emdragon Reviews

Nightmare Alley (1947)

Intensity filled carnival ride

[8/10 · 19 December 2021]

This was a vehicle for pure greatness. But the film makers didn't realize it. Possibly they stuck too much to William Gresham's book, where a neatly wrapped circle of aesthetic identity to itself was more necessary than it would have been in a lesser picture.

Tyrone Power was electric as the burgeoning carnival mentalist working his way up the ladder to infinite possibilities. His acting is right on the beam of light to near perfection for a long time in this one, slipping only a bit in the worked down phase at the end. He plays a sort of protege/evolved result of all the previous carnival actors, mentalists, and spiritual guides who travelled as part of the old carnival shows.

As Stan Carlisle (who later becomes the "Great Stantini"), Power, a carny. . . Starts out pitching in and doing all that the carnival requires to get set up and keep recreating itself in small towns across the country, as well as being a player who contributes to bedazzle the audiences as all that the carnies must be. This was quite an epic portrayal of that.

Joan Blondell gives a wonderful performance also as Zeena, the spiritualist who inspires greatness out of Stan. I want to give special mention to Ian Keith who plays Pete, a former great carnie partner to Zeena who turned lush, and who anticipates the character Stan evolves into. His thespianism in this one playing a real lush, while maintaining moments of awakening into former brilliance. . . Is up there with the great performances I have ever seen. Lots of other good performances here as well including big Mike Mazurki playing Bruno, another carny well utilized to help give Power extra chances to excel. And young Colleen Gray does a pretty decent job starting out as Bruno's girlfriend, but being sort of a shotgun married carny gal to Stan later on, and really is a carny girl as well.

Could have really been one of the screen's great pictures ever, but the last 30 minutes broke down because of contrived script decisions I wasn't enamored of the way the screen writers forced a circle too neatly wrapped to turn Stan upside down. . . Turn HIM into Pete, so to speak to make very much sense. I suppose there was an artistic completion that the film makers seemed to want, but it might not really have come off the way they sort of sloppily ended up doing it. . . For a film audience.

Special kudos to Edmund Goulding for a truly masterful directing effort despite my apraisal of the ending.

You Know What Sailors Are (1954)

The girls alone are ten stars !

[8/10 · 22 November 2021]

The rest of the picture drags it down quite a bit. . . Say seven stars (max) total. Ha-ha-ha. It is definitely amusing in the same sort of a way it wants to be, and that's it's best quality, other than the dancing girls, of course. It's an elaborate comical playhouse for adventure in the middle east sometime after the end of WW2. Luckily, for the viewer the girls earn the top mark!

The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967)

Charm, fun, romance, beauty, and burglary in Pamplona

[8/10 · 5 July 2021]

I was quite surprised to see a 6.0 IMDB picture with so much real quality. I thought it was quite excellent and very well crafted for a heist picture. The 2 female leads are really visually stunning and do their part to enhance this picture with quality performances. In fact, Giovanni Ralli really has the most essential role in the film as the beautiful seductress and recruiting specialist for this team of ex-WW2 compatriots who re-unite & plan a heist at the Pamplona Nationale Bank. Stephen Boyd is debonair and very charming in the lead as the man sort of blackmailed into leading the old team by the former beauty, Ms Ralli. Yvette Mimieux is luxuriously lovely playing his girlfriend, who gets pulled into the plot when Boyd's character let's the cat out of the bag. The entire cast of characters from many former film adventures keep a light comedic balance, while the beautiful Spanish setting in fabled Pamplona comes off perfectly. Easily 8 stars. Anyone should really enjoy this one!

