thespian57 Reviews

Collateral (2004)

snoozer of a plot and lousy acting leave thriller flat

[2/10 · 30 December 2005]

This is without a doubt the worst movie I have seen in a long time. Tom Cruise makes a sloppy hit man and the movie ends literally because he runs out of bullets. First off, no hit man in his right mind would use the same vehicle time after time. Do ya think that would put the cops and feds hip to him? well duh!!! Then he screws up his whole shtick by dumping a body on top of the van then putting it in a trunk! for crying out loud is this laurel and Hardy or what?

In another plot hole, Cruise obviously offs his target with a silencer but then takes out two thugs with a gun loud enough for us to hear cop cars coming blocks away!!! Come on ! use the silencer for crying out loud.. Then the car crash! No one could have walked out of that crash without at least a broken bone but both of them act like it was a walk in the park! And who heard of four unarmed cops chasing a killer in a crowded disco? Cruise takes all four of them out of course with the same gun he's used since the beginning of the movie.

In another scene in the hospital he sets his briefcase down half a room away, conveniently next to Foxx who then bolts with it! Of course Cruise has the stuff he needs on a palm pilot...we knew that but what we didn't know is why he needed the case in the first place!

Yes this comment contains many spoilers but only about as many as this terrible film has plot holes.... sorry about that

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

the wonderful land of Narnia

[10/10 · 29 December 2005]

Having grown up with the Oz series, the Rings series, and the Narnia series, Watching this movie at age 48 gave me a chance to be a child again. I was drawn into the film from the start. What really got my attention was the comparison of the bombed out London to the land of Narnia where it is always cold and never Christmas... not much joy there, but the children worked together and brought it back just as in the books. I won't comment on the technological aspects, only that this film is a worthwhile view for children of all ages yes, all ages. I wish I could see it with my ten year old daughter and be her age all over again. With all the garbage that is being sold as quality movie viewing, its nice to see a film you can enjoy with your children again. I mean children younger than 13. The potter series is good but I wouldn't take my younger daughter to see it because its a bit much for her to understand. But this series is perfect for your young ones.

Well done Disney!

Romeo and Juliet (1936)

a cautionary tale

[6/10 · 28 December 2005]

I found the stars too old for their roles. I suppose this started the trend of over agers playing teenagers (remember Grease? or more to the point, west side story?) The only person I found to look close to the age Shakespeare had in mind was Reginald Denny. The acting was OK. I loved Barrymore's Mercutio. Someone asked why he had not played Romeo given his penchant for playing the Lover. Barrymore replied "for two reasons dear boy...Juliet, and Mercutio". Barrymore was correct in that Juliet is the stronger of the two leads, and Mercutio of course is the most colorful of the supporting players. Basil Rathbone plays himself naturally, a calculating villain of course. Norma Shearer gives the strength to Juliet that Leslie Howard Lacks in Romeo.

Barrymore was by the time of this movie considered to be washed up in Hollywood. He gave one more creditable performance in 1939 in "the great man votes", and one more comdeic performance in "midnight" after Romeo and Juliet. His role in this film is the standout performance. For the ladies, my nod goes to Edna Mae Oliver, the starchy character actress as Juliet's nurse.

the scenery is too gaudy even for Shakespeare's standards. The costumes, however are a delight. This movie, filmed before Irving Thalberg's death was released after he died.

Gable and Lombard (1976)

one of Hollywood's great love stories

[7/10 · 28 December 2005]

Not quite excellent but Both James Brolin and Jill Clayburgh give creditable performances in one of Hollywood's great love stories. This film was re;eased the same year as "WC Fields and Me" about another Hollywood couple, Fields and Carlotta Monti. "Gable and Lombard" captures the Hollywood scene of the 1930's a bit better than the other film does, and the two leads are more believable then in the other film. More than showing the screen side of these two, "Gable and Lombard" explores the off screen life of the pair. Anyone looking for dirt will be greatly disappointed. The life of Clark Gable and Carol Lombard as shown in this film is anything but boring. Thus, the emotion is genuine when we learn as does Gable that nothing is forever.

