Gideon58's Reviews

Registered User

08-27-24

Freeway (1996)
An eye opening performance by future Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon is at the center of a gritty and disturbing drama from 1996 called Freeway that is supposedly a contemporary updating of a classic fairytale, but that takes quite a chunk of running time to come into focus and by the time it does, any sympathy we might have garnered for the central character is moot.

Witherspoon plays Vanessa Lutz, the teenage daughter of a drug-addicted prostitute who is sexually abused by her stepfather, who takes advantage of their arrest and runs away from home after cuffing her parole officer to the bed. Vanessa's car breaks down on the freeway and she is offered assistance from Bob Wolverton (Keifer Sutherland), a serial rapist and pedophile who she manages to escape from by shooting in the neck once and in the back three times, but this is just the beginning

This thoroughly unconventional and unpleasant film was written and directed by Matthew Bright, who only has 12 writing credits and 5 directing credits on his resume and his inexperience really shows here. According to the IMDB, this film is supposed to be an updating of Little Red Riding Hood, but Bright's story takes all of the bad out of the Big Bad Wolf and places it on Red instead. Bright really seems confused about how old Vanessa is as well, as in her opening scenes with Bob, she has difficulty saying any words that deal with sex out loud, but words like "anguish" and phrases like "pillar of our community" flow out of her mouth with ease. Do you know anyone under the age of 18 that has ever uttered those words? I also don't understand how Vanessa could shoot the guy three times and he not only gets up and walks to a hospital on his own, but survives the whole ordeal, even if he is disfigured.

This is pretty much where the film begins to run out of gas for me, as we then find Vanessa facing the consequences of her actions in a female juvenile facility where she puts the baddest bitch in the place in the hospital on her first day. It was very troubling the way the Vanessa character is initially set up as a victim, but any sympathy for the character gets methodically stripped away as the film progresses.

As frustrating a film experience as this was, I cannot deny that was I never bored and never looked at my watch. Witherspoon commands the screen in a performance that was actually three years before Election and Sutherland adds another slimy bad buy to his character gallery. Amanda Plummer, who appears unbilled, makes the most of her opening scenes as Vanessa's mother and I was also impressed with an eye-opening turn from Brooke Shields as Bob's very angry wife. The late Brittany Murphy also makes a brief appearance as a lesbian juvenile. The low budget look of the film adds to its intensity but the script is just a little too inconsistent for this to work properly. Witherspoon is spectacular though.

Last edited by Gideon58; 08-28-24 at 01:14 PM.

Citizen Rules

Trouble with a capitial 'T'

08-29-24

Originally Posted by Gideon58

1979's All that Jazz is definitely one of my favorite films, a permanent part of my video collection and a film I can watch over and over again without tiring of it.

This dark, twisted, self-indulgent, musical version of Fellini's 8 1/2 seems to be Fosse's exploration of his own personal demons as he lays his life out there for all to see in a not too flattering light as a career-driven, hard drinking, smoking, womanizing director/choreographer who is only alive when he's on a Broadway stage creating dances or behind a camera lens but is clueless on how to deal with regular life and the little imperfections that most regular folks are able to cope with and accept.

Roy Scheider delivers a brilliant performance as the Fosse alter-ego Joe Gideon, who is trying to stage a new Broadway musical and put the finishing touches on a movie he directed and the stress of all this work puts him in the hospital after a heart attack. This story was based on the period in Fosse's career when he was beginning to mount the musical Chicago for Gwen Verdon and was still editing his 1974 film Lenny with Dustin Hoffman and had a heart attack shortly afterwards.

This film sucks you in from the beginning with shots of dancers warming up onstage as the opening bars of George Benson's "On Broadway" begin to fill the audio. Soon the camera pulls back to reveal hundreds of dancers onstage as Gideon weeds out the dancers he wants to cast in "NY to LA", the fictionalized version of Chicago. This number is just brilliant and is a wonderful introduction into the world of NY theater auditions for the uninitiated. Fosse, is, more than anything, a choreographer, and his dance direction in this film is nothing short of astonishing. I can watch the "Take Off With Us/Air-Rotica" scene over and over again and never tire of it. I also enjoyed when Ann Reinking (as Joe's girlfriend, basically playing herself) and Erzsebet Foldi (playing Joe's daughter, Michelle (Nicole))do a dance for Joe to Peter Allen's "Everything Old is New Again" in his living room. Joe's fantasy production numbers after he enters the hospital are also dazzling, especially long-legged Reinking's rendition of "You Better Change your Ways".

