
If you are looking for a great movie to make fun of, this is it.
He didn't know anything about the movie but he assured me that it was a horror/thriller.
It took about a half an hour for both of us to realize that this movie was soft core porn.
I think the minute long shower scene in which the girl doesn't even use soap or shampoo gave it away.
I can't really say anything more because I didn't watch the entire movie.
Lousy horror flick with lots of soft core sex..
The only saving grace in this movie is Debbie Rochon.
The plot was a bit contrived and the sex scenes lousy, and the ending predictable.
Final Examination is billed as a horror/thriller but could be best described as a very poor crime drama.
The film largely follows the perspective of a recently reprimanded detective (following a badly-filmed car chase that has little relevance to the movie, a recurring problem) transferred to Hawaii who stumbles into a murder spree.
However, he basically plays out like any generic stock law enforcement/expert protagonist from a cheesy Syfy Original movie.
It begins with what looks to be a suicide via an insane driving stunt, followed by something that looks like a drug deal which ends up turning into a car chase and is in turn followed by an office scene leading into the transfer.
Basically it eats up a good ten minutes without really ever going into the plot.
In fact, the whole suicide in the beginning (which any horror fan would assume to be a central plot point to the movie) isn't even addressed until quite a ways into the movie.
Frankly, the film would've been better off WITHOUT the opening scene given how it was handled and it could have been worked into the a flashback (or, if the director was competent, he would have used it as one of the detective's former cases).
Instead we're given an incredibly nebulous plot that keeps working in minor characters and returning to other minor supporting irrelevant characters as the movie goes on.
And although the acting was pretty lousy, I blame it more on the script and direction than the cast themselves.A dismal soundtrack, terrible dialogue, a complete lack of focus, etc, all make Final Examination difficult to watch.
The *only* upside in the entire movie might be a few nude scenes.
"Final Examination" starts off with a prolonged sex sequence in a hot tub.
Then Kari Wuhrer shows up as a cop and ruins the movie as "Final Examination" segues into a tedious cop movie.
Kari and her partner hunt for clues as the viewer yawns and rewinds the movie to see that hot tub sex scene again.The one good thing about this one is the abundant nudity.
Three flags in the first twenty minutes of the movie.
Sometimes when you're watching a movie, you see or hear something - a badly-said line, a stupid joke, a predictable plot "twist" - and think to yourself, "Now is time to consider hitting 'stop'/walking out".
Three flags in the first few minutes of this movie that will tell you all you need to hear about Final Examination.1) "Hugh Janus." The main plot of the movie is a cop (Brent Huff) being transferred to Hawaii as punishment (huh?) for reckless work.
Flag 1 goes up.2) The shower scene.Meanwhile in Hawaii, a sorority is holding its 5-year reunion at a lovely, extra-expensive-looking hotel (complete with hula girls lounging idly as part of the scenery...
I wind up fast-forwarding, and estimate the whole scene was 10-14 minutes long.A beautiful girl for one or two minutes?
Flag number two went up about the time I started fast-forwarding.3) I yawn three times in the same minute.So we cut to a boring sex scene with the irritating couple I mentioned earlier.
At this point I was so irritated with this girl and this movie that I cheered.Enter cop from the beginning, with a partner.
The 'conversations' are actually hollow droning of insipid lines written by the same hack who had the brilliant idea to have these two 'detectives' wander around the hotel aimlessly, playing boring-cop/boring-cop with sorority girls, rather than split up to cover more ground.Right about the time I realize this, I also realize I just yawned three times in the same minute.
Well, so much for that.If you want a good movie out of Artisan Entertainment...
It's on my top ten list of "funny movies that were actually MEANT to be horror", along with "Jeepers Creepers".
Apparently, people do not care what a movie actually is before pretending to review it under the wrong genre.The first gag, to reveal the low level of humor in this charade, is the name of the police chief, "Hugh Janus" (Huge Anus).Another gag near the end is when it is implied that all of the brothers and sisters of Rachel Kincaid, a Caucasian, have had their revenge, then, at the last moment, a male who is obviously not Caucasian, yet is supposedly another brother of Rachel's that no one had known about, shows up to shoot the professor.
A lame attempt at comedy, but slightly funnier than the "Huge Anus" joke.The only part we actually laughed at was the police woman routine where she and Shane Newman went into the empty apartment after a very strange entrance, which was so amusing, we had to watch it four times.The storyline involves a few sorority girls and their deaths with nearly everyone being a lunatic.
The nature of the "failed" final examination left with each victim is not really that funny either, and falls flat.After the actual killer is shot (after the police woman is accidentally shot around the same time by the would-be victim as the killer is doing some sort of slapstick routine while the cop is being helped by the would-be victim - what a ridiculous scene), along come more killers out of the woodwork to avenge the girl who committed suicide or had her brake lines cut, or whatever was going on since it is too ambiguous to make any sense.
Part slasher, but mostly a detective thriller with some rather tame soft-core sex, from director Fred Olen Ray(..under the pseudonym Ed Raymond)regarding a serial killer hunting down models who were all part of a Sorority 5 years ago when a girl supposedly committed suicide driving off a curb near a bridge.
The "suicide", which for a while seems unrelated to the rest of the film, is linked to the murders as transfered LA detective Shane Newman(Brent Huff)and his Hawaii partner Julie Seska(Kari Wuhrer)seek the find who is behind the homicides at a posh resort.
Could it be mysterious photographer Taylor Cameron(Debbie Rochon)who is to shoot the girls?
The film alternates between Hawaii and Los Angeles, as Sam gets some much needed assistance from his former co-workers back home who themselves discover some interesting evidence regarding the suicide victim, Rachel Kincaid(Jen Nikolaisen), a pregnancy, and a college Professor in hot water, Andrews(Robert Donavan).The slasher element is rather uninspired as the attacks are very uneventful(..a strangulation, a drowning, the aftermath of a stabbing), but Olen Ray does what he can with developing the detective crime drama portion of the script.
Olen Ray vet, Jay Richardson has an amusing cameo as Sam's LA superior, Hugh Janus(..say it a few times and you'll get the joke).
The film has multiple endings as characters under aliases are discovered, correlating with Rachel, the victim in the opening of the movie.
Final Examination starts as Rachel Kincaid's (Jen Nikolaisen) car taking a dive off the end of an unfinished freeway, unfortunately she was in it at the time...
Jump 'Five Years Later' & Los Angeles Detective Shane Newman (Brent Huff) has just trashed half the city during a high speed car chase involving drug dealers, collapsing under the weight of all the lawsuits Lieutenant Hugh Janus (pronounced 'Huge Anus') (Jay Richardson) has had enough of the uncompromising Newman & transfers him to Hawaii, damn it's alright for some!
Detective Newman & his new partner Detective Julie Seska (Kari Wuhrer) are on the case & quickly deduce it was murder, soon after Amanda is murdered & it becomes clear that there's a aerial killer on the prowl...Directed by Fred Olen Ray, on the version I saw under the pseudonym Ed Raymond, I though Final Examination was a pretty poor film.
The script by Sean O'Bannon is terrible, the pacing is all over the place & after a very promising start with a really cool car chase through the streets of Los Angeles it slows down to an absolute snails pace, only three people are murdered throughout it's duration until the lame, poorly thought out, predictable & utterly stupid 'twist' climax that's as obvious as the nose on your face.
To give Final Examination a bit of credit there is another excellent car chase to complement the one at the start but these two truly cool (I'm not joking either) sequences are genuinely exciting & impressive which is strange as the rest of this sorry attempt of a film is anything but exciting or impressive, it's almost as if these car chases are from a completely different film & have been randomly spliced into this one.
Anyway, apart from those two char chase scenes there is nothing remotely good about Final Examination, it's boring, predictable, is full of annoying teenagers, clichéd & has one of the lowest body counts in slasher film history at a measly three.
What more can I say, this is definitely one to avoid folks.Director Olen Ray films with surprising competence & the Hawaiian locations are truly beautiful, who knows maybe he just wanted an exotic holiday & wasn't going to let the little matter of actually trying to make a good film get in his way.
Final Examination has some nudity & there is one scene in particular in which someone answers the phone topless for no reason whatsoever, after the conversation is over she puts the phone down walks off screen & the next time we see her she's fully clothed.
I'm sorry but that pool would be red in no time & wouldn't remain PERFECTLY clear, would it?Technically the film is actually quite good considering it went straight to video apart from a glaring continuity error during the car chase at the start, it rains between shots!
The acting is pretty bad from everyone involved.Final Examination as a slasher film is rubbish, there are so many better ones out there but it has two fantastic car chase sequences which save it from being a complete turd.
Before watching "Final Examination" I thought it would be a porno movie; the cinematography and cast truly looked like were taken out from a porno.
But when I saw Fred Olen Ray's name, I knew I was going to have a great time.This movie deals with a serial killer (is it?) that is after a group of hot ex-graduates.
The first victim, the hot Amy Lindsay is murdered in a jacuzzi; then her other friends are killed in different ways.
By the way, one of the detectives is the always beautiful and sexy Kari Wuhrer who looks really pretty.Well this movie has the occasional sex scenes; not very steamy or great but still deliver.
But don't expect a straight soft core sex movie.Watch this for what it is : an entertaining but cheap b-movie with beautiful women and an easy to follow plot.Delivers expectations. |
tt0092848 | Deadly Prey | Colonel Hogan rents his mercenaries out to anyone with the right price. This time it's businessman Michaelson. A deal is struck, and Hogan recruits new troops. For training, he orders his troops to kidnap innocent people, take them to the forest and hunt them. Unfortunately this time, they picked the wrong guy, Mike Danton. Danton, a Vietnam veteran, is ambushed while taking out the trash. Taken to the forest, he is stripped to his shorts, greased up and told to run. The mercenaries hunt Danton, but are meticulously picked off one by one. The troops report this to Colonel Hogan, who sends a task force with his best man, Lieutenant Thornton. One of this elite combat unit is Jack Cooper. Cooper and Danton realize who each other are while trying to kill each other. Cooper has not seen Danton since he took a bullet for him in 'Nam. With his new-found friend, Danton continues to punish the mercenaries, and get back to his wife Jaimey. Like all good villains, Hogan uses Danton's family against him, but this angers Danton. After storming the military training camp Danton arms himself up, tosses a lock, and destroys all traces of Hogan's mercenaries. | murder, cult, violence, absurd, action, revenge, entertaining | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0086856 | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller) and his mentor Dr. Hikita (Robert Ito) perfect the "oscillation overthruster", a device that allows one to pass through solid matter. Banzai tests it by driving his Jet Car through a mountain. While passing through it, Banzai discovers himself in another dimension, and on returning to his normal dimension, he finds an alien organism has attached itself to his car.
News of Banzai's success reaches Dr. Emilio Lizardo (John Lithgow), currently held at the Trenton Home for the Criminally Insane. In 1938, Lizardo and Hikita had build a prototype overthruster, but Lizardo tested it before it was ready, and became stuck between dimensions. Though freed, it caused him to go insane. Aware that Banzai has succeeded, Lizardo breaks out.
Banzai meets a suicidal Penny Priddy (Ellen Barkin), and finds she is a long-lost twin sister of his late wife, distraught over the loss. Banzai attempts to lift her spirits and brings her with the rest of his group, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, as they hold a press conference about the overthruster and the existence of alien life. Strange men disrupt the event and kidnap Hikita and the overthruster; due to an electrical shock from an unknown source, Banzai sees these men as reptilian humanoids. The others give chase, and Penny happens to encounter Hikita who passes her the overthruster before he is recaptured.
While planning what to do next, Banzai and the Cavaliers are met by John Parker (Carl Lumbly), a messenger from John Emdall (Rosalind Cash), the leader of the alien Black Lectroids of Planet 10, currently in Earth's orbit. Emdall explains that they have been at war with the hostile Red Lectroids for years, but had managed to banish them to the eighth dimension. Lizardo's failed test of the overthruster in 1938 allowed the Red Lectroids' leader, John Whorfin, to take over Lizardo's mind and enable several dozen others to escape. Now that Banzai has perfected the overthruster, Emdall fears Whorfin and his allies will try to acquire it to free the other Red Lectroids. Emdall had shocked Banzai previously to allow him to see the Lectroids for who they are, and now tasks him with stopping Whorfin or otherwise the Black Lectroids will fake a nuclear explosion to start World War III that will annihilate the Earth and the Red Lectroids with it. The Cavaliers track down the Red Lectroids to Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems in New Jersey, finding that their arrival in 1938 was told by Orson Welles' broadcast of The War of the Worlds until the Lectroids forced him to admit it was a work of fiction. Yoyodyne has been building a spacecraft to cross over to the eighth dimension under the pretense of a new United States Air Force bomber.
The Red Lectroids invade Banzai's headquarters and kidnap Penny, unaware she has passed the overthruster off to one of Banzai's allies. Banzai and the Cavaliers set off to gather allies and confront Whorfin at Yoyodyne, as well as warning the President of the United States as to avoid a nuclear war. At Yoyodyne, Penny refuses to tell the Lectroids where the overthruster is, and they start to torture her. Banzai arrives and chases off the Lectroids, though Penny is wounded and unconscious. While the Cavaliers tend to her, Banzai and Carter sneak into a pod on the spacecraft. Without Banzai's overthruster, Whorfin insists they use his imperfect model, which fails to make the dimensional transition and instead breaks through the Yoyodyne wall, flying off into the atmosphere. Banzai and Carter separate the pod from the main craft, and use its weapon systems to destroy Whorfin and all the other Red Lectroids. Banzai parachutes back to Earth while Carter returns to his people. With the situation resolved and war averted, Banzai finds Penny remains comatose. When he goes to kiss her, Emdall causes another brief shock to Banzai that revives Penny.
The end credits announce an unproduced sequel Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League. | cult, alternate reality, psychedelic, flashback | train | wikipedia | The stellar supporting cast includes Jeff Goldblum, Clancy Brown, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, and Ellen Barkin, and they're all pretty darn good.I'm not even going to pretend to be rational or unbiased about this movie.
Yes, it looks cheesy and dated, but damn it, you have to take a stand somewhere in life, you have to roll up your sleeves and step up to the plate and put yourself on the line, and have the courage to say, "I don't care what anyone thinks of me, I love this movie." That's the way I feel about old Buckaroo and his Hong Kong Cavaliers, and I still consider myself a loyal Blue Blaze Irregular fifteen years after seeing this film.As a post-script, I'd like to mention that the novelization of this movie, written by Earl Mac Rauch, is great, and actually contains about 3 times the information and plot that is in the movie.
Also, there's a script for BUCKAROO BANZAI VERSUS THE WORLD CRIME LEAGUE floating around too, which should be made no matter the cost if only to film one priceless scene - the cameo appearance of Jack Burton, Kurt Russell's swaggering truck driver hero from John Carpenter's BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, who appears as a Blue Blaze Irregular and gives Team Banzai a lift!.
I just watched this flick for the first time in ages and remember now why I agree that it is a "cult classic"!Made in 1984 way before most of the actors achieved real star status, this movie has so many "inside" references and jokes, it's a wonder that more isn't made of it!
I only wish that "Buckaroo Banzai versus The World Crime League" had been produced.Peter Weller, Jeff Goldblum, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Dan Hedaya, the entire cast must have had a great time making this movie.
It doesn't take itself seriously and neither should the viewer.The plot centres around a pre-Robocop Peter Weller's character (the implausibly named Buckaroo Banzai) who is a scientist/rock musician/surgeon...seems to be talented at just about everything.
True enough and so far so good.In the movie, the 80% of matter that is space turns out to be the 8th dimention, and Banzai unwittingly causes some nasty alien "lectoids" to enter our dimension.
And soon, all that will stand between the Red Lectroids and the destruction of the earth, will be Buckaroo, his band and some help from his loyal followers, the `Blue Blazer Regulars.' Working from the highly imaginative, clever and detailed screenplay by Earl Mac Rauch, Richter has fashioned and delivered a colorful and exciting adventure filled with subtle humor, the unexpected and an array of outrageous characters, from Whorfin and the Lectroids (all of whom have the first name `John'), to Buckaroo's cohorts like `Perfect Tommy (Lewis Smith)' and New Jersey (Jeff Goldblum), to the alluring, mysterious woman Buckaroo encounters, Penny Priddy (Ellen Barkin).
He throws so much at you, in fact, that it's impossible to catch it all the first time through; but it's a movie that lends itself to repeated viewings, because it's exactly what this kind of film is supposed to be: Pure entertainment from start to finish.
Weller's Buckaroo is intelligent and self-assured-- watching him you get the feeling there's always something going on in his head, and always a step ahead of the next guy-- and it's his ability to convey the complexities of the character that makes him believable, and his incredible exploits seem credible.
As Lizardo/Whorfin, John Lithgow takes it magnificently over the top with a character that is something of a precursor to his High Commander Dick Solomon on TV's `3rd Rock from the Sun.' And watching this guy in action is a real kick.
Peter Weller (Robocop), John Lithgow (Third Rock from the Sun), Robert Ito (Quincy MD), Clancy Brown (Highlander), Ellen Barkin (Wild Bill), and Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) all have fun and amusing roles.
But far and away what carries this movie over the top is its humor, some of which is in-your-face and some of which is so subtle you won't catch it all on one viewing.And even if you don't like the story line the casting is over the top.
Hoping to clarify the mystery and purpose of this 1984 docudrama, I have scoured all available data (including movie reviews), scrutinized the musings of the film's director via the DVD's special features, and held extensive conferences with official representatives of the Banzai Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Strategic Information.
The film is (negatively) a rambling, disjointed pastiche of pseudo-hip, sci-fi/comic book inspired shenanigans that (positively) manages to generate inordinate amounts of charm and wonder through its fortuitous collusion of eccentric story line (battling aliens; a deeply depressed damsel-in-distress, (Penny Priddy); the actual Hong Kong Cavaliers honing their rock and roll chops; Buckaroo himself, pushing his new jet car- with the incredible Oscillation Overthruster -through the forbidding regions of the 8th dimension) and the glowing charisma of the actors at play: John Lithgow's Dr. Lizardo is hilarious and ingenious.
Just looking at the list of great actors that starred in this movie should be enough for any serious movie fanatic to become giddy with excitement, and rightly so.First of all, Peter Weller gives a stunning performance as the main character Buckaroo Banzai, an archetypical "Renaissance Man" whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas.
Joining our main character there are the incredible performances of wellknown names such as Jeff Goldblum, John Lithgow, and Christopher Lloyd to name but a few.This in-your-face line up of top class actors gives the viewer the setup for a incredibly entertaining movie in which the action and comedy never seems to stop, never ceases to be interesting and more importantly: remains plausible.
Peter Weller - brilliant, John Lithgow - hilarious, Jeff Goldblum - never fails (the original straight man!), not to mention people like Clancy Brown who's talents far exceed anyone else in TV or movies today (it's just that people don't give him the big parts!).
No Matter Where You Go, There You Are. Buckaroo Banzai's latest adventure (and, his first revealed in any media) begins with Peter Weller as the Samurai, "renaissance man, neurosurgeon, physicist, race car driver, rock star, AND comic book hero" test driving his Jet Car through a mountain.
Examples include ABC-TV's "The Invaders" and novelist Thomas Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49".Presently, defeating the Red Lectroid invaders is up to multi-talented "Buckaroo Banzai" (Weller) and his hard-rocking team of "Hong Kong Cavaliers": Lewis Smith (as Perfect Tommy), Jeff Goldblum (as New Jersey), Clancy Brown (as Rawhide), Pepe Serna (as Reno Nevada), and Billy Vera (as Pinky Carruthers).
Actually, it does have a cohesive narrative, and more surprising because in the first few minutes, even with opening crawl, one is a little lost in exactly what's going on except a) Buckaroo Banzai had an American mother and Japanese father (and is played by Peter Weller who doesn't look like the latter much at all), and b) he goes through dimensions or something looking for martial arts moves.
Here is where, and it's a lot of fun to see every cheesy line spoke ("Damn John Whorfin and the horse he rode in on" or "BigbooTAY!" or even "If you fail, we will be forced to help you destroy yourselves!") with the kind of delivery that just goes to show how much a would-be Buckaroo Banzai ala Southland Tales fails so much by comparison.It's a wonder to behold, with every crazy synthesizer beat, with every other new turn of a wacky performance, and of course that final end credits sequence that will be etched in my mind forever as something really great to keep me in my seat before turning off the TV.
Facing war in the 8th Dimension by an invasion of the world from a species of electroids all named John (Big Boote, Warfin, Parker, Ya-Ya, Small Berries, and so forth) from Planet 10, and who work for YoYoDyne Propulsion at Grovers Mills, NJ, Buckaroo must save the planet by sunset all the while making fun of everything and everyone with the straightest face in film history.
With a cast of newbie actors of notable prestige today, but then just starting their careers, the cast include Peter Weller as Buckaroo, Ellen Barkin as Penny, John Lithgow as Dr. Emilio Lazardo/Lord John Warfin, Jeff Goldblum as New Jersey, Robert Ito and Clancey Brown.A film that must be viewed on numerous occasions if only to catch the banter in background comments by actors off camera, or to assure oneself that what you heard was right, it is filled with hilarious pun on punning, and created such an audience following that include several highly paid scientist-types at the nation's most prestigious museum complex in the world who would monthly hold Saturday night viewings of the film to discuss.
It is sort of a "Red Dwarf" mixed with "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" type of movie but twisted with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid camaraderie and Bob Marleyishness "what can any of this Rasta stuff mean?" John Lithgow gives the performance that lets you know how he ended up Third Rock from the Sun. Peter Weller is great, as is the whole cast.
'Buckaroo Banzai' is a classic 'B Grade' sci-fi movie with the added bonus of clever dialog, an interesting premise and a cast that includes actors who went on to become famous.
The payoff is not only getting a grip on the ultimate battle between the black lectroids (good guys) and the red lectroids (bad guys), but you are also treated to picking up on new gags and jokes (actually more like bits of humor - to wit: Who in their right mind would build a jet car out of an Econoline Van???) and subtle plot devices which were previously overlooked.
Come to think of it, I have never seen a good movie yet in which John Lithgow is the star, which may explain part of the reason just is so bad.
Too bad, because the rest of the cast features some interesting names: Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd and Peter Weller, but this was hardly a film these actors want in their resumes.A vastly overrated "cult" movie..
I can't understand how people can find this movie even watchable.The presence of a few good actors (John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum), is not enough to make this mess even a little bit interesting.I understand the idea of appreciating a movie without taking it seriously, but there is nothing here to appreciate!
It was directed by the same guy that did Big Trouble in Little China, which was great, and I also like Peter Weller and John Lithgow, so I decided to give this one a shot.
There are so many things going on that it can easily be confusing to a casual viewer, but in today's world where everyone has a DVD you can easily watch this film in your home numerous times with friends until you "get it" (like we did in the 80's, but when had to go to countless midnight movies).Now for those who get their kicks by rudely attacking this film.
Pay particular attention to John Lithgow as "Lord John Whorfin." Fans of films like "The Fifth Element" and "Big Trouble in Little China" will definitely enjoy Banzai.
No matter how cheesy the sci-fi plot sounds, some great actors & acting make this a cult winner...Peter Weller, Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin, John Lithgow, and Christopher Lloyd - who else could successfully mix neurosurgery, 80's clothes (the only cliché characteristic of the movie) and a Rock Band into a Sci-Fi plot?
"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." That's what Buckaroo Banzai, rock in roll scientist, doctor and larger than life cult figure adventurer and even the object of an in the film only comic book series (Peter Weller, the hero of "Robocop") tells his audience when they laugh at the down on her luck Penny Pretty (Ellen Barkin).
Jeff Goldblum might have been a better Buckaroo, but he and Peter Weller are both fine in their roles.There, that should be enough to understand the film.
The adventures of Buckaroo and the Hong Kong Cavaliers is an amazing thrill ride that promises never to let you down when it comes to action, comedy, sci-fi nonsense, and some of the best (or worst) 80's music ever put in a movie.
My old recorded VHS copy has worn out after years of repeated viewings, so I am thrilled that it is now out on DVD.The outlandishness of the main character and the far out plot seem on paper to be too much, but director WD Richter and the excellent cast pull off one of the greatest feats (in my opinion) in cinema history: Making a movie that really does defy pigeonholing into any genre or category.
John Lithgow's over the top performance as Doctor Lizardo and Peter Weller's superb job as Buckaroo along with the comic relief of Jeff Goldblum and scene stealing steamy innocence of Ellen Barkin help make this a true classic and one of my favorite movies of all time.
The closest movie I can compare it to is another one of my favorites, Big Trouble in Little China.For those who have not seen the movie, Buckaroo Banzai is a world famous Neurosurgeon, rock star, comic book character, rocket car driver and scientist.
you've got aliens, you've got gooey stuff, you've got cars that travel through mountains, and you've got Jeff Goldblum in cowboy chaps.You've got Buckaroo Bonzai (played by Peter Weller), a rock star/martial arts expert/comic book hero/supergenius doctor.It won't win any Oscars.
Whether you're a die-hard fan, or have never had the pleasure of enjoying this wonderful film, the newly released special edition DVD is the absolute best way to watch it and learn about the amazing world of Buckaroo Banzai.Not only is the film quality fantastic, but the special features alone are worth every penny.
Christopher Lloyd does a very good job, and I always enjoy seeing Vincent Schiavelli in a movie.One thing I've always liked about John Lithgow is that he seems never to play the same role twice.
I loved Buckaroo Banzai, I was very young when it came out and it's one of the first films I can remember watching.
A cult classic, this send-up of alien invasion stories, pulp fiction heroes, and adventure movies is a love/hate proposition; while I found it to be brilliant fun, many of my friends thought it was incomprehensible!
Buckaroo Banzai is on par with Manos in virtually every department, except that its cast contains normally excellent actors like Peter Weller, Jeff Goldblum and Christopher Lloyd.If you die and go to hell, this film will be showing at the cinema.
It started off with a funny Star Wars-like prologue and then goes on with the main character Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller) riding in some weird vehicle that somehow traveled between space and time.
John Lithgow plays a mildly enthralling mad scientist, whom we never see enough of, and a young Jeff Goldblum plays a new recruit for the Hong Kong Cavaliers.The premise of Buckaroo Banzai is well-thought out, but it seems the script could have done with a rewrite or two - interestingly enough, the credited screenwriter's other films aren't that well received at all.
It is a real shame, as the idea of a rock and roll pretty boy who lives a life of adventure AND saves the world is a really cool idea--like a comic book and an old movie serial combined into one!
Among the newest members of Buckaroo's team are the troubled Penny Priddy (an appealing Ellen Barkin) and jovial "New Jersey" (Jeff Goldblum); the nemesis is Lord John Whorfin, who's taken over the body of a scientist named Emilio Lizardo (both roles are played by John Lithgow, who's in peak hammy form).You know you're in for some good times when you peruse the cast list: Christopher Lloyd, Lewis Smith, Rosalind Cash, Robert Ito, Pepe Serna, Ronald Lacey (the Nazi torturer from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" playing the President of the United States here!), Matt Clark, Clancy Brown, Carl Lumbly, Vincent Schiavelli, Dan Hedaya, Bill Henderson, Billy Vera, Jonathan Banks, John Ashton, and none other than Yakov Smirnoff playing the National Security Adviser!
A good solid Hollywood production.If you want to see something different, are feeling a little superior about movies to everyone else, have a hankerin for an adventure film about a super cool hero who's too cool to be real and has managed to coral the oddest bunch of characters under his tutelage and leadership, then give "Buckaroo" a chance.Otherwise, watch at your own risk..
If you do not like Sci-fi movies, cult films, or movies with ensemble casts, you should stay away from Buckaroo.
special effects are of the perfect b-film rate but this is not why you watch the movie, though that's fun too!
Ellen Barkin and Peter Weller give great performances and the genius of both John Lithgow and Jeff Goldblum, not to mention all the other great appearances, make it a pleasure to watch.
Black lectroids, white lectroids, rockstars, brain surgeons, defense contractors, rocket cars, oscillation overthrusters, 8 dimensions, Peter Weller, Jeff Goldblum, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Christopher Lloyd, what else can a trash sci-fi fan ask for??????
No Matter Where You Go...There You Are. THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI (1984) *** Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd, Clancy Brown.
Or is it that there's a certain weirdness that I haven't seen duplicated in any other film.Yes, yes, and yes.Rent this if you like any of the cast member, science fiction, aliens, comic books, Heros, Orson Wells, New Jersey, or just want to put your brain on hold for a while and have a fun time."Remember, no matter where you go, there you are" - Buckaroo Banzai. |
tt0034770 | The Gay Sisters | Sisters Fiona (Barbara Stanwyck), Evelyn (Geraldine Fitzgerald), and Susanna Gaylord (Nancy Coleman) are orphaned when first their mother goes down with the Lusitania and then their wealthy father, Major Penn Gaylord, is killed in France in World War I. Before Penn left for France, he told Fiona, the eldest, that the Gaylords have never sold the land they have acquired.
However, their half billion dollar inheritance is held up in probate for decades; Fiona complains that they have practically grown up in court. Though they have a New York City Fifth Avenue mansion, the sisters have had to borrow money to live. A French charity claims that Penn made a later will before he died, leaving 10% of the Gaylord estate to it. Though the Gaylords are now willing to give up the 10%, their real antagonist, Charles Barclay (George Brent), wants their mansion (and the choice land on which it sits) too, so he can tear it down as part of his real estate development, Barclay Square. Fiona is determined not to give in to this.
Meanwhile, Evelyn has married an English nobleman, now fighting in the RAF, while Susanna is in love with painter Gig Young, despite being married herself. Susanna only stayed with her husband for a few hours, but he refuses to grant her an annulment unless she pays him a great deal of money, to which of course she does not have access. When Evelyn returns home from England, she becomes attracted to Gig herself and tries to steal him away.
In 1941, Fiona fires the longtime Gaylord lawyer, Hershell Gibbon (Gene Lockhart), when he appears to be too sympathetic to Barclay, and hires Ralph Pedloch (Donald Crisp) as his replacement. It comes out that Fiona and Barclay have a prior history together. Six years before, a relative died and left the sisters $100,000 on condition that Fiona be married. Fiona decided to go through with a sham marriage to a cousin, but ran into Barclay, then a construction crew foreman, and found him much more attractive. Within a few days, she manipulated the lovestruck man into proposing. On their wedding night, she pretended to faint. While he went to purchase some medicine, she packed up, leaving a letter with $25,000, her wedding ring and an explanation. However, he returned before she left and forced her to have sexual intercourse before letting her go. Fiona gave birth to a boy, Austin, and had him raised by a trusted friend. When that friend died, Fiona brought the now six-year-old to live with her. Unexpectedly, she finds herself becoming very fond of the child.
When Susanna tries to commit suicide after it appears that she has lost Gig, Fiona finally realizes the toll her stubborn determination has exacted on her family. She gives up the mansion and grants Barclay sole custody of Austin. In the end, Gig chooses the now-single Susanna, and Barclay tells Fiona he still loves her. Fiona embraces and kisses him. | romantic, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0062974 | Finian's Rainbow | === Act I ===
The play opens in Rainbow Valley, Missitucky, near Fort Knox, home of a mixture of black and white tobacco sharecroppers. The local sheriff and Buzz Collins, front man for local senator Billboard Rawkins, demand the locals pay their taxes or else have their land auctioned off. The sharecroppers want to wait for Woody Mahoney, their union leader. Woody's mute sister Susan the Silent, who communicates by dancing, with Henry, the boy who translates for her, promises he will bring the money. The Sheriff begins the auction, but the Sharecroppers refuse to listen and drag him and Collins off to meet Woody ("This Time of Year"). As they leave, Finian McLonergan, an elderly Irishman, arrives with his daughter Sharon. They have come looking for Rainbow Valley, but Sharon misses their home in Ireland ("How Are Things in Glocca Morra"). Finian explains to Sharon that American millionaires convert their wealth into gold and bury it near Fort Knox. He concludes it is the soil in Fort Knox that makes the USA rich, and reveals that he has a crock of gold stolen from a leprechaun, which he intends to bury. Woody and the sharecroppers reenter, and when Woody doesn't have enough money, Finian pays the rest. Finian and Sharon are welcomed by the sharecroppers. Sharon explains her father's philosophy of following the dream ("Look to the Rainbow").
That night, Finian buries the gold and marks the spot, only to be met by Og, the leprechaun he stole from. Without his gold, Og is slowly becoming mortal, and needs it back. Sharon and Woody come looking for Finian, but are soon distracted by the moonlight and each other ("Old Devil Moon").
Senator Rawkins is buying up land to fight progressive developers. He is not upset with losing Rainbow Valley until two geologists arrive to tell him gold has been detected on it. He vows to drive Finian and the sharecroppers off.
The next morning, Og meets Sharon and shyly confesses his feelings for her ("Something Sort of Grandish"). Sharon is in love with Woody, however, and Finian slyly prevents Woody from leaving for New York by making him jealous. The sharecroppers celebrate their unofficial betrothal ("If This Isn't Love"). Og arrives and tells Finian he loves Sharon. He also warns Finian not to make wishes near the gold - after three wishes, the gold will vanish forever. Og enlists the local children to help find his gold, promising to get them anything from a magical catalogue ("Something Sort of Grandish [Reprise]").
As the sharecroppers sort the tobacco leaves, Maude, one of their leaders, explains the general unfairness of life to them ("Necessity"). Senator Rawkins arrives informing Finian and the sharecroppers that, by living with black people, they are breaking the law and must leave. Outraged at the Senator's bigotry, Sharon tells him 'I wish to God you were black!' while standing over the gold. The Senator is transformed and chased off the property by the unknowing Sheriff. Woody brings news that there is gold on their land, and the Shears-Robust shipping company has offered them all a free charge account. Insisting that credit is better than wealth, Woody and Finian tell them to use their new free credit rather than dig the gold. The group celebrates "That Great Come-and-get-it Day".
=== Act II ===
The sharecroppers begin unpacking extravagant gifts to themselves from their new accounts. Sharon and Finian celebrate the end of class-distinction that comes with wealth ("When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich"). Shears and Robust show up wondering when the gold will be discovered that will pay for the credit. Woody and Finian explain that there is no need to dig the gold up, since the news has led to massive investment in their tobacco label. Buzz and the Sheriff, however, accuse Sharon of using witchcraft to turn the Senator black. Woody orders them off. He and Sharon agree to marry ("Old Devil Moon [Reprise]"). Susan the Silent watches them, and dances by herself, and discovers the hidden gold ("Dance of the Hidden Crock"). She takes the gold for herself and hides it.
Meanwhile, the still-black Senator Rawkins is hiding in the woods. He meets Og and explains what happened to him. Og decides what the Senator needs is a new inside rather than a new outside. He uses his own magic to make the Senator a nicer person ("Fiddle Faddle"). In his new persona, Rawkins falls in with a group of black gospel singers looking for a fourth man ("The Begat"); by chance, they are all going to sing at Woody and Sharon's wedding. The wedding is interrupted by Buzz and the Sheriff, who have come to arrest her for witchcraft. The Senator tries to defend them, but as a black man the Sheriff has no need to heed him. Finian steps in, promising Sharon can change the Senator back. He dismisses everyone, intending to use the Crock to undo her wish, but finds the crock gone.
Og, now almost human, looks for Sharon to tell her his feelings. He finds Susan instead, but realizes he is also attracted to her. He wonders if all human love is so fickle ("When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love"). Finian finds them and tells them Sharon is in danger. When Og reveals he doesn't have the gold, Finian runs off in despair. Susan knows where the gold is, but can't speak. Frustrated, Og wishes she could talk, not knowing the gold is under his feet. Susan speaks, and tells him she loves him. Og realizes there is only one wish left, and if he uses it to save Sharon he cannot be a leprechaun again. He is unsure what to do until Susan kisses him. Deciding being human isn't so bad, Og wishes the Senator white again.
The Senator promises to be a better representative to the people, and the Sharecroppers welcome Og and the now-verbal Susan ("If This Isn't Love [Reprise]"). Finian, however, has lost the crock and his hope of getting rich. Seeing that Sharon and Og have found their dreams, he goes off again in search of his own rainbow, saying 'Maybe there's no pot of gold at the end of it, but there's a beautiful new world under it.' The cast tells him goodbye, promising to see him in Glocca Morra ("Finale"). | comedy, fantasy | train | wikipedia | until 1968, when a sudden splash of popular screen musicals prompted Warner Brothers to bankroll it.The plot is deliberately ridiculous, and finds Irishman Finian McLonergan (Fred Astaire) and his long suffering daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) in Tennessee, where Finian plans to bury a crock of gold stolen from a leprechaun (Tommy Steele) on the theory that the land around Fort Knox will make the gold grow.
But things take an unexpected turn when they arrive in Rainbow Valley, where they encounter a commune of black and white tobacco sharecroppers doing battle with a viciously bigoted Senator (Keenan Wynn.) And when daughter Sharon is outraged by the Senator's racism and happens to be standing by the hidden crock of gold--she accidentally "wishes" the Senator black!
Unlike the 1947 stage show, the big screen version of FINIAN'S RAINBOW tanked at the box office, and it is little wonder: both producers and then-novice director Francis Ford Coppola made a host of very basic mistakes with the material, the first of which was not keeping the film within its original 1940s context; they instead give it a 'contemporary' tone that not only undercuts the fanciful storyline but makes many of the story's elements seem heavy-handed.
There are also a number of cinematic problems with the movie, which feels awkwardly filmed and still more awkwardly edited, and the film visibly shifts between outdoor set-ups and studio soundstage sets in a very uncomfortable sort of way.All of that said, there is still a great deal to enjoy in FINIAN'S RAINBOW--the aforementioned score for one and the truly memorable performances for another.
The film version of "Finian's Rainbow" was conceived at a time when the public's interest in movie musicals was on the wane; in fact, in light of the poor critical reception accorded "Camelot" the year before, studio head Jack Warner would have been content to pull the plug on what he perceived as another sure-fire disaster.
To an extent, his feelings were justified - what had been a daringly provocative look at racial strife in the deep American South as seen through the eyes of a scheming Irishman and his less-than-supportive daughter when it debuted on Broadway in 1947 was no longer very pertinent twenty-one years later, and the fairy tale aspects of the plot - which included the hyperactive antics of a leprechaun intent on retrieving his "borrowed" pot of gold - were going to be a hard sell in 1968.
But for all these shortcomings, "Finian's Rainbow" - from its spectacular opening credits to its nicely staged farewell to Finian - almost a goodbye to Astaire himself, for whom this would be his last dancing role - is pleasant entertainment, buoyed by its familiar score and anchored by the presence of Petula Clark, whose delightfully fresh and sweetly seductive performance is the true gold to be discovered here.
At the time known in the States as the pop singer responsible for the mega-hit "Downtown", Clark drew on her previous experience as an actress in mostly grade-B British films and developed a character whose acceptance of a leprechaun hiding in the backyard well is as easily believed as her skepticism regarding her father's plot to multiply his borrowed gold by burying it in the shadows of Fort Knox and her fiancé's plans to grow mentholated tobacco.
The Arlen/Harburg score - including such standards as "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" and "Look to the Rainbow" - could well have been composed specifically for her voice, which wraps itself around each note with a hint of a brogue and - in the case of "Old Devil Moon" - a raw sensuality suggesting the woman inside the sweet Irish colleen.
Deservedly, Clark was nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe for her portrayal of Sharon McLonergan, and if for nothing else, her performance makes "Finian's Rainbow" definitely worth a look-see..
Plot aside, which isn't difficult, the basis of the story is that Finian McGlonnagen (Fred Astaire) has stolen a pot of gold from Og the leprechaun (played to perfection by Tommy Steele) and has plans to bury it near Fort Knox, thinking that the "magical properties" in the ground there will make more gold for him.
A great vehicle for Keenan Wynn, showing why he was the best character actor of his day, and Tommy Steele, who disappeared from American movie screens far too soon.
With such delightful songs as "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love," "Something Sort of Grandish," (sung by Steele), "How are Things in Glocca Morra" and "Old Devil Moon" (Pet Clark) the film is a delight from beginning to end.
The plot follows the quintessential Irishman Finian(Fred Astaire in his last full screen role) and his daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) as they basically flee to America with a pot of gold stolen from the leprechaun, Og (Tommy Steele).
The DVD presents Astaire's dance numbers complete and full body (something Astaire always insisted on but was overlooked in the original release) Finian's Rainbow is known now more for many of it's songs than itself as a whole, but it's still very much worth a look, especially if you love musicals..
The actors are charming (Petula Clark and Fred Astaire act wonderfully) and the music is substantially connective throughout the movie.
'Finians Rainbow' with Fred Astaire and Petulia Clark may not be in the same league as 'The Sound of Music' or 'South Pacific' but why should it matter.
That said, it is definitely worth watching and is for me Francis Ford-Coppola's most underrated film.The editing aside, I like the production values a lot, as the sets and costumes are lovely and there is some good lighting.
The score and songs are all wonderful, my least favourite The Begat is still very good, and Old Devil Moon, When the Idle Poor Became the Idle Rich and particularly Look to the Rainbow are timeless.Coppola directs with assurance, the choreography is some of the best I've seen in a while and the script has a lot of funny, witty and heart warming parts.
When it comes to favourite scenes, the Rain Dance Ballet, which is lovingly choreographed, and the scene where Al Freeman Jnr applies for the job of butler, which is hilarious, are the most memorable to me.I can't fault the cast either, Fred Astaire can do no wrong in my eyes, Tommy Steele and Al Freeman Jnr steal every scene they're in and I don't think there is another film where Petula Clark is more perfectly cast.
This outlandish musical will be sure to make your heart feel so sugar candish.It's a delightful romp with the talents of Fred Astair, Petuala Clark and tommy Steele (whom, quite frankly, steals the show as the insanely funny Og the leprechaun) Pure Fun!This movie throws in a very profound moral lesson about judgment and racism presented with a spoonful of silliness that keeps you from feeling preached at.Musical numbers abound and the catchy lyrics will have you singing under you breath for days to come..
From Ireland, grandfatherly dancer Fred Astaire (as Finian McLonergan) and his singing daughter Petula Clark (as Sharon) arrive in the southern American state "Missitucky" (a combination of Mississippi and Kentucky).
This musical should have been whimsical, not obnoxious.*** Finian's Rainbow (10/9/68) Francis Ford Coppola ~ Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks.
In fact if he doesn't get it back and soon he's going to become a mortal.Playing the parts of Finian McLonergan and his daughter Sharon originated on Broadway by Albert Sharpe and Ella Logan are Fred Astaire and Petula Clark.
That I'm betting is different from the Broadway show where David Wayne, talented actor that he was, was no dancer.Finian's Rainbow was the first big budget film that young Francis Ford Coppola directed and he seems to have adopted the style Robert Wise used in West Side Story and The Sound Of Music.
Old Devil Moon and How Are Things In Glocca Morra have become mega pop standards.If you can find it in addition to the original Broadway cast album which was Columbia Record's first in that category and the cast album for the film, I highly recommend the Reprise Musical Theater all star album of the songs of Finian's Rainbow.
A time-passer--and that's about all--even though it has some nice moments.By the way, for years Fred Astaire was NEVER shown dancing in films unless ALL of him was shown.
As it was, the eventual film adaptation found itself an old-time song-and-dance show in an era where the musical had become something very different indeed.In a way Finian's Rainbow was always a mix-and-match musical.
I think He was 68 years old when he made this film, and I didn't expect Fred Astaire to dance like he did 30 years earlier.
There is NOT one bad song, in this entire movie -- the lyrical skill of Harburg, combined with the talents of Burton Lane, has produced one of America's best loved musicals.Tommy Steele is brilliant as Og.
I normally like movie musicals but not this one.At the time, young director Francis Ford Coppola was in way over his head and clearly out of his element.
In my opinion, this is the most underrated movie musical of all time.Although its treatment of social themes seems outdated, this movie somehow overcomes this obstacle through its fabulous score, excellent photography, and the star power of Fred Astaire and Pet Clark.Clark, already a veteran performer when she rose to stardom during the "British Invasion," was essentially making her movie debut, and was in her mid-30's when cast as the "young lead." It is a tribute to her superb talent that she overcame these obstacles and put on a fabulous show.
Fred's long-time choreographer Hermes Pan was originally signed but Copolla wanted more "realistic" choreography (whatever that means) and had him replaced; however, little of this trouble really show on the screen in this delightful musical about an Irishman (Astaire) who steals a crock of gold from a leprechaun (Tommy Steele) and goes to America with his daughter (Petula Clark) to start a new life.
Astaire, Clark, and especially Steele are wonderful and the musical numbers are entertaining and who can beat the Burton Lane-E.Y. Harburg score with songs like "Look to the Rainbow" and "Old Devil Moon".
I mention this because another fine Burton score, 'On a Clear Day You Can See Forever', was the victim of much excision of fine songs, without which it does not work--Barbra Streisand and Yves Montand notwithstanding.From the opening credits through the arrival of Clark and Astaire at Rainbow Valley, with the advent of Don Francks who is first seen on the train coming back, the first meeting of Sharon and Woody, the marvelous dancing of Barbara Hancock,Clark singing "Glocca Morra" after hearing the familiar song of the skylark, the shooing off of the sheriff, the fabulous buildup of the "Look to the Rainbow" number with real sweating dancers working their way through real streams and meadows with Astaire nimbly leading the company; and finally, Sharon and Woody parting temporarily so that she and Finian can ensconce themselves--this is a wonderfully rich beginning of about a half hour, and it forms a single piece by itself that is only matched by two much briefer and isolated subsequent moments."Old Devil Moon" is the site of both of the other 2 great moments--both the first time Clark and Francks make love in the forest (the rustic nighttime setting makes their first tryst have a more sexual suggestion to it than the usual musical comedy "lovemaking") and in the superlative reprise, much shorter, after Woody accidentally proclaims that he and Sharon will be married (although the object had been, once again, to repel the "suits").
I recommend this to anyone who may happen upon these thoughts; it is by Alain Resnais, who did 'Hiroshima, Mon Amour'and 'Last Year at Marienbad': you could never imagine that such a musical (based on a 1925 operetta) would be made by Resnais, nor that any important film musical with an obviously unlimited budget could be made in 2003, overflowing with charming people and songs.I find all the Tommy Steele scenes boring, but I guess they are well done.Unquestionably, this is a worthy treatment of a major Broadway musical, even if it has many flaws..
The performances are fine, although some of the casting choices are questionable: Petula Clark is 15 years too old for her role (as is Fred Astaire for his) and it would have been better if the script writers had changed her role accordingly just a little bit to make it more believable..
At that point he had directed only two features, a student film which played in theaters and made some money, and Dementia 13, a pretty good horror movie.In a nutshell -- a pistachio would be about right for the depth of this plot, waggish old Irishman Astaire and his daughter Petula Clark, who was older than Coppola, have just arrived in the "mythical" state of Missitucky.
I prefer his very stylish take on the musical form, "One From the Heart", but "Finian's Rainbow" is worth watching, if only to see Fred and Petula..
Finian (Fred Astaire), an Irish man, comes to Rainbow Valley with a pot of gold and his strong-willed daughter Sharon (Petula Clark).
For me, the film of Finian's Rainbow is proof that even when all the elements of a film are near perfect--a great score, a funny script, wonderful scenery and Fred Astaire, for God's sake--it can all come together...and just lay there like a lump of lead.
A musical has to have a far different pacing than any other film genre.Now, having said that, I also should say that I thought it was wonderful that Coppola cut NO musical numbers and I loved Astaire and Petula Clark.
Finian McLonergan (Fred Astaire) brings his daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) from Ireland to American in search of gold.
An Irishman called Finian McLonergan (Fred Astaire) with his daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) arrive to America one day.Finian has a pot of stolen gold he wants to plant in the ground that it will grow faster.The gold belongs to Og the Leprechaun, played by Tommy Steele, and if he doesn't get the gold back he loses his magic and becomes mortal.Finian's Rainbow is a great musical fantasy, which Francis Ford Coppola directed in 1968.This is Coppola's less known movies, which is a shame.Freddy Astaire does amazing job as always.There was a man who didn't let his aging get in his way.It is unbelievable to think that the man was 69 at that time.All the other actors do a great job too.Finian's Rainbow has some great musical tunes, like "How Are Things in Clocca Morra".Just amazing.The movie is also against racism which is a good thing.Watch Finian's Rainbow if you want to see one of the last great musicals..
Excellent, also, are Petula Clark, in her only U.S. film, as his beguiling daughter, Sharon; underused Don Francks, as Woody; marvelous Tommy Steele as Og, the slowly-turning-human leprechaun; and Keenan Wynn as villianous Senator Billboard Rawkins.
"Finian's Rainbow" (1968) is one of the few films I saw three times in the theater, and since repeat viewings are normally not my thing it must have made some connection or maybe I just enjoyed watching Barbara Hancock dance.
But we all can still enjoy the dancing and singing of Fred Astaire and Petula Clark in the number of their recorded works that will be available for decades to come..
Add to the mix the elder statesman if film musicals Fred Astaire and then give him a director in Francis Ford Coppola who is hip and energetic and young enough to maybe be his grandson, and you have a strange brew.The movie is actually very enjoyable in my opinion.
Apart from the fact that the film features an over the hill Fred Astaire in one of his least memorable and least illustrious dance performances, this Irish ditty about the mysterious Irishman Finian and his coquettish daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) lacks the production values needed to carry off just such a tale.
"Finn's Rainbow, when it debuted in 1947 had a charming score with many memorable songs ("Look to the Rainbow", "How Are Things In Glocca Moora", "Old Devil Moon, If This Isn't Love, etc), and a long, too involved book, that centered around racial intolerance.By 1968, with musicals on their way out of style, and racial issues at their highest in this country, it probably was not the most opportune time to produce "Finian's Rainbow for the screen.
Clark may be a little too old for the role, but I think her rendition of "How are things..", is one of the loveliest songs I've heard in film.Tommy Steele is also wonderful as Og the leprechaun who falls in love and turns mortal.
Fred Astaire gave it his all for the last time-to good results-in Finian's Rainbow.
The cynical world of the late 60's didn't really want the number of sweet movie versions of Broadway musicals that they were producing, and "Finian's Rainbow" was no exception.
However, it is still a fabulous movie and holds up a lot better than some of the film versions of shows released during this time.Take a look at Fred Astaire while he dances to "Look to the Rainbow" with a group of kids he meets in Rainbow Valley, located near Fort Knox where his Irish character has come to bury a pot of gold he has stolen from the leprechaun, Og (Tommy Steele).
While he's top billed (and definitely the lead, as the character is the film's protagonist), the bulk of the movie's running time goes to his on-screen daughter, Sharon (played beautifully by Petula Clark) and the leprechaun, Og. Tommy Steele is a performer who is not for everybody's taste, and some of his character's humour seems to be really outdated. |
tt0106521 | Carnosaur | In a small town in the American Southwest, a mysterious illness befalls its citizens. Dr. Jane Tiptree (Diane Ladd), a scientist working for the Eunice Corporation, is secretly breeding a strain of extra large and fertile chickens by splicing their DNA with that of different animals. The sponsors of the corporation become suspicious of her research, but cannot legally interfere. One night during transportation of the chickens, a mysterious creature hatches from a chicken egg, kills the drivers and escapes into the night.
Doc Smith (Raphael Sbarge) is an alcoholic security watchman protecting digging equipment from environmental activists, though he befriends one of them named Ann Thrush (Jennifer Runyon). Meanwhile, the creature, which turns out to be a juvenile Deinonychus, goes on a killing spree, killing two truck drivers and a group of teenagers. One of the dead teenagers was the daughter of Jesse Paloma (Frank Novak), an employee for Tiptree. Afraid of the truth about her research being leaked, she lures Paloma into a laser-protected Tyrannosaurus pen, where it consumes him.
Thrush and the other activists begin to protest by handcuffing themselves to the digging equipment. However, the grown Deinonychus appears and slaughters the activists while Thrush watches in horror. Doc finds Thrush in shock and brings her back to his trailer, where she is attacked by the Deinonychus but survives. Doc locates a truck belonging to the Eunice Corporation. Pretending to be the dead driver, he talks to Tiptree on the radio and makes his way to her facility. Meanwhile, Sheriff Fowler (Harrison Page) discovers a dinosaur embryo in a carton of eggs and brings it into a lab to study.
Doc sneaks into Tiptree's lab and holds her at gunpoint, telling her to show him her experiments. She reveals that the infected chicken eggs are responsible for the town's mysterious illness, as they contain a lethal virus that kills men and impregnates women with dinosaur embryos, which kill the host when birthed. The goal of this is to spread the virus around the world, effectively driving the human race into extinction and letting the dinosaurs rule the Earth once more. When news of the town's deaths reaches the Eunice sponsors, they trace it back to Tiptree. The government infiltrates the town and has it placed under quarantine. In order to sterilize the situation, all civilians, infected or not, are shot and killed on sight.
Fowler investigates a disturbance at a puppy kennel where he is attacked by the Deinonychus. He fatally wounds and kills the creature, but not before being impaled by its sickle claw and succumbing to his wounds. Back at the lab, Tiptree reveals a serum that can cure the illness. Doc steals it tries to escape, accidentally ending up in the Tyrannosaurus pen. Tiptree releases the dinosaur from its laser bounds and it chases Doc. He escapes and the Tyrannosaurus breaks out of the facility. Tiptree is revealed to have infected herself with the virus, and dies as a baby dinosaur rips its way through her stomach.
Doc returns to Thrush, who has fallen ill to the virus. Before he has a chance to inject her with the serum, the Tyrannosaurus makes its way to the construction site. Doc battles the creature with a skidsteer but is nearly killed. Thrush joins in with another skidsteer and impales the dinosaur, killing it. Bringing Thrush back into the trailer, she succumbs to the virus and Doc is shot and killed by government soldiers, who then burn his and Thrush's bodies. | cult, violence | train | wikipedia | Which Tiptree is planning to destroy the world by unleashing an lethal virus and letting Dinosaur ruled the world once more.Directed by Adam Simon (Brain Dead) made an watchable but forgotten horror/sci-fi effort by that was made in the wake of Steven Spielberg's Big Budget "Jurassic Park".
The movie doesn't bother me anymore, but I do find it very enjoyable and has a great re-watch value to it.Diane Ladd has created a disease that only effects females.
After a series of strange deaths rock their small desert town, a group of friends tie the incidents to a scientist's genetically-engineered dinosaurs running amok in an attempt to pave over society and race to stop them.This here turned out to be quite an enjoyable and cheesy rip-off at times.
With the shower of blood on display, we also get plenty of limbs ripped off, dismemberments and decapitations, which is found in the movie's highlight sequence where it attacks a group of protesters chained to a series of trees and it swoops down to chomp on them in quite vicious manners, leading to a big action chase but with all the gore on display, even coming up with a realistic manner of doing so with muscle and tissue visibly shown to be pulled away from the victim makes for an impressive visual.
While this does have a slew of problems with regards to its special effects being obviously a man's hand in a puppet being whisked through the scenery to simulate it's advancement through the area, these moments of utter cheese work to create a sense of charm with the film that's almost impossible to top, even though the story has a ton of continuity problems, a downer of an ending and several other problems.
The only reason everyone on this page hates this movie was because the special effects couldn't compete with Jurrasic Park.
They may say they disliked it for other reasons, but in reality, they are just kidding themselves and trying to find flaws that aren't there so they look like they aren't effects-hungry morons who can't enjoy a film unless it has at least 10 minutes worth of CGI.
Carnosaur is one of the only films that the genre falls into "horror" and "dinosaurs." From beginning to end it's a true cult-classic for a those few die hard fans that are out there.
At no time was I taken out of the movie by a poor effect.It begs comparison to Jurassic Park, of course.
The dinosaur effects are laughable at best, but overall it's better scripted than the average Roger Corman slaughterama, and Dianne Ladd gives an over-the-top performance that alone makes this one worth watching.
The dinosaur on the cover looked just awesome (again, at the time and to my kid eyes), as I had never before seen a live-action dinosaur beyond old black and white movies (side note: When I saw Jurassic Park for the first time later that very same year, it blew my little mind).
The plot is pretty confusing (as usual) but soon very hungry and angry dinosaurs are eating people alive in hilarious trash scenes.The effects are OK and you'll love this if you like trash cinema.
I think people just hate the critters of Carnosaur because they were spoiled by the special effects of Jurrasic Park.
Reading about Carnosaur, I was expecting a terribly cheap movie and for it to be blatantly derivative of the Steven Spielberg classic Jurassic Park.
While far from a good movie, and certainly nowhere near as fun, thrilling or intense as Jurassic Park, I was expecting far worse than what I saw.
The only thing sadder than this movie is that I felt the need to watch it again nearly 20 years later to confirm, "Yeah, it still sucks." The film does have some bright spots in that the dinosaur attacks are gory and there are some funny Coca-Cola product placements.
Sounds fair to me."Carnosaur" is loosely based on a novel by John Brosnan about a mad scientist (Diane Ladd) who is disgusted by the human race's destruction of the planet and plans to wipe it out with a killer virus while genetically engineering dinosaurs so that they can take over the planet once again.I was really surprised that film critic Gene Siskel, who had given the Oscar-winning masterpiece "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) a negative review found this movie appealing and gave it a marginally positive review.
The film was made on a low budget and you can tell by the bad acting (excluding Diane Ladd, of course) and the poor special effects.
Some things made the movie a little tedious (the romantic plot between Thrush and Doc, Clint Howard's character, etc.) but I found this an overall enjoyable cheesy gore-ride of fun weirdness.Watch if you are used to horrifically cheesy movies.4/10.
The story does not make sense, the characters are horribly developed, the "special effects" looks like one of those dinosaur "Made in Paraguay or China".
CARNOSAUR was producer Roger Corman's attempt to cash-in on Steven Spielberg's JURASSIC PARK, which would be released later in the year.
Overall the film does manage to get a good feel of those 1950s monster movies where there's really not much of a story and instead of one we just get a monster running around killing people.
A film like this really needed to deliver for its lack of effects and story but instead we're just given a watered down version of a horror movie..
carnosaur came out a little after Jurassic park,and the idea was there make a movie a little like Jurassic park on a meager budget,some of the Dino effects are awful to OK.the t Rex looks OK in some scenes .
there's really disgusting gore effects like people getting arms bitten off and etc;Jurassic park had laura dern,carnosaur has her mom;Diane ladd as a scientist experimenting with Dino DNA and chicken eggs.its lowbrow stuff.Clint Howard makes an appearance as a local also stars beautiful blonde Jennifer Runyon as an extremist.the movie is sick, not funny and a depressing mess.i usually like roger corman movies but not this one.i think the sequels were a little better,the last one was pretty good it was called raptor and it starred Corbin bernsen,and Eric (not as famous as his sister)Roberts and sexy Melissa brasielle.
to quickly cash in on Steven Spielberg's great Jurassic park on a low budget dinosaur movie is terrible.the cast is wasted in this.Raphael sbarge(the hidden 2)also stars.after seeing carnosaur you may not look at chicken eggs the same again.trash o Rama,so bad its real bad..
This is by far one of the worst movies I have ever seen and it has left a lasting impression on my mind, because it is so bad!I don't understand how or why any sane person could write or direct such a terrible film.
This is by far one of the worst movies I have ever seen and it has left a lasting impression on my mind, because it is so bad!I don't understand how or why any sane person could write or direct such a terrible film.
There wasn't one character which I liked or cared about, there was hardly any character development, the dialogue is cheesy (as can be expected with this genre), the acting is laughable and melodramatic, the music is boring, the direction is bad, the makeup is fake and the dinosaurs...they look okay on the cover, but in the movie they move robotically and you'd have to be blind to not notice the cheap animatronics involved.
There wasn't one character which I liked or cared about, there was hardly any character development, the dialogue is cheesy (as can be expected with this genre), the acting is laughable and melodramatic, the music is boring, the direction is bad, the makeup is fake and the dinosaurs...they look okay on the cover, but in the movie they move robotically and you'd have to be blind to not notice the cheap animatronics involved.
Go rent "Jurassic Park" if you want to see a great movie with lots of dinosaurs.P.S.
Go rent "Jurassic Park" if you want to see a great movie with lots of dinosaurs.P.S.
What can I say except that I'm a sucker for a cute dinosaur puppet that is supposed to strike fear into the hearts of *adult* audiences watching this(?) Through a series of unlikely but, of course, since it's a Corman-produced cash-in on Jurassic Park (which had the wherewithal to be released a month *before* that movie came out) we have to buy into it events, a scientist who has been tasked with looking into gene experiments involving chickens somehow (ahem, fixes tie) hatches a plan to...
something, I don't remember now, and then halfway through the movie he becomes the noble hero who will save everyone from the dinosaurs with the use of his construction cranes.There are some stretches where we're watching dull scenes where the military are trying to figure out what to do - Ned Bellamy, who one might remember from Shawshank Redemption, is the main guy leading that charge which, eventually, will be like scenes from The Crazies on steroids - but when it gets back to the dinosaurs, or Diane Ladd who is acting as if she is in a legitimate movie (that is until near the end which...
I don't know whether or not Siskel was being tongue-in-cheek with his sincere 'Thumbs up' (really, how many Corman movies, much less those released during the Concorde years, did he praise like that so it could get on the damn box cover), but I know I was laughing nearly until tears during any scene with a dinosaur in it.It's also apparently based on a book which I'd have to assume makes Crichton look like HG Wells..
I was pretty excited when I found Carnosaur on VHS at the local outlet.I don't know what I was expecting.I don't think I was expecting anything GREAT but I wasn't expecting anything bad either.It was more bad than anything.I read on IMDb that there's a part 2 & 3.After watching this movie I can't believe they made a sequel & even more amazing, a third.I LOVE bad movies so if I had a chance I'd watch them though.If I didn't, I know I wouldn't watch them at all.I read a few reviews saying Carnosaur is just a Jurassic Park rip off since they both came out at the same time but I say who knows?
It was released the same year as Jurassic Park and it was probably over-shadowed by that more popular film.This film had an interesting plot element though - a genetically manipulated dinosaur (a T-Rex) escapes from a bioengineering company and causes chaos and havoc on the town (according to IMDb).I love dinosaurs and grew up watching cartoons and movies about them.
In this film there's only one way dinosaurs can be brought to screen and that's via puppetry , usually glove puppets which gives the impression Rod Hull's on a murder spree with reptiles Does this make CARNOSAUR a bad movie ?
Lol I watched the rating on youtube and they both thought the movie was awful but the story was quite interesting and the bad guy (ladd) was something new and exciting.Now i must say that anyone that watches this please do not take it seriously, and don't come in with high hopes.
The Muppets got new dinosaur friends (they are just puppets after all) and they get mad and break away from the group and start killing people.I thought this movie was seriously a joke cashing in on Jurassic Park like Shaun of the Dead did after the Dawn of the Dead remake craze.
But this movie was serious and came out before Jurassic Park even.Plot: Women give birth to green dinosaur puppets who then get mad and attack people whose limbs seem to pop off easily like Mr. Potato Head (they are kept together by red bubblegum).I can't take this movie seriously.
If you want to watch a bad movie to laugh at, this is the one for you.The only reason it scored so highly with me is it is funny as hell.4/10..
Cheap dinosaurs and so called "special effects" is all you're gonna get in this cheap, low-budget, wannabe Jurassic Park campy B-flick.
Of all the really bad movies including dinosaur flicks, This one is the worst of it's kind!
With cheesy special effects & bad acting you know it's likely to be a Corman produced film.
You can tell that most people simply had fun while making this movie and didn't took it very serious at all.Also I must say that I very much prefer the old fashioned special effects, complete with fake looking puppets and a guy in a suit, over some incredibly fake looking CGI effects, that you are likely to see in movies of this sort now days.Don't expect much gore or other great horror elements though.
It is a story about genetic design of dinosaurs, one little raptor, and later a T-Rex (that squeals like crazy), the special effects are freaking funny and dinosaur puppets, toys, whatever they used in the film were just...
The cheap, but interesting special effects are the only saving grace for this lousy rip-off of the `other' 1993 dinosaur movie.
Okay, let's talk wisely...my hypothesis about the word Carnosaur is the following: Carn stands for Carnivor and Osaur stands for Dinosaur...okay...but here's a proof that this film is for a retarded and stupid audience; everybody who knows at least a little about dinosaur knows that some of them were carnivors...but what they tried to do with that title is to teach idiots that carnivor dinosaurs have existed...yeah...but only the staff of this movie is stupid enough to think they seem intelligent by saying this...right....so, I say that people who do a bad job like this (that means everyone who worked on this piece of ****) should be fired or should at least try another job...the special effects were awful, the scenario too, the acting was absolutely laughable, and the directing was so bad that it was funny...I was making more intelligent videos than this crap when I was 6!
Can her plans be halted or is it too late already...Written & directed by Adam Simon Carnosaur is a Jurassic Park (1993) rip-off from beginning to end & was obviously made to cash in on Spielberg's monster sized hit by executive producer Roger Corman (who else?).
It's by no means a good film, it's very silly, it's tries to do far too much considering it's meagre budget & you can't help but keep thinking about Jurassic Park as you watch it.
Basically Carnosaur is a cheap & gory Jurassic Park imitator which I found quite watchable, it's far from the best film ever made but I also think it's far from the worst.Director Simon was working with a low budget & it shows, there's no real style & the Dinosaur effects are plain embarrassing.
The special effects are among the worst I've seen, the sets cheap, it's not that well made or put together & the acting could have been better but at least he tried to get as much money as possible on screen even if the film falls short on several occasions.Carnosaur is a terrible film if you look at it from a normal film-goers perspective, however never let it be said that I'm not an individual because, crazy as it may sound, I actually quite liked Carnosaur.
Great Fun for Anyone Who Likes Dinosaurs and Indie Films on a Budget.
This film may not have had the budget or the big name actors found in Jurassic Park, but I find myself watching this movie over and over unlike Jurassic Park.
The gore is also way above what is found in Jurassic Park, and that is probably a selling point for me as well.The people in this film obviously worked hard at making it, even if they didn't receive the $20 million salaries.
In fact the budget for the entire film was around $1.2 million, and in limited release grossed about $1.7 million, which is what Roger Corman was best at.Chicken DNA plus Diane Ladd = dinosaurs hatching from chicken eggs, and women infected with virus that induces them to give live dino-birth.
DARPA conspiracies and Clint Howard gets eaten by dinosaur, and a very silly looking T-Rex make this film one of the all time low budget greats..
I also tried my hardest not to make too many comparisons between this film and the mega-budget Jurassic Park, despite more than a few nods made to the movie in the script ("It would make a great theme park!", Diane Ladd being the mother of Laura Dern, a main cast member in Jurassic Park and a cool-acting black cop who seemed to be modelling himself on Samuel L Jacksons role.)In 'B' movie standards, this film should rate quite highly (I'm sure its Oscar material compared to the later 'B' flick 'Dinosaur Island', and at least this film generates a bit of an effort, some of the supposed 'great' films out there have a far higher budget and still fare worse than Carnosaur.The narrative is simple: a mad scientist develops mutant chicken eggs that hatch deadly dinosaurs that grow big!
I like those kinds of movies, where it's so obviously bad that it doesn't try to hide how low the budget for it was.
The Bad News: I don't know why people are saying that Diane Ladd did a good job in this movie.
But the movie does have it's dark moments, such as Diane Ladd (whose daughter starred in the other dinosaur flick that came out around the time this did.
Man, the people that watched this Jurassic Park rip-off, and actually thought it was good, what were you smoking and where can I get it?
Cormen's Jurrasic Park Big Rip Off. Roger Cormen has two kind of monster movies, great and crap. |
tt0886539 | Luck by Chance | Young actor Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan Akhtar) arrives in Mumbai to make it as a Bollywood film star with the help of Abhimanyu (Arjun Mathur), an actor friend from his hometown, and their mutual friend Sameer, who works in a studio props department.
Vikram befriends Abhimanyu's neighbor, young actress Sona Mishra (Konkona Sen Sharma), with whom he eventually becomes romantically involved. Sona, the mistress of small-time producer Satish Chowdhury (Alyy Khan), who for three years has promised her a leading role in his dream project, meanwhile works in regional films and bit parts.
Sona finds out that Satish has secured financing for the new project and meets him expecting him to cast her as second heroine, but he refuses saying that they need a new face and since she has acted in many regional films and other small roles she is no longer a fresh face. She argues that she can act well but he says that is not a major criterion these days in Bollywood. Sona is crying when Satish's wife enters and asks her why she is crying. Sona answers by fabricating a lie about trouble at home to save both her and Satish's embarrassment. Sona while leaving the both of them gives photos of Vikram to Satish who shows it to his wife and who in turn shows them to Romy (Rishi Kapoor).
Vikram is shortlisted for Romy's new movie. Neena (Dimple Kapadia), the mom of Nikki (Isha Sharvani)the actress cast for the movie, was a big film actress in the heyday. She sees Vikram's audition and tries to remember where has she met him before. Vikram had once approached her at a film fraternity party. Vikram is told his audition was for the lead in the film and that Neena has seen his audition. At home, he sees every movie Neena has starred in and he impresses her with his charm and knowledge about her work. Recalling past advice, Vikram successfully boosts a competing actor's ego whose overconfident acting is rejected by the director. Finally, Vikram is selected by Neena, Ranjit (director of the film Sanjay Kapoor) and Romy's wife (Juhi Chawla), despite Romy's desire to cast the other macho, hunky actor.
On set Vikram becomes increasingly crafty and manipulative, while Nikki is smitten by him and sneaks into his room one night while her mother is asleep in an attempt to seduce him. Vikram succumbs to her advances and a secret affair starts between the two; the affair becomes stronger when Neena has to leave the set on business for a few days. Vikram tells Nikki he has no girlfriend. Meanwhile, Sona arrives at the hotel where the cast is staying to surprise Vikram. Her friend who is also working on the film warns her of a blossoming romance between Vikram and Nikki. Since Vikram has stayed in touch with her, Sona doesn't take heed of her friend's warning but discovers the truth when she sees Vikram's unexpectedly cold behavior towards her. Hurt, she leaves the hotel. After coming back, Neena instantly recognizes that something is going on between them and makes them understand that it will be mutually beneficial not to let the press and public know of their intimacy.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai, news of the affair has leaked and a friend of Sona who works at a tabloid is assigned to prepare the article, which describes Vikram as a user who has shot to stardom by manipulating Neena and her daughter Nikki. The article also mentions details of when he was struggling to land a role and Sona's part in his life as the forgotten girlfriend. Neena gets very upset and yells at the magazine editor and tells Nikki to stay away from Vikram. Vikram and Nikki have a fight, and Vikram shows his frustration to Sona as he believes she is the one responsible for the article.
Eventually the film is released and it becomes a hit. Vikram rises to stardom but at the expense of his friends. At a party, he meets his idol Shah Rukh Khan, who advises him to not fall into the trappings of stardom and to always stay close to the people who stood by him when he was a nobody. He tries to get back with Sona, but she points out that he only wants to be with her because he is selfish and feels guilty. She refuses and walks out of his life. Sona soon gets good roles on television and is interviewed by a reporter for her fan following. The film ends with her telling the reporter that she is happy living the life of an independent and somewhat successful actress instead of being upset about not becoming a major movie star. | satire | train | wikipedia | Isha Sherwani plays the spoilt heroine convincingly while her on-screen mother Dimple Kapadia looks gorgeous as ever and gives her best after Dil Chahta Hai. Juhi Chawla is lovable as ever while Sanjay Kapoor surprises us with a good performance.
The tale is essentially of their own immediate environment and it is a story that is told well!The screenplay revolves around the two central characters played by Farhan Akhtar and Konkona Sharma trying to make it big in Bollywood.
Farhan comes to Mumbai from Delhi, lives in his aunt's house and borrows money from all quarters whereas Konkona is in a 'mutually beneficial' relationship with some producer to get a lead role and also has a friend who is a homo-sexual, BUT wait, before you scream 'cliché' and think that this will go the Madhur Bhandarkar way, you realize that the treatment is not as sensationalistic and hovering around extremes as Madhur Bhandarkar's movies.
The same role after being rejected by other established actors and after a series of fortunate circumstances, struggle and talent is bagged by the protagonist Vikram played by Farhan Akhtar.The story of Luck By Chance is well woven.
How charmingly it captures those very real things jealously and ego battles between friends, relatives who have the word, 'Riddance' on their mind when you live with them away from your home, of how the best of relationships break when individual interests become dominant.It is surprising to see the high degree of naturalness, intensity and charm that Farhan Akhtar brings to his character.
SRK is in a 2 minute cameo, where in a party, in an interaction with the new star that Farhan Akhtar's character has become, gives the most powerful and defining lines in the movie, lines which were perhaps not given to the dialog writers but have been his own firm values that have made him the biggest superstar of this Industry.
The difference here is that since it is Bollywood itself that is the subject of the film, writer/director Zoya Akhtar gets to indulge in some mild self-criticism aimed at a few of the weaknesses inherent in the industry.
For instance, the movie questions why nepotism seemingly plays so large a role in the hiring of actors and actresses, an inside-joke, one assumes, since Akhtar chose her own brother, Farhan, to play the lead character in this film.
Apparently, iconoclasm will take one only so far when there are box office receipts at stake."Luck By Chance" tells of an aspiring young actor named Vikram (Akhtar) who lands the lead role in what is described to us as "a big-budget thriller/musical love story." His sudden success becomes a cause of dissension between him and his girlfriend, Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma), since she is herself a struggling actress and has been unable to pick up more than mere bit parts in unimpressive films up to this point.
She also becomes jealous of Vikram's co-star, the lovely Nikki Walia (Isha Sarvani), whose over-controlling mother (Dimple Kapadia) was a famous movie actress herself in the 1970s.In terms of dramaturgy and audience attention-spans, the story could definitely use some tightening, but it does capture some of the frustration, heartbreak and disappointment of trying to make it in the "biz." It also points out the capricious nature of filmdom success, making the case that it is often nothing more than sheer luck - of being at the right place at the right time or of having that indefinable "something" that sets one apart from all others - that ultimately determines who will make it as a star and who will not.The romantic scenes are nicely played by Akhtar and Sharma, but there's no getting around the fact that the movie itself runs on for such an unconscionable length of time (over two-and-a-half-hours) that audiences (Western audiences, at least) are bound to lose interest in the story quite a ways prior to its actual completion.
This is one of the best movies that has been released so far this year and it is by an débutant, female director, who has gone on to prove her capability in directing and it deals with a simple story.A newcomer from the Indian capital, after completing a course in acting, moves down to Mumbai and tries to join the Hindi film Industry (Bollywood) and makes some friends but struggles in getting a role.Starring Farhan Akhtar, Isha Sharvani, Hrithik Roshan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Dimple Kapadia, Rishi Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap.
This is directed and co written by Zoya Akhtar, co written by Farhan Akhtar and the music score is by Shankhar Ehsan Loy. Special appearances by many, including Abhishek Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty, Shahrukh Khan, Karan Johar, Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani, John Abraham, Ranbir Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Ronit Roy ("Mr Bajaj" in "Kasautii Zindagi Kii" and "Mihir Virani" in "Kyunke Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi" of Balaji Telefilms TV series),Mac Mohan ("Sambha" in "Sholay"), Vivek Oberoi and Aamir "Mr Pefectionist" Khan.This gives the audience an in sight into what sometimes happens when making a movie and what happens in the industry and more when it involves the opposite sex and when you are working together.
Zoya Akhtar, sister to Farhan Akhtar and daughter of Javed Akhtar, has done a superb job in her directorial debut in showing that is something believable and has also managed to show how some of the actors struggle when they first try and join the industry and the pains in being involved in a relationship.Farhan Akhtar, has once again proved that, not only is he a good director of films such as "Dil Chehta Hai" and "Don," but with his second film as an actor, the first being "Rock on," is good.
But it made a change to see Mac Mohan after such a long time.The music score by Shankar Ehsan Loy is worth listening to but the songs are also worth as well and in particular "Bhago Re" and the dance by Hrithik to it and "Jahanmein Sunate Hai." The lyricist and father of Farhan and Zoya Akhtar, Javed Akhtar, who has been a judge on the Indian TV channel, Sony, for "Indian Idol," has also given a good break into playback singing to one of the previous contestants, Amit Paul.The entry of Zoya Akhtar as a director is a definite "feather in the cap" for the industry.This is a movie that is definitely worth watching..
For the bevy of star childs as they are known (in my short foray into Indian films I have seen a number of up and coming ones), the mounting expectations that one has to deal from the public.Luck By Chance has a movie within the movie which the subplots are laid out against, and like all productions, funding is always key, as is the network that one has to find a foothold in because of the tacit understanding that it's about who you know and who you're related to, versus pure talent.
Vikram Jaisingh (the director's brother Farhan Akhtar) is one such aspiring actor who moved from Delhi to Mumbai in search of stardom, and lives with 2 other friends and their neighbour Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma) who is the mistress of small time producer Chaudhary (Alyy Khan) of Pinky Productions, waiting for her big break to star in a big budgeted movie with a tailor made role.
And adding plenty of colour to the events in and around this movie production, are the producer Romy Rolly (Rishi Kapoor) and his brother, the actor turned director Ranjit Rolly (Sanjay Kapoor) who share the spoils for most of the comedy.There are plenty of insider jokes spilt at every corner, making fun of commercial and art films, gossip rags and the sensationalizing of news.
Farhan Akhtar gives an excellent performance as the boy who innocently, then manipulative worked the system to his selfish advantage toward climbing the ladder of success, and the way it ended strongly in quite an unconventional way for a Bollywood movie, gives this film a certain gravitas in being unflinching in the messages it wants to make about the industry, where the tenacious succeed and there is not much room for sentimentalism.If you're looking for a jump point into what's on offer from Bollywood this year, then I would humbly suggest that Luck By Chance would be your best bet for an introduction to the wheelings, dealings and politicking behind the scenes by all players involved in getting the production complete, right down to generating buzz upon release, and how with luck, one's chances in life could be changed and transformed.
In fact, satire is too strong a word here: although the inanity of Bollywood plots are gently ridiculed, the movie includes some song and dance sequences of its own (disguised as belonging to films within the film); and the eventual ending celebrates a character who fails to become a star, but nonetheless enjoys success as a leading television actress.
"Write what you know" they say and it feels that she's tried to do exactly that.Hot on the heels of the last Excel Productions film, Rock On!!, Luck By Chance marks the entry of the Farhan Akhtar's sister into the world of films and it's the world of films that she decides to deal with.And rather than offering us a soup or salad to whet or appetites, she gets right into things with a thali- full of delights.The set-up of the film is efficient and the title sequence is one of the most poignant tributes to Indian cinema that I've seen in some time.
The plot-lines are many and varied: There's Sona Mishra's (Konkona Sen Sharma) struggle to become an established first tier heroine; there's Romy Rolly's (Rishi Kapoor) struggle to make a blockbuster film while balancing the airs of uppity celebrities; there's Zaffar Khan's (Hrithik Roshan) struggle to maintain some semblance of a normal life amidst extreme adulation and fame; there's Neena Wallia's (Dimple Kapadia) struggle to make sure her daughter follows in her footsteps and becomes a big star; and at the forefront is Vikram Jaisingh's (Farhan Akhtar) struggle to tie all of these plot lines together while he treats every other character as a rung on the ladder to the top.Most of the performances are top-notch.
Every once in a while a film comes , which makes you wonder why there are not more of such ventures in Bollywood.Zoya Akhtar's directorial debut "Luck by Chance" is one such movie , where , by careful viewing ( especially the second time ) , I realize that every dialogue , every scene and almost every expression of the actors is well thought of and executed.I have seen the movie twice in theaters and am now watching it on the DVD , and am dumbstruck by the performances of the lead cast.
There is a fleeting scene in Zoya Akhtar's remarkable new film Luck By Chance where an aspiring, struggling young actor Vikram (Farhan Akhtar) nervously enters a big budget movie premiere party.
Zoya Akhtar's directorial debut Luck By Chance is an insider look to the current generation Hindi film industry.
Be it Romi Rolly(portrayed brilliantly by veteran Rishi Kapoor) or the ex silver screen siren, Neena Wallia(an amazing portrayal by Dimple Kapadia).There are brilliant small cameo performances by the whos who of the industry, starting from Amir Khan to Karan Johar to Abhishek Bachchan to Shahrukh Khan.
And lastly Dimple Kapadia as the ex- screen siren who is attempting to launch her daughter into super stardom.The main protagonists of the movie, Farhan Akhtar and Konkona Sen Sharma have also been explicitly brilliant.
the characterisations of rishi kapoor, dimple kapadia and her on screen daughter were really good and the actors had done justice to their roles.'fashion' showed the struggles and betrayals that a model would face in the fashion industry and now this movie shows the same of an actor (and an actress) in the Hindi movie industry.even though the story line is very much predictable it is still worth watching....
LUCK BY CHANCE taps almost every important facet of Bollywood and presents assorted characters you've encountered some time in life: An over-ambitious aspirant who knows to make the right moves; an actress trying hard to get that big break, even if she has to compromise; an icon of the 1970s who desperately wants her daughter to be a star; a producer who looks at riding on big names, script be damned; a failed actor now looking at direction to redeem his career.Konkona Sen Sharma as sona arrives in Mumbai with dreams of becoming a film star.
Right from the characters, to the individualistic scenes, to the way Director puts them in a sequence, LUCK BY CHANCE is easily one of the most cohesive scripts this side of the Atlantic Farhan Akhtar is evolving into one of the most dependable actors of his generation.
Luck by Chance is a cinema riding on line targeting rural & urban audience.Story , Direction & characters portrayed by Farhan , Konkana & Dimple do a excellent job in realistic cinema, while the other clan i.e Rishi kapoor , Juhi chawla , sanjay kapoor & the other Stars are pure entertainment.The balance is maintained very well, keeping the audience gripped in all the scenes, keeping them wanting for more.
A story of a talented, hardworking yet smart guy named Vikram(Farhan Akhtar) who comes to Mumbai and dreams of making big in B-town, where Vikram has to struggle a lot as he comes to terms among harsh realities where people treat strugglers & newcomers as minnows and somehow Vikram fits himself and adjusts well with his sweet and charming ways that might not be pleasing but still you feel sympathetic for him.
The story reveals plots that goes in the making of a Hindi flick like Hollywood inspiring stuff, hard work and abuses that assistants generally go through, starry tantrums, how people of film industry try to get their friends and relatives involved in B-town ignoring new talent to maximum limit and how shitty stuff comes along the way while a commercial project is down the line.
Other Great moments of the movie include the love debutant Director Zoya Akhtar has for bollywood, what kind of insensitive moral values the stars generally have, more importantly how the Luck factor that comes from nowhere in between
MY RATING: 8/10.
Farhan Akhtar seems to be knowing very well what he is doing nowadays, and it would be interesting to see how Zoya, his younger sister fares as a director.To begin with, I did not find the storyline much novel from the many films about the movie industry and stardom which I have seen before.
Konkona meanwhile is someone that had always proved her acting credentials right, and she could proudly tally in Luck by Chance into her list of wonderful performances.Among others, Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia simply own their roles, while Isha Sharvani does an adequate job.
The movie moves at a slow pace and could be trimmed to make it more crispier but all performances are of top notch and some particular scenes are superbly written and directed by Zoya Akhtar.Konkona, as expected gives another fine & polished performance of her career, but the best shot once again comes from Farhan Akhtar, the actor.
This particular scene with the street kids was the most impressing one from the director Zoya Akhtar and I rate this scene among the best ones I have seen in the recent times.The next worth watching cameo comes from the King Khan, Shahrukh.
Like 'Rangeela', 'Film Star', 'Om Shanti Om', 'Khoya Khoya Chand' and, to an extent 'Page 3','Luck By Chance' is another movie that takes a look on the workings of Bollywood.
Both Farhan Akhtar and Konkana Sen Sharma do a good job as struggling actors trying to make it big.
Well Luck By Chance is precisely a subtle satirical look at the way things work in Bollywood along with being a wonderful coming of age film about the journey of two struggling actors.
And Zoya Akhtar is a name we can safely add to the list of new age Indian directors looking to Raise The Bar and make Real cinemaIt's the story of Vikram Jaisingh(Farhan Akhtar),A Delhi boy who arrives in Mumbai to follow his dreams of being an Actor.Scoffed at by his family and even discouraged by friends, Vikram realizes that to get a big role in Bollywood ,you should either already be a star or be a star's son .But he finds support in another small time actress Shona (Konkana Sen Sharma), looking to make a name for herself in Bollywood.The film charts the separate journeys of these two and the role of Luck and street smartness in building a successful career in films.Perspicacious Vikram is able to land a big break as a lead in a big production house's film after winning the Charms of a yesteryear's superstar(Dimple Kapadia) whose daughter is being LAUNCHED in that very film.Shona, on the other hand repeatedly falls prey to the Sycophantic and unethical ways of the industry while having to make do with small ,inconsequential roles.What makes the film standout is the wonderfully layered script incorporating starkly real characters set in the industry ,like the overtly superstitious veteran film producer Romi Rolly,who swears by traditional Bollywood diktats and the general satirical tone of the film,which without being preachy is able to convincingly portray the workings of Bollywood while giving us a unique coming of age story.
Farhan Akhtar's character is one such struggling actor who gets his break starring in a movie the Superstar walks out of.
The movie is full of Bollywood...oops...Hindi film industry (courtesy Neena "the-yesteryear-star" Walia) stereotypes but it's executed in a never seen before manner by a endless bunch of talented people and an intelligent director.A must watch!.
Dimple Kapadia, Rishi Kapoor and Juhi all gave commendable performances.This movie is not just about Hindi film industry, its more about people in general and how they can change to gain from situations. |
tt0066495 | The Twelve Chairs | In the Soviet Union in 1927, a former Marshal of Nobility, Ippolit Matveyevich "Kisa" Vorobyaninov, works as the registrar of marriages and deaths in a sleepy provincial town. His mother-in-law reveals on her deathbed that her family jewelry was hidden from the Bolsheviks in one of the twelve chairs from the family’s dining room set. Those chairs, along with all other personal property, were taken away by the Communists after the Russian Revolution. Vorobyaninov wants to find the treasure. The “smooth operator” and con-man Ostap Bender forces Kisa to become his partner, they set out to find the chairs. Bender's street smarts and charm are invaluable to the reticent Kisa, and Bender comes to dominate the enterprise.
The "conсessioners" find the chairs, which are to be sold at auction in Moscow. They fail to buy them; they learn afterwards that the chairs have been split up for resale individually. Roaming over all of Russia in their quest to recover the chairs, they have a series of comic adventures, including living in a students' dormitory with plywood walls, posing as bill painters on a riverboat to earn passage, bamboozling a village chess club with promises of an international tournament, and traveling on foot through the mountains of Georgia. Father Fyodor (who had known of treasure from the confession of Vorobyaninov's mother-in-law), their obsessed rival in the hunt for the treasure, follows a bad lead, runs out of money and loses his sanity. Ostap remains unflappable, and his mastery of human nature eliminates all obstacles, but Vorobyaninov steadily deteriorates.
They slowly acquire each of the chairs, but no treasure is found. Kisa and Ostap finally discover the location of the last chair. Vorobyaninov murders Ostap to keep all the loot for himself, but discovers that the jewels have already been found and used to build the new public recreation center in which the chair was found, a symbol of the new society. Vorobyaninov also loses his sanity.
The novel, though short, resonates with all the important events of the time. Numerous side characters, places and institutions are caught in a sharp light, sometimes of satire, sometimes of gentle irony: the operations of a Moscow newspaper, the 3% government bonds, New Economic Policy decadence and so on. The two main characters, among other things, are social types: the déclassé Bender is an individualist foreign to both the old, discredited hierarchy of birthright, epitomized by Vorobyaninov, and the new Communist order. A sort of Reynard the Fox specific to the time and setting, Bender claims to know “four hundred comparatively honest ways of relieving the people of their money,” and he has no future in the Soviet Union. | comedy | train | wikipedia | Ron Moody (Fagin in the musical OLIVER) is a minor Tsarist nobleman who discovers, when attending his mother-in-law on her death bed, that she hid her fortune in jewelry in one of the dining room chairs.
Moody discovers that his mother-in-law did confess this to one person besides him: the local Russian Orthodox Priest (Dom DeLuise).
As Mel Brooks films go, I rate it second only to Young Frankenstein.
Ron Moody is marvelous as a low IQ and totally inept former nobleman, now hiding out as a clerk in a government office, who learns that the family jewels had been sewn into one of the 12 dining room chairs.
He returns to his former residence, now an old folks home, and learns from former servant, now janitor, Mel Brooks that the chairs are gone, confiscated by the government.
A long time ago, Mel Brooks had a subtle side.Hard to believe, isn't it?
But not the way we're use to seeing Mel earn them.This, time, he gets them through character study, human nature, individuals' reactions to certain embarrassing situations and, of course, good old-fashioned greed.
This film, subtle as it is, makes me laugh.Of course, for purists, there's always good old DeLuise as another conniver searching for the same jewels.
Knowing that Mel Brooks usually makes the silliest movies possible, it's a surprise that he directed the lightweight comedy "The Twelve Chairs".
It portrays a former Czarist (Ron Moody, happy birthday!) and a young soldier (Frank Langella) looking for some jewels hidden in chairs in the Soviet Union in the 1920s.
I haven't read the novel, but the movie is worth seeing, if only as a look at Brooks's early career.
Having read the original Russian novel and being a fan of Mel Brooks, I was curious how the two would come together.
The film disappoints on both counts - there's precious little of the original in it, and Brooks isn't at his best here either.
Moody is actually OK as Vorobyaninov, but the casting of Langella as Bender is just plain wrong, as he cannot possibly convey the depth and subtlety of the original character.
Fans of Mel Brooks' 'The Producers' will find particular delight in 'The Twelve Chairs'; the two are of a distinctly different style than the more biting parodies that make up his later works.'The Twelve Chairs' is not a new story, even by 1970 standards.
His adventures as he is sidetracked to Siberia by the self-described 'handsome young desperado' Ostap Bender (Frank Langella) are funny and completely in character.What makes 'The Twelve Chairs' different is its human side.
The former Russian nobleman I.M. Vorobyaninov is portrayed by Ron Moody perfectly: now reduced to a file clerk, he still lives in his pre-Revolutionary past, flatly refusing to beg when he and Bender are down to their last few rubles and still in pursuit of the chairs.
These elements make 'The Twelve Chairs' more like 'The Producers' than 'High Anxiety,' and a film worthy of a listing with Brooks' best..
THE TWELVE CHAIRS is a different kind of Mel Brooks comedy.
Its story, from a Russian novel by Ilf and Petrov, will seem very tasteful and human to those who are acquainted with Brooks' usual raunchiness.
Ron Moody and Frank Langella star, with Dom DeLuise and a special appearance by Mel Brooks as Tikon..
The Twelve Chairs Years after the Russian Revolution in 1917, the former aristocrat Ippolit Matveevich Vorobyaninov (Ron Moody) is informed by his terminal mother-in- law that she has hidden her jewels in a the upholstery of chair from a set of twelve chairs.
Will Vorobyaninov and Ostap find the twelve chairs?"The Twelve Chairs" is a typical Mel Brooks' comedy with the usual type of humor with a satire to the Russian Revolution.
Fans of Mel Brooks will certainly like it, but who is not his fan may not find this comedy entertaining.
I rented this film because it was the only Mel Brooks movie I hadn't seen.
And it's not exactly like all other Mel Brooks movies.
If you like Mel Brooks I recommend this film to you.
Ron Moody (who is best remember as Fagin in 'Oliver' on film and on the West End and Broadway)is superb.
The script is loosely based on a novel in Russian which originally did not center on treasure hunt but rather on the picturesque characters surrounding the three losers who could not fit in the new life.I decided to watch this as the only Mel Brooks film never seen before.
The original material was not without flaws but it was mostly satire and drama, which was totally left out of this film.Seeing Dom DeLuise and Frank Langella 40 years younger was a surprise!
Brooks may be a good director, whatever, the facts are that American nation will never understand the classic Russian humor the way it's meant to be.The Russian 1971 version of 12 chairs together with "adventures of Shurik" is widely considered to be simply the best Russian comedy of all time.
The details differ significantly from Ilf & Petrov's novel; fewer people die, and certain issues aren't addressed (such as why Engineer Bruns had the chairs in Yalta; it looked at first like he was on vacation.) The characterisation was a little off; Ostap Bender was far less of a convincing drifter than would have been optimal (far too cleanshaven, and the actor was very obviously Acting, if you know what I mean), Father Fyodor shouldn't have been played by Dom Deluise, and otherwise many aspects were unsatisfying.
Brooks here shows none of the talent he would later display in films like "Blazing Saddles" or "Young Frankenstein." I really hated this film and can't imagine what parts anyone laughed at..
The Twelve Chairs is not one of Mel Brooks's funniest comedies, but then again it IS a Russian based comedy, where big laughs are as hard to find as a tropical climate.
This film does, however, display the director actually able to really tell a good story, and act as storyteller with characters in a plot to care about.
Perhaps if you're die-hard into Russian history it might serve more for the in-jokes and the well-captured reality of the times.The acting is good, and the main cast is well placed, even if too not the best work is turned in.
Frank Langella is definitely very good as the straight 'handsome desperado' character to Ron Moody's crazy old man, as he is an actor who maybe pulls out one good joke in the film.
At the end, I felt I hadn't seen the great sleeper of a career, but a fun enough romp that has good intentions for something different- and what's more 'different' than a comedy set in Russia..
This is the best Mel Brooks comedy, in my opinion.
To see this movie is to wonder where along the line Brooks lost the ability to weave the elements of hilarity, good story, and excellent acting into a tapestry that does not offend the viewer.
At one time this was the great lost Brooks film.
Regardless of one's personal opinion, The Twelve Chairs marks the transition to Brooks's most popular and successful period, and is of interest for that reason.I was also curious to see this one because it's based on Ilf and Petrov's hard-to-find book, considered a Soviet classic, and often mentioned in overviews of Russian literature.
(I should really know more about that aspect since my IMDb ID is a character from Pushkin.) I hadn't realized the book had inspired so many productions until I browsed the IMDb.So for a couple of different reasons, I've always wanted to see The Twelve Chairs, hoping it would be in the manic style of The Producers.
I hope so.The actors are really all pretty good, especially Frank Langella -- it's such a shame that they have so little in the way of a script to work with.These situations could be funnier in more talented hands.
OK perhaps I'm a bit biased as I saw the 12 Chairs as a kid at the Gateway Theater in Chicago, a favorite treat of ours to stay up extra late.I saw this film again not long after learning Russian and still love it!
Well, one theory is that Russia has been so unhappy, and has had such bad leaders, for so long, that the Russians have had to move on from that, and be happy any way.) Our family has spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe, and we all love this movie.
Mel Brooks directed four of the funniest movies ever made, and this is one of them.
This movie is by Mel Brooks and so of course it has very some funny moments.
His crazy movies such as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs have earned him his own sub-genre in the world of comedy films.
I purchased a boxed set of Mel Brooks' biggest hits because I'd somehow gone more than thirty years without watching BLAZING SADDLES and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and among the titles I was unfamiliar with I found THE TWELVE CHAIRS.
This movie stands out from the rest because it wasn't the sort of Brooks film I'd come to expect.
It tells the tale of a former Russian aristocrat named Ippolit Vorobyaninov (Ron Moody) whose family lost everything with the rise of the Soviet Union.
He's forced to team with a wandering conman named Ostap Bender (a young Frank Langella in his first big screen role) and the two of them race to find the chair before a corrupt priest (Dom DeLuise), who learned of the jewels from the dying mother during her final confession, can find them for his own selfish gains.
Hot on their trails is Dom DeLuise as Father Fyodor, who is the more traditionally cartoonish character we expect from a Brooks film.
Mel Brooks also pops into the film for a quick in-and-out cameo as Vorobyaninov's drunken, sycophantic former servant Tikon, giving him the chance to steal the spotlight for a moment with his larger-than-life style.
In 1920s Soviet Russia, a fallen aristocrat, a priest and a con artist search for a treasure of jewels hidden inside one of twelve dining chairs, lost during the revolution.I honestly don't even know if I heard of this movie before I picked up a copy of Mel Brooks' blu-ray box set.
Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."Wiser words were never spoken--or promoted from theory to application as well as in Mel Brooks' adaptation of Ilf and Petrov's Russian novel, "The Twelve Chairs."The confession of a dying woman--that she's hidden jewels in one of twelve chairs--finds its way into the ears of three very different, but equally greedy, men.
And lastly, there's Father Fyodor (Dom DeLuise), who seems less a product of seminary school than clown college.As with many of Mel Brooks' films, there's the foreground comedy and the background comedy, working simultaneously to their mutual benefit.
Also, there's a hilarious theater troupe advertisement which reads, "Hamlet and the October Revolution by William Shakespeare and Ivan Poppov," in reference to Communism's "everything belongs to everybody" philosophy.While Langella is restricted to playing the straight man, both Moody and DeLuise are given total freedom to writhe, stretch their faces beyond the norm, and shout so much gibberish that by the end of the film, I think I began to understand.
Ippolit Vorobyaninov (Ron Moody) is a poor Russian aristocrat who is told by his dying mother-in-law that she hid her jewels in one of her twelve chairs which are now gone.
I never saw other Mel Brooks movies but as Tikhon he is close to zero as an actor which is pretty much recommendation for his "talent".
It has it's funny moments, but Brooks spends a fair amount of time actually trying to remain faithful to the original 1928 Russian novel, which is to his credit.I just recently watched "12+1," aka "The Thirteen Chairs," which was a 1970 French/Italian co-production.
Other film versions have been made in Cuba, Germany, and Argentina.Brooks' version does have it's humorous moments, mostly when Dom DeLuise or Mel Brooks are on screen.
OK so the greatest comedy of all time may not actually be a perfect film, but it is the only truly dumb comedy that actually transcends the great Russian literature that inspired it.Brooks once said that he needed BIG thinking to inspire him and this movie is that rare thing a political comedy that actually works.It is also a buddy movie, road movie, theological treatise(GOD YOU'RE SO STRICT) and ultimately a love story that climaxes with the main protaganist faking a brain disorder.This film works on many levels and how many broad comedys truly do that, even Woody Allen repeatedly tried and failed.Hope for the best, expect the worst, enjoy this movie..
For a Mel Brooks movie, far from the best.
I am not familiar with either Mel Brooks or with the original book so I did not know what to expect.
The Twelve Chairs stands out as an odd fish among his work.Although it has some very funny moments it doesn't quite come off as well as The Producers or Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein.
Perhaps it was because Brooks was not creating his own original work, but was filming a play from another source, a novel The Twelve Chairs by Soviet Union authors Ilyiu and Petrova.Former aristocrat Ron Moody who was quite lucky to be alive after the Russian Revolution hears a death bed confession from his mother that the family fortune is in jewels that the Bolesheviks didn't get, but was hidden in one of twelve parlor chairs the family owned.
The Soviets confiscated the furniture and sold it to benefit the new government.Moody teams up with young gentleman thief Frank Langella to try and find the one chair with the loot.
They have a rival in fake Russian Orthodox priest Dom DeLuise also looking for the chair with the swag.Moody steals the show in this one, thinking about the lost life he once had and that the chair will gain it back for him in some measure, he becomes positively more manic as the film continues.
His performance is a whole lot like Zero Mostel's in The Producers.Still The Twelve Chairs is not what I've come to expect from Mel Brooks.
Ron Moody and Frank Langella are wonderful as the beggar duo and have some tender moments - especially for a Mel Brooks movie.
His slapstick comedy relief contrasts nicely the more philosophical nature of the film.Granted, it's not true to the original book, but remember that this is a Mel Brook's film!
I saw this in 1970 when it first came out and have remembered it, and love it, ever since.Ron Moody, Dom and Frank each gave top notch performances both in comedy and action.
It's nothing compared to other Mel Brooks's films.
The second film that Mel Brooks directed after " The Producers" (1968)and this is loved by some and scorned by others.
THE TWELVE CHAIRS (Mel Brooks, 1970) **1/2.
I had first watched this as a kid on Italian TV and it must have seemed very different to me than the typical Mel Brooks film (after all, THE TWELVE CHAIRS was only his second outing) but, back then, I wasn't familiar with THE PRODUCERS (1968) either; it was with his next effort, BLAZING SADDLES (1974), that Brooks really found a congenial formula, i.e. parody, which would occupy most of his subsequent career.This was adapted from a popular Russian source much filmed over the years all over the world: in Britain as KEEP YOUR SEATS, PLEASE (1937), with George Formby (which I have just acquired but, alas, don't have time to watch at present), in the Hollywood as IT'S IN THE BAG (1945), co-starring Jack Benny, the international production 12+1 (1969) featuring the last appearance of the ill-fated Sharon Tate and a starry cast (Vittorio Gassman, Orson Welles, Terry-Thomas, etc.) and there's even a Cuban version from 1962 by Tomas Gutierrez Alea (which has recently been released on R2 DVD but which I have yet to acquire).
Brooks' version, then, is the only one I know of to utilize the original Russian setting which, in spite of generally amusing (if overly familiar) situations, rather makes for a dreary-looking film.
His co-stars are a dashing Frank Langella (who, incidentally, I watched performing on a London stage in January 2007 and might well be up for an Academy Award next February in Ron Howard's film adaptation of that very play I saw him in, i.e. FROST/NIXON) as a wily schemer, who plays it straight but is equally effective, and Dom DeLuise as the greedy priest to whom Moody's relative has confessed before expiring; I suppose that his hysterical shtick and zany antics seemed funny at the time but it's rather overbearing to watch nowadays.
This is actually a serious movie with Brooks wackiness as a "topping." Because the plot is kind of wild it almost serves as a Mel Brooks type of story.
"Hope for the best, expect the worst." That pretty much sums up the movie, which will disappoint his fans who like "Blazing Saddles" and so forth.
Also, while adding a new character to the story was not necessarily a bad idea, Dom DeLuise's priest was, at times, over the top and didn't fit with the mood set by the rest of the film.
I loved his writing and directing, but his best films had him barely in them (such as "The Producers" and "Young Frankenstein").Now I have criticized the film quite a bit--but there is a lot to like and I think it's one of Brooks' better films.
It was catchy, summed up the film well and I found myself humming it after the movie was over.Finally, I liked the relationship between Moody and Frank Langella--particularly at the end of the movie.
Going for a sentimental ending with some pathos was a great idea--and ending it like the novel would have been just awful.Overall, while I am sure many would disagree, I think that apart from "The Producers" and "Young Frankenstein" this was Brooks' best film. |
tt1726885 | Tarantula | A severely deformed man stumbles through the Arizona desert, falls and dies. Dr. Matt Hastings, a doctor in the nearby small town of Desert Rock, is called in by the Sheriff to examine the body at the local mortuary. Asked to define the cause of death, he finds himself perplexed: the deceased was someone he knew and had just seen recently – biological research scientist Eric Jacobs – whose deformity appears to be acromegaly, a distortion which takes years to reach its apparent present state. Dr. Hastings asks to be allowed to perform an autopsy to clarify the diagnosis. The sheriff refuses, judging an autopsy unnecessary because there is no indication of foul play. Hastings then approaches Jacobs' colleague, Dr. Gerald Deemer, who more bluntly refuses permission, then signs Jacobs' death certificate in lieu of Hastings, with heart disease listed as the cause of death.
Bothered still by the anomaly, and also by Deemer's abruptness, Hastings later drives to Deemer's combined home and research lab, located in an isolated mansion in the desert far from town. Deemer apologizes for his hostility, blaming it on his grief, then insists that Jacobs had developed acromegaly incredibly rapidly, over just four days. He cannot offer an explanation but attempts to convince Hastings this was only an anomaly, not a result of anything sinister. Hastings appears to accept this apology.
After Hasting leaves, Deemer goes to his closed lab, where huge cages contain white rabbits and mice, some of enormous size. Deemer examines each of the oversized specimens, noting when each last received an "injection", and how many each has had altogether. Then he turns to observe a glass-fronted inset in the back wall, as a different sort of specimen slides into view inside - a tarantula bodily the size of a large dog, plus legs.
As Deemer finishes his observations of this creature, a second deformed man appears, attacks Deemer and begins destroying the lab. During this rampage the lab catches fire and the glass covering the tarantula's cage is shattered. The man grabs a hypodermic that Deemer was preparing, knocks him out, and injects him with the contents. As flames and electrical sparking rage over the lab, the arachnid escapes outdoors, and the deformed man collapses and dies. Deemer regains consciousness, grabs a fire extinguisher, and puts out the fire. That night, Deemer calmly buries the body of his assailant - whom he has recognized from the first attack as his other assistant, Paul Lund - in the desert.
The following day, the intercity bus brings a newcomer to town, a young, beautiful woman who is expecting to be met by Dr. Deemer. Told by the hotel clerk that she will have to wait until the only taxi in town returns from a mission, she accepts a ride from Dr. Hastings, who is again going to Deemer's place and is apprised of her plight. She introduces herself to him as Stephanie Clayton, nicknamed "Steve", who has signed on to assist in the lab, to replace Paul Lund, as part of her doctoral degree program.
When they arrive at the mansion, Deemer tells them that the fire was caused by an equipment malfunction. He indicates that all the animals were killed in the fire, and explains that Lund has already left his employ. As Steve's contract stipulates that she live in Dr. Deemer's residence, Dr. Hastings leaves her there with her suitcases. Steve begins working in the lab and proves to be a capable lab assistant.
A couple of days later, Dr. Hastings finds a mystery has arisen, involving clean-picked cattle carcasses and pools of a thick white liquid up to eight feet in diameter, when the Sheriff calls on him for help. Unknown to anyone, the cause is the tarantula, now the size of Deemer's mansion, which is hungrily beginning to ravage the countryside: the next night, a horse-rancher is killed by the spider outside his stable, and later a pickup truck is flipped by the tarantula in order to get at the two men inside. Elsewhere, two hoboes trying to enjoy a meal and a smoke on the open range are chased and killed.
While this carnage is occurring, Hastings has decided to pay a call on Steve. Explaining that Deemer has been acting and looking ill recently and gone to bed, she shows Matt what they have been working on - the use of radioactive elements to produce an artificial super-nutrient which, once perfected, could provide an unlimited food option for humanity. She shows Matt some of the giant lab-animals created just since her arrival as an unintended side-effect of the nutrient. Suddenly Deemer appears, furious. He chews out Steve for revealing "secret" work and orders Matt to leave. Before he goes, he notices there are some subtle changes in Deemer's appearance as well as in his demeanor.
The following day at the destroyed horse ranch, Hastings once again appears at the request of the Sheriff and, finding again pools of the strange, thick liquid, decides an analysis of this substance might solve the mystery. He takes a sample and flies it to the university in Phoenix, where Dr. Townsend determines that it is tarantula-venom, only in such a quantity that only a monster-spider could produce. After viewing a film prepared by Townsend, showing the predatory ferocity of a normal tarantula, he phone calls Dr. Deemer but is told by Steve that he has become even more ill and is again abed. He again appears behind her, this time hanging up the phone. Matt thus hastens to his airplane and flies quickly back to Desert Rock.
Upon arriving there, he drives to the Deemer mansion, where he finds Deemer, severe acromegalic deformities rapidly setting in, resignedly under the care of Steve as he knows he is nearing death. He divulges all he knows about the nutrient's effects on humans and animals and tells of Lund's death. Matt then returns to town to brief the sheriff on what he has learned from Dr. Townsend and at the mansion. As night falls, the tarantula comes to the mansion. Deemer is killed but Steve escapes when Hastings returns by car. The tarantula pursues them down the highway toward the town. The Sheriff and his men intercept the pursuit, but their guns don't faze the tarantula. Hastening to town, they gather dynamite, but a blast big enough to blow up the highway doesn't faze the monster either. As they complete a hasty evacuation of the town, the Air Force, summoned by the Sheriff, arrives in the form of a jet squadron which launches a napalm attack, successfully incinerating the giant tarantula at the town's edge. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0116756 | Kazaam | The film begins with a very big wrecking ball destroying an abandoned building. The impact knocks over a magic lamp inside of the building, causing it to land on a boombox. The genie inside decides to make residence inside the boombox from there on in.
Meanwhile, a boy named Max (Francis Capra) goes to school. He greets his friend, Jake (portrayed by Jake Glaser, director Paul Michael Glaser's son), with a goofy face and is chastised by his teacher. Max is confronted by a gang of bullies, who hold him on the bathroom floor and spray paint his outline. The bullies chase Max through Brooklyn. Max is chased into the abandoned building, where he discovers the boombox and accidentally unleashes the genie inside. The genie, who introduces himself as Kazaam (Shaquille O'Neal), tells Max that he is now Max's genie and proves it to him by demonstrating his powers, which results in Kazaam disappearing off the face of the earth.
Max returns home to find that his mother is marrying a fireman named Travis. It is revealed that his mother lied to him about his real father's whereabouts, and that he is actually located in the city. Max set out to search for his father in the hopes of rekindling some sort of bond between them. He suddenly encounters Kazaam during his travels, who pesters Max into making a wish. Max eventually finds his father, only to learn that he is a musical talent agent who specializes in unauthorized music.
Max goes to his personal secret hideout and tells Kazaam about his father. They decide to have a bike race through Max's hideout, during which Kazaam shows off his powers. Kazaam finally convinces Max to make his first wish, which consists of junk food raining from the sky. While eating all of this, Max suddenly realizes that he owns Kazaam until he makes his last two wishes. Max and Kazaam go out to see Max's father again.
After getting past an intimidating bodyguard, Max is introduced by his father to the other employees of the agency and invited to a nightclub. The owner of the nightclub, Malik (Marshall Manesh), shows interest in Kazaam upon the realization that he is a genie, and he hopes to control Kazaam through Max's father. The next day, Kazaam stays in Max's home and passes himself off as Max's tutor.
Max confesses to Kazaam that he and his father aren't really connecting, though Kazaam attempts to shirk the issue with some rapping. Max attempts to wish for his father and mother to fall back in love, but Kazaam cannot grant this wish because he is not a djinn, and therefore not free to grant ethereal wishes.
Later that day, Max witnesses his father being assaulted by Malik and his minions and goes to Kazaam for help. Kazaam just received a record deal as a professional rapper and is unable to help Max out. Max is kidnapped by Malik and takes possession of Kazaam's boombox. After pushing Max down an elevator shaft, Malik summons Kazaam in the hopes that he will do his bidding. While Kazaam is initially powerless against his master, he soon breaks free from his oppression and defeats Malik and his minions.
Kazaam transforms Malik into a basketball and then slam dunks him into a garbage disposal. However, he then finds Max's lifeless body, and wishes that he could have granted Max's wish to give his father a second chance at life. Then, in his sorrow, Kazaam finally becomes a djinn, and is therefore able to do this for Max. With him officially a djinn, he pulls Max out of harm's way and carried out of the burning building by Travis. Max's father then shows up and tells him that he hopes to rekindle the bonding with his son, before he takes off with authorities. Kazaam is then last seen walking off being grilled by his girlfriend because he doesn't have a job, while at the same time, ecstatic over his newfound freedom. | fantasy | train | wikipedia | Saturday morning jumped out of bed And put on my best suit Got in my car and raced like a jet All the way to you Knocked on your door with heart in my hand To ask you a question 'Cause I know that you're an old-fashioned man, yeahCan I have your daughter for the rest of my life?
Shaq's awesomely realistic portrayal of a rapping genie is the best thing to be displayed on screen in decades, rivaling performances of Al Pacino, Kerry Grant, Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, and all of the other great actors of our time.
I only wish this movie was five hours long...or at least make at least five sequels..with shaq singing and rapping in all films..what an awesome movie.
Most likely the best performance of Shaq's career, this film changed the way I looked at life.
At least with the movie it's over soon.The acting in this is terrible, which i expected from a film with Shaq who plays a magical rapping genie that comes out of an old ghetto blaster (which there was probably a good reason he was trapped in there).
Shaquille O' Neal plays a rapping genie helping a kid(his name....who cares) to re-unite with his work~a~holic father.
OK, this movie is deeply flawed, mild in entertainment, but with all of these rappers and basketball stars (Omarion in "You Got Served, Darius Miles in "The Perfect Score) in movies playing rappers and basketball stars, at least Shaq attempts to be a genie,and TRIES to stretch his acting ability by being something he's not.
In short, the movie was about a 5,000-year-old genie stuck in a boom box who befriends the lonely 12-year-old boy who finds him and whose only (real) wish is for his parents to get back together.If you take it for the light-hearted comedy for which it was intended and not expect "classic cinema", then IMO, it is well worth a look.I give it 6 out of 10..
Like Howard the Duck, Kazaam was a movie I loved as a child but looking back on it I was shocked at how low my taste buds were as a kid.
The characters I really dislike here, the kid is annoying, the villain is one of the lamest I have seen in a long time while Shaquille O'Neal's Genie with his awful rapping(then again I dislike rap intensely, and that is the least problematic of his performance) grated on me fast.
I recommend watching this movie with your kids for a great family bonding time.
the way the movie starts with the young boy getting the crap beatin out of him then finding this magic genie BOOMBOOK!, WAS GREAT!!!
Shaq might be a legendary basketball player, but this movies is by no means a slam dunk.The plot might be by the numbers, but the film's real problem is the soul-less performances given by the cast, the deeply un-funny comedy and the compilation of yelling non-sence that the movie refers to as rap music..
The story is good, it is entertaining and funny so for a kids movie it's dang great!
I wish they had Max as a black kid just to make it seem more true to life but otherwise this was a great movie!
I'll admit that Shaq's acting is bad and he should stick to rapping and the NBA, the other characters acting weren't that awful.The movie has a nice fell to it while watching, the scenes and designs are cool.
Shaq did a good job acting, and there isn't another movie that is like it.
The good thing about watching movies years after they come out is that you can form a nuanced opinion without the influence of the cultural reception at the time.
Physically-incapable-of-acting basketball star Shaq is the title character, a genie that lives in a boombox.
The protagonist of the movie is Max, a bratty kid that finds Kazaam in an abandoned building.
Kazaam and Max make an unlikely pair, not just because a 7 foot tall black man follows a little white boy around New York like a lost puppy, but also because Kazaam wants to go through the three wishes to gain his freedom (and hopefully get far, far away from this kid), and Max, in a completely realistic and tightly written portrayal of the selfish child that he is, decides that he doesn't want to use any of the magic wishes his genie is begging him to make.
The "plot" of the film revolves around Max learning that his mother lied to him all these years and that his father actually lives in the city, so he goes off to see his father for the first time in however many years (Kazaam is along for the ride).
There's another sleazebag that figures out Kazaam is a genie and plots to steal him out from under Max.If you found Shaq's non-acting to be distressing, prepare yourself for the
He's a "rapping" (actually a RHYMING) genie that moved into a boombox and is summoned when a boy named Max (played by a young Francis Capra) stumbles upon him after being chased by bullies.
Throughout the movie, Shaq becomes a subject of slavery as Max owns him until his three wishes are granted.