"Gable and Lombard" gives us an honest look into the lives of two people who just happened to be movie stars.

Cradle Will Rock (1999)

the plot thickens...

[8/10 · 28 December 2005]

This is more the story of an era rather than the story of a play. The WPA was one of Franklin Roosevelts greatest achievements in an era when not too many people felt great. The federal theatre project was one arm of the WPA. Welle's Mercury theater was part of the FTA. This movie was extremely well researched. Angus McFayden does a great job as Welles. Countering him is Cary Elwes as John Houseman. We recently had this theatre treasure come to us as Professor Kingsfield in "The Paper Chase" film and TV series. Will Geer, part of Welles's group was the grandfather in "The Waltons". Viewers will get a wonderful rendering of a largely forgotten Musical by Marc Blitztein and Bertholt Brecht. "The cradle will rock" is a pro-worker anti-big business piece that rocked the theatre going world in an era where Big Business was largely responsible for the working man's woes. Interwoven within the basic plot of the composition and production of this play are subplots dealing with Mexican painter Diego Rivera (some of whose murals are visible even today) and art dealings by Musolini's mistress.

This is a very compelling film well directed and acted. A must see for musical theater students, and just about everyone else.

Mars Attacks! (1996)

A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing, ( but he did it well!!)

[3/10 · 28 December 2005]

this movie was so bad it was great! We needed a cheesy film like the 50's style movies and we got it in spades! Tim Burton assembled an all star cast who knew what they were doing (including Rod Steiger and Jack Nicholson, who both got started during that era...Steiger before) and sent up every Sci Fi movie made, including Dr. Strangelove. Tom Jones gets pretty thin after a while and his cameo was even good parodying himself (quite like Robert Goulet). THe production staff was huge, everything was huge about this movie take off on War of the Worlds. the only person missing who should have been there was Orson Welles perhaps mocking his 1938 radio production.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

a great filming of a literature classic. (possible spoiler)

[10/10 · 27 December 2005]

This is Walt Disney's first live action non nature film. He had a lot at stake, being famous more for his animated films and nature documentaries. People will complain that this film didn't really follow the book but then much of the book was scientific and zoologic in nature and wouldn't have translated well to the screen. the basic bare bones plot of castaways aboard a submarine was therefore used as the basis for this film and it worked just fine. The squid was more dramatic then the octopuses described in the book.

The Squid sequence cost about one third the budget of the entire film and nearly bankrupted the studio and had to be shot twice, but the results showed at Oscar time.

The film was very well cast, though I would like to have seen someone younger for Conseil. The marquee names however sold seats which is what Disney needed, so Peter Lorre got the nod.

This is the very first film I remember seeing as a child and it sparked an interest in technology and engineering that has remained in me to this day. In fact I got my Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology based on interests that came up after viewing this movie. I only wish I could tell Mr. Disney how much one movie motivated a young boy.

The film still holds up well today 50 years after it was made. Look for the two DVD set with all the trimmings. Disney made a documentary for Television called "Operation Undersea" which one an emmy for best TV documentary. This program was the equivalent of today's "making of..." extras on most dvds.

Sahara (2005)

somewhat disappointing effort

[5/10 · 27 December 2005]

The main complaint I have with this film is the characterizations. Particularly offensive was Al Giordino. This Al was nothing like Cussler describes him in the Pitt books. This guy is like one half of a comedy team most of the time. Gunn is not the efficient navy commander as portrayed by Cussler. He appears to be confused half the time and in fact played a major role in the "Sahara" novel. Sandecker was not the no-nonsense fitness nut we are used to seeing in the novels. Thes character changes were unnecessary for this film. The original personalities could have been intact and nothing would have suffered from the film.

My other gripe is the omission of the Kitty Mannock Sequence from the prologue to this film. Moreover the Civil War prologue was completely different from the one in the novel. Why? It didn't have to be. 5 minutes spent on Kitty Mannock and 5 minutes on the civil war prologue would have been enough to set the stage.