Wagon Train: The Bruce Saybrook Story (1961) Season 5, Episode 9

The Lord of reason

[8/10 · 11 March 2020]

The Wagon train is heading west toward California, and the advance scout, Flint McCullough (Robert Horton) rides into the Rockies ahead to scout out the way ahead. He runs into an English party of wanna-be safari hunters, led by Lord Bruce Saybrook (Brian Aherne), who is living a tedium of existence amid high society in London. Thus, for a new adventure he has organized this hunt through the rugged outdoors of North America to hunt big game. But a tribe of Shoshone Indians takes exception to their adventure, so stalks them to rid their land of these game thieving intruders. Saybrook is accompanied by his brother Tommy (Liam Sullivan), a ne'er do well society party going roustabout, his wife (played beautifully by Antoinette Bower), and his wife's lover, Bevan Alston (Richard Ney), who turns out to be a yellow bellied coward of an English artist. Lord Saybrook is determined to play safari king, but McCullough takes charge of them with his usual rugged leadership needed in this dangerous situation, as he finally convinces Lord Saybrook that the Indians mean business. in the end, the only one in the Safari worth his salt IS Lord Saybrook who, along with McCullough and his experience in fighting the Indians, brings this episode neatly to a close. The psychological differences in the varying perspectives of the players carries the dialogue and tone of the episode, and it turns out to be an interesting character study. Eventually many lessons are necessarily learned and the English marriage as well as the lives of the players are saved.

Jamaica Inn (1939)

The Wreckers off the Cornish Coast

[9/10 · 21 July 2016]

I always enjoy the Hitchcock movies. Always. This one was no exception. Adapted from a famous novel by Daphne Du Maurier, Jamaica Inn is a period piece, one of a select few directed by Sir Alfred. The action also seems from a former time. It is overly romantic and slightly melodramatic. But that suits the picture, perfectly. The cast is excellent all around. Charles Laughton's performance is exemplary. He nuances his role as Sir Humphrey (the unknown behind the scenes leader of the wrecking gang) with sardonic wit and a slightly mad glee. It is said there were a few clashes between he and the director. It does not surprise me. They were similar characters, demanding as much space as space would allow, probably. I enjoyed Maureen O'Hara's performance. She avoided the usual naivete exhibited by many female leads for pictures of this ilk, though she never did more than she needed to. Robert Newton & the rest of the cast were similarly excellent, including deft performances by the older couple at the Inn (Leslie Banks and Marie Ney). Not much cinematography, but the storm scenes and final climactic ship scene at the end were well carried off. Sir Humphrey's palace was well and lavishly depicted as well. All in all, despite a few minor flaws here and there, a very enjoyable watch!

Wagon Wheels (1934)

Excellent western from 1934

[10/10 · 23 March 2016]

Wagon Wheels is a really enjoyable old western to watch. Set in the year 1844, any viewer will find humor, music, drama, suspense, romance, and excellent acting throughout the cast. It is also a superb depiction of some of the elements, and especially equipment that beset an 1840's wagon train heading west. The ensemble actors had a keen sense of playing their roles in a manner depicting the period. Randolph Scott leads the players, where he is heroic, valiant of character, and sagacious of spirit. . .while his easy natural ways are endearing. Beautiful Gail Patrick is perfect for her role as a widowed mother taking a 4 year old son west. Her little boy, played by Billy Lee, is one of the great child actors ever, and gives a wonderful performance here. The 3 men leading the wagon west (Randolph Scott & 2 grizzled characters) have a real challenge defeating the elements that fall upon them. I don't want to give the whole story away, only to say I've seen a whole lot of westerns, and this one is one of the most enjoyable to me.

Gunsmoke: The Brothers (1966) Season 11, Episode 25

There goes my share. . .

[10/10 · 22 February 2016]

I'm sorry, but you'll probably find that the lead-in description of this episode by the IMDb team is completely wrong, if you watch this great episode. The Marshall never displays naive eyes. But there is real naivety on display by the younger brother, Billy (very well portrayed by Bobby Crawford) as he finds that his older brother, Eddy, who runs the gang (deftly performed by Carl Wilkins) is far more sinister than he could ever imagine. With the help of the Marshal and the Gunsmoke regulars, Billy slowly begins to realize what it means to include common integrity and righteousness of purpose as a paradigm for growing up. Roger Ewing (as Thad) has a good episode, here, as a kind of older brotherly influence on the boy Billy, as he stews in the the Dodge City jailhouse for much of the episode.

