Reviews

I don't care if this review is helpful to you or not

Pros 1. Clancy and Sarah made the right choice returning Ralph to the Stork. I hope they can get a better child this time around.

2. Gill is one of my favorite secondary characters so I'm glad he's getting a big role in an episode for the first time in about 13 or 14 years. Gill shows once again why he's one of the best "butt monkeys" in animation today. I laughed especially hard when Gill ruins his chance to be a hero by getting an egg sandwich and he doesn't even get to eat the sandwich.

3. 4 times in 2 years? I don't know why Michael York is suddenly on the show so much but it's okay by me. He's awesome.

4. I got a big laugh out of Abe chastising Marge for not putting him in charge of watching the kids and then chastising Marge because she DID put him in charge of watching the kids. Equally funny was Bart putting Abe to sleep by turning the temperature up 1 degree.

5. Very nice subtle Nintendo reference: having a place called Mario's Meats and having the store owner look like Luigi, owner of Springfield's Italian restaurant.

6. Thanks for having the court trail not presided by Judge Constance Harm. Good god how I hate her.

7. Best Line Quimby: You were right and we were wrong Veterinarian: Yes, very well, but will you remove my chains? Qumby: Don't push your luck!

Cons 1. Your jumping the gun a little by thanking Taylor Swift for 28 great years. She isn't even 27 1/2 yet.

2. Is this the same angry African-American commentator from "22 For 30" or is it just another loud, unfunny character?

3. I disagree with Bart & Lisa: Homer's "look what the cat dragged in" joke was lame.

4. They actually referenced Turbo? Good god did that movie suck. Dreamworks owes Paul Giamatti an apology for wasting his time with such crap. Whatever they paid Giamatti, it wasn't enough.

Pros 1. This movie is full of memorable quotes like Nigels "there's such a thin line between clever and stupid" or Spinal Tap manager Ian hand-waving the band's decreasing turnout at concerts by explaining Spinal Tap's appeal is just becoming selective.

2. This movie has some of the funniest visual gags I've ever seen like the disastrous Stonehenge model in danger of being squashed by a Dwarf or Derek being trapped in a pod.

3. The soundtrack is phenomenal: for a fake band they sure put real effort into the songs and they're all good.

4. The Spinal Tap 3 all work well together and have great chemistry. It's no wonder the 3 have continued to work together, not just as Spinal Tap but also in Christopher Guest mockumentaries.

5. The movie has great brief appearances from people like Fran Drescher, Bruno Kirby, Billy Crystal, Howard Hesseman, Paul Benedict (Spinal Tap was released during The Jefferson's 10th and penultimate season) and Paul Schaffer (reuniting with Harry Shearer after they were SNL cast members in the Fall 1979 - Spring 1980 season).

6. Best Line Derek: (after a big argument about a poorly-designed Stonehenge model caused the manager to quit the band) Can I raise a practical question at this point? Are we going to do Stonehenge tomorrow? David: No we're not f---ing going to do Stonehenge!

Cons 1. I never understood the logic of the director asking David & Nigel if they're racist since they're music is usually only favored by Caucasians. That makes as much sense to me as asking the CEO of Toys R Us if he's prejudiced against adults because his company's products are popular with children.

2. During the Stonehenge argument, Ian is listing all the things he does for the band and one of them is "prizing rent from the local Hebrews". I know he's upset about being nagged by the other guys but that's not an excuse for using this tired anti-semitic stereotype about Jews being obsessed with money and charging excessively high rates.

3. When Janine butts in to the Stonehedge argument, Ian responds "this is a band meeting, is she now part of the band?" If the meeting is band only, why is the film crew allowed to attend?

Pros 1. I was amused to hear Leonard Bernstein referenced since he composed the score for Ghostbusters, a film that stole a lot of business from Top Secret. Speaking of musical references, there's a funny moment when main character Nick Rivers gets top billing ahead of Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra. Sinatra would appear in theaters the following week in "Cannonball Run II" and Stevie Wonder would win an Oscar for a song from "Woman In Red" released later that summer.

2. I was delighted to see Maurice Jarre composed the score for this film the same year he earned a Best Original Score Oscar for Sir David Lean's "A Passage To India". Speaking of Sir David Lean, Omar Sharif gets to show a great comedic side he didn't get to show in "Lawrence Of Arabia" or "Dr. Zhivago".

