A brief retrospective of the life and career of the owner of what was often called one of the greatest voices of the 20th century. McCormack's personal life and early career (huge success in Opera and even larger renown as the foremost concert vocalist of his time) are well documented...and we get to hear some of his recordings (beginning with some on wax cylinders). We also see a few clips from two of his film appearances. Oddly enough the films themselves (and the huge payday he got for "Song O' My Heart") are never mentioned. So anyone hoping for a fully well rounded examination of his enormously full and much lauded career will want to look elsewhere.
Reviews
72 Reviews
Real James Dean
(2006 Video)
The Title Says It All
28 January 2017
This may be the best of the numerous attempts to eulogize the tempestuous, magnetic, and wildly messed up legend...possibly because it simply lets those who new him share their simple memories of the boy and man. What comes through in the way too brief 51 minutes (thank heavens for the wonderful DVD extras that are equally invaluable) is what may be the closest we will ever get to an actual nodding recognition of who Dean really was and who he might have become. Given that so many of the big name witnesses are now gone this little film becomes even more remarkable and more important.
How in blazes did the filmmakers managed to dredge up stunning gold like Deans screen test for EAST OF EDEN where he shares a devouring kiss with Joanne Woodward several years before she met and married the actor who was helped to stardom by inheriting a couple projects passed his way after Dean's death! Absolutely STUNNING stuff...and the whole package is fascinating. If only they could come up with a longer and even more detailed version! Bravo all around!
How in blazes did the filmmakers managed to dredge up stunning gold like Deans screen test for EAST OF EDEN where he shares a devouring kiss with Joanne Woodward several years before she met and married the actor who was helped to stardom by inheriting a couple projects passed his way after Dean's death! Absolutely STUNNING stuff...and the whole package is fascinating. If only they could come up with a longer and even more detailed version! Bravo all around!
One big cow, horse, and sheep dung pie
13 August 2016
It may be a bit premature to label this revolting pile of misplaced ego as the worst film of the decade...but I doubt it!
Humorless, witless, and utterly hopeless as comedy and so proud of being universally offensive that it deserves to be slapped...repeatedly and hard.
The one train wreck fascinating aspect of this tripe is the alarming spectacle of some genuine talent subjecting themselves to the "comic" "vision" of the loser who conceived this mess and SOMEHOW managed to get it made...and released.
Did Theron and Neeson actually READ this rancid mess of a script (or at least have somebody read it for them) ?
Several other "names" also seem to have utterly lost their (common) senses when they signed on for this...and some like Ribisi, Harris, and Silverman obviously need someone to intervene and make sure they are NEVER allowed to attempt movie comedy again.
BUT the main blame of course goes to the guy who so proudly (and repeatedly) smeared his name all over the opening credits.
He proved that he had no visible style or genuine talent when he flamed out as an Oscar host.
And this grotesque mess amply demonstrates his total lack of wit, taste, or shame.
Literally appalling.
Humorless, witless, and utterly hopeless as comedy and so proud of being universally offensive that it deserves to be slapped...repeatedly and hard.
The one train wreck fascinating aspect of this tripe is the alarming spectacle of some genuine talent subjecting themselves to the "comic" "vision" of the loser who conceived this mess and SOMEHOW managed to get it made...and released.
Did Theron and Neeson actually READ this rancid mess of a script (or at least have somebody read it for them) ?
Several other "names" also seem to have utterly lost their (common) senses when they signed on for this...and some like Ribisi, Harris, and Silverman obviously need someone to intervene and make sure they are NEVER allowed to attempt movie comedy again.
BUT the main blame of course goes to the guy who so proudly (and repeatedly) smeared his name all over the opening credits.
He proved that he had no visible style or genuine talent when he flamed out as an Oscar host.
And this grotesque mess amply demonstrates his total lack of wit, taste, or shame.
Literally appalling.
Zootopia
(2016)
Almost totally wild (but ultimately all too tame).
27 June 2016
After a dynamite first hour which is bot eye-popping and vastly entertaining this charming "little movie" goes on...and on. The films being at least a half hour overlong might be acceptable if their was enough good writing to sustain the running time. Unfortunately the film slips into a violent "suspense / action mode which all but destroys the jolly likability of the early scenes. The script also becomes oddly slapdash, rushed and careless.... (random "coincidences" about blue flowers and blueberries just "happening to be in oddly convenient places are insultingly lazy...and the big 'surprise' of the main villain's identity is far too emphatically telegraphed for it to be more than a yawn).
I am very surprised that most critics saw fit to just let this slip by with raves (there are in fact even worse bits of laziness (isn't the very trite "Godfather" homage just a wee bit stale by now?).
Anyway...this is no "Frozen" or "Big Hero Six"...and one imagines Mr. Disney in his prime would not have let this one out without a great deal of tinkering.
I am very surprised that most critics saw fit to just let this slip by with raves (there are in fact even worse bits of laziness (isn't the very trite "Godfather" homage just a wee bit stale by now?).
Anyway...this is no "Frozen" or "Big Hero Six"...and one imagines Mr. Disney in his prime would not have let this one out without a great deal of tinkering.
Not a remake, not a retread...it is a rebirth.
16 April 2016
The oddly woe-begone haters and whiners are missing the point (and for that matter so were the denser than usual Oscar voters (( a loud, mechanical, and soul-less revamp of MAD MAX is better than this...???? in 50 years that will be a footnote and this will be a classic! )).
You love the low watt but original so much that you can't be bothered to appreciate a loving tribute to it that does everything Lucas ever dreamed?
You are so jaded that the heartbreaking and joyous return of the original stars can be ignored or disparaged?
You can't be bothered to appreciate the superb work from the new generation of talent who salute and recapture the charm of the old guard?