There are also small quiet moments in the film that are equally effective, in particular a lovely scene in a dance studio with Joe and his daughter where she tries to talk him into getting married and giving her a little brother. This is not a side of Gideon we see much of (Fosse either) and it is a lovely moment. Jessica Lange's ethereal quality was used to great advantage in her small but showy role as Joe's Angelique. Leland Palmer (who starred in Fosse's Pippin on Broadway) registers as Audrey Paris, Joe's ex-wife and Michelle's mother, a fictionalized Gwen Verdon. Her scene with Scheider in the dance studio where she calls him on his constant infidelity is a gem.

Cliff Gorman scores as Davis Newman, the star of Joe's film, THE STAND UP (this film's version of Lenny), who is seen visiting Gideon in the hospital and psychoanalyzing him at the same time.

The "Bye Bye Love" finale is a little over the top and WAY too long but I like the end of it when he says goodbye to everyone before his death (especially loved the looks exchanged with John Lithgow and his hug with daughter Michelle). All in all, All that Jazzis a must for Fosse-ites and fans of musical theater..whether it's stage or screen. Not as good as Cabaret, but still a unique movie experience to be savored.

Excellent review! I just re-watched All That Jazz for the second time and my opinion went way up. Agree with everything you said here and I learned alot from reading your review, for example I didn't know the comic movie being editing was the film's version of Lenny. You really know your theater! BTW I have to ask is your MoFo name Gideon58 in honor of Gideon from All That Jazz?

Gideon58

Registered User

08-29-24

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Yes it is

Citizen Rules

Trouble with a capitial 'T'

08-29-24

Originally Posted by Gideon58

Yes it is

I guessed right! I always wondered what 'Gideon' meant and now I know.

Good movie too, way better than A Chorus Line.

Gideon58

Registered User

08-29-24

Great movie. Fosse�s choreography is incredible�Never get tired of �Take Off with Us/Air Rotica.

Last edited by Gideon58; 08-29-24 at 05:04 PM.

Gideon58

Registered User

08-30-24

The Instigators
The story is a little confusing, but the 2024 action comedy The Instigators is worth a look thanks to a terrific cast and the director of The Bourne Identity in the director's chair.

The movie is set in Boston where we meet Rory (Oscar winner Matt Damon) and Cobby (Oscar winner Casey Affleck, a couple of losers who have agreed to participate in a heist at a political benefit for the mayor and his candidate where it costs $500 a seat. Unfortunately, the heist goes terrible wrong,, forcing Rory and Cobby to go on the run, along with Rory's therapist, Dr. Rivera.

Affleck co-wrote this muddy screenplay with Chuck MacLean that seems to borrow elements from several other films like the Oceans franchise, Dog Day Afternoon, Payback, and The Sugarland Express where we not only find ordinary Joes caught up in extraordinary circumstances, but they are very well protected by the screenplay that throws in everything but the kitchen sink to make our heroes come out that way.

The film starts off promisingly as we understand Rory and Cobby's need to be involved in this caper. As a matter of fact, Rory declares an exact amount he needs from this heist. When the guy hiring our boys (Michael Stuhlbarg) is questioned about how much they will be making from this thing, he redefines vague, which should have been a red flag for the guys right there. It's not long before we see Stuhlbarg grumbling about the botched heist and we learn that he's not the boss in this thing anyway and that it seems to go all the way to the mayor (Ron Perlman), but I was never really sure, because before we met the mayor, Stuhlbarg was reporting the mess to a baker (Alfred Molina). And why would police send in Rory's therapist to negotiate with the guys.

The film does remain watchable though because Damon and Affleck,] are so damned likable, producing a chemistry that has to be partially credited to director Doug Liman, who also staged some spectacular sequences. Hong Chau, Oscar nominee for The Whale is a lot of as Rory's therapist, as are Toby Jones, Walter Pau Hauser, Jack Harlow, Andre de Shields, and Ving Rhames, who appears unbilled. No masterpiece, but it will hold your attention for a couple of hours.