3. I'm a big Beach Boys fan and I get a real kick out of Nick River's hit "Skeet Surfing".

4. I'm always thankful to get a dose of the awesomeness that is Michael Gouge. It's amusing that Lucy Gutteridge played Gouge's daughter as they both appeared that year in the Christmas Carol film that aired on CBS. Gouge played a charity worker and Gutteridge was the girl that rejects Ebenezer in the "Ghost Of Christmas Past" sequence.

5. Peter Cushing gets a funny scene as a Swedish Book Store Owner. At least he doesn't sexually assault anybody like in "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed". The villain in Top Secret is sexually assaulted by a bull but that's all right.

6. Not growing up in the 80's, I didn't know who Freddie Laker is. After doing some research, I do see the hilarity in Nigel naming Freddie Laker as a communist author.

7. I loved the Pac-Man cameo. This was just 7 months after the Hannah-Barbera Pac-Man cartoon ended.

8. I've had many nightmares about not studying for school. I appreciate Nick Rivers finding torture better than a nightmare about school.

9. The Wizard Of Oz is without doubt the most parodied film in history but that doesn't make this film's "Wizard Of Oz" parody any less funny. It's appropriate as Top Secret was released almost exactly a year before "Return To Oz." Like Top Secret being over-shadowed by "Ghostbusters", Return To Oz was over-shadowed by another Sci-Fi film: Cocoon.

10. Best Line German General: (on the phone) I see, well call if his condition changes (hangs up) he's dead

Cons 1. It seems bad timing for a code-name to be "there are no good white basketball players" when Top Secret was released 10 days after Larry Bird led the Celtics to their 2nd world championship in 4 years.

1. Nobody needs to be told how awesome the music in Purple Rain is. The soundtrack is justly considered to be one of the greatest soundtracks ever made and the songs by "The Time" are good as well. Even the Razzie-nominated "Sex Shooter" is a song I enjoyed, though not as much as songs by The Revolution or The Time.

2. It's no surprise that none of the actors here ever received Oscar nominations for acting but all the actors here play their parts well. Prince mostly does a good job as a kid, there are just a few parts where he can be overly-dramatic that his acting flaws show. Apollonia and Morris Day received Razzie nominations for their performances but Day makes an appropriately detestable villain and Apollonia makes a lovable girlfriend with the heart of gold (it doesn't hurt that she has a topless scene).

3. I like how the domestic drama at the Kid's House rises above convention by portraying the father as more than just an abusive deadbeat.

4. Nice cinematography during The Kid & Apollonia's bike ride. It nicely shows the beauty of Minnesota.

5. I'm glad they show Morris regretting a cruel and inappropriate remark he made to The Kid after his father's attempted suicide. That shred of humanity to an otherwise hateable villain is surprising and appreciated.

6. In the VHS closed captions, the first few times the Kid listens to the Purple Rain cassette is noted in the closed captions by purple musical notes.

7. Best Line The Kid: (referring to his father's music) I'd like to hear some more of it. Do you have any of it written down somewhere?

Francis L: No, man. I don't write it down. I don't have to. There's a big difference between you and me.

Cons 1. Some of the domestic drama scenes at the Kid's house can be over-done like a bad after- school special. At least they avoid that most groan-inducing family drama cliché: the parent suddenly showing up at their kid's important performance (Albert Magnoli's next directorial effort, American Anthem, wouldn't be so lucky).

2. Why would the owner of a Minnesota night club wear a Detroit Tigers cap? Perhaps he's clairvoyant and knew the Tigers were going to win a World Championship that year.

1. I've longed hated Nixon but this movie definitely raises sympathy for him: he was a lifetime loser who got one lucky break when a committee decided to make him Senator. That one lucky break turned out to be a nightmare as he ended up a puppet in an evil plan. Some people just can't win. It's nice to see at the end when Nikon refuses to bring himself down and basically tells his enemies to go F themselves.

2. Nixon's devotion to his mother is very heartwarming.

3. Nixon's fumbling manner can be very funny, whether he's struggling to properly use the recording machine or telling Roberto to delete a section of his speech.

4. Philip Baker Hall hardly looks like Nixon but that kind of fits with the movie to show this is just a parody and not the true story of Nixon's life.