Gunsmoke: The Widow (1962) Season 7, Episode 25

Mrs Arthur's challenge

[26 December 2015]

In this 7th season, Gunsmoke embarked on a new one hour format for it's episodes. In this first one- hour season, the Gunsmoke team was inconsistent for awhile in filling the time gaps with enough material, especially when the story could have been produced in the old half-hour format as was the case here. Thus, it may drag just a bit in spots.

Joan Hackett (as Mrs Arthur) is the widow of a gallant Cavalry Captain who has been killed in a battle with the Kiowa Indians. Mrs Arthur has just come from Washington where she has much influence. She is determined to get someone to take her to the very place her husband had been killed in the Indian battle so that she can determine the truth about his death. Her determination (as she attempts bribery to coerce Marshall Dillon to help her) finally gets enough attention that a "wolfer" ends up convincing her that he can guide her out there. The attractive Ms Hackett is something the wolfer has his eye on much more than the mission, of course. The Marshall saves the day, and there is quite an epic ending with the Indians being very grandly stoic, and the widow coming a bit unnerved, such that I will not reveal any more lest i ruin it for you. Overall, not a bad episode at all, especially since the ending carries a real meaning. Ms Hackett would be a wonderful addition to any episode, that is for sure!

Cut Bank (2014)

Good acting all around

[8/10 · 13 March 2015]

Really fine acting pervades this twisting tale of a fake murder gone bad, by all present in it. The direction and plot may have needed some tidying up, but why quibble? For the most part this is a very enjoyable well made 'small town Americana' movie. John Malkovich stands out among the principals, acting wise. . .but the whole cast chips in with really good performances in this taught, yet slowly moving thriller. A couple of the scenes were just a bit hard to believe. Like the struggle between the big Indian, (who is, amazingly, left out of the IMDb credits) and the loner/killer, well played by Michael Stuhlbarg. The Indian is twice the size of Stuhlbarg yet is killed by him in a fight. Unlikely. But the movie drew me in simply because everyone in it was stellar in their performances, including Malkovich, Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Dern, the aforementioned Stuhlbarg, And the younger actors, Teresa Palmer and Liam Hemsworth were pretty solid as well. The cinematography was good, and the sound score was excellent. I give this one 8 and a half stars out of 10.

Trespass (2011)

A Tresspass upon credulity

[2/10 · 11 May 2012]

This movie actually has about 30 good minutes. Then it completely runs out of credibility, piece by piece until the film-makers reach a point of complete absurdity. . . almost making the ever continuing run of completely absurd incredulous scenes seem funny. I doubt this is the kind of entertainment that they think they are providing, however. Wonderful Nicole Kidman works way too hard for this kind of thing to have happen, in my opinion. The technical aspects of the film are fairly well handled, no question. But if you go to the movies to be entertained by a natural sequence of events leading to a credible entertaining story, this film is only going to make you madder and madder. . . that you are still watching it.

All Fall Down (1962)

Berry Berry odd

[6/10 · 20 May 2011]