What a shame that you are so jaded and jaundiced that you can no longer appreciate magic, joy, or beauty.
Have you forgotten how difficult this type of world class entertainment is to make.... (feel free to sit through ANY of George Lucas's 3 "sequels" for great examples of how NOT to do this type of film...have you forgotten Jar Jar so quickly...lucky you!!).
This is the best re-awakening of a franchise since the "STAR TREK" rebirth...
I had misgivings about Disney taking the series on...but I thank them now.
And if the haters are so convinced that this is not good enough...let's see what they can pull off besides griping and sarcasm.
You love the low watt but original so much that you can't be bothered to appreciate a loving tribute to it that does everything Lucas ever dreamed?
You are so jaded that the heartbreaking and joyous return of the original stars can be ignored or disparaged?
You can't be bothered to appreciate the superb work from the new generation of talent who salute and recapture the charm of the old guard?
What a shame that you are so jaded and jaundiced that you can no longer appreciate magic, joy, or beauty.
Have you forgotten how difficult this type of world class entertainment is to make.... (feel free to sit through ANY of George Lucas's 3 "sequels" for great examples of how NOT to do this type of film...have you forgotten Jar Jar so quickly...lucky you!!).
This is the best re-awakening of a franchise since the "STAR TREK" rebirth...
I had misgivings about Disney taking the series on...but I thank them now.
And if the haters are so convinced that this is not good enough...let's see what they can pull off besides griping and sarcasm.
The Peanuts Movie
(2015)
It went to the Dogs
2 April 2016
I wanted to love this because the wonderful "primitive" TV specials were staples of my childhood (and hold up beautifully as do most of the animated features that enriched and broadened the PEANUTS world without losing the simplicity, clarity, and sweetness of the Schulz universe).I was hoping that using line drawn details on the otherwise CG 3D characters and settings would work and that the delicate wit and even more fragile wisps of humanity that make this property so lovely would come through.
To my eyes it just doesn't quite gel.
I think the distracting hyper-real backgrounds might have been less of a miscalculation if the writing had not flattened and broadened the characters and plot to the point that charm (and coherence) went out of the picture in favor of very loud and very frenetic action scenes. I know Snoopy is one of the most popular characters in the canon...but there is entirely too much of his "heroic journey" and far too little of Charlie Brown's growth and coping with life's travails
There were also problems with characters being distorted almost out of recognition (Peppermint Pattie and Marcie are horribly treated...as is the subtle quirkiness of their interplay.
If this serves as an introduction to the Schulz canon for a new generation...great...if they can go on to accept the subtlety and delicacy of the comic strips and earlier adaptations.
My fear is that this over blown and over simplified treatment may make them expect nothing but over frenetic mischief and under wrought writing...neither of which Mr. Schulz would have approved of.
To my eyes it just doesn't quite gel.
I think the distracting hyper-real backgrounds might have been less of a miscalculation if the writing had not flattened and broadened the characters and plot to the point that charm (and coherence) went out of the picture in favor of very loud and very frenetic action scenes. I know Snoopy is one of the most popular characters in the canon...but there is entirely too much of his "heroic journey" and far too little of Charlie Brown's growth and coping with life's travails
There were also problems with characters being distorted almost out of recognition (Peppermint Pattie and Marcie are horribly treated...as is the subtle quirkiness of their interplay.
If this serves as an introduction to the Schulz canon for a new generation...great...if they can go on to accept the subtlety and delicacy of the comic strips and earlier adaptations.
My fear is that this over blown and over simplified treatment may make them expect nothing but over frenetic mischief and under wrought writing...neither of which Mr. Schulz would have approved of.
It's in the Air
(1935)
Not so hot air
30 March 2016
This is one of the lee than stratospheric flicks that sent Jack Benny screaming back to Radio. He seems rather bored to be playing an almost straight man to Ted Healy (who as usual seems lost without 3 stooges...and who tries to make up for it by being VERY loud and Very monotonous). There is a spooky line about Benny adding 10 years to Ted's character's life...ironic given his tragic end around five years later. Benny seems a bit happier to be playing a more or less standard romance with Una Merkel...who is given nothing to do but look pretty and whine at Benny to go straight...advice which he seems to have taken FAR too much to heart. Reliable buffoon Nat Pendleton scores a few smiles...and there is a very strange and oddly nasty cameo by what appears to be a real bald eagle which ends up being treated very roughly.
A more pleasant bit is played by future leading man Dennis O'Keefe who can be spotted nonchalantly dancing by the stars...and actually has a line later on as a radio announcer.
Watchable as a curio...and it may be an eye opener for some to see how primitive effect shots were in 1935...and check out the trailer which promises an "all star" laugh riot...it is nice to know that some things like high flying hype never change.
A more pleasant bit is played by future leading man Dennis O'Keefe who can be spotted nonchalantly dancing by the stars...and actually has a line later on as a radio announcer.
Watchable as a curio...and it may be an eye opener for some to see how primitive effect shots were in 1935...and check out the trailer which promises an "all star" laugh riot...it is nice to know that some things like high flying hype never change.
One Last Dance
(2003)
A bravo for Patrick...a thank you to Lisa
23 February 2016
I am at a loss to figure how this lovely film failed to get a wide release. I picked it up featured in a set of five discs that contain 20 mostly public domain movies. The set was on a clearance table at my local drugstore. I bought it for a buck.
And I LOVE this movie. If you ever enjoyed the electric grace or slightly tussled bad boy charm of Patrick Swayze in ANYTHING please seek this out. Prepare to have your heart broken...because this film proves just how huge a star he could have been in a better time and place where song and dance were fully appreciated on film.