Shaq had tried to make other crossover efforts, like his work in Shaq-Fu for the NES and his plethora of unbearable rap albums, and later, the epic serving of horrible film-making that is Steel.There's not a single good thing to be said about this movie.
Although, once the thrill of mocking it is done, you still become overwhelmed by its terribleness.If you see it on TV, try this: consider, as your watching the film, removing from it all the scenes in which Shaq uses his magical genie powers.
There was a genie played by Shaq His name was Kazaam, and he was whack His rhymes were corny, this lines were bad some stupid kid cryin over his stupid dad bad actin, bad casting, bad special effects whats next?
this movie sucks Prolly didn't make 20 bucks he lives in a boombox not a lamp hurts like a cramp like a wet food stamp...Yeah, you get it, a stupid rhyming genie who can't act, in a stupid movie with horrible special effects.
And who would expect much acting prowess from a man who calls himself "Shaqdiesel."Anywhoo, as long as you acknowledge that this is going to be a horrible movie, bereft of anything worthy of even seeing a movie, t'is a good way to let your brain turn to jello, like, say, after studing for finals or writing a 10 page paper in 3 hours ;-).---P.R..
The main plot of the film involves this kid, played in that all-too-typical and annoying-kid fashion by the great-grandson of Frank Capra (where in which the kid is yelling out his dialog angrily), who comes upon a genie who's been trapped in a boom-box.
Then "hiarity ensues" as the kid makes the Shaq-genie his quasi-slave as he waits on his last two wishes as he tries to make amends with his shady-gang-type absentee father.This really sappy, contrived son and father story would be bad enough, as there are certain lines that have been uttered in a million other movies (i.e. the "two chances in life" speech from father to son).
One might ask if the people making the movie, who were obviously doing it at the behest of the popularity of a BASKETBALL player who wanted to go on the Michael Jordan acting bandwagon, if it would be anywhere near decently entertaining or convincing.
I'm only giving this movie a 1 because I think that this one deserves such a low rating not based only on Shaq's bad performance (either on the set or on the court or on the album).
Personally, giving the overall movie a rating of 2.6 is a little harsh,don't ya think?It wasn't that bad,but then again I enjoy ALL movies and I only know of a few that was a waste of film!It all depends on the viewer and their perspective of things.Im an artist so naturally Im a little more open minded than some,but honestly,what did you TRULY expect from this movie?What would YOU have done differently?This is a general question.For me,once you can answer that, then you'll see how ridiculous panning this movie is.lol ^_^.
OK so after watching this invigorating movie and wasting an hour and so many minutes off my life here is the basic summary: Genie comes out of ghetto boom box, gives this kid with shaggy hair 3 wishes, the kid wastes his wishes on i forget what, shaq sucks at rapping, and i guess thats it.So mainly I laughed, I cried......but mainly I laughed at the shear comedy that came from the wonderful acting skills of an nba player/rapper and boy with shaggy hair.I highly recommend this movie for college kids sitting around drinking some beers with their close friends and are in serious need of a good laugh.I'm going to give it a 3 out of 10 only b/c the movie is based off of 3 magical wishes.If I had 3 wishes one would be to erase this horrible movie and for everyone to pretend like Hollywood didn't waste money on making this..
I'm only giving this one a 10 because I don't think that this one deserves such a low rating based only on Shaq's bad performance.(either on the set or on the court) Just take a look at the great camera work, superb sfx and other performances and let yourself be entertained.
My 12 year old son and I just squirmed and couldn't look at the screen when Shaq started rapping and we kept wondering why Max didn't wish for Kazzam to fix that front tooth of his!
I can't believe that Shaq was actually good in this movie.
If you are a fan of really bad movies, and you think there funny, you will the great acting of Shaq.
If you are a fan of really bad movies, and you think there funny, you will the great acting of Shaq.
Shaq had to of been the worst actor i have ever seen next to Dennis Rodman who also made a few bad movies.
Shaq had to of been the worst actor i have ever seen next to Dennis Rodman who also made a few bad movies.
This movie proves that Shaq is better at making free-throws(ha!) than acting.
* A boom box that shoots a shower of sparks * A grown man showering in front of a child * A rapping genie, that despite boasting his lyrical skills, always starts every rhyme with "I am Kazaam" * More than an hour of your life wastedThese are what you have to look forward to in watching this.I'm troubled that anyone thought this would make money, or legitimize Shaq's rapping career in the minds of children.If you have a choice between sitting in gridlock traffic for 9 hours, 10 straight hours of oral surgery or watching Kazaam, Kazaam wins by a slight margin.
Shaq can't act, people don't know how to direct, and I am Kazaam!
I just remember thinking, "Who put Shaq in this movie???" The whole story seemed stupid too.
If I had gotten a boom box when I was a kid I would be appreciative, much less a genie inside.I fell asleep during 2 attempts to watch this movie.
this movie is the best film that i have watched shaq gave a performance that truely deserves an oscar nomination the move is must see.not just for all you basketball lovers out there like me but for those who enjoy superb acting.
Not that any other acting in this movie was any better.The rap song added absolutely nothing to this movie.The movie also gives you a good old ridiculously sappy ending that tries to change your mood after watching this type of trash.Just skip this movie and rent Babe for the kids again.* out of *****.
Can casting directors not see that this never works?Okay, wait, this film was horrible to start with.The plot is just cheesy, and is covered up with a sappy ending, one of those melodramatic ones they throw in at the end of a few family films to try and cover up how horrible the movie was to the adult audiences.The rap song sung by Max and the genie adds nothing to this bloody horrible movie.
A rapping genie who knows kung fu and lives in a boom box played by none other than Shaquille O'Neal, what more could you want in a comedy?!
Kazaam forgets about Max once the boy's father takes a liking to him as a new possible rap talent as he tries his hand at a music career at his nightclub.
Kazaam is really one of those good/bad movies that emerged in the 90s.
Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 stars, writing: "Shaq has already proved he can act (in Blue Chips, the 1994 movie about college basketball).
So I did it." Though more suited in appearing as a film cameo, Shaq's last leading role would be in the following year as John Henry Irons/Steel in the critically-acclaimed box office bomb 'Steel', nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actor.If Kazaam is wishful thinking in the power to begin anew, than it should have stayed bottled up and lost for one-thousand and one nights deep beneath the sands of the Arabian desert.
Kazaam lacks imaginative stamina and, compared with Shaq's larger-than-life charisma, the film does not know what it wants to be either due to stifled, routine filmmaking and terrible rapping.
Shaq as a genie didn't even make me laugh as much as it made me feel uncomfortable every time I saw that stupid smile of his staring at the kid.
Kazaam becomes Max's Genie and follows him around until he can grant the kid three wishes.
The ending is pretty serious for a "children's movie." I hope parents don't take their kids to see this awful film.
All that is followed by no less than six other subplots, none of worth repeating, remembering or writing about.Again, there's so many things wrong with this "family-friendly" kid movie, but probably the most despicable is how creepy the adult Kazaam acts around his "master," the 12-year-old boy.
First there was his silly game, Shaq-Fu, which was a Mortal Kombat rip off, then there was his illustrious music career, which in turn gave him the chance not only to star, but to executive produce his two 'big' movies.Steel came after this, and is decidedly better than this, but there is something really weird about Kazaam, it's bad, sometimes hilariously bad, but the studio must have had a little faith in the film, being released in the summer, just a couple of weeks after Independence Day.So Max finds Shaq, hates his mother and step dad to be, finds his real dad, who hates him, and in turn, influences Shaq to hate everybody via the power of rap, and his magical boom box.The first wish Max should have asked for was to repair that distracting crooked tooth to be corrected, and to get some manners, because Max has to be one of the most unbearable child characters I've seen in a while.
Shaq's just not an actor, he's a physical specimen, he's a monster basketball player who you don't want to play against, but acting isn't his thing and if that was his real rapping, then that also is really bad.
If you like Shaq and just want to see his presence or are curious to see his very short rap career, then, watch the movie.
Now, I can enjoy stupid movies; films that are so bad they become funny, this one though was painfully unfunny.
That Shaq can't rap doesn't exactly make it any better.This whole thing feels like a bad 90's music video - starring an untalented rapper - drawn out to a full length feature..
Why would someone make a film with Shaq as a Genie?.
No wonder it's on IMDb's Bottom 100 list.I'll start off with the good parts: It did have some funny moments like the scene with the flying french toasts and the scene where Max and Kazaam are having a bicycle race.The bad parts: Everything else in this movie was boring and bad.Shaq as a genie is just plain awful.
Is it me, or is this film about slavery?Overall, "Kazaam", is an awful movie that's not even worth watching.
She said she didn't remember since she saw it as a kid so we all decided to go for the bait and see if Kazaam really does deserve one of the worst movies in cinema titles.
A employee of the nightclub shows interest in Kazaam upon the realization that he is a genie, and hopes to control Kazaam through Max's father.Between the awful acting, the terrible script and the lousy effects, this movie is just plain bad.
As far as his acting goes, he wasn't great but had such a nice personality in the film that it's hard to hate him--even if they made him do a lot of very stupid things.So is the movie as excruciatingly awful as you've probably heard?
However, later in the film, the bad becomes horrid--as Kazaam seems too concerned with himself to help the kid when he's really needed.
Then, in an ending that makes this perhaps the worst kids film ending in history, Kazaam becomes god or something and it all was like a drug-induced hallucination!
Kazaam is bad and this movie makes me really mad!
Let me give a quick summery of the film: A rotten, rude kid named Max stumbles upon a radio that contains Kazaam: a rapping genie.
I admit that it never looked like an Oscar-worthy movie, but EVERYTHING about this waste of film is horrible.
Shaq should have put the time had used to make this movie toward practicing free throws. |
tt0289830 | Taken | Retired CIA field operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) attempts to build a closer relationship with his shy daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), who lives with her mother Lenore (Famke Janssen) and her wealthy stepfather Stuart (Xander Berkeley). While overseeing and helping provide security at a concert for pop star Sheerah (Holly Valance), Bryan saves her from an armed attacker. Out of gratitude, Sheerah offers to have Kim assessed as a singer. Before Bryan can tell Kim, she asks her father for permission to travel to Paris with her best friend Amanda (Katie Cassidy). He initially refuses, but eventually agrees after Lenore pressures him. At the airport, he learns the girls are actually planning to follow the band U2 during their European tour.
Upon arriving at Charles de Gaulle International Airport, Kim and Amanda meet a young man named Peter (Nicolas Giraud), who offers to share a taxi to learn more about them. Kim and Amanda go to Amanda's cousins' apartment, only for Kim to find that the cousins are in Spain. While Kim makes a call to her father, she witnesses Amanda being abducted in the living room. Kim follows her father's instructions to hide in a bedroom and listen closely. After she is dragged out from underneath the bed, Kim yells a description of her abductor. Bryan suspects one of the abductors has picked up the phone, so he states that if they release his daughter, he will not go after the kidnappers but warns them that failure will result in a hunt wherein death is an outcome. A man with an Albanian accent only answers "Good luck."
Sam (Leland Orser), an old friend and former colleague of Bryan, deduces the kidnappers are part of an Albanian sex trafficking ring and identifies the man as Marko Hoxha. He reveals that, based on previous history, Kim will disappear for good if not found within 96 hours. Using Stuart's private plane, Bryan flies to Paris, investigates the apartment, and finds Peter's reflection in a picture on Kim's phone. He finds Peter at the airport and tries to capture him. While fleeing, Peter is hit and killed by a truck.
With his only lead dead, Bryan turns to an old contact, French former intelligence agent Jean-Claude Pitrel (Olivier Rabourdin), who now has a desk job at the same agency. Jean-Claude informs him of the local red-light district where the Albanian prostitution ring operates, but warns him not to get involved. However, with the aid of a translator, Bryan trails and infiltrates a makeshift brothel in a construction yard, where he finds a young woman wearing Kim's denim jacket. After a firefight with the mobsters, he takes the girl to a hotel, where he clears the drugs from her system.
The following morning, after Bryan returns from a heated conversation with Jean-Claude, the girl awakens and tells him of a safe house where the Albanians keep abductees. Posing as Pitrel, he enters the house, under the pretense of business renegotiation and police protection costs. Bryan identifies Marko as the man who spoke to him on the phone wherein a violent fight ensues, resulting in the deaths of all the other gangsters in the building minus Marko. A quick search reveals several heavily drugged girls, including a dead Amanda.
Bryan then tortures Marko for information using a makeshift electric chair. Marko explains of the high value of virgins in the black market and how Kim was sold quickly. Once Marko gives the buyer as Patrice Saint-Clair (Gérard Watkins), Bryan leaves him to die in agony from continuous electrocution. Later that evening, Bryan visits the Pitrels for dinner and after discovering Jean-Claude's corruption, he coerces him into providing Saint-Clair's location by wounding his wife in the arm with a gunshot.
Bryan infiltrates a secret sex slave auction beneath Saint-Clair's manor. As soon as Kim comes up for sale, he forces Abil, an Arab bidder, to purchase her. While making his way out, he is knocked out and chained to a pipe, but he manages to escape and eliminate Saint-Clair's henchmen. Bryan shoots Saint-Clair to reveal Kim's whereabouts, wherein the latter reveals of a yacht owned by a sheikh named Raman, before he is killed by more gunshots. Bryan boards Raman's yacht and dispatches his guards as well as Abil, who is revealed to be Raman's underboss. He enters Raman's suite, only to find Raman holding Kim at knife-point. Raman attempts to negotiate, but Bryan shoots him. Kim is reunited with her mother and stepfather. The film ends with Bryan and Kim visiting Sheerah. | insanity, alternate history, murder | train | wikipedia | The story itself draws on the current belief in Alien abduction, but in fact the real threat of being "taken" comes more from the scientists and military investigators who doggedly pursue their prey without any regard for the humanity of those they come into contact with, including the alien hybrids.
Spielberg is extremely important in that he has chronicled this changing mythology and our changing sense or ourselves beginning with "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" followed by "E.T." "Taken" is far darker, but so are we.
That hasn't happened in a very long time..The story just gets hold of you and sometimes gives you goosebumps since it's so good!My favorite parts are the early episodes but the series really changes, or evolves might be better explanation, so it still manages to glue you to the TV..I'm a sci-fi fan that loves a good story but doesn't bother on technical or historical details (aka Trekkie's) so this series was top-score for me!/jon.
Then, last year it aired on the BBC and I watched the series for the second time.
I recently bought the DVD.Taken tells the story of 4 generations of 3 family's that all have something to do with alien-abductions.But is is not just about that, it also lets you in to their lives and lets you look at how they cope with things.I think the script is just brilliant an the actors are very well-casted.
It's a movie, a TV mini-series, a large collection of "theatrical moments," it's somewhat of a social/political commentary, it's a diary for all the old (and young) hippies, and it's a "message" flick about possible new frontiers, etc.
It's the best mini-series I've seen in my life, I'm just amazed about all the story line and after seen nine episodes i know that tomorrow when conclude the last one i will start to count the days for the release of the DVDs.If you though that X-Files was one of the best sci-fi alien themed series of all time you got to love this one too!...
This is possibly the best mini-series of all time, with excellent acting, killer plotlines, and storylines that get you hooked immediately.
After watching this turkey for 20 hours and to have no ending the only thing this series was good for was to show bowflex comercials.
When you watch something like this for 20 hours and get no reason for anything that happened there will probably be a series next year with no reason except to sell more bowflex's..
I remember there was a big hoo-ha about how Spielberg produced it with some directors and that it was suppose to be great.Recently i bought the box set and decided to watch it - I have to say I was really disappointed.
It was also unrealistic the way characters in the movie get killed and other characters got over them like nothing ever happened.In fact some of the acting were the worst and down right annoying.
I don't know who decided that Dakota Fanning is a good actor but she seems to be everywhere these days and she is always just as detestable as last time i saw her.
Things happen, neither we nor the characters seem to understand them very well, and then it's all over.But don't get me wrong, "Taken" is not that bad.
"Sometimes, I wish Steven Spielberg was taken..." to paraphrase an opening quote to this wasteful piece of cliches that should have taken about 45 minutes to summarize instead of 10 LONG hours.The effects are beyond cheesy, the X-Files references without the classy intellectuality, etc etc etc.
everytime i watch sci-fi movie; alien abduction,alien bodysnatchers..i fell bored and man..what the hell is that..alien becomes human..alien eats human...sick..everything is typical when it comes to aliens-movie-alike..apparently, i'd rather say that this TAKEN is such awesome..the visual affects, the actors and actresses..it may take somehow chronologically and consume a lot of time..but it still,a perfect drama series..at least this sort of movie doesn't let the aliens eat human-being and annihilate everything..i like this story as a story and frankly, i don't believe in aliens.
Being a fan Mr. Spielberg's movies I think he's losing the essence of story telling used in his earlier projects.
I am really enjoying the story line and I hate to see it end.A wonderful assortment of strong characters.I can't wait to see what is going to happen next.Why not make this into a weekly series.
My advice is that you dedicate one week of your life to watching taken, one episode a night, although it's good enough that you may go through it in only two or three nights.Starting with the Roswell incident of 1947, Taken chronicles three generations of Three different families leading up to the present day.
they all have a part in this incredible story of a visit from other beings, who want something from us which they have waited a long time for.There are not many names in the cast, I'll say that.
Instead of a sci-fi soap-opera, Spielberg and his crew would have been better off just concentrating on what the title suggests: alien abduction.
Instead it comes off as a bunch of previously used ideas repackaged as really corny drama centering around alien abductions.There's not much of an edge to "Taken", no new angle, so-so special effects, and a pretty mind numbing story that just plods along like an old farm tractor.
It's still too early to tell exactly where the series and story is going, but hopefully it ends up creating more suspense.
Take an X-Files episode about aliens, base it in the country somewhere, stretch it out for another hour and add in a whole lot of boring filler, and you get "Taken".
"Dark Skies" wasn't great either, but at least the aliens looked wicked, and the characters and story had some teeth..
Counting the four hours of self-flagellation for sitting through this painfully boring mini-series amounts to a whole day of my life which would have been better spent watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind twelve times.
I think it's not the matter of the long story, rather it's just that the story is not strong and developed enough to end with a 'big bang'.It ends just like ordinary family movie from Disney.
The biggest problem with Leslie Bohem's "Taken" (even though reviewers everywhere mention Steven Spielberg, Bohem - who executive produced with Spielberg and who wrote the entire miniseries - is surely the one who deserves the true credit/blame) is that it takes a very long time to tell its story.
Building it up is all very well, but sometimes it gets "methodical" confused with "boring," and combined with few of the actors (or characters) making much of an impression, plus the fact that the FX aren't up to Industrial Light and Magic standard, means that this throwback to the days of REAL miniseries - massively long epics ("Roots," "Centennial," "The Winds Of War," even "Hollywood Wives") rather than two-part TV movies - is something of an odyssey almost as long as the period it covers.In fairness, BBC2 has to share a bit of the blame - Sci-Fi at least had the sense to schedule the whole series for consecutive days, rather than put it on once a week (we won't say a word about the week they sacrificed it to the demon Snooker).
I've made it through to part six, I'll see it through to the end, and it's hardly "a stinker of intergalactic proportions" (as one UK critic claimed), but Steven Spielberg has Presented and will Present far more compelling series and movies in his career.You have to give him, Bohem and the various directors credit for ambition, however.
An example is when Allie's parents get caught by the military guys, we spend what seems like forever watching them drag their tired asses into the back of the truck, sit down and look around, only to have the General come and order them to get OUT of the truck and come with him, I mean, what's the point?
The whole mini-series is full of moments like this, and it's just painful.The special effects were fake-looking, the story was full of cheese.
I kept expecting someone to tell her to shut up already, I mean, I have a real problem believing even a kid who was part alien would talk like she does.
I only watched the first 2 hour episode of "Taken" and found it to be nothing more than a rehash of old sci-fi stories...there was absolutely nothing original.
If you want to see a better written show about aliens, go watch "Roswell" or "X-files".
When the marathon showing came on I watched much of the series (sorry, but who has 20 hours to spare?) I was not impressed.Okay, I know what they wanted to do.
Most of the other actors gave good or adequate performances and I think their performances would have been better if they had been given a script to match their abilities.I guess my opinion of the series can be broken down to one scene.
I love Matt Frewer in general, so while his character's appearance is a bit...odd, I loved it anyway.Overall, the 40 hours of this series is overly long, and somewhat incongruous.6/10.
The continual Shirley Temple voice-over was irritating enough (and often incomprehensible, so lush was the American accent), but in episode four, the action actually stopped at least three times, while one of the characters launched into a long monologue, as they tried to explain the inexplicable plot.Based on episodes 1 -4, this isn't a very entertaining mini-series, in fact it's very tedious most of the time..
The episodes fill 4 times 1 and a half hour with a story that easily could have been told in a normal 45 minutes episode.What especially bothered me in these episodes was the narrator that sounds like Minnie Mouse and maybe makes sense later in the series but not here.The characters are also unbelievable thin and have no real soul in the first 4 episodes.
A derivative ,long and boring mini series that's more irritating than entertaining.The only reason that I can imagine some viewers enjoyed this poor excuse for "must see TV" is being asleep last ten or twenty years.It's as if there was never any other "UFO" movies made at all...
"Taken" plays with historical information from UFO lore and changes it as it pleases.Steven Spielberg's name is thrown about as much as possible, but if one expects a Close Encounters like experience, one will be sadly disappointed.Perhaps Spielberg had nothing to do with "Taken"...Just lending his name to another UFO project...Kind of like Andy Warhol's Dracula...Anyway, "Taken" features stiff acting, stiff writing,strange casting choices, incredibly amateurish special effects and false, self appointed sense that viewers are seeing something special and historically significant....Don't buy "Taken" DVD set...save your money and buy original The Outer Limits sets...You won't regret it..
A comedian once commented that by the time you reached 40 you had done and said anything funny that you were ever going to say.The same rule must apply to moviemakers because the Stephen Spielberg who made "Close Encounters" would surely not want his name on the credits of "Taken".Its a ragbag collection of ideas and whole sequences lifted straight from other TV shows and movies.with only the names changed.The first episode i saw had an "alien"--obviously CGI and looking much like one of those alien blow up rubber dolls you see sometimes.Sensing that "Taken" fell into the SBIG [So bad its good] category,i continued to watch.Heres an example - in one episode the alien ship is caught on radar hovering over [naturally] America.What do they do?
The ending, which I will not spoil, was an enormous letdown..I won't try to detail the plot, which spans fifty years, if you're reading this you've probably read a bajillion other comments and know what it's all about anyway, but I will hit two things that really stuck out in my mind..a) Little Dakota Fanning, as Ally, is an absolutely AMAZING actress, showing a depth of range and ability that is nothing short of astounding.
While they're not science fiction, if you ever want to see two absolutely brilliantly written and acted television mini-series, watch "Shogun" and "Roots." Those are commercial television at its finest.
I watched the first half of Taken (10 hours) and experienced what I had always hoped the X-Files would be, vis-a-vis aliens and government conspiracy: tight plot lines, true motivation, in-depth characters, subtle foreshadowing.
Is Bohem using the sheer length of this thing to explain how 'missing time' feels?It's also taken too long since Sci-Fi started teasing us with this debacle.
As a huge fan of "The X-Files" and related fare, one would think I would have viewed Steven Spielberg's "Taken" earlier than its ten-year anniversary.
Once you get to about the third episode, it starts really taking off to the point where you may finding yourself in "marathon mode" very quickly.Overall, "Taken" can appeal to three primary audiences: those who just love a good science fiction yarn, those who prefer character dramas of the highest order, and those who can appreciate the generational aspect of the whole experience.
I may have to watch more of the series to get more interested but the first show didn't really pull me in enough to want to watch the rest.On a side note, I timed about 40-45 minutes of the 2 hours was commercials.
Having a little girl narrate may have seemed like a good idea originally, but in the end, it's neither alienating enough, nor do the pretentious, poorly written lines make her appear wise beyond her years.
However being a Spielberg fan made my decision to watch the series Taken much easier.
The interwoven relationships between the characters is very complex and I look forward to watching the series again soon to pick up on the pieces of the story that I missed first time round.
This mini-series is un-Spielberg-like in many respects, most notably failing at the amount (not the quality) of special effects.
Overall an interesting series that really unfolds the SECOND time you watch it..
Spielberg is a great director and producer but is at the same time the king of film maker who believes in the same child theory about the kindness of every alien form who come to earth even when there are many many information and evidence about people who were attacked by beings of others planets.
I know the cast is great, the music and special effects are good but in the end the whole story turns in some kind of sequel of "Close encounters..." with real logic.
An ambitious effort with superb production values, Taken ultimately suffers from a lack of consistency in the writing by it's creator Leslie Bohem.The series starts off promising enough, telling the story of alien abductions and the evolution of the "Men In Black" government investigators, but goes wildly off course in the final few episodes, running off the rails entirely during the final two hours.
What started off with great promise quickly deteriorated into an utterly banal mess which not even its top-notch production values or the sincere performances of Ryan Hurst, Catherine Dent, and the truly remarkable Dakota Fanning can salvageWhile the leering, smarmy, ill-considered presence of Matt Frewer is the most obvious example, the best gauge to see how badly things devolved is the antagonists, which were the dramatic engine for this program, over the course of this miniseries from the steely incompetence of Major Owen Crawford played by Joel Gretsch to the banal, bumbling amorality of his grand-daughter played by Heather Donahue.However, this mini-series does perform at least one vital public service.It confirms what we all suspected when we first saw The Blair Witch Project that Ms. Donahue is a horrible actress who should confine her `acting' to the Steak'N'Shake commercials that she is currently appearing in..
As the years go by we follow the lives of these three families as they continue to be affected by the aliens, culminating with the birth of Allie Keys who is the end product of decades of alien meddling and has powers beyond either species but is a valuable prize to both the aliens and the Government who seek to understand.`Steven Spielberg Presents Taken' - when I first read about this series I'd assumed that it was a tragic tale of how even famous directors can be victims of crime over the Christmas period, but no it is a tale of alien abductions told over 50 years.
Like I said most of the cast 9and there are too many to go through) are good and only occasionally is someone so weak that it is hard to watch!Overall this miniseries struggles occasionally because the character focus lets it fall into cloying sentimentality too often and neglects the sci-fi element of aliens and Government conspiracy, generally leaning more towards the former than the latter.
I started watching Taken, thinking it was just some regular Sci-Fi series about roswell an aliens.
There are worse ways to spend your time than by watching "Taken," but on the whole you're really not missing much by skipping it.
One moment they're children, the next they're adults and we're expected to accept whatever they do without wondering what, exactly, motivates them.This is most annoying in the Crawford family, when the third generation character, Mary, takes over the government project Owen started.
Sappy love stories interrupted by Alien AbductionsPretty much sums up the mini-series.
We've all had your ET and Close Encounters experience - and yes we loved them already, but please, please let us see something new if you're going to be involved!In the end, that's the problem with Taken" -- ambitious as it is - it's just nothing new - and sorry, but with the way this mini-series was marketed I think the audience had the right to expect something a little new.
I would think that Spielberg would want us to take the premise of alien life seriously. |
tt4136056 | The Seven Five | In the 1980s, Brooklyn, New York was suffering from a crack epidemic. Mike Dowd worked in the NYPD's 75th Precinct in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, which was considered to be one of the most dangerous precincts in the United States at the time. The 75th Precinct had one of the highest murder rates in the country during the late 1980s. Dowd describes being under-appreciated for the amount of work he put in and hurting for money as the reasons for taking money from drug dealers. He initially began taking bribes from drug dealers on the streets before moving on to protecting a drug cartel leader and robbing from other drug dealers at gunpoint. Dowd and his then-partner Henry "Chicky" Guevara recount the first time walking into a domestic dispute in an apartment and seeing bags of marijuana, a duffle bag filled with approximately $20,000 in cash and two guns. Dowd communicated that he and his partner would take the duffle bag and guns. Dowd continued to rob drug dealers for thousands of dollars. Guevara resigned shortly after multiple police officers were arrested in the 77th Precinct for corruption related offenses.
Ken Eurell, a police officer at the 75th Precinct, was then assigned as Dowd's new partner in June 1987. Eurell had a drinking problem and frequently drank on the job. Dowd and Eurell met a Dominican gang leader named Adam Diaz. Diaz ran The Diaz Organization, a gang that was responsible for countless murders and drug trafficking throughout New York. He used several supermarkets in East New York as fronts to traffic drugs, mainly cocaine. Dowd and Eurell began a working relationship with Diaz, where they provided protection, inside information about raids, and moving kilos of cocaine.
After numerous complaints and a prolonged investigation, the Suffolk County Police Department arrested Dowd and Eurell on drug trafficking charges. Dowd and Eurell came out on bail. While out on bail, Dowd concocted a plan with the Colombian gang to kidnap and rob a woman. His plan was to hand the woman over to the Colombians and for him and Eurell to take the money and flee the United States. Eurell agreed to Dowd's kidnapping scheme but instead went to Internal Affairs. Shortly after, in July 1991, Dowd was arrested and sent to trial. He was the main focus of the 1992 Mollen Commission that investigated police corruption in the NYPD. In the wake of Dowd's arrest, Mayor David Dinkins appointed the Mollen Commission to investigate police corruption within the NYPD. As a result, dozens of officers across the city's precincts were arrested. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | Incredible story of police corruption.
Precinct Seven Five refers to the 75th precinct located in Brooklyn New York which was the location of extraordinary police corruption back in the 1980's.
In this decade the streets of New York really were crime addled and the 75th precinct had a reputation as one of the very worst areas of this dangerous city.
Cops from the NYPD felt it necessary to pragmatically back each other up in order to survive life on the front line of serious crime; this led to them turning a blind eye to certain practises.
This film looks at the extreme end result of this culture.
The New York streets at this time were awash with crack cocaine and well organised gangs protected their interests with violence.
Entering into this maelstrom was rookie cop Ken Eurell, who was given a partner Michael Dowd, who was an experienced police officer with a reputation for shady practices.
At first Eurell was extremely reticent about this partnership but before long he was joining Dowd in a downward spiral of corruption which began with taking bribes, moving on to actual thieving, then protecting the interests of a big league drug dealer, leading onto to dealing themselves and even winding up with the facilitation of murder.
It's an incredible story of cops bowing to temptation in a pretty bad way and is an alarming example of the police acting like gangsters.Starting with footage of Dowd answering questions at a commission, the story intermittently returns to this as he gives very candid answers while we go back to the start of the story and work our way forward through the 80's and gradually learn about the increasing levels of corruption this group of cops let themselves become party to.
It's a fascinating tale, very well told; including some disturbing crime photographs.
The level of danger on the streets of Brooklyn really comes through in this, with a particularly incredible segment where the cops are actually chased by the criminals!
Dowd himself is obviously an interesting character for the very fact that he got away with such significant levels of corruption for such a long while.
His eventual downfall did ultimately lead the NYPD to significantly improve its internal affairs to more pro-actively try to prevent such wrong-doing; whether or not it has been successful in this I really have no idea.
But whatever the case, this is a very good and eye opening documentary about a bad chapter in American law enforcement..
Chilling Documentary on the most corrupt New York Cop ever.
Michael Dowd took the oath to uphold the law and protect the citizens of New York.
He was assigned to precinct seven five and, at the time, it was the toughest the city had to offer.
He soon found that his small pay check was far from adequate recompense for the life he was leading and so helped himself to some dirty money.
After that there was no turning back.This film features archive footage of the trials and the scenes of the time through the 1980's up to 1993.
We also have more recent interviews with the main players.
This includes his erstwhile partner Kenny Eurell and even some of the gangsters who 'worked' with these dirty cops.It is disturbing to think that so many cops could be so blatant in their breaking of the laws they were supposed to uphold.
It was also not an isolated incident or two but seemingly endemic with a culture of collaboration with other so called 'good' cops.
Being 'good' meant not 'ratting' on your fellow cops and thereby allowing their criminal activities to flourish.
There are some stunning black and white still photography of the time and some of these photos look like they belong in a gallery – absolutely stunning.
This is a documentary that shows how powerful films can be and how fiction is often far behind where truth actually is – absolutely recommended..
Gave me goosebumps.
Gave this documentary 10 stars but I would have to give the American Government and NYPD 0 after seeing this.
If you want to be a gangster it is painfully obvious what step one should be.
That being said, if you can get over the depressing reality of this documentary, this was an incredible watch and a very eye opening film.
It was like The Departed but in real life..
Outstanding Documentary.
I found this gripping from start to finish, an amazing insight into outrageous police corruption, I can't recommend enough, well worth a watch..
A wake up call - Sickening.
A Wake-up CallThe Seven Five is a documentary about corruption in the NYPD during the 1980s.
A police precinct in the East New York Section of Brooklyn, the seven five is located in a notoriously dangerous section of the borough known for drug dealing and a gamut of other crimes.
The film is a retrospective accounting by Police Officer Mike Dowd, and others, as they recount their corruption, criminal conduct and other out of control behaviors before getting caught and thrown in jail.
What makes this film so riveting, is the candidness in which Dowd and other former officers talk about how they stole money from drug dealers, accepted bribes and established their own criminal enterprise within the NYPD.
While the movie goer can appreciate gaining insight in the misconduct of NYPD police officers, we cannot help but feel violated by their conduct and betrayal of the public trust.
The seven five is exhibit "A" as far as making the case against police recruitment trends - to recruit individuals from outside of the 5 boroughs to police the city dwellers.
What we learn from the Seven Five is that people in power and authority can abuse it to such an extent as they exploit and feed off the troubles and social ills of poor neighborhoods, and neighborhoods where they have little investment, other than a paycheck.
However, what truly makes this movie compelling is that it provides insight into the minds and psychology of corrupt officers as they justify their actions in furtherance of personal gain.
This movie should leave you sick to your stomach as you come to terms with your own ignorance of the subject at hand and extrapolate the full extent of possible outcomes with every police interaction.
Dowd may no longer be a police officer stalking the streets of NYC, but rest assured corruption exists in many police departments, and the potential for corruption exists in all..
Great.
Fantastic Doc, definitely recommend.
I don't know how long this has to be but this isn't enough.
Awesome Production of this Documentary.
I loved this documentary it was made so well......Wow such an awesome production team......It was what it was.
And I believe Michael Dowd didn't plan on his career going the way it did.
It was just the times back then and it was what it was.
My grandfather was a Dirty Police Officer and Long Shoreman on the West Coast in the late 1940's and 1950's..
How Dowd became the dirtiest cop on the NYPD.
A decent documentary about the dirtiest cop on the NYPD.
As Dowd says in the end, he didn't start out wanting to be a bad cop.
Who starts out that way?
With easy money on one side and temptation on the other side one can see how easy greed can grease those wheels that will just slide right through that tunnel to hell.
Worth catching..
The true story of NYPD cops turned outlaw drug dealers..
Ken Eurell is a young married NY police officer patrolling the streets of Brooklyn and living in the suburbs of Long Island.
Hired in 1981 at the young age of 20 he is quickly introduced to a darker side of the NYPD.
He manages to stave off temptation and stay true blue for six years until he meets Michael Dowd the dirtiest cop ever as coined by the NY Post.By the mid 1980s cocaine and crack are running rampant and Eurell falls to the temptations of the street.
For six years Eurell and Dowd go unchecked protecting major drug organizations and eventually becoming drug dealers themselves until 1992 when the Suffolk county PD stumble onto a low level drug dealer that leads to Eurell and his former partner.
Suffolk county in cooperation with the NYPD internal affairs unit arrested all of the officers involved and 49 civilians.
The probe included undercover drug buys and electronic surveillance.
Twenty-five vehicles were seized also seized was an undisclosed amount of cash and drugs.Eurells admitted involvement to the US Attorneys office Southern District (which he later cooperated along with the DEA and Internal Affairs Department in an ongoing undercover probe of his former partners and Colombian drug lords) were purchases of up to one kilo when he broke away and began dealing himself.Investigators are stunned when Eurell explains how they were protecting and assisting narcotics traffickers for weekly payoffs of $8,000.00.While out on bail Eurell needed to explain to the DEA that his former partner Dowd wanted to continue their crime spree with a kidnapping/murder scheme and then a Butch Cassidy style escape to Nicaragua.
Eurell then becomes a CI for the DEA going back out on the streets wearing a wire to save the life of the intended victim.These true events spawned the Mollen commission and is the NYPDs biggest scandal since Serpico and the Knapp commission..
Scathing account of police corruption.
File this one under amazing, but true: Coming across like the most extremely lurid and outrageous kind of crime fiction, this sordidly fascinating documentary relates the extraordinary tale of fearless, amoral, and unrepentant cop Michael Dowd, who organized a band of fellow dirty cops who ran happily amok in the downtrodden 7th precinct located in Brooklyn in the bad ol' days of the 1980's at the height of dismal poverty and the toxic crack epidemic.
Director Tiller Russell's unflinching pull-no-punches approach to the seamy subject matter vividly captures the greed, danger, and lawlessness of the period as Dowd and his loyal, yet reluctant partner Ken Eurell live the high life on their ill-gotten gains after forming an unholy allegiance with ruthless, but magnetic drug kingpin Adam Diaz.
Eventually Eurell ratted Dowd out in order to avoid doing any jail time, but in a true travesty of justice Dowd wound up serving a mere twelve year sentence in prison.
It's the smugness that Dowd, Eurell, Diaz, and fellow crooked police officers Chickie and Walter Yurkiv display about their heinous misdeeds which in turn gives this documentary an extra devastating impact: Obviously more concerned about making a bundle of cash through any means necessary and strictly looking out for their own slimy hides (that old code about cops watching out for each other's backs apparently only goes so far after things take a turn for the worse), these guys are truly nasty pieces of rotten work.
Surprisingly, this documentary proves to be wickedly funny in spots, especially when Down starts driving around in a flashy Corvette that he clearly could never afford on an honest cop's pay and the end with Eurell claiming he betrayed Dowd in order to prevent a woman from being kidnapped.
A total powerhouse..
Depressing portrait of human slime.
If you enjoy watching unrepentant psychopathic "cops" have a giggle over the horrendous crimes they committed while working as uniformed NYC police officers, this documentary will be right up your alley.
The main subject of the film, Michael Dowd, has a blast recounting his sordid adventures for the camera, and the interviewer never gets in the way of the fun by asking a probing question.
The great documentarians manage to either confront their subjects, or coax them into revealing themselves.
The director of this lame excuse for a film does neither.
He just lets the idiots talk about their brilliant exploits — ripping off robbery victims and drug dealers alike, and eventually hiring out to drug kingpins to protect their territories.
Ultimately, Dowd actually becomes a drug dealer and kidnapper, turning his victims over to the drug cartels.
As superficial as it is, I have to say that this documentary is also watchable, and delivers a couple of unintentional insights: the first is that virtually all the cops interviewed in this film seem to abide by the same code as criminals do: never rat on a fellow cop.
The other is the single bit of sorrow that Dowd evinces late in the film: it's over the fact that his longtime partner (a tattooed goofball with the brains of a bivalve) eventually "rolled over" on him and wore a wire for the internal affairs investigators who put Dowd away for 12 years.
Dowd's tears at the recollection of this betrayal are hysterically funny, and worth the pain and suffering of sitting through this badly paced, badly shot, badly cut film. |
tt0046807 | Brigadoon | Act I
New Yorkers Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas have travelled to the Scottish Highlands on a game-hunting vacation, but they get lost on their first night out. They begin to hear music ("Brigadoon") coming from a nearby village that does not appear on their map of the area. They head over there to get directions back to their inn and find a fair in progress ("McConnachy Square"), with villagers dressed in traditional Scottish tartan. Andrew MacLaren and his daughters arrive at the fair to purchase supplies for younger daughter Jean's wedding to Charlie Dalrymple. Harry Beaton is madly in love with Jean and is depressed at the thought of her marrying another, unable to find comfort in Maggie Anderson's devotion to him. One of the girls asks Jean's older sister Fiona when she'll marry, and Fiona answers she's waiting for the right person ("Waitin' For My Dearie").
Tommy and Jeff wander into the village and ask where they are; the villagers answer "Brigadoon". Fiona invites the wanderers to have a meal and rest at the MacLaren home. Flirtatious dairymaid Meg Brockie immediately takes a liking to Jeff and leads him off. Charlie Dalrymple appears, rejoicing in his impending nuptials. He shares a drink with Tommy, toasting to a Mr. Forsythe whom he thanks for "postponing the miracle". When Tommy asks what that means, Fiona shushes him and leads him away as Charlie celebrates the end of his bachelorhood ("Go Home with Bonnie Jean"). Tommy tells Fiona that he has a fiancée, Jane, in New York, but he's in no hurry to marry her, and Fiona reveals that she likes Tommy very much. Tommy insists on accompanying Fiona to gather heather for the wedding ("The Heather on the Hill"). Meanwhile, Meg takes Jeff to a place in the forest with a shack and a cot. She tells him she's "highly attracted" to him, but he spurns her advances, wanting only to sleep. She reflects on her unusual love life ("The Love Of My Life").
At the MacLarens', Jean's friends help her pack her things to move into Charlie's home ("Jeannie's Packin' Up"). Charlie arrives to sign the MacLarens' family Bible. He wants to see Jean; told that it's bad luck to see her on the wedding day, he begs for her to come out anyway ("Come to Me, Bend to Me"). Tommy and Fiona return with a basket full of heather, and Fiona goes upstairs to help Jean dress for the wedding. Jeff arrives wearing a pair of Highland trews (trousers); apparently his own pants have been damaged on a "thistle". Jeff finds that Tommy is so happy that he can barely contain it ("Almost Like Being In Love"). Tommy notices that all the events listed in the family Bible, including Jean's wedding, are listed as if they had happened 200 years earlier. When he asks Fiona about this, she sends him to the schoolmaster, Mr. Lundie.
Fiona, Tommy, and Jeff arrive at Mr. Lundie's home, where he relates a story that the two New Yorkers can hardly believe: to protect Brigadoon from being changed by the outside world, 200 years ago the local minister prayed to God to have Brigadoon disappear, only to reappear for one day every 100 years. All citizens of Brigadoon are forbidden to leave the town, or it will disappear forever. Tommy asks hypothetically if an outsider could be permitted to stay. Mr. Lundie replies, "A stranger can stay if he loves someone here – not jus' Brigadoon, mind ye, but someone in Brigadoon – enough to want to give up everythin' an' stay with that one person. Which is how it should be. 'Cause after all, lad, if ye love someone deeply, anythin' is possible."
The group leaves to go to the wedding, which opens with the clans coming in from the hills. Mr. Lundie marries Charlie and Jean, and they perform a traditional celebratory wedding dance. Sword dancers appear, led by Harry, and they perform an elaborate dance over their weapons. All the town joins in the dance, but it abruptly halts when Jean screams as Harry tries to kiss her. In anguish over Jean's wedding, he announces that he's leaving the town (which would end the miracle, causing Brigadoon to disappear forever into the Highland mists) and sprints away.
Act II
The men of the town, including Tommy and a reluctant Jeff, frantically try to find Harry before he can depart the town ("The Chase"). Suddenly an agonized scream is heard. Harry, who appears to have fallen on a rock and crushed his skull, is found dead by the other men. Deciding not to tell the rest of the town until the next morning, the men carry Harry's body away. Fiona and her father arrive to see if everything is all right. As Mr. MacLaren leaves, Tommy sees Fiona, and they embrace. She reveals her love for him, and he tells her he believes he feels the same way ("There But For You Go I"). Fiona reminds him that the end of the day is near, and Tommy tells her he wants to stay in Brigadoon with her. They go to find Mr. Lundie.
Meanwhile, in the village, Meg tells about the day her parents were drunkenly married ("My Mother's Wedding Day"), and the townsfolk dance until the sound of Highland pipes pierces the air. The gaiety is interrupted as Archie Beaton enters carrying Harry's body, led by the pipers playing a pìobaireachd. Maggie, who loved Harry, performs a funeral dance for her unrequited love. The men of Brigadoon help Archie carry his son to the burial place.
Tommy finds Jeff and announces his intention to stay. Jeff thinks the idea is absurd and argues with Tommy until he has convinced him that Brigadoon is only a dream. Jeff also reveals that he tripped Harry and accidentally killed him. Fiona and Mr. Lundie arrive, and Tommy, shaken by Jeff's confession, tells Fiona that he loves her, but he can't stay; he still has doubts ("From This Day On"). Fiona tells Tommy, as she fades away into darkness, that she will love him forever.
Four months later, Jeff is drinking heavily at a hotel bar in New York. Tommy, who has been living on a farm in New Hampshire, enters and greets Jeff. Tommy is still in love with Fiona and cannot stop thinking about her. His fiancée Jane Ashton, a beautiful socialite, talks to him about their impending wedding, but everything she says causes him to hear Fiona's voice and dream of Brigadoon ("Come to Me, Bend to Me" (reprise) and "Heather on the Hill" (reprise)). Tommy tells Jane that he cannot marry her, and she argues with him, but he continues to daydream about his true love ("Go Home With Bonnie Jean" (reprise) and "From This Day On" (reprise)). Jane leaves, and Tommy tells Jeff that he wants to return to Scotland, although he knows the village will not be there.
Tommy and Jeff return to the spot where they found Brigadoon and, as they expected, see nothing there. Tommy laments, "Why do people have to lose things to find out what they really mean?" Just as he and Jeff turn to leave, they hear the music again ("Brigadoon"), and Mr. Lundie appears. Tommy walks across the bridge in a daze to him, as Mr. Lundie explains: "Oh, it's you Tommy, lad. You woke me up. You must really love her", to which Tommy, still dazed, stammers "Wha – how....?". Mr. Lundie replies, "You shouldna be too surprised, lad. I told ye when ye love someone deeply enough, anythin' is possible. Even miracles." Tommy waves goodbye to Jeff and disappears with Mr. Lundie into the Highland mist to be reunited with Fiona. | romantic, fantasy | train | wikipedia | They did do some mighty nice dancing though, especially The Heather on the Hill ballet and Kelly's lighthearted romp to Almost Like Being in Love which was the big hit from Brigadoon.Kelly wanted to shoot the film on location in Scotland, but MGM eying budgetary problems and director Vincente Minnelli's desire to do it on their sound stage the film was shot indoors with Brigadoon recreated at Culver City.
A pity because Pamela Britton won rave reviews for her Broadway performance and Dody Heath is left with next to nothing in the role.Still there's enough of Brigadoon for audiences to still enjoy and dream about an enchanted Scottish village we might all like to escape the travails of the world to..
As well, Cyd Charisse was wonderful as Fiona, she made the character seem so believeable and was perfect for the part.Granted, Brigadoon would have been much better had it been filmed on location in Scotland, but due to budget cuts MGM was forced to film it in beautiful, sunny Culver City.
I agree that the dance sequences got to be a bit long, but with Gene Kelly, who cares?We can, however, be thankful that MGM didn't cast Howard Keel or Kathryn Grayson in Brigadoon.
And there is the music, especially Learner and Lowe's "The Heather On the Hill" (attractively sung and danced by Kelly and Charisse), and "It's Almost Like Being In Love." A failure by Minelli?
Two urbanites from New York, Tommy (Gene Kelly) and Jeff (Van Johnson), are grouse-hunting in Scotland--yes, they've come all the way to Scotland to shoot grouse, if you can believe that to begin with!--when they happen upon the tiny magical little Scottish village of Brigadoon, a (very literal) throwback to the mid-18th century in customs, livelihood and people.
The question becomes one of love, of whether one is able to give up everything for a miracle: just as Mr. Forsythe has to give up his beloved Brigadoon to bring it its miracle, Tommy and Fiona, because 'if you love someone deeply enough, anything is possible', get their miracle as well.There is certainly charm aplenty in BRIGADOON: the morning fair 'Down On MacConnachy Square' is lively and bustling; the beautiful dance between Kelly and Charisse as they gather 'The Heather On The Hill' is tender and beautiful, with more balletic romance than any choreography of Kelly's to date; even the forward girl who tries to turn Jeff's head (only to disappear from the movie thereafter) is cute in her way and her fervent belief that she might actually have a romance like that of her parents.
Yet one is never quite sure whether Brigadoon is really the utopia it appears to be: this is underscored by the fact that (despite Kelly's pleas for on-location filming in Scotland) the scenery is obviously constructed on a set.
Mr. Forsythe sounds more like an authoritarian dictator obsessed with his Brigadoon than a benign sweet old chaplain, and when Harry Beaton (Hugh Laing) tries to make a break for it, the hunt for him and the subsequent covering up of his death has such sinister undertones that one really starts to feel uncomfortable about what the people have become in the two short days (for them) that they have known about their village's uniqueness.Of course, the film itself actually states this uneasiness that the audience will feel, not merely suggests it.
The best number is probably the most famous song in it, 'Almost Like Being In Love', sung by a heart-light and foot-merry Kelly as he dances through a Scottish farm.
The runner-up would be the beautiful 'Heather On The Hill' couples ballet--Kelly's ballet training really comes to the fore in BRIGADOON, his other films having been more influenced by tap dancing.
Lerner and Loewe's disappearing-village fable expertly combines the mysticism of the Scottish Highlands with the unbreakable dancing chops of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse.
It is said that both Gene Kelly and Vincent Minnelli were disappointed that MGM finances prevented then from filming "Brigadoon" abroad in more "natural settings." However, the beautiful studio sets to my mind work just fine for the whimsical fantasy being told.
If one goes with the plot's broad premise, one can sit back and enjoy a charming Lerner-Loewe score, lovely studio settings and backdrops, pleasant choreography, and fine dancing, highlighted by Kelly's and Cyd Charisse's memorable "Heather on the Hill.".
Given the dancing talents of Gene Kelly, the singing talents of most of the cast, the charm of Van Johnson, the down-home humor (especially in the character of "Meg Brockie"), and the suspense of the fleeing and hunted Harry Beaton, in the alluring and disappearing village of Brigadoon, not to mention the heartbreaking and even more suspenseful romance between the lovely Fiona in the centuries-old village and the modern-day charmer (Kelly) -- what is there not to like?
Actually, it's a magical town that is stuck in the 18th century and it appears and then disappears every 100 years--which is a serious problem as Tommy has fallen in love with one of the residents (Cyd Charisse).I liked this film quite a bit, though it did have two flaws.
However, the music is lovely, the story sweet and there is still a lot to admire in this film.I happened to watch the 1966 made for TV version of "Brigadoon" a week ago--and I enjoyed it enough that I sought out the original theatrical version from 1954.
Add to that the costuming, the Lerner & Loewe songs, great orchestration, and the balletic beauty of Cyd Charisse partnered by Gene Kelly.I don't think this film should be dismissed due to its fantastical premise (that a town like Brigadoon exists).
When Gene Kelly performs "Almost Like Being in Love," it was probably intended to echo his memorable rendition of "Singin' in the Rain"--but it comes off as someone trying a little too hard to convince us (and himself) that everything's all right (something that went on a lot in America during the 50s).Consequently, "Brigadoon" is more interesting as an accidental reflection of the time in which it was made, than as sweet, old-fashioned musical escapism.
I saved "Brigadoon" for the end because I was appalled by this folk theme: a romance in Scotland.Now, that I have seen it, I am a bit disappointed: the sets are too make-believe and it's look like a show on stage.
If they were so intent on turning this into a dancers musical why did they cut out some of the best dance numbers, the Sword Dance, "Jeannie's Packin' Up" and the ballet number associated with the revelation of Harry's death.I will admit I am very partial to the stage show, I'm currently designing my second major production of the show.For those who have difficulty with the story you should know that it based, not on any Scottish or even English language folktale but rather on an old German folktale and the title actually refers to the bridge across the river Doon (Brig O' Doon) which figures in the Robert Burns classic "Tam O' Shanter"So, if you've never seen the stage show enjoy.
(Because of existing budget problems when the movie was made about 1954, M-G-M could not film on location.) The songs were unforgettable, such as "Come Ye to the Fair", "The Heather on the Hill", "Go Home with Bonnie Jean", and "It's Almost Like Being in Love." The wedding-scene music, replete with Scottish bagpipes from eight Scottish clans, was extremely impressive.
Gene Kelly did so well as the love-sick Tommy Albright, Van Johnson was definitely adept at playing the drunk friend of Albright named Jeff Douglas, Elaine Stewart was skillful in the role of Albright's snobbish and disgusting fiancée Jane, and truly, to be around Cyd Charisse would make a person be in love with the beautiful Fiona Campbell.
The beautiful, atmospheric set makes for a great love story, and Kelly is perfect as the well-mannered man from New York looking for what will complete his life.
Cyd Charisse gives arguably her greatest performance as Fiona Campbell, beautiful resident of the mystical town Brigadoon, which appears in the mist of Scotland only once every 100 years.
Cyd Charisse is lovely and believable as Fiona, Van Johnson very powerful as the hard-drinking cynical friend, and the cast from lovable Barry Jones as Mr. Lundy to Dody Heath as Meg all manage their accents and parts with skill.
Among the great songs that made it into the film, the best I suggest may be, "Waitin' For Ma Dearie", "The Heather On the Hill", "Harry Beaton" and "Brigadoon--the title song." Others include "It's Almost Like Being in Love", "Down at McConnaughty Square", and "I'll Go Home With Bonnie Jean".
The fifties will remain Minnelli's heyday.During this decade,there are at least four masterpieces in his filmography:"lust for life","tea and sympathy","some came running" ,and definitely the crème de la crème of his musicals "Brigadoon"."Brigadoon" is perfection itself,and only "singing in the rain" can equal it,as a fifties musical:sparkling colors,dreamlike landscapes,terrific score which encompasses Irish bagpipes,peerless cast(Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse,it's a dream come true),and ,most of all, a wonderful script.A solid script is often lacking in musicals:that's the drawback,of,say,"An American in Paris",which is a feast for the eye,but does not completely satisfy,because it has not got a true story.
The same goes for "band wagon".Some scenes are at least five or seven years ahead of their time:the chase in the woods,which Minnelli treats like a ballet,predates "West Side Story".The wedding,with the torchlight procession, is impressive as well.Brigadoon story looks like a fairy tale,but it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.The village may be the fountain of perpetual mirth,but it indicates man's failure in his pursuit of happiness.Unlike other musicals, behind its cheerful characters,the movie hides a "lost paradise" feel.The return to the modern world is impossible to the hero,(the passage from Brigadoon to NYC skyscrapers climaxes the movie,as Charisse keeps on repeating "any day..
True, dancing was and is an important part of this musical, but the showstoppers give the musical its luster, its sheen, its charisma.The number 'Almost Like Being in Love' is NOTHING without both the baritone and soprano singing the part.And what's this bit with changing the surnames from MacLaren to Campbell?In my opinion, most stage musicals should be left on the stage, where they belong, NOT adapted into movies with less than legitimate musical performers (read 'West Side Story')..
Van Johnson- need I say that his of the cuff remarks add that little bit extra to the film.All in all, a great movie and one that I will enjoy watching again and again!Funniest line: "Witches?
Gene Kelly and Van Johnson, Americans wandering abroad, meet Cyd Charisse, gathering the heather in the hills in a bizarre Scots accent, and lots of singing locals.
A place called `Brigadoon.' Directed by Vincente Minnelli and told through the music and songs of Lerner and Loewe, this 1954 musical is the story of New Yorkers Tommy Albright (Gene Kelly) and Jeff Douglas (Van Johnson) who, on a hunting trip to Scotland, become lost in the Highlands and happen upon the village of Brigadoon.
Two gentlemen on a hunting trip stumble upon the residents and one falls head over heels for a young woman.Cue the singing and dancing by Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse!A good number of songs were cut when Brigadoon made the move from Broadway to Silver Screen.Still enjoyable if you are musical movie buff!.
It's all helped considerably by the dancing talents of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse (Van Johnson though appears out of sorts in a rather unsympathetically written role), the musical talents of Lerner & Loewe, who although guilty as charged of ethnic stereotyping, still construct a pleasant and tuneful soundtrack, especially "Bonnie Jean" and "It's Almost like being in Love", and of course maestro Vincente Minelli, who as ever displays great finesse in brightening up the screen with colour and delivering the dancing set-pieces.
This is a film I would never tire of watching and I have quite a collection of Brigadoon records and CDs. Gene Kelly is a genius,the Scottish sounding music is great and the locations are spot on whether faked or real hardly matters when films are supposed to be fantasy.
In my book Tales From Brigadoon I offered one which takes place twice,once for the dates set in the original stage musical and once for the film version.
I can understand why his Sword-Dance was cut as being too similar but since Hugh Laing (Harry Beaton) was a notable dancer with the American Ballet Theater, there seemed little reason to cast him in the first place if he didn't dance.This number is included in the extras as well as "Come to Me, Bend to Me" sung by Jimmy Thompson and "From This Day on" and the audio only of "There but for You Go I".A very interesting DVD for many reasons but a not-successful filming of a major stage musical..
I first saw a stage production of Brigadoon back in High School, done by our Drama class and fell in love with it.I have a copy of Brigadoon in my movie collection and watch it whenever I can,have probably worn out my copy but I love it.The music,the singing and dancing and the costumes make me wish I had lived back in a town like that.I love all the actors and actresses that were in the movie,the scenery is beautiful and I especially love the bagpipe scene.I find it hard to believe that it was shot entirely on a stage but it is still one of my all time favorite movies and was also one of my mothers all time favorite movies,I actually bought it for her for Christmas..
MGM expected BRIGADOON to be their box-office musical smash of 1954--and for good reason: the film was based on an early play by Broadway's Learner and Lowe and includes some captivating music in a winsome tale of two 20th Century hunters who stumble into a Scottish village that magically appears for one day once every hundred years.
The cast--which includes Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, and Van Johnson--is superior, the musical numbers are enjoyably staged, and although not one of his finest efforts the film bears the imprint of director Vincent Minnelli's famous touch.On the other hand, BRIGADOON is not a particularly enjoyable , exciting, or memorable film and the fanciful story is so sweetly presented that it quickly becomes off-putting.
I think Minnelli believed he could do much the same in the movie by simply filming a stage play, but with more dancing.The result looks like a rehearsal.
It's often rather slow, but there are also some entertaining sequences and some worthwhile scenes in which the characters have to make difficult decisions about their situation.Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse work together well in the dancing sequences, and in those numbers, the material fits in pretty well with the story and the atmosphere.
Some of their non-musical scenes together go more slowly, and at times it is Van Johnson, as Kelly's cynical friend, who helps keep things together.The story idea suggests some worthwhile themes about fantasy and reality, sacrifice and love.
The incomparable Gene Kelly stars opposite the ravishing Cyd Charisse as a Yankee hunter from New York, NY who, along with his cynical buddy (Van Johnson) get lost in the hills of Scotland, only to stumble across the mystical village of Brigadoon.
This arrangement has its motive in a general distrust of outsiders, as one can easily see by the locals' reaction to the pair of vacationing 20th Century Americans, and to money that is from a time that only exists in the outside world.(Heck, if I lived in a town as close to perfect as this one, I wouldn't want anybody coming in and screwing it up, either.) A romance springs up between Kelly and Charisse, with the remarkable challenge of how to bridge time so that the two new lovers can spend a lifetime together, instead of a mere day.First I have to say that if you don't like musicals, if you're not even a sometime historian of Europe, if Scotts culture in general is something you dislike, then there is a high probability that you will find this movie an object of loathing.
Gene Kelly is good as Tommy, and Cyd makes a lovely Fiona but they cut Virginia Bosler's Jeannie down to a few lines and the wedding scene!
Brigadoon is a nice musical fantasy from 1954.In the movieGene Kelly plays Tommy Albright from New York, who goes to Scotland to hunt with his buddy Jeff Douglas, played by Van Johnson.There they get lost and find a village called Brigadoon that's not even on the map.They go to that village where Tommy falls in love with a local girl called Fiona Campbell, played by Cyd Charisse.Then Tommy finds out that the people of Brigadoon sleep for 100 years.And if somebody leaves Brigadoon, the village vanishes.So Tommy and Jeff go back to New York, where Tommy should marry this Jane.
When you are sure Gene Kelly has lost the love of his life for ever - he and Van Johnson appear, back in Scotland at the site of Brigadoon and the rest, as they say "Is history".
Some of the songs including "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean", "The Heather on the Hill" and "Almost Like Being In Love" are catchy, and some of the dancing is good, but with dodgy Scottish accents and a little underdeveloped story I can see why this film is overlooked, but not a bad musical.
As long as we can get Kelly and Johnson to discover a mystical Scottish village that only appears every 100 years and houses the lovely Cyd Charisse, does it matter?
The Scottish accents attempted by the American cast are almost as fake as the sets, yet the dancing is fantastic and the musical numbers catchy and enjoyable.This is not Kelly's best work by any means, but he is never bad in the role of the love-struck foreigner and equips himself very well. |
tt0036349 | Sherlock Holmes in Washington | British secret agent Alfred Pettibone carrying a vital secret document is murdered on his way to deliver it in the USA. The British government turns to Holmes for help. He deduces that Pettibone converted the document to microfilm. Avoiding an assassination attempt, he hurries to Washington with Watson to retrieve it before it falls into the hands of an "international spy ring". Holmes is certain that the spies do not yet possess the document, as people who were in contact with Pettibone on his journey have been harassed. Pettibone's body was then delivered to Holmes by the spies as means to throw Holmes off the track.
Before his death, the agent managed to pass the microfilm, hidden inside a "V for Victory" matchbook, into the unwitting hands of Washington debutante and bride-to-be Nancy Partridge. The matches get passed from hand to hand at a party unknowingly and end up in the inadvertent possession of the chief spy, Heinrich Hinkel (known as the seemingly respectable Richard Stanley in Washington), when he has Partridge kidnapped.
Holmes tracks down the ring to an antiques shop, where he confronts Hinkel. During their cat-and-mouse conversation, he even tells the spy that "the man who has it doesn't know he has it", with the matchbook in plain sight. Holmes is taken prisoner, but just as he and Partridge are about to be murdered, the police, summoned by Watson by prior arrangement with Holmes, break in and, after a gunfight, rescue the pair. Hinkel gets away, along with the matchbook, however. Holmes races to the office of Senator Henry Babcock, having led Hinkel to believe the microfilm is under a stamp of a letter in the senator's possession. Holmes arrives first and, as Hinkel eavesdrops, reveals the importance of the letter. Hinkel takes the letter at gunpoint, only to have the police capture him. Holmes then takes the matches and sets fire to the letter, before revealing that the microfilm was in the matchbook all along. | murder | train | wikipedia | Searching for an invaluable microfilm, SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON encounters as much danger as ever he did in old London.Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce return as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in this unpretentious but enjoyable film.
Of course, with Rathbone all cerebral intellect and Bruce ever the good-natured bumbler, the viewer knows that God's in His Heaven and all's right with the world.Henry Daniell & George Zucco, two of the series' finest villains, appear in this entry.
This time they portray German agents intent on retrieving an enormously important British document.Others in the cast include the lovely Marjorie Lord (who's quite grotesque with a cigarette dangling from her lips) as a young socialite pulled into the nefarious scheme; Holmes Herbert as a senior civil servant in London; and Thurston Hall as a blustery United Stated senator.Movie mavens will spot several fine actors in uncredited roles: Gerald Hamer as a hapless British agent; elderly Margaret Seddon as a train traveler with mice; dear Mary Gordon as Holmes' landlady, Mrs. Hudson; Mary Forbes as a spy's loving mother; and Ian Wolfe as a slightly sinister antiques store clerk.
Especially notable is the always entertaining Clarence Muse, appearing as a club car porter, who does the almost impossible by stealing a scene from Rathbone.This film followed SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON (1942) and preceded SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH (1943)..
This is one of the most tense and exciting of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies, quickly establishing an atmosphere of danger and uncertainty, and maintaining it to the end.
It's an interesting story that is developed at an effective pace by Roy William Neill, and in particular, the way that the matchbook is used is almost worthy of Hitchcock.George Zucco has only a few scenes, but he does a fine job as Holmes's adversary.
As usual with Holmes films, this one features two great performances from the leads; Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, and it's obvious that these two have worked together on many occasions, as their chemistry is flawless.
The DVD I've just watched is of pristine quality - it really helps to see these potboilers as clean as they were meant to be seen, even if they can't be seen at cinema screen size.Rathbone and Bruce are in Washington searching for a McGuffin - an American match folder with a chunk of important Allied microfilm wedged inside.
For some reason Watson was portrayed as even more bumbling than usual, so it's much better to forget about the original in Conan Doyle while the film's on!All these years and I'd not spotted Rathbone saying something to the American detective about "his blodgings" back at Baker Street!It is a bit of a flag waver, but not so fervent as Voice or Weapon, and a worthwhile oldie to watch as a non-purist..
While not a great and thought-provoking film, Sherlock Holmes in Washington is definitely worth watching if you're looking for something that merely entertains..
A British secret agent carrying important documents is kidnapped en route to Washington, D.C. The British government turns to Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) to find the agent and the documents.
I've seen Sherlock Holmes In Washington a couple of times and although not the best of the series, I found it enjoyable.During the Second World War, Holmes and Dr Watson head to Washington to investigate a missing document on a microfilm which is hidden in a matchbox.
After getting the clues, they retrieve it at the end and head back to London.As always, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce play Holmes and Watson brilliantly and are joined in this one by George Zucco (The Flying Serpent, House of Frankenstein), Marjorie Lord, Holmes Herbert (The Pearl of Death, Ghost of Frankenstein) and Henry Daniell.Though not the best of the Rathbone/Bruce movies, Sherlock Holmes in Washington is certainly worth a look.
It seems to me that which ever Sherlock Holmes {Rathbone} film I watch there is always comments on the site stating it's one of the weaker in the series !!, it really just goes to show how we are all different as regards our love of the series because to me this entry is far from being weak.
Once again Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce deliver the goods in "Sherlock Holmes in Washington." I like this film from 1943....
A great cast that includes Henry Daniell, George Zucco and some other fine actors of note......If I have any gripe at all about the series of 'Holmes' films that Rathbone and Bruce made is, they are all between 60 to 75 minutes long....
For the 1940s, that is a normal run......I love these old-time co-stars like "Henry Daniell, George Zucco, Lionel Atwill & Dennis Hoey." All them guys were pluses for the series of 'Holmes' films produced from 1939 to 1946......
Can watch several times.I particularly enjoy the scenes on the train in the US where Holmes determines the location of the various people while Watson acts out who they are.I also enjoy the way the story deals with the aspects of the British courier/ secret agent, Alfred Pettibone, of Parlow, Nash, Parlow.
SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON (Universal, 1943), directed by Roy William Neil, marks the fifth entry of the popular series and third installment in the newly updated format starring Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes) and Nigel Bruce (Doctor Watson).
This is what Holmes and Watson get to do for their next assignment, coming to America and visiting our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Though Holmes doesn't get to have tea with the president in the White House lawn, he does, however, have opportunities getting a glimpse of many of its landmarks while doing what he does best, deductive reasoning.The 12 minute prologue opens at the London Terminal Transatlantic Airport where an assortment of passengers come on board an airplane bound for New York City, one of them being Sir Henry Marchmont (Gilbert Emery), a British diplomat who, unknowingly, is being carefully observed by William Easter (Henry Daniell).
Because Grayson has never reached his destination, Mr. Ahrens (Holmes Herbert) of the British Empire, assigns Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and his associate, Doctor Watson (Nigel Bruce) to Washington, D.C. Aside from being in constant danger themselves, Holmes and Watson attempt to solve Grayson's disappearance, some murders, and locate the now missing Nancy Partridge, believed to be connected with Grayson's missing document by Richard Stanley (George Zucco), a local antique shop owner.For the first time in the series, the story reportedly doesn't use any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" stories as its sources, but borrows in areas from its previous installment, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON (1942).
Though the opening titles credit Bertram Milhauser for its original story, the screen treatment repeats the idea of subject matter, this time a London lawyer turned secret agent, falling victim of enemy spies, and Holmes called to locate a secret document before reaching enemy hands.
He's here to rescue you."SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON, the most Americanized of the Rathbone-Bruce installments, contains familiar American types including Thurston Hall (Senator Henry Babcock); Edmund MacDonald (Detective Grogan); Clarence Muse (George, the train waiter); and John Archer, Nancy's fiancé, Peter Merriam, lieutenant in the United States Navy.
And yes, Mary Gordon returns briefly as Holmes' landlady, Mrs. Hudson, for one brief scene.Distributed to video cassette by Key Video (1988) and two decades later onto DVD, SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON, along with other Rathbone/ Bruce installments, premiered December 26, 2009, on Turner Classic Movies as part of the cable channel's tribute to the legendary detective.
Holmes is contacted by the Home Office to help find the information before it falls into the wrong hands and he and Watson set out for America, where the Nazi's are also still searching for the information.This particular series of Holmes movies are rarely fantastic but this is surely one of the weakest I have seen thus far.
In general, this is as entertaining a Sherlock Holmes/Rathbone/Bruce film as one could want, with terrific villians (Zucco, Daniell, et al)and the very visual plot (Roy William Neill was quite a fine B movie director) - butr in specific, having just watched the DVD sans commercials and annoying excuses to make a sandwich, it points up the big strength of the series of Rathbone/Bruce films: speed.
Serviceable third entry in the Universal series takes Sherlock (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) to America where Holmes attempts to secure valuable documents being kept on microfilm after the man carrying them is murdered.
Among the pluses in this movie:We get two top English character actors, George Zucco and Henry Daniell, who both appeared in other Rathbone-Bruce Holmes films.The script offers Holmes some witty rejoinders to the lovable but slightly dim Watson, which Rathbone delivers with wonderful dryness.Fans of the films will notice British actor Gerald Hamer among the cast.
However, you only need to see him in the 2 period films of Sherlock Holmes made by "20th Century Fox" and to listen to those excellent radio episodes to know that he could play Watson as the serious character of the original stories.
Although lacking the atmospherics of his work on the previous Holmes film, "Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon," cinematographer Lester White provided bright clear images, and stock footage of Washington and New York provide interesting glimpses of those cities during World War II.Rathbone is in fine form as Holmes; his authoritative manner commands attention whenever he appears on screen, and, although he has no opportunity for disguises, Rathbone avoids an expected stereotype when he mimics a fussy antique collector during his inquiry.
Thurston Hall, familiar from the "Topper" television series and numerous screen comedies, provides humorous support as Senator Henry Babcock, and Marjorie Lord, later Danny Thomas's wife in "Make Room for Daddy," plays Nancy Partridge, a young woman on the train to Washington.Despite a lackluster title, "Sherlock Holmes in Washington" is a first rate entry in the Holmes series at Universal.
Despite working outside their familiar London milieu, Holmes and Watson adapt well to the U.S. With a good supporting cast, experienced direction, an intelligent original story by Bertram Millhauser, this entry in the series used the Wartime era to good advantage without heavy handed propaganda.
This is One of the more Clunky Entries but as Always Manages to Entertain because of the Character Actors, a Lively Story and of Course the Team of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.There is Virtually No Atmosphere in this as it All takes place in Extremely Crowded Rooms.
Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are sent to Washington to retrieve a top secret document hidden inside a book of matches before it falls into the hands of an international spy ring led by evil German Heinrich Hinckel (George Zucco).The third in Holmes's rather tedious wartime adventures, this film is one of the weakest in the entire Rathbone/Bruce series with very little intrigue and not nearly enough suspense to sustain interest, even over a scant 71 minutes run-time.
It's a full twelve minutes before Rathbone even appears on screen, even longer before he gets to Washington, and once in the capital of the good-old US of A, he's given a guided tour of the city, taking in all of its landmarks (this bit's more like a travelogue than a thriller).Finally, the action begins proper, but it's far from exciting stuff, with a clue leading Holmes' to trawl Washington antique shops in search of the bad guys' lair.
Yawn!Little more than a flag-waving exercise for the allies during WWII, Sherlock Holmes in Washington marks an all-time low for the series; thankfully, this would be the last film to pit Rathbone's Holmes against the threat of the Third Reich, the great detective getting back to solving domestic crimes in his next outing.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb..
But Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson take over this very delicate and important case, traveling for the first time to the USA...Apart from the propaganda, at least this time we get to see some of Holmes' good old sleuthing: he very cleverly discovers that the document isn't a letter at all, but has been transformed into a microfilm - the size of an ordinary stamp...
Overall, a good entry, while not one of the best of the films starring Rathbone- the series works so much better in the Victorian era with the odd horror element amongst the suspense and mystery- it was the best of the ones based in the wartime.
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) *** (out of 4) Third in Universal's series has a British secret agent killed and robbed of an important document but the bad guys (led by George Zucco) aren't quite sure what the document is.
Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are called in to track down a kidnapped victim (Marjorie Lord) as well as the book at matches that the document (a microchip) are hidden in.
Beginning with the usual explanation/apology as to why Holmes exists in the 'modern' day, the film has the character travel to Washington to help solve where a British Secret Service agent hid a precious microfilm.
Watson is a bit more of a comical buffoon than usual, but I find it entertaining even if it doesn't fit the original image of the character.The patriotic speech at the end (typical of the modern, WWII Sherlock Holmes movies) does feel tacked on and is pretty damn unsubtle..
In this, the third entry in the Universal Sherlock Holmes series, Holmes is once again doing battle against Nazi agents...thankfully, for the last time.
And yet, once again, we see a Sherlock Holmes who is greatly changed, shoved into a very timely story (the Nazis pretty much date these early films) in which he has no rightful place.The next film in the series, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (loosely based upon Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale, The Musgrave Ritual), was the start of a new trend in the Universal Holmes films...placing the detective and his faithful companion/biographer, Dr. Watson, in the middle of a seemingly incomprehensible mystery, with very little allusion to WWII (certainly no enemy agents), and a setting which, even if it is modernized, is at least somewhat reminiscent of what made the character of Holmes such an enduring icon in the first place.
It is clearly an inferior product and I'm by no means a Holmes purist.But this was wartime and it would only be natural that world's most famous detective be called on to lend his services overseas when a British agent carrying a vital document disappears, but not before he passes it on to an unsuspecting Marjorie Lord on a train.
Still Thurston Hall was quite good, possibly the best thing from this film.After some wartime propaganda films, the Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies got back to some of Conan Doyle's stories as the material for the films.
Sherlock Holmes(played by Basil Rathbone) & Doctor Watson(played by Nigel Bruce) are called in to investigate, and discover the document had been put on microfilm, and currently resides inside a matchbook, though they are the only ones who know that, and must race against time to save an innocent woman being held captive as well.
When a British agent carrying vital war plans to Washington D.C. is kidnapped, the ace detective Sherlock Holmes flies in to investigate.
Can he recover the missing document and apprehend the dastardly culprits ?This fifth film in the Rathbone-Bruce series is a strong entry with an excellent script by Lynn Riggs and Bertram Millhauser, featuring a perfect example of the MacGuffin as we follow the vital matchbook from person to person, cringing as it falls into the hands of the uncomprehending villains.
Directed by Roy William Neil, the master of deductive reasoning Sherlock Holmes(Basil Rathbone)and his often bumbling parter Dr. Watson(Nigel Bruce)make a trip to Washington, D.C. after a top-secret agent is kidnapped and murdered after passing off hidden valuable microfilm inside the cover of a matchbook.
Before the girl's actual abduction, Pettibone/Gregson is kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by these same Nazi agents, (one of whom is played by Daniell).Holmes and Pettibone had worked together before on important cases so Holmes is ready to take on the task and travel with Watson to Washington when the British authorities tell him that his associate has disappeared, along with the document.
Then, Holmes has to dredge up some quick clues to locate the Nazi agents' (the boss of whom is played by the great and sinister George Zucco!) base of operations.Will Holmes be in time to save the girl and recover the document?!?
Holmes is competing with Nazi agents also eager to recover the document.NOTES: Number 5 of the Rathbone-Bruce series.COMMENT: The Washington setting lent itself very well to Holmes' pro-Allies, anti-Axis, "hands-across-the-sea" patriotism propaganda messages, whilst the script was equally hackneyed.However, Rathbone and Bruce received excellent support in this episode from both a former (Zucco) and a future (Daniell) Moriarty.
Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes once again crosses swords (or at least gunfire) with Professor Moriarty, or at least the actor who played the role several years before, villain extraordinaire, George Zucco.
In modernizing Holmes, the setting is switched to modern day London, ultimately leading Rathbone and Nigel Bruce's Dr. Watson to Washington DC where they seek to protect an important document from getting into Nazi hands.
The British government entrusts locating the missing agent, the secret papers he carried, and, ultimately, the success of the Allied war effort to Holmes.I've never been much of a fan of the modern day, WWII set Sherlock Holmes films.
In addition, Sherlock Holmes in Washington benefits from having some above average supporting players (George Zucco and Henry Daniell) and from having Roy William Neill in the director's chair. |
tt0080487 | Caddyshack | Danny Noonan works as a caddy at the upscale Bushwood Country Club to earn enough money to go to college. Danny often caddies for Ty Webb, a suave and talented golfer and the son of one of Bushwood's co-founders. Danny decides to gain favor with Judge Elihu Smails, the country club's stodgy co-founder and director of the caddy scholarship program, by caddying for him. Meanwhile, Carl Spackler, one of the greenskeepers, is entrusted with combatting a potentially disastrous gopher infestation. He tries a variety of methods to kill the gopher (e.g. shooting, drowning) without success.
Al Czervik, a brash and obnoxious nouveau riche, begins appearing at the club. Smails is heckled by Czervik as he tees off, causing his shot to go badly wrong. Smails throws a putter away in frustration and accidentally injures a member of the club. Danny takes responsibility for the incident, as a ploy to gain Smails' trust. Smails encourages him to apply for the caddy scholarship.
At Bushwood's annual Fourth of July banquet, Danny and his girlfriend Maggie work as servers. Czervik continues to irritate Smails and the club members, while Danny becomes attracted to Lacey Underall, Smails' promiscuous niece. Danny wins the Caddy Day golf tournament and the scholarship, earning him praise from Smails and an invitation to attend the christening ceremony for his boat. The boat is sunk at the event after a collision with Czervik's larger boat. On returning, Smails discovers Lacey and Danny having a tryst at his house. Expecting to be fired or to have the scholarship revoked, Danny is surprised when Smails only demands that he keeps the incident secret.
Unable to bear the continued presence of the crude-mannered Czervik, Smails confronts him and announces that Czervik will never be granted membership. Czervik counters by announcing that he would never consider being a member: he insults the place and is merely there to evaluate buying Bushwood and developing the land into condominiums. After a brief scuffle and exchange of insults, Ty Webb suggests they discuss a resolution over drinks. After Smails demands satisfaction, Czervik proposes a team golf match with Smails and his regular golfing partner Dr. Beeper against Czervik and Webb. Against club rules, they also agree to a $20,000 wager, quickly doubled to $40,000, on the outcome of the match. That evening, Webb practices for the game against Smails and meets Carl, where the two share a bottle of wine and a joint.
The match is held the following day. Word spreads of the stakes involved and a crowd builds. During the game, Smails and Beeper take the lead, while Czervik, to his dismay, is "playing the worst game of his life". He reacts to Smails' taunts by impulsively redoubling the wager to $80,000 per team. When his own ricocheting ball strikes him, Czervik feigns injury in hopes of having the contest declared a draw. Lou, the course official who is acting as an umpire, tells Czervik his team will forfeit unless they find a substitute. When Webb chooses Danny, Smails threatens to revoke his scholarship, but Czervik promises Danny that he will make it "worth his while" if he wins. Danny eventually decides he would rather humiliate the selfish, conceited Smails than take the scholarship.
By the time they reach the final hole, the score is tied. At the climax of the game, with Danny about to attempt a difficult putt to win, Czervik again redoubles the wager to $160,000 per team. Danny's putt leaves the ball hanging over the edge of the hole. At that moment, Carl, in his latest attempt to kill the gopher, detonates a series of plastic explosives that he has rigged around the golf course. The explosion shakes the ground and causes the ball to drop into the hole, handing Danny, Webb, and Czervik the victory. Smails refuses to pay, so Czervik beckons two hulking men, named Moose and Rocco, to "help the judge find his checkbook." As Smails is chased around the course, Czervik leads another wild party attended by all of the onlookers at the match, shouting, "Hey everybody! We're all gonna get laid!" The gopher emerges, unharmed, and dances amid the smoldering ruins of the golf course. | comedy, cult, violence, absurd, humor, entertaining | train | wikipedia | `National Lampoon's Animal House' may have been one of the first comedies to evolve from the `Saturday Night Live' generation, but it could be argued that `Caddyshack,' directed by Harold Ramis-- and which features two SNL alumni, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray-- actually spawned the entire `SNL genre,' of films, because this is the one that seemed to lock in that formulaic irreverence toward all things, of which they are so indicative.
At the time of it's theatrical release, in 1980, it was fairly on the cutting edge of comedy; by today's standards, though, it doesn't seem nearly as irreverent, especially given the digressive trend in the genre lately, which has spewed forth such fare as `Freddy Got Fingered,' and `Road Trip.' Then again, this one had Harold Ramis behind the camera, and Ramis has an acute sense of comedic timing, he knows what works, and he made the most of the basic screenplay (by Ramis, Brian Doyle-Murray and Douglas Kenney) and the terrific cast of comedians with which he had to work, all of whom fit so well into the pattern and fabric of this particular picture.Rarely does a comedy (or any film for that matter) have so many actors who fit their characters so perfectly as in this film, beginning with Chevy Chase, who embodies the slightly skewed and off-center Ty Webb so well it's almost frightening.
But if the existence of a Ty Webb type is only highly probable, there's no doubt whatsoever about the fact that there are guys like Al Czervik amongst us.Rodney Dangerfield plays Czervik, the obnoxious, fun-loving, high-rolling land developer with a specially made golf club and an eye on Bushwood.
It is, without question, the best character and performance of Dangerfield's cinematic career, and -- like Chase-- it's almost scary the way he fits into the character so naturally and completely.The real heart of this movie, however, is Bill Murray, who turns in what just may be the definitive Murray performance with his character, Carl Spackler, the Assistant Greenskeeper at Bushwood.
And he does it quite nicely.Also giving memorable performances are Ted Knight, as the rigid, conservative Judge, and Brian Doyle-Murray as Lou Loomis, who oversees the caddies at Bushwood.The supporting cast includes Sarah Holcomb (Maggie), Scott Colomby (Tony), Cindy Morgan (Lacey Underall), Dan Resin (Dr. Beeper), Henry Wilcoxon (The Bishop), Albert Salmi (Mr. Noonan), John F.
You get a Chevy Chase doing his ironic bit, you have one Bill Murray essaying a bizarre-o mental case, good old Ted Knight going into slow-burn histrionics every scene, and Rodney Dangerfield stealing every scene with large chunks of his stand-up act.
Instead, Ramis, Kenney and (Bill's brother) Brian Doyle Murray set each of these comedians up with sketch-like scenarios for some of their finest and funniest work.The movie is mean in all the right places - It's the snobs against the slobs, as the advertising says.
Unfortunately, the plotline of the caddies is overlooked by the outstanding performances by comedic stars such as Dangerfield, Murray, Chevy Chase, and Ted Knight.
There are about five different plots developing at once throughout the movie, the funniest of which is Carl Spackler's (having been licensed to kill by the 'Government of the United Nations') attempts to assassinate a rogue gopher tearing up the golf course.Each and every actor battles with each other, and it's hard to nail down exactly who runs away with the movie, but if I absolutely HAD to choose, I'd say that Rodney Dangerfield's sleazy, slobbish, overly-friendly, and gratuitously tipping character is the most wonderful thing about it.
He is the perfect foil for Judge Smails (an utterly perfectly-cast Ted Knight), a pompous, bad-tempered, self-important hypocrite who wants to reserve the pretentious Bushwood Country Club for snobs and gentlemen (despite being far from a gentleman himself).If you like comedy quotes, Caddyshack is a goldmine.
Some of the greatest comedic actors of that era, namely Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, and Chevy Chase, are firmly on their A Game here, and are absolutely sublime in this film.
Except that it applies not to the characters in the film, but to the writer and director, Harold Ramis.Caddyshack is a series of sketches that claim to be a movie, but are really far less than the sum of their parts.
There are a few good comedy bits surprisingly, Chevy Chase is good in an understated way that is cumulatively funnier as time goes by and Rodney Dangerfield brings the frenetic quality and smart-alecky trademark schtick up front and center that is occasionally pretty good.But the whole film never gets going.
Ramis does try the parody thing with a little incident in a swimming pool that references Jaws, but it takes five minutes to get through, and the joke has come and gone way before the punchline, which is then totally anticlimactic.Probably the best way and reason to watch Caddyshack, apart from ninja training to learn to overcome suffering silently, is as a perspective on Groundhog Day, which is the SECOND funniest movie in the last 40 years, and for reasons that are entirely due to its own genius.
It brings together three elements from Caddyshack: Ramis, again as writer producer; a groundhog; and Bill Murray, who, if you want to see evidence of progress of a great comedian, you need do no more than compare these two films, made 13 years apart.In Caddyshack, Murray is a kind of template for what Jim Carrey started out as: a Jerry Lewis style goof that get laughs from, well, people who think Jerry Lewis is a genius, and gags that depend on what one can only call a "retard" persona, which is not funny.
All three of these comedians managed to demonstrate at some point in their career that there was some brilliance and control in their comedy, and got way, way better results out of it: Murray in many films, especially Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation, and Broken Flowers; Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Truman Story and a few others; and Lewis in The King of Comedy in its own way the THIRD funniest movie in the last 40 years.
But Smails has other concerns beside Czervik - a troublesome gopher continues to evade the best efforts of deranged grounds-keeper Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) while semi-pro Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) tries to teach young caddie Danny (Michael O'Keefe) a few lessons about life and love, possibly involving Smails' flightly niece Lacey Underall (Cindy Morgan)."Caddyshack" is a frustrating film in many respects.
The true stars are Murray and Chase and personally, they aren't in it enough for me to enjoy the film any more.I have other issues with it as well - the comedy only really works in fits and starts and the main characters in the plot don't engage you in the same way that Murray and Chase's do.
i love that guy, especially as Egon, and i loved his other movies like groundhog day and analyze this, and vacation and stripes were pretty good too, and of course ghostbusters 1 and 2, but his "early" films were really just banal fare for the 12-16 year old crowd who find potty jokes funny..
Rodney Dangerfield's "jokes" are so juvenile a five-year-old would cringe.The movie is so disjointed, it's as though they took five different films - all bad - mixed them in a Cuisinart, and then taped bits of the resulting mess together.
I usually think Bill Murray is funny, but there he was doing his usual dumb guy routine while Rodney Dangerfield was delivering those dumb jokes (which, by the way, I could actually feel the silence and humiliation you get after you say something stupid).
Although not a major box-office draw in 1980, "Caddyshack" is now ranked as one of the funniest sports movies ever made via magazine polls (it also has Tiger Woods' endorsement to boot), and yet it's full of withered fratboy humor, with a loosely-hinged, character-driven plot that could be summed up as "the slobs verses the snobs." Cocky young caddy at the Bushwood Country Club gets in with the nouveau riche swells in hopes of gaining a college scholarship, but soon rebels against the blowhard boors once he's invited to participate in a winners-take-all team golf match.
Best gopher, too.If you haven't seen "Caddyshack" and call yourself a connoisseur of this kind of film, you deserve to have Bill Murray practice for the Masters in your begonias.Nine stars.
My advice to anyone wanting a good laugh at a classy comedy movie is just sit down with a box set of Laurel & Hardy and watch how it should be done and not waste any time with this disaster..
First of all I consider myself a Bill Murray fan, I've enjoyed somewhat Chavy Chase and Roger Dangerfield's work, so the fact I had never watched Caddyshack until now was becoming a sense of guilt.
I can't make heads or tails of this film, I mean, it feels like it was made of different sketches with no solid or unified script,and full of wasted actors (Bill Murray is like useless) or plain bad acting (Chavy Chase), gratuitous nudity (ok, eighties comedy I know) and a terrible pacing.
Amusing and often times very funny story is set around a golf course with a bunch of untimly characters and gags this one is certainly a classic.
This movie is contains many laugh out loud situations due to our three great leads and even though some of the jokes may miss the target once in a while the film makers keep them coming at a steady pace so that the viewer never gets bored.
I think Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield steal the show which isn't easy in a movie with Bill Murray and Chevy Chase.
After watching this movie several times, however, it is Ted Knight who still gets the most laughs.
This is actually one of the funniest comedies I have ever watched,seemingly with no arty ambitions(which is quite a relief at times,especially when you feel low)at all and with plenty of "low" humor,presented with warmth and heart.The cast makes this movie(the script could have been a disaster in the wrong hands and with the wrong actors)a true pleasure to watch.We get to know a young caddy named Danny with high ambitions to raise money for college one way or the other,but the true highlight is Bill Murray's somewhat dopey/crazy green keeper who spends most of his time trying to eradicate chipmunks from the golf course,with the persistence of a madman.
The script claimed O'Keefe to be the main character; however he noticeably took a back seat to the slapstick comedic performances of Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, & Chevy Chase.
It was obvious that this film was a great success due to the improvisational skills of Knight, Murray, Dangerfield, and Chase.
The gopher is cheaply made, not even close to taking advantage of the special effects available at the time, but, even that seems to add to his charm.Rodney Dangerfield has one of his best performances in this film.
i had hear a lot about how great this movie is,over the years.so imagine my shock and disappointment to find out it's pure crap.i didn't find it funny,or amusing,or even entertaining.i swear i never even smiled once.i realise this is just my opinion of course,but i can't get over the high score (7.3/10)this movie has on this site.it boggles the mind.anyway,for whatever reason,i didn't think this was a good movie at all.in fact,it's brutal.there are some big comedy names of the era in this one,so you'd think that would count for something.but it doesn't seem to,at least in my opinion.i'm sure i'm in the minority,but my vote for Caddyshack is a dismal 1/10.
Add Saturday Night Live legends Chevy Chase and Bill Murray to the mix and the result is more than an hour of wise cracks and smart-ass remarks that roll off the tongue in a natural progression.Danny: "I was hoping to go to college but unfortunately it looks like my parents aren't going to be able to afford to send me" Judge Smails: "Well, the world needs ditch diggers too" The official movie soundtrack to Caddyshack compliments the film nicely.
Although uneven at times, two people really make this movie(three if you count Chuck E Rodent as Mr. Gopher)Bill Murray and Rodney Dangerfield.
It is a classic comedy with hilarious performances by Bill Murray and Rodney Dangerfield.Murray and Dangerfield lead an all-star cast, which includes Chevy Chase, Ted Knight, and Micheal O'Keefe.
With a classic hilarious ensemble cast that included unforgettable performances by the likes of Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield & Ted Knight, most at the peak of their performing careers, and with incredible leadership and writing from top notch guys like Harold Ramis and Brian Doyle-Murray, you gotta go with The Shack.
The great stand-alone scenes are too numerous to mention all of them, but include: - Murray as Carl the Groundskeeper, whacking the flower bed as he fantasized about winning the Masters - Dangerfield prancing into the pro shop with his Asian buddy, and telling him that the club is restricted, so "don't mention you're Jewish" - Chase "playing through" Murray's pad, and their sharing a joint, a "cannonball", and tremendous comedic timing - Dangerfield in the club restaurant, introducing himself around Knight's table, then taking over the dance floor as he flips a huge wad of cash to the band; "Hey, Ringo, you and the boys take some lessons" - Murray caddying for the priest near the end; "The good Lord would never interrupt the best game of my life!" as thunderstorms blast all around themIt just goes on and on and on....."And that's all she wrote!".
"Spalding, how many times have I told you about your language!" I died laughing throughout the whole movie at Ted Knight's jokes and Rodney Dangerfield's jokes who comes close in being the funniest character as the smart-ass goofy dress inventor.
If you want to have a good time and laugh real hard while watching a movie, go rent or buy Caddyshack.
Just finished watching this movie with my 16 year son, who was skeptical about it after seeing modern day screwball comedies like "Old School." He loved it.Unlike at least one other reviewer, I thought Chevy Chase was great through-out the movie.
With all the over the top comedy through-out the movie, it's easy to miss Chevy with Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield's over the top performances.
Chevy clearly has some of the best lines, delivered so off-the-cuff as to be easily missed.Bill Murray may be at his comedic best in this movie playing underplaying an over-the-top character with great effect.
I know that Ted Knight is best known for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", but I will always remember him as the snobbish judge here (I've actually never seen "TMTMS").As it is, the movie mainly focuses on caddy Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe), but for me he almost becomes a back issue to everyone's gags.
I lean to the Mark Twain school of thought on the game - "golf is a nice walk ruined." Needless to say, I did not love this movie.The best thing I can say about it is that Rodney Dangerfield is only part of an ensemble cast rather than the actual star.
And, to me, none of the characters, with the exception of Chevy Chase, and to SOME extent, Bill Murray, were all that likable or engaging (I DID think though that Bill Murray's ad-libbed scene about getting all horny and worked up over the old lady golfers was hilarious!) Again, an excellent example of one of the many ISOLATED bits that were indeed very funny in this film.I don't know; maybe I'm just over-thinking it and I should just sit back and enjoy it for what it is.
Chevy Chase was at the top of his game as zen golfer Ty Webb, Bill Murray was equally memorable as demented assistant greens-keeper Carl Spackler, the one and only Rodney Dangerfield basically played himself with predictably hilarious results and rounding it out was Ted Knight, who effortlessly oozed smarm.The storyline is rambling but that doesn't matter much.
This film has it all- from Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, & Rodney Dangerfield all providing great performances to Ted Knight in his best movie role as a straight man to Rodney.
Just remember the folks in this cast & some great classic comedy are what you watching this film for.
That's not to say it's unfunny over 20 years later, it's just a very different film with all of the actors either off the radar or making different types of movies entirely.The movie is basically a hastily thrown together script featuring improvisations from Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murray, surrounded by actual professional actors doing their best to hold the scenes together.
Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Ted Knight, and Rodney Dangerfield highlight the stars of this film, which also boasts fine performances from the supporting players, notably Michael O'Keefe.
But what really turned this into a good movie was the role of Judge Smails played by Ted Knight.Knight was clearly the best performance in this film, and being able to hold that up against the fore mentioned comedy stars only makes his performance that much better.
But you also have to love Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and especially Rodney Dangerfield who deliver some great lines and performances.
This is the GREATEST golf movie of all time!!!This is one of Bill Murray's classics, and he's only a co-star to an All-star cast.
There are several classic comedies that, at the time of this writing, I've never seen, like Animal House, Groundhog Day, and, until yesterday, Caddyshack.
The only funny people in the movie are Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield, and the latter only sporadically. |
tt0279493 | Undercover Brother | The film begins with a back story of how African-American culture's popularity with the American public began to decline in the 1980s, when style and originality began to lose appeal in the public eye due to the persistent efforts of "The Man" (Robert Trumbull), a powerful Caucasian man in control of a secret organization that seeks to undermine the African-American community as well as the cultures of other minorities. The Man is infuriated that Gen. Warren Boutwell (Billy Dee Williams), a United States Army general based on Colin Powell, is considering running for president, and his lackey Mr. Feather (Chris Kattan) informs him of a mind-control drug which The Man uses to make Boutwell abort his plans and instead open a fried chicken franchise. The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., a secret organization that battles The Man's influence, determines The Man is behind Boutwell's change of heart, and recruits a freelance agent named Undercover Brother (Eddie Griffin) to aid them.
Undercover Brother joins B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. which is made up of the Chief (Chi McBride), Conspiracy Brother (Dave Chappelle), Smart Brother (Gary Anthony Williams), Sistah Girl (Aunjanue Ellis), and Lance (Neil Patrick Harris), an intern who is the only white man in the organization due to affirmative action. Undercover Brother goes undercover as a new employee at a cigarette company owned by The Man, where Mr. Feather discovers his identity. He deploys a secret weapon that he calls "Black Man's Kryptonite", an attractive assassin named White She-Devil (Denise Richards). Posing as another new employee, she and Undercover Brother start dating, and she begins to make him do stereotypical "white" things, such as buying corduroy and khaki clothes, singing karaoke, and adopting a silly set of euphemisms. Meanwhile, The Man distributes his mind-control drug through Boutwell's fried chicken, infecting other black celebrities and making them act white.
Concerned with Undercover Brother's unusual behavior, Sistah Girl attacks White She-Devil and convinces Undercover Brother to return to the fight. White-She-Devil turns on her own henchmen to save the two, revealing she has fallen in love with Undercover Brother. They return to the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., where Smart Brother questions White She-Devil about The Man and Lance is officially made part of the group when he declares his desire to abolish bigotry after watching Roots. The group heads to an awards gala after they find out that James Brown is The Man's next target. Mr. Feather kidnaps Brown and takes him to The Man's base. B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. secures an antidote for the mind control drug and follows via a transmitter placed on Brown, infiltrating the base posing as a cleaning crew, to rescue Brown and a mysterious "Candidate" that The Man plans to use to land a crushing blow to African-American culture.
Mr. Feather prepares to administer the drug to Brown and present him as a trophy to The Man, and Brown reveals himself as Undercover Brother in disguise. Mr. Feather sends his henchmen after B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., who discover the Candidate is Boutwell, and is ordered by Mr. Feather to kill Undercover Brother. In the fighting, Conspiracy Brother accidentally begins the building's self-destruct sequence. The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. cures Boutwell and evacuate him from the building while Undercover Brother chases Mr. Feather to the roof. The Man's helicopter circles overhead and leaves, The Man abandoning Mr. Feather for failing him. Mr. Feather jumps onto the helicopter's landing gear as it flies away, and Undercover Brother uses his afro picks to impale Mr. Feather in the buttocks, causing him to fall into the ocean, where he is eaten by a shark. However, The Man escapes. Undercover Brother survives the building's self-destruction by leaping off the building and using his wide pants legs as parachutes. He and Sistah Girl kiss and leave the island, the world at peace. | humor, blaxploitation | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0049834 | Tension at Table Rock | After killing a man whom many thought was his friend, Wes Tancred is assaulted and immortalized in an uncomplimentary song about one man shooting his best friend in the back; when in fact Wes' friend was reaching for his gun to shoot Wes in the back as he started out the door. Wes leaves town and winds up working as a hostler at a Stagecoach Outpost. He adopts an alias and befriends the father and son who run the outpost. Three outlaws arrive with plans to rob the stagecoach when it arrives. The father is killed in a showdown with the three outlaws. Wes kills them and takes the boy to live with his aunt and uncle, who is the Sheriff in Table Rock. A reckless band of herders that are running a cattle drive come to town with revelry and kill a sodbuster. In court there is testimony presented that the murder was self-defense because the ramrodder had placed a weapon in the victim's hand. Both the Sheriff and Wes are aware of this; however, the Sheriff who was traumatized from a previous beating, states in his report, that it was self-defense. He revises his report when Wes steps forward with testimony to the contrary, challenging him to overcome his fear. Wes shoots down a hired gun that comes to town to kill the Sheriff and the Sheriff, in turn, shoots the man who hires the gunman when he attempts to shoot Wes in the back. | murder | train | wikipedia | But a very convincing argument can be made that this, and many other '50s "B" westerns-including in my view almost all of the Audie Murphy ones-are the absolute pinnacle of the genre.Other reviewers have given good accounts of the plot so I will instead mention: the marvellous cast (DeForrest Kelly was underused as a westerner-marvel at his performance); the tension that I think is due to the modest running time and the quick, simple scenes that just flow so naturally; great, bright colour (I loathe the dark modern movies); a second-to-none score from an age when there were great film composers; all the essential elements are here-the boy, the tortured hero, believable domestic tensions, the baddies-you just care about these characters.Every time this appears on British TV I seem to watch it afresh and discover more subtleties.Minor masterpieces are not that much more common than major ones.
This movie has all the ingredients most Western fans love in their films: gunfights, love triangles, bad guys & a quiet, suffering & misunderstood hero working out his private travails by helping a beleaguered sheriff deal with his own demons.
We've seen these ingredients before in many other Westerns but in this film they seem to work.Richard Egan non-acting style work perfectly here & the supporting cast boasts small but vivid parts for Angie Dickenson as the siren that starts Egan's private struggle & Deforest Kelly as a smiling, friendly gunslinger.
Tension At Table Rock casts Richard Egan as a misunderstood gunman who gets a phony reputation as a backshooting coward because he outdrew the wanted Paul Richards and Richard's girlfriend Angie Dickinson who was the only witness told a false tale.Now having to operate under an assumed name, Egan falls in with orphan Billy Chapin after he eliminates those who killed Chapin's father Joe DeSantis and made him an orphan.
He delivers young Billy to the town of Table Rock where his aunt and uncle live and uncle Cameron Mitchell is a much put upon sheriff.After this the film does run along the established plot lines of Shane somewhat.
Mitchell makes a Faustian bargain with trail boss John Dehner to not tear up the town too much mainly because he got beaten really badly by a whole bunch of Dehner's trailhands on the previous drive.
But when one of them shoots down an unarmed farmer and then tries to get away with it Egan gets into action.Dorothy Malone is in Tension At Table Rock as well.
The sexual tension between the stranger Egan and her is unmistakable and it's where people draw comparisons between Tension At Table Rock and Shane.Though she's on only briefly in the beginning Angie Dickinson really does shine in the part of a woman who gets vengeance for her man.
Another really good performance is that of Edward Andrews the saloon owner who could care less if the drunken trailhands shoot up the town and kill a few people as long as they drink in his saloon and his profits don't get cut into.Towards the end of that studio's existence RKO was getting into some serious adult B westerns as was its competitor Republic, the stuff that would later be a staple for fifties and sixties television.
Tension At Table Rock is a good example of the adult type westerns that would later be found on television..
Good western featuring a reticent gunslinger and a lawman who has lost his nerve who must go up against a group of thugs who want to let off steam in their town.
It's deliberately paced and quite absorbing with fine performances from Richard Egan (a lumbering, mostly humorless actor who nevertheless had dramatic weight) as a guilt-ridden gunman, and Cameron Mitchell as a physically and emotionally scarred sheriff who wrestles with his cowardice.
(I'd even go so far as saying Mitchell gives a great performance - he does some real interesting things with the character.) The highlights for me were the courtroom scene, where Egan gives a moving little speech on how a man is through when he deceives himself (it's a real turning point for both characters) and a showdown at the end that plays out in an understated but completely satisfying way.
Typical of many westerns of that era, with some stolen themes, mostly from 'Shane', such as the subtle interest between the stranger and his new friends stay at home wife, and the brewing battle that you just knew the stranger would reluctantly join, it still had many twists and turns that were not given away.
However, his quiet acting approach mostly seemed to work well with the movie, and there was just enough action to let you know that this gunman knew his trade, and make you eagerly await the next show down.
The most interesting part of the movie was the friendship between our hero, and the gunman sent to kill him, a great touch.
Needing a break from his gunfighter western ways, rugged Richard Egan (as Wes Tancred) decides to take on a tamer identity (as "John Bailey").
Delivering the lad to relatives, sharply outfitted Dorothy Malone (as Lorna) and sheriff husband Cameron Mitchell (as Fred Miller), leads "Rifleman" Egan from "Shane" to "High Noon" territory.
With Charles Marque Warren at the reigns, "Tension at Table Rock" knows its turf.****** Tension at Table Rock (10/3/56) Charles Marque Warren ~ Richard Egan, Dorothy Malone, Cameron Mitchell, Billy Chapin.
Frank Gruber's novel "Bitter Sage" becomes highly-engrossing western from R.K.O. Richard Egan (amusingly expressionless, and cutting a mighty figure in his cowboy garb) plays a gunslinger whose best friend turns on him, ending with the friend shot dead; hoping to escape his reputation as a coward, Egan's Wes Tancred first goes to stay with a lonesome rancher and his son (ending in a rather unfair violent episode), later winding up in a town under the fear-grip of a nasty bunch of rowdies who invade the territory every so often during their cattle drive.
Billy Chapin (from "The Night of the Hunter") is excellent as the lad who takes a shine to Tancred, and Dorothy Malone is also good as a lonely sheriff's wife.
It stars Richard Egan, Dorothy Malone, Cameron Mitchell, Billy Chapin, Royal Dano, Edward Andrews and John Dehner.
Music is by Dimitri Tiomkin and Technicolor cinematography is by Joseph Biroc.Wes Tancred (Egan) is a weary gunslinger who is wandering the plains after having been accused of a cowardly killing.
Assuming the name of John Bailey, he happens upon the "Bitter Sage" ranch and events there will lead him into the town of Table Rock.
Where his future, perhaps damned by his past, will be determined.A good Oater full of the staples of 50s genre pieces, tension at Table Rock is nonetheless a worthy morsel for those keen of a Western diet.
Naturally there's a romantic angle, with Malone all bright eyed and perched in between Egan and Mitchell, but this is thankfully not over played.Standard action scenes are handled well by Warren, a man who knew his way around dusters of TV and cinema.
Costuming and scenic photography is pleasing, while Egan (tortured square jawed machismo), Mitchell (tortured and scarred and awaiting machismo rebirth) and Dano (eleagant wise man) are in good credit with performances.
Best of the support is Dehner, no surprise there, and Angie Dickinson and DeForest Kelly have minor but key roles to play.It's all tightly played out to the point that the derivative nature of the story is in no way a hindrance to the entertainment on offer.
Understated But Raw. Better than Average Western with a Fine Cast and has Moments of Hard-Hitting Fisticuffs and Underplayed Suspense.
Richard Egan is Expressionless as is Cameron Mitchell and Dorothy Malone is Radiant and there for some Sexual Tension.It does have a Laid-Back Feel and Never seems to Rise Above its Rasin' but there are Confrontations Aplenty and it is a Mature Movie.
Richard Egan is well cast as laconic gunman Wes Tancred, whose troubles begin when he rebuffs the advances of the wife (Angie Dickinson) of his best friend and former boss (Paul Richards), who tries to shoot Wes in the back, but is slower on the draw (a clear act of self defense, pardoned by the Governor).
The woman scorned makes out that her husband was shot in the back and didn't have a chance, with the stain following Wes from town to town, even to a song depicting the lurid, and phony, details, so he must take up a new name by the time he enters the lives of Sheriff Fred Miller (Cameron Mitchell), his wife Lorna (Dorothy Malone), and adoring nephew Jody (Billy Chapin), echoes of "Shane" that need not have been present.
Cameron Mitchell probably has the toughest role, playing a sheriff who commands little respect because he seeks an easy way out instead of a real solution, due to a beating he once took that left him full of fear (reuniting with Royal Dano just two years later in "Face of Fire").
RICHARD EGAN is the gunman who has killed his best friend and must live with the consequences of a town that has turned against him with a legendary song (by Dimitri Tiomkin) that paints him as a coward.
He flees to another town and assumes a new identity, but his past catches up with him before the tale is over.As the scorned outlaw who decides to help weak-minded sheriff CAMERON MITCHELL keep order in a tough "Dodge City" sort of town, Egan is solidly cast as the sturdy anti-hero who rises to the occasion whenever gunfights break out.
He wins the admiration of Mitchell's pretty wife, DOROTHY MALONE and their young son, BILLY CHAPIN (from "Night of the Hunter").
Therein, the story bears elements of "Shane" and other similar westerns.Egan's quiet underplaying of the conflicted gunman is effective and most of the performances are fine.
Dorothy Malone looks out of place as a frontier lady, her make-up and costuming making her look like a modern 1950s woman rather than the good wife she was portraying.The dialogue is full of the usual western clichés.
And that's along with affecting turns from Cameron Mitchell and the wonderful little Billy Chapin.The trouble is that once the focus comes to town, events lose the edge they've had.
Better than average Western with a good cast and story..
A legendary gunfighter(played by Richard Egan) hiding from his past drifts into a town about to be visited by a trail herd.
The sheriff (played by Cameron Mitchell) has more than his share of troubles with the town council, a local saloon owner and his pretty wife (played by Dorothy Malone).
The ending is predictable with the gunfighter confronting his past, shooting a gunfighter hired to kill the sheriff and saving the town.Although the usual cliches are plentiful, the movie is well photographed and colorful.
DeForest Kelly is memorable in a small role as a gunman hired by the saloon owner to kill the sheriff.
There is also an excellent Dimitri Tiomkin score which reflects nicely the psychological undercurrents of the gunfighter's past.This movie is well worth the time..
TENSION AT TABLE ROCK is a underrated Western starring the taciturn and fleshy Richard Egan as Wes Tancred, a man thought by society to have shot his best friend in the back (an event celebrated by an ubiquitous ballad through much of the film).
Just as Tancred is not the "black-hearted, white-livered, backbitin' sidewinder" murderer as the infamous lyrics say, so Sheriff Miller (Camron Mitchell) is no longer the fearless lawman he was after his beating; his wife Lorna (Dorothy Malone)is no floozy as the audience initially suspects; and even the gunfighter Jim Brek, finally brought in to dispatch the lawman turns out to be an affable enough, if still dangerous, fellow.Malone's casting as Lorna is on one level ideal; the actress made such a success as an unstable nymphomaniac in Sirk's marvellous WRITTEN ON THE WIND made the same year, and in that light it's the unaccustomed restraint between her character, wife of a weak male and the strong Tancred (who clearly is infatuated with her) which is one of TABLE ROCK's more interesting elements.
Having said that, an early appearance by Angie Dickinson in the film, 3 years before her memorable role in RIO BRAVO makes one wonder what she would have brought to the main female part.In one of the film's key scenes, Miller returns home early to overhear his wife treating Tancred's head flesh wound - a moment of relative intimacy, ripe for a liaison, but which never materialises.
From this perspective the film can be seen as the interesting antithesis to such works as Ford's THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, where one is invited to believe the legend of the West, and not the truth.Charles Marque Warren's direction is up to the job, although it is buoyed considerably by a fine score by Dmitri Tiomkin - another reason why the film should be better known.
Cameron Mitchell is also good in his difficult role which would probably have suited a slightly older actor.
Egan's performance is subdued but fairly subtle as he plays a man who internalises a lot of his moral decisions, and this is surely one of his best works.
The young Jody is played by Billy Chapin who made such an impression in NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, but at times here his experience, largely among older, more violent males, recalls the world of TV's THE RIFLEMAN notably during his early scenes with Tancred and his natural father.
It's these moments too, set as they are in a Fargo way station, a world threatened by the arrival of thugs with their own agenda, which might reflect the narrative influence of the celebrated Randolph Scott cycle made with Budd Boetticher, made around this time.Trivia note: the film contains characters called Kirk and Scotty, while DeForrest Kelley (Brek) played McCoy in Star Trek..
Talk about a Western for Western-lovers - there's the guy (Wes Tancred played by Richard Egan) who's good with a gun, a cattle drive where the cowboys are going to overrun and terrorize a town, the sheriff is weak and his wife falls for Tancred.
Billy Chapin plays a boy named Jody whose father is killed by outlaws; Tancred kills the outlaws and takes the boy to live with his uncle and aunt (the sheriff and his wife).
The local newspaper's editor is at odds with the sheriff, knowing he is weak and is afraid to stand up to bad guys.The basic plot is of someone, Tancred, who is trying to escape his past and start over, but things keep making it hard for him to do that.
He changes his name and ends up taking part in the town's struggles against the bad guy cowboys.This movie has plenty of action; it doesn't just sit there and talk you to death.
Will The Real Dr. McCoy Please Stand Up. This is a movie with a solid script, really a very good cast, and a decent script.
When you add up Richard Egan, Cameron Mitchell, Edward Andrews, Billy Chapin, Dorothy Malone, and DeForest Kelly, the cast is a who's who of 1960's and 70's television actors.It is a good solid western outing that only suffers slightly from the fact that RKO did not have the resources of the other studios by now.
This western has an interesting story, probably inspired in the famous song about Jesse James where the killer of Jesse is referred to as "the dirty little coward that killed Mr. Howard".
Here Wes Tancred (Richard Egan) kills a famous outlaw in self defense but the story that comes out is that he shot him on the back and a ballad telling this version becomes famous.
Tancred has to change his name and he ends up in a town where there is a scared sheriff (Cameron Mitchell) and his wife (Dorothy Malone).
Mitchell only stays on the job because he needs the money but his big problem is when a group of cowboys come to town, which is very good for the saloon owner but a nightmare for the rest of the town.
What goes wrong in this film is the casting of Richard Egan.
Egan is a competent actor, but it is not easy to play a western hero.
That didn't matter as the opening scenes had me hooked; Wes Tancred, the films protagonist, has decided to go his own way because his one time friend is now just a murderer, the man's wife asks to come with him but is rebuffed so when the two men get into a gunfight she says Wes shot her unarmed husband in the back; it is a lie of course, in fact he drew first.
He takes the boy on to the town of Table Rock as his uncle is the sheriff there.
It seems a nice enough town but the people are scared because a cattle drive is on its way though and this has led to trouble in previous years.
His ultimate decision will lead to him facing personal demons to protect the town and Wes admitting who he really is and having to face another old friend in a gun fight.I was surprised how much I enjoyed this considering that there was only one actor I'd heard of in the film and he only had a small role.
Richard Egan did a good enough job as Wes Tancred although I thought Cameron Mitchell was better as the sheriff doing his best despite being terrified of the drovers after an incident where he was severely beaten by some in a previous year.
DeForest 'Dr McCoy' Kelley buts in a nice turn as the gunslinger who shoots it out with Wes at the end but unfortunately his role was fairly small.
The action was good enough although people more familiar with modern films may be surprised that nobody sheds a drop of blood even when fatally shot! |
tt0090199 | Treasure Island | Young Jim Hawkins Jackie Cooper) and his mother (Dorothy Peterson) run the Admiral Benbow, a tavern near Bristol, England. One dark and stormy night, during a birthday celebration, the mysterious Billy Bones (Lionel Barrymore) arrives and drunkenly talks about treasure. Soon after, Bones is visited by Black Dog (Charles McNaughton) then Pew (William V. Mong), and drops dead, leaving a chest, which he bragged contained gold and jewels. Instead of money, Jim finds a map that his friend Dr. Livesey (Otto Kruger) realizes will lead them to the famous Flint treasure. Squire Trelawney (Nigel Bruce) raises money for a voyage to the treasure island and they set sail on Captain Alexander Smollett's (Lewis Stone) ship Hispaniola. Also on board is the one-legged Long John Silver (Wallace Beery) and his cronies. Even though Bones had warned Jim about a sailor with one leg, they become friends.
During the voyage, several fatal "accidents" happen to sailors who disapprove of Silver and his cohorts. Then, the night before landing on the island, Jim overhears Silver plotting to take the treasure and kill Smollett's men. Jim goes ashore with the men, and encounters an old hermit named Ben Gunn (Chic Sale), who tells him that he has found Flint's treasure. Meanwhile, Smollett (Lewis Stone) and his loyal men flee to Flint's stockade on the island for safety. Silver's men then attack the stockade when Smollett refuses to give them the treasure map. While the situation looks hopeless, Jim secretly goes back to the Hispaniola at night, sails it to a safe location and shoots one of the pirates in self-defense. When he returns to the stockade, Silver's men are there and Silver tells them that a treaty has been signed. The pirates want to kill Jim, but Silver protects him. Dr. Livesey comes for Jim, but the boy refuses to break his word to Silver not to run away. The next day the pirates search for the treasure hold and when they find it, it is empty. When some of the pirates mutiny against Silver, Livesey (Otto Kruger) and Gunn (Charles "Chic" Sale) join him in the fight. Smollett then sails home with the treasure, which Gunn had hidden in his cave, and with Silver as his prisoner. Unable to stand by and let his friend be hanged, Jim frees Silver. As he sails away, Silver promises to hunt treasure with Jim again some day, as Honest John Silver. | absurd, psychedelic, storytelling | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0352277 | De-Lovely | As he is about to die, Porter's life flashes before him in the form of a musical production staged by the archangel Gabriel in the Indiana theater where the composer first performed on stage.