A very strange movie. The critics may have been duped here. The movie is beautifully filmed. This sort of puffed out melo-drama kind of turns me off, though. Every scene seems slightly over-crafted toward an eclectic purpose that just does'nt seem to exist. The early scene when Brandon De Wilde goes into the bar with everyone looking just a little too full of malaise sets the tone for the entire film. Every scene just wants to imply something mysteriously artsy and meaningful, but what IS it? Yeah, that name, Berry Berry, that Warren Beatty had to carry the entire film is extremely annoying. WHO in their right mind would name their kid Berry Berry, and if they ever did, what schmuck would allow himself to be called that his whole life? Also, they make a big fuss over how beautiful Eva Marie Saint is supposed to be. . .but in this film anyway, she just does'nt fit the bill. She gives a good acting effort here, but there is something that the film wants her to portray that she is not , IMO. And Warren Beatty, himself, seems kind of lost in his role that confines him to that horrible name, and his extremely self-abusive (and abusive to women as well) character. His good looks is about all he really gives here that makes sense. Karl Malden and Angela Lansbury do a fine job acting wise. I doubt that the shy Brandon De Wilde character would continue to call his mother by her first name (Annabel) if she asked him not to (like she actually does). He is just too empathetic and caring to do that. I dunno, it's pretty odd, that is for sure. Otherwise, a strange over the top melo-dramatic semi-stinker, that's what I thought of this one.

Wanda Nevada (1979)

lack of taste never stopped a production before

[6/10 · 7 May 2011]

This picture from 1979 is quite entertaining, actually. On the surface it seems to be a light quasi-western comedy with murder, and a mystery treasure hunt. But there is a problem, the picture turns out to be the ultimate cradle and snatch movie. It is an example of a movie that stepped over a boundary of social morays. . .and I believe helped set the stage for some of what is allowed along moral physical lines in film making today. It is pretty quirky and a fun picture to watch, however. I will give it that. It tries to stay sweet while all the time building up a sexual attraction between the 2 leads, Brooke Sheilds (13), and Peter Fonda, who looks to be about 35 in the picture. Since Peter Fonda is the director also, it must be him who I must assail to have created this unseemly, immoral paradigm for lustful regress with this young almost pre-teen. Strange as it seems, this picture is well enough made to be called enjoyable. It never goes very far toward any kind of actual sexuality, so it skirts danger that way, but the very idea of it is a bit hard to take. The cinematography in the Grand Canyon gets some decent treatment, and the music, especially the Carol King songs are a treat.

Wagon Train: The Liam Fitzmorgan Story (1958) Season 2, Episode 5

Hooray for the Irish

[6/10 · 3 March 2011]

Cliff Robertson (as Liam Fitzmorgan) pursues a traitor to an Irish cause. Veteran character actor Rhys Williams who plays James Grady, is secretly an informer called Torrence and the father of Laura Grady (played beautifully by a young and wonderful Audrey Dalton). Liam Fitzmorgan has been sent by the Irish resistance to track down a character named Torrence who he has information is the informer from Dublin that he has taken an oath to revenge. He falls for Laura and only she prevents Fitzmorgan from killing her father by swearing her father is not the one (Is NOT the traitor Torrence, though he is). After Liam is shot in the back by an Irish low life blackmailer, Grady saves Liam from death with his surgical skills before dying himself from a stab wound from the nefarious blackmailer. Robertson has to go with an Irish accent the entire episode, which he pulls off fairly well. Audrey Dalton, being Irish, and being a wonderful actress. . . really seems to carry this episode. The entire episode never gets out of camp, and is, thus, fairly campy and melo-dramatic as more than a few performances are a bit over-wrought with rather strange semi-Irish accents.

Tombstone (1993)

Too long

[4/10 · 3 March 2011]

Tombstone, a George Cosmatos directed picture from 1993: I am sorry, but I must give this kind effort a weak score. There is far too much laconic self importance among the principles, and very little typical human behavior. The fact that nobody ever uttered a humorous line in the entire picture says something about what Hollywood believes comprises entertainment these days. And this is a very long movie, full of melo-dramatic seriousness. (I suppose "I'm your Huckleberry" expresses humor on some level, but. . .) Set in the late 1800s, Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp gives a very serious performance finding revenge laden motivations around every corner of the picture. Val Kilmer, as Doc Holiday, helps him some. . .at least offering a glimmer of lightness, but certainly not enough. He is somewhat lighter, but I would understand I suppose, given that his gun contains a vastly superior chamber for bullets than anyone had ever seen before. In one of the numerous gunfights, I have slowed the video down to count 35 consecutive bullets coming from his 2 guns a blazing. Credulity has little business in current Hollywood fare for ingestion, I suppose. Sam Elliot is just slow, serious, and weak here. His natural sounding accent for slow and stupid never gets more play than here. The rest of the cast seem to continually try to give the very image of themselves something definite to be remembered on screen, but is'nt this the directors entire idea here? Impression!?! I was not impressed, however.

