Reviews

So, is this movie set in 1998 or earlier? Because if it's set in modern times, then these four lads wouldn't have had a prayer of convincing anyone of their Christian and charitable intentions.

It's interesting that none of the Christians or college students pulled out their smart phones to use Google or Facebook or Twitter. I guess they couldn't because the movie would have ended right then and there. Just one Facebook photo of these a-holes at a frat party drinking, chasing girls and beating up pledges would have killed their whole "Christian" fakery.

But of course Christians and college students do use social media, so the whole premise of this film is silly. No million-dollar tour--and particularly not a Christian evangelical tour--would use an untested group of four as the center of their presentation. These guys would be scrutinized and vetted seven different ways from Sunday. (Oh, I forgot, the tour manager did see them one time at some cheap college frat party and kind of liked their lame presentation, totally copied from another lame presentation.) Imagine the scandal if one of these dudes tried to seduce little Mary Lou Holypants while high on Jesus. It would destroy the tour. (To its credit the film did raise this point when the tour manager told the music director that a pastor was a little too loose in the pants a few years earlier and almost destroyed their entire mission.)

But then again, why let the truth get in the way of a bad story?

Take "Shane", put him in a collar, make the kid a teenage girl instead of a little boy, and you have "The Gun and the Pulpit." Marjoe Gortner is an interesting actor, but the bad guy could have used more of the menace that Jack Palance brought to "Shane". The cheapness of the typical '70's made for TV movie shines through, so it's hard to give this more than a five out of ten.

But I like Marjoe. I hear he's running charitable events involving golf in Hollywood these days. It's too bad his acting career never took off.

I also liked the gunfight where both gunfighters miss. That's something I'd never seen before in a Western. There was some thinking going on here.

In "The Cadets", we get an in-depth story about how the Soviets trained their troops for the Great Patriotic War around the time of the Battle of Stalingrad. These cadets are learning artillery, but they are also learning about life in a small town--about women, about power, and about war. The acting is brilliant. I particularly liked Igor Petrenko as an officer, the son of a general, forced by his conscience to commit treason. Igor's character must steal oats from the supply depot in order to feed the woman he loved because she faced starvation after she had her ration book stolen. (We lovers of Russian cinema saw Igor's ability to act in the movie "Zvezda" (The Star), where he played a captain killed on a scouting mission deep behind German lines.) The Cadets is a miniseries that takes about ten hours. I loved the technique of having the director, who lived the events depicted in the film, narrate what happened to many of the characters during and after the war. The Cadets is a valid investment in time that will pay off in performances that stay in your memory long after viewing. I highly recommend it.

This is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Whenever I feel down or my energy lags, I pop this film into my VCR and I'm transformed. The rythm of the movie is what I enjoy most. It is like a great symphony, with rising action that compliments the wonderful music by Donovan.

This is a film that is totally captive to its time and place. It's impossible to think of this movie being made five years earlier or later. It is completely a product of the early '70's. The brotherly love shown by the Franciscans of Assisi, the touching of man to man without a hint of homosexuality, would be unthinkable today.

Franco Zeffrelli is a master of setting up his camera and location shooting. Notice the great sweeps over the lovely red and yellow fields of Italy, and the use of the architecture of the region.

I recently bought this documentary on DVD and watched it several times in succession. It is the best archival source of Depression-era material I have ever run across. I particulary enjoyed the segment with Huey Long. What a terrific speaker he was! And to see him on stage with Ina Ray Hutton, the woman band leader, was a real treat. I highly recommend this for historians of America in the 20th century.

I have seen this film at least a dozen times and I've enjoyed it more and more with each viewing. George Peppard gives the performance of a lifetime as Jonas Cord, a tycoon modeled after Howard Hughes. Jonas makes his fortune in chemicals, then branches out into aviation and then, most importantly, into Hollywood.

I love the absolute male/female dichotomy in the film. Men are men and women are women, and that's that. Each manipulates the other for their own gains. A lot like real life!

My favorite actor in the film out of a wonderful cast is the eternally youthful Bob Cummings. Bob was 53 when this was filmed and looked about 36. He really knew how to play a role. What a guy!

I guess when you are a kid of around six or seven, you start to notice the teenagers around you and what they're doing. And for the rest of your life you associate "cool" with the clothes, cars, music, and hair styles of the teenagers you see when you are a little kid. This movie really speaks to me, because I still get goose pimples when I see the fashions, cars, girls, hair, and everything else of the years 1965-67. And the wonderful music! Was there ever a better sound than the Philly sound of those years? I love all those doo-wop tunes--the O'Jays, Gene Chandler, "The Duke of Earl", Curtis Mayfield, Vee-Jay records, "The Real Thing", and on and on...

