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Reviews
In Time (2011)
This film just In Time.
No one ever claimed this was an Academy Award winning effort in writing or acting. What it is would be entertaining. What's wrong with that? Others have outlined the plot and what they feel are its weak points. Yes, it has them. No, it isn't perfect. Yes, there could have been improvements. No, it isn't going to win any awards. But, having watched it twice, it is entertaining and keeps one interested as the film progresses. Shot low budget. Oh, well. Sometimes you just go to a movie to pass some time, unlike the characters, who are always seeking time. Clever concept with witty moments and a story that isn't boring. Hot chick and lots of rebellious thought. I'll take it. I've got the time to spend on it.
Across the Universe (2007)
fantastic blend of music, color and motion
Spectacularly memorable. Awesomely memory inspiring. Entertaining.
Julie Taymor has created, with a team of other artists, a truly magical and wonderful trip down Memory Lane.
Filmed with live performances of the music, all Beatles tunes strung together with a modicum of original composing, the voices are incredulous and the energy is nonstop. The arrangements are startling.
There really isn't a better way to positively spend an evening, and every member of the family can enjoy it together, although there are adult themes, and some very, very tastefully done nudity within the storyline. Wondrous in its achievement; a series of paintings on film that brings Akira Kurasawa to mind immediately.
Don't miss experiencing this unique American musical that comes close to being an opera, and is filled with songs and color, motion and dance.
Kansas City (1996)
dark comedic musical
This unusual film played like a dark, comedic version of Altman's own childhood; he himself describes it (and most of his other films) as a musical. Similar in structure to Miller's Crossing, I found it to be a tribute, perhaps unintentional, to many of the Coen brothers themes; like painting a serious subject with hues of dark comedy that many mistake for badly done straight drama. Jennfer Jason Leigh's performance is very mindful of her performance in the Hudsucker Proxy, and just as worthy; one is decidedly satirical (Hudsucker, and this one is an essential statement of character, as a sadly-going-nowhere Midwestern babe who loves Jean Harlowe and the Hollywood escapism of movies, and spews as best she can in her own tragic "real life". Certainly not Altman's best, but why should it be? It is defining of his articulation on film about music, a face in the crowd tragedy overlooked, and his own fast paced violence that ends life and is over in seconds, unlike his contemporary Sam Peckinpaugh and a thousand other directors. Without the music I would have rated this film a seven or lower, but without the music, West Side Story would be a 5 and South Pacific a 2. This film is haunting in many, many ways, and its muted use of color gives it an appropriately old fashioned 30's look and tone. The most memorable assembly of jazz artists and rifts on film. You can see better films; you'll never hear better jazz.
The Hill (1965)
Top 10 British Film of All Time
Finally. Once upon a time the only review on this great, great film posted at IMDb was my own, since long deleted; very few really had an opportunity to see this incredible work of art except every decade or so, when it got an accidental late night showing. I miraculously caught it in a theater on a Quarter Night showing in college. Now, it has finally gotten an excellent, quality release on DVD. Since the main valuation of a film is based on directing, writing, acting, photography, and for myself, how much it promotes introspective thought long after the screen has gone dark, this film (like the also underrated Elmer Gantry: same time period) scores a 10 in every single category. Sean Connery is at an Academy Award accomplishing level of performance, as is everyone else in the cast, but Harry Andrews should have taken the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Foreign Film for 1965, and in the end, its really his movie and his story. Ossie Davis and Ian Bannen demonstrate clearly that they are destined for acting greatness (Waking Ned Divine is the second most favorite of Bannen's films, this film being the top dog.) giving us some of the best ever of British film story telling -- and with this DVD, the worst element for an American audience, the dialect, can be overcome by merely programming English subtitles.
When the prison nearly riots over the death of Private George Stevens, a likable and kind young man ill suited to front line action--he is coming from a desk job and had gone AWOL in hopes of seeing his wife --Harry Andrews becomes a marvel of military efficiency, telling the guards to let the prisoners out of their cells, where he takes full command with merely himself, his voice, and a copy of the KR, The King's Rules. Andrew's character represent the rigidity of the British social structure, but he is fair within his self-perspective view, and never steps over the thin line into brutality that the sadistic Williams (Ian Hendry) constantly straddles. When the prisoners seem just seconds from bolting out of control, Andrews thunders that he'll have all of the ringleaders up on charges of treason, and as an anonymous voice asks who those might be, he tells them with an authoritative boom; "Every third man!" The prisoners slink slowly back to their cells as they realize they don't even know where he may start counting. Yet, in the next moment the Master Sargeant has them singing patriotically, an army again. It is a true moment of memorable directing, acting and writing dramatic achievement, as is every other acting performance in the film; not one single weak glitch exists. What more could one want from a movie? On the other hand, this should never, ever be confused with a Disney film or something for the entire family. Not a curse word in it, but a little too harsh for the kiddies.
Finding Graceland (1998)
Finding Good Movies Outside of Graceland
Anyone reading these viewer comments will note there are only two real complaining reviews, and they both hedge at the end and urge one to watch this film. Unusual plot, unusual acting, unusual theme in spirit. I guess you could say this is an unusual film. I accept that the Harvey Keitel character is really Elvis, a sort of channeled sub-personality, because there is no other possible intended meaning in the scene with Elvis's childhood buddy who has become a County Sheriff, Haynes. All actors have performances that are memorable, but Gretchen Mol as Beatrice, the train wreck victim, is hauntingly beautiful in her short, but major, role. The bum on the train at the end, is nameless in the credits, even though everyone else has their names listed, but I do not think it is Elvis, as has been stated in the book Elvis Undercover, and by another reviewer. The scene where Keitel actually sings an Elvis song is worth the price of admission, purchase, or rental. Several mention that Priscilla Presley originally was standoffish to the film, but after reading it opened the doors to Graceland for filming, and the rest is Hollywood magic and history.
This film is just an artistic wonder. Magic and then some.