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Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe (1985)
Great book, poor movie
This is a fantastic book, but the movie failed to communicate it properly. The sound track was jarring and the story missed many key moments and put new ones in that were not good. The story includes Nancy's sister, but the movie leaves her out. The story includes that Marner had a little sister that died and discusses how Silas remembers this while raising and carrying Epic. The movie leaves this out. The actors are strong, but the directing is weak.
It may be that the book just can't be made into a movie because much of what carries the book is found in narrative that can't be put in dialogue, such as Eliot's discussion of general trends in human behavior and philosophy when she almost turns to directly speaking to the reader in the voice of the omniscient author.
The movie included a scene of a stillbirth of Nancy. The book only refers to it in a narration of what was in the past. The scene is not the sort of thing that Eliot would have written in such livid detail (screaming and bloody tongs).
Read the book, skip the movie.
The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)
Excellently magnifies the theme of A Christmas Carol
The movie makes the underlying theme of the book -- redemption through spiritual enlightenment of even the most inherent personal flaws -- more beautiful and clear by showing that Dickens had similarities to Scrooge. It also reveals that writers often work out their personal struggles through the characters and story lines of their works. Because of this, it makes the viewer relate the theme to the viewer's own life.
I adored this movie. A wonderful Christmas treat that made the classic tale more lovable than ever. Anyone who loved the book should see this movie. It will make them see the book in sharper relief.
Suspicion (1941)
Twisting a story to a surprise ending does not make a good movie
The movie makes it so obvious that Johnny is going to murder that you know there has to be a twist in the end where he is not the murderer. So the "surprise" ending is not a surprise and inconsistent with the obvious plot development set up. The movie is based entirely on building up suspicion and the doing a whiplash inducing flip at the the end. Building up a large and obvious set of suspicions and then doing the flip really doesn't work because when the flip happens, none of the build up makes any sense. Furthermore the buildup was way too obvious. The obviousness was meant to take the flip a surprise, but it filed and made the buildup even worse than if it had been the truth.
Finally, th characters were unlikeable. This is not a great Hitchcock film. It goes in the thumbs down bag with "To catch a Thief." Except at least "To Catch a Thief" had great cinematography. The acting in this movie was uniformly good, but the plot was abysmal.
Hell's House (1932)
If you are a sucker for an old corny movie, you will like it -- I did
While the movie drips with overly sentimental syrup, I found it easy to watch. The torment of the poor innocent boy is way over the top, but that is part of what makes it so watchable. The actors actually are pretty good. Though most of them ham it up, they do not stumble on their lines. I was able to watch it start to finish and just started watching it on a whim when it came up recommended on YouTube. For me it was between a 6 and 7 star movie, but I rounded up for the lost innocence that these old corny flicks represent.
Roman Holiday (1953)
One of the Great Romantic movies of classic Hollywood!
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck shine in this movie. Pure romance. The underlying tension makes it inevitable that the story that would earn Bradley $5000 simply cannot be published because it would betray the pure love he experienced. The tension is secondary to the romance, but still interesting because it would destroy the romance if the photographer decides to release the pictures he took -- but, in the end, honoring the joy of the relationship wins out and even the photographer has to honor it. The moment when the photographer gives her the pictures so she will have mementos of the wonderful day was extremely tender. The bitter part of the bittersweet ending has nothing to do with the trivial loss of the newspaper story and the $5000, but the fact that they will never be together again. But the sweetness of the grand memory that can never be reproduced makes the perfection of the day stay completely intact. So the sweet swallows the bitter and swells the heart. I loved this film.
