A New Leaf

Carbon on the Valves.
This comedy performance by Walter Matthou ranks with his best work, such as in The Odd Couple, Sunshine Boys etc. Unfortunately, not as many people have seen it, as this movie is a little-known gem.

I saw it as a second feature and almost missed it as I had never heard or read anything about it. We stayed, and laughed so hard I looked for it for years and told people about this odd film no one knows about.

Thank God cable aired it and it became available on VHS so I could recommend it to friends. The movie is simply hilarious.

Matthau is an arrogant, cultured, vain, selfish and rich snob suddenly finding himself penniless. His only salvation is to marry a rich woman and he finds the perfect target in the introverted and socially inept heiress/botanist played by Elaine May.

Matthau, dreading this intrusion into his perfectly ordered bachelor existence, decides murder of this ditz-of-all-time is the answer to all his problems. But, that...

WHY is this film NOT on DVD!!!???
I'm very pleased to see a flurry of 'new'/er reviews of this film. I only hope the DVD gods take notice!!

10 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-

WHY is this film NOT on DVD!!!???, 16 May 2005

9/10

Author: jim6263 from So.California, USA

I'll not recount the story, as others have. The lack of response and proper public recognition for this film my be due to Elaine May's very dry wit and wry sense of humor, which, I think, simply sailed over the heads of many viewers. And it's truly most unfortunate, as this is a VERY funny film (for those who are perceptive and appreciate the subtler and darker shades of humor and life)! To the dude who rated it a "1" (on IMDb): "A New Leaf" was nominated for 2 Golden Globes (Comedy -- Best Picture and Best Actress) and for the WGA's (the industry's official Writer's Guild -- i.e., her peers, other screenwriters) writing award for best comedy (from another medium) that year...

A triumph for Elaine May
This wonderful, laugh-out-loud comedy stars Walter Matthau as Henry, a witheringly sarcastic playboy who suddenly finds he has spent his entire fortune. In order to maintain his current lifestyle, he decides to marry someone-anyone-who is wealthy, which is a problem, as he basically hates women. Henrietta (Elaine May), his chosen target, is a very rich, but socially awkward-in-the-extreme botanist, whose life's dream is to discover a new form of fern. Henry woos and wins her, then decides to dispatch her on their honeymoon.

This largely overlooked comedy is a coup for writer/director/star Elaine May. The script is fast-paced, witty, and (most important for a comedy) truly funny and the characters, while outrageous, still ring true. Matthau's acid-tongued Henry is so pompous and snooty, you can't wait to hear what he's going to say next. May's performance as the innocent heiress is touching as well as hysterical. The twist at the end will leave you very satisfied with...

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Essex Boys

A First-Rate Gangster Flick
Essex Boys is a 1999 "gangster" film that takes the viewer into the gritty, dangerous domain of Essex's drug-dealing underworld. The story is narrated in part by a lad named Billy, a lowly (but fairly quick-witted) driver for the self-important kingpins, and though we don't see everything from Billy's vantage point, it is an effective and engaging means of presenting the story. Though the characters and the story are pure fiction, the inspiration for the film came from the murder of three suspected drug dealers whose bodies were found in a Range Rover in Essex in 1995. The story created around this real-life event is highly imaginative, plausible, gripping, and suspenseful.

Sean Bean (Sharpe, Extremely Dangerous, Bravo Two Zero, The Fifteen Streets, Golden Eye), donning a cockney-flavoured Essex accent, is simply superb as the jealous, arrogant, mean-spirited, foul-mouthed Jason Locke, a drug-dealing thug who's just been released from prison (and who thinks he's God's gift to...

Smart, tough Brit crime bites and stings
After the flash and fire of Lock, Stock..., there were a whole spate of Brit crime flicks (including its empty-headed sequel Snatch). It's a credit to the genre (or sub-genre) that Essex Boys is one of the better entries.

That can be attributed to a very intelligent script, terrific acting (since when have British actors failed to deliver the goods?), and fast-paced directing--all of which speak of a keen understanding of exactly how to craft a thriller that moves the way it should.

Sean Bean is outstanding here as Jason, an ugly-minded thug who's just been let out of the pen. He finds his old mates, after settling a score in an especially violent scene, and together they set about raking in the pounds, primarily from drug dealing. What they don't count on is Jason's wife Lisa who's the toughest and smartest of all. Her plots and counterplots land her squarely in the femme fatale arena and it's a lot of fun to watch Alex Kingston, the actress who portrays her, strut her...

Another excellent performance by Bean
I don't feel the need to spell out the plot of the film, since you probably already know it if you're reading this, so I'll keep this short. If you're American and not used to watching British films you may have to watch it a couple times or try it with subtitles to catch everything, but the movie itself is still wonderful. Sean Bean is (as usual) the bad guy, and he plays it beautifully. If you're a fan of his or just into action-packed gangster flicks, I highly recommend Essex Boys.

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FOREVER FEMALE

They say the lights are bright on Broadway...
It's William Holden night, here at Chez Sixpack... Here, Holden stars as a brash, principled playwright who hitches his star to a famous-but-fading broadway star, played by Ginger Rogers. Rogers's Beatrice Page is an interesting character -- she's at the top of her game, but only for as long as she can keep up appearances and fend off her younger rivals. Among these is a chirpy, headstrong, would-be starlet (played by Pat Crowley) who attaches herself to Holden's coattails, at first out of mere opportunism, and then for true love. The Holden character is a bit too mannered -- too anchored in the old, pre-'60s fixation with The Moody Writer as a great dramatic character; Crowley is herself a bit irritating as well -- this was supposed to be her big breakout role, but she's a bit too perky and Annette Funicello-ish, and may get on your nerves. At the heart of this film, then, is Ginger Rogers, along with Paul Douglas as her ex-husband, a Broadway producer who's still...

ALL ABOUT PAT.
Bill Holden plays a young supermarket employee who writes a play about a young girl and her forceful mother; later it is produced by Paul Douglas for his ageing actress wife, Ginger Rogers. Lots of bright lines - with inside jokes for show people - coupled with snappy supporting performances by Patricia Crowley, James Gleason, George Reeves and, in an entertaining cameo, Marjorie Rambeau - playing herself - make for an entertaining 93 minutes. The then 42 year-old Rogers overacts a tad, but not enough to make the viewer wince. In an excellent portrayal, Patricia Crowley seems to play Eve to Ginger's Margo in this fast-paced and funny adaptation of Sir James Barrie's play ROSALIND. Modernised to 1953 standards and given several twists, it seems purposely reminiscent of ALL ABOUT EVE - in a harmless, light-hearted way.

Great stuff
A very thought prevoking film. Why is it that to be the wrong side of forty for a women means having to lie about your age to keep getting the parts, as Ginger Roger's character has to do to maintain good roles in this movie. Still a beautiful woman, mature yes, but still able to hold her own amongst the best of them. I wonder if the male population had to go through the same it would change the view of getting older as being acceptable in the cinema and theatre. I hope attitudes have changed since this movie was made in the early 1950's, I think it has, thank goodness for that.

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The Golden Child

Great Murphy flick
Murphy was so popular before this flick came out, somebody wrote at the time, that he could survive if it flopped. "Golden Child" was a commercial disappointment and it did hurt him. To this day, I don't know why.