This film is excellent in so many ways, I can't list them all. First of all, the writer and director, Mark Rosenthal, got the look right. Philly in 1965 was a nice suburban city, with a core of hoods and blacks who brought spirit and life to the City of Brotherly Love. The acting is terrific from the young cast, and the extras put their heart and soul into the dancing and clothing of those years. Joe Pantoliano "becomes" Jerry Blavat and gives a wonderful and energetic performance. And I loved the ending, because the 60's only became the 60's when the kids discovered Dylan, San Francisco, and drugs. It was a step in the wrong direction, but this film serves as a time capsule. Maybe some future generation will rediscover that dancing, love and soul music make youth the best time of life.

I first saw "The Conterfeit Traitor" when I was a teenager, and I remember how much I enjoyed it then. I hadn't seen it since, and I tuned in to it about halfway on TCM. I was ready to dismiss my liking the film as a folly of my youth because it seemed to be slow and overacted. However, I stuck with it and I'm happy I did. The film really began to move when William Holden's love interest was arrested by the Gestapo, and it became emotionally absorbing to its end. The last hour of the film is as good as anything I've ever seen about the Second World War. I was particularly fascinated by a scene where the Danish unite against the Nazis in a nonviolent protest with no weapons except bicycles and bells. The small part of Klaus Kinsky is also very touching. I highly recommend this film.

I've seen each of the nearly two hundred Three Stooges' shorts at least a dozen times each, and this has always been my favorite. There are just so many things that happen in this short--Jules White could have made a two hour feature out of all the different scenes and situations! But I think the funniest scene of all is the ending which takes place during WWI. The Germans at the headquarters all speak pig latin, which is hilarious in itself, but it's just too funny when Moe is screaming with laughter because of the laughing gas, and then giggles, "Our own troops are shooting at us!" To which Larry replies, while busting a gut, "We'll be killed!" This is by far my favorite Stooge short.

"Mask" is truly a beautiful movie. It shows the possibilities of what courage and love can do. I cannot see the film without crying, but I always feel uplifted after watching it, and the cathartic experience of watching it stays with me for days afterwards. I love how Rocky finds someone at the school for the blind who cannot see his face but loves him for his heart. I suppose we are all looking for that. And the power of his mother's love is something that stays with you forever. Peter Bogdanovich, Cher, Eric Stoltz, and the others who participated in making this film should be very proud of the wonderful movie they created. It has affected many, many lives. The real life story of Rocky Dennis will always be there, on DVD, to enrich young generations to come.

The Pilgrim is an outstanding example of Charlie Chaplin at work. So much of what Chaplin did was based on his physical ability to move like a dancer, and this film shows off his agility to the maximum. Charlie tumbles and jumps, turns on a dime, and makes every graceful movement funny. The plot is your basic silent movie plot, with a lot of mistaken identities and a love interest that leads to a plot climax and a happy ending for Charlie--but without the girl. (Charlie almost never got the girl at the end of his films. It was one of his enduring charms.) The difference between this and a typical silent film is the charisma of Charlie Chaplin. There is simply nothing else like it in film history.

I just saw "An Act of Love" on cable television and I was amazed at the high production values of this film. Kirk Douglas has never given a bad performance in any film and here he has just the right touch as an actor. The story was mesmerizing and the ending was as sad and moving as any film that I have ever seen. I hope against hope that someday I can purchase this film on video or on DVD.

This short is without question the worst of the Stooges shorts. The problem is that the big bird quickly becomes irritating and Shemp's drunk act grows very old. Larry used to watch this short over and over again when he was in the old actor's home and liked it best because he thought he looked like Marlon Brando from "A Streetcar Named Desire." Avoid if possible.

I've loved every film that Linklater has made so far. His film "Dazed and Confused" is in my all-time top-ten. So after hearing a lot of great reviews of this film, I could hardly wait to see it. I was very disappointed.

"Waking Life" is essentially not a film at all, but a series of lectures in philosophy. Since the time of Christ, the best teachers have understood that the most interesting way to teach a lesson is through a story. Filmmakers have the greatest medium in history available to tell their story. They can use music, actors, writers, costumes, plot, and dozens of other tricks to get the audience interested in their film. To waste a great story-telling medium like film to present a seminar in philosophy is foolish.

