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Reviews
Seinfeld: The Letter (1992)
Lots and lots of antics but little actual comedy
Larry David had a tough time turning his life experience into a comedy. The Seinfeld crew is up to its usual zany behavior but the jokes are few. George's motivation for agreeing to purchase a painting he fiercely dislikes, price unstated, and under zero sales pressure from the artist, is unclear. Ditto for Elaine agreeing to accompany her boss to a Yankees game despite the fact that doing so will almost certainly reveal her to be a liar. It takes Jerry 50 seconds (50!) to read out loud a boring letter. Kramer rubs his mucous around on George's painting. Jerry and Elaine fight over a TV remote. It takes more than zany, selfish, boorish behavior to make a good comedy.
Von Ryan's Express (1965)
An all-time classic
This movie, unlike, say, The Guns of Navarone, has aged very, very well. Just keep in mind that it's a male fantasy film that just happens to be set during WWII. Like other male fantasy films, it involves one heroic individual using wholesale levels of violence to persevere over evil at impossible odds (hence the fantasy). If you liked male fantasy film Goldfinger and its FIVE DIGIT combination to the Fort Knox Gold Depository vault, which I did, then you'll love this film. The acting is terrific, the characters are unforgettable and the ending will leave you stunned. No one but Sinatra could have played Ryan.
One other comment--the sound effect used for the German machine pistols used throughout this movie is the best among all Hollywood productions I have seen (this sound is presumably yet another fantasy). That sound effect alone is worth the price of the rental.