Murphy is Chandler Jerroll - an LA-based PI with a flip attitude on anything. He's a hero of the city of angels, but he's no angel himself. In short, he is the "chosen one", the foretold hero destined to save the "golden child" from evil. While Jerroll searches LA for lost children, the enchanted golden child rises in spiritual purity in a snowy monastery in the Himalayas. The wicked forces of Sardo Numspar (Charles Dance) invade the monastery and, after overrunning the monks, spirit the boy away in a cage. The boy, it turns out, is one of a line of divine lamas upon whom the world rests, and whom evil must destroy. Dark Forces had already claimed other golden children. With the loss of the "bringer of justice", the death of another golden child will plunge the...

Comic Adventure
"The Golden Child" is an interesting, fun and action packed comic/adventure with a touch of horror where Jarrel (Eddie Murphy) stars as the Chosen One. In this role, he has the "onerous" responsibility of finding the "Golden Child". The Golden Child is a Buddhist child with supernatural powers who was kidnapped by some evil villains and sorcerers. I first saw this film in the late 1980s and I loved it. I still enjoy watching it to this day, particularly the sarcastic humour typical of Eddie Murphy.

Eddie Murphy plays the reluctant hero, having been thrust into an unnatural and supernatural world of sorcery and mysticism. The Golden child, who is one in a line of divine Lamas and upon his compassion and grace the fate of the world rests, is a delightful and charming kid. The lady who identifies Eddie Murphy as the Chosen One is cute. Charles Dance, who plays as the wicked "Sardun Numspa", performs his role with expertise.

In this film, Eddie Murphy looks more...

Eddie Murphy at his best and brightest. A True Classic
I am very happy to see my fellow Reveiwers totally disregarding everything that Leonard Maltin (and other nitwit critics who wouldn't know entertainment if it bit them on the ...) said and spoke the truth about this classic comedy. This is Eddies best film (followed closely by coming to America and Beverly hills cop) and I beleive it will stay in that position for many years to come.

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K-19: The Widowmaker

emotionally compelling
This exceptional film is inspired by tragic historical events. The screenplay is a composite, based equally on two separate Soviet naval disasters. The first, obviously, is the 1961 "cursed" maiden mission of K-19, Russia's pioneer nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. The second is a narrowly-averted catastrophe of 1986, involving the decrepit "Yankee-class" boomer, K-219. Ironically, the movie was also nearly scuttled -- before it even began production. The rough draft contained every Slavophobic stereotype and Cold War cliche', and was bitterly protested by K-19's surviving officers. They wtote a series of open letters to the producers and actors, inviting them to Russia to hear their real story. When director Katheryn Bigalow met these aging veterans and the widow of their recently-deceased Captain, she resolved to film a tribute to their courage. Much of the film's reference material comes from two superb books written by Capt. Peter Huchthausen USN-ASW (ret.):...

A dramatic tale of an important, hidden chapter of history
After scanning some reviews I've decided to add my 2 cents, since I just got the DVD & saw the movie for the first time. To those who say it has very similar elements already visited in films such as "Crimson Tide," "U-571", etc., my reaction to that is, yes, you're right. The first half hour of this movie I was a bit concerned about where it was going. It had the "been here, done that" feel to it in regards to other "sub movies." I didn't buy Ford's accent at first (why? Because I know him from other movies, whereas if some unknown actor played the role, I wouldn't have questioned the authenticity or even the accent delivery at all), but as time passed, I didn't notice it as much and thought it was fine. In regards to the why do Americans put accents on in the first place when speaking English, it's really no big mystery, it simply adds to the setting. I suppose if you went the other extreme and gave them all harsh U.S. Southern accents, it would pull you even further away from...

A singularly impressive debut for National Geographic
K19: THE WIDOWMAKER is a most impressive debut for National Geographic Feature Films, one of the movie's principal production partners.

The story is based on a Cold War event kept secret for decades. It's 1961, and the Soviet's first atomic powered ballistic missile submarine, the K-19, is scheduled for an operational shakedown cruise in the North Atlantic. The USSR wants to show the United States that the latter is not the only world power with waterproof big guns, so to speak, seeing as how the U.S. Navy has put Polaris subs within missile-lobbing range of Leningrad and Moscow.

Filmed in Canada and Moscow, this "Hollywood" version of the story has Captain Polenin (Liam Neeson) as commander of the K19 while it's still under construction in Murmansk. In a bad career move, he's vociferously unhappy about the quality of the boat's construction, and outspokenly suggests it's not ready for its first sea trial. Enter Captain Vostrikov (Harrison Ford), an in-law of a Politburo big...

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Heaven Can Wait

"A passport to Hell is not issued on generalities."
At last, this timeless romantic comedy has gotten the Criterion "treatment" and is being released on dvd. Don Ameche stars as Henry Van Cleve, an over-the-hill former playboy who has died and gone to Hell. But Satan, or "His Excellency" (Laird Cregar, giving one of his very best performances!) isn't convinced that Van Cleeve belongs there, so Henry tells him the story of his life (through flashbacks of course).

Growing up a Van Cleeve wasn't easy, and young Henry had no one to turn to for help (both his parents are somewhat out of touch with reality!) except his wild grandfather (Charles Coburn), who is obviously not a very good role model for Henry. As Henry becomes a man, he starts pursuing young and beautiful women, and finally meets a respectable young lady, Martha (Gene Tierney). The problem is that Martha is already engaged to a relative of Henry's! But, he wins her over and they elope and begin their life together.

After ten years of marriage, Martha walks...

A witty, humane, thoughtful movie directed by Ernst Lubitsch and written by Samson Raphaelson
"As Henry Van Cleve's soul passed over The Great Divide, he realized that it was extremely unlikely that his next stop could be Heaven. And so, philosophically, he presented himself where innumerable people had so often told him to go."

Henry (Don Ameche) is greeted courteously by His Excellency (Laird Cregar). "I presume your funeral was satisfactory?" the devil asks. "Well...there was a lot of crying," Henry says, "so I believe everybody had a good time." His Excellency explains that while he will consider Henry's request, there must be good reasons to avoid going Up There. "If you meet our requirements, we'll be only too glad to accommodate you. Would you be kind enough to mention, for instance, some outstanding crime you've committed " "Crime...crime...I'm afraid I can't think of any," Henry says. "But I can safely say my whole life was one continuous misdemeanor."

Heaven Can Wait is the witty, nostalgic, gentle and surprisingly thoughtful tale of Henry Van...

Perfectly made, brilliant script
This was Don Ameche's finest film. For once, he had a first rate director and script and a chance to take the centre stage in a comedy. He plays a lifelong flirt who, in spite of his love for his wife, can't help himself when he encounters a pretty woman. Whether it be due to the Production Code or otherwise, his actions are very genteel and neither the audience nor his wife take him very seriously but his charm and humour create a warm and funny character.

All the other actors shine in their roles. Gene Tierney is subtle, versatile and graceful as Ameche's wife. It is a mystery to me why she is sometimes singled out as mediocre. She has some very complex dialogue which she delivers faultlessly, her timing is excellent and she ages very convincingly. Charles Coburn as grandpa has the best lines, Signe Hasso as a French maid steals every scene in which she appears and Eugene Pallete as Tierney's father-in-law, Mr Strable, is very funny. There is a memorable scene between...