Gideon58

Registered User

09-02-24

Island of Love
The late Robert Preston was probably the hottest property in Hollywood after his triumphant performance in the 1962 film version of The Music Man and it would be nice to report that his next project, a tepid 1963 called Island of Love was worthy of hm, though there is a slight similarity in the two films that has nothing to do with the fact that both films share the same director.

Preston plays Steve Blair, a con man who convinces his BFF, a drunken screenwriter named Paul Ferris (Tony Randall) to write a movie about Adam and Eve so that Steve can sell it to a gangster named Tony Dallas (Walter Matthau) to finance the project for the bargain price of two million. The film is made and it's a disaster and Dallas wants Steve and Paul's hides so they leave the country and travel to the Greek Islands where Steve gets the idea of starting a resort made up of hotels and restaurants and guaranteeing romance for anyone who comes there. But just as things start to fall in place for Steve, including an unexpected romance, it's revealed that Tony is related to Steve's Greek friends and is on his way there.

l
It's hard to believe that the similarity to The Music Man is coincidental since both films are directed by Morton DeCosta, a director who had a very small resume, his only other directorial effort was the 1958 screen version of Auntie Mame. Like Harold Hill, Steve Blair is a con man whose hustle is sidelined by romance, but romance makes him want to give up his con man ways; however, this film has no Meredith Wilson music, no Onna White choreography, and a very confusing story.

OK, I was with the story up to the escape to the Greek Islands but then all of a sudden we were following Tony and Paul around Greece buying Greek artifacts and fishing them out of the ocean and I know it didn't have anything to do with decorating the resort but it was never really made clear what that was all about. And it's not long before Steve says he has to marry his girl and leave the country immediately and I'm thinking it's because Tony's already in town, but then we learn Tony isn't due in the country for four weeks, so why did Steve have to leave now?

There are scattered laughs throughout, mostly from Randall and Matthau. The scene in the restaurant where Paul is doing the Greek towel dance to escape Tony and every moment Matthau shared onscreen with fiancee Cha Cha, played by Betty Bruce was gold. You might remember Bruce as the hilarious stripper Tessie Tura in he '62 screen version of Gypsy, but as a vehicle for the very talented Robert Preston, you really can't tell from this movie.

Last edited by Gideon58; 09-17-24 at 06:43 PM.

Gideon58

Registered User

09-03-24

A Quiet Place Day One
Despite it being the third film in the franchise, 2024's A Quiet Place Day One appears to be a prequel to the first two films that does provide some scares, but there are just too many inconsitencies in the story for it be a worthy follow up to the first two films.

There are a couple of reasons that this film appears to be a prequel, primarily, the phrase "Day One" in the title, which implies some kind of genesis or beginning. Then there's the fact that this is the first film where we actually see the creatures attacking. The first two films were about the aftermath of their destruction as opposed to this film, that puts the viewer right in the thick of the battle, a battle that begins with little or no motivation and provides little or no insight as to why these aliens allegedly respond to sound more than anything else. There's also the fact that no one from the other two films appear in this one.

The film stars Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o as Samira, a resident in some kind of hospice outside of Manhattan, who finds herself one of the few patients from the hospice who get trapped in Manhattan when these creatures begin their attack. Samira has a service cat and is obsessed with getting pizza in New York after the field trip and, even after the attack, has no intention of returning to the hospice until she gets her New York pizza.

Krasinski does not have the creative control that he did on the other two films, he is only one of three people who put together the rather haphazard screenplay, one of the others being director Michael Sarnoski, who also directed the Nicolas Cage film Pig. For some reason, Sarnoski takes quite a bit of time establishing Samira's life at the hospice, which becomes less and less relevant as the film progresses, especially her obsession about getting pizza after the show they attend, which was also quite bizarre. It was a marionette show where the puppeteer is visible and we see the marionette blow up a baloon that violently explodes. Needless to say, it was a bit confusing that right after the initial attack, Samira finds herself right back at the theater where the puppet show ws and is reunited with her cat, with whom she gets separated from dozens of times during the film but they always reunite, hard to believe considering the circumstances .