This is quite simply one of the greatest films about dance ever. Think "All that Jazz" think "Chicago" think "The Red Shoes"...and yes..think "Dirty Dancing"....this may actually top them all as the most graphic and realistic depiction of both the ecstasy of the sheer joy of dance...and the agony of earning that ecstasy.
Quite simply a joy...and if seeing Swayze giving his all for one last fantastic and joyous dance doesn't break your heart and make it sing at the same time..you might just need CPR.
Lovely...just lovely...and thanks Lisa for showcasing Patrick as I always want to remember him.
And I LOVE this movie. If you ever enjoyed the electric grace or slightly tussled bad boy charm of Patrick Swayze in ANYTHING please seek this out. Prepare to have your heart broken...because this film proves just how huge a star he could have been in a better time and place where song and dance were fully appreciated on film.
This is quite simply one of the greatest films about dance ever. Think "All that Jazz" think "Chicago" think "The Red Shoes"...and yes..think "Dirty Dancing"....this may actually top them all as the most graphic and realistic depiction of both the ecstasy of the sheer joy of dance...and the agony of earning that ecstasy.
Quite simply a joy...and if seeing Swayze giving his all for one last fantastic and joyous dance doesn't break your heart and make it sing at the same time..you might just need CPR.
Lovely...just lovely...and thanks Lisa for showcasing Patrick as I always want to remember him.
I'll Remember April
(1999)
A cracked curio...
31 August 2015
Interesting indie that barely got released anywhere (and probably was slapped crudely onto disc to capitalize on the sudden fame of one of it's juvenile players...despite being the focus of cover art and billing Haley Joel Osment has a supporting role...and looks to be a bit younger and a LOT blonder than he was in "The Sixth Sense" and he is NOT prominently featured here.).
Well meaning and at times moving depiction of broken lives of about to be interred American born Japanese descended citizens is rather uncomfortably with far fetched fantasy of 4 boys becoming best buddies with a wounded and stranded Japanese sailor. Some very good work from a surprisingly strong cast hints that this could have been a quite interesting film with a better detailed script and a much bigger budget...(the film as it stands seems about four fifths finished with a temp track score and a very strangely shot ending).
If you do pick it up on disc as a curio (thank you for offering it DAEDELUS BOOKS!) I would strongly advise NOT watching the trailer before seeing the film...It gives away about ninety per cent of the plot!
Well meaning and at times moving depiction of broken lives of about to be interred American born Japanese descended citizens is rather uncomfortably with far fetched fantasy of 4 boys becoming best buddies with a wounded and stranded Japanese sailor. Some very good work from a surprisingly strong cast hints that this could have been a quite interesting film with a better detailed script and a much bigger budget...(the film as it stands seems about four fifths finished with a temp track score and a very strangely shot ending).
If you do pick it up on disc as a curio (thank you for offering it DAEDELUS BOOKS!) I would strongly advise NOT watching the trailer before seeing the film...It gives away about ninety per cent of the plot!
Brother Bear 2
(2006 Video)
A better bear?
23 August 2015
I loved "Brother Bear" back during it's theatrical run in 2003...and thought that it should have been recognized as a high water mark in hand drawn animated films...and I was deeply saddened when it failed to find a huge audience...and became one of the last masterworks of the art...( which was replaced in audience favor by often lumpy, clunky, and distressingly flat and "realistic" computer generated cartoons.
I was very upset that line drawn was shoved aside and forgotten except for low quality TV animation...and what looked to be shoddy direct to video sequels...which I initially refused to watch because I feared that these "follow ups" would just be graceless rip offs of the original films.
When I began collecting the original Disney Classics on Blu-Ray (which really IS the best way to appreciate them since they are no longer re-released to theaters) (such a shame)...I ended up with the sequels in my library...and decided that I might as well watch them after re-savoring the original classics.
I was a bit surprised to find that most of them are respectable efforts that might have deserved theatrical release if a bit more polishing had been applied to the writing...and I was pretty much shocked when I watched "Brother Bear 2" and found it to be just as visually stunning as "Brother Bear"...almost as well written...and if anything even more moving thanks to some absolutely lovely songs by Mellisa Etheridge.
Why this was relegated to "Direct to Video" status is beyond me...but it deserves to be re-evaluated and rediscovered as the masterpiece it is...
I was very upset that line drawn was shoved aside and forgotten except for low quality TV animation...and what looked to be shoddy direct to video sequels...which I initially refused to watch because I feared that these "follow ups" would just be graceless rip offs of the original films.
When I began collecting the original Disney Classics on Blu-Ray (which really IS the best way to appreciate them since they are no longer re-released to theaters) (such a shame)...I ended up with the sequels in my library...and decided that I might as well watch them after re-savoring the original classics.
I was a bit surprised to find that most of them are respectable efforts that might have deserved theatrical release if a bit more polishing had been applied to the writing...and I was pretty much shocked when I watched "Brother Bear 2" and found it to be just as visually stunning as "Brother Bear"...almost as well written...and if anything even more moving thanks to some absolutely lovely songs by Mellisa Etheridge.
Why this was relegated to "Direct to Video" status is beyond me...but it deserves to be re-evaluated and rediscovered as the masterpiece it is...
The Color of Time
(II) (2012)
All shades of light and blinding shadows...
17 August 2015
This is a prime example of a film that will either alienate or entrance...or possibly both at the same time. My suggestion for best getting something out of this collage of words and images is to just abandon all preconceptions and allow it to seduce you.
First simply savor the absolutely stunning beauty of the photography...the incandescence of the closeups and exquisite portraits of potentially mundane locals are among the most beautiful images that I have ever seen...
And as the visual glow seduces you ...let the deceptively simple words gradually intertwine with the photography till the entire film becomes a rather entrancing collage of one creative human's voyage through life.