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That Lady In Ermine

Betty Grable Sparkles In An Unusual Musical
"That Lady in Ermine" should have been a huge hit but had too many things against it. Betty Grable fought against making it but with the big success of "Mother Wore Tights" studio chief Darryl F.Zanuck pushed her into it hoping to create a different setting for their top box-office star. Grable gave it her all and got along very well with director Ernst Lubitsch who thought she had great beauty and comedy timing. Shortly into production Mr. Lubitsch died leaving Betty confused and insecure. Her leading man couldn't sing or dance and director Otto Preminger (a difficult, demanding man) took over.
Betty looks great and delivers her usual professional performance. Originally eight songs were written but cut to four. The songs are fun (particularly "Oooo What I'll Do" while the ballad "This Is the Moment" earned an Oscar nomination). But without the other four the film is too talky. It needs more music and only comes to life when Betty sings and dances. Her costumes are...

THAT GORGEOUS GRABLE IN ERMINE
There's two Betty Grables in this delightful musical fantasy, and she may never have looked lovelier. Producer/director Ernst Lubitsch intended her role to be a spoof in a royal seting of the typical Betty Grable movie heroine. History repeats itself when a ruling countess saves her kingdom from an invading army with a happier ending the second time around.

Classic Lubitsch title
It took me a couple of viewing before I really enjoyed this musical. Very offbeat for Grable and the film flopped at the box office. The film has some beautiful songs. Was surprised at FOX's MOD release. The colors looked quite good and no complaints about the audio. Now if only FOX would release THE SHOCKING MISS PILGRIM, which also stars Grable.

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A New Kind Of Love

Fun in Paris!
This glossy and sophisticated romp with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward is delicious fluff. From the opening title song by Sinatra and the early voice-over of Newman comparing a group of bargain hunting women to a herd of cattle, we know this one is going to be fun indeed. Made in 1963 when both were at their finest, the chemistry between the two leads carries this film to make it the most entertaining piece of nonsense you're likely to ever see.

Samantha Blake (Woodward) buys, or steals, all the latest fashions from around the world for her department store. Her boss Joe Bergner (George Tobias) gets it into his head to go to Paris and 'steal' the hottest new fashions and off goes Samantha and Leena (Thelma Ritter) to the City of Lights.

Steve Sherman (Paul Newman) is a columnist who gets caught playing with the wife of his boss and promptly gets sent far away to Paris until said boss can figure out a way to break his contract and fire him. He meets pal Harry...

This One Grows on You
Yes, this is fluff, but the stars, production values, and comedy are so good in this classic romance of two people who hate each other finally falling in love, that it goes over beautifully. The first time I saw the film I was puzzled by its wonderful stars being in such nonsense, but repeated viewings have made this one of my favorites; a real "comfort-film." The production values are not nonsense. Written and directed by Melville Shavelson, who apparently cut his teeth on Samuel Goldwyn productions starring Bob Hope and Danny Kaye, the comedy is superb. Sharp digs are everywhere--commercials, journalism, the fashion industry, testeronic males, and politics (both international and sexual). Visual comedy is great too, such as the split-screen mutual parody of the strip-tease and the fashion runway. Joanne Woodward's being processed by the fashion industry is a hoot. Thelma Ritter--need I say more?--has her razor-sharp timing and delivery intact. Plus: the title song sung by Frank...

Delicious
Only 2 gripes. If you haven't heard the title song before (I have), you still won't have heard it when the movie is over. Except the 1st 8 bars sung by Chevalier in the middle of the flick. 2nd gripe. These idiots (including the Amazon staff reviewer) who think the way to review a movie is to tell you the whole damned story, thus ruining the show. Puke! When I saw this flick on Amazon I snapped it up. I saw it when it came out and remembered only 2 things. That I loved it (particularly Woodward), and that for some reason Paul Newman is pouring her a snifter of brandy and tells her to say "when" which she does when her glass is brimful. The director/screenwriter was brilliant. The star-studded cast outdid itself. Every one of them. The jokes were at times laugh out loud funny. The special effects were perfect. The whole thing (as you now know if you've read the other reviews!) was clever and original. I loved the hell out of it. This one I'm keeping!

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Casanova's Big Night

"Farfel, farfel, pipick"
A Hope comedy classic, ranking right up there with "Ghost Breakers". Bob's performance as Pipo Poppolino, "a miserable tailor's miserable apprentice", is almost flawless, and the supporting cast (Vicent Price as Casanova, the great Basil Rathbone as Luccio, Joan Fountain as the Widow Bruni, Hugh Marlow as the brother of the bride, Arnold Moss as the evil Doge of Venice, and brief appearances by Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine and Raymond Burr), is excellent. Hope is at his bumbling, cowardly best as the commoner impersonating Casanova, until he finds the courage to overcome the Doge and turn the tables on the devious Luccio. The sword fight scene and the finale (with Hope in hilarious drag) are side-splitters.

Classic Bob Hope Comedy romp
In this Bob Hope comedy classic, he portrays a lowly tailors aprentice who gets a chance to impersonate the worlds greatest lover, Casanova. Hope plays Peepo, who toils away in his masters tailor shop and dreams of romance with the lovely grocery lady across the street played by Joan Fontaine. When the real Casanova skips town in order to escape his creditors, Peepo is pressed into service by Fontaine and the others to pretend to be the famous swordsman and lover when a Countess offers $10,000 ducets to test the fidelity of her future daughter in law. Peepo throws himself into the role and is soon entering Venice in grand style singing the song "Tic a Tic A tic a" and enthralling every woman within earshot, (including one who dives fully clothed into the canal to swim out to his gondola), everyone thinking that he is indeed the famous Casanova. However Peepo soon discovers the downside of being a notorious lover as several outraged husbands, brothers, and boyfreinds come...

Good, pre-"Chrysler Theater" Bob Hope!
This was a movie Bob did while he was still hungry, using his reliable wise-cracking coward character as Pipo Popolino, a tailor's assistant in 18th century Venice. Enamored of a baker played by Joan Fontaine, Pipo masquerades as the legendary Casanova to steal a kiss, when it turns out that Casanova is being pursued by creditors and has skipped Venice completely to escape them. To appease the creditors, everybody Casanova owes money to, Fontaine included, force Pipo to continue his masquerade as the storied rake to get enough money to pay the creditors through marriage. What follows is a crazy quilt of dumb luck and one liners as Pipo actually manages to win a few sword fights and woo a duchess in the bargain.

This is primo, late-period Bob Hope, with an uncredited Vincent Price playing Casanova, Basil Rathbone playing his relunctant valet, Arnold Moss doing his usual Mephistophelian thing as the Doge of Venice amd Audrey Dalton looking just like Linda Darnell in her part...

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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Moronic, or Misunderstood?
With the new release of the Special Collector's Edition of Star Trek V on DVD, I thought it would be a good time to review the picture.

What can I say? ST:5 is weak on many levels.

First, the ship's crew is way too small, less than a skeleton crew (they had like, what, five trainees besides the Classic cast?). Second, the ship is far more buggy than it should be. It's not as if General Dynamics builds these things, after all, it's suppossed to be a starship! A few bugs, sure, but to be in as bad a shape as the new ship is strains credibility.

