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Reviews
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Powerful
What can I say. This is a powerful movie, one that Hollywood would never have made without the courage of Mel Gibson. Thank you Mel. This is a magnificent and compelling movie. It's one that I will own and view regularly when it arrives on DVD. The drama and the horror of the crucifixion is the message. The reason for the crucifixion is compelling. It gives a message of hope for all of mankind. The fact that the film is in Latin etc with subtitles adds to the reality and the overall power of the film. It is a wonderfully acted film with a host of actors that I've not seen before. Hopefully we will see more of all of them. A fantastic and epic film of the old school Hollywood. Not an expensive film but a grand film non the less.
Thank you Mel
Skokie (1981)
A powerful movie (even though it was made for television)
To me, this was an excellent movie. This was one of my favorite movies of all time. Forget Schindler's list, to me this movie was a much better in certain aspects for emotion. One of the best scenes in this motion picture (one that in the 4 minutes it takes to play invokes more emotion from me as the viewer than all Schindler's list) is where Danny Kaye as Max Feldman answers his daughter's question about what happened to her grandparents. Max and his wife - holocaust survivors, have kept the horrors of the camps from their daughter. She has very little knowledge of what happened and at 13 or 14 she asks questions. Danny Kaye (Max) takes the time (against his wife's wishes) to finally tell his daughter. The strength and power of this single scene rests with the unemotional and matter of fact way that Max explains the nature of the death camp to his daughter. No emotion on the part of Max - - the character is breaking up inside yet is telling his daughter what the Nazis did to his parents in a manner to spare her the emotion. This while his wife is listening from around the corner quietly falling to pieces. You know the deep emotion that he has with the issues when he attends a meeting to discuss the question of Nazi's marching in Skokie with the vehemence and passion he holds on the issue. Yet he holds back this emotion with his daughter. Like I said, this few minutes of the movie is more powerful than the total Schindler's list - in my opinion. The full movie has its flaws, and covers the 1st amendment issues of American Nazi's right to march in detail, covering all sides of the issue. But this is a powerful movie and shows the depth of Danny Kaye's acting talents. A very surprising made for television movie about a very interesting topic. It is well done and very unlike Hollywood today.
The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine (1971)
Great Television - Classic and timeless slapstick comedy
I remember Marty Feldman being on the summer replacement show for "The Dean Martin Show". It was called "The Gold Diggers" and aside from the nice looking women, they always had one sketch by Marty Feldman (this was the 1st time I saw his famous veterinarian "thing in the box" routine - a classic.) I always thought Marty Feldman was probably born about 40 years too late, he had the classic silent movie slapstick look and feel about him. He would have rivaled the best from the 20s and 30s, right up there with Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy etc. To me, he was very reminiscent of Buster Keaton. At any rate, they did put on his show "The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine" for one season and I still remember many of his skits. What I wouldn't give to have the full collection on DVD. I'd pay good money to be able to see those skits again. Unfortunately, none of his movies (with the obvious exception of "Young Frankenstein") were very good - always too much plot that always seemed to get in the way of the raw slapstick comedy - - - a similar problem with all great classic silent comedians. But this one series called "The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine" contains Marty Feldman's best work - without argument it is his best work. Pure, unadulterated, short classic comedy skits that rival the best that Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd and the other famed performers of that era produced. I don't think anyone would argue with that fact. Each one "Comedy Machine" shows contained maybe 4 skits and each skit was an equivalent to a 1 or 2 reeler, and they were clearly classics. It is truly a waste that they are not currently available for all to enjoy today.
The In-Laws (2003)
The reason that remakes should NOT be made
This was a great movie, humorous, well thought out, complex plot that required you to pay attention which kept you guessing until (almost) the ending credits, and, most importantly - it was very funny. Extremely funny. (That's my review of the original movie with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk.)
HOWEVER - this horrible remake is the exact opposite. It's boring, it's slow, it's not funny (well, actually Albert Brooks is funny in this, but, in spite of Brooks, this is a bomb), it has a simple plot, it has lots of special computer generated effects that detract from what little plot and sparse humor there is. This is analogous to comparing the original `Out of Towners' with the remake. The original movie is a classic, the remake is absolutely and without question, a bomb, a dud, a failure, a fiasco - in short, don't waste your time or money (I'll repeat this again later).
I guess the only good thing I can say about this remake of `The In-laws' is that it gave the studio the incentive to finally release the original Arkin/Falk gem on DVD. For that fact alone I am grateful, I suppose, to this remake. But don't waste your money or your time on seeing this remake, spend that money on a copy (DVD) of the original and you'll be forever grateful that you did. If you go to the theater and watch this, and you'll be sorry.
It really pains me to trash a movie with Albert Brooks - I generally love most of the movies that Albert Brooks is in. But in this case, it is very apparent that he had nothing to do with the production other than to star in this.
Hot Rods to Hell (1966)
Great
Pure camp. If you like to laugh at movies this is a great one. I enjoyed watching this much in the same manner that I like to watch Dragnet.
Hot Rods to Hell (1966)
Great
Pure camp. If you like to laugh at movies this is a great one. I enjoyed watching this much in the same manner that I like to watch Dragnet.