5. It's amusing to see Nixon supposedly reveal huge secrets like the Shah Of Iran being supplied with boys to please him or JFK winning the 1960 Election due to intrigue in Chile.

6. Best Line

Nixon repeatedly saying "F--- Em" to his enemies

Cons 1. I didn't care for Nixon saying various ethnic slurs. Granted he is drunk.

Pro: 1. Nobody needs to be told that Francis Ford Coppola can make a great gangster film. The feuds between the mobsters is intriguing and the action scenes never fail to excite. The fact that many of the gangsters existed in real life makes it all the more exciting.

2. It's not hard to see why the Cotton Club became so famous with all the great acts we see performing at the club in this movie. My favorite is Cab Calloway performing "Minnie The Moocher".

3. African-Americans in "The Godfather" were mostly ignored or scorned. It's great to see them get more focus in "The Cotton Club". The romance between Gregory Hines & Lonette McKee is very sweet. It's a pleasure to see Lawrence Fishburne's gangster "Bumpy" give Caucasian gangsters what they have coming. I was delighted to learn the real-life Bumpy survived to his 60's and died of heart failure when so many gangsters were murdered.

4. My favorite moment in the film is when Frenchy destroys Owen Madden's watch just so he can give Owen a new watch. Even hardened criminals can have a heartfelt moment together.

5. I can see why Richard Gere and Diane Lane went on to do 2 more movies together. They have nice some real nice chemistry. It doesn't hurt that they both have music talent: Lane does a good cover of "Am I Blue?" and credit to Gere for doing his own coronet solos.

6. There's a nice moral to the story: Richard Gere, who favors music and acting over mob violence lives happily ever after while his brother, Nicholas Cage seeks an easy living though mob violence and robbery and lives a very short life (it amuses me that Nicholas Cage is gunned down in The Cotton Club in a phone booth while James Caan was gunned down in The Godfather at a toll booth). It's similar with Gregory Hines. He wanted to kill Big Mike for his cruel treatment but Bumpy tells him his ticket to a better life is his tap dancing. Good think Gregory Hines is able to listen to reason and things end up well for him.

7. Best Line Bumpy: This uppity (n-word) would like to offer you a drink (dunks Big Mike's head in a toilet bowl)

Cons 1. Mostly, this movie does a great job of not appearing to be a Godfather rip-off except for one thing. This movie has two montages of mob violence, one while Lonette McKee sings "Ill WInd Go Away" and another while Gregory Hines tap dances. It's hard to see this and not think of the mob violence montage set to piano music in The Godfather. The first montage of mob violence with Lonette McKee especially resembles the montage in The Godfather with the use of newspaper headlines.

2. What was the point of giving Nicholas Cage's character a fiancé? She never really serves any purpose to the story. I don't remember if we even see her reacting to Mad Dog's death.

Pros

1. This movie justly has a reputation for being one of the funniest movies of the 80's. That's mostly for great one-liners, particularly from Venkman, but the movie has a lot of funny visual moments like Venkman and Egon backing away from Ray after his proton pack is turned on or Egon getting a high PKE meter reading on a man in the hotel and touching him to see if he's a ghost.

2. Ghostbusters earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Visual Effects. After nearly 33 years the special effects still look relatively good today.

3. Ray Parker Jr. earned an Oscar nomination for the movie's theme song but the other songs are great as well: Cleaning Up The Town, Magic and Saving The Day are tunes well worth listening to. Leonard Bernstein composed a fine music score. I especially liked Dana's theme. Bernstein would go on to compose the score for Ivan Reitman's next film, Legal Eagles and his Legal Eagles score sounded like leftover Ghostbusters score.

4. Most people claim Venkman as their favorite Ghostbuster and understandably so but my favorite is Winston. He has a level-headed quality that is a nice contrast to the others. He may not have all the one-liners like Venkman but he couldn't ask for a better final line: "I Love This Town!"

5. Yes, Walter Peck had good reason to suspect the Ghostbusters equipment might be dangerous but the fact remains that he could have saved New York a lot of trouble by keeping the ghost trap on. Peck lost all credibility when he told the mayor that completely fabricated story about Ghostbusters using hallucinogenics to make people think ghosts are real. God is it a joy to see Stay-Puft goop splat all over Peck.