Then there's the whole "barrier" thing. As any Trek fan worth his toy tricorder knows, the "barrier" is not at the center of the galaxy, but at the edge. It's also supposed to be pink, not Indiglo blue. Of course, they simply should have called this new "barrier" something else, but be that as it may, this kind of slip highlights a certain basic sloppiness in the production. Also, the ship gets there way too quickly, and the skeleton crew...

Cap'tin!, I canna take much more!
So much potential, wasted.

This could've been a really good film if only. If only they'd thrown out everything, or at least almost everything. Here's a few of things that will take away from your enjoyment of Star Trek 5, LAMBADA, I mean "The Final Frontier"

The special effects are sub par. There's a few shots of the Enterprise near the beginning that aren't bad, particularly the beauty shot of the ship and the moon, nice touch. But unfortunately, it's one of the few actual shots of the Enterprise you will see in ST5. Here's a hint for the producers of Trek. Fans like the ship, we like to see the ship, please include exterior shots of the ship in your films whenever possible. Other effects include the horrible "planet" beyond the "great effects barrier" that looks more like a visual depiction of Vicks Vapor-action than a planet. Really all the effects seem quite crude in comparison to other trek films; maybe they blew the budget getting Shatner to...

Better Than Its Reputation
Kirk v. God, and Kirk wins? An egotistical set up for a movie, but Trek V is better than it's reputation. The film has several positive attributes which are often overlooked:

1) A strong emphasis on character development, particularly with Spock, Kirk and McCoy. The campfire scenes are classic, and there are few moments in the film series which match the drama of McCoy confronting his "inner pain."

2) Final Frontier was the closest in spirit to the original series. The plot and (unfortunately) the special effects are reminiscent of such classic Trek episodes as "Who Mourns For Adonis."

3) Sybok, the "passoinate Vulcan" and half-brother of Spock, is an intriguing antagonist for the main characters.

4) Jerry Goldsmith delivered what I feel is his best Trek score for this installment.

What's keeping this movie from being one of the best in the Trek cannon?

1) The worst special effects put on film since the invention of the...

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The Last Tycoon

Deniro and superb cast anchor The Last Tycoon
"The Last Tycoon" is a thinly veiled retelling of the life of movie mogul Irving Thalberg. Thalberg made an amazing slew of motion pictures during his short rein as a producer and studio head in the 30's. DeNiro's Monroe Stahr is a mysterious, haunted individual who literally lives only for the movies he's making. It seems his fascinating with the screen makes him unable to communicate with the living all around him.

Writer Harold Pinter's dialog rhythms only enhances the impression that Stahr is in this world but not of it. Ultimately Stahr's intense devotion to appearance dove tails nicely with the themes examined in the book. Pinter fleshes out Fitzgerald's unfinished novel nicely although the film has an unfinished quality as well.

As directed by Hollywood and Broadway veteran Elia Kazan (On The Waterfront, East of Eden, A Streecar Named Desire), The Last Tycoon isn't an easy film to like; many of the characters seem vapid and self serving. In the character...

Many good pieces but not for everyone
The Last Tycoon is one of the last vestiges of old Hollywood merging with new Hollywood. Adapted from the unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is an effective tribute to a time when the movie industry was in its infancy. As a fan of the original book I can't decide whether my familiarity with it made me more inclined to like the film or not. I've decided that it did, but I can see where other Fitzgerald fans would think otherwise.

Robert DeNiro stars as Monroe Stahr, a thinly veiled depiction of film pioneer Irving Thalberg, who is burdened by his overwhelming position as a studio production head, by the loss of his movie star wife, and by his weak heart. While DeNiro's portrayal is the centerpiece of the film, there are several other elements involved which lend an extra aura of prestige. Directed by Elia Kazan, the film is technically competent, but, as it is based on a work which its original author left incomplete, the ending is a bit forced and contrived. You can tell...

An Enigmatic and Reclusive Cinema Giant
Monroe Stahr is a high-powered Hollywood executive seen as a creative genius by his studio peers. What makes him so different from so many executive screen depictions is that he is not the boisterously expansive "eat on the run" giant one so frequently sees, but is more of an otherwise faceless bureaucrat who says little and acts only when it is necessary.

"The Last Tycoon" was director Elia Kazan's last film. The 1976 drama was adapted from the final work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald's friend John O'Hara and others of the literary cognoscenti believed it would be his enduring work, but alas, before he could complete it he succumbed to a fatal heart attack in his apartment at the Laurel Arms in Hollywood, located next door to the Garden of Allah, the author's favorite Southern California residence, but one that was beyond his means at that point of a problem plagued career.

The difficulty with a work of this kind that ends before the creator had an...

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The Very Thought Of You

A true gem not to be missed
Maybe I'm just a sappy romantic, but to be honest, I loved this movie. Oh sure, it has most of the usual cliches, but the point is you don't mind them. You love them. You also love all the characters. Monica Potter is wonderful and proves she can do more than stand next to Robin Williams and Nic Cage and look pretty. Oh she looks beautiful here, but she is also charming, witty, and lovable. The three guys are funny and well acted. The shrink is terrific. This might be a chick flick, but I'm one guy who loved this movie. Don't waste your time with a big studio comedy, go rent this tonight.

Like a thunderbolt
Rented on a whim and with nary an expectation, The Very Thought of You proves surprisingly entertaining. The leads, Joseph Fiennes and Monica Potter, are, of course, sufficiently overly-qualified in the areas of talent and beauty as to make one wonder how they were lured into this quirky, unambitious, yet endearing love story -- all the better for us the viewing audience! The cross-cutting story line is cleverly played out between the various persona inamorata and the past and present tenses. I would agree that character development is not all it _could_ be, but this is more a backhanded compliment than a true criticism: I was sad when the time was up and happily could have sat through 30 or 40 more minutes. Those who would turn their noses at the admittedly implausible premise of love at first sight (amid the busyness of Gatwick Airport?) perhaps have forgotten the adrenaline rush acting upon an instant attraction can produce. I, for one, have never had the courage...

great romantic comedy
When I rented The Very Thought of You at my local video store I wasn't expecting much, but what I found was a charming,funny,and romantic movie. Monica Potter and Joseph Feinnes, who play the leads in the movie, are both talented young actors who should be watched. the supporting cast, which includes Rufus Sewel is excellent as well, I also enjoyed how they presented the story so as to cause the watcher to be somewhat surprised at parts. All and all The Very Thought Of You is a movie that I consider a must rent, if not a must buy.

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Star Trek X: Nemesis

More Special Features For This Final Collectors Edition
It was just a couple of years ago that Star Trek Nemesis, featuring the final journey of the next generation crew was released on DVD. Featuring the music of the late veteran composer Jerry Goldsmith, it tells the story of how the Enterprise-E, led by Captain Picard is invited by the Romulans to commence final peace negotiations. Unfortunately it is all a ploy by a younger clone of Captain Picard to not only cripple the Federation but exterminate Earth altogether using their new weapon. The weapon is stored aboard Shinzon's ultra-predator-battleship that carries enough photon torpedoes to take out entire fleets of starships, and a perfect cloaking device making it possible to fire in perfect invisibility- unlike the klingon ship from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country that had a flaw. Complicating circumstances is the discovery of a prototype android of the Enterprise's Lt Commander Data.