Of course, there is a lot of noise that the aliens don't respond to and we wonder why and there are times they are inches away from victims and we're not sure why they don't attack, but one theory that does come to mind is that their response to sound might be because they're blind. The end of the film also reveals they have a fear of water, but none of this is confirmed in this unsettling but confusing film that actually sets up a fourth.

Last edited by Gideon58; 09-04-24 at 11:08 AM.

Gideon58

Registered User

09-09-24

Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)
Fans of either version of Yours, Mine, and Ours might have a head start with Cheaper by the Dozen, the saccharine and predictable 2003 remake of the 1950 Clifton Webb classic, that doesn't bring anything fresh or fun to the original film.

The film stars Steve Martin as Tom Baker, a football coach, who is married to Kate (Bonnie Hunt), a writer and are the parents of 12 children (the eldest, Nora, lives with her boyfriend), whose lives are turned upside down twice when Tom accepts a new job that forces the family to movie and just when they're getting settled in, Kate learns that the book she has been writing about her life is going to be published and she has to go to Manhattan for a few days, which, of course, turns into a few weeks.

Screenwriter Craig Titley actually adapted the screenplay for this film from the 1950 screenplay, which doesn't mean a lot because basically this is film is just a very long sitcom episode that offers nothing we've haven't seen before. This story tries to blame Tom and Kate for their children being miserable and, if the truth be told, what we have here is a bunch of children that have been spoiled rotten and pretty much ignore anything their parents tell them.

Director Shawn Levy (Date Night) puts a lot of work in presenting a lot of silly slapstick situations for the Baker children, but it all has a familiar air of "been there done that" about it. We get a lot of physical destruction of the new house, including a running gag with a chandelier. We also get a lot of children vomiting and running upstairs without cleaning it up. My mother would have beat me silly if I ever threw up on the kitchen floor and walked away. And don't get me started on the younger kids going to a birthday party they've already been told they can't attend with a snake as a present.

Steve Martin is so subdued in the starring role that he is barely recognizable in a role that plays to none of his strengths, but Bonnie Hunt is a charmer as Kate (whatever happened to her?). Oldest son Charlie is blandly played by Tom Welling, who went on to play Clark Kent on Smallville. Paula Marshall and Alan Ruck are fun as the Baker's neighbors and Wayne Knight is fun as the chandelier repairman. Ashton Kutcher steals every scene he's in as Nora's boyfriend. Fans of Desperate Housewives might also recognize Shane and Brent Kinsman, who played Porter and Preston Scavo on that show. as twins Nigel and Kyle here, but this movie is really a snooze fest that actually inspired a sequel.

Last edited by Gideon58; 09-10-24 at 03:35 PM.

Gideon58

Registered User

09-09-24

Bad Boys Ride or Die
Hopefully, the 2024 action epic Bad Boys Ride or Die is the final chapter in the Mike Lowery/Marcus Burnett saga because this movie might have been the longest two hours of my life.

This film actually opens with confirmed bachelor Mike Lowery getting married and his partner, Marcus having some sort off collapse during the reception that lands him in the hospital. We then watch Marcus have an out of body experience where he meets he and Mike deceased boss, Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano), who tells Marcus it's not his time yet. We then learn that drug cartels have been setting up Howard to look dirty, leading Mike and Marcus to clearing their boss' name, which finds Mike reuniting with his illegitimate son, who we met in the last film.

Paying attention as carefully as I could, I was still only able to follow the screenplay by Chris Bremner, Will Beall, and George Gallo about two thirds of the way through the film. The opening scene which finds Mike and Marcus being unable to get to Mike's wedding without breaking up a robbery at a bodega, went on much too long, only to zip through Mike's wedding and movie straight onto about 20 minutes of bizarre behavior from Marcus who because of his outer body meeting with Captain Howard, now thinks he's Superman.

I had it up to the point where Mike and Marcus are reunited with Mike's son and have him busted out of jail. This part of the story was appealing because I really didn't like the way things were left between Mike and his son after the last film (which I hated BTW), and was hoping that this was going to be what this film was going to be about, but that wasn't to be either. What it really was about became muddier and muddier beyond the two thirds point, where I really didn't get what was going on and tried to stay awake for the generic action movie conclusion that I've seen a million times.