6. Great to see a brief appearance by the future Carl Winslow: Reggie Val Johnson

7. Best Line:

Winston: Ray, when somebody asks if you're a god you say YES!

Cons

1. Venkman tells Janine to stop staring at him with her bug eyes but he was talking to her. If you talk to somebody they are going to be looking at you when you're talking.

2. So what happened to the library ghost? Did the library workers just pretend nothing every happened?

3. Since Dana is a professional cellist, it's a shame we never actually hear her play.

4. What's with Slimer attacking the audience? What did we ever do to him?

Pros

1. Songwriter made history by joining "Purple Rain" and "Muppets Take Manhattan" as the last 3 films to be nominated for the Song Score Oscar. While I agree with the Academy that "Purple Rain" had the best Song Score, I nevertheless consider Songwriter's Song Score to be phenomenal. This is about a half an hour of wall to wall music and none of it is a dud. I'm a guy who usually doesn't even listen to country music and I loved it all. It's just a shame some songs in an early montage are just snippets, I'd love to hear them in their full version.

2. I'm really glad Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson were able to do this movie together. They have great chemistry and they're able to make their characters just ooze with charm. I especially like the scene where Nelson and Kristofferson take turns making statements so complex they can't properly say them again. Between this and Flashpoint, 1984 was a very good year for Kristofferson.

3. The main women in this film are so lovely and likable. Melinda Dillon is so charming she really lights up every scene she's in (it helps that she doesn't have to wash anybody's mouth with soap). I foremost associate Lesley Ann Warren with playing Katie Holmes' mother in "Teaching Miss Tingle" so it's a nice change of pace to see her in a good movie and she does a great cover of "Great Balls Of Fire". Doc's assistant, Corky is a real trooper: doing what needs to be done without a fuss. Even Doc's 2nd ex-wife isn't as annoying as I might have feared.

4. Beyond the music and the anti-corporate hi-jinks, the movie has a nice message about Doc needing to get beyond his years of partying and be a responsible intelligent adult.

5. This movie certainly has the right villain. It is such a joy when she gets the shaft at the end.

6. Kentucky-Fried German Food? Well it beats eating at Arby's.

7. Best Line

Honey: (Doc is posing as a vacuum cleaner salesman) Long time ago a vacuum cleaner salesman just like you came into my house and knocked me up!

Doc: Probably somebody from our service department.

Cons

1. In the beginning, Kris Kristofferson's character narrates the breakup of Doc and Honey. I wish they could have could have done it more visually instead of a character explaining it. Films should be about showing, not telling. After the beginning, Kris Kristofferson's character never narrates again. I wish movies would consistently narrate or don't do it at all.

2. Doc burns down a music studio he owns as part of a plan to get out of his contract with Rocky. He's lucky nobody got hurt. Why would he risk something that could cause him a lot of jail time and further separate him from his family?

3. I'm conflicted about Kris Kristofferson's character ending with Doc's assistant, Corky. It's certainly sweet but it comes at the end and kind of out of nowhere. I wish there had been more of a build-up so it doesn't seem to come out of nowhere

Pros 1. A movie like this doesn't work if you don't like the main characters and I certainly did. Country Singer Kris Kristofferson brings a whole lot of folksy charm to Logan and Treat WIlliams does a good job of making Ernie's burnout relatable and understandable. It's hard to see Kris Kristofferson crying over Treat William's death and not think of him crying over the death of Charlotte Rampling in "Heaven's Gate" (at least Treat Williams died in a better movie).

2. I always get a kick out of seeing technology in 80's movies that was state of the art at the time, like the computer graphics shown in the conference on installing sensors on borderlands. The whole thing about these sensors putting Border Patrol Agents out of the field adds more tension to the whole plot with the lost money. If Logan and Ernie don't use that money, their careers are going places they don't like.

3. Kurtwood Smith shows, as he would further show in "Robocop" and "That 70's Show" that he's great at playing a jerk. Anybody else would sound cheesy if they recited that speech about being thankful for drugs and crime because they otherwise wouldn't have a job. It sounds natural coming from a Kurtwood Smith character. It's certainly a high point of the movie when Logan shoots that SOB.

