mlwjah Reviews

Robinson Crusoe (1997)

Don't pay attention to the 'Book Snobs'. It's a Good Movie!

[10/10 · 4 March 2010]

I don't know why people are so down on this movie. Why does every movie made from a book have to be faithful to every bit of dialogue or thought? What happened to poetic license? So what it's not faithful to the book. It's a really entertaining and touching movie with a moral. It made me want to open my copy of the book and actually re-read it. You people need to lighten up! Pierce Brosnan is wonderful and yes, I forgot his James Bond persona when watching. Mr. Takaku is wonderful too. He brings a dignity to the character that is certainly not in the book. The movie version brings up some interesting racial and religious sidebars too, which are handled very nicely. I have seen this movie several times and the ending is always heart-wrenching. I end up in tears every time. No it's not Academy Award stuff but it's very worthwhile watching. All in all a nice little gem of a movie. Enjoy!

Slaves (1969)

The Great Stephen Boyd

[5/10 · 13 January 2009]

It's a shame this movie wasn't that great because besides Ossie Davis ( a fine actor in his own right), it also has another great actor, Stephen Boyd (who always got 5 stars among the women in my house). He was a great and under appreciated actor. Dionne Warwick was laughable (that should be in capital letters)...the worse thing in the movie. I suppose, in its way, the movie was trying to make a point. Stephen Boyd also starred in another movie about race relations called Carter's Army, I think. Another movie, trying to make a point about race relations. I read somewhere that Mr. Boyd only took movies that tried to make social comments in some way. This one is not up there with the great ones, but either way, the late, great Stephen Boyd is worth a watch.

The Bodyguard (1992)

Great Saturday Night Movie

[5 April 2008]

Why do people trash this movie? It's not high art but it's thoroughly entertaining. WH's performance in this movie is better than all her others...just watch the scene when she asks Frank Farmer to take her on a date. Natural, unaffected and charming. Kevin Costner underplays his role and I enjoyed watching him. I just bought the anniversary DVD and it has great backstage footage and very interesting tidbits. For example, it was Kevin Costner's idea, against a lot of protest, to have WH sing the first few bars of 'I will Always Love You' acapella. Smart man. And it is interesting to listen to the comments of Costner about this movie. He was a major star but he waited and held up production of this movie a year so he could get WH. He didn't want anyone else and was willing to wait for her. He refused to interject a story line that would 'explain' the Black/White thing (Bravo). And although Black/White pairings are fairly common now, THEN, for a major star to have a real black love interest ( and an untested actress at that) was a bold move. And it paid off. I don't know why he has not been as successful recently. The DVD interviews were done about 2 yrs ago and WH was still drug crazy (so no interviews with her) but Kevin Costner's last words in the interviews are about her and he said, among other things, that he would always love Whitney. Their chemistry was spot on. I WILL ALWAYS LOVE THIS MOVIE.