I'm still working very hard at trying to look at Will Smith objectively ever since he punched Chris Rock, but I can't blame what's wrong with this movie on him. Nor can I blame it on a paunchy and overweight Martin Lawrence who comes off as broaching the road to senility here. The problem here is writers and directors trying to breathe life into a franchise that should have ended with the last film, making for an intolerably long and dull movie experience. Though I have to admit, I really liked Jacob Scipio as Mike's son, Armando, who deserves his own action franchise because it's time for this one to die instead of ride.

Gideon58

Registered User

09-13-24

The World of Henry Orient
Despite lovely Manhattan scenery and a handful of terrific performances, the 1964 black comedy The World of Henry Orient is difficult to stay invested in due to a lethargic screenplay that makes a jarring transition from slapstick comedy to sloppy melodrama that doesn't make sense.

The film is about a teenage troublemaker named Valerie Boyd who drags her new BFF Marian Gilbert into all kinds of crazy advenures, most of them revolving a world famous but terrible concert pianist named Henry Orient, who the girls begin stalking which brings out the paranoia in Henry and Stella Dunworthy, the married woman with whom Henry is having an affair.

Famed screenwriter Nunally Johnson adapted the screenplay from a book written by his daughter, Nora, that actually starts off a little confusing because it takes a little too much time establishing the relationship between these two girls, making it difficult to figure out which one the story is really about. We're a good 30-40 minutes into the film befire it is revealed that Valerie is not only in constant trouble in school, but is also in therapy due to the very troubled marriage of her parents. This film probably stirred up a bit of controversy during its release with the idea of a teenager in therapy at the forefront. An autobographical slant to the story is also suspected since Nora named her best friend in the story after her mother, also named Marian.

After watching opening scenes of Valerie and Marian running through Central Park and jumping over garbage cans and fire hydrants, the movie starts to kick into gear when, seemingly out of nowhere, we learn that Valerie is obsessed with this neurotic concert pianist, which is when the girls begin stalking him, which is probably the strongest part of the film, thanks primarilyto Peter Sellers' hilarious performance in the title role, his first after The Pink Panther, sadly, Sellers' screentime is a little limited and when he's not onscreen the film pretty much screeches to a halt until the appearance of the fabulous Angela Lansbury as Valerie's mother. This is the point where the comic elements of the story begin to drain away, despite the always watchable Lansbury appropriately chewing the scenery.

George Roy Hill's direction is a little pedestrian, but this was a decade before he would win a Best Director Oscar for The Sting. Paula Prentiss also garners major laughs as Stella Dunworthy until her character abruptly disappears from the story and Tippy Walker is a revelation as Valerie. Tom Bosley makes an early film appearance as Valerie's dad and he's so young the makeup people actually had to put gray streaks in his hair. it's definitely worth a look for hardcore Sellers and Lansbury fans.

Last edited by Gideon58; 09-13-24 at 01:27 AM.

Gideon58

Registered User

09-13-24

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
Tim Burton's diseased imagination and a crack technical team are in over drive 36 years after the first film forBeetlejuice, Beetlejuice, another trip to the cinematic afterlife that does provide entertainment despite an overstuffed screenplay where the ideas presented are too numerous to get the attention they deserve. Will try to review without spoilers.

In this film, :Lydia Deitz (Winona Ryder) is now the famous hostess of her own television show about the supernatural who has marketed what happened to her in the first film into a commercially successful life despite the death of her husband and the distance between her and her daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega) who wants nothing to do with her mother's belief in the supernatural, but that becomes impossible as Lydia begins having flashes of Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) who, unbeknownst to her, is seeking her help in escaping the wrath of his ex-wife, Delores (Monica Belucci) a ghost who reappears and reconstructs herself with a staple gun before sucking the souls out of everyone she runs into in an attempt to reconnect with her ex.

We are also reunited with Lydia's stepmom, Delia (Catherine O'Hara) who is devastated by the death of her husband Charles (Won't be going into why Jeffrey Jones does not appear in this film) and hoping that Lydia can help her find some peace with her loss. The bitter and lonely Astrid, existing in the same void that Lydia did back in 1988. may have found a way to a new life through a new romance and a ghostly police detective (Willem Dafoe) has made it his mission to capture Delores before she destroys the entire afterlife in pursuit of her x-husband.