I Bury the Living (1958)
Pretty good classic B horror picture ruined by ridiculous ending
When I was a child I stayed up to watch this movie on the old Syracuse Baron Damone show, -- before the show moved to afternoons. I was really scared by it, but fell asleep before the end. Today I watched it on Comet and saw the end. What a horrible ending. It makes no sense. Somehow the old man who was being told to retire killed all the people that Richard Boone put the black pins on. It doesn't square up with the rest of the movie at all. While I watched the end I saw where it was going and thought that it might be saved if somehow the person with the extra sensory killing power was the old guy. But no. It almost seemed like the movie maker got tired and just tried to throw some ending together so he could just go home. Also, when in the end Richard Boone decides to put white pins back where he had put the black pins to see if he could bring them back to life, the ending really goes goofball. First of all you see the graves opening of their own accord, that is really scary and my hopes that it will succeed as a scary movie rise. Then Richard Boone runs out and sees that every grave where he exchanged pins is now open. Looking like we are in for a frightening finish, right? Nope. Boone returns to the building and the old guy comes in and says he killed them all with a scarf and was upset that he was being forced to retire. OK, then how did the graves start opening up by themselves? How did he kill several people without leaving a single clue? The old guy is covered with dirt, somehow implying that he dug all the people up. Why would he do that? That doesn't get his job back? How did he know that Boone had replaced the white pins with the black ones? He did this in a matter of an hour or so? He dug up several graves and removed the coffins in that short a period of time? The movie has now gone from a horrifying movie to a horrible movie. The old guy then falls against the map of the graveyard and is dead without really any reason why he would suddenly just die.The cops then come in and say they knew all along that the old guy was the killer even though there was no hint of this earlier in the movie.
I read in another review that the original ending of the film was to have the people that Boone had marked for death and then marked for life (and who had risen from their graves) stand outside of the building Boone is in. then the risen Zombies chant that Boone is to join them and then Boone shoots himself in guilt, grief, and insanity. Now that would be a scary ending.
The acting is pretty good, the direction is pretty good. So that took it to a potential 7 stars, but the story's ending is absolutely horrible. the most I can give it is 5.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Captain Marvel unnecessary?
The Captain Marvel Movie trailer made it seem as though that character would be essential to the defeat of Thanos and the reversal of his victory in Infinity War. I felt a chill of excitement when Captain Marvel first came on the scene, and expected that she would return at a moment when defeat seemed inevitable to finally turn the tide. I was disappointed that Captain Marvel was completely unnecessary for the final victory. If she had been left out of the movie it would have made no difference. She just showed up and fought with them in the final battle being unable to do much better than any of the others. Theses movies all are driven by deus ex maxima, but I expected that to come from Captain Marvel. t didn't. The Movie was pretty good but paced a little poorly. I enjoyed Infinity wars more.
Bird Box (2018)
It held my attention and entertained me
I wanted to hate the movie. Without thinking, I said to myself immediately upon hearing the premise, "Ripoff from 'A Quiet Place.'" Not only was that factually incorrect, as the book was written before "A Quiet Place," but the movement of the story line was also different. There were some similarities though, and the similarities were the shortcomings of both. Both had glaring inconsistencies that others have pointed out, and impossibilities that had to be ignored. However, neither movie was ruined by these problems. It is a horror fantasy movie and to enjoy it you have to suspend belief quite a bit. Many good horror/fantasy movies require this. If you are capable of doing that, then you can enjoy the movie. I liked it.
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Not as bad as the other reviews say
While the other reviews accurately point out the loose-ended plot, poor acting, and unevenness of story movement that keep this from being a very good movie -- all these problems can't stop a good story from being entertaining. I had not read the book, so maybe that helped me like the movie. Also, I read the bad reviews before I went, so my expectations were low. Oprah's costume was distracting and fairly ridiculous, and the characters were cardboard representations of stereotypes. But regardless of the fact that the characters were flat and undeveloped, the theme of the story and some of the effects were enough to make this better than your standard "after school special" juvenile borefest. While this movie is not a great multi-star movie, it's worth a solid six.
Black Panther (2018)
Great Ride
Too violent for kids, but really enjoyed the movie. Only weakness was some weak acting and times when dialogue was hackneyed. But what Marvel movie doesn't have that. I wanted to hate the movie because of all the BS hype and political correctness baloney, but after sitting through the first ten minute with a scowl and crossed arms, I ended up really enjoying it. It is a fun and exciting superhero adventure.
Terrordactyl (2016)
Unwatchable
Horrible Script, bad acting, awful plot, poor pacing, weak effects, but most of all, completely unlikeable characters. It doesn't get worse than this. I like really bad sci fi adventure (loved Sharknado), but this one was even beneath my low standard for cheese. The absolutely embarrassing dialogue and characters that were like cardboard cutouts (and unlikeable ones at that) made this perhaps the worst movie I ever watched. Incredibly bad.
