Reviews

Murder mystery is a hard thing to do and keep suspense running. KNIVES OUT was magnificent and there is alot of similiarity to a LAW AND ORDER Criminal Intent here. Rich people, murder, scandal and multiple suspects. Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman are given scene chewing roles but Grant is surprising indeed. A very fine actor shows through. Sutherland is a national treasure and fondly remember way back to Hawkeye Pierce so long ago. So binge it and see how you like it, as it is not for everyone - we all have our selective tastes. I did not like the opening but grew into it.

I found a film called INDIAN SUMMER some time ago, delightful small film about a summer camp and age and growing up. FEDORA is another triumph. This little gem reminds me of those films that ARE small discoveries. In an age of Star Wars and Spielberg and more ..... here is a quiet little story, no great budget with very good acting, drama taken to a non threatening point and the best music score heard. So many who don't like it probably think Palpatine was the god of acting. Well, sit back with a glass of wine, some bread and let this film take your artistic thoughts. It's easy to do. And it is a lot cheaper than flying to Italy.

The DC universe is soooo serious about itself and dramatic while Marvel learned that a soft shoulder and humor works wonders. We have only a few kinda sorta good films in DC but this is far from one of them. Theme still comes off of SUICIDE SQUAD which is quirky different fun but an acquired taste. Not bad. So I can survive violent fun films but here ...... wow, first 20 minutes and I walked out of the theatre. That bad. When the punishment by a villain makes one really want to upchuck the popcorn? Way bad taste. Trust me, you'll know it when you see it. So here is 20 minutes worth of bad and if you want 30, go for it.

I blame the sound man for the corrosive recording of Downey whenever he talks - one cannot understand him half of the time. The animals are cute, well done and talk well but have zero movement in plot most of the time. But it was frustrating to try to understand Downey when he was jumping in and out of a low volume accent all the time. His costume with the top hat was marvelous but that does not make a movie. We walked out of this one and got money back. Wait for TV presentation and save money. Sad really - wanted to like it alot.

2 Hours and 51 minutes. Fact as Clouseau used to say. Cars spectacularly blowing up. Fact. (They Pyro guys are better now). Aging actors. Fact. No spoilers necessary because you have seen this movie before when it was called GOODFELLAS and a better film it was back then. CASINO bothered me by having too much naration. The camera is amazingly static. Shots extend way way too long and if I saw that high shot of the street corner again and again ... Scorsese went to sleep seemingly. Please save your life and see STAR WA.... no, that is a mess too. You will have a more exciting time in the back yard watching a squirrel hunting for food.

Student of history here and one who is familiar with much World War II, having built the Nichimo 1:200 Yamato (for the second time) last year. The books, Lord and Prange, are the Bibles of the battle and this film took pages and turned to screen intact and with respect. Harrelson was amazingly good as Nimitz too, did not think he had it in him. The rest of the cast - some well known, Quaid and Eckhart, and others new worked excellently ..... and the Japanese view was square solid too. Special Effects , CGI of course - were on par with the best though the Japanese films THE ETERNAL ZERO and THE ADMIRAL are just as good. Recommend these two films for a solid trio. We do not go back to the emotional slop of PEARL HARBOR or the accurate and very very dull TORA of so many years ago. But the one rare film where people CLAP at the end of it and sometimes you want cheer. Waves the flag without politics. A time and people to be proud of and render honor to. This film does precisely that.

"If everyone in a room is thinking all the same, someone is not thinking." George S.Patton. Last night I watched dear Heath run his dance as Joker and wonderment of it all - how damn good he was. So tonight I walked into a brick wall. EVERYONE says magnificent. Better than CITIZEN KANE and such tripe. Me? Bored, after 20 min of just bleak - nothing positive. I am moving right now and that is enough stress so I wanted entertainment - and WHOA was this one off base. Walked out after 20 min and I don't care a damn what happened to Joker. Penguin would be more interesting by a yard mile. I am sorry folks - disagree with all of you. Piece of junk.

Which is about all the plot of this one and having just watched John Wick killing installment 1 (with the death of a puppy), this one is no different. If you want endless armies of Hollywood extras being brutally and graphically murdered - this is YOUR FILM. If you like choreographed fights that go on FAR longer than they should - this is your film. If you want emotion, you won't find it here. Plot? Like the first one, HAHAHAHA. People want to kill John Wick so he has to kill all of them and more to stay alive. That's about it. Oh there are diversions - nice to see Halle Barry in a new roll but even her dog is shot. (Not really). Then onto endless killing scenes and more killing scenes and more and more. Plot pause, 7 lines of dialogue and more killing scenes. It goes on forever!!! American cinema has descended into mindless blood junk 1 out 10 - don't waste your time or money.