The greatest films of all time contain quite a bit of philosophy, but you need to discover the message for yourself. The message isn't rammed down your throat as a lecture. The #1 film on the IMDB, "The Godfather", is nothing more than a parable about the importance of family and loyalty.

Discovering the message for yourself is much more satisfying than having a series of teachers tell you what the message is. In fact, the only times when "Waking Life" was interesting is when some of the characters told a story to discuss their world-view of philosophy.

Linklater is capable of making a great film with a hidden message. In fact, his film "Dazed and Confused" is all about having fun within a confining environment. It's essentially "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" set at a high school instead of at an insane asylum. I hope that Linklater's next film is along those lines. Here, I think Linklater just went back and re-made "Slacker", using animation and actors to explain different theories of philosophy in more depth than in "Slacker." The bottom line is that it was tough sitting through the whole two hours of this film without falling asleep.

I had to sit through this film on a flight from Tokyo to Minneapolis. Several times during the film I wanted to open the cabin door and jump out of the airplane. The movie was that bad. Keanu Reeves is proof that so long as you are attractive, you don't need to be able to act in today's Hollywood. He had the same expression on his face and the same tone in his voice at the beginning of the film, when he was a high-powered advertising executive, as he did at the end, when he turned into a wimpy unemployed puppy waving "bye" at the disappearing Charlize Theron.

Why is it in every movie like this, where a women is dying, there has to be a gay friend in her life who takes care of all her hygenic needs? I guess this is something that women fantasize about. Here it was Jason Isaacs as the cross-dresser with a heart of gold.

This was truly a wretched movie. I was curious to see if anyone could actually like this film and of course there were a few who did. I guess it just goes to show that there is no accounting for taste.

Jonny Quest was the best cartoon of the '60's, bar none. It had adventure, terrific plots (check out the adaptation it did of the famous short story, "The Most Dangerous Game") and action galore. One interesting thing: I'm surprised that nobody picked up on the gay sub-plot present in this series. I didn't realize it when I was a kid, but it is obvious to me now, that Dr. Quest, a bearded intellectual, and Race Bannon, a hard-bodied blonde surfer type, had more than just a "friendly" relationship. I hope they weren't teaching this to Jonny and Hadji!

"The Night That Panicked America" is an adaption of the famous War of the Worlds broadcast of October 30, 1938. I'm watching this on October 30, 2000, the 62nd anniversary of the actual broadcast. A 30-year-old Nicholas Meyer wrote the excellent screenplay and supervised the production of this made-for-TV movie, making sure it was done in an historically detailed and accurate way. I am very, very impressed by this production, and I doubt that it could have been done any better. The movie usually shows up on the Sci-Fi Channel around Halloween. Look for many future youthful stars such as Meredith Baxter, John Ritter, and Casey Kasem.

This is a must for anyone interested in the career of Orson Welles. Paul Shenar, who played the role of Welles in this production, is much too old for the role but his voice is close to the beautiful voice of Welles.

Watching this movie was like watching two 13-year-olds torturing a handicapped child. If the objective of this director was to show how modern corporate society reduces its members to the level of junior high school kids, then I guess he succeeded. Still, I despised this movie. I hate all cruelty. And the cruelty these two showed to that deaf girl was indefensible.

...who took so long to see this movie? My goodness, what a wonderful film! With tremendous actors like Alastair Sim, writers of the quality of Charles Dickens, and films like "Scrooge", Great Britain certainly earns the laurels as the birthplace of greatness in theater and film. Which raises the question: Which actor is working today who could give such a classic performance as Ebenezer Scrooge? Patrick Stewart comes to mind, but for some reason his version of "A Christmas Carol" lacked depth. Oh well....we'll always have this movie and Alastair Sim, "which leaves me no alternative but to raise your salary!"

This was a well-done special. I'm always a sucker for these kind of shows....I love to see the process behind what makes something work. Naturally these guys weren't creating Shakespeare at the Paramount Studios--much to the consternation of Robert Reed--but the Brady Bunch series they put out was sweet and lighthearted, and made us forget our problems for a half-hour or so. One thing I didn't understand....why did the real Barry meet the real Maureen McCormick at the Paramount Studios at the end, only to deny that she was who she was? Did Maureen insist that she get no credit for appearing on this show? But otherwise, a very good way to remember a very happy series.