Sharknado (2013)
Expect nothing...get entertained!!
This movie is famous for being horrible, so I expected that it would be so bad that I would not be able to watch it. But when I tuned it in on Netflix, I found it very easy to watch. It's a comic book for a person who is in a mood to let go of caring about scientific accuracy and needing literary-style, complete characters. I found it absolutely watchable, fast-paced, and visually solid. This is a modern grind-house beauty. What a pleasant surprise!
When a movie is fun to watch and keeps my attention, I am happy. Sometimes I feel I've had enough literary and moral and artistic education. A little pre-adolescent fantasy can be great. I hope you enjoy it, too.
Desperate Housewives (2004)
Horrible show
Hype can sell anything. I tried to watch this boring, stereotype-pushing piece of poor cinema three times before I could make myself sit through an entire episode. The actresses in this show have proved that they are limited to TV celebrity status. None of them have ever been in a movie where their acting has shown (sometimes their bodies are shown in such movie classics as Heaven's Prisoners and the Cool Surface). Also, Tango and Cash, that was a great cinematic moment. But playing across from Stallone? That is better than playing across from Newman or Steiger when it comes to bringing out true acting talent.
The obvious, over-the-top hyping of this show on Good Morning America is a true ipecac. Every Friday and every Monday Charlie, Diane, and Robin talk about the show as if it were the most important news item of the day.
If DH were a magazine, you would find it in the grocery store checkout line over the tic tacs and next to People Magazine.
Real art and talent deserves to be recognized. This show deserves to be canceled.
However, given the garbage on TV, this show ranks about in the middle.
Where are the Seinfeld's, the Bob Newhart's. the Cheers, the Taxi's? Will we ever have a really good TV show again or will we be force fed this soap opera debris and told that it is great and nod our heads like so many marionettes in agreement.
The real allure of the show? Sexy middle aged chicks pretending to have sex.
Crash (2004)
Overrated
Clunky, predictable, but politically correct. Matt Dillion saved it from really stinking.
The multistory line flavor of current film (Go! and Pulp Fiction) makes the movie-making so tangibly present that getting into the movie is difficult. Only Pulp Fiction has succeeded in the form because it was meant to be like a comic book. It is very difficult to get lost in a film that keeps reminding you that it is a film with slow-mo digital and constant cute cuts.
Dillion's character was well played. One could understand his multidimensional character. The others characters seemed contrived in revealing their many sides. I found the movie to be one where it's fun to talk about how you enjoyed it, but actually enjoying it? That's another question entirely.
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Superb
I saw this movie on a whim. I had no idea what it was about. Earlier in 1994 I had taken a chance on a movie called "Momma's Boys" with Jamie Lee Curtis, and it was absolutely horrible. But this time the whim paid off.
The movie is edited and directed with a touch of genius. The opening scene is a preview of the climatic scene in the movie. "Good Fellas" also used this technique to create more suspense when the scene is repeated in the normal flow of the movie. The direction and editing mirrors the mental state of the two girls that nearly become one. Kate Winslet's tremendous emotional depth appeals to those of us who are afflicted with the malady of hyper-sensitivity. The other girl, whose name I forget, does rather disappear in her presence, but Winslet's character is supposed to be the driving force, and Winslet, like all great actors, makes the performers around her shine. Because Winslet is the leader of the pair, it is disturbing when the lesser character leads them to do the most unthinkable -- matricide.
The victim of the girls is the most tolerant of the four parents, which creates even more shock when the crime occurs. I was more unhappy with Winslet's character's parents because they don't seem to give a whit for their girl. Feeling alone, the two girls find family with each other, but they take it a bit too deep. They escape into a shared fantasy land where all people become moving golden statues. It is very surreal with Mario Lanza being the golden hero of the dream world and Orson Welles, the claymation villain.
This movie took me to another world in a different way than I had previously experienced with any movie. I loved it. To me it is a 10 out of 10.
Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
Intriguing and moving
Stephen King really knows how to reawaken the lost deep emotional feelings of late childhood. An age when everything seems hopeful and terrifying at the same time. The movie has a strange and mysterious connection between characters who have the ability to perceive the invisible and who operate in a world that contains much evil and misery amongst an indifferent field that also has infinitely beautiful flowers here and there.
It hits a lot of proven emotional triggers and a few new twists of mysterious omniscience without omnipotence.
My only complaint was that the movie was to short. I wanted more. If it were longer, however, it's emotional ploys may have started to seem manipulative and change from pathos to bathos. Additionally, if it were longer, the mystery may have become too confusing. All in all a very nice cocktail.
Cube (1997)
Pseudo intellectual excuse for physical and emotional violence
The quality of the dialogue in this movie rivals Plan 9 from Outer Space. The character development clunks along like a high school creative writing project. One character "Wren" is developed in about three sentences and then killed off to create an "irony" that he was the escape artist and was the first to die. The "cop" inexplicably decides to let go of the hand of the doctor and let her drop to her death. No explanation, no reason. Solely to set up the irony of the protector being the killer and the shock of watching a character die. The movie still rates a four rating because the set design and the cube concept were interesting and the editing and camera work were excellent. The acting, script, and plot line were abysmal. As soon as the idiot savant character is introduced, you know that he will be the one to solve the mystery. I was so offended by the movie I couldn't watch the end. Maybe it suddenly got great in the last fifteen minutes, but I doubt it.
The Manitou (1978)
So bad, it's GOOD!
Cast of giants appears in this ridiculous mixture of the Exorcist, Godzilla, Little Big Man, and Leprechaun. There is nothing good in the movie at all, except that it is so stinking bad. The greasy little monster that crawls out of Susan Strasberg's back is a powerful shrimp (shrunken and disfigured because of the multiple X-Rays done when trying to figure out what was going on with this goiter gone bad). This evil manitou means to destroy the world. It is a native American Monster, and therefore, only a Native American medicine man can stop it. Chief Bromden from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is willing to take on the challenge.
I saw this movie with a friend of mine about 20 years ago and we still laugh about it. I also saw "Ordinary People" about the same time. It won the academy award for best picture and is a good movie. I can hardly remember the movie now.
There is a place for bad movies. I give this a ranking of 2 out of ten because of the fact that it offers a lot of unintentional laughs. Otherwise it would definitely be a zero. It's not "Plan Nine From Outer Space," or "Robot Monster," but it isn't bad for a horrible, but memorable poor flick.
The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)
Hey, it ain't that bad
This film is an absolute classic for camp. That is why it was an Elvira and MST3000 classic. Everyone knows the story. Scientist keeps his girlfriend's head alive in a lasagna pan in his basement while he cruises town and tries to find her a body by checking out the local chicks. Finally he finds a real hourglass body with a scar-faced chick's head on top. The severed head makes friends with the failed experiment in the closet and the conehead comes out of the closet and rips off the assistant's remaining "good" arm (his other is not right from a scientist's earlier failure), and the whole place burns down.
The movie scared us so much as kids that my friend wouldn't go into his basement for a year after seeing it. As kids we ranked the scariest movies of all time and this one was number four. Only one of those scary movies was really any good (the Original "The Haunting".)
I had to give this movie a seven rating for the tremendous amount of entertainment value it offers. Its eerie effect because of the crappy production and the weird sexual angle when the scientist looks for the bodies (complete with porno sound track) scares the hell out of innocent children, while the ridiculous aspects make it prime material for watching talking and laughing. I could watch this film tonight and enjoy it while I'd rather go to the Dentist than watch "Chicago" again.
Seven is the most I can give it, because its entertainment value is mere luck. The film , as cinema, is a disaster.
Summer Stock (1950)
Get Happy, ironic
There are two excellent high points in this movie. One is Kelley's newspaper and creaking board dance and the other is when Judy Garland sings and dances to Harold Arlen's "Get Happy" (his first published song from 1929 -- brought out of mothballs in this 1950 film). The irony is that "Get Happy" and the comic happy nature of the film are the opposite of what you can see in Judy Garland. Her fragility and fear of being unattractive simmer up through her performance. That makes the movie interesting on an unintended level.