4. Ernie's story about the penguins is pretty funny. The laughs in this movie work just as well as the action scenes.

5. One of the best scenes is when Ernie chews out the Latino man (for bringing in illegal aliens in his "stolen" vans) who's so slimy you can practically see it oozing out of his pores. Ernie knows how to tell it like it is. He also throws some well deserved jabs at the seedy man's lawyer.

6. I disagree in general with Leonard Maltin's negative review of Flashpoint but I definitely disagree with Maltin's view that it has the worst theme song of any 1984 movie. It's not performed by Prince or Ray Parker Jr. but I think it's pretty awesome. I don't think any of the 1984 theme songs I've heard are bad but my least favorite is the theme song to "Blame It On Rio" (appropriate as I thought it was the 2nd worst movie of 1984 after Bolero).

7. Best Line Logan: My daddy always said "if you can't get out of it, get into it" Ernie: I thought your dad said "if you can't fix it, f--- it" Logan: He said that, too

Cons 1. Something about the lost money related to the JFK Assassination seems like it doesn't fit with the rest of the movie. All of a sudden Rip Torn comes back to the movie and says how they paid the guy to shoot the president. It's like they didn't think the movie was interesting enough so they tacked on this element at the 11th element and say this fictional character killed JFK.

2. The movie just kind of stops just when it's really getting interesting. Not surprising since we only learn at the end about Rip Torn being involved with the JFK assassination. It's like their setting up for a sequel that never happened, especially the way Kris Kristofferson says to Rip Torn "I'll be back, tell them that".

3. I really liked Tess Harper and the sweetness she brought to her character. I wished she was in the movie more.

Pros 1. I can definitely see why Peggy Ashcroft won a Supporting Actress Oscar for her role. She stands up for the rights of local Indians to be treated as human beings but does so without losing the decency and dignity expected of a British woman. It doesn't surprise me at all that Mrs. Moore could inspire a huge crowd to call out her name in desire for her to return.

2. A Passage To India was Sir David Lean's cinematic swan song and his first film in 14 years but he showed no sign of rusting with age. The visuals in this film are as unforgettable as any scene of the Middle East in Lawrence Of Arabia or of Russia in Dr. Zhivago. Lean also wrote the screenplay and the dialogue is endlessly fascinating.

3. Sir Alec Guinness is no stranger to Lean films and he really gets a plum role as Professor Godbole. Godbole's insistence on destiny sometimes makes him seem indifferent and uncaring (especially with his refusal to help Dr. Aziz) but there seems to be some truth to what he preaches. It's too bad a scene of Godbole performing a Hindu dance was cut from the movie.

4. I liked that they didn't make Ronnie a complete monster, he just wants to act in a way that allows him to maintain his job. To his credit, he does apologize to his mother for a particularly rude display in front of Mrs. Moore's new Indian friends. He also deserves credit for taking it so well when Adela keeps changing her mind on whether to marry him.

5. I am a big fan of Keeping Up Appearances so I was delighted when I saw Clive Swift was in this movie. He was in it very briefly but I relished every appearance he made. His character appears to be single (if only Richard Bucket were so lucky). I liked that Swift's character doesn't really say anything anti-Indian. Most of his lines are about concern for Adela or Ronnie's health (Clive Swift plays a doctor) and a brief conversation with the head of The British in India.

6. When the police come to arrest Dr. Aziz he moves to flee but Richard the kind teacher tells him "don't act like a criminal". I wish OJ Simpson had a friend like that. There is some similarities between Dr. Aziz being accused of raping a Caucasian woman and OJ being accused of killing 2 Caucasians. They both certainly causes a lot of racial tension. At least Dr. Aziz's acquittal was more accepted and less suspicious.

7. I loved how Godbole honored Mrs. Moore as she took the departing train ride. The only actor to win an Oscar for a Sir David Lean film saluting the only actress to win an Oscar for a Sir David Lean Film.

8. Best Line Any line spoken by Clive Swift's character

Cons: 1. Sir Alec Guinness is a great actor but did he have to play an Indian? Is their no caucasian role he could have taken?

2. I would have liked more information on what happens to Adela in the years after the trial. I don't think it's even mentioned if she left India. After the ordeal at the caves she doesn't seem to have a lot to do until her big scene at the trial.