The screenplay by Alfred Gough, Miles Miller, and Seth Grahaeme-Smith offers a story crammed with a lot of ideas that surprisingly don't rehash the first film, but do respect it. We even get a brief, if vague, explanation for the absence of Adam and Barbara Maitland from this story. They do definitely drive home the point about us not seeing Jeffrey Jones here by re-enacting how the character dies with claymation figures. But there's so much to drink in here, that some story elements are given short shrift. The introduction of Delores dominates the first third of the film and then gets unceremoniously shoved to the back burner, and even though he finally receives the top billing that he should have back in 1988, Keaton's Beetlejuice now becomes the supporting character that he was supposed to be in the first film. Ironically, even though the story elements inttroduced here are not developed as they should have been, the film still feels four hours long, but Burton and his production team work very hard to make sure we don't notice.

As with the first film, production design and visual effects teeter on the spectacular and help to distract the viewer from the protracted story. Keaton seems aware that he's not the star here, Ryder is and she fully invests in Lydia even more than she did in the first film. most likely because the character is a mother now and Ortega definitely makes Astrid Lydia's daughter. And In what should be no surprise to anyone, O'Hara steals every scene she's in and a big thumbs up as well to the versatile Justin Theroux as the producer of Lydia's show who proposes to her. Been looking forward to this sequel for a long time, and though it wasn't a home run, there is entertainment to be gleaned here.

Last edited by Gideon58; 09-27-24 at 11:50 AM.

Gideon58

Registered User

09-16-24

Baby Boom
Another vivacious performance by Diane Keaton makes an unremarkable, often overly cute, and very predictable 1987 comedy called Baby Boom worth a look.

Keaton plays JC Hiatt, a high-powered lady executive who thinks she has everything she wants and is thrown a loop when she inherits a baby girl from a distant relative after her death, changing the entire trejectory of JC's life plan.

Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyer, the creative forces behind Private Benjamin and the Steve Martin Father of the Bride movies have brought some gloss to the somewhat well-worn topic of "Can Women have it all?", and , as expected, not really providing us an answer, but the story does wade through some very predictable waters to bring us to what is a pretty foregone conclusion.

We get a lot of the scenes we expect, especially JC's early adventures into the world of motherhood. I was pleased that we were spared the scene of mom experiencing a stinky diaper for the first time, we've seen that in a million movies, though her first adventures into the world of diapers were kind amusing. I was a little disappointed that JC's boyfriend (Harold Ramis) couldn't deal with being a father and just walked out on her, but I guess that had to leave room for JC's unexpected romance with a handsome veterinarian (Sam Shepherd). The film also contains more than one silly moment where it seems like the baby understands exactly what JC is saying to her.

The movie doesn't offer a lot of surprises and moves like a tortoise, but Keatoon is such an engaging screen presence that we do care about JC and want to see what's going to happen to her. Keaton creates chemistry with both Ramis and Shepherd and James Spader, Pat Hingle, Sam Wanamaker, and Victoria Jackson score in supporting roles. Linda Ellerbee provides the opening narration. Nothing special here, but Keaton is charming enough to hold tviewer attention. Years later, it became a short-lived NBC televison series with Kate Jackson playing JC.

Last edited by Gideon58; 09-18-24 at 11:13 AM.

Gideon58

Registered User

09-17-24

Longlegs
The Silence of the Lambs meets The Shining with just a dash of Carrie in a 2024 nail biter called Longlegs that takes a little longer to come together than it should but manages to hold viewer attention.

Lee Harker is a special agent for the FBI who is put at the forefront of a hunt for a serial killer when her partner is killed on their first day of the investigation. She eventually unlocks a series of supernatural occurrences that lead to the reveal of a killer named Longlegs and some kind of connection to Harker's mother.

Director and screenwriter Osgood Perkins has crafted a tale that borrows elements from the above referenced films, but the weaving of said elements into a viable story takes way too long and definitely challenges viewer attention span. It actually starts with this central character, Harker, who we really have a hard time buying as an FBI agent, because for the majority of the running time, the character seems to be teetering on the edge of sanity, not to mention having some serious issues with her mother that seem to make it impossible for her to stay focused on what she's supposed to be doing.