He immediately calls to mind the start of his story - the night he met his wife, Linda Lee Thomas - Paris' latest divorcee and stunning beauty. From the start, they "click" and become a devoted couple. Linda is well aware of Cole's gay identity and activities; her "ex" was the same but violent with her. Cole is completely different, she declares on their wedding day - he loves and adores her and shows it, so she tolerates his dalliances. Her love for and devotion to him are strong enough for her to overlook his romantic flings outside their marriage. With Linda his fun with music turns into a top international career. Their lavish lifestyle is enviable worldwide. At film's end he tells her the songs were all about her - "not all" she corrects - but enough of them. The leaders in music praise his work and his amazing shows begin. Linda begins a tradition for his show opening nights - a Cartier cigarette case custom designed and engraved to commemorate each show, but almost misses one of his openings herself due to miscarriage and they remain childless.
To cheer Linda, the couple move the showbiz, by invitation, to Hollywood. Great excitement, a new extravagant home, but trouble: his flings get too overt and indiscreet and it creates tension. Cole is photographed in an amorous embrace with another man in a public restroom of a gay nightclub, and both he and Linda are blackmailed into paying a heavy settlement to suppress publication of the pictures. When he shrugs off the blackmail, she finally goes to Paris, leaving him bereft.
Not until he is injured in a horseback riding accident that seriously cripples him does she return to his side, willing to forgive but still finding difficulty in coping with his extramarital affairs. Eventually Linda is diagnosed with emphysema, and as she prepares them both for her impending death, she introduces him to her decorator and estate advisor, in an attempt to give Cole a new partner once she's gone. The match is successful.
Linda dies in 1954, and Cole is devastated. But he continues his work until 1958, when degeneration of the bad leg finally requires amputation, affecting his creative output. He never writes again, but works in productions of his earlier works, dying in 1964 at age 73. | romantic, queer, flashback | train | wikipedia | Kevin Kline proves you don't have to look like the "Real Person" to bring his spirit to life and Ashley Judd (contrary to some unfair and plain wrong reviews) gives us a strong Linda Porter, a complex and vulnerable Linda Porter who, as is usually the case, finally succumbs to her life choices with an uncommon grace and courage.Those people in the audience who had no idea about Mr. Porter's sexual preference, oh'd and ah'd in the beginning.
Much of todays music is aimed toward an audience with a very short attention span, wanting instant gratification, and to counter that with the music of Cole Porter is a wonderful gift to an entire generation.This movie works on so many levels.
I ended up feeling empathy for Linda; the lovely, lovable and steadfast; and respect and admiration for the Cole Porter figure.But, what made the movie fly for me was the music (go figure!).
As I think of the many dimensions documentaries have taken recently, from the ersatz 'Fahrenheit' to the authentic 'Metallica,' I am pleased to report the biopic remains whole, with Irwin Winkler's ('Life as a House') 'De-Lovely,' the life in song about Cole Porter and his wife, Linda.I say 'in song' because barely a moment in not accompanied by Porter's music so recognizable I can cite 'Night and Day,' 'In the Still of the Night,' 'Anything Goes,' 'Let's Misbehave,' and 'True Love' without research help or the least provocation.
Judd's portrayal relies on her porcelain beauty, wry smile, and serene wisdom in the service of an unconditional love that cost Linda in embarrassment, extorted money, and time away from Porter.Songs interpreted by Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, and Diana Krall, among others, bring the film into the present with the 'timeless' effect without compromising flawless period depiction of the Jazz Age and Tin Pan Alley.
In the end this biopic helped me understand the rewarding and demanding life of Cole Porter, gave me over two hours of glorious song and dance, and made me see again the allure of true love that transcends sex and ego.
But these are mere quibbles compared to the movie's strengths, especially as we are treated to Natalie Cole, Vivian Green and Diana Krall doing superb renditions of Porter's music."De-Lovely" is the first musical I have seen that I really liked and where I also found myself humming along to the music.
after the movie finished a young man with a foreign accent sitting near me asked me the following question."did some-one like him really exist and did he write all those words and the music as well." I was able to tell him a few more things about the legendary man and his music because as an amateur jazz pianist I have always envied the wonderful literacy and the every lasting notes that Cole Porter put together.
I've been singing and playing Cole Porter's music on the piano for fifteen years now as well as listening to his songs done by greats like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.
One example is how the movie uses the song 'True Love' to depict the seeming duality Porter had in his feelings towards Linda and his 'other life', shall we say.
The film tries to have it both ways -- mainstreaming Porter so an audience that loved his music could handle it, and still showing what they seem to portray as a "seemy" underside to his life.
For instance, the very woman who was supposed to have inspired this movie, Cole Porter's wife Linda, also was reported to have given the song "De-lovely", its name.
Overall, this movie does a fair-to-excellent job of showing both the highs and lows of a complex relationship and of the man himself.I was pleased to see that accomplished singer Kline was able to croak out the songs that his character wrote, because Porter was known to be a poor singer.
DE-LOVELY (2004) *** Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, Jonatahan Pryce, (Cameos: Robbie Williams, Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, Mick Hucknall, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole) Kline gives a marvelously sublime turn as acclaimed songsmith Cole Porter whose career as one of the preeminent song writers of the twentieth century was inspired by his wife Linda (the usually irritable Judd who acquits herself nicely), whose marriage sustained quite a bit due to Porter's homosexual predilections which are depicted with class thanks to director Irwin Winkler who uses the flashback as seen by an aged Porter viewing his fabulous career as well as the pitfalls with a decidedly unsubtle angel (Pryce) escorting him into the afterlife thanks to a workman-like screenplay by Jay Cocks.
The two main things wrong with this movie are as follows: the screenplay is NOT true to Cole Porter's life story, and some of the vocal and musical performances are truly terrible.Cole Porter was homosexual.
The film "De-Lovely" attempts to make out the married life of Cole and Linda Lee Porter as if this were some classic Hollywood love story.
My favorite musical performance in this movie was the recording heard at the end behind the credits of Cole Porter himself singing "You're the Top".
I really enjoyed watching Kevin Kline's new film "De-Lovely" last night though can see why people looking for "Moulin Rouge 2" will be disappointed.The film is a semi musical which traces the life of Cole and Lynda Lee Porter from their meeting in Paris to the end of their lives.
It follows Porter's rise from playing at parties to producing Broadway blockbusters and Hollywood soundtracks whilst his wife has to contend with his lifestyle.The film stars Kevin Kline as Cole Porter - perfect casting and should hopefully sometime do a musical / play in London before too long - and Ashley Judd as Lynda Lee Porter - wonderful & elegant and has a good singing voice as well.The film also stars Jonathan Pryce, John Barrowman, Keith Allen, Kevin McNally as well as cameo's by Robbie Williams, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Alanis Morrisette and many others all singing Porter's songs.I thought the film was wonderfully tender and a love story about two people who accepted each others wants outside of their marriage and whom were devoted to one another.Added to this, some stunning renditions of numbers from "Anything Goes", "Kiss Me, Kate", "Night and Day" and many others.The two hours (plus) flew by and I'd recommend taking some tissues.I'd recommend this film to anyone who likes love stories, the music of Cole Porter and want a film which doesn't involve car chases, gratuitous swearing and nudity.PS I really like Moulin Rouge (saw it twice and went to the UK Premiere).
It is a great musical in the `they don't make em like that any more' sense, a poignantly heartwarming love story with true emotional depth (and a twist), a celebration of life and happiness (as well as a recognition and understanding of life's tragedies), and a star vehicle for two truly talented actor/singers, Kevin Klein and Ashley Judd, plus a plethora of cameo appearances by currently popular singers (including Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow and Natalie Cole) who obviously are singing their songs more for love (of Cole Porter) than money.As depicted in De-Lovely, Cole Porter possessed more joie-de-vivre than perhaps any man in history, and he wrote his songs straight from the heart.
While this last observation may be my own singular and subjective problem, I squirmed mentally as I tried to figure out whether the makeup artists wanted to make Kevin Kline look like an aging Jeff Daniels, or a real-time Carl Reiner?It would be nearly impossible to destroy Porter's music; the quality is there regardless of the interpretation.
Some of the costumes, stagings and vocals are ludicrous: the costuming and set design for the Venetian duet, two people who appear not to like each other or the fit of their costumes; and the feeble-voiced crooning of a "Mountie" [Nelson Eddy - sound alike]: NOT!Then there is the presentation of Porter, the man [Kline] and his long-suffering wife [Ashley Judd, excellent with the role she's given].
Real figures such as Sara and Gerald Murphy were included but never explained,nor was Monte Woolley - and as for what they did to L.B. Mayer with "Be a Clown" - well, Mayer's family should sue - obviously Fred Astaire's family wisely refused permission to have him portrayed in the film, which is why somebody named 'Jack' over-sings "Night and Day".As the older Porter, Kevin Kline's makeup resembled nothing so much as Jim Backus as Thurston Howell on "Gilligan's Island." This movie really doesn't give the viewer a sense of Porter's place in musical theater history - for instance, he had five hits with Ethel Merman alone, and really had about as much to do with the real Porter as the earlier "Night And Day" did - they were simply able now to show his "other interests".
I knew when I heard some of the songs on the website that there would be trouble - todays performers simply don't know how to put over a Cole Porter song - they all either try too hard (like the awful Ethel Merman impersonation), or are completely out of their league (Elvis Costello?????) or, like Sheryl Crow, never even get near Cole Porter's exquisite melody.The only reason I don't rate this movie an absolute "0" is because the production values were good - the photography included some very nice time-transitions, and the costumes were lovely..
We get the odd scene in which we get to know that he has an eye for the boys, but the film likes to think that it's a romance between Porter and his wife, Linda (Ashley Judd in comedy latex make-up).
For the time investment of a few simple key-strokes and mouse clicks, you'll be able to learn and truly appreciate more about Cole Porter, his life, his music and his genius, than this blanched, consumptive Kevin Kline vehicle could ever hope to provide..
For the time investment of a few simple key-strokes and mouse clicks, you'll be able to learn and truly appreciate more about Cole Porter, his life, his music and his genius, than this blanched, consumptive Kevin Kline vehicle could ever hope to provide..
The opening scenes of Irwin Winkler's "De-Lovely" are hardly promising: Kevin Kline--in old man's makeup--playing songwriter Cole Porter, being led somewhat reluctantly by a friendly guide through his colorful, extravagant life filled with friends, lovers, and his longtime wife and supporter, Linda (it smacks a bit of Dickens).
The result was a 1946 film biography that put many of Porter's greatest songs before the camera while casting handsome Cary Grant as the waspish Porter and lovely Alexis Smith as the somewhat icy Linda--a movie that went over well with audiences but which actually had very little basis in reality.The 2004 DE-LOVELY takes a considerably different tack.
This is the film where you'll see Robbie Williams, Sheryl Crow, John Barrowman, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, Mick Hucknall, Alanis Morrisette and others perform his works, while Kline performs one or two numbers very well himself (notably 'Be a Clown' which turns into a joyous studio set parade).Enjoyable and sadly not a great hit on its release, it should be better known and more celebrated.
I meen it was far too long but it was good look on an era where certain things in society had to be hid away.it was good to see Kevin Kline do a good performance of Cole Porter, sure the musical moments are brinking on embarrassing at times but he is a damn fine actor The best performance though was by Ashley Judd playing Linda Porter by a mile.
It is like they decided to make a film about Cole Porter, only to suddenly remember that he wrote a few songs and therefore they felt they had no choice but to include some of them in the story -- but only if they didn't get in the way.
The film gives us Jonathan Pryce as Gabe (Gabriel), a figure of death who visits a declining, elderly Porter (Kevin Kline) and allows him to review his life as if it was a new musical stage production.
Music from a Cole Porter story should ring in your memory for days, not allow you leave the film feeling like you have been merely pleasantly entertained..
Subsequently, I was mentally primed for a gratifying movie experience that not only touched upon Cole Porter's music, but a more honest portrayal about his personal life, as well.The introduction of decency codes in Hollywood film-making and the swing in public opinion regarding the gay community had great impact on personal lives at the beginning of the Great Depression.
I knew nothing about the man (except having heard a few of his songs occasionally), so this biography/musical hybrid opened my eyes to the man behind some of the classic music of the 20th century, and also his private life, which, I heard, was better represented here than in Night and Day, the Cary Grant version of Porter's life.Porter (Kevin Kline), who, when the movie begins, is already established as a songwriter and occasional singer (although his singing voice isn't as good as others-Kline perfected this), at a part, falls in love with Linda (Ashley Judd, doing something more than formulaic crime thrillers).
But the way Kline and Ashley Judd play off each other, (and with a fine script by Jay Cocks), I could easily believe the way she inspired him.Cole Porter's songs are sung exceptionally well by all the singers, and I especially loved Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow (who I didn't expect to like), Alanis Morissette, Natalie Cole, and Robbie Williams.
Will probably get at least ONE nomination.The film weaves a complex thread between Cole's life, loves and music, the songs executed by Kevin Kline and a star studded cast of Jazz and pop performers - If you're into these contemporary singers - Elvis Costello, Alanis Morrisette, Sheryl Crow, Diana Krall, etc then sight recognition of the singers will all be part of the fun.
But this was a terrible, sappy, dreary movie about partyboy Porter's supposed love life with tons of unimaginative musical numbers sung by Kevin Kline (who was too old for most of the scenes and whose non-singer's voice grows v-e-r-y weary after a while).
"De-Lovely" is a musical biography of Cole Porter, a GREAT American composer.The opening scene is one of those scenes that is so good that it, alone, is worth seeing the movie for.A darkened, high-rise apartment.
I never knew where this would lead, but suffice it to say I was hooked and watched the special times in Porter's life which showed us his main love and wife, Linda (Judd), his gay lovers and, of course, his music.
Some may think that Kevin Kline would not be a good fit for the Cole Porter role (I know I had reservations), but he aces it along with everyone else in this wonderful story about one of our greatest song writers.
Perhaps this is because I knew very little about Cole Porter and so had no real reference point for the story, although I've often enjoyed hearing his songs.Kevin Kline, an actor I don't usually care for, steals the show, and Ashley Judd is an able and most photogenic foil.
The complication and contradictions of Cole Porter's double life between homosexuality and his love for his wife did not seem very complicated nor hard for Kevin Kline's character to deal with.
so disappointing .....to one like myself brought up with a great love and respect for the musical genius of Cole Porter..........
De-Lovely is an overlong, poorly structured biopic that works far better than it should, thanks to a diverse array of musical performances and an honest examination of its complex subject, composer Cole Porter.The film follows Porter's life from his carefree promiscuity in 1920s France, where Porter (Kevin Kline) woos wife to be, Linda Lee (Ashley Judd) to his solitary death in the 1960s.
Kevin Kline hits another one out of the park as musical legend Cole Porter in "De-Lovely," a biopic of the legendary musician's personal and professional life from his early career on.The film is far more accurate and truthful about Cole's life than the sugar-coated "Night and Day" (1946) starring Cary Grant, which was made too soon and at a time when the homosexual aspects of Cole's life (which are portrayed quite elegantly in De-Lovely) were still verboten in society.The heart and soul of De-Lovely lies in the relationship between Cole and his soul mate/"wife" Linda, who share a unique, but always loving marriage.
The movie asks the question: Who does Cole Porter think about when he is writing love songs?
I also never knew anything about Cole Porter or his life, much less that he wrote many of the very popular tunes we've heard.I believe Kevin Kline performed amazingly in this movie, along with Ashley Judd's performance.
The cameo performances in the film were so fabulous to enjoy with the various artists.Mr. Kline & Ms. Judd, thank you for bringing Cole Porter's life more into the light and for me to enjoy.
We all know the story is about Cole Porter's life, including his sexuality, his inspirations for his music, his wife, and just Hollywood in general back then.
The movie tells us the life of Cole Porter, and beside having a chance to listen to all his famous songs, we can take part in a very romantic, yet realistic love story.
Ashley Judd was also impressive as Porter's wife.The music and the artists who performed Porter's songs were "De-Lovely".
It's the film's main weakness.But it's a minor point when you are treated for two hours of Cole Porter's life and music brought to us by some of today's best performers. |
tt0063429 | The Pink Jungle | A fashion photographer, Ben Morris, goes to a remote South America location to take pictures of model Alison Duquesne for a lipstick ad. An adventurer they encounter, Sammy Ryderbeit, steals their helicopter and leaves them stranded in the village.
When the three are reunited, they discover a treasure map on the corpse of the late Captain Stopes and the three team up to find it. They encounter McCune, a clever Australian who claims to be Stopes' former partner.
McCune steals everyone's supplies and mules and takes off, but he is hunted down by Ryderbeit and killed. The remaining three make it to the diamond mine, only to find that a South American bandit leader, Raul Ortega, has beaten them to it. A battle leads to Ortega being seized and his men killed.
Ryderbeit makes off with the helicopter and diamonds before anyone can stop him. Local law officials are satisfied to have the long-wanted Ortega in custody at last. In an unexpected twist, Ben reveals he is not just a photographer but a U.S. government agent assigned to quell a revolution led by Ortega. Because of Ryderbeit's assistance, Morris lets him get away with the loot. | romantic | train | wikipedia | It's A Lipstick People. Without a doubt James Garner is one of the best comedic actors of the last half of the 20th century. His timing and facial expressions add so much to any film he's in. The Pink Jungle however is one unusual type of comedy for him. It can probably best be compared to the Humphrey Bogart-John Huston cult classic, Beat the Devil. It's a satire on those adventure in exotic places films that people like Bogart did. The Pink Jungle was invested with a bit more money and had better production values than Beat the Devil even though it never got near South America. But a lot of the satire still fell flat.Garner is a fashion photographer who together with world renowned model Eva Renzi is plunked down in the middle of some South American jungle in an unnamed country on a shoot. It seems as though some smart Madison Avenue types think it would be a grand idea to shoot Renzi in a real jungle for their product, a lipstick called Pink Jungle.But before long Garner and Renzi get involved in the local political situation, they kind of stumble into it and they're off on a diamond hunt with George Kennedy and Nigel Green. The players do their best and Garner is good in anything, but my favorite is Italian actor Fabricio Mioni who's been demoted to this backwater and would like to make a big arrest and kind of zeroes in on Garner as a suspicious character.I will say this, the ending is quite a surprise, something along the lines of the John Wayne film, The Train Robbers.. Light-Hearted 60s Fluff. If you're a fan of James Garnder, George Kennedy or Nigel Green, then The Pink Jungle will make an enjoyable late night flick. It's light-hearted fluff to say the least. Lots of cornball jokes, over-the-top acting, stereotyping of Latinos, and light action. The whole movie looks like it was filmed on the back lot of Universial Studios. George Kennedy steals the movie as a rough and tumble Diamond smuggler. James Gardner does a pre-Rockford type performance. Nigel Green is the "Bad Guy", and beautiful Eva Renzi provides the love interest. Michael Ansara and George Rose give their typical solid performances. If it's a late, rainy, stormy night, then The Pink Jungle is a nice way to kill about two hours.. Needs a jungle and other eye candy.. I do like this movie. If nothing else, it has pleasant memories from when I saw it with my family, first at a drive-in theater in 1968, then on TV in the early 1970s. It's a decent family movie, sort of an Indiana Jones type adventure movie that should appeal to boys, which it did (to me), there are a number of fairly humorous scenes and lines, and the sex and violence are mostly implied rather than depicted. Even my dad enjoyed the movie, especially rugged Sammy's line "Strain it through your teeth."On the downside, however, I have to admit it's awfully forgettable. Years after my first two viewings I couldn't remember anything about it other than the "Strain it through your teeth" quote, and even after renting the video in the 1980s, again I forgot virtually everything about it within a few years. Also on the downside is that there is virtually no jungle. "Pink Jungle" is the name of a lipstick, and although the tiny town where the model and photographer land is in a jungly area where the photographer supposedly planned to photograph real savages in a real jungle, and although they buy a purple Cattleya orchid from a passing merchant, somehow the jungle is quickly and completely forgotten from the plot as soon as the couple leaves on a diamond- hunting expedition across an all-desert terrain for the majority of the film. Desert scenery is fine, but it is rightfully a let-down for those who paid to see an adventure set in a jungle. Sorry, no Indiana Jones jungle caverns or giant spiders here. Sadly, the presence of a real jungle in the film probably would have made the film much more memorable: deserts are the standard setting for numerous Westerns, but jungles are more reserved for a few exotic films along the lines of Tarzan films, so jungles are inherently more interesting and exotic--therefore more memorable. If the filmmakers were going to rent helicopters and film desert panoramas anyway, they could at least have treated us to some nice aerial shots.Speaking of scenery, obviously the film missed some golden opportunities for some female eye candy, too, since the light blue peignoir shown to the Customs men, the "Naked Savage" title, the presence of a female model, and McCune's pressure to have Alison stay in his tent all hint of visuals that are never even approached in the film. Another desert adventure movie, "Mackenna's Gold" (1969), did this right just one year later.The trio on the expedition (Mr. Morris, Alison, and Sammy) are all likable characters in their own ways, and I was impressed with the smooth acting and demeanor of James Garner (Mr. Morris) and George Kennedy (Sammy). The early part of the movie is highly stereotyped, especially the bar scenes, where the characters even make fun of the cloak-and-dagger stereotypes around them, and there are instrumental bossa nova night club standards from the '60s (e.g., "The Girl from Ipanema," "Summer Samba").Speaking of music, the soundtrack is much better than I remembered or expected. The opening theme song is an appealing but unknown bossa nova instrumental with Latin percussion and acoustic guitar playing rock chords, and all the night club songs are quite pleasant bossa nova tunes, too. I doubt a soundtrack album exists but it surely would have been very nice.There's not much more I can think to say about the movie. There are several clever capture evasion tricks throughout the film, and a major twist at the end that is cute but seriously lacks logic or realism, in my opinion. I didn't get any sense of real romance in the movie, although evidently it was supposed to be there. Oh well, if nothing else, the movie should leave you wondering what their local "Lobusta" rum tastes like.. Rather Boring and Hollow. I didn't know anything about the film before seeing it. I just saw it on the shelf at my local library and the cover made me think it might be a fun flick, a la "Romancing the Stone." Well, it wasn't.There is plenty of potential for fun, adventure and intrigue (as the cover promises) with Garner, Kennedy and Renzi - who's quite easy on the eyes. But the story (which the plot summary does a fine - albeit no frills - job of covering) and acting is so lackluster, it never gets off the ground. Poorly timed jokes delivered with about as much enthusiasm as someone reading a dictionary; action that is very stilted and uninspired; and intrigue? - it was tacked on to the last 30 seconds of the film.Besides the fact that less than a few minutes of this takes place in what anyone could consider a "jungle" (after viewing the movie, I found out the title actually refers to a color of lipstick, but the picture on the cover makes it look like it might take place in a jungle setting). The bulk of the movie actually takes place in the desert. In theory, there's nothing wrong with that - but that's not what I was expecting from the title and the cover.Rather disappointing, overall.My rating: 5 |
tt0091613 | Native Son | === Book One: Fear ===
Bigger Thomas wakes up in a dark, small room at the sound of the alarm clock. He lives in one room with his brother Buddy, his sister Vera, and their mother. Suddenly, a rat appears. The room turns into a maelstrom and after a violent chase, Bigger claims the life of the animal with an iron skillet and terrorizes Vera with the dead rodent. Vera faints and Mrs. Thomas scolds Bigger, who hates his family because they suffer and he cannot do anything about it.
That evening, Bigger has to see Mr. Dalton for a new job. Bigger's family depends on him. He would like to leave his responsibilities forever but when he thinks of what to do, he only sees a blank wall. He walks to the poolroom and meets his friend, Gus. Bigger tells him that every time he thinks about whites, he feels something terrible will happen to him. They meet other friends, G.H. and Jack, and plan a robbery of the white wealth. They are all afraid of attacking and stealing from a white man, but none of them wants to admit their concerns. Before the robbery, Bigger and Jack go to the movies. They are attracted to the world of wealthy whites in the newsreel and feel strangely moved by the tom-toms and the primitive black people in the film, but they also feel that they are equal to those worlds. After the cinema, Bigger returns to the poolroom and attacks Gus violently, forcing him to lick his blade in a demeaning way to hide his own cowardice. The fight ends any chance of the robbery occurring; Bigger is obscurely conscious that he has done this intentionally.
When he finally gets the job, Bigger does not know how to behave in the large and luxurious house. Mr. Dalton and his blind wife use strange words. They try to be kind to Bigger, but they actually make him very uncomfortable; Bigger does not know what they expect of him. Then their daughter, Mary, enters the room, asks Bigger why he does not belong to a union, and calls her father a "capitalist". Bigger does not know that word and is even more confused and afraid to lose the job. After the conversation, Peggy, an Irish cook, takes Bigger to his room and tells him that the Daltons are a nice family, but that he must avoid Mary's communist friends. Bigger has never had a room for himself before.
That night, he drives Mary around and meets her Communist boyfriend Jan. Throughout the evening, Jan and Mary talk to Bigger, oblige him to take them to the diner where his friends are, invite him to sit at their table, and tell him to call them by their first names. Bigger does not know how to respond to their requests and becomes very frustrated, as he is simply their chauffeur for the night. At the diner, they buy a bottle of rum. Bigger drives throughout Washington Park, and Jan and Mary drink the rum and make out in the back seat. Jan and Mary part, but Mary is so drunk that Bigger has to carry her to her bedroom when they arrive home. He is terrified someone will see him with her in his arms; however, he cannot resist the temptation of the forbidden, and he kisses her.
Just then, the bedroom door opens, and Mrs. Dalton enters. Bigger knows she is blind but is terrified she will sense him there. He silences Mary by pressing a pillow into her face. Mary claws at Bigger's hands while Mrs. Dalton is in the room, trying to alert Bigger that she cannot breathe. Mrs. Dalton approaches the bed, smells alcohol in the air, scolds her daughter, and leaves. As Bigger removes the pillow, he realizes that Mary has suffocated. Bigger starts thinking frantically, and decides he will tell everyone that Jan, her Communist boyfriend, took Mary into the house that night. Thinking it will be better if Mary disappears and everyone thinks she has left Chicago, he decides in desperation to burn her body in the house's furnace. Her body would not originally fit through the furnace opening, but after decapitating her, Bigger finally manages to put the corpse inside. He adds extra coal to the furnace, leaves the corpse to burn, and goes home.
=== Book Two: Flight ===
Bigger's current girlfriend Bessie suspects him of having done something to Mary. Bigger goes back to work. Mr. Dalton has called a private detective, Mr. Britten. Britten interrogates Bigger accusingly, but Mr. Dalton vouches for Bigger. Bigger relates the events of the previous evening in a way calculated to throw suspicion on Jan, knowing Mr. Dalton dislikes Jan because he is a Communist. When Britten finds Jan, he puts the boy and Bigger in the same room and confronts them with their conflicting stories. Jan is surprised by Bigger's story but offers him help.
Bigger storms away from the Daltons. He decides to write a false kidnapping note when he discovers that the owner of the rat-infested flat his family rents is Mr. Dalton. Bigger slips the note under the Daltons' front door and then returns to his room. When the Daltons receive the note, they contact the police, who take over the investigation from Britten, and journalists soon arrive at the house. Bigger is afraid, but he does not want to leave. In the afternoon, he is ordered to take the ashes out of the furnace and make a new fire. He is terrified and starts poking the ashes with the shovel until the whole room is full of smoke. Furious, one of the journalists takes the shovel and pushes Bigger aside. He immediately finds the remains of Mary's bones and an earring in the furnace, and Bigger flees.
Bigger goes directly to Bessie and tells her the whole story. Bessie realizes that white people will think he raped the girl before killing her. They leave together, but Bigger has to drag Bessie around because she is paralyzed by fear. When they lie down together in an abandoned building, Bigger rapes Bessie and falls asleep. In the morning, he decides that he has to kill her in her sleep. He hits Bessie on the head with a brick before throwing her through a window and into an air shaft. He quickly realizes that the only money he had was in her pocket.
Bigger runs through the city. He sees newspaper headlines concerning the crime and overhears different conversations about it. Whites hate him and blacks hate him because he brought shame on the black race. After a wild chase over the rooftops of the city, the police catch him.
=== Book Three: Fate ===
During his first few days in prison, Bigger does not eat, drink, or talk to anyone. Then Jan comes to visit him. He says Bigger has taught him a lot about black-white relationships and offers him the help of a communist lawyer named Max. In the long hours Max and Bigger spend talking, he starts understanding his relationships with his family and with the world. He acknowledges his fury, his need for a future, and his wish for a meaningful life. He reconsiders his attitudes about white people, whether they are aggressive like Britten, or accepting like Jan. Bigger is found guilty in front of the court and sentenced to death for murder; however, at the end of the novel, he appears to come to terms with his fate. | tragedy, depressing, murder | train | wikipedia | A terrible adaptation of a wonderful book.
I'm not sure what Diane Silver was thinking when she was making this movie, but it obviously had nothing to do with Richard Wright's novel, which the movie is based on.We read the novel this past summer for AP English 12, and just watched the film.
During periodic note-taking and checking of the clock, I contemplated the chances of being struck by lightning.
Of course, the sky was completely clear, and I was forced to watch the rest of the movie...
and then write a 5-paragraph essay on it.Wright's novel discussed very real themes, of the mind of a killer and the psychology behind it.
Silver's movie turned a murderer into a victim, which is NOT what Wright wanted (see: "How Bigger was Born" 454).I'm going to make this short and sweet: if you want to leave your consciousness, in Raphael Lambert's words, unsullied, skip the movie and read the book.
The 1986 adaptation is not thought-provoking material....
::sigh:: Now I have to write the essay..
Doesn't have the impact the novel had.
Synopsis: A young black man from the poor streets of Chicago, gets the opportunity of a lifetime working as a chauffer for a wealthy family.
But in an effort not to jeopardize his first day on the job, something goes horribly wrong leaving him responsible for a murder.The Review: Richard Wright's novel is an intense depiction of one man, trying to protect and better himself, whose own self is unwillfully brought into something he just gets into deeper.
The book itself is five hundred pages and broken down into three separate novellas.
One chunk of the book is exclusively devoted to a lawyer's speech about racism, that was completely excised from the film.
The film, in a manner of speaking, is relatively different because it's compressed all the information.
The film lacks the spark the book had as well as the impact.
Not much sympathy can be said for any of the characters because their development just isn't strong enough.
It's a distorted film that doesn't have any strengths to it, and the climax at the end, is really broken down to nothing more than just a series of edited scenes and voiceovers.
If you love the novel, and want to see the film, just stick with the novel, because they simply aren't the same.
Grade: C-.
lots of talent, but a dramatic misfire.
Few movies ever measure up to the books they're based on, and sometimes the only safe way to judge a literary adaptation is on its own terms, as if the source material never existed.
Which makes the screen version of Richard Wright's celebrated novel — faithfully set in 1940 Chicago — a curiously dated social artifact.
It demands a little mental arithmetic to update the story, about an angry young ghetto black who, in a moment of fear and desperation, accidentally suffocates the daughter of the wealthy, white family for whom he works as a servant.
The issues of black and white are rightfully shown to be shaded with gray, but the production may be too slick for its own good.
The film might have worked better had it been more harsh and controversial, more willing to disturb the complacency of self-satisfied viewers who, like Elizabeth McGovern's character, seek to prove their open-minded color blindness by their condescending ignorance of the wide gulf separating the two races.
A talented, high profile cast is enough reason to recommend the film..
Raises many important issues..
This was a good film.
It had some flaws, but was well worth a viewing.
It takes on many issues which most current films gloss over or ignore entirely.This is the second film of "Native Son," a Richard Wright book about a young black man who gets caught up in some tragic events in 1940's Chicago.
Bigger Thomas, the young protagonist, goes to work for a wealthy white family after some prodding from his mother, played by Oprah Winfrey.
He is drawn into the aforementioned events by the family's young and slightly wild daughter, played by Elizabeth McGovern.There are several good scenes where the tension and a sense of claustrophobia is palpable.
A scene near the end in a police station, in which all the main characters convene around Bigger, is effective but problematic.
This scene is overwrought and unrealistic - there is no way all those people would be in the same room at once."Native Son" delves into the issues of racism, poverty and integration.
It doesn't have easy answers for the audience, but rather leaves the questions out there for the viewer to ponder..
Good job.
Bigger is a teenager who is so poor he and his mother must share a bedroom in an apartment that appears to be falling apart, and they don't have enough money to eat well.
When they get out of bed, two other hidden children pop up from under the covers--Bigger's sister sleeps with her mother, and his brother sleeps with him, and the males must turn around while the females get dressed.
To improve their situation, Bigger's mother knows of a great opportunity for him and hopes he will finally get a job he can hold on to.
If he doesn't, things could be even worse (at least they HAVE a home now).Bigger goes to be with his friends when he should be interviewing for the job.
He lets them know he will NOT work for the white man.
Yet he does finally show up at the home of a rich family, and immediately turns into what his friends would likely call an Uncle Tom--not Stepin Fetchit, but respectful and polite.Everything appears to be going well for a while, but then something quite terrible changes the situation drastically.Oprah Winfrey came across quite convincingly as a poor black mother.
This was in the days before she became a superstar talk show host.
I won't say it's too bad she was successful in her best-known career, because she did so much good, but she could have been quite a fine actress.
Victor Love was good as Bigger, primarily because Bigger had to be so convincing in order to keep his job.
A great performance came from John Karlen as a defense lawyer (yes, someone needed a lawyer).This was an African Heritage Network Monthly Movie Classic.
It wasn't as good as some movies selected for this honor, but it was pretty good..
A reasonable adaptation, could've been better..
Having been on set a few days I can say the acting overall was very good.
A good early dramatic performance by Oprah.
(Hint: She get's in a funky blue mood by singing spirituals offstage between takes) And a very impressive performance by Victor Love.
Since everybody was working for scale all the names were to be listed and evenly credited.Question: Who played Oprah's daughter?
Diamond Dawn Cook (AKA: AdrienneCook) That's not in the IMDb database.I was also impressed by the rat wrangler.
Who knew so much effort went into that one scene.
One rat to skitter across the floor.
One to cower in the corner.
And one killed, though not really with a frying pan..
This story blows...book and movie(s)....
Hey look, deal with it, there are much better portrayals of the hardship of black America than this.
Although I think this story is weak, my criticism is focused on the poor execution of the story, which I have mentioned, blows.This was made in the mid-80's and is horrible in the music/score department.
It's funny to see Oprah as a latter-day crack-whore type.The scene where Bigger stuffs Elizabeth McGovern into the incinerator.
Pure classic cinema.
First off, I don't care how drunk you are, you will react to 1200F degree flame (no matter how bad your acting).
But they really milked that scene...it was comical.
I'll tell you what though, I had great satisfaction in seeing Elizabeth McGovern burn in a faux death; she annoys me..
Bla--One of the WORST.
Of all the movies I've seen, this one rates almost at the bottom (Haunted Mansion, Nothing but Trouble and a few others keep it from reaching rock bottom.) It is hasty, the story is shaky and the events depicted are poorly acted.
Of course we have to lay some of this at the book writer's door.
The book the movie was filmed after is outrageously ponderous, and illogical.
Oprah gives a palatable appearance as "Bigger's" mom, but is not nearly at her potential.
Other famous performers also seem to be at their worst.
The plot which centers around an African American who decided to take a job as a chauffeur.
In driving the family daughter to a communist dinner he becomes acquainted.
One thing leads to another and the girl gets drunk.
Now the family he's working for are not against blacks, but he thinks they are.
So when he comes home he puts her to bed, but she begins caterwauling.
The blind mother (yes) hears this, so Bigger tries to silence her, but instead smothers her.
Now fearing he's really in trouble for killing a white girl he does what any logical thinking man would do--he shoves her into the coal furnace.
So investigators are carrying out a missing person case and lo they check the furnace (the idiot didn't have the foresight to get rid of the ashes.
He is then arrested and the last hour or so are obnoxious segments from the courtroom.
If your desperate for a bad movie, this one could do the job, but if you seriously want to learn about culture issues in th 40's and 50's or see a good drama, there are a lot better options.
Avoid this. |
tt0112065 | The Maxx | === Main story arc ===
Mr. Gone, a serial rapist with a telepathic link to Julie, has extensive knowledge of and access to other people's Outbacks. He starts phoning Julie, but she thinks he is merely an obscene phone caller and ignores him. Eventually, the Maxx gets in Gone's way by "protecting" Julie. Gone tries to kill him with assistance from the Outback's main predators, the Isz. The Maxx fights him in both the Outback and the real world.
Eventually, Mr. Gone makes Julie see the truth about her past and reveals to her how the Maxx came to be. Gone first met Julie when she was a child as "Uncle Artie", a friend of her father; his tall tales about a visit to Australia helped shape Julie's Outback. As Julie begins healing herself and the Outback, the series starts following Sara, a depressed teenager whose mother sends her to Julie for counseling. Sara is often in conflict with her mother, who disciplines her so she won't grow up to be like her father - Mr. Gone.
=== Backstory ===
The backstories of several characters are revealed midway through the series. While in college, Julie picks up a hitch-hiker, who beats and rapes her before finally leaving her to die. To cope, she hides in what is referred to as her 'Outback' (a primeval landscape situated entirely in her subconscious, where she has control). In The Outback, she becomes "The Jungle Queen", an all-powerful goddess. She spends so much time dwelling in her Outback that the real world and The Outback gradually become unstable.
One night, she accidentally hits a homeless man with her car. Remembering what happened the last time she stopped to help someone, she covers the unconscious body with trash, but in doing so she unintentionally opens a link to the Outback. After Julie leaves, a lampshade in the trash (which had brushed the Outback) expands over the man's body, becoming a mask that costumes him and links him to Julie.
=== Second storyline ===
After the conclusion of the first storyline, the action leaps forward from 1995 (the then-present) to the year 2005. Julie and Dave (the former Maxx) having vanished, the action focuses on Sara (as she now spells her name) and Iago, a giant, murderous banana slug from her Outback. Iago has a list of people to kill, and it turns out that Julie and Sara are both on it. Sara is hounded by a homeless man named Norbert whom she soon realizes is her Maxx. Sara has constant confrontations with Mr. Gone, who is repentant of his past crimes. He is visited by three special agents intent on arresting him, but he turns them into insects. Later, after reading a diary he leaves for her that reveals his tragic origin story, Sara eventually feels sympathy for and a connection to her father. She also begins developing a strange power that she may be inheriting from Mr. Gone.
Julie and Dave return to the story after Julie is attacked by Iago and loses a few fingers. It turns out that Julie abandoned her son, Mark, to keep him safe from Iago. She tries to have Dave tell Mark that she's dead so he will stop seeking her out, but Mark doesn't believe him. Sara, Dave, Mark, Mr. Gone and Norbert band together to rescue Julie from Iago, who kidnaps her and takes her into Sara's outback. Norbert cuts Iago open, apparently defeating him, but Julie has already escaped.
Mr. Gone soon reveals that time is unraveling for the group, which now includes Glorie, one of Mr. Gone's past victims who now has a friendly relationship with him. Gone returns Dave's Maxx power to him. Sara returns as a being whom different people perceive as a giant Isz, pink fairy or football. Mark has an odd dream about eccentric kidnappers. Each member of the group begins to disappear from reality to be reborn in another. Before Mr. Gone can disappear, the three agents who previously tried to arrest him, who now appear as humanoid beings with insect bug heads, return and kill him, as he expected. Mark is the last to disappear.
In Julie's outback, Mr. Gone is reunited with Sara, who is now a child again. The Maxx considers attacking him, but the Jungle Queen says to leave him be, because even evil deserves a place to rest.
In the new reality, Mr. Gone is a professor and Dave is a janitor at his school. Julie and Mark are still mother and son, but seem to live in better conditions. All the principal characters now lead completely different lives, yet retain a small part of their connection to the Outback and to each other. | fantasy, realism, allegory, alternate reality, flashback, psychedelic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0443559 | Killshot | Mafia hitman Armand Degas, known as "Blackbird", is hired to assassinate a mafia leader, whom he calls "Papa". Afterwards, he meets Richie Nix at a bar, where they decide to team up. Meanwhile, Wayne and Carmen Colson are living separated, with Carmen living in the house. Wayne gets fired from his construction job and decides to try to get a job at the same place as Carmen. When Wayne shows up at the office of Carmen's boss wearing a suit he gets mistaken as the man Richie and Blackbird are shaking down. When Richie starts trashing the office and demanding the money at gunpoint Wayne tells them he has it out in the car. He leads them out to his truck pretending to get money and instead grabs a metal rod from the back of his truck and attacks them. After knocking the gun out of Richie's hand and knocking Blackbird down Wayne chases Richie back into the building. Richie pulls one of his boots off to get his other gun and shoots at Wayne a few times before Wayne throws the metal rod at him and tackles him, knocking him out the window and crashing into a gazebo. They flee, but the Colsons have seen Blackbird, a man that no one is supposed to see.
Blackbird and Richie pay a visit to Lionel Adam, a local man and fellow Indian tribesman of Blackbird (played by actor Aldred Montoya) who Blackbird had once seen with Wayne. They go duck hunting in the local marshes while Blackbird presses Lionel for Wayne's whereabouts before killing him. They stay the night at the house of Nix's girlfriend Donna. The next day they show up outside of the Colsons' house planning to kill them. Before they can move out of the woods Wayne takes off in his truck after fighting with Carmen. Richie takes off after Wayne leaving Blackbird to kill Carmen. Wayne stops at a convenience store to get some beer and gets shot at by Richie who is robbing the store at the same time. When Richie has to stop to reload Wayne runs out of the store and drives off in his truck. Richie finishes robbing the store and shoots the clerk before he leaves. Meanwhile, at the house, Carmen has seen Blackbird walking toward the door and so she grabs the shotgun Wayne left with her and goes outside to confront him. After talking with Blackbird a bit she shoots at a tree to scare him off before going back inside to call the cops. The next morning while they are talking to the cops an FBI agent shows up and tells them about Blackbird. Because of the situation with Blackbird and the mafia the Colsons are put in Witness Protection services.
Blackbird and Richie figure out the Colsons have gone to Missouri by tricking Carmen's mother into giving Richie their new phone number. Rather than go after them in Missouri Blackbird fakes his and Richie's death by digging up his little brother's body and burning it in a car so that the DNA test would show that the body was related to his brother in prison. With the FBI thinking Blackbird is dead the Colsons no longer need protection and are allowed to return home. Before Blackbird and Richie leave Donna's house to kill the Colsons, Richie shoots Donna out of jealousy because she and Blackbird were getting along too well. When Carmen returns ahead of Wayne she finds Richie and Blackbird waiting.
While Carmen is a hostage, Richie torments her; he sprays her with buck lure. Blackbird tells her she will feel better if she washes herself off. When she comes out of the bathroom in her underwear Richie puts a bullet in her mouth and she spits it on the floor. While they wait for Wayne to come home they sit at the dinner table while Blackbird eats. Richie makes too many off color remarks including one that references Donna as being dead and screwing Elvis in heaven and Blackbird loses patience with him. Blackbird shoots Richie dead and says he did it because "he wasn't who I thought he was."
Wayne comes home, and realizes that his wife is being held hostage. As he runs back to his truck Blackbird bursts out the front door and starts shooting at him. Wayne manages to take cover behind his car and get his shotgun. They exchange fire for a bit before Blackbird hits Wayne with one of his shots. As Blackbird moves in for the killshot, he pauses and turns around to see Carmen pointing Richie's gun at him. Blackbird thinks it is empty because he took the bullets out of it so he doesn't react to the threat, forgetting the one bullet she spit out of her mouth earlier. While Blackbird is distracted by Carmen, Wayne crawls to his shotgun and he and Carmen shoot Blackbird dead at the same time. Wayne and Carmen hug each other outside their house as a pool of blood forms under Blackbird. | philosophical, flashback | train | wikipedia | The plot summary of Killshot sounds as one of many cheap thrillers which infest the dusty shelves of video stores and the night hour from some modest cable-TV channels, because we have two formulas we have seen on many movies from this genre: the retired killer who is going to do his last job, but is betrayed by his powerful bosses and the couple who accidentally witness a crime and have to run from the murderers.But...wait a minute!
Killshot is based on a book written by the brilliant Elmore Leonard,the cast includes various solid actors (Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson and Thomas Jane) and it is directed by John Madden, an Academy Award nominated filmmaker with a competent filmography of art-house films.In other words, before watching this movie, you do not have to expect a cheap straight-to-DVD action film in the lines of the ones which are starred by Wesley Snipes, Marc Dacascos or Steven Seagal.Killshot resulted to be a good thriller,and although it is not very memorable,it kept me entertained.The story from this film is a bit predictable, but the intense performances and precise direction increase the suspense, so the final result is a competent thriller which achieves a good combination between Leonard's "noir" sensibility and a modern cinematographic style.I liked the atmosphere of a small town this movie brings and to see the story set in the frontier of the United States and Canada,offering a different landscape to the typical locations from Los Ángeles or New York.I think the best elements from Killshot are its methodical rhythm and the logical chain of causes and consequences which drive us to a satisfactory ending.Although Killshot does not have much in common with Madden's previous films (Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Proof and the famous Shakespeare in Love), his mature and disciplined work is also seen in here, because he lets the story to flow on a natural rhythm.In conclusion, Killshot is an entertaining thriller, and I can give a recommendation to it, in spite of being a bit predictable and not very memorable..
Armand 'Blackbird' Degas (Mickey Rourke) is a long time hit-man, an American Indian with a past pasted together by tragedies who accepts an assignment to make a new kill.
Nix decides to partner with Blackbird and in the process they encounter a 'couple on the rocks' - Carmen and Wayne Colson (Thomas Jane and Diane Lane) - who happen to witness an incident that puts them in danger of Nix and Blackbird's recipe for not leaving witnesses.
KILLSHOT with Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Thomas Jane, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson and Hal Holbrook, directed by John Madden.
MICKEY Rourke's intense and interesting performance as a troubled hit-man lifts this structurally flawed adaptation of Elmore Leonard's gritty crime novel.
"Killshot is a rather messy film that shows evidence of post-production edits and re-shoots, but Armand, Carmen and Richie are classic Leonard characters, there're one or two good shoot-outs and at least the films retains some of the master crime writer's wonderful trademark dialogue.
First of all, I did take a look at the cast: Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, Diane Lane, Tom Jane...
When real estate agent Carmen Colson catches a glimpse of a hit-man named the Blackbird as he carries out a job, a subsequent request for her to testify against the aging gun for hire soon lands both Carmen and her husband, Wayne , in the Witness Protection Program.
Blackbird isn't a man who likes to leave loose ends when it comes to his work, though, and now as the seasoned assassin and his psychotic partner attempt to catch the couple in their crosshairs, Carmen and Wayne are going to need much more than a few federal agents to make it out of increasingly deadly situation alive Killshot is one of those low budget films that got a very limited release at the start of the year.
There is also some great acting from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the gorgeous Diane Lane.If your into violent gang related movies you wont be disappointed with Killshot.
It was a property that had been in the works for many years dating back to the mid-90s with the Weinsteins and nearly being made with a very intriguing pairing of De Niro in what is now Mickey Rourke's part of Blackbird and Quentin Tarantino in Joseph Gordon-Levitt's part of Richie Nix. And now, several years later, it comes to us direct to DVD (if it had a theatrical release I certainly missed it somehow), and considering its presentation as such, without any special features (out of shame or just not being able to get anyone for comment?) it's not that bad.
At least, not as bad as one might expect, that it would be another total bastardization of a classic Elmore Leonard novel filled with talky tough guys and flawed good guys and one of those plots that's more about character than story.
Well, at least not entirely.Its story is simple: hired killer with a bad rep, Blackbird, is seen by a guy (Thomas Jane) and his ex (Diane Lane) at a real estate office, and he and his not-really partner/mentee low-life Richie Nix need to go after them, because, as the line goes "she's seen my face." There's witness protection program moving, and eventually the killers follow up on their targets, yada yada.
Indeed, and I can't believe I'm writing this, the original choice, Tony Scott, would have been a more ideal candidate.So if the script is only marginally strong, depending on when or when not it seems to take its cues (if not actually take from the source) of the Leonard novel (certain scenes like the Elvis dialog, or the joke about Nix "not like Stevie Nicks, have that Leonard feel, while the characters Lane and Jane play are barely two-dimensional), and the direction only competent, why the partial recommendation?
Mickey Rourke could have potentially sleep-walked through the part, but there is something of a good performance kicking around, and some scenes, like his last scene of dialog with Carmen is compelling and the method he employs (one can see Rourke sticking around Indian reservations for months for such a thankless film) work its stuff.
Richie summons Armand to participate in a scheme to take money from a wealthy real estate agent, but he commits a mistake and the couple Wayne Colson (Thomas Jane) and Carmen Colson (Diane Lane) witness their action.
When legendary native American hit-man Arman 'The Blackbird' Degas (Mickey Rourke) botches a job for the Toronto mafia, he's forced on the run, and hides out with aimless young lunatic criminal Ritchie Nix (Joseph Gordon Levitt), who somewhat reminds him of a litte brother he lost years before.
Despite it's issues, I find it to be an atmospheric little pulp outing that does have the classic Leonard feel, a hard bitten, cold-hearted turn from Rourke that's one of his best characters in recent years, and a mean, unforgiving narrative set in picturesque northern Canada.
"Killshot" (2008) is a thriller/drama about a mob hit-man (Mickey Rourke) who inexplicably teams-up with a twerp psycho (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
I think it's a terrific shame that this movie never saw a wider release when it was at least as good, and in some cases MUCH better than, all of the following action films released in the last 12 months:Shoot 'Em UpBody of LiesRamboPride and GloryRighteous KillJumpTakenIt's by no means a "must-see" film, but even so, it is still a solid, entertaining, and well paced action/thriller/drama.
While it is certainly not half the role that Rourke had to work with in The Wrestler, his part was still well played and had gravitas despite his mediocre Native American accent.Diane Lane was good as always.
With the right casting I have little doubt he has many awards waiting for him down the road.Despite a few minor flaws, this is absolutely worth a watch if you enjoy gritty action movies that don't insult your intelligence, and rely more on character development than CGI..
Diane Lane, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson & Thomas Jane.....Not a bad cast in my opinion however they were totally wasted in this movie.There was no real direction, there were no unusual turns, in fact the whole movie was very predictable from start to finish.
Mickey Rourke's hit man was cold as ice; Joseph Gordon-Levitt was the most appallingly awful villain I've seen in a long time; and Diane Lane in fetching underwear gave my octogenarian heart the most exercise it's had in a long time.
A unusual partnership between a experienced killer (Mickey Rourke) and a psychotic robber (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) on their mission to track down a couple (Diane Lane and Thomas Jane) who ruined their robbery at a real estate agency is the premise of "Killshot", an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's book.
Tension and some action is built in the plot where the main attractive thing is the killer team and many thrilling moments."Killshot" doesn't offer anything new except making of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character a dangerous and bigmouth one, the main surprise in the film, since he doesn't play this kind of guy very often.
In the end, I was left wondering why some of the characters were even in the movie, such as Rosario Dawson's character, who seemed to exist merely so that there'd be tension between Joseph Gordon Levitt and Mickey Rourke.In a true character study (rather than this somewhat tepid thriller) or a novel, you can spend time establishing multiple characters, giving them clear motives, and showing how they go about achieving their motives.
Diane Lane fans will also be happy, because she has a fair amount of screen time and some great wardrobe.Not sure whether this was filmed before or after Wrestler, but in any case Rourke or his agent are doing a good job in picking the right roles for his comeback.
****SPOILERS**** A drunk and pony tailed looking Mickey Rourke is Native American, or Cleveland Indian , hit-man Armand "Blackbird" Degas who screws up his latest hit-job by him and his high on and drugged up partner Richie Nix,Joseph Gordon-Levitt,knock off a real estate agency while customers Wayne & Carman Colson, Thomas Jane & Diane Lane, are there looking to buy a new house.
With Blackbird obsessed to tie up all the loose ends in his latest failed robbery he's now determined to find and kill both Wayne & Carman before they, if in fact they want to, identify him to the police in knocking off the real estate agency.****SPOILERS*** The film really goes straight downhill from there on with an unhinged Blackbird murdering a number of people including a fellow Native/American as well as him high on drugs and beer drinking partner Richie Nix for really no reason at all just in order to keep in shape or on target.
The film is inspired by a novel from Elmore Leonard (of 'Get Shorty' and'Jackie Brown' fame) and as one would expect from Leonard, the plot quickly thickens as the hit-man and thug find themselves needing to track down a couple experiencing marital problems since they saw their faces during a job gone wrong.
The brisk one and a half hour runtime also leaves limited room for character development and if there is one thing to hold against the film, it is the difficulty of working out who to root for: the targeted innocent couple on the run or the flawed yet principled hit-man played by Mickey Rourke.
I am usually not much of a fan of Mickey Rourke, and what made me watch this movie was Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Thomas Jane.
Not only was it a good story, but Mickey Rourke did a very good job in "Killshot".The story is about Carmen (played by Diane Lane) and Wayne (played by Thomas Jane) who witness a blackmail hold up by Blackbird (played by Mickey Rourke) and Richie (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gone horribly wrong.
Going away in a witness protection program, Carmen and Wayne believe they are safe, but professional hit-man Blackbird leaves no loose ends.This story is fast paced and grabs the audience from the very beginning and the movie is really helped along by great acting performances and memorable characters; particularly Blackbird and Richie.
However, they witness an attempted armed robbery by partners in crime (Mickey Rourke and Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and subsequently hunted down by the pair in order to 'silence' them - permanently.What follows in an hour and a half of cat and mouse antics and the criminals use all their resources to track the couple down, in order to eliminate them.
The cast is uneven as well: the leading figures Thomas Jane as Wayne Colson and Diane Lane as Carmen Colson were uninviting to me (probably due to non-captivating characters rather than mediocre acting), but the bad guys, however - Mickey Rourke as Armand "The Blackbird" Degas and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Richie Nix - performed in gifted manner (well, they have always shown wide versatility in acting).
After Blackbird's brother dies, he takes the young, twisted, trigger-happy Richie Nix (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - who likes to pontificate on hair and hair conditioner - as a bro replacement.When Richie decides to shakedown a real estate broker for $10,000, Blackbird joins the wild child and accompanies him to the Realtor's office.
After a short show-down Blackbird decides not to kill the boy, but to take the youth under his guidance, due to the fact that he reminds him of his younger brother, who got killed during a job.Their lives intertwine with Carmen (Diane Lane) and Wayne (Thomas Jane), a marriage in separation.
Luckily for them the FBI is 5 times dumber than they are.The saving grace of the movie is Mickey Rourke and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Everyone know Mickey Rourke is a class act, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt has gone a long way from the Third Rock from the Sun and currently should be treated of one of the best young actors in Hollywood.
When Mickey Rourke plays the cold blooded assassin named Blackbird in the first few minutes of the movie, it was actually quite entertaining.
This only gets him into more trouble and soon they have to kill more people to cover their tracks, namely Wayne (Thomas Jane) and Carmen (Diane Lane), who are going through a rough marriage.Apparently the book works well.
Dismayingly mediocre crime/chase flick, with your average married couple Diane Lane and Thomas Jane on the run from hit-man Mickey Rourke and psycho partner Joseph Levitt over a witnessed incident.
Rourke as the ice-cold contract killer is good....Diane Lane is just OK..The real treat for me was Joseph Gordon-Levitt and that too strictly in terms of acting.
Mickey Rourke hunts Diane Lane in Elmore Leonard's Killshot.
It was based on a book by Elmore Leonard.The film stars Mickey Rourke (Blackbird) as a hired mob assassin who makes a mistake and his hunted by his employer.
It seems Blackbird has a thing about people seeing him work and he decides that Wayne and Carmen need to die.The rest of the film deals with Blackbird and Richie trying to kill the Colsons.I really wasn't expecting much but the plot kept me interested.
Diane Lane and Mickey Rourke are both fantastic as always, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, and Thomas Jane are also fantastic.
The story follows hit-man Armand "The Blackbird" Degas (Mickey Rourke.) One day, he gets robbed by Richie Nix (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), only to have Richie join him.
One day a couple named Carmen and Wayne Colson (Diane Lane and Thomas Jane.) They get sent to the witness protection program.
Killshot got some good action sequences though not like Die Hard or Lethal Weapon.Most of the scenes involve direct gun shots.Killshot is a story of two killers one professional,experienced hit-man and other more a psychotic type,who terrorize a couple involved in a real estate business after they refuse to pay their demand.The story is simple,acting is up to mark especially from the sides of Diane Lane(unfaithful) and Mickey Rourge(The wrestler).What differentiates Killshot from other numerous action movies is instead of showing frequent nonsense action &voilence,it gathered up as a story,defining the characters well & establishing the relationship between them..
Now, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a good looking actor, but he played his character a little unnatural.
The ensuing struggle will test Carmen to the limit.....Always curious about this movie because of all the push backs, Killshot has to be one of the most irritating, pretentious movies I've seen in a long while.Rourke spends the movie pouting and giving rationale or his doing, Levitt is just too over the top in a way even David Lynch would cringe at, and Rosario Dawson is totally wasted.Lane and Jane are okay, but they are he most boring couple I've ever seen on celluloid.The film meanders from scene to scene to scene, and one cannot believe that a prolific director like Madden could make something so redundant.It tries to be offbeat, tries to be something a little out there, even mystical, but the film is a complete shambles from beginning to end.Highly avoidable..
Armand and Richie go there to extort some money but married couple Diane Lane as Carmen Colson and Thomas Jane as Wayne Colson happen to be there.
The only redeeming character and performance in this film is that given by Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the deranged mini killer who wants to team up with Rourke's hit-man.
A married couple who's not on good terms right now Wayne and Carmen Colson (Thomas Jane and Diane Lane) have seen Blackbird's ugly mug and now he has to kill them.
An Indian hit-man named Blackbird(Mickey Rourke)is held up by a barely stable loose cannon loser named Richie Nix(Joseph Gordon-Levitt)and the two forge an unlikely partnership, planning to rob a real estate broker, when it goes awry, running afoul of an estranged married couple, ironworker Wayne(Thomas Jane) and his elegant real estate agent wife Carmen(Diane Lane).
Still when you have Rourke, Gordon-Levitt, Lane, and Jane in your cast, such a film will garner interest. |
tt0262150 | Black Books | Bernard Black is the proprietor of Black Books, a small bookshop. The series revolves around the lives of Bernard, Manny and Fran. A central theme is Bernard's odd position as a moody and spiteful shopkeeper who has a loathing of the outside world and all the people who inhabit it, except his oldest friend, Fran, who initially ran a trendy bric-a-brac shop, Nifty Gifty, next-door to the shop.
Bernard displays little enthusiasm or interest in retail (or, indeed, anything outside drinking, smoking and reading) and actively avoids having to interact with anyone, even inside his shop, as he has a personal dislike of his customers, treating his bookshop more like a personal library. It is suggested that Fran and Bernard once slept together, but now they remain happy to be friends, sharing a love of smoking heavily and drinking to excess. Fran otherwise has a rather hopeless love life.
Manny is introduced in the first episode as a stressed-out accountant who enters the bookshop seeking The Little Book of Calm. During a drunken night out, Bernard offers him a job as a shop assistant and a room above the shop if he will do Bernard's accounts for him. Sobering up, Bernard realises Manny's optimistic nature is not suited to "this kind of operation". Fran, however, seeing that Manny is good for Bernard, forces Bernard to let him stay.
Many episodes are driven by Manny and Fran's attempts to force Bernard into a more socially acceptable lifestyle. Their efforts usually result in chaos, sucking them back into Bernard's nihilistic view of the world. The bookshop, which also doubles as Manny and Bernard's residence, is frequently depicted as being in an unhealthy state of dirtiness and often inhabited by animals and other unidentified creatures, while disorder is a frequent aspect of the running of the shop. Manny's attempts to improve both the shop and the residence often fail.
In October 2011, Graham Linehan was asked what Bernard, Manny and Fran would be doing a decade after the events of the series. Linehan responded, "They'll grow up, like everyone else." | psychedelic, comedy | train | wikipedia | Everyone knows a Bernard or a Manny in their lives, which makes Black Books hilarious!
Most British sitcoms (Britcoms?) I've seen have been funny, but I usually forget about them rather quick (probably due to the cultural differences) but Black Books stuck with me so much that I was forced to buy a bootleg VHS of the first series.
Now that I have seen it, there is only one thing I can say about it: Black books is absolutely great and hilarious.
Bernard Black - an anti-social, boozing and smoking sarcastic pessimist - runs his own book store.
"Black Books" is hysterical and one can easily watch each episode over and over and over again and laugh just as hard.
Limiting it to just six episodes makes the comedy concentrated and instead of having a few good moments in an episode, the whole episode is memorable.In real life Bernard Black (Dylan Moran) the owner of his own book shop would be horrible.
From the first episode of the first series (Bernard mincing up to a bunch of thuggish looking Millwall supporters and asking "Which one of you bitches wants to dance?") to the last episode of the second series (a restaurant where they have no vegetables and all the meat dishes are served up complete with little tombstones), "Black Books" deals in the sort of off-kilter humour that frequently defies any kind of logic and always manages to be unfailingly hilarious.If you can, get hold of the DVD of the first series.
The funniest thing on British TV since Father Ted. The dialogue is wonderfully clever, the bohemian irascibility of Dylan Moran is judged to perfection, and the addition of musical comedian and bearded surrealist Bill Bailey is a touch of genius.
Bernard Black runs his own bookshop even though he doesn't much like people who buy books and hates having customers.
This leads to a series of surreal adventures around the shop.This series (soon to return for a second series!) was poorly promoted by channel 4 (usually so good at getting great little comedies recognised - Spaced, Father Ted etc), and didn't get seen by anywhere near the audience it deserved.
Sure, BB doesn't have the gloss of Friends and can feel a bit rough round the edges but you can't beat the fact that it feels fresh and new compared to all that gloss.The chemistry between Bernard and Manny is great - even if their dialogue is mad at times.
Moran as Bernard is also great as the abusive drunk Irishman and is just so manically funny - not manic like Phoebe in Friends but manic like Jack in Father Ted.
Tamsin Greig is also good as Fran, despite being a smaller character.Overall this is a flagship for all that is good about channel 4 comedies - British, clever, imaginative, daring and very funny.
STORYThe storyline found within Black Books is fairly straight forward, following the lives of three characters: Bernard Black, an alcoholic, short-tempered bookstore owner (the bookshop in question being the show's title, Black Books), Manny, his employee/slave and Fran, a friend of Bernard's that regularly hangs out with them.
The show follows of life of Bernard's book-shop, with the series almost exclusively set within or around the bookshop.
ACTINGThe acting is just superb, in fact after watching this it would be difficult to see Dylan Moran (who plays Bernard) in any other role than a cranky, alcoholic bookshop owner.
The humour can be rather bizarre at times and the overall feeling is that life is depressing, but it somehow combines to make an almost charming comedy about a grumpy bookshop owner and a lively, eager assistant.
It plays, basically like one of Dylan Moran stand-up performances (which is by no means a bad thing.) Consistently funny and overall just well made.
I watched the whole first series in one sitting and ordered the DVD this morning!This is one of the funniest shows I've seen in a long time, and, in my opinion, ranks alongside Spaced.
The humour is brilliantly surreal, the first episode featuring Bernard picking a fight with a group of skinheads to avoid filling out his tax returns "Which one of you bitches wants to dance?", and Manny accidentally swallowing and absorbing "The Little Book of Calm".
Believe me, I have done that more than once while watching it (even re-runs), and I've been given funny look's by people who see me laughing at it.The cast is grate, the character superb and the script is first rate.
Black Books is another fine example of just how good British comedy can be.
We did manage to tape 2 episodes, and despite the poor quality of the tapes that the kids used to record them, we (me and the older kids) watch them about twice a week!The 13 year old can imitate Bernard uncannily, and when I am grumpy, he just needs to 'do' the above quote and I fall about laughing.I hope it comes back for a third run.
The first thing of note is that Graham Linehan is no longer writing, Dylan Moran taking the whole task on his own which I think may have contributed to the slowness of pace of the beginning of series 2 as he had to get upto speed on all the characters.
Its a sign of perfect comic timing and performances when you've seen the same scene over and over and it just gets funnier.The other thing will be the idiotic surrealism - for instance Manny in episode one swallowing and absorbing The Little Book of Calm.
Completely stupid in a recognisably Craggy Island fashion.I'm not one to say Black Books is better than Father Ted but there is one thing BB has in its favour and that is the familiar miasma of drunken excess and bleery eyed London squalor you will probably have seen before in WITHNAIL & I (And maybe Jeffry Bernard Is Unwell).
Series like Monty Python's Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, Black Adder, Only Fools and Horses and One Foot in the Grave (on most episodes) make you laugh with their quirkiness, seldom found in US sitcoms.
some raise a smile and can kill an hour or so, sure, but it has been a while since I had a few good belly laughs on account of a series.Meet black books, one of the latest to be screened on Channel 4.
Well, I guess since most of the spark comes from the dialogs between the incredibly untidy "I don't want to sell books because people read them and then bring them back, and we start all over again" Bernard and the only slightly more balanced "I'm eating scrambled eggs out of a shoe using a comb" Manny, the whole things is slightly less inspired when they aren't together.
Dylan Moran plays one of the greatest sitcom characters Bernard Black - an unkempt irritable chain-smoking-and-drinking bibliophile who owns Black Books, a bookstore.
Among the best of them are 'The Mighty Boosh,' 'Garth Merenghi's Darkplace' and this -- 'Black Books.' Running only three seasons, it had the unique quality of hitting it's prime at the start of the first episode before somewhat running out of situational humor by the final six episodes.
Because this is one of the funniest series in quite some time to come out of Britain (but of course, like many of the comedies these days in Britain, it needed an Irishman to get it off the ground - note my nationality, above).
Dylan Moran is playing his normal kind of character (bitter, pessimistic, very funny) and Bill Bailey as Manny is also very funny too.It revolves around a bookstore, named unsurprisingly, Black Books.
Owned by Bernard Black, played by Moran, who hires Manny in the store, and then there's Fran, who owns the store next door (played by Tamsin Greig).Every episode delivers laughs.
I am almost certain this show will soon become a classic comedy just like 'Blackadder', 'Monty Python' and 'Father Ted'.So if you need some comic relief, I suggest you turn on "Black Books".:).
Probably not everybody's taste, Black Books takes us into a crazy world where odd characters live lives that in no way could approach reality.
Surely it is not a coincidence that Dylan Moran played Rufus the thief in Notting Hill (set in a bookshop)and that his brief appearance had all the offbeat craziness of his character in Black Books?
The totally unaccountable, idiotic humour is reminiscent of such British gems of the past as Monty Python and Fawlty Towers - and I feel a love of that type of humour is a necessity to appreciate Black Books..
The character of Bernard Black is played superbly by Moran and plays beautifully off Fran (Grieg) and Manny (Bailey).
If you like dark humour and need a break from American "funny" make a point of watching this series, your biggest regret will be that they stopped after 3 seasons.Bernard is the worst boss (and probably person) ever while Fran is beyond "blonde", while Manny is typical of a down-trodden past sell-by date hippie.Just good watching!!
They have something in common, drinking and smoking.Black Books is one of the best British comedies.
Bernard Black runs a book shop, though his customer service skills leave something to be desired.
Over-the-top humour with some clever plots and biting dialogue.Good work by Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig as Bernard, Manny and Fran, respectively..
What great entertainment.Black Books is absolutely one of my very favourite television programmes of all time.
"Black Books" is a British gem well worth watching....
"Black Books" is a great British comedy show, much in the likes of "Father Ted", "Fawlty Towers" or "Black Adder".
If you enjoy the witty and often twisted British humor, then you will definitely enjoy "Black Books".I am not going to go too much into details here, as there are 18 episodes to the three seasons.
Throughout the various episodes you will see some familiar faces in the supporting roles, such as Nick Frost, Simon Pegg and David Walliams.The dialogue in "Black Books" is the typical satirical and hilarious dialogue you'd find in many other British comedies.
There is nothing sacred here and nothing is barred.The episodes are fun and well put together, for an overall great enjoyment and amusement."Black Books" is a definite must watch for all fans of the British comedy genre..
The character of Bernard Black couldn't be more perfect, a stubborn drunk who, when offered help, thinks of a solution that is incredibly implausible, and with a fantastically strong performance of Manny from Bill Bailey who, like Moran, is an excellent comedian and actor, we can really laugh at the insane relationship that Manny and Bernard share.
From Bernard eating frozen wine like a Popsicle to using pictures of plates as a crockery substitute, from Manny playing a piano from the inside with spoons to Fran going insane over an odd ornament which is ultimately a cigarette lighter, all of the jokes in this series are charming and laugh-out-loud funny, my only complaint is that the only did 3 season's of this superb sit-com, a must-see if you haven't already, just as good as Father Ted and Red Dwarf, one of the best British comedies of all-time..
I followed Black Books on the coattails of Father Ted (As I believe it shares at least one common writer.) It would be easy to say that by and large the American audience would have trouble with the humour but I can say that it (like Father Ted) is well loved in Australia, as can be said for a lot of English/Irish/Scottish humour - simply the best and most imaginative.I wont spoil it for you, there is no comedy like it - If you liked Father Ted then you'll probably love this (as I do) for being original and very off the wall humour.5 out of 5, A classic cult comedy series.--Jim..
Review based on watching the first 3 episodes: A mildly entertaining British comedy series revolving around an obnoxious, drunk who runs a book store.
Review based on watching the first 3 episodes: A mildly entertaining British comedy series revolving around an obnoxious, drunk who runs a book store.
Set in a little book shop, Dylan Moran plays the owner 'Bernard Black'; a drinking, smoking lunatic and Bill Baily plays 'Manny'; the lovable and completely neurotic shop assistant.
And just like Bernard consumes wine at a rapid rate through the show, so does the audience become drunk on the characters of the show as they consume.One of the things I love about Black Books is the richness of the dialogue.
Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig are wonderful as the three main characters and the special guest spots from Simon Pegg and Kevin Eldon are indeed unforgettable.Black Books contains everything from brilliantly performed slapstick to hilarious one liners.
This is probably the best sitcom to come out of Britain for a while and proof that when it puts it mind to it Britain seems to still have the edge as far as comedy is concerned.The show centers around Bernard Black ( Dylan Moran ), a man who's idea of a perfect life would be to throw away his key to the shop and live inside in a perfect sanctuary.
For example: in the episode "Blood" the storyline of Bernard and Manny trying to turn the bookstore in a restaurant is simply fantastic but Fran's re-uniting with her family just isn't funny and really ruins an otherwise great episode.
The actors are also giving their best, totally love Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey in this gem of a show, and Tamsin Greig is so well guided that she makes you laugh and love her in the same time, perhaps she is more dear to the viewer that she would be if one would meet her in person, I don't know.
my party is kind of a Dylan Moran's "Black Books", filed with unusual ordinary people (Bernard, Manny and Fran), living unusual ordinary life and having day to day unusual ordinary troubles...If you prefer sitting home thinking, talking, drinking and having a good times with your friends rather than going out to the big club, you'll love "Black Books".Even if the show is set in a bookshop, which is usually boring place, it doesn't necessary mean you can't have fun in it.
Dylan Moran, Tamsin Grieg & Bill Bailey are all brilliant as the main characters & there are some great cameos from people such as Nick Frost, Johnny Vegas, Rob Brydon, Annette Crosbie, Omid Djalili, Ricky Grover, Keith Allen and Simon Pegg (Don't eat Muffins when I'm developing you!).Bernard, Manny and Fran are deeply unbalanced people who rely on each other to get by in the world.
In series 3 there are a couple of weaker episodes but the Moo-pa Moo-ma and Goliath books ones are great.If you like misanthropy, social awkwardness, dirty little Bookshops and towers of soup, then the surreal Black Books is ideal.
Father Ted, Black Books, The IT Crowd - they would play funny to most American crowds.
The first episode of which does feature a choice performance from Simon Pegg, so t'is not a complete write-off.Black Books was a subversive and entirely quotable series which ended at the perfect time.
Black Books is the funniest thing I have seen in years.
At three series and 18 episodes long, "Black Books" is often hilarious.
Teaming up with Bernard's old friend Fran Katzenjammer (Tamsin Greig), the two spend their days hanging around the shop, getting drunk and above all else, trying not to sell books.From the first moments of the opening episode through to the last moment of season three, nothing prepares you for the wit and visual humour of this series.
Beginning with a masterful episode called "Manny Come Home", series three gets off to a brilliant start and rides the waves to an equally hilarious conclusion.Overall, "Black Books" is mostly hilarious.
Supported by excellent performances by Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig, Moran thrives in the dank and dirty world of "Black Books".
Anyway, the characters in this are great.There's Bernard Black, the owner of a small bookshop in London, a grumpy irish man who loves to drink, smoke and complain about life.
A sit-com, set in a bookshop owned by a weird young Irishman (Moran), aided by his live-in assistant, a wide-eyed innocent (Bailey) Written by and staring Bill Bailey (Manny) and Dylan Moran (Bernard Black), two of the finest stand-up comics in the world, this was always going to be funny.
Very few sitcoms manage to get such good actors.My favourite episode is "Elephants and Hens" where Bernard and Manny wright a children's book.
With smart jokes a few weird scenes and a heck of a lot of booze.It is about three people and their problems and lives all packed in to a bookshop owned by Bernard Black (Dylan Moran).
Manny Beianco is the much loved book shop assistant and "Enemie" of Bernard.Last but not least we have Fran Katesjammer (that might be spelled wrong), The booze fueled friend of the two book shop workers.I KNOW that anyone who watches this will laugh their heads off.
A snide disgruntled Irish X-pat owns a bookstore and surround himself with other cynical friends who vent on all around them to produce comedy.*Special Stars- Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey, Tamsin Greig.*Theme- Dysfunctional people in a local English books store are very funny to laugh at.*Trivia/location/goofs- The star is writer and producer of this series.
I'll keep watching 'Black Books', though, but maybe not every episode; the characters are great.
Brilliantly eccentric British comedy focusing on the antics of three so-called friends in London.Bernard Black is a book shop owner, a man so riddled with neurosis and hatred of humanity that he is utterly incapable of functioning in day to day life. |
tt0044871 | The Last Page | Bookstore manager John Harman (Brent) reprimands his attractive young clerk Ruby Bruce (Dors) for being late to work. Later the same day Ruby catches small-time crook Jeff Hart (Reynolds) trying to steal a rare book. Instead of turning him in she accepts a date with him. When Harman later tries to kiss Ruby she tells Hart who forces Ruby to blackmail Harman. When he refuses to pay off, Jeff tells Ruby to write a letter to Harman's sick wife, which causes her death from a heart attack. Dazed by the tragedy, Harman gives Ruby 300 pounds when she renews her demands. Jeff catches Ruby hiding part of the money, kills her and hides her body in a packing case. Harman discovers Ruby's body and, thinking he will be accused, flees in panic. He enlists the help of his secretary Stella (Chapman) who helps him hunt for clues. When Stella stumbles on Hart alone she is nearly killed by him but Harman arrives in time to save her. The police arrest Hart. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0049637 | Private's Progress | During World War II, the young undergraduate Stanley Windrush (Ian Carmichael), is conscripted into the British Army. Unlike his friend Egan (Peter Jones), Windrush is a most reluctant soldier and struggles through basic training at Gravestone Barracks. Failing his officer selection board, he is posted to a holding unit, under the command of Major Hitchcock (Terry-Thomas). Most of the soldiers there are malingerers and drop-outs.
Windrush is finally posted to train as a Japanese interpreter, where he becomes the prize pupil; he's then contacted by his uncle, Brigadier Tracepurcel (Dennis Price), now a senior officer in the War Office, to join a secret operation known only as "Hatrack". He is quickly commissioned and the operation is launched, Windrush becoming an unwitting participant in a scheme ostensibly to recover looted artworks from the Germans, but really to steal them and sell them to two crooked art dealers.
Windrush survives the operation, despite being briefly arrested by British forces whilst in German uniform, and is discharged from the army. Tracepurcel and his associate Private Cox (Richard Attenborough) fake their own deaths. Windrush returns to university after the war, and is surprised to receive a visit from Cox, who brings him an attache case. However, Cox is arrested as he leaves, he and Tracepurcel having been tracked as source of a counterfeit copy of one of the artworks. Windrush innocently reveals to the military police the contents of the case—a large sum of money—and is also arrested, assumed to be complicit in the fraud. | satire | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0433405 | Land of the Blind | Hollander plays Maximilian II (often called Junior), the ignorant, vindictive and petulant ruler of a troubled (but unnamed) country. Maximilian has two main interests: enjoying himself and running his country's movie industry. The output of the nation's film studios under Maximilian is limited to terrible action-adventure schlock with names like Out For Vengeance 4. While it is heavily implied that Junior is a childish sadist, it is conceded that his excesses are only bolstered by the encouragement of his beautiful, yet cruel, wife Josephine (Boyle) and the violence dealt by anti-government terrorists.
Ralph Fiennes plays Joe, a prison warder working at the prison where John Thorne is held at the beginning of the movie. During this early period, Thorne is a wreck, squatting in a shabby cell, enduring frequent beatings from the other guards and writing revolutionary slogans on the walls with his own feces. Joe comes to learn from Thorne and respect him for his bearing and intellect, if not his message. Maximilian, trying to quash spiraling dissent, takes the risk of letting Thorne out of jail, hoping to have him thus become not a great folk hero but another greedy, dishonest politician. Joe, too, is soon promoted to one of the guards at Maximilian's palace and a position in the country's elite military unit. After seeing Junior's madness first hand, it is he who betrays his master by letting Thorne and his followers into the palace's inner chambers while he and Josephine are engaged in a revolting sex game. Thorne shoots the pair, and becomes a ruler governing a country as absolutely totalitarian, if not more so, than the deceased Maximilian. Thorne also encourages separating children from their parents, bans action movies and eliminates imported medicine all while sending the country's professional classes to grim re-education camps. Frightened females cower underneath burqa-like garments.
For his assistance in assassinating the dictator, Joe is hailed as a hero by Thorne. Nevertheless, as Joe realizes that his one-time friend is just as bad as, if not worse than, his predecessor, he refuses to ally with the new regime. For this, Thorne sends Joe to a re-education camp.
Subjected to numerous cruel beatings and isolation techniques, Joe continually refuses to sign his loyalty oath. At one point Thorne visits but does not recognize his old friend, even after Joe attempts to show him repeatedly who he is. Joe is also accused of being a member of a "hidden" conspiracy within the prison itself. One of his former co-workers, assumedly after being severely beaten, admits to the conspiracy's veracity and accuses Joe of being involved. Joe is quickly brought to the dreaded Room 12. It is there that the audience is revealed to a shocking twist: Joe is accused of never helping Thorne conquer the government, or being a commando in a covert-ops group, but rather a standard recruit in the armed forces discharged after the standard two years. During this, Joe seems to hallucinate heavily, his interrogators becoming characters dead and alive we have seen throughout the film, and is asked once again what is better than a big juicy steak (a recurring question with a wordplay answer). Throughout the scene it is suggested he may be being tortured mentally or is undergoing a paranoid or psychotic episode. His answer to any of the questions asked is never shown.
We then cut to Thorne being killed in his bath by one of his once loyal followers. The revolutionary government is quickly overthrown. Junior's in-laws and nephew are revealed to have escaped during Thorne's revolution and, having lived in exile, have returned to re-establish the old government (with an outside country's assistance). The head of the camp returns to being a doctor and denies having taken part in the tortures and excesses he ordered, while the tortured co-worker that accused Joe of conspiracy is given a government job. This ex-coworker makes a number of empty promises to get Joe out of the camp as soon as the "political climate" settles, but says that his confession to helping murder Maximilian makes him a sensitive case. For having destroyed the old government, but also never having 'played ball' with the new one, Joe is stuck in limbo, in a prison cell until the end of time. 12 years later, we find Joe writing his memoirs in a white cell resembling that of a prison's or an asylum's, seemingly oblivious even to his daughter's visits. It is possible that he is insane, or that he is perfectly sane, but the woman that visited was an actor pretending to be his daughter to break him down. She leaves Joe writing his memoirs and exits his cell that is really located in some low end residential apartment complex implying that Joe is not a political prisoner but is under some sort of house arrest being taken care of by the State. | brainwashing, violence, avant garde, satire, murder | train | wikipedia | These despots show character traits mankind has witnessed in real life, such as Pol Pot, Mussolini, Louis XVI/Marie Antoinette, Peron, Ayatollah Khoumeni, and Kim Jong Il. In this "land of the blind," the people are more interested in popular culture than the suffering of mankind at the hands of the despots.
As a result, they elect movie stars to represent them in what becomes clear as a sham system.Those people who are politically motivated and want to see a parallel between the nasty people who are leading the poor nation in the story to ruin and the current world leaders are, in my opinion, completely missing the point.
New governments can provide their side of the story--the elephant--to the blind public by steering them to the desired part of the anatomy.Donald Sutherland, playing a character aptly named Thorn, is one of the best casting choices ever made.
Think of it sort of like V for Vendetta, except the overthrower is Donald Sutherland, and without all the cool lines, big ka-booms and ninja fight scenes.Joe (Ralph Fiennes) is a soldier in a prison holding famed terrorist/politician Thorne (Donald Sutherland).
Donald Sutherland is perfectly cast as Thorne, making him just as intriguing as Joe. His performance is thought generating, powerful, and memorable.
His sets are interesting and realistic, and the music is somewhat noticeable in a good way.Land of the Blind is the second best political thriller of the year, behind the wonderful V for Vendetta.
It is a rare event when a feature film with two name stars, Fiennes and Sutherland in this case, can so eloquently capture the political atmosphere wafting across the world today.
Robert Edward's 'Land of The Blind' does this and much more in the political thriller/drama/ comedy that manages to create an original film based on themes that have unfortunately not gone out of style.
'Land of The Blind' has the guts to take the viewer on a journey that few filmmakers would dare these days, and having the acting to back it up takes the film straight to the winners circle.
Make room George Clooney, thank goodness another talented filmmaker has emerged with courage and vision.On a side note, I had the good opportunity to see this film in London at the Human Rights Watch Festival, and the sold out crowd went absolutely nuts for the picture.
However, the hope for freedom and a better world doesn't last long...In the official program of the Film Festival in Munich, LAND OF THE BLIND was announced as "a satiric political drama about terrorism, revolution, and the power of memory".
Together with the satiric elements, this aspect makes the film more entertaining and less pretentious.The film is promoted by "Human Rights Watch", although Robert Edwards' intention was certainly not a clamant "call to arms", but rather a quiet sigh about the state of the world..
Politicians are voted in based on their acting credentials; the President-for-Life is also a self-styled auteur of 'B' action movies; the sycophantic TV news-anchors remain upbeat and bubbly as they bend to the political winds, switching cheerily from Brooks Brothers to burqas.At the heart of the movie is the relationship between imprisoned playwright Thorne (Donald Sutherland) and the man who guards him - Joe (Ralph Feinnes.) Thorne is a tortured man in possession of a brilliant mind, who's been reduced to writing on the walls of his cell with his own excrement.Joe works for Junior, the buffoonish but cunning dictator played brilliantly by Tom Hollander.
Some will see parallels between him and other political leaders - the wealthy, goofy President trying to live up to the image of his father, the manipulation of a nation's fear of terrorism to hide gross abuses of power, etc.Joe is cursed with a moral compass.
But the question of whether Thorne is a Vaclav Havel - an intellectual who could save his country, or an Abimael Guzman the imprisoned Peruvian professor and leader of the Shining Path terrorists, is grimly answered in the movie's closing act.The cast is remarkable, nothing you wouldn't expect from Fiennes and Sutherland, and Lara Flyn Boyle does a terrifically dark and funny Lady Macbeth as Junior's wife.
Also, like those films, LOTB is darkly cynical and very, very funny.It's a rare pleasure to see this kind of razor-sharp satire wrapped in a thrilling, artful, and well-crafted piece of story telling..
Land of the Blind is a fearless meditation on the corrupting nature of power, and adds to the current, very welcome, crop of thought provoking political films.
We ride on the shoulder of an idealistic prison guard as he chooses sides, and faces the consequences of that choice.As the movie was building, I felt like it was building a Pro-Terrorism Utopian government, but in the end I was left hopeless, because of each plot turn making the movie yet more dour.Symbolism abounds, and you will find yourself trying to locate the meanings of the symbols, which are perhaps a tad too convoluted for my tastes.I was completely immersed in the story, and I found the progression of the movie to be very compelling, but the overall message of hopelessness clashed with my youthful idealism.I recommend this movie as debate fodder for political theorists.
it's not great, but it does do a good job at exposing the hypocrisy of power, and who is better suited to govern, a single person/regime or that amorphous element named "The People".Donald Sutherland and Rafe(don't call me Ralph!) Fiennes, give wonderful acting performances, and there are many great supporting roles too.
Woo Hoo!).There is a lot of interesting and intelligent dialog through out the film too , the director/writer is obviously a literate man.My problem, is that this film tries to hard to be too many things at once.BTW, the poem that Sutherland's and Fiennes' characters quote is by William Butler Yeats and it's named "The Second Coming", and the haunting piano music you hear, you might remember is also used in "Barry Lyndon" and I believe is written by MozartIt's definitely worth a rental though..
The filmmakers are careful not to criticise any kinds of regime, in order to avoid a political war.The two leading actors, Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland both give strong performances in the film.
Perhaps if you grew up as a mushroom you might be shocked enough by the content of this film to think it is actually worth something.It takes elements of King Charles I, Cromwell, the Restoration, Soviet Russia, the novel 1984 and various other things, mixes them together and makes a pointless story pretending to be something more.It starts off OK but soon it becomes clear the writer has no real ideas of his own and is just loosely copying history.Apart from Ralph Fiennes putting in a fine performance and some nice shots of the former Royal residence Brighton Pavilion, I was bored and felt I had lost 2 hours of my life.The ending was the biggest disappointment as it really questions why I bothered to get that far..
Tom Hollander, who previously played Kim Philby in "Cambridge Spies" was superb in the role of Maximilian.My only gripe is that I had the impression that this would have been a good film if I had been able to hear it rather than just watch.
It becomes sadly obvious that Joe and Donald Sutherland are the only characters in the film's world with any semblance of intelligence or free will; everyone else is mere blind sheep, ciphers, straw men.
The Land of The Blind is a satirical place, and its inhabitants aren't to be taken as anything more than straw men, but by the second half the pathos and music montages and fancy CG cuts are sprinkled a little too graciously to spice the film up, and the viewer's patience and involvement with any sort of parallel reality wears too thin.I enjoyed the settings, and how they were filmed.
Reading Huxley's "Brave New World", Orwell's "1984", or watching Terry Gilliam's "Brazil", or even a movie like "Matrix" moved me and gave me similar thrill, and left me thinking about that stuff and other things some while - just to give hint about this film, but not to compare with..
A Hodgepodge Movie Trying to Figure Out What It Wants to Be. LAND OF THE BLIND is a strange horse of a film.
It is so full of gimmicks, silly scenes, awkward dialogue, and mixed metaphors that it sinks under its own intended farcical weight.Robert Edwards wrote and directed this take off on totalitarian governments and the crises that arise with the corruption of power, sprayed it globally and historically so that it can include everyone in its aim, and shot it in a Felliniesque fashion that just falls short of significance.
Abetted with a strong cast of actors (Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland, Tom Hollander, Lara Flynn Boyle, etc) one would think this overproduced piece would have made it.
If you think the villains in LOTB are exaggerated, wait till you learn the real deeds of Chairman Mao, Kim Jong-il, Fidel Castro, Khomeini, Joseph Stalin
Yes, the characters are simplified & the story is abstract, but how much can one fit in 1 hour of what he sees of the world political history + current conflicts?
So, hey Midwesterner, yes it might be a critique on your country but it's a burger-and-coke-ignoring piece of pretentious crap, so feel free to diss this film.And yes, while some some themes are not new (power corrupts, extreme left is as wrong as extreme right), this is something that is especially relevant today when the worlds strongest power is sliding down the slippery slope towards some sort of theocracy.Lots of critics seem to enjoy making fun of Joe, by wondering why he's willing to endure the torture?!!
The title of the Film being so appropriate to the lives and societies we live in today referencing how clueless most people are when it comes to Government Bodies and Regulations that dictate both Internal and Foreign Policy.Land of the Blind is an exceptionally good account of how a society formed by anarchy and terrorism could exist.
Ralph Fiennes is a brave an excellent actor who I've seen astound me on stage on many occasions (let alone his excellent film-work) and he doesn't disappoint at all in this hugely powerful role.
Late in the film, a doctor tells a story of a group of blind men who each feel a different part of an elephant and give their opinions on what an elephant is: "One felt the trunk and said, 'an elephant is very much like a snake'.
To say that it is biased is to be ignorant of much of the film; this film has no stated political sides; it points fingers at the fascist dictator just as easily as it points fingers at the violent rebels trying to give power back to the people.
This group, known as the Citizens for Justice and Democracy, claims noted playwright John Thorne as a member.Embodied by Donald Sutherland, Thorne is one of the most interesting characters I've ever seen in a film.
He takes in the deaths with an air of amused shock, but when he hears of how Thorne's popularity is growing, he turns pale with fury and takes it out on his aides with a sadistic ease.The film deals with Joe's change in mind set, from the neutral observer just doing his job, to becoming attached to Thorne's plight, and then watching as the two sides vying for power reveal their darkest actions.
It is clear that Maximilian is a corrupt man who would rather spend his time making bad films rather than rule the country properly, and Joe finds himself pulled to Thorne's side as Thorne is slowly granted new prisoner rights in the face of a humiliation for the government in power.
Joing Donald Sutherland, a revolutionary leader, to depose the dictator, he soon finds that things are worse than ever as an islamo-fascist state is now in power and he is cast in prison because he will not sign a loyalty oath.
Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland, why did you make this film ?
Land of the Blind is a political satire about the elite of power and the elite of revolution for the people and the ultimate dictatorial result no matter who is in power.
Modern political environments echo the theme of this film absolute power corrupts absolutely.
While uniquely entertaining for the cynic in us all, Land of the Blind suffers from over-indulgences, simply when it comes to the stylizing of them regarding the supremely corrupted, tyrannical, fictitious government; in turn softening the impact of it's relevance, which ends up making this film worth seeing...but not staring..
Robert Edwards' 2006 film The Land of the Blind is ultimately a tale of how absolute power corrupts, absolutely.
I got the feeling this was, indeed, one man's view on how the hypothesis of complete control completely corrupts and destroys an individual from within and those they might watch over; unlike Donald Sutherland's character very early on in the film, we do not necessarily have a complete turd on our hands here.
While the film just about pulls off what it sets out to achieve, it's at a wavering and frustrating cost.The film provides us with the character of Joe, played by Ralph Fiennes; initially a security guard at a high security prison in a nation run by a remorseless; disgraceful; gross and political correctness disregarding dictator named Maximilian II (Hollander), a man who has inherited the kingdom from his father and continues the brutal ruling of it.
Hollander does a good job in playing this small, wormy, measly little man whom just happens to have landed the most powerful job in the world.
The third member of the triple threat the film revolves around is the prisoner Joe is charged with observing, a certain free thinking elderly man of a supposed politically driven opposite to that of Maximillian II, named Thorne and played by the aforementioned Sutherland.
In thinking he was initially lending a helping hand for the opposition, despite things looking good for him, things were never quite as rosy as they seemed.Edwards' idea that the state within his film could be representative of any nation throughout history, corrupt or otherwise, is impressively established with a glut of varying mise-en-scene, further still aiding in the disorientating feel the film has.
I like to think of this as the point rather than character inconsistencies within Thorne; that with the obtaining of so much power after so much graft, no matter how well meaning the individual came across as in times of great strain, the being granted of so much power will usually have a detrimental effect on the individual.After suffering a great deal in a world that sees the shallow and narrow minded rewarded, with the creative and academics punished, we feel Thorne's attitudes were merely the lesser of two evils on the whole; particularly evident when the hate supposedly transfered onto the victims of the state come back to haunt them when the uprising sees a ridiculously unfair trial of the former leader, which features the gagging of one person on trial and the sole witness being the one who's in the process of electing themselves the new leader.
The film's colourful look and somewhat comedic overall tone stands in deliberately stark contrast to what's playing out, a tale of absolute power absolutely corrupting; two different plights: in the character of Joe, one of morality which later manifests as one spawned by suppression suffering by the state with Thorne's mirroring this in that it takes a similar structure but the other way around.
And make no mistake, the movie takes place in today's world, based on most references throughout the film -- so, elements just don't fit.
That's right; I could actually feel myself getting stupider for having to watch this film just to make sure that there were, in fact, no good parts to it.
What are Fiennes and Sutherland doing in this film?Robert Edwards may be a more intellectual type than Uwe Boll but his directing and writing skills are of no higher standard.Please Edwards, do better next time or make use of other mediums for your idea's.
I enjoyed the film, I think Blake Edwards did a great job for his first political screenplay thriller..
Land of the Blind thinks it is a witty, modern satire on power and corruption.
We are given no real reason to believe why: a) Fiennes rises from prison guard to captain of a secret military platoon that hunts terrorists and guards the president and b) then sides with Sutherland.Rather than be corrupted by power as he acquires it, Sutherland's character turns out to be just another dictator in waiting and after all his philosophizing and poetry-quoting in jail the first thing he does is end free speech and murder the previous ruler.
The film gets so basic that we even get to watch the tyrant taking a crap.The only thing that saved me from squeezing out my own eyeballs was Fiennes' performance.
Really a most thought-provoking dystopia film with a bizarre ending that like most great movies - leaving you wondering...It drags a bit and is quite silly in the first half hour, but then it picks up, adding elements, symbolism, styles and phrases of dystopian regimes throughout the past 2-300 years.
I found that watching this film was a bit like listening to American Pie back in the day, trying to figure out the reference point for each line.
References abound, but I felt as if it were almost more of a parlor game for the makers of the film than a serious querying of human responsibility or a wise, satirical look at power and politics.
Told in flashback, it begins with Joe as a prison guard watching over a playwright turned terrorist name Thorne (Donald Sutherland). |
tt0362165 | Son of the Mask | A decade after the events of the first film, Dr. Arthur Neuman is giving a tour of the hall of Norse mythology in Edge City Museum. When Dr. Neuman reaches the part concerning Loki's mask, a man in black becomes increasingly anxious. Dr. Neuman mentions that Loki created the mask and unleashed it on Earth, and that those who wear the mask would have the powers of Loki. When Dr. Neuman mentions that Odin punished Loki with imprisonment, the stranger becomes very angry and transforms, revealing himself to be Loki. The tourists panic and flee, but Dr. Neuman stays to argue with the angry god. Loki takes the mask, but realizes it is a fake. In anger, he removes Dr. Neuman's still talking face from his body and puts it on the mask stand, before getting rid of the guards and storming out of the museum in a whirlwind of rage.
Meanwhile, the real mask, which was thrown in the river by Stanley Ipkiss and Tina Carlyle at the end of the previous film, makes its way to a town called Fringe City, not far from Edge City, and is found by a dog named Otis - who belongs to Tim Avery, an aspiring cartoonist at an animation company, is feeling reluctant to become a father. He has a beautiful wife, Tonya, and a best friend, Jorge. On a tropical island, Loki is relaxing until Odin confronts him and orders his son to find the mask. Loki asks Odin to help him, but Odin tells Loki that this is his mess and he has to clean it up. Later that night, Tim puts on the mask for a Halloween party, transforming into a party animal similar to the mask character from the first film. When the company party turns out to be a bore, Tim uses his mask powers to perform a remix of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", making the party a success, and giving Tim's boss the idea for a new cartoon, resulting in his promotion the next day.
Tim returns to his house and, while still wearing the mask, conceives a baby. The baby, when he is born, has the same powers as Loki. Meanwhile, Loki is trying to find the child born from the mask, as his father Odin, possessing a store clerk, tells him if he finds the child, he will find the mask. Later, Tonya goes on a business trip, leaving Tim with the baby. Tim, who has been promoted at work, desperately tries to work on his cartoon at home, but is continuously disrupted by baby Alvey. In order to get some peace and quiet, Tim lets Alvey watch TV, which shows Michigan J. Frog. Alvey devilishly obtains the idea to mess with his father's head by using his mask powers. Meanwhile, Otis the dog, who has been feeling neglected by Tim because of Alvey, dons the mask by accident and becomes a crazed animal version of himself, who wishes to get rid of the baby, but all his attempts are overturned by Alvey. Tim starts to notice his son and dog's wild cartoonish behavior when Alvey starts harassing him.
Eventually, Loki finds the mask-born baby, and confronts Tim for the mask back, but is thwarted again and again by Alvey who uses his powers to protect his father. Eventually, Odin becomes fed up with Loki's destructive approach and strips his son of his powers. A seemingly-deranged Tim is later fired after failing to impress his boss during a pitch, but is able to reconcile and bond with Alvey. Loki, still determined to please his father, manages to complete a summoning ritual and appeal to Odin to restore his powers. Odin agrees, but only for a limited time, stating this as his last chance. Loki then kidnaps Alvey to exchange for the mask, but decides to keep him despite the exchange, forcing Tim to don the mask again to fight Loki. The subsequent confrontation is relatively evenly matched due to Loki and Tim-in-the-Mask possessing equal powers, prompting Loki to halt the fight, and suggest that they let Alvey decide who he wants to live with. Although Loki tries to lure Alvey to him with toys and promises of fun, Tim wins when he removes the mask and asks Alvey to come back to him using the human connection he has forged with his son. Saddened and enraged, Loki tries to kill Tim, but his time runs out and Odin appears in person. Odin disowns Loki, calling him a failure, and begins to banish Loki, but Tim confronts the powerful Norse god and tells him that "the most important thing in life is a relationship with your family", and Odin accepts Loki as a son, accepting the mask from Tim as well. Tim's cartoon, based on his own experiences of a boy and a dog competing for the father's attention (with Jorge playing the father via motion capture performance), is a hit, and Tonya reveals that she is pregnant again before the film closes. | violence, comic | train | wikipedia | And he responds "Cuz I gotta!" Unfortunately, that answer doesn't cover it because after seeing Son of the Mask I still left the theatre thinking, "Good Lord, Why?" Guterman and the rest of the people involved in the blasphemous film need to realize that the response given to why are you making this film should not be as simple as the answer to the debate on whether or not to party.The Son of the Mask begins with Otis the dog finding the infamous mask and bringing it back to his owner Tim Avery, a clear homage to legendary Loony Toons creator Tex Avery.
Meanwhile, Loki, played by Alan Cumming, is in search for his mask at the orders of his father, Odin.First off, ill admit that I do respect the fact that this film pays so much homage to the classic cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Loony Toons, with its Wile E.
Son of the Mask is one of those sequels that simply shouldn't have happened and now after watching I can claim it's a contender for the worst one of the bunch.But no wait there is more, this isn't just bad it's THAT bad.It currently sits as the 10th worst movie ever made on IMDB which is an impressive feat.
Starring Jamie Kennedy, Traylor Howard, Alan Cumming and a small role for Kal Penn it tells another story of the infamous Mask and it is beyond belief.Full of dire cgi, painfully unfunny "comedy", purile writing and legitimately no redeeming features I can't believe that such a brilliant classic comedy like The Mask (1994) could be insulted to this degree with a sequel.It's just SO cringe inducing!
I'm not one to jump aboard bandwagons and hate things because its "Trendy" to, nor do I give 1/10's out often but this is awful!The Good:Traylor Howard The Bad:Poor cgiBeyond dumbThings I Learnt From This Movie:In movies reducing women down to their bras is funny and comedic, I do it and I get arrested!?How could a plot including repeated attempts on a babies life not be considered funny?
It's a good natured flick that really wants to scream out "like me!" but only those 8 and younger will truly enjoy it.Jamie Kennedy is the only worthwhile mention in this movie.
IS there any reason to revive characters 10 years after the fact when the only reason they worked the first time was due to the actors playing them.Who can replace Jim Carrey or Cameron Diaz -- or better yet, who can replace them at cut-rate prices since most studios know that sequels don't bring in the same amount of revenue as the originals so they cut corners from the get-go.Where are the good movies going to play if powerful Hollywood studios can clog up 3,000 theaters opening weekend with whatever turds they feel like the general public can be suckered into.Enough's enough people, this sequel-itis has got to stop and the Hollywood people need to start getting their act together or start distributing the much-better foreign product that's floating in limbo.Wake up Hollywood, cause the people HAVE woken up and they aren't buying it just cause it's new and shiny.
Once You are Familiar (or overly familiar like baby boomer's who cut their TV-teeth watching those gems over and over) and Know Every Gag by Heart (and still laugh), then Watch this Sequel to get Even More of the Zaniness with this CGI Update.It is Mysterious (and a bit sad) that Tex Avery and His Animator Peers did this Decades Ago and came up with this Hand-Drawn, Frame by Frame, Looniness, that Thrilled Movie Audiences and then the TV Kids with Limited Budgets and Out of this World Imaginations and this One Costs Near 90 Million Dollars.
The effects are incredible, and the funny performances by Alan Cumming and Jamie Kennedy seem to make this movie worth wild.
Perhaps even more than the first film, Son of the Mask realizes a "live action" cartoon.Tex Avery is again a strong reference (made obvious by Kennedy's character being named "Tim Avery" and working as an animator), as is classic Warner Brothers animation in general.
THE VISUALS ARE SCREWED UP ING LOL MUCH HJDKJDHDHRHRHHRHDK.sorry...Anyway, The Acting Is Subpar.Jamie Kennedy Sounds Like He's BoredAlan Cumming Sounds Like He Wants To Rape Someone.And Otis While Scenes Are Funny, Has Terrifying Visuals.Okay Did This Film Make Me On A SequelHELL NO!Son Of The Mask Sucks With Its Disturbing Scary Imagery, Subpar Acting & Terrible Writing.Nothing Is Good About This FilmSo Don't Watch It No Matter What!Just Watch The First Film.D. Hidden Howard.
Son of the Mask feels empty and without a Jim Carrey cameo, this feels a huge waste of time watching it in the movie theater or even on DVD.
Dr. Ben Stein, the only cast member of the Mask 1994 movie, was okay on there even though it was forced.The late great actor, Bob Hoskins, who was known in movies like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Long Good Friday, Brazil, and Hook, unfortunately, has been in two movies this one as Odin where he had the talking head treatment from Superman and Super Mario Bros where he was drunk.And Alan Cumming is atrocious even though he's good..
This boring film is more directed to kids than the original from 1994, and the proof is that the magic of Jim Carrey movie here has completely disappeared.
This movie is a good family film.It is an okay movie but not as good as the pacifier.Just as aspiring cartoonist Tim Avery gets over his fear of parenthood with the birth of his new son Alvey, he quickly finds himself in over his head as his new baby is born with the magical Mask's spectacular powers.
It is soo much better than the first,and we enjoyed that one as well.To be put in the WORST Movie category on this site is incomprehensible!As far as I'm concerned IMDb might as well do away with the ratings here,because this is just one of many,many times the crazy,undeserved(overrated and underrated) ratings here have stunned me.If you like hilarious comedy, ignore the lousy ratings given here and check it out.
Mom goes away for a week, dad's about to face a big battle between his baby, the dog, and a really crazy god called Loki who wants his mask back.Son of the Mask ends up being a generic, CGI filled, and otherwise throw-away movie, and normally, that would be the end of that.
That's the beauty of cartoons, you really don't have to think much, you don't have to ponder, just watch!While I know that this movie will never get a good rating, it doesn't deserve the '1' that everyone is giving it.
I would recommend this movie to anyone with young kids that is looking for a fun film to watch with the family..
Son of the mask has been getting too much hate and IMDb users are rating it as the "worst film I've ever seen" its not Evan close if you want to see a film with that stats watch home alone 4 or jaws the revenge.Son of the mask has a very good plot but bad cast, some of the actors in this film did a very bad job but some did OK.
this film is no where near as good as the original film the mask but its still and fun and decent sequel and dose not deserve the hate it gets i give it 5/10 for the great story and in parts the slight improvement of plot, the only thing that really spoils this film is the acting.
But if you really liked the first one and you just want a nice relaxing fun film to watch with your kids son of the mask is great :D.
Now, Loki wants his powers and mask back...Based on the fact that little-known director Lawrence Guterman (Cats & Dogs, Headless!) had directed this film, I definitely did not expect such work.
Even though Jim Carrey is not in this movie (Jamie Kennedy instead), it's still worth watching.
I believe New Line would have done a good deal better if they'd made a different Mask movie in between this one and the first one.Finally, there's a short period where Loki loses his powers.
I remember loving the first one but that was so long ago I couldn't really remember the actual storyline when I was watching this so I wasn't comparing it to the original, just enjoying it as one of those fun, slightly mental movies that is just a laugh.
OK maybe not the artistic triumph of all time but it was fun, it was interesting enough to keep us watching all the way through (3 times) and it was a movie that depended on more than one person to make it work.Alan Cummings was alternately scary and touching and the father character 'Tim' was very believable.
This film had a good pacey storyline, amusing sympathetic characters and plenty of laugh out loud moments.I can see why Carrey fans wouldn't like it, but as I am not a Carrey fan and prefer a balanced film with an ensemble of good acting and a share out of amusing lines, rather than a one man ego trip with a back up of lacklustre characters none of whom can steal the star's thunder - I enjoyed this film.Alan Cummings was a joy and it is nice to watch an actor of his calibre doing what he does best, entertaining and interacting with the other cast members to produce a great film.I would recommend this to anyone who likes to have a fun time when watching a film and who enjoys surreal wacky stuff.If you like 'Fairly Odd Parents' 'My Parents are Aliens' 'Tom and Jerry' and 'Coneheads' you will probably enjoy this..
Son of the mask movie is a very entertaining and funny movie.I laughed from all of my heart when I rent the DVD.Honestly even with the absence of Jim Carey the movie was successful because here in this site IMDb you will find a lot of people who loved it.Good acting and suitable for all ages.Good For Adults and will cheer them up.Excellent for children and very amusing.This film is extremely under-rated.Glad I saw this movie.At least deserves 7 out of 10 for the comedy,good acting and direction..
It's definitely a family movie aimed at the younger crowd but it was fairly entertaining most of the way through.Jamie Kennedy is no Jim Carrey as the Mask but these scenes are few and he's good otherwise.
Watching the original Mask (Jim Carrey) would not be a prerequisite to see this movie.
Watching the original Mask (Jim Carrey) would not be a prerequisite to see this movie.
no i don't agree with you all i think this film is the best you should all be asking yourselves what were you thinking in rating this a bad movie and i would like to see more pictures of Loki (Alan Cumming) on this site (when he looks like he is on the cover)(spiky hair and black jacket) he is so fine.
Remakes are annoying as it is.Jim Carrey won't be in this; he is overrated anyways, "Fun with Dick and Jane" was just bad
Jamie Kennedy stars in this and if you ignore the fact that he thinks he can rap than he's kind of funny.Cameron Diaz isn't in this either and will never again look as good as she did in that the original movie
Traylor Howard is this one; she always entertains me in the show "Monk," and for a dame in her 40s; she still looks great!
If you want a movie to watch with the fam than try it out.Son of the Mask is worth the 90mins..
A Bad sequel to a good moviethis movie has got to beone of the worst films of all timethis movie hurts my eyes, makes me wanna do bad thingsthe acting was terriblewell every Bad Movie and any Good Movie needs Bad Actingunlike the 1st mask movie Jim Carrey wasn't in the filmInstead, make way for Jamie KennedyJamie Kennedy does a horrible job as Tim Avery all the son of the mask characters are very annoyingThe story is uninteresting, it's like a bad episode of The Simpsonsthe most irritating character of this movie was a CGI Cartoon Doghis face will scare 2 year old kidsand even worse it's his voiceIt was like a cartoon show that goes on for a half hour and has tons of CGIDo we need that much CGI?A CGI Dog + a Baby with A Cheesy name = the worst Movie Characters In Cinema Historyis this movie made for little kids?the jokes on methe worst part about this movie was A Scene with 2 classical musics (William Tell Overture and Blue Danube Waltz)so how many times did you hear some classical musics?Way to muchTim Avery made a Horrible CGI Cartoon in the end of this moviethe only good part about this movie was When Tim plays Mario Kart: Super Circuit on the game boy advanceBoring, Silly, Not Very funny, No Sign of Jim Carrey and this movie sucked so hard and it actually made a bunny cryif you want to see a good filmwatch the Disney movies like Tarzan or Toy Story or the Lion King instead.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs Loki (Alan Cumming),God of mischief,has been sent back to earth by his father Odin (Bob Hoskins) to reclaim the mischievous mask from the original film.However,it has fallen into the hands of Tim Avery (Jamie Kennedy) a struggling aspiring cartoonist whose wife has just given birth to his first child.From here,complications ensue...We had a bit of a break from them last year,but Son of the Mask appears to have re-ignited the trend of making sequels to decade old films in a desperate attempt to profit off their enduring popularity.I was 10 when I saw the original film.Looking at this sequel,it's,pleasingly and reassuringly,still easy to see how the premise could appeal so magically to the boundless imagination of a small child.But it's as though all that magic and charm has been stripped away with a noisy,irritating,cheap effects-filled mess which just doesn't make for a good movie.It's rarely funny (I laughed very mildly about once),with some predictable gags you can see coming a mile off,not to mention an over-dose of puke,wee and snot gags that are as distasteful as they are unfunny.It's about ten minutes too long as well,and you can feel it dragging on as the movie progresses.The special effects have an impressive quality to them,and you can kind of appreciate the effort that's gone into making them,but all-the-same,they can't help but appear very cheap looking and bottom-of-the-mill.The cast just roll- with-the-punches and ham things up exceedingly as the proceedings roll on.It's ironic but not surprising that there was another New Line sequel to a Jim Carrey original from some time back called Dumb and Dumberer released a few years back,because Carrey's fame has soared since those early films and,even if he liked the scripts,he'd moved on from that kind of thing now.But that's exactly what this is:below a high standard.Well below.*.
This is amazing thats all I can say about it, if anyone says different then they have got no sense of humour, or they just don't like cartoons because thats all it is, no way is it going to be as funny as the first mask, that was more of an adult film.
The story about the magical mask falling into the hands of a cartoonist who fathers a son is rather substandard and takes a while to get going.The special effects and animation attempts to spark some imagination, but it completely lacks the visual style that made the original so endearing to look at.
The acting is fine, the effects are great, and I suspect most of the poor reviewers are mostly mad since it is nothing like the first movie save for the mask.I'm not going to go into some long diatribe, but check the positive reviews and ignore the bad ones an you may just find like me, this movie is way better than it is given credit for being.Don't expect Brokeback mountain because it is not this kind of film.
The CGI effects are the absolute worst, worst, WORST you will EVER, EVER, EVER see and the Mask character only appears twice for like 5 minutes in the whole film.
So you watch it with yearning, anticipating that the last piece is going to fall into place in just a moment and completely reinterpret all you've seen so far.The good part keeps getting pushed further and further into the future until the thing ends with a disassembled motor and you with a broken heart.I wanted to like this movie because it has my favorite framing: a cartoonist is looking for an idea.
I saw the movie and really loved the acting of Jamie Kennedy, Alan Cumming was wonderful as the evil Loki.
But all you need to know, and a point none of the critics appear to have picked up on, the irony of Son Of The Mask's choice of 'One Froggy Evening' as a plot-expository clip; the movie stops being funny the moment anyone is watching..
Little did I know when I heard those lines uttered early on in "Son of the Mask" that they were actually going to be the best way to describe the movie itself.
He is funny when he is supposed to be, but some of his lines are god awful.Oh, and the main bad thing about this movie that I hated was Tim Avery's voice when he is possessed by the mask.
The colours are vibrant, which is great for kids!Some of the effects are dodgy, especially some of the baby sequences, but they've got the dog down to a tee!Although Jamie Kennedy is trying to be Jim Carey in this movie, and even though in your mind, your seeing how hard hes trying. |
tt0084112 | I, the Jury | Dr. Charlotte Manning is young, beautiful, blonde, and well-to-do psychiatrist motivated by greed. To increase her profit, she becomes involved with a crime syndicate with ties to both prostitution and drug-trafficking. The leader of the organization is Hal Kines, who has had plastic surgery to make him look younger, and who recruits young women for the sex trade. Manning herself has upscale clientele, though her trade is not prostitution but coercing her patients into becoming dependent upon medications, primarily heroin, in order to extort money from them. On the surface, Charlotte Manning maintains her façade as a renowned psychiatrist.
As the sinister plots of Manning and the crime syndicate evolve, Jack Williams falls in love with Myrna Devlin when he stops her from committing suicide by jumping from a bridge. Williams himself is a former New York police officer who has lost his arm in World War II saving the life of his friend Mike Hammer. Williams asks Dr. Manning to admit Devlin to her clinic for psychotherapy. After Myrna has become clean, she and Williams become engaged, though the couple maintains a casual friendship with Manning. Over time, Williams becomes suspicious of Manning's business, and secretly investigates further. He realizes that Hal Kines, one of Manning's college students who has spent some time at her clinic and who has become one of her casual acquaintances, is in fact a criminal. When, at a party given by Williams in his apartment, Charlotte Manning finds old college yearbooks whose contents would expose Kines' criminal actions, she has to act fast. After the party, she goes home but on the same night, undetected, returns to Williams' apartment and shoots him in the stomach with a silencer as she watches him die slowly. Then she takes the college yearbooks and leaves.
On a Saturday morning, Hammer picks up Myrna Devlin and gives her a lift. They drive to the Bellemy twins' estate in the country for a gigantic all-day party there. Charlotte Manning says she has some business to attend to and will be there in time for a tennis game due to take place that evening. After an unsuccessful attempt at playing tennis himself, Hammer gets rid of his sleep deficit by spending all day in his room, fast asleep, with "old junior" — his gun — close to him. He is woken up just in time for dinner, during which Harmon Wilder, the Bellemys' lawyer, and Charles Sherman, Wilder's assistant, are pointed out to him. This is a fine — and the final — distractor in the novel: Wilder and Sherman are suddenly missing from the party after Myrna Devlin has been found shot. In fact they had illicit drugs on them and did not want to be found out. During the tennis game, Mary Bellemy asks Charlotte if she can "borrow" Hammer. Then she leads him into the woods where they have sex. They return to the party just as a maid discovers Myrna's body in an upstairs room, in front of a large mirror. Both Pat Chambers and the police are called in, and the alibis of each guest is checked. Again Charlotte can convince everyone that she could not have done anything.