3. Even in their most angry state, I have a hard time believing a British woman in the 20's would say "b----" in public

4. I don't get why the hotshot lawyer charges Dr. Aziz 20,000 pounds after the acquittal. It was clearly established the lawyer would do it pro bono. Dr. Aziz refuses Adela's aid in paying the lawyer but it's not mentioned how Dr. Aziz pays the fee.

Pros 1. Howard E. Rollins does a fine job commanding the center of this story. It reminds me a little of his work as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Milos Forman' 1981 film Ragtime: another movie based on a play about an African-American man seeking justice in a racist world. Thankfully Captain Davenport is a lot more level-headed that Coalhouse. Though when you think about it: Peterson is more like Coalhouse in the sense that Coalhouse only became homicidal after his innocent wife was killed and Peterson would never have killed Sergeant Waters if Water had't have had a hand in CJ's demise.

2. No review of Soldier's Story is complete without praise for Adolph Caesar's wonderful Oscar-nominated performance as Sergeant Waters. He brings complexity to the role to make Waters more than just a self-serving a-hole. You can tell that his racial views are damaging him long before anybody every thought of killing him.

3. Coming from director Norman Jewison, it's not hard to see similarities between this film and "In The Heat Of The Night": an African American going down south and dealing with racism while he seeks justice for a crime. To avoid too much comparison with "In The Heat Of The Night", Jewison wisely focuses more on conflicts between African Americans than racial tension. Not that the racial tension isn't there, it certainly is.

4. The movie is a powerful exploration of how racism can cause disharmony even within a race. Sergeant Waters no doubt endured a lifetime of racism and rather than fighting back, he lashed out at other African Americans for making the race look bad and things only got ugly from there. Captain Davenport seeks justice but admits at the end that he was a little too quick to suspect that Caucasian soldiers did Waters in.

5. The music is superb. Patti Labelle was worth every penny. The fact CJ could play so well made it all the more tragic his talent never survived the war.

6. It's good that they do have decent Caucasians in the movie like the superior officer who forced the Caucasian soldier to obey Captain Davenport during his interrogation and the soldier who told his friend to leave Sergeant Waters alone since Waters was obviously drunk.

7. Best Line: Davenport: Who Gave You The Right To Judge? To decide who is fit to be a negro and who is not?

Cons 1. It's a little confusing because one moment it's established that Waters seemed to like CJ (they have a pleasant conversation in the bar) than the rest of the story claims Sergeant Waters has special scorn for him.

2. After CJ's death, the soldiers throw the last game in revenge for CJ. All it does is deny them a chance at playing The Yankees so it seems to hurt themselves more than the superior officers.

Pros: 1. This is one of those movies that you need to see more than once. The first viewing may confuse you with the shifts in time but the more you see it and the more closely you pay attention , you see the movie is well-constructed and it doesn't jump through time just to be artsy.

2. Bad child actors are at least twice as annoying as bad adult actors, so it's a relief that all the child actors are good, even if the boys didn't grow up to be Oscar-Winners like Jennifer Connelly. They can be believable as criminals while maintaining a certain level of innocence. On tough streets like that you had to do what you needed to survive.

3. De Niro And Pesci prove they don't need Scorsese to make a good movie, having Scorsese just really really helps (let's not forget that James Woods would work with De Niro, Pesci and Scorsese in "Casino"). It's a shame Pesci wasn't in the movie as much as Sergio Leone originally intended but the work Pesci does in this movie is great.

4. Very glad Burt Young found time in between Rocky III and Rocky IV to be in this movie. His story about insurance is hilarious and definitely sounds like something Paulie would say in an R-Rated Rocky movie. Like Pesci, it's shame Burt Young is in the movie so briefly but at least Burt Young has a definite end and doesn't just disappear from the movie like Pesci.

5. The music is phenomenal. Certain musical themes are consistently reused and they never get old. The instrumental version of Yesterday is sadly appropriate for a movie in which the good times were clearly in the past. It helps that the scenes with Elderly noodles are in 1968 when the Beatles were still active though well on their way to breaking up.

6. Like The Corleone Family in The Godfather, I always get a kick out of seeing the main characters get the better of their opponents, whether it's a corrupt cop, a hoodlum who would kill a child or a strike-busting cop. I especially love how they use the strike-busting cop's newborn son to get the cop under their thumbs in a way without putting the baby in danger.

