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drmike99
Reviews
Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976)
Too frightening for the little kids
Bizarre is the only adjective for this depressingly dark Rudolph sequel.
A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Tedious, boring, badly written badly acted and badly directed
This is one of the most tediously boring and depressing movies I have ever seen. The chop-work taken to the original books (which I have not read) explains the structural weakness of the screenplay- it is not a series of unfortunate events, it is simply a series of the SAME events over and over with the same deus ex machina solutions each time. There is no building toward anything- I found myself looking at my watch over and over again. Each segment has its own mini-climax and then on to the next EXACTLY THE SAME event, with different window dressing. There is no suspense- you know they will save themselves in the last possible moment. The acting is abysmal. Jim Carey is not the Jim Carey of "Eternal Sunshine" (for which he has a Golden Globe nomination) or "Truman Show," and he is not the comical Jim Carey of everything else. He is just an actor playing a character. Meryl Streep is God-awful doing a characterization, not a character. Whoever plays the banker is terrible. The kids are good. The direction is wooden and plodding. The cinematography is nothing special. And the effects are nothing special.
The River (1938)
Extraordinary documentary which seemingly does not age
I first saw THE RIVER in the 1950's in school, in the days when watching a movie in class didn't mean turning on the TV and popping in a VHS tape, it meant rolling in the old Bell and Howell Filmosound, putting up the screen, and watching a real 16mm projected MOVIE. I saw it two more times during my school career because it had so much to say at different levels about different things. It is the story of the Mississippi River, what it means to the land, and what we have done to it. It is, let's admit, a New Deal tract, an ecology drama, and moderately political. It is an unabashed apology for the entire Tennessee Valley Authority construction project. But that out of the way, it is a poetic and almost hypnotic (due to repetitive images)narrative, well-written and dramatically read. And it doesn't hurt that the musical score, by Virgil Thompson, is arguably the greatest musical score written for any movie (it is in its orchestral suite format a concert standard and has had many recordings, and is also available as the complete score on at least one recording). You can rent this disk from Netflix and it is worth it just for The River. I also watched its predecessor, THE PLOW THAT BROKE THE PLAINS, which I didn't like as much. I passed on the other offerings. But just for THE RIVER it is worth it. My only argument with it is that the ending loses the hypnotic poetry and simply sums up the rest of the story. That aside, it is as great a documentary as has been made.
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
Spirited Away is one of the most fantastic animated features I have seen.
This is an intensely beautiful film, a wild roller coaster ride, and as one who does NOT like Anime (aka Pokemon,Dragonball and all the other cheap Japanese animation) I found it beautifully drawn. I guess it's not Anime that I dislike, but cardboard cut out anime. The story is so complex that the simple summaries I've read are misleading. You don't really know where it's going until it has gotten there. This movie is a joyride for all ages.
Moonstruck (1987)
Moonstruck is a must-see comedy.
Moonstruck has its own magical aura. It is one of the best movies to see when you need an "up." The acting is superb, the writing top-drawer, and the whole atmosphere is wondrous. This is one of the great romantic comedies. In some ways it presages BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING. It's the story of a young widow who was ready to settle for a dull second husband, and a bitter, injured younger brother (of her fiance) who hates the world and was ready to give up on it. The only remaining love he had was for opera. And then they meet. The story is pure magic, the ensemble cast is excellent, and it should have won many more Oscars than the three it collected.
Geordie (1955)
With the 2000 Olympics in Australia, it's time to bring this back on VHS/DVD
I remember this movie vividly from the 1950's when I saw it once. It has never been on tape and should be, especially with the 200 Olympics in Australia. This is a very enjoyable film about a SMALL young boy who takes a body building course by correspondence and grows up to represent Scotland in the hammer throw in the Melbourne Olympics in 1956. It is time to bring it back.