There is definitely a sense of goodbye with this film, and although Star Trek...

STAR TREK NEMESIS is the best TNG film to date, by far.
As for NEMESIS, I am going out on a limb here and going to state that even though the film is highly derivative from previous Trek films, it is by far the most rousing, kinetic and engrossing of all the TNG movies to date (hand to hand combat, phaser firing in corridors, space battles). It is miles ahead of FIRST CONTACT.

From the opening of film, with the reversed "Star Trek" title on the screen to the climactic 4 ship battle, this film delivered the goods. It is the most action-packed of all the Trek films, including the TOS films and the special effects, mostly, are quite impressive. For once, the film LOOKS like it was made for the big screen, although more use of exterior, non-ship locales would have added another dimension.

The film listed at 116 minutes, the film moved quite briskly, and I had a great time watching it, relishing every minute, every snippet of dialogue, every bit of throwaway humor (which thankfully this time, is not forced). I was sorry to see it end...

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" goes out with a whimper
The plot of "Star Trek: Nemesis" comes down to three situations. First, and most importantly, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) discovers that he not only has a clone (Tom Hardy) who was created by the Romulans by raised by the Remuseans, but that the enterprising Shinzon has become Praetor of the Romulan Empire, which has a weapon that can destroy all life on Earth. Second, in an obvious parallel, Data (Brent Spiner) discovers yet another of Dr. Soong's prototype androids, named B-4 (also Spiner). Third, and finally in more ways than one, Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) are finally getting married. This 10th Star Trek film, and four in the STNG part of the series, has its moments but is ultimately less than satisfying.

Part of the problem is that even before the film's climatic death scene we are already aware that we have another Star Trek death that is not really death scene. Yes, this is certainly more plausible than the first one in "Star...

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The Gambler

A sure thing
A neglected and underrated masterpiece, presenting one of the most convincing and thorough psychological studies in all cinema. James Caan, in what may well be his best-ever performance, portrays a compulsive gambler with an unusually acute awareness of his own motivations. The 'back story', from which we learn how his family background helps feed his obsession, is subtly and convincingly portrayed. The whole is a tragedy, laced with grim humor.

The score uses Mahler's music to great effect, the direction is tight and closely focused throughout and the final scene can only be described as perfection.

On the edge
One of the most uncompromising American dramas of the 70s, this takes a penetrating look at the addictive mindset of the gambler as no film did before that and none since as well. The writing by James Toback is superb and the direction by Karel Reisz is just as good. James Caan, in one of his best roles, plays a professor of literature--an ivory tower guy who drives himself right to the edge. The story implies that the possible reason for this is his patrician upbringing; his mother's a successful and respected physician and his uncle, an extremely successful businessman. And Axel Freed--Caan's character--needs much more than all the myriad assumptions that a blue-blooded background provides.

Even his girlfriend, Mickey (broadly played by Lauren Hutton), is upscale. Caan deftly and convincingly portrays someone who takes advantage of his class and its privileges and at the same time obsessively needs the "juice" of danger. The ending is a strong finish to a great...

An excellent look at a compulsive gambler
The so called film experts that pan this movie just dont understand the life of a gambler. This movie is an excellent study of a compulsive gambler and his road to self destruction. James Caan is outstanding as the tragic Axel Freed and the supporting cast is even better. The emotional roller coaster ride of a compulsive degenerate gambler is shown from the ultimate high of winning to the rock bottom low of losing and is portrayed superbly by Caan with a stellar performance.
This movie was extremely well written,directed and acted and is flawless in its presentation from beginning to the end. The climatic ending where Axel takes the ultimate gamble risking his life is brilliant. There has never been a more realistic look at a lost soul gambler and the effect it has on friends and family. This is a rare gem of a movie that was way ahead of its time. A must see for anyone that appreciates a true to life gritty story, great performances and not some Hollywood big budget nonsense...

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Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Theatrical)

This is Actually the third version of Star Trek VI.
Let me explain

-Spoiler Warning-

The first version of the film was shown in theaters.

The second version was shown on all home video formats. This version includes a couple of additional footage to certain key scenes, and a few new scenes all together.
- Spock has more Dialogue in the top brass meeting.
- A scene taking place in the President's office where Col. West presents his plan to sneak into Klingon territory and rescue Kirk and McCoy.
- Spock and Scotty checking the torpedo inventory before Valeris informs them that the Chancellor's Daughter is now the current klingon chancellor.
- The klingon assassin at the climax of the film turns out to be Col. West.

The Third version of the film is shown on this Special Collector's Edition DVD. This version includes all the material from the second version, and a few minor changes to certain scenes and effects.
- When Martia gets shot, a disruption sound effect is removed to make her scream more...

A great sendoff!
Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country, no better way to finish the movies with all of The Original Series characters. In my opinion, this was the best of their movies. The writers and producers really did a wonderful job with this one. It was great to see Sulu become Captain Sulu and get his own ship. Which later helped Voyager do an anniversary episode with Lt. Cmdr Tuvok having been a member of his crew. Kim Cattral as a Vulcan. Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf), playing his grandfather. Rene Auberjunous (Odo) as Col West, a couple years before Deep Space Nine. Many other notable Star Trek names making appearances in this great movie. Everything was great about this movie, from the state dinner with the Romulan ale, to the search of the Enterprise for the assassins. The space battle was one of the best treks ever put on screen. If you're one of the ten or less people on the planet who've not seen this, buy it, rent it or borrow it. This is the finest example of what Gene...

Star Trek gives Kirk, crew, a fitting sign-off.....
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, released in 1991 a few months after the Silver Anniversary of the original television series and the death of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, is a suspenseful and adventure-packed "final voyage" for Capt. James T. Kirk and the Starship Enterprise.

Coming on the heels of the less-than-stellar Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and the resignation of Harve Bennett as producer of the feature films, Paramount turned to actor/producer Leonard Nimoy and director/screenwriter Nicholas Meyer (Time After Time, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) to save the foundering franchise and give fans something worthy of a 25th-anniversary celebration. After looking at various options, they decided on a Star Trek version of the end of the Cold War.

The Undiscovered Country (the title is a Shakespearean reference to death and was Meyer's first choice for the title of Star Trek II) capitalizes on the similarities of the U.S.-Soviet standoff to the long-standing...

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Dear God

Warm Fuzzy Film, Some Funny Moments, Otherwise Forgettable
Greg Kinnear plays a small-time scam artist that is arrested and sentenced to find gainful employment for a year. He ends up in the DLO (Dead Letter Office) of Los Angeles' post office, working with a colorful collection of characters headed up by his supervisor (Hector Elizondo) and a former postal carrier (Tim Conway).

Kinnear decides to open one of the DLO letters addressed to God, and ends up answering it by mistake. Soon, his colleagues want in on the action and decide that they, too, want to start answering some of the letters written to God. Warm fuzzies ensue.

However, before too long, news media and the Post Office take notice. One of the DLO employees is arrested and Kinnear is left with a decision to make - let the other guy take the fall or own up to his part in it all.