Back home, Hammer retreats into his apartment to think. Finally, he knows the identity of the killer. This is when he goes to Charlotte's place, recapitulates the whole crime and finally shoots her dead, despite her efforts to pull the trigger on him. | suspenseful, neo noir, cruelty, murder, violence, revenge, sadist | train | wikipedia | This actually a combination of two Spillane books "I the Jury" and "The Body Lovers" This is not a great film, but good.
The action and plot are pretty good and Assante gives a decent performance, but the thing that I remember the most is just how damn sexy Barbara Carrera is in this movie.
It's worth watching for any fan of Barbara Carrera and sleazy action movies.
Oh the 70s was a great time for crime features
although "I, the Jury" was made in the early eighties it had me thinking it was from the 70s like some sort leftovers that found itself in the wrong decade.
Private detective Mike Hammer looks into the case to seek revenge when he learns of the killing of his one-armed ex-army buddy.
What he digs up about his mate's death, is something quite big."I, the Jury" is a tough as nails, lean and steamy pulp crime / film noir feature that's sexually charged (an opened orgy sequence) and brutally violent (a ghastly slit throat) amongst a rather seedy backdrop.
Filling in the role as the iconic Mike Hammer is a fittingly hardboiled, but wry Armand Assante.
I The Jury is an exciting action flick from 82, I first saw two years later and I must say me and my friend, saddled up in front of the t.v were engrossed, and underage to watch this sort of thing, but who's counting.
Armand Assante is tailor made for our great fictional detective, Mike Hammer.
Investigating the murder of a close buddy who served with him in Nam, Hammer stumbles upon a conspiracy trying to plughole his efforts, people going at great lengths to stop him, and make sure that people he talks to are people who'll be having their last conversation.
The scene with those two naked twins, the psycho, a younger better looking version of Richard Lynch, doing them, is intense, and as I can remember, provided heavy viewing on my first watch back in 84 that I got away, renting this R movie, as I did a few others.
There's action aplenty in this tasty, flick that has sex, beautiful nudity, some sick violence, and Assante.
The thrilling action climax is great, plus another little after climax, which has Assante properly avenging his friend's death.
If perhaps it was just a ripoff of the pulp classic "I, the Jury" with Armand Assante, I would have enjoyed it.
But as Mike Hammer, it's weak.The biggest differences between true Mike Hammer and this movie is Armand Assante's portrayal.
At least they got the ending right, although Armand Assante was still way too melancholy.I can say several positive things about this movie.
The scene when Assante does a full assault on the criminal's compound with an M-16 is well directed, a good solid action scene (no way connected with the book).
Velda and Assante's love interests were both more interesting to watch than the rest of the movie.In closing, I would like to say that Hollywood still has the chance to make a good, solid film based on Mike Hammer.
This so-so detective yarn feels more like a TV movie than the noir-ish piece of cinema you might expect from a Spillane novel.
But it has a few moments.What makes this movie worth watching is the smoking Nicaraguan beauty Barbara Carrera.
I THE JURY (1982), the first Mike Hammer movie since THE GIRL HUNTERS (1963).
Armand Assante's too short & skinny, his accent's all wrong & he seems too laid-back about all the nastiness going on, like he's a wise-guy when he should be a dangerous Neanderthal.
(Velda's supposed to be a brunette, how hard is it to get even the simple details right?) Paul Sorvino as Pat Chambers isn't bad, but he gets forced to involve Hammer against his will, while in the original, he happily fed Mike all the info he could, knowing Mike would not be held back by rules & regulations the way he would be as a cop.
The highlight of the film is no doubt Barbara Carerra, who gets to have one HOT nude sex scene about 2/3rds of the way in-- but it doesn't seem like she's really given much chance to act.
Someone said this looked and felt like a "tv movie"-- the only difference being, the excessive graphic violence, nudity & sex.
***WARNING SPOILERS*** Mike Hammer, Armand Assante, taking time off from his grueling and back breaking job as a divorce investigator to find who's responsible for the murder of a Vietnam army buddy of his Jack Williams, Frederic Downs, and bring him or they to justice; Mike Hammer-style.Jack a private investigator who lost an arm in Vietnam seemed to be on to something when he was murdered.
Going to a Manhattan sex clinic where Jack was a patient in Hammer finds the clinic manager Dr. Bennett, Barbara Carrera, anything but helpful.
It's then that Mike figures that Jack was undercover there as a patient and uncovered something that cost him his life, but what was it?It later turns out that the sex clinic is a front for a rouge element of the CIA thats working together with the New York Mafia smuggling weapons and at the same time using the patients in the clinic with sever mental problems as programed assassins.
Having them go out and murder those who are on to the clinics real purpose and at the same time having those killings written off as simple sex-related crimes by the police.
Hammer does this in a one man shoot-out at their secret headquarters where he finishes off both mob boss Charles Kelecki, Alan King, and his gang of CIA/Mafia henchmen.
Mike now has just one loose end to tie up to finally close the case on the death of his friend Jack and he'll do it with a smile a kiss and a gun.
Armand Assante is very good as the brutal, but at the same time added a lot of humor in his role, private eye Mike Hammer.
His actions at Dr. Bennetts office and her sex clinic run mansion in suburbia were hilarious and Barbara Carrera was both sexy and deadly as the dragon-like lady Charlotte Bennett.
Carrera together with Assante had the most super charged sex scene in the film that made all the orgy sequences in the movie pail in comparison.Besides both Alan King and Barry Snider being in roles as the mob boss and rouge CIA operation chief Paul Sorvino was in the movie as Mike's friend in the NYPD Det. Chambers.
The scene where Armand Assante shoves the bad guy's face onto the hot griddle ranks right up with the dentist "Is it safe?" scene in Marathon Man. It is unique, and it makes you cringe any time you think of this movie.The mark of a true "tough" guy is that he will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.
Armand Assante's Mike Hammer is one of the best portrayals in that regard..
There is a reason this film is hardly ever mentioned today: it's a completely average and forgettable actioner that looks and sounds like a TV-movie (spiced-up with a little nudity and some gratuitous sleaze).
Having not read a Mickey Spillane book so far, I can not estimate how accurate Armand Assante's interpretation of Mike Hammer is, but his performance seems acceptable.
Less acceptable is Barbara Carrera, who has one facial expression throughout the film; at least she has a nude scene, which explains her casting.
In fact, I don't think I've ever seen Mike Hammer-based movies before.
But holy cow, this movie was just absolute crap.Mike Hammer's friend, Jack, a one-armed man, is murdered.
As Mike Hammer, Armande Assante, hardly seemed even bemused by the government/military corruption behind the murder.
Neither was I given, the ridiculously mounting body count--both in terms of murders and the sex scenes until reaching an even more ridiculous ending.I wouldn't recommend this movie to people interested in a good murder mystery.
Although, I don't know how Mike Hammer fans would react to this movie, or whether they'd want to watch more Mike Hammer in action..
Author Mickey Spillane's hard-boiled crime novels might have seriously benefited from the new permissiveness of '70s and '80s Hollywood...but it turns out the filmmakers here weren't interested in doing anything creative with all the old clichés, and so we have Spillane's detective Mike Hammer making love to a sex therapist with saxophones blaring in the background.
Hammer, whose New York office is across the street from the Pussycat Theatre (!), assigns himself to the murder case of his one-armed war buddy, with a dirty police chief, the C.I.A., and a sex clinic at the heart of the mystery.
As Hammer, American-born Armand Assante is completely miscast.
Assante isn't the mischievous or lascivious sort, and so when naked sex clinic bunnies pounce on him, his shooing them away seems more awkward and unrealistic than how the old-school private eyes used to handle the broads (either by getting rough or by taking care of their business off-screen).
Barbara Carrera (as the operator of the sex clinic) is used only for her slim, exotic body and, though she's a stunning nude, it's an insult to any professional actor to be cast on the merits of their genitalia.
I like this slightly over the top interpretation of Mike Hammer, especially after viewing all the previous watered down versions.I, The Jury (1982) Directed by Richard T.
Heffron, starring Armand Assante, as Mike Hammer, Barbara Carreram as Dr. Charlotte Bennett, Laurene Landon as Velda, Alan King as Charles Kalecki, Geoffrey Lewis as Joe Buttler, and Paul Sorvino as Det. Pat Chambers.I first saw this probably sometime in the late 80's once, had nothing to compare it to, and barely remembered it so it was a delight to get to view this the other day, especially since I've recently been revisiting Spillane and the films based on his novels.It took 30 some odd years for a film to really do full justice to the zeitgeist of a Mickey Spillane novel.
The original "I, The Jury" (1953) was DOA having non presence Biff Eliot in the title role, but at least the babes were "hammertomically" correct , "My Gun is Quick" (1957) starring Robert Bray as had the right caliber of women, but had the action not in NYC, but in some seaside resort and Hammer was running around with a pop gun not his trademark .45 Colt Automatic.
At least it had the babes.But WOW!, right from the opening credits of I, The Jury (1982) you know you are in Mike Hammer land with the emphasis on women and the Colt .45 automatic, Broads & Bullets, Girls and Guns (both kinds).
If not, it predates that style by 10 years.This version has Hammer's office located above Times Square, set in the post Vietnam 80's.
Next shot has Hammer screwing the clients wife while fielding a call from him, the conversation is humorous along the lines of , "yea I'm right on top of her", and "yea, don't worry, I'm very familiar with all her moves".Hammer's one armed war buddy Jack takes a slug in the guts and dies crawling across his living room, notified of his death Hammer (like a licensed rogue cop with full access to NYPD info) acts like bull in a china shop and the action (along with the catchy and wonderfully complementary score) never quits
that is unless a broad drifts into range, and a bevy of lovelies do so.In this version Velda who in the novels was also a licensed detective holds her own doing double duty as a competent secretary/associate, and quasi love interest, she shows flashes of jealousy when Mike returns to the office disheveled and bruised from his escapades.All the actors put in decent performances, I just wish Geoffrey Lewis had a bigger part, my only quibble.What's not to like.Barely Neo Noir if that.
The one noir lit sequence that I do remember was when Hammer goes to pay respects to Jack's wife.
Most of the film is too brightly lit.No first person narrative.And well, this version deviates a bit from the novel, i.e., using a surrogate serial killer in place of Kaleki's henchman to the detriment of the novel's excellent Bellamy Twins sequences, the substitution of the sex clinic for the whorehouse, and bringing an ex-CIA paranoid operative "house as fortress" character into the story.Armand Assante as Hammer hews closer to Ralph Meeker looks than what you picture Mike Hammer should look like (for me that would have been the great Charles McGraw), but he has the machismo and misogynistic qualities right, lol .The cinematography is adequate, very pedestrian, nothing stylistic.Setting the story in the post Vietnam 1980's takes away the dirtier, grittier, sleazier, New York of the late Forties to early Sixties.
Minor quibbles.Still excellent film 8.5/10,some funny bits, almost the perfect Hammer with an excellent score.The only way to improve would be a Sin City type treatment keeping the machismo and misogynistic qualities this film has with the dirtier, grittier, sleazier, New York of the late Forties to early Sixties..
Armand Assante in the role of Mike Hammer.
I've been watching Armand Assante since he was one of the Mike Powers on The Doctors some 37 years ago, and in all that time, I've never once thought of him as Mike Hammer.
I still don't.In I, the Jury, Hammer goes to work on a different kind of case as he tries to find the killer of Jack Williams, a man who served with him in Vietnam and, while retrieving Mike's helmet, lost his arm.
After consulting Jack's widow, Mike finds out they went to sex therapy at a clinic, so he starts there.
This winds up involving Mike with the CIA, a mental patient, bad cops, and a rogue Army officer.Lots of violence and nudity and in the end for me anyway, not worth it.
Assante does as good a job as he can, but he's no Mike Hammer.
I did absolutely love seeing the New York where I lived - the Times Square smut, Colony Records, the Broadway/7th Aveue area, great fun.Not really my type of thing.
"I The Jury" delivers about what you would expect from a 1980s action film.
There are strong sexy scenes with Assante and Barbara Carrera.
How can you not like a booby trap place like the one Mike Hammer drives trough with Alan King being 12 years old.
After hearing about this Neo-Noir for a number of years,I was pleased to get hold of a rare UK Pre-Cert Video of the title.Once the Video arrived,I decided to search around for info about the movie,and I was disappointed to discover that 5 minutes had been cut from the UK release of the film.With recently having picked up auteur film maker Larry Cohen's gritty Blaxploitation flick Black Caesar,I decided to search around for more title which he has been involved in.Along with discovering that Cohen had written the screenplay,I was thrilled to discover that Fox Archives has recently put out an uncut version of the film,which led to me getting ready to finally judge the film.The plot:Working for years with fellow cop Jack Williams,Mike Hammer is horrified to find that Williams has been brutally killed.Wanting to go after Williams killer,Hammer is surprised to find his fellow officers giving him "warnings" about looking into things that are best left hidden.
Originally hired to direct until he got sacked due to going $100,000 over budget in the first week of filming,the screenplay by Larry Cohen places this adaptation of Mickey Spillane at the cross roads between the sun-set Neo-Noir and the steamy Erotic Thriller.Sending Hammer off to follow in the footsteps of his former partner,Cohen hammers Hammer into a decaying Neo-Noir world which is kept hidden by an alluring shell,which contains sex therapists secretly recording their clients deepest desires,and cops trying to put all their dirty money links onto a serial killer.Made before the sub- genre would hit the mainstream,Cohen ties the Neo-Noir with a wonderfully deranged Erotic Thriller edge,as a sadistic killer with "mummy issues" makes his victims look like mannequins,whilst Hammer uncovers the "sex therapy" to be a fashion house-style mansion,packed with alluring,but deadly femme fatales.Rushed into the movie after Cohen was given the boot,director Richard T.
Heffron & cinematographer Andrew Laszlo (who also worked on the first Rambo movie in the same year) give the film a stylish,rough and tumble Neo-Noir appearance.Filmed on location,Heffron and Laszlo,scan the burnt-out streets with excellent whip-pans and tracking shots which inject the title with a menacing atmosphere,as Hammer and the mysterious killer close in on each other.Picking up on the genre-crossing mood of Cohen's screenplay,Heffron brilliantly mixes Hammer's gritty Neo-Noir beat with ravishing naked girls and a psycho sexual killer.Before closing the case on a brittle Noir note,Heffron slams Hammer into '80s Action,thanks to Hammer having to take control of the law by taking on the gangs of dirty cops,which leads to the dark underbelly of the city being ripped across the screen,as Mike Hammer declares himself the jury..
At the end of the novel, Mike Hammer's tough-as-nails private investigator enfolds a beautiful woman in his arms.
Mike's old friend is murdered and this provides Mike with the revenge motive that propels him through the rest of the story, which has some sort of sex institute operating as a brainwashing tool of the CIA for the purpose of creating sex fiends who murder the agency's enemies and make it look like the work of a sex fiend which, in a way, it is.
Shooting her was a mortal sin and Mike Hammer's soul should roast in hell.
De gustibus non disputandum est.Another is that Mike Hammer, incarnated here by Armand Assante, is the luckiest man alive.
She's played by Laurene Landon, who is a paragon of beauty but who can't act, not that it matters.Many of the action scenes, and they are here in abundance, are in the slow motion that was fashionable at the time. |
tt0093405 | Leonard Part 6 | Bill Cosby plays Leonard Parker, a CIA spy-turned-restaurateur. According to the opening sequence of the movie, the title refers to the idea that this film is actually the sixth installment of a series of films featuring the adventures of Leonard, as parts one through five were locked up in the interests of world security. In actuality, there are no movies preceding this one.
The theatrical release poster points out that Leonard Parker is, at the time of his reluctant return to action, coping with domestic issues:
"His daughter is engaged to a man old enough to be his father.
His estranged wife behaves like she is younger than their daughter.
And now his government has asked him to save the world. Again."
The movie starts with Parker being called out of retirement by his CIA director Snyderburn (Baker) to save the world from evil vegetarian Medusa Johnson (Foster), who brainwashes animals to kill people. The film ends with Leonard infiltrating Johnson's headquarters (an "International Tuna" factory), fending off the vegetarians with magic meat he received from a Gypsy, freeing the captive animals, and flooding the base using Alka-Seltzer. He escapes by riding an ostrich across the roof; the unlikely steed flies him to the ground. | cult | train | wikipedia | The relationship between Cosby - a master spy living in an enormous house - and his unhappy wife (who lives in the enormous house next door, which is supposed to be a funny circumstance) took time to develop.
But I thought it's gotta get better, Bill Cosby wouldn't allow this garbage to be shown to millions of kids like me as "entertainment" unless there was something funny in it.
Bill Cosby must have lost some kind of bet with Satan to end up making a film as mind-meltingly dreadful as "Leonard Part 6".
There are bad movies like the ones Ed wood used to make and there are bad movies like "Leonard part 6".Now the difference between these two groups is, that when you watch Ed Wood movies you can laugh at the fact how serious he was.
But with this supposed to be comedy you are just dazed at the fact how shamelessly this movie has been made relying only on the 80's comedy icon Bill Cosby.I can see how the script of this agent parody might have looked funny, with all the James Bond jokes it has, but somewhere in the making everyone just forgot to do their jobs properly, thus ending up with this pile of totally unfunny crap.
As stated nothing works, special effects are bad and they probably looked outdated the year this movie came out.
This is the type of film that has NOTHING redeeming about it, and even thinking about it for a minute longer than its running time is a real waste of effort.
Just look at the user reviews for "Hudson Hawk" or "Ishtar" and you'll see titles like "Not As Bad As They Say," "Under-Rated Classic," and the offensive "I LOVE This Movie."Grow up!
(Schwarzenegger would later fail at this with the nauseating "Last Action Hero") What we're left with is a mess of a movie and Cosby- one of the all-time great comedians- can't even get one genuine laugh out of the deal.
At the time of the film's release Cosby himself went on TV and asked people NOT to see the movie because it was so bad.
This movie fails on every level possible: as a spy movie, as a parody of a spy movie, as a Cosby feature film, as a piece of entertainment.
The Movie is About Leonard Parker (Bill Cosby) who is a retried Secret Agent who owns a Restaurant.
There are also Product Placement in this movie Like the Coke Scene where Leonard is talking to this old guy that his daughter is going to Marry him & he wants to talk to him but he tells his daughter he wants sandwich & a bottle of Coke.
I didn't know much about this movie until I watched the Siskel & Ebert Worst of 1987 Video, Emer Prevost's Review & I Hate Everything's Review.
Bill Cosby plays a secret agent brought out of retirement to save the world from an evil villainess who plans to take over by unleashing trained animals of almost every type, including fish and lobsters.From the minute this movie started, you could tell this would be the worst movie you've ever seen.
There is a good 20 minutes of this film wasted on Cosby getting ready for a date, exercising, showing in Perrier and picking out ties in anticipation for the date, which had absolutely nothing to do with the plot and didn't even work as humor.
As a comedy, as a spy movie, as an action flick, as a parody of all of the above, it fails miserably.At least JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY could squeeze out a couple of feeble laughs.LEONARD PART 6 has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.Rating: 0 out of *****.
But other times, especially when the film is a comedy, the film can be so bad it is painful to watch.
This film not only contains horrible performances by Bill Cosby and nearly everyone else in the cast, but also an plot so mind-numbingly bad the only reason you might continue to watch is for the same reason you would stare at a train wreck: It's so horrific you can't take your eyes off of it..
Having no clue what it was, only seeing Bill Cosby show up, and starte watching halfway through.At the end of the movie, I found myself asking, 'What the holy hell was that piece of trash?' I like Bill Cosby as a comedian, but this was just trash.
Well, it turns out that they didn't even use her voice in the scenes; they dubbed her dialog and her screaming.Apart from getting to see her in the movie, there was nothing at all that would make this a worthwhile film to ever watch again.
Leonard Part 6 crosses that line, gets on an air plane and flies towards the horizon until it runs out of fuel.To sum up this movie: Leonard is a secret agent who, because of a series of personal life events, ends up taking on a mission from the CIA (or some organization like that).
He battles an evil woman who "controls" animals and plans to take over the world.If you go into this movie expecting a cinematic masterpiece, you are going to be disappointed.
I knew it was bad movie even then, and I thought Cosby's career was doomed.
No all-time worst movie list is complete without this film.
There's absolutely nothing to like about it and no reason to watch it unless you want to see how NOT to make a film.
It's debatable whether this movie or Ghost Dad is Cosby's worst film.
If you really want to watch a serious movie with meaning and a complex, important plot, it might be a good idea to aviod movies with Bill Cosby.
This is a stupid, but very enjoyable spy-spoof that is great to watch when you want to laugh at something that is just ridiculous.
While not a great movie (although I love it!) it is actually a lot of fun to watch.
I own a copy of Howard the Duck so that my kids can get a few cheap laughs.No purple dinosaur for my kids...just a large talking duck...and Bill Cosby in a movie where raw meat is a weapon!.
OK OK,everyone knows even Bill Cosby himself thinks this movie sucked out hard,but come on,you can even see Bills disdain for the film in his acting and thats what makes this movie score at least some points,because Bill Cosby is at his funniest when hes pretending to be or is not happy about something.He wields sarcasm like an axe in this film and treats the particularly bad material with the contempt it deserves,which makes it slightly more than your average Bargain bin Fodder.And if your completely honest some of the ideas in the film would be funny if it was made better or perhaps had a bigger budget.Well worth picking up though if you happen to see it in a 2 for £1 bucket in your local video store.3/10.
It's a good movie to watch if you're in a bad mood, and need a few laughs to perk you up..
Everyone has hated it since it was first released, won the Razzie for Worst Picture, but to tell you the truth, I really don't see why.This movie, like the recent Austin Powers films, is stupid, pointless, and over-the-top, but it's on purpose, and you have to realize this.
If you don't think that's funny, you won't like the rest of the movie at all.
With great movies like this one to his credit, he should have quit the Cosby Show a long time ago to pursue a full-time film career.
If you can find this title anywhere (I think Cosby might have personally burned every last tape.), I highly recommend renting it and watching it with friends while drinking.
The pure stupidity and absurdity of this movie, combined with the fact that it is actually Bill Cosby doing all of these ridiculous things, will have you and your friends in stitches.
By far one of the best terrible movie you could ever enjoy watching, so if you get a kick out of this kind of thing, then absolutely watch this film..
Not since Ghost Dad have I seen such a bad film by Bill Cosby.
Seems like every movie Bill Cosby stars in fails, and this one is no exception.
From practicing turning the lights on at the same time in meetings, to frogs jumping cars into the river, to horny trout, to questionable plays, to bad eating habits, you'll love this movie.
This movie has some very funny moments, and is worth watching with the family.
This a wrong and unfunny parody of secret agent films with Bill Cosby playing Leonard, an retired CIA agent that must leave his problems behind when killer animals trained by a criminal mastermind (Gloria Foster, the future Oracle from "Matrix") start to kill all CIA agents.
And the absurd goes on and on to the point of Cosby's escaping from a certain death by flying on a ostrich (lousy scene, awfully made).I only watched this thing because the review made by Siskel & Ebert, one of the funniest videos on the internet and their funniest review either, was so funny that I needed to see with my own eyes if that really was the worst film of 1987.
My advice is go watch their review instead of this film because the review is hilarious, one of those rare times when sarcasm is used with a beautiful efficiency when Ebert quotes about the door scene saying this: "And you know what he fires at it?
How highly, highly humorous!" It always cracks me up!The film gets so ridiculous with its situations trying to be funny but in the end it turns out to be a bad film.
He seemed to have enjoyed his part while making (that's what I think, maybe he hated to be in the film), seems so natural and he's funny in some scenes, he made the film enjoyable (most memorable scenes are when he's training with Leonard, who is about to meet his wife after seven years separated; and their little jump downstairs).
They taken from us the wrong and worst kind of laughters, the ones when you realize something ridiculous and bad is in front of you which is not the same kind of laughter a comedy should demand from us, the one when something is really funny, and can makes us happy.
Parodies spy movies, a CIA operative has to save the world from an evil vegetarian who brainwashes animals to kill people..
But not a terrible one either (though my opinion is in the minority) Just a movie that's not particularly good at anything.I really liked the frogs jumping the car over the cliff (I think it was a cliff) though..
I watched this movie knowing that Bill Cosby was doing something he knew would be ridiculous.
Bill Cosby IS Leonard Parker.And this movie has all that you need for a terrific film - action, comedy, fancy bad awards - what more could you possibly need?
Of course, while many people think of "Leonard Part 6" as bad, I, as well as many of my friends, think of this movie as terrific!
Oh, and while watching this movie, don't forget to look out for Joe Don Baker, which most "Mystery Science Theater 3000" fans will remember from what I think is one of his greatest films he's ever been in, "Mitchell!" "Leonard Part 6" is an awesome piece of cinema, brought to you by the Jell-O man, Bill Cosby!.
Leonard Part 6 (1987)1/2 (out of 4)Bill Cosby co-wrote, produced and stars in this disaster that he eventually would be kind enough to tell people to avoid before its release.
LEONARD PART 6 really is a complete disaster but I'm going to at least give it credit for attempting to do just about everything you could think of in a bad movie.
He actually succeeds at this because I personally can't think of another movie like this one but just because you're different or original doesn't mean your good.
I guess the movie is worth watching at least once so you can say you've seen it and you might even get into a debate about which sequence or scene is the worst.
Throughout the movie LEONARD PART 6, I just kept waiting and waiting...waiting for that one joke that made it worth watching this film.
The "50 Worst Movies" book lists its worst spy spoof as the Matt Helm film THE AMBUSHERS as the worst of this, but the book came out in 1978.
that portion of the movie is really good, and displays classic Cosby humor.
Leonard Part 6 is one of those movies that if you see that it is on TV you will watch it, no matter what else is on.
A lot of people don't seem to know the comic genius Cosby threw in this '87 film.
When his best friend from the CIA Snyderburn (Joe Don Baker)calls for him, Leonard must return back to action to save the world from a mad vegetarian witch named Medusa (Gloria Foster) and her armies of killer animals and vegetarians with the help of unusual things such as sparkling magical meat, alka-seltzers, armpit-missiles, clippers and more.One of the most god-awful movies of all time and pure cinematic toxic waste this movie is!
I'm glad Cosby disowned this steaming heap of dung of a movie and i remembered when i was 6 years old when it hit video i rented it and thought it was dumb despite i do have a memory of the gay eyebrow-less baddie eating that magic explosive hot-dog that caused his head to blow up into crushed cheetos then i re-watched this movie again 7 years ago and it sure stinks like hell.Despite Elmer Bernstein's good score, it cannot save this stinker..
Three Razzies make people automatically think that the movie sucks, and thus they vote accordingly.I've seen the film a couple of times, and in my opinion Leonard 6 is not so bad.
In conclusion, I am not sure about Leonard Part 6 being the worst film of all time, but I couldn't watch it without cringing- sorry I don't recommend it.
For the most part I have to say that the film is as bad as most people say it is.
This is usually a good thing, but not in the case of this movie as most of the jokes are terrible with a few exceptions that my disturbed mind found funny and the plot is super terrible revolving around a super agent trying to take on a vegetarian bent on ruling the world or something to that extent it has been a long time since I saw this movie and I did not exactly watch it multiple times as I am sure most people who have seen this film have not.
So if you want to see a good spy spoof watch any of the Austin Powers movies or the ones with James Coborne where he plays the spy named Flynn or Flint I can not remember which.
Retired Super Spy Leonard Parker (Bill Cosby) comes out of retirement to save the world from a vegetarian madwoman named Medusa.
The movie is so bad that Bill Cosby himself told audiences not to see it.
LEONARD PART 6 is one of those titles that spring to mind whenever one wants a definitive example of a bad movie.
Cosby is daft as the secret agent with stupid abilities and skills, and Foster is rather ridiculous as the power-hungry herbivorous bitch, the problem is not just that the film is full of ridiculous moments that are apparently meant to make you laugh, like infiltrating a building while dancing ballet, and escaping an exploding building on an ostrich, the story both ludicrous and boring James Bond, it's just an unfunny and unwatchable comedy.
But the film is so bad that you can't help but laugh at what ends up on screen.
It's up to Leonard to save the world, as only he can battle her Vegetarians and killer animals.It's a bad film by all means, it makes no sense to have three of the stand out scenes of this movie right at the beginning, but they do, and if you really lower your expectations, you will find some strange kitsch gem in this mess.It's not funny, and Cosby is in almost every scene, it's a vanity project for him, someone who was the most famous face on US TV at the time, and his ego told him he could do the same in movie, albeit with a really strange title you won't get unless you see the film, and killer frogs and lobsters.But there is something about this movie, that would make me want to watch it again.
I have been hearing about this film for years, mostly because Bill Cosby himself appeared on talk shows telling people not to see it.
It's obvious that Bill Cosby wanted people to forget his movie career.
Anyway, this movie has such a stupid premise it literally feels like something a five year old would come up with.
and whoever thinks this movie was a stinker should watch it again, bill cosby throws MEAT at VEGATARIANS and it DEFEATS them.
I, for one, could see through all of the bad editing and production problems in this movie and found that Bill Cosby(who wrote the story, initially) had a great idea for a movie that was put in the wrong hands for production.
I, for one, could see through all of the bad editing and production problems in this movie and found that Bill Cosby(who wrote the story, initially) had a great idea for a movie that was put in the wrong hands for production.
I watched the movie believing it can't be as bad as reported, but it fact its much worse.
This movie is so bad that it's great!. |
tt0052002 | No Name on the Bullet | When infamous hired gunman John Gant (Audie Murphy) arrives in the small town of Lordsburg, Arizona, the locals are terrified by his reputation and surprised by how young he is. Although Sheriff Buck Hastings would like to arrest Gant, he points out to the townsmen that Gant always coerces his rivals to draw their gun first, allowing him to kill them legally in "self-defence." While the men in the town speculate anxiously about Gant's target, Luke Canfield (played by Charles Drake, an off-screen friend and frequent co-star of Murphy), the town blacksmith and doctor, greets Gant and is totally unaware of Gant's reputation as a hired gunman. During his first meeting with Gant at the smithy, Luke demonstrates his perfect aim with a maul.
Luke proudly takes Gant on a tour through town and agrees to join him later for a game of chess. At home, Luke's fiancée, Anne Benson, tends to her father, Judge Benson, who suffers from consumption. Luke's father Asa joins them for dinner, during which Buck arrives to warn Luke to stay away from Gant. Asa cautions Buck not to condemn Gant prematurely, but Buck is reluctant to accept his advice and reveals that he feels he will be powerless against Gant's superior gun skills. Later, mine owners Earl Stricker and Thad Pierce assume that their partner, Ben Chaffee, has hired Gant to kill them in order to take sole ownership of the mine. When they find Gant in the saloon and propose a counter-offer, however, Gant observes that no innocent man would be afraid, and turns them away.
Upon hearing that Stricker and Pierce were seen talking with Gant, Chaffee assumes that they want to kill him. He questions Luke about Gant, and after Luke fails to calm him, the physician walks through town, noting that the townsmen are all hiding behind guns and locked doors. While clerk Lou Fraden and his wife Roseanne discuss their certainty that her ex-husband has sent Gant to kill them, Luke confronts Gant, asking him why he has come. Impressed with Luke's bravery and integrity, Gant explains that he believes that Luke, who saves the lives of men "who deserve to die," is less ethical than he. While they talk, a panicked Pierce shoots himself in his office and dies later that night. After this, Luke accuses Gant of murder. When Buck tries to throw Gant out of town, Gant refuses to leave. When the sheriff pulls a gun on Gant, Gant shoots him in the hand and renders him useless. As to why Gant didn't kill him, the gunman explains it was because no one was paying him.
Later, Judge Benson advocates using vigilante law to throw out Gant, but after Luke protests, suggests sacrificing the one man Gant is after in order to save the rest of the town. Meanwhile, Fraden, emboldened by alcohol, confronts Gant, who calmly encourages him to draw his gun. At Luke's urging, Fraden flees, leaving Luke to demand fruitlessly that Gant leave town. Next, Stricker gathers the townsmen to challenge Gant, and although Luke disapproves, he agrees to lead them, hoping to minimize the possible violence. Gant, angered to see Luke backed by a mob, warns the men that if they shoot him he will still live long enough to kill Luke, Reeger, Asa, Stricker and several other town leaders. The men disband silently. Later, Luke confesses to Judge Benson that he likes Gant, and the judge warns him that Gant's viciousness is a progressive disease that he cannot cure.
In the store the next day, Gant approaches Anne and questions her about her home life, but will not reveal his target. At the same time, the judge speculates to Luke that if the hunted man refused to defend himself, Gant could be legally arrested for murder, but Luke declares that no man could die without fighting. Soon after, Chafee and his men begin a shootout with Stricker which results in the death of many men. Sickened by a situation that he can not deal with, Sheriff Hastings takes off his badge and drops it on the street. Anne, who has grown suspicious about her father the judge, reads a letter locked in his drawer that reveals a past crime. Realizing the likelihood that Gant has been hired to kill her father, she goes to Gant's room with a gun. Gant bluffs her that her gun is unloaded and then easily takes it away from her. Anne declares that the judge will not defend himself, prompting Gant to rip off a piece of the upper part of her dress. There is more than one way to make a man pick up a gun.
Gant goes to the judge's home and tells him that his "friends from back East send their respects". The old man admits his past guilt and tells Gant that he knows enough to send himself, the governor, and several other wealthy and powerful men to prison, but all they have to do is wait and nature will do Gant's job for him. Unfortunately, his old associates are impatient. Of course, the Judge refuses to fight. Gant then shows him the piece of Anne's dress and implies that he has raped her. The old judge is angered enough to grab a rifle and follow Gant outside. The old man has severe coughing and fires a wild shot before collapsing on the porch steps. Luke arrives and sees Gant with his gun drawn and assumes that Gant shot the old man. Luke starts to throw a hammer at him, but Gant shoots him in the right shoulder. As Gant is walking away toward his horse, Luke uses his left arm to throw a hammer. Just as Gant turns around, he is struck in the upper part of his gun arm and breaking it so that Gant can no longer shoot. As Gant laboriously mounts his horse, Asa tells Luke that the old man was not shot. Luke offers to tend to his arm, but Gant replies that "Everything comes to a finish" and rides away. | suspenseful | train | wikipedia | Audie Murphy (as John Gant) plays it real smooth here.
He manipulates the whole town 'leading citizens' into thinking which one is the one he's after (that he's been hired to kill), and leaves them all feeling quite guilty over their past misdeeds.
This is one of the few times you'll see Murphy play a bad guy, although quite different from the unhinged character you'd later see him play in John Huston's THE UNFORGIVEN (1960).
The one star of the movie, Audie Murphy, plays the gunman.
Audie Murphy's talent was misspent because, though obvious, it was never developed, either by studios, who, myopically, only wanted to exploit his war hero status as a box office draw, or directors who, in Murphy's career, were usually "line directors," good for getting a movie in the can on time and on budget rather than for getting great performances out their players.Which brings me to director Jack Arnold, who does a journeyman's job, but who I believe is the cause for what another reviewer wrongheadedly calls Murphy's shortcomings.
The main plot ends too abruptly, as if the producers were saying, "That's all we can afford to give you, Folks." That said, I wouldn't call the ending dumb, again as the wrongheaded reviewer cited above asserts, just shortchanged.Returning to my opening thesis, that watching a cast of talented character players carry a movie is a special treat, I highly recommend this little gem of a Western..
As soon as Audie Murphy appears on screen, you know that he's no good as he scares the life out of 2 random strangers, just by asking them for directions.
This is a cracking Western that works in just about every department and is surely one of Audie Murphy's best performances..
Picking up bits from Dan Duryea and Barry Sullivan's affable bad guys in previous films he had made with them, his John Gant is a smooth professional killer, an arbiter of fate, who in this film at least,seems to kill only those who truly deserve it.
This film,along with "The Red Badge of Courage,and the original "The Unforgiven" are the roles that showed that Mr. Murphy could've been a contender as an actual actor..
Possibly Audie Murphy's Best Western.
No Name on the Bullet is possibly Audie Murphy's best western.
These two films demonstrate clearly that Murphy could give a creditable performance on the rare occasions when he was given a good script, cast, and director to work with.
In this film Murphy plays John Gant, an apparently easy going man who, in fact, is a hired killer with a deadly reputation.
When he comes to town many apparently-respectable citizens with concealed guilt become panicked, each thinking that he is the one whom Gant is in town to kill.
If you think you don't like Audie Murphy westerns, give this one a try.
"No Name On the Bullet" marks a role reversal for star Audie Murphy.
John Gant (Murphy) a hired killer, rides into town one day and is soon recognized by the towns people.
G. Armstrong), gambler Reeger (Simon Scott), "respected businessmen" Stricker (Karl Swenson) and Pierce (Whit Bissell), miner Ben Chafee (John Alderson) or Lou Fraden (Warren Stevens), who has run off with another man's wife (Virginia Grey)?
Normally when you watch an Audie Murphy western, you would expect him to abandon his intended victim and ride away.
In No Name on the Bulllet, Audie Murphy got to star in one of the most unusual and best westerns in his career when he was cast in this off beat tale of a hired killer.
As John Gant, Audie reverses type and becomes a coldblooded, yet very philosophical hired killer.His modus operandi is simple.
Some of the townspeople are blacksmith R.G. Armstrong, doctor Charles Drake, banker Whit Bissell, mine owner Karl Swenson, judge Edgar Stehli, bartender Charles Watts, and store clerk Warren Stevens.
When hired killer Audie Murphy rides into town, everyone gets nervous.
This is a wonderfully suspenseful, very low budget western, directed by Jack Arnold, from near the end of Murphy's period as Universal-International's resident cowboy star.
One of Audie Murphy's two best Westerns, along with "Duel at Silver Creek." Audie departs from his usual role as a Good Guy, to play a part that is more bad than good, but has admirable qualities as well (honesty & responsibility chief among them).
Hired killer Audie Murphy follows a pattern of goading his target into taking the first shot, allowing himself to get off Scott free.
At a stop-off in a small town, the well known Murphy arouses the paranoia of several key citizens, with each man believing he may be the next to die.The idea of a lurking gunman and his mystery target exposing the festering guilt and hypocrisy of a seemingly ordinary town is a good one and there's some really good scenes here.However, it's undone a bit by some disappointingly ordinary writing and some problems with the film's pace (even at a short seventy-seven minutes).
Everyone wonders why notorious hired gun John Gant's in town, but he ain't sayin'.
The end comes as a surprise to everyone...including John Gant, Audie 's character.
John Gant is an assassin, whenever he comes to town, somebody dies.
John Gant is a hired assassin, whenever he rides into a town the whole townsfolk wonder who it is who is on his list.
This is John Gant, also known as Audie Murphy, and for me we are introduced to one of the greatest Western characters outside of the critics favoured lists of usual suspects.Audie Murphy had his critics, he himself hardly went out of his way to embrace stardom and pander to the ink scribblers, but here as Gant is a performance of icy cold wonderment that in my opinion proves any doubters wrong.
As Gant forms a weird sort of friendship with Charles Drake's Dr. Luke Canfield, the picture gains some much needed heart, and once the finale arrives it helps to close the picture on a hugely rewarding note.The film reminded me very much of a Twilight Zone episode called The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, it's a great story to work from {courtesy of Howard Amacker}, because it's morally suspicious and it has characters always on the brink of breaking the law through the sheer worry of their sins and dubious intentions coming back to get them.
However, the film still works a treat and comes highly recommended to even those who don't like Westerns.
It's basically a "one- angle" story in which a hired killer enters a town and the whole place goes wildly paranoid wondering who is going to be the man's victim.
Then again, some people like this kind of suspense-but nothing-happens type of story, sort of like the popular "High Noon."Audie Murphy ("John Gant") is interesting to watch as the cool-attitude killer but I couldn't much else to get excited about here.
The director, Jack Arnold, is noted for his making something engrossing out of low-grade horror material ("Creature From the Black Lagoon"); here he has first-rate supporting actors, a good setting and an interesting story to work with.
To his town there comes a man called Gant.
The man who recognizes him, and many others, begin to fear as the quiet, soft-spoken Gant waits and says nothing about his target, that the gunman is after them.
The town's sheriff tells the townsmen he cannot go after Gant, since the man's neither wanted nor doing anything wrong.
The Doctor befriends Gant, underplayed with some skill by Audie Murphy, who calls him "the only other honest man in town"; Gant expresses his admiration to the Doctor's girl, sultry Joan Evans, as well.
Gant accepts his fate, and rides off, leaving the town wondering who is the honest man, and who is the killer.
Audie Murphy is at his best in this western as the quiet gunslinger John Gant.
The movie is about John Gant (Audie Murphy), who aint no ordinary gunman but an assassin, who makes his target draw first n then he kills em in front of witnesses n his pattern is similar to a serial killer but he ain't no wanted man.
The story of the "two men" which Gant tells to the physician at the 37th min is noteworthy.A terrific psychological western with a terrific performance by Murphy n superb direction by J.
WWII hero Audie Murphy gets a mighty fine showcase here in this tense, intelligent widescreen Western from noted sci-fi director Jack Arnold.
Audie's character John Gant (that's a great name) is an interesting, cagey, enigmatic individual, certainly a man with layers to him.Gant has come to the small town of Lordsburg, and most everybody in the town knows Gant by profession: he's a hired killer, and he most likely is in town on business.
As Gant himself says, "everybody's got enemies", and those locals who have done anything worth punishing start getting nervous and creating all sorts of problems.The local sheriff (Willis Bouchey) feels powerless to do anything, so some of the citizens take it upon themselves to stand up to Gant and try to get him to leave.
Amiable doctor Luke Canfield (Charles Drake) feels Gant out in the attempt to understand what makes him tick.Gorgeously photographed (by Harold Lipstein) and scored (by Herman Stein and Irving Gertz), "No Name on the Bullet" is riveting from moment to moment as we keep our eye on Gant and try to predict just who his victim will be.
And even if the viewer guesses correctly, the film is still quite worth sticking with as the dialogue is solid and the performances are excellent.The supporting cast includes Joan Evans, Virginia Grey, Warren Stevens, R.G. Armstrong, Edgar Stehli (a delight as the ailing judge), Karl Swenson, and Whit Bissell, but Murphy, by sheer nature of his mysterious character and soft spoken performance, is truly the one to watch as he keeps his business to himself.Highly recommended to Western fans.Eight out of 10..
Paranoia grips an Old West town when an infamous assassin arrives but refuses to reveal who he has been hired to kill in this nifty mix of western and mystery elements.
Audie Murphy is perfectly cast in the lead role with the film attaining much suspense from the question of whether Murphy really is who he says he is; after all, he is so young and "sounds more like a preacher" with the way he constantly waxes philosophical about life.
Clocking in at less than 80 minutes long, the film never gets to develop of all its supporting characters, and therefore it only partly succeeds in its portrayal of a town full of corrupt individuals, each believing that they will be killed.
An Audie Murphy Western from 1959.
Directed by Jack Arnold (The Creature from the Black Lagoon), this oater has Murphy playing a hired killer who comes to town looking for someone to ply his craft on but his signature M.O., goading his target into drawing first so all his kills appear to be justified, is an inspired turn of events.
". Audie Leon Murphy established himself as a real life icon and role model for his fans throughout his twenty years of movie making.
" The unusual movie tells the story of John Gant, (Audie Murphy) a hired professional gunman who rides into a typical western town Cir, 1880 with the expectation of eliminating someone.
In addition the superb casting which includes Charles Drake, Luke Canfield, Warren Stevens, R.G. Armstrong and Edgar Stehli as Judge Benson highlights this exceptional movie as a true western Classic.
Audie Murphy: In one of his best roles.
This film shows a different side of Audie Murphy's acting talent.
Instead of the easy-going style that was evident in most of his films, here he is really rather psychopathic.And he does it well.The story is that he is a professional gun-man, who has come to town presumably to kill.....someone.
A fascinating, and substantive plot---much more than what one usually sees in what is essentially a B-western (the film is only about 90 minutes, clearly intended for a double feature).It is well acted up and down the line, with a large number of 1950s western character actors in supporting roles.Anybody who is a westerns fan will enjoy it.
Outstanding complex Audie Murphy Western - A real surprise.
I've not seen all of Audie Murphy's films, just most of them, over 30.
After a lifetime of watching him, last night I came across this gem, so I can pose the question, was this Audie Murphy's best acting performance?
I know he had little regard for the parts he played saying they were all the same, but watching this picture, which could have done with a better director with more vision, I couldn't help but think that this could have been a truly great western.
Murphy plays against type as a hired killer, not the hero he usually is, and in spite of his small frame, completely dominates every scene against much larger men.
Audie Murphy, the ex-WWII hero, also the most decorated hero of that same global war, deviates from the norm in this Universal-International western; he is usually a tough straight guy, but here he is a mean, cold, feared bounty hunter, despite the fact that he is his boyish-looking self.
As for the story, just the title would loosely indicate that it is a mystery, since everybody in this small town wants to know who the victim is that this paid killer John Gant (Murphy)is there to kill.
As in most of Murphy's westerns, the action is tense all the way from beginning to end.
Audie Murphy as the killer isn't a great actor, but his baby-faced ordinariness makes the character much more fascinating than an obvious bit of "tough guy" casting like a Jack Palance would have.Along with "The Incredible Shrinking Man", this shows Jack Arnold as one of the more interesting, thoughtful US filmmakers of the late 1950s..
When you know Audie Murphy's story, decorated war hero, small man, his character here as hired gun John Gant shows how versatile he was, playing the hero or the villain equally well.
The Doc offered to look at it, but Gant took his fate in stride and rode off, to the END of the movie, knowing that his time had come too..
A baby face on the lead villain doesn't create the tension needed in a psychological Western.That aside, the film works on it's premise - a hired gunman rides into town on a mission with a reputation that precedes him.
His method is always the same, stay awhile, get the lay of the land, and let the town's nervous citizens take themselves and each other apart until the day of reckoning.Fine performances are turned in by Willis Bouchey as Sheriff Buck Hastings, and Charles Drake as Dr. Luke Canfield who befriends gunslinger John Gant (Murphy) before he realizes who he is.
As his contact with Gant is entirely amiable, including a game of chess, Canfield has a tough time acknowledging Gant's reputation as a cold hearted killer.Gant plays his cards close and observes, as if waiting for the town to take out his intended victim for him.
Gant's another." John Gant (Audie Murphy) is a paid assassin, cool, quick, deadly and smart.
Now John Gant has ridden into the dusty town of Lordsburg, taken a room at the local hotel, and is biding his time.
No Name on the Bullet is an efficient B western, stuffed full with the familiar faces of B movie character actors.
And then there is Audie Murphy, playing a man who finds it easy to justify, for pay, bringing death a little earlier than expected to men who mostly deserve what he deals them.
Audie Murphy as the assassin Jim Gant recognises this, even though he did not kill him as he initially planned, recognises the old man's bravery and defiance when he refuses to accept Dr Charles Drake's offer to treat his arm.
There is not a bad performance in this thoughtful and engrossing western and it shows how well Audie Murphy could act with a first-rate director at the helm.
No Name On The Bullet is a very good psychological western.It stars Audie Murphy in one of his many westerns,here he plays a hired assassin by the name of John Gant,who has been payed to go into a town and kill somebody,but who has he come for?this is the question all the local towns folk are asking and so do you the viewer.
The biggest problem is that although Gant is a known hired killer he always gets his victims to draw first so that it looks as if he has killed in self defence,therefor he can not be arrested,he is cold and calculating and has all his plans worked out.So how can he be stopped?The real intended victim comes to light towards the last fifteen minutes of the film but you may have already guessed before then.The tension in this film is almost claustrophobic as you feel the over bearing pressure on the towns people.Its brilliantly directed and although Murphys performance is good the supporting cast is excellent.
This mature, psychological Western was the first feature film director Jack Arnold made after that exceptional run of Sci-Fi movies (made during the genre's heyday of the 1950s) for which he is deservedly best-known.
Diminutive real-life war hero Audie Murphy atypically stars as a black-clad notorious hired killer whose appearance in a sleepy Western hamlet instills fear in several of its supposedly respectable citizens who each believe that their own past has come back to haunt them.
A terse, offbeat Western that concludes in a unique confrontation between Murphy and Drake (who happens to be engaged to the Judge's daughter) where the former is disarmed and disabled by a gavel thrown at his right arm; incidentally, this unusual object had featured prominently in a scene at the beginning of the movie at which point, my father (who was watching the film with me) proceeded to reveal the ending he recalled from an almost 50-year old theatrical screening!. |
tt0097991 | No Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder | In Moc Hoa, Vietnam, a group of prisoners are executed under the watchful eye of General Ty (Hwang Jang Lee). Meanwhile, Scott Wylde (Loren Avedon), an American college student, visits the country to visit his former teacher and best friend Mac Jarvis (Max Thayer), meeting Terry (Cynthia Rothrock), Mac's former lover, in the process. Terry tells Scott that Mac may be in Patpong, a seedy area of Bangkok. Scott leaves the gym and heads for his hotel.
At the hotel, Scott is harassed by a pimp. Once he makes his way into his room, he calls his girlfriend Sulin Nguyen (Patra Wanthivanond), inviting her to have dinner with him. During their date, Sulin's father (Perm Hongsakul) receives a disturbing phone call and leaves his house. A group of thugs crash into Scott's room and kidnap Sulin. Scott fights and kills the two thugs left behind to murder him. He heads to Sulin's house, where it is revealed that her entire family except her father has been killed. Scott is framed for the murders and drug possession. Despite Mr. Nguyen's pleas, the American consulate suggests sending Scott to Singapore and keeping him detained for three months. He escapes, heading to Patpong.
At Patpong, Scott finds Mac at the Super Star bar, arm wrestling with a local man. When Mac wins, his opponent attacks him with a broken bottle, but Scott intervenes. He tells a concerned Mac of his recent problems. When the duo go to dinner at a local marketside area, they are threatened by Sulin's kidnappers. They force one of the thugs to tell them where Sulin is located, learning she has been taken to Cambodia. They head to Mac's private warehouse, an artillery factory. Mac tells Scott of Sulin's father's history. Mr. Nguyen was a Vietnamese general who, for the sake of his family, stopped a deal with a Soviet militia. Mac is convinced that the Soviets have joined forces with the Vietnamese army and have set up base in Cambodia. Scott decides he must rescue Sulin. The next morning, Mac and Scott prepare, awaiting a helicopter, but they are surrounded on their way out by the Thai police. However, Terry comes to aid and Mac and Scott narrowly escape by helicopter.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Soviet Army, Yuri (Matthias Hues), has arrived. Yuri challenges a Chinese refugee held with the recent prisoners of war to fight for his freedom. He uses his brute strength to defeat the fighter, but tells him he is free to leave. As the fighter starts walking away, Yuri shoots him twice and kills him by throwing him into a pit full of alligators. He subsequently meets Sulin and threatens to send her in the pit if her father doesn't arrive soon.
When Scott, Terry, and Mac arrive in Cambodia, they ask Colonel Tol Nol (Nirut Sirijunya), an old customer of Mac's, for assistance. Mac offers artillery in exchange for help, but Tol Nol refuses. However, Scott makes a deal on a new tank and Tol Nol accepts under the condition that Terry stays behind as well. Tol Nol's camp is then bombed; Scott injures his arm in the process. Scott, Terry, and Mac leave by foot the following day and come upon a Buddhist temple. When the monks are revealed to be spies, the trio use their martial arts skills to fend them off. The Vietnamese army arrives and kidnaps Terry. They shoot Scott and Mac with a rocket launcher, believing to have killed them. However, Scott and Mac escape the blast. Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen is murdered by a mysterious assassin hiding in a manhole in Bangkok.
Later that night, Scott and Mac begin to secretly plant explosives and other weaponry in the Soviet camp. The next morning, Sulin and Terry are slated to be executed in the alligator pit. Scott, noticing what has happened, uses his crossbow to begin the full-fledged assault, while Mac works towards rescuing Terry and Sulin. They successfully kill all the soldiers except Yuri, who arrives with a machine gun as Scott is heading towards his friends. Terry sacrifices herself to save Scott from being gunned down. Scott distracts Yuri with an arrow to his arm. As Mac attempts to save Terry, he finally professes his love for her. However, it is too late as Terry dies from her wounds.
Scott and Yuri begin to fight with Yuri's strength getting the best of Scott. Scott, in an effort to lure Yuri away, hides in his office. When Yuri follows, he notices no one is inside. That is, until Scott jumps off a platform and begins to use his kicking skills on Yuri. Yuri catches Scott's foot and throws him to his desk and moves it towards Scott's legs to crush them. However, Scott grabs a painting behind him and crashes it on Yuri's head. Scott begins to fight and throws the Soviet flag around Yuri's head and ties a rope around his neck. Scott ties Yuri to a jeep and drags him to the alligator pit. When Yuri attempts to pull Scott in the jeep, an alligator gets Yuri and Scott jumps out of the jeep in time. Scott finds a machine gun and blasts the alligator pit. He is reunited with Sulin but is given the news that Terry is dead. Together, Scott, Sulin, and Mac, holding Terry, walk away to the camp. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | This time the movie's featured star is Cynthia Rothrock.
But the action scenes are excellent and fun to watch..
Loren Avedon is simply matchless as a young humble American hero in his first movie.
Karate Tiger II proves that just because a movie is low budget, it doesn't mean that the people working on it aren't incredibly gifted and talented at their craft.As a regular avid film viewer, I feel very fortunate that I was able to view and experience this film.
It has lots of really cool fighting, fun background music and almost everything else we all know as bad (but really entertaining) 80's action stuff.
The last fight between him and Loren Avedon must be considered as a classic.Same score as the first movie: 7 out of 10!.
This sequel has nothing to do with the original film, but is connected that American kickboxers fight Soviet killing machines.
The only flaw in the film was the short fight between Cynthia Rothrock and Hwang Jang-lee.
Another Ng See Yuen produced Seasonal production (his production company) that puts a Western cast in basically a Hong Kong style action film.
Loren Avedon stars as an American in trouble in Thailand eventually waging a small war against some Russians to get his girlfriend back.
One of the best screen fighters I have seen.Cynthia Rothrock gets in the story as a cocky chopper pilot and has some great martial arts scenes of her own.
Yes Madam is a classic film that was also directed by Corey Yuen.Matthias Hughes stars as the Bad-ass Russian who apparently learned to fight for the screen during the films production.
Having the end fight scene against Loren Avedon is enough of a physical spectacle.
They have tried to pack quite a lot into this film for the budget.The films director, martial arts choreographer is Corey Yuen and the action scenes are pretty top- notch.
The transfer I have isn't the best print and the audio was probably never great on this picture but if you are familiar with this genre, like chop-socky films from Hong Kong and American kick-boxing strait to video titles it's going to be up your ally.
The cheesiest story and most blatant use of Russian bad guys except for the first film topped off with expert martial arts choreography.I think these Seasonal pictures, produced by Ng See Yuen are great.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsCorey Yeun,whose dayjob is a fight chereographer on the sets of various martial arts films,makes his second directing effort with this sequel to his 1985 original No Retreat No Surrender.Oddly,the plot to this sequel bears absolutely no resemblance to the original at all,with none of the original cast members returning either (including the ghost of Bruce Lee).That's no real problem,though,because a follow up to that ridiculously awful film probably wouldn't have been appreciated too greatly anyway.This is a film in an altogether different league,with a cast of martial artists in the leads.Loren Avedon is a little goofy in the lead but engaging enough,whilst Richard Norton alike Max Thayer adds good support.Cynthia Rothrock gets some nice lines here and there but she has serious problems with her delivery.And,finally,Matthias Hues is a video game villain ,right down to his 'hahaha' interludes,though quite credible.Running at as brisk a pace as the first,this is itself pretty damn stupid,but features some nice action and,if only seen once,passes muster.***.
Good action film benefits from Corey Yuen's involvement.
Thanks to Corey Yuen's direction, the fight and stunt choreography in "No Reatreat, No Surrender 2" are clearly superior to those in most American low-budget action movies.
Yuen knows how to shoot action, and how to take the best from each of his stars.
Loren Avedon looks a little goofy at first, but when he gets into action mode you know he means business!
The chief reason being the interesting mixture of characters in this movie, and they're all good.Of course this movie stars Loren Avedon, and Cynthia Rothrock, both of whom were at their early stages of their career, but they look fresh, and good.
Even better than many of their later works, so the director of this movie must have been really good.Each scenes has attention to details, and they have the clean looks to them that makes it easy on the eyes.
Story is pretty good too, perfectly matched to each of the characters.This definitely is one of the best movie Loren Avedon, and Cynthia Rothrock has starred in.
As a result, the story was changed with Tae Kwon Do expert Loren Avedon and Matthias Hues drafted in to play the American and Russian stereotypes.The basic synopsis sees Avedon's character call in some friends in an attempt to rescue his Thai girlfriend, while strangely coming across a contingent of the Russian army (camped out in the Vietnamese jungle!) in the process, as well as a group of fake Shaolin monks.
Strandberg for the script!).Surprisingly, for an American film, there are some well executed and imaginative fight sequences predominantly showcasing the excellent kicking skills of Avedon.
Loren Avedon did not follow Jean Claude's example and stayed on after this film fulfilling his 3 picture contract, notably with the decent third instalment of the NR, NS series: 'Blood Brothers' with the excellent Keith Vitali (Yuen Biao's opponent in 'Wheels on Meals') and I am surprised he was never used in a 'real' Hong Kong picture as he is clearly skilled and quick enough to have made a good screen villain..
Some clever fight scenes and a fairly well paced plot, despite the awkward acting and sped up punching/kicking.
I'm always embarrassed by the fact that always USA guy(s) save(s) the day in this kind of action movie, no matter if the story is located in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, India or China.The action choreography is simply great.
If you consider that this movie is 22 years old now, you have to admit that they did a great job with the melee action scenes.Sadly, the gunfighting parts are somewhere between ridiculous and hilarious.
The machine guns are firing close to blindly and the rate of successful kills are pretty high there.And the final scene, when Scott Wylde drags the bad guy with the stolen army-jeep and slides him into the pool of crocodiles, that was non-sense: the bad Russian guy is pulling the jeep into the pool with his bare hands.
:)If you can accept the fact that these scenes are ridiculous, you will love this movie as I did, because the melee fighting actions will compensate any of your losses..
I just wanted to write the IMDb fans of kung-fu and action flicks that that this was a decent low budget movie that gave me that feeling I haven't had in a while.
I felt like I had seen it before when I was watching it and was loving the low budget, bad acting you would expect from the time.
all you need to know about nrns 1 and 2 is.............the fight scenes are wicked (even for today standards) speeding up the camera seems to be the staple of these movies (but it does make the action look hella good).
I decided to rent NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER II due to the man also responsible for Jet Li's fight choreography...however not even Corey Yuen's stylish chop socky could save this....not saying it wasn't fun though.
Cross a low budget Rambo rip off with a quality hong kong kung fu film and you've got NRNS 2.
Hero Scott Wylde (Loren Avedon) travels to Thailand to meet with his fiance (who is also daughter of a wealthy business man financing anti Soviet forces in Cambodia).
The obligatory kidnapping of the fiance takes place forcing Scott to join forces with weapon specialist Mac and pilot/martial artist Terry (Cynthia Rothrock) as they make their way into Cambodia to take on the Soviet forces led by one big Russki known as Yuri (Matthias Hues).If you can survive the ridiculous dialogue between the three leads(especially former lovers Mac and Terry), outdated one man army shootouts, and Matthias Hues's facial expressions then you may be in for a treat.
Although not "Grade A" martial arts sequences, the film does provide entertaining brawls in the opening sequence between kidnappers and Scott, Scott and Mac vs others in an outdoor dining establishment, the three leads vs an army of monks (netting included) and finally the climatic showdown between Scott and a barechested (wouldn't you tear off your shirt if you were buff as hell before a bare knuckled melee?)Yuri.
Seen as an action parody through the eyes of any martial arts fans, NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER II may still have a chance.
From the horrible acting down to the flawed logic (Why is TKD dominating every other martial arts style?), this movie had no upside, unless, like us, you feel like watching a really bad movie to laugh.
this sequel is as sequel in name only.it has nothing to do with the first movie.none of the characters are the same.the title really has nothing to do with the movie,either,as far as i can tell.plus,this is one boring movie.i did manage to watch ti all the way through to the end,hoping it would get better,but it didn't.it has one decent fight scene during the last five or ten minutes of the film,but that's about it.it's not the most boring movie i've ever seen.there's about a handful that are worse on that score,but i wouldn't care if i never saw it again.
at least the acting was actually not that bad.i was expecting it to be worse.still,it didn't elevate the movie.for me,No Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder is a 4/10.
And I must say it's still as bad and cheesy as it was back then.Lorean Avedon must go to Cambodia to rescue his Vietnamese girlfriend from Russian and Vietnamese troops and runs into his arms dealing buddy Mac.By now I forgot the plot mainly because the acting and hammy action sequences were really bad.
Cythnia Rothrock is in this film, and she does a pretty good job - its a shame her fight sequences weren't on as long as her screen presence (which wasn't very long to begin with).There are some quite memorable pieces, including the scene where Shaolin men jump around Avedon and Mac and tie them up in their clothes and the fight sequence between Avedon and the huge Russian played by Matthius Hues (whom sounds French throughout the whole movie).The final fight sequence is the only thing worth watching, and it builds up into the last brutal part where Hues is tied up in some rope and is dragged into an Alligator pit by a Jeep - Hues tries to get up but pulls in the Jeep on top of him.If you want to watch a good film, don't watch this - its not worth it..
No Retreat, No Surrender II (NRNS2), is a magical pastiche of poor dialogue, bad acting and frenetic martial arts action.
On the one hand, the movie is entirely watchable -- due primarily to the entertaining fight and action sequences (very reminiscent of early/mid 80s, Hong Kong produced, kung-fu movies).
This is generally the case when you cast martial artists as opposed to actors.Our story begins with fresh-faced Scott Wylde (Loren Avedon) arriving in Vietnam.
For reasons obscure to me and my Bad Movie buddies, Mr. Wylde is obsessed with finding his friend, Mac Jarvis (Max Thayer).
Apparently, Mr. Wylde thought the best course of action for finding his friend was to run around Vietnam yelling, "Mac!
Mac Jarvis!" Mr. Wylde bumps into Terry (Cynthia Rothrock), who -- as it turns out -- is an ex-girlfriend of Mac. If memory serves correctly, she informs Scott of the present whereabouts of Mr. Jarvis.At this point, things turn sour for Mr. Wylde.
This sets the stage for Scott to rescue his girlfriend, and beat-down a whole mess of Bad Guys in the process.Mr. Wylde eventually joins forces with cigar (and scenery) chomping Mac Jarvis.
In addition to the VC, Scott and Mac must administer an Country Ass Whopping' on the local Buddhists (who, unbelievably, favor ropes as their primary weapon of choice).Sulin, meanwhile, is introduced to her primary captor, Yuri (Matthias Hues) -- a monstrous Russian with an undeniable German accent (Matthias Hues is German).
From here the plot develops in a thoroughly predictable manner -- Scott and Mac hewing their way through jungle and assailant until they reach Yuri's compound.
The end result is a whole mess of dead VC.Eventually Mac, Scott and Terry encounter Yuri.
Ridiculously convoluted plot involves Commie Russians (led by the gigantic Matthias Hues who looks like a model for the statue of a Greek god), nasty Viet Cong, Vietnamese Resistance fighters, and a Chinese family who escaped from Saigon.
Loren Avedon is Scott Wylde, a little fellow with the ability to fight men twice his size, an American college student visiting Bangkok because his fiancé, Sulin (Patra Wanthivanond), has a wealthy father who lives in the city.
The other character getting involved in the story is a female fighter, Terry (the flexible and energetic Cynthia Rothrock), who has a history with Mac. Soon Terry is flying a chopper into Cambodian hostile territory so that Scott and Mac can infiltrate Yuri's headquarters and rescue Sulin.
To be honest, I watch these movies because of the action choreography.
That's just the truth of the matter, as long as director Corey Yeun (Jet Li's The Legend), can deliver some kick-happy fight scenes where men in combat perform exciting displays of martial arts then I'm a happy action fan.
When I enter a low-budget 80s action film with a choice few Americans involved (most of these have co-production companies from different countries working in concert with each other giving the action pictures a decidedly international flavor) set in Thailand or Hong Kong, I simply don't ask for much.
The best scene has to be when a cackling, demented Hues beats a poor resistance fighter to a pulp, shoots him in the ass with a gun while the poor soul is fleeing from his captors, and is tossed into Yuri's pit of crocodiles!
While Thayer and Rothrock bicker and insult each other throughout their time together, Avedon will eventually engage Hues in a fight to the death, which will end up (as it should) at the crocodiles' pit.
Avedon is presented as if he were an American version of Jet Li: director Yuen and his fighter extras make Loren's Scott Wylde look damn good.
Not that Avedon can't hold his own in scenes where he's fighting off men that want him dead; he can move around a room, use his legs to flexibly escape numerous potential fatal blows, and land his own fair share of punches and kicks.
I watched the uncut 104 minute UK version, which is the way to go, although I imagine a film like this will be considered overlong at such a length..
Scott Wylde (Avedon) is a young American kickboxer who comes to Bangkok to look for his friend Mac Jarvis (Thayer).
Bison-like head of the camp, Yuri the Russian (Hues), a hulking brute who loves throwing his enemies in a pit of hungry alligators just for fun.
Even though none of our lead players are Asian, all the fight scenes clearly have that Hong Kong-style fast pace and inventiveness to them, thanks to director Yuen.
She tends to deliver all the groaner one-liners in the film and provides a lot of the humor, on top of her martial arts skill.
NRNS2 is good thanks to the direction of Corey Yuen and a cast of familiar favorites delivering the chop-socky goods.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com.
NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER 2 is unconnected to the original movie, other than having the same director in Corey Yuen.
Really, that's all there is to the plot line: it's a lightweight movie with plenty of comedy in the scripting and plenty of action to keep things moving along.
Once again, the best thing about the film is the participation of Corey Yuen who delivers some outstanding action sequences that make the movie probably better than it has any right to be.The story is extremely limited and the script what you'd expect from a cheesy '80s genre flick, although this isn't quite as dated in the fashion stakes – only the clothing looks its age here.
This one takes a long time to get going, but Yuen carefully paces his action so there's always something going on to keep you entertained.
Thayer doesn't fight and is frequently doubled, but he is good value for money and gives the movie's best performance.
She doesn't take part in that many fights but those she does appear in are simply great.The bad guys are headed by Matthias Hues, a hulking German actor who looks like he could tear you limb from limb without breaking a sweat.
Okay, so his acting is pretty cheesy, but he's an indomitable presence in the action stakes and even more imposing than Van Damme in the first movie.
I was also pleased to spot Hwang Jang Lee in the cast, an actor famous from many period kung fu films, although sadly he only takes part in one fight scene (although it's a good one!).
The final reel goes overboard on the pyrotechnics, with all sorts of things blowing up spectacularly for no apparent reason, but the main action fun comes from the fighting.
Obviously, the final extended battle between Avedon and Hues marks the film's peak, but the showdown between Rothrock and Lee is also decent, along with all the other bits and bobs thrown in.
The movie makes good use of an alligator pit and features a hilarious fate for the villainous Hues.
All in all, NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER 2 is good '80s fun, not quite as good as Yuen's best movies made in Hong Kong, but coming close at times. |
tt0385560 | Boo | The film starts with a man (Morton Lowry) reading the novel Dracula . The narrator says that they are presenting their own formula for cheap entertainment, a nightmare. They say to eat a real lobster, not the kind they send to congress, have milk, and work up a chill. The man falls asleep.
They then go to a cellar (edited from Nosferatu) where the caretaker Hutter (Gustav von Wagenheim) is making sure all the ghosts are locked up for the night. He sees a coffin. He wants to ask his name and how he feels. It's Dracula (Count Orlok, played by Max Schrek). The caretaker tries to leave, but he keeps coming back. He can't sleep so he sleeps in a hammock (now edited of Albert Venohr). You see Dracula, so the caretaker goes upstairs and returns with a hatchet (now edited of Wolfgang Heinz) and breaks Dracula's coffin. It hurts Dracula, causing him to get up. He then leaves, and sees if it was as close as he thought. He is scared, and Dracula sucks his blood, 'Gush, Gush'. Dracula then goes to sleep for 100 years, until congress does something about the depression.
It then goes to a laboratory (edited from Frankenstein) where a Doctor (Edward Van Sloan) is doing something to The Monster (Boris Karloff). The Monster awakes, and kills the Doctor. The Monster gets together with Dracula, and is afraid of him.
It then goes to Annabelle West (Helen Twelvetrees) and a possibility of this becoming pleasant. But The Monster is there. A man is telling Helen she has no business being in the same nightmare as Dracula. Dracula is behind him, and brings him behind a bookshelf. The Monster is studying Dracula's methods. Helen sees a guy who keeps falling down. The Monster appears, and Helen faints.
Dracula's income tax was due and he had to get some money. When night came, Helen decided to call it a day. Dracula stole Helen's jewels. Helen is ticklish on the neck, woke up, screamed, and told a young man about what happened. He wants to see a ghost, but gets caught and his blood is sucked by Dracula. Helen can never get married, because when she talks to a guy Dracula gets him, so she'd be a widow every 15 minutes. Dracula then chases a woman. He's in disguise, but you can recognize him by the fourth toe on his left foot. The Monster decides to chase Elizabeth, (Mae Clarke from Frankenstein) who is about to get married. She first is terrified. It then turns into "follow the leader", then into "ring around the rosy". Her fiancee would think she's nutty. She tells The Monster she can't play anymore because she's got to get married.
The Monster is heart-broken nobody's afraid of him. He has to sit down all day, because when he stands up, his feet touch the floor. He then sees something, and he gets up. What is it? Why it's our lobster and milk friend and he's on a chandelier. And the moral of the story is you can milk a cow, but a lobster is very ticklish. | paranormal, revenge, violence | train | wikipedia | Steven Felty), a former patient that raped a little girl and burned the hospital, is trying to escape possessing their bodies that melt down with his evil spirit."Boo" is a messy ghost story, with a confused screenplay and poor development of characters, especially Jessie.
I hate using back-handed, "well it's better than the worst" compliments but, having seen my share of low budget horror movies of late, I must say that Boo!
If my girlfriend/boyfriend or best friend is murdered, my reaction is horror and anger; in this film, there is shock (and one character gets very upset and weepy) but then everyone just seems to gloss over this and resumes looking for a way to escape the hospital.
Not the story, the sub-par acting from a mostly teen cast, the witless dialog, the tired old explanation for all the goings on, and the complete lack of logic.Whenever things get dull, another fright scene with someone gurgling on blood or turning into a gooey monster of decomposing flesh, is supposed to provide the kind of shock appeal to target a young audience.Let's hope the kids today are a bit more discriminating in their taste for horror.
Haha i found this movie hilarious, at first i was all prepared to be scared, like had a good tag line : Nobody gets off the 3rd floor, then Oh my god, it was just so awful, WORST ACTING EVER !
the set (an abandoned hospital) is nicely done and quite spooky (if cliché).However...EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT THIS MOVIE SUCKS.I read someone on here say that the acting was good.
There's nice gore content and the special effects are often very good (loved the skinned dog thing), unfortunately these are too sparse and insubstantial to give the film the push it needed.
I won't spoil any of the elements of the film further and leave it to saying that this is what horror films should be like, atmospheric, creepy, characters who react in believable (well mostly) ways and deserved to get a full theatrical release.
I usually go to a horror flick expecting to be played down to, but this was an intelligent, well shot film with quite a few handfuls of solid scares and laughs.I found out later that the director had known about the hospital where he was going to shoot the film while he was writing the script.
When you feel like you're there, the sense of dread and impending doom makes the experience that much more intense.Good acting, intriguing story, surprisingly good production value, and a first-time direction by someone who obviously knows what he's doing.The real tragedy of this is that Boo!
Anyway, it's just your basic horror movie,it has a couple of scares that make you jump, and the special effects were not bad at all.
Unless you want to laugh hysterically at painful acting and a plot with more holes than your average slab of swiss cheese I suggest u steer well clear of this awful movie.When it takes two or three seconds for the characters to jump or gasp at what should be a scary moment you know you're onto a loser.
I don't see the point to put your name (for the director, producers, etc) in a piece of sh*t like this, I would be embarrassed, really its hard to understand why people study to roll this movies, I believe I could film something better (and scarier) with my friends in my backyard, even in daytime.Avoid this, and if you do rent it and see this disaster, please come back and say that my commentary was useful, this way we can prevent viewers for spending their money on cr*p..
I recommended this film and I think that you certainly like them.This one combines all elements a horror movie needs: suspense, scares, panic, blood and fear.Check it out!.
At 1st i thought this sounded like any other horror movie these days, teenage kids getting trapped in a scary place, but i had already heard good things so i decided to rent it, 5 days later i still have not returned this movie and i could not recommend it to you enough.
So for those looking for a REAL horror movie, not a movie thats been made for the sake of making money or because they landed a big name to fill the lead role, you HAVE to check out "Boo!" you wont be disappointed and from the reviews i have already read, not to many people have been..
Very rarely do I watch a movie that actually fills me with anger and anxiety, not since I agreed to go see Valentine have I simply been infuriated by a film so riddled with clichés and ripoffs.We come out the gates flying, as we are directly taken back to the opening scene from Scream.
The set up is pretty weak, and the story and situations borrow from so many other movies that it starts to feel like the garage sale of horror films...but thankfully the director and cinematographer know how to stage several effective jolts.
i watched this film directed by an associate of the brill mag Fangoria, well what a load of tosh and it should be ashamed to allow itself to be even written in the same context as Fangoria I was bitterly diassapointed with the lack of anything that it had, as for calling itself a horror film well sorry there is no way this was a horror film, the Tweenies have more scare factor, the director of this film ,the actors special effects team and the investors (suckers) who gave there cash to this effort need to sit down and watch some real horror, The remake of the Hill Have Eyes maybe or even Carrie which incidentally are REAL horror films in fact when I return this film to Blockbuster I will be asking for a refund....
Ferrante stormed his way to the spotlight with Sharknado, there was Boo. This movie was actually the first horror film I ever watched.
Not Oculus or The Babadook good, but Ferrante managed to do pretty well with an obviously low budget.The plot is pretty standard horror movie stuff, a bunch of dumb **** college kids go to an abandoned and possibly haunted place on Halloween Night thinking that nothing bad will happen, but once one of their friends emerges and decomposes in front of their eyes as well as other paranormal things occurring, they start to realize the ghost of the hotel's true nature.
The rest of main character actors do a good job too, though I'd say the worst of the bunch is probably Jilon VanOver as Jessie's boyfriend Kevin, who only seems to have his acting setting stuck on douchey, and it does work for the scenes where his character is meant to be a total ***wipe, but during the scenes where he's trying to be frightened or sad, his deep voice just makes his character comes off as laughable, but the stand out performance, at least in my opinion, is M.
Whenever his character is on screen you know **** is about to go down, the best way I could describe his character is it's as if someone took Robert Englund and gave him Lance Henriksen's deep gravelly voice, definitely the best performance in the whole movie.Overall I thought this was a pretty solid horror movie, it still holds up well despite being low budget and it does manage to invoke some unsettling feelings, even with it's few flaws.
I didn't think it was as bad ,some made it out to be, I am not saying it's a great or even that good but I found parts of the movie, that I really Enjoyed The think that I liked in this movie were the fact, they didn't use those one second scarce scenes, most horror do these days and cool decent tense moments, which really worked well.
This movie is nowhere near as bad as people say it is, sure it is far from perfect, but there are some good moments, most of the actors try real hard, and for some this is their big screen debut, and the amazing Dee Wallace Stone has a small role in the film.
The special effects are pretty good, the music is OK, but generally the film is not very scary, which is a problem that plagues a lot of "horror" these days.
the hospital ruled.I have been looking for a movie where they use a 'haunted hospital' and it actually have ghosts and a good story line.
A lot of them looked like off the WB shows,and were better than most horror films.
Oob. It would be easy to just label this one a generic ghost story wearing a huge J-horror influence on it's sleeve, but on the other hand the way in which the filmmakers throw absolutely everything at the screen in order to scare (or at least entertain) the viewer reminded me of late eighties Italian horror films like Ghosthouse and House of Lost Souls.
Dee Wallace Stone shows up briefly and one can only wish she'd been the major focus of the film but I suppose it's a hard and fast rule that all characters in horror movies must be teenagers..
Ferrante, longtime contributor to Fangoria magazine, one might reasonably expect Boo to present a few fresh ideas along with its blood and gore; what we get, however, is a collection of tired clichés and well-worn motifs borrowed from a whole host of better scary movies that, when thrown together without much thought (as seems to be the case here), results in a poorly structured mess of a film that is unlikely to find favour with any but the most undemanding of viewers.As the title suggests, Ferrante's priority is to frighten his audience, and this he admittedly achieves with varying degrees of success through the use of cheap mechanical jump scares, the undeniably creepy atmosphere of his decaying, abandoned hospital (with flickering fluorescent lighting, natch!), some well conceived ghostly apparitions, and a lot of gloopy gore.
Unfortunately, the total lack of cohesion and choppy nature of the narrative really detracts from one's overall enjoyment; well, that and the fact that the best looking girl in the film only gets down to her bra during the obligatory sex scene (c'mon Ferrante, surely you know that with this kind of cheesy nonsense, we expect there to be at least one topless babe!).4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb..
I certainly understand a lot of the harsh criticism for "Boo", but I think some people may be looking at this harmless film the wrong way (or else I completely did)..."Boo" to me, seemed to be aimed more toward the "Occacianally watching" horror movie fan around Halloween-time, rather then the hardcore bloodhounds.
The cinematography looked great, and most of the "Jump" scares worked quite effectively, telling me that director Anthony Ferrante did his homework and produced a film destined for video store shelves.
compare this movie to lets say the blockbuster the hills have eyes 2, this is where i get confused, boo is such a great horror film with many jumps and scares, its almost like horror was back in the 80s when horror was scary.
The title is not the only thing about this film which is ridiculous, Boo follows in the same vein as much of the unoriginal and uninspired 21st century horror film remakes (hills have eyes, Texas chainsaw massacre), it is yet another of the teen slasher movies left over from the hangover the film industry is suffering from in the aftermath of so many appalling video nasties that seek to imitate or worse yet duplicate the effective elements of classic horror films.The movie follows the logic that more is more, with plenty of violence being committed against the hapless white American teenage stereotypes, needless to say, the sexually assertive and deceptive characters are killed off whereas the sexually modest blonde girl with psychic inclinations is destined to survive, there's a surprise!
The only way you will enjoy this film is if you are a horror fan who has never seen a teen horror flick before, has a lot of time to kill and have no interest in original plot lines..
just watched "Boo"a couple of nights ago.though not the scariest movie i have ever seen,i was on the edge of my seat the whole time.the suspense just kept building and building.the music was terrific,sending chills up my spine more than once.the movie is essentially about a group of college kid that go to an abandoned hospital reputed to be haunted, on Halloween.suffice to say they get much more than they bargained for.the special effects in this movie are well done for the most part and the film is well paced.there were no spots which lagged or took me out of the movie.to me every scene had a purpose,which is rare these days.the only negative aspect of this movie was that at times the acting was a bit suspect in some scenes,hence the 9 star rating instead of 10.however,if you want some genuine scares, some hair raising and spine tingling moments, this is the movie for you.very underrated movie.
"Boo" is the PERFECT movie to watch on DVD as a prelude to a romantic evening.The abandoned hospital setting is perfect, the acting more than serviceable for this type of film (Dee Wallace Stone is a particular howl), and the directing is excellent.
The bad acting, the cheesy plot line, and the lame scares all contribute to one of the funniest "serious" scary movies I've ever seen.
The very funny thing was to see on the bonus features that these people behind the scenes took it seriously.I must admit I liked the story itself, but the production of the story was so bad.If you want to laugh, I would suggest this movie.
I could see myself enjoying this movie over a few drinks with a group of friends, it certainly gets going very quickly and from there on in it is pretty much non-stop in its attempts to scare you.Boo does have a good atmosphere and setting, and the effects are OK for a low-budget flick, but that's about it for the positives i'm afraid.The story is disjointed and runs at such a high pace there is absolutely no time to identify with any of the characters in the movie, some of the dialogue is pretty lame and the acting is typically shocking.Having said that if you want to disengage your brain and just watch a laughable horror flick 'Boo' is creepy enough and entertaining enough to fit the bill.
The title should not be 'Boo' though because i don't know about you, but thank god someone recommended it to me, because I'm telling you right now, i would never go to a video store and rent a movie called 'Boo' and expect it to be good.
She kept asking me to watch it with her.Afterseeing it with me she still won't watch it alone.I've seen it 4 times and still think its a pretty good movie.And its says its the director's first.So he did something right.The ending could have been better.
However the plot made sense compared to other films I have seen with a similar vibe (I'm looking at you Death Tunnel) and the creepy bits never truly scared me (very few movies do, but see R-Point, it did) but it was well done.
I think that with a good script and decent actors the director could make a fantastic scary movie because there are a few genuinely unnerving moments.
I watch a lot of B movie horrors and therefore I didn't expect much from this film but I did expect something.
Though the movie appears to be a straight-up horror flick, it's hard to tell if there's an underlying layer of self-awareness to the whole thing or if it's just because the acting is so stilted, it's difficult to discern if the cast was even taking the film seriously.That's not to say there aren't already plenty of problems with the plot, the most obvious of which is that rather than playing it in a simple, straightforward manner, the script tacks on some of the most annoying plot devices the genre has to offer, most particularly the girl who has that inexplicable "psychic link" with the hospital.
Other than that, it is a good little scary indie flick.It's a reminder that you don't need a lot of money to make an uncomfortable horror movie.The special effects and makeup are really great, and at times, better than some of the acting.
I won't say it's the worst movie I've seen cause it isn't, but it certainly is a waste of time when there are countless better films out there to view.Possible spoiler: When we were supposed to be scared we were instead laughing at the "exploding zombies".
The stories a bit worn out as its been done hundreds of times, but it does have some twists, and the effects are great.There are a lot worse ways to spend an evening than watching this movie.
Well I didn't go into this movie with high expectations, which was a very good thing because it wasn't great.I did give it a couple stars because I thought the special effects were decent and the "jump" scares had some merit.
Boo also has some few genuinely creepy moments near the start of the film, making use of Dutchess and the abandoned hospital to build some suspense and tension, and a clown scene that won't be kind to Coulrophobic viewers.On it's bad side, the two great characters don't get all too many lines though they make the most of them, the rest of the cast that weren't mentioned tend to sway between average (for a B movie) and slightly below average, and specifically for Kevin so bad it's hard to decide if he's trying to make his character that bad or if it's the actor. |
tt0029080 | Kid Galahad | Willy Grogan is a small-time boxing promoter based in the Catskills resort region of Cream Valley, New York. He owns the Grogan's Gaelic Gardens inn. He is a contemptible man and is in debt and pays little attention to the woman who loves him, Dolly, a chain-smoking, love-starved woman residing at the camp. Into their midst comes Walter Gulick, a young man recently discharged from the Army who loves the peaceful setting almost as much as he loves working on old cars. Walter's simple goal is to go into business as a mechanic at a nearby garage.
Willy's younger sister, Rose, shows up unexpectedly. She and Walter immediately hit it off. The obsessively protective Willy doesn't want his kid sister falling for some "grease monkey" mechanic and two-bit boxer. Dolly is envious of the young couple's romance and resents Willy's interference.
One day, Walter, in need of work, accepts an offer of five dollars to be a sparring partner and decks one of Willy's top fighters. Willy is persuaded to let this "Galahad" take a shot in a legitimate ring. Both men are reluctant, but each has a need for the money. Walter begins working out under the watchful eye of Willy's top trainer, Lew.
After several successes in the ring, Walter is readied for his biggest fight. Gangsters want him to take a dive so that Willy can pay off his debts to them, but "Galahad" throws his muscle behind Willy and emerges victorious. He wins the big fight against Ramon "Sugar Boy" Romero as well as Willy's approval, retiring undefeated to his vintage car and his new love. | revenge, murder, romantic | train | wikipedia | Boxing film with Edward G and Bette Davis, dubbed.
Bette's night club number in a rich contralto is a jarring moment in this movie."Kid Galahad" is a 1937 film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring part of the excellent Warners roster: Edward G.
Robinson, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Jane Bryan, and Wayne Morris.
Morris is a hunky bellboy, nicknamed "Kid Galahad," made into a champion boxer by manager Nick Donati (Robinson); he falls for Robinson's pretty sister Marie(Bryan).
Meanwhile, Robinson's girlfriend Louise (Davis) has fallen for Morris herself.Predictable drama, but the cast is terrific and the film moves very quickly.
Bogart was not yet a star, and is effective as Robinson's nemesis, Turkey.Obviously Warners loved this story - it was remade as The Wagons Roll at Night and later as a vehicle for Elvis.Boxing stories have always been great film fodder.
Humphrey Bogart puts on a role of a scheming man that makes him look better than he already is.Near the end, the film started to derail a bit and got a bit pointless, but it was all in good taste.
Robinson, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart.After a fight where Robinson's fighter is knocked out by Bogart's pugilist, Robinson throws a party any way.
During the festivities, William Haade gets fresh with Robinson's girl, Bette Davis, and young bellhop Wayne Morris flattens him with one punch.
Robinson thinks he's found a new heavyweight.I doubt there have been too many people more innocent portrayed on the screen than Wayne Morris in this film.
The gawky country kid who comes off like a young Jimmy Stewart with a little more meat on his bones manages to get both Davis and Robinson's kid sister Jane Bryan interested in him.
That ticks off Robinson considerably and he starts looking at Morris in a new and bad light.Of course the presence of those three Hollywood legends makes Kid Galahad watchable.
Humphrey Bogart is also fine as the mobbed up manager, a type all to familiar in boxing.Kid Galahad is dated, you couldn't have someone today as innocent as Wayne Morris is portrayed on the screen, the film would be laughed at.
Bette Davis is Eddie's right-hand-gal who falls in love with the polite, shy Wayne Morris against her better judgment, while Jane Bryan as Eddie's kid sis wins the boxer's heart after graduating from convent school.
Michael Curtiz directed with skill and speed, though an early boxing sequence is too fast (with the film mechanically speeded up for no apparent reason); other scenes in the ring also look hokey, although these are the only incidents which do.
Robinson plays fight promoter Nick Donati who thinks he has found a fighter (Wayne Morris) he can take to the Championship.
The only trouble is Nick's hot tempered anger, which gets him in trouble with his girlfriend (Bette Davis) and a gangster (Humphrey Bogart) who he double crosses.
Seeing Robinson, Davis and Bogart together is where the fun is at and the reason why people will be drawn to this film.
Davis nearly steals the film and delivers a very good performance as the woman always having to keep Robinson's temperature down.
Kid Galahad is a surprisingly good boxing, gangster, drama, romance directed by Michael Curtiz..
Robinson who is wonderful as the headstrong fight promoter, Bette Davis provides romantic chemistry as his compassionate girlfriend and Humphrey Bogart (still early in his career) plays a rival boxing manager that uses gangster tactics to get his own way.Bette Davis had just returned to Warner Bros.
And the part of the young bellhop who belts his way to victory when the reigning champ puts the moves on Robinson's girlfriend (Davis), would be ideal for showcasing screen newcomer Wayne Morris.
Davis never spoke ill of Robinson, though she observed wryly in later years that he had stopped shooting during a death scene to complain to director Michael Curtiz that she and co-star Jane Bryan were drowning out his final speeches with their sobbing.
Rapper had just been hired as the film's dialogue director when, on his first day, he watched Curtiz staging a fight scene between Davis and Robinson.
Robinson didn't want to throw the director around, afraid the larger man would hurt him, but he got into things when Curtiz started playing the scene as a Davis imitation.
Please notice the fine character work of actors: Harry Carey as the trainer, Jane Bryan as Robinson's sister, William Haade as the Champ and Joe Cunningham as the reporter.Finally when The Mirisch Bros.
bought the story as a vehicle for Elvis Presley (with Gig Young and Lola Albright in the other leads), Warner's re-titled Kid Galahad for television prints as The Battling Bellhop to avoid confusion with the Elvis re-make which was now a comedy-musical-boxing-drama..
Take a scene, a good one by the way, where Bogart tells his champ to whisper some words to Robinson's protégé
although the outcome isn't in his favor, you know he got exactly what he wanted.
It's just as if the final result only depended on the manager's aims and motivations, no matter how twisted they are.It seems simplistic but this is how it works in Michael Curtiz' "Kid Galahad", a seemingly Cinderella story about a young bellboy who becomes a boxer after demonstrating the value of his punch during an incident.
Robinson as Nick Donati (again, he plays an Italian American in a convincing way, his Italian delivery is molto bene) and in the other, Turkey Morgan, Bogart again as the treacherous villain with a derogatory name.
It is dated for one simple reason: we know that Bogart is the best actor in the film along with Robinson yet he gets the shortest screen time.
And Bogie is so great in playing strong but sensitive characters, it's painful to watch him as a one-dimensional bad guy."Kid Galahad" succeeds in showing how boxing management works, with bookies and journalists as accessories, through the way they are lured into teasing the players' egos, as if the Press itself was only the extension of the ring
that's something not many films, even today, bothered to show and "Kid Galahad" is an eye-opening experience.
The match isn't fixed except the one that goes outside, which ends up being the most important one.That documentary aspect of the film is really exciting and works like a great slice of American sports' life before the War. It's also one of the first bits of gangster revisionism movies before the iconic "Angels With Dirty Faces"
Robinson and Cagney will switch to other movie genres, while the eternal outsider, Humphrey Bogart, will stay on the crime drama and embody the most prevalent Post-War genre: film noir, letting him reveal this side of his iconic charisma, and just because it was made before "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon" the film is dated, exciting but dated.It's redeemed by the great performances of the trio Robinson, Bogart and Davis, of the entertaining match games and the magnificent insight on sports business and its intricacies between journalism and money issues, which hasn't changed much.
Kid Galahad (1937)A strong boxing world drama with Bette Davis and Edward G.
The result if a full blown and rather complex drama going far beyond fixing fights and a boxer's improbable rise to the top.Davis in particular blows me away, playing both the sophisticated and wise wife of the great promoter, but also a sweet kid torn by love, a "dizzy fool." Her performance alone makes the movie a gem.
The idea of the "good" fighter unwilling to throw a fight he can win fairly is built up here to the key climax, and Bogart and Robinson clash in the end in classic style.
(And a sidebar trivia —the best Elvis movie is the 1970 "King Creole" directed by, yes, Michael Curtiz.)But back in 1937 came this feisty, complex, richly envisioned drama around the boxing world of the Great Depression, and it's a terrific one..
Wayne Morris is immensely likable.Morris plays the title character -- a bellboy discovered by fight-promoter Robinson at a party in a hotel.
When bellhop Wayne Morris knocks out a heavyweight contender, boxing promoter Edward G.
But when Robinson's girlfriend Bette Davis falls for Morris and Morris falls for Robinson's kid sister Jane Bryan, it causes the promoter to turn against his protégé.Good sports drama from Warner Bros.
Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart were three of the all-time greats and seeing them in the same film seemed to be even more irresistible than seeing them individually.
It is not among the best of all involved, Robinson, Davis and Bogart did do better films and performances and when thinking of classic Curtiz 'Kid Galahad' to me is not quite there but very nearly is.
It has been often compared to its remakes 'The Wagons Roll at Midnight', which also featured Bogart, and the Elvis Presley musical version from 1962, and of the three this is by quite some way the best.'Kid Galahad' may not have one of those stories full of surprises, can understand the predictable criticisms from anybody who have seen similar tropes in films frequently since before seeing the film.It also doesn't always have the most refined of production values, mostly they come off well but some occasional hokiness in the fights from being a little over-kinetic.Wayne Morris, whose career sadly faded into relative obscurity not long after, however is immensely likeable and easy to engage with in the title role, making the character very rootable.
You really cannot go wrong in watching a sport/crime genre film in which you have not one, but two boxing promoters who are both a bit slimy towards their boxing club pugilists, especially when these two promoters are the great actors Humphrey Bogart and Edward G.
Robinson) has just discovered a young and strong hotel bell hop named Ward Guisenberry / Kid Galahad (Wayne Morris) who he manages to a heavyweight championship title fight that Nick actually has mixed feelings about winning and losing since his novice boxer Kid Galahad has fallen in love with Nick's virgin sister Marie (Jane Bryan).
The farm boy turned fighter Ward Guisenberry / Kid Galahad has two women that have fallen in love with his boyish charms and ring innocence.
Both Nick's little sister Marie and Nick's arm candy night club singer Louise 'Fluff' Phillips (Bette Davis) both have deep feelings for Kid Galahad.
Footnote: I for one just was never able to picture actress Bette Davis as "eye candy" with her strange facial appearance that appeared to have been placed in a vise grip and with her rather thin and balding hair?So the two boxing promoters go after the big purse but which promoter is betting on which fighter to win or lose?
The film has some aggressive ring fight scenes, a visible hate-on by the two promoters played by Bogart and Robinson, love lost and gained, and crimes that must not go unpunished.
Instead of the naive young man being a boxer as in this film, Eddie Albert joins Humphrey Bogart's circus as their lion tamer when Eddie falls head over heels for Humphrey's little sister played by then 16 year old Joan Leslie.
I'm in such a good mood that even though I strongly dislike actress Bette Davis (I really do) - In this particular picture about boxing and gangsters, I actually didn't mind her presence so much (for a change).And, even though Kid Galahad's story about gangsters and boxing was clearly on the predictable and, yes, corny side - And the inevitable elements of revenge and double-cross soon became the sole focus of the action - This picture about boxing and gangsters and gangsters and boxing was OK, in my books..
Robinson against Humphrey Bogart, and even throws in a young and surprisingly beautiful Bette Davis for added appeal?I guess I can.The cliches and stereotypes in "Kid Galahad" were probably cliches and stereotypes even in 1937, but because they still weren't THAT old, they didn't inspire the kind of snickers they do today.
Galahad remains an innocent despite the company he keeps, and falls in love with Robinson's kid sister, also an innocent, one who works in a convent (!) These cliches would be revived in 1939's "Golden Boy" in which a young William Holden puts on the gloves to finance his violin lessons.
Fortunately, his goody-goody persona, though getting plenty of screen time, is completely swamped by the dynamic presence of Robinson, Davis, and, in a small role, Humphrey Bogart, the terrific trio whose street smart performances keep this story in the gutter and away from that dreary farm Galahad dreams of owning.
I remember watching it as a kid some 40 years or so ago and was grateful to watch it again just now.For my money, it's an absolute winner, I mean how could it fail with Michael Curtiz directing the likes of Edward G Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart in leading parts.
Sure there's more than a touch of melodrama about the story, you see Eddie loves Bette but she loves Wayne Morris as the hayseed farmer's boy turned bellhop turned new heavyweight hope but he loves Eddie's fresh out of the convent kid sister Jane Bryan and even after all that is resolved, the movie still doesn't end entirely happily.Robinson's great as the not completely straight boxing manager who'll throw over any of his fighters who disobeys his instructions in and out of the ring.
Then there's Bogart, still playing heavies at this stage in his career, in support as Robinson's menacing, tough-as-nails and twice as crooked rival promoter, plus I really liked Morris and Bryan in their parts, not forgetting Harry Carey as the seen-it-all-before trainer who also acts as Robinson's conscience.Sure you could argue every character's a stereotype you've seen in every fight flick from the first bell, but it's done with such panache here that before long, like me you'll let it beat you around the head so much you'll end up enjoying it.
This 1937 boxing film from "Warner Bros," is a well-crafted classic with some good boxing scenes and typically great performances from Edward G.
Humphrey Bogart is given the thankless role of that of another gangster but he still adds something to "Kid Galahad." Robinson is a boxing promoter who needs a winner in his stable of prizefighters after he fires his latest protégé.
Robinson as fight manager Nick Donati & Bette Davis as Fluff & Humphrey Bogart as the gangster manager Turkey Morgan & Wayne Morris in the title role as Ward Guisenberry alias Kid Galahad.
remade it in 1941 as "The Wagons Roll At Night" with Humphrey Bogart in the Robinson role who runs a traveling circus with Kid Galahad as a lion tamer instead of a boxer & it's almost as good.
Watch this original & the '41 remake if you're a Robinson & Bogart fan & if you like quality movies.
This film is very predictable and boring and also the casting seems really jarring sometimes for example Bette Davis as fight promoter's moll opposite with Edward g Robinson.
The 'kid' is cute as pie, the girlfriend is annoying just as she was in the film from the same year she also did with Bette and Humphrey Bogart, "Marked Woman".
Robinson) dumps his fighter who loses in a fight rigged by gangster Turkey Morgan (Humphrey Bogart).
He starts fighting for Nick as Kid Galahad.This is a solid boxing movie with all the corruption and the media.
Robinson is cast as a tough manager who discovers, quite by accident, a young bellhop (Wayne Morris) with a punch he feels is strong enough to win a championship for him
When the fighter falls for his sister (Jane Bryan), Robinson decides to double-cross him and arranges a bout with a tough opponent he feels will beat the kid to pieces
Bogart, stern and severe, was the malevolent gangster-manager of the tough opponent and, when Robinson has a change of heart through the intercession of his mistress (Bette Davis) and helps the kid win, he and Bogart wind up in a hail of bullets
The film was remade, in 1941, as "The Wagons Roll at Night" and later, in 1962, as a light-hearted musical in "Kid Gallahad," with Elvis Presley....
When he witnesses a young bellhop (Wayne Morris) deck a top rated heavyweight at a swank party, he sees a future champ, and a way to undermine rival promoter Turkey Morgan (Humphrey Bogart).
The boxing scenes are merely an under card for the real story of how Kid Galahad, named by Fluff as an homage to his gallant chivalry, meets and falls in love with Donati's sister Marie (Jane Bryan).
His promoter, Turkey Morgan also angles for the match sooner rather than later, realizing that his boy's regimen won't keep him champion for too long.By the time the sports press gets the story, it's all about how the convent girl (Marie) and the cabaret singer (Fluff) vie for Kid Galahad.
Robinson's moll, Bette Davis, falls for the big dumb lug of a fighter, but he's too dumb to realize it.
Robinson and Humphrey Bogart; playing these roles in the remake were Gig Young and David Lewis.
Wayne Morris captures the title as the preeminent KID GALAHAD, 100-0!.
The bellhop: Ward Guisenberry(Wayne Morris) was inexperienced at mixing drinks, thus Nick's mistress Fluff(Bette Davis) helped him.
When Warner Brothers put this one together, they put 3 A-List actors together, though Bogart was not quite as far along as Edward G Robinon and Bette Davis, but he more than holds his own in this boxing drama.
It is a boxing drama where Robinson and Bogart square off as the managers of the fighters for the championship.
They are also part of a corrupt game where fixes were often in and betting was the reason.Hollywood is often very good with boxing films and this one has a major bonus, a gun fight with Bogart versus Robinson to ice the cake after the big fight. |
tt0816556 | Lake Mungo | Sixteen-year-old Alice Palmer drowns while swimming with her family at a dam in Ararat, Australia. After she dies her teen brother Matthew uses cameras set about the house to record what seem to be images of Alice's ghost appearing in the family home. It's discovered that Matthew was actually setting up the "sightings" of his dead sister to give the family reason to exhume Alice's body and give his mother closure.
Upon closer review, one of the hoax video tapes captures the Palmer's neighbor Brett in Alice's bedroom looking for something. Alice was often a babysitter for Brett's and his wife's child. After a search, Alice's mother finds a video tape hidden in the bedroom showing Alice in a sexual encounter with Brett and his wife.
A psychic that the family had contacted earlier, when they were unsure if Matthew's films were real, finally admits that Alice had met with him several months before her death and had told him she was having dreams about drowning, being dead and her mother not being able to see or help her. Alice's boyfriend comes forward with cell phone video footage showing Alice on a school trip to Lake Mungo. The video shows Alice extremely distraught as she frantically digs into the sand at the base of tree with her bare hands.
Alice's family travels to Lake Mungo and finds the tree seen in the cellphone video. Digging at its base they discover Alice had buried her cell phone. The video footage on Alice's cell phone shows her walking down the darkened shoreline of the lake by herself using her cellphone as a flashlight. She comes upon a figure in the distance and walks up to it. The light from the cellphone reveals the figure is Alice herself but appearing bloated and dead just as Alice's body had been after being recovered from the lake in the beginning of the film.
Alice's family then goes home and moves out of their house, feeling that Alice had simply wanted them to know who she really was and what she had seen. The film's mid-credit scenes reveal that Alice had actually manifested in Matthew's hoax pictures and videos without anybody noticing. | paranormal | train | wikipedia | Lake Mungo succeeds at being not only a chilling ghost story, but a film about grief.
Lake Mungo really is a very simple film, it follows the Palmer family as they deal with the loss of Alice (their daughter/sister).
It is filmed in a documentary style, in which the family/friends/work associates are interviewed by an unseen person, with pictures and video footage shown as well.
Recently my awesome homeland have been releasing some damn good horror movies (see Wolf Creek, Rogue, Black Water, Dying Breed, Lucky Country) and Lake Mungo is one of the best.4½/5.
If you like your horror exclusively blood and gore, or need big Hollywood special effects to enjoy a movie, you will undoubtedly be disappointed, but for anyone who appreciates films that slowly get under your skin, and stay with you long after the end credits, Lake Mungo is a must-see..
And speaking of story, unlike most of the other first person horror movies, "Lake Mungo" actually has a good one.
and even better, half way into the movie the ghost thing gets dropped when some rather earthly explanations start to surface and the family looks deeper into the last weeks of her daughters life.
The whole film is shot documentary style with interviews etc.(and let me just say, that if I didn't know this movie was a "mock" horror or whatever you call it, I would have been pet-ri-fied) haha.I was a little iffy:After the first major twist (if you will), but I promise, keep watching because the end is worth the wait.
People are comparing it to paranormal activity, and I get that, but the matter a fact is that these two movies are not very similar, the only thing really is that they use some home movie style footage.Anyway, its a good movie if you like slow movies, and good scares.
LAKE MUNGO has already been bought for a US remake but this little indie original from Australia is the real deal: a genuinely scary ghost film like THE SIXTH SENSE or the 1961 film THE INNOCENTS.
An unsettling ghost story that doesn't rely on cheap jump scares or horror clichés, Lake Mungo is a welcome breath of fresh air to the genre.
It plays very much like a real exploratory documentary, so as a result is very believable, helped in part by convincing acting and scripting (I assume this was mostly scripted, which in itself is unusual for this sub-genre - but must have a significant level of scripting due to the factual based story telling).However, that being said, I do have a number of issues that prevent me from classifying this as a good film.
It can be quite disappointing when you go the lenght of a film waiting for a revelation for it not to appear - or at least not to the extent you were lead to believe.I think the main crux of this being that the story is based in a normal, relatively happy middle class teenager - so there is nothing about the ghost that is sinister or potentially threatening.
Lake Mungo follows the familiar mockumentary style that has become the stable of many a modern day horror film.
Lake Mungo feels like someone watched Twin Peaks a few too many times then stumbled across The Last Broadcast and decided they want a J Horror moment as the cliff hanger moment.
This is one of the rare occasions that the idea of Hollywood remaking this film is actually interesting because hopefully the new writers will expand on the good concept and deliver whole lot more action, horror and drama..
The main difference here is that Bridge To Terabithia is a thoughtful view, while Lake Mungo only manages to feel like a glorified episode of 911.Lake Mungo succeeds at being a story about grief, and about the subject of how exactly a person's death effects the lives of their loved ones, as well as speculations what happens to that person.
Makes 'Paranormal Activity' look like the cheap piece of garbage it was.The acting and editing sells the story as a real documented paranormal experience with all the twists and turns needed to keep it's audience on their toes, gripping their seat.Somewhere between an episode of 'Unsolved Mysteries' & 'The Blair Witch Project.'An original new look at the way ghost stories can be told.
It's the closest thing I've seen to simulating a real documentary feel; better than "Paranormal Activity", "The Last Broadcast", "Blair Witch" and the like.
It's a chilling feeling, still, and you might be a little on edge for the remainder of the day after watching Lake Mungo- but if you're a horror fan, this should be your cup of tea.
The film is based on the revelations of the family after-the-fact about what caused her death and how digging into her past lead to much darker secrets than they ever anticipated, but yet the documentary-like nature of the film manages to make it feel like what happens is not that scary or chilling at all.
From the start, with the photographs and her appearance in them to the neighbors' video footage finding her on them to the consultations with the paranormal experts and all this, it's never given any sort of imposing nature about being terrified of what's going on, as it's all about being done after it's already happened because it's a documentary about what happened instead of letting everything unfold in real-time.
There's a lot of potentially-creepy manners and actions that happen through these actions through the family's drama but yet none of what happens is given any sort of feeling like it's scary or chilling and it really makes the film just trod along so lifelessly that it's hardly all that enjoyable the way it's presented here.
quite simply, cable networks' haunted house documentaries and ghost hunting shows are far scarier, and give you actual, real people, or at the very least, the "cream of the crop" of hoaxers.Last but definitely not least, I felt insulted by the shots provided during the closing credits, and wasn't going to bother letting them all play out (I assume there were more).
It makes no sense to break the strictly realistic documentary format for the credits, and only steals scares from the actual movie.I hate to slag on a film that's well made and has good intentions, but I would rather have just watched an episode of Ghost Adventures..
All I can say about this movie is WTF the concept is the same as your Blair Witch,Paranormal Activity and so on but somewhere between the halfway point of the movie its almost as the director lost all his sense of thinking and drops a twist which makes you go huh,and then about another 45 minutes or so later when you see the ending credits that is when you will have the reaction WHAT THE F***.I read another user reviews about this movie and was looking forward to a good scare unfortunately this one does not deliver anything of such sort.I would definitely say pass on this one,i will give it 2 starts simply for the fact that it was shot well other then that hopefully the 2011 remake delivers more then this..
I have seen many unsettling movies in the past few years—Irreversible, Inside, Audition to name a few—but these movies, while disturbing, aren't all that frightening.When I started Lake Mungo, I wasn't expecting to find anything that was able to quench my thirst for horror, and maybe that's why I ended up enjoying it so much.
One of the only movies like this that gets it right, I would recommend Lake Mungo for a rainy night when ur feeling a lil tired and wanna watch a cozy true crime sort of story..
Perhaps it should be called a 'faux-documentary' horror film instead.Every thing about this movie is great, and this is coming from someone who finds most ghost stories rather boring.
But Lake Mungo is performed so incredibly that I could imagine many viewers thinking that it was actually a real documentary about a case of possible supernatural activity.I wouldn't say the movie is scary so much as it is unsettling.
It's shot frame by frame in documentary format, much like the old television series Unsolved Mysteries, telling you the story of Alice by using interview footage of family and friends, and reenactments of key events of the case.
After all, a lot of the time the truth is scarier than anything Hollywood can come up with.The acting in this movie is very believable, it really makes you feel like you're looking at the actual people involved and not actors reenacting their story, unlike a lot of the documentary style movies, they do a great job at showing the families emotions during tough times.
Mixing the conventions of real-crime documentaries and found-footage horror entries, director Joel Anderson crafts a compelling, chilling tale of a teenager's accidental death, its impact on her family, and the many secrets revealed along the way.
It presents a story of tragedy and grief which follow the death of the daughter, Alice.The film itself is delivered in a documentary format which suits its slow pace well.
Lake Mungo is a very well created documentary movie about the experiences of a family after their daughter drowns.
But the things that happen in this one...it's been a long time since a horror film made me feel this way.When I sat down to watch it, all I knew was the basic plot.
Brings me to the one flaw of this movie; the film is quite slow already and could have done without that part slowing it down even more.All together Lake Mungo has the ability to keep your attention while exploring interesting ideas about ghosts, loss, life and death..
Jam-packed with one twist after another and never letting its viewers figure out just where exactly its plot is headed, Lake Mungo is one of the most underrated works of mockumentary horror that's cleverly crafted, ingeniously executed and takes a turn on every available opportunity to sustain a sense of uneasiness throughout its runtime.Lake Mungo centres around the Palmer family that is mourning the accidental death of their young daughter after she drowns while swimming at a dam.
As the Palmers attempt to move on from the unexpected tragedy that befell them, they experience a set of inexplicable events in their house & eventually unearth a dark secret about their deceased girl.Written & directed by Joel Anderson, Lake Mungo is staged like a documentary, filled with archival footages, family photographs & personal interviews but an aura of mystery surrounding the death & an unsettling vibe in the aftermath sequences is consistently felt throughout its runtime.
The grainy & low-quality of the recorded footage or photos further compels the viewers to observe each frame more closely, and although its documentary style is borrowed, the film tick marks all the elements that make them gripping in the first place.What definitely works in its favour is that it manages to keep the interest alive from start to finish and rarely follows a predictable route, for whenever the audience tries to connect the dots, a new twist surfaces & steers them in a different direction.
Camera is sort of fixated on time-lapse photography while the cast provides added authenticity with their sincere inputs.On an overall scale, Lake Mungo is a highly riveting psychological horror, deeply embedded with supernatural elements, and offers an interesting take on grief plus how people deal with it.
All of this is done in the style of a pure documentary, going so far to include "news footage" and "police videos;" as it plays out, we see interviews from the daughter – Alison's – dad Russell, mom June, and brother Mathew; also interviewed are friends and family, and the psychic, Ray.Everything is done right: the story is an interesting one; it is scored beautifully; the cinematography is evocative and moody; the characters are incredibly fleshed out and the acting is highly, highly convincing, and if you let yourself go you could easily believe that what you're watching is a bona fide documentary, and while it's not scary as such (you're not going to be jumping out of your seats with this one), this ultra-realism is what gives the film its chill, and what makes it a hell of a lot more effective (and superior) than the other documentary / found-footage-style movies out there.
Added to that is an underlying sadness and a profound sense of loss, and it's because of this that Lake Mungo is elevated into something a lot more than a simple "horror" or "mystery" film, at times seeming to work on all your senses and emotions.
I hate found footage movies, and documentary style flicks, but this was a excellent example that there is still reason for having hope.Although Lake Mungo has a slow start, and stays at one spot too long in the beginning, this is fast forgotten when your emotions and body receives the first vibes of scary feelings, at that moment the fake documentary grabs your eyes, and makes you sit on the edge of your seat.
She did drown and her body was found and a ghost was never seen in the whole film WARNING DO NOT WATCH It actually made me and my friends mad that we wasted our time hoping for it to get better..
They let the movie really feel like a documentary at times, since they look like a real grieving family.
"Lake Mungo" is filmed in a documentary format— compiled of interviews, video and news footage, and photographs, it details the story of an Australian family who fall victim to disturbing supernatural events after the drowning death of their teenage daughter."Lake Mungo" is a slow goer, perhaps slower than most horror audiences would expect, but I'm not even sure I'd categorize this as a horror film; maybe a supernatural mystery or something along those lines, rather.
Fans of gore or jump-scares will be disappointed; the film has none.Released (probably somewhat out of place) in the U.S. in 2010 as part of the After Dark Horrorfest 4, the movie garnered enough attention that a U.S. production company planned to remake (and ruin) it in 2009, but to date, I have not seen any more information on that (fingers crossed).Also, make sure to stay tuned in during the ending credits.Despite these few flaws, I believe writer/director Joel Anderson accomplishes what he set out to do with LAKE MUNGO.
Skimming through a number of reviews you can see that many tuned in to it expecting a boo jump horror movie, while there's also the inevitable hoards of scary film fans who see the word supernatural and think they are getting the new Exorcist.
I think that Lake Mungo is on some intermediate point, because even though it tells an interesting story which has some good moments of tension, its only "hook" is repeated so many times that it runs the risk of becoming ridiculous.The "fake documentaries" tend to fall into opposite extremes: some of them exaggerate so much that they ruin the "realism" with an obvious artificiality; and other ones sin of an excessive subtleness, and as a consequence, they end up being ambiguous and not completely satisfactory.
Lake Mungo falls into the second category, but there are some moments in which it gets close to the first one, due to the use of some clichés from the horror cinema which feel completely out of place into the sober tone from the movie.Anyway, I found the subject of the "ghost photographs" to be interesting, at the same time that the movie offers some very good moments of suspense.
When i bought Lake Mungo i thought it was gonna be another poor movie just like lots of others released these days , the only reason i bought it was because it was Australian made and most of the horror i've seen coming out of OZ has been good.
It's a fake documentary about a family experiencing supernatural events in the wake of their daughter's death ( she drowned at Lake Mungo ).
I've heard the film be compared to Paranormal Activity a few times and i can understand that with it being a ghost movie and it being made to look real but thats where the similarities end.
Lake Mungo is about sixteen-year-old Alice Palmer, who drowns in the local dam, and her family, who, since after her death, have been plagued with paranormal events around their house.
All of the clues lead back to Lake Mungo, where Alice's secrets emerge.The film is shot documentary style and there's a thing that separates this from, say, The Blair Witch Project.
And there are thousands of better horror movies out there than Lake Mungo.
Sure you may like how it's a "beautiful story about grief", but if that's what you're looking for, go watch other drama movies that are way more beautiful, well-paced, well-directed..
Anderson tells his tale of a drowned 16 year old girl whose short life held sad secrets, and the ghost that seems to remain behind as a documentary, complete with talking head interviews with the family and experts, old photographs and home movies, etc.
I guess people who watched this found it dull and couldn't appreciate the efforts not only in filming "Lake Mungo" in such a documentary fashion, but the acting as well.
This movie is only good if you like to see the story of someone who lost a dear person,from start to the end.
The story line of Lake Mungo inter-twanged like a maze, and ends with a touch of supernatural, which makes one wonders if there is ghost or not?
I have seen a lot of movies in the horror genre and have to say this is by far my favorite 'ghost' story ever....Alice is a 16 year old girl who drowns at a dam while picnicking with her family. |
tt3878542 | Justice League: Throne of Atlantis | In the Atlantic Ocean, the USS California submarine picks up incoming human-like threats approaching the sub by sonar. The sub is attacked and the entire crew is killed by the hostiles. At S.T.A.R. Labs' Justice League headquarters, Cyborg, who has recently received environmental upgrades in an operation that replaced his remaining lung, is given news by Colonel Steve Trevor, the liaison for the Justice League since Darkseid's invasion.