The Only Good Indian (2009)

A Beautiful metamorphosis

[9/10 · 26 January 2011]

The Only Good Indian is a tribute to the plight of the Indian during the struggles of the early 1900s. The story is artistically crafted by director Kevin Willmott who creates a constantly moving aesthetic paradigm indicating the kinds of injustice man must suffer unto man in a period of upheaval for the Native American. It is an extremely human picture that carries the weight of a whole people and raises them up to a level of justice. I loved this movie. There are so many little deft touches that come home to the human heart. A young Indian boy, Charlie (played beautifully by Winter Fox Frank) takes off from his indoctrination school, and gets hunted down by self taught detective, Sam (Wes Studi), who has hopes of becoming a Pinkerton detective. Charlie must go back to school where Sam wants to take him to collect his $10 for bringing him back on the motorcycle and sidecar that Sam has purchased from a catalogue. Along the way to bringing Charlie back to his school he sees a Pinkerton reward poster for $1000 for another runaway Indian girl, Sally, who has been accused of murder (though it turns out she killed an orderly at an insane asylum who had raped her). He finds her living in a church where she has become beloved by the pastor and his wife. Sam takes her with them. The white man's ways have nearly convinced Sam to play the game the way the new world of white man's order would have it. Along the road to bringing back his captives however, Sam gets reminded in savage ways of the white man's brutal ways. He is slowly remembering his native beginnings, as Charlie and Sally remind him in subtle ways how he once must have believed. Along the way, he turns down a Pinkerton job as he helps Charlie spring Sally from jail, runs from an ever following Sheriff, and gets re-composed toward his own true heritage. With fine cinematography and a very good cast, this picture had me teary eyed near the end, and gave me a glimpse of real sympathy into the native American heart.

De-Lovely (2004)

Real people make wonderful music

[9/10 · 25 February 2010]

De-Lovely is excellent. I am pretty surprised that there are no Academy award nominations for it. The sound track is simply wonderful. Cole Porter's life is biographically and aesthetically portrayed by the director. The two leads, Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, are perfectly cast and perform beyond perfection in it. That this is a mixture of gay and straight relational behavior in the same man is deftly depicted, and represents the period well. The sets and the choreography in many of the song and dance numbers brought me back to brighter times. A few of the singing extras did not quite capture the period perfectly, perhaps (Ms Morissette comes to mind), but the songs are all so wonderful, so that it is easy to forget. The director, Irwin Winkler, had to try to make a biographical tale depicting the music the man created in his lifetime, which he did wonderfully, while all the time giving the leads free reign to portray real human beings who loved each other, while continually pondering who, exactly, they themselves really were. Mr Winkler uses something of an artist's brush to pull this thing off so well. Not an easy task given the hidden (gay) subject matter of Cole Porters other life.

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Video game reality at it's most obvious

[4/10 · 15 March 2009]

Wow. I am coming to the shocking reality that most of the voters on this site must be children. To give this picture 8 stars on average? Are you kidding me? Is common virtue and morality to get completely stolen from the original 1957 version, and a reward to follow? Yeah, the entire good vs bad format for construction of reality is missing from this one too. Not that the film-makers have'nt got certain skills in special effects and technical editing. But, come on!! Bad gets rewarded. Plus the film is so full of plot holes as to defy common celluloid. Believe me, if you want to go to a virtual reality video theater, this film is for you. The action sequences are ridiculous. It could not have happened in a zillion years like this. The typical 10,000 near misses and just barely(s). This kind of video game reality is too absurd to accept as a workable paradigm for constructive entertainment. Nor, for me at least, is it to be construed as anything other than basic junk.