A humorous courtroom scene follows along with a happy ending.

This isn't a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is enjoyable and worth a few laughs. Each off-the-wall character acts...

Cute, uplifting movie
I remember seeing this in the theatre and I really think this is a fun movie to watch. Greg Kinnear is fun, the rest of the characters are great to watch, and even though the story is a little weak at times, it still makes you laugh. It also shows that when people band together, there's a lot they can accomplish.

This movie is hilarious!
I absolutely loved this movie. The acting is wonderful, the laughs are many, and it moves quickly. It's a beautiful story that will leave your heart smiling.

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Mother

It's the little things...
This is absolutely my favorite movie of the 1990's. In my opinion, there are few things as precious as a good, smart comedy, and this is one of the best. I first saw this movie in the theater with my mom, and I laughed so hard I missed huge chunks of it, so of course I had to rent it and watch it again and again. It never gets old. Reynolds really hits her mark with her subtle glances, sighs, and sub-breath comments. While some people may be annoyed by what they see as "bickering" in this movie, I find hilarious, because it's the little things that make us laugh. It's the shared experiences that you don't realize are so funny until they're up on the screen in front of you. Jerry Seinfeld and George Carlin are two comedians who have made careers pointing out those little things in life that are funnier than you first realize. Albert Brooks does that same thing in this movie. The movie has a bit of a slow start, but once it's going you'll be rolling on the...

Mother and Child Reunion
You would think any movie entitled MOTHER would either have to be the ultimate schmaltzfest or the penultimate psychodrama. Surprise! Albert Brooks film is neither. In fact, Brooks' specialty seems to be taking potentially weighty themes and making smart, but still lighter-than-air films on them. What DEFENDING YOUR LIFE did for the afterlife, MOTHER does for family relations. And that's a good thing.

Brooks has a deft, understated comic flair. You chuckle more often than you laugh out loud. Contrary to what others have posted below, Debbie Reynolds "Mother" character is not a black and white character at all. She's as conflicted and complicated--and as it turns out, just as smart--as her neurotic son(s). That's the beauty part. Brooks allows all his characters their humanity. He doesn't oversimplify things (frustrated son vs. castrating mother). Mother had her own issues--dating back to her own childhood and adolescence. Brooks' writer character John finally makes that...

Universal Problems
When you first watch this movie, you aren't quite sure what you are going to get. As it slowly reveals itself you find it as funny as it is discomforting.

I think Albert Brooks did a wonderful job with this film. Portraying all the odd little things that happen in our relationships with our respective mothers. We all have those moments where we look at her and can't believe that we were spawned from her loins. The ways that at any age, she can reduce us to about 9 years old and completely humiliate and embarrass the hell out us at a moments notice.

Debbie Reynolds is magnificent as the mother, she has that maniacal sense of motherly perfection that all of our mother's, at the very least, attempt to portray.

Rob Morrow is also hilarious as the jealous younger brother. Every scene between him and Brooks is a laugh riot, because they both seem to regress to their younger days when they would fight over toys and the remote control.

All in all, I think this film is something...

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The Great Gatsby (1974)

Because the Twenties WERE Shallow
I get the impression that the people giving this movie poor reviews are a mix of 1) intellectual snobs (or would-be) who think it compulsory to pan any screen attempt to tackle great literature or 2) hooligans who can't appreciate a movie unless it's got blood, guts, and vulgarity (in short, like most movies made today). I loved Fitzgerald's book, and I loved this film, and here's why:

It is not only an effective, emotionally gripping rendition of the book (made plain by the very dislike so many people express for its intentionally dislikable characters), but it is a visually stunning one, capturing all the hollow gold of the glitzy era the book so devastatingly indicts, and the performances by nearly all the players are superb (with special kudos to Sam Waterston for the very personification of Nick the narrator). For all those who say the movie is lacking depth or who criticize Mia Farrow's rendering of Daisy as flighty, your very criticism reveals the film's great...

Nelson Riddle score makes the difference
Earlier in the year, I offered a review of the video tape edition of this film. The version contained elevator-type music, as the original Nelson Riddle soundtrack was missing. Riddle could not agree on terms price for the original score with the movie studio. Riddle's estate evidentally has done so so the original score has been restored to the film.

Many reviewers asked that the original score be considered for any re-release. Well, on the 30th anniversary of the film, here it is.."The Great Gatsby" with the original soundtrack. Thank you!
Fitzgerald would have been pleased with the adaptation and the accompanying soundtrack. It is obvious how much of a difference the music makes in contributing to the overall experience.
The DVD is not to be viewed in a context of pure entertainment. It is a relevant story about the desire to possess what one does not have, regardless of the cost. The script is taken directly from the key points in the text. The...

Not Great But Sometimes Magical
This movie is both great and awful depending entirely upon one's need for accuracy or how deeply you may have felt about the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay for this film and followed the classic book about as closely as a film is capable of doing. But I found the direction to be flawed somehow. The film is filled with starlit close-ups (no one's eyes sparkle like that, not even Daisy's) and smoke screen silhouettes, complex party scenes and plenty of flapper costumes. I just couldn't figure out why all of the strange lighting existed after hiring two nearly perfect looking actors, in Mia Farrow and Robert Redford. I would have preferred to see the stars in Daisy's eyes stem from a great acting performance rather than the eerie sparkles falsely placed in every close-up!

Robert Redford was good as Gatsby and he conveyed some of the character's desperate and lonely love. I was disappointed that all of the complexity of Gatsby...

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Last Of The Red Hot Lovers

Very funny film
I'm not going to summarize the film because others already have. But I do want to rescue Last of the Red Hot Lovers (LRHL) from previous comment about this being a tepid, so-so movie. My wife and I have watched this movie on VHS off and on for years and it never fails to get us rolling. I love Neil Simon and this is one my favorite movies of his plays. Neil Simon is wonderful at drawing out the rediculous in common, real-life experiences, and the New York City sacastic Jewish humor is priceless.

Who can forget Barney Cashman's mid-life crisis prayers: "....I look today older than yesterday. A few years and it'll all be over. Please God, don't let it be over. Let something terrific happen today. Anything, just as long as it's something, Amen!" Or when cynical, sated, chains-smoking Elaine Navazio (Sally Kellerman) arrives in Cashman's mother's squeeky-clean, paper-thin walls, nothing-can-appear-out-of-place-when-we're-done apartment for a secret liason with Barney. Elaine:...

Awful movie... but one I had to own. Let me tell you why...
Some 40-plus years ago, my mother received a phone call from her mother (i.e. my grandmother) with some startling news -- she'd been cast as an "extra" in a "major motion picture" that was being filmed right in her neighborhood - in fact, in her apartment building! I never saw my mother laugh so hard as she did when Grandma told her that the name of the film was to be "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers."

The story ostensibly takes place in New York City, but for some reason (labor-related I think), some of it was actually filmed in Philadelphia. In particular, the apartment building scenes, where (in the story) Barney (Alan Arkin) takes a succession of bizarre "dates" for trysts that inevitably go awry. The apartment building is in fact 1810 Rittenhouse Square, and the apartment (Barney's mother's apartment) is identical in layout to my late grandmother's.