Frank Capra had a golden rule - a movie can be many things but the number one sin is boring. Endgame - wanted to like it, spent money to like it, and .... boring. long, talkative and not worth the time. 2 hours would be fine, stretched to 3. Comedy was good mostly but not the padding. Long long intro shots of this and that. It finally hit the gold standard of DC. It took itself way way too seriously. So I am disappointed and sad. About right up there with Star Trek - The Motion Picture for boring. I don't like writing this, but ....... boring.

Many years ago, when I was job hunting, I saw the third Indiana Jones to take my mind of a ton of worries and for 2 hours had a great time. Same with this film - enjoy it, it's fun and not heavy at all. So some thoughts.....

Not "great" like Ragnarok or mindless fun like Deadpool - this is nothing than a noted popcorn-entertainment film with blood ties to the MCU as it should be.

There are a ton of small homage bits to other films if you know what to look for. The original TRON and INDEPENDENCE DAY among them. Know your stuff. I spotted a few more along the way. Star Trek - Nemesis if you think about it.

Brie Larson is very good as is Jackson and so is the infamous Cat who steals the movie.

There is one huge plot contradiction that stands out like sore thumb. True MCU fans will get it.

Intro tribute to Stan Lee is very very effective and well done indeed. Final two bits are excellent - the second one hilarious to anyone who has had a cat.

So, grab some popcorn and sit back to enjoy a well told story. Not perfect (even Citizen Kane has flaws) but a fine, fun trip around a few galaxies and Earth as well.

There was once magic - 1964 when Walt Disney produced and oversaw Mary Poppins. There were once great actors, Andrews, Van Dyke and the late David Tomlinson among many others. Once there was a plot about a dysfunctional family that needed repair. Once that was a long time ago. Now Walt is gone and Disney, the corporation, faceless now, produced a cold immitation of the original film with zero heart, soul and love. Songs? Boring and meh. Acting? Blount was fine but everyone else was a zero save David Warner. But missing was the guiding hand of Walt. The first one had a quasi-Villain named Mr. Banks but he needed repair. And that was the plot, not the non-threat one in this film. I found this cold and heartless film a total train wreck compared with the first one. Like a remake or sequel to Oz. Won't work. Did not here. There was no huge chase to the bank, in the first a wonderful sequence of Mr. Banks walking to the bank in the evening dark of London. The Baloon lady was a pale immitation of the Bird Lady. And she was a point in the first film. She was the heart of the thing. The talking umbrella only in the last scene. And the Penguins were far better in the original than this sequel. Oh, it is a remake? Perhaps. I wanted to like it and 5 minutes in it was history. A spoonful of sugar missing. And in this chore that must be done there was no element of fun. And Van Dyke was wasted in his cameo. Sad indeed.,

Anybody remember THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN? The whole movie was grey, cities grey, rain, dark dark grey - depressing. Same here, no color, no magic and I stayed, oh, 20 min or so. Total waste of time. Depp is always being, well, Depp. From what I read here, I saved myself another 90 min of misery.

My wife and I caught this gem last night - wonderful evocative tribute to many Christmas stories and legends we all know. You have to watch very carefully but many are hidden in the plot and you will jump when you find one. The only missing agents are the Grinch and Charlie Brown. As a Christmas show this is up there with the best of them.

My wife had knee surgery about 10 days ago and I was burned out by home care so we agreed that some R&R was called for. Went to the local AMC to sit with ANTMAN and ..... wonderful. Many years ago I saw the 3rd Indiana Jones to take my mind of job troubles and this Marvel entry does exactly the same. It is what a movie SHOULD be. Not heavy like INIFINITY WARS are stupid serious like most of the DC films. Nor long either. Yes slow at the start, but once this picks up speed it never lets up. Cast is all first rate. And the multiple plot threads are well managed and kept separate to keep the story alive. Always CGI of course but we live in a new world now. Stay for the end credit scenes too. If you have worries and want an ant to remove them for a spell ... take a ride on this wasp for a trip.

I watched this little charmer last night with my spouse and not only is it a fine discussion of true of love and understanding, but whose view of reality IS correct. The performances are understated and low key but Brando uses his face expertly to reflect pain, wisdom and wistful thought. Here he encounters a kid who is bezocko but lives in a wonderful fantasy world of his own ... and what is wrong with that. This Don Juan takes over his own thought processes. In time, who IS the therapist and who is the patient? The banter is first rate. This almost unknown charmer is well worth a glass of wine on a beach with wind in your hair, and if it ends happily? Why not.