At Mercy Reef in Maine, Arthur Curry, drunk over his father's recent death, picks a fight with a group of thugs when they wanted to eat the lobster Arthur was talking to. He defeats them and when the last man tries to stab him, his knife breaks into pieces against Arthur's chest. After throwing him into the ocean, Arthur leaves, unaware that Mera and Dr. Shin are watching him. Cyborg uses a Boom Tube to teleport to the sub and discovers hand prints on the hull and that several nuclear missiles are missing. He is then attacked by the same hostiles and suffers damage to his servos through his escape, though he takes a knife-like weapon from one of his attackers.
Back at HQ, Cyborg gets help from Flash and Shazam to get Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. Green Lantern decides to head to Gotham City to get Batman, who is chasing henchmen of the Scarecrow. Green Lantern captures them for Batman, but angers Batman who needed them to lead him to Scarecrow. Batman joins the team and they check the now-raised sub. They realize the enemy is warriors from Earth's origin.
Diana reveals that these warriors are from Atlantis, beings turned into underwater creatures by their king's mystical trident, after seeing the weapon that Cyborg had nabbed. Using Shazam's suggestion, Superman and Batman decide to meet Atlantis-expert Dr. Shin, while the others are tasked to find Atlantis.
At Atlantis, Prince Orm and Black Manta meet with Orm's mother, Queen Atlanna. They argue over declaring war on the surface world, noting the damage during Darkseid's attack, with Atlanna saying that the volcano that killed Orm's father was due to Darkseid's forces while Orm says it was the Justice League's fight with Darkseid. Orm also says that the humans polluting the Earth will eventually destroy it and Atlantis, which he believes is reason to attack them first. Atlanna silences Orm and asks Mera to bring Arthur, her other son, to Atlantis. Black Manta uses a craft holographically disguised as a submarine to attack Atlantis using the stolen missiles, framing the surface for their "unprovoked" attack.
Dr. Shin tries to tell Arthur that his father asked him before his death to help Arthur. Moments later, Dr. Shin is killed by Atlantean soldiers sent by Black Manta. Arthur is overwhelmed by the attack, knocked out and blasted out of his collapsing house, but is saved by Mera, who dispatches the soldiers by using her control over water, and takes him underwater.
Batman and Superman enter Dr. Shin's home discovering that his work is destroyed. Superman recreates a photograph of Curry and a letter from his father revealing that his son is half-Atlantean. Batman decides they must find him.
The attack on Atlantis leads the citizens and Orm to demand war and to break the seal on war plans created by the former king in the event of conflict with the surface. Queen Atlanna states that they might need to reveal themselves after centuries of hiding and contact the Justice League. Arthur wakes up with gills on his neck in underwater Atlantean ruins with Mera, who explains that he was in Atlantis and that Atlanna was Arthur's mother.
As a royal, she could not be with his father or Arthur, so she left to be with her king and Orm, though she still loved Arthur greatly and watched him when he was a child. Arthur had once encountered Atlanna when he was swimming by the shore. Now, Atlanna believes Arthur can help Atlantis bridge the gap between the two worlds.
Mera then dresses him in the king's royal garb, hidden by Atlanna inside the ruins. Arthur, having difficulty processing the situation, removes the armor and crown, leaving only the orange and green Atlantean bodysuit, and heads to the surface with Mera following him.
Soon, they are attacked by the Trench. The creatures overwhelm Arthur. One of them bit Arthur's hand, making him bleed. The Justice League arrives in time to defeat the Trench. Orm hears from Black Manta that the Trench failed to kill Arthur. Orm and Queen Atlanna argue because Orm wants to start a war and reveals his knowledge of Curry. Queen Atlanna reveals to him that she knows he attacked Atlantis. With this news, Black Manta confronts the queen, but is overpowered by her trident. Orm then stabs her from behind, killing her and taking over Atlantis as the new king.
Arthur, Mera, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Cyborg arrive at Atlantis and learn of Queen Atlanna's death. The Atlantean people were under the mistaken impression that a surface dweller killed her. The heroes are then defeated by Orm, who has assumed the mantle of "Ocean Master" and uses the trident to incapacitate and restrain them inside cocoon-like pods. Even Superman bleeds when attacked with the trident. The group is sent to be consumed by the monstrous Dark Trench, while Ocean Master leads Atlantis' army to the surface.
Arthur destroys his pod by tapping into the power of the trident and with Superman's help, as well as his telepathic control over sea creatures, they save the rest and defeat the monster. In Metropolis, a massive tidal wave created by Ocean Master's trident is used to conceal Ocean Master's army, which reaches the shores and attacks. The military is powerless until the League arrive.
During the fight, Superman saves John Henry Irons, and Wonder Woman saves Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. Arthur is attacked by Black Manta, who reveals that he manipulated Ocean Master and plans to overthrow and kill him when the time is right and take Atlantis for himself. While Black Manta is revealing his plan, Arthur calls a shark to attack him, dragging Black Manta underwater, killing him in the process. Mera and the League attack Ocean Master, but are once again defeated due to his Trident's power, as Mera is knocked unconscious, Shazam is transformed back into his normal form of Billy Batson by the Trident's mystical electric energy, Cyborg is impaled, severely wound, electrocuted and disabled by Ocean Master, Wonder Woman successfully disarms him of the Trident, though she is incapacitated and knocked unconscious by its electric energy when she holds it, both Flash and Green Lantern are knocked unconscious by Ocean Master, and Superman is impaled in the chest and severely wounded by it because of its mystical properties. Curry becomes the last to face Ocean Master. Curry has an upper hand during the fight because Ocean Master is unable to use its full power on Arthur given his status as Atlantean royalty. Despite this, Ocean Master defeats Arthur with the trident's power by using it to create a massive blast of power to incapacitate him and knock him unconscious. Batman saves Cyborg from dying by electrocuting him with a taser device, and Cyborg reveals that he has video of Ocean Master confessing to killing his mother when they were captured. Ocean Master nearly kills Arthur, impaling him and severely wounding him with his trident. Cyborg broadcasts Ocean Master's confession all over Metropolis for Atlantis' soldiers to see. Stunned by this treachery, the soldiers do not obey Ocean Master's commands and Arthur uses the distraction to defeat him. He then convinces the soldiers to stand down and declares his desire to bring Atlantis and the surface world together in peace.
Later in Atlantis, Arthur is crowned as king, with the Justice League celebrating among the audience. Batman suggests that, with new threats appearing, they need to solidify the team and Cyborg reveals plans for a watchtower. Arthur joins as Aquaman (which is a nickname everyone on the internet gave him and he hates), and soon heads with now-love interest Mera against the Trenchers outside Atlantis.
In the post-credits, Orm is incarcerated at Belle Reve, yelling at the guards to release him. He is approached by Lex Luthor who has a proposition for him to consider. | good versus evil, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1878805 | World Without End | In March 1957, Commander Dr. Eldon Galbraithe (Nelson Leigh), engineer Henry Jaffe (Christopher Dark), radioman Herbert Ellis (Rod Taylor) and scientist John Borden (Hugh Marlowe), are returning to Earth from the first spaceflight, a reconnaissance trip around Mars. Suddenly, their spaceship is somehow accelerated to incredible velocities, and they are knocked unconscious. Their ship crash lands on a snow-covered mountain. When they venture out, they discover that they have become victims of time dilation and are now in Earth's future.
They theorize, from seeing time-worn gravestones and after their ship's instruments register heightened residual radiation, that a devastating atomic war had broken out in 2188, and that they are at least 200 years past that date. (They later learn that the year is 2508). Jaffe is particularly hard hit, as he realizes that his wife and children have long since died.
After surviving an ambush by giant, mutant spiders, they are attacked by one of two competing remnants of human society. The "mutates" (as the astronauts label them) are violent, primitive surface dwellers. They have mutated due to generations of exposure to heightened radioactivity. (However, the background radiation has decreased to tolerable levels, and the men later learn that normal humans are often born to the mutates. These, however, are enslaved.)
Seeking shelter from the attacking mutates in a cave, the four men discover the entrance to an underground city, whose residents are the descendants of those who fled there from the atomic war. These people live in a high-tech, sophisticated culture. They are a peaceful group led by Timmek (Everett Glass), the president of the ruling council. Underground, the men have grown less virile, and there are fewer and fewer children born each generation. In contrast, the women remain physically vital (and ready for romance). Elain (Shirley Patterson), admires a shirtless Herbert Ellis, commenting that the astronauts are "more muscular than our men". Deena (Lisa Montell), rescued from the surface as a child, falls in love with Ellis.
The astronauts try to persuade the underground people to arm themselves and reclaim the surface, but they are content with their comfortable existence.
When Timmek's daughter Garnet (Nancy Gates) shows she is attracted to John Borden, Mories (Booth Colman), an already hostile member of the council, becomes jealous. He retrieves the astronauts' confiscated pistols, but has to kill a man when he is caught in the act. Mories plants the guns in the astronauts' quarters. When Timmek is informed of the murder, he has his men search the newcomers' rooms. Finding the weapons, Timmek orders the astronauts expelled, but Deena testifies that she saw Mories hide the guns. Mories flees to the surface, where he is killed by the mutates.
With Timmek now cooperative, the astronauts manufacture a bazooka and head back to the surface. Fleeing the deadly bazooka fire, the mutates take shelter in the caves. Borden offers to fight their chief, Naga (Mickey Simpson), in single combat for leadership of the mutates in order to save the unmutated surface dwellers from Naga's threatened slaughter. Borden slays Naga and orders the remaining deformed mutates to leave. The astronauts then establish a thriving settlement, including members of both groups. | murder, historical fiction | train | wikipedia | So I read and watched and Pillars of the Earth, which I loved despite some misgivings with the TV adaptation.
Like Pillars of the Earth, World Without End is an excellent novel, full of historical drama but still accessible through the very human characters in the story.
The screenplay is awful, the characters have been ruined by actions that are out of character, the actors ham it up so much that it seems they are embarrassed to be in this series.I watched 2 and a half episodes and threw in the towel.
Worse still, the episodes are only about 40 minutes long which gives the TV station lots of time to break up any storytelling with a million commercials (Pillars of the Earth episodes ran almost an hour without commercial breaks) but ultimately it is the liberty that the screenwriters have taken with the story that I could not handle because they really have not crafted a good one by any standard.I understand now why The Movie Network in Canada took a pass on this one, even though they aired Pillars of the Earth first in Canada a couple of years ago.
Well, I stuck it out and watched all 8 episodes.....just because I wanted to see how badly they ended it....I've read both Pillars and World without end...loved both of them.
After seeing the first couple of episodes of World and not sure if my memory was that bad or that they had completely strayed from the story, I started reading the book again.
Others before me have posted more details about the changes, but I can only say again, if you've read and liked the book, DON'T BOTHER...you will be disappointed..
The plot bears only a tenuous resemblance to the book and is heinously created —writing, casting, directing, production, acting– everything will give you a total disappointment, even if you didn't read the book.If you did, and specially if you also read The Pillars of the Earth and then watched the excellent miniseries spawned from it, you will be left with only one thought; how could a highly sold author like Ken Follett accept such treatment of his work?
As I had read the book and saw Pillars of the Earth was looking forward to seeing the sequel, how could Ken Follet put his name to this rubbish, characters were left out, changed or altered, plot was so altered I felt I was looking at something completely different.
First let's start with the ages of Ralph, Mervin, Caris & Gwenda and the lack of the latter 2 characters from one the most important plots of the book which sets the stage for the character's future behavior.
Ken Follett's followup novel to "The Pillars of the Earth" was 18 years in coming, and was as good as the first.
World Without End is an amazing television series, full of fascinating characters and twisting plots set within interesting historical times.
Loosely based on the Ken Follett novel, the first 7 episodes are exciting and capture the spirit of the book, with small plot deviations suited to television.
I greatly enjoyed the "Pillars of the Earth" miniseries without having read the novel and was then inspired to read World Without End which I loved.
However, having watched the first episode of "World Without End" miniseries, I am dismayed to find a greatly altered beginning, minor characters transformed into major ones, and drama that just didn't occur in the book.
My background vis-a-vis this mini-series: I read both books, each when they were new, and liked them.
I really like World Without End, it's a good series with fair acting and there is a depth in the details that I do enjoy in period pieces.
With that said I did not know this was a sequel to Pillars of the Earth, which I did enjoy, and I had not read either book.
Charlotte Riley isn't beautiful but is a convincing healer.The location and production is quite beautifully filmed in Eastern Europe.There may be a few story elements that are too fantastical but it doesn't matter this is a good historical epic mini series..
The disconnect between the sequences are awkward and truly tiresome to follow.All in all you really need to want to watch this mini-series because you've either watched The Pillars of the Earth, or are a Ken Follett fan.
They suck!Well, reading both the books and watching the first television adaptation i was quite looking forward to the second one, but law and behold what a screw up - the characters are so stereotypical and the scenes devoid of feeling and cohesiveness.
Having just finished reading the novel - I can only say the mini-series World Without End was as total bastardization of Ken Follett's work.
I also loved Pillars, maybe a little more, but both truly deserve ten stars in my book.I really do enjoy how it meanders through the story giving it more of a feeling of being there, being drawn in by the story and its characters.
I recently watched Pillars, and maybe it was because I read the book like 10 years ago and don't remember all the details, but I thought it was quite good and true to the book.
It took the original story and ran it through a blender then tried to reassemble it, but ended up with characters and entire scenes missing, events impacting the wrong people, just a general bastardization of a really good novel.I've only watched Part 1 and don't plan on viewing the others unless I'm feeling in a particularly masochistic mood.The only reason I gave it any stars was that I thought some of the casting was good and overall period interpretation of England was well done..
While "Pillars of the Earth" was so good, despite some minor flaws, in "World without end" there isn't anything you can save but the cast.
Granted the book is over 1000 pages, but perhaps the producers could have hired someone that had actually read it, instead of maybe just the CliffsNotes.And to the writers and producers of this series - PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T GO ANY WHERE NEAR KEN FOLLETT'S NEW TRILOGY.
The title of this movie is wrong since it has very little to do with the book and if you watch it after reading the original novel it will just give you a sour taste.
It's a shame and i feel tricked since i was led to believe that i was about to see a novel based movie and i just saw a fraud using the title of an amazing novel...sadThe changing of the plot transforms the whole story into a historical affair whereas the original story emphasized the social life and the troubles that a town like Kingsbrige would have encountered in the 14th century.
After the mini-series "The pillars of the earth" i have expected something at least as good but shamefully the two productions cannot even be compared.
I haven't read the book on which it is based, but would like to believe that Ken Follett wasn't responsible for this rubbish, but if that is so, he shouldn't have allowed his name to be associated with this nonsense.
The actor themselves did what they could I suppose but the screen play was just simply awful, I doubt the writer has even read the book, I am sure he must have created the screen play from a nine year olds book report.I really cannot say anything good about this mini series, the plot is barely similar to the book, the dialogue is childish at best and the whole series has many ridiculous cliché lines in it, the actor playing godwin is totally unbelievable as his character, as if a sniveling idiot as portrayed would ever be elected to Prior or be able to lead anyone anywhere.So so very disappointing Andrew.
Yes there have been changes made here, more than for Pillars, and during the first episode it was difficult for me to get past them but that was soon forgotten and saw this for the enjoyable historical epic that it is.All the plot threads from the book are here, though there course doesn't necessarily always flow in the same direction, the destination remains the same.There is the same quality of acting, effects and cinematography as it's predecessor and it is safe to say if you enjoyed Pillars of the Earth you will enjoy this series too.If you have read the books approach this with an open mind.
I really loved "the Pillars of the Earth" as a book but as the series too.
The second book "World without end" is in fact a better one than the first, but the series does not depict to me the heavy atmosphere you get in the story.
After watching the movie version of Pillars, I knew I would like the book even more and I was right.
It's ridiculous after a while, seeing how little original material there is in this story (don't know if that's a bad adaptation or if Follet actually wrote it that way).I may like it better if I watch it again, but probably not much; there's just too much copycat material from Pillars..
I guess I should say if you think a rape an episode makes a good series then this one is the best.
First off, I read the book which was okay but a bit repetitive of Pillars of the Earth.
World without End pulls history around to have the likes of King Edward III give inordinate attention to, and finally launch an all out war against, Kingsbridge when he's only just begun invading France.
Also, I just couldn't buy that falling off a crappy little bridge like that one would kill such a number of people as to be worthy of being called a major disaster.The way King Edward II was treated, as in the news of his "death" in the first episode, was stupid.
For Gods sake, if a King back then died in mysterious circumstances, lords and peasants alike would be shitting themselves because more than likely a major war would break out.All in all, a very poor show and a slur on the fine work that was "Pillars of the Earth", both the book and the series..
I really enjoyed the book but I am at a lost for words, as to why they would change or adjust the characters or major events.I think the best thing is forget the book (IMPOSSIBLE) and watch the movie.
Saying that I hope they try to get back in line with the book instead of creating their own events.Not happy with the movie so far, but can hardly wait for the next episodes.Ted. Absolutely awful.
You know what is going to happen 10 Min's before it does.It's extremely frustrating to watch, because the storyline is so conveniently fitted to how they want it to turn out, everything conveniently falls into its very obvious place.All the cast have Hollywood smiles and designer stubble, and it is far removed from medieval England as you can get.I absolutely hated it and would not recommend this to anyone,.
Pillars had similar themes around religious corruption, power struggles and murder, but it was produced in an honest, stark and unpolished way that draws the viewer in.I'd urge people to watch Pillars before this - wouldn't want this to be your first impression of Ken Follett's work!.
WORLD WITHOUT END is the TV miniseries follow-up to PILLARS OF THE EARTH; both are based on novels by Ken Follett and set in the medieval English town of Kingsbridge.
I watched this, having fallen in love with the book as a direct result of the earlier adaptation of the Pillars of the Earth,(the book and series preceding this one).The Pillars of the Earth was great TV - it drew you in and made you feel for the characters from episode one.
The TV series of the Pillars of the Earth was very different from the book - yet there was still much to enjoy.
Having watched the first episode of World Without End, which is some two hours long, I was left confused as to who each character was, what relation they were to each other, and why I should really care.If you want a good read - read both books.
If you want good telly, watch the Pillars of the Earth (even if you have read the book - there is much to enjoy).I really, really wouldn't bother with World Without End though..
As other reviewers, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Pillars of the Earth and found the series acceptable.
"The Pillars of the Earth" used this trope, but perhaps due to actors with less charisma, or a weaker script, or something else, "World Without End" was simply painful to watch.
I saw Pillars of the Earth which was very good and so I was expecting something better.I didn't give this series a one-star rating because the costumes were very well-made and some of the cast like Miranda Richardson, Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Nora von Waldstätten performed very well.But there were too many rape scenes, and I didn't like the incest.
Pillars of the Earth and World without end are such great works it is sad to see what was done to produce a movie.
;)You see, reviews should NOT be about the question "does the movie follow or match up to the original book?" Instead, reviews should purely focus on the question "what is the quality of the movie itself?" The above misunderstanding on itself already explains why 58 out of the 68 reviews (to date July 3rd 2016) are very negative, which not only is a pity but very misleading as well.I watched "The Pillars of the Earth" and give that a 8 out of 10.
"World Without End" gets the exact same rating...Both series give the same type of atmosphere, story telling, acting; in all both are excellent done, compliments to the casts and directors.
The same thing happened with "Pillars of the Earth" and I felt stupid cause I had urged people to watch it based upon the book and it was nothing like the book at all.
It felt like all the good stuff from the book had been left out, and that they just took the names and put them in a new story.
In all fairness, in Pillars they changed a lot from the book too, it's just that they did it in a good way.
I think that in general I really enjoyed pillars of the earth because they harnessed the same energy and themes as I read in the book and stuck so close to the books story line.
Trying to pack a 1000+ page novel into an 8 episode mini series was always going to be tough, especially since the huge range of characters prevalent in Ken Follett novels requires such a diversity of scenes in order to bring them together and allow the story to flow seamlessly.
That was probably wise, especially if you like Ken Follett's books.The series from the first book "Pillars of the Earth" was fairly satisfying.
However, like most Jane Austen fans, if you are a Ken Follett fan, you require only two things in turning books into movies: 1) an attempt at accuracy with plots/characters, 2) changes that only ENHANCE the movie.
Ken Follett wrote a story set in the 14th century.The mini-series "World Without End" is set in the 14th century.With the exception of some of the characters' names, any similarity between the book and the television production ends there.Cast: considering what they were given as dialogue the actors were the real highlight; they certainly rose above the material.Design: well-done, at least insofar as big-budget TV goes.
I was less than pleased with the treatment he gave Pillars of the Earth (Follett's "prequel" to World Without End) but ultimately the changes he made worked, and were understandable given the realities of budget and running time.I have no idea what Mr Pielmeier did with Ken Follett's World Without End, because it surely isn't what was filmed.The changes from the book are numerous - if you're a fan of the novel, I don't think you'll enjoy this screen adaptation.
Equally, it can be done with complete mediocrity - like World Without End.Stories can follow a book closely or diverge widely, but if a plot is well-done, ultimately it can stand alone - The Bridge on the River Kwai has a quite different conclusion from what Pierre Boulle wrote.
And having the one-armed monk be Edward II was a good idea and was what I thought was going to happen when I read the book.The softcore porn scenes throughout the miniseries are also a nice touch.My advice is: Read Pillars of the Earth but skip the miniseries & Watch World without End but skip the book..
I loved Pillars and it was as amazing as the books, but this series......In just 45 minutes they killed the entire story.
The real Edward III was a very ambitious and domineering personality and a warmonger - the character in this mini series fails to give that impression.I found a lot of the story line to be painfully contrived - the bad prior and his mum keep getting away with murder and skulduggery far too many times for it to be believable.
I originally watched Pillars of earth with my family before reading the book which in many cases was better.
I was turned on to Ken Follet books by my mother and my brother who both he agreed he was amazing.When I read Pillars of the earth afterwords, I saw differences but not anything that was impossible to change from book to screen.
It was such a moving story, I waited two years for this mini series to come out, and the first two episodes were a disappointment.But that was because I watched it from the perspective of a person who read the book and adored it.
It may not be good for the audience who loves violence so they changed it, but the audience are the people who have read the book. |
tt0418110 | Romanzo criminale | In 1970s Rome, four young delinquents, nicknamed Ice, Lebanese, Dandi and Grand steal a car. Crashing through a police road block, the driver, Grand is crushed by the steering column. Back at their hideout, a small disused caravan near a beach, they are discovered by the police. Cold, Lebanese and Dandi run away, but are captured. Grand, who is mortally wounded, dies in the caravan. Roll opening credits. Some years later, in the 1970s, Cold is released from prison and joins up with Lebanese, who tells him he has come up with a plan to kidnap and hold to ransom Baron Rossellini, a wealthy aristocrat for whom Lebanese's parents worked. He has formed a gang with Dandi - they are Black, Bright Eye, Ricotta, Bufalo, Rat and Ciro and Aldo Buffoni. After negotiating the ransom of 3 billion lire, the Baron is shot by one of the Cannizzari brothers who have been entrusted by Lebanese to guard him. Nonetheless, they fake the proof of life and get the 3 billion lire. However, the local Police Commissioner Nicola Scialoja manages to record the serial numbers of the ransom money before the gang receive it, setting out to capture the gang. As the gang divide up the money, Lebanese proposes to split 500 million lire between them, and use the remaining 2.5 billion to build a foothold in the criminal underworld of Rome, starting with drug dealing. However, the drugs racket is owned by the dealer Terrible, and so the gang wipe his gang out apart from Gemito, who Lebanese bribes to help them. After his home is raided and his body guards killed, Terrible wakes to find Cold, Lebanese and Dandi in his bedroom. Cornered, he reluctantly agrees to let give control of the racket to the gang.
The gang grows in influence and ambition. Rome falls under their rule, and the rule of Lebanese. Dandi meets and becomes enamoured with an upmarket prostitute, Patrizia, who, in order to be kept under the sway of the gang and in order to prevent Dandi becoming involved in brawls provoked by his jealousy, is bought over and given a brothel. Cold, meanwhile falls in love with his younger brother Gigio's tutor, Roberta. However, Lebanese begins to consider Cold's romance a weakness, a point reinforced when Cold asks to be dismissed from the gang. In response, Lebanese casts up the car theft from their childhood, where his leg was permanently damaged by the pursuing police. Cold and Roberta begin to learn English with the idea that they will elope. Then Cold receives a phone call informing him that Lebanese is dead, stabbed by Gemito after a bitter game of poker.
Then begins Cold's quest for vengeance, aided by Dandi.
Yet Scialoja is on their trail and succeeds in capturing Cold, then the other members of the gang except Dandi. Cold plans to escape from prison with the help of his friends, but a deadly spiral of score settling has already begun to coil around them all. | flashback | train | wikipedia | Well the movie is quite disappointing, and not because of the script, which in a way does work (except maybe for a foreign audience who will not catch all the political implications of the movie), but for Michele Placido's poor television style of directing and (mainly) for the choice of (most) the actors.
These guys should be the worst criminals Rome had ever seen, people you would not have the guts to see in the eyes, but the actors chosen are all the cool and beautiful teenager idols of Italian cinema, surely good actors, but not in the right place this time.
This movie could have been a great opportunity to finally export some good Italian cinema...i'm afraid we'll have to wait much more!.
There is long tradition in Italian cinema in which the hero is a thief or a pathetic loser or a criminal or, like in "Romanzo Criminale" all three.
I regret to inform, none of that is evident in "Romanzo Criminale" The great bunch of young Italian actors assembled in one film!
It's only a movie we've seen so many times (from the Godfather to Once Upon a Time in America) done so much better.Storywise, although it is of Italian origin, "Romanzo" is as bland as any new mafia movie, dealing with revenge, honor and family.
And as if it weren't enough that the film is mediocre, it also bears resemblance to an odyssey if we are to consider its playing time and the way I, as a viewer, interpreted it.The one interesting aspect is related to the political facet of the mafia, and especially to the situation before the fall of the communist regimes.
I can find a thousand faults to it : the limited storyline doesn't really develop the historical and political context, the actions is sometimes quite difficult to follow, the characters are totally cliché (the-bad-gangster-guyswho falls in love with the-beautiful-virgin-mary-reincarnation, the repented hooker, the good policeman, the really bad godfathers with all their money, the villa by the sea and the twenty-five year old wife.
I confess I'm not Italian and don't really have a grasp on the historical significance of the 70's in Italy though I read Moravia's A Time of Innocence (I believe that was the English translation title) and liked it.
Very good, though the story is very dramatized (and I'm Italian, so I know the story of my country).It takes a real gangster group, link it with neo-fascist and communist actions, real characters and fictional ones, creepy cospirative figures...It's very far from the criminal stories seen up to now in our country: the cop-movies was a genre abandoned since the '70s (they flourished in the period portrayed in Romanzo Criminale, mostly as a consequence of the feelings of the people against the political and criminal acts of these years).But it's a very good movie, with solid story and great musics, one of the best in Italian cinematography of the last years (with "Dopo Mezzanotte / After Midnight" and "Le conseguenze dell'amore").
Also it made me want to know more about that time and I don't think I fell for the movie simply because of a couple a cute bad guys (though I must admit that the cast is really cute).I don't buy what others said about being persuaded that these guys were nicer than they really were I'm talking about the movie as a work of fiction.The actors were really convincing and the violence shown in the movie was measured there were no unnecessary violent scenes..
It is the best Italian movies made for a very long time.
Romanzo Criminale, the Italian title of this run-of the-mill gangster film, literally translates as Crime Novel, a much more prosaic handle that in many ways indicates the film's failings.
Touted by some as an Italian 'Godfather' or 'Goodfellas' it actually looks like a TV mini-series that has been compressed (badly) into a theatrical movie running time.
Kim Rossi Stuart broods manfully as Ice, the tragic anti-hero, but never once convinces you that he can point a gun in your face and pull the trigger.The links between politics and crime are potentially fascinating, but they are only hesitantly - and confusingly - explored here, as if writer Cataldo is unsure of how to convey his message in the inadequate running time.All in all, a major disappointment..
This movie is full of suspense, and may easily call itself the 21century-italian-godfather: a must-see film with top acting, superb music and great to watch..
The most famous criminal within Italy is easily the Mafia, but here is a film that shows a crime organisation that was not link them.Set in the 70s and 80s Romanzo Criminale tells the story of three friends Ice (Kim Rossi Stuart), Lebanese (Riccardo Scamarcio) and Dandy (Claudio Santamaria) who in the 70s rise up the Rome underworld, forming a gang to kidnap wealthy people, drug dealing and murdering the heads of rival gangs.
The gang have to face a number of threats, from Communist Terrorists, the Italian government and the very demanded police commissioner Scialoja (Stefano Accorsi).Romanzo Criminale is a very well acted film, with excellent performances across the board.
I haven't read the book yet I think that this movie comprehends excellent characters with their human feelings, a great story and brilliant framing throughout.
And lurking even deeper in the background are State black ops figures who may or may not be manipulating both the criminals and the events themselves.I was expecting the sort of cheap crime exploitation movie that proliferated in Italian cinema back in the 70s, but this is a different, much more ambitious and better type of movie.
Crime Novel is structured very much like an Italian version of American Gangster.
It has the same intimate yet gritty feel, the same long slow story arc, playing out over years against a background of world events; the dedicated cop who seems like the only police official who sees his duty as catching criminals rather than taking bribes; and drug dealers who see themselves as businessmen providing a service rather than villains, and most of time they are.
The script is structured to provide each of the central characters with plenty of screen time, and its strong dialogue and intimate tone create very multi-dimensional and mostly sympathetic portraits.The resulting movie is very watchable and a worthy companion piece to movies like Carlito's Way, Scarface and American Gangster.
This knowledge would have enabled to understanding the plot better.On the other hand, my ignorance of the director, the actors, and the backdrop time period gives me total objectivity - I watched it strictly for a cinematic experience.
I'm always weary of films that try to tell stories of multiple characters or of ones that span years or decades.
It looks cinematic (even though it's shot on 16mm), the actors are better cast (Libano looks terrifying, the minor gang members look like criminals), there's more time to tell the story (politics, communism, Aldo Moro, fascism, the state, Camorra).Watching the show first, I could barely watch the film.
The movie is OK and it features an all-star cast and a famous director, but if you really want to see the same story brought to a much much higher level (not to mention going way deeper into the details), I strongly recommend you watch Romanzo Criminale The Series (two seasons of 12 episodes each), which is now available on Netflix, from other online sources and on DVD's.The "condensed" story line of the movie is at times confusing and fails to successfully put the story into its historical context.
So, I watched the movie years ago when it was released, and I was left with so many open questions that were only answered to my complete satisfaction once I watched the series (and yes, there are some continuity issues between the two productions, so don't think of the series as complimentary to the movie but rather as a complete retell.) I know that I'm actually ending up reviewing the series here more than the movie, but really if you watch the series, then you will find that the movie is just a brief summary of the story without much character development, despite the more famous cast and director (incidentally, Mr.Placido is credited as a creative consultant in the series.) The series, on the other hand, is one of the best small-screen productions I've ever seen, really quite up to the level of outstanding crime dramas like the Sopranos or Breaking Bad. I would rate the movie 6/10 and the series 10/10..
Too many of it's sub-stories (examples are in the other comments, love connection, lust for money, mafia connection, politics) have been done before and added little-to-nothing that made you think differently than the first time you saw the situation.
For those who have never seen a foreign film this maybe hard going with its over 2 hour running time but you will not be disappointed!.
It is like the character Ice - cold; a gangster film which is passable and doesn't have much heart..
However, this is more like an Italian version of Goodfellas with a bit of Once Upon a Time in America thrown in - we see the protagonists as kids then grown up etc.Im not going to go into details but if you want to see a gangster film with a difference, watch this!
The cars, too, are always appropriate for the time, helping to set the scene, along with the gritty real feel of the cinematography.Interestingly, though this is based on a true story, and perhaps not even consciously, the story is as soaked in religious metaphor as it is in blood and testosterone, where there is the constant talk of Judas, and as in the best stories, though it centres on the power struggle of men, behind the scenes it is actually all about the women..
This film, for me at least, is a novelty, an actual gangster movie by Italians based in Rome (Italy).
The acting was superb especially by "Ice" and Patrizia, but the rest follow suit very well, and it is hard to knock anyone in that respect, whilst the Italian setting adds its beautiful character as the background setting.On the other hand, the film does fall down on a couple of points.
More development of certain of the characters would have helped, although I don't want to criticise too much as the cast were excellent as it is.Overall, a film that is a great interesting and intelligent film, but misses out on being the great modern Italian gangster film that it maybe was aiming for.
michele placido, who has always been a very very mediocre actor himself, not to mention director, made this movie out of a book which is out of a very true story...
True, it does not deal with the traditional Sicilian mafia, but rather deals with a gang of street boys in Rome, who grow up to become the dominant crime gang in the city, and also get connected with some of the more important events in the history of Italy in the 70s and in the 80s.
Moreover, a team of good actors and good camera work (see many almost monochromatic scenes that seem to bring back the reality of the past time on screen) keep the interest up during this rather long film and make up for the story line which is sometimes a little bit too complex or has too many characters.
Overall it's a good film, on the line and falling at all below the many American movies of true crime stories..
All the actors played their characters based on the real story of Rome's most terrible criminals.It's not a Hollywood production , it's not a tale , it's real not based , real happened.The movie is very good , and maybe knowing a little bit of history (in this case Italian) helps to get all meaningsThis is my own point of view.....ciao.
A warning to all, as i review the Italian language version of the movie - which i also assume to be the long cut; Just bare with me, it will all make sense soon.Romanzo Criminal (RC) is a made-for-TV film, almost three hours long, a "serialized" film as we like to call them.
This is the faithful screen adaptation of a book by the same name, that much in the style of James Ellroy, purports to be a work of fiction, while actually telling a real story with a few mysterious holes filled in by fiction.In the 80's the Italian capitol, Roma, was ruled by the Banda Della Magliana, a group of ruthless criminals who wiped out the old "ruling class" by using modern methods and extreme ..well, ruthlessness; Broad daylight murders, holding corporations, organized dealings, and a desire for power that ignored all consequences.
The characters are well developed(and they certainly are nothing like you will get in any other film), the acting is good (not really a great effort, since the actors were basically asked to not act, but there still is a great commitment and good final product), and the story is just fantastic.While great in the first half, the film suffers near the end, perhaps because while the first half of the film is a smaller period of time, the second is a longer period and more compressed, and while the "setting up the organization" is where most of the action and daring is, the rest is slower and more complex sub-plots are weaved in, making the storyline a bit murky.Now, i expect italians to watch this, but for a foreigner to catch this film, translated, it is still worth a shot; I personally can't vouch for the translation (and many films do suffer when translated, especially one as based on characters as this one is), but if you have the chance, try it, if translators made any effort at all you will be very pleasantly surprised.7/10 (10/10 scaled with the usual Italian muck).
Had the characters been slightly less-believable and more akin to something from a Guy Ritchie attempt, the 'clash' I felt was there might not have been.Regardless, and despite this wavering sense in relation to content, the film feels good enough to warrant a pretty strong recommendation; and film that doesn't necessarily know its foundations but knows exactly where it wants to go when it's off and running.
These guys party hard by night in a carefree and obnoxious manner, they stab people by day; something the film wants us to understand very early on when that sense of juxtaposition is apparent as is a feeling of low-level crime, a sense that these people are not afraid of what they do and may well inhabit public spaces, continue with whatever it is they enjoy and might well be never more than a few yards away from you.The film lays its goals down in a pretty clear cut fashion when the leader of this rising group makes reference to the Roman empire, he wants something large; powerful and something to be feared as the result of all this.
The film even takes time to incorporate Italy's 1982 World Cup win.So you've got a lot going on.
The feeling of overwhelmed connection between crime and politics, the sense of no way out, the fact that the characters seem not to be particularly penitent, all of this is very accurate, it truly does evoke modern Rome.
He is one of the best young Italian actors around in my opinion, and he plays his insecure, irritating, and sometimes hateful character with such great tenderness and vulnerability..
The "no-way-out" atmosphere of the whole movie: you can perfectly feel that the characters act because they can't do in another way; call it fate, social/educational bounds, political pressure, they can't but do the things (and consequently the mistakes) you expect for them to do.
The true story of the movie is this: the so-called Banda della Magliana is a real criminal organization which dominated the Roman underworld in the late 70s and the 80s, busy gathering immense capitals out the heroin market and protected by a web of political connections.
The end of the Magliana Gang came partly because of a bloody internal war which opposed the two components of the organization, partly because of police investigations and arrests.The novel (Romanzo criminale, by Giancarlo De Cataldo) is based on the real story.
Kim Rossi Stuart was extremely good as il Freddo and Pierfrancesco Favino was a brutal and persuading Libanese (those are the two founders of the gang, whose real names are not used both in the film and in the novel).
And yes, its visual aspect was absolutely good, much better than many other shoddy things made in Italy today (it's a real pity that the country of Rossellini, Pasolini, and Fellini is today reduced to producing such dreck as Benigni's and Muccino's things).Obviously the novel is not a history book: it does not mirror perfectly the true story of the Magliana Gang.
by the talented and quite handsome Kim Rossi Stuart who stands out as the 'real man', i.e. the guy who not afraid to portray his true feelings, who wants out, wants to start afresh and so on.The whole beauty and uniqueness of this movie includes Michele Placido's ability to portray all the five gangsters as having their own distinctive and disturbing mannerism/character.
This gripping Italian crime drama kept me interested from start to finish as it tells the story of the three criminal friends over the course of three decades.
It's not worth your time, unless you want to see a film about a gangster drug lord called "The Terrible" crying and wimpering in front of a boy who says "Don't hate me because I'm pretty.".
Great gangster film, which I believe owns partly its success to the fact that it's adapted from a book inspired itself by a real 70s-80s gang (Banda della Magliana). |
tt0067144 | The Go-Between | The story follows a young boy named Leo Colston (Dominic Guard), who in the year 1900 is a guest of his wealthy school friend, Marcus Maudsley (Richard Gibson), to spend the summer holidays at his family's Norfolk country house. While there, Marcus is taken sick and quarantined with the measles. Left to entertain himself, Leo befriends Marcus's beautiful elder sister Marion Maudsley (Julie Christie), and finds himself a messenger, carrying messages between her and a tenant farmer neighbor, Ted Burgess (Alan Bates), with whom she is engaging in a secret illicit affair.
Her parents, however want to engage her to Hugh, Viscount Trimingham (played by Edward Fox) the estate owner. A heatwave leading to a thunderstorm coincides with Leo's birthday party and the film's climax, when Marion's mother and Leo, in search for Marion, find her making love with Burgess in a farm building. This event has a long-lasting impact on Leo after Burgess shoots himself in his farmhouse kitchen.
More than fifty years later, Marion, now the Dowager Lady Trimingham, sends for Leo, wanting him to speak to her grandson to assure him that she had truly loved Burgess. She asks Leo whether her grandson reminds him of anyone, and he replies "Yes. Ted Burgess".
Michael Redgrave plays Leo in old age.
Pinter's screenplay for the film was his final collaboration with Losey, following The Servant (1963) and Accident (1967). It is largely faithful to the novel, although it alludes to the novel's opening events in dialogue where Leo is held in admiration by the students due to their belief he caused injury to two bullies through black magic and incorporates events described in the novel's epilogue within the central narrative. | flashback | train | wikipedia | Harold Pinter adapted L P Hartley's novel and Joseph Losey directed - Lose, a blacklisted American who became one of the pillars of British Cinema in the 60's - think "The Servant" or "Accident" - Then, of course, Julie Christie, sublime.
Richly-detailed period romantic drama, told more or less from a child's viewpoint but treated with the maturity one has come to expect from a Losey film (the main plot is interspersed with fragmented clips of the boy as an old man - played by Sir Michael Redgrave - revisiting the aristocratic country estate where the majority of the narrative takes place).Though the characters are rather swamped by their surroundings (the two leads are particularly subdued) - as captured by the gleaming cinematography of Gerry Fisher and the elegant décor of Carmen Dillon - the film allows for several good performances from a sturdy cast, including Dominic Guard (as the boy Leo who acts as messenger in the impossible love between upper-class Julie Christie and commoner Alan Bates, both of whom he idolizes), Edward Fox (as Christie's intended, a war-hero), as well as Margaret Leighton and Michael Gough (as her parents); Leighton's role remains in the background for most of the time but, then, she asserts herself during the last third to bring down the couple's relationship - with the unwilling assistance of the bewildered Guard.
Besides, Michel Legrand contributes an atypically ominous yet haunting score.This was the third and last time Losey and screenwriter Harold Pinter worked together, constituting a very fruitful and quite extraordinary collaboration; for about two-thirds of its length, the film finds Losey somewhere near his best - the contemporary subplot where Leo reprises his 'services' for an older Christie works less well, in my opinion (and is too sketchily presented anyway), rendering an already deliberately-paced film somewhat overlong!
It begins as a 12-year- old boy, Leo (Dominic Guard), comes to spend the summer of 1900 at a large English country estate.
However, after a brief break off in communications; Ted and Marian begin their secret exchanges again with Leo still acting as their dutiful Mercury-like 'go-between.' Then, on Leo's thirteenth birthday, he suddenly learns the shocking nature of his carried missives.This film, accented by Michel Legrand's score, has a mysterious, almost Gothic, feel about it.
I find the film to be quite elegant in its scenes of yesteryear, where the "old" England seemed dreamy, leisurely, carefree, and prim and proper, compared to the dreary, coldly realistic, grown-up, modern-day England, where the past is spoken about, and an explanation of what happened in the past is requested.Although the movie ends on a tragic note, there is a hint of hope which I found oddly liberating, a feature I didn't notice 30 years ago.
England is having a heat wave that year, and the weather and scenery play as much of a role in this movie as do the actors.Marcus' big sister, Marian (Julie Christie - Dr. Zhivago, etc.) has fallen for Ted (Alan Bates) the tenant farmer.
However this film captures the painful endurance of Leo as his country collapses towards war, a rigid society faces its own internal turmoil and Leo is stripped of his innocence before he is ready.Set during a blistering summer before the First World War in which Leo stays with the wealthy family of a schoolfriend, the story revolves around Leo's new acquaintances amongst the adults of the family and their circle of socialites (his friend is confined to bed with measles).
All of this is witnessed by Leo who has to deal with his burgeoning but still confused understanding of the situation and his own schoolboy affections for Marian.The story boils to a climax when the oppressive summer finally breaks and the dramatic revelations violently alter the course of personal lives, society and England..
Invited by his upper crust classmate Marcus Maudsley to summer at his family estate thirteen year old Leo Colston is taken into confidence by Marcus's beautiful older sister Marian (Julie Christie) to act as a messenger to her illicit lover, local farmer Ted Burgess (Alan Bates.) Marian is engaged to Lord Trimingham (Edward Fox) whom Leo develops a strong liking for.
The overall morose mood of the film is retained throughout though Lalo Schiffrin's score reeking of hysteria threatens it on more than one occasion.Christie and Bates, Edward Fox as Twillingham and the young Dominic Guard are excellent fits in their roles but Margaret Leighton as Lady Maudsley turns on the jets as the film closes and walks away with the acting honors..
In 1900 Norfolk, England, twelve-year-old Dominic Guard (as Leo Colston) goes to spend the summer at the beautiful country estate of blond school chum Richard Gibson (as Marcus Maudsley).
While Gibson is bedridden with measles, Guard is coerced into delivering love notes as "The Go-Between" for Christie and hunky neighboring farmer Alan Bates (as Ted Burgess)...But, Christie is engaged to Edward Fox (as Hugh Trimingham), a member of her own social class.
But, "The Go-Between" is a spectacular-looking film, with cinematographer Gerry Fisher and the crew making it well worth eyeing - and Joseph Losey leads Guard and his co-stars to fine performances.******* The Go-Between (12/70) Joseph Losey ~ Dominic Guard, Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Richard Gibson.
American screenwriter and director Joseph Losey's twenty-third feature film which was written by English playwright, screenwriter, actor and director Harold Pinter (1930-2008), is an adaptation of a novel from 1953 by British author Leslie Poles Hartley (1895-1972).
It tells the story about Leo Colston, a 12-year-old student and a kind of magician who in a hot summer of 1900 is invited as a guest to a countryside mansion called the Brandham Hall in Norfolk by an aristocratic family named Maudsley.
Leo has come there mainly due to his schoolmate Marcus who is the son of Mr and Mrs Maudsley, but his initial reasons for being there changes when he notices Marcus' elder sister Marian.Distinctly and precisely directed by American filmmaker Joseph Losey (1909-1984), this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated by the protagonist and from multiple viewpoints, draws a gripping portrayal of the moral and emotional dilemma an adolescent boy is faced with after becoming a secret messenger and the forbidden relationship between an aristocratic and affianced young woman and a tenant farmer who has to hide their romance.
While notable for its naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions, sterling production design by English production designer Carmen Dillon, cinematography by English cinematographer Gerry Fisher, costume design by costume designer John Furniss and the fine editing by English film editor Reginald Black (1902-1992), this character-driven and narrative-driven period drama where an aging man reminiscence a pivotal year in his life when his young heart was struck by a magnificent woman, depicts an empathic and incisive study of character and contains an efficient and prominent score by French composer Michel Legrand.This romantic, suspenseful, reflective and stringently structured story which is set against the backdrop of a rural county near the city of Norwich in East England in the late 19th century, examines themes like friendship, class distinctions, loss of innocence and is impelled and reinforced by its fragmented narrative structure, substantial character development, subtle continuity, foreboding and harmonic atmosphere, graceful aura, exceptionally moving flash forward scenes and the memorable acting performances by former English actor Dominic Guard in his debut feature film role, English actress Julie Christie, English actor Sir Alan Bates (1934-2003), English actress Margaret Leighton (1922-1976) and English actor Edward Fox. An eloquent, literary and nostalgic coming-of-age tale from the early 1970s which brilliantly combines various genres and which gained, among numerous other awards, the Palme d'Or at the 24th Cannes Film Festival in 1971.As their two previous cooperation's, Joseph Losey and author Harold Pinter's third and final collaboration is a film adaptation of a novel by a 20th century British writer and an artistic character piece that examines and emphasizes the internal struggles of characters from upper and lower social classes who are either by themselves or others led into predicaments that unravels their frailty.
There's also an unlikely implication that the events of the Norfolk summer which Leo experienced 40 years ago were so traumatic that he had become psychologically incapable of getting married.But for me, although there's not much that happens in the plot, this film is heavy with nostalgia.
In the early 1900s, a 12-year-old boy staying with his school-friend and his friend's family in the English countryside for the summer becomes indirectly involved in the clandestine affair between a privileged young woman and a lusty, low-class farmer.
Its high rating on IMDb is clearly due to the "Halo Effect" of Pinter and Losey.I love the cast: Bates, Christie, Leighton and Redgrave, but the material they are given is, to me, simply worthless.
You are much better off seeing "Far From the Madding Crowd," not a great film, but much better than "The Go-Between."The only reason I gave it a 2 instead of a 1 is because Christie and Bates look so good and I enjoyed hating the bourgeois attitudes of the family..
At the turn of the century a displaced boy becomes a private "postman" between a rough house farmer (Alan Bates) and the soon-to-be-married daughter (Julie Christie) of the local landed classes.There are many films that don't add up to much, but have some sort of badge of quality and entertainment.
A role that was just playing a small variation on herself.Dominic Guard plays the boy in his first ever role and while a passable effort - doesn't really shout "major star in the making." The uncertainty of the young actor probably being more about being in front of the camera for the first time rather than a cunning reading of the script.Some may well find this film is a giant "so what" and "what did we learn?" Rather like The Virgin and the Gypsy (which is worse) and Far From the Madding Crowd (which is better) these are British films that are a break from the norm and might be stealing an extra IMDb star because of it..
But the overall pace feels exactly right, like that of a familiar piece of music; the dialogue is economical, but every word memorable; and each individual scene and set piece (the swimming encounter, the cricket game, the singing recital, the daily conversations between the boy and the various adults, all of whom seem to know things that he has yet to understand) seems as close to perfection as movies get..
But there's not enough dramatic meat in the film to supply much below the surface - unlike the L.P. Hartley novel on which the film is based.Dominic Guard does well as the boy who craves approval and gets cruelly used by Julie Christie and Alan Bates as a go-between for their forbidden sexual assignations.
In the English countryside of 1900, a boy serves as a messenger between a young woman from a rich family who is engaged to be married to a viscount and a neighbor farmer of lower standing, facilitating a forbidden love affair.
I think some of the contents of the film may be a bit confusing or unclear for someone who has not read the book, but otherwise it is a good adaptation.*** POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD***Throughout the film we cannot help feeling sorry for the ever-running boy Leo (Dominic Guard), especially in two scenes: first when he is scolded by Marian (Julie Christie) for initially avoiding her request; she then manipulates him, making him feel guilty to get her own way.
Second when he is caught in his lies by Mrs Maudsley we can only pity him despite his mistakes.The feeling of an imminent disaster is well present and the building of the tension announces the end of the deceit for Ted (Alan Bates) and Marian, as well as the young boy's lost innocence (after his initial ignorance about sexual matters or the details of the love affair itself).
As soon as the secret is out, the triangular links are destroyed : the days of complicity between Leo and the two illicit lovers are over, and the truth is fatal to the other triangle formed by Ted, Marian and Hugh.One of the interests of the film is in the use of a certain language ("spooning"), as well as the subtext ( Marian explaining to Leo : "I must marry him (Hugh)", implies the social pressure, the society expectation and probably the fact she must know she is pregnant at this stage).Despite the tragic denouement and Leo's trauma there is a notion of hope at the end; Now a much older man Leo is given a last mission as a "postman".
The pace of the film is, for the most part, leisurely (the English upper classes rarely do anything in a hurry, particularly during hot weather), but there is always a sense of movement, slow but inexorable, towards some fateful denouement, a sense heightened by Michel Legrand's urgent, insistent musical score.
Even Burgess is probably comparatively prosperous- Norfolk contains some of the richest agricultural land in Britain- but his lowly social origins, betrayed by his rustic accent, and his status as a tenant count against him.There are a number of excellent acting performances in the film, particularly from those two iconic sixties figures Julie Christie and Alan Bates as the doomed lovers, Margaret Leighton as Marion's obsessive mother whose prying precipitates the tragedy, Dominic Guard as young Leo and Michael Redgrave as the older Leo. The one thing I did not like was the use of the twenty-nine year old Christie to play the older Marion; even the use of make-up and low-level lighting could not make her a convincing seventy or eighty, and the film would have been improved by casting an older actress in the part.
Thus we learn at the conclusion that Leo has never married or, even, by inference, enjoyed any kind of natural relationship with a woman, thus is his trust and innocence abused for all time.The film of course also comments tellingly on snobbery, class division and heroism in between-the-wars England but in the end its most important facet is the interplay of the four main characters, Marion, Ted Burgess, Lord Trillingham and of course young Leo, as the film moves inexorably towards its predictably tragic ending.
The acting is generally very good, especially the main female parts played by Julie Christie and Margaret Leighton as errant daughter and suspicious mother respectively.
Alan Bates' farmer Ted Burgess is given no depth beyond that of horny rustic, whilst Julie Christie as Marian wears her dresses well without once betraying any real hint of what she feels beneath her corset.
This emotionless quality which hangs over the drama as heavily as the Norfolk heat in which it takes place is nowhere as perfectly captured as in the smoking room scene in which Hugh (Edward Fox) and the head of the household Mr Maudsley( Michael Gough) communicate over the head of Leo, wonderfully played by Dominic Court, with looks and pauses and words whose deeper meanings the young boy can only come to understand when he is older and able to look back on the events of that summer as an adult.
No review of this film would be complete without a mention of Margaret Leighton's commanding performance as the powerful, class obsessed matriarch, Mrs Maudsley who, ultimately, is forced to cut through the knowing acceptance of the males, and bring the relationship between Marian and Ted to an end, at the same time, unwittingly bringing Leo face to face with the disturbing truth of what goes on between men and women in the world of adults..
Margaret Leighton plays Christie's mother and she's excellent, giving what proved to be the crowning performance to a mostly overlooked film career.Losey's direction is stellar and certainly among the best of his spotty career and for once Pinter has written a screenplay that NOT a sleep-inducing bore..
It just makes the end of the film rather unsatisfactory.Nevertheless, the story set in the "foreign country" of the past is spectacularly well-told, and magnificently acted, not least by the excellent Dominic Guard as young Marcus - a great screen performance.
The Go Between is directed by Joseph Losey, has a screenplay by Harold Pinter, based on the novel by L.P Hartley and stars Alan Bates, Julie Christie, Dominic Guard, Michael Redgrave and Edward Fox.This is a superb coming of age tale focusing on a forbidden love affair.Norfolk 1900,and on one hot idyllic summer young Leo Colston(Dominic Guard)goes to stay with his wealthy friend Marcus Maudsley(Richard Gibson).He befriends and develops a crush on Marcuse's elder sister the beautiful and free spirited Marian(Julie Christie).Marian is engaged to marry kindly Boar War hero Viscount Hugh Trimmingham(Edward Fox)whom Leo befriends and looks up to.We later learn that Marian is hiding a shocking secret,she is having an affair with a nearby tenant farmer,the handsome Ted Burgess(Alan Bates).For obvious reasons not least of which their respective class difference this secret can never be revealed.Leo becomes the couples messenger(go between) delivering their love letters to each other.Intercut with scenes where the elder Leo(Michael Redgrave)revisits the various locations of this unforgettable summer.The Go Between is a beautiful and haunting coming of age tale,of innocence lost and the huge gulf between the upper and lower classes.The beautiful costumes designed by John Furniss are a highlight,effortlessly bringing to life the outfits of a bygone era and the fantastic score by Michel Legrand adds to the beauty of this superb film.With excellent performances from Julie,Dominic,Edward and Alan with fine support from Michael Gough as Marian's father and Margaret Leighton as her gentle and suspicious mother..
The central narrative is set in 1900, a 12-soon-to-be-13Leo (Guard) stays as a guest with the wealthy family of his schoolmate Marcus (Gibson) in rural Norfolk during a torrid summer, and soon becomes a go-between and delivers letters between Marcus' upscale sister Marian (Christe) and her secret inamorato Ted Burgess (Bates), a tenant farmer. |
tt0020366 | Say It with Songs | Joe Lane, radio entertainer and songwriter, learns that the manager of the studio, Arthur Phillips, has made improper advances to his wife, Katherine. Infuriated, Lane engages him in a fight, and the encounter results in Phillips' accidental death. Joe goes to prison and soon insists that Katherine divorce him, for her and their son's sake, and marry her employer, Dr. Merrill, since Joe has learned the doctor has feelings for Katherine and would provide for them well. When Joe is released he visits his son, Little Pal, at school and they embrace during outdoor recess. Joe says goodbye when recess is over, but Little Pal follows Joe downtown and is soon struck by a truck, causing the paralysis of his legs and loss of his voice.
Joe takes the boy to Dr. Merrill, who long ago proposed to Katherine, but she had politely declined and told the doctor that she still loved Joe. Dr. Merrill says he will either operate for free if Joe relinquishes Little Pal to his mother's care or charge a large fee if Joe insists on keeping the boy to himself. Joe panics and leaves with the boy, but soon realizes his mistake and brings Little Pal back for the surgery. After obtaining Joe's promise that he will return Little Pal to his mother, Merrill operates and restores the use of the boy's legs. Little Pal's voice is regained later when Katherine plays a recording by Joe, "Little Pal", at his bedtime and Little Pal dreams of a tender visit with his father holding him in his arms and singing to him. Joe returns to work, singing and also sending personal messages over the airwaves to his wife, who, along with their son, await Joe at their lovely home. | melodrama | train | wikipedia | SAY IT WITH SONGS (Warner Brothers, 1929), directed by Lloyd Bacon, reunites the legendary Al Jolson with little boy wonder, Davey Lee, of 'SINGING FOOL' (1928) fame, in yet another sentimental musical drama that failed to live up to the success of its predecessor.
This, Jolson's third feature film, contains several firsts in his movie career: His first full length talkie (with no silent passages); no black-face song numbers; and the first Jolson movie to flop at the box office.
It was also one of the few films in his career in which his on-screen character isn't named AL, and the second and last casting him as a married man.The story involves Joe Land (Al Jolson), a radio singer with a loving wife, Katherine (Marion Nixon) and five-year-old son he calls Little Pal (Davey Lee), sent to prison for accidentally murdering Arthur Phillips (Kenneth Thompson) his friend and manager for making advances on his wife.
When son is struck by a passing truck, Joe takes him to Doctor Arthur Phillips (Holmes Herbert), a specialist and Katherine's former beau now working for him as his private nurse.
Phillips agrees to perform the delicate operation on the condition that Joe goes away, grants Katherine a divorce so he can marry her, or else pay the high fee of $5,000.As syrupy as the plot sounds, it's even more thicker on screen.
Relying heavily on the success of THE SINGING FOOL, lightning didn't strike twice for Jolson, Lee and director Bacon.
Jolson and Lee even repeated some of the same sentimental gimmicks, including Davey Lee's raising his arms for Daddy to pick him up and give him a kiss.
Some heavy melodramatics might have worked somehow had it not been for Jolson's bad acting, hearing scratchiness in his voice, looking back and forth leaving his mouth open as if he were waiting for further instructions from his director.
Overacting is evident as Jolson cries in his jail cell after telling his wife he never wants to see her again.
Even worse, after he finds that it's his own son who's been struck by a passing truck, he unconvincingly shouts out, "Oh my God, it's MY baby"; or when Jolson sings "One Sweet Kiss" on a coast to coast radio hookup on Christmas day, he does this in such dramatic manner it almost leaves an impression that he was hoping for an Academy Award nomination.
Regardless of the results, the finished product is often embarrassing to watch, especially for a story that's supposed to take place in a considerable time frame of several years, only to have its major characters, especially little Davey, not aging a day.
As Robert Osborne mentioned in his 1994 commentary on Turner Classic Movies, audiences flocked to theaters to see the film (hoping to get more of that Jolson magic, as he did with THE SINGING FOOL), but business dropped off in a hurry, and movie quickly disappeared.
At least it didn't became one of many lost films from the "dawn of sound" era.SAY IT WITH SONGS, such as it is, does have scenes of some potential, first where Joe sings "Why Can't You" to his fellow prisoners, followed by a montage and split screen of fellow convicts, concluding with Jolson's singing showing his face behind the prison bars; second where little Davey falling asleep, dreaming of his Dad appearing to him while singing "Little Pal"; and another borrowing from the climactic scene of the silent version of STELLA DALLAS (1925) which has Joe looking in on his son from the outside window.
Marion Nixon, in her Janet Gaynor manner, wasn't much help in her partake as Joe's wife through some bad acting, but it's Jolson's performance that bogs down the plot considerably.
Aside from the lead actors, Davey Lee has his tender moments on screen, but at times (as his eyes look towards the camera), it's hard to understand what he's saying.
One scene where he follows his father down the street comes off funny considering how he's wobbling about either like a puppet or silent film comic Charlie Chaplin.SAY IT WITH SONGS does have its considerable amount of songs, none listed on the hit parade.
The songs include: "Used to You," "Little Pal," "I'm in Seventh Heaven," "Why Can't You?" "One Sweet Kiss," "Little Pal," "Little Pal" (reprises) and "I'm in Seventh Heaven." Supposedly distributed in theaters at 95 minutes, TV print that airs on TCM, is 85 minutes, ten minutes shorter.
One noticeable cut occurs in the early portion of the story in the radio station where Joe Lane asks one of the visiting sponsors if he wants to hear his new song, "I'm Crazy for You." After Joe goes over to the piano to plug it, the scene that follows is dialog between Katherine and Arthur Phillips in his office.
Another reported song, "Back in Your Own Back Yard," supposedly written for the film, is also absent.
SAY IT WITH SONGS never made it to video cassette, but did become part of the Al Jolson film collection when distributed on laser disc in the early 1990s, and a TCM archive collection onto DVD in 2010.SAY IT WITH SONGS is not the kind of movie one would see for entertainment, but solely as a curiosity to find out how it failed and why it doesn't hold up today.
Say It With Songs is the first all talking film that Al Jolson did on initial Warner Brothers contract and for him the first flop in his Hollywood career.
You can't say that the Brothers Warner didn't follow the usual Hollywood formula in that if something succeeds, copy it as best you can.
Jolson had scored well with his second film The Singing Fool and his singing of Sonny Boy to four year old Davey Lee was the big hit.
Little Pal did become a Jolson standard though not to the same degree as Sonny Boy. But the score is serviceable for the plot which has Jolson as a radio singer.Being a radio singer obviated the need for Jolson's usual blackface persona.
Say It With Songs became the first of two films he did without the blackface, a fact I hadn't known before.
I had assumed and I'd seen it written that Hallelujah, I'm a Bum was the only film he did without the blackface.More's the pity here because if Say It With Songs had been a hit Jolson might have abandoned the burnt cork and his historic reputation wouldn't have suffered so.The plot has Jolson a happy go lucky radio singer who unfortunately likes to drink and gamble and generally carouse.
A wolfish radio manager has some designs on wife Marian Nixon and offers her an indecent proposal.
When Jolie hears of it he kills him when he hits the wolf just a little too hard and his head strikes a cement curb.
Marian Nixon has to support herself and goes to work for a doctor who's always had an eye on her as well.
Of course when Jolie hears about in prison he's all for it, but not for her taking up their kid as well.Jolie gets one of the earliest paroles in penal history, even for what probably is a manslaughter 2 conviction because little Davey Lee ages not a bit.
But little Davey also gets himself hit by a car while chasing his dad.
By coincidence the doctor is a specialist and he offers Jolie the indecent proposal this time.I think with the general description of this plot you get the idea of the general mawkishness of the plot.
Director Lloyd Bacon doesn't try to control Jolson's incredible overacting for the camera.
Those two factors were what mainly sank the film.Yet Jolson's dynamism as an entertainer still shines through and when he's singing you almost forget about the plot.
Jolson's Awful Performance Makes the Film Worth Watching.
Say It with Songs (1929) ** (out of 4)Radio personality Joe Lane (Al Jolson) is about to get a major break in his career but his wife (Davey Lee) tells him that his best friend hit up on her.
Joe ends up punching the man and this punch actually kills him so he is sent to prison where he dreams of returning to his wife and child.
Jolson made Warner a fortune with THE JAZZ SINGER, which was the first blockbuster that used some songs in what was basically a silent movie.
From there Jolson scored another hit and the studio rewarded him with a $500,000 contract for this picture.
This here would turn out to be Jolson's first full blown talkie and it also turned into his first box office bomb and in all honesty the film is incredibly awful but thankfully it's so bad that you have to watch it.I guess I should say that Jolson is so awful that it's easy to recommend this movie.
Now, to be fair, Jolson was a singer so perhaps his acting shouldn't be judge too harshly but at the same time he was able to make a career in front of the camera.
There are some really embarrassing moments scattered throughout the film including one scene where Jolson breaks down crying in his jail cell and is consoled by his cell mate.
This is certainly one of the worst and most hilarious things I've seen from a movie during this era.Even without the awful performance you've got a lot of other campy moments as well.
The film's direction from Lloyd Bacon isn't much better but at the same time I'm going to guess that he just didn't have too much to work with.Jolson does sing a few numbers throughout, which range from good to fair but at the same time these certainly weren't enough to save the picture.
SAY IT WITH SONGS is a really poor movie but at the same time it's very much entertaining in a bad way..
New York radio singer Al Jolson (as Joe Lane) is appalled when his wife Marian Nixon (as Katherine) reveals a shocking incident.
She has been invited to be "nice" sexually with the station manager in order to advance Mr. Jolson's career.
Consequently, Jolson is arrested and separated from his beloved son Davey Lee (as "Little Pal").
This was made to look like a sequel to Jolson's "The Singing Fool" (1928) but falls significantly short.
Probably, Jolson's already tremendous ego was too much for director Lloyd Bacon and the studio to bear..."Say It with Songs" could have been a successful melodrama, but the players look helpless and uneasy.
The artful sequences highlighting Jolson's previous films are mostly absent.
"Little Pal" b/w "I'm in Seventh Heaven" and "Why Can't You" all made the national top ten.
While not as strong as "Sonny Boy", "Little Pal" provided and interesting interlude near the end; it was another #1 hit record.
The #2 flip side, "I'm in Seventh Heaven" was the superior tune; it's the closing song and ends the film on a good note.*** Say It with Songs (8/6/29) Lloyd Bacon ~ Al Jolson, Marian Nixon, Davey Lee, Holmes Herbert.
Al Jolson's first all-talking picture produces uneven results.
This film is not as bad as you would gather by reading other reviews on the subject.
In the first place, Al Jolson was a great entertainer, but he never was a great actor.
Also, you have to understand that Jolson's films were mainly just made as vehicles for audiences to see and hear what Al Jolson did best - sing his heart out.
His films were never meant to be competition with "All Quiet on the Western Front".The problem here is that this film is obviously recycling parts of "The Singing Fool" - primarily the big love Jolson's character has for his little son, "Little Pal", again played by Davie Lee. Jolson plays ex prize fighter Joe Lane, now a radio star married to a devoted wife who is losing patience with Joe's continued love for gambling.
At the same time, the manager of the radio station where Joe works is infatuated with Joe's wife and puts the moves on her.
Of course Joe's wife tells him what happened.
Joe then confronts the guy and an argument between the two ends in Joe landing an all too effective punch that results in Joe going to prison for manslaughter.The plot is thin even for 1929, but as over-the-top as Jolson's acting style could be in these early films, he is still much more natural before the camera than many other full-fledged movie actors of the time.
That and the fact that it is always a pleasure to hear and see Jolson sing makes this worth watching.
Also note that this is one of very few Warner Brothers films that still survive from 1929.
This is the first all-talking movie starring Al Jolson.
Although he made two 'talkies' before this, they were both essentially silent films with sound portions added.
This one was always intended as a sound film and is a bit more modern in this sense.
He is a married guy with a cute kid (Davey Lee--who played Jolson's adorable son in several films).
While in prison, Al's great singing ability is discovered and he goes on the radio (I am sure that MOST radio shows of the day originated in prison, right?!).
He doesn't tell the wife and instead sneaks off to see the kid.
The bottom line is that the film never makes much sense, is WAY too sentimental and schmaltzy and lacks the usual hit tunes of his other films.
Overall, this is a boring and silly little film where Jolson and the filmmakers went to the well too many times--and came up with a syrupy sweet mess..
Jolson's third feature, Say It With Songs (1929), was actually his first all-talkie presentation.
Obviously made to cash in on the surprising success of The Singing Fool, the movie re-unites Jolson with director Lloyd Bacon and child actor, Davey Lee. Once again, Bacon starts off most promisingly, this time with a satiric montage of crummy presenters on a radio station (although the singers are actually not all that bad).
This promise looks like being realized when presentable heel, Kenneth Thompson, comes on screen and tries to seduce Marian Nixon (though what he sees in mousey Marian, I don't know.
Unfortunately, although he's by far the best actor in the movie, Thompson is killed of early in the piece.
I'll admit that Marian Nixon, does improve as the film progresses.
But maybe she only seems to get better because Jolson gets worse.
All told, the soggy script, the cheese-paring art direction, Jolson's over-emoting, the third-rate score and Bacon's talentless no-direction add up to a most disappointing Warner DVD..
The songs are subpar for Jolson, with lame lyrics that have you guessing ahead to each rhymed line ending.
First, in the prison, the (unseen) orchestra starts playing and Jolson sings verse after verse of "Why Can't You?" to his fellow cons.
Second, and even more deranged, he is told by the first attending doctor that his son, who has just been hit by a truck, has spine damage.
In the next scene, Jolie carries his son to another doctor for treatment!
The big message of "Say It With Songs" was in the box office -- Warners learned that all-talkers did not guarantee profits..
Bacon, Jolson and Lee - the unfortunate "sequel".
Due to the surprise gross receipts of The Singing Fool, Director Bacon, Star Jolson and Sidekick Lee were rushed back to WB to produce something worthy of the former.
What they produced was a weak imitation of The Singing Fool and SIWS bombed.
SIWS is a really good example of that.I have been a huge Jolson fan for 30 years, since I was a teenager.
Oh that's right, WB was too cheap for that back then.SPOILER One of the many examples of bad dialog and bad acting is when Little Pal gets hit by a car, Jolson with wide eyes exclaims "Oh my God, it's MY baby!" is truly an unintentional hysterical moment in the history of film.
The reaction I had was, to be sure, not the one Bacon had in mind when he was directing this turkey.I'm not sure if Davey Lee can act.
He had the best moments in the movie, the courtroom scene being one.
This was the only thing that was successfully carried over from the first film to the second.
In fact, years later in The Singing Kid, his scenes with another child actress, Sybil Jason, are even more phenomenal.
He should have done more that.It would have been nice to have, in these first few Jolson films, some A list co-stars.
Imagine Helen Morgan as his wife and Adolph Menjou as the doctor!!
Most of his early films tend to suffer from being "all about Jolson".
Imagine a Jolson and Morgan duet!!
I suppose that at this stage in his career that Jolson didn't want to share the marque with anybody on his level, hence, the forgettable supporting actors.
In the long run, that was a bad decision on his part as Jolson's infamous ego has hurt the watch-ability of the early films today.Speaking of mediocre, the songs are just that.
Little Pal did stay in his rep for the rest of Jolson's life.
Not sure why, it's too much like Sonny Boy, which is the better of the two and its by no means a pop masterpiece.The best scene in the film is a brilliantly directed dream sequence of Little Pal dreaming his father is singing...
Little Pal...
It's a really, really nice, very imaginative scene.In conclusion, I still love Jolie.
It is a curiosity only for Jolson fans like me.
(Still no duet though - what a loss!) It is a shame that Jolson went out of style, or something, by the end of the '30 as we lost what could have been a wonderful fatherly character type actor in the '40s. |
tt0083611 | La balance | Nicole is a streetwalker in Paris. Her former racketeer boyfriend and pimp, Dédé, has been excluded from the business of a local mob boss, Roger Massina, because of a romantic dispute over Nicole. When a police informant is killed, the police decide to recruit Dédé as a replacement. The police raid Dédé's apartment, find a gun, and blackmail him into becoming an informant using this and other threats.
The police want to get to Massina, and they try to use Dédé to do it. Dédé agrees to participate in a set-up, and tries to return to the good side of Massina by telling him about a rich antique dealer he has found to rob (actually part of the set-up), and asking him for help. Massina yields to greed and agrees to set something up, letting Dédé partially back into his organization.
On the day of the heist, Dédé is part of the team. But Massina doesn't trust Dédé entirely, so he replaces him at the last minute with his semi-psychotic, gun-happy henchman, Petrovic. Dédé calls the police and tries to call off the set-up, but one of the police officers, Le Belge, wearing a Walkman, doesn't hear the call and continues with the plan. Le Belge stages a traffic accident that blocks Massina's van, as planned. As Le Belge stalls Massina's van, Petrovic becomes suspicious, and suddenly begins shooting everyone in sight, killing several civilians and nearly killing Le Belge (who is saved by his Walkman, which absorbs the bullet). Massina slips away into the Métro, but Petrovic is chased and trapped by the police after he ruthlessly kills an officer. Le Capitaine, aware that Petrovic has just shot a number of innocent people and several police officers, shoots Petrovic in the head at point-blank range, killing him, then calmly instructs his officers to reload Petrovic's gun.
Dédé tries to escape but is found by Massina, who prepares to execute him in an alley. Dédé overpowers Massina, however, and turns the gun on him, shooting him in the mouth and killing him. Dédé then goes into hiding, knowing that Massina's crew will come looking for him. But Nicole, his girlfriend, fearing for Dédé's life, deliberately turns him in to the police, who arrest him, on the assumption that he's safer in jail than on the streets. The movie ends with Nicole watching from a car and crying as Dédé is taken away by the police. | revenge, humor, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | high wire act.
A small time ex-con (Phillipe Leotard as Dede) and his prostitute girlfriend Nicole (Nathalie Baye) are relentlessly pressured by an aggressive and at time brutal police squad led by Mathias Palouzi (Richard Berry) to inform on the mob.
Using any means necessary, playing one off against the other, humiliation, beatings, or threats, the couple is forced to become informants on underworld leader Roger Massina (Maurice Ronet).
The love story is at the heart of the film, while the cops and crooks make up opposite ends, though they often employ similar means.
Berry seems to flourish in the middle, beating up on Dede while playing a little softer with his girlfriend Nicole.
A fast pace takes us whizzing through some great Paris locations, through a stagey looking though fairly impressive shootout on a crowded street, and several seedy dead end alleyways.
Many of the underworld characterizations are terrific, and the classy soundtrack (especially the ending) is perfect for the mood..
Top Movie.
Watched this last night - a belting French Cops and Robbers drama set among the Paris version of the flying squad.
It opens with their main informant being murdered and they need replacement to get Mr Big.They lean on a Dede (Philippe Léotard) a small time crook and pimp and his whore/girlfriend(Nathalie Baye) to persuade them to snitch on Messina.They use threats,beatings - in fact anything to get a result.
The cops are played in a very unsympathetic light - the're really thugs who bend the law to suit their ends.Interestingly both Dede and Nicole are are much more attractive characters - he's her pimp but he loves her as she loves him.
You really care about them as they are exploited by the cops who don't care what happens to them as long as they get their villian.
There are car chases and shoot-outs aplenty but its the central relationship that lifts this above your average cop movie.All the leads are well played and you hope things will work out for Dede and Nicloe but you know life isn't like that.Not an obvious ending either and directed with an intesity by Bob Swaim who films it almost as a documentry so real is the gritty feel of the Parisian undwerworld.Highly reccomended..
Excellent Thriller With Gallic Style.
I can't believe that this movie has no comments and hardly any votes.
It's a tough 1982 thriller set in Paris' Algerian sector.
A specialist Police Unit pressurise a pimp and his hooker into becoming informants to enable them to bring down a local gangster.
Although directed by an American (spot the U.S. film posters at the Police Station), the film is full of French style.
The clothes, the food, the shades...
The pacing is fast, the plot is good and the characters are fascinating.
Baye is incredibly sexy as the 'tart with a heart' and Leotard looks suitably seedy as the pimp in love with her.
It's a strange relationship, letting your lover have sex with strangers in order to put money in the joint account!
I also like the way that the cops, who arrest and harass hookers, are shown to be willing to use their services on lonely nights.
Pace, excitement, black humour and romance.
What more can one ask from a thriller?
Dirty, Gritty, Seamy Paris.
What a nifty top of the B-film heap is this gritty Paris film, complete with love stories going bad, habits going strong, and cars going fast.
Leotard has one of the great faces in the world and Nathalie Baye (in this outing new to me on release date) is just spectacularly vulnerable and perhaps a bit duplicitous.
I would definitely make this part of my French film library.
The film's co-director is from Evanston, Illinois!
Bob Swaim has written films and directed them, mostly in France, and obviously learned his B-films on Saturdays with the rest of us and his France by living in it for a long time..
Underestimated--.
The psychological techniques of the Chief Inspector Palouzi(Richard Berry)and his sometimes cruel, but equally compassionate portrayal of a decent human being, "just doing his job" was quite well done--Hat's off to Bob Swain--Chicago's own!
Berry-himself of French-Algerian decent, is very smooth; and his mature attitude--not arrogance--is what pulls him though.
The Acting by Nathalie Baye and the late Philippe Leotard was also excellent.
Some of the chases and Arrests were Hokey-but, the Overwhelming theme here is the true devotion of a Woman(Baye) to her Man(Leotard).
We need more stories about devotion to People, rather than Devotion to careers or even countries-- No displaced loyalties here--Baye's acting was superb, and I am married to a very devoted woman, so I identify with her loyalty to "Dede"!Does anyone Know what Richard Barry(Benguigui) is doing these days?
He is a fine actor.
Bon Chance to all!
Try and see this one, if you haven't already seen it..
NOT a movie for the kids but an excellent film nevertheless.
I had a tough time giving this an 8 or a 9--it was very close.
I finally decided on a 9 because the last 15 minutes of the film are about the most tense and riveting I have ever seen--talk about a suspenseful and satisfying ending!
So, what is this movie like?
Well, it is a lot like a better written and more interesting episode of "Miami Vice"--complete with blaring early 80s music, living-among-the-scum cops and LOTS of realistic violence.
This is definitely NOT a film for the kids, as it is way too sleazy and intense--with hard-core violence, language and sex scenes.
While this USUALLY turns me off, it was done so well that I could not stop watching--plus the level of realism seemed very high as the cops, like the bad guys, were prone to screw-ups.
And you have to watch it just to see the police chase scene--it's amazing.FYI--Although I don't know if it was intended, this movie seems to be a reworking of the movie "Kiss of Death"--a great American film noir film..
Violent and gripping.
Maybe I was a bit young (15 I think) when I first saw this, in a french cinema without subtitles so I didn't even understand that much - but it left a strong impression and when I rewatched it a few years later with a more critical eye, it was still a very strong movie.
There are more violent thrillers out there, but in the case of "La Balance", it's unsettling because you care for those people.
I guess it's got something to do with the cast, it's a bunch of character faces you won't forget, especially Philippe Léotard.
So, in contrast to many other thrillers, the violence in "La Balance" is never fun to watch - those are scenes where you'd like to close your eyes (which is the best way to portrait violence, in my opinion, if you don't happen to make an action comedy).
Highly recommended!.
More than just a French Dirty Harry.
Somewhat in the tradition of literary realism, this is a police story with much drama and a hint of tragedy.
When the determined police officer Palouzi (Berry)decides to get the mob boss in his district by replacing a blown up informer, his choice is a hooker, Nicole (N.
Baye) and her pimp, Dédé (P.
Léotard).
Both are rather humane, likable and loyal to each other.
Perhaps a bit of a cliché in the character Nicole.
Palouzi will put ruthless pressure on them to get their reluctant collaboration.
Given this scenario, things will be necessarily difficult for them.
Very good performances of Berry, Baye and Léotard, and some violence scenes well staged and played.
Interesting denouement with somewhat ambiguous (to me) ending.
The character of the efficient, driven and street-wise officer Palouzi has interest and psychological depth.
Maybe he will be devious and tough to make Nicole and Dédé to play his game, but also maybe he will try to keep them out of harm's way, if possible.
In sum, no clear-cut heroes and villains, good story and script, good actors, intense action, credible ambiance, with some interesting characters..
at times silly, at times boring.
Gritty, nasty, overlong, at times silly, at times boring and very very over rated.
If you want plenty of action with love interest, then the US turns them out all the time and if you want sex and violence, then for this sort of movie, Italy is where you should head.
This seems to be stuck in the middle, lots of horrible guys doing nasty things to each other and scenes of 'true love', I don't think so, trust the French!
The setting on the mucky streets of Belleville, now much cleaned up, is fine but when you set up a virtually plot less movie, it just to have a bit of style, that little bit of something to keep you interested.
This moves so fast at the start that it looks as if all is going to be well but somewhere around half way it dawns that the film is going to carry on like this all the time..
Belleville Rendezvous.
This is one of those realistic polars where you can't tell the cops from the hoods without a scorecard.
The premise is simplicity itself; the star balance (informer) of the Belleville district is assassinated in the first minutes leaving the local cops with a vacancy to fill.
Their thinking turns to Dede (Leotard) a small time pimp with only one client (Nathalie Baye) who is reluctant to say the least.
The name Dede or its female version Dedee is something of a constant in French movies, in 1948, Simone Signoret played Dedee of Anvers (a hooker) for her then husband Yves Allegret, but that's just an aside.
Baye and Leotard had been an item in real-life but had broken up by the time the film was shot largely due to Leotard's drink and drugs problem but the genuine affection between them informs every scene they play together.
The main thrust of the plot involves Belleville's Mr 'Big' (Maurice Ronet) and his 'enforcer', Belge, a certified ding-dong (or, if you're French, dingue-dong).
Shot by Illinois-born Bob Swaim, this is in the finest tradition of the 'polar' with outstanding ensemble acting - and we really should mention multi-talented Richard Berry as Leotard's nemesis - and a great set-piece involving a multi-car pile up and a shoot-out in the street.
Definitely one of the all-time great post-war French polars..
...of a different Paris, different love story and images of cops.
a precise and impressive film.
for the portraits of characters.
for the science to escape from cliches circle, for the inspired way to tell a dirty, insignificant, ordinary story, using each of its nuances in admirable manner.
a woman.
and her man.
and the Police as the shark in the essence of relationship who could be normal.
it is easy to define it as a film with a great cast , from Maurice Ronet and young Tcheky Karyo to Nathalie Baye.
but the authentic star of film remains Phililipe Leotard, giving a dramatic performance.
so, a revelation.
so, a revelation.
at each new view.
because it represents the realistic portrait of a world who seems, from so many (American) films, well known..
Great performances, plot went the way of the buffalo.
First off, this movie's plot is outdated, but the acting of Philippe Leotard and Nathalie Baye is superb and makes up for it.
Monsieur Leotard has the hangdog charm that most women would find irresistible.
If you've ever heard a woman say that French men are sexy and wondered why?
This is an example of the wondering why?
He is a scoundrel but irresistible.
Apparently this guy knew how to party.
There is something coiled and feline in the way Nathalie Baye moves.
Her comic timing is perfect and delivery impeccable.
If that's not enough her clothes are totally 80s but back in style now.
The same goes for Monsieur Leotard.
I want to get some Lacoste shirts to wear with my leisure suit now!.
Classic French bad-cop bad-cop thriller.
One of the great French bad-cop bad-cop thrillers, which I remember vividly from years ago.
I love that the supposed criminals were so well characterized, not like today's shoot-em-ups.
Recommended, and I will buy it again, if it has subtitles.
(I speak French, but it's sort of rusty, and the fascinating Parisian slang can be hard to follow.).
Disappointing French cop flick without much style.
A longtime resident in France, Swaim (with an M) was an American.
I didn't like this film which turned me off right at the beginning with its flashy but uninteresting opening sequence of whores and street people with loud music.
Swaim had researched "special brigade" Paris police for months, supposedly putting his life in danger, yet he manages to make the main cops in the film look as slimy as the bad guys in Diva -- a dumb move.
Somebody said Swaim was a follower of Friedkin rather than Melville/Mann.
Others say he really didn't follow anybody.
This would be a virtue only if he had his own style, but I can't detect much of one.
There is as much of late Melville as there is of American TV cop shows.
I don't like the bright lighting, which makes the Belleville scenes look like stage sets, even though they're authentic.That there is an illegal romance between a pimp (Philippe Léotard) and his stylish whore (Nathalie Baye) and they're both under pressure to be police informers as a result is a situation Melville could have made something good out of I'm sure, but Swaim just turns it all into brightly lit sleaze.A police sting operation that goes wrong and turns into a traffic jam and massacre of civilians is one more thing that makes the cops -- who seem worse than the hoods -- look bad, but it provides the film's only excitement.
I also liked a brief interrogation in a pinball gallery before that: there should have been more interesting, intense use of locations like that.
Many times the locations seem wasted and the physical business overblown and inefficient.
Just consider what Melville does with a big dirty empty bedroom in the opening of Le Samourai!
In the final shootout, cops keep exposing themselves to fire in an empty building.
They don't seem to have watched enough Miami Vice episodes.
It's a bit hard to see how this got the César for best film in 1982 when Catherine Deneuve was president of the jury.
I guess it was a bad year.It's not that there haven't been any good French "polars noirs" since Jean-Pierre Melville or that there weren't any in the Eighties, because there have been and there were, but this just isn't one of them.
It's competent but that ain't enough.Seen on a restored print in a Netflix-issued DVD..
The best french crime movie since and before a long time..
When it was released in 1982, I considered it was the best french crime flick since the death of Jean Pierre Melville, with maybe the exception of some Alain Corneau's flicks - POLICE PYTHON 357 and LE CHOIX DES ARMES.
Don't forget that Corneau was called the heir of Melville...Speaking of Corneau, I consider Series NOIRE as a film noir, instead of a crime feature.
Back to LA BALANCE, this film was the last crime movie, at least the best one, made before the rise of Olivier Marchall, twenty years later.
Of course, just before LA BALANCE, or at the same time, we had the three Jean Claude Missiean's films: TIR GROUPE, RONDE DE NUIT and LA BASTON, all three efficient programmers, but not at the scale of the Bob Swaim's piece of work.
Yes, folks, after LA BALANCE, we had nearly nothing Worth, in the crime film kind.
Oh, I admit we received LE COUSIN, also made by Corneau, and the superb J'IRAI AU PARADIS CAR L'ENFER EST ICI.
Both from 1997.Yes, LA BALANCE remains a real masterpiece, even after all those years.
And no one has mentioned that this was a french movie, made in France by an American director, as was Jules Dassin's RIFIFI CHEZ LES HOMMES, thirty years earlier.
And I will finish by announcing that the great Florent Emilio Siri, the director of NID DE GUEPES, HOSTAGE, L'ENNEMI INTIME and CLOCLO will direct the remake of this masterpiece.
It will take place in Marseilles.
I read his interview.
I AM SO EXCITED,, folks !!!!!And we all know that in France, since a couple of years, there was many affairs of rotten cops, lead executives of the force, accused of corrupttion, or too much "friendship" with the mob.
And this movie will talk about all this.
Boundaries between cops and gangsters.
Boundaries as thick as cigarette paper, where every one swims in the very same water.
The same swamp.
Let's wait for the remake.
I already know it will be a real killing. |
tt0066830 | The Big Doll House | Collier (Brown) enters prison, having been found guilty of killing her husband. She is introduced to the beautiful occupants of her cell, in for crimes ranging from political insurgency to heroin addiction. The women often clash, which leads to their torture by sadistic guard Lucian (Kathryn Loder). The torture ceremonies are viewed by an impassive cloaked figure.
Collier's cellmates Alcott and Bodine (Collins and Woodell) plan to escape. Collier and another cellmate Ferina (Gina Stuart) agree to go along. Assisting is their other lesbian cellmate Grear (Pam Grier), though there are doubts Grear's heroin addict girlfriend Harrad (Brooke Mills) will be equipped to escape.
Ferina, Alcott and Bodine break from the solitary confinement sauna and take their revenge on Lucian. The escapees wield guns, attitude, and sexuality to free themselves.
During their escape they round up various personnel from the prison as hostages, taking elegant prison warden Miss Dietrich (Christiane Schmidtmer), sympathetic prison medic Dr Phillips (Jack Davis), and two local men regularly allowed access to the prison to sell market produce, Harry (Sid Haig) and Fred (Jerry Franks). | blaxploitation, cult, avant garde, murder, sadist | train | wikipedia | While this film is not quite as great as the later one; it's still an excellent women in prison flick.
It's not long before the conditions inside the jail force the girls into planning an escape; but not before various rivalries amongst themselves are sorted out.This film is just great fun to watch, and that's what makes it so successful.
The biggest names in the cast belong to Sid Haig and Pam Grier; although neither one of them is the star.
As would be the case with the later film, Sid Haig provides the most memorable role; this time as a pervy bloke that goes round delivers various goodies to the female prisoners.
The Big Doll House is a rather lighter affair than the women in prison films by the likes of Jess Franco et al; but it's all the better for it.
The Big Doll House boils down to an explosive ending and overall I wouldn't hesitate to name this as one of the all time best women in prison films (although The Big Bird Cage is slightly better)..
Roberta Collins, Pam Grier and Sid Haig in particular are real hoots with some great moments and dialogue.
Lots of fun to be had in Jack Hill's Women In Prison exploitation classic.
The prison break attempt and the final gunfight with the authorities are fun and exciting stuff and for me Roberta Collins steals the show.
The ending is a bit rushed, some character's fates are left up in the air and the dialogue that seals Judy Brown's fate was a dub forced on the film but it's still great fun and was a groundbreaking hit for AIP.
Roberta, Pam and Judy had all just been in "Women In Prison" beforehand and Jack Hill later also directed Pam Grier in some of the blaxploitation flicks that made her an icon.
Roberta Collins would of course go onto starring in the masterpiece "Death Race 2000" and the inferior (in my opinion) prison classic "Caged Heat".
As you'd expect from this type of movie, there are chances to see attractive women getting naked or scantily clad and you get amusing foodfights and catfights.
I highly recommend both of these films if you enjoy movies under the heading of "Exploitation." ROGER CORMAN RULES!!!.
What separates - and, in my book, makes better - "The Big Doll House" from most Women-In-Prison films is that the focus here is NOT on the exploitation of the women (though there is some of that, of course), but on their STRENGTH and determination.
The casting is excellent: you know something is right when Pam Grier isn't even the most beautiful woman on the screen!
Contrary to what other people have said, I found the scenes involving Sid Haig and his partner to be the most undesirable: they do provide some form of comic relief but they go on too long and occasionally kill the pace of the movie.
'The Big Doll House' may not be the first women in prison movie of the 1970s but it was one of the most influential, kicking off the short lived but legendary Made-in-the-Philippines-but-set-in-some-nameless-Banana-republic cycle.
Judy Brown is the star and Roberta Collins is equally important as Grier.
But Brown didn't do all that much after this, and Collins is only remembered by exploitation buffs (for 'Caged Heat', 'Death Race 200' and 'Eaten Alive'), while Grier became a blaxploitation icon.
Grier and Haig obviously made a great team, and Hill would exploit this in his even more enjoyable 'The Big Bird Cage', which isn't a sequel to this movie as many seem to think.
'Bird Cage' is the better movie, but 'Doll House' is still a pretty good movie that any fan of 1970s b-grade movies will get a kick out of..
Beautiful women prisoners are abused in a Philippine prison, until five of them plot an escape by taking the evil female warden hostage with the reluctant help of two male fruit vendors.I have to say this film is an exploitation movie, and therefore has some aspects that many people might find objectionable -- gratuitous nudity, sexual assault and some scenes of torture.
This is not just a fun film to watch with your kids.That being said, director Jack Hill makes the most of the exploitation genre and does it in a stylish, colorful way that sets this movie apart from the scores of others in the same category.
Roger Corman sent out exploitation director Jack Hill to the Banana republic (Philippines) with very little money, but on-hand he had a group of stunning women to work with.
Its been done before, but this old hat Women-In-Prison concept for "Big Doll House" became revolutionary by giving it an ounce of fresh treatment (or maybe it was just great timing) that simply appealed to the drive-in audience to ensure the genre would erupt again.
Hill's film is quite watered-down for a WIP exploitation feature (compared to its European cousins), but there are enough nitty, gritty elements involving random drug abuse, sadistic torture, and sexual antics, pumping gunfights and wild cat fights in a very energetic pattern.
Although, the attractively biting Roberta Collins holds her own quite well and Judy Brown, Pat Woodell and Brooke Mills add to the unique, spicy ensemble.
Plenty of cat fights, shower scenes and other devious going's on, in a well paced 'Women Behind Bars' movie.
I don't know why.It began well enough with opening credits that stylishly zoom in and Pam Grier singing 99 years (which also featured in the film Jackie Brown).For the first hour this Corman produced Women in Prison film was a great slice of exploitation cinema.
Pam Grier and Sid Haig standing out above the rest of the cast.Then after about an hour the film becomes repetitive and boring.
Still its good while it lasts, maybe just turn it off when it starts too get boring.For a better Women in Prison film try maybe Ilsa: She-wolf of the SS..
Big Doll House, The (1971) ** (out of 4) Beautiful women, catfights, food fights, torture, lesbianism, mud wrestling and nudity are the highlights of this cult classic Women in Prison film from Jack Hill.
Judy Brown and Pam Grier star.It should also be noted that I prefer the rougher women in prison films by the likes of Jess Franco.
Franco started this genre with 99 Women but I prefer his darker WIP films like Barbed Wire Dolls, Women in Cell Block 9 and Sadomania..
Right, well you know exactly what to expect from a movie such as this when you sit down to watch "The Big Doll House".
And if you've seen one of the numerous exploitation movies from the same era as "The Big Doll House", then you have essentially seen them all - more or less.
Sure, there may be some deviation in the plot from movie to movie, but roughly said, it is the same standard formula each movie follows.I decided to watch "The Big Doll House" solely because Sid Haig was in the movie.
But I was actually also interested in the movie as it was filmed in the Philippines, though this was merely a backdrop that reared its head from time to time.Sure, you should not expect a particularly well-constructed plotline or script, nor expect overly much from the dialogue.
The genre of women-in-prison movies has never been my favourite type of exploitation movie.
You know the deal: young woman goes to a prison (usually in a jungle somewhere in Asia or South America), she was probably framed and is innocent, there are tough lesbians in the prison and the warden punishes the inmates with devices and techniques inspired by sadomasochism.Oh, and I forgot the main reason anyone watches these: shower scenes.
A lot of events seem isolated because they have no effect on the narrative; another example that just occurred to me is a mudfight between Pam Grier and some other girl.The movie is also pretty badly acted.
The actresses who play the other inmates are all completely forgettable.There is, of course, also Grier's perennial counterpart Sid Haig, playing his usual sleazoid role.
The female inmates at a women's prison suffer severe mistreatment at the brutal hands of wicked warden Miss Dietrich (a nicely icy turn by Christiane Schmidtmer) and sadistic head guard Lucian (a gloriously florid and theatrical portrayal by Kathryn Loder).
The cast have a grand time with the sordid material: Pam Grier as the sassy Grear, Judy Brown as the feisty Collier, Roberta Collins as the hard-boiled Alcott, ravishing redhead Brooke Mills as pathetic strung-out smack addict Harrad (Mills' crazed and sensuous little stoner dance rates as a definite highlight), Pat Woodell as the formidable Bodine, Gina Stuart as slinky minx Ferina, and Jerry Franks as the amiable Fred.
Of course, this film covers all the satisfyingly sleazy grindhouse bases: a generous amount of tasty distaff nudity, a group shower scene, a fierce catfight (in the mud, no less!), rape, torture, a messy cafeteria food fight, and an exciting last reel breakout.
This has to be the sexiest female cast I've seen in one of these movies..Pam Grier, Judy Brown, Roberta Collins, Brooke Milles(..my girl of the film), and Pat Woodell all preparing for a great escape just so they can be free of the sweaty, trashy confines of their Banana Republic prison cell.
Christiane Schmidtmer is Miss Dietrich, the tyrannical ruler over the prison and Kathryn Loder is her ruthless head guard with an affinity for acquiring jungle snakes as a torture(..or murdering)method to extract information regarding possible illegal activities or plotting(..she likes to let her hair down when it's time to whip or pummel a girl).
Sid Haig, a prominent Jack Hill regular, has a field day as a food(..among other items of interest)supplier, assisted by Jerry Franks(..who is actually accosted by Collins, who forces him to sex with a knife she confiscated from the kitchen area!).I will admit that I love beautiful women.
I feel like the 70's featured some of the most stunning women, often barely starring in anything other than a few movies within the exploitation genre, before moving on to other things.
After having to sit through film after film.with a fantastically ridiculous premise that mostly features 90 minutes of people wandering around doing nothing, it's nice to go back to a legend of the genre and know that I can still trust.The Big Doll House was my third Women in Prison film, after the infamous Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS and the Defiant Ones-inspired Black Mama, White Mama, but where both of those films seemingly ran out of inspiration fairly quickly (Ilsa grows wearying quickly, and Black Mama stagnates as most of the film is uninspired wandering.While I grew restless with both of those films, Jack Hill and The Big Doll House seemingly has it all covered, and surprisingly, the film draws its strength from restraint and respect towards its characters.
Where Black Mama had plentiful amounts of gratuitous nudity, the standards were quite low and, for the most part, it wasn't PLEASANT nudity, while in Doll House, there is nudity, but more usually, they're dressed in these sort of adorably tiny dresses, like over-sized wifebeaters, and it makes them look far more attractive and pleasing to the eye than if they had been naked the entire time.The other unique thing for this film of the three is that the prisoner women seem to be constantly in power.
They're never weak-willed, they may get tortured a bit, but they're always feisty, always defiant, and although you definitely get a sense of sexualized satisfaction (it's a Women in Prison movie for f-ck's sake, there's shower scenes, groping scenes, even a scene scantily-clad mud wrestling), you never get any of the uncomfortable, misogynist sleaze you most definitely get from Ilsa.
That's a film that delights in the torture so much that it neglects story for much of its runtime.The acting is actually fairly solid save for our hero, Pam Grier (amusingly playing a character named "Grear").
But Judy Brown, Robert Collins, Brooke Mills, Pat Woodell, Kathryn Loder, Gine Stuart and Christiana Schmidter as the warden Miss Dietrich all acquit themselves admirably.
A crazy heroin addict who lights people on fire, a lesbian prison guard who threatens people with cobras, the aforementioned mud wrestling, threats of castration, people getting stabbed (including Pam Grier, who unexpectedly doesn't even survive the film!), the shower scenes, and just the basic gratuitous nudity just seems to be at a higher standard than subsequent films.
I do look forward to seeing more of them to be able to compare, and although being an "expert in Women in Prison films" is not going to be something to put on the 'ol resume, if any of them are as well-composed as The Big Doll House, it'll sure be a lot of fun.{Grade: 8.25/10 (B+/B) / #12 (of 26) of 1971}.
A WIP film with Pam Grier and Sid Haig with Jack Hill directing what could go wrong?
Pam Grier may be one of my favorite actresses of all time, but it's easy to see that this was one of her first movies.
The groundbreaking Women in Prison film!.
The Big Doll House stars Judy Brown, who is taken to a prison on some remote island where she is accompanied by other jailbirds: Pam Grier, Brooke Mills, and Roberta Collins.
Sid Haig is the dominating warden who uses poisonous local snakes to torture the prisoners.
The movie ends with Grier, Mills, and Collins dying and Brown being captured and taken back to prison.
Classic Women-In-Prison action from director Jack Hill..
The Big Doll House pretty much sets the template for the whole WIP genre, with the introduction of several new prisoners to a banana republic womens' jail where the head warder abuses trouble-makers for the amusement of the wicked governess.
After experiencing the suffering first-hand, the (ridiculously attractive) inmates of one cell decide to make a break for freedom.Director Jack Hill's film treads a fine line between straight up exploitation and tongue in cheek fun: it's nowhere near as harsh as the average European WIP flick, but not quite as camp as Hill's follow up, The Big Bird Cage, which emphasised the absurdity of the genre in a more playful manner.
Hence, we get an assortment of relatively light torture scenes (including that WIP favourite, electrodes on the breasts) and some bloody violence (the sudden death of one central character is particularly harrowing), all of which is mixed in with such lighter nonsense as a mess hall food fight, a spot of mud-wrestling, and the exploits of a pair of randy male fruit-sellers who dream of scoring with the banged-up birds.With plenty of gratuitous nudity from the gorgeous gals (whose numbers include blaxploitation legend Pam Grier and Death Race 2000 babe Roberta Collins), another fun turn from Hill regular Sid Haig, and a surprisingly down-beat ending that sees all of the escapees either shot or recaptured, this is a very enjoyable slice of exploitation from one of the genre's most dependable film-makers (Hill also gave us the excellent offbeat black-comedy/horror Spider Baby, and Grier blaxploitation classics Coffy and Foxy Brown).7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb..
An Interesting Low-Budget "Women-in-Prison" Film.
After killing her rich husband a woman by the name of "Collier" (Judith Brown) is sentenced to 99 years at hard labor at a women's prison somewhere deep in the Philippine jungle.
She is put in a cell with 5 other beautiful women who go by the names of "Alcott" (Roberta Collins), "Bodine" (Pat Woodell), "Grear" (Pam Greer), "Harrad" (Brooke Mills) and "Ferina"(Gina Stuart).
While each of them have their own story to tell they all share one particular view which is that the head guard, "Lucian" (Kathryn Loder) is extremely sadistic and the attractive warden "Miss Dietrich"(Christiane Schmidtmer) is either incompetent or ambivalent to the torture and abuse within the prison.
Now, rather than detailing all of the events that transpire and risk spoiling the movie for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was an interesting low-budget "Women-in-Prison" film which covered most of the main aspects associated with movies of this type.
TITLE: THE BIG DOLL HOUSE was release in theaters in the United States on January 1, 1971 and it will take you 101 minutes to watch this movie.
The Big Doll House is a 1971 women in prison film starring Pam Grier, Judy Brown, Roberta Collins, Brooke Mills, and Pat Woodell.
Later the same year the film Women in Cages featured a similar story and setting, much the same cast, and was shot in the same abandoned prison buildings.
A non-sequel follow-up, titled The Big Bird Cage, was released in 1972.SUMMARY: Collier (Brown) enters prison, having been found guilty of killing her husband.
Assisting is their other cellmate Grear (Pam Grier); though there are doubts, Grear's heroin addict girlfriend Harrad (Brooke Mills) will be equipped to escape.QUESTIONS: Who was the person in the chair while the girls were tortured?
However, the star of this movie to me was Judy Brown.
Brown role as Collier was excellent and she the reason I give this movie 10 weasel stars..
So says one of the denizens of the "big doll house" to a man from the outside who has come to make deliveries but gets more than he bargained for....The Big Doll House is exploitation with a capital X, made in the peak period for such stuff by the redoubtable Jack Hill and starring future cult blaxploitation actress Pam Grier.
Shot in the Phillipines, clearly on next-to-no-budget, this is good cheesy fun, women in prison with a lesbian/Nazi guard and a couple of fumbling good ol' hippie-boys (one of them played by cult actor Sid Haig, in an early performance back when he was thin, had hair and came off as an oily ladies' man) who help them out at the most opportune moment. |
tt0059927 | The Yellow Rolls-Royce | On a flatbed lorry driven in the streets of London, a motorcar is under a grey cover with the initials RR. The Rolls Royce is first purchased by Charles, Marquess of Frinton (Rex Harrison) as a 10th wedding anniversary present for his French wife, Eloise (Jeanne Moreau). Frinton is Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office. The marquess is a longtime horse owner who has his heart set on winning the Ascot Gold Cup. This year his horse, named 10 June (his wedding anniversary date; also the writer Terence Rattigan's birthday) is the favourite and does indeed win. Lord Frinton is presented the Gold Cup by King George V. However, his elation is blighted when he finds his wife with her lover, his underling John Fane (Edmund Purdom), in the back of the Rolls with the shades drawn. For appearance's sake, Lord Frinton will not divorce his wife, but he returns the car.
20,023 miles later, Genoa, Italy — The Rolls, according to G. Bomba, owner of the Genova Auto Salon was “owned by a Maharajah, who lost his money at the San Remo Casino.” The Rolls is purchased by American gangster Paolo Maltese (George C. Scott). He is touring the sights of Italy with his bored fiancée Mae Jenkins (Shirley MacLaine) and his right-hand man Joey Friedlander (Art Carney). When Maltese returns to Miami to take care of some unsavory business, he leaves Friedlander to chaperone Jenkins. Friedlander turns a blind eye when she falls in love with Stefano (Alain Delon), a handsome young street photographer she had met while still with Maltese. Upon finding Jenkins and Stefano in the back of the Rolls with the shades drawn, Friedlander walks away. But he later shows Jenkins an eight-day-old American newspaper headline, Bugs O’ Leary Slain—Police Claim Gang Warfare, that was Maltese's business in the United States. Although in love with Stefano, Jenkins reluctantly leaves him, telling him that it was just a fling, to protect both of them from possible reprisal from her lethal boyfriend Maltese.
Trieste on the Yugoslav border – the year, 1941 — The Rolls is in a repair shop. The car exterior is filthy with OCCASIONE (Bargain, Special Offer) painted on the windscreen. It is bought by Gerda Millett (Ingrid Bergman), a powerful and wealthy American widow touring Europe. Just before the Invasion of Yugoslavia by the Nazi Germans, she encounters anti-fascist Davich (Omar Sharif) who commandeers her automobile to sneak into Yugoslavia, hiding in the boot before the border crossing. Along the way, these two seemingly different people fall in love. At their Ljubljana hotel, they survive a German aerial attack, then she insists on driving him to a partisan camp in the mountains and makes several trips to pick up more villagers and deliver them to the camp. She wants to stay and help repel the invaders, but Davich will not permit it, saying it is not her fight. He tells her to go back to America and tell people what she has witnessed. The car is seen being unloaded from a cargo ship in New York. During the end credits, it is seen driving along an expressway, passing beneath a road sign reading I-95, George Washington Bridge, Bronx – Next Right. | romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1470023 | MacGruber | In eastern Siberia's Dzhugdzhur Mountains, Dieter Von Cunth and his men take control of the X-5 missile, which has a nuclear warhead. In Ecuador, Col. Jim Faith and Lt. Dixon Piper are searching for former Green Beret, Navy SEAL and Army Ranger MacGruber. The two men find him meditating in a chapel, and try to convince him to retrieve the warhead. MacGruber refuses; later that night, MacGruber explodes into a fit of rage after a flashback where Cunth killed his fiancée, Casey Fitzpatrick, at their wedding; he then accepts offer.
After having a heated conversation with Faith and Piper at The Pentagon, MacGruber forms his own team to pursue Cunth. MacGruber recruits all but his long-time friend Vicki St. Elmo and Brick Hughes. MacGruber meets Faith and Piper on a tarmac, while his team is in a van with his homemade C-4 explosives. The van explodes, killing the team and MacGruber is removed from the case. MacGruber convinces Piper to form a new team, now including Vicki.
The group travels to Cunth's nightclub in Las Vegas. MacGruber gets on stage and announces who he is, his intentions, and where he will be the next day. The team sets up a sting operation with Vicki portraying MacGruber. Hoss Bender, one of Cunth's henchmen, attacks the van MacGruber and Piper are in, but MacGruber runs down Bender. With Vicki disguised as Bender and Piper disguised as MacGruber, the team breaks into a warehouse to stop Cunth from getting the passwords to operate the rocket. MacGruber distracts the guards and Piper kills most of the men, but is unable to stop the transfer of the pass codes. The team goes to a charity event Cunth is holding and Cunth's guards throw MacGruber out.
MacGruber returns to the Pentagon where Faith reprimands him and takes him off of the case. Soldiers attack and MacGruber uses Piper as a human shield to survive; Vicki and MacGruber escape. Piper survives since he was wearing a bulletproof vest, but leaves since MacGruber used him as protection. Vicki and MacGruber return to Vicki's house where the two have sex. MacGruber goes to his wife's grave in shame, but her ghost gives her blessing. MacGruber then has sex with the ghost of his wife on her tombstone.
Upon returning to Vicki's house, MacGruber discovers that Cunth has kidnapped her and what Cunth's plan is: to bomb the State of the Union address. Cunth calls MacGruber to gloat, but MacGruber traces the call. MacGruber and Piper make their way into Cunth's compound. Soldiers capture MacGruber and Piper and bring them to Vicki and the missile. The group overpowers Cunth and his men and MacGruber handcuffs Cunth to a handrail. MacGruber removes the nuclear component and guidance system before his team escapes as the missile explodes.
Six months later, MacGruber and Vicki are getting married. Also present at the wedding as ghosts are his dead team members. MacGruber spots a disfigured Cunth with an RPG. MacGruber saves Vicki, and battles Cunth before throwing him off a cliff behind the altar, shooting him with a machine gun and launching a grenade as he falls, incinerating the corpse, and finally urinating on it at the foot of the cliff. | comedy, murder, stupid, cult, violence, flashback, good versus evil, absurd, humor, revenge | train | wikipedia | Will Forte does a great job with this movie by giving it a facade of half-wit humor and making fun of itself in subtle and also obvious ways.
The good parodies are really enjoyable, and I classify MacGruber as a good parody.I saw this at my local theater last night and while there weren't many other viewers, there was an almost steady stream of laughs throughout the movie.
Based on Forte's sketch, MacGruber is an American war hero and MacGyver parody known for failing to disarm bombs in the nick of time.
Von Cunth is the man who murdered MacGruber's bride on their wedding day and he's just stolen a nuclear warhead.I hadn't seen much of the original sketches until a friend of mine heard about the MACGRUBER movie and sat me down to watch the sketches on YouTube.
This movie was funny and it got more hilarious each time I watched it.
MacGruber (Will Forte) is completely deadpan with his delivery and truly believes he is a genius hero while those around him, friend Vicki St. Elmo (Kristin Wiig) and Lieutenant Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillipe), are just as vexed as the audience as to MacGruber's insane methods.The movie reeks of old school 80's action films and does a decent job of balancing the oddball humor with decent action sequences.
I love Kristin Wiig's quiet awkwardness that she brings to her characters and Ryan Phillipe did a goo job as the film's straight man, the voice of reason against MacGruber's idiocy.
A lot of silly humour which had its affect.This movie is crap in the best way, meaning you're watching and won't think good of it in the first minutes but it proves you wrong and you'll end up liking this even loving it.All the characters have a issue that makes them fun to watch.
I wasn't a fan of the sketch on SNL and was scared off by the poor reviews and its box office failure, but let me tell you this movie is really, really funny.
A full-length film version of a recurring Saturday Night Live sketch may seem anachronistic these days; after all, it seemed the SNL movie finally died out way back in 1999/2000 with the one-two TKO of SUPERSTAR and THE LADIES MAN.
In an age of YouTube and instant dissemination of, well, everything, they know that the best way to reach the widest audience at a level that truly connects is through their pop umbilical cords.Will Forte's "MacGruber" sketches follow an identical formula: MacGruber, a hyper skilled MacGyver parody (we learn in the opening of the film that he has something like 16 Purple Hearts and four Medals of Honor, and has somehow served multiple tours of duty as a member of every branch of the armed forces) is trapped in a control room of some bad guy's lair with his assistant, Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) and a third person played by that week's guest star.
Support is provided by Kristen Wiig as Vicki St. Elmo, a woman as strangely trapped in 1989-era style as MacGruber, as well as Ryan Phillippe as Lt. Dixon Piper, who actually seems to know what he's doing, if he can ever get through to MacGruber, whose home-made tactics not only generally fail to work, but often make things worse.
Taccone and Forte give them lines that echo almost exactly what the average audience member might be thinking when MacGruber distracts some baddies by stripping down and utilizing a piece of celery in an interesting way.
MacGruber is a foul-mouthed near-deviant whose dedication to his country is matched only by his penchant for public nudity.Forte is a dynamo on screen, showing that he, like Will Ferrell and others before him, will do absolutely anything to get a laugh, no matter how potentially embarrassing.
Taccone and Forte have great fun messing with the conventions of action movies in general – and "MacGyver" in particular, though I doubt MacGyver ever offered to fellate a man to accomplish the mission.
The best thing that can be said of MACGRUBER is that in the end, the intelligence and cleverness of its creators situate this film happily much closer to the work of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg than to the Butabi Brothers.
The funny thing is that it really looks like an action film.
I had seen the previous sketches and the film is so much better.Don't get me wrong many will probably be offended by the coarse language used (hence the bad reviews) and the antics MacGruber gets up to.
But if you are not easily offended I'm sure you will enjoy this movie as much as I did.A Cheesy, Offensive, Action Comedy that I couldn't stop laughing at.
I felt Ryan Phillipe was an odd choice for the straight man because I didn't think he could hold the screen against Forte, but he grew on me during the film and in the end proved that he was indeed willing to 'go there' to get the laughs.
While Kilmer doesn't come near that level of comedic ownership, he does balance out nicely with the rest of the cast and digs into the second-grade humor when it's called for.While it may play out to be one of the year's biggest box office disasters, MacGruber will ride on and gain a solid life on DVD as a cult comedy, not unlike Hot Rod, starring Andy Samberg, another SNL superstar.
And for most of the movie Macgruber is a loser, but once he starts ripping throats, s*** gets real.With the recognizable homage to the SNL sketches near the end many laugh out loud moments such as; the old celery trick, humping a gave stone, and multiple intense orgasms, Macgruber did it's job.
From the offensive naming of the characters to its overuse of bathroom humour (which, let's face it, was never really genuinely funny to begin with), MacGruber was the worst movie that I can recall seeing since the days of Leonard Part 6 and Howard the Duck.
The plot is silly but also funny; the fans of "MacGyver" may enjoy this film and the stupidities of MacGruber, the agent that does not use weapons, more than I did.
It is a ridiculously over-the-top, stupid and vulgar comedy, but it's FUNNY AS HELL.HARD R rating.Not only are they spoofing MacGyver, but they're poking funny at 80's film style in general.
I was more then pleasantly surprised.The set pieces were obvious and you could see what was going to happen ages before it actually happened but that didn't stop this film being funny.I laughed myself silly on numerous occasions.THe premise is fairly self explanatory, they tell you whats going on in the first 5 minutes.
The characters are a bit one dimensional but MacGruber, his side kicks played by the brilliant Kristen Wiig and the ever handsome Ryan Phillipe were very funny and a great foil for the stupidness that was MacGruber.This film is definitely not going to win any Oscars or be lasting in your memory but for the duration of the film you will be entertained.Only go and see if you like this type of Superbad or Role Model-esquire type of films.Leave your brain at the door and you'll be sorted..
Although it had gotten good reviews, SNL-based films are hit and miss and Will Forte is not a terribly great comedian in my opinion.
I should have known better than going to this movie, since I don't find the MacGruber skit that funny to begin with.
After much persuasion and deep thought, MacGruber gears up for another mission.Along with MacGruber are Ryan Phillippe and Kristin Wiig, I feel like I don't have to go much further as I'm sure you can figure out the plot and how it will end just by watching the trailer.
I went to see this movie after hearing a CNN critic say he "really, really, really liked it" and the sex scenes were "hilarious and inventive." Having seen and enjoyed several of the SNL MacGruber skits, I naturally thought "how could I lose." Well I feel I lost big time.
This is just boring and plain stupid because there was no script for this movie so I won't waste my time and yours talking about some plot that doesn't exist.Let's go to acting!!!
My wife and I just returned from seeing this bomb.Was unsure of what to expect since there were an equal number of positive and negative reviews.Not sure what kind of sick mind thought that this movie was good and/or worth seeing.SNL cast members were really awful in their roles as were the WWE (although that was to be expected).Neither the film nor the characters had any redeeming features.The film raised crudeness to a whole new level - gag.This has to be one of the worst films ever made.Can't understand why they made it or how they got funding.The best part of the movie was the ending - meaning it was over.Don't waste your time or money..
It's a parodied action flick and so you get one of these movies that tries to balance good action with comedy, and many of them fail because they forget to be funny.
While it's not laugh after laugh it's still a good amount of funny and the action scenes are well done.The thing is, it's not the kind of movie with a lot of replay value, though I think I would watch it again, it will be a long time before I do.
Just because the SNL sketches staring this character were good and funny, the same does not apply to this movie.The thing is , pretty much all of the action and story felt out of the place - we were presented with the classic scene where the old associate asks our hero to come back and help save the world ; then the assemble of an elite team and last , the pursuit of the old nemesis.Still, the story didn't feel right.
I think Forte's performance was good and he delivered what one could expect , and considering the character's childish moment , based in the past sketches.I hope SNL crew learn from their mistakes and don't ever release another movie based in a sketch , since it's fate is already known..
"Time to go pound some Cunth."I'm completely unfamiliar with the MacGruber character, as I've never seen the Saturday Night Live skit that his character originated from.
If you've seen any of the other SNL movies, then you have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this one.
