Similar to Best Years ... as everyone's said but I too think this is the superior film. When understated still manages to drive the point home, those deeply moving moments are unexpected gifts. As also said by many, just looking at an excruciatingly handsome Madison was fun indeed, adding to that the extraordinarily sexy young Mitchum with that cleft in his chin - but all that beauty wouldn't have worked without the natural appeal of modesty and decency inside these returning Marines. There's so much more to the story and without the noise of predictable dialogue and stereotypical characters, the message is profoundly new and raw and enlightening. If you're willing to hear it.
Reviews
100 Reviews
The Spiral Staircase
(1946)
Creepy and terrific. How did I miss this one ...
8 January 2023
Reminds me a little bit (atmosphere-wise) of "night must fall" I have to look it up because I'm not sure that's its name; no plot resemblance but the tension, use of shadow and music .. Yikes! I was taken by surprise at the conclusion even though I knew something was coming-I love ot when a story surprises me. One twist is all that's necessary if it's good enough. These old black and white films in my opinion if the plot is unique and there's brilliance in the production... they are so much more frightening than most of the films that boast so loudly since. The old cliché is true. They don't make em like they used to.
Half Nelson
(2006)
This man Ryan has me hooked ...he is a brilliant actor
2 September 2022
No matter how one may see this as a downer movie, hang in there long enough to see the showered (cleansed) water-drinking version of a man ripe for recovery just not quite ready to feel the pain of an idealistic heart, a man possibly too sensitive for life I understand completely. He needs to be numb. On alcohol, coke (or crack when he's too broke to afford an 8 ball of the white man's version). But I fell in love with this lonely character by an actor who has slowly won me over by and whose varying roles were good until he immersed his soul in this lonely optimist pessimistic struggling human being with whom I relate. I love his eyes, his half interested glance that's really a stare .... a face that has at last won me over. Do not watch this film if you're jonesing for a
drug like crack. Wait. And don't see the film to feel good. Watch it to feel.
Murder!
(1930)
Masterful suspense even amidst the imperfections of early talkies...
28 July 2022
Hitchcock managed to do it .... Instead of turning away from the distractions from lousy sound and weird dialogue with some facial expressions to match, despite these reasons to watch something else...I didn't. As I did my nails and planned on paying very little attention, the movie held me and went on long enough to get much better in a build towards the end. Yes. Whodunnit that's not quite serious if at all, especially the afterthought of a motive that, even as silly nonsense (the lesser of 2 very dated thank God no-no's), takes nothing from the cleverness of the dialogue and pure enjoyment of a film that gives us a peek at the genius of a director to follow. (But not for everyone I'm sure...)
Bubble
(I) (2005)
The reviews make 1 thing clear: Either you get it or you don't
23 July 2022
I love this film. I'm dying to discuss it with someone who's interested and interesting enough to consider the value of an unconventional uncommon portrayal of life. No histrionics gratuitous violence or tears or twists that illicit noise from the audience. Instead what we're witnessing needs our attention and asks with subtle intrigue, not an hysterical scream that demands we pay special attention to mere snippets. Nope, snippets won't cut it. If 88 minutes of real life isn't fascinating enough for some, I think they're missing the entire thrill of a movie that grabs the attention of those lucky enough to get it. The others are missing the thrill that is contained within for those who don't need arrows directing their focus but with patience dare to find it themselves.
Please Murder Me!
(1956)
Much more to this than expected. Very clever, a plot
26 May 2022
There are movies with twists like little shockers that turn a story's direction abruptly and back again, and when these are inserted with surgical precision and carried out with talent and brilliance from all sides, the result is stunning; in the rarest case, unique. Twists by definition are unexpected, meant to delight or amaze but what they are not and can never be is trite-in that word is a failed attempt to entertain.
I was so sure that Raymond Burr in the Perry Mason role with delicate cautious pre- Murder She Wrote Angela Lansbury would be dull and stressful, a heavy predictable and painful 75 minutes. There are movies with twists like little shockers and then there's "Please Murder Me!" which is itself a twist. Except for going on a little longer than necessary, this was a surprise, very good, clever, verging on unique.
I was so sure that Raymond Burr in the Perry Mason role with delicate cautious pre- Murder She Wrote Angela Lansbury would be dull and stressful, a heavy predictable and painful 75 minutes. There are movies with twists like little shockers and then there's "Please Murder Me!" which is itself a twist. Except for going on a little longer than necessary, this was a surprise, very good, clever, verging on unique.
