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Reviews
Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
Disappointing film...
Someone had the opportunity to set the record straight once and for all. And Clint Eastwood didn't do it.
Granted, the subject was touched upon briefly during the film but here was a vehicle and opportunity that could make heroes out of the guys who raised the first flag on Iwo Jima. It could have identified them and told their story. It could have brought to light in an even bigger way that the original flag heroes have been forgotten. It could have given them their rightful place in history.
But Eastwood instead chose to with the usual story about the "heroes of Iwo Jima". Yes, the story of Ira Hayes is tragic... but it has been told before. Yes, there was lots of killing at the Japanese waited until the beaches were full but we already knew that. And yes, it cost a great many lives to flush the caves and pillboxes that were responsible for so many deaths... but we know that from the John Wayne flick, "Sands of Iwo Jima" and from battle footage.
Since I had already watched "Letters from Iwo Jima", I thought it very interesting how Eastwood interwove the two stories with crossover characters. But this movie lacked hardly any color and was very dark even in the scenes "back home" in America.
Why couldn't the record have been set right? Eastwood included the photographer of the first flag raising in the movie but never mentioned his name or gave him any credit. He never mentioned the names of the guys who raised that first flag. He only retold the same old story. And one more omission... he could have punched up the defense that the second flag raising was not staged. That has been the source of much controversy over the years and it was given one or two lines.
"Saving Private Ryan" made me care about the characters. "Flags of Our Fathers" left me as barren and devoid as that island in the Pacific where so many Marines lost their lives. What a pity... it could have been so much more.
Click (2006)
Just when I thought I could like an Adam Sandler film...
I have tried... honest, I have tried to like Adam Sandler. Granted he was on SNL and when you think of the quality of that program lately, that's not saying much.
And I've tried to watch several of his movies including Punch Drunk Love and none of them have ever done anything for me. Now, there is one more to add to the list... Click.
Any time I get to look at Kate Beckinsale usually makes the rest of any bad movie go away. But not even her beauty could overcome the rest of this stinko.
It started with the dog humping the oversize stuffed duck... and then again... and then again. And then remark by Donna about the repairs needed to the duck. And then came the ultimate insult to my movie going sense... the "fart joke".
I don't know why anyone over 12 in the movie industry won't come to the realization that ANYONE can do "fart jokes". They are the most common form of humor because anyone can do them. And if that is the range of your comedy, whether it is "The Family Guy" writers or Adam Sandler, then you are pretty limited. I have now seen Adam Sandler urinating against a building, farting in someone's face, beating up an old man (Bob Barker) and making fun of someone with a disability (Carl Weathers). Is there no limit to how low Adam Sandler can go with his humor? Take a look at Robin Williams... at least he balances out his "potty" humor with something worthwhile every now and again like "The Fisher King" or "Awakenings" or "Midnight Sun". And Steve Martin can go for hours without one "fart joke". But not Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider or any of the lot of "new comedians". It is as old and thread worn as wearing a dress and thinking that no one since Uncle Miltie has done it.
I couldn't even watch the end of this movie. I had to turn it off. It makes my list of 10 worst movies, which is now populated by at least 4 Adam Sandler movies; "Little Nikita", "Big Daddy", "Happy Gilmore" and now "Click".
I just ain't cut out for this "new comedy" stuff. Give me a good pratfall artist or someone quick with a quip any day over someone who's idea of comedy is a fart in the face. I guess I just don't get it.
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Hmmm... how did this become a "broad comedy"?
We just got back from viewing this film, and at the risk of sounding "punnish", here is a snapshot of my take on this flick.
While this is not supposed to be a "chick flick" but an adult alternative to Superman Returns for the box office buck, I sure felt lonely in the half packed auditorium. I could count the number of other males in the audience on one hand... and I didn't have to use my thumb.
This is a very witty, charming but retold "coming of age" story. You know, naive girl comes to NYC (with a boyfriend already attached that is never explained), gets job with hoity-toity "dragon lady" boss, loses her ideals in the glamour, comes to her senses and wins back her morals (and her soul... but not quite everything. You'll see what I mean). I don't consider this a spoiler so much as a plot summary of what we have seen in lots of other flicks and the John Cusack/Kate Beckinsale movie "Serendipity" comes to mind. But what "Serendipity" lacked was Meryl Streep as a villain... but with a heart of pure ice.