Despite this, the deeper the FBI gets into the case the more dependent they seem to be on Harker, who is staying very close-mouthed regarding her mother and seems unconcerned that the FBI is getting closer to the truth than she is. We see a slightly more frightened version of Clarice Starling going after her own version of Jack Torrance, but what we are initially led to believe are red herrings regarding Harker's past, it becomes apparent that the answers the story is making us wait for are much closer to Harker's office, as well has her home.

Maika Monroe is a little one-note as Agent Harker, but Blair Underwood is appropriately creepy as her boss as is an unrecognizable Oscar winner Nicolas Cage as the title character and a surprisingly effective performance from Alicia Witt as Harker's mother. Perkins shows some cinematic storytelling skill here, but he really challenges viewer patience here.

Last edited by Gideon58; 09-17-24 at 10:55 PM.

Gideon58

Registered User

09-20-24

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Do you ever shut off movies when you don't like them? I do, all the time. I give a movie 15 minutes and if I'm hating it, I bail and watch something else.

Just realized I never answered this question. I turned off Gravity and The Social Network four times before watching the films in their entirety and loved both of them on the fifth try.

KeyserCorleone

Registered User

09-20-24

Originally Posted by Gideon58

Just realized I never answered this question. I turned off Gravity and The Social Network four times before watching the films in their entirety and loved both of them on the fifth try.

Kinda like me and Radiohead's Kid A. I didn't shut it off four times but I didn't finish every time either.

Citizen Rules

Trouble with a capitial 'T'

09-20-24

Originally Posted by Gideon58

Just realized I never answered this question. I turned off Gravity and The Social Network four times before watching the films in their entirety and loved both of them on the fifth try.

Thanks for answering Gideon

BTW I just watched and reviewed Gigi.
https://www.movieforums.com/communit...05#post2489805

Gideon58

Registered User

09-23-24

I agree with a lot of what you said about Gigi, upon closer examination, the story is kind of unseemly and I have to admit that Louis Jourdan doesn't exactly ooze charisma either. Still can't believe it won Best Picture over Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Auntie Mame.

Gideon58

Registered User

09-23-24

Mary, Mary (1963)
The 1963 alleged romantic comedy Mary, Mary barely holds viewer attention thanks to its definition of the phrase "photographed stage play" and some questionable casting and performances.

Bob (Barry Nelson) is a publisher who is nervous about reuniting with ex-wife, Mary (Debbie Reynolds) after nine months in order to resolve some tax issues. The troubled reunion is complicated by the fact that Bob is engaged to marry sexpot Tiffany (Diane McBain) and Mary has caught the eye of Bob's ;latest client, movie-star turned author Dirk Winsten (Michael Rennie).

The movie is based on a play by Jean Kerr, who wrote Please Don't Eat the Daisies, opened in March of 1961 and ran for over 1500 performances, with Nelson and Rennie playing the roles they played in the film and Barbara Bel Geddes originating the role of Mary.
That's a pretty impressive Broadway run and I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what went wrong in the translation to the big screen. Bel Geddes not only originated this role, but was also the original Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, but didn't really make a name for herself until she started playing Miss Ellie on the CBS drama Dallas, so my initial theory was that the casting of Debbie Reynolds had to have something to do with why this film just doesn't work.

I cannot deny that I found Reynolds' performance in this film beyond annoying. Research revealed that at the time this role was offered to her, Reynolds was contemplating retirement, but director Mervyn Le Roy, whose previous film was the Rosalind Russell/Natalie Wood version of Gypsy, refused to direct unless Reynolds did the role. Reynolds' contempt for the project comes through in her performance, which is shrill and affected and seems to be an attempt to give Reynolds a more sophisticated image but it just didn't work, but it's not all on her Reynolds. Despite the fact that they reprise the roles they originated on Broadway, Nelson and Rennie are just as unfunny as Reynolds is. The fact that the film never leaves Bob's apartment doesn't help either, making it feel pretty claustrophobic.

Frankly, I expected more sparkle to the direction, considering Le Roy's resume and the story is too predictable to take as long as it does to get to the extremely foregone conclusion. The only completely satisfying performance comes from the sparkling Diane McBain as Tiffany, but her screentime doesn't merit wading through the rest of this cinematic muck.

Last edited by Gideon58; 10-16-24 at 12:14 PM.

Gideon58