Waiting for Guffman
(1996)
One of his best.....
20 May 2022
My stomach hurts from laughing - all Christopher Guest films are brilliant and this much like A Mighty Wind just hangs out waiting for discovery and thoroughly painfully funny. Pure enjoyment if you appreciate this kind of humor and it's baffling that some don't but I've seen those who don't. ??? No spoilers to say as usual the final performance of whatever it took to get there is always stellar. There's a scene in this that hurts I laugh so hard... when the cast is rehearsing the "stool" sing and dance number and just sort of out of sync, so much so that the music director's face as he witnesses the unpreparedness frozen with this glare of horror and panic, then Corky's "why are you whispering..?" to his final retort of unreasonable reasoning that says to learn it means you can forget it. It hurt my stomach muscles. And O'Hara can play any role with a subtlety that absolutely nails it. The Chinese Restaurant and her sudden candor with the newly acquainted couple (husband's "Can we get some coffee over here..." I can enjoy Christopher Guest's alternative realism many times over. Because it is after all a movie.... Great fun.
Oh the obscenity of our collective inaction...
30 April 2022
.... until it's our nightmare? Is a sense of decency in 96-98% ? Of us able to sleep through the explosion of unimaginable suffering and sorrow at the hands of a fraction of humanity whose behavior we all agree is abhorrent unthinkable cruel - all that stuff too vulgar for words to contain- yet until it detonates in our lives, we fail to notice the avoidable needless tragedy our collective decency could end. Or at least begin to. This story demands we notice because there are more atrocities inside it than any one life should be forced to bear alone. And this story deserves better than a cowardly dance around its edges in scattered fingers of blame that by dividing in direction only weakens the impact on ALL (= any) who take part in what our united rage at the indecency fights fiercely together- and not only when it detonates in our backyard but before it happens to anyone again. Yes I'm American and this is a Canadian atrocity and laws differ. But decency doesn't. Whatever happens to you happens to me. That's my American idealism but I swear to God... technology advancements that bring unaddressed misery on its back are failures.
True Crime
(1999)
Oh do I love this Clint Eastwood....not the empty chair
20 April 2022
I love this movie. Sure it's not perfect sure it's got Hollywood in it where Justice actually exists when it's late and when an ex drunk reporter grabs hold and refuses to ket go -,but this is the beauty and the beast that is my Dirty Harry, my hero who could grit his teeth and tell a city mayor "no I got no new leads because for the last 2 hours I've been sitting on my ass out there waiting for you ..." (that's the Dirty Harry movie not this one but the same man who can turn unbearable tension into a moment of levity then still has what it takes. He's older, he's in the grip of one of the least laughable subjects on Earth, state-sponsored execution, but he can raise goosebumps to tears that that a moment after stifling pause at the irony that dares to laugh even if only deep inside. I won't give anything away, the nail biting of an ending that feels like hours in the final minutes of a tie basketball game. Hang in because here after all is the man who still knows "what we're thinking" and perhaps we're the lucky punks for sharing tine with this Clint ..
Mascots
(2016)
Hysterical. Possibly too subtle for some viewers?
4 April 2022
That's the only explanation I can give for the lousy reviews. Okay so it's not Best in Show or Waiting for Guffman or The Mighty Wind or Spinal Tap or my absolute favorite For Your Consideration which might be the least-known Christopher Guest film but I can't figure out why it's not at the top ???? But unless you can't stand Christopher Guest movies or find anything subtle -including humor -boring..... WATCH IT AND ENJOY the familiar brilliance of his usual cast and unfamiliar brilliance of some new members.... (Best scene-the inquest on possible insensitivities past present or otherwise subject to disqualification...)
Judgment at Nuremberg
(1961)
A brilliant provocation-unique in its success....
8 March 2022
I've never really watched this notorious presentation, not thoroughly enough to absorb how powerful the demand not just see but experience multiple perspectives-almost too well for too long. A story within stories, not all of which I would have wanted but perhaps needed to see. If it weren't as brilliant and engrossing, I wouldn't have held out for 3 hours. Timeless as well in history's cyclical, sometimes sad predictability.
179 uncomfortable minutes and worth every one.
179 uncomfortable minutes and worth every one.