I wanted to see the major shoot out with Massarde's men in Fort Foreau as in the novel. Also the scene with Dirk and Al crossing the desert chained to the bed of a truck is an out of place comedy sketch. Not like them at all. The wind racer sequence made no sense at all without the Kitty Mannock prologue.

All in all though much more action here than in "Raise the Titanic", and I enjoyed the portrayal of Dirk Pitt. I don't think they quite have it right yet and that was the major complaint of Author Cussler about "Raise the Titanic", and rightly so. I do think that this was a better effort than "Raise the Titanic"

Rhapsody in Blue (1945)

interesting life of America's Great Jazz composer

[6/10 · 27 December 2005]

this biopic is pretty typical. A lot of it was of course fictionalized. The Joan Leslie Character was in fact a composite of many loves of Gershwin's life. These included the composer Kay Swift and the actress Paulette Goddard. "Swannee" was not in fact Gershwin's first published tune as implied, nor did Ira Gershwin write the words to that song as further implied. By the time "Swanee" appeared, Gershwin had already contributed to, or written the scores for several Broadway productions. And in fact, "Swanee" was not heard for the first time in Jolson's "Sinbad" but had an inauspicious debut in a New York bordello where Jolson heard it.

Ira was not the only lyricist Gershwin worked with. He also wrote songs with Buddy DeSylva who is mostly seen as a Broadway producer in this film. In fact, the one act opera "blue Monday" featured in this film was written by Gershwin with DeSylva doing the libretto. Whiteman had nothing to do with the orchestration as implied in this film. "Rhapsody in Blue" was originally scored for a much smaller jazz orchestra rather than the symphonic size orchestra seen in the movie. More over it was Ferde Grofe and NOT Paul Whiteman who did the scoring for symphonic orchestra.

Other than these snipes, one can get a glimpse into the actual personality of Oscar Levant, who appears as his normal sour self with his own dialog for good measure. ("Tell me George, if you had it to do all over again would you still fall in love with yourself?"... "An evening with George Gershwin is a George Gershwin evening.") Actually Levant and Gershwin did not meet until the 1930s..later in fact than implied in this film.

Still, "Rhapsody in Blue offers a unique glimpse into the music of one of America's most beloved composers.

Independence Day (1996)

lackluster remake of "War of the Worlds"

[2/10 · 27 December 2005]

this was a pretty awful attempt to pass off H G Welles's "War of the Worlds". In fact I read in Premiere magazine where two writers were in a diner and one said "hey I got an original idea..." well its not original folks, it's HG Welles right down to the computer virus that stops the ships as opposed to the common cold virus. THe acting was lackluster despite an all star cast. The film was too cluttered, it jumped from character to character too much and had no focus. If one wants to see a superior effort covering the same subject matter, then 2005 remake of the original "War of the Worlds' is recommended. Most people are a bit more intelligent than the patronizing screen writers here realize. Better luck next time

King Kong (2005)

King Kong Lives!!!

[8/10 · 27 December 2005]

This is an excellent remake of the 1933 version. It is one of the best remakes I have yet seen. Black Jack (Carl Denham) looks nothing more familiar than the mirror image of young Orson Welles! I wonder if the costumers and make up people had that in mind for his look. If not, they should have. Welles himself could have played that role. The characters were great! I really enjoyed Lumpy, the cockney cook. the lost world sequences were top notch. This had to be an expensive movie to make but the viewer will more than get his money's worth. The contrast between the jungles of Skull Island and the Jungles of New York are never more apparent until one views this movie. The depression era sequences at the beginning of the film reminded me of the first part of "Seabiscuit" and really accented the desire to escape the sadness of the depression for a more adventurous time and place.

there is a reference by Denham to Fay Wray while considering possibilities for a no show actress for his film before Anne Darrow comes along. "Fay?... no she's in Hollywood under contract to RKO." great remake of a classic film of its time. No one had ever done a film in the 30's like King Kong. Most films were high society, or classic literature films. King Kong was way ahead of its time.

