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Reviews
Valley of the Dolls (1967)
Lovely Ladies
I love this movie. I would watch this movie any day. It certainly is an awful piece of garbage but I cannot help but love it. Barbara Parkins, is as beautiful as a peacock, very sophisticated as poised. Patty Duke, is hilarious and raunchy. She cannot sing, she cannot dance, she is so over the top, but her performance here is certainly a classic. Sharon Tate, is a very mature, and sympathetic beauty. Susan Hayward is annoying though. I was never a big fan of hers to begin with, but here she seems out of place, next the the three lovely leads. Many know Judy Garland was originally cast in the role, i don't think she would have been as good, since this was during the period of her life when she was really losing it. She was too weak for the role of Helen Lawson. Susan Hayward although annoying, was much more suited for the role. As for the story its a very clichéd E! Tru Hollywood Story. Talented young girl becomes famous, but discovers sex and drugs and down she goes! The only place where i'm confused is why was Neally (Patty Duke) placed in a mental hospital, and not a rehab center. She was a drug addict not a mentally ill person. There is a big difference. Overall lovely to look at and very over the top. It's very entertaining except for that god awful song Susan Hayward unleashes upon the audience.
Xanadu (1980)
Well....the Music Was Good
Well i must say although this was a pretty silly movie i will say it was watchable. The story is silly and annoying, Michael Beck is very miscast, and Olivia Newton John can tap dance like Sylvetser Stallone can do comedy (see 'Stop or My Mom Will Shoot!). The story is Olivia Newton John is the daughter of Zeus who's divine mission is to help Gene Kelly and Michael Beck build a roller skating disco club. I guess that;s why God has not sent us a cure for cancer or AIDS yet, because he has much more important things to do like building disco clubs! Olvia Newton John is drop dead gorgeous though but too bad the story line isn't as pretty as she is. The one part i really liked was the big BIG dance number in the middle of the movie which was very original and very entertaining. It is were Gene Kelly and Michael Beck are in the empty auditorium and their are two different musical numbers going on, on very 40's style, and one very 80's style. Then they are combined to create a very unique number which i could watch over and over again. It was downhill from there. Olivia Newton John singing a country western song? Please! and that final number were everyone in the disco club is clapping their hands and screaming HO and XANADU over and over again got very annoying. The whole animated sequence was nauseating as well. Overall watch for some of the music but don't be prepared for a masterpiece.
Fantasia (1940)
Stupid Stupid Stupid!
Why this is considered such a Disney classic is far beyond me. It's is so boring. It is not mature enough for adults and it is either too boring or way too scary for little children. Their is no plot, so someone with a short attention span like me will be in pain watching this. The only part that little kids would really like is the part with Mickey Mouse as the Soucerer's apprentice. Though i am really not getting the whole broomsticks with arms thing. Aside from hat there was one cute part, which was the dancing hippos and the alligators. That part is far more enjoyable than the Mickey Mouse section. But overall i just a a brief summary of this film. and that is that it was long boring pointless and STUPID STUPIDS STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID!!!!
Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
Astaire and Powell are fantastic
This is one of Fred Astaire's best works, and probably Eleanor Powell's most memorable. For whatever reason she has not reached the iconic status Fred Astaire's other parter Ginger Rogers. I am not sure why, i personally think Eleanor Powell is a better dancer than Ginger Rogers. Maybe she got sick of show business, and that is the reason why she did not make more movies. But for whatever reason i think she definitely deserves more recognition than she gets. I would recommend this film to anyone. Even for people who don't typically like musicals i believe will be memorized by the talents of these two legends. When Astaire and Powell, dance both these great talents leave the viewer in aw.
Bewitched (1964)
What A Cast!
This is just such as classic show. As a sitcom it was just average. However what makes it work is the talented cast. Elizabeth Montgomery was very pretty and charming. Dick York, was a grouchy and bossy husband but at the same time was just a big fuzzy teddy bear. Dick Sargeant filled in the role of Darren okay later on, but did not have the same level of likability as York. Agnes Moorehead was always a scream as the overly made up Andora. Other lovable actors included Alice Pearce as the screechy nosy neighbor Mrs. Kravitz, Marion Lorne as the dim-witted but lovable Aunt Clara, Paul Lynde as the flamboyant prankster Uncle Arthur, and David White as the stiff nervous boss Larry Tate. Without the right cast a sitcom about a housewife with super powers would have never become such a classic. But everyone in the cast is so perfect for their part. It sad that some people such as York, and Pearce had to be replaced with actors who could have never filled their shoes. Compared to another show about 'Gilligan's Island' it actually seems more believable. The cast is not phony, or over done. Everything about it is perfect. One of the greatest TV Series of all time.
The Matchmaker (1958)
Better Than the Musical;
I enjoyed this much more than it;s musical counterpart 'Hello Dolly'. The cast is so much more likable. They have high energy but are not phony. Shirley Booth is like the lovable grandmother and not the diva like Barbra Streisand was. She kind of reminds me of Aunt Clara from 'Bewitched' she is not dopey but she is just so sweet lovable and gentle. While Streusand just kind of had this thing as if to hey look at me!!!!'Anthony Perkins is cute, and likable not dopey like Micheal Crawford. and Paul Ford, is a much more convincing portrayal of Horace Vandergelder then Walter Mathau. 'Hello Dolly' was too stagy and phony while this is just cute and upbeat. I would chose this over 'Hello Dolly' any day.