Life with Murder
(2010)
Compelling if otherwise very unsettling. (Is there a doctor in the house?)
11 January 2022
Witnessing a family's pain as entertainment is a pretty ruthless appeal and possibly an insult to an audience, me included, that may have been just as riveted had the tv reporters invited some brilliant therapists, some mental health professionals to accompany and guide these sessions. Without that aspect of compassion that may have artfully demanded logic from the son instead of these ridiculous stories that ignore the room entirely, forget the elephant....where's the road through to healing? Where's the chance of resolution, solace or any comfort at all. Except that's none of our business except it's been made our business by airing and sharing lovely parents in an impossible situation doing the best they can. I just hope they're getting that support from those who might have advised them to skip the entertaining us but just as said near the end, how can we possibly judge what few could likely survive at all-the loss of both children under circumstances that are close to the worst. God bless them. Well done documentary for what it provokes ... a lot of questions.
Hitchcock
(2012)
Entertaining informative and refreshing...
12 December 2021
I too cannot vouch for the accuracy of this fun-to-watch biopic. It was certainly a lot more enjoyable than "The Girl" which paints a pretty gloomy picture of the genius director, and its claim to be a realistic portrayal of the sadistic torture of a new inexperienced face, that of Tippi Hedron as the leading lady in "The Birds" makes it that much harder to watch. And disappointing. But as for this film, I loved it by comparison. I found the train of detail in raising a stillborn that by cutting and pasting launches it into a masterpiece fascinating. I don't know how realistic this is either, but I know what I find interesting. Contrary to other comments, Scarlet Johansson's portrayal of "Psycho's" leading lady Janet Leigh was appropriately humble, delicately subtle that worked well alongside a cast of louder personalities. We all know she can act with louder energy and in this case with a softness that demonstrated her effectiveness in self restraint. Adding brilliant talents like Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren made for a final result that was fun with raw moments between director and partner /wife that revealed a private intimacy that I hope had more truth than the bleakness they shared in "The Girl" .... I prefer this over bleak.
Wuthering Heights
(1992)
Why can't what's written be dramatic enough without overdoing it...?
2 December 2021
This is a remake of what was a simple and beautiful story when played by the original cast .....and what I found dramatic enough without the loud acting. That's the only word that comes to mind-loud. Yes beautiful cinematography that in black and white in the 1939 film didn't have nearly the impact or the distracting soundtrack but I loved the simplicity of the story. I didn't think it needed all the frills and noise. Maybe my opinion isn't considering technical brilliance and what for some completes a movie. Those old movies were my parent's generation, but I still love them the best for their rawness where all the color had to come from the story and the acting and it was enough to move me. This just felt like a typical over embellished, sensationalized remake that trampled all over a story with intrusive music, over acting and general loudness, a story that was good enough told through soft spoken performances and music that stayed in the background instead of in our laps. I can't name the quality only that it seems the story drowns in all the drama.
Room for One More
(1952)
I'll take sappy any day over..... true crime!!! Heartwarming.
27 November 2021
I must have missed this ?? I was afraid it would be some un clever syrup like that truly not at all amusing mistake that Henry Fonda & Lucille Ball made in accepting an unacceptable production "Yours mine and ours" or whatever it was called where 2 divorcées with 8-10 kids each get married and Navy father runs the house like boot camp and I don't think there was a single moment of authenticity when I felt anything for any of them. (Only the humor of it's datedness when 5 full grocery carts ring up at the register to a whopping $126.) But this one... this was heartwarming and not too over the top sweet to keep from being touched by its true kindness. No spoilers no twists just a good set of parents and a lesson in raising kids the old fashioned way with love and mistakes and forgiveness ... even if none of us had that, it's nice to dream. I'll watch it again too, just to feel good.
Intrusion
(II) (2021)
About as subtle as a sledgehammer....
20 November 2021
A film of only 90 minutes, 85 of which I spent adjusting the volume or jumping out of my skin (or back into it). It did keep my attention short of the last few moments when I realized that a reviewer's reference to a last minute twist was more what I'd consider an attempt at irony. I don't recommend watching this when someone's trying to sleep nearby for reasons stated above. Neither a new slant on an old theme nor an old slant on a new one, but as predictable and kind of corny as it is, I kept watching which means it engaged me. There were glimpses at real talent, dynamic cinematography and architecture amidst an ocean of technical overuses noted specifically and with such good wit by an earlier reviewer that I needn't elaborate. Not yet on a par with what LMM puts out as 'new' yet heading in a direction that Netflix has already shown it's capable of far more.