When the third and final date ("Jeanette") panics and runs out of the building, pursued by Arkin, they pass my...

Remember Fun??
Before we had to deal with all the bad stuff in our lives, all the stuff that seems to have seeped into the modern world, we used to watch simple funny love stories like this one.

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Team America World Police

You won't be "so ronery"
Trey Parker and Matt Stone have a unique ability to blend the nuanced with the obvious, to mix cerebral humor with cheap sight gags and fart jokes. If this appeals to you (watch an episode of "South Park" if you are unsure), and you don't mind having your sacred cows slaughtered and made into taco fillings, this film is a must-see --for repeated viewings.

Mad dictator Kim Jong Il plans to subvert Hollywood and become the megaproliferant of the stars. Who can stop him? Only Team America, a gang of ultra-right wing marionettes who think Rush Limbaugh is suspiciously liberal. But don't fret, conservatives: Hollywood pinkos and Michael Moore take a beating, too. Nothing is sacred to Parker and Stone.

Puppets were a mad choice for a medium, but they are done hysterically. I don't know what had me laughing more, the whiskey glass soldered to the team leader's hand, or the thought of the splinters and friction fire from marionette sex!

The sound track...

screamingly funny
[...]

After I had dried my eyes from the tears of laughter; after the 'theme song' with its catchy headline ("America, f... yeah, got to save the m.....f...... world") had finally stopped bouncing around in my head; after I managed to stop chuckling quietly, or not-so-quietly, occasioning my wife and daughters to look at me oddly and shaking their heads; after sleeping over it for a night...I finally asked myself whether it was really necessary to be quite as vulgar to get a point across: whatever that point may have been.

The answer, I decided, was 'yes', for, in its contrast with the piss-takes on the universe of Hollyweird movies and the merciless and welcome satire on the theme of actors-and-other-insignificants-turned activists, it makes a serious statement, more profound than any learned discussion is ever likely to produce (or me, writing this!). Tray Parker made it explicit it in an interview with 60 Minutes: "Society is our only hope".

Indeed...

Without doubt, one of the most hysterical parodies ever!
"Without doubt, one of the most hysterical parodies ever!"

Given the current world political climate, Trey Parker and Matt Stone hit the ball right out of the park with this film. I haven't laughed so hard so frequently in a theater in years! This was simply amazing.

The sheer goofy look and movement of the deliberately low-tech puppet bodies, combined with their high-tech heads and incredibly elaborate sets, makes for some truly classic moments. When the World Police thoughtfully swoop down to take out a handful of terrorist, while simultaneously destroying much of the surrounding city in the process, you can't help but laugh at the irony. Can you say "collateral damage"?

And the overly extended scene of the two lead puppets engaging in the obligatory sex scene had me laughing so uncontrollably that I thought they'd have to take me out of the theater on a stretcher. Oh my Lord was that funny. It was one of those rare movie moment that had me...

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Marathon Man

They sure don't make them like this anymore
I'll spare you a long talk about the movie, except that it's one of the best thrillers ever made. Enough said. Now for this new DVD. Finally we get this classic in widescreen, that alone should please many fans. (-The opening credit scene has a different letterboxing than the rest of the movie, for some reason.) The extras will make you drool !. A new documentary with most of the people involved with the movie, except Olivier, of course. Sadly, neither William Devane, Fritz Weaver, Richard Bright or the director take part. Still, it's great to hear the stories surrounding this excellent suspense movie, like why it was decided to give Olivier's character that last infamous meal !. -But it makes sense, considering what Hoffman's character went through. At one point when talking about Olivier, Hoffman is almost in tears. Touching. Strangely enough, I found the full-screen clips shown during the documentary to be sharper than the movie itself presented on this DVD. Stll, you must get this...

Is It Safe?
One of the great suspense dramas of the 1970s, MARATHON MAN is a somewhat violent buy often stylish and sinister intrigue thriller that remains a high watermark of its genre.

Dustin Hoffman portrays the Columbia University graduate student and marathon runner who becomes caught up in a deadly game involving smuggled diamonds belonging to a Nazi fugitive (Laurence Olivier). Hoffman's brother (Roy Scheider) was one of the couriers helping to transport the diamonds, which are now in a safety deposit box in a Manhattan bank; and when Olivier kills Scheider, it is assumed by Olivier and his henchmen that Hoffman knows something about them. He is strapped to a dental chair in an abandoned warehouse, forced to undergo dental torture at the hands of the Nazi, who had been a dentist. Olivier keeps asking him numerous time, "Is It Safe?" (regarding the diamond stash). Hoffman doesn't know a thing, but this doesn't stop Olivier from performing a root canal--one of the most...

The Race is Not Always to the Swift
Tom (Dustin Hoffman) studies history, partly because theories of history are so clear cut and comforting, unlike life, and partly because years earlier, his father committed suicide after having been branded a communist. As he matures, he learns that books and a love of history cannot prepare him for the real world. In MARATHON MAN, Tom learns that the real world is far more dangerous than the relatively minor razzing that a local street gang subjects him to. He learns that the people who are the closest to him are not what they appear to be. His brother Doc (Roy Scheider) is a businessman with a secret life as a CIA agent. His girlfiend Elsa (Marthe Keller) is mixed up with an escaped Nazi dentist, ex-Auschwitz Commandant Szell (Sir Lawrence Olivier). The movie starts off slowly with Tom first believing in then later finding out the truth about Doc and Elsa. He learns that all three have been looking for a hidden cache of diamonds stolen from Jews during the Holocaust...

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April Fool's Day

Wish there were extras...
"April Fool's Day" is yet another one of those holiday themed slasher films that emerged in the wake of the "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" successes. You know all about them if you follow the genre in any substantive way--movies with names like "Mother's Day," "Graduation Day," "My Bloody Valentine," and "Silent Night, Deadly Night." O.K., the last two don't specifically refer to dates, but it doesn't take a genius to infer that the two films play on Valentine's Day and Christmas. The slasher genre never died out thanks in large part to the billion plus sequels in the "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" franchises, but their poorer cousins did fade into obscurity until DVD resurrected them. All I can say about that is thank goodness! I'm the first to admit that some of these films fail to rise above mediocrity, but several of them are quite good. "April Fool's Day" definitely falls...

Childish pranks turn into a bloody battle for survival!
Finding an inexpensive copy of this DVD in the Amazon Market Place, I figured 'What the heck?' and picked it up. The movie begins with a familiar theme, a group of college kids on their way to an isolated location (queue foreboding music). Apparently this group was assembled by a common friend to spend the weekend at spacious house on an island whose only access is by ferry, which only runs during the week, so they are basically stuck there until Monday. Through the use of a video camera, we are introduced to the various guests and they seem like your typical group for an 80's horror movie.

After an eventful trip on the Ferry of Death, they arrive on the Island of Death, and are greeted by their Hostess of Death (sorry, I'll cut it out), Muffy St. John, played by Deborah Foreman, probably most recognizable as Julie from the 1983 movie Valley Girl. Muffy leads them to the secluded house, which is more like a mansion, and we find out that this house will be part of her inheritance...