I am saddened that so few audiences seem willing to give up a few moments of their lives to open themselves to one of the loveliest and most perceptive little films in recent memory...
Give it (and yourself) a chance.
First simply savor the absolutely stunning beauty of the photography...the incandescence of the closeups and exquisite portraits of potentially mundane locals are among the most beautiful images that I have ever seen...
And as the visual glow seduces you ...let the deceptively simple words gradually intertwine with the photography till the entire film becomes a rather entrancing collage of one creative human's voyage through life.
I am saddened that so few audiences seem willing to give up a few moments of their lives to open themselves to one of the loveliest and most perceptive little films in recent memory...
Give it (and yourself) a chance.
Another Happy Day
(2011)
One of the most underrated films of it's year, and probably an early classic of it's decade.
10 January 2013
Devastating no holds barred snapshot of American Family Life (as it IS not as we wish it was) may be TOO honest and wickedly insightful for many people (who prefer a little more sugar coating...a little less hysterically funny battery acid wit....oh well LIFE Ain't SWEET...get over it!!).
Producer Ellen Barkin leads an absolutely astonishing cast...(and both big names and not so big names are stunning..there is not one phony or soft pedaled second in ANYof these performances).
Besides the devastating Barkin (who tackles every emotion like a starving woman with no thought for vanity...every thought for human insight and character clarity)the standouts include Ellen Burstyn as a grandma from hell with Bride Of Frankenstein hair that is the LEAST frightening thing about her character and the stunning young Ezra Miller (who gets more accomplished and electric with every performance.
I am actually having a hard time fathoming how this was NOT granted a major wide release...and I simply do not understand the low ratings many "casual" viewers give it...
Maybe it is a wee bit too challenging and unflinching?
Oh well...stick with your pretty bubblegum fantasy families...
THIS is life...and it may not be beautiful...but it burns with a glorious flame in every frame of this lovely film.
Producer Ellen Barkin leads an absolutely astonishing cast...(and both big names and not so big names are stunning..there is not one phony or soft pedaled second in ANYof these performances).
Besides the devastating Barkin (who tackles every emotion like a starving woman with no thought for vanity...every thought for human insight and character clarity)the standouts include Ellen Burstyn as a grandma from hell with Bride Of Frankenstein hair that is the LEAST frightening thing about her character and the stunning young Ezra Miller (who gets more accomplished and electric with every performance.
I am actually having a hard time fathoming how this was NOT granted a major wide release...and I simply do not understand the low ratings many "casual" viewers give it...
Maybe it is a wee bit too challenging and unflinching?
Oh well...stick with your pretty bubblegum fantasy families...
THIS is life...and it may not be beautiful...but it burns with a glorious flame in every frame of this lovely film.
Incendiary
(2008)
Underrated and misunderstood...
4 January 2013
At times difficult to watch drama functions brilliantly as showcase for Michelle Williams (the best performance of hers that I have yet seen) and an all too vivid examination of the perils and scars of living in the oh so dangerous and unsettled modern world.
Previous comments labeling the film melodramatic and unconvincing seem very off base to me. I agree that this material MIGHT have been pat and soap opera-ish in other hands, but for me the emotional and physical drama are riveting and superbly realized.
I will admit to some reservations about Williams's accent in early scenes...but soon became totally drawn in by the conviction of her performance. She is matched by a beautifully chosen and directed supporting cast.
All in all a very unfairly overlooked film with a very important message which should resonate deeply with anyone willing to open their heart to it.
Previous comments labeling the film melodramatic and unconvincing seem very off base to me. I agree that this material MIGHT have been pat and soap opera-ish in other hands, but for me the emotional and physical drama are riveting and superbly realized.
I will admit to some reservations about Williams's accent in early scenes...but soon became totally drawn in by the conviction of her performance. She is matched by a beautifully chosen and directed supporting cast.
All in all a very unfairly overlooked film with a very important message which should resonate deeply with anyone willing to open their heart to it.
Fingerprints
(2006)
Grimy greasy kid stuff ("wash your hands after viewing").
29 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
The DVD packaging sells this as a scary little ghost story...and that is what this starts out as before jumping the (haunted??) railroad tracks and dissolving into a brutally graphic slasher pic / "Saw" torture porn flick (if you think watching a little girl getting her lips sewn shut by another little girl (in graphic closeup) is scary or watchable then you might get a rise out of this...anyone looking for intelligent coherent storytelling should avoid it at all cost.
Ludicrous and very sad "performances" from once lukewarm (in 1987) names Sally Kirkland and Lou Diamond Phillips are final coffin nails in this turkey...with Kirkland's deep fried (and totally anachronistic)accent and ridiculously hammy emoting being proof positive of how much she deserved to lose Best Actress to Cher.
All in all..a depressing misfire and a sad cheat.
Ludicrous and very sad "performances" from once lukewarm (in 1987) names Sally Kirkland and Lou Diamond Phillips are final coffin nails in this turkey...with Kirkland's deep fried (and totally anachronistic)accent and ridiculously hammy emoting being proof positive of how much she deserved to lose Best Actress to Cher.
All in all..a depressing misfire and a sad cheat.
Snow White and the Huntsman
(2012)
Mirror, mirror images....
3 June 2012
Two attempts to jazz up the old fairy tale plot in one year. "Mirror, Mirror" aimed for lighthearted camp...and flopped despite delightful design and a cluster of delicious performances.
This attempts to follow the narrative of the Disney version (too literally at times...the "run screaming through the forest" scene was so comical I expected Kristen S. to start warbling in a wobbly soprano...).
For me the attempts at modernizing the familiar plot MIGHT have played better if the script had been less lethargic, mechanical, dull, and hysterically self serious...( everyone wanders around grimacing as if they were doing Macbeth or a cut rate production of "Joan of Arc"...