Shadows and Fog (1991)

Woody does mystery-comedy. . .Wonderfully!

[10/10 · 29 December 2008]

This is an absolutely greatly entertaining mystery comedy. One of Woody's finest efforts for humor, and a complete aesthetic mixture of all that goes into great film-making. The performances are uniformly fantastic from one of the strongest ensemble cast I have ever seen on the screen. The cinematography and graphic night-time-fogged black and white imagery are nearly translucent and wonderfully mixed in shades that re-enforce the plot and set. All of this together with an unbelievable musical score, a fast paced beautifully written script, brilliant camera work, and one of Woody's best ever direction efforts. The cast. . . .how could anything go wrong? Allen, Mia Farrow, John Malkovich (who fits well as"the clown"), John Cusack (a great performance as student Jack), Lily Tomlin, Jodie Foster, Kathy Bates, Donald Pleasence, Madonna (steamy and perfect), Julie Kavner (pre-Marge Marge) and on and on, many of whom have gone on to "iconic star status" since this film, and many of whom have appeared in other Woody Allen ensembles. The picture may be something of a stylized art-piece, and for some film watchers will fail to reach them since some film watchers, in general, tend to be unreachable media slaves of the corporate world, and therefor. . .make for a rather lame model. But, and that said, anyone with half a sense of humor and an ability to appreciate great art comedy will love this picture.

Sweet and Lowdown (1999)

For the love of Django

[10/10 · 16 April 2008]

Well, first off I just want to say that this is my all-time favorite Woody Allen movie. And that is saying something since he has made so many wonderful pictures over a few decades now. But this sweet movie, set in the prohibition age of the 30s, shows off Allen's unique ability to combine real comedy with a sort of expose into the ironic aesthetics of the human psyche and the human heart. Allen narrates throughout this picture, casting Sean Penn, who once again proves to be a really fine actor, and is perfectly placed in this semi-biographical piece where he gets to display his character's overblown egocentric eccentricities while also capturing the cheap emotional insecurities of the orphaned artist. As Emmett Ray, the world's 2nd greatest guitar player, he knows he cannot quite come to grips with his life's obsession, specifically; the gypsy guitarist Django Rheinhart, (and as everyone knows, the world's "greatest guitar player"). This obsession fascinatingly becomes for Emmett one of ENVY throughout the film, which IS, in itself, an emotional metaphor that ultimately drives Emmett to outlandish behavior. His maniacal drive to assert himself and to prove to himself, somehow, that he is Rheinhard's equal. . . is a sweetly painful joy to watch. (He cannot get it resolved in his head, he cannot quite imagine that his cheap fly-by-night character is not just as "artistic" as Django's MUST be!). His performance gets beautifully offset by Samantha Morton, who plays an innocent angelic mute-girl who, alone, can contain Emmett's ego long enough to bring him down to earth, and finally allow him to personalize a bit of his real artistic essence. Her ability to project a wonderful range of emotion while never uttering a sound is remarkable in the movie. Their chemistry is amazing throughout, and the sweetness of it becomes endearing. I cannot quite watch this picture, I think, without a big smile etched on my face, which to me makes it an enduring classic. Allen has done something here that he can never quite find throughout all the rest of his films, and that is to create, with masterful sweetness, a certain expose of the human psyche, and how funny and odd it may become to explore it a bit. The music was also quite wonderful, as usual with Woody Allen's classi films . And most of all I love the way this film leaves me feeling happier each and every time I watch it.