Brute Force
(1947)
Great film that left some graphic violence to the imagination
6 October 2021
The good ole days when prisoners had each other's backs; before privatization of our penal system invited greedy hands to focus solely on the bottom line. (Providing the absolute least for the more the better is a business profiting on inhumanity .. just sad).
I was relieved to learn that unlike "Shawshank", the graphic torture of prisoners is left for the viewer to imagine or maybe not But thankful it wasn't splattered across the screen in what would have made it unwatchable for me. I understand that sometimes the violence is necessary to move an audience in a direction later .. I know when I get the message sooner, I can mute the rest.
Anyway..a good strong movie ... A good message.
I was relieved to learn that unlike "Shawshank", the graphic torture of prisoners is left for the viewer to imagine or maybe not But thankful it wasn't splattered across the screen in what would have made it unwatchable for me. I understand that sometimes the violence is necessary to move an audience in a direction later .. I know when I get the message sooner, I can mute the rest.
Anyway..a good strong movie ... A good message.
Nightwatch
(1997)
SUCH POTENTIAL...not thoroughly wasted just lazily untapped.
4 October 2021
This was great material for horror and should have aimed higher and made it but for too superb an original. (I will look for it now ..) But no way were these 90 minutes wasted. The initial revelation of the killer's identity seemed pushed upon us too soon while the ending(s) as in multiple.... not soon enough. Yes plot holes, believability sporadic, over and under-acting, strange music-entertaining and enjoyable in varying degrees.
Edmond
(2005)
Whoa. Powerful and not for those whose realism must feel pleasant...
3 October 2021
This is no feel-good film. And not so bizarre as to be dismissed as comedy like "Natural Born Killers" for example, or poorly acted to be forgotten without some nightmarish images first. The problem is that William H Macy is too damn talented-he's so good that he takes us in with sympathy and as suddenly so crude and rude that we lose it for a man we can't stand with so much repressed rage that we wonder how he's managed to go unnoticed. In his boring blankness there is as well an evil racist, self-righteous and stunning in his justification some of which spills over into our laps as the audience forced to witness violence done against him then by him. But it's not gratuitous-it's this man's story and it takes a few stunning twists before we know what we know. At the risk of unintended spoilers I can't elaborate but there's poetic justice in his ultimate destination and a sweetness that is really hard to to extrapolate but do! Because otherwise you might have ugly images instead of an ending that works in a sad commentary on choices when coping skills are non existent (and not without hostages) How best to handle life's surprises absolutely not to be learned from this guy,
an actor too good to remember often enough that he's acting.
There's no way to squirm out of this truth ....-
27 September 2021
Whether you love and follow Donald Trump for his lack of character or see him as a deadly worm invited into the 2016 presidential primary by a Republican Party so gullible in their ignorance of history to believe a threat is best handled from within. Contrary to the lessons that 1920's Italy 1930's Germany and the various democracies scattering litters of autocracies since that if learned that would have protected America from one as obvious as Donald Trump, he went on fooling the people from an old playbook he neither wrote not read but some people read him the lines and he memorized what could divide and conquer our country. All of us but for the true racist goons are the losers. If this chilling and thoroughly fact checked documentary teaches us anything it will be in spite of those members of the Republican Party who knew and still do just how low Trump can take Americans but cowardice or too drunk on power themselves stop them from serving to save a nation. Why have so many fled the Republican Party? Because it's clearly anti democracy and anti American as a result. Had Trump stayed a Democrat, he knew he hadn't a chance in hell of gaining the destructive power he craved so he switched to a party where pretend patriots and amoral moralizers wouldn't stop him even if it meant the people would pay. There's nothing original or maverick or spontaneous about Donald Trump. For all the reasons like that some use as reasoning in following him, he's none of it and none of them or their lives matter or ever will to the wreck of a human being who tried to destroy America. And he has no intention nor the integrity to stop. Ever. Until facts find the courage in those folks to see through his 'fake news' campaign of self preservation and they regain some dignity for a higher cause ... call it truly loving America.
Champagne Charlie
(1936)
I agree with reviewer's "Let's drink to Charlie" ....