Points for daring to rip off "Avatar" and try to twist the old "prince charming...loves first kiss" bit...but it does not keep this form being overlong and dangerously close to being flat out boring.
This attempts to follow the narrative of the Disney version (too literally at times...the "run screaming through the forest" scene was so comical I expected Kristen S. to start warbling in a wobbly soprano...).
For me the attempts at modernizing the familiar plot MIGHT have played better if the script had been less lethargic, mechanical, dull, and hysterically self serious...( everyone wanders around grimacing as if they were doing Macbeth or a cut rate production of "Joan of Arc"...
Points for daring to rip off "Avatar" and try to twist the old "prince charming...loves first kiss" bit...but it does not keep this form being overlong and dangerously close to being flat out boring.
Dark Shadows
(2012)
It's no "Sleepy Hollow".
12 May 2012
I was hoping for another magical mix of atmospheric horror and Burton /Depp shenanigans like the perfect blend served up in their take on Ichabod Crane. I thought the prospect of a Vampire being brought back after 2 centuries would provide lots of opportunity for laughs and scares.
Alas this is another broad and oddly muted pairing off the jolly bad boys much more in line quality wise with their off-kilter (if enjoyable at times riff on "Alice In Wonderland". It has neither the scares or guffaws that might have given it some genuine life.
The first mistake was probably in settling for a PG13 level of depth and mayhem (though Burton and Depp obviously had a great time sneaking in bizarre sexual innuendo including witchy Green dropping down to give Barnabas a bit of undead oral attention). "Sleepy Hollow" worked for me because it's "R" rating gave the premise room to breath...and be as far out as B and D wanted it to be. This films seems oddly truncated and half hearted.
Another problem is the "Gotta please the fans" decision to devote gobs of time to back story...without bothering to give the updated characters any life or depth...(and playing fast and loose with the mythology at times is NOT going to win anybody's eternal devotion).
All in all entertaining and watchable...but not what it could and should have been.
Alas this is another broad and oddly muted pairing off the jolly bad boys much more in line quality wise with their off-kilter (if enjoyable at times riff on "Alice In Wonderland". It has neither the scares or guffaws that might have given it some genuine life.
The first mistake was probably in settling for a PG13 level of depth and mayhem (though Burton and Depp obviously had a great time sneaking in bizarre sexual innuendo including witchy Green dropping down to give Barnabas a bit of undead oral attention). "Sleepy Hollow" worked for me because it's "R" rating gave the premise room to breath...and be as far out as B and D wanted it to be. This films seems oddly truncated and half hearted.
Another problem is the "Gotta please the fans" decision to devote gobs of time to back story...without bothering to give the updated characters any life or depth...(and playing fast and loose with the mythology at times is NOT going to win anybody's eternal devotion).
All in all entertaining and watchable...but not what it could and should have been.
Joyful Noise
(2012)
Why the hate on a lovely film?
11 May 2012
Critics and bigoted heartless snobs be damned ("I made a face at the trailer"...go ahead and deny yourself a delightful film ...it is YOUR loss!).
First off ...I am not a fan of holy roller religious-y movies...have no affiliation...and no deep convictions at all. I came to this film hoping for some nice music and a chance to see two very talented actresses who have been ill used by film in the past...and was expecting very little due to the snide reaction this film received when it was dumped in January.
To say I was very surprised by the films beauty, heart, humanity, and yes, soul is putting it mildly.
Latifah and Dolly are sensational...the numbers are brilliant and beautifully executed...the script is full of unexpected depth and nuance....
To my eyes this is one of the most entertaining and enjoyable films of the year...I hope a few open minded people give it a chance on disc!
First off ...I am not a fan of holy roller religious-y movies...have no affiliation...and no deep convictions at all. I came to this film hoping for some nice music and a chance to see two very talented actresses who have been ill used by film in the past...and was expecting very little due to the snide reaction this film received when it was dumped in January.
To say I was very surprised by the films beauty, heart, humanity, and yes, soul is putting it mildly.
Latifah and Dolly are sensational...the numbers are brilliant and beautifully executed...the script is full of unexpected depth and nuance....
To my eyes this is one of the most entertaining and enjoyable films of the year...I hope a few open minded people give it a chance on disc!
The Artist
(I) (2011)
Singin in the Sunshine with a new born star?
10 March 2012
I am delighted that this genial and vastly entertaining portrait of the dying days of silent cinema has gotten such a rapturous reception...if only because it may open people up to exploring the glory of GENUINE silent classics. I had a stranger chat with me about how she was stunned at how entertaining and spellbinding sitting through a mainly silent film was...I promptly recommended that she seek out something like "Wings"...nicely restored, freshly out on DVD, sure to be available on NETFLIX...and still as entertaining and enthralling as ever...I find it so sad that so many people today are frightened off by BLACK AND WHITE...much less silence...I hope this movie helps them realize what they are missing.
While I was vastly entertained by this film's superb acting and mainly successful atmosphere...I did wish they had not played so fast and loose with the actual history of the transition period. (In Brief this film is depicted as opening in 1927 with sound coming in sometime 1n 1929...in reality "Don Juan" had a synchronized score in 1926..."The Jazz Singer" was a sensation with a dialog in fall 1927, and "the Lights of New York " was ALL TALKING in early 1928...silents were all but totally gone by 1929...barring holdouts like Garbo who talked in 1930...and Chaplin who held out til '36)...If they played fast and loose so they could make the hero crash when the market crashed they could at least have gotten the dates right!!!!
Anyway...it is otherwise a miraculously entertaining movie...(even with the stolen cue from "Vertigo" ...which was nicely used...too bad the film could not have been acknowledged along with Herrman's tiny credit!