A Face in the Crowd (1957)

absolute power corrupts absolutely

[24 December 2005]

An Arkansas hobo gets a second chance on the outside via a "you are there" radio show called "a face in the crowd". Andy Griffith gives an Oscar caliber performance as Lonesome Rhoads, a hillbilly spending time in Jail for being drunk. He gets superstardom on radio first, then TV due to his supposed connection with the common folk. "Lnoesome Rhode's cracker barrel" is the name of the TV show. The woman he has ditched for fame leaves the mike on in the sound booth one night after taping... and you can figure the rest. In a sub plot, old time director Marshal Neilan gives a masterful last performance as a senatorial candidate place in that position by the "smoke filled back room" cronies of a political machine. This movie would portend future films such as "Network" with Peter Finch as the crazed Howard Beale, and "Broadcast News" with William Hurt as a powerful newsman reduced by throat cancer who learns his lesson.

"A face in the Crowd" was written by bud schulberg, and directed by Elila Kazan. Both were very much "message" oriented film makers. This film is a must see for any film school student. Stark editing, crisp direction and great performances make this a stand out film of the 1950s. My own impression is that this is the best film Rod Serling Never wrote.

The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)

Ochyen Horoschow ! (translation very good!)

[23 December 2005]

This ensemble comedy film was made around the same time as "Its Mad Mad Mad Mad World". Poking fun at the cold war, this movie leaves no holds barred as confusion and miscommunication reign! Hopelessly lost off the coast of New England, a Russian Sub sets ashore a crew of nautical misfits headed by Alan Arkin to try and find out whats where. A who's who of comedy led by Jonathan Winters on the American side leads everyone to pandemonium. Look for Limeliter singer Alex Hassilev in a character role as a Russian sailor. Alan Arkin does a very creditable job with a Russian dialect and accent. Character actor Theodore Bikel has played almost every nationality and dialect there is. He recorded an album of Russian folk songs not long before this movie was made.

The Paper Chase (1978–1986)

the best show on television

[22 December 2005]

Recipe for success. Put a bunch of graduate students from all levels of experience and schooling together in one place under one tough teacher, mix well, and cook thoroughly for 4 years. This concept worked better as a TV series than it did as a movie. Though the movie focused more on Hart and Susan, Kingsfields daughter, I found myself wondering more about the other students. Thanks to this well written and acted program, I found out more about o'Connor, and Ford, Bell, and the rest.

This television show first aired opposite the "Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley" hour, a death knell for any television show of that era. It moved to Friday nights in the grave yard and there it sat until Showtime picked it up and ran with it. Easily my favorite television show of all time. The writing was consistently excellent as was the ensemble acting. My only complaint was that in some ways it was predictable. We all knew that Hart was going to be at the top of his class. The guest players (Connie Lehman, among others) moved in and out with credibility. The message to this show is that no one makes it through school alone. I am in Seminary now and have made use of the "study group" as used in this show.

The comic relief (from Stots, and Zeiss, and Willis Bell) offset the drama quite nicely. This show just goes to show what a bunch of relative unknowns can do with quality material. (remember cheers, and taxi?.and particularly M*A*S*H?..yes those are comedies, but the rule holds.... ). I hope this show comes out on DVD sometime soon. I recorded most of the first season and some of the outstanding subsequent episodes on Showtime.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

spy vs spy thriller only substitute assassin for spy

[6/10 · 16 December 2005]

I found this movie quite similar to the Jack Nicholson Kathleen Turner film "prizzi's Honor" back in 1985. I found the plot this time to be a bit predictable. and as such, the action was OK but the plot was really a snoozer. It was a bit funny though to see a couple of hit persons at a marriage counselor. The only difference here was that the two were to hit the same person and both got in each others way. As a result, each had to go after the person who spoiled the hit, and naturally it was each other. In Prizzi's Honor, Nicholson throws over a mafia don's daughter and hooks up with Turner. of course they are ordered to hit each other but Prizzi's Honor comes off like a black comedy.