I cannot watch this film and for less obvious reasons - for I am a survivor of the South Tower. Worked for Aon and walked down from the 101st floor that morning. Certain films, events, take me back to The Towers and this would be a hard one to watch, same as Flight 93 was. Other films as less impactful to me and some, like THE WALK, mean nothing. I sense here, though, that a viewing would be followed by more than a few stiff drinks. So for those of us who were THERE that day ..... salute the film but have to say been there, and did that in a profound way. BTW Aon lost 176 people that morning 19 of which I knew personally.

There should be an award for the Todd Ramsey School of film editing. Remember him? If you do not, venture back before the original "good" BladeRunner to the cold winter of 1979 when all SciFi fans trotted into theatres to see STAR TREK: THE MOTION(less) PICTURE. Remember the editing? What there was of it. Well, just lasted an hour and 40 into this thing, an emotionless creature of a film. Did not even get to see Harrison Ford. Other reviewers have said " slow " and that would be a good thing. THIS film is not slow, it died ages ago and is trying to be an alive thing. Scenes are soooooooooo long and drawn out they starve the mind for creativity. Frank Capra once said the cardinal sin of making a movie is to be BORING and the old master was spot on. BORING and I walked out so consider this a partial review. If you can stand it to see Harrison Ford - my blessings unto you.

Acting? The ONLY interesting performance that I saw was Robin Wright and that just because I am a Claire Underwood fan.

Story? If you see plot points of significance 30 minutes BEFORE they happen, then you have a bad story. And the editing, see above.

Music? Only occasionally a hint of the old, wonderful 1982 score. Mostly the music is noise. Other reviews here have said they have mastered the sudden LOUD sound to wake the viewer up. WHY WOULD HAVE TO DO THAT if the film was not so freaking SLOW!!!!! I loved the film noir effect of the first film and it's variations over the years till Ridley Scott got the 2007 version he liked. I love films in general and even find good stuff in the 1979 Star Trek of a kind.

There is no joy in this film, no emotion, no urgency, no nothing. Warner Bros. blew $185 million (!!!) on a memory from 1982 and it is far from that. Do not wait for it on DVD either - why waste 2 Hour 44 Min of a nice evening. Find a good restaurant for a good dinner instead.

They did not even have fireballs exploding over the Los Angeles of the future!!! Can I report something good? No. Honestly, cannot do so. At least they did not kill a dog.

Most reviews and the summary here list two films - but THE BIG SLEEP also gets a turn-over in this one. So add that fact to your list. I like this one, far better than the previous MURDER BY DEATH which Peter Sellers hated BTW. The HUGE cast is flawless and they play it all straight. Plus as a cinema buff, watch the photography. THE MALTESE FALCON scenes are cut straight, to the point, quickly and sometimes do not match. The CASABLANCA scenes (like the movie) are smooth flowing, the camera moving around the club. This is a film made by people who love old movies. Falk was at home in this role too. Some jokes by Simon are writ-large and others just subtle - such as when Falk just takes a Martini out of his desk drawer (it was there all the time for a rainy day) and gives it to Alma Chalmers, Denise Manderly, NO-CARMEN MONTENEGRO. Not a great comedy but one to curl up with and smile and remember too that there are not waters in CASABLANCA. ("I was misinformed"). Oh, and take the Martini out of the cupboard - chill it and enjoy.

From a different viewpoint as this author walked down 101 floors of the South Tower on September 11. Worked for Aon and came away with not PTSD or dust-health problems (I was far uptown when the towers came down). So as I sat watching Dunkirk, the cummulative effect was to virtually relive aspects of THAT day for me. It's impossible to describe horror, fear and what it was like to BE there, or BE at Dunkirk. Many films and books (fondly MRS. MINIVER was the first). Or the heroic dogfights of BATTLE OF Britain. This one - far different. I came out of the theater feeling that I had just been through not only Dunkirk but 9-11 as well. It is THAT effective. The lack of dialogue for a good part of the film draws the viewer INTO the story as a real participant. YOU'RE THERE. Spielberg did it a few times such as the 20 minute Omaha Beach segment of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN but even that film became just a more intense version of the standard war film.

Be prepared to have your life changed by this one. It's that damn good.

Zanuck - his name is all over this bio-pic of Wilson, and he was heavily invested in both the war waging at that time and a peaceful future, as advocated by Wilkie's book ONE WORLD. The budget was lavish for the film and Knox was perfect, as was the rest of the cast. Many reviews are more negative and I tend to agree. Certainly Wilson has his bad aspects to the story, most of which were not known in 1944 and, besides, 2 hours is an indecent limit of time to pose on a biography of anybody. It can't be done, but some do it better than others. Zanuck tried to get it right and succeeded on some levels as above. He violated, though, Capra's singular rule of film-making: boredom. The film has zero visual movement, takes run long and dynamic it is not. Zanuck was too close to his subject to see this flaw. It is worth the view to see the performances and learn about an interesting President, one for the shelf and to be watched when the interest is up.