27 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Yes I too was expecting the same kicker and then i remembered "Soap" hysterical comedy with Kevin Kline and Sally Fields co starring in a soap written (or produced) by Whoopie Goldberg and her cowriter Robert Downey Jr and some other talents including the very young Elizabeth Shue's as the niece who wants to be an actress who comes to live with her famous 'aunt' .... There's a twist in that one along same lines but totally different period, genre-apples to oranges from this 1936 drama and a much better storyline and deep character development that makes you care about these people, in a comedy no less. I love old films, old dramas, mysteries, comedies none of which and any of which apply to Champagne Charlie, a kind of meaningless puff of a film with no memorable take-away or personality, for me anyway, except for one very loyal assistant (understatedly interesting) and some serious crew members and a Captain listening intently to a flashback. One of the few TCM unknowns I'll likely forget in a few days. And after such a review, still not time wasted on a so-so 1936 film-far more watchable than anything so-so in technicolor.
Too Late to Say Goodbye
(2009 TV Movie)
TV movie with 1 or 2 higher quality actors....
19 September 2021
Agree that Rob Lowe shows his talent in this and it was for this that the movie was watchable. And Jenn his wife-unlike the balance of the cast whose over-acting made a cliché of a script that much harder to stand, her underplay was refreshing and a respectful reminder that this happened. The lack of skill in a dialogue that balanced boredom with cringe-worthy nonsense and lack of skill in acting it out would have been unwatchable without the two leads- a disservice to the real people who survived the loss and so senseless and selfish.
On the author I see most readers rave about (Ann Rule) I've never understood why. Nonfiction isn't easy nor a gift like Truman Capote's expected again but Jack Olsen, Tom Henderson, Kevin Sullivan-my opinion only-I wish there were more true crime writers like them.
On the author I see most readers rave about (Ann Rule) I've never understood why. Nonfiction isn't easy nor a gift like Truman Capote's expected again but Jack Olsen, Tom Henderson, Kevin Sullivan-my opinion only-I wish there were more true crime writers like them.
World Trade Center
(2006)
A different perspective, one of suffering most of us thank God will never have to know.
13 September 2021
What's with all the griping .... A perspective from beneath depicting a suffering we pray we never face. And likely we won't. But I'm surprised that as many reviewers none of whom stated any firsthand experience would be as intolerant as to condemn what attempted a vantage point that wasn't pulled from thin air. I can only imagine the depth of research that had to go into conveying what these few men experienced; then down to the last 2 neither of whom Oliver Stone chose nor did they--even attempting such closeness, the intimacy required is amazing to me. Too dramatic? Exaggerated? Jesus the whole event went well over what I ever saw happening, and to capture even a glance of a horrendous reality is in my mind a success. Stone left politics out of it so I'll try, sort of. Only to say we Americans are strong. Even when an inept grifter wanders into our democracy to destroy it on a platform of divide and conquer and phony patriotism, we survive. A little bit of feel-good propaganda ain't so bad after that......
Lake Placid
(1999)
If you liked Airplane! ....... Have fun
31 August 2021
If you're in the mood to be seriously challenged at the nightmare of reality, watch 20/20 or Unsolved Massacres. This isn't going to do it. But this doesn't mean that it's not a result of talent and good swamp research. It's what every I II and III version that followed the original JAWS would have liked to have been. Fun. I equate it to SPLASH. But without the pleasure of a hapless scientist like Levy. So instead of a mermaid and childhood memory of rescue we have Lake Placid. I clicked on it thinking it was an Olympic documentary with or without the miracle of beating the Russians. Which reminds me, we need more of these We're getting entirely too serious.
Journey for Margaret
(1942)
New and full of heart ....
29 August 2021
Agree with "No Cliché..." a side of war especially that war that so much has been relayed conveyed dramatized not dramatized enough. The before and after on the returning servicemen. More graphic are the during .... Attention not specifically paid too often to *the children and especially to the children overseas It's a story, beautifully told, perfectly played (with subtlety) by Robert Young & others, After the introduction of a perfect round-eyed little Peter we have our sad-eyed heartbreaking heartwarming angel without whom many dialogues possibly this one could dissolve into a sentimental syrupy journey where we could wind up choked up and resenting the manipulation. But no chance when we have our little gem as Margaret..... * to all living, war is hell.
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