Really?) That kind of humor won't appeal to everyone, but what kind does?Kristen Wiig was great (I'll happily admit that I love that woman), Will Forte was funny in spots, Val Kilmer was a bit of a failure as his character (I bet Heat feels like a loooong time ago), and Ryan Phillippe just seemed shocked that this is what his career has come to (Celery?
MacGruberThere are three telltale signs you're watching a comedy based on a Saturday Night Live sketch: the title character is wearing a wig, the jokes are abysmal, and there are no Asians in the cast.Obeying that rule of three is this offering inspired by MacGyver.When his nemesis Von Cunth (Val Kilmer) hijacks a nuclear warhead, ex-special agent MacGruber (Will Forte) comes out of retirement with a vengeance.Forming a team consisting of Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) and Lt. Piper (Ryan Phillippe), MacGruber sets out to stop Von Cunth from getting the passcodes needed to launch the warhead.While his minute-long sketches usually find MacGruber defusing a bomb, in his film debut, however, he just stars in one.Pieced together with a pipe cleaner plot and poop jokes, MacGruber's big mistake is that, unlike SNL, it doesn't use a flashing laugh prompter to tell viewers something is funny.
I went into this film with pretty much no expectations but I thought that I would like it since I found some of the SNL skits to be quite funny.
I usually will suffer through a horrible movie just to see if it develops into something better, but I just couldn't take it.MacGruber is basically an hour and a half long SNL skit.
The humor that makes you laugh while watching a MacGruber skit on SNL cannot be transferred into a movie.
Like most other SNL movies, MacGruber falls short.
I thought Phillipe would seem out of place among the SNL regulars but fills the role well and I found him to be a great character to pair up with Forte creating some brilliant scenesOverall, the film dishes out top notch sketches and memorable scenes and quotes.
in the beginning it feels like a serious action/drama movie but then once the main character is introduced it gets very bad..
I was full of anticipation before I hit the play button :) I love a good parody and thought this would be something like "The man with a naked gun", "Hot shots", or even MacGyver meets Jim Carrey...First few minutes was not too bad...a little flashback to Rambo 3...after 30 minutes I hit the stop button, which I think I have never done before!
Maybe the movie got better in the end, and maybe I am being unfair and stepping on the toes of some hardcore MacGruber fans here...but please don't let your poor kids/teens watch something as disturbed and pathetic as this movie, isn't the world bad enough as it is?.
MacGruber has a lot of really funny scenes and great one-liners, but could have been skits split into an episode of SNL.
The cast was a good as the normal SNL cast, the only difference is in this episode Ryan Phillippe and Val Kilmer are co-guest stars.I found funny where the sex scenes.
I honestly believe that Wayne's World being such a success has tainted the minds of the all the SNL producers into thinking any skit that is funny for 5 minutes will translate into an amazing hour and 45 minutes movies.Monday, May 24, 2010...written by John Richards on http://aroundthemovies.com.
All I know is that Will Forte is a pretty funny guy and his character proved that, just wish the film and the rest of the cast was better..
But in the sense that it is just an insane parody of action adventure movies with the central character a continuation of the SNL MacGruber, it is funny and crazy.
So every time he messes up it is apparently hilarious, or it must have been to the writers who found it so funny that they didn't bother writing any more jokes to y'know top it off.It reminds me of almost every Will Ferrell film where he is great because we are told so.
The cleverness is limited to character names (Val Kilmer plays Dieter Von Cunth) and Kristen Wiig writhing on the floor of a coffee shop at the sound of gunfire in her earpiece.Wiig and co-star Ryan Phillippe (Lt. Dixon Piper) are mostly there to counter the obnoxious, repetitive and blunt behavior of Forte's MacGruber.
Hell yes to this movie, this has to be one of the greatest stupid comedy films I've seen in a long time.
The actor who played MacGruber fitted the role exceptionally great and was just what the film needed.If you ever liked Airplane and Naked Gun I suggest watching this film.
But this was as if they took one of the worse Saturday Night Live skits, one of those you can't believe they really thought was going to be funny, and stretched it out into a movie.
An embarrassing film for the likes of Ryan Phillippe, Val Kilmer, Powers Boothe, Kristen Wiig.
Yes, there are good actors in it other then Mr. Kilmer - but definitely except the one who plays MacGruber, Will Forte.
Like I said, I watched it because of Val Kilmer otherwise it's a very dumb movie with lots of boring, filled with been-used-a-zillion-times-before kind of jokes..
I was not really looking forward to seeing MacGruber but all-in-all I had a good time watching it.
Honestly this is the only movie in the world that actually gets funnier the more times you watch.
It is dead pan humor and while it gets better as it progresses I am still left wondering if the producers had a few dollars leftover after a bigger production and decided to waste it on this.While it would most certainly come under the "Comedy" genre, it is by no means a very funny or side splitting type of film.The acting is perfect and the plot is sound but the the movie just isn't any good, as a comedy like.
I haven't had the pleasure of having watched the Saturday Night Live sketches, so I didn't even know that this movie and the characters were based on a SNL sketch.
The funniest parts of this movie is when MacGruber acts super obnoxious and crazy, and his obnoxious stupidity is actually sort of entertaining to watch in this film.
You can tell the guy that plays MacGruber would do anything for a laugh and it really shows in this film, even going as far to do really embarrassing stuff on screen.
I really like Powers Booth, so he made the movie less terrible, but I don't think I'm gonna watch it ever again..
MacGruber (2010) This is an action comedy film based on the Saturday Night Live sketch of the same name.
If you aren't a fan of SNL or never watched Macgyver, this movie will likely be lost on you.
That's all you need to know.Two things should be addressed regarding this film:1) The cast is surprisingly good with Will Forte, Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids), Ryan Phillippe (Cruel Intentions) work really well off of one another.
The writing in this film is not for everyone - but if silly, over-the-top comedy is your thing, then you'll love this movie.
If you don't need a bigger meaning from every film you watch and love big belly laughs - than you'll love this movie. |
tt0295369 | Killjoy 2: Deliverance from Evil | The film begins with a young man named Nic (Charles Austin) being chased by two police officers (Wayland Geremy and Bobby Madsen) for selling cocaine. A week later, Nic, his partner-in-crime Ray-Ray (Choice Skinner) and three other delinquents: Eddie (Jermaine Cheeseborough), Ce-Ce (Nicole Pulliam) and the shy Charlotte Davis (Olimpia Fernandez) are taken by two detention officers, Denise Martinez and Harris Redding (Debbie Rochon and Logan Alexander) to Loxahatchee Canon, where there is a detention center for the delinquents to stay in order for them to pay for their crimes. On the way down, their engine blows in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone reception, no gas stations nearby and no hope.
The men then head out to get a signal on Redding's cellphone, where they find a house nearby. Ray-Ray breaks into the house to find a working phone when suddenly, a gunshot is heard and Ray-Ray falls down on the ground with a shotgun bullet in his chest. The men are then greeted by a redneck local named Lilly (Tammi Sutton), who threatens to shoot them next if they don't leave. When the group refuses, she points the gun at Eddie and just before she pulls the trigger, Redding shoots her in the head with his gun, who proclaims: "Don't fuck with my kids". Redding tells them to get Ray-Ray back to the van while he searches for a phone. On the way back, they hear another gunshot, warning them that there are more rednecks out there. Believing that Redding is dead, the men quickly head back.
They get back to the van and find out that they don't have a medical kit with them. Warning them about the rednecks, the group head out to find a phone booth. About an hour later, they find another house belonging to a voodoo priestess named Kadja Boszo (Rhonda Claerbaut), who tells them that she can try to help Ray-Ray with her magic, but proclaims that if Ray-Ray chooses to stay alive, he'll be alive. If he doesn't, he would be dead. Meanwhile, Ce-Ce tells the group a story that her grandmother told her about, an evil spirit named Killjoy, therefore proving that the events of the previous film occurred. Nic, intrigued and believing that Killjoy can help Ray-Ray, bribes Ce-Ce with cocaine if she can bring Killjoy to life.
After seemingly to have failed, Nic yells at Ce-Ce and she goes to cry about it in an outhouse. Suddenly a pair of teeth chatters its way through the outhouse and off-screen, starts killing her. The teeth chatters its way out and a gloved hand picks it up and puts the teeth back in his mouth, revealing him to be...Killjoy! (Trent Haaga). Killjoy heads back to the house where he bumps into Eddie, who is pumping water out of a water pump. Killjoy, by using his telekinetic powers, lifts Eddie up off the ground and impales him onto the pump. Back inside the house, Nic arrives and gets told that Ray-Ray choose not to stay and now he's dead, and Ce-Ce and Eddie are missing. Nic heads out to go find them and takes Ms. Martinez's gun for protection.
Outside, he runs into Killjoy. Realizing he killed Eddie and Ce-Ce, he shoots him a few times but nothing happens. Killjoy, with his powers, magically makes Nic kill himself with his pocket knife. Ms. Martinez, Charlotte and Kadja, now the only people left alive, now discuss how to kill Killjoy. Kadja tells them that there is a spell to put him away for good, but before that can be accomplished, Killjoy uses his powers to slash Kadja's throat as she makes her way outside to confront him. Killjoy enters the house, knocks out Ms. Martinez and just as he's about to kill Charlotte, Redding comes back, and just as he and Killjoy are about to fight, Charlotte splashed Holy Water on Killjoy's face, melting his head and killing him. The next day, Charlotte, Ms. Martinez and Redding are taken out of the wilderness by a ranger (Devin Hamilton). | violence, comedy, revenge | train | wikipedia | Bad acting, bad characters, annoying clown, bad lines, you name it.
The only reason I watched Killjoy 2 is because I wanted to think that the filmmakers learned from their mistakes.
Not that the budget could have been much - this is the least scary film I have ever watched and laughed all the way through to the end (actually I can't believe we watched it to the end) but I think it is because we couldn't quite believe it..
I really don't know why I agreed to watch this movie, but like a complete fool I did and for that I deserve to be shot!
I started watching it but found it that bad that I ended up watching it in 4x speed to get it over with and get rid of the annoying dialogue, but I said I would watch it and I did even if it was in 4x speed.To cut a long story short Killjoy 2 kicks off where Killjoy left off.
I have nothing against low budget movies, in fact I kinda enjoy them, they are something different from Mega budget blockbusters, but this film is just terrible!
Please for the love of mankind itself DO NOT watch this muck, it is possibly the worst thing I have ever seen and considering some of the muck I've seen thats saying a lot!
Typical in that its worse than the original, I mean they didn't even bother to get killjoy to look the same.
The casting people must have been hard up for actors cause they casted a guy who is clearly a flamboyant homosexual to play a straight guy who asks one of the cops about her panties, or maybe he just wanted to wear them, I don't know, it was just a horrible line and acting job to go with the rest of the movie.
Maybe Part 3 will be better, but probably not, or it could be like Nightmare on elm street, 2 didn't have to be made and 3 is probably the best one...Heres hoping..
This sequel is just as bad, but apart from some sequences that has cinematography that even a faulty mobile phone could've done better, it is not as cheap to look at.
Killjoy himself is incredibly annoying rather than creepy, complete with cheesy lines(I hate sloppy seconds?
*groan*) and lame killings, plus you can tell often that the film did not know what to do with him.
For instance one character quoted, " You better have some R.E.S.P.E.C.T. or you'll find out what is means to me." Once I heard that line I figured it was of the worst I've ever heard.
Another thing that I hated about this movie was the fact it was too short.
A successful movie has to go more than one hour and twenty minutes, like Killjoy 2.
I'll start off with telling you that I had no hopes in the least bit that this movie would be good.
Considering that Killjoy (the first movie) is without a doubt the worst movie ever made, the sequel didn't have much promise.As expected, it didn't deliver.The deaths were even lamer than in the first movie.
In fact, that's the only reason that this movie wasn't as bad as the first, because the first was longer.Usually, I don't give spoilers in reviews, but since I don't want any of you to go through the torture of watching this waste of film, I'm going to spoil away.
to kill all of the normal serial killers in horror movies.
Then Killjoy started screaming, and they tried to make it look like his face was melting by putting dried rubber cement on his forehead.
I don't even know what to say, other than it looks like they just hired a few hobos living on the streets to act in this film.Seriously, I honestly doubt that they spent any more than 100 dollars total to make this movie.
A f**kin' movie made with a budget of $3.29.For Bob's sake, they couldn't even afford to rent a cop uniform.
In the end, after Killjoy dies, the girl wakes up and says "Where is he?" and the main woman replies, "He's gone." Then, suddenly, some fat goofy guy with scars on his face pops out of nowhere with a cell phone saying "You have a phone call." The girl answers and says "Oh, hi mom!" and smiles.
Killjoy isn't funny either (and believe me, he DID try to be).The only good thing about this movie is an extremely lame threat given by one of the delinquents.
"I'll show you third grade!"This movie doesn't even work on a "so bad, it's good" level.
Unless you did something bad, and you are feeling so guilty about it that you want to punish yourself severely, DON'T watch this movie.Just remember; if a flaming homosexual clown with a huge black afro tries to bore you to death with gay jokes (and attempt to kill you at the same time), just throw some water at him.
No one from the first has returned in this dumb sequel and in some way that is a good thing because of the bad acting but the characters in this film are not even better.
One of the teens senselessly uses a spell to call up Killjoy, who finally shows up about midway through this bore in a subpar make-up job and bigger, greasier 'fro that looks like it could slide off his head at any moment.
He then proceeds to kill off the stupid characters while spouting some of the worst one-liners heard since Hee Haw was canceled.The acting from the "teens" is terrible, the dialogue even worse, the FX stink and it looks a lot cheaper than the first film.
Although I enjoyed him in his earlier Troma films, Trent Haaga (trying to imitate Jim Carrey here) is awful and no match for the hyperactive overemoting of Angel Vargas in KILLJOY 1 (which at least had a few dumb laughs).Yet another nail in the coffin for Full Moon studios, whose reputation as a fun direct-to-vid franchise has completely vanished since the TRANCERS/PUPPET MASTER days..
I don't recall the song in the first movie but when singer Olimpia Fernandez sings 'Killjoy, yeah Killjoy 2' is sounds like the 2 may have been added in for this dire sequel.
The film is much worse than the first movie and that was really bad.
This time the cast, including the usually excellent Debbie Rochon have given up trying and director Tammi Sutton creates no tension and presents merely a dull and steady film.
not once though did i even get scared or even laugh at the lame acting and situations in the movie.
Warning to horror movie watchers, DONT WATCH, RENT OR LOOK AT THE BOXES OF "URBAN" HORROR FILMS, AND ABOVE ALL, DON'T BUY THEM!!!!.
These movies all suck and even better than that, it is humorous at how that one guy was obviously not ghetto at all but tried to be.
Killjoy 2 surpasses the first movie by just a little bit.The stuff that improved in here was the acting,the Killjoy make-up,and story.This one is more of a gore fest,it doesnt have the supernatural elements like the first one did.In this installment,Killjoy kills his victims in more normal ways,he doest set them on fire,and he doesnt shoot them with bullets that were in his mouth.The only thing I didnt like about this movie,was that the ending was a little half assed,in fact it was half assed,they killed Killjoy in a very cheap way.I would strongly recommend this to anyone who like horror movies.Seriously,the first movie was good,but the second is better.9 out of 10..
Who says sequels can't be better than the original?.
To be fair, I don't think there is many who'd take the Original over this, not because this is a great sequel, but just because the first Killjoy was kinda bad.
It loses the nudity on the other hand (not that that should really play a role in your enjoyment of this movie).The Killjoy character is kinda nice, but this time around you might even like the people he is "hunting".
Also, Very good Acting and Script make the Film that much more Better to see.
Fans of this Should Enjoy Movies from the "Puppet Master" Series, which is Done by Full Moon Pictures as well..
The first half of the movie is like a regular movie, I'm digging it, then of course enters KJ and I'm right in the middle of a Full Moon film.
Like a lot of other horror movies it failed to come up with a decent ending.
With the release of "Killjoy 2: Deliverance From Evil", Big City Pictures has taken another major step as a film company, and released its first sequel (and, at the same time, experienced its first "sophomore slump").
Unfortunately, the film has lost what made the first one so entertaining with uneven pacing and the loss of Angel Vargas as Killjoy.
"Killjoy 2" begins, in a pretty typical film fashion, with introduction of the characters and setup of the situation.
Once Killjoy makes his appearance at around the 35-40 minute mark (of a 72 minute film?!), the film quickly becomes a mad-dash to kill off all the characters, which, in total contrast to the unnecessarily drawn-out first half, is rushed and oversimplified.
Sadly, the film never catches up to its own speed, and ends rather abruptly, and the final battle with Killjoy was VERY unsatisfying since it was just as rushed as the rest of the second half and looked barely thought out (it just screams anti-climactic!).
I was surprised to learn that the original "Killjoy" was also only 72 minutes long, because, unlike this one, it didn't seem that short, and I wasn't thinking "That's IT?!" when the credits hit.
I loved Killjoy's character in the first film, but it wasn't until I saw the sequel that I truly appreciated why.
Angel Vargas really gave Killjoy a character in the first film.
This Killjoy is given none of the funny ghetto-slang one-liners that Vargas was able to deliver so well (sure, the lines were cliche, but he had the whiny, clown-type voice to make them work!), and, although this Killjoy has learned some new "tricks" in his kills, he doesn't look like he has as much fun with them as Vargas' Killjoy did.
I didn't enjoy "Killjoy 2" as much as I did the original, however I could see that it has improved in some areas (although those changes don't make up for the changes for the worse that I have written about, nor are they enough to make it "worthwhile" to mainstream fans of "real films").
I would recommend it as a rental to fans of the original, but would humbly suggest that if there is another sequel, that Vargas be brought back as Killjoy so that the film becomes fun again..
If you were to read my review of Killjoy, you would see that I clearly loathed that film.I heard the sequel was in production, and was extremely leery.
Charles Band has made probably some of the worst movies over the last 6 years, since Full Moon separation from Paramount, Killjoy was one of them.
So, Killjoy 2 goes into production...Okay, I'm a sucker for sequels...I'll check it out!Well, then I heard that one of my new favorite actresses, Debbie Rochon, would be staring, and after her superb role in Witchouse 3...I was willing to give it a try.
Douglas Snauffer, writer of Witchouse 2 was writing this one...I was much more comfortable going into this sequel.Okay, the opening scene...I have a feeling it was intentional that it played like a really bad episode of Cops...I can see that being dreamed up by J.R. Bookwalter...That seems to be his sense of humor (which love him or hate him for it...He is a genius Gurellia film maker).
I under stand that was her character, though.The unusal horror movie cliches commence: Bad Ass black guys swear and make sexual jokes--all too often, The van breaks down, the cell phone doesn't work, we end up at a redneck womans home (Tammi Sutton), We have a conflict with the redneck woman...I mean the cast is all black except Lilly the redneck, Debbie Rochon, and Trent Haaga, the guy in the Killjoy costume.
Soooo, we have a shot out, we stumble onto a Voodoo womans home (sporting, what looks like the same dress worn in Witchouse 2 and 3), and then Killjoy comes, killing happen, and then we have a happy ending...Regardless of all the cliches, corny and unbelieveable dialog, and silly predictable characters, The movie is much better than the first!
Trent Haaga was a much better Killjoy than Angel Vargas in the first.
I loved the fact this movie was filmed mostly outdoors...there was alot of action, not the typical " 6 kids trapped in a castle, or haunted house" scenario that Full Moon has been good for lately.
Since Tempe has been helping produce for Full Moon, the films have been a little better!
I am hoping since Danny Draven and Darkwave films has taken over production, they will be the same...He has a good eye for directing and producing.Anyway, Killjoy 2 was far better than the first, but still not strong enough to be all that fantastic of a film.
It has strong elements, and much more going on than the first film, but it just wasn't tight enough to make it better than say, Witchouse 3 or Witchouse 2 for that matter!6.5 out of 10.
The first Killjoy movie is very scary.
This Killjoy film has better cinematography and is more professional looking than the last.
That horrible last film was about gangsters killing a kid and then being haunted by a voodoo clown.
I thought the guy that played Killjoy in the last one was a bad actor, but wow!!!
This Killjoy is honestly the downright worst actor I've seen in any movie, and I've seen a lot of movies.
There seems to be no lighting on the "set" (the woods somewhere) and the killer clown known as Killjoy (who makes Leprechaun look like The Exorcist)is less than spectacular.
Killjoy 2 is not even really a movie, so much as an exercise in tension.
Killjoy 1 is at least good enough to be considered as the worst movie I have ever seen.
From what I gather of this scene (not from what is shown by the movie) the teeth went into the outhouse and killed the girl in some interesting, but unshown way, and then came back to Killjoy.
*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*This one was odd because I was actually interested in the movie up until the moment Killjoy showed up.
Once the demonic clown was in the picture, the movie didn't know what to do with him and limped along until the end.
Through a series of events, Killjoy is summoned and proceeds to do a lot of goofy, uninteresting things.The main problem with this movie, and the whole series, is that Killjoy is not funny.
I have never seen the first Killjoy film, and I have also never heard a good thing said about it.
Now being the massive Troma fan that I am there is no way I'm not going to rent this film out, how can it possibly be bad with these two in it?
Even Trent and Debbie cant save this excuse of a film from being as bad as it truly is.
Trent quite frankly stinks as Killjoy although this probably is more the fault of the writers giving him some of the worst one-liners in the history of film.
And just to top it all off the ending is just amongst the worst I have ever seen in movie history.
The film doesn't even work on a so bad it's good level.
Killjoy is better in this part.
Nevertheless, most part of the acting is bad as well, like in the first one.
If you did not already stop loving clowns after the first movie, you definitely will after the second.....;-)Problem kids and their watchers are on their way to a camp in the forest.
Well, you better watch the movie and find out for yourselves.....
One of the offenders tells us the story of Killjoy, then he somehow arrives at the scene.The characters in this film are stiff.
A couple of the actors look like they may actually go on to better things eventually.
Killjoy then ends up on the scene and the killing begins.
Very mild spoiler ( actually just playing it safe, it doesn't really give much away)The actor that plays Killjoy obviously spent a lot of time watching Caesar Romero on the old Batman show.
i rented this movie like when it came out and i thought it was awful..
this one is by far WAY better than the first one, because the first one had the most retarded killings EVER.
like throwing the guy over the water thing and making blood come out of it.
with the original killjoy Angel Vargas.
As much as people may hate the killjoy trilogy..
you know if a killjoy 3 came out you would rent it.
THIS MOVIE IS REALLY GOOD FOR A LOW BUDGET FILM AND REALLY GOOD ACCEPTING THE FACT THAT ITS FROM FULL MOON.
even better LIONSGATE should make a KillJoy 3 but those straight to video lionsgate movies SUCK..
Ms. Rochon don't have much to do but look worried but nonetheless it was nice to have her character survive the carnage.Fun time waster with a bunch of over aged teens and their chaperons stranded in the woods where two of them conjure Killjoy who then proceeds to kill them in somewhat amusing ways.Trent Haaga is awesome as the baddie.
The ending felt a little rushed and was somewhat of a letdown.Overall a fun watch if like me you enjoy watching Ms. Rochon and Mr. Haaga. |
tt0135024 | Une vraie jeune fille | Alice Bonnard (Charlotte Alexandra), a 14-year-old girl attending a boarding school in France, comes back to her home in the Landes forest for the summer of 1963. She flashes back to her time at school, where she frequently masturbated out of boredom. Her father (Bruno Balp) hires a young man named Jim (Hiram Keller), with whom Alice immediately becomes infatuated. Alice has a graphic sexual fantasy in which Jim ties her to the ground with barbed wire, and attempts to insert an earthworm into her vagina. When the earthworm will not fit, Jim tears it into small pieces and puts them in Alice's pubic hair.
At a carnival, a middle-aged man exposes himself to her on a ride. She then arrives home and imagines seeing her father's penis. She exposes herself to Jim, and the two masturbate in front of each other, to Alice's chagrin. She discovers her father is having an affair, and Jim tries pressuring her into having sex. He is then shot and killed by a trap Alice's father set up to keep wild boar out of his maize field. | pornographic | train | wikipedia | What more are we looking for when we define something as art?The first clue should be in the title: "A Real Young Girl.' Our culture (male dominant still,) is fascinated with sexualizing what are in our cultural context, inappropriately young females, that is, pubescent, underaged, or more gracefully put "blossoming." This is a complex issue not for discussion here, but the point is, artistic treatments of this subject have been predominantly male.
So a "Real Young Girl" may be a statement indicating that the director is going to show you early adolescent female sexuality as it truly is, from someone who has experienced it first hand, and not as it is eroticized by male artists.I think a big point of this film is that it is not pleasant and not easy, not fun or romantic, but painful, confusing, and filled with difficult feelings and disgust.While the film is beautiful and leaves one with a not unpleasant feeling (it's a good film, the ending is abrupt and funny, but no more so than other great avant-garde or new-wave filmmakers.)The eroticism can in no way be seen as pornography, though.
We see very explicit close-up of her vagina, but this is concurrent with her fantasy lover dangling a live worm over it, and eventually pulling the worm apart and dropping the still squirming bits on her pubis.Or a scene where walking on the beach to another fantasy, she drops her panties on the decaying corpse of a dog.Again, interpret for yourself, but you'll see not only a depth of symbol, but a unity of theme in the natural world and decay as related to this young girl's perception of her vagina: something akin to stinky, swampy pit- far from the ripe, juicy peach of male imagination.It gives what seems to my male mind, a convincing portrayal of early adolescent female sexuality from the perspective of a woman.The director clearly loves the female form but the film is no more explicit, and certainly less shocking, than say Pasolini's "Salo." (In fact, if Pier had been attracted to women, I suspect he would have given us similarly graphic views instead of tending to orient on penises of extraordinary size.) It's hard to find this film exploitative in comparison to such celebrated films as "Last Tango in Paris."I could go on and on but the point is, this is not a gray area somewhere near pornography, but a valid, necessary, and probably important (though only history will tell,) work..
They have an artistic value and should be seen for that.The film, about a 14-year-old's self discovery stars voluptuous Charlotte Alexandra, who would later appear in Emmanuelle 3.
The first film from Catherine Breillat, the director of "Romance" ('99), that had, upon it's completion in 1975, caused a ratings scandal in France and, beyond being censored, was banned outright.
Tellingly, this year (2000) it finally arrived, with little fanfare, on a screen in Paris as, literally across the street at the MK2 Odeon, another controversial film "Baise-Moi" (2000) was causing riots that led to the film being pulled from cinemas."Une Vraie Jeune Fille" showcases all of the obsessions that mark Breillat's work through to "Romance" and in a way it is almost more interesting to see the film in retrospect, in light of the films that she made after it, as the lietmotifs present in all were not only prefigured in the first film, but this first film also comments on them.A girl returns to her parents house from boarding school for the summer.
She becomes obsessed with a blue collar employee of her father's and his indifference toward her only increases his presence in her numerous sexual fantasies.The film is visceral and, while the camera is often highly subjective, it maintains, via a cool facade deliberately imitating that of 70's soft porn, that lends it a level of objectivity often entirely absent in American cinema (This film will, incidentally, never reach American screens).In the same way that "Romance" operates, this film, while exploring detailed fantasies, uses its objectivity to resist any psychoanalyzation of its protagonist.
This the first film by notorious French director Catherine Breillat.
But this is definitely NOT your average "coming-of-age" story.Both the French and English titles suggests that this is a story about a REAL (as opposed to "really") young girl.
Obviously, this movie in many ways is not particularly erotic.In her typical fashion though Breillat has cast a beautiful twenty-something softcore porn actress (Charlotte Alexandra, who also appeared in "Immoral Tales" and "Goodbye, Emanuelle")as the "teenager".
It's hard to believe a girl that looks like Alexandra would have difficulty seducing ANYBODY, and she would certainly be surrounded by both male admirers and female friends even in the most godforsaken part of France.
At any rate, I'm certainly not going to complain that THIS part wasn't played by an actual fourteen-year-old girl or a less physically attractive actress.
This film is rather difficult to review because it doesn't really have a plot to speak of, and it's clear that director Catherine Breillat was more keen on focusing on the art elements and detailing the sexual developments of a young girl than telling a story.
This is the first film I've seen from Catherine Breillat, but given what I've read about her; it would seem that she enjoys directing films that focus on sexuality, and that would seem to be the case if this film is anything to go by.
A Real Young Girl focuses on Alice Bonnard, a 'well developed' teenager who attends a boarding school and is spending the summer at her parents' house.
She becomes fixated on a man employed by her father, as well as a couple of other local men and her father, and the film basically follows her summer as things happen to her parents and she develops sexually.Unlike most exploitation films, this one takes place from the woman's point of view, although the idea that all men are sex-obsessed perverts certainly shines through, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Catherine Breillat is a devout feminist, as there isn't one single decent male character in the whole film.
I have to admit that I was expecting to be shocked going into the film, and while A Real Young Girl is liable to offend less well versed viewers; it would seem I've seen too much of this stuff as nothing in the film seemed too over the top to me.
Catherine Breillat clearly isn't afraid to shock the viewers, however, as the film features plenty of nudity and other perverse scenes.
The film features no suspense and the plot really just plods along, but it's well paced and while you know that the ending isn't going to provide much intrigue, it doesn't matter as anyone looking for a sexually charged film is likely to be satisfied..
"A Real Young Girl" is a slice-of-summer-life flick which follows a 17ish school girl's sexual exploration during a summer vacation with her parents on their farm.
A brave and visceral character study, this first outing for controversial auteur Catherine Breillat spends 90% of the run examining the fantasies, autoerotic experimentation, and eventual heterosexual encounters of the girl who seems sexually fascinated with all things liquid.
Though the film's darkish undercurrents of sexual aberration do portend better things to come from Breillat, it is not particularly interesting as a stand alone piece.
Not for those squeamish about graphic sexual content, this film should play best with those interested in psychosexual dramas (B-).
For me it was just hard to identify with the characters and all of her weird, sexual orientated, fantasies.It's a movie about a young 14 year old girl (played by an 21 year old by the way) who has obviously started to hit puberty and is about to discover her sexuality.
It means that the movie features plenty of full frontal female and male nudity but also some really disgusting scenes, as the little girl is really having some dirty thoughts and fantasies.
It's merely a look into the thoughts and fantasies of a girl who is about to discover her sexual identity for the first time.
It takes a woman to be able to get into a young girls mind and translate and brings to the screen all of the thoughts and feelings she might be having at that certain period in her life.
A Real Young Girl (1976) *** (out of 4) Fourteen year old Alice (Charlotte Alexandra) is on summer vacation when she starts to experiment with her sexuality.
This was made in 1975 but the producer's were so shocked that they kept it on the shelf until 2001, after director Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl became such a hit.
I enjoyed Fat Girl a lot more but this film here was pretty good, although the strong sexual content and nudity will certainly make most shy away from it.
It is believed by a vast majority of people that French are sexist people.There is no doubt about it.According to a recent survey conducted in France,a simple gesture of a mother breast feeding her child in public is considered an objectionable act by a vast majority French people.In 2006,film critic Lalit Rao got a chance of seeing this film during a film festival entitled "Est-Ce Ainsi Que Les Hommes Vivent?" at Saint Denis,France.He spoke to Ms.Breillat and Mr.Wakamatsu Koji regarding their extremely simple films which have always been considered difficult due to unknown reasons.So in France if one is so touchy about an honorable human activity of a mother offering milk to her baby where there are beauty and innocence associated,one can well imagine the reactions of French society to a woman film director of Catherine Breillat's stature whose films about issues related to feminine sexuality have always had an extremely provocative stance.This is one of the probable reasons why "Une Vraie Jeune Fille" was banned upon its initial release in 1975.This film is astonishing as this first film gave Catherine Breillat a once in a lifetime chance to make out of the ordinary films about themes and topics which were always considered as male domain..
After watching this film, you only find that France of the seventies has no level and desire but unrestrained, and the direction of it follows a kind of action from pure ignorance along with the struggle for having sex without purpose.
The film actually does not have the story, and only makes the audience fantasy instead of thinking.
Watched the film with Charlotte Alexandra in the main role "The Real Young Girl" (1976), liked her even more, than in "Immoral stories" (1974) - here she displays very sensual, wholehearted, heartfelt and indigenous heroine!
if you're going to make a bad film and call it 'psychosexual', you could at least put some good sex scenes in it.
A Film like 'A Real Young Girl' is Hard to Understand.
'A Real Young Girl' tells the story of a 14-year-old girl's sexual awakening.
Charlotte Alexandra does a good job as a 14-year old horny little girl.
At home on a school vacation, the heroine Alice, played by Charlotte Alexandra, is placed in situations where her beauty and her awakenings to life (constantly visualized in her raised dress and loosed panties) become hideous in normal context, e.g. the scene on the beach with the dog and garbage.
But then Breillat is trying to express the girl's beauty in her pent up sexuality and in her boredom which she can't escape and neither can we.
NEVER.Granted, the girl is beautiful, and her acting wasn't bad, but the whole film just didn't feel right.
Well, as I was browsing the TV guide for something to watch, I found it was playing tonight on some Quebec french specialized channel.I am just a guy, so I can't tell if that's really how teenage girls learn about their sexuality, but from the perspective of an adult male viewer, it's...
unattractive.It's a weird, slow pace movie, way different from what I have ever seen before, and probably different than any other possible movie.Worth seeing, if you don't mind viewing genitals, both female and male.Do not watch if you expect action, or if you expect a porno.
Catherine Breillat's first film, is in retrospect, a trip into what will be familiar territory (it reminded me of Fat Girl in mood look and plot).
Its a dark and disturbing film that doesn't seem to be about anything other than showing that little girls are not just sweet and light; and disturbing the audience in such away that its not really disturbing because you know she's going for effect and little more (I understand its to get us to think, but must it always be about the same thing?).
If the sexual awakening of a teenage girl wasn't already a heavily-subversive, abstract concept, then Catherine Breillat's A Real Young Girl can be viewed as one of the damnedest depictions of one of the most damning subjects in cinema history.
Catherine Breillat's, who later became renowned her focus on the sexuality of a teenage girl, first film can be viewed as an unabashed masterpiece or a choppy piece of transgressive cinema depending on how you view it.
The film possesses some very strong sequences, features a lead actress who is given so much to do and yet so little, and its approach is only odder and more convoluted the more you watch it.There's a certain mysticism to A Real Young Girl, thanks to the way it approaches its subject which has been identified by some online reviewers as "surrealism." If I employ the term "surrealism," I stutter when trying to define what I mean.
According to my own personal definition, A Real Young Girl fits right in under surrealist cinema, concerning Alice Bonnard (Charlotte Alexandra), a fourteen-year-old girl who returns home from a boarding school in France on summer break.
Certain flashbacks even involve her masturbating in her younger years, with one scene in particular showing her utilizing a spoon for aid in masturbation.Breillat is absolutely fearless here, constructing several fantasies in order to achieve a combination of shock and insight into the psyche of a teenage girl.
Consider her later film Fat Girl and how its graphic, tragic ending could be interpreted in several different ways.Now imagine that as the entire basis for A Real Young Girl; a film where every scene can be interpreted a handful of different ways.
The only thing I can think of is that this film is a showcase for the sexual awakening of a teenage girl in in explicit and heavily graphic form, but Breillat didn't go through all this trouble to make a simple showcase.
It could honestly be said that with "Une vraie jeune fille" Breillat makes Jon Waters look like Nora Ephron.But the movie's actual point seems to be to explore, with an adolescent aptly named Alice, the advent of a young girl's sexuality on a boring family summer vacation to an arid farm.
With no real men interested in her sexually (aside from, it is implied, her father, and a lecherous man his age she meets while at the fair), she turns to her own body for entertainment, inventing bizarre autoerotic games for herself, such as walking home with her underwear around her ankles or placing it on rotting dog carcasses.
It is an unflinching look at a young girl's exploration of the female body - her own - mindless of the regard of the other.That said, having first stumbled upon "Une vraie jeune fille" on the "arte" channel the other night in my Paris hotel room, the shock of the images took over any thought processes I was having as to why these visuals were even present and what they represented.
This is her directorial debut, and we see many topics that will crop up often in her later films - boarding schools (Bilitis), young underage girls on summer holiday wanting to lose their virginity (A ma soeur), underage sex in general (A ma soeur, 36 fillette) anally inserted objects (Anatomie de l'enfer)...I am a fan of Breillat's work, because she is groundbreaking.
Hats off to Breillat, surely one of the greatest living directors of films not in the English language at this moment in time.
This film goes on to show once again that adolescence is hell, that sex is not all it's cracked out to be, that the French countryside is full of mean, narrow-minded people, and parents don't understand.
I have yet to be real impressed with any of Catherine Breillat's works that I've seen at this point.
The weird thing is - I don't really "hate" any of the three or four films of hers that I've seen - I just can't find much about any of them that I think is all that exceptional either - and A REAL YOUNG GIRL is no exception, and honestly - this one is about the dullest of the bunch.Alice is a pre-18-year-old that is spending her summer at her family's home on break from the boarding school that she attends.
Though Breillat has always seemed to be a bit of a "shock artist" - she presents things in such a matter-of-fact (and often boring) manner, that the only ones who will be truly "shocked" by the material portrayed are prudes who will never watch her films in the first place.
I understand that probably isn't the director's intention in the first place, but I personally prefer to have some "sexuality" with my sex.
To sum up - A REAL YOUNG GIRL is a semi-graphic tale of a girl trying to understand and control her own sexuality - and though effective in some ways, it fails on the level that I would think should be most important in this type of film: to gain some sort of insight or understanding of this girl's confusion and angst. |
tt0372303 | The Good Shepherd | A photograph and an audio recording on reel-to-reel tape are dropped off anonymously at the home of Edward Wilson (Matt Damon), a senior CIA officer, after the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba fails due to an undisclosed leak. While riding to work on the bus, Edward is approached by a young boy who asks if Edward has change for a dollar. Upon arriving at work, Edward's assistant checks the serial number of the dollar against a long list of serial numbers assigned to various code names and confirms that Edward has been given a dollar from "Cardinal". The movie then flashes back to 1939.
In 1939 Edward is at Yale University and is invited to join Skull and Bones, a secret society. He is compelled to disclose a secret as part of his initiation: he reveals that as a young boy in 1925 he discovered the suicide note left by his father, Thomas (Timothy Hutton), although he says he never read it. After the ceremony, a fraternity brother tells him that Edward's father, an admiral, was to be chosen as Secretary of the Navy, until his loyalties were questioned. Afterwards Edward is recruited by an FBI agent Sam Murach (Alec Baldwin), who claims that Edward's poetry professor, Dr. Fredericks (Michael Gambon), is a Nazi spy, asking Edward to expose his professor's background as well as implying that the Professor is homosexual: Edward's actions result in Dr. Fredericks' forced resignation from the university.
Edward begins a relationship with a deaf student named Laura (Tammy Blanchard), but while on Deer Island, Edward meets and is later aggressively seduced by Margaret 'Clover' Russell (Angelina Jolie), his friend's sister. General Bill Sullivan (Robert De Niro) asks Edward to join the OSS, offering him a post in London.
Later while Edward and Laura are at the beach, Clover's brother, John, privately reveals that Clover is pregnant with Edward's child and asks him to "do what is expected." Laura, an able lip-reader, sees and walks away. Edward marries Clover. At the wedding reception Edward accepts an offer of a position in the London OSS office from General Sullivan, requiring him to be in England in one week, leaving his newlywed wife. In London he meets his former professor Dr. Fredericks, who is actually a British intelligence operative who had sought to infiltrate a Nazi organization while at Yale, causing the American authorities to suspect that he was a Nazi spy. Despite this, Fredericks recognized Edward's gifts and recommended that he be trained in counter-espionage in London.
An intelligence officer in the British SOE, Arch Cummings (Billy Crudup), tells Edward that Fredericks' indiscriminate homosexual relationships pose a security risk; Edward is asked to deal with his mentor, but Fredericks refuses the chivalrous suggestion to protect himself by returning to teaching. He says he will understand if Wilson wants to "tie his shoe" (a signal to watchers that the meeting went badly). Edward delays, prompting Fredericks to kneel down and tie Edward's shoe for him. As their meeting ends, he advises Wilson to "quit... while you still have a soul", leaves, and is brutally killed, his body being dumped into the Thames.
The time shifts to post-war Berlin, where the Allies and the Soviets, in a race for technological superiority, are trying to recruit as many German scientists as possible. Edward encounters his Soviet counterpart, codenamed "Ulysses", who praises Edward. They plan an exchange of scientists — the Soviets asking for German Nazi and Slavic scientists, while the Americans seek Jewish scientists.
Edward is assisted by an interpreter, Hanna Schiller (Martina Gedeck), who wears what appears to be a hearing aid. After Edward learns from his son during a rare phone call home that Clover is having an affair, he accepts Hanna's invitation to dinner at her home, and sleeps with her. While they are making love, Edward realizes that Hanna can hear without the use of her hearing aid, exposing her as a Soviet operative. She is killed and Ulysses is notified by her hearing aid being planted in his teapot.
After six years in London, Edward returns home to a distant Clover, who now prefers to be called Margaret. Edward presents his son with a miniature model ship inside a glass watch-casing. Margaret explains that her brother was killed in the war; she also confesses that she previously had a brief relationship with another man. When she asks if he had any relationships, Edward replies that "it was a mistake." General Sullivan approaches Wilson again to help form a new foreign intelligence organization - the CIA - where Wilson will work with his former colleague, Richard Hayes (Lee Pace), under Phillip Allen (William Hurt). Edward accepts, hiding the details of his position from everyone but Clover/Margaret.
Edward's first assignment deals with coffee in Central America where the Russians are trying to gain influence. Edward spots Ulysses in the background of footage of the country's leader, but doesn't disclose this. Another agent is sent covertly as a representative of the Mayan Coffee Company; Edward warns him not to wear his Yale class ring. Edward arranges for airplanes to fly over and release locusts during a public event where the Russians (including Ulysses) are present in order to intimidate the Central American leader. Edward later receives a can of Mayan Coffee presumably from Ulysses, containing a severed finger, and Yale class ring, evidently of the American agent. Wilson and Clover go to a Christmas party with their son, who wets himself, out of a heightened state of fear resulting from his fragmented awareness that his father is involved in dark secrets. At the party General Sullivan reveals to Edward that Phillip Allen was going to be on the Mayan coffee company's board of directors, prompting Edward to ask Sam Murach to check on Phillip's finances.
A Russian requesting asylum and claiming to be high-ranking KGB man Valentin Mironov, who knows Ulysses, is interviewed by Edward. Edward is fully convinced of his honesty. While attending the theater with Mironov and Cummings, Edward encounters his former sweetheart, Laura. They leave the theater separately, meet at a restaurant and rekindle their old romance.
Sometime later, Margaret anonymously receives photos of Laura and Edward getting into a taxi together and kissing. A distraught Margaret confronts him. Edward ends the relationship with Laura by returning her jeweled crucifix, which he had kept from their college romance days.
Then a Russian defector appears, claiming that he is the real Valentin Mironov, and that the other man actually is Yuri Modin, a KGB operative working for Ulysses. Edward does not believe him, and agents beat and torture the man, and administer liquid LSD because of its alleged truth serum properties. Despite the combined effects of drugs and torture, the second defector insists that he is the true Mironov. He further ridicules his interrogators for their need to believe in the myth of Soviet power which he calls a "great show" and "painted rust". Realising that he will never be believed, the defector hurls himself through the window to the pavement several stories below. The first man claiming to be Valentin Mironov, who has watched the entire ordeal together with Edward, then offers to take LSD to prove his innocence, but Edward doesn't think it's necessary.
Edward visits his son, Edward Jr., at Yale, where he has also joined the Skull and Bones society and has been approached for recruitment by the CIA. Margaret pleads with Edward to persuade their son not to accept, but Edward Jr. joins anyway, believing it will bring him closer to his loving, but distant, father. This widens the rift between Edward and Margaret. Later Edward Jr. overhears Edward and Hays discuss the upcoming Bay of Pigs invasion; Wilson suspects that Edward Jr. may have overheard the conversation and warns his son to be silent. Margaret moves to her mother's home in Arizona.
The film returns to the recording dropped off at the beginning of the movie. After analysis of clues such as the ceiling fan's brand name and the church bells and other sounds heard on the tape, CIA specialists deduce that the photograph may have been taken in Leopoldville, in the Congo. Edward goes there and finds the room. He realizes that the photograph and tape are of his son Edward Jr. when he sees the model ship in the glass watch-casing on the nightstand; its blurred image was the one object in the photo that the CIA team was unable to identify. Ulysses is there and plays Edward an unedited version of the tape, revealing Edward Jr. repeating to his lover, a Soviet spy named Miriam, the classified information he overheard his father discussing. Thus the Cubans and Soviets learned of the upcoming CIA landing at the Bay of Pigs. Ulysses encourages Edward to spy for the Soviets in exchange for them protecting his son. Edward is non-committal, however; he confronts his son, who says that he is in love with the woman and plans to marry her. His son refuses to believe that she is an intelligence agent.
Edward exposes Valentin as Soviet spy Yuri Modin after finding evidence of his true identity in a book given to him by Arch Cummings, who is thus exposed as a co-conspirator. Cummings flees to the USSR. After meeting Ulysses in a museum and refusing to betray his country, Edward explains that as the Soviets have won in Cuba it is not necessary to hurt his son. Ulysses notes of Edward Jr.'s fiancée: "neither of us can be sure about her", and asks Edward, "You want her to be part of your family, don't you?" Later, Ulysses' aide asks him for change to purchase his daughter a souvenir from the gift shop. Edward asks how much it is, and hands him a one dollar bill, commenting that a cardinal rule of democracy is generosity, thus confirming that the aide is Edward's defector in place.
Edward and Margaret arrive separately in the Congo for Edward Jr.'s wedding. His fiancée Miriam travels on a small plane to the ceremony but mid-flight is thrown out of the plane. When she fails to arrive at the church, Edward informs a worried Edward Jr. that she is dead. Edward denies any responsibility when Edward Jr. asks; but is visibly affected when his son reveals that Miriam was pregnant.
Edward meets with fellow Skull and Bones classmate Hayes (loosely based on Richard Helms) at the new CIA headquarters still under construction. Hayes tells him that Allen is resigning under a cloud of financial improprieties (after receiving copies of the Swiss accounts delivered in a chocolate box), and that the President has asked him to be the new Director. The President has directed him to do some "housecleaning" and he tells Edward that he needs someone he can trust, saying, "after all, we're still brothers" and that Edward is the "CIA's heart and soul". He then tells Edward he will be the first head of counter-intelligence. Edward notes the inscription on the new marble wall of the CIA lobby: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32)".
Edward is then shown pulling from his home safe the suicide note that his father, Thomas, had left and in which his father's words, only now read by Edward, reveal that he had betrayed his country. He left loving words for his wife and son, particularly urging the latter to grow up to be a good man, husband and father and to live a life of decency and truth. Realizing he had done none of those things, Edward sadly burns the note.
The film ends with Edward leaving his old office and moving to his new wing in the CIA. | humor | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0282698 | Love Liza | Wilson Joel's (Philip Seymour Hoffman) wife Liza (Annie Morgan) has, for an unexplained reason, committed suicide. Wilson one night discovers a sealed letter from his wife, which he believes to be her suicide note. In his grief-stricken state and with the added stress of finding the letter, which he cannot bring himself to open and read, he forms an addiction to inhaling gasoline fumes (“huffing”).
In order to hide his addiction from a work colleague, he informs her that the petrol smell in his house is from his hobby of flying remote controlled planes. To try to engage an ever-distant Wilson, she asks her brother-in-law, Denny (Jack Kehler), a radio control (RC) hobbyist, to visit Wilson. With the knowledge of an impending visit from Denny, Wilson heads down to the local RC hobbyist shop to buy himself a plane. He also stocks up on some RC fuel to fill his plane and feed his addiction. Out of this lie, a very unusual friendship forms between Wilson and an energetic Denny.
His mother-in-law (Kathy Bates) tries her best to help Wilson and deal with her own loss at the same time. She becomes increasingly anxious to know the contents of the letter. | melodrama, romantic, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1672723 | Batman: Year One | The story recounts the beginning of Bruce Wayne's career as Batman and Jim Gordon's with the Gotham City Police Department. Bruce Wayne returns home to Gotham City at the age of twenty-five from training abroad in martial arts, man-hunting, and science for the past 12 years, and James Gordon moves to Gotham City with his wife, Barbara, after a transfer from Chicago. Both are swiftly acquainted with the corruption and violence of Gotham City, with Gordon witnessing his partner Detective Arnold John Flass assaulting an African-American teen for fun.
After refusing a proposition from a teenage prostitute Holly Robinson, He is reluctantly drawn into a brawl with her violent pimp and is attacked by several prostitutes, including dominatrix Selina Kyle. Two police officers shoot and take him in their squad car, but a dazed and bleeding Bruce breaks his handcuffs and causes a crash, dragging the police to a safe distance before fleeing. He reaches Wayne Manor barely alive and sits before his father’s bust, requesting guidance in his war on crime. A bat crashes through a window and settles on the bust, giving him the inspiration to become a bat.
Gordon soon works to rid corruption from the force, but, on orders from Commissioner Gillian Loeb, several officers attack him, including Flass, who personally threatens Gordon’s pregnant wife. In revenge, the recovering Gordon tracks Flass down, beats him, and leaves him naked and handcuffed in the snow.
As Gordon becomes a minor celebrity for several brave acts, Batman strikes for the first time, attacking a group of thieves. Batman soon works up the ladder, even attacking Flass while he was accepting a drug dealer’s bribe. After Batman interrupts a dinner party attended by many of Gotham’s corrupt politicians and crime bosses to announce his intention to bring them to justice, including Carmine "The Roman" Falcone, Loeb orders Gordon to bring him in by any means necessary.
As Gordon tries in vain to catch him, Batman attacks Falcone, stripping him naked and tying him up in his bed and dumping his car in the river, infuriating the mob boss. Assistant district attorney Harvey Dent becomes Batman’s first ally, while Detective Sarah Essen and Gordon, after Essen suggested Bruce Wayne as a Batman suspect, witness Batman save an old woman from a runaway truck. Essen holds Batman at gunpoint while Gordon is momentarily dazed, but Batman disarms her and flees to an abandoned building.
Claiming the building has been scheduled for demolition, Loeb orders a bomb to be dropped on it, forcing Batman into the fortified basement, where he abandons his belt as it catches fire. A SWAT team led by trigger-happy officer Branden is sent in, and attempts to trap Batman in the basement. After tranquilizing Branden, Batman dodges bullets as Branden's team opens fire on him, barely managing to survive after two bullet wounds. Enraged as the team’s carelessly fired bullets injure several people outside, Batman beats the team into submission and, after using a device to attract the bats of his cave to him, he flees amid the chaos. After witnessing him in action, Selina Kyle, dons a costume of her own to begin a life of crime.
Gordon has a brief affair with Essen, while Batman intimidates a mob drug dealer for information. The dealer comes to Gordon to testify against Flass, who is brought up on charges. Upset with Gordon's exploits, Loeb blackmails Gordon against pressing charges with proof of his affair. After bringing Barbara with him to interview Bruce Wayne, investigating his connection to Batman, Gordon confesses the affair to her.
Batman sneaks into Falcone’s manor, overhearing a plan against Gordon, but is interrupted when Selina Kyle, hoping to build a reputation after her robberies were pinned on Batman, attacks Falcone and his bodyguards, aided from afar by Batman. Identifying Falcone’s plan as the morning comes, the uncostumed Bruce leaves to help.
While leaving home, Gordon spots a motorcyclist enter his garage. Suspicious, Gordon enters to see Johnny Vitti, Falcone’s nephew, and his thugs holding his family hostage. Gordon decisively shoots the thugs and chases Vitti, who has fled with the baby. The mysterious motorcyclist, now revealed to the reader as Bruce Wayne, rushes out to chase Vitti. Gordon blows out Vitti's car tire on a bridge and the two fight hand-to-hand, with Gordon losing his glasses, before Vitti and James Gordon Junior fall over the side. Bruce leaps over the railing and saves the baby. Gordon realizes that he is standing before an unmasked Batman, but says that he is "practically blind without [his] glasses," and lets Bruce go.
In the final scenes of the comic, Flass turns on Loeb, supplying Dent with evidence and testimony, and Loeb resigns. Gordon is promoted to captain and stands on the rooftop waiting to meet Batman to discuss somebody called the Joker, who is plotting to poison the reservoir. | violence, neo noir, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0896533 | Conjurer | For the past year, photographer Shawn Burnett (Andrew Bowen) and his wife Helen (Maxine Bahns) have been grieving the loss of their first child, which died in Helen's womb before it could be carried to term. They're hoping that a move to the country will help them both heal and move on with their lives. Shawn is somewhat irritated that the move involves him taking charity from Helen's brother Frank (John Schneider), but he's willing to do whatever he can if it will give Helen solace. Frank promises that he will build the two of them a brand new house, but until the construction is done they must stay in an older house with a decrepit cabin in the backyard. Shortly after they move in, Helen becomes pregnant again.
Shawn is fascinated when he discovers via some neighbors that the cabin is reported to be haunted by the ghost of a witch that curses anyone trying to get pregnant, seeking revenge against a husband that murdered her own child years ago. While investigating the legend Shawn injures himself on a tooth left in the cabin and develops a severe infection. As the infection worsens Shawn begins to experience strange visions and events, unsure if they are real or delusions triggered by the infection and a possible latent mental illness, as his own father murdered his wife and then killed himself. This worries Shawn as either way this poses a potential threat to Helen, either by the witch's hand or by Shawn's possible mental illness, and he decides that he will get Helen out of that place. This puts him at odds with Frank, who believes the land to be completely safe.
As things grow more strange and Shawn becomes more unstable, things culminate in a chase scene that ends with Shawn firing a gun at his wife. Authorities are called to the scene and Shawn tries to explain the story of the witch, only to be told that there is no witch and that the neighbors (who had told him the story) never existed. He's then taken to a mental institution, leaving Helen to live in the house by herself. The film ends with Helen listening to a phone message from Shawn and then turning to the camera with a malevolent look, leaving it up to the viewer to decide if the events in the film are the result of Shawn's psychosis or if there actually is a witch and that she has possessed Helen at some point during the movie. | paranormal, murder, haunting, flashback | train | wikipedia | Good ghost stories always are slower paced with unsettling creepy touches that can be moody and Gothic and spooky.
So here's a tip to splatter fans and gorehounds >> AVOID THIS MOVIE << to the rest of you who like slower paced quality spooky movies, this is really worth watching.
I'm quite wary of American ghost stories since they always seem to have several dozen false scares, loud sound effects and music, shock for shock sake that only shows a lack of imagination and dimwitted characters doing dimwitted things.
Most supernatural films that dish out the shocks can't or won't attempt unsettling, eerie or creepy moments because they have no faith in the audience who will think it's not scary enough or too slow.
We love independent movies especially spooky ones that don't do the whole gore thing and we saw this review quoted from Dreadcentral.com back in August: "No word on a distro deal for the film yet, but I'm sure it won't take long for someone to snatch this up.
Conjurer is a smart, tense ghost story that I'm sure will find its place among fans who are looking to avoid the usual ADD-causing jump scares and work instead on slowly witling away at your nerves." It really made us want to see it but there was no word about a release or anything and there was no follow up news then we saw it was going to play at the Dixie Film Festival a few weeks ago.
This is low budget and a bit slow but a whole lot better than movies like The Return or The Abandoned or The Messengers or Darkness..
Just got back from the premiere screening, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and very impressed with this film.The story established a thoroughly creepy premise, built the tension, included more than a few jumps and jolts, and had me and my wife hugging each other tightly for fear of the next scare.So, a great horror film experience.The production values were very high.
I wouldn't call this a horror film because the term usually means lots of splatter and this has little blood but there's no category for 'Best Supernatural' or 'Best Ghost' story at any of these fests which is too bad, that would be a better category even though it had it's share of creepy moments.
In this case it worked to their advantage because the story benefited with a gradual creepy film that never signaled where it was going or how it would end.
Sure enough there's something wrong with this cabin and strange things start happening, the cabin is haunted by the ghost of an old witch or Conjurer.
I'm going to do my best to stay awake while I write this review for you but I even as I type these words I'm dozz
Shawn Burnett (Andrew Bowen) and his wife Helen (Maxine Bahns) move to the country after a miscarriage devastates Helen.
Horror or thriller movies can be slow moving, until the pay off in the end, which makes the entire movie worth the audience's patience and attention.
He pulls Shawn off adequately enough that if the script were better, he might be able to compensate for the egregious attempts at acting by other actors in the movie.Whenever Maxine Bahns came on screen, the teeth in my mouth that had dental work began to throb.
I can tell he is trying to figure out the best angle to convey mood but the only thing I felt was nausea.The one part of the whole movie I was in love with was the when Shawn decides to take the status of the crow into his own hands.
After viewing some of the comments here i decided to actually watch this movie, even though i was pretty much convinced that it was a waste of time.
The plot had been done much better before, the effects was yet again horrible and I cant find a single thing from the movie that i enjoyed except from Maxine Bahns looks.
Sure, the film relies on all the same tropes as 99.9% of the "haunted area" pieces, but "Conjurer" really shines in its ability to cause fits of uncontrollable laughter and/or comas.Should you ever find yourself in the mood for a horror film that includes such terrifying elements as the discussion of paint swatches, the planting of cabbages, and healthy trees in broad daylight, "Conjurer" is just what you need.Alternately, you could read an issue of "Better Homes & Gardens"..
Then I checked out the film's website and saw it had won four other film festival awards and had good reviews so I rented it to see what this little half million dollar film had going for it.
I like watching indie films and this looked at least interesting.First, for such a low budget it's far better than a lot of studio movies with 20, 30 or 40 times the budget.
Second, it's also almost old-fashioned in the slow pace and lack of gore for a horror flick so I can see why viewers that like jump-cut gore are going to find it too tame.
But like other reviewers have said, when it seems that all we ever get lately is films going the slasher and blood route and the herky-jerky Asian horror plus ridiculous CGI FX that have become almost laughable, this director bucked the trend and went more cerebral and eerie.
I'm pretty sure that certain elements of the story could have have been stronger and shot better if they had more time and money and locations, but it was overall quite effective.
The front of the DVD has a quote that says "a slow burn gripping little ghost movie" and I thought that was right except it's more about a vengeful witch's spirit than what you normally think of in a ghost story.
It does have a slow pace, but I was never bored and as the second half unfolded it sustained my interest very well with good creepy moments, some good scares and an ending that was an odd and interesting twist definitely out of the norm.
And it also had some good acting performances to help the movie along as well.The story in "Conjurer" is about Shawn Burnett (played by Andrew Bowen) and Helen Burnette (played by Maxine Bahns) whom move to a quiet, idyllic rural house after having lost a child during pregnancy.
This homestead was supposed to be a place of recovery and rest, but it turns out that there is something ancient and terrible residing on these lands.It was also the fact that the characters in the movie were well-detailed and fleshed out on the screen that helped added depth to the storyline.There is a good amount of creepy moments throughout the course of the movie, but nothing that really climaxes into something downright scary or disturbing.
A feat which the movie needed.The acting in "Conjurer" was good, and especially Andrew Bowen stood out here with his performance.
The effects in "Conjurer" worked well enough for their intended purposes.However, for a horror / thriller movie then "Conjurer" turned out to be a generic one.
But, after seeing this movie "Conjurer" i registered with IMDb to write the review."This is the worst horror movie I have ever seen".
Any Horror Movie cannot be this much worst.I did waste more than one hour, expecting to happen something creepy (I wish I could get back).
I think, the movie director and producer have written the first two reviews stating High rating.Lots of other creepy movies you can find in store, don't waste time as i did..
Creepy film with some nice twists and turns in the plot, and even in the ending.
if Saw 5 or Hostel is your idea of a great horror movie, you should probably skip this one, but if enjoy intelligent, character-based chillers like the Orphanage and the Others, then you will like it..
It is just a somewhat slow paced, but very good, indie movie.
This is the classic case of a VERY slow burn, ULTRA low-key, Retro Horror film, very much like a lot of the old British Ghost Stories.
You honestly either really like them or you do NOT.That is why you see reviews here with 7 and 8 stars and comments like 'Creepy' or 'Really Scary', and yet there are also MANY that tell you that the movie is complete crap and a waste of time.The one thing right from the start that I VERY much appreciated was that the acting was actually quite good.
As I've said before in other reviews, usually that is the ONE thing that turns me off immediately with many 'Horror' films that are similar to this.
IF you do enjoy real slow, but quality old fashioned Horror films and you are NOT looking for over the top sadism or violence, and also VERY important, if you are the kind of person who can EASILY get drawn into atmospheric, slow-building, Ghost Stories that are similar to this, then there is a decent chance that you will enjoy watching this movie.
if you like your Horror films with a faster pace or more action or are easily bored, then you will definitely want to give this one a pass.
I'm not saying that you won't be able to appreciate it; I'm only saying that it probably is just not your kind of Horror movie.But, if you DO enjoy a low-key, mildly scary Horror story and you can allow yourself to get caught up in the mood and atmosphere that the film makers built quite nicely, then you should have some fun watching this....
Then they move to the country side, to get a fresh start, For the first 20 minutes felt like this could be a good movie , some calm scenes in this movie, felt a little bland at times.
Some of the scare Scenes or the Jump scenes, were not scary at all, they tired to make it creepy, by keeping far from each other but think it failed, other scenes felt empty The whole movie was just about watch-able and ghd twist was decent, I had didn't see it coming at all but this dose leave some plots holes in the movie.
( I heard cast and crew were actually haunted on set, and those stories they told, were a lot creepy then this movie ) The acting from two main, lead were really were rrally bad in some scenes, as some scenes were almost un -watchable.
Conjurer resulted to be a nice surprise because it tells a ghost story on an old-fashioned style,creating suspense on a traditional way and not choosing the easy way of the gore or the tedious edition tricks which have became a custom in the low-budget and high-budget horror cinema.The movie tells the story on a serious and slow way and that helps for adding mystery to the movie.It also generates a very good atmosphere and the film creates tension on a solid way without using cheap tricks (with only a few exceptions) .Director Clint Hutchison made a minimalistic work and that was a good decision because it complements the style and tone of the movie.The fails I found on this movie are two.For one sight,Maxine Bahns did not convince me too much with her work.On a lot of occasions,it's easy to note her lack of conviction.And for the other sight,there are two or three times in which the movie uses artificial scares.But,fortunately,for most of the time,the movie does not use that cheap trick.Conjurere is a very competent horror film which kept me very entertained and tense.But what I mostly appreciated from it,is its classic style.I recommend this movie with confidence..
Or people that have never watched a thriller or a horror movie before?
Actually this is one of the best low-budget supernatural horrors I have ever seen, although originality is hardly the case here (haunted cabin, evil witch, malicious raven, etc.).
"Conjurer" reminded me of thrillers like "Dark Remains", "The Shining" and "The Amityville Horror".A lot of attention has been paid to the characters, which is always good if you want the viewer to care about them and what is going to happen to them eventually.
The cast is great, Andrew Bowen in particular - he delivers a very natural performance and I like the fact that his character doesn't fall into the trap of "having answers for everything", "trying to be a super-hero" or "doing the most irrational things" in the scare-scenes.My one and only negative remark concerns the ending of the film - as one reviewer already mentioned - it doesn't really make much sense, and I think that's because it (the ending) tries to be "supernatural" and "rational" at the same time.
It's as if the creators of "Conjurer" couldn't decide between two possible conclusions of the film, so they included both of them as a result.Anyway, if "ghost-horror" movies are your thing and you don't mind low-budget productions, give "Conjurer" a chance.
"Conjurer" is an utterly poor and hardly worthwhile affair.**SPOILERS**A year after a miscarriage, Shawn, (Andrew Bowen) and Helen Burnett, (Maxine Bahns) move out to the countryside with Frank Higgins, (John Schneider) and Marlin Dryer, (Tom Nowicki) who tells them he's going to let them live in a small house while he finishes their new home.
With the haunting in the cabin turning into an armed chase through the darkened house with plenty of surprises to pop out of nowhere, it's fairly entertaining and certainly makes for some adrenaline to flow through the film, and with a somewhat original twist to occur certainly helps.
The only other part that actually works is the back-story, which like most good ghost stories is rooted in legend and is somewhat chilling, providing the perfect basis on which to hang a horror film.
One of the biggest issues, as it's the one that takes up the most amount of time, is the film's rather horror-less feel to it.
It's very rarely when the film feels like a horror film, which is most of the good parts, which leaves the rest of the time spent on a lot of themes or ideas that aren't very scary or horrifying.
This leads the film into an incredibly dull-like feeling and makes for some really boring times within the film, especially during the ending when it somewhat peters out instead of building up to a grand finale.
A very smooth flowing script from scene to scene -- there was no way to tell that this was in any way a low budget movie as it came across as first rate.Very good acting by the whole cast and kudos to the whole production and directing crew plus make-up and all the other folks involved for putting together a believable and natural movie set.I really enjoyed the fact that instead of blood and gore (which to me is just "yucky" and not scary at all) the movie scares one psychologically.
I saw this movie last night, hoping for something good - unfortunately, it didn't deliver.The movie has an almost stock standard plot - 2 30-something people move to a new area; "spooky" things are around; stories of haunted houses /garden sheds are being spread by certain people.I have been racking my memory, to try & remember what this movie reminds me of (there was a movie I saw a few years back that was almost the same - a person has paranoid schizophrenia & imagines a lot of the horrors that are seen on the screen - none of which are true - until the end).This movie offers nothing new; it definitely does not deserve the high ratings from the first two viewers, hence, I have rated it as a 1-star.
This could pose a threat to his wife, who has become pregnant again.I thought the work of Andrew Bowen and Maxene Bahns as the Burnetts was quite solid, with developed characters you care about, and I appreciated the attempt to slowly build a spooky atmospheric story about the possible witch's ghost who lives in a creepy cabin, but for some reason, the film never quite satisfied me.
I think those accustomed with films such as this already know that it will not end well for Shawn either way..if he's imagining everything, he's a nutcase, but if he's right, his wife's in danger.
There was a good balance of creepiness, story line, decent acting, and suspense.
What more could you want in a film to watch before going to bed?
(Yeah...I know...what were they thinking, right?) But seriously...this was a well done film that was edgy and worth the watch if you enjoy smart suspenseful ghost movies..
If you have read or watched a lot of horror stories, the plot is quite foreseeable.
All in all, I think it was one of the best movies on the witch theme, that I have ever seen!.
(im not even kidding) There is a small scene at the end that you have been waiting for the whole movie but its over before you know it and it really wasn't even that good.
***The Spoilers*** Worth Reading if you don't want to see this horrible movie.Sean and his wife Helen have a miscarriage that puts them in a bad financial position.
so i guess now he is not crazy and that whole part is a waste of time.***The Summary*** by the end of the movie.
this movie is just plain BAD and VERY boring and doesn't make much sense when you tie the story together.
We all know know about movies dealing with witchcraft/ghost story elements, like ancient curses and possessed building, right?
Relatively many of my fellow reviewers stated that the film is full of genuine scares and atmospheric tension, but I honestly think they are either related to one of the cast or crew members or they never watched a REAL horror movie before in their lives. |
tt0251433 | Shun liu ni liu | Tyler (Nicholas Tse) impregnates a lesbian cop, Ah Jo (Cathy Tsui),after a drunken night. He joins an unlicensed bodyguard service led by Uncle Ji (Anthony Wong), to earn money to give to Ah Jo who wants nothing to do with him. Nearly nine months later, Tyler meets up with a butcher named Jack (Wu Bai) and his pregnant wife, Ah Hui (Candy Lo), who helps Tyler, at Ah Hui's father's birthday, prevent the father's assassination. Tyler tries to convince Jack to start a bodyguard service with him, but Jack turns him down.
A group of South American mercenaries, known as the Angels, arrive and threaten Jack, who they call Juan, and their second in command Miguel (Couto Remotigue) offers him a chance to rejoin them if he kills his own father-in-law. Instead, Jack kills the leader of the Angels and evades Uncle Ji's bodyguards, knocking Tyler out in the process, and then steals a case full of cash from under their noses and escapes from the Angels. Jack drops his wife off at her father's mansion, giving her a key to a train station locker and telling her to go there when their child is born. Tyler is interrogated by the cops in connection with Jack, who accuse him of being connected to the killer because he saw him up close. Tyler tells them nothing.
An Jo tries unsuccessfully to parole Tyler, but Uncle Ji succeeds. Tyler thanks An Jo, and Uncle Ji locks him up in a transportation crate for a night before letting him out and getting Tyler to tell him about Jack. Uncle Ji gives Tyler more money, which Tyler tries to give to Ah Jo; he finds out that she has just gone into the hospital to give birth. Tyler heads off after Jack, and breaks into his apartment only to find the Angels and Jack have the place staked out.
A running gun battle ensues between Jack and the Angels as Tyler desperately tries to survive in Jack's apartment. Tyler ends up trapped in the apartment with the gas leaking and only manages to survive the explosion by hiding in the refrigerator. Jack tricks the Angels into killing one of their own and distracting them long enough so he and Tyler can escape the rest. Miguel admits defeat and tries to call a truce with Jack, but then calls it off when one of the other Angels spots Jack's wife who arrives on the scene to see her former apartment burning.
The Angels take off after An Hui, following her to the train station. Tyler steals a taxi with his fake gun, giving his wallet to the driver, who promptly takes it to the cops. The police, still suspicious of Tyler from earlier, place him at the scene of the gun battle and explosion send a SWAT team after him to the station. At the station, Tyler confronts An Hui with his fake gun and takes the money Jack stole from the Angels. An Hui goes into labor and one of the Angels shoots a cop, and an innocent, while trying to shoot Tyler.
In the ensuing panic, Tyler drags An Hui off to safety and the SWAT team arrives to deal with the situation. As they send in a medic team to retrieve An Hui, the Angels open fire on them. Jack arrives on the scene just before the SWAT team, including Miguel and other disguised Angels, starts a full invasion with tear gas. In the midst of the gases, Jack, the Angels, and the SWAT team hunt one another, with SWAT officers silently killed one by one by the Angels, who then disguise themselves in the SWAT gear from the fallen officers, enabling them to kill even more unsuspecting officers. Tyler escapes with An Hui to the railway tracks, where Jack saves the life of the SWAT team lieutenant and surrenders to him.
The remaining Angels escape through a tunnel to a stadium full of concert goers. Tyler has to hunker down in the tunnels as An Hui starts to give birth, and Jack convinces the SWAT Lieutenant to let him go after Miguel in the stadium. Jack confronts Miguel in the catwalks above the concert goers and defeats him. Meanwhile, Tyler helps An Hui successfully give birth before the last of the Angels shows up. A fight ensues, and just as Tyler is about to lose, the last of the Angels gets shot repeatedly by An Hui.
Jack is given a head start to escape the police and visits with his wife, and Tyler recovers the money before going off to the hospital to see his child. | violence, murder, romantic | train | wikipedia | Time and Tide actually has a very well crafted story full of great characters and sharp dialogue.
Its as if Tsui Hark considered how every scene would be typically and familiarily shot, then conveys what happens in a totally unexpected way.
No block building here, one must jump in and and go with the flow.The film makes no pretentions to day to day realities, and there are some ludicrous scenes paying homage to imagination run riot, but I think these add to the fun, especially since they are delivered with typical Tsui Hark absurd charm.I originally gave this film a 9/10, and the more I consider it, the more I like it.
Thoughtful and Great action - one of Hark's best.
Watching Time and Tide is akin to being in a taxicab with a driver, who knows what his final destination is but has no idea how to get there, drives around really fast and somehow makes it to the end--this is not to be said as an insult, but a testament to his skill.
He only shows what needs to be shown for the smallest amount of time needed to register with the viewer so that even the dramatic scenes have a kinetic energy.I would try to give a quick synopsis of the narrative, but I lack both the PH.D in Ludicrous and the necessary drugs to do so without confusion.
While the plot may be overly convoluted, the themes are strong and add an emotional realism often lacking in action films.The words "realism" and "Tsui Hark" are not often spoken together, but in Time and Tide he creates a realistic tapestry within to work his hard-boiled action fantasy.
An emotional connection between the audience and the characters on screen is what separates the lasting impressions from the fleeting memories of a good movie.
Hark gives the two male leads in Time and Tide a purpose for what they are doing; the purpose may be far-fetched, but there is a rhyme for the reason, which elevates the action to an emotional level.The theme of brotherhood spanning two sides of the law is not an uncommon one for Hong Kong cinema.
This issue was at the time a sort of taboo subject in Hong Kong, especially in an action oriented genre film.
Tyler continues to do everything he can to be there for Ah Jo even taking a dangerous job to earn money for their future.So Hark has established that both the main characters, although not model citizens, are decent human beings who want redemption from their pasts and strive for a brighter future for themselves, their children and loved ones.
However, this is a typical kind of spiritual redemption for Honk Kong action heroesredemption through blood and bullets, and heroic bloodshed.Before the action starts rolling, Hark gives his characters an anchor with which to ground themselves in reality.
But, what Hark does when the water starts boiling is firmly rip the anchor away and send the two heroes through a gauntlet of flying bullets, fists, chases and the most dangerous baby delivery ever put on screen.Imagine this: Many large apartment buildings, dozens of stories tall, all connected with a sort of center court yard and doors and hallways intertwined like an urban maze.
Jack and Tyler sprint though out the complex of destruction, dodging bullets and fists, repelling down the side of the buildings, jumping from awning to awning, stopping only to trade fisticuffs with rival thugs or to pick up a much needed clip of ammunition.Hark's heroes are not interchangeable, they do not occupy a scene only to be a human punching bag ready to be whisked away at a moments notice by a wire harness.
It is this very fact that separates a Tsui Hark film from the multitude of other well-directed action films.
The action becomes more intense because the audience cares for the film's characters, and at the same time the drama is more emotional because the audience wants the characters to succeed in their redemption.
Time and Tide is not only one of Tsui Hark's best films, it is also one of the best examples of the entire action genre and should not be missed by anyone..
Version: Cantonese, with English subtitles (by SBS).'Time and Tide' is easily one of the best action movies I've ever seen.
Tse is the hero of the story, but it is Wu Bai who rules most of the action.Despite other comments about the movie's plot, I thought it was pretty good.
Simply put, we have an everyday guy just trying to help someone out, and befriends a bad guy, the action hero, who is working for similar reasons.However, the action is where its at, and 'Time and Tide' delivers.
There are some great, kinetic action scenes, including one inside/on a building, which I think is one of the best action scenes ever made.9/10 - Great action movie, but may not appeal to fans of the genre.
The new film from the man who pretty much launched the careers of Jet Li, John Woo *and* Chow Yun-Fat (pretty damn impressive resumé) and Tsui Hark returns with a vengeance.
Just curious, as he keeps popping up with no apparent introduction or purpose...Anyhow, this film had me talking for days about how good it was, it's definitely worth watching.
Plus, it's directed by Tsui Hark - who has done excellent work with The Legend Of Zu and other such movies.
One incredibly crafted Hong Kong action movie..
The most amazing action film I've ever seen, forget The Matrix, Time and Tide is absolutely stunning!
A mostly talentless hack who in "Snatch" proved that fancy camera effects and funny accents will wear themselves out if there is nothing to support it."Time & Tide" by Tsui Hark is both a homage to the films that helped popularize a new visual style and it raises the bar a few more (large) notches.
The last two action sequences are phenomenal and take up a good half of the movie, but with Mr. Hark's careful direction you hardly notice.
In a sequence which involves a young man trapped in an apartment slowly filling with gas, its conclusion is one of the most clever bits of action in recent memory."Time & Tide" is the real deal.
A confusing Hong Kong action movie that works..
I think Tsui Hark is a very clever action director.
I seen his American efforts with Van Damme, even though I hated both movies i did like some of the action sequences.
As for this movie Tsui Hark is really given the chance to shine and this time with better actors.
The acting is pretty good for a Hong Kong action movie.
In other words it seem more naturalistic than compared to many other Hong Kong movies where a lot of the time the actors overact.
The plot gets confusing at times and what could of really made this movie better was a better script.
It was a good attention grabber in the beginning but then it gets ignored at the end and maybe more of Tse's narration of the movie.
Despites all these flaws this movie was still good because of the stylish action scenes.
So basically look for the action scenes and good performances by Tse, Wu Bai, Lo, and Liu.
From being inside a gun as it fires to finding myself in the middle of a gunfight while a young woman is giving birth, she being one of the participants of said gunfight, Seunlau ngaklau is one of the most amazing mind blowing action movies I think I've ever seen.
Filled with incredible action sequences, mind blowing stunts, and interesting characters, Seunlau ngaklau is up there on the same level with Matrix, without appearing at all artificial or contrived..
Tsui Hark is one of my alltime favorite directors and he handles this story with such style and effectiveness it rates right up there with The Killer as one my favorite action movies.
The action sequences have to be seen to be believed with some of the most origional concepts I have ever seen employed recently.I have never seen Nicholas Tse before in a movie, but he's a great actor and handles the top role quite well.
Hark borrows a page from the Wachowski's and uses bullet-time in this movie (special effects weren't that bad eitheir!)Great dubbing too, the voice acting was top notch.
More attention needed to be given to the subtitles for non-native speakers.All in all, great film with some minor things getting in the way.
It's Hong Kong action, which I love, and it was directed by Tsui Hark, who has directed some really good examples of the genre.However, I was sorely let down.
At times, things seem to be introduced with no explanation (like the opening robbery sequence - I wasn't sure who was on each side, and what they were exactly trying to do!) Some actions by the characters come with no explanation, and some characters exit the movie before their motivations are fully explained.As well, I didn't care for the two protagonists - they just seemed like long-haired punks to me, with nothing that compelled you to see what they would do (unlike, say, the hit man in THE KILLER.) Tsui Hark needs to look back on his earlier movies, where there were more understandable stories, and action sequences that didn't scramble your brain with rapid editing and breakneck camera moves.
I won't mind though, it's one of the best contemporary Honk Kong action films.
It's frustrating when you're trying to enjoy a good action movie, and you're begging and pleading for the next scene to make some sense of it all - only to be left flabbergasted in the end..
Instead he turns on the mercenaries and it isn't long before they are after him; Tyler also gets caught up in the action.My plot summary might be a bit confused but to be honest so was I much of the time while watching...
Director Tsui Hark does a great job keeping the action very kinetic.
Overall I'd say this won't be for everybody but if you are a fan of Hong Kong action in a modern setting then I'd definitely recommend it.These comments are based on watching the film in Cantonese with English subtitles..
With a strong cast (including Nicolas Tse, Anthony Wong etc.) for a story that is thin, but supports the action in a good way.
We don't have to discuss the action scenes here, either you like the way they shoot them in HK or you're more a Hollywood kind of guy (although if you're the latter, than you shouldn't watch this movie) ...
Although this movie can not be compared to his classics, it's a shame that since Time & Tide Hark, has not delivered another movie that could match (or be better than) this one ....
"A Better Tomorrow" introduced many Americans to the art that is Tsui Hark and his brand of fast and furious gunplay interspersed with a unique way of making you, the viewer, empathize with his main protagonists."Time and Tide" follows in that tradition.
Add that to Matrix like special effects scenes and there you got a movie called " time and tide".
But you might have to watch the movie a few more times before you get the plot..
coolest action scenes i've seen in a long time.
some shots look like they belong in an animé or video game, not a low budget live action movie.
Tsui Hark, who once dipped out of the cinematic limelight with his Van Damme ventures, is back in fine form with "Time and Tide." Contrary to what many people believe the plot is not incoherent but Hark makes you work for it, something most action films never do.
The action is intense, kinetic and over the top and ten times better than anything Michael Bay (or most American action directors, minus John Woo) could dream of putting out.The end result is nothing short of brilliant....
i wasn't really sure what to expect when i went to see this film, but I have to say it was a pleasant suprise, had humour and some good action scenes, and the actors were not to shabby either................and I have to say, any movie that starts of with an accidental birth due to an affair a barman had with a drunk lesbian policewoman has my respect.
He tends to focus more on visuals than trying to convey a coherent story.Time & Tide definitely suffers from his trademark style.
That said, there is a very good movie in here, although the main character, the young punk bodyguard, is not particularly likable.The action scenes are quite unique, especially the fight in the tenement apartment building.
On the down side, some of the movie, the parts trying to fill out the lives of the 2 main heroes and their pregnant women was sort of a snoozer and something of a cheap way to make the characters more interesting..
Tse runs the story but it's Wu Bai that does all the action in Time and Tide.The story is about the struggle between two guys from Hong Kong and some mercenaries from South America.
As a result of this, guys fire guns, jump from place to place and shed a lot of blood all the way through the last half of the film.The action actually begins in a hotel lobby then moves on to a car park to Hong Kong Project to Kowloon Train Station and finally to Hong Kong Coliseum.
There is only one complaint from me as far as action scenes of Time and Tide are concerned; there are almost no martial arts at all.
All these action keeps you on the edge of your seat.There are really awesome cinematic action in Time and Tide thanks to Tsui Hark's style and vision.
Subtitles are essential as there are so many different languages spoken in Time and Tide.Overall I was expecting some good looking Hong Kong action from Time and Tide and it did not disappoint.
Tsui Hark delivers really good cinematic Hong Kong action with this.
The best HK action film i've seen in a while.
Tsui Hark disappointed us with his movies from his Hollywood era but he sure impresses a lot now with that masterpiece of the 21st century in action flicks.
Time and Tide has action scenes right up there with The Matrix, The Professional, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
A couple of camera angles are original, if not breathtaking, and as far as straight out action is concerned, I would rank this movie among the best I've ever seen.Unfortunately, I found the plot to be pretty slim.
This could be because the characters were not really developed in any meaningful way, but it could simply be a result of a story based primarily on cool action scenes.
Either way, I was disappointed in the "telling of a tale" department.As a result, Time and Tide is a tough movie for me to rate.
If you're not into spectacular gun play and bullet-time explosions, you might still like this movie, but you'll have to work hard to derive much meaning to the whole thing..
This movie features great characters played by a cast of (mostly) attractive people, action the way we have learned to love it (hong kong style) and love-stories.
The plot is very flimsy at best with no real consistent theme as the characters weave their way through the chaos that this movie presents us with.
Little things such as a plot that makes sense, characters with understandable motivations that the audience becomes emotionally involved with, and camerawork and editing that enhances the story and action instead of rendering it a total incomprehensible mess.
I can't find the name of the action director on the web, but he put together some 'different' hand-to-hand action and some high-rise stuntwork that is actually quite dangerous and impressive yet comes across as far less stunning than it should be, simply because of how it is filmed.Tsui Hark has said he wanted to explore a new way of storytelling with this film.
However, the plot is well-developed and to a good level of complexity for action movies.The action scenes are directed in a rather novel way- much of the intensity comes from the suspension of the action build-up, but not so much the action itself.
Still it is way better than many Hollywood action movies and you will be massively entertained if you are not a enthusiastic military fan like me!.
The general critical line on this flick is that the plot makes no sense, but the action scenes are worth it.
This is pretty much the truth -- in fact, the 'plot' scenes could be trimmed even further -- at times it takes too long to get from one action scene to another.
As the movie advances, you are exposed to more and more improbable stuff, but if that happens, watch Final Destination, and rinse your mind of thoughts against Time and Tide.
Basically just a NOISY Hong Kong action film.
Hark's quick and constant camera cuts and use of extremely loud special effects are relied upon to create the suspense and excitement in the scenes, rather than the story and the actual action in the scenes themselves.This is definitely not an awful movie, and I'll take this any day over these overly cliched Hollywood action thrillers, but in the end, you basically have a decent action movie and a mediocre film.
It's action packed, great cinematography, good story, and stylish.
If you think this is just another action movie and you can leave your brain on the couch, you will come away really confused.
I've really dug some of Hark's work in the past, especially CHINESE GHOST STORY.Over-the-top is pretty much a "given" with Hong Kong action fare.
Unfortunately, it all comes across like Hark simply put a couple of John Woo movies into a cuisinart. |
tt0047443 | Salt of the Earth | Esperanza Quintero (Rosaura Revueltas) is a miner's wife in Zinc Town, New Mexico, a community which is essentially run and owned by Delaware Zinc Inc. Esperanza is thirty-five years old, pregnant with her third child and emotionally dominated by her husband, Ramon Quintero (Juan Chacón).
The majority of the miners are Mexican-Americans and want decent working conditions equal to those of white, or "Anglo" miners. The unionized workers go on strike, but the company refuses to negotiate and the impasse continues for months. Esperanza gives birth and, simultaneously, Ramon is jailed for assaulting a union worker who betrayed his fellows. When Ramon is released, Esperanza tells him that he's no good to her in jail. He counters that if the strike succeeds they will not only get better conditions right now but also win hope for their children's futures.
The company presents a Taft-Hartley Act injunction to the union, meaning any miners who picket will be arrested. Taking advantage of a loophole, the wives picket in their husbands' places. Some men dislike this, seeing it as improper and dangerous. Esperanza is forbidden to picket by Ramon at first, but she eventually joins the line while carrying her baby.
The sheriff, by company orders, arrests the leading women of the strike. Esperanza is among those taken to jail. When she returns home, Ramon tells her the strike is hopeless, as the company will easily outlast the miners. She insists that the union is stronger than ever and asks Ramon why he can't accept her as an equal in their marriage. Both angry, they sleep separately that night.
The next day the company evicts the Quintero family from their house. The union men and women arrive to protest the eviction. Ramon tells Esperanza that they can all fight together. The mass of workers and their families proves successful in saving the Quinteros' home. The company admits defeat and plans to negotiate. Esperanza believes that the community has won something no company can ever take away and it will be inherited by her children. | cult, flashback | train | wikipedia | The film portrays the strike of Chicano mine workers in New Mexico.
Salt of the Earth probably has more to do with everyday American lives than 99 percent of Hollywood films.
Second, the production values, especially the cinematography - the Blacklist claimed some of the more talented technicians in Hollywood, and Salt of the Earth benefits richly from their work.
When we see footage of, say Bolivian coca growers taking to the streets to overthrow their country's US-sponsored tycoon president, what's so surprising about a community of Mexican American workers standing in solidarity against an exploitative mining company?
"The only film in US history to be blacklisted."That alone is praise!SALT OF THE EARTH, a powerful film shot on a threadbare budget, mostly with local non-actors, was branded as "communist propaganda" during the infamous McCarthy "Red Scare" and was hardly shown in the USA when first released.
The picture is based on a true story of Mexican-American mine workers on strike in New Mexico.
Of course it was banned, the production undermined by the government, the FBI and local vigilantes, while Rosaura Revueltas, the Mexican actress in the lead, was repatriated, never to work again.SALT OF THE EARTH tells the story of Esperanza (hope), a poor New-Mexican housewife living in impoverished, insanitary conditons, whose husband Ramon works in salt mines once owned by her grandfather, now exploited by vicious American capitalists.
When the corrupt sheriff slaps a court order on them, their wives take up striking duty.Of course, the film is a riposte not only to latterday 'America' but also the Hollywood that served it.
It features no Hollywood stars (indeed, many of the actors, as in an Italian neo-realism film, are locals), no racist melting pot aspirations, but genuine ethnic people with their own culture and customs.
Like a Hollywood film, SALT does dramatise its social subject matter around one main couple, but this crystallises, rather than dilutes, the issues.
Together they have extraordinary power, culminating in the remarkable evicition scene, a rare celebration of group power in the American cinema - one of that cinema's most powerful scenes.Esperanza moves from a position of having no voice in society, no public arena like the men in which to speak, indeed barely a space in her own home, where her dreams and desires are transferred to a radio playing other people's songs; to a political activist, someone who does not limit her life to housework and children, indeed demands her husband does his share, and this is represented by her narration, her power to tell and control a story, to speak authoratively for a people, to translate for us their language.The 'emasculation' of the men provides the film with some of its funniest scenes, but there is a darker side to New-Mexican masculinity - the implied wife-beating, for example.
Salt of the Earth is simply one of the greatest achievements in American cinema, not because it is exemplary in those aspects which usually make a film great, but because it excels in its ideals where so many others during the period were failing.
This film has had a profound effect on a lot of people allowing them to see how power in the wrong hands can do more harm than good.
The film is a sensitive portrayal of a strike among Chicano workers in the Southwest and features a beautifully modulated performance by the great Mexican actress, Rosaura Revueltes.
Such as...*The majority of the actors in the film aren't actors--it's their first time in front of a camera, yet they all do a wonderful job!*The film was made on a shoe-string budget with a Blacklisted director, producer, actors and writers.*The film not only addresses the real worker's struggle against a Zinc mine owner, it also deals with racism against Mexican-Americans and sexism.
I had read many of the comments posted here, and of course some of them talked about the "communist" propaganda in this movie.It may have been radical for the '50s to stand up for the rights of laborers, Chicanos and women, but if it was anything, it was a little ahead of its time.
All this movie is about is Mexican-American working men asking to be treated the same as Anglos, and women asking to have a voice in their families' lives.When you realize this movie was made on a shoestring, almost completely with blacklisted people, the accomplishment is truly stunning.As much as anything that made this movie ahead of its time, it's the feminist subplot that made this movie radical.I'm not surprised it was banned during the McCarthy era.
Its banning says far more about what was wrong with America at that time than anything about the movie itself.Rosuara Revueltas gives an amazing performance as the miner's wife.
The film was made not long after the actual event (the strike of the hispanic miners), and was not at all flattering to the local police/sherriff's departments.
Regarding content, it is also great, way ahead of its time, giving dignity to women and humanity to every human, including non-professionals, including children, who are all treated in an admirably egalitarian manner in the credits and the roles.
In following the story of the Hollywood Ten, I came across this excellent film from 1954, The Salt of the Earth, that was directed by another member of the group, Herbert Biberman.
This is not a film that would get people rushing to Blockbuster, but, as the only film in America that was blacklisted itself, it is important for that reason, and for the story it tells.It is not an impressive film for the directing or the acting (Will Geer, who many remember as Granpa Walton, is a major star.), but for the story it tells of the greed and corruption of American business and, more importantly, it is a major statement of feminist power.
This was 1954, long before bra burning and the feminist movement, but the role of the women in this film and the eventual triumph of the miners (the film was based on an actual strike in New Mexico) with their help is one that stirs the heart.As prejudice against Mexican-Americans is played out again today, it is worth it to remember that this is nothing new.
And, while Kentucky is passing mine safety regulations in the face of recent deaths, this again is not a new issue, and many miners have died in the face of an uncaring government.I wish all would take the time to see this film.
If the strikers are guilty of disrespect of the property rights of the owners by picketing, would you not feel that the company was criminally culpable of injuring the miner who was carried out of the mine?I have not seen a more realistic portrayal of the subject matter in any film made at any time.
That only makes the movie greater in my opinion.Finally, the actress who so skillfully portrayed Esperanza was deported back to Mexico and never played another role in a film in the US.
Biberman's masterpiece still remains ahead of its time.The story, based on true events, takes place in a small mining town in New Mexico.
What starts out as a small, organic labor strike soon turns into an engrossing drama about racial and gender politics.Everything is told from the point-of-view of Esperanza who over the course of the film becomes more deeply involved with the labor union.
In one intense scene, he smash-cuts between two pivotal moments creating a palpable tension that sent my heart fluttering.At the height of the Red Scare, this unabashedly pro-union film became a source of much controversy when it was released, comprising of many progressive and blacklisted actors, writers and producers.
The Salt of the Earth, which came out in 1954 paints an almost too real picture of how migrant workers were treated before the civil rights movement.
It is easy to see why the United States government, which was going through "The Red Scare" during this time, blacklisted this film.
The film starts off early with the Mexican workers acting very sexist toward their wives.
Women continue to strive for equality, just as the workers' wives in Salt struggled as domestics against the chauvinism of their husbands.
Based on true events, Salt of the Earth tells of Ramon Quintero (Juan Chacón), a Mexican-American, and his wife, Esperanza Quintero (Rosaura Revueltas).
Salt of the Earth is the story of the strike, which goes on an inordinate length of time.
At one point, even the workers' wives end up striking in their place.Like The Passion of the Christ (2004), this seems to be a film that many people evaluate for its ideological basis or even the cultural facts surrounding the film more than they rate for its value as an artwork.I agree that the cultural facts surrounding the film are fascinating.
Salt of the Earth has been the only "blacklisted" film in U.S. history to date.
You can read about the cultural milieu of the film in much more detail in The Suppression of Salt of the Earth: How Hollywood, Big Labor, and Politicians Blacklisted a Movie in Cold War America, by James J.
My opinion of the film ideologically includes that (1) the mine should have hired other workers, (2) the strikers should have been arrested if they blocked the road or touched anyone or their property who was trying to get past or through their picket line (non-consensual initiation of physical and property manipulation should be prohibited, in my view), (3) the eviction (later in the film) should have been carried out; anyone and everyone physically interfering would of course be arrested, (4) the repossession was just, (5) Ramon should have looked for another job if he didn't like his present one and his employer wouldn't change the conditions he disliked.
Biberman didn't quite solve it.The cast is a mixture of professional actors, amateurs and locals, including people who were involved with the real-life strike that served as the basis of the film.
Renowned as the only American film to be banned in its native country, this rather amateurish drama about a miners' strike (made by openly Communist members, a number of which were blacklisted at the time!) inevitably recalls the masterpieces of Soviet propagandist cinema.
Obviously lacking a comparable technique (notable here only in the cross-cutting between a man being beaten up by cops and the pain endured by his wife during childbirth), the socialist ideology often gets in the way of the film's undeniable moments of power - particularly the tension created when the strikers (and their wives, who eventually take up picketing themselves when a court order is enforced on the workers!) clash with authority.
The reason for my iconoclasm is easy to explain."Salt of the Earth" is, simply, a very bad movie.One cannot deny that the issues raised in the film are worthy of cinematic treatment.
Certainly Hollywood turned out its share of films that stereotyped the left.Finally, I find the level of acting in "Salt of the Earth" to be weak even when compared with the typical Hollywood B movie of the 1940s and early 1950s.As I said, mine appears to be a minority opinion with respect to this particular film.
This propaganda film - and that is what it is, and that is not meant as a slight, it is what it is - takes an amazingly even-handed approach to the events surrounding a long strike in New Mexico during the 1950s.
There are mildly annoying aspects put in for dramatic effect - the strikers' wives are portrayed as a bit too noble and confrontational at times, the company men a bit too evil, the miners themselves as a bit too helpless and uncaring - but this still is one of the best studies of real human reactions to a difficult situation.It is inevitable that things break down into an us-versus-them battle, and that is the film's greatest weakness.
Of course, there is the larger power imbalance between the striking workers and the mining company, summarized by Chacon's repeated observation that it is necessary to look at the "larger picture." The human dynamics spiral out of control to the point where it is unclear how Ramon Quintero really feels about developments, as he turns to drink and observes that the women "Won't listen to a man any more." But, of course, everything turns out fine in the end for the workers, as we all knew from the beginning it had to, after everyone has learned some hard lessons.The feminist subplot, though, is interesting but essentially a sideshow, put aside immediately once the strike is won and the workers get what they really want.
Looking back at this film from the perspective of the Trump administration we could use a little radicalism such as the men and women demonstrate in Salt Of The Earth.Based on a real strike by Mexican-American workers of a zinc mine in New Mexico it was about the usual labor issues, but also a component of racism and sexism.
Geer is the only name in the cast that most American viewers will recognize.The non-professionals the actual miners playing themselves should be given a lot of credit wanting to bring their own story to our attention.
But it's heart is big as all outdoors and its place in history is secure.And this review is dedicated to the men and women of local 890 of the mine workers union who fought the good fight..
It got shot at a real Mexican miners community, with real miners and their families.Really not the greatest looking or made movie but it tells a good story.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
Ranks right up there with HARLAND COUNTY U.S.A. as a film that shows genuinely heroic women, and gives the working class who we have to thank for the fact that America is such a great country its due.
Propaganda was in full swing by 1954, and the hunt was extended into the arts, particularly Hollywood - with its "Harbouring" of socialism - which led to the imprisonment of "The Hollywood Ten" which included the writers and filmmakers involved in the making of Salt of the Earth - which was inevitably blacklisted.With a largely non-professional cast (only five were professionals), this neo-realist style film tells the story - based on real events - of a workers strike for equality of pay and conditions for American- Mexicans working in the Delaware Zinc mines in New Mexico.
Told from the perspective of Esperanza Quintero (Rosaura Revueltas - one of the five actual actors), the film opens with a domestic scene and her narration, as she outlines their social conditions, and the small community.
Her husband, Ramon (incredibly heartfelt performance by non-professional, Juan Chacon), signifies the "traditional" male, whose displays a reluctance for his wife to involve herself with nothing but the upkeep of the home, and the raising of their children (not a particularly revelatory experience in the 1950's).After the failure of the men - bound by union restrictions - to successfully picket the mine, the women of the village take their places, creating a barrier to the entrance.
The reactions of the mining management/owners leads to the arrest of all the women, which creates an even greater sense of solidarity between the women, and eventually (once they realise the importance of this strike) the men.Within the context of this film, it is hard to believe in this day that this film (which perpetuates socialist ideas - Communist theories) was regarded as dangerous to the point of being blacklisted.
It was of course ignored by the Hollywood system, but eventually found audiences within film schools and workers unions.
Certainly we want to like this movie that portrays a real struggle in New Mexico against economic and racial oppression.
"Salt of the Earth", a 1954 film which documents a strike by Mexican-American zinc miners in New Mexico against their Anglo-American management.
More interesting, though, is the way the film documents the fights for equality WITHIN the bands of protesters: the Mexican-American womenfolk must break down the shackles of Hispanic machismo, must break through a kind of low level ethno-specific patriarchy, achieving marital and communal equality within their own community and with their own spouses, even as they struggle against their white bosses.
What you eventually end up with is one of the first calculated works of feminism on screen, and a fairly sophisticated leftist tract (certainly more nuanced than your typical liberal "message movie" churned out by Stanley Kramer), even if it is dated and naive in some minor respects.The film was funded by Unions and blacklisted artists, and uses many neorealist touches (which can be traced to the French Poetic Realists of the 30s and the Italian Neorealists of the 40s), with real miners and Mexicans dotting the cast, and the real President of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers playing an on-screen union president.
This film was produced by the United Mine Workers union.
While this might have been controversial in its day, today the film just seems very inspiring and well worth seeing."Salt of the Earth" is set in the small town of San Marcos—a community in New Mexico inhabited by Hispanic-Americans who work in the mine--and is based on an actual strike.
Based on the true events, this is about the strike against the Empire Zinc Company mine in New Mexico in 1953, dealing with prejudice against the Mexican-American workers and safety issues.
Roman's wife Esperanza (Rosaura Revueltas, also narrating) who, three months pregnant, was part of the large amount of women, the miners wives, playing a vital part in the strike, against their husbands wishes.
This movie challenges those who watch it to realise that America was not a land of equality and that even in the 1950's there were people living in poverty.The movie is based around a Zinc mine and a Latin-American community.
The idea of a union strike, which this movie pushes hard for, is shown as neglectful of even the demands of the workers' wives for sanitary plumbing. |
tt0094484 | In the Heat of the Night | Phillip Colbert, a wealthy industrialist from Chicago, is constructing a factory in Sparta, Mississippi. One night in September 1966, when driving back into town after a meeting at the plantation home of one of Sparta's leading citizens, Eric Endicott, he is murdered. His body is found on the pavement at the front of an alley's entrance onto Main Street by Police Officer Sam Wood at about 3:30 a.m.
Police Chief Bill Gillespie arrives on the scene where the body has been discovered and takes direct charge of the investigation. A local undertaker and a freelance photographer have been summoned to the scene to assist the police with their investigation. The undertaker tells Gillespie that it is his immediate guess that the death occurred no more than a couple of hours earlier than the time of Wood’s discovery of the body, around 1:30 a.m. Gillespie is also told by Wood that his patrol was quiet, without incident, and with no one seen.
Gillespie, speculating that the crime may have been committed by a transient, orders Wood to verify that the pool hall is closed (its hours had it open until 12:30 a.m.), the streets and alleyways are clear, and that the train and bus depots are clear as well.
At the town train depot, Wood finds a black man, Virgil Tibbs, sitting quietly with his luggage in a business suit after 3:00 a.m., waiting for what seems to be no specified train. Officer Wood immediately arrests him (at gunpoint), cursorily searches him, and finds more than $200 in cash in his wallet.
Wood takes him into the Sparta police station, where he presents him to Gillespie. Prejudiced against blacks, Gillespie jumps to the conclusion that he has his culprit and attempts to get Tibbs to confess. But he is embarrassed to learn that Tibbs is a police officer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who happens to make more money in a week than Gillespie does in a month.
Gillespie phones Tibbs' chief to confirm the story. The chief informs Gillespie that Tibbs is his top homicide investigator and recommends that Tibbs stay and assist the investigation. Tibbs wants nothing more than to leave as quickly as possible, and Gillespie politely tells the chief that Tibbs' assistance won't be necessary. But as Tibbs prepares to head back to the train station, Gillespie swallows his pride and asks for help. Tibbs relents.
Leslie Colbert, the victim's widow, already frustrated by the ineptitude of the local police, is impressed by Tibbs' expertise when he clears another wrongly accused suspect whom Gillespie has arrested on circumstantial evidence. She threatens to stop construction on the much needed factory unless Tibbs leads the investigation. Unwilling to accept help, but under orders from the town's mayor, Gillespie talks a reluctant Tibbs into working on the case.
Despite the rocky start to their relationship, the two policemen are compelled to respect each other as they are forced to work together to solve the crime. Tibbs initially suspects wealthy plantation owner Eric Endicott, a racist who publicly opposes the new factory, as its workforce will consist primarily of black people. When Tibbs attempts to interrogate Endicott about Colbert, Endicott slaps him in the face, but Tibbs slaps him back, which leads to Endicott sending a gang of hooligans after Tibbs. Gillespie rescues him from the fight and orders him to leave town for his own safety, but Tibbs is convinced he is on the trail of the murderer, and refuses to leave until he has solved the case.
Tibbs' examination of Colbert's body has already placed the murder much earlier in the night than either Gillespie or the Sparta police had initially thought. He examines Colbert's car, and deduces that it was used to drive the dead man's body back from an as yet unknown location where Colbert was actually killed. Tibbs asks Wood to retrace his steps from his patrol on the night of the murder. Tibbs knows that an earlier time of death for Colbert means that Colbert's body was driven around Sparta and dumped into an alley while Wood was on patrol.
Tibbs and Gillespie accompany Wood on his patrol route, stopping at a diner where the counterman, Ralph Henshaw, refuses to serve Tibbs. When Tibbs notices that Wood has deliberately changed his route, Gillespie starts suspecting Wood of the crime. Tibbs indicates that he knows why Sam has changed his route but will not disclose the reason to Gillespie.
When Gillespie discovers that Wood made a sizable deposit into his bank account the day after the murder (which Wood claims is gambling winnings) and Lloyd Purdy, a local, files charges against Wood for getting his 16-year-old sister Delores pregnant, Gillespie arrests Wood for the murder, despite Tibbs' protests. Purdy is offended that Tibbs, a black man, was present for his sister's interrogation about her sexual encounter with Wood, and he gathers a mob to get his revenge on Tibbs.
Tibbs is able to clear Wood by finding the original murder scene, the site where Colbert's factory will be built, and pointing out that Sam would not have been able to drive his police patrol car and the victim's car at the same time. Tibbs also admits that he knew immediately that Wood changed his route not to hide being a murderer, but to hide being a peeping Tom (peeping on Delores Purdy, who herself is an exhibitionist), and declined to publicly reveal this in order to spare Wood embarrassment.
Acting on a hunch, Tibbs tracks down the local back-room abortionist, who reveals that someone had paid for Delores to have an abortion. When Delores arrives, Tibbs pursues her outside, where he is confronted by the murderer, Henshaw. Purdy's mob has tracked down Tibbs and is holding him at gunpoint when he proves to Purdy that it was Henshaw, not Wood, who got Delores pregnant.
Henshaw shoots Purdy dead before being disarmed by Tibbs. Henshaw is arrested and confesses to the murder of Colbert. He had robbed Colbert to gain money to pay for Delores's abortion but had accidentally killed him in the process.
His job done, Tibbs finally boards the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio train out of town, after being bid farewell by a now respectful Gillespie, "Virgil, . . you take care, . . you hear." | murder | train | wikipedia | 21 years after Rod Steiger won an Academy Award as gum chewing police chief Bill Gillespie of Sparta Mississippi and Sidney Poitier told the world that in his city, THEY CALL ME MISTER TIBBS, the film was adapted into a successful television series about the new American South.
If you remember in the film Rod Steiger has the murder of a rich northern industrialist on his hands and reluctantly uses the expertise of visiting homicide detective Sidney Poitier to solve the murder.
Now years later, Virgil Tibbs formerly of the Philadelphia PD Homicide Squad and now played by Howard E.
Gillespie is now Carroll O'Connor and has made a place for Tibbs on the Sparta, PD as a newly made detective.
Rollins IS the Detective Division of the Sparta, PD.Because this show clicked so well these characters were fully developed over the seven year run of the series.
We got to know everybody in the small town of Sparta, Mississippi and even the most minute characters were three dimensional, the writing on this show was so good.
O'Connor alluded to his racist past and we saw a man in Chief Gillespie who was a work in progress.
Rollins had to adjust too, things don't quite work the same way in Sparta, Mississippi as they do in Philadelphia.
Alan Autry played Bubba Skinner and he was something of a protégé of O'Connor's and he thought he ought to have been the detective.
He and Rollins gradually developed a working relationship over the course of the show.Gunsmoke was the first show to put the main characters within the context of the town they lived in.
Watching In The Heat Of The Night was like taking residence in that town for an hour each week.In The Heat Of The Night was television series at its best, sad that it came to an end because of the health and other problems of its two lead cast members.
It takes a look at the so-called New South and shows the many ways it has gotten better and how in some ways it is still the same.
In fact, I still prefer the television series over the movie any time.
The late Howard Rollins was superb as Virgil Tibbs and the late Caroll O'Connor made the perfect Bill Gillespie.
This might sound a bit silly, but the show meant a lot to me, because it was one of the last shows that was true to what it was, and one of the best series that has ever been produced in my mind.The one thing that I would really like to know, if someone somewhere is trying to come up with a DVD collection of the series.
It is a show that I enjoyed, and miss watching a great deal..
Opening music is sensual and delicious, and sets the stage for some good old southern intrigue, mystery and once in awhile romance.Most pleasant is the way they throw you off the track, always keep you guessing as to ..who done it..
This was without a doubt one of the best TV shows to ever depict the South the way it needed to be shown during the latter part of late 80's and continue into the mid-90's.
It has an originality of its own--and it is sometimes quirky(since this set in the fictional Southern town of Sparta,and sometimes it can be downright eccentric)in the way that ordinary people act under circumstances in extraordinary situations.
But in point,it taught us about the racial prejudices and as well as real life situations courtesy of its teacher and executive producer of the series....CARROLL O'CONNOR.
It shows how racial problems can be solved,and also shows us that for one how drugs and drinking as well as abuse can tear a family apart and how to deal with those issues(several episodes consisted of the subject dealt with this brilliantly,including one scene where suicide was a major factor).
It shows how a police force was very concerned with the community and what made it so good was that they were were not so caring but they knew what the community and its people were going through in a time of crisis.
Also,to make this statement....Carroll O'Connor is the ONLY actor in Hollywood who spoke out about the abuse of drugs in the community(he stepped out of character in one episode to speak about that which brought me to tears),and his show dealt with that exceptionally well.
At its best it showed the all out emotions of the human condition,but its still is a beautifully produced show.
Kudos to the late Howard Rollins,and Carroll O'Connor.
ITHOTN is my second favorite hour long TV series( right behind the Rockford files 1974-80.) The first season,while well acted and produced isn't as good as season two and three.
The episodes filmed in Hammond Louisiana recapture the atmosphere of the motion picture with its run down buildings and the racist behavior of " Bill Gillespie".
The stories just don't measure up, with the exception of " Road Kill" One of the entire series best episodes!.The four Joe Don Baker episodes (while Carroll O' Connor was recuperating from heart surgery) are among my favorites.
"Lady bug,lady bug"is dark and brutal."Vengeance" and "Sparta Gold" are two of Alan Autrys best.
Scott Brian Higgs is hilarious as the eccentric "Randy Calhoun", a recurring character on the show.Lois Nettleton is very good as Bill Gillespies love interest and her shady past is revealed in the excellent "Aka Kelly Kay".
I was so impressed with the series that we traveled through Covington Georgia on our way to Florida a few years ago.
Carroll O' Connor was totally believable as "Bill Gillespie", Howard Rollins upstaged the entire cast, bringing more depth to the "Virgil Tibbs" character than Sidney Poitier did in the '67 film.
Hugh O' Connor who obviously wasn't a trained actor,actually grew into his "Jameson" role and was good enough to carry several episodes by himself!
The last season was wearing pretty thin but had a very good run with some truly memorable stories.
Carroll O'Conner's last series was a good one!.
Though most will forever remember O'Conner for his Emmy-winning turn as "Archie Bunker" in the classic "All in the Family," his last television role on the long-running "In the Heat of the Night" was still equally as memorable.
Inspired by the Oscar-winning film, starring Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier, the show dealt with the police force of the mythical town of Sparta, Missisippi, headed by Chief Bill Gillespie with transplanted Philedelphian Virgil Tibbs, new and black to a force that was unprepared for such a high-ranking black.
Though the first couple of episodes dealt with the adjustments that had to made with the new man on the force, the racial tension in the department was soon eliminated as both The Chief and Tibbs, along with other policemen (the superb Alan Artry as "Bubba," David Hart as the down-home, tea-drinking "Parker," Geoffrey Horne" and Hugh O'Conner as the young cops, "Sweet" and "Lonnie Jameson," respectively) came to respect and trust each other.Many of the shows dealt with timely topics as A.I.D.S., spousal abuse, rape, and corrupt politicians.
One of the series' most powerful episodes is "A Trip Upstate," wherein Chief Gillespie is asked to attend the execution of a criminal (guest star Paul Benjamin) that he caught years before.
A worthy successor to a great film.
It's extremely rare these days to find a film-to-tv spin-off that actually works (anybody remember 'Working Girl'?) but this 'Heat' is a worthy exception.
And as the years go on it becomes increasingly difficult -- due to a series of well-publicized internal troubles -- to find ALL the stars together in the same episode.
But at its best, the show has some powerful things to say about the human condition...and at its worst, it's still a beautifully produced hour spent with some very likable characters..
As I watched every episode on TNT, I realized how genuine and true the characters were.
Howard Rollins died the very Sunday night I returned to N.C. Over the years going back to Covington, I made friends with Dan Biggers (Doc Rob) and Dee Shaw (Officer/Sgt Dee) Dan and I became such good friends he was the "Best Man" in my 2004 wedding.
Mickey Jones (Willie Baylor) and I even became friends from one the "Heat" reunions and my wife and I were invited to his "Movie Screening" of "Simple Things" in Asheville,N.C. back in October 2006.
The show still provided a means of escape and comfort even seeing each episode 100 times fold.
Now, like a lot of good folks, it is gone, and no one can seem to tell us "Where are those DVD'S"!!!!
I was hoping years ago before Carroll died there was a chance for a "Reunion Movie".
A few months back I caught an episode on Good Old WGN 9 out of Chicago ( I grew up in Chicago and remembered WGN and have always loved to watch them)I have been hooked ever since, I love the show, I like all of the cast, and I love the writing, their well written for a one hour show and it works great, I really like Carroll O'Connor's character and Howard Rollins character as Virgil Tibbs, The two actors work great together and you can feel the mutual respect that they have for each other and it really makes for a good crime show, the last couple of weeks WGN has been playing an episode on Sunday mornings, last Sunday it was a 2 hr show that I believe was part of season 8, after Carroll O'Connor's Character is Sheriff instead of Chief of police it was an OK episode but there was only a hand full of the original characters in that episode, still a great TV show.
too bad that Carroll O'Connor, Hugh O'Connor and Harold Rollins Jr. are not with us anymore, It is nice to see there's allot of fans out there that love the show as much as I do, As some of you have written the show is a sort of "Comfort T.V."..
in the heat of the night will always be my favorite show ever, i loved that show and still catch the syndicated shows, they show on tnt here in nyc, i wish they would come out on DVD already cause id buy the whole set in a second, chicef bill gillespie, was the greatest sheriff i have ever seen and the show as a hole was awesome, i remember waiting all week to see the next weeks episode, great great great show, bubba, virgil, jamieson, and all the rest did a great job on a great show, if anyone knows of DVD release of that TV show, please let me know asap.....
its a shame that virgil, howard rollins had 2 die, to bad he was mixed up w/that junk, and the day carroll o'connor died was a very sad day for me and for all fans, of the heat and all in the family and many other shows he did,.
I remember watching the last season on CBS, then later catching re-runs on TNT.
Many great performances by actors who sadly disappeared or were stuck in guest appearances after this show.Basically, the "In the Heat of the Night" show picks up where the 1967 series ended (with some minor plot changes, and the show was updated to the times).
Chief Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor) is much more comical and light-hearted than the 1967 character.
Virgil Tibbs (Howard Rollins) has settled in Sparta and brings his wife, Althea (Anne-Marie Johnson) along.
There are also many stand-out characters in the police department, including Bubba Skinner (Alan Autry), Parker Williams (David Hart), Lonnie Jamison (Hugh O'Connor), Wilson Sweet (Geoffrey Thorne), and Luanne Corbin (Crystal R.
This show also broke ground by introducing Harriet DeLong (Denise Nicholas), who becomes involved in a relationship with Gillespie.This show presented the south (and the police) very well, and consistently produced shows that kept your attention - even to the very end.
It's a shame that most of the cast couldn't find work after this show.Hugh O'Connor (Carroll's adopted son) committed suicide only months after the show was canceled.Howard Rollins died shortly after the show was taken off the air from cancer.Carroll O'Connor left acting for a few years, making guest appearances once in awhile, and died of a heart attack in 2001.Anne-Marie Johnson has done several voice-overs, and I remember seeing her in a telemovie, 'Asteroid', a few years back.
David Hart, Geoffrey Thorne, Denise Nicholas, and Crystal Fox have also disappeared after this show.In the Heat of the Night was a great show.
I plan to visit Covington again soon, now that I have found more filming locations!.
I have enjoyed all of the shows very much starting from the original movie with Sidney.
The characters and settings all take me back to childhood as they depict life as it was in that time.
Rollins,Autry, young Hugh and all the rest of the cast are by no means far behind.
This show starring Carroll O'Connor is one of the best shows done for TV.
It showed racial problems and how they could be solved; it showed how drugs and drinking can tear a family apart and how to deal with it.
It showed a police force so caring and understanding of what people go through.
Again we have to thank CARROLL O'CONNOR for doing such a great job..
Great characters and stories.
I have followed Carroll O' Connor for years.