Richard Dreyfuss claims first portrayal of this monster, but he made Bernard out to be somewhat approachable, as he talked through the fourth wall and joked about the art of selling a scam. He was good but too likable. DeNiro is one of our great acting treasures and his take is nothing nice at all. In fact, it is impossible to like this man. He is evil here, and while one can have some sympathy for Ruth and her sons, the entire tragedy, almost out of Shakespeare, is well done. It bounces around a bit to the past and present, but easy to follow and under the direction of Barry Levinson, moves smartly. But don't watch this if you want a positive evening - hard film indeed. Shot of whiskey portrayal of a monster.

I once rented a DVD of a horror film called NOAH a few years ago, a horror film because it was really Noah meets Transformers. Today I spent some money, gone, on a CGI waste of time too. I am sorry, but Arthurian legends do not BEGIN WITH HUGE ELEPHANTS. What about Merlin, Round Table, Morgana, Mordred in the proper order. To my mind, the 1981 Excalibur was the best truncation of the many odd and difficult to comprehend legends. Even John Steinbeck took a crack at it as he found the old story so messy. And forget, here, that once there was a shining spot, not to be forgot ...... dreadful. Now, I walked out after 30 min and cannot speak for the rest of it but even the coming attractions were CGI AFTER CGI AFTER CGI AFTER .... OK, Wonder Woman is a must see. But what about story? Knowing who a character IS??? I thought the opening King in the thing was Arthur - no, Uther and if it began in Camelot? Crazy chaos.

Don't bother with this one. Curl up with the 1968 Musical or the HBO version of CAMELOT, find Excalibur or even THE SWORD IN THE STONE.

Horrible.

I have never seen WHeights until last night as my wife is a mega Olivier fan and always loved the film. So we sat down for a total glorious piece of soap opera trash acting. Like all the Bronte tales (I think of Jane Eyre), the mood is dark and longing. The sets, here, were mostly good for the time but some process shots were so obvious as to be painful.

Cathy and Heathcliff - how could he possibly LOVE a woman who changes her mind LIKE THAT on who she likes and wants to marry? I found zero sympathy for Merle Oberon in this role - she is a woman to stay far away from. (Hey, if the only place you can kiss a girlfriend is standing on one cliff, something is wrong). And every time old Olivier gets offended as a character, BAM off he goes on his horse.

Everybody else is perfectly fine having little to do but stand and comment on this train wreck of a relationship. Niven, as fine as he is, is just THERE to be the nice chap who gets taken for a fool by Kathy who really loves Heathcliff when she is not saying nasty things about him and BAM off he goes again.

If there are spoilers here, the book and film have been around for ages so who cares. It is also a plot one can see coming for miles.

But it is glorious fun trash and the ACTING? OMG - Kathy's deathbed scene makes Love Story look like Hamlet. Wide eyes, smiles, pain, wide eyes, clawed hands, wide eye..... oh, painful. I could just see her coming down the stairs with Heathcliff at the bottom 'These are the stairs of the heights.....' like Max in SBoulevard. Olivier was almost as bad here.

This is a wonderful piece of high trash, enjoy it, laugh a lot and remember that films often do not make much sense at all either in watching or by those who make them.

In the end, Kathy should have told Heathcliff "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn".

I reserve 10 ratings for the level of Citizen Kane, of which there are perhaps 20 films of that category. But this is close. It is not a DYNAMIC film, camera movement is pretty calm and the shots are quite long. It is Todd's PERFORMANCE that captures the mind. That said too, my wife and I are Jewish and this is very much a Christian film - no bones about that and very much a 1955 period TwenCenFox film too. But the sermons as delivered by Todd and (presume)taken from Marshall are just outstanding. Todd also covers them in long, single takes which is hard for any actor to do. The words are what matter!!! When we were done, it just sticks with you in a profound way and without a spoiler, the end is very touching. As I wrote in FBook, have a cup of hot Tea, sit back and be prepared to think ... and I'll see you in the morning.

This was a disappointment for me and my wife and I walked out of it half way through, worse when you WANT to like a film as the entire X-Men franchise and the other half, owned by Marvel, as they all comprise good, solid entertainment. Funniest thing was the first five min and then downhill from there. This is a mean, nasty film, not one character is likable and just something far from taking mind away from problems on a weekend. I know many here think this is the CITIZEN KANE of action - X - superhero films and I suppose I could see ..... nope, cannot see that viewpoint. The X-Men series dies a bad death for me. Hell, the Fox logo in the beginning did not even highlight the X for a moment or two.

Wasted my money totally. Going to a bar for a solid drink.