The plot of the movie is really bad, but the movie is saved by the sensational dancing and one great song. It is also very interesting to watch the expertise used to hide Judy Garland's body shape as much as possible. I appreciated Judy Garland much more after seeing this movie. You can see the sadness and despair through all the smiles, dancing, and singing. If you are a Judy Garland fan, you must see this movie.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Excellent
This movie breaks your heart and inspires your soul. The only downside is the that the scenes of the memory erasing team in Jim Carrey's bedroom are too long. There is one great performer in the movie (Carrey) and another super great performer in the movie (Winslett). The rest of the cast is a bit weak by comparison and the movie drags a little when the average performers (like Dunst and Wood) hold the screen for long sequences. Wood was really distracting because I kept laughing to myself that Frodo had gone bad. But all in all, this movie was extremely entertaining.
The cliche "makes you laugh and makes you cry" fits this movie better than OJ's glove.
Los lunes al sol (2002)
Great Movie
This is a great movie about middle aged men being put out to pasture. The movie actually is a film rather than a verbal story glued to a bunch of special effects. The story is told by the focus of the camera, the objects pictured, and a tilt of a head, rather than by a bunch of talking. This is what film is about. Thank God the Europeans didn't forget it. To a large extent, American filmakers have. If you like movies about the human experience that give you fresh insight, see this movie. It is to film what "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is to poetry. Except that the main character struggles to remain a strong and virile man in the face of emasculaing business, while Prufrock was more of a frightened person in the face of discovering his mediocrity.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Great Movie, but a comedy???
This is a very moving picture about the emasculation of modern man. I was reviewing the top rated movies in different categories and saw this movie as the top rated "comedy." Comedy is defined as follows: Main Entry: com·e·dy Pronunciation: 'kä-m&-dE Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural -dies Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French comedie, from Latin comoedia, from Greek kOmOidia, from kOmos revel + aeidein to sing -- more at ODE Date: 14th century 1 a : a medieval narrative that ends happily Dante's Divine Comedy b : a literary work written in a comic style or treating a comic theme 2 a : a drama of light and amusing character and typically with a happy ending b : the genre of dramatic literature dealing with the comic or with the serious in a light or satirical manner -- compare TRAGEDY 3 : a ludicrous or farcical event or series of events 4 a : the comic element the comedy of many life situations b : humorous entertainment nightclub comedy
This movie is not a comedy. It needs to be removed from this list. There is such thing as a "comedy drama," e.g. Pretty Woman, but I don't think this movie has enough laughs in it to make that category. Even though Hamlet has comic relief, that doesn't make it a comedy drama.
Cabaret (1972)
A masterpiece
I'd never seen Cabaret until two nights ago. I shunned it because I thought I hated Liza Minelli's broadway style. Watching the movie changed my mind. Minelli's acting is supreme. The framing, the cinematography, the subtle use of a few words or a single frame to get a gigantic emotional reaction. This movie is as near perfect as it gets. Compare it to Chicago where the whole movie was just glitz with unlikeable characters that never develop and have all the depth of cardboard cutouts. This is a really great movie.
The Good Thief (2002)
The jury is in and The Good Thief is out
One of the most over-hyped movies of 2002. All reviews I read on the film said it would be good. Nolte's history of superb movies made me figure this would be great. It was not. It was horrible. Very poor digital camera work was the first problem: jumpy, dizzying, and dark. Inability to hear the dialogue was the second. The third is the title. Why "The Good Thief"? It's a reference to the two people who were crucified with Jesus (as the movie itself states), but there were two good thieves, not one. Even though Biblical references make things seem intellectual and monumental, I would really have to stretch to see how this relates to the action of the movie. The "Good thieves" on the crosses on either side of Jesus were told that they would see paradise with Jesus very soon. They also suggested that Jesus should save himself. Does this mean that the Russian chick is Jesus because Nolte is her "protector"? Does this mean that Nolte will see paradise soon even though his current situation looks hopeless? "No" is the answer to both questions. The title was chosen because it sounded arty.
The movie moved through Austin (a town that loves pretentious, arty crap) faster than "Deuce Bigolo" and appears to be playing nowhere in America now. That's the final jury verdict: America doesn't want to watch it.