Reviews

Asia is a nurse who is having an affair with a married doctor; her daughter Vika is a teenager who wants a relationship, but is put off by the immaturity of the boy's she and her friends hang out with. From barely acknowledging each other (Asia, left Russia and her daughter's father, who apparently was no bargain), Asia takes care of Vika as the girl's health deteriorates, and they grow closer. Her illness is never mentioned, but it looks like ALS.

It is no wonder this film has achieved such notoriety. A favorite at Sundance, and Israel's submission for an Academy Award, this is an insightful and moving experience. The acting of the two women is simply incredible. Alena Yiv (Asia) is a writer, actor and director; Shira Haas has many fans for her work in the Netflix mini-series "Unorthodox."

It is a movie I want to see again.

Cronenberg is an immensely talented man who makes the sickest movies that I can think of. When they work, they work very well, when they don't, they come out like this terrible, terrible disturbing mess. I confess that I couldn't stop watching it, but it upset me on many levels. The acting is excellent as in most Cronenberg films (Julianne Moore is a standout, but when isn't she), but I hope I can get this movie out of my system soon.

Director Wolman has made many films in various genres but is little known in the United States, a great pity. This project started when Wolman was approached by by Pnina Gary, who'd written a monodrama about a relationship she had during the period before and after Israel became a state. The play was very successful, performed in various countries in different languages.

The film fills out the story with other characters and insights into Arab-Jewish relations during that period.

Wolman is definitely an actor's director, in that the acting is quite natural and the film feels relaxed and very real. a beautiful journey. Adi Bielski still performs in the stage version playing multiple characters, but on film she registers complex emotions which almost allows the audience to read her mind. This is nothing short of a brilliant performance, and thanks to her and her co-stars, makes this old story new again. It also has an excellent soundtracks, fully utilizing surround to envelop us. I saw this in a large theatre with an excellent sound system, and it simply came alive.

Wolman himself introduced this film at the Rutgers Jewish Film Festival this year, and answered questions. He has been honored all over the world for his work. Amazon Prime has a few of his movies available, and I hope more get into circulation in this country.

At this writing, the director is working on two projects. I can't wait to see them.

Boone didn't want to make the last year of this series, and it is clear that he wanted to get on with his new series on NBC to have allowed the use of this horrible script. The acting is terrible (the bullfighter is particularly bad), the script laughable. This is simply an exercise in sadism, and one I will not be watching again. It is ironic that programs in the last year of this series are unusually good except for a couple of stinkers, of which is this one.

Paddington 2 proves that old-fashioned values and solid characterization win every time, and that such movies are still warmly embraced by audiences. So many times beloved characters have had movies made which have been awful beyond belief (the Cat in the Hat), so it is refreshing that the lead character is true to the books. Sure there are plot holes, but Paddington wins over everyone with his goodness and personality. The movie makes a very important point that needs reiterating: one person can make a difference in many lives, and that true friendship is priceless.

If anyone almost steals the film from the bear, it is Hugh Grant, who plays this so well that we are reminded what a great talent he possesses.

The acting is bad, the violence is overwhelming to the point of insanity, and the story quite frankly isn't that compelling. I shut it off after one hour.

There are many other gangster films that one could and should watch that are far more effective than this.

The synopsis and the explanation of the event that this is based on are on the website already, so to reiterate them is a waste of space. I will simply say that this movie works on a lot of levels. To give too much away will spoil what is a mystery story that unfolds slowly and carefully. But in particular, it is about a very devout person whose entire emotional and religious foundation erodes as he is trying to find evidence of a great crime that took place during WWII.

It also reminds us that things may not be what they seem, and that the responsibilities of giving testimony to real events may have an effect many years after they occur.

This movie is wonderfully written, acted and directed.

This film proves yet again that culture unites people. Majid Shokor, an Iraqui living in exile in Australia, is determined to find out the roots of Iraqui popular music, and seeks out many musicians old and younger as well as musicologists. Jews, Muslims and Christians all created a rich tapestry of music heard in Baghdad during the mid- 20th century, but Shokor finds that the younger generation in Iraq believes this music is folk music and are unaware of who actually wrote and performed it, particularly that many of the most influential musicians were Jewish. Much history was purged over the years.