7. For the most part, this film does a great job of avoiding any accusations of being a Godfather rip-off. There's just a few moments that vaguely remind of The Godfather. For instance, the kids blackmailing a cop (who was often very hard on them) for having sex with a minor reminds me of the condescending senator in Godfather Part II who ended up under the Corleone's thumb after finding himself in bed with a dead prostitute.

8. I liked the scene where the kid chooses a Charlotte Russe with whipped cream over sex with Peggy. A woman's much sweeter than wine but not as sweet as good candy.

9. Despite nearly running 4 hours, this film is never boring and scenes never feel unnecessary.

10. Best Line: Dominick: Noodles, I slipped

Cons: 1. Rape is never a pro. The worst thing is that Noodles never really gets a comeuppance or apologizes for his actions. Though perhaps he went to the train station the next day attempting to apologize to Deborah. Carol seems delighted to meet her attackers again. While Deborah isn't happy to meet Noodles again, she doesn't tell him to get out of her sight or even mention the rape (perhaps she just put it behind her after 30 years).

2. I would have liked to see more of the Eve character. We don't even see her meeting Noodles, she's just there in Florida all of a sudden. It's never really indicated whether Noodles really cared about her of if she was just a substitute for Deborah. Would Noodles cheat on Eve with Deborah if he could? It seems Eve's only true purpose in the movie is to be killed so we can see how badly the bad guys want Noodles. Even if the story had been told chronologically and she didn't die in her first scene, I doubt her death would have much impact.

3. The relationship between Noodles and Deborah as kids is a tad confusing. She's usually very rude to him (not that you could blame her for being rude to a peeping tom) then this one moment she's tender before she does back to being rude.

4. Elderly Noodles tells Max he's crazy and Max responds "You said that to me once before". Noodles actually said it twice before: at the Florida beach and in New York shortly after Noodles makes the phone call that (he thinks) betrays Max.

5. In the poster for Deborah's Cleopatra play, it mentions that age could not wither her beauty. How could age affect Cleopatra? She committed suicide at age 39. Cleopatra didn't give age a chance to affect her beauty

Pro: 1. The X-Men couch gag was fine. My one complaint is they should have done it for "Camp Krustier" so it would have been the weekend of the release of "Logan".

2. The one good thing about the company baseball scene was Bart's comment about Homer still running to 2nd base after 5 minutes.

3. 2 of my favorite things from my childhood are Seinfeld and Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame so you can imagine how delighted I was to hear Jason Alexander was appearing on the show. I don't feel he really got any good lines but just the fact they got Jason Alexander is freakin' awesome. Nice to see Alexander and Dan Castellaneta reunited 2 decades after their days on "Aladdin The Animated Series". Let us not forget the Duckman episode where Homer Simpson recited that show's immortal line "What The H--- Are You Starin' At?".

4. I loved the joke about Homer causing Lisa's hair to curl in nervousness. Even better was the following moment where Bart as "the good child" complains directly to the audience about Lisa's drunken antics.

5. Definitely the best scene in the classroom is Clancy Wiggum's miserable attempt at being an undercover narc.

6. I laughed out loud at Lenny giving his professor's cap credit for ending Apartheid.

7. Glad to see Homer in a dress. As Burns stated in the episode with the Red Hat Ladies, Homer is buxom and flirty. And it gives me an excuse to make the following statement: Ah Ah Dude Look Like A Lady... Ah Ah Dude Look Like A Lady...

8. Glad to hear Lisa is going to Yale. The farther she gets from Syracuse, the better off Syracuse is.

9. Thanks Screenwriter Guy. I 'm glad I'm not the only one who usually hates this show's final pre-closing-credits scene. I did enjoy the end of the closing credits when Burns sicked the hounds on the annoying choir singers

10. Best Line Skull & Bones Doorman: Living Or Dead? Burns: Living but you'd better hurry.

Cons 1. I pretty much hated all scenes at Yale. All that poking fun at Liberal schools was not fun for me. To be far, I went to a Division III school so going to a top-notch school like Yale is nothing I would know about.

2. I laughed at the "Dead Poet's Society" joke in the episode where Edna Krabapple is nominated for Nation Teacher Of The Year but after Robin Williams' death this episode's "Dead Poet Society" joke was just in very poor taste.

