Change Your Image
JohnBarleycorn
Reviews
Eight Crazy Nights (2002)
Why is everyone so negative on this movie?
I think that this is actually kind of like a Jewish version of "A Xmas Carol" where we have a nasty, mean spirited person named Davey (like Ebenezer Scrooge) who learns the benefits of goodwill and kindness and repents and sees the error of his ways. Also, we have a character in this movie named Whitey who reminds us of George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life!" This guy feels like he is not appreciated; somebody shows up to prove him wrong, and the townspeople all show up at the end to show their gratitude. There is actually a very good-hearted message in this movie if you watch it with an open mind! Also, I think that it is great that Mr. Sandler always casts his friends and family members in his films. Great work, Adam Sandler!!!
A Christmas Carol (2004)
I've seen better;I've seen worse.
Watched this a couple of weeks ago. Here are my thoughts: Good Points: 1. Jason Alexander as Jacob Marley/Marley's Ghost. (I happen to be a short, stocky, neurotic man in his 40's and am losing my hair.) 2. Jane Krakowski as Christmas Past. She is HOT looking! 3. Dancing undertakers and gravediggers in Xmas Future scene. What can I say? They were just COOL!!! And I think there should be a major party EVERY time that a CEO of a major corporation croaks. 4. Scrooge's father being sent to debtors' prison. (This does not happen in the novel, BUT it did happen to Charles Dickens' father in real life.)
Bad Points: 1. Kelsey Grammar as Scrooge. He made such a good tight ass as Frazier on CHEERS and FRAZIER. What happened? 2. TOO MUCH SINGING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3. Towards the end of the Christmas future scene, just as Scrooge repents, a children's chorus or choir comes in to the graveyard. What's up with this?!
Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)
Excellent movie but far from cheerful
This movie was well written , well acted, featured an excellent cast but had a far from cheerful ending. It kind of reminded me of a verse from the bible that all the holy roller,bible-thumping fundies used to shove down MY throat when I was a kid. "The wages of sin is death". I do have to disagree with a few people on this website on one item in particular. That is the fact that they refer to the soundtrack as "excellent disco music" or "good disco music". Comrades, the terms excellent and good (and even the term music!) being applied to disco is a contradiction of terms! Disco was one of the most horrible,horrible things to have ever occurred in the late 20th century.
It Happened One Christmas (1977)
It sucked even worse than the original!!!
I usually like Jimmy Stewart. But the original version of this movie SUCKED bad enough. I remember the first time that I saw it thinking that I would get diabetes because it was so sickeningly sweet! And then came this version that had no originality at all. I can't say enough bad things about either version. BRING ON THE VIOLINS!!!!
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Really scary to watch nowadays!
Ordinarily, this would be a fairly spooky film to begin with. But ever since one night in early December 1980, and thanks to a man we all "know and love" named Mark David Chapman, this film will be even scarier, especially for a young man named Sean Lennon and his mother Yoko Ono. Unless I am mistaken, at the very beginning of the movie, in the scene where the apartment manager is showing Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes around, we get to see the very spot where, about 12 years later, John Lennon would be savagely gunned down. Sean Lennon was deprived of his father, and Yoko Ono was deprived of her husband. So we can now all thank Mr. Chapman for making this movie even scarier for us. Thank you, Mr. Chapman, and as Mr. Lennon asked in one of his finest songs: "How do you sleep at night?"
A Christmas Carol (1984)
Excellent Adaptation-perhaps my favorite
First of all, let me start off by saying that "Christmas Carol" is my favorite Christmas story. This version is by far the very best. The late George C. Scott is excellent as Ebenezer Scrooge. He makes the old miser seem like a real human being (i.e. he chuckles somewhat sadistically as he tells his nephew how he really feels about Christmas at the beginning of the show, yet when he shows up at Fred's house on Christmas morning with a heartfelt apology, we want to applaud the old man's actions. Also. the scene where Scrooge plays the joke on Bob Cratchit on the day after Christmas is priceless. We even see Scrooge hug Bob Cratchit and welcome him in as a close friend as well as an employee.) Finally I would like to say that all of the neo-conservative garbage that Scrooge spews out is especially dated to the time when this film was made, considering that Reagan was in office back then. Thank God that is over with!!!!