Shokor's efforts to find the truth culminate in a concert of Iraqui music at the Barbican Center in London in 2012, an event of rediscovery, celebration and reconciliation.

This extraordinary film has been making the rounds of festivals since 2015, and is definitely worth searching out.

I am tempted to write a long explanation and analysis of this incredible film, but a previous reviewer has done so already. To give too much away is to spoil the experience that can simply be described as an off-the-wall treatment of a tragedy. The film portrays a married couple who lost their son to cancer, and how they handle life once shiva (the week-long tradition of mourning the dead in the Jewish religion) is over. The father seems to be deeply depressed and looks for connection by hanging out with his son's friend who lives next door. The mother, a teacher who returns to teach school and is sent right back home, seems to be in shock throughout most of the film. On paper, this might read like a downbeat film, and it is anything but. It is quite hilarious. The father returns to the hospice where his son died to rescue a packet of medical marijuana and cannot role a joint. The son's friend rolls one in seconds and they both get high. There are also many poignant moments when these two visit with a young girl whose mother is at the hospice. All of the elements of comedy and drama are beautifully balanced. There is not one misstep in the story, dialogue or pacing of the film; one wants it to go on much longer than it does. The acting is uniformly excellent, and Polonsky uses widescreen beautifully to enhance the emotional back and forth of the events he films. I told Polonsky that he has a great gift. I saw this film several days ago, and it is still with me. I was delighted to see that the film will be released on video and streamed in the U.S. once it makes the rounds of the film festivals. It is the kind of movie where one can see new things with every viewing, and I can't wait to see it again.

"Medic" is one of the finest shows ever produced for television. The grandfather of 'modern' medical shows, in many ways it is styled as a documentary; each segment deals with a specific medical issue and all bets seemed to be off - breast cancer, epilepsy, diabetes mental illness, tuberculosis, muscular dystrophy, leprosy, poor parenting, and hearing loss were all covered and more. During a time when one couldn't use the word pregnant on television, the series presented the story of a woman who dies while giving birth, and the birth is shown. It is often graphic and surprisingly candid, many times quite serious. Voice-over narration gives many facts and explanations about diagnoses and procedures.

This series is a time capsule of where medicine was in 1954-6, which makes it invaluable as a teaching tool for those studying medicine, especially since each episode is packed with information about the illness being dealt with (imagine seeing what a polio sufferer went through). This series was overseen by doctors, and many appear in the series.

The producer was Worthington Miner, who was responsible for Studio One, one of the greatest live dramatic anthology series in the history of television. The 'host' of the series is Richard Boone, an exceptional actor, director and teacher. He appears in every episode, but only acts in a few of them (one of them is one of the best in the series, about a possible atomic bomb attack). He is so convincing as a doctor that many viewers did not think he was an actor, and when it came time for him to audition for "Have Gun, Will Travel," the producers were initially not sure that he would be convincing. Overall, the acting is exceptional, with such actors as a very young Dennis Hopper, Vera Miles, Bobby Driscoll, Beverly Garland, Lee Marvin, Warren Stevens and more.

Music was written by Victor Young, and orchestrated by Sidney Fine. This is one of the last projects composed by Young (he died in 1956) and it beautifully supports the action. Many of the scores are just plain gorgeous, and it's a pity that Young did not record an album of some the themes he wrote for the series (thankfully, many of the scores he wrote exist, donated to UCLA).

Such a series was doomed from the start due to its subject matter and its seriousness; this would be a hard series to watch as a marathon. Immediately branded 'controversial,' it was scheduled at the same time as "I Love Lucy" and was frequently preempted for other programming. It managed to hang on for two years and 59 episodes, of which Timeless Media has made 44 available (reportedly, acceptable prints of the missing 15 could not be located).

Still not well known, Medic deserves to be celebrated as the important series it is. If you collect classic early television, the Timeless set is a must-buy.

Watching this movie is an interesting experience. It is indeed a real stinker, probably one of the worst big-budget epics made during that decade. It has one of the worst scripts ever utilized for a motion picture, with many laughable lines, terrible miscasting and horrible acting. Newman was right to be embarrassed by this film, but Virginia Mayo and Jack Palance should have been equally embarrassed. And Herbert Rudley tops them all as far as bad acting.