3. Speaking of poor taste, I did not appreciate the joke about Moe confusing pedagogue with another word.

4. It's not true that this episode has Lisa's first slurred words. She got drunk in the "Italian Bob" episode (which, coincidentally, also referenced Trump). I believe she also acted drunk in "Burns And The Bees" when she drowned her sorrows with Root Beer.

5. Yale has a sign naming it "The Harvard Of Connecticut"?. Since when has Captain Obvious been making signs?

Pros:

1. No review of The Killing Fields is complete without praise for the amazing work of Haing S. Ngor as Dith Pran. What he lacked in official acting training was balanced by a level of sincerity and heartfelt emotion. Sam Waterston may have been nominated for Best Actor and appeared on the cover but Dr. Ngor is the #1 reason the film was so successful. From what I've heard, Dr. Ngor himself witnessed a fair amount of the atrocities that occurred in Cambodia in the 70's. I can definitely see why Dr. Ngor won the Supporting Actor Oscar, though I still say Tom Hulce would have won the 1984 Supporting Actor if Orion hadn't unwisely campaigned him for the Best Actor Oscar.

2. Just as Dr. Ngor is so worthy of praise, the movie deserves praise for shifting focus from the Caucasian perspective to this profoundly more interesting story of Dith Pran's journey to freedom. It's a journey with endlessly fascinating turns like when a Mercedes car logo saves Dith's life or when Dith learns some members of the new government are decent people..

3. While Dr. Ngor is the jewel of the movie, the Cascasian actors are good. Sam Waterston vividly portrays Syndey's flaws (his impatience to get the story out lands him often in trouble) and his good side (he really cares about Dith Pran's struggle). John Malkovich provides some badly needed levity with his speech on oysters or the reporter using chickens to get stories out of Cambodia. I was a fan of the sitcom "Coach" and I enjoyed the work Craig T. Nelson does here (this movie was released a little more than 4 years before Coach debuted on ABC). I also enjoyed the work of Jillian Sands as the blonde British reporter. This and "Room With A View" marked 2 times in 3 years that Sands was in a Best Picture Nominee.

4. Forget about Nightmare On Elm Street or Gremlins, you want good scares in a 1984 film? Watch this movie. It's horrifying enough when a man speaking your language points a gun at you but it's 100 times scarier if you can't understand what he's saying. Dr. Ngor argued with Director Roland Joffe over how soon to reveal the KIlling Fields. I think Joffe was wise to delay the reveal as the build-up made it all the more scarier. No wonder Joffe was Oscar-nominated for Best Director and "The Mission" in 1986 made it 2 Directing nominations in 3 years.

5. The movie won a well-deserved Cinematography Oscar. It shows Cambodia's beauty even at the worst of times. I especially loved the scene with Sydney and Dith Pran that just showed their silhouettes.

6. The film is great at showing the horrors of war and not just on the battlefield. One minute you're at this cafe giving this silly speech about oysters and suddenly this terrifying blast is just far enough away to avoid hurting you. There's also the darkness of the human soul that war causes, like the family that claimed to be the Pran family to get into the Embassy (not that you can blame the impostors for wanting to escape to freedom). Of course there's always the tragedy of war as Dith Pran learns that nobody is ever really too young to die.

7. Best Line Sydney: You forgive me? Dith Pran: Nothing To Forgive , Sydney. Nothing

Cons:

1. Good god how I loathe the scene of Malkovich chewing out Sydney in the Bathroom. Sydney does all he can to get Dith Pran back. He helps out the Pran family as much as he can even though Mrs. Pran has no optimism of any kind. It's not like he is full of himself. He readily admits how important Dith Pran is to his journalistic work. Malkovich, get off your high horse and go F yourself.

2. I'm a little mixed about the "Imagine" scene. I love John Lennon's work but don't use popular music to tell the audience how to feel. It's completely unnecessary because the scene would still be moving even if it was shown in silence.

3. Furthermore, since the film includes John Lennon's "Imagine" and Paul McCartney & Wings' "Band On The Run", I thing they should have completed it with a solo George Harrison song like "What is My Life" and a solo Ringo Starr song like "It Don't Come Easy"