Scrooge (1970)
A Pleasant Surprise!
I usually don't care for musicals, but in this case, I'll make an exception. I remember my Mom & Dad taking me to see this version of the movie when I was a boy, and I still enjoy it as an adult. And the songs are actually quite catchy and enjoyable. I especially enjoyed Albert Finney as both the old miser and the young man who is dumped by his girlfriend. David Collings was also excellent as Bob Cratchit, who never has anything left over from paycheck to paycheck, but is very rich in a sense of humor. He would have to be to work for such a man! Now, here are some things that I really think set this version apart from the others: 1. In the future sequence, Scrooge's funeral is turned into one big party for all of London to celebrate. 2. The scene where Scrooge imagines himself in Hell and is welcomed by Marley is pretty cool. By the way, can anyone tell me why every time Alec Guiness speaks the name "Lucifer" he looks as if he is bowing?
A Christmas Carol (1997)
Absolutely Horrible!!!
"Christmas Carol" is my favorite story for the Holiday Season, and I usually enjoy checking out new adaptations of the story, but this one SUCKED!!!! I guess the real reason why I am disappointed is that the voiceovers were such a top-notch cast.
A Christmas Carol (1984)
Excellent Adaptation-perhaps my favorite
First of all, let me start off by saying that "Christmas Carol" is my favorite Christmas story. This version is by far the very best. The late George C. Scott is excellent as Ebenezer Scrooge. He makes the old miser seem like a real human being (i.e. he chuckles somewhat sadistically as he tells his nephew how he really feels about Christmas at the beginning of the show, yet when he shows up at Fred's house on Christmas morning with a heartfelt apology, we want to applaud the old man's actions. Also. the scene where Scrooge plays the joke on Bob Cratchit on the day after Christmas is priceless. We even see Scrooge hug Bob Cratchit and welcome him in as a close friend as well as an employee.) Finally I would like to say that all of the neo-conservative garbage that Scrooge spews out is especially dated to the time when this film was made, considering that Reagan was in office back then. Thank God that is over with!!!!
Scrooge (1970)
A Pleasant Surprise!
I usually don't care for musicals, but in this case, I'll make an exception. I remember my Mom & Dad taking me to see this version of the movie when I was a boy, and I still enjoy it as an adult. And the songs are actually quite catchy and enjoyable. I especially enjoyed Albert Finney as both the old miser and the young man who is dumped by his girlfriend. David Collings was also excellent as Bob Cratchit, who never has anything left over from paycheck to paycheck, but is very rich in a sense of humor. He would have to be to work for such a man! Now, here are some things that I really think set this version apart from the others: 1. In the future sequence, Scrooge's funeral is turned into one big party for all of London to celebrate. 2. The scene where Scrooge imagines himself in Hell and is welcomed by Marley is pretty cool. By the way, can anyone tell me why every time Alec Guiness speaks the name "Lucifer" he looks as if he is bowing?
A Diva's Christmas Carol (2000)
Pretty Good Remake!
I watched this one last holiday season and really enjoyed it for several reasons: 1. "Christmas Carol" was and always will be my favorite holiday story. 2. I've always loved the sarcastic and anti-establishment style that Dickens used in his writing. 3. Vanessa Williams is one Scrooge type character that it is a treat to look at. There was another very good remake of the story from about 1995 that starred Susan Lucci. I'll alway enjoy these 2 versions because, as a man, the story is even more fun if there is an attractive lady in the lead as Scrooge. Where do I sign up to play Bob Cratchit?
The Lion King (1994)
How could anyone not like this movie?
How could anyone not like this movie?
I first saw this movie in 1994, shortly after its theatrical release. It has everything going for it! The animation is first-rate; the actors chosen to perform the voice-overs were top-notch (I could even stomach the fact that it had Jonathan Taylor Thomas in it before he got to be so full of himself.); and the jokes were lively and fast-paced, especially the lines by Timon and Puumba, and Banzai and Shenzi. This is definitely a movie for the young and the young at heart.