Yet.... it is beautifully designed, beautifully photographed, is beautifully composed for CinemaScope (the original stereophonic soundtrack is here as well), and boasts one of the greatest music scores ever written. Plus the fact that it was directed by a major talent whose other films are worth knowing: Victor Saville. That such a talented man could be responsible for this major disaster is indeed very disturbing. Sadly, it virtually ended his career.

This is worth a rental to see at least once to satisfy your curiosity. Turn up your speakers so you can bathe in the music at least.

This is a very strange, frustrating movie that is too long, too diffuse, and at least for me, was difficult to sit through. No wonder audiences were baffled.

The fact that it is a drama and was marketed as a comedy was a major mistake, but understandable given that Hollywood Pictures didn't know what to do with this.

At the same time, it is a curiosity that does not deserve to be totally forgotten, particularly because of the strong acting. Caron and Lee Evans are excellent.

But for me, this is one of Jerry Lewis' finest hours. For someone who many feel is just an out-of-control comedian, his work here is very much worth seeing. It's a pity he didn't do more of this kind of thing. Hopefully he still will (his performance in a segment of Law and Order is just amazing).

Maybe you will like it better than I did.

This film was not very well liked in its time; I remember reading an old movie magazine that had a short review on it, and the critic was not impressed at all. So when I finally caught up with it, I was pleasantly surprised.

As another review stated, the Gorio character is a real psycho with some mental problem (I'm not a doctor, so I have no name for his illness). To my knowledge it is not until "White Heat" that the movies saw someone as mentally ill as this guy. Cortez can really chew the scenery during his scenes, and they are entirely convincing.

Rather than rehash the plot, it is true that the acting is a little creaky at times, particularly during the last reel of the film, lessening its effect a bit. In the main however, this is a rare instance of a studio other than Warner Bros. producing a potent, powerful gangster movie. This was once available on laser disc; hopefully it will soon be available through Warner Archive.

Anyone who knows anything about the life of Cole Porter has got to find this movie absolutely ludicrous. I was told how wonderful it was by a family member who knew nothing about Porter and his world, and when I finally saw it, I laughed initially and then became disgusted.

There was a great opportunity to dramatize the real Cole Porter, especially since the biopic from 1946 was a white-wash. But of course that was understandable, given that society simply didn't discuss gay people, and particularly those who married. It was well known in Hollywood that major stars who were gay were told to marry so that they would seem 'normal' to the public (as late as the sixties, gay people were considered sick). That the producers and screenwriter blew it here is really sad. Both Cocks and Winkler are talented filmmakers; how could they have gone so wrong?

This mess is a real shame, as Kevin Kline is a marvelous actor who can do anything, and Ashley Judd is also wonderful. Even they can't save this disaster.

One writer said that Porter would have loved this film. Sure he would have loved it. He would have been terrified to have been outed as gay, and frankly it was nobody's business anyway. He suffered enough when he had the accident from which he never recovered.

I finally caught up with this on DVD. I'd always been told how creative and popular this show was, but had never seen it. I was in my thirties when it was first run, so I wasn't exactly watching Saturday morning television at that point in my life.

The reason I love the hosts of my youth (Chuck McCann, Soupy Sales and Sandy Becker) was because they didn't dumb down to the kids. Their shows were crazy, unpredictable and just plain fun. All three of these men had their own style, and you tuned in to see just how crazy they were going to be. Herman captures that beautifully. There are so many creative things going on: great characters, running jokes (the secret word, the salesman at the door, the 'cool' musician puppets, the refrigerator) and the old Ub Iwerks cartoons (with an early WB cartoon with Foxy thrown in). Herman and crew use every conceivable animation technique available at the time, and it all fits together without calling attention to itself. It is great to see all the live actors; I hadn't realized that cult actress Shirley Stoler was a member of the cast.

But the center is Pee-Wee, a very strange child-man who reminded kids that it was okay to be who they were.