He even co-starred in a couple of films with the Original Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Potier) from the original "Heat" Movie(1967).The TV Series featured many famous co-stars from week to week, to include but not limited to, George C.
In The Heat Of The Night TV Series When Is It Going To Be Released On DVD.
I Enjoyed The TV Series In The Heat Of The Night I Would Like To Know When It Is Going To Be Put On DVD For The Public To Buy?
It Was A Very Good TV Show And I Would Like To Be Able To Put It In To My DVD Collection.
The Show Was On For A Long Time But Their Were Other Shows On For Shorter Periods Of Time And Were Not As Good And Are Already On DVD.
Carroll O'Connor Did A Great Acting Job As The Chief And Later On As The Sheriff.
All Of The Roles Were Casted Right To Me The TV Series Was Better Than Movie Was Every Player Fit Their Role Perfectly.
I Really Like The Cast That Was Put Behind O'Connor They Really Made The Show And Each Episode Made One Cast Member Or The Other A Hero Of The Show Than Just Make The Same Person The Hero Every time..
I began watching this series shortly after it first appeared, and was grateful that it continued on in syndication for so long.
I still watch any time I see it appear in a newspaper listing.
Having had some limited law-enforcement experience, I can say that I have a deep appreciation for the character portrayed by Carrol O'Connor, not only for the quality of his performance as an actor, but for bringing us the very human side of law-enforcement officers everywhere, especially those in supervisory positions.
I would be grateful to be notified at any time of any opportunity to purchase this series on VHF or DVD.
While it is true, that I have enjoyed much of it in syndication ("re-runs") I am also aware that there are many episodes I have not seen, as I was traveling a great deal, and working odd hours during its "prime-time showings.
How often have you seen them take a movie and try and turn it into a TV series?
Moreover how many times has that series been just about the worse thing you've ever watched?
This show was the best movie to TV developed series as I can remember.
The movie took place in the 60's and it was groundbreaking in the sense of being the first film to ever have a black man in a position of authority.
Sidney Poitier was the most influential black actor then and Rod Steiger had the biggest role of his career.The series was more sanitized.
You couldn't really have characters that looked like hillbillies on an 80's show.
Therefore, most of the actors were rather good looking and were always impeccably dressed.
The transformation was necessary for people to digest the show more easily for 80's audiences and it didn't affect the story lines which were for the most part exciting.Over the years, Carroll O'Connor's character developed into a grandfatherly figure and Howard Rollins', though arrogant at times, had a sense of humor I think the Sidney Poitier character lacked.
The supporting actors were all fine, although I think Hugh O'Connor was too wooden (a shame about his premature death though).
It gave the producers a chance to have Virgil spar with someone other than Bill and especially Bubba, who developed into an enlightened man too.Every time you saw this show you felt that you were in the presence of a family unit who cared about each other and that was very comforting and it too helped to digest the rather nasty cases they would be involved in.
It dealt with just about every kind of issue that a community may have to deal with over the course of time.
The Sparta police force was able to deal with the problems with professionalism and a determination to do things right.
Especially with the departure of Anne-Marie Johnson and Howard Rollins from the show.
I think that the show had its moments during the final season, and remained a good show throughout the entire run, but the final season and the movies didn't measure up to the seasons that came before. |
tt0104438 | Honeymoon in Vegas | Jack Singer (Cage) has sworn to his mother while she was on her deathbed that he would never get married. Years later, he goes back on his promise and proposes to his girlfriend, Betsy (Parker), and quickly arranges a Las Vegas marriage. They check into the Bally's Hotel.
Before the wedding, however, a wealthy professional gambler, Tommy Korman (Caan), sees Betsy and notices a striking resemblance to his beloved late wife. He arranges a crooked poker game (with Jerry Tarkanian as one of the other players) where Jack borrows $65,000 after being dealt a straight flush (7-8-9-10-Jack of clubs), only to lose to the gambler's higher straight flush (8-9-10-Jack-Queen of hearts); Tommy, however, promises to erase the debt - if he can spend the weekend with Singer's fiancée.
After getting Korman to agree to no sex, the desperate couple agrees. Jack tries desperately to get Betsy back and discovers that Tommy has taken her to Hawaii, where he has a vacation home. The gambler also has a taxi driver friend, Mahi Mahi (Pat Morita), and asks him to keep Jack as far as possible from him and Betsy. Jack discovers this, steals the taxi, and sees Betsy outside the Kauai Club, where he's attacked by Tommy and arrested. After Dr. Molar bails Jack out of jail, Mahi Mahi meets him outside and admits that Korman left for Vegas with Betsy and has convinced her to marry him. Mahi races Jack to the airport. Betsy decides she cannot go through with the wedding and escapes from Tommy.
Meanwhile, after changing many planes and finding himself stuck in San Jose, Jack tries frantically to find a flight to Vegas. Finally, he finds a group about to depart for Vegas, but, much to his surprise, finds out mid-flight that they are the Utah chapter of the "Flying Elvises" - a skydiving team of Elvis impersonators. Jack now realizes that he will have to skydive from 3,000 feet in order to get to Betsy. Jack eventually is able to overcome his fear and lands and spots Betsy, which then ruins Tommy's plans.
The final scene shows Jack and Betsy getting married in a small Las Vegas chapel with the Flying Elvises as guests, Jack still in his white illuminated jumpsuit and Betsy in her stolen showgirl outfit. | comedy | train | wikipedia | You can't completely negate a movie that involves a desperate man who tries to gain back the love of his fiance by jumping out of a plane dressed like Elvis.
Nicolas Cage is over-the-top as the paranoid Jack, but his overacting works in the context of the film, and he's often very funny.
Like in "Guarding Tess", I think this is where Nicolas Cage is at his best, although this one takes the cake as far as his comedies go.A well-written, well-acted all around, original movie with some truly hilarious moments and enough drama and complexity to make it a solid, worth-your-while experience.James Caan is perfect as the love-stricken gangster, and his object of affection, Sara Jessica Parker, is also great as the fiance who slowly begins to come around to his advances.
Honeymoon in Vegas is a charming little romantic comedy directed by Andrew Bergman, which sees him working with Nicolas Cage for the first time.
The pair work really well together as Bergman's style of comedy utilises what makes Cage such a good actor, his ability to portray anxiety in a way that makes you laugh and yet still be fully sympathetic with his plight.In a pretty high concept plot, Cage plays a private detective, haunted with dreams of his dead mother, who is in a long term relationship with a teacher played by Sarah Jessica Parker but is afraid to tie the knot.
The comedy really kicks in when James Caan's character, a wealthy professional gambler, spots Cage's fiancée and decides to pursue her himself using the most underhand of tactics as she looks similar to his recently deceased wife.Granted, the premise might not be the most edgy or original of ones but it consistently manages to serve up some really funny moments.
This problem only really briefly manifests itself in places throughout the last fifteen minutes of the film, but can't really detract from the heartwarming climax involving a planeload of skydiving Elvises.If you are looking for a goofy comedy to watch that you don't need to think about a great deal then you'll not do much better than Honeymoon in Vegas.
Writer/director Andrew Bergman offers a humorous take on romance and the consequences of procrastinating when it comes to commitment, in `Honeymoon In Vegas,' a comedy of love, loyalty, longing and an airplane filled with skydiving Elvis impersonators.
Nicolas Cage stars as Jack Singer, a guy in love but hampered by a promise he may or may not have made to his mother, Bea (Anne Bancroft), on her deathbed, which causes him to drag his heels on the path to the altar.
When he finally manages a breakthrough, he spirits his girl, Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker), off to Las Vegas with the intention of tying the knot once and for all.
With `Honeymoon In Vegas,' Bergman has put together a film that, while not entirely memorable, is good for some laughs (the highlight of which is when Jack must of necessity interact with the flying Elvis impersonators).
It's predictable at first but after a while your not entirely sure how it's going to end because both Nic and Caan start to both become the lead character in the movie and your never too sure who Sarah Jessica Parker is going to end up with in the end.
I like how they mentioned Bally's casino & hotel so many times, but my girlfriend said that the place is no longer open.Cage is a fanatic about getting his girl back when Caan sets him up to lose her in a poker game.
He couldn't see that he was cheated, but then, to top it off, Caan comes up with a solution SO QUICKLY when it comes time for Cage to pay back the money!The movie is not bad!
Unfortunately though, Andrew Bergman seems to have been succumbing to the inevitable gravity of a rather slippery slope ever since that success (as the role of producer on the horrendous Striptease will attest) and this film certainly falls short of what it might have promised on paper.Although the script is rather laboured and clunky there are some genuine moments of comedy, a few one-liners that you will be repeating to your friends for a couple of weeks after seeing the movie and a pretty original climax involving a troupe of sky diving Elvis impersonators and a rather miffed James Caan.Although I would agree with a lot of the other reviews that the soundtrack is excellent and even Sarah Jessica Parker puts in a good performance if you're going to see a Sin City based movie starring Nicholas Cage make it 'Leaving
' and not 'Honeymoon in'.
Why the reviews have been from "good" to "excellent" on this one is totally beyond me.Nicolas Cage and airhead Sarah Jessica Parker headline this misguided slapstick as a long-standing couple who finally decide to tie the knot after years of hedging on his part.
They head to (where else?) Las Vegas to make it official wherein Cage proceeds to "lose" Parker in a stacked poker game set up by a big time mobster (Jimmy Caan).
I love Sarah Jessica Parker, she is usually great in all her films, and she wasn't bad in this movie, it's just that she simply didn't have a lot to work with in this film.
James Caan was actually pretty spot on in his own role and I thought it was a good casting decision to cast him in Tommys role, but once again nothing all that great to work with I'm afraid.
If you like good movies definitely check this out, I'll be sure to see Cage's next exploration into thrillers with his new film Trespass.
Just an innocuously silly comedy about a man (Nicolas Cage) and his lover (Sarah Jessica Parker) who honeymoon in the noted gambling Mecca, only to have a gangster (James Caan) try to ruin their relationship.
The movie is certainly fun to watch, and I figure that in that great concert hall in the sky, Elvis Presley must smile every time that someone watches it.Also starring Pat Morita, Peter Boyle, Anne Bancroft, Seymour Cassel and Tony Shalhoub..
Instead of a boring melodrama as Lyne film was "Honeymoon in Vegas" (awkward title considering that the main characters weren't married yet) is a funny and entertaining story.The movie tells the story of Jack (Nicolas Cage) a detective afraid of commitment after a promise he made to his mother (Anne Bancroft) on her deathbed: never marry.
They make a trip to Vegas to marry but he gets involved in a poker gambling with a gangster (James Caan, he's a master in creating these types of role), loses a large amount of money (which he doesn't have).
From this point the movie enters in typical and clichéd comical situations and some funny and original moments (like all the Elvis Presley impersonators that appears countless times).The trio of actors is very good, Cage and Caan offer great funny moments; Pat Morita playing a taxi driver that impeaches Cage of trying to reach his destiny is incredibly funny and has some of the greatest lines in the film.
This is a fun enough little movie to watch but for a comedy it certainly still isn't quite funny enough.It's a bit of a lacking movie but nevertheless it's still one that flows well with its story and has some good characters in it as well.
When you have a cast with Nicolas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker, James Caan and a strong supporting cast as well, you are of course quite blessed as a film-maker.
This movie started out hysterical especially the interaction between Nicolas Cage and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Suddenly, however, as James Caan's character was introduced, that chemistry faded away for good and would never again be seen in the movie.
The soundtrack is amazing and the closing fifteen minutes start to re-capture the hilarity of the first few scenes, but ultimately there's just too much time allotted to Nicolas Cage screaming and James Caan sweet-talking Parker.
An over confident young man(Nicolas Cage)loses his fiance(Sarah Jessica Parker)in a high stakes poker game with a card shark(James Caan).Saving this film is the swell soundtrack that features the likes of Billy Joel, Dwight Yoakam, Travis Tritt and Amy Grant singing their versions of Elvis Presley tunes.The highlight of the movie is the colorful finale as the "Flying Elvi" scatter the Las Vegas skyline.Also in this over crowded romp are Peter Boyle, Anne Bancroft, Pat Morita and one time UNLV basketball coach, Jerry Tarkanian..
Cage plays a man who is afraid of commitment but has brought his fiancé to vegas to marry, loses a lot of money to a bigshot (caan) who is reminded of his deceased wife by seeing cage's girlfriend (Parker).
I thought James Caan was good, and Jessica Parker was decent in the lead.
The lastest movies from Cage were so bad that l've been stayed a foot behind on his picture, although his one makes part of the first phase of his career, the Sin city was a perfect backdrop to a romantic comedy, James Caan portrait a real crook, taking advantage of vitiated card games to get Cage's girlfriend, a dubious and clumsy guy travelled to Hawaii trying to recover his fiancé, funny moments among others elemments ensure some laughts, Sarah still young of his glorious days when was enough sexy, fine entertainment for all ages including Elvis fans!!!Resume:First watch: 1997 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.
Apart from Nic Cage freak outs and a nice 90's film stock, there nothing more to see here (unless you're an Elvis fan) the story gets more and more nonsensical and unforgivable as the movie goes on, I understand it's a road trippy kinda over the top comedy, but even still the reactions of characters that behave like real people but make decisions like imbeciles (SJP) make it an annoying watch.The Bruno Mars cameo was a crazy thing to see; especially it being so long ago.
Also some scenes in the movie do reach an 8/10 level as stand alone scenes, which end's up making the experience even more sad due to the film not gluing together well at all.James Cann couldn't even save it; as the bad guy supposed murderer who can't even say a cuss word or become violent/realistic in the slightest, due to age rating constrictions.Finally I will say, I can understand how this could be some people's favourite movie of all time, due to nostalgia etc, I have a whole list of bad movies that I've loved since childhood too, and watching this movie as a child I thought I remembered it being better myself, sadly not..
Alter-shy Nicolas Cage, in Las Vegas ostensibly to marry girlfriend Sarah Jessica Parker, instead winds up in winner-take-all poker game with wealthy James Caan, a slick gambler who eventually wins the hand of Cage's lady.
This is an intelligently funny movie, and you will not stop laughing, I guarantee it!Cage, James Caan, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Pat Morita are all great in it, as this film delivers.*** 1/2 out of ****.
Andrew Bergman's 'Honeymoon in Vegas' is A Good Comedy!
HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, in my opinion, is a sweet, funny, and touching comedy about love overcoming all odds for two people to be together.
When Jack (Nicholas Cage) was screaming his girlfriend's (Sarah Jessica Parker) name on the beach in Hawaii.
Now, in conclusion, I strongly recommend this sweet, funny, and touching comedy about love overcoming all odds for two people to be together to all you Nicolas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker, or James Caan fans who have not seen it..
"Honeymoon in Vegas" tells of a couple (Cage/Parker) who go to Vegas to get married where the groom has to give up his fiancee for a 2 day date with a gambling gangster (Caan) to square a poker game debt.
Cage and parker make an adorable screen couple and James Caan was absolutely great.
It is also peppered with unforgettable funny characters amidst two great settings, one a non stop party(Vegas) and one stunning peaceful island beauty(Hawai).What's also great about this movie is it is actually unpredictable in a few places and I don't say that lightly because there are not a lot of romantic comedies that can do that.
The romantic comedy genre generally deals with the manner in which a young couple overcome an obstacle to their love, and the obstacle which confronts Jack Singer and his girlfriend, Betsy, in "Honeymoon in Vegas" is an unusual one; Jack has sworn to his mother never to marry while she was on her deathbed.
After winning $65,000 from Jack in a crooked poker game, Korman agrees to forgive the debt if Jack will allow him to spend the weekend with Betsy.The situation is somewhat reminiscent of that from another film from the early nineties, "Indecent Proposal", in which a wealthy man offers a young married couple $1,000,000 to spend a night with the wife.
I personally enjoyed watching almost every scene, especially those from the Hawaii island, where the additional presence of young and shining blonde Sarah Jessica Parker makes them seem almost like moments from a breathtaking paradise...There are problems with the storyline however.Film opens with one of the most adorable and classy Hollywood ladies, the Italian beauty, Anne Bankroft in her sixties, playing the mother of Jack (Nicolas Cage) and having her last moments in a hostipal room before asking him to promise not to marry any girls, as none could love him like she did; poor boy.
The trauma persists for long enough time, however, life goes on and Jack finally finds a sweetheart girl named Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker) who is gorgeous enough to convince him to get married.Our young and romantic couple, having decided to say "yes" in a few days (asap), arrange a Las Vegas trip for their minimal wedding and check in a nice hotel's charming suite.
The guy who came to Las Vegas to marry his supposedly strongest love, goes to special gambling party, and if this was not enough, loses 64k dollars, and even if this was unconvincing enough, the gambler Tommy in return wants a weekend with his girlfriend Betsy: girl to merry in a few days.
The audience at this point probably gets out of the romantic comedy part and simply looks for the remaining action adventure, pretending that the girl is actually kidnapped by the gambler Tommy and should be saved by her true love Jack; just a thrill.Indeed A.Bergman himself admits this mistake from the voice of Betsy, as she angrily yells at Jack about the exremely annoying situation they are forced into by his oxymoron gambling mistake.
I didn't like "Indecent proposal" as much, this one's better.Jack (Nick Cage) is lucky to have Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker).
The game is pre arranged by Tommy Corman (James Cann) who sees Betsy who looks identical to his late wife (funny comment when Tommy sees Jack and Betsy totally making out in the lobby and says "there's no way they're married").
Basically on her deathbed, mother of Jack Singer (Golden Globe nominated Nicolas Cage) made him promise never to get married, and he still has scars causing problems for his commitment to his girlfriend Betsy Nolan (Sarah Jessica Parker).
He finally gives in to his love for her, and they travel to Las Vegas to tie the knot, but wealthy gambler Tommy Korman (James Caan) has plans to stop them, mainly because Donna looks exactly like a past love of his, Donna (yes, she plays her too).
Parker does best with the little material she is given, and while the film isn't really laugh out loud funny, it still has the odd moments, such a the character who is convinced his wife is having an affair with Mike Tyson.it's not really going to be remembered in Cages resume, apart from the fact it was one of his three 'sunshine movies', and the ending is predictable.But it's still a lot of fun to watch Cage and his amazing eyebrows.
Just because well known celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, Nicolas Cage or James Caan are together in this movie, doesn't mean it's that good.
This sets off in motion a great comedy with Cage perplexed about what to do with the promise he made, when he meets Betsy, Sarah Jessica Parker.When the two decide to wed, they fly to Las Vegas where Cage loses his shirt in a card game with gambler James Caan.
James Cann is the bad guy and plays his role straight as the bad guy who sets himself up with Cages newly minted wife(Sarah Jessica Parker) on their honeymoon by taking Cage on a big betin a rigged poker game.The late Pat Morita is the best of a pretty good supporting cast.
Here he is a cab driver in Hawaii who is supposed to keep Cage away from his wife while Tommy Corman (Cann) tries to score with her.The beginning of the film has some good comedy.
Honeymoon in Vegas is a comedy.It is by no means a classic comedy,but it has just enough laughs to make it work.As I see it,the film has it's funny moments,but it is more a story of a man torn between the guilt laid on him by his dying mother on her death bed,and the strong undying love for his girlfriend,Betsy.She wants to get married.He loves her and wants to commit,but he is plagued by the fact that his dead mother did not want him to marry,ever.He is also plagued by the fact that he refused to give her that promise just before she passed.He makes a snap decision to take her to Vegas to get married right away.Upon getting there,he hits an unexpected roadblock in the form of James Caan.You will get no more details from me,you will have to see for yourself.It's a fun little movie about love and how far some will go for it.Oh,and Elvis is in it,too.Well,sort of,anyway.Check it out! |
tt0385558 | The Bombardier | In 1941, at a staff meeting in Washington, D.C., two officers of the U.S. Army Air Corps (and old friends) debate the importance of bombardiers. Major "Chick" Davis (Pat O'Brien) argues that a bombardier, using the top secret American bombsight will be the "spearhead of our striking force." After a year of observing the Royal Air Force fight the German Luftwaffe, Capt. "Buck" Oliver (Randolph Scott) is not convinced a bomber can get "so close that a bomb can't miss" and that new pilots are the priority. Davis challenges Oliver to a "bombing duel" to test their respective points of view. Oliver, using a dive bomber, misses the stationary target with all his bombs, while Davis, bombing from 20,000 feet in a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, succeeds in hitting his target with his first bomb.
Later, Oliver recommends that "Hughes Field", in "Almansor", New Mexico, the civilian flying school of a friend, be leased as a new Bombardier Training School. As the school's first class nears graduation, Major Davis arrives, with right-hand man, M/Sgt. Archie Dixon (Barton MacLane), to take command. Davis is discomfited by the presence of so many civilian women clerks, including the field's former owner, Burton "Burt" Hughes (Anne Shirley), the daughter of a respected Air Corps general and now a secretary under terms of the lease. Davis is brusque with Burt and she observes he could use some training in manners.
Buck Oliver arrives with the next cadet class, that includes Tom Hughes (Eddie Albert), Burt's brother. Davis is mildly disturbed to learn that Oliver and Burt have a romantic history, and the two friendly rivals continue to butt heads over the importance of bombardiers. Oliver, who heads the group of pilots flying bombers for cadet training, refuses to take them seriously because they will become sergeants upon graduation, not commissioned officers. Davis attempts to make up with Burt, and solicits the War Department to commission the bombardiers. Preflight ground school is intensive and with practice bombing, reveals many shortcomings: Tom Hughes has trouble with fear-induced air sickness, Joe Connors (Robert Ryan) with commitment issues, and "Chito" Rafferty (Richard Martin) with the lack of women on the base. Cadet Pete Jordan is not up to the complexity of the training and soon washes out.
Connors reveals to Davis that a spy wants to buy information from him about the secret bombsight, and helps Davis lure the spy into a trap where he is arrested. Cadet Paul Harris, brilliant in ground school and a hero for saving his bomber from destruction when a flare goes awry, is conscience stricken that his mother thinks he will be a murderer of innocent civilians. Davis reassures him with a patriotic pep talk. When a bomber develops mechanical problems and the crew is ordered to bail out, Tom Hughes panics in fear and refuses to jump. His friend (and another suitor of Burt Hughes), Cadet Jim Carter (Walter Reed), crash- lands the aircraft, claiming that he is the one who panicked, but Hughes confesses afterward. Facing an elimination board, he successfully persuades Davis and receives a second chance.
On a subsequent flight, Buck Oliver passes out from anoxia, nearly tossing Carter out of the opened bomb bay without a parachute. Tom Hughes falls to his death saving Carter's life. Oliver is subjected to a board of investigation but exonerated because his actions resulted from the failure of his oxygen equipment. Guilt-stricken and unable to face Burt, Oliver transfers out of the school. Shortly after, America is drawn into the war by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Davis, promoted to colonel, becomes a B-17 group commander, and awkwardly proposes marriage to Burt who turns him down. The group (and new bombardiers Carter, Connors, Rafferty, and Harris) leaves for a secret island base in the Pacific, and Burt passionately kisses Jim Carter goodbye, revealing her choice.
At the base, Buck Oliver, now a major, joins the group just as it is about to fly a night mission to bomb an aircraft factory in Nagoya, Japan. Oliver's assignment is bomb with incendiaries to set the target on fire a half hour before the arrival of the group, which Davis will lead at high altitude. Joe Connors is Oliver's bombardier and Sgt. Dixon his tailgunner. Flying low, Oliver's bomber is shot down before he can drop his bombs, and Connors remains at his post, sacrificing his life to destroy the bombsight, fulfilling an oath he took upon entry into Bombardier School.
Oliver and the remainder of his crew, including Dixon, are captured. Their Japanese captors execute the other crew members to coerce Oliver and Dixon into revealing the location of their base, but Dixon overwhelms his guard and attempts to escape. The stretchers used to carry the dead Americans are stamped "USA Earthquake Relief 1923". He is machine gunned in the attempt, but the shots also set fire to a truck carrying barrels of gasoline. Oliver drives the burning truck throughout the factory, setting fire to its camouflage netting and fulfills his mission, knowing he will be killed by his own men. The B-17 group fights off Japanese fighters, is riddled by flak, but overcomes the reluctance of the bombardiers to bomb their compatriots and successfully destroys the target. | pornographic, romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0103112 | Toy Soldiers | In Barranquilla, Colombia, terrorist Luis Cali (Andrew Divoff) has taken over the Palace of Justice with a ruthless team of mercenaries. He demands the release of his drug kingpin father, Enrique Cali, only to be told that his father has already been delivered to the United States for trial. They escape by helicopter and with the weapons and logistics assistance of Luis' second-in-command, an American named Jack Thorpe, they enter the U.S. through Mexico.
In the United States, the Regis High School is a prep school for teenage boys with wealthy and influential parents, half of whom have been expelled from other schools. A group of pranksters led by Billy Tepper (Sean Astin) that includes Joey Trotta (Wil Wheaton), Hank Giles (T.E. Russell), Ricardo Montoya (George Perez), Jonathan Bradberry (Keith Coogan), and Phil Donoghue (Knowl Johnson) is carefully watched over by their teachers and the stern but well-meaning Dean Parker (Louis Gossett Jr.).
Phil's father is the Federal Judge presiding over Enrique Cali's trial, so the entire family is taken to a safe location as a precaution. Unaware of this, Luis Cali invades the school to capture Donoghue, killing the Campus Police, and a faculty member who interferes. Furthermore, they rig the campus with heavy firearms and remote-detonated explosives. With Phil nowhere to be found and the sons of numerous influential individuals in his grasp, Luis takes the entire school hostage.
Underestimating the threat, the local Sheriff attempts to intervene but is repelled by fire from a .50 caliber M2 machine gun, although he and his deputies are able to fall back to safety. The State Police, FBI and US Army are called in, keeping their distance to avoid provoking the terrorists. Luis releases the school faculty (except for the cooks and headmaster, Robert Gould) but institutes hourly headcounts to keep track of the boys.
The students, under Billy's leadership, use their expertise in skirting authority to collect tactical information about the occupying forces, which Billy covertly brings to the authorities on the outside. They won't allow Billy to return, but with Parker's encouragement, he escapes and narrowly rejoins the students in time to be counted, preventing the killing of Gould and four students in response.
Joey's father, New York mafia boss Albert Trotta arranges through Luis' father for the boy to be released. Joey, contemptuous of his father, refuses to go. He steals a weapon and opens fire on another terrorist, but is killed. Luis tries to impress upon Parker, who comes to retrieve the body, that it was an accident, but Albert takes revenge by having Enrique Cali killed in prison.
Knowing they must act before Luis can learn of his father's death, the authorities undertake a rescue mission. FBI Hostage Rescue Team personnel (trailed by Parker), supported by the Army, covertly infiltrate the school and begin taking out terrorists. Meanwhile, Billy and his friends sabotage the detonator for the explosives, incapacitate several more terrorists with surprise attacks and lead the students and Gould to a secret basement chamber. Overwhelmed by the assault, in which most of the terrorists are killed, Luis takes Billy at gunpoint and holds him in Gould's office. Parker and commandos converge and kill Luis, the Dean being wounded in the process. The few remaining terrorists are subdued and the students are liberated. | violence | train | wikipedia | A Very Good Movie and should deserve the same amount attention as Die Hard and Hostage!.
This movie is about prep school called The Regis School and its packed with rebellious kids, in which one kid William Tepper (Sean Astin) has a hard time adjusting due to prior rejections from other schools cause they couldn't control his rebellious act and now at The Regis School committing more acts of a rebellion there school gets taken over by terrorists on a random day and which the real reason is because the leader Luis Cali's (Andrew Divoff) father has been sent to prison,and the leader will do anything including killing the students, setting bombs and so forth in order to get his father back.Along side William Tepper, is his rebellious friends at the Regis School, one in particular is Joey Trotta (Wil Wheaton) in which this guy holds a troubled past of living in a Mafia family and being sent to The Regis School because of hating his father for who he is and which now he must deal with these terrorists taking over the school, so William, Joey and there friends must band together to stop these terrorists from violent acts and hazardous tactics.This movie was really awesome and I believe people should notice it more because when people think of a good hostage movie they would say "Die Hard" and even though I would have to agree with them, they need to recognize that Toy Soldiers was a good thriller, it sure had my heart beating because the students are my age and I would be scared to confront terrorists like these if they took over our school ...
In fact, a very similar movie was made in the 90's called "Masterminds" and it was a PG variation on the same theme, but it was nowhere near as fun or realistic for that matter.So what's so special about this film?
Louis Gossett Jr sleepwalks in his role, but he does add some brevity to the film, particularly his relationship with Astin's rebellious nature.So how's the action?
By today's standards, it's rather tedious and cheap looking, almost like a TV movie, but the production values are good and the violence is actually quite nasty for a film involving school students.
However, the director makes up for the limited budget with some nicely suspenseful moments and well placed humor.So park your brain at the door and enjoy this fondly remembered action flick, but don't expect Oscar material!.
The group of kids who fight were all up and coming when this film came out in 1991: Sean Astin (looking very cute); Wil Wheaton (looking miserable); Keith Coogan; George Perez (the token Latino who is very handsome, very muscular and is mostly shown in nothing but tight underwear); T.E. Russell (the token black guy) and Shawn Phelan.
The only other good performances are from Denholm Elliott (having a ball as the headmaster) and Louis Gossett Jr. as the dean.Other than that--there's lots of action, suspense, explosions and little brains.
I think that Toy Soldiers is an excellent movie.
If you want to see a great movie you need to check this one out and if you are a Sean Astin fan you will definitely like this movie..
I had never heard of this movie when I first saw it, and the title really pointed towards something else than a great terrorist/hostage situation at a high school.
Toy Soldiers has the best from it's time period of the early 90's, where action movies were light-hearted and very enjoyable.
The action is good, the plot is interesting and way over the top, the bad guy is a one-dimensional hateful douchebag (which is great), Louis Gossett Jr. is in it, it's simply a feel-good movie which I thoroughly enjoyed.You can't go wrong with this one if you like action.
Sean Astin is my favorite actor, and in toy soldiers he did an amazing job!
Toy Soldiers (1991) *** (out of 4) This here is pretty much DIE HARD via a boarding school but if you're a fan of 80s then you're going to find quite a bit here to enjoy.
A terrorist group takes over a boarding school full of "important" kids in hopes that the American government will release the main guy's father who is in prison.
Soon the rejects, led by Sean Astin and Wil Wheaton, must try and figure out a way to bring the terrorist down.
If you need brains with your action then it's probably best that you skip this thing but if you just want to have fun then this film offers quite a bit.
Most people will remember Astin and Wheaton from THE GOONIES and STAND BY ME among others but if you're fan of those films then you're going to enjoy seeing them grown up and taking on a new adventure.
The entire cast fit into their roles quite nicely with Astin playing the rebellious teen who must eventually grow up and try to out-smart the terrorist.
The way the boys go to get their freedom isn't just a simple plan but instead it's rather well thought out and in the long run the movie at least rises above the type of film you'd expect to see on TV.
Sean Astin pulls off another amazing performance in "Toy Soldiers".
During a regular day at Saint Anselm's school for boys, a group of dangerous terrorists take all the boys and teachers as hostages and threatens to blow up the school if the leader, Luis Cali (Andrew Divoff's), father isn't released from the American prison, but these aren't just ordinary boys that are taken hostage, most of these kids are the sons of very powerful people in America and half of them were expelled from other schools before they came to Saint Anselm's.
You have Gossit Jr., the kid who played the main character in Stand By Me, Sean Astin, and many other great actors.
Sean Astin and Wil Wheaton are the most notable students held hostage and Denholm Elliott is the most recognizable faculty member stuck.
It hasn't become worse with time, it is still a great fun film, with plenty of excitement in its own way.
Wil Wheaton, Sean Astin, Keith Coogan star as uptight rich kids who's school is under assault when terrorists (Led by Andrew Divoff) take it over and demand that the government release the father of said terrorist.
For instance the climax is body-count action but in the beginning it is all build up, one that never generates any legit suspense as anyone who has seen Die Hard will have seen this and everything Toy Soldiers has to offer.
It's a movie about a hostage situation involving a prep school populated to some extent by endearing teenage boys who can't seem to get out of trouble.
Back to the point: Toy Soldiers is simply a great movie.
Countless "appreciation" sites dictate the fact that beloved Quentin Tarentino, who I admit I like, has copied many, many, many movies in the making of his first major film Reservoir Dogs.
The stage curtains open ...Back in the days when teenage action was popular with films like "Iron Eagle", "The Rescue", and "Red Dawn" comes what is probably the best of the bunch in "Toy Soldiers".
Sean Astin headlines a roster of notable young actors at the time including Wil Wheaton and Keith Coogan.
(also starring in "Iron Eagle") and Denholm Elliott.When a boys boarding school is overtaken by terrorists, the boys are held hostage since their fathers (for the most part) are influential men.
The terrorists have fortified themselves on the campus grounds and a tight group of friends, led by the school's troublemaker (Astin), take it upon themselves to get tactical information to the outside authorities, risking everything in the process.I loved this movie.
Louis Gossett Jr. was the perfect choice in this film as the school's dean, a no-nonsense kinda guy, yet understanding.
Toy soldiers is one of those movies that make you hold your breath from start to finish; the actors do their jobs very well, both the protagonists and antagonists, and the story is original and very well written and displayed.
Sometimes I just want to watch a movie that is enjoyable, and has a story that makes sense and toy soldiers without doubt has that.
If you want to enjoy a 2 hours film filled with action and suspense scenes, then I would definitely recommend toy soldiers..
Billy Tepper (Sean Astin) is the lead delinquent in a school full of delinquents.The terrorists release all the staff except the headmaster.
Led by Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton and Keith Coogan, the 'Rejects' show their true colors, using both brains and brawn in a fatal race to defuse the terrorists' explosives," according to the synopsis scribers at TriStar Home Entertainment.Catch the step-son and grandson of two "Addams Family" stars in one film (one picking his nose)...Except for a sad scene (or two), this is a funny and suspenseful thriller.
~ Sean Astin, Louis Gossett Jr., Wil Wheaton, Keith Coogan.
His upscale boy's school in Switzerland (or somewhere like it) gets taken over by Arab terrorists, why I'm not really sure.
You can watch Billy, Joey, and the rest of the guys and see real kids acting out the way they did (or at least wanting to).Great action scenes.
(A far cry from Wesley Crusher) Usually this genre of film is one I watch for the soul purpose of making fun; but not Toy Soldiers.
The viewer is irrestiblely drawn into the movie involving 5 young men working together to try and overcome insumaintable odds, Sean Astin as Billy Tepper is brilliant along with great supporting roles from T.E.Russell, Wil Wheaton and Shawn Phelan, the guidance and leadership of Gosset's and Astins characters makes the movie so much better.
Sean Astin is great in this movie!
This is one worth watching, although it is sometimes cheesy, it is great to see a young Sean Astin, and this ends up being quite an entertaining and humorous action movie.
Yes, it's not a great cinematic achievement, but Toy Soldiers is a fun and entertaining movie.
Plus many of you will remember the actors from some 80s/early 90s classics--Sean Astin of The Goonies, Wil Wheaton of Stand By Me, and Keith Coogan of Adventures in Babysitting and Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead.
I would also like to say that this is one good terrorist/prep school movie...a little bit like Masterminds in a way!
I would like to see a movie made like Toy Soldiers but has it having girls/women doing the dirty work and not the guys!
Sure it's just an action flick, but isn't having fun what watching movies is all about?
Sean Astin makes a great rebel, successfully avoiding being a precocious teenager.If you want fun, watch this film!
And that it's a good film that I really enjoy.If you have the possibility to watch this movie, don't miss it!!!!.
'Toy Soldiers' is the story of five misfits boys (most noteably being Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton, and Kieth Coogan) attempt to save their school from a terrorist invasion after the American government imprisons the leader's father.
'Toy Soldiers' is a funny and pretty cool action, and certainly the better of hostage-crisis-at-school movies.
The movie plays out like a fun, lighthearted teen romp combined with a Schwarzenegger-type action flick.
Sean Astin is fun to watch, and I haven't seen Louis Gossett, Jr. since I saw "Diggstown" in theaters.
The idea of the movie is great, and the acting is very good as well.
this movie contain a lot of action!!!just one thing i gotta say....WATCH IT !!!!!!!!!10 OUT OF 10 STARS !!.
Alright, this movie has a cheesy plot about a rebellious group of rich boys in an exclusive school that's just taken over by South American terrorists.
Toy Soldiers is an okay action movie but what really stands out is the amount of effort that the scriptwriters and director put into portraying American counter-terrorist forces accurately.
But sometimes it's the rebels you need in a nasty situation.It doesn't get nastier when a of bunch terrorists take over this prep school headed by Headmaster Denholm Elliott and Dean of Boys Lou Gossett, Jr. The head of the group is Andrew Divoff who overacts the entire film.
Turns out that Astin had a lot of the right stuff that no one but Gossett suspected he had.Toy Soldiers is a nice action oriented flick aimed at the young.
So the plot wasn't all that original.Who Cares?Toy Soldiers was absolutely stunning in the portrayal of a group of teenage boys held hostage in their boarding school.
The acting by Louis Gossett Jr., Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton, Keith Coogan, and Shawn Phelan as "Yogurt" was phenomenal.
If you want to see a great movie with lots of action, and a great ending, check out Toy Soldiers9/10.
In this forgotten action thriller its Gomez Addams son Sean Astin and Wil Wheaton who are the main rising stars, the rest of the youngsters have fallen by the way side.
This is my 2nd all time favorite movie, (Stand By Me being 1st.) The reason I watched this movie was because Wil Wheaton was in it and he is my most favorite person in the whole world and I think he done an amazing job in this movie and so did Sean Astin.
It really has little in the way of themes, but there is a bit of action, and the shenanigans of the High School misfits are quite amusing, especially moving the principal's entire office outdoors.Toy Soldiers is about a drug lord whose father has been arrested by the US and taken into custody.
These are both smart and gutsy kids, and not only manage to outwit the terrorists, but the FBI as well.I personally think this is a pretty cool little movie, and something that I quite enjoy watching.
He has already been expelled from three prominent private schools.His best friend, Joey Trotta, is the son of the Head of the New York Mafia; Billy, all their friends and many other kids at the school have equally influential and prominent, if more law-abiding, parents.When Luis Cali's father is put in jail, he heads for the Regis school to put the son of the judge in charge of the case under hostage, only to find he has been removed.However, once he realises who the parents of the rest are, he decides the entire student body of the Regis school would be an even better bargaining chip.....Easily the most insane of the Die Hard rip offs, toy soldiers is a good movie, very sadistic in some parts, but it suffers from one thing.....the main bad guy is one of the worst villains ever seen on screen.he is too nice to his hostages, and the one person he lets go, because he is nice, ends up getting shot.
Only when the whole plan goes awry, does he finally get nasty, but by then it's far too late.But luckily the film concentrates on the then new wannabe Brat Pack, whom whilst not the most talented people out there, do hold their own against the seasoned actors featured.The film mixes humour with the action, and while the film is very funny in places, one cannot help but notice the very dark aspects of the film, particularly the opening scene, which feels out of place in what is basically a high school movie.It's clear in some scenes that the makers were trying to make big stars out of the cast, and while it's worked in respect for astin, sadly the others have faded into obscurity, which is a shame, because they all do a great job.It's one of these long forgotten movies that doesn't deserve to be forgotten, as when it comes around every now and again, it's a right old treat to watch..
great action, great humor, good acting, wonderful film experience.
Not necessarily a bad film, but "Toy Soldiers" comes across as reasonably underwhelming..., basically it's premise is to be a top quality action flick but drowns in its own childishness.The cast of kids is fearful, you can see the anxiety seeping through in every character, instead of taking back the school and disposing of the terrorists, it looks as though all they want is their mommy's; fair dues they put a semi-confident effort in and eventually the terrorists do get their comeuppance, but the whole story comes across as a little flat.
Wil Wheaton is particularly terrible as the wannabe 'Rambo' Joey Trotta, the guy suffers from an inability to act, even as he aged and got older, his acting hasn't improved and sadly he's been cast aside, being labelled as another Hollywood failure.Sean Astin fared little better, but he was in fact better, his character Billy Tepper has more about him and at least has a level of credibility, something that Wheaton's character sadly lacks..., he's clearly the 'bad-boy' of the school and seems to have grasped the idea of being cool.The remaining cast played their roles suitably but none of them managed to put that extra something into their performance, a simple case of going through the motions and getting the job done rather than taking pride in their work and making their characters stand out; any emotional attachment to any of the characters was missing and this made emphasising with anyone an impossible task.
With that said, I watch this good old movie with that kind of goggles on me.Remember watching this as a kid, though I should have watched it years later, as it is rated age 15.
All in all, I highly recommend Toy Soldiers.Over to the movie as a product: - The production : An amazing soundtrack!
- The actors : Sean Astin, the leader in Goonies and leader in Toy Soldiers.
I'm sure I could find a hundred reasons not to like "Toy Soldiers," but as long as we don't take it TOO seriously, I don't see the need. |
tt1504467 | Puppet Master: Axis of Evil | The film begins at the Bodega Bay Inn, 1939. Danny Coogan (Levi Fiehler) is making wooden chairs for a wedding reception for his Uncle Len (Jerry Hoffman), who owns the Inn. Danny tells his uncle that if it was not for his limp, he would be able to go to war, along with his brother Don (Taylor M. Graham), and tells his Uncle that he's going to help Andre’ Toulon. Toulon is guest at the inn, whose wife was killed by the Nazis because they wanted a formula, a formula that allows his puppets to come alive. After escaping from Berlin to Geneva, Toulon came to America to hide from the Nazis. As Danny's heading over to Toulon's room, he hears a gunshot and goes to see what happened. Two men dressed in black leaving Toulon's room push Danny aside, and as they leave, he manages to get a glimpse at one of their faces. He enters the room and finds Toulon dead with a gun in his hand. Danny, to whom Toulon showed his puppets, grabs them out of a wall panel and finds that all the puppets are still there, along with unanimated Six Shooter and another puppet, named Ninja.
The next day, Danny goes to visit his mother, Elma (Erica Shaffer) and his brother Don (Taylor M. Graham). Don is being shipped off to war the following week. Meanwhile, the two Nazi assassins, Klaus (Aaron Riber) and Max (Tom Sandoval), are heading to an Opera House in Chinatown, under orders from The Führer, where they meet a Japanese saboteur named Ozu (Ada Zhou Fang). She tells them that she's under orders from The Emperor, which are for her and the Nazis to work together to take out an American bomb manufacturing plant, destroying America's war efforts. To obtain this goal, it requires Max to go undercover and pretend to be of American descent and work at the plant, and to get close to the girl who runs the plant's office, Beth (Jenna Gallagher), who is coincidentally Danny's girlfriend. The next day, after bringing the puppets to life, Danny walks into the plant to show them to Beth, and sees Max there. Recognizing him as one of the assassins, he tries to warn Beth away from him, but she doesn't believe him.
After Max leaves the plant, Danny follows him back to the Opera House, and uncovers their plan. Danny is seen by Max, and quickly leaves. Max calls the Bodega Bay Inn to find out where he lives and sends Klaus to Danny's mother's place where Elma and Beth are planning a bon voyage party for Don. Klaus shoots Elma, and kidnaps Beth, and also shoots Don when he unexpectedly comes home. Danny comes home to find Don bleeding to death, and after telling him what happened, thanks to Toulon's diary, puts his brother's soul into Ninja's body. Danny and the puppets head out to the opera house to get Beth. Tunneler and Leech Woman kill Ozu's men and Ninja and Pinhead kill Klaus. Danny saves Beth, but Ozu badly hurts Ninja, so Danny and Blade threaten Ozu with the active bomb to back off, which is taken by Max, and supposedly disables it. Ninja, with what little left of life he has, stabs Ozu's sword into back killing him. Ozu takes off with Tunneler and supposedly Jester and Leech Woman inside the bag, leaving behind Blade, Pinhead, and the mortally wounded Ninja. Danny swears that Ozu has a war coming to her. | violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0035733 | Chicken Little | In the small town of Oakey Oaks, Chicken Little causes widespread panic and mayhem when he rings the alarm bell, claiming the sky is falling. He is humiliated in front of his father Buck Cluck and the entire town when, after telling everyone a piece of the sky "shaped like a stop sign" had hit him on the head, he is unable to find it. All the residents assume an acorn must have fallen on him and Chicken Little becomes a laughing stock.
One year later, Chicken Little is still being ridiculed for the incident and is bullied at school by Foxy Loxy and Goosey Loosey. His best friends Abby Mallard, Runt of the Litter, and Fish Out of Water advise him to talk about his feelings with his father, but Little is more concerned with restoring his reputation outright.
During dodge ball, following a bust-up with Foxy and a rough beating by Goosey (on Foxy's orders), his father is called in and Little overhears the school principal Principal Fetchit stating that Buck had been the school baseball star in his youth. Determined to rekindle his relationship with his father, Chicken Little signs onto the baseball team. In the final inning of the big Oakey Oaks pennant game, with all the other players injured, he is called up to bat and manages to hit an inside-the-park home run. Despite some confusion, the umpire ultimately declares the game won; Chicken Little is hailed as a hero for winning the pennant and Foxy is humiliated.
Later that evening, Chicken Little prepares to go to a victory party being thrown for him by Abby, Runt, and Fish, but another "piece of the sky" identical to the one he had been hit by the previous year falls through his bedroom window. Not wanting to bring the matter up with him again, Little hides the sky piece from his father and examines it more closely, discovering it to be a bizarre panel-like device designed to blend in with its surroundings. Realizing that this is why he was unable to find it the first time, Chicken Little immediately calls his best friends over to help figure out what the device is.
While playing around with the panel, Fish presses a button on its underside and it carries him out of Chicken Little's bedroom and into the sky, where it appears to fit into a gap. Disturbed by this, Little, Abby, and Runt immediately give chase and follow Fish to the ball field, where a series of similar panels appear in the sky; revealed to be part of an invisible UFO's camouflage. The three sneak aboard the ship and retrieve Fish, but Runt locates a map of the solar system that seems to indicate Earth is being targeted for an alien invasion. Thinking that the UFO is being used to sneak aliens onto the planet undetected by disguising itself as the sky, the group immediately flees to warn the town, inadvertently releasing a small orange creature from the ship in the process, which follows them.
Two metallic aliens give chase and Chicken Little rings the alarm bell once again to alert the townsfolk. The sound of the bell makes the aliens flee, leaving the orange creature behind in their haste, and the citizens fail to reach the ball field in time to see the UFO taking off. As such, no one believes Chicken Little's claims that aliens are planning to invade, thinking it a repeat of the acorn incident, and he and his father are ridiculed once again. In space, the two aliens send out a distress signal.
The following morning, Chicken Little's best friends try to console him, but he wishes to be left alone in dismay. Soon after, the orange creature, having followed Little home, approaches them and identifies itself as Kirby, the child of the two aliens. The group look up to see the sky apparently cracking open, revealing a vast fleet of cloaked spaceships, which descends on the town. Kirby tells them that his parents, usually peaceful people, think he has been kidnapped and plan to vaporize Earth in retaliation.
Chicken Little, with the evidence he was telling the truth raging above them, tells Buck off for not believing him and heads towards the chaos, with Kirby in tow. Heartbroken, his father follows and the two finally reconcile in the safety of a movie theater. With his father's help, Little evades the rampaging aliens, who have already zapped Foxy and Turkey out of existence, and delivers Kirby to his parents' ship atop the town hall, urging them to stop the invasion.
Kirby's parents beam the two aboard the ship and threaten to kill them for the "kidnapping", but Kirby explains that they had helped him and the aliens release them, restoring Oakey Oaks and its citizens to normal. The parents Melvin and Tina apologize for the misunderstanding, explaining that they visit Earth once a year to pick acorns, renowned in Oakey Oaks as "the best in the universe", and never planned to invade at all, simply wanting to keep hidden to avoid causing panic (the map Runt found was a chart showing that acorns could only be found on Earth, not an attack plan). Tina reveals that one of the panels on their ship's underside is loose; this is what had hit Chicken Little on both occasions. The townsfolk thus realize that Little was right all along as the aliens depart with Kirby.
The film ends with all the characters watching a parody Hollywood version of the events, in which Chicken Little is portrayed as a comically macho action hero named Ace. Chicken Little, his reputation restored, celebrates with his father and friends. | psychological | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0279695 | Blackwoods | Matt Sullivan (Patrick Muldoon) is a travels with his girlfriend Dawn (Keegan Connor Tracy) from their urban residence in Denver on a vacation to the Blackwoods of Colorado, only to discover a motel run by a motel clerk, Greg (Clint Howard), a deranged family, and a horrific secret.
Matt is haunted by the death of a girl from a car accident he caused years ago. Matt was drunk and as he reached for the car radio, he struck the girl as she crossed the road. The guilt that he feels has altered his sense of reality, making Matt's life a mystery full of shadows and phantoms. Now, years later Matt goes away for weekend with his new girlfriend Dawn.
During a stopover in a small town, Matt and Dawn have lunch at a local diner where he notices several of the locals staring oddly at him. On the road, Matt is pulled over by the local sheriff, Harding (Michael Paré) who asks Matt who he is and what he is doing passing through the town. After Matt explains about his private getaway Sheriff Harding lets him go.
Matt checks into a local motel where he interacts with the debauched motel clerk and owner Greg who tries to overcharge him for his room for the night. A little later, after a wild session of lovemaking, Dawn goes for a walk. While she is away, a strange man with an ax comes into the motel room and attacks Matt who escapes. Matt calls the police where Sheriff Harding shows up and after finding no one around, openly suspects Matt of having an agenda to the suspicions of his story. After the sheriff lets Matt go, again without arresting him, Matt phones his friend Jim Will Sanderson where he tells him about Dawn's disappearance and asks Jim to come to his aid.
After that incident Matt goes into the woods, looking for Dawn. There he encounters Dawn's family who tie him down and put him on trial for the murder of the girl years before. It turns out that Dawn is the twin sister of Molly, the young girl that Matt ran over with his car years earlier after he was driving drunk following an argument with his former girlfriend. The backwoods Franklin family find Matt guilty and he is sent back into the forest to be hunted down by the family. The deeper Matt runs into the forest the farther his mind is lost to the Blackwoods.
Matt manages to ambush and kill two of the family members, Jack and John, pursing him through the woods. But the film's climatic twist comes when Jim appears after having tracked Matt down and Matt suddenly kills Jim, after thinking that he too is in league with the Franklin family. It turns out that Matt's girlfriend 'Dawn' is only a figment of his imagination. All of the interactions with Dawn and the rest of the family were fabrications that stemmed from Matt's guilt of running over the young woman years earlier and Matt at this point as become totally deranged and paranoid.
Sheriff Harding follows some leads that Matt told him earlier into the woods and to the old Franklin house which is unoccupied and in disrepair (confirming that Matt's "trial" was indeed fabricated in his head). Harding finds Jim's dead body and then chases Matt through the woods to arrest him, only for Matt to run onto a main road where he is run over by a speeding truck and killed. The final scene shows Sheriff Harding telling his story to Beth, the waitress at the local diner, and how Matt's mental instability led to him dreaming up this waking nightmare about Dawn, her family, and of the other encounters in the Blackwoods. | flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0329767 | Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself | When Wilbur leaves the hospital after having tried once more to kill himself, the staff ask his brother Harbour to let Wilbur move in with him.
The brothers thus share their childhood flat, which is next door to the bookshop their father left them.
Uninterested in the family business, Wilbur works in a nursery. Harbour takes care of the shop and meets Alice, a mother who sells him the books she finds when working as a cleaner at the hospital.
When she is sacked for always being late at work, she goes to see Harbour to explain why she won't be coming to the bookshop again as she has no books to sell. Following his brother's advice on "grabbing" women, Harbour asks Alice to marry him. The wedding meal is held at an Asian restaurant and allows Wilbur to get acquainted with Sophie, Alice's ex-colleague from the hospital. The two start flirting, but Wilbur pushes Sophie away after she licks his ear. After the meal, Wilbur goes back home and slits his wrists in the bath.
Harbour finds his brother just in time and Alice saves Wilbur by using towels to stop the bleeding. While discussing Wilbur with Alice, Harbour tells her his brother feels responsible for their mother's death.
As he is about to leave the hospital, Wilbur gets a nurse named Moira, infatuated with him, to lick his ear. Instead of reciprocating the favour, he wipes his ear and leaves the room. At the same time, a few doors along, Harbour is told by a doctor that he needs to stay in the hospital for some tests. Harbour refuses because he wants to be at home with his new family.
Wilbur, Harbour, Alice and Mary live together next to the bookshop, allowing them all to get close to one another.
Before Mary's birthday party, Alice asks Harbour buy some whipped cream at the supermarket, where he has a fit.
He wakes up at the hospital, where Dr Horst, a psychologist he has met many times through Wilbur, tries to convince him to get treatment for pancreatic cancer. The two men share a bottle of whisky, Dr Horst believing that such is the condition of Harbour's liver thar a little alcohol will be insignificant. Wilbur goes back to the bookshop to bring Alice the whipped cream for Mary's party. When a little girl asks him to stand on his head, he throws up on her dress embroidered with gold. Harbour is put to bed; as Wilbur and Alice tidy up after the party, they kiss briefly until she says she cannot continue.
The next day, Wilbur tries to jump off a building, only to realise he doesn't want to. He goes homes to apologise to Alice for kissing her, but they do again.
Dr Horst tells Harbour he must explain his very serious situation to his family, but he doesn't know how to.
To fight their mutual attraction he and Alice, Wilbur decides to make nurse Moira his girlfriend. One evening, as they are all out for a meal, Moira tells the family they should change their eating habits to help Harbour's during his chemotherapy.
Furious at Harbour for wasting time instead of getting treatment, Alice takes him to hospital and spends the night there with him despite Harbour being scared that Wilbur might try to kill himself. The latter, having stayed at home to take care of Mary, decides not to commit suicide when he realises the little girl needs him. Wilbur resigns from his job to replace his brother at the bookshop. Harbour's condition does not improve, so his doctor allows him to spend his last Christmas at the bookshop.
After dinner, as Harbour tucks Mary into bed, she asks him if he is going to spend the night in Wilbur's room, implying that he will be in Alice's. As he is about to take a taxi back to the hospital, Harbour asks his brother to take care of Alice and Mary. In his hospital room, Harbour takes all his pills and trims his fingernails before lying in bed fully clothed. | romantic, comedy | train | wikipedia | It tells the tale of two 30-something brothers who own a dilapidated second-hand bookshop in Glasgow, and their search for different things.The writing is effortless, but so natural and brilliant, the characters are beautifully crafted and it makes a refreshing change to see a film that is not about the location or the effects - but about the story and characters.As for the acting - not a bad word can be said about any of the actors.
They are backed up by two brilliant turns from Julia Davis as Moira and Mads Mikkelsen as Horst.It may sound depressing from the title, and you may well shed a tear before the end of the movie, but I can guarantee that you will leave the cinema a wiser and more enriched person for having seen Wilbur....
Set in Scotland and telling the tale of a suicidal man whose life changes when he falls in love with single mother Shirley Henderson, it is both witty and sad in just the right measure.
"Wilbur wants to kill himself" is a (so)moving parable about how easy is to let yourself die when everything seems meaningless and how hard is to live when a disease is mining you.
Wilbur looks like a nice guy, the kind of man women like, he's good-looking, he has a brother who loves him...
On the contrary, his brother Harbour is full of life, he's an enthusiastic person, he's in love and he's just get married...
He's a friendly, charming and responsible man, who's flirting with one of two regular costumers, a girl name Alice.Alice (Shirley Henderson) is a lonely woman, who works as cleaning personal in a hospital, in order to support her daughter Mary (Lisa McKinlay).Well.
Do we want the older, responsible, nice, kind, calm brother, or his sexual beast of an opposite, Wilbur?--------------My reviewSet in beautiful, but depressing Scotland, Lone Scherfig (The director of Dogma 8: Italiensk for begyndere) has made a small film about love.
The story itself is pretty average, but the way this film treats suicide, and the absurdity of wanting to finish life, makes it worth watching.
Two different brothers living in a bookshop, one nice and helpful, the other one miserable, lame and suicidal for no real reason.
A nice older brother always to be remembered by his stepdaughter.If you think that the above lines do not make a whole lot of sense then this is, of course, also because they do not tell the whole story but hopefully give an impression on what kind of movie it is.
Although WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF is an honest and unflinching look at death and suicide, it manages to evoke overwhelming feelings of compassion and tenderness.
Wilbur, played by Jamie Sives, is despondent over the the death of his parents, and he has made numerous attempts at suicide to end his pain.
As the narrative becomes even more tangled, yet never contrived, we are drawn to the true heart of the film-Lone Scherfig's deft and loving examination of the characters' interactions.
Do not let the downbeat subject of this film put you off, WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF is truly a heartwarming experience..
If you have seen or will see the film, I'm sure you'll know why.I wanted to like this movie, and I still just couldn't.
(Might want to check out her mini-bio on IMDb - quite interesting to learn about a filmmaker's background.) "WILBUR wants to kill himself" is a small quiet film that actually has much human pathos.
The three 'and a half' main leads: Harbour, the older brother who's closely protective of Wilbur, is sensitively played by Adrian Rawlins; Wilbur, the younger brother, is lively played (sounds like an oxymoron considering what the title suggests his role is) by Jamie Sives; Alice, the young woman who came into their lives, is subtly played by Shirley Henderson, and the critical 'half' being her little daughter Mary, aptly played by Lisa McKinlay - the portrayals and interplay were flawless.
The film's a tear-jerker - wouldn't you know it - with dashes of bemused humor (little details and vignettes like at the Chinese restaurant, at the hospital ward, or by the river, and of course, in the bookstore and in the bedroom) - it's basically about where one's heart is.
Wilbur just might learn to let go of himself, think less of himself, and surrender to loving life.
"WILBUR wants to kill himself" deservedly worth your while.About the talented Shirley Henderson from Scotland: I've enjoyed her performance as Shirley, the wife & mother and love interest, opposite Robert Carlyle and Rhys Ifans in w-d Shane Meadows' "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands" (2002) - almost a similar menage a trois situation but less assertive than her role in "WILBUR." She's also in director John Crowley's "Intermission" (2003, script by Mark O'Rowe) - taken on, among the stellar cast, the rather offbeat yet still demure role of Sally (the script itself is plucky and unyielding alright - then again, it's probably quite 'normal' in the setting described) - another amusingly enjoyable film from Ireland if you're so gamed..
The little nuances of the actors and actresses in the movie make it into an absolutely down-to-earth film; they just seem like normal people...
It was a well directed dogma movie with excellent acting, but when it comes down to it the story was very vague, and I for one did not find that movie very interesting at all.However, Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself is an excellent and beautiful film about the Scottish Wilbur (Jamie Sives) who makes use of every other moment to attempt suicide.
As Harbour discovers love in Alice, beautifully played by Shirley Henderson, they become four in the home as Alice and her 9-year-old daughter Mary moves in, and Wilbur discovers love in both of them as well as he gets to see death from a new and unexpected perspective.It was a good choice to make this movie in English, rather than Danish, and the result is an excellent drama which will apply to most people even though they, like me, may not be much for that sort of movies.
This film is about the life of a man who looks after his suicidal brother, after their parents passed away."Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" has a very engaging plot.
"Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" is a very interesting and engaging look at the psychological journey of a troubled family..
This isn't it.But if you like films with a strong emotional/melancholic atmosphere that are touching your heart without any of the ingredients that are used for "Hollywood Mass Production Romantics" then the chances are good that "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" will give you a wonderful experience beyond words and you might loose so many tears that you become almost dehydrated in the last part of it.
Folks should be aware of this, as the movie could seriously depress you and make you feel miserable when you're just looking to have a laugh.Wilbur (Jamie Sives) is a screwed up guy.
Part of this might be because he loves Wilbur, but later you find that it might have to do with the reason Wilbur feels a need to die.Despite all this chaos, Harbour decides to marry and he brings a woman and her young daughter into the household.
And, what's to happen to everyone when Harbour learns some very, very bad news?The acting in this film is very restrained but good.
However, I cannot score the film higher because the script is so odd--starting off somewhat like a comedy and then leaving the viewer wanting to kill themselves as well!
But, the characters were somewhat incomplete for me, and the writing good but not top-notch.To me, the film was most interesting in the resonance of the main characters, especially that of Wilbur.
The United Kingdom has some good cinema, made with all the effort by people that, with movies like this one, get the shot they wait during their whole lives.Lone Scherfig, a Danish director and Anders Thomas Jensen, his writing partner, have accomplished an original fable about life; love, relationships, family and, well
Death.
The tagline proposes: "The life he wanted to end, was just about to begin", in reference to Wilbur (Jamie Sives), who, when we first meet him, has just tried to kill himself."It gets more and more humiliating every time I try to do it and I fail", Wilbur tells his older brother Harbour (Adrian Rawlins), as they get out of the hospital.
Harbour loves Wilbur and wants to take care of him.
He maintains them both and tries to prevent Wilbur from achieving his only goal: end with his life.One of the magical ideas the movie has is that it won't let that happen.
Wilbur meets her, then, as she saves his life when he was trying to
Soon, Harbour and Alice fall in love, and she moves in with them, alongside her daughter.They all seem happy until Wilbur tries it again, so we can meet very realistic characters, as Dr. Horst (Mads Mikkelsen), a psychiatrist with a good heart that's only trying to help, and some women that like Wilbur.
But Wilbur doesn't see women, at least not until his brother ends up in the hospital, and he "meets" Alice.
We understand the flames of love they feel for each other because the film has made the characters sympathetic until this moment.It's these three people story what turns around, and the performances.
Very, very odd film.Wilbur, a suicidal lunatic, is admitted to a mental hospital after an attempt to take his own life.
Harbour, his good-hearted, well-balanced ever loving brother invites Wilbur to stay with him at his bookshop/house to allow Wilbur some time to get back on his feet.
Harbour, far from looking virtuous for accepting Wilbur going off with his wife, ends up looking like a victim.
Wilbur wants to kill himself -- and, frankly, so did I for the first half of the film.
Now I know why the Scottish accent is called a burr -- because it's so prickly and irritating!The second part of the film was more bearable, I suppose, but it all had a feeling of deja vu about it -- retread, same old, same old.I was also distracted by what I felt was the miscasting of the actor who played Wilbur's brother, Harper.
Wilbur's desperate need to end his life just didn't feel real to me, just faintly comedic.
"Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself," set in gloomy Glasgow, a city with a collective depression syndrome to begin with, polarizes audiences into "It's great" and "It's awful" groupings.
Moods are created by settings that reflect the unfolding drama.Wilbur (Jamie Sives) and brother Harbour (Adrian Rawlins) inherited a small, dusty bookshop - shelves groaning with misplaced volumes - from their just deceased father.
But she has a sensuous love of life and a deep caring for her child., Harbour loves his brother and his new wife and his almost instant bonding with Mary is believable, the realization of a long, missing need.
Harbour, his caring and gentle brother, can't live without Wilbur.
It is from the quadrangle they form that Wilbur finally finds what is missing in his own life, and wants what his brother has so easily grasped: that love, in the forms and shapes around us, is all that will eventually make life worth living.
But Alice does not waiver in her love for Harbour, and even though they /can/ hurt him, neither she nor Wilbur is willing to go that far.
Wilbur wants to kill himself is about a twenty something scotsman, whose main objective in life is to end it.
The plot however i thought turned very sharply from one direction to another (wilburs suicidal tendencies to his relationship with his brothers wife, and then the end scene).Overall I thought the film had a very original idea and was very enjoyable, and i would definitely see it again.
Harbour is the only likeable person; a man who gives selflessly of himself to his suicidal younger brother and everyone else in his life, only to be betrayed and scorned (even by his own parents).
Wilbur procedes to "repay" his brother by having an affair with his wife, who claims to "love" Harbour.
Harbour, rather than try to go on fighting a almost certain death sentence from cancer, commits suicide in the hopes his brother will honor his promise to look after his wife and stepdaughter, giving Wilbur a reason to live.
Watching this movie, you'll learn to understand why he wants to, what has happened that makes him want to kill himself and what is going to change his life.
SPOILERS AHEAD !!!I like macabre and morbid humour, and I usually laugh about it because, to put it shortly, it's my opinion that life IS macabre and morbid at times.I didn't laugh during Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, but I didn't cry either.
This is the first film I considered "too macabre" because I felt the humorous touch given to extremely sad incidents in the film were forced and the scenes could have easily worked without them.Wilbur's brother Harbour is such an unbearably miserable character that he can't be quite real.
Then, his mother didn't love him as much as she loved Wilbur, his father didn't love him as much as he loved Wilbur, his stepdaughter loves Wilbur more; he has to care for Wilbur who keeps committing suicide attempts believing he is funny while simply looking like Robbie Williams and therefore being very popular; he gets cancer and kills himself (successfully!), and in the end, his widow visits his grave hand in hand with Wilbur.I think, this is just sadistic.
When I first started watching this movie, I wanted to feel sympathy for Wilbur, but he is really just a great big jerk after seeing what he does to his brother.
In "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself," a young man - who basically lives from one unsuccessful suicide attempt to another - is looked after and cared for by his brother who is suffering from terminal pancreatic cancer.
Moreover, it turns out that the mentally ill brother has designs on the physically ill brother's wife.It may be hard to believe from that synopsis, but "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" is actually a comedy.Indeed, "Wilbur," filled as it is with quirky characters and offbeat humor, is reminiscent of other well known Scottish comedies such as "Local Hero" and "Gregory's Girl," albeit this new film is darker and grimmer in its subject matter and theme.
Like the best Scottish comedies, this film provides us with a slice-of-life tale filled with ordinary, likable people who may have their weaknesses and eccentricities but who also strike chords of familiarity deep within the viewer.There are beautiful performances by Jamie Sives as Wilbur; Adrian Rawlins as his brother, Harbour; Shirley Henderson as Harbour's's wife, Alice (who is also in love with Wilbur); Lisa McKinlay as Mary, Alice's young daughter, and an assortment of other fine actors and actresses who populate the scene.Although the script threatens to veer off into melodrama and soap opera from time to time, the truthfulness of the writing and the honesty of the acting keep the film real and believable for most of the duration.
The movie ends with an ironic twist that shows that one person's death can often lead to a renewal of life for someone else.
I don't think I have ever been so infuriated with a movie character before as I was with Wilbur.
What makes me even more angry, is that up until the very end I actually liked Wilbur..
Enough to Give Suicide, Men Named Wilbur, and Movies a Bad Name.
Give It A Fair Try. A down to earth film, very true to its Glasgow roots.Wilbur is a suicidal 30 something, affected by loosing his mother at a young age.
His suicide attempts set the scene, and it becomes apparent that they are not truly serious but are in fact his reaction to the possibility, or sad fact, of loosing others in his life whom he depends on.It is love and responsibility that save him, as when faced with the harsh reality of loosing his brother Harbour, Wilbur is able to cope with the love of Harbour's wife and his role in her life and that of her daughter, and does not need to turn to suicide.A talented cast, including some identifiable faces, brings home this realistic story.
Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself).
I think it being four stars, having one or two good people and the title was what persuaded me to try this film.
Basically good-hearted Harbour North (Adrian Rawlins) has spent years trying to look after his motherless, recently now fatherless, and suicidal young brother Wilbur (Jamie Sives).
Wilbur wants to kill himself is a killer movie.
If we do this times ten, which would equate to us being very complex, we question life and its reasons more than just the standard "why are we here" rhetoric, we are likely never to find anyone who can relate to us, and worst of all, to whom we can relate without sensing our own dishonesty with our own self.And though I don't know for certain, it seems to me that this is the point at which Wilbur may have arrived.
Wilbur, like most of us, wants to be loved for who he is, by someone who does not judge him.
I don't always need to like characters, and perhaps since this was sold as a "black comedy" what I was expecting from the film was skewed.
I like the film, not because it is on love or it is funny, but because it tell a story of mutual dependence of the characters.
they just need each other, so Wilbur stop trying to kill himself and learn to take care of Alice and her daughter. |
tt0029297 | Navy Blue and Gold | After each is accepted for admission to Navy, three midshipmen, Dick Gates, Roger Ash and "Truck" Cross, become roommates. Dick is the scion of a wealthy family, Roger a former star football player for another university, and Truck a sailor appointed from the fleet. With a common love of football, all three go out for the plebe squad. Dick is tricked into committing a rules violation by a disreputable upperclassman with a penchant for hazing and is severely paddled. Even though hazing is forbidden by regulations, Roger decides to get even on his own terms. Despite his egotism, his classmates as well as the upperclassmen respect him when he challenges the abuser to a boxing match and wins it.
As upperclassmen, the roommates become varsity players. Dick is undersized but makes the team as a kicker, while Truck becomes a star center. Roger has come to Navy only for the publicity value of playing for the school and makes no effort during a game against a lesser opponent. When varsity coach Tommy Milton benches him for being a "slacker," he goes AWOL. Truck and Dick also go AWOL and find him drunk in a bar. Caught by Milton trying to get Roger back to barracks, the academy's former football coach, Captain "Skinny" Dawes, covers for them with an adroit adherence to the academy's honor system.
Truck faces dismissal from the academy for not using his true name upon enrollment, revealed when he defends the sullied reputation of his father, a disgraced navy ship's captain, during a class discussion. Previously dismissive of academy traditions, Roger "prays" at the statue of Tecumseh for Truck's exoneration, overheard by Captain Dawes. Truck is dismissed but reinstated when the superintendent grants him clemency based on Truck's dedication to the navy and his father, who has been restored to duty with his record cleared. Truck arrives at the stadium in time to help his roommates win the Army-Navy game. At the traditional ceremony celebrating Navy's victory, Roger demonstrates his new-found devotion to the academy by giving up his place of honor to Captain Dawes. | romantic | train | wikipedia | A fun and enlightening perspective on the USNA from the 1930's.
This is a fun period piece for graduates, parents of current midshipmen or of Naval Academy graduates, or staff and faculty of the Naval Academy to get a look at the US Naval Academy of the 1930's.
It's fun light piece which provides some interesting historical perspective on the USNA - to include the left hand salute to Tecumseh, the rooms in Bancroft Hall, the yard prior to much of the WW2 and post WW2 construction etc.
The story is light but fun and is a reflection of the pre-WW2 America in which it was made.
Also fun to see a very young Jimmy Stewart and Robert Young, and the "Good Witch" from the Wizard of Oz..
Fast paced, surprisingly good movie.
I just saw this film recently and can't remember ever having seen it before.
A lot of talent in front of and behind the camera on this production.
It's the story of three young men who come to the Naval Academy for different reasons and have little in common with each other except that they share the common denominator of being on the football team but they strike up an immediate friendship and become roommates.
It has a story so it's not a silly comedy and despite not a lot of depth and a fairly predictable storyline it moves along at a good pace with no boring lulls thanks to the excellent direction of Sam Wood who had been making films since the silent era and had success with the Marx Brothers films and the drama Madam X just before this production and he would go on to direct such films as Goodbye Mr. Chips, Kitty Foyle, Kings row, Pride of the Yankees, for Whom the Bell Tolls and Our Town.
Cinematographer John F.
Seitz had photographed the string of Shirley Temple movies before this film and he would enjoy respected success for such films as The Lost Weekend, Double Endemnity, This Gun for Hire and Sunset Boulevard.
A lot of exterior scenes at the Naval Academy and it's midshipmen.
Good football scenes with a seamless blend of actual game footage and the actors as players.
Robert Young is the more establish actor here and in 1937 at the age of 30 he seems a little old for the role.
It's early in the career of the less established James Stewart and despite being 29 he looks so youthful he fits the role.
Tom Brown at 22 is about the right age for the role but looks almost too young.
Veteran actor Lionel Barrymore plays the role of a man about a dozen years older than Barrymore actually was.
Billy Burke, two years shy of her famous role as Ginda in the Wizard of Oz is here and girl-next-door wholesome role actress Florence Rice is here as the love interest of Young and Stewart and the sister of Brown.
It's appropriate for her to be in a football picture being the daughter of the famous sportswriter Grantland Rice.
I had no intention of watching the entire movie but before I knew it I had.
I would give this a 7.5 out of 10 but Stewart shines and you can tell he was going to become a big star someday..
1001 clichés...and yet I really liked this film..
Intellectually speaking, this is a very clichéd film.
So many of the typical 1930s and 40s gimmicks for this sort of movie are all present...ALL.
Yet, despite this, I really had a hard time disliking the movie.
It was highly entertaining and the actors really made it shine.The film is about three roommates who all have just been admitted to the prestigious US Naval Academy.
They are all stereotypes, but the most ridiculously stereotyped is the guy played by Robert Young.
I am surprised they didn't nickname him 'Blackie', as he was the archetypal dishonorable bad guy who just doesn't understand or want to understand the importance of teamwork and humility.
He's an exceptional football player (despite Young being 30 at the time he played this part) and knows it...and doing it for anyone but himself is out of the question.
Tom Brown plays the sweet rich guy who is the embodiment of niceness and pluck--sort of like a Horatio Alger character who is ALREADY rich.
He gives up his wealth and status to serve his country--and women who went to see this film must have all felt a tremendous urge to hug him!
The final guy is played by Jimmy Stewart.
Like Brown, he's an alright guy and gained admittance to the Academy through the ranks--and he's got a secret that comes out late in the film.
While receiving second billing, I think this film did a lot more for Stewart's career than for any other in the movie.
I thought Brown was also very good, but today he's an all but forgotten actor--and that's a shame.The film has it all...lots of sentiment, a strong dose of patriotism, an old man who just happens to be on the brink of death when the big game comes up with Westpoint, you name it!
In many ways, the film seems even more clichéd and prototypical for a college football film than even "Knute Rockne, All-American"!
But, because the dialog, characters and direction are all so good, you can accept the huge doses of sentiment, schmaltz and all the familiar (very familiar) plot devices.
Very well done and a must-see for fans of classic films..
"I'd like to graduate someplace where the school isn't a small cow barn attached to a concrete football stadium.".
Three young men (James Stewart, Robert Young, Tom Brown) who enter the Naval Academy became fast friends.
Each one is a different clichéd character.
Brown's the naive kid, Young's the cynical tough guy, Stewart's the nice one with a mystery.
Brown and Stewart play to type well but Young steals the show as the hard case with a hidden heart of gold.
We follow the ups and downs of each of these men at the academy, leading up to the big Army-Navy football game that they all play in.There's nothing really new here, even for 1937, but it's undeniably enjoyable due to the generally upbeat tempo and likable leads.
Nice supporting cast includes Lionel Barrymore, Billie Burke, Florence Rice, and Samuel S.
Hinds.
Dennis Morgan has a cute scene dancing with Burke.
Sentimental, patriotic, and fun movie.
Really hard to dislike this one..
"Stand Navy Down The Field.....
Army You Steer Shy -Ay-Ay-Ay".
The US service academies have been good ground for good films for as long as there have been movies.
Two years before Navy Blue And Gold came out, Annapolis got the full Hollywood treatment from Warner Brothers in Shipmates Forever.
The only difference here is that no one sings in this one.Three midshipmen from different walks of life become roommates and one of them, Tom Brown, has a sister that his two friends, James Stewart have a friendly rivalry over.
All three of them play football and go on to play football for the Naval Academy.
Robert Young is the playboy of the group who just sees the Academy as the way to meet a rich woman and retire young, no pun intended.
James Stewart is an enlisted man with a big secret who wants a career in the Navy in the worst way.
Tom Brown is a nice young kid, rich, but with a good heart.
And his sister Florence Rice has the first two guys hormones racing round the Annapolis quadrant.Both Young and Stewart go through differing crises and each has to examine what brought them to Annapolis.
How they resolve things and how outside forces deal with them is the crux of Navy Blue And Gold.Sam Wood directed the film and he had a nice eye for the tradition and ambiance that is the Naval Academy.
Every film I ever saw about either West Point or Annapolis is reverent about the place and this is no different.
The people that come here surrender their lives to lead those who defend our country.
The Academies ask and get only the best and brightest.The cast is rounded out with some well rounded character parts like Paul Kelly as the Naval Academy Football Coach, Samuel S.
Hinds and Billie Burke as the parents of Rice and Brown, and most of all Lionel Barrymore as Skinny Dawes, the oldest graduate of the Academy and original starter on the Navy's first football squad.It all ends in annual Army-Navy football game and need I tell you who wins it.
Funny thing is that I could have taken the same story and turned it around and written it for the Army.
No doubt it's been done already.Seeing James Stewart all idealistic about the Navy and its traditions leaves you no doubt as to why he became a big star and why he was so good in roles like Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.
Watching Stewart in his part as Tuck Cross is like seeing Jefferson Smith get a college education.
Note that in 1937 Robert Young is billed over Stewart, but by 1940 when they did The Mortal Storm, the billing had reversed.Navy Blue And Gold is one sentimental picture.
But there are those of us who like our sentiment..
"Sir, you ARE Navy.".
Directed by Sam Wood, "Navy Blue and Gold" is a pleasantly charming movie about life at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
The story focuses on three first-year midshipmen with very different backgrounds (except for a common love of football) who become roommates.
My favorite actor James Stewart is the very definition of decency and patriotism with his characterization of "Truck" Cross, a shy, hard-working young man who has been passionate about the Navy for virtually his whole life, serving his country on a ship before being enrolled in the Academy.
Tom Brown is fine as Richard Arnold Gates, Jr., the decent son of a wealthy New York family who is sometimes teased (and hazed) because of his size.
Robert Young is superb as the very cynical Roger Ash, who is not nearly as straitlaced as his two roommates and who often involves himself in minor scrapes with Navy regulations.
These three very different young men become the best of friends at the Academy.By far the best scene in "Navy Blue and Gold," and perhaps James Stewart's finest & most dramatic moment on film to date, is the scene in which Truck does a slow burn as he listens to one of his instructors relate a story about Truck's father, a former commanding officer who was dishonorably discharged from the Navy for alleged derelict of duty.
Enraged, Truck rises to his feet and passionately defends his father by telling the true story.
As a result of his outburst, Truck finds himself in danger of being dismissed from the Academy, and it is this climactic moment that helps to bring out the better qualities of Roger Ash. He decides to do away with his cynicism, say a heartfelt prayer for Truck, and work harder on the gridiron.
At the closing of this film, when Truck has been exonerated and the Navy has defeated the Army in football, Ash still maintains his integrity by surrendering his chance to ring the victory bell to the man who he feels really won the game, the elder Captain "Skinny" Dawes (Lionel Barrymore)."Navy Blue and Gold" is a fine and heartwarming story.
Aside from the three principal young actors portraying the plebes, this film boasts excellent performances from Florence Rice, Billie Burke, Lionel Barrymore, Samuel S.
Hinds, Barnett Parker, Paul Kelly, Frank Albertson, and many others.
For James Stewart, "Navy Blue and Gold" was a definite step in the right direction; when the famed director Frank Capra watched Stewart's performance in this film, he immediately recognized Stewart's idealism and decency, eventually offering Stewart major parts in three of his own classic pictures: "You Can't Take It with You" (1938), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), and "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946)..
Stewart's Film.
I love sports films and this is one of the best: Spoilers ahead.
My favorite scenes are where a teacher calls John Cross's (James Steart)dad, a coward and you can really see the anger when it wants him to take it back (Of course, his dad eventually gets exonerated, and Stewart helps beat Army and gets the girl Pat (Florence Rice)and when Rog (Robert Young) gives up ringing the Victory Bell so that "Skinny" Dawes (Lionel Barrymore) could ring it perhaps for the last time.
Now it really helps to be a fan or attended Navy (or Army) to understand this.
But years ago, when Napoleon McCallum volunteered to come back and do an extra year at Annapolis (Naval Academy), and set a rushing yardage record, and gave the game ball to the Academy Superintendent, and the Admiral broke down and cried.
Of course, this is not the only film Stewart and Barrymore did together ("Its A Wonderful Life" & "You Can't Take It With You" are the others where Stewart was a decent man facing adversity).
However, this film is the first film where we saw the Stewart that most of us know.
Prior to that we saw some strange casting choices like ""Rose Marie" and "Another Thin Man" (Stewart as the killer in both films does not work), and in some cases after "No Time For Comedy"( His worst by far) comes to mind as does "Its A Wonderful World" (Although I liked that one despite the fact he was playing a Bogart-type Detective with a mustache no less)).
For sports and Stewart fans this should be a must see. |
tt0073458 | Nishant | Vishwam (Naseeruddin Shah) is the youngest brother of the powerful and influential village Zamindar (Amrish Puri). The Zamindar will not hesitate to do anything for the welfare and protection of his family, which also includes bending the law to his own advantage. The shy and quiet Vishwam is married to Rukmani (Smita Patil) and, unlike his brothers Anjaiya (Anant Nag) and Prasad (Mohan Agashe), does not indulge in alcohol or women, nor does he have any bad habits. Then the village gets a new schoolmaster (Girish Karnad), who has a wife, Sushila (Shabana Azmi). When Vishwam sees her for the first time, he is unable to take his eyes off her, and unable to get her out of his mind. Sushila does not reciprocate his attentions. Then one night, while the schoolmaster is enjoying a quiet dinner with his family, the bell rings and the two older brothers of Vishwam grab Sushila and take her forcibly when she goes to answer the door. Several people are present, but no one dares to raise a hand nor even a voice to stop this abduction. The distraught schoolteacher, who is denied justice by everyone from the local police officer to the district collector, is helped by the old priest (Satyadev Dubey) and finally they succeed in mobilizing the villagers and they slaughter their oppressors. In the end the frenzied villagers also kill the innocent Rukmani as well as Sushila whom her husband tried to rescue with the help of the rebellious villagers. | violence | train | wikipedia | Disturbing bureaucracy, uplifting revolution and empowerment.
Vishwam is the youngest brother of the powerful and cruel landowner Zamindar (Amrish Puri).
He is married to Rukmani and, unlike his brothers, does not indulge in alcohol or women.
But one day the village gets a new school teacher, whose wife Sushila (Shabana Azmi) instantly catches Vishwam's eye.
Noticing this, his brothers come one night and kidnap Sushila for all to see, including her husband who tries to stop them but fails.
He is shocked that no one of the so many present people dared to even raise a voice to stop this abduction.
He turns to every possible authority, including the police, the court, the press, but is shocked to see a complete rejection resulting from the fear to face off the Zamindar.
This is the story of Shyam Benegal's Nishaant, a well-made film which portrays the state of those times' rural India.
The film depicts a reality which is a bit difficult to see.
The proceedings are very serious and the film is dark and dim.
Benegal's direction is excellent, with a serene narrative style that easily conveys the raw atmosphere of the village as well as the film's own mood.
It is realistic and authentic, without any overt dramatisation.
I did expect more from the ending though.
The light at the end of the tunnel does finally seem to appear, but sadly the story itself remains somewhat incomplete and doleful.
I think the ending did give the viewer an opportunity to interpret it the way he wants to, which is great, but one would expect to see some brightness in it.
The film shows us the power of human nature.
While Sushila terribly misses her son and goes through emotionally destructive experiences of gang-rape and humiliation, she later accepts the cruel reality, finds comfort in the house and ultimately starts getting attracted to the quiet Vishwam.
Her absence tortures her husband and his helplessness makes his life miserable.
One of the film's best scenes is when they finally meet in a local temple.
She preaches him for his cowardice, ironically, in the same way he himself did with the people who did not stop her kidnappers.
This makes him realise that a change must happen within the simple people and not the landowners.The film is very well acted.
Girish Karnad is excellent as the tormented teacher who loses his wife and is unable to get her back.
Shabana Azmi is outstanding as Sushila in a restrained and deep act.
I particularly liked her outburst at her husband.
Her anger was so easy to relate to.
Smita Patil makes her acting debut with this very film and though her part is small, she makes the best of every scene she appears in.
Amrish Puri is successfully frightening as the merciless Zamindar.
Naseeruddin Shah is as always wonderful and his character is very sympathetic despite the conflict it creates.
The boy who plays Sushila's son is extremely cute.Nishaant is a good film, a disturbing, real and engaging piece.
What I particularly liked about the film is its unpredictability right until the very final scenes.
My main complaint is that it was a tad too slow for my liking.
While in the second half it gets far more enjoyable, and the film is thoroughly engaging thanks to its story and fantastic execution, the pace was still somewhat dragged, and at times made me like squirming in my seat.
Nonetheless, it's a worthy effort.
To those who expect to be purely entertained, this may not be the right film, but those who appreciate artistic excellence will definitely enjoy watching this picture..
Why this excellent social drama has received a low rating.
Shyam Benegal has a well-deserved reputation for making hard-hitting social dramas which tell true Indian stories in a realistic manner, so you'll find no concessions to Bollywood here.
The plot is brutal and compelling, and the film features an all-star cast who give uniformly excellent performances.Vishvam (Naseeruddin Shah) is one of four brothers who rule their feudal village in pre-independence India with an iron grip.
They execute various criminal schemes to increase their own wealth at the expense of the villagers, with the village priest and constable powerless to stop them.
However unlike his brothers he tries to lead a relatively restrained life, and at the start of the film we see him married and refraining from drinking and smoking.His brothers regularly exercise their droit de seigneur, ordering villagers to send their wives and daughters to the haveli so that they can be raped at leisure.
At first Vishvam, restrained by his wife (played by beautiful and brilliant but tragically short-lived Smita Patil), refuses to join them.
However when the new school teacher arrives with his young child and lovely wife he finds himself tempted, and the brothers abduct her.The rest of the film concerns the resolution of the abduction, with the villagers forced to make tough ethical decisions.
The film ends in a shocking way which will leave audiences deeply disturbed, which is no doubt the cause of the low score that this film has received.
However upon reflection the ending is thoroughly realistic, and provides a deep and unsettling insight into the human condition.Shyam Benegal grew up in rural India and so this film, which is based upon a true story, draws closely upon his own perceptions of village India and the people that inhabit it.
However the story has universal appeal, and reveals how people's lives play out in the many parts of the world where civilization is still primitive and brutal.I am sad but unsurprised to see this film receive such low ratings.
No doubt the viewers who rated it will have been expecting light Bollywood style entertainment, or at least some kind of feelgood resolution.This is an excellent social drama in the tradition of Ankur and Mandi, and should be seen by anyone interested in compelling stories, excellent acting and the realities of village life in the developing world..
Absolutely brilliant.
I saw this film when it was released in the 70's, I was about 15 or so.
I watched it again yesterday on DVD and once again was blown away by it brilliant acting, story, dialogue and subject matter.I love Indian mainstream cinema, it has a big place in Indian culture, which very unfortunately and sadly is dismissed by many as kitch, but popular culture is popular culture and it has it's importance in society.This movie on the other hand, is a perfect example of the other side of Indian cinema.
I really wish movies by such great Indian directors (contemporary), can be shown in the West in regular cinemas (not small little places in remote parts of cities).
To balance the mainstream of songs, dance, melodrama etc., we have this other cinema, which is so amazing, intelligent and brilliant, and very unfortunately has not been exposed to the NA market.
It's just too sad!.
The End Of Night...The Horror Begins.
'Nishaant' is perhaps Benegal's most chilling movie to date.
With this movie who also introduces the ever so talented Smita Patil to Hindi cinema.
Through brilliant execution and with superb cinematography, Shyam Benegal tells us this compelling, brutally honest and haunting tragic story.
The background music brilliantly adds to the mood.
While dealing with various themes such as oppression, corruption, power, violence, abduction and poverty, he also presents controversial taboo issues like rape and homosexuality.
'Nishaant' is also quite graphic in nature.
Particularly the scene where Anjaiya and Prasad gang rape Sushila is disturbing to watch and then there's the shattering ending which haunts the viewer.Like in all of Benegal's films, the actors do nothing short of a fantastic job.
Amrish Puri gives a restrained performance and his silence makes his character much more frightening than any of the over-the-top villain roles he was more known for.
Shabana Azmi is sublime.
Smita Patil is very effective in a small but strong role.
With a brave choice, she already proves that she's here to stay and if it weren't for her untimely death one would have witnessed more of India's best actress on screen.
Naseeruddin Shah is excellent.
Mohan Agashe and Anant Nag are scary as the evil brothers.
Girish Karnad too is great.Benegal also deserves mention for portraying unusual relationships between the characters.
When Sushila encounters her husband, she resents him for not rescuing her and chooses to come back to the 'zameendar's haveli' instead of going back home.
Yet, she too is conflicted as she terribly misses her son but also develops an attraction towards her kidnappers' brother Vishwam (the only sympathetic brother in the household).
There's Rukmani who was once proud of her faithful husband Vishwam but she perceives Sushila as a threat and once her husband begins a physical relationship with her, it becomes resentment.'Nishaant' is based on a true story and Benegal portrays the realities of a village sensibly as he shows a good understanding of life in the village.
Although there have been plenty of films that try to use the same themes, they lack the gritty rawness of 'Nishaant'.
Overall, 'Nishaant' is an excellent compelling drama that needs to be watched..
All time great.
This movie is a timeless classic.
One more feather to the cap of the director Shyam Benegal.
This movie was nominated for Cannes film festival and unfortunately did not win any award.
Again Benegal takes us on a tour of rural Andhra and he does it with his characteristic grace and élan.
The camera work is as usual good which can be expected of a Benegal movie.
The music is good and above all , all the actors have turned in performances of their life time.
Smita Patil, though in a not so significant role, excels.
Shabana as usual shines.
The fall of the feudal system because of it's excesses is very ably painted on the celluloid screen.
Again this movie was a commercial failure, and the time of it's release was witnessing a birth of a phenomenon of Bollywood , Amitabh.
Maybe that was the reason for this movie's failure at the box office.
But again the movie going masses in India have always treated the alternative cinema in a not so fair manner, so this movie was no exception.
The only small defect that anyone can point out in such movies, is the facial makeup of the main characters.
Always the heroes and heroines are a stand out from the general crowds.
But again one may condone them as a matter of artistic or artiste's liberty.Any collector of movies should cherish this movie..
Spectacular film that enlightens and frightens at the same time!.
I have seen very art films and this film is one of those very few.
Normally films based on rural India are raw and real, well this film is no exception.Now, I got introduced to Benegal through 'Zubaida'.
Ever since then I got addicted to his works and eventually came across Nishant.
Somehow what blew me away was the brilliant cast performances that makes the whole scenario very believable.While Anant and Agashe play the cruel, sarcastic and womanizer brothers, its Nasser who gives you a breath of relief.
On the other hand are Shabana and Girish who are a very devoted couple but then something just breaks through them.On the third hand are the landlord Amrish, the shoe licker cop Kulbhushan and the innocent convict Sadhu.Now these are the three sets of teams which sum up the entire film very very well.
And oh yes how can you forget the lady of mysteriest Smitha!.A very minor but strong credit goes to the lady who played 'Pochamma'.
Her presence is very brief but strong at the same time.Overall, please do watch this film and trust me you are gonna remember this piece for quite a long time..
Amazing end to Benegal's first trilogy.
Nishant is a film that I first saw when I was about 12 years old and it had such a strong impact on me that I have felt the urge to view it again every 3-4 years.
Nishant is the most dramatic and episodic of the three films that comprise Benegal's first trilogy - "Ankur", "Manthan" and "Nishant".
The trilogy speaks to the coming of age of democracy and the last throes of the dying feudal system in India.In the early 70's, director Shyam Benegal harnessed some formidable talents in this set of films and the cast and crew is a who's who of modern Indian cinema.
All the films were made on low budgets and are technically very spartan but this actually helps set the mood for the on-screen proceedings - making everything seem very real.
The rural Indian locations, the performances of the extras, the weaving of local art and dance into the stories, the local dialects - all help make this film feel very real.In a nutshell, it is the story of a powerful local landlord (Amrish Puri before he became a caricature) who has two decadent alcoholic brothers (brilliantly wicked Mohan Agashe and Anant Nag), and one naive sibling (a very young Naseeruddin Shah), and who rules his village with an iron fist.
He has inherited feudal power which is in slow decay.
While he metaphorically rapes the people's land and crops, his brothers more literally prey on the women of the town - while their pet police patel (amazingly good Kubhushan Kharbanda in his pre-Shahkaal days) and village priest (writer Satyadev Dubey) collaborate in silence.In this time of discontent, a schoolteacher and his young wife (Girish Karnad & Shabana Azmi) arrive in town.
Shortly thereafter, she is abducted by the two brothers as a gift for their youngest brother.
The rest of the story deals with the schoolteacher's quest for justice - first through apathetic official channels and finally through revolution - leading to some very unpredictable and tragic consequences.
The film starts slow, seethes and simmers and finally climaxes, set to a beautiful song by Priti Sagar, in a horrifying sequence that is among the best in Indian films - although it is very unlike Benegal.This is one of the best Indian films ever and as politically as relevant today as it was in the 1970s - especially given the many parallels that still exist in the world today.
I give it a 9/10 - deducting one point because it fades when compared to the later films of my idol - Dev Anand..
explosive cinema.
by far, nishaant is the best of Hindi language cinema i have yet seen.
this film provoked powerful emotional responses, a sense of dread and tension.
the impossible situation that befalls schoolmaster and his wife is so terrible and the decisions that they are forced to make are so absolutely destructive.
gritty, grimy and bleak, this film had me pulling hairs out of my head; oh the injustice, oh the pain.
on the other hand, this film is made from the light of an Indian sun, burning wildly with exoticism and ethnicity.
There is also a kind of beauty and tender touch that leaves your heart melted to your chest, in particular the moments of love shown between mother and son, husband and wife, Vishwam and Sushila are all played incredibly well.
On a lighter note, I'm declaring that through my endless passion for beautiful women both in cinema and in general, that Shabana Azmi is simply just hot.
her performance as Sushila is so natural and her beauty so rare, i find it hard to place a contemporary in Hindi cinema to match. |
tt0098645 | Who's Harry Crumb? | While visiting a health studio in Beverly Hills, fashion model Jennifer Downing, the daughter of millionaire P.J. Downing, is kidnapped. Her father turns to a family friend, Eliot Draisen, who is president of the detective agency Crumb & Crumb, to investigate the case.
Eliot is reluctant to supply P.J. with one of his capable detectives because, as it turns out, Eliot himself is the organizer of the kidnapping. But to give the appearance of taking the investigation seriously, Eliot offers P.J. the services of Harry Crumb, the last descendant of the agency's founders. Eliot secretly knows that Harry is incompetent and counts on this fact to get away with the crime.
Harry returns to Los Angeles (by bus) from an assignment in the firm's Tulsa, Oklahoma branch office (which he messed up, as usual). He is assisted in his investigation by P.J.'s younger daughter, Nikki, who is considerably smarter than he is. Harry deduces that Nikki's stepmother, Helen Downing, is having an affair with tennis coach Vince Barnes, and concludes she is behind the kidnapping. Helen is desired by Eliot, but all she is interested in is money. She tries to get rid of her husband on several occasions and does her best – along with Barnes – to get the ransom for herself.
Also assigned to the case is Police Detective Casey, who (unlike Harry) is competent and experienced in kidnapping cases, and has a strongly negative opinion of private eyes and Harry Crumb is no exception. Casey throughout the course of the film builds a rivalry with Harry.
Eliot escapes to the airport, bound for Buenos Aires. He makes the mistake of informing Helen of his plans; she and Barnes take the money and leave him bound and gagged. Harry arrives to confront Helen and Barnes just as their plane prepares to take off. Jennifer is freed and Eliot is found. Fed up with Harry's dumb luck, Eliot confesses and is taken into police custody. Harry is thanked for his heroism in the case and even Det. Casey applauds Harry for solving the case. Harry takes over as the new president of his family's business, and promptly accepts a new assignment to go undercover as a drag queen to investigate another murder. | comedy | train | wikipedia | One of my favorite comedies, Who's Harry Crumb is the story of a bumbling private detective played by John Candy, who uses a number of disguises throughout the film.
And nothing more as it was not created to be more.John Candy was an amazing guy in comedy because he could bring you from tears to laughs to thinking moments.
His legacy is to take a good laugh and make life an easier one by understanding how to use the positivity to have a sense of humor!I have seen from Uncle Buck to Planes, trains and Automobiles, and John is talented.
Though many of the comedy scenes are not entirely original they are done better than anyone else can do them by the late John Candy.
John Candy plays the role of a bumbling detective, Harry Crumb, who is the last of a long generation of intelligent, successful detectives.
Granted, he's been in such classics like Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and Little Shop of Horrors, but this is a film where he had to completely stand alone as THE MAN.
'Who's Harry Crumb' rests on the shoulders of the brilliant John Candy.
On the whole, 'Who's Harry Crumb' is a must for John Candy Fans..
Annie Potts, Jeffrey Jones,Shawnee Smith,Tim Thomerson,and Barry Corbin were all very good in it as well!I just love the scenes where Candy is in disguise!
I have always been a John Candy fan, but this script sounds like it was written by a high school student who flunked English and drama, not to mention comedy.
I have reviewed over 500 movies for magazines and newspapers, and 'Who's Harry Crumb?' ranks near the top of the list with such losers as 'Spies Like Us' and 'Assault on Paradise'.
It doesn't come near the comedy that Candy generated in 'Uncle Buck,' 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' and 'The Big Outdoors.' Don't waste your time watching this dud..
Throughout most of his career, John Candy starred in innocuously silly movies like "Who's Harry Crumb?".
Pretty funny movie.Also starring Jeffrey Jones, Annie Potts (Janine in "Ghostbusters"), Tim Thomerson (of "Trancers"), Barry Corbin and Shawnee Smith (of the "Saw" movies)..
John Candy plays the title character, a person who comes from a long line of great detectives who is a bit of a bad, bumbling type detective.
So in the end I thought this film was a rather good and funny John Candy movie, probably one of my favorite of his where he is the main star and he does not have any real back up like having Dan Aykroyd in "The Great Outdoors" or Steve Martin in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"..
I'm glad to talk about of John Candy,l have almost all his movie even those wasn't so funny,but in this case when he was at its peak of his career is quite good,playing the character as he likes clumsy fat guy,not so smart not so stupid but often funny and enjoyable...in this movie he has the opportunity to prove his worth in a agency that take his family's name, working in a kidnapped case....all embarrassing situations end up a disaster like always...there's a lot of gags and jokes, anyhow l've enjoy the movie...sad to know that John Candy is no longer with us...we're very sorrow about his death.Resume:First watch: 1992 / How many: 6 / Source: TV-Cable TV-DVD / Rating: 6,75.
Responsible for kidnapping his latest client's daughter, the head of a private detective agency hires his least competent employee to work this case, only to be baffled when the man's incompetence helps him make headway in this lively comedy starring John Candy.
Above all else though, 'Who's Harry Crumb?' is a laugh-out-loud affair with such zaniness as a footsies scene in which three characters at a table each think that someone else is playing with them.
Indeed, while some have dismissed the movie due to the slapstick nature of most of the gags, it is how Candy handles himself in these moments rather than the physical humour itself which generates the most laughs..
When a young heiress Jennifer Downing (Renee Coleman) is kidnapped, Crumb & Crumb Executive Eliot Draisen (Jeffrey Jones) hires Crumb to find out who is responsible for the kidnapping, but it turns out to be a case that he isn't meant to solve...John Candy made something of a name for himself playing the 'lovable loser' and in effect he is playing another variant of the same character - although you can add incompetence in this case.
It would have been very easy for the filmmakers to make Candy funny because of what he does (meaning that the picture relies entirely on slapstick humour), but Crumb is given some great dialogue which actually shows that he is a bit of an idiot which makes it easier to identify with him as a character.
It does have some slapstick elements and visual gags, but because Crumb is given some development it never feels as lazy as it could have been.The cast are another reason that this film works; Candy is the heart and soul of this picture and is definitely the best thing about it.
A young Shawnee Smith is also excellent as his 'sidekick' and the likes of Jones, Corbin, Potts and Thomerson all offer terrific support.The only minor weaknesses with this film lie with the story which is weak and predictable (as is typically the case with films of this nature).
It is a funny film, but it isn't consistently funny and never really has any 'hilarious' moments.However, minor moaning aside this is still something of an underrated forgotten gem with plenty of humour which also boasts a terrific central performance from the 'late great' John Candy..
John Candy is the whole show(despite a good supporting cast with Annie Potts, Jeffrey Jones, Barry Corbin) in this mostly strained and unfunny comedy about Harry Crumb, an inept Private detective who is hired to solve the kidnapping of a young heiress, only to discover that the culprits are close to home...Many sight gags(none funny) and Candy is game as always, but plot is utterly routine and uninspired, and may have just as easily served as a pilot to a rejected TV series.
"Who's Harry Crumb?" is a title I have now been familiar with for a few years, and I original came across that title simply due to John Candy's starring role in the film.
In this 1989 crime comedy, John Candy plays a kind of character he was very well known to play, a clumsy but well-meaning and kind-hearted one.
In addition to being unfunny, this movie is also usually quite boring."Planes, Trains & Automobiles" is an excellent comedy and definitely the best film I've ever seen John Candy in.
"Uncle Buck" is another John Hughes film starring Candy, and I found that one to be pretty good when I saw it for the first time last year.
Although Candy basically plays the same kind of character here as he does in the two Hughes comedies I've mentioned, and the late comedian's talent was a big help in both of those, he couldn't save this film.
Barry Corbin, as multi-millionaire (does this guy have any other roles?) P.J. Downing, performs as the mystified victim rather well, always surprised with Harry's (John Candy) easy wit and wisdom, never realizing for a moment that the man is just as lost as anyone else in this case.
Harry Crumb is the greatest criminal investigator the world has ever known -- just ask his sidekick, Nikki Downing, the millionaire's youngest daughter, played by a very effective Shawnee Smith..
It was simply NOT funny and a major disappointment considering Candy's performance in movies like 'Stripes'.Someone who wants a good John Candy movie should try 'Only the Lonely' or 'Stripes'.
John Candy is hilarious with the right script and director, sadly this film has neither.
One of John Candy's better films, playing disguise-laden private eye investigating the kidnapping of a young heiress.
Ostensibly conceptualized as a live-action cartoon, the movie, unevenly directed by Paul Flaherty, is curiously mean-spirited at times, with ugly humor and situations nearly taking the steam out of Candy's good-natured lead.
When people talk of John Candy, it's always see "Uncle Buck" or see "Planes, Trains and Automobiles".
Well I've seen both, Uncle Buck is a film I love where as Planes, Trains and Automobiles just isn't quite the great comedy people claim it to be.
Who's Harry Crumb is by far funnier and while it's comedy may be predictable it is funny nonetheless.John Candy plays a bumbling detective called Harry Crumb, who comes from a long line of former Crumbs who were great detectives.
The only problem is, Harry Crumb doesn't have the brains the former Crumbs had and so ensues the endless errors of the hapless Crumb in his determination to find the kidnappers.Having to stand alone from by far the greatest bumbling detective films ever, The Pink Panther series where Peter Sellars still stands atop, was always going to be a hard task but I think it makes a good go at it.The humour is one you know you shouldn't be laughing at but you find yourself laughing anyhow.
The film has a certain appeal about it that makes you feel sorry for Crumb and wish that he solves the case but lets you laugh all the way to the end.One of the better John Candy films and I would go as far as saying that is is better in terms of laughs than Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but if anything see this film for the part when John Candy is on top of the fan, I had tears in my eyes through laughter..
You know, the special unique sense of comedy that he was known and loved for."Who's Harry Crumb" is a fun movie, despite it having a somewhat simplistic storyline.
But this simple storyline was actually made quite enjoyable by a rather impressive cast ensemble and some great comedy performances.The movie boasts the performances of the likes as John Candy in the lead, and he does carry the movie quite well.
Furthermore, to cement the late 1980s feel, then the cast also includes Tim Thomerson, Barry Corbin, Shawnee Smith and Valri Bromfield.There are some good laughs in the movie, and I really enjoyed the different roles and characters that John Candy portrayed on the screen, where he was allowed to unfold his comedy talents.While "Who's Harry Crumb?" is indeed a typical late 1980s comedy through and through, it is one that is well worth watching, especially if you are a fan of John Candy..
He had such roles in his best three and most critically acclaimed films: "Uncle Buck," "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," and "The Great Outdoors"."Who's Harry Crumb" is one of his mediocre films.
For starters, John Candy is one of my favorite actors of all time, he is hilarious, and every time I see him in any movie, I can't help but laugh.
Candy plays the jester Harry Crumb, the final kin of a family of amazing detectives.
It is full of the subtle humor and physical sight gags that make John Candy one of the greatest comedians of his time.
In the past few years he had starred in highly popular films and television shows, including Canadians-in-Chicago skit show `SCTV,' John Hughes' `Planes, Trains and Automobiles,' and some cameo roles in many films, including `Blues Brothers.'And then, in 1989, around the time `Uncle Buck' came out, he released a little film named `Who's Harry Crumb,' which I can safely say is one of the worst comedies I have ever seen.
But it's true.Candy plays Harry Crumb, the son of an infamous detective.
The third problem is the fact that the movie JUST ISN'T FUNNY.John Candy tries and succeeds in making his character funny, no doubt.
I have often wondered what John Candy's favorite movie that he was in was.
'Who's Harry Crumb' is a very underrated comedy.Although some of the acting is weak and the plot is simple, Candy is hilarious!
His acting alone makes the film very funny.Crumb is a more subtle, much more amusing character than many of Candy's more famous roles, such as Uncle Buck.
And in Who's Harry Crumb, Candy's talents are at an all-time peak.
But when he dons as many costumes as he does here, gets into many inexplicable situations as in this film and makes such pithy comments as, "Bamboo is my business", you know you're in for something different, if not altogether special.Jeffrey Jones is great as Harry's boss/foil/nemesis Eliot Draisen.
His and Candy's scenes by themselves make for the funniest in the course of the film.All in all, "Crumb" is funny in a low-rent "Pink Panther" kind of way.
Funny John Candy film.
This is probably (in my opinion is)John Candy's best film.
John Candy plays a great under cover private eye.
Who's Harry Crumb is another funny film that every one will watch and laugh at.
You wanna laugh at a John Candy movie?
Harry Crumb (John Candy), the last of the great detective Crumb lineage, is a bumbling idiot who's put on the case of a missing socialite by his shady boss, with the express purpose that he's a clown who couldn't detect himself out of a paper bag.
Harry Crumb is also not Candy's best film by a long shot and a good deal of the slapstick humor falls flat.
Candy and Jones can both be accomplished comedians given the right material, but here their talents are not stretched enough and, other than a couple of amusing scenes, they don't generate the expected laughs.Harry Crumb is a bumbling private eye hired to track down a missing girl.
John Candy couldn't even save this film as the humour isn't even accidentally funny.
Other stars including Jeffrey Jones, Annie Potts, Barry Corbin and Shawnee Smith are not able to help either.The plot from Robert Conte and Peter Martin Wortmann(derivative of "Ruthless People") is pathetic, as in fact is most of the movie.
Another John Candy Comedy That Is Not Funny.
"Who's Harry Crumb?" is a pointless comedy about a private eye (John Candy) and his attempts at solving a complicated kidnapping mystery.
Only John Candy's greatest fans will get anything worthwhile out of "Who's Harry Crumb?".
As a comedy, it lacks the human touch that distinguished other Candy's works like (Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Uncle Buck,..).
Good John Candy movie.
Good John Candy movie.
This movie is really good and The funny man John Candy stars in this movie and he has been in heaps of movies way better then this one like Cool Runnings,Planes Trains And Automobiles,The Great OutDoors and his best movie he has ever done has to be Uncle Buck.And in the movie there is a girl called Nikki Downing and throughout the movie i was trying to figure out what movie or TV show i have seen her in and then i went onto this web site and i found out that her name is Shawnee Smith and she is in the good TV show Becker.Over all this movie is good and there are some funny scenes and my rating is 6 out of 10..
'Who's Harry Crumb?' is by far one of my favourite movies.
Doesn't that say it all?John plays Harry Crumb, a terrible private investigator, who gets called up to the head office to investigate a kidnapping case.
The movie is funny, has a decent story line and great supporting characters.
The founding Crumbs were exceedingly talented but the present heir and gumshoe, Harry (John Candy) is a bumbling stooge.
The question is not Who's Harry Crumb but where can I get this funny film tonight?.
Unfortunately, in comparison to "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" of 1984, "Uncle Buck" of the same year as this one (1989) and "The Great Outdoors" (1988), this movie was considered to be far below par.However, in retrospect (which does not in any way help Mr. Candy at this time), his attempt was an honest one.
The movie is probably for huge fans of John Candy only, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find it funny or entertaining.
is set in Los Angeles where Jennifer Downing (Renée Coleman) is kidnapped while have a mud massage, her rich father P.J. Downing (Barry Corbin) turns to the Crumb & Crumb detective agency where President Eliot Draisen (Jeffrey Jones) decides to put the inept son of the founder of the agency Harry Crumb (John Candy).
Using various disguises & his well toned detective skills Harry Crumb tries to solve the case & save Jennifer...Directed by Paul Flaherty this likable comedy starring the late John Candy is one of those films that you may have seen in the eighties & then not watched it again in years & while it inevitably doesn't quite seem as funny as the first time around there's still a fair bit here to enjoy & laugh along with.
While not hysterically funny there are laughs to be had here & the whole film is played in such a way that you just end up liking it, Candy is just great as Harry Crumb who gets some very funny moments of physical comedy as well as some baffling, silly & amusing one-liners.
The acting is good from a very game cast of well known actor's with Candy himself as the stand-out, Shawnee Smith (before the Saw films) is cute & likable as his sidekick while Jeffrey Jones, Annie Potts & Tim Thomerson give decent comic performances.Who's Harry Crumb?
Despite his best efforts Crumb actually makes some headway in the case...Before Candy made it big with a certain member of a family called Buck, he went all out with this little film, which is basically a hybrid of Fletch and The Naked Gun.Its one of those reliable movies from the eighties that you will enjoy, because your a fan of the star. |
tt0102713 | The Prince of Tides | Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte), a teacher and football coach from South Carolina, is asked by his mother, Lila, to travel to New York to help his twin sister's psychiatrist, Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand), after his sister Savannah's (Melinda Dillon) latest suicide attempt. Tom hates New York but reluctantly accepts, largely to take the opportunity to be alone and away from a life that does not satisfy him. During his initial meetings with Lowenstein, Tom is reluctant to disclose many details of their dysfunctional family's secrets. In flashbacks, Tom relates incidents from his childhood to Lowenstein in hopes of discovering how to save Savannah's life. The Wingo parents were an abusive father and an overly proud, status-hungry mother. The father was a shrimp boat operator and, despite being successful at that profession, spent all of his money on frivolous business pursuits, leaving the family in poverty.
Tom is also torn with his own problems, but hides behind what he calls "the Southern way"; i.e., laughing about everything. For example, his wife Sallie is having an affair and her lover wants to marry her. Tom and Lowenstein begin having feelings for each other. After Tom discovers that she is married to Herbert Woodruff, a famous concert violinist, Lowenstein introduces Tom to her son Bernard (Jason Gould), who is being groomed to become a musician as well but who secretly wants to play football. Tom starts coaching Bernard along with attending sessions with Lowenstein to help his sister. Tom discovers that Savannah has been in such a dissociated state that she even had a different identity, Renata Halpern. As Halpern, she wrote books to disguise the Savannah side of her troubled life. Tom confronts Lowenstein over not revealing this information before and they argue, during which she throws a dictionary at him. To apologize, she asks him to dinner and their relationship becomes closer.
Tom has a fateful meeting with his mother and stepfather, bringing up painful memories. Tom reveals that, when he was 13 years old, three escaped convicts invaded his home and raped him, along with his mother and sister. His older brother, Luke, killed two of the aggressors with a shotgun, while his mother stabbed the third with a kitchen knife. They buried the bodies beneath the house and never spoke of it again. Tom suffers a mental breakdown, having now let loose a key piece of Savannah's troubled life. After a session of football, Herbert orders Bernard to return to his music lessons and prepare to leave for Tanglewood. Tom is invited to a dinner at Lowenstein's home, along with poets and intellectuals. Herbert is overtly rude and reveals that Tom's sister is in therapy with his wife. Infuriated, Lowenstein voices her suspicions about her husband's affairs. Tom takes Herbert's "million dollar" violin and threatens to throw it off the balcony unless Herbert apologizes.
Tom spends a romantic weekend with Lowenstein at her country house, both already falling in love at this point. Savannah recovers and is released from the hospital. This recovery is due to finally learning about things she has repressed from her childhood, most notably the rapes. Her first suicide attempt at age 13 was after the rapes and murders of the three convicts. Tom then receives a call from his wife who has finally decided she wants him back. He loves Lowenstein and his wife both, but 'has loved his wife longer, not more', he tells Lowenstein. He returns home, not being a man to abandon his wife and three daughters, wishing that two lives could be given to each man and woman. He's happy in his renewed life, after finally working out the traumatic events in his past, thanks to Lowenstein, but thinks of her daily as he reaches the top of the bridge on his drive home from work. Her name comes to him as a kind of prayer, a blessing. | melodrama, flashback, home movie | train | wikipedia | I avoided this movie because I did not care to see a romance involving Barbra Streisand and Nick Nolte.
Sincere, generally well-crafted story about the far-reaching effects of childhood trauma, lovingly directed by Streisand and grounded by Nick Nolte's profoundly moving performance..
Despite a rather protracted love story and one too many climaxes, Streisand, who also co-stars, never loses sight of the novel's primary intent.Streisand graciously hands the spotlight over to actor Nick Nolte, who gives the most sensitive, emotionally complex performance of his varied career.
Eventually, Tom, who lacks faith in psychiatry, finds himself facing his own demons as these initial discussions about Savannah take a suddenly dramatic and romantic turn.In addition to Nolte's Oscar-nominated showcase, much of the film's strength lies in the highly concentrated flashback sequences as Tom recalls his turbulent family life.
On a brighter note, Jason Gould (Barbra's real-life son) acquits himself surprisingly well in the difficult role of Lowenstein's antagonistic son who slowly bonds with Tom's absentee father figure -- showing for once that nepotism isn't necessarily blind or reckless.
Nick Nolte's bookend narration is perfect as well -- warm, wise, poetic and reflective.And so, despite the flaws "The Prince of Tides" may have, Streisand certainly shows that her heart was in the right place..
Its rhythm, cinematography and casting is perfect and the story never fails to deliver.Tom Wingo, played by Nolte in an all-time best for him, has to go to New York to help his twin sister, Savannah Wingo, played by Melinda Dillon who has attempted suicide for the umpteenth time.
However with the love for his sister and the encouragement of her psychiatrist, Lowenstein, played by Streisand, the truth begins to unfold along with a love between Lowenstein and Tom who are both in unhappy marriages.There are no easy solutions here to the many issues that are raised, suffice is to say that Streisand, who also directs, keeps a gentle hand in and does not wham home any major emotional points.
Barbra Streisand was fantastic as the psychiatrist who had her own secrets, and her son Jason was terrific as the rebellious son who wanted to please his father, but who needed to find himself by taking on the challenge of playing football.