Streep takes a great turn for the runway with this flick. She has rarely been this acerbic, able with a oneliner and so vulnerable all at the same time. And having spent several years building sets, hanging lights and hauling around equipment while prima donna models treat you as largely invisible, I can attest that this movie has all the right (yes, another pun coming...) moves. The girls are snobby, thin and lacking in self esteem, the main designer is played by Stanley Tucci to a "t" and and the plot's one main twist is not really apparent until it is sprung.
I really enjoyed this movie. I can only hope to see "A Prairie Home Companion" while "Prada" is fresh in my mind. I want to see if Streep really is in her "salad days" and ensuring her place in Hollywood history as the most versatile actress since the "Golden Age" of Bette Davis, Anne Bancroft, Barbara Stanwyck and the other great actresses of the screen. I think she is already 90% there and "Prada" only serves to provide more fuel for that greatness fire.
By the way, I hope that we see much more of Anne Hathaway than we have of Kate Beckinsale... and I don't mean skin since she has already done that in "Brokeback Mountain" and "Havoc". I just hope she doesn't become another pretty face lost in the blecch called the Hollywood of Kirsten Dunst, Jessica Simpson, Kate Bosworth and all the bleach blonde "flavors of the day". She has a great look and a great presence. I hope someone finds the right, next great script for her.
Finding Neverland (2004)
Touching and beautiful
What a masterpiece hidden in the guise of a great film.
Unfortunately, I think this movie is going to be largely overlooked as "too deep" or "too talky" or "I can't think that much"... but if only your average Joe and Jane knew what they were seeing! Right down to the style of the waves in the make believe ocean when Peter is forced to walk the plank (yes, that is how it was really done in that style of theater... cutout waves on sticks manipulated by stagehands with a whale jumping through...), the whole movie just sings. And that is no pun.
Depp's portrayal of J.M. Barrie should be ranked up there with anything Barrymore, Olivier, Huston or Flynn ever imagined doing. It is tender, touching, youthful and what's more believable. He brought "Peter pan" to life from the lives of 5 boys. If you read the "true" backstory, it isn't nearly as dramatic as the movie makes out, but that's okay. The point is well taken.
This movie belongs in any collection of any true videophile. And remember, you have to be childlike to get it. Lose yourself in your old world of make believe and you can be a kid again.
Closer (2004)
An unhappy movie filled with unhappy people
In my entire life, I have only walked out of two movies... and this was the second.
As my wife and I sat through the email sequence between Dan and the Doctor, I felt dirty. I am no prude but it just felt like peeping into someone's bathroom while they had one off.
This was seconded by the conversation in the kitchen with Anna and the doc... after the secrets are out. Nothing could have made me want to watch these unhappy people destroy themselves and their worlds.
Yes, this is a hard movie to watch. And I am no prude... but I can think of lots better ways to spend a Saturday afternoon at the movies with my wife... and they don't involve Sponge Bob. I am a Mike Nichols fan but this movie joins "Ordinary People" as just too hard to watch. Maybe it hits too close to home (I have been "there" before in some of the same break-up situations) and I just didn't want to see the pain. Not all movies are going to be nice but this one was too mean and hard... it just didn't sit well. I felt so dirty after watching it,I went home and took a shower.
Ihope this will be the last comment I need to make about this sad, sad movie about sad, sad people. And I hope I never have to see it again.
Looking for an Echo (2000)
Was going well until...
I saw this movie late last night on HBO and since, and since I had never heard of it prior to this and am intrigued with the whole "doo-wop", I gave it a watch.
All of that good acting and performance was just plain killed. Since I agreed not to present "spoilers", it is hard to tell you why but let's just say this... once, just once, I would like to see a director realize the best singing performances are done by actors who can actually sing. Sissy Spacek did it in "Coal Miner's Daughter" (along with Beverly D'Angleo)... Bette Midler did it in "The Rose" (maybe that one isn't fair as Midler was singing long before she was acting)... Gary Busey did it in "The Buddy Holly Story". Why, oh why must bad lip synching be allowed to ruin a great movie? The story was great, the side bar stories were great, the group was believable (although given the great names of the"doo-wop" groups like the Chesterfield, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, The Coasters, I think they could have done better than "Vinnie and the Dreamers". I could think of half a dozen "better" doo-wop group names off the top of my head), and then... kerplunk. The ending...
Watch it, enjoy the pathos and the great performances (especially those with the daughter), listen to some amazing harmonizing and then close your eyes and hear one of the best endings to a movie... just don't spoil it by opening your eyes!