I think what impressed me most was how cleverly the script melded elements of "Singin' In the Rain" and "A Star is Born" together and formed a delicious soufflé of a portrait of golden age Hollywood...
Encore...Encore!!
While I was vastly entertained by this film's superb acting and mainly successful atmosphere...I did wish they had not played so fast and loose with the actual history of the transition period. (In Brief this film is depicted as opening in 1927 with sound coming in sometime 1n 1929...in reality "Don Juan" had a synchronized score in 1926..."The Jazz Singer" was a sensation with a dialog in fall 1927, and "the Lights of New York " was ALL TALKING in early 1928...silents were all but totally gone by 1929...barring holdouts like Garbo who talked in 1930...and Chaplin who held out til '36)...If they played fast and loose so they could make the hero crash when the market crashed they could at least have gotten the dates right!!!!
Anyway...it is otherwise a miraculously entertaining movie...(even with the stolen cue from "Vertigo" ...which was nicely used...too bad the film could not have been acknowledged along with Herrman's tiny credit!
I think what impressed me most was how cleverly the script melded elements of "Singin' In the Rain" and "A Star is Born" together and formed a delicious soufflé of a portrait of golden age Hollywood...
Encore...Encore!!
Hugo
(2011)
NOT the classic intended....
4 March 2012
To begin with, Scorsese was NOT the ideal talent to bring this slight (if charming) pastry to the screen. His direct driving touch is far from the only reason that it does not gel....but it is the most important reason....(for an example of what a lighter, defter touch might have done...check out the whimsy and genuine magic of "Midnight In Paris"...Woody Allen might also have done something with some of the actors who seem to be totally beyond Scorsese's control. I am talking of Sacha Baron Cohen in particular whose characterization is so bizarrely misguided that it robs most of the film of genuine tension (I could begin by asking about the horrid cockney accent...and the beyond asinine moment when he is depicted as sharing a bathtub with his dog WHILE WEARING LONG UNDERWEAR...((if it was meant to be funny ha ha ...it ain't))...and the attempt to humanize him with a wishy-washy romance only adds to the films prodigious length).
There are also severe problems with pacing and narrative drive...and most of the big final chase sequence seems quite shockingly amateurish and slip-shod.
Despite the obvious mega-bucks thrown at this (or possibly partially because it it was so grossly over decked out) much of this seems as heavy as a lead balloon...despite some appealing work from the two young stars (though Chloe is a bit too hip, mod and American)...and some of the supporting actors...
My final assessment is that no matter how many awards are thrown at it...it flopped for several good reasons...including the simple fact that it was ill conceived and over produced....things that are almost always detrimental to such light pieces...
It might have made a nice 90 minute animated feature...the heavy (and not too convincing) over use of CGI makes it feel like it is half animated anyway.
There are also severe problems with pacing and narrative drive...and most of the big final chase sequence seems quite shockingly amateurish and slip-shod.
Despite the obvious mega-bucks thrown at this (or possibly partially because it it was so grossly over decked out) much of this seems as heavy as a lead balloon...despite some appealing work from the two young stars (though Chloe is a bit too hip, mod and American)...and some of the supporting actors...
My final assessment is that no matter how many awards are thrown at it...it flopped for several good reasons...including the simple fact that it was ill conceived and over produced....things that are almost always detrimental to such light pieces...
It might have made a nice 90 minute animated feature...the heavy (and not too convincing) over use of CGI makes it feel like it is half animated anyway.
J. Edgar
(2011)
It never claimed to be a documentary...
4 March 2012
This appears to be another highly accomplished and intelligent work from an "Old Master" that will need a few years to finally gain the recognition it deserves. Part of the problem may be that it is not a topic or type of film that most people would expect from Eastwood. He runs afoul of "expectations" much as Scorsese did with "The Aviator" (a biographical epic which may be that director's masterpiece...despite it's losing the Best Picture Oscar to Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby"...how ironic that both that study of H. Hughes and this portrait of J. E. Hoover share not only a leading man but a dazzling sense of period and cinema technique that leaves much of modern film craft in the shade.).
One wonders if the critical brickbats and public indifference that contributed to this films lack of recognition were not largely in response to ultra macho "grand old man" Eastwood taking on the subject of Hoover's clandestine and as depicted here, never acted upon homosexuality. Criticism of the film as being confusing and unable to fully chronicle this mysterious man's remarkable life seem like a lazy knee jerk reaction to this director attempting to move far outside his usual range.
To me this is one of his most graceful, deft, and rewarding jobs as a director yet...and he helps guide stars Di Caprio and Armie Hammer to their richest and most resonant performances. To label the film as an incomplete documentation of it's subject's existence or endlessly quibble about a few technical imperfections (yes, some of the aging makeup is not 100% perfect seems heartless when the performances coming through the makeup are so brilliant).
In summary...if you are looking for gripping drama, some witty high comedy, great acting, and a superstar director proving that he has reserves of sensitivity and dynamism that may well be bottomless you should ignore the quibbles...sit back...and enjoy!
One wonders if the critical brickbats and public indifference that contributed to this films lack of recognition were not largely in response to ultra macho "grand old man" Eastwood taking on the subject of Hoover's clandestine and as depicted here, never acted upon homosexuality. Criticism of the film as being confusing and unable to fully chronicle this mysterious man's remarkable life seem like a lazy knee jerk reaction to this director attempting to move far outside his usual range.
To me this is one of his most graceful, deft, and rewarding jobs as a director yet...and he helps guide stars Di Caprio and Armie Hammer to their richest and most resonant performances. To label the film as an incomplete documentation of it's subject's existence or endlessly quibble about a few technical imperfections (yes, some of the aging makeup is not 100% perfect seems heartless when the performances coming through the makeup are so brilliant).