Doris Day was and is a tremendous talent, an excellent singer and an excellent actress, but you wouldn't really know it from some of the idiotic stereotypical 'good girl' roles her husband forced her to play. While on a surface level, "Lover Come Back" has a lot of funny lines and good acting from everyone, it simply reminds me of the horrid choices Day made with regard to men. Forcing her to star in movies that were really beneath her was a form of abuse, and then when Marty Melcher (the husband) died, she found out that she was almost bankrupt. Her television situation comedy helped to restore her reputation and her self-esteem, but the damage had already been done. She is still thought of as a virgin-type, when her real life was anything but.

It's a real pity that she rarely got to show what she could do as an actress. Yes, "Lover Come Back" is funny, but it is also stupid, very dated and the ending is slap-dash. I'll gladly watch "Love Me Or Leave Me" or "Calamity Jane" over this movie.

This series was always well known, as was Boone. It was syndicated for many years and was always popular. I'd never seen it, as I was not old enough to watch it when it was first shown, and never bothered to catch it later. It was only recently that I began watching it, and I was shocked. It is an excellent example of the thirty-minute drama: no fat, just solid story, no time to waste, and is consistently well- written. The other reason I was shocked was the brilliance of Richard Boone. A student of Sanford Meisner and Elia Kazan, Boone was one of the finest actors and acting teachers of the twentieth century. He is remarkably subtle; like Gary Cooper, even the slightest facial move makes a difference in his performance. The character of Paladin is very much like Boone: a lover of art (he was a very gifted painter), poetry (which he wrote), music, women and Shakespeare (which he could quote at length). He directed several episodes of the series as well. It is a tragedy that because he smoked two-three packs of cigarettes a day, he died at too young an age. But his legacy mostly rests on over 200 half hours of this series, 86 of the series "Medic" (an early TV series about doctors), and 26 hour-long episodes of his own series on NBC after he decided to retire Paladin. That series has been difficult to see in the United States, and is ripe for rediscovery.

"Have Gun" has held up beautifully, and the entire series is on DVD (all of the episodes were once on VHS tape issued by Columbia House via subscription).

With all of this said, the quality of most of these DVDs is abysmal given that master negatives are available. These transfers probably date from the Columbia House era. When I see pristine copies of episodes of "Perry Mason, "Mission Impossible" and other vintage series and then compare them to the quality on these DVDs, it is sickening. And unfortunately, they will probably never be remastered given the marketplace. Should you still get these sets? Absolutely. This was one of the great television shows of any era, and many of the episodes could be remade today with the same scripts. However, there will never be another Richard Boone, and for him alone, these sets demand your attention.

I saw The Exorcist when it first came out. I didn't really like it and really didn't want to see it again, but when I heard that there was a definitive cut with eleven additional minutes, the temptation was too great. I had to see it again to see if I thought differently about it. And I wanted to see Lee J. Cobb in particular, one of my favorite actors (the line about John Garfield in his first scene is ironic, as both of them were part of the Group Theatre).

Sorry. I gave it my best shot. I don't think it's much of a classic.

Friedkin certainly did a good job, and the story was interesting. The graphic nature of the film and the language didn't really bother me as it did others.

Burstyn is fantastic as she always is, but Blair is remarkable, and that's my real problem with this movie. Anyone who didn't let their child play the role of Megan has my full respect. The fact that Blair's parents let her do this movie was simply unconscionable. A teenager has no maturity to handle what she is asked to handle here, and it should not have been a surprise that her childhood was destroyed as a result. It is no wonder that her career became a non-career. No one was going to offer her a role as a 'normal' girl. She is still beautiful, and deserves another chance to show what she is truly capable of as an actress, but I don't think anyone has the guts to do that in Hollywood today.

I can't say that I wasted my time watching this, but I'm not likely to want to see it again.

The DVD of the Ashby cut of the film (which he'd donated without telling anyone that it had fifteen extra minutes) was released with great fanfare. Finally this film had a chance of being seen in the director's vision.

Except that we are no better off. This is still a horrid film that goes nowhere.

Ashby was a fine director who unfortunately got lost in a drug haze in his later years. Despite the enthusiasm of all concerned in the interviews on the DVD, this is a movie that runs out of steam very early. Voight plays an obnoxious character whom we don't pull for, and Burt Young is wasted as his buddy.