What do you expect?
When the trailers first came out for April Fools Day, they were accompanied by the song "Momma Told Me Not To Come" by Three Dog Night. I wasn't sure if it was a slasher movie, a comedy, a comedy-slasher movie, or even a frat-party movie. All I knew for sure was that Deborah Foreman (Valley Girl)was in it and in the mid-80's I thought she was so hot you could have cast her in a high school driving safety video and I would have paid admission.

Foreman plays Muffy, a rich college kid who invites a bunch of friends to a secluded island owned by her family for a weekend (an April Fools weekend) of fun and pranks. The island is only reachable by ferry and this is the last ferry until monday. An accident happens and the kids are shaken.

Here is where the mind games start. Not many of the young people know each other. All are supposedly friends of Muffy, but most of them don't know each other directly. April fools pranks are played non-stop. Dribble glasses,...

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Reds

A personal epic
Warren Beatty pulls off a difficult task in "Reds." He's got to juggle several epic stories, including the rise of the American left in the early 20th century, the Russian Revolution, and a personal story of two romantics in a relationship charged by passion both emotional and political.

Any of these story threads presents a difficult task for a filmmaker and Beatty weaves his multilayered tale together with skill. He pays close attention to detail, gives us a multitude of historical characters and events, and mixes his story telling with the words of real people. Beatty buttresses his scenes with deceptively simple "talking heads." These "witnesses" provide a real background to the John Reed/Louise Bryant story of "Reds," giving viewers a good grounding in the passions of the era. The attention to little details (Reed bringing Bryant lilies, the constant phrase "There's a taxi waiting," etc.) provide a rich portrait of two volatile human beings.

Beyond the personal, Beatty...

Absorbing & Provocative Depiction Of Russian Revolution
For those of us who appreciate movies that both entertain and educate, Warren Beatty's vastly underrated magnum opus "Reds" is a wonderful example of how well the two can be combined. Although it did not succeed at the box office, this magnificent spectacle concerning the involvement of an American socialist reporter in the Bolshevik revolution is a terrific movie, and also features Warren Beatty in the pivotal role of John Reed, an American journalist covering Soviet affairs for a progressive American socialist journal called "The Masses" who found his way into a series of important roles in the Soviet revolution and the regime that followed. Also found here is a especially memorable performance by Diane Keaton as the companion, love interest and protégé of Reed's who also served in a variety of roles in the new communist regime shortly after the revolution.

This movie is largely based on Reed's moving autobiographical portrait of his personal experiences during the...

A conservative confesses to loving this movie
Some films have a reputation for being overpraised, and as a result - paradoxically - they become underrated. This is one such film. Who cares that we now know communism failed in Russia? REDS is not meant to be a piece of Soviet apologism. It is about two people who take part in exciting and sweeping historical events. I certainly disagree with the politics of John Reed and Louise Bryant, but it doesn't matter. I envy the romanticism of the times they lived in (even if the romanticism isn't authentic), and that they were able to find, as one of the "witnesses" says at the end of the movie, "things worth living and worth dying for." The second half of the movie - where we see the price that must be paid for taking part in history - provides good dramatic balance to the more sentimental view of revolutionary politics we see in the first half. The cinematography is outstanding and the love theme by Stephen Sondheim is exquisite. As it is a film...

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The Thing Called Love

A must-have and must-see
If I had to choose ONE movie to show and teach students the secrets of great actors-directing, it would be this one. The destiny of Peter Bogdanovich is amazing: celebrated as one of the world's best directors in the early 70s, he fell into disgrace because of private problems in the 80s, and rarely got a chance to direct anymore except for TV. Somehow it reminds me of the destiny of Wim Wenders, also celebrated as the new big thing in the 70s, and much disregarded today.

Both judgements were excessive. They probably weren't the best directors in the world in the 70s - but surely aren't the worst today.

This movie is a little, much under-rated and overlooked, certainly humble and understated gem. Bogdanovich shows here what it means to direct actors in a way that enhances their performances and brings out deep emotions. This is not a superficial movie. Instead, it is one that bears repeated viewings. And it has much of what life has: truth, emotions, changes. I...

underrated film
This is one of the best films about the music business that I've seen. Good performances, great music, and an above-average script -- I don't understand why this film isn't more well known, and why it hasn't been released on DVD.

The real Thing Called Love
The Thing Called Love is about a real place in Nashville (The Bluebird Cafe) and is very true to life about the experiences of the young songwriters who come here to try to make it. Nashville doesn't have quite this many cowboy hats or this much line dancing, but the heartbreak and the excitement that is the daily life of the up and coming artists is right on. You might want to read more about the real place in "The Bluebird Cafe Scrapbook" which has a chapter about the making of this film. Also, some of the real artists in it have great albums out, including Kevin Welch and Pam Tillis.

I highly recommend this movie for people thinking of moving to Nashville to try to make it.

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The Lovely Bones

Could have been great, but it does carry enough emotional weight
I never read the novel, so that might be the reason I'm not as critical as most when it comes to The Lovely Bones. Peter Jackson as many critics have now said, may not have been the perfect fit for this movie. He is a wonderful visual director, but his vision of the in-between feels out oddly out of place. The CGI is well done and quite beautiful, but it did nothing more than distract me from the characters that I was beginning to care about. Thankfully these sequences were just short enough to not ruin the experience. The acting was pretty solid. Mark Wahlberg is often hit or miss, but he was suprisingly believable here. Susan Sarandon provided some offbeat humor and Rachel Weisz was decent, even though her role was thinly written. The two standouts were Saorise Ronan and Stanley Tucci. I see a big career in the future for this young actress. There is something about her that grabs and holds your attention. Stanley Tucci was creepy to the core, though I find it hard to believe that...

Why is this movie getting such bad reviews?!
I'm a fan of the book this movie is based on, and although Peter Jackson took some liberties with the story, the result was an emotional and visually stunning film. "The Lovely Bones" tells the story of Suzie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), a 14-year-old girl who is murdered by a neighborhood predator (Stanley Tucci). As the Salmon family copes with their tragedy, Susie's spirit hovers in the "in-between" that exists between heaven and Earth. Unable to let go of her previous life, Susie keeps a watchful eye on her family and her murderer, hoping that justice will ultimately be served and that she and her loved ones can finally move on.

I appreciated that the film didn't show Susie's violent murder on screen, which would have been extremely disturbing. The film does a fantastic job of portraying Susie in her in-between world, which is beautiful to watch. I wish Susan Sarandon was given more screen time, because she is hilarious in her role as the drunk grandmother. Tucci gives a...

creative, intriguing but not quite great
The Lovely Bones combines very good acting, suspense, drama and even thriller elements to make a good movie about a young girl who dies--and then has quite a few experiences--after she passes away! The animation was rather well done and the choreography works very well; the cinematography is particularly good as well. The script was also quite good; but I would say that the plot moves along a bit too slow; they could have edited this down by ten or fifteen minutes to make the plot tighter.

When the action starts, we quickly meet 14 year old Susie Salmon, (Saoirse Ronan), who lives with her parents Abigail and Jack (Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg) and her siblings in a small Pennsylvania town in the early 70s. Susie is a happy child; and she has quite a crush on a young guy at her high school, Ray (Reece Ritchie).

However, things don't go well for Susie and her family. Unbeknownst to them there's a neighbor, George Harvey (brilliantly portrayed by Stanley Tucci)...

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