In summary...if you are looking for gripping drama, some witty high comedy, great acting, and a superstar director proving that he has reserves of sensitivity and dynamism that may well be bottomless you should ignore the quibbles...sit back...and enjoy!
The 84th Annual Academy Awards
(2012 TV Special)
How to fix the Oscars?
29 February 2012
Step one...nominate films that the general public care about...when art house critic's pets dominate..the award looses credibility. And no, I do NOT feel making "Bridesmaids" compete against something arty like "Tree of Life" is the answer.
How about looking back toward the Academy's early history. In 1929 someone had the BRILLIANT idea of giving one award for Artistic Merit...and one for solid popular film-craft..."Sunrise" won for "Artistic Quality Of Production" (and is usually noted as one of last great flowerings of the Silent screen)..."Wings"...a beautifully crafted and exciting audience pleaser won the equivalent of "Best Picture"...rather than having popular entertainment duke it out with artistic triumphs...THEY HONORED BOTH...it seems like a wonderful idea to me...but the "Artistic...." category was deemed unnecessary as of the next awards...
Bring it back...one award for "Film" one for "Movie"...and no it is NOT ghetto-ising popular entertainment...it is celebrating it...
Another basic problem stop with the annoying lead outs...(WHO thought of putting that very out of place musical ensemble up in that balcony...every time they started their cacophony I wanted to turn the channel...and the stupid stunt of having people wandering up and down the aisles handing out goodies...cheap and tacky...
Oh...NEVER do another mind numbing and totally extraneous production number that adds NOTHING to the evening but length (the aerial acrobatics might have wowed the theater audience...they were boring and poorly shot on TV...if you need to provide cheap entertainment for the Hollywood insiders save it for the commercials...
Oh and one last thing CUT BACK ON THE ENDLESS ADS!!!! I watch only one night of TV a year...and the torture of being bombarded with these annoying messages swears me off the medium every year...
Other than that...some writing worthy of the host...and a bit better taste in presenters would be nice...(please no more stoned acting very happy youngsters...Emma Stone seemed to be taking lessons from James Franco...)...
Anyway...I fully believe the awards can be saved...but only if movie lovers are given genuine reasons to continue caring!
How about looking back toward the Academy's early history. In 1929 someone had the BRILLIANT idea of giving one award for Artistic Merit...and one for solid popular film-craft..."Sunrise" won for "Artistic Quality Of Production" (and is usually noted as one of last great flowerings of the Silent screen)..."Wings"...a beautifully crafted and exciting audience pleaser won the equivalent of "Best Picture"...rather than having popular entertainment duke it out with artistic triumphs...THEY HONORED BOTH...it seems like a wonderful idea to me...but the "Artistic...." category was deemed unnecessary as of the next awards...
Bring it back...one award for "Film" one for "Movie"...and no it is NOT ghetto-ising popular entertainment...it is celebrating it...
Another basic problem stop with the annoying lead outs...(WHO thought of putting that very out of place musical ensemble up in that balcony...every time they started their cacophony I wanted to turn the channel...and the stupid stunt of having people wandering up and down the aisles handing out goodies...cheap and tacky...
Oh...NEVER do another mind numbing and totally extraneous production number that adds NOTHING to the evening but length (the aerial acrobatics might have wowed the theater audience...they were boring and poorly shot on TV...if you need to provide cheap entertainment for the Hollywood insiders save it for the commercials...
Oh and one last thing CUT BACK ON THE ENDLESS ADS!!!! I watch only one night of TV a year...and the torture of being bombarded with these annoying messages swears me off the medium every year...
Other than that...some writing worthy of the host...and a bit better taste in presenters would be nice...(please no more stoned acting very happy youngsters...Emma Stone seemed to be taking lessons from James Franco...)...
Anyway...I fully believe the awards can be saved...but only if movie lovers are given genuine reasons to continue caring!
The Tree of Life
(2011)
"2001: A Leave it to Beaver Odyssey"
18 February 2012
Warning: Spoilers
2011's cukoo critic's darling Best Picture Oscar nominee...which all the highbrows voted for to try and convince everyone else (and perhaps themselves) that they understood it.
To be quite frank I feel there is actually very little to understand.
The most disorienting element in the film is the very awkward narrative structure...a few flashbacky-ish bits about a family...3 boys shown at various ages...with a loving mother and a strict father...and a bit of a fast forward to the arrival of a telegram announcing a death in the family...
Then we lunge to a brief present day with a middle age city dweller apparently haunted by and still trying to cope with the family life and the death announced in the sequence we just watched (which might have been one of his dreams or memories...my interpretation)...
We are then suddenly witness to a very long classical music heavy sequence depicting the birth of the cosmos...and the evolution of life on earth (all depicted with none of the imagination or style of "2001" or "Fantasia's" "The Rite of Spring" for that matter)...it may all be someone's attempt to make sense out of life...or it might all be self important self indulgent hooey...
We then suddenly bounce briefly back to modern times...and are then suddenly solidly back in the 50's..where the heart of the film becomes a very stark and conventional depiction of family strife involving a troubled oldest son beginning to rebel against his father's iron rule.
This was the the only part of the film I felt any genuine connection with...and only the fine performances in these scenes keep me from rating the film MUCH lower.
I was a bit dismayed when the film lurched back out into orbit...I wont give concrete details...but my interpretation was that it was INTENDED to be some sort of meditation on death or coming to terms with death...but it seemed pretty simplistic and feel goody and jumbled to me.
I am sure that there are audiences who might relish this film's combination of mind games and pretense...
General audiences might want to keep looking for something more conventional.
To be quite frank I feel there is actually very little to understand.
The most disorienting element in the film is the very awkward narrative structure...a few flashbacky-ish bits about a family...3 boys shown at various ages...with a loving mother and a strict father...and a bit of a fast forward to the arrival of a telegram announcing a death in the family...