Nick Nolte's acting is excellent and I can't think of any actor who can play his role as Tom. For those of you who never seen this film, The Prince of Tides is a drama that tackles family, time and emotions.
The movie should have focused solely on the psychological make-up of the Nick Nolte character, Tom, or of his mother.
It's not just a funny or boring one, it really has something to tell all of us.I do also feel that it shows the southern way of life in a very true manner although it can be strange compared to other places in the US we really here get to see what the southern parts of US is all about.Barbra Streisand also in this film, as in all other ones where she appaears, is great; that lady really has talent and she knows it!
I personally really like Barbra Streisand, and I think that this is a very good movie, even if not particularly for her own presence.
The entire cast is good, especially Nick Nolte, who is very believable and delivers a great performance.
Like most of movies where Streisand has a stake as a director and/or producer, she ruins a film that had a lot of potential.
I would have expected him to say something more of a summary to the movie, not 'Lowenstein, Lowenstein'...I almost screamed.3) Sad to say, but of a cast so full of stars, Nick Nolte is the only one who gives an effective, powerful performance.
The powerhouse performance by Nolte as a man troubled by his past carries this film version of the Pat Conroy novel, as brought to the screen by Streisand.
Streisand played Susan Lowenstein wonderfully, and I haven't seen a better performance from Nick Nolte playing Tom Wingo.
It all begins as an examination of a suicidal woman's life, but quickly turns into a romance between her brother (Nick Nolte) and the woman's psychiatrist (Streisand).
Tom Wingo(Nick Nolte) goes to new york after he is told that his sister, Savannah (Melinda Dillon)has tried to commit suicide.
He meets with her psychiatrist (Barbra Streisand)who is trying to find out background on Savannah to try and find out what happened in her past to make her want to end her life.We find out that Tom has a lot of secrets regarding his past and that he came from an abusive southern family.Tom and Susan become friends and he starts coaching her son Bernard(Jason Gould) Bernard's father and Susans unloving husband (Jerone Krabbe)is excellent as the disapproving father.
Kate Nelligan, Nick Nolte, Blythe Danner and Barbra Streisand are giving this movie a fantastic cast, put that together with the story and the incredible good filmmaker eye of Ms. Streisand and you have one of the best movies of the 1990's.
I absolutely loved this movie when I first saw it Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand had great chemistry throughout!
The Prince of Tides falls down because Streisand turns this film into Nolte and her getting it on.
Nick Nolte was the reason I watched this movie for the first time and didn't know what to expect.
Neither does Tom Wingo(Nick Nolte) who has gone to New York where he meets a psychiatrist called Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand), hoping he can give her useful information about the reason of his sister's continual committing suicide.
Without the singing (in fact, Streisand intentionally uses an instrumental version of the movie's theme song instead of the soundtrack's vocal one so as not to "detract from the film's message") and with her ego still almost in check, "Tides" falls kind of flat.
Nolte is actually quite good - his (deservedly) Oscar-nominated performance goes a long way toward redeeming this film.
Her direction and performance in this film are wonderful, and at points flawed, but not very often.Nick Nolte's portrayal of Tom Wingo is amazing.
I've read only one other Pat Conroy novel, the excellent Beach Music, and I was expecting a masterpiece with Prince of Tides, given the brilliance of the movie but I was wrong.
Barbra Streisand, as great a job of acting as she did in this movie, was not the correct casting choice for Susan Lowenstein.
And now follows a second review.Right at the very beginning of the movie, Nick Nolte, in a voice-over as Tom Wingo, supposes that his father Henry Wingo might have been a pretty good father if he hadn't been such a violent man...Ya Think???It only gets worse, dysfunctional family-wise.
Tom comes to New York to offer insights into his sister's behavior to the psychiatrist, played by Barbra Streisand, who does a decent job although she would not have been my choice for the role.
The book is an intricately detailed story of a nearly psychotic family, and so, so much was left out of this production that ripped its guts out it became almost unwatchable for me (for example, in the book, the climax of the story comes near the end, as Luke self-destructs; the family rape scene is really only a build up to the final catastrophe.)Why does Barbra feel like she has to completely fill up the screen with her presence in every film she makes??(See "Nuts" as a prime example of this).
Nick Nolte was absolutely, as People Magazine noted that year, the Sexiest Man Alive in this flick but even he couldn't compete with Barbra Streisand.
Who else but Barbra would cut the choicest supporting female role in the story (the mad sister who Melinda Dillon could have done to perfection)to less than 10 minutes of screen time?Who else but Barbra would hire a great actress like Blythe Danner only to cut her scenes down to the minimum number of seconds needed to be seen?
It is a tribute to Ms. Danner that she manages to create a character all the same, believable and complex despite the director's attempted sabotage.Streisand manages to give us a skeleton of the original plot in a little over an hour, then turns this movie into girl meets goy just like "The Way We Were." Yeah, the romance was in the book, but it wasn't so in your face.An unintentionally funny scene: Nick Nolte weeps in the good psychiatrist's office (Dr. Lowenstein is played by Barbra Streisand), as he recalls being raped when he was a boy.
I love laughing.If you like dramas and are a fan of either Streisand or Nolte then this film is a must see.
The cast is superb and top quality and although Streisand herself shines it is Nick Nolte who steals the show as Tom Wingo,in one of the most intense and moving performances in modern filmmaking.
My husband loved this movie, especially Nick Nolte's Oscar winning performance in it, but I personally found it a boring package of psychobabble and of course the standard pair of would be lovers trapped in unhappy marriages, with no one else understanding their problems except each other.The film tells the tale of a troubled Southern man, Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte) who is consulted by the New York psychiatrist, Susan Lowenstein, who is treating his suicidal twin sister, Savannah (Mellina Dillon).
However, I was interested to read that Streisand's real life son, Jason Gould, portrays (quite effectively) her character's teenage son, Bernard.These psychotherapy tales are just not my type of movie.
Streisand's semi-controversial adaptation of THE PRINCE OF TIDES may not have completely satisfied fans of the book, however, the general public fell instantly under the film's hypnotic spell - and turned it into a surprise box office smash The decision to keep the film's focus in the present rather than the past results in the elimination of most of the novel's lengthy backstory.
As the film progresses, these characters seem especially real, and they are embodied by an absolutely flawless cast.As anyone who has read the book can attest, the characters of Tom and Lila Wingo would seem to be extremely challenging (if not almost unplayable) roles, both of which are brimming with contradictions and hidden emotions.
Blythe Danner, Jason Gould, and Melinda Dillion all also turn in memorable performances, even though Dillion's Savannah (a lead character in the novel) has precious little screen time due to the film's structure.
Southern football coach Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte) one day learns that his sister in New York has attempted suicide, forcing him to meet with her psychiatrist Dr. Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand, also the director).
Over time, Tom and Susan fall in love.I guess that the part about Tom and Susan developing a relationship was kind of predictable, but Streisand did a good job with the movie.
Based on the novel by Pat Conroy, this is the story of a South Carolina football coach who must come to terms with a dark family secret when his sister attempts suicide.
Nick Nolte plays Tom Wingo, a man undergoing marital difficulties (his wife thinks he is cold and distant) who must meet with his sister's New York psychiatrist (that would be Barbra) and tell her about some of the family skeletons that his sister has blocked from her memory.
The movie, despite limitations, does a fine job of capturing the essence of that story.I am not a Nolte fan but I liked this performance, and would go out on a limb to suggest that it is his best yet (even better than Affliction).
The story follows Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte) on the way to the hospital where his sister Savannah, (Melinda Dillon) is a patient, having tried to commit suicide.
The Prince of Tides has enough plot for 3 Lifetime channel movies and it's burdened with unnecessary characterizations by Jason Gould, Blythe Danner and Jerome Kerobbe to say nothing of a pointless, highly unlikely and questionable romance between Nolte's troubled Tom Wingo and his suicidal sister's shrink Dr. Lowenstein played unconvincingly by Streisand whose direction is rhythm-less, pedestrian and overwrought and in no way suggests Streisand was robbed of a Best Director nomination by a sexist Academy but rather was damned lucky that The Prince of Tides was a Best Picture nominee!
As Billy Crystal quipped during his Oscar presentation song, "Did this film direct itself?" Barbra Streisand, producer, director, and leading lady in The Prince of Tides was almost completely snubbed at the Academy Awards in 1992.
While Barbra Streisand isn't given very good lines to say-she plays a therapist, and she says things no therapist would ever say-Nick Nolte's performance in her office makes everyone forget her side of the conversation.
Kate Nelligan, who plays Nick's mother, does do a very good job, so if you're a fan, you might want to see her only Oscar-nominated performance.Normally, I don't really like movies that flash back and forth between the present and the past, but it's only because most directors don't handle the transitions very well.
Tom's problem stems from his dysfunctional family with his abusive shrimper father Henry, mother Lila (Kate Nelligan), twin Savannah, older brother Luke and one terrible incident.Nick Nolte is a powerful presence and Barbra Streisand is well-matched.
"The Prince of Tides" is a fair adaption of the much better book by Pat Conroy.The acting in the movie is very good, including an excellent performance by Nick Nolte, one of my favorite actors.
What Streisand created was a love story, nothing more, and borrowed a couple of characters from a beautifully written book that she loosely based her movie on.
In fact, Streisand steps back to play the subordinate role of Dr. Susan Lowenstein, the pricey New York psychiatrist treating Tom's sister, Savannah.
There are several characters and subplots in the book that could not make it with the limited time of a movie, that you will enjoy.I thought all-in-all, the movie became too much a love story, and missed the complex dynamics between Tom Wingo, and his brother Luke and sister Savannah.
If only 1) Barbra Streisand hadn't directed and starred, 2) the story had been more concerned with the Wingo family than the "therapy" provided by Lowenstein, 3) the really horrible scenes (such as the awful dinner party at the Lowenstein home) and dialogue had been left on the cutting room floor, 4) the suicidal sister been allowed to have a character, and 5) the score had been dumped (it's so sickly it should come with a warning from the dental association) THEN this movie might be palatable!
But considering the limitations of a two hour film, it came across real well, especially the acting of Nick Nolte as Tom Wingo.
It looks put upon and completely forced.The story is there, I am sure the book has some resonance, but this movie, while pretty in some ways, was just painful to watch.
The acting was surprisingly good (not by Streisand, but by Nick Nolte as the man with troubles) and there were good dramatic scenes.
Barbra Streisand directed "The Prince of Tides" by book of Pat Conroy and in my opinion she did a good job.
Story is about Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte) who has to talk to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand).
In order to help his sister Savannah (Melinda Dillon) Tom must remember few things from his childhood that he put deep inside.Streisand made good movie and first role of Tom Wingo was offered to Kevin Costner.
Barbra Streisand is miles away from Nolte's performance but her role isn't that hard to do.
Unemployed high football coach Nick Nolte (Oscar-nominated) sees psychiatrist Barbra Streisand after his sister (Melinda Dillon) tries to commit suicide.
I just couldn't buy Nick Nolte as Tom...It just never felt right, so it's a little painful to watch given how much I loved the book..
Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand give legendary performances that should not be missed.
In fact, even Nolte's worst critics would keep quite after watching his act in here.Directed by the Legendary Barbra Streisand, 'The Prince Of Tides' tells the story of the narrator's struggle to overcome the psychological damage inflicted by his dysfunctional childhood.The film is interesting in most parts, as the adapted screenplay is well-written.
But then there's "The Prince Of Tides." Barbra Streisand might have produced, directed and co-starred, but this is Nick Nolte's movie from beginning to end, and his performance is absolutely brilliant.
Streisand as director does a good job of building up to that revelation; Streisand as co-star is just that - a good partner for Nolte who's wise enough and confident enough in herself to let him carry the movie.The story - revolving around Tom Wingo (Nolte) travelling to New York from his beloved southern home to be with his sister who's just attempted suicide - is rather heavy at times.
Now, in conclusion, if you are a fan of Nick Nolte or Barbra Streisand, or you enjoyed Pat Conroy's title novel, I highly recommend this movie.
Which then begs the second question of why the Motion Picture Academy didn't consider her for a Best Actress Award or Best Director considering all the other nominations The Prince of Tides received.This film may be Nick Nolte's career role.
Nolte=Good/Babs=Bad. Nick Nolte confronts ugly childhood memories as he goes to New York to met with a psychiatrist, Barbra Streisand, to discuss a suicide attempt by his twin sister.
This film, based on the best-selling novel by Pat Conroy, who also co-wrote the screenplay, has much to commend: an excellent performance by Nick Nolte, wonderful cinematography, and skilled direction at hands of the big-B herself.
The stupid romance between Streisand and Nolte was a very minor part of the book but became the entire movie.
When the sister goes into therapy, Nolte's Tom Wingo meets the therapist played by Barbra Streisand.
Pat Conroy adapts a novel about a dysfunctional SC Southern family's traumatic events, with Barbra Streisand, into an Oscar-nominated intense role for Nick Nolte, who plays the leading man (Tom Wingo), to Streisand's (Susan Lowenstien) leading woman, NYC psychiatrist. |
tt0050156 | The Bachelor Party | Charlie Samson (Murray) is a hard-working married bookkeeper, struggling to advance himself by attending night school to become an accountant. He and four co-workers throw a bachelor party for a fellow bookkeeper, Arnold Craig (Philip Abbott), who is about to get married. After the party, they decide to go bar-hopping. Charlie is to be Arnold's best man.
Colleagues attending the party include the older married man, Walter (Marshall), who has recently been diagnosed with asthma, and Eddie (Warden), a happy-go-lucky bachelor. The night becomes a turning point for all five men.
Charlie finds his loyalty to his wife tested during the evening, and he almost has an affair with a young woman (Jones) he meets on the street heading to a Greenwich Village party. Walter, in despair about his situation, wanders off during the evening.
Arnold becomes drunk and ambivalent about getting married, and he breaks off the wedding only to change his mind after he sobers up and Charlie gives him a lecture about the benefits of married life. This, in spite of the fact that in the beginning of the story, Charlie had been regretting his marriage and had gone to the party with a serious intention of committing adultery.
We last see Eddie at a bar, striking up a conversation with an older unattractive woman. In the end, Charlie decides that married life is the way to go, and that his struggle to build a home with his wife is worthwhile, and better than the empty and lonely existence of his friend Eddie, whom he used to envy. | melodrama | train | wikipedia | The depressing part comes in realizing that there seems to be no room for the sort of superb writing and spot-on flawless performances in a mature drama such as we have offered to us by THE BACHELOR PARTY.The reason for the scarcity of wonderful films like this owes to the movie's origin as a TV-play, at a time when the young medium was still showing outstanding pieces written by writers like the author of this screenplay, Paddy Chayefsky.I once read an interview with King Vidor, discussing his amazing 1928 classic, THE CROWD.
Some, well, let's simply say they have a long road ahead.It was great to see E.G. Marshall and Jack Warden together again after seeing them in another movie from the same year (1957) - 12 ANGRY MEN.
And finally, in small roles, it was fun to see a pre-"Addams Family" Carolyn Jones in a part that bagged her a Best Supporting Actress nomination and Nancy Marchand as a friend or the main character's wife.
But as the movie progresses, layers of convention begin to peel away exposing a core of self-doubt and degrees of unhappiness among the married men (Blyden, Marshall, and Murray), and one that soon turns into full-blown angst over ordinary middle-class norms.
Murray, in particular, feels the conflict as the roving party opens up tempting new worlds and a sense of adventure, especially with Carolyn Jones' exotic seductress.
On the other hand, Murray's married man is stimulated, making his outcome emblematic of the film's outcome.The movie is really more effective in opening these issues than in dealing with them.
The talk quickly becomes a heart- to-heart, where Marchand reveals the angst of a settled marriage, in which her doctor husband has pursued a number of affairs, leaving her with the kids and a comfortable life- style she'll stay with, even though she conveys an air of frustration and emptiness.
When Smith objects that her husband, Murray, is not like that, Marchand tells her to just wait until they too have been married eleven years.
Nonetheless, Bachelor Party remains a worthwhile look back in time for its perceptive exploration of conventions that in most ways are still with us..
His vague dissatisfaction with his marriage is tested as he wander into Greenwich Village (nicely filmed on location)and compares himself to his friends--an older, struggling married man, the bridegroom, the confirmed bachelor.
But good performances from Murray, Jack Warden and Carolyn Jones..
Don Murray is good as a married man coaxed (by his wife!) into attending a bachelor party for a fellow bookkeeper.
The wife (well played by Patricia Smith) seems to know the party will test Murray's nose-to-the-grindstone dedication to their marriage.
The ending is sentimental, but moving, too, if you give it a chance, and there's a truly brilliant small performance from Carolyn Jones, probably seven or eight of the most mesmerizing minutes ever filmed..
I like how Nancy Marchand appears in this, she was "Clara" in the live TV version of "Marty" opposite Rod Steiger.Terrific location shots of New York in the 1950s especially Greenwich Village.Now let's see the third in what I call the "Paddy Chayefsky Trilogy": "Marty", "The Bachelor Party" and (also, another "Lost" film not on DVD) "Middle of the Night"!.
That film is beautifully acted."The Bachelor Party," on the other hand, though a far lesser work, does not seem dated.
In "Bachelor Party" the guys really don't seem to know again what they're going to be doing.Despite excellent performances by Don Murray, E.G. Marshall, Larry Blyden and Nancy Marchand, this film stagnates.
It was great seeing what the New York subways looked like in the 1950s but enough was enough.When several guys in an office plan a bachelor party for a nervous to-be-groom, nicely done by Philip Abbott, it becomes an evening of self-examination.I was waiting for a burst out scene but unfortunately that never came.Much has been made about Carolyn Jones's brief supporting Oscar nomination bid.
Patricia Smith, as Don Murray's wife, and Nancy Marchand, as the sister-in-law, gave far better performances as an anxious-to-be mother and sister-in-law whose husband, a doctor, has been cheating on her.Jack Warden epitomizes the care-free bachelor whose main purpose in life is to chase after women.
Marshall does a complete turn in acting as the asthmatic member of the group who has to relocate to Arizona if he wants to survive.The film conveys the frustrations of every day life.
THE BACHELOR PARTY is adapted from Paddy Chayefsky's TV play and is a watered down version of other Chayefsky stories about lonely men and the lives they live--even when married.It's downbeat all the way, beginning with an office scene where an obnoxious JACK WARDEN monopolizes office routine with his loud personal calls as he arranges for the evening's bachelor party.
LARRY BLYDEN just wants a night out with the boys and PHILIP ABBOTT is the soon to be groom, a "Marty" type of guy, shy with the gals, who reveals during the course of the evening that he's not ready for marriage.The talk is natural, the dialog is very much Chayefsky's gift for simple folks expressing themselves in ways we can all relate to--and yet, the film lacks pace and shows its origin--a TV play that is character driven but not open enough for the screen.CAROLYN JONES has a brief party scene that she plays well as an "existentialist" mouthing gibberish and for some reason she got an Oscar nomination for what is almost a bit role.
Delbert Mann directed another Paddy Chayefsky script(he wrote "Marty", which Mann directed) about five office workers and friends who celebrate the forthcoming marriage of one of them(played by Philip Abbott) Charlie Samson(played by Don Murray) is the thoughtful one of the group, whose wife(played by Patricia Smith) is expecting a baby, putting more stress on him.
He will come to appreciate his family more after an eventful night, with angst-ridden Walter(played by E.G. Marshal) stable Kenneth(played by Larry Blyden) and the loud but lonely bachelor(played by Jack Warden).
Well-written and acted film about family life and self-determination has somehow been overlooked by time, since it has yet to be released on DVD for some reason; until then, VHS will have to do!.
Following up their critically acclaimed Oscar winning triumph Marty collaboration, screenwriter Paddy Chayevsky and director Del Mann attempt to make lightening strike twice with another stroll down melancholy lane, The Bachelor Party.
Glum family man Charlie Sampson (Don Murray) vacillates about attending a bachelor party with co-workers after quitting time.
Back at home his wife frets about the lack of spark in her life with a confidant (Nancy Marchand) who sets her straight about the realities of marriage.With everyone in a deep state of torpor or frustration (save for scene stealer Jones) The Bachelor Party has little to celebrate as each member gets his opportunity to flaccidly expound on his hum drum existence.
Murray turns in a good performance as a young man on the threshold of marriage.
During his batchelor party, Murray learns of the many problems facing friends that he'd thought were happily married, and begins to doubt if he should make 'the big jump.' As in "Marty" another of Chayefskys' works brought to the screen, this is drama of the 'everyman'-however, unlike the Borgnine classic, this one lacks the big punch..
Working stiff in New York City is encouraged by his newly-pregnant wife to attend a co-worker's bachelor party; he reluctantly agrees, but troubles within his marriage and the rut of work and night school has made him despondent, and after meeting a sharp dame from Greenwich Village he doesn't want to go back home.
In the central role, Don Murray fidgets like an uptight Boy Scout; he's good in his scenes with the groom-to-be, listening to the mama's boy talk about his total lack of experience with women, but Murray struggles with this underwritten character, uncertain of what emotions he should be feeling or showing (it's a mediocre performance in a mediocre movie).
Helen is horrified because she has been looking forward to motherhood as the fulfillment of her life, as a woman, and as a wife.The bar hopping scene becomes pathetic, when only Arnold, Eddie and Charlie are left to keep the party going.
The three men finally show up at a party they had been told by a lonely young woman that needs all the help she can get because of her narcissistic outlook in life.
Getting home and seeing Helen again, brings a kind of peace to Charlie after the crazy night he just experienced."The Bachelor Party" was an achievement when it made its debut.
These creatures of the Manhattan of the times continue to live in big cities all over America, although the language in films is much more frank today.Paddy Chayefski, the screenwriter of "Marty", created this work as a television play, which was expanded to a film.
Don Murray, Jack Warden, E.G. Marshall, Larry Blyden, Philip Abbott, Patricia Smith, among others.
The two outstanding performances came from Nancy Marchand, making her film debut and by Carolyn Jones, the lonely "Village" girl, who went to win the Oscar for best supporting actress.Joseph LaShelle, the cinematographer, gives us a tour around the New York of that era.
The acting of the main male leads is very good and one of Chayevsky's best scripts (Hospital is another favorite) butt he main character Charlie gives in too easily at the end to a positive and sappy conclusion; love the 50's existential ambiance and the great party scene in the Village; Kerouac would could have been at the party; the wife of Charlie is a bit simplistic as are some of the other women in the film, black and white very effective.
It's a far better than average slice,--more accurately, slices--of life from a now bygone era when people still sat on stoops of apartment buildings, and if it was a youngish, even plain woman most men would regard her as at least somewhat "available".The plot of the movie is simple: a bunch of white collar guys, some middle class, others on the fringe, go out on a binge called a bachelor party to celebrate the engagement and impending marriage of one of their fellow workers.
As is to be expected in films (and at the time, TV dramas), the question of the meaning of life comes up in various forms; as does the issue of whether marriage is worth the grief that often comes along with it; and as the story meanders along, rambling with its characters, larger matters of love and death are brought up; too schematically for my tastes, but there you have it.It's a decent, at times flawed script, but the superb performances of the major players help enormously; and the character development is good.
Some of the parts are meatier than others, but the actors themselves cannot be blamed for this: Don Murray is a young Everyman with a pregnant wife; he's in night school so as to become an accountant, which will better equip him to support his family.
Larry Blyden was fine in a small part, while Philip Abbott, whom I've always liked, played his role of the man the bachelor party was thrown for, with beauty, sincerity and an modest, non-showboating realism that made me wish he'd got better parts later in his career.
While some of the events in the movie are "out of date" (e.g. the men watch stag films in a bachelor's apartment in lieu of going to a strip club), the story and its underlying themes remain as fresh as ever.Don Murray is top billed in his second film role, after earning his only Academy recognition with a Best Supporting Actor nomination (in his screen debut) for playing a rodeo hick hunk opposite Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop (1956).
Initially, the focus of the plot appears to be on Murray's character Charlie and his wife Helen (Patricia Smith); they're a young couple, past the newlywed stage, and they've just learned that she's pregnant with (what would be) their first child.
When Charlie gets to work that morning, the party's other would be participants (all bookkeepers, by profession) are introduced: two are married, and somewhat henpecked, and two are bachelors:Jack Warden is perfectly cast as Eddie, the confirmed bachelor who's (the titled groom's best man to be and) in charge of the evening's planned events.
Of course, in the end we learn that Eddie's life is empty as he pleads with his coworkers to stay as long as possible so he doesn't have to return home alone to his empty abode.E.G. Marshall as Walter is (by far) the oldest participant; he's in the twilight of his career with a mortgage and a daughter in college.
Ken had once strayed during a business trip and laments the change in his wife ever since; he's also the first to leave the party to go home, though he's unsuccessful in his attempt to convince Charlie to do the same.Arnold is a rather pathetic bridegroom; in one sense, Abbott's character is a plot device to give the other characters their moments of reflection.The film is also notable for earning Carolyn Jones her only Oscar nomination (Supporting Actress); she plays the Existentialist, an oversexed Greenwich Village philosopher that the men (specifically Charlie) encounter during the evening.
Otherwise, you might wonder if her performance was the shortest ever to be Oscar nominated; ironically, that record is held by Beatrice Straight's stint in Chayefsky's prescient drama Network (1976), which was decades ahead of its time in predicting today's world: the cult of celebrity, ratings-based news programming, faux experts, and "reality" TV.While the film's ending may seem "tacked on", it contains a certain truth.
While Arnold learned that married life isn't a panacea, Charlie gained an appreciation for what he had with Helen.
It was directed by Delbert Mann, only his second film after Marty (1955), which was another Chayefsky-written drama (that initially aired on TV) about lonely people..
It comes as a big shock to Charlie when his wife Helen, Patricia Smith, tells him that she's expecting their first child that coming February.It just happens that one of Charlie's fellow workers Arnold Craig, Philip Abbott, is to get married that weekend and reluctantly, skipping a collage class for the first time in six months, Charlie agrees to attend his bachelor party secluded to take place that evening.
It turned out that Charlie as well as those who attended Arnold's bachelor party got an education in life and human relationships that in the end changed their lives around and for the better at that as well!Getting tanked up on both beer and hard liquor Charlie and his friends that included life long bachelor, and best man at Arnold's wedding, Eddie, Jack Warden, as well as married men Walter, E.G Marshall, and Kenny, Larry Blyden, ended up letting their hair down and exposing to each other their deepest and darkest secrets.
Charlie who's a straight as an arrow no fooling around family man soon loses his cool as the hot for him and really wanting it 25 year old woman beatnik Carolyon Jones, or the Existentialist in the movie credits, puts the squeeze on him at a local Greenwich village anything goes and free for all swingers party.As the dawn starts to approach Charlie together with his friends realizes what fools they made of themselves and try to put all the pieces of their shattered lives, because of the party that got out of control, back together.
It took those heart wrenching and both boozing and womanizing 12 hours of partying the night away that in the end showed Charlie how good he's had it all along.
It also showed Charlie that the life of a swinging and irresponsible bachelor, like his friend Eddie, was not his or his fellow married friends at the office cup of tea or bowl of borscht..
The story concerns three married men (Marshall,Blyden & Murray) and an unmarried man (Warden) all treating a co-worker (Abbott) to a bachelor party on a Thursday night in Manhattan.The married men want to go out to get away from their humdrum life.The unmarried man is simply out to have a good time.As the evening unwinds we learn the married men are basically unhappy and feel pressure to buy houses,raise children,earn more money,etc..They feel trapped but are resigned to their fate.They wish they were outgoing and free like the unmarried man.The prospective groom is unsure about going through with the wedding which takes place on Sunday.He wants someone to agree with him that the wedding is a bad idea.Then at the end all of a sudden the story changes-the unmarried man is to be pitied because his life is empty and meaningless and the married men are to be envied because they have their wives and children.This ending seems tacked on as if just to quickly end the film.The sudden married "joy" of the Murray character is simply ridiculous which is why ultimately the film is disappointing.The circumstances of his and his friends' marriages do not make this ending believable.
The other disappointment was the short use of "The Existentialist" (Carolyn Jones).Her character was interesting but had so little screen time that the viewer is unsure about whether what she had to say had great meaning and insight or was simply gibberish..
They're already living at the edge.A friend at work, Philip Abbott, is to be married and Jack Warden, on the hedonistic treadmill, has organized a bachelor party for Abbott.
What's not believable is the climactic scene in which Murray suddenly grabs his face, shouts, "If I don't see my wife right now I'll bust with love," or something like that, and runs off down the stairs to go home.We assume he'll muddle through. |
tt0118001 | Two Much | Art Dodge (Antonio Banderas), a former artist, is struggling to make ends meet with his art gallery, ignoring bills and delaying to pay his assistant Gloria (Joan Cusack) and his artist Manny (Gabino Diego). To survive, he is reading the obituaries and trying to convince the widows that the deceased purchased a painting shortly before dying.
Things take an ugly turn when Art is trying this scam with mobster Gene (Danny Aiello) whose father just died. Not only does Gene not fall for it, but he tries to have his henchmen beat Art up. Art barely escapes by hiding in the Rolls Royce of Betty Kerner (Melanie Griffith), Gene's estranged two-time ex-wife and wealthy heiress. Betty is excited about helping the handsome stranger, and the two end up shortly thereafter making love. Betty being very impulsive, she wants to marry Art in two weeks. Because of the heiress fortune the news immediately makes the tabloids. Stuck between Betty who won't change her mind and Gene who still loves his ex-wife, Art doesn't like the idea of getting married with such short notice but decides to play along for now.
One morning, at Betty's mansion, Art seductively enters her shower naked, only to realize it's not Betty who's in there but her sister Liz (Daryl Hannah), an art professor. If Art is attracted to Liz, she stays very cold and distant, seeing him as nothing more than a gigolo who hit the jackpot. Art decides to invent a fake twin brother Bart (who wears glasses and has his hair down instead of wearing a ponytail) who is allegedly a painter who just got back from Italy. Bart and Liz instantly hit it off while Gene still tries to romance Betty. Bart and Liz can't stop talking about everything, he plays with her dog and even invites her to Manny's studio when he's not in, pretending to show her his art. When Liz's favorite painting in the studio turns out to have been actually made by Art (who gave it to Manny as an "advance" on what he owes him), Bart gives her the painting.
Thanks to his imaginary twin brother, Art manages to pursue a romance with both sisters. Because the two "twin brothers" must never be in the same place at the same time, it however involves a lot of running around, coming up with a lot of excuses and enlisting a very reluctant Gloria's help. One evening he needs to go out two separate dates with both Betty and Liz. At the restaurant with Betty, he decides to drug her wine, much to the horror of the sommelier (Vincent Schiavelli). This allows him to cut the date short and put a very sleepy Betty to bed. He then goes out with Liz (who chooses the very same restaurant) and ends up making love to her. The next morning, Art/Bart has to run back and forth between the two sister's bedrooms (whose two bathrooms share a private swimming pool) as he's supposed to be with them both at the same time.
In the evening before the wedding, Art spots Gene's two henchmen around his house and manages to escape them thanks to his dad's help (Eli Wallach). He tries to spend the night at Gloria's but he discovers she started dating Manny. Manny however gives him the keys to his studio where he can spend the night. At the studio, Art starts to paint again when he is interrupted by Gene's henchmen who found him and start beating him up, before Gene shows up. When Art proposes Gene to leave town, Gene tells him to go ahead with the wedding and threatens to break one bone for each tear Betty cries. After they leave, Liz arrives to the studio, thinking Bart got beat up. When Bart tells her he is Art, that he fell in love when he saw her in the shower and tries to kiss her, Liz thinks Art is trying to make a pass at her, not realizing Bart doesn't exist.
On the wedding day, Liz tells Bart his "brother" tried to kiss her, and that the wedding should be called off. Bart needs to "confront" Art in a study alone, with Liz and Gene listening outside -and, unbeknownst to anyone, also by Betty through the phone. When Gene enters the study, he confronts a lonely Art, and again threatens him if he doesn't marry Betty. He tells him that what Art or even himself want is irrelevant, and that the only thing that matters is Betty's happiness. During the wedding ceremony, Betty, shaken by Gene's selfless devotion, calls the wedding off and falls in Gene's arms acknowledging she still love him too. Gene and Betty elope. In the general confusion, Liz sees her dog wanting to play with Art and realizes Art and Bart are the same person. Bart then go see Liz, telling her a fake excuse to "go back to Italy" (which she of course doesn't buy), adding he's not worthy of her.
A few month later, Art's gallery has experienced a dramatic turnaround (Gloria owns and manages it, and Art is the artist) and is now very successful. At the inauguration of his work, Art notices Liz who still has feeling for him but is not sure who he is really. Art manages to convince her he is the one she had feelings for, and the movie ends with the two happily walking in the street, hand in hand. | comedy, boring | train | wikipedia | Funny and agreeable screwball farce well shot in Miami by the great filmmaker Fernando Trueba.
A very pleasant romantic comedy plenty of humor , emotion , fun scenes and mayhem .
Oscarized director Fernando Trueba , also writes the interesting and bemusing script along with prestigious screenwriter/director as well as brother David Trueba .This bewildering farce deals with a young gallerist (Antonio Banderas , he gives entertaining performance , though he fights to surmount by overacting) is in love with two sisters at the same time .
As a fabulously wealthy divorcée (Melanie Griffith) to a mobster (Danny Aiello) and her sister , an intelligent , sensible woman (Daryl Hanna) , then Art falls in love with the younger one .
In order to solve the problem he decides to invent his own twin-brother called Dart .
Earthy as well screwball comedy with romantic elements , antics , amusements , contrivances , twists and turns ; including engaging performances , adequate set design and being delightfully filmed .
¨Two much¨ results to be other of the innumerable stories to deal with romantic loves , being developed in mirth , lively and vital style .
An enjoyable story in which a rogue con swindles abstract pictures selling to deceased people and discovers the opposite sex on the way by means of two attractive sisters , both of whom utterly different ; it is plenty of twisted moments , moving feelings and fun finale .
It is a light , wistful romantic comedy , easy to watch , and easier to love .
¨Two much" is Trueba's return to top form, with an intelligent and enticing script written by Fernando and his brother David Trueba adapted from a Donald Westlake novel ; screen-writers use amusing situations to give us a good movie in a high sense and intimate sensitivity and that kept me entertained for the almost two hours of duration .
It is well set and is as marvelously filmed as it is written and acted .
The film is light and never somber , no small accomplishment from Fernando Trueba and his team .
Filmed in his usual formal and luxurious style , without leaving a trace the joyful themes , in terms of nice developing and narrative excitement .
Fine acting by Antonio Banderas as Art Dodge , a roguish Miami art dealer and his twin brother Dart , as he pretends to be his own brother in order to pursue his new fiancée .
Sympathetic acting by Melanie Griffith as Betty Kerner who thinks he'll make a virile third husband .
In the film, Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith leave each other at the wedding altar for other people .
However, in real life, the two actors fell in love during filming of this movie in 1995 and married a year later and soon became parents to their daughter Stella.
Very good support cast formed by prestigious veterans such as Austin Pendleton , Allan Rich , Vincent Schiavelli , Phil Leeds , Sid Raymond and special mention to the great Elli Wallach who recently passed away .
Colorful and glimmer cinematography in Panavision by Jose Luis Alcaine , one of the best Spanish cameramen , including gorgeous exteriors filmed on location in Miami .
This simple , attractive and delightful motion picture was well directed by Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba , as the flick is entertaining and well worth your time .
His first success was Ópera Prima (1980) following the style of the "Madrid comedy".
The multi-award winner in Spain Fernando Trueba was President of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and he received the 1994 Oscar for Best Foreign Film to Belle Epoque (1992)and when accepting his Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, director (Fernando Trueba) said: "I would like to believe in God in order to thank him for this prize, but I only believe in (Billy Wilder), so...
Wilder himself reportedly phoned Trueba a few days later for acknowledgment and told him: "Hello Fernando, I'm God" .
A great adaptation of one of Donald Westlake's sad-sack comedies, in this case about Antonio Banderas, an unsuccessful art gallery owner who ekes out his income by a variation on the Bible Salesman scam.
He winds up engaged to a funny, screeching Melanie Griffith, in lust with her sister -- and Melanie's gangster ex-husband is after him.This won't be to everyone's taste: Westlake's humor is a lot like Tim Burton's and it's a shame Burton has never tried his hand at one of Westlake's novels.
None of the screen adaptations of his works have served him well, although the hard-to-find HOT STUFF, from his own script works well.But this is about as good as it gets, with a perfect supporting cast, including Eli Wallach, Darryl Hanna, Danny Aiello and the woman who can make you laugh while she's having a nervous breakdown: Joan Cusack.
Funny movie with supporting cast as main attraction.
This movie has enough funny moments with some outstanding performances of Joan Cusack and (even though in a very small role) Vincent Schiavelli as Sommelier, watch and see what I mean, I fell of my chair with the few scenes with him.
Donald Westlake deserves much better than this adaptation that Fernando Trueba and his brother David did to the book.
It appears that either the adapters lost something in translation, or maybe the studio didn't let the Truebas get what they wanted to do.The casting of Antonio Banderas in the dual role of Art/Bart presents problems because he is a quintessential Latin man, who is supposed to be a small con artist working in Florida; his accent doesn't solve this problem either.
We don't believe for a moment he is this "artful dodger", let alone Art Dodge.
The best sequence in the film involves Art/Bart shuttling between Liz and Betty's separate rooms, where the actor gets all the laughs.Daryl Hannah, who plays Liz, fares better, although it's hard to imagine this brainy woman could fall for this small time con artist.
Melanie Griffith doesn't have much to do, and we can be thankful for a performance where all her mannerisms are not shown.
The best thing in the film is Joan Cusack, who is seen as Gloria, the art gallery assistant who steals the show from the principals.
There is also a delightfully funny appearance by the late Vincent Schiavelli, who is seen as a finicky sommelier at a tony restaurant.
(We kept thinking how could Art/Bart pick up the check on the two occasions when he takes Betty, first, and then Liz, to that expensive place, as he can't even pay his other bills...) In some minor roles we see Eli Wallach, Danny Aiello, and Austin Pendleton, among others.The best thing in the film is the musical sound track by the talented Michel Camilo, who had already collaborated with Mr. Trueba in "Calle 54".
He is seen at the end of the picture playing with some Latin jazz giants like Paquito D'Rivera and Cachao.
One kept hoping they would have been seen more in the film..
Following the steps of the classical American comedies, this movie is much more than a sequence of jokes.
The direction is almost perfect, with a great control of the tempo of the story.
The good job with the casting and the master hand of the director have as a result that the actors are fun but they never overact.
Like in "Some Like It Hot" or "The Seven Year Itch" when you are not laughing, you are smiling and enjoying the film.
Nowadays, when most of the comedies are just a succession of gags, mainly tastelessness, or parodies of well-known movies, it's refreshing to find pictures revealing that hilarity and first-class cinema are completely compatible..
He looks for obituaries of rich people and shows up at the home of the deceased claiming he sold the person a painting.
One day Art gets caught and has to hide in Betty's expensive car.
He and Betty hit it off, but then Art discovers Betty has a sister, Liz.
Betty's ex Gene wants her back and when he comes after Art, Art is wearing glasses instead of contacts, and he gets an idea.
He claims to be Art's brother Bart, and Gene is not all that bright so he believes it.
Art comes up with a history for Bart and tries to make him into a man Liz would like.
Art is actually quite convincing as Bart, so his main problem is explaining why the two are never together.
At times the film seems to be more of a drama, more 'chick-flick'.
Antonio Banderas seems to give a better performance in these scenes than where he is supposed to be funny; I never thought the man was a comic actor.
Banderas seems natural for Bart, but not Art.Joan Cusack gives the best acting performance, in my opinion, as Art's sarcastic secretary.
Daryl Hannah and Melanie Griffith also do well.
I was expecting more from Eli Wallach as Art's forgetful father Sheldon--he starts out giving an Oscar-caliber performance, for about two lines.
Though it is funny when he actually starts believing he has two sons.One more highlight from the movie: a car chase involving Gene's goons and Sheldon's poker buddies.
I don't know exactly what that was about.Despite its flaws, this movie had a lot to offer for me..
A bit of fluff with lots of laughs and screwball comedy with Banderas trying to have not only his cake and eat it two, but two cakes!
Some very funny bits as he tries to keep his "twin" from being exposed -hence "Two Much."In my opinion, Joan Cusack stole the show with her broad comedic talents.
She plays along with the charade, using wry humor when she finds herself in the middle of a difficult situation, and gently scolding Banderas for his questionable behavior.
A light-weight comedy with a good cast..
You will especially like this film if you are fans of Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith and Daryl Hannah.
You could probably drive down the road and get the milk and cereal for tomorrow's breakfast, while the movie is still running back home, and not miss much...but hey, this is just a comedy for a few laughs..
After winning a Best Foreign Film Oscar for "Belle Epoque", Fernando Trueba's follow up was this comedy starring Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith.
It was not the first time that Trueba had directed a picture in English with English-speaking actors ("El sueño del mono loco" starring Miranda Richardson and Jeff Goldblum was a critical success) but "Two much" seems to have gone out of his hands.
It might have looked good in the script, a comedy that captures the essence of the comedies from the 50's, but the eventual result is quite disappointing.
The three leading actors (Banderas, Griffith and Daryl Hannah) have been much better almost elsewhere, and some of the jokes and gags are kind of cheesy.
Joan Cusack is a delight to watch in a role Thelma Ritter would have done a few decades before.
Danny Aiello does as much as he can with his clichéd character, and Elli Wallach is also excellent, but his role is little more than a glorified cameo.
If you like Dean Martin comedies you might appreciate the effort of resurrecting these kind of comedies, but don't expect the result to be anywhere near those classics.
If you are looking for a few laughs and an acceptably amusing comedy, then you might not be disappointed..
A disappointing result, but still some good performances..
*The cast: Antonio Banderas : Art / Bart DodgeDaryl Hannah: Liz KernerMelanie Griffith: BettyJoan Cusack: Gloria Eli Wallach: Sheldon*The story: Art Dodge is an art swindler.
At that moment, he meets Betty a rich woman who divorced the same man twice.
They fall in love with each other, but love becomes complicated when Art meets Betty's sister...
So he decides to transform himself in Bart (his twin brother) and then you get some humoristic moments, which aren't very funny at some moments.
Sheldon is the father of Art. Joan Cusack is the employee of Art.An interesting note is that Melanie and Antonio fall in love on the set, and they married and had 1 child, Stella Banderas.
Although the actors did their best to make a comedy.
A catastrophe occurredBut don't forget that alL these actors had done some wonderful acting.
Some examples; Melanie Griffith: Cecil B.
Demented -- Daryl Hannah: Steel Magnolias -- Antonio Banderas: Philadelphia and Eli Wallach: the Misfits.Sadly they made this time a wrong choice...
Mostly I like the movies that I saw and on the whole I give good comments about them.
But this time I can only say that this film was a big disappointment and I hoped that it would have finished quickly.
However I didn't lose my faith in the actors because it was just the wrong script that didn't work.
The movie tells the funny story of a Gigolo who falls in love for the sister of his future wife.
I let you imagine all the quirky situations.The cast answers the expectations, because each actor seems the right one for the part and their performance are great: Banderas as a seductive, Hannah as a poetic lover,
But, the narration is laborious.
I waited 30 minutes to feel the movie really paced, and the ending is very much thrown away.
The subplots (his father, the crooks) are uninteresting because not really funny so they tend to break the rhythm.I imagine it is due to a "bad" adaptation.
Indeed, the original story is a book and the literary language is very different from the movie language.In conclusion, an enjoyable movie that you will won't watch again for a time, except on a DVD to skip on particular chapter..
It sets the tone for how "clever" this is), and as we find that the quality of it is rather lacking(no one could buy his stories, and few do), leading us to wonder how he gets by from it.
Well, other than ensuring that he, like nearly everyone else in this, is powerfully unlikeable(it has to be intentional, no one is this inept), it's the only way he can think of to make ends meet for his gallery(I guess all the want ads panned out, and in spite of being a talented virtuoso himself, he hasn't touched a brush for a while because...
Well, like everything in this, the lazily done and derivative script needed that to be the case).
One day, he meets and starts having sex with Betty, who turns out to be an emotional wreck who wants to get married within that same 24 hours.
Said former beau(a man with anger issues who is literally following her around whenever he can) is after our lead, and we want him to catch him.
So, our "hero" falls for his fiancés sister, Liz, with whom he is clearly better matched.
She won't give him the time of day, on account of...
I will admit that I am not a big fan of screwball comedy, but this is packed with uninspired jokes, with only occasionally one that might have you smiling, or chuckle briefly.
I understand that part of this was on account of the director not speaking the language properly, and that does explain a lot(no one actually talks like these people do...
On the plus side, Griffith and, more to the point, Hannah, spend a fair amount of time in swimsuits and the like.
I don't even care about the film...the music was great!
I don't even care about the film...the music was great!
I watched the ending of the flick ---- oh, I don't know how many times just to watch Michel Camilo and his group!
The basic plot of this made-for-TV movie has been done several times before, making it very predictable and not that funny.
Antonio Banderas looks best without his clothes, which is about the only appeal that this actor has...
The rest of the cast is instantly forgettable...like the film itself..
SPOILERS THROUGHOUT: This zany screwball comedy isn't going to win any awards but I liked it.
One reason for that is probably the main players in this movie: Bandarus, Hanna and Griffith.
All play their roles well and the movie, though not a classic or a perfect 10, is surprisingly enjoyable in some places and a good summer's pick.There are times when this movie really drags and I wont say it is the type of movie that makes you roar with laughter.
It's a classic romantic comedy in many respects, with a great setup as Bandarus basically plays two people and Daryl Hanna and Melody Griffith play the sisters who both fall in love with him.Everyone works well together here and this, I believe is the movie where Bandarus and Griffith fell in love off camera, and man do they have chemistry on screen.
In fact, Bandares has chemistry with both ladies and Hanna and Griffith work very well together So I think that's primarily what makes the movie work because let's face it, it's quite silly in some places and the draggy factor is indeed there.But when Bandarus and one of his respective leading ladies are on screen together, it's actually interesting and if not hilarious, then highly entertaining.
It's a good enough movie to watch though when one just wants an entertaining, fun screwball comedy..
Ok, Banderos play is great for this role, and the running gags (e.g. the chase between two rooms with the pool in between and the various ways to escape falling into it) are really hilarious.But it all is beaten by the supporting role of the french restaurant somelier (Vincent Schiavelli)!
His two short appearances are worth watching this film and lead to my rating 7 (would have been 5 without this).Ah and then there's the happy end of course. |
tt0027884 | Libeled Lady | Wealthy Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) is falsely accused of breaking up a marriage and sues the New York Evening Star newspaper for $5,000,000 for libel. Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy), the managing editor, turns in desperation to former reporter and suave ladies' man Bill Chandler (William Powell) for help. His scheme is to maneuver Connie into being alone with him when his wife shows up, so the suit will have to be dropped. Chandler is not married, so Warren volunteers his long-suffering fiancée, Gladys Benton (Jean Harlow), over her loud protests.
Bill arranges to return to America from England on the same ocean liner as Connie and her father J. B. (Walter Connolly). He pays some men to pose as reporters and harass Connie at the dock, so that he can "rescue" her and become acquainted. On the voyage, Connie initially treats him with contempt, assuming that he is just the latest in a long line of fortune hunters after her money, but Bill gradually overcomes her suspicions.
Complications arise when Connie and Bill actually fall in love. They get married, but Gladys decides that she prefers Bill to a marriage-averse newspaperman and interrupts their honeymoon to reclaim her husband. Bill reveals that he found out that Gladys' Yucatán divorce was not valid, but Gladys states she got a second divorce in Reno, so she and Bill are actually man and wife. Fortunately, Connie and Bill manage to show Gladys that she really loves Warren. | comedy, romantic | train | wikipedia | The stars being Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy, some of the best actors working in Hollywood in the thirties!Only a studio like MGM could pull this coup.
Jean Harlow had perhaps her best moment in the movies playing Gladys Benton, the woman who is engaged to be married and has her wedding postponed.
Spencer Tracy is the editor of the newspaper in question, who concocts the plan to get the paper off the hook in paying the five million dollars.In supporting roles we get to see some of the best actors of the time: Cora Witherspoon, William Connolly, Charlie Grapevine, William Benedict, Bunny Beatty, and others that enhance the film with their presence.The film will not disappoint.
Spencer Tracy, William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Jean Harlow star in "Libeled Lady," about the attempts to convince a society woman to drop a lawsuit against a newspaper.Spencer Tracy is a scream in his role of a newspaper editor who has been engaged to Jean Harlow for some time, but his work keeps getting in the way of their marriage and relationship.
When an heiress, played by Loy, sues the newspaper for libel, Tracy puts William Powell to work, hoping that by photographing them together, he can convince Loy to drop the suit.
Loy has the least showy part, though she's quite beautiful and works well with Powell, portending great things to come.This is a very enjoyable film with Tracy milking the comedy for all it's worth.
But this is one time you time you will not be disappointed-- with hysterical antics by Jean Harlowe, the always dependable repartee between classy Myrna Lowe and suave William Powell, and Spencer Tracy proving for the first time that he can handle snappy dialogue like the best of 'em-- the chemistry between the cast makes every scene in this film a delight.The banter flies so fast you'll miss it-- this is the height of screwball comedy.
This MGM goodie has Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy, both strong characters who know exactly what they want to get from Spencer Tracy and William Powell ...
Walter Connolly is also good value as Loy's father.'Libeled Lady' is fast-paced, with lots of good moments concerning the plot around a newspaper - a would-be marriage - an heiress - a boat - and some great over-the-top scenes.
But in Libeled Lady, the chemistry is fresh and the relationship between their characters is not just another Thin Man performance.Then there are Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow.
Wealthy socialite Myrna Loy and her father Walter Connolly sue for the sum of five million dollars the newspaper Spencer Tracy works at for libel for a story that claimed Loy was chasing after a married man.
Tracy convinces smooth William Powell to first marry Jean Harlow, who is Tracy's long waiting fiancée, and then to attract Loy's interest enough to get alone with her in order to show that she really is the kind of woman that was suggested in the original story.
Powell, perhaps because his part puts him in society as he gets closer with Loy, is probably the most fun to watch, while both Tracy and and Harlow have their moments, but are both forced to run around too much in order to carry out the elaborate and increasingly ridiculous plan.
After I got my head around the slightly complicated plot of classic romantic comedy Libeled Lady (which stars some of the most famous and talented actors of all time), I found myself very much enjoying this tremendous screwball comedy perhaps the best of all time.
It is surprisingly up-beat, witty and funny
however, it is not-so-surprisingly classy, sophisticated, charming and glamorous (what else could you expect with Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy!?).Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) is chief editor of the New York Evening Star, which has a notorious past of making celebrities very, very angry!
However, the canny Haggerty has a plan up his sleeve
he will get his fiancé Gladys (Jean Harlow, who has been waiting for years to get married, but Haggerty is always needed at work on the Big Day!) to marry Bill Chandler (William Powell) a smart, suave chap with a Lady Killer past.
Its biggest selling point is the quartet of stars that headline it, four of the biggest MGM had to offer at the time: William Powell and Myrna Loy (who had already struck gold as a team in "The Thin Man"), Spencer Tracy (just on the verge of winning back-to-back Oscars) and Jean Harlow, trying (and failing, in my opinion) to prove herself as a comedienne.Tracy plays a newspaper reporter engaged to Harlow, who can't ever quite get around to marrying her because of his devotion to his work.
No complaints about the other three though, especially Myrna Loy, one of my favorite actresses, who looks absolutely adorable in this.The film is worth watching, though, for one scene: William Powell trout fishing.
It was amusing in spots and, folks, let me tell you, it doesn't get much better than this as far as casting goes; Powell, Loy, Tracy and Harlow - are you kidding me?The stars tried their best, but the plot was against them.
After "The New York Evening Star" fails to stop a false story on beautiful socialite Myrna Loy (as Connie Allenbury) from hitting newsstands, she decides to sue newspaper editor Spencer Tracy (as Warren Haggerty) for $5,000,000 in libel damages.
Interrupting his impending wedding to shapely blonde Jean Harlow (as Gladys Benton), Mr. Tracy hires conceited writer William Powell (as Bill Chandler) to battle Ms. Loy.
And, oddly, Powell's "Best Actor"-nominated "My Mad Godfrey" didn't make Oscar's Top Ten.******** Libeled Lady (10/9/36) Jack Conway ~ Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy.
In the meantime, Harlow sets out to make Tracy jealous by pretending to fall for Powell, but then she does for real.As the film nears its finale, all sorts of complications and truths come out as the four stars confront each other.
Spencer Tracy is managing editor of New York newspaper that gets sued by Myrna Loy, daughter of rich tycoon Walter Ganolly.
Anything with Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy and William Powell promises to be good or more when on their own.
Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Spencer Tracy attack their roles with genuine enthusiasm.
Jack Conway directed this high society comedy that stars Spencer Tracy as Warren Haggerty, a big city newspaper editor who has been hit by a multi-million dollar libel suit by Connie Allenbury(played by Myrna Loy) when she is accused of being a marriage breaker.
Haggerty then gets the idea to counter this by recruiting noted heel Bill Chandler(played by William Powell) and his frustrated fiancée Gladys(played by Jean Harlow) to pose as a married couple so that Connie can be enticed to fall for Bill, thus proving she is what the paper claimed.
This movie features Hollywood royalty in 1936: Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, William Powell, and Spencer Tracy – that's quite a cast.
A first-rate cast supported by MGM's top stars, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy, performing as a couple or threesome with individual scenes before gathering together in one big climatic finish.
As for the basic story, read all about it.Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy), managing editor of the New York Evening Star, learns from its owner, Hollis Bane (Charley Grapewin), that a story about Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy), daughter of a millionaire tycoon, James B.
Haggerty, about to marry divorcée, Gladys Benton (Jean Harlow), leaves her at the church to locate the whereabouts of former reporter turned author, William Stevens Chandler (William Powell), the best man to handle libel suits.
The plot nearly works until Bill and Connie actually do fall in love, leaving Gladys with both husband she dislikes and fiancée she loves, while Haggerty thinks up some more underhanded schemes to cancel the libel suit, to hilarious results.So not to be sued for slander, the MGM writers of LIBELED LADY covered themselves by flashing these now familiar words on the screen: "The events and characters in this photo-play are fictitious.
Even some of the film's greatest moments involve Powell, including his marriage to Harlow where he gets a slight kiss from the bride who in turn gives the biggest kiss to "best man" Tracy; Powell's unusual trout fishing method to impress the financier (Connolly) and his daughter, only to accidentally succeed; Powell's love/hate relationship with Harlow as they pretend to be "happily" married; and finally the calm emotions during the Powell and Loy romances.
The Tracy and Harlow combination also strike up some great moments with he placing the newspaper ahead of the girl he loves, having her to constantly ask, "If you don't want to marry me, just say so!" or quip as them "becoming parents to little headlines." Walter Connolly, best known as Claudette Colbert's millionaire father in Frank Capra's IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (Columbia, 1934), is not to be overlooked in his participation through all the confusion, especially when belting out a great big yell of, "Will you all please BE QUIET!" before having a nervous breakdown.My initial introduction to LIBELED LADY didn't come from the late night television viewing but in a revival movie house, New York City's Regency Theater on Broadway and 67th Street in January 1981.
Availability on video cassette and later DVD assures LIBELED LADY lasting appeal.Remade by MGM as a musical titled EASY TO WED (1946), starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn in the Powell, Loy, Harlow and Tracy roles, the new Technicolor edition was surprisingly good on its own terms, but not quite a carbon copy to the original.
Myrna Loy, ( Connie Allenbury) plays the role as a very rich and spoiled gal who loves to file law suites against newspapers and she is out to destroy Haggerty, (Spencer Tracy) who is a newspaper reporter who wrote a story about her that was not true and she is charging him with a 5 Million Dollar law-suit.
Jean Harlow, (Gladys Benton) is engaged to marry Haggerty and they both plan on getting married soon but this law-suit upsets his plans and he asks a good friend of his, Bill Chandler, ( William Powell) to cause a scandal with Connie.
It's this fishing scene that is the highlight of LIBELED LADY and provides some of the funniest sight gags as he belly flops several times in an effort to prove himself a fisherman.The rest of the comedy is strictly screwball material, with SPENCER TRACY as a newspaperman angling to rid his newspaper of a libel suit by MYRNA LOY by putting her in a compromising position with Powell.
It was remade by MGM as EASY TO WED starring Esther Williams in the Myrna Loy role, with Van Johnson, Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn, given splashier looking Technicolored sets and some swimming routines from Esther.What hurts this version of the story is JEAN HARLOW, much too strident as Gladys and with those pencil thin brows that always gave her a cheap look in close-ups, and SPENCER TRACY, not ideal for a role that should have been played as light comedy.
Even the newspaper's solution - hiring a glib charmer to frame the plaintiff - is probably common practice then.Though William Powell and Myrna Loy - as the framer and framee who eventually fall in love - have great chemistry, being one of the most often paired actor-actress teams (they have been in fourteen movies together), their scenes pale in comparison to those with Spencer Tracy's smarmy editor trying to sleaze his way out of the lawsuit by manipulating the players in the game.
Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) is so preoccupied with his job as the managing editor of a paper he has missed his own wedding several times, so no surprise Jean Harlow gives a very comically angry performance throughout most of the film.William Powell's Bill Chandler has such cool and confidence, he even draws his own contract which will bring him back to the paper he was sacked from as he knows Warren Haggerty will come looking for him following a scandal.
I wonder if Powell's trout fishing sequence wasn't an inspiration for writers of the 1964 movie that was all about fishing and romance – "Man's Favorite Sport." "Lady" was nominated in a field of 10 excellent films for best picture of 1936.
It was up against some powerful competition, and Powell and Loy starred in the movie that won best picture for the year, "The Great Ziegfeld." This isn't a rollicking laughter film.
Powell plays Bill Chandler, Loy is Connie Allenbury, Tracy is Warren Haggerty and Harlow plays Gladys.
William Powell as a lady's man hired to con an heiress into dropping a libel suit that could put Tracy's paper out of business.
The editor Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) realizes that he has to hire back Bill Chandler (William Powell), a man he previously sacked, as Bill is the "best in the business".
Goodwin realizes that an angry, vindictive Connolly will very likely sue the newspaper for libeling his daughter, and win disastrously large damages.While Harlow shows up in her wedding gown, fuming at this new delay, Tracy figures he will have to bury his own feelings and approach one time rival and foe William Powell to help him here.
Just think--the film starred Myrna Loy, William Powell, Spencer Tracy AND Jean Harlow!!
While the movie is not exactly a "screwball comedy" (it's a little more sophisticated than that), it is nearly one and does provide some excellent laughs--mostly when watching novice Powell try to fish like an expert.
For my money My Man Godfrey is a far superior film.The acting quartet of William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow is an incredible ensemble.
To me, nobody stole the show; Powell, Loy and Harlow were all fantastic; and Tracy, in his first comedy role is very good.
All they can do at this point, like a group of children, is blabber incoherently to Walter Connelly, who unable to hear anything, screams "Quiet, please!!" A fitting ending.Watch for Dennis O'Keefe, later a star himself, in a short uncredited role as a barker at the charity bazaar.Notice at the beginning of the film the four walking arm in arm, from left to right: Harlow, Powell, Loy and Tracy.
MGM were to break this rule again in 1936 with this wonderful screwball comedy, as the movie was to star four of Metro's then biggest assets, (Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow, William Powell & Myrna Loy).
Because of this, Libeled Lady was always going to do well upon release, but I'm sure no one involved ever thought that the movie would still be finding an appreciative audience over 70 years later, because when it comes to sheer enjoyment of an easy going film with lot's of good laughs, they seldom come better than this.Tracy plays Haggerty, a newspaper editor & marriage shy fiancé of the eager to marry Gladys (Harlow).
Now realising that both he & Gladys have been duped, Haggerty covertly starts some manipulations of his own to ensure that a fiery climax to the fiasco is not going be too long in coming.All four of our stars give Oscar worthy performances but special praise has to go to Walter Connelly as after 1934's 'It Happened One Night', the 'Heiress's Father' role always seemed to fit him like a glove.Libeled Lady is nothing short of a milestone in screwball Comedy.Enjoy!.
Powell, Loy and Jean Harlow were all established comedy players at the time, but this was new territory for Spencer Tracy who had only appeared in dramas prior.
Having Myrna Loy, William Powell, Jean Harlow AND Spencer Tracy in the one film wasn't really that clever for economics, but the audience (and Povert Row studios) just drools.
When commitment shy newspaper editor, Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) finds that his newspaper is being sued for alleging that a socialite, Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) is a home-wrecker he delays plans to marry his fiancée Gladys (Jean Harlow) yet again, by placing her in the midst of elegant playboy, Bill Chandler (William Powell).
William Powell, Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, and Jean Harlow.
Libled Lady refers to Connie Allenbury ( Loy) who sues the newspaper for $5,000,000 where Warren Haggerty ( Spencer Tracy) is the editor, and he will do anything ( including hiring his former employee Bill Chandler ( Powell) who is a con artist/ladies man to blackmail.Connie into dropping the lawsuit).
Then again, it's a screwball comedy, so perhaps director Jack Conway didn't allow Tracy to play the role in that manner.It is a funny concept -- newspaper slanders a young society dame (Myrna Loy) and she and her father (Walter Connolly) sue.
The best lines are his, and the fishing segment is hilarious.Highly recommended comedy with fine performances by Powell and Loy...perhaps better than they were in the Thin Man series.
Warren Haggerty(Spenser Tracy)is a hard working dedicated newspaper man, who has put off his wedding to Gladys(Jean Harlow)probably one time too many.
"Libeled Lady" gives Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy co-top billing in this romantic comedy about a newspaper editor who sets up an elaborate ruse to keep an heiress from going through with a libel suit that could potentially shut down his newspaper if lost.
Spencer Tracy plays the editor Warren Haggerty, who when he discovers that his newspaper published a story wrongfully accusing Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) of husband stealing, hatches a plan to head off the libel suit.
Somehow, after leaving her on his wedding day to attend to the paper, Haggerty convinces his fiance Gladys Benton (Jean Harlow) to agree to marry his former reporter Bill Chandler (played by William Powell) and conspire with him to turn the tables on Connie.
Although the film is co-billed with the four of them, it is really just another William Powell-Myrna Loy film, with Tracy and Harlow mostly playing supporting roles. |
tt0011904 | The Ace of Hearts | The film is divided into ten chapters. A secret vigilante society's nine members pass judgment on others. They meet to decide the fate of a wealthy businessman they have been keeping under surveillance known as “The Man Who Has Lived Too Long” and vote to dispatch him with a homemade bomb concealed in a cigar case. Members Forrest (John Bowers) and Farallone (Lon Chaney) are both in love with the sole woman in the group, Lilith (Leatrice Joy). Forrest openly declares his love, but is spurned by Lilith, who is completely devoted to the "Cause".
At a meeting later that day, as per their custom, Lilith deals playing cards, one at a time, to each of the society members; whoever receives the ace of hearts is to carry out the assassination. When Forrest is dealt the ace, Lilith offers to marry him that very day if it will give him courage. Forrest readily accepts, much to Farallone's distress. After the couple marries, the grief-stricken Farallone spends the night in the rain outside their apartment.
The next morning, Lilith has been transformed by her love. She begs Forrest not to go through with the assassination. He replies that he is honor-bound to carry out his mission. He goes to the café where his target habitually dines and where Forrest works as a waiter.
A distraught Lilith pleads with Farallone to stop Forrest. Farallone agrees to help the couple escape the society's punishment if Forrest fails his task, but extracts a promise of marriage from Lilith if Forrest is killed. Meanwhile, Forrest decides to abort his mission after he spies a young eloping couple seated next to the rich man’s table. When he returns to the secret council, the group's leader, Morgridge (Hardee Kirkland), sends the couple away to await Forrest's execution. Farallone begs the others to reconsider, but they are unmoved. When the cards are dealt, it is Farallone who gets the ace of hearts. Laughing, he carries out his part of the bargain with Lilith by setting off the bomb, killing all present. | suspenseful, murder, romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0109021 | 8 Seconds | While growing up in Oklahoma, young Lane Frost (Cameron Finley) learns the tricks of the bull riding trade at the hand of his father, Clyde (James Rebhorn), an accomplished rodeo bronco rider himself. As he enters his teenage and early adult years, Lane (Luke Perry) travels the western rodeo circuit with his best friends Tuff Hedeman (Stephen Baldwin) and Cody Lambert (Red Mitchell). He meets and falls in love with a young barrel racer, Kellie Kyle, and they eventually marry in 1984.
As Lane's legend and fame increase, so does the amount of pressure he puts on himself, to be what everyone wants him to be, and he wants to show that he is as good as they say he is. His ascent to the world championship is marred by a cheating incident, questions about Kellie's devotion, and a near broken neck. The film also follows him through the true life series between himself and Red Rock, a bull that no cowboy had ever been able to stay on for 8 seconds. It cuts the series down to three rides. In 1989, he is the second-to-last rider at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. While riding on the bull known as "Takin' Care Of Business", he dismounts after his 8-second ride but the bull turns back and hits him in the side with his horn, breaking some ribs and severing a main artery. As a result of excessive internal bleeding, he dies on the arena floor before he can be transported to the hospital.
The final scene shows Hedeman later that same year at the National Finals Rodeo riding for the world championship. After the 8 second bell sounds, he continues to ride and stays on an additional 8 seconds as a tribute to his fallen best friend. | tragedy, romantic | train | wikipedia | This is a great movie and Luke Perry does a great job of playing Lane Frost.
For those who don't know, 8 Seconds is the length of time one has to remain on the back of bucking bull in the bull riding event at a rodeo.
I'm sure that those cowboys feel that those 8 seconds are like an eternity.This picture is about one of the very best at his profession, Lane Frost.
The three principal players at the time this film was made, Luke Perry(Beverly Hills 90210), Stephen Baldwin(The Young Riders) and Cynthia Geary(Northern Exposure) were all at the height of exposure from popular television series' and brought a built in audience to the show.It helps by the way that Luke Perry bears an absolutely uncanny resemblance to the real Lane Frost.
During the end credits there is some interview footage with the real Lane Frost so I'm sure there were a lot of oohs and aahs from the audience as the movie ended.I remember reading about Luke Perry and that his background before he became a teen heart throb was from a really tiny Ohio town.
This film now joins other good movies about the rodeo scene, like The Lusty Men and Junior Bonner.
Only difference is this one had an actual rodeo champion as a hero/protagonist.The portrayal of Lane Frost was as genuinely nice young man who rose to the top of his chosen profession through, skill, hard work, and dedication.
She's also rodeo people, the real Mrs. Frost was a barrel racing champion.And Stephen Baldwin as Tuff Hedeman who was Frost's best friend and eventual successor as bull riding champion registers well in his role.In 1994 the very year that 8 Seconds came out, professional bull riding spun out on its own as a sport with the formation of the Professional Bull Riders.
Luke Perry stars in this sentimental account of the interesting life of Oklahoma bull rider Lane Frost.
Hard work and faith led to winning the 1987 PRCA Bull Riding World Championship before rodeo finally took his young life.
After I watched this film on video, I did a Google search on Lane Frost and was pleasantly surprised by the excellent web sites in tribute to his life.
Evidently the film follows Lane's life fairly accurately, and the diversions from the truth are acceptable when you consider films are in the business of making money and must appeal to a wider audience than those "who are in the know".It is fitting that his parents said "If people remember one thing about Lane we want it to be that he was a kind person and knew Jesus." I am not a religious-churchy person at all and I add this here show you that this film is about a decent, good person; don't worry though, the film does not preach, etc.The acting is very good, and the characters are quite believable.
I suppose if you cannot connect with the American West, or horses, or rodeos, you may want to leave this film alone, but otherwise it is a refreshing alternative to the usual Hollywood car chases, gun fights, sex and cheap jokes.My hat comes off to Lane Frost, a person to admire..
The story of ill-fated bullrider Lane Frost met my expectations and featured just the right amount of romance, drama, rodeo scenes, action, tear-jerking scenes, and country singer cameos to suit most needs.
I liked Luke Perry's performance, and Cynthia Geary's wasn't bad.
Lane Frost was basically a good person and it was nice to see him depicted that way.
Glad the movie did not dwell on the negative and Lane and Kellie were able to work things out before he died.
My Dad was a "cowboy"--not rodeo--just a real cowboy for many years.Don't miss this movie..
This movie captures the life and times of legendary professional bull rider Lane Frost.
The director felt that Lane's real-life story was "too good to be true" and needed a little pizzazz.
All in all, this was a great movie (even though you'll probably be crying by the time it's all over, yes even you tough men out there!).
Luke Perry is so HOTTTTT:)He is an awesome bull rider and actor.
You will love this movie.The way the movie is persented in this movie is a life recap of Lane Frost.
You will love this movie if you are into all the country, rodeo, and bull riders.
Luke Perry does a great job of portraying Lane Frost.
The love story between Lane and Kelly shows all their ups and downs, through all of Lane's successes and failures (which happen in conjunction with the ups and downs in their personal lives).
The viewers out there who don't want to watch this movie because it is about the rodeo or has a country theme are missing a heck of a lot more than cowboys and cowflop.
Get it for the real Lane Frost end credits!.
Anyone who spent time with Lane or guffawed at Tuff's assessment of lesser riders, ("Ol' so-n-so wants to be a bull rider, problem is, he's skairt o' bulls!") will have a hard time finding the real boys in this film.
Why does the media tear down our heroes?Luke Perry's affected accent borders on parody and Cynthia Geary, (formerly "Shelly" on "Northern Exposure"), is downright unappealing as Lane's wife, Kellie.
Cowboy poetry is a real art form, but the real Cody Lambert wasn't known for his poetical abilities.Further evidence that Perry is no Lane Frost comes from the scene where he tosses his hat, brim down, on a chair.
Tuff really did manage to hang on for 8 more seconds in honor of Lane during his ride at the 1989 National Rodeo Finals.
You can say well, heck, it is only a movie, cut it some slack, but I say this is about a real man who really touched a lot of people's hearts, and those that don't know any better now only get this fractured view of him.
In real life, Elsie is generous and the picture of Christian charity, and bless her for it, but this film showed her and Clyde in a pretty bad light, and doesn't say much for his real life wife either.Still, there are some interesting moments, and an absolutely priceless credit sequence where we get to see the real Lane Frost in action.
Luke Perry died recently, so I decided to watch one of his movies.
I had never heard of Lane Frost before watching John G.
Definitely not something that I'd ever do - especially after reports that the people behind the rodeos use harsh methods to get the bulls worked up - but Frost was really into it, as were large numbers of people in the southwest US.Perry puts in a fine performance, but the rest of the cast isn't that well developed, and the movie contains the occasional cliche that we see in biopics (such as conflicts between characters).
8 Seconds (1994) *** (out of 4)This here was billed as telling the true story of Lane Frost (Luke Perry) who would become the youngest National Champion in bullriding.
The story behind the riding was a lot darker as he was married young to a woman named Kellie (Cynthia Geary) and the two suffered many problems.8 SECONDS was a film that was meant to turn Perry into a major movie star but it was released to a lot of lukewarm reviews and it didn't do overly well at the box office.
Lane Frost had three tries at Red Rock and finally rode him after the bull had thrown some 316 or so, bull riders.
From what I understand Lane's father was not the way he is portrayed in the movie.
I hope many, many people view this movie and remember Lane Frost.
This movie is a great tribute to Lane Frost.This brings out the best in any movie viewer and it makes us take a look at what's important.Get this movie today, but don't forget the box of tissues.The acting, music, and directing of this movie adds to the overall effect.Luke Perry is at his best in this movie.I especially like the montage at the end of the movie-it brings out feelings and realizations that anything can happen at any time.I bought this movie to watch over and over again..
i saw the movie 8 Seconds after going to my first rodeo.
as a huge rodeo fan i loved the movie and give it a ten on the scale.
i watched the movie with Lane Frost's biggest fan and as we were watching the movie he correctly pointed out a couple misleadings in the film.
Lane frost's riding buddy Cody did not write poems in real life.
and one other incorrect fact in the movie was that Lane and his wife Kelli cheated on each other.
even with these mistakes this movie is still kick butt for any country person, especially if you love rodeo, and i do!
Luke perry does a fabulous job of portraying Lane Frost!
A great movie and a very special ending of the real man.
As a youngster, I got hung up on Westerns and that stayed with me most of my life, which is probably the real reason I missed so many good movies.
This movie probably isn't for someone who doesn't like rodeo's or a love story.
This movie and story line does a great job telling one mans passion for what he loves and how (almost) nothing can stop him.
I guarantee if you like rodeo this movie is for you..
Every time I watch it I cry!(Lane Frost's quotes: "Don't be afraid to be what you want to be and what you want to do but most importantly don't be afraid to willing to pay the price") I also think Luke Perry kinda looks like Lane Frost.
(Lane is the reason they made the vest for the bull riders.) (Tuff Hederman named his son after Lane Frost.) This is the best movie I highly recommend it!
This movie tells you a lot about the life the bull riders live.
After my little cousin watched this movie we had to watch everyday and it made him want to become a bull rider.
The movie is great because it doesn't just show everything good about him, it shows the bad too.
I really enjoyed Luke Perry's performance in this movie.
He portrayed Lane Frost so well that when they ran pictures of the real person at the end, I really felt like I had been given a genuine picture of him..
You will always be in my heart and I hope everyone who see's this feels the same way about lane frost or you shouldn't be here, if you ain't a cowgirl who care's you should still care about the guy who lived his life for rodeo and made a line of respect for everyone in the pbr.
I should say right off I'm a big fan of bull-riding and rodeo.
Lane Frost starts out as a nice guy, but he turns into a (pardon the pun) bull-headed, conceited jerk overnight.
And frankly, I think it's better than John Avildsen's other sports movie, Rocky (1976) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/combined .A story about a country boy turned world champion bullrider.
Lane Frost was a great cowboy, and he died doing what he loved.
At my school, we always watched this movie in our FFA class.It is definitely a favorite of mine, because, for one thing, it is much better than a lot of westerns you see these days.
This movie is also a great love story between Lane and his wife, Kellie.
It does contain some language and they did change the story line slightly from Lane Frosts real life, but overall it was a interesting video with likable characters.
I'm a big rodeo fan so I especially enjoyed the bull riding and barrel riding scenes (Kelly Frost is a barrel rider) and the behind-the-chute action that the normal rodeo goer isn't able to see.
This is a biopic about Rodeo superstar Lane Frost.
It will be enjoyed by those who like a good honest story about a real person.The acting was really good here and although Luke Perry was a huge star on Beverly Hills 90210, to me this is by far his best acting role.
The movie was good production wise, and whoever is responsible for shooting and arranging the bull-riding sequences did a great job too.It has a lot of heart.
Lane is a great guy and everyone loves him, but he wants his dad to be as proud of him as the rest of the world is, doesn't every boy that looks up to their dad deserve to be told how proud they are.
The movie shows that it takes a lot sometimes to know what love is, and it truly shows that following your dreams can make and often break a person.This movie was a good little drama.
It is often labeled as an action and other than the bull-riding it is not action at all, and its often called a family movie, but although it has a pg-13 rating, I think it is not family friendly, not for younger kids anyway.If you like sad drama's give it a try, or if you like rodeo stuff.
In this story of one of the Greatest bull-riders of the whole USA you may learn just how difficult it was for him, LANE FROST!!!
Lane frost has written his name into Bull-riders history.
Join Lane Frost as he takes us all on the ride of our lives!!!
Lane Frost is still one of the highest regarded Bull-riders in all of the United States of America..
In "8 Seconds" (1994), Lane Frost (Luke Perry) is a young man from Oklahoma who learns to ride, hoping to win the approval of his father.
As Lane works his way up the rodeo circuit with his best friend Tuff Hedeman (Stephen Baldwin), he meets Kelly Kyle (Cynthia Geary), a pretty barrel-race rider with whom he falls in love.
This movie was made to commemorate the life of Lane Frost.
They made the movie to show that Lane lived his life to the fullest.
This just shows us that if a bull rider could do it we could do it also.Growing up always loving animals the movie intrigued me to want to watch it.
After watching the movie I saw that it was about more than just the fact of rodeos.
Before I really say anything, I'd like to mention that if you have something against 'cowboys' or 'country life' then don't watch it.
It helps that Luke perry is great looking in this film.
And it was fairly accurate to his life, although from what I've heard and read, Lane and Kelly never really cheated on each other it was just added for the film for more drama.
I think it is a great movie truly inspirational, it really touches the heart!
I would recommend this movie to anyone, you don't have to have any interest in bull riding or cowboys for that matter, to enjoy this film!.
While a touching story about the famous rodeo sensation Lane Frost, I have a hard time feeling sorry for him at the end.
Not a great movie, but enjoyable if you're in the mood for a sad drama and have a little bit of country in you.Although I must say that if you are a country fan and you don't feel like watching the movie or hate rodeo, the soundtrack is still pretty good as far as country movie soundtracks go.
***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** The movie "8 Seconds" is one of the best rodeo films I have ever seen.
The movie is a true story about a bull rider named Lane Frost, whose life was taken from him by a bull.
When I watched "8 Seconds," I saw Lane's love for his friends and family, his wife, and his passion to ride bull.The movie starts off slow by going off with his two best pals to start the journey.
When Lane first got hurt and he was laying in the recovery tent, Hedeman came up to him and gave him confidence that he was the best bull rider and all he needs to do is to `Cowboy Up.' One year later after Frost's death, Hedeman was in the big show and rode the best ride ever.
Lanes tries everything to please his dad.During Lane's bull riding and going to rodeos, he meets his wife Kelly Frost (Cynthia Geary) who was a barrel rider in the beginning who hated bull riding.
Like every movie, there has to be a love scene, but in this movie Frost shows how much one can love a person though.
Watching this and knowing what he was doing made me want to punch Luke Perry for being such a jerk.The main point of the movie is Frost's passion for bull riding.
His father was his inspiration to ride bulls, and he wanted to be the best just like him.
At the big show in Cheyenne, competing against the best and riding the best ride of his life made this movie so good.
Touching true story of a great young bull rider..
After I watched the movie I asked her why she liked and remembered it so well.
She said it was because she likes bull riding.
Quite a comment from a 99 pound girl!!Luke Perry is Lane Frost who from a very young age wanted to be a champion bull rider.
Even as Lane was approaching world champion status as a bull rider.
As part of the byline at the end of the movie the real Tuff credits Lane with his successful transition in life.Good movie, has a lot of bull riding and a good dramatic story.SPOILERS: Anyone who knows the history of this story also knows that Lane Frost met an untimely death in 1989, ironically just a few months after Natalie was born. |
tt0057542 | Summer Magic | Financial problems force young Boston widow Margaret Carey (Dorothy McGuire) and her 3 children to move out of their home. Nancy (Hayley Mills), the dramatic and kind-hearted eldest, remembers a large yellow house that the Careys had admired when they visited the small town of Beulah, Maine, and makes an inquiry about it. Upon the sale of the family's treasured piano ("Flitterin'"), Nancy reveals that the house is vacant and the family decides to relocate to the country ("Beautiful Beulah").
When the Careys arrive in Beulah they realize they're slightly out-of-place although the town welcomes them. Overall, the Careys find that moving to the country was the best decision for them and they're content in their new home ("Summer Magic"). But the house is in a shameful state of neglect, and caretaker Osh Popham (Burl Ives), against his wife's wishes, offers cheap labor to make the house livable, as well as offering free products from his hardware store. He also steers young Peter in the right direction, trading him a pair of overalls for his "Buster Brown suit" in which he now feels too citified, and offering him haircut money and carpentry lessons.
But just when the Careys are settled in and things are going better, they find out that orphaned Cousin Julia's adoptive parents have run into their own financial problems and want to send her to the Careys. They reluctantly agree, and while they get ready for her, Gilly (Eddie Hodges) and Nancy entertain Peter (Jimmy Mathers) with jokes about her appearance and snobby, snotty personality ("Pink of Perfection"). When Julia (Deborah Walley) arrives, she's even worse than her cousins remembered. Part of her welcome seems to include being jumped on by Peter's large dog Sam in the middle of the night. Aghast at Beulah's primitive ways, she forces Osh's daughter Lally Joy (Wendy Turner) to help her bathe in the kitchen rather than lug kettles of hot water up the stairs.
While Nancy and Lally Joy cope with Julia, Peter enjoys working on the house with Osh, who entertains him with stories of bugs the like of which Peter hadn't dealt with in the city ("Ugly Bug Ball"). When Margaret informs Osh of their still-failing finances, Osh, hoping to keep them in town, makes up a request from the house's owner, Tom Hamilton, in exchange for no rent. He pretends that Mr. Hamilton has answered in the affirmative, only requesting that on Halloween the Careys must have a ceremony for his dead mother and find a decent place for her picture. The Careys accept and Osh chooses a fake picture for the ceremony. But Osh's wife Mariah, who has been on to his lies from the beginning, visits the yellow house to tell the Careys that Mr. Hamilton has no idea that they are there. Before she can spill the news, Osh fakes a fall from the second story, claims an injured leg, and insist that his wife help him get home.
After church the next Sunday, Nancy and Julia spot a handsome man, Charles Bryant (James Stacy), who has moved to Beulah to be the new schoolteacher. They invite him to a lawn party at the yellow house, where both try to win his affections, Nancy with her smarts and Julia with her looks. Julia wins, leaving Nancy too jealous to enjoy the quiet evening after the party ("On the Front Porch"). In their bedroom, her jealousy and anger drive her to reveal that Julia's adoptive parents "dumped" her on the Careys after gambling away their money. Julia flees to Aunt Margaret for assurance that her parents truly loved her, and Margaret reveals that her parents' situation is looking good enough that they are about ready for her to come home. This makes Nancy realize that she has grown to love Julia despite her many flaws (and her having "won" Charles), and she begs her to stay. Julia accepts, and prepares to move in permanently with the Careys.
As Halloween approaches, everyone gets ready for the big party. Lally Joy, who harbors a big crush on Gilly, displays her ugly dress to Nancy and Julia, fretting embarrassment at the party. Nancy and Julia promise to redesign the dress as they give her pointers on how to act around boys ("Femininity").
On the day of the party, a handsome young man (Peter Brown) appears at the yellow house and meets Nancy. She informs him that they'd been living in the house and tells him about the party for Mr. Hamilton's mother. The stranger quickly heads for Osh's store, where it is revealed that he is Tom Hamilton. Osh comes clean about renting the house to the Careys, inspired by Nancy's good-heartedness. Indignant, Tom leaves the store.
Reluctant to escort Lally Joy to the party, Gilly becomes more willing as she makes her appearance in her beautiful redesigned dress. Seeing them together and Charles and Julia together, Nancy realizes that she's the only one without a partner; after talking it over with her mother, she decides to attend on her own. As she descends the stairs she runs into Tom Hamilton, who accompanies her to the party. Nancy presents the picture Osh had produced: unfortunately, it is a frighteningly ugly woman and Tom feels insulted and angry at Osh. He reveals his true identity to the thoroughly-embarrassed Nancy, and as he has taken a fancy to her, he asks her to dance. As the party gets going, Osh exclaims that things always work out in the end. | romantic | train | wikipedia | It is a good-natured, fun film that you don't have to worry about letting your children watch.
Hayley Mills is a delight as the ever-optimistic Nancy Carey who misrepresents her family's situation in order to win the sympathy of Mr. Popham, a rural Maine postmaster, general store owner, sheriff, etc.
Burl Ives as the laconically good-natured Mr. Popham is a absolute treat to watch.
"Summer Magic" is a fun and pleasant film about two teenaged cousin girls and their amusing rivalry after they both move to the country with their family.
It's fun to see these two ladies come-of-age in all aspects from having to share a room to throwing a party just to get to know the handsome new school teacher (the story is also a lot more interesting to watch than most of today's teen flicks).
Hayley Mills is of course the highlight of the film stealing every scene that she's in, a talent she displays in several other Disney films.
The decade that brought us the First World War may seem an odd subject for nostalgia, but "Summer Magic", like "On Moonlight Bay" from a few years earlier, is a film which tries to persuade us that, whatever may have been happening on the battlefields of Europe, the 1910s (or the "Ragtime Era" as many Americans called them) really were the time of a kinder, gentler America.
This was the fourth of six films which Hayley Mills made for Walt Disney Productions.
The film is also a musical with several songs, although none of them rally stand out apart from "The Ugly Bug Ball", which was a favourite of mine as a child.
Overall, however, the film's cheerful atmosphere and the contributions of Mills and Ives make this a watchable example of warm- hearted Disney family entertainment.
Excellent movie, if you liked Hayley Mills in PollyAnna, look no further.
This movie exhibits family values and basic human kindness amid the traditional Disney music and humor.
Accept that before you accept my critique of Summer Magic.I have always loved this movie.
I watched everything I could of hers, even Pollyanna!Summer Magic was an old movie when I first saw it, in the 80s.
This movie is a remake of a movie called Mother Carey's Chickens (1938) Anne Shirley as Nancy Carey, Ruby Keeler as Kitty Carey, James Ellison as Ralph Thurston, Fay Bainter as Mrs. Carey, Walter Brennan as Mr. Popham, and Donnie Dunagan as Peter Carey.Both are really good family movies.
Summer Magic is more on the musical end and Mother Carey's Chickens is more of the romance side.
Hayley Mills is cute, as usual, as the older sister in the Carey family.
In addition to the aforementioned "Ugly Bug Ball", we have two of the oddest inclusions in the Disney catalog: "Femininity" (where Walley and Mills teach Wendy Turner how to act like a woman!) and "The Pink of Perfection" (Mills' and Hodges' duet, in reference to Walley's snooty character).
Good or bad, happy or sad, come what may this will always be the most magical of the movies I saw in a theater as a child.
Already charmed by its Disney-Norman Rockwell-Hallmark look at the Ragtime Age; this 12 year old boy was simply bowled over 30 minutes into the film by his first glimpse of Deborah Walley.
Walley was already a teen queen from her "Gidget" film but had escaped my too-young-to-notice teen actresses consciousness until that day at the theater.In her period costume this vision was the original "Pretty in Pink" and the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.
Disney simply took basic plot elements form the novel and film "Mother Carey's Chickens" (1938), threw in a bunch of "Cinderella" elements, and had Dorothy McGuire softly reprise her performance in "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn".If you can't find something here with which to connect, whether it is wistful identification or distanced examination of the film language elements, then you are probably already pretty much used up.
Liking this film now is just having the willingness to exercise a little self-knowing whimsy.Cinderella-wise you have a fairy prince, a glass slipper, a wicked step-sister, a wardrobe transformation scene, cute animals, a coach, songs, and a ball.The songs are along the lines of those seen recently in "Enchanted" but without the elaborate special effects.
So you have a shaggy sheep dog (where have I seen that before?), you have a couple of handsome young television actors (Peter Brown and James Stacy), you have a Moochie Corcoran hammy kid, you have the comedy relief of acting veterans Una Merkel and Burl Ives to appeal to parents, and you have liberal use of Disney's stock nature footage.Although I was too dazzled by Walley to pay much attention to Hayley Mills this was probably her best performance for Disney, it was certainly the most difficult part she was given.
Anyway, I highly recommend this film for people who are looking for films for their children or for anyone who loves classic Disney films.
Hayley Mills plays the oldest daughter of a newly impoverished family that moves to an old yellow house in Maine.
Dorothy McGuire plays the widowed mother; Burl Ives is at his incomparable best in the role of Osh Popham, the town's general factotum married to what has to be the gloomiest woman in the state of Maine, if not the United States.
Based on the book "Mother Carey's Chickens," by Kate Douglas Wiggin, the story was well adapted for the screen, maintaining the integrity and heart of the novel while making the cast a little more manageable.
Advertised as a vehicle for sixteen-year-old Hayley Mills, the movie is actually an ensemble piece set during the ragtime era, and the cumbersome outfits and hairdos Hayley wears fail to suit her well; still youthful and spirited, she's heavier here and doesn't have much of a character to work with.
Definitely not the best place for one to introduce themselves to Hayley Mills' versatile talents, but as a corny Disney pic for the family it isn't too bad.
The songs are wonderful catchy tunes- especially the one's Burl Ives from an innocent time.
There are some hilarious scenes- such as when Burl Ive's character is looking for a picture of Mr. Hamilton's "Mother".
Burl Ives' song "Ugly Bug Ball" guaranteed quite a few giggles and childish voices trying to sing along with it!
Compared to the movies of today where violence, attitude, crass behavior and vulgarity are common place (and those are "kid" movies?), "Summer Magic" is a very welcome gift from days gone by, when catching lightening bugs, playing outside until sundown, and having ice cream on the front porch with family and neighbors was the norm.
Cue songs and eight hundred weight of syrup as Hayley Mills, Burl Ives and co work out this Disney adaptation of Kate Douglas Wiggin's novel Mother Carey's Chickens.
SUMMER MAGIC is a sickly sweet Disney vehicle designed around blonde starlet Hayley Mills, fresh from the success of THE PARENT TRAP.
Indeed, Disney is so fond of thrusting 'life lessons' down the throats of its child audience that I generally avoid their movies like the plague.
However, by far the best thing about the movie is Burl Ives, a larger-than-life actor playing a larger-than-life character, and his rendition of the 'Ugly Bug Ball' is a real hoot..
Summer Magic is one of the few films I can think of where the remake actually improved on the original.
Maybe it's the cast here, maybe it's the musical score by Disney house composers the Sherman Brothers.Whatever it is, Summer Magic is nice recreation of times at the turn of the last century when widow Carey, played by Dorothy McGuire moves in to this old house with her three children, Hayley Mills, Eddie Hodges, and Jimmy Mathers.
The score by the Brothers Sherman doesn't contain anything as memorable as what comes out of Mary Poppins, but those two guys suffered their entire careers from the rest of their work being compared to Mary Poppins.This was Hayley Mills's height as a Disney star and she certainly was lovely and winsome as the oldest of the Carey brood who gets a little romance from not one, but two sources in that first summer in Maine.Presiding over the whole film avuncularly is Burl Ives, playing a role Walter Brennan originated in Mother Carey's Chickens.
Well with Pollard you can skip the wise part.Summer Magic is one of the Magic Kingdom's best films and who knows, maybe it will get yet another remake.
I have just watched Summer Magic again,it has been many years since I first saw the film.
Great names like Burl Ives, Hayley Mills, Peter Brown etc, well do I need to go on, they all made the film.
As I said I was younger then, but when I saw Summer Magic again today, I still had not changed my mind about Peter Brown waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me!
She loved it,and especially the Burl Ives part singing"Ugly Bug Ball".
The whole movie,is fun,entertaining and totally "non-objectionable",which would take a miracle to say that about a film made today!
Turner Classic Movies makes up the majority of my own film-watching,and I am delighted to see via Forums how many young folks feel the same way,about the offerings of TV/films today.
Anyone looking for a delightful film that the whole family can sit down and watch together without having to worry about embarrassing/offensive scenes or language,here is a perfect choice.
The songs were silly, the snooty cousin was way way too cloyingly annoying, the supporting characters were just too stereo-typically Disney.It was fine seeing young Hayley Mills and Eddie Hodges and James Stacy and Peter Brown but the story , not so much.Then there's the odious Michael J.
I wanted to watch this movie because I had read that Walt Disney had said it reminded him of his childhood.
This movie (based on a book called Mother Carey's Chickens) is for anyone who spent their Sunday nights watching The Wonderful World of Disney while growing up and wants to share that same feeling with their own children.
Turn on the closed caption, gather up your little girls and sing along with the movie.The Carey family is saved from having to live in "a hovel...that's not in a very nice neighborhood, either" by a mysterious "Mr. Hamilton" via the town postmaster/constable/general store owner Osiam Poppham.
The eldest daughter Nancy's (Hayley Mills) boundless enthusiasm and interaction with a fun assortment of characters such as a homeless cousin that "Thinks she's the pink of perfection" to Mrs. Poppham (Una Merkle-whom Hayley Mills fans will recognize from the original Parent Trap movie) who believes in a "good solid black cloud with no silver linings".
This story of the downturn in family circumstances and a fanciful letter turn a lost mansion in Boston to a delightful home in rural Maine.Burl Ives is marvelous as a small town store proprietor, and his stores and singing enliven the film.Dorothy McGuire is wonderful as the mom, and the other characters fit in well.The visit of Aunt Julia, who is not well-liked by the children, turns into an opportunity for mischief.This is an old-fashioned family film.
Kids will especially love "The Ugly Bug Ball." It is entertaining enough to keep adults interested, but not too adult for young children.
My husband is not a big fan of most "kid's" movies, but he really enjoyed Summer Magic when I made him watch it.
I highly recommend this movie to anyone that likes old Disney movies or has children..
Oh, it's nice to see Una Merkel through adult eyes, knowing who she is, and the movie has a certain curiosity value as an example of Disney's early 1960's film-making.
Hayley Mills is visibly tired of parts like this, and poor Dorothy McGuire -- unflatteringly coiffed but beatific as always -- has to open her mouth so some other lady can dub in the superfluous title song.
But really, what is the point of a movie about Bostonians adapting to life in the country when Boston looks like a back lot, rural Maine looks like a back lot, and it all basically takes place in that don't-confuse-this-with-reality Disney world?
The nadir may be the time when Burl Ives sings a song called "The Ugly Bug Ball" with nature footage spliced in, all manipulated so that real insects seem to be dancing and playing themselves as orchestral instruments.
This is my all-time favorite Haley Mills movie.
Take my advice: if you want a clean, family movie, go out and rent it today...better yet, BUY IT!
I did enjoy the likes of BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS and MARY POPPINS as a child , and as an adult I still enjoy watching 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA , but the older you get the more cynical you get so watching most of Disney`s output as an adult is an ordeal and I`ve got to say SUMMER MAGIC is just about the worst Disney film I`ve ever seen .
Hayley Mills' English accent was not disguised at all and I was extremely offended by the song "Femininity." It was also very slow and didn't have the usual Disney charm.
this was a bad movie please take our comment seriously and don't watch this film.
Those are some adjectives to describe Summer Magic, a Disney musical based on the novel Mother Carey's Chickens.
Walt Disney Lays an Egg. After the death of her dad, destitute Hayley Mills (as Nancy Carey) and her ragtime musical family must move from Boston to a small town Beulah, Maine.
The blonde, British-accented Ms. Mills looks and sounds nothing like dark-haired mother Dorothy McGuire (as Margaret Carey).
To confuse matters, brother Eddie Hodges (as Gilly Carey) is a flaming redhead, while little Jimmy Mathers (as Peter Carey) looks like he's related to the lad on "Leave it to Beaver" - more so, after he loses the "sissy" wig.This is a fowl adaptation of "Mother Carey's Chickens".The family moves in to the "yellow house", with assistance from lovable old caretaker Burl Ives (as Osh Popham).
Worst song may be Mr. Ives' rendition of "The Ugly Bug Ball", which seems like it could be a Disney TV outtake.* Summer Magic (7/7/63) James Neilson ~ Hayley Mills, Burl Ives, Dorothy McGuire, Deborah Walley.
Good natured and lovingly rendered family film.
Maybe not as good as "Mother Carey's Chickens" but what I did like about the film was its good nature and how lovingly rendered it was.
It is a showcase for two talents: the iconic British water sprite, Hayley Mills (Nancy Carey) and the kindly folk singer with a heart, Burl Ives (Mr. Poppem).
Sherman penned the charming "Summer Magic", "Lavender Blue, Dilly-Dilly" and the corny "The Ugly Bug Ball," with incomparable rag time nostalgia brimming from every note.
But on this occasion, the poignancy one is likely to derive comes entirely from seeing the young Haley Mills and elderly Burl Ives, emphatically and musically sparing off of one another's formidable talents, and leaving us all a little bit better for their joust.
Summer Magic has been remastered on DVD with considerably good results.
I never once believed Hayley Mills as the daughter of Dorothy McGuire and sister of Eddie Hodges and James Mathers with her obvious British accent downing any realism of these four in the family way.
When they arrive in the small Maine town, he is indeed attacked for looking like a girl, and wisely sneaks in with the four kids who beat him up while trying to play "King of the Hill" to get his hair cut and exchange his clothes for more a more country appropriate outfit from the understanding Burl Ives.This version of the Sally Benson story, "Mother Carey's Chickens", is a bit different than the 1930's RKO Radio version which starred Ruby Keeler and Anne Shirley, and very Disney-fied.
The basic premise of this musical comedy piece of Americana has Mills arranging to rent a house in Maine without her mother's knowledge and convincing her to move the family there where, like the Ingalls of "Little House on the Prairie", they seem to become the moral compass of the small town, even with the arrival of a much derided snooty cousin (Deborah Walley) who upsets Mills by stealing the affections of school teacher James Stacey.
The heart and soul of this film squarely is split down the middle between the always lovely McGuire, finding another summer place and getting to sing (dubbed) the title song where the editors pull away footage from her and insert documentary footage of the countryside wildlife from one of their many documentaries and the always commanding Burl Ives.
Merkel wants to tell McGuire the truth about the house, that they were not permitted to rent it, and when the real owner (a very young Peter Brown) shows up, Ives has lots of 'splainin' to do.As usual, Ives gets to sing a couple of folk songs, one extremely corny about "the ugly bug's ball" that once again splits away to show nature doing its thing.
The Sherman Brothers' score, for the most part, is second rate when compared to "Mary Poppins" and "Bednobs & Broomsticks", with one song, "Femininity", rather lively as Mills (not sounding very good here) and Walley dress up Ives' tomboyish daughter (Wendy Turner) standing out among the rest.
A Charming Family Film Classic With Lots of Syrupy Warmth, Intimate,Nostalgia and A Heaping Helping of Good Old Fashioned Disney.
you don't get much meaner than that.the 'Ugly Bug Ball' musical moment is also quirky and weird (if not a little creepy) enough to be amusing to little kids.the production design, photography and other elements are delivered with accomplished professionalism that it often seemed only Disney could pull out of a modest budget like this.i grew up watching this film at the movies and then again on the 'Wonderful World of Disney' television show. |
tt0424205 | Joyeux Noël | The story centers mainly upon six characters: Gordon (a Lieutenant of the Royal Scots Fusiliers); Audebert (a French Lieutenant in the 26th Infantry and reluctant son of a general); Horstmayer (a Jewish German Lieutenant of the 93rd Infantry); Palmer (a Scottish priest working as a stretcher-bearer); and German tenor Nikolaus Sprink and his Danish fiancée, mezzo-soprano, Anna Sørensen (two famous opera stars).
The film begins with scenes of schoolboys reciting patriotic speeches that both praise their countries and condemn their enemies. In Scotland, two young brothers, Jonathan and William, join up to fight, followed by their priest, Father Palmer, who becomes a chaplain. In Germany, Sprink is interrupted during a performance by a German officer announcing a reserve call up. Audebert looks at a photograph of his pregnant wife, whom he has had to leave behind (in the occupied part of France, just in front of his trench), and prepares to exit into the trenches for an Allied assault on German lines. However the assault fails with the French taking many casualties while William loses his life.
In Germany, Anna gets permission to perform for the soldiers and Sprink is allowed to accompany her. They spend a night together and then perform. Afterward, Sprink expresses bitterness at the comfort of the generals at their headquarters, and resolves to go back to the front to sing for the troops. Sprink is initially against Anna's decision to go with him, but he agrees shortly afterward.
The unofficial truce begins when the Scots begin to sing festive songs and songs from home, accompanied by bagpipes. Sprink and Sørensen arrive in the German front-line and Sprink sings for his comrades. As Sprink sings "Silent Night" he is accompanied by a piper in the Scottish front-line. Sprink responds to the piper and exits his trench with a small Christmas tree singing "Adeste Fideles". Following Sprink's lead the French, German, and Scottish officers meet in no-man's-land and agree on a cease-fire for the evening. The various soldiers meet and wish each other "Joyeux Noël", "Frohe Weihnachten", and "Merry Christmas". They exchange chocolate, champagne, and photographs of loved ones. Horstmayer gives Audebert back his wallet, with a photograph of his wife inside, lost in the attack a few days prior, and they connect over pre-war memories. Palmer and the Scots celebrate a brief Mass for the soldiers (in Latin as was the practice in the Catholic Church at that time) and the soldiers retire deeply moved. However, Jonathan remains totally unmoved by the events around him, choosing to grieve for his brother.
Father Palmer is being sent back to his own parish and his Battalion disbanded as a mark of shame. Despite emphasising the humanity and goodwill of the truce, he is rebuked by the bishop, who then preaches an anti-German sermon to new recruits, in which he describes the Germans as inhumane and commands the recruits to kill every one of them. Father Palmer overhears the preaching, and removes his cross as he leaves.
Back in the trenches, the Scots are ordered by a furious major (who is angered by the truce) to shoot a German soldier who is entering no-man's-land and crossing towards French lines. The soldiers deliberately miss in response but the German soldier is hit by a bitter Jonathan. Audebert, hearing the familiar alarm clock ringing outside, rushes out and discovers that the soldier is a disguised Ponchel, his batman. With his dying words, Ponchel reveals he gained help from the German soldiers, visited his mother, and had coffee with her. He also informs Audebert that he has a young son named Henri.
Audebert's punishment is being sent to Verdun, and he receives a dressing down from his father, a general. In a culminating rant, young Audebert upbraids his father, expressing no remorse at the fraternization at the front, and also his disgust for the civilians or superiors who talk of sacrifice but know nothing of the struggle in the trenches. He also informs the general about his new grandson Henri. Moved by this revelation, the general then recommends they "both try and survive this war for him".
Horstmayer and his troops, who are confined in a train, are informed by the Crown Prince that they are to be shipped to the Eastern Front, without permission to see their families as they pass through Germany. He then stomps on Jörg's harmonica, and says that Horstmayer does not deserve his Iron Cross. As the train departs, the Germans start humming a Scottish carol they learned from the Scots, L'Hymne des Fraternisés'/ I'm Dreaming Of Home. | anti war, violence, murder | train | wikipedia | By depicting a unique event in European war history that occurred on Christmas day 1914 it shows viewers that Europeans can be as one even as "enemies".About ten years ago I watched Paul McCartney's video "Pipes of Peace" and thought that what it depicted was completely fictitious--nothing more than pacifists' dreams.
'Joyeux Noël' is a story of war and its effects on soldiers that goes far beyond sentimentality (or the opposite emphasis on brutality as found in American films) and offers the viewer insights to the responses of young men's minds to the monster of war and how they cope.Based on a true story, the film opens with the usual callous killing among three groups of soldiers - German, French, and Scottish - who face an oncoming Christmas Eve in the trenches, the realities of fighting have precluded their getting time to retreat for air.
We get to know the French Lieutenant Audebert (Guillaume Canet) and his orderly Ponchel (Dany Boon), the German head of the regiment Horstmayer (Daniel Brühl), and the Scots - especially the priest/medic Palmer (Gary Lewis).Christmas Eve comes and the voice of Sprink (in reality the tenor Rolando Villazón) sings 'Stille Nacht', rising out of the trenches to sing in the open of no man's land.
For that moment in time the horrors of war melt and the camaraderie of the men glows and is carried into Christmas Day when all three groups of soldiers agree to bury their dead together.
The film ends in a manner that leaves the audience able to integrate the happenings of that Christmas Eve on the futures of these men.The script is superb, the cast is uniformly excellent, the sets and cinematography are creatively moody, and the musical score by Philippe Rombi is one of the finest in years: the ending song 'I'm Dreaming of Home' deserves to become a standard.
I think it may become my top film among several hundred seen this year, just as A Very Long Engagement - also set in the trenches of the First World War - captured my heart and critic's choice last December.
In addition to presenting a parable from real life relevant for any war-torn age, including our own I might add, Carion works wonders with front-line incidents great and small while drawing compelling individual character portraits from a top notch Scots, French and German cast, each speaking in their native language and accents.
Even had France not chosen Joyeux Nöel as its selection for the 2006 Oscar best foreign-language film category, I would herald it and rejoice in the advent of a new classic that is in another class altogether from the general run of "holiday movies".
A truly powerful and must see film about the futility of war.It depicts that whatever those in power would have us believe there are more similarities between various nationalities than differences.Wonderful performances by many little known actors.First class cinematography and other production values.Illustrates that there can be no war if if if you have no enemy.
It is impossible to kill a man with whom you have shared drinks and stories and grown to likeWonderful music and singing as those who have suffered and fought each other in the trenches slowly gather to mark Christmas Eve by drinking and talking with each other, swapping addresses, singing Christmas carols common to all three nations (Germany, France and Scotland), burying frozen corpses and playing soccer together.Not perfectly historically accurate but very close to an actual incident, A vivid illustration of the foolishness of war.
I wasn't sure if I was going to like this film but found it to be moving, heartwarming and a wonderful cinematic experience.The fact that the story is based on real events that happened shows that their is some good in humans across the world.
In this story, all sides are respected as humans and the soldiers come to understand that under God, we are all one.Please, even if you don't normally go to foreign language films or war movies, go to this film.
I shed a tear at the end, though I could see why the men needed to be moved from the front having made friends with 'the enemy.' I know that this is going to be a must see film for me every Christmas and I am eagerly awaiting the release of the DVD..
Telling the story of the extraordinary Christmas truce between waring soldiers in the trenches at Christmas 1914, it demonstrates just how ludicrous war really is and how the human spirit can overcome blind hatred.
At the beginning of Joyeux Noël, the director of the film said that it was based on a true story and that he wished that if we liked the movie, that we would tell everyone about it and recommend it.
As a rule I generally tend to blacklist war movies but this so different.This is in no way about the glorification of war but instead tells a tale of a group of human beings that see past their differences for one night.Apparently all based on true events known as the The Christmas Truce of 1914.I highly recommend this movie to any and all..
It is thought provoking about the obvious issues of war and peace and how the enemy looks like us.The film is set on Christmas Eve at the beginning of World War I.
Neither singer is required to enlist in the Great War, but they are both sent to the German front lines to entertain the troops on Christmas Eve.After a few more introductions, we see the Western Front of the war in France, with French, German, and Scottish soldiers engaging in combat that is far from romantic.
You see the trenches, not so much of the actual combat, but you don't have to guess how ugly the war actually was.Even worse, these soldiers are fighting on Christmas Eve, when many of them looked forward to returning home to their families.
It's even more astounding how great holiday songs become better through the darkest of times, and that is probably the point of the entire movie.Just like "It's A Wonderful Life", "Joyeux Noel" details a bleak time in history, and shows how the human spirit of generosity can make a world of difference through even the darkest times.
The director does a brilliant job in depicting three military units like the Germans, French, and the Scottish who are fighting the first Christmas away from their loved ones and facing an invisible enemy.
Despite being a dramatization, this film deftly captured the spirit and essence of the Christmas Eve Truce of World War I.
The one thing that struck me in watching the movie, was that the truce was most likely as successful as it was because the soldiers, the British, French, and Germans, all had a shared heritage that created a deeper connection that was able to cross over the boundaries of war, just as Union and Confederate troops did during the Civil War. As such, I would not draw upon it as a truly accurate analogy to modern day events, but it does speak volumes on how useless war can more than often be.
Joeux Noel doesn't show any of the true horrors of WW1,the trenches look far to clean there's no mud, rats,lethal barbed wire,hardly any carnage or dead mutilated bodies,not that i partically want to see that,but if this film is depicting WW1 then this is what you would expect to see because thats how it really was.The soldiers look far too bright and fresh and don't at all seem exhausted and fatigued or battle weary so it just doesn't convince that they have been fighting in a horrific war.For instance not one of them had shell shock when in reality many of them by that point would have had.
Because the film plays down the true horrors of war, when the actual scenes of the Christmas Truce happen it just doesn't seem to mean much,and its all very sudden there's no big build up and not much apprehension,as in reality the soldiers at first believed it was a trick,so they didn't all rush out to shake hands with the Germans as this film suggests.
Then what really ruins it for me is the female opera singer who is living in the German trenches who then comes out to sing{mime}to all the soldiers she is all elegantly dressed and of allthings she is wearing a bright red cape,how ridiculous is that.I know its good to stretch your imagination a bit but this is just going to far,there is no way she would have been allowed in the German trenches or any one else's for that matter,and this for me is where the story loses all credibility it just becomes more fiction which is a shame because there really is a good story to be told here.I've been interested in the Christmas Truce for years and have watched many documentaries about it and always thought it would make a great film,however this one just doesn't do it.
The movie is inspired by a true story about a Christmas Eve truce in 1914 during World War I between the Germans and the English but the story is badly distorted in the movie.
not the arrogance of the generals or the involvement of the church.The well documented, self-imposed WWI Christmas battlefield truce between the Germans, French and Scots is both chilling and heart-warming and really brings to light the outlandishness of war.
Consider all that, the likelihood of cultural tastes and of religious background, and the Christmas spirit itself - and you would realize that the true events behind the story of Joyeux Noel are much more likely than it would seem at first.This film does avoid the sharp edges here and there, making the story of fraternization among the enemy troops almost inevitable.
And that shaky balance between the humanity of you as a person and the duty imposed on you as a soldier is something that Joyeux Noel conveys beautifully.Yet while you are watching this film, you can't help coming back to the same thought over and over again.
A recreation of the infamous WW1 event, 'Noel' deals with the extraordinary circumstance when, during the first year of The Great War, French, German and Scots laid down arms and celebrated Christmas Eve and Day together, sharing gifts, singing hymns and playing football.
Stereotypes and barriers are broken down, and the soldiers begin to see each other as more than just 'the enemy'.A unique war film, 'Joyeux Noel' is more about the human capacity for forgiveness and understanding even in the face of such paramount horror and radical nationalism.
The fact that it's based on TRUE EVENTS only adds to the enchantment.This movie re-instilled my faith in human nature, at the same time that it reaffirmed my criticism of the "powers that be" who distort personkind's inclination for fellowship and foster wars.Enough said.
Historical records show that the singing of the Germans and their practice of putting the lighted trees along the edge of trench often precipitated the holiday fraternization.On the DVD, there is a most interesting interview with the writer and director that gives some good insight to his quest to tell this story on film.Even with the presence of war and death, this film - supported by beautiful music and superior production values - makes you feel good because it reaffirms man's basic humanity..
I've already begun recommending it, and can easily imagine watching it and showing it around Christmas-time for years to come.Its portrayal and exploration of the role of religion, like any dimension of the human person and society/culture, is entangled with the "angels of our better nature" (A.
Long story short, it's Christmas Eve, warring parties decide that it's better to have a truce during the holidays, during which Scots, French and Germans party like it's 1914.
Based on the true events of Christmas Eve 1914, Joyeux Noel really is one of the best Christmas films I have ever seen, tied with 'It's A Wonderful Life'.How this master piece didn't win its Oscar I have no idea, for it fully deserves it.
But as they meet on Christmas Eve you witness all that disappear.Wonderful actors like Daniel Brühl from Ladies in Lavender, Gary Lewis from Billy Elliot, Diane Kruger from National Treasure and a lot more really portray their characters flawlessly.A brilliant score finishes this epic film to create the kind of story you will never forget.Although I'd recommend waiting for an English release, the French one is a bit confusing!Highly recommended, you'll be wondering by the end, what was the point of the war?Fantastic..
The Scottish clergyman and the French barber are just two examples of character acting that cannot be topped.The Christmas Truce of 1914 is brought to life here, and as one character says about that brief moment of sanity and peace, "you were not there, so you cannot understand." But thanks to this film, the audience feels the privilege of participating in a true miracle.Ah, let's pray for a second miracle: that Spielberg will not attempt a re-make..
If you expect a genuine war movie with huge battles and a lot of action you will be disappointed.Instead what's waiting for you is a story that shows that there was a very special thing that happened during WWI, something that I thought to be impossible.
Even though many devastating events continue to happen on a daily basis, Joyeux Noel's Christmas scene made me hopeful for humanity, because even in the darkest moments of war, people were still able to recognize the joy and peace of this blessed day.
it doesn't just immortalize the true and honored story of "The Christmas Truce" of 1914 during the World War I, but gives a lesson about humanity and how pure morals could be spoilt by the war machine and by the widespread of ignorant hatred, I loved how the first scene resembled three school children from France, England and Germany all repeating a memorized speech of hatred against the other nations then the film ended with three scenes of the three supposedly confronting armies rejecting hatred and returning to their regular state of humanity.
On Christmas Eve 1914, while the Great War degenerated in a bloody stalemate with men entrenching themselves and slaughtering each other in mass, Some of them decided to lay down their guns and make a truce to celebrate Christmas without any bloodshed.They shared their meals, exchanged cherished ones pictures and for this very special Holy Night, learned to like each other like brothers instead of hating each other to death.Joyeux Noel is telling us this true story about soldiers who regained their human being status for one night and one day.
I remember seeing this movie in theaters almost 7 years ago, during the Holidays, and falling under its spell almost instantly.The main element of the story, unknown to me at that time, was that soldiers on both sides of the War decided to call a truce on that night.
Captivated by the singing of a German soldier who is also an opera tenor, on Christmas Eve, German, French and Scottish soldiers and officers come out of the trenches and fraternize like human beings, establishing a temporary ceasefire, celebrating Christmas and attending a mass said by a Scottish military chaplain.
Moving film about the Christmas truce in World War I.
A very good and moving French made film about the Christmas truce between the troops in the Western Front in 1914 during World War I.
It is, of course, inspired by true events that occurred around Christmas in 1914, and although it doesn't show everything exactly as it happened, it's certainly close enough.The acting is very convincing throughout, and I felt myself absolutely drawn into the film.I watched it on Christmas Day and was more than glad about my choice, as it could not have been more fitting for the occasion.Impressive though it is that soldiers in the trenches temporarily laid down their rifles, it's sad that it took a Christmas Holiday to achieve that.
The director and cast have created a work of art movie dedicated to those soldiers of World War I who overcame the hate propaganda and trauma and deaths of trench warfare to declare a spontaneous truce on Christmas eve to band together in no-man's land in friendship and mutual protection.
But Joyeux Noel (French for Merry Christmas) does not show us the great sacrifices made during battle but the shred of humanity these soldiers had left as Christmas Day approached the front line/We follow three different stories.
All that was left were two films; the Clint/ Japanese take on Iwo Jima which ended at @ 2h00am and MERRY Christmas(Joyeux Noel).It basically tells the story of the Christmas truce during the first World war.
Inspired in real facts, the film tells us about a history of French, Scottish and German soldiers that, during Christmas night decide to forget their hates and just stay with the enemy as a friend or an allied, showing us how easily is to achieve peace if people wants.
Based on true facts, "Joyeux Noel" tells us a touching story which while historically significant, is not widely known: In the midst of WW1, when lives where wasted among the trenches every day, a spontaneous truce was achieved on Christmas Eve by some soldiers of the three main warring sides (Germany, UK, and France).
and I almost cried at the end of the film because it was so emotional and the fact that it is based on the true story that happened on the western front during world war 1 makes it even better.
Joyeux Noel, takes a whole different view on War. Finally, we have a movie that doesn't show how cruel the soldiers were, but how human they were. |
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