Green Mansions (1959)
Bizarre Yet Interesting
I have heard people harp on and on about how bad this movie is and how Anthony Perkins and Audrey Hepburn were sooooo miscast! While the film is certainly no 'Psycho' or 'Roman Holiday', it is a lot better than people give it credit for. Everyone seems to come down pretty hard on Perkins especially, because he seems out of place or isn't 'rugged enough' for the role. Those people probably are the people who want to see him as Norman Bates and nothing else. I think his performance was just fine. He has this sensitivity and this almost childlike innocence, and sense of adventure that i think is ideal. He is no John Wayne, he is like an adventurous young child. But that innocence is perfect for the scenes he has with Hepburn. and while he is not the traditional leading man, it makes him all the more interesting. I think if the male lead was too good looking it would just be phony looking. Audrey Hepburn's trademark gentleness is ideal for this part. My only complaint about her is the fact that her hair and her make-up are flawless no matter what, but it really isn't her fault. Originally cast was Pier Angeli, who although a good actress lacked the same kind of gentleness that Hepburn had. If anyone looks silly here it's Lee J. Cobb. He looks more like a cross between Santa Claus, and a hillbilly, more than a South American. As for the film itself, it started off really well, but got kind of bizarre as it went on. After the scene were the three leads, leave Rima's (Hepburn) home i started to lose my interest. And when it came time for big emotional outbursts the actors fail to deliver. One of Hepburn's emotional outbursts comes out of nowhere, and is so phony i can't even explain. She wasn't so great at being angry i guess. However the intimate scenes between Perkins and Hepburn are moving. and i think this was the first time Hepburn took on a 'sexy' role like this. This is not her worst movie, i think it's actually better than 'Charade,' which i thought was overrated. The film has it's flaws but those flaws do not just lie in the performances as most people say.
The Kiss (1914)
Interesting
I only got to see a very small clip from this film. I must say i am fascinated by Hollywood stories such as the William Desmond Taylor case. I have read a awful lot about the case and have seen several photos of him. However seeing him in motion in this clip i finally saw what a devastating handsome man he was. The film itself seems very melodramatic like most silent films are. But i found it so intriguing to see WDT in motion for first time. I can't really judge the film that well because i only saw a brief 2 minute clip where Taylor and Margaret Gibson sit in a restaurant and he is about to kiss her. But she pushes him away saying 'No, No! thats where SHE kissed me, because she loved YOU!. she points in the other direction looking sad and walks off leaving Taylor alone at the table with his head slumped. From that alone it sounds a little weird. i don't even know what the film is really about. But god what a hunk Taylor was. No wonder Mary Miles Minter was so insanely in love with him. If your a Hollywood history buff like me this will certainly appeal to you, even if you don't get it. However if not than it will just come off as weird.
Personal Property (1937)
The first movie i have ever seen with Harlow and Taylor
This was the first time i ever got a chance to see Jean Harlow or Robert Taylor in a movie. I've seen photographs of them of course but never actually seeing any of their films i simply assumed them to be overrated. Seeing Jean Harlow's still photo i imagined her to be some overrated dumb blonde. I thought she was pretty but never understood why exactly she was so famous. As well as Robert Taylor, i will agree with the last commentator in saying "What A Hottie!", i always though he was incredibly handsome but never understood what the big deal about him was. Well actually i did see a little part of Jean Harlow in the movie "Reckless" and i thought it was terrible. I've always thought she was a tiny bit overrated. However my opinions about both of them changed after i saw this film. They were both so lovable, and animated. I never expected it from them. I particularly love the scene where Taylor's character insists on sleeping in the upstairs guest room and Jean Harlow tries to scare him downstairs by pretending to be her husband by walking up the stairs in a big pair of clunky boots. I unfortunately did not get to finish the entire movie. After the stair-climbing scene it did seem to slow down a little bit but it was just such an enjoyable romantic comedy. I really must say that Harlow and Taylor were both very gifted performers. By the way s it me or does Harlow's hair seem darker than usual? Whenever i saw her she seemed to have bright blonde, hair and in this movie it seems to look a little different at first. As for the movie itself it is not necessarily on the same level as say "It Happened One Night", but for those of you who have never seen a picture with Jean Harlow or Robert Taylor i recommend this one so these two gifted performers can share there gifts with you.
Mabel and Fatty's Wash Day (1915)
Not outstanding, but cute, enjoyable, and interesting
This was a cute little short, and an interesting one at that too. It certainly nothing outstanding. I saw this movie on Turner Classic Movies. I am someone who is very interested in film history and i have read many things on the lives of the film's two stars Mabel Normand and Fatty Arbuckle. It is very ironic how both these stars were involved with murder scandals at the same time. Mabel Normand was seen with director William Desmond Taylor just a few short minutes before he was shot dead, and her association with the womanizing director destroyed her career and she never acted again. She died of tuberculosis in 1936. Her frequent co-star Fatty Arbuckle was at around the same time involved with a similar scandal. At a party at San Fransisco's St. Francis Hotel, a young actress Virginia Rappe, a notorious party girl fainted after drinking way too much. She awoke to Fatty applying ice to her thigh and she screamed he was trying to rape her. She died a few days later. The media portrayed her as an innocent 'real life' Snow White when in reality she was anything but that. However Fatty was put on trial for her murder. Even though he was acquitted, in fact the jury later apologized to him the scandal destroyed his career as well. He died of a heart attack in 1933. The film itself is very simple, nothing really outstanding. But i must say after reading so much about these two and seeing so many still photos of them it is interesting to see the two of them in motion. They are both very cute and likable when on screen together. They have some quirky moments together such as when they are putting laundry on the clothesline and they accidentally exchanged underwear. It certainly not genius but there is just something so sweet about the two of them together. The tragedy and scandals surrounding both their lives only adds to their mystique.
Fatty and Mabel R.I.P.