Then we lunge to a brief present day with a middle age city dweller apparently haunted by and still trying to cope with the family life and the death announced in the sequence we just watched (which might have been one of his dreams or memories...my interpretation)...
We are then suddenly witness to a very long classical music heavy sequence depicting the birth of the cosmos...and the evolution of life on earth (all depicted with none of the imagination or style of "2001" or "Fantasia's" "The Rite of Spring" for that matter)...it may all be someone's attempt to make sense out of life...or it might all be self important self indulgent hooey...
We then suddenly bounce briefly back to modern times...and are then suddenly solidly back in the 50's..where the heart of the film becomes a very stark and conventional depiction of family strife involving a troubled oldest son beginning to rebel against his father's iron rule.
This was the the only part of the film I felt any genuine connection with...and only the fine performances in these scenes keep me from rating the film MUCH lower.
I was a bit dismayed when the film lurched back out into orbit...I wont give concrete details...but my interpretation was that it was INTENDED to be some sort of meditation on death or coming to terms with death...but it seemed pretty simplistic and feel goody and jumbled to me.
I am sure that there are audiences who might relish this film's combination of mind games and pretense...
General audiences might want to keep looking for something more conventional.
House
(1977)
Who was this mess intended for again?!
8 February 2012
Bizarre (not in a good way) mash up of (very) poorly made horror and even worse juvenile comedy....with some graphic female nudity and sloppy attempts at gore that would be nauseating if they were not so inept.
The visual effects are so cheap looking and slapdash that they bring to mind what Ed Wood might have come up if he were Japanese, into school girl uniforms instead of angora sweaters, and on several controlled substances at once.
The so called script is even worse. The rather squeaky (if pretty) over age school girls are so shallow and annoying that you may start cheering when they start getting mangled (at least you will be happy in the knowledge that their dwindling numbers mean that the ending is growing nearer).
Worst of all is the films lame beyond belief attempts at humor. The acting may be amateurish...the direction may be crude...but the continued clumsy fumbling for laughs outshines everything else in indescribable ineptitude.
Watch it if you dare...and are REALLY desperate for entertainment.
The visual effects are so cheap looking and slapdash that they bring to mind what Ed Wood might have come up if he were Japanese, into school girl uniforms instead of angora sweaters, and on several controlled substances at once.
The so called script is even worse. The rather squeaky (if pretty) over age school girls are so shallow and annoying that you may start cheering when they start getting mangled (at least you will be happy in the knowledge that their dwindling numbers mean that the ending is growing nearer).
Worst of all is the films lame beyond belief attempts at humor. The acting may be amateurish...the direction may be crude...but the continued clumsy fumbling for laughs outshines everything else in indescribable ineptitude.
Watch it if you dare...and are REALLY desperate for entertainment.
Warrior
(2011)
The Best fight film ever?...and much, much more...
5 February 2012
First of all Thank You Academy for nominating Nick Nolte and getting this overlooked masterpiece a bit more notice so it MIGHT be given a chance by people who would normally run screaming fro a mixed martial arts movie...or any movie as badly titled as this one is...
Second of all SHAME ON YOU ACADEMY!!!! for not nominating this masterpiece for AT LEAST editing and cinematography....(oh...and picture would have been well deserved too!).
This is quite simply one of the best movies of the decade...
Period.
Australian Edgerton and Brit Hardy are amazing as two brothers from Pittsburgh...
Anyone who can watch Nolte's pitch perfect and heartbreaking performance without being moved lacks a heart to break.
Superb all around!
Second of all SHAME ON YOU ACADEMY!!!! for not nominating this masterpiece for AT LEAST editing and cinematography....(oh...and picture would have been well deserved too!).
This is quite simply one of the best movies of the decade...
Period.
Australian Edgerton and Brit Hardy are amazing as two brothers from Pittsburgh...
Anyone who can watch Nolte's pitch perfect and heartbreaking performance without being moved lacks a heart to break.
Superb all around!
Zig Zag
(1970)
Would be tricky thriller has some pretty clumsy twists...
26 January 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Would Hitchcock have made something of this strained premise?..
One hopes he would have avoided some of the silly staging (Kennedy escaping from his hospital room in a black suit but no shirt (( would the suit have been left in the room of a recovering prisoner under guard????))Via a freight elevator that is FULL of hospital staff...including a morgue attendant...who ignore this huge half dressed blond band-aided (after brain surgery)giant AS IF HE IS NOT THERE?!?! I was prepared by this scene for a later "twist" which had the central murder victim (in a flashback)willingly getting into "a car he knew"...with the film then contradicting this by having the person who the victim was supposedly expecting to be in the car scream that the car was not even hers at the time of the killing...
I wont reveal who was in the car ...(just suffice to say that it was someone who the victim would not have been expecting a lift from...and that their presence makes the whole crime as illogical and unlikely as much of the rest of this film.
One hopes he would have avoided some of the silly staging (Kennedy escaping from his hospital room in a black suit but no shirt (( would the suit have been left in the room of a recovering prisoner under guard????))Via a freight elevator that is FULL of hospital staff...including a morgue attendant...who ignore this huge half dressed blond band-aided (after brain surgery)giant AS IF HE IS NOT THERE?!?! I was prepared by this scene for a later "twist" which had the central murder victim (in a flashback)willingly getting into "a car he knew"...with the film then contradicting this by having the person who the victim was supposedly expecting to be in the car scream that the car was not even hers at the time of the killing...
I wont reveal who was in the car ...(just suffice to say that it was someone who the victim would not have been expecting a lift from...and that their presence makes the whole crime as illogical and unlikely as much of the rest of this film.
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