Change Your Image
kuzumel
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Screen Two: Do Not Disturb (1991)
suspenseful tale by a haunted woman
This is a story about the events that haunt the narrator (Jenny).
The ensemble of actors play their parts believably. The narrator tells the story of the writer's tour, sketching in the histories of the two guides and eight tourists interested in discovering the secrets behind mystery writer Eleanor Mont. Are her books really autobiographical or did she have a really great talent to transform the remote North Sea fishing village into a cauldron of Gothic terror and suspense? This is not a horror story in the "corpse in the cellar" sense. It is a throwback to those classic British stories with mad relatives, moody heroes, dastardly villains, and settings where tragic events from the past still infect the spot (and possibly our tourists?). Think of it as more along the lines of Daphne du Maurier's novel "Rebecca" than a "Nightmare on Elm Street".
For me, this episode works very well.
However, I had to deduct 2 points for the piercing score that sets the mood with a brick trowel. Oh, and another point for that wimpy ending as the narrator, Jenny, comes back to the present.
Hotel! (2001)
Very bad attempt at slapstick comedy
Aside from comparisons to the disaster spoofs from the 1970's and 80's, this movie attempts to spoof the terrorists ransoming a world leader plots from the 1990's and onwards. So I'm judging this by the genre of slapstick comedy films from the 1920's onwards.
In short, IT DOES NOT WORK! Very poor attempts at humor, relentlessly lined up one right after another. In-your-face slaps instead of sly winks. The actors ran out of scenery to chew and resorted to sawdust. What plot there was fell onto the "over cooked noodle" and kept running away whimpering.
The only redeeming funny part was the final chase scene. Then the LAPD and 3-Stooges-FBI agents ruin it.
Do not waste your time on this one.
Matters of the Heart (1990)
Decent playing in an OK movie of the week
The answer is "No" the actors are not playing the piano. The most telling clue is the hands are located in the wrong registers relative to the music when you see them playing. The close ups show the hands of at least two others who knows how to play the pieces, but the effort expended does not match the soundtrack. If you want to see a better match of actor, stand-in player, and musical dubbing, go see The Seventh Veil, if you can find it on a movie channel.
Otherwise, this is a fairly standard TV movie of a nearly burned out artist who finds a protégé and some emotional fulfillment in a talented young man, Steven.
I guess this was a weeper of the week back in the heyday of 1970's TV movies. Lots of chances to exercise and practice acting, but not enough time to fully develop the story or characters.
Lost Horizon (1937)
A film that still resonates, enhanced by a great actor and haunting premise
If you've read the other reviews, you won't need a plot summary.
I'm a big fan of James Hilton but postponed reading this book or seeing the movie until I felt I was old enough to appreciate it. I found it again in my 40's because of Ronald Colman. In the context of his films, this has to be in the top five. As his daughter said, he felt this role reflected his own personal philosophy and I think this shows in his "performance."
It is now one of my personal favorites - great acting (Ronnie's), visually stunning location shots (even if some were sets inside a giant ice house), and a valley you hope spy satellites never find from outer space. Ronald Colman was, and is, one of the great Hollywood actors. It is no coincidence that he played some of the best noble, self-sacrificing character roles of the classic movie era. I guess it was satisfying to have Ronnie finally end up with the girl, rather than the original Hilton ending where he vanishes into the Himalayas, his fate unknown. I guess audiences at the time did not think a man motivated by a desire to live out his life according to a noble philosophy has enough incentive to conquer vast mountain ranges.
The other impressive performance is Sam Jaffe's portrayal of the 200 year-old high lama. Which goes to show how superb acting combined with strategic lighting and understated makeup makes you believe he really has lived all those years. The rest of the cast is mostly stock 1930's characters - most added to meet audience tastes at the time: the fallen woman who's dieing, the swindler, the meek "everyman" and the insecure younger brother who basks in reflected glory. I'm also going to ignore the horrible typecasting of the simple native villagers versus the more enlightened outsider (read westerners) who are the monks. I think the village scenes were needed for the comic relief rather than forwarding the central conflict - Conway finally finding his place in the world against his sense of responsibility to his brother.
The story, the movie and the characters on the plane still resonate, even after 70 years. What really struck me is how much the beginning of the 21st century seems to be the reflected in the world surrounding the story. Can a leader like Robert Conway exist today? Is Shangri La still safe guarding the treasures of mankind? One can only hope. In the mean time, I'll take this movie out every couple of years to refresh my rose colored glasses and remind myself to "be kind."