I had to sit through this stinker while on an airplane returning from Vienna. If the stewardesses weren't standing by the door I would have opened it and jumped. Why did this film suck so bad? Where to begin? Well, as someone mentioned earlier, why must Hollywood always make these cliched, lazy, "baseball is a metaphor for life", films? Kevin Costner: A man who displays as much range of emotion as a wooden cigar store Indian. Kelly Preston: What, did Meg Ryan cost too much? The screenwriters: If the story starts to sag, just dream up some new crisis and we'll go from there...(Kelly's unknown daughter runs away from home and Kevin must rescue her from a bad neighborhood; Kelly catches Kevin getting a "massage" from another woman; Kevin slices his hand wide open on a buzz saw and hurts Kelly's feelings in the process; Kelly gets tired of waiting for Kevin and finds herself an artsy-fartsy playboy to sleep with. And Vin Scully....Vin, I hoped they paid you a lot to make this, because your reputation really sank in the estimation of a lot of us baseball fans. Is your memory starting to go Vin? How could you say that you hadn't seen a perfect game since Don Larson's in 1956, when you very famously called Sandy Koufax's perfect game on September 9, 1965 against the Mets.....remember? ("Swung on and missed, a perfect game!") Ah well, Hollywood loves to crank out these formula love stories, and I'm sure with home video rentals, overseas sales, rentals to airlines, etc., this will make a nice pot of dough for the studio. As the great Gene Siskel once noted, no matter how cynical you get about Hollywood, it's never enough to keep up.

I missed "Ned and Stacey" on its original run on Fox, but I picked up on it from the USA Network where it appears every morning. I'm consistently amazed at how funny this show is! The gags are fast and furious and the presence of the actors, including the great supporting stars Greg Germann and Nadia Dajani, is wonderful. Thomas Hayden-Church is a master of timing and Debbie Messing is very beautiful and very charming in her role as Stacey. It's easy to see why she went on to become a big star on Will and Grace. I cannot recommend this show more highly. I only wish the show had lasted more than two years--apparently only about fifty episodes were made. See this show and laugh!

As a fan of the early years of Elvis Presley, I was very pleased by the high quality of this production. The acting was outstanding, particularly the actor and actress who played the characters of Elvis and his mother, Gladys.

I felt I understood Elvis much better after seeing this production. It placed Elvis within the context of a time and a place: Memphis in the mid '50's. And the production was very inspirational; it let you know that Elvis was not just a rock and roll sensation that popped up from nowhere, but a young man who worked very hard at perfecting his craft with the help of a great producer, Sam Phillips, some very talented musicians, Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and D.J. Fontana, and a mother who nurtured his creativity and his talent.

The other points of interest included the religious atmosphere that pervaded the South in the middle of the century, and the black rhythm and blues artists that were the foundation of rock music. I give this production nine stars.

I happened to be sitting in a lovely hotel room at a wonderful resort in the Ozarks, ready to go out on the boat after golfing 18 holes in fine weather, when I made the mistake of turning on the TV. One of the cable channels was screening "In Cold Blood." I watched the opening sequence. Despite the beautiful weather, and the girlfriend nagging at me to get up off the couch and go outside, I knew I wouldn't leave the room until the movie was over. I can't add much to the fine reviews by others, particularly the review by the gentleman from London, except to add that the dialogue in the movie is marvelous. The writer and director caught the laconic, spare speech of the Midwest. The questions and answers between the characters are perfect. (Paul Stewart, the reporter: "Don't the people in this town lock their doors?" John Forsythe, the detective: "They will tonight.") And the way Perry and Dick look at each other menacingly in critical situations gives one the chills. (Dick: "Don't worry baby; we left no living witnesses." Perry, staring at Dick: "I know one.") Of all the great performances in the film, my favorite is John Forsythe as the KBI detective who grows weary from contemplating the evil minds behind the murders of his Kansas neighbors, the Clutters. A close second among the great performances is Scott Wilson, who makes Dick a charming loser going nowhere in life, unable and unwilling to civilize himself to live in society.

Certainly this is one of the ten best movies ever made, and the best of all the "True Crime" movies. (The made-for-TV remake was a horrible, lame joke.) I just hope when it comes on again it's a miserable day outside so I don't miss out on the boating! Ed in St. Louis

I saw this movie ten years ago and I still remember many of the scenes. It was based on a book written by William Gresham about his experiences among the carnival people, or "carnies" in the 1930's. If you were intrigued by the movie "Freaks" this is a somewhat tamed down version of that. Tyrone Power plays a phoney mentalist who is at the center of the carnival gang. Since the film is not available on video I have not had the opportunity to see it for many years.