Wild at Heart (1990)

Don't turn away from love Sailor

[7/10 · 13 March 2008]

In what I personally consider to be a great masterpiece of shock-like dream-work film-making, Wild At Heart explodes onto the screen in a surreal swirl of intense absurdity. Yet the plot and characters follow a true love story through a wonderfully shocking realism that literally digs into the viewers soul and draws him/her in. I truly loved this picture above all others. When Nicholas Cage (Sailor) sings "Love Me Tender" to Laura Dern (Lulu) at the end of the picture I find myself bubbling, burbling and sheathed in a great and glowing light of rapturous wonder. David Lynch has come to an epiphany of self creativity with this picture, and yet one has to be a little "wild at heart, and weird on top" perhaps to truly appreciate this film's luster. Strange and absurd characters abound throughout, and every scene is significantly twisted into it's own fabric of intensity and sexual energy. With a grand diversity of musical rifts, this movie rocks. The Wizard of Oz, and Elvis Presley are metaphors that keep cropping up in this film. Diane Ladd, who plays Lulu's mother, Marietta, carries much of the emotional and surrealistic tone with her maniacal portrayal of motherly jealousy and hatred toward her daughter's chance at the one true love she could never find. Harry Dean Stanton, Willem Dafoe, Isabella Rossallini, Grace Zabriske, Sheryl Lee (as the good witch), and the entire rest of the cast all shine in this tale, a lattice work of consistent intensity and aesthetic unveilings where two lovers try to find whatever happiness they can "down that old yellow brick road". As Sailor and Lulu desperately try to escape their twisted pasts, a string of relevant adventures follows them as they try to run from the evil characters who have corrupted their lives back home. Driving their way toward California via New Orleans and Texas they run out of money in the town of Big Tuna, Texas. Throughout this ordeal, they are chased by forces wickedly employed by Lulu's mother and her evil associates. Sailor is finally forced into the choice of committing a crime against his better judgement, and it turns out badly. But after this violently troubling episode there is a happy and wonderful ending. It is still weird and wild (of course) when Sailor finally gets to meet his son Pace after a 6 year stint in prison (which takes about 3 minutes in movie time). In one of my favorite scenes near the end of the picture, Sailor suddenly decides he can never fit in and care for his family like he should after he is just released from prison, so decides to leave temporarily, but not before giving his little son Pace (whom he has just met) this advise. "If ever things don't seem right to you. . .remember what Poncho said to the Cisco kid. 'Let's win before we're dancin at the end of a rope' ". Then he walks off; intent on leaving before more wonderfully absurd circumstances bring him out of his delerium and back to his true love, Lulu and Pace. It is somehow weirdly and consistently funny and wonderfully fun to watch. Anyway, I truly loved it.

Duel at Diablo (1966)

Canned and stagey

[4/10 · 11 March 2008]

The problem with this picture is that so many of the costumes are over the top, and they change from scene to scene. I saw Sydney Portier's character wearing two different hats in the same battle scene (one brown and one whitish-gray). Gaudy things. Way too gaudy to be authentic. Plus, the flat characters are all exceptionally flat. It seemed like a very canned enterprise from the word go. I am in favor of the older westerns that are more realistic to the period. This one was not. This one was a metaphor for how westerns turn me off. The scenes were way too stagey. The players too clean and bright. During many of the fight scenes (for instance) all of the hats stay on even though they are infighting in intense battle. Plausibility is on the wane in this movie. Sorry, 4 stars (out of 10).

Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

Woody should have been in this one

[7/10 · 29 February 2008]

Bullets over Broadway has one of the best casts for a Woody Allen film ever. John Cusack, Chazz Palmenteri, Dianne Weist, Mary-Louise Parker, Jennifer Tilly, Jack Warden, Tracy Ullman, Rob Reiner, and a slew of good character actors. And the premise is good. A playwright who wants to see his "work of art" transformed into a masterpiece on a Broadway stage and not hacked to pieces by producers and directors and actors who take it upon themselves to change the script. This movie has much of what has made the Woody Allen films work in the past. Great music from the jazz era in New York city, which is where and when this movie is set; excellent and well developed script and characterizations, and even good cinematography. BUT. . . and alas, this picture tends to run just a bit uneven and even feels canned some of the time, especially during the ending (which is not atypical of some of Allen's earlier works as well). The actors occasionally tend to look as though they could have used one more rehearsal. Mostly I wish Woody had played the John Cusack role of playwright/director David Shayne, who starts out thinking he is a great artist but comes to find out he knows almost nothing about life, letting the chanteuse's bodyguard take over the script writing of the play he is bringing to Broadway. It is a funny premise, and overall I liked the film. How could I not, I ultimately asked myself. But I will quibble. It could have had more humor had Woody played the playwright himself. Not that Cusack does a bad job, he is just not as funny as Woody is. And Jennifer Tilly gets a bit over the top at times playing the bimbo chanteuse Olive O'Neal. She tries just a shade too hard to sound completely stupid at times. However, much of the time she does perfectly well. That said, I loved Dianne Wiest and Chazz Palminteri in this picture. They seemed to have a handle on their roles a bit better than the rest of the cast. All in all this picture earns about 7 and a half stars (out of 10) from me. But it is not QUITE a classic Woody Allen picture as some have suggested, and as Woody himself would admit (I'll bet) if he were pinned down. And he has made a lot of real gems along the way.

The Preacher's Wife (1996)

Angel's don't have sex on their mind

[4/10 · 24 February 2008]

This is a weak remake of the Bishop's Wife, a wonderful film from the 40s with Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven creating the characters as they were really meant to be from the novel by Robert Nathan. There were some aspects of this movie that I liked. The children were uniformly good. The camera work and street scenes were well orchestrated. The singing was a joy. But the script has Denzel Washington basically lusting after Whitney Houston, which is not supposed to be what the movie is about. In one scene Dudley (Denzel) and Julia (Whitney Houston) are gazing into a store shop window. He is telling her in a tone that is obviously sexually oriented. . . that if she wears a certain negligee her husband would'nt want more of a present than that. But it is he that is practically drooling. C'mon, he is supposed to be an angel!? Everything that was sweet and wonderful about the original film is missing from this one. I have usually liked Penny Marshall movies in the past, but this one misses the boat.

Rain Man (1988)

Walking in the Rain Man

[7/10 · 18 February 2008]

This is an interesting movie. Self centered, high energy Charlie (Tom Cruise) takes his autistic brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), whom he has'nt been around for over 2 decades, and who has been locked up in a mental hospital. . . from the east coast to LA in his car. They must go by automobile because Raymond's autism affects him so that he cannot fly without overwhelming extreme terror. Raymond must be molly coddled and indulged to keep his disorder from destroying him along the way. A road adventure ensues. Charlie's motivation for the trip is money. He wants to get a piece of an inheritance from his father that is earmarked for Raymond whom he has'nt even seen since they were kids.

OK. I liked the concept of it. Brotherly bonding and an interesting adventure. It is warm hearted, and therefor easy to like. But the implausibility of some of the scenes just blows me away. Are movie-goers actually willing to buy that a person can just automatically get rich gambling in a casino because a certain math skill (by Raymond, who is a savant) can give you, at best, a 1-2% edge? And there were other implausibilities as well. The age difference for one. Hoffman is clearly much much older than Cruise. And the manic need by Raymond (Dustin Hoffman's character) to watch certain television shows causes Charlie, in one scene, to pull up to a farm house so that Raymond can watch television. I never could convince myself that anybody would go for that, despite Charlie's affability.

Otherwise, Barry Levinson does a good job directing this picture. The cinematography is quite excellent, and the sound and camera work is superb throughout the picture. Tom Cruise is OUTSTANDING in this picture. In my book it is his best performance in any movie I have seen him in. He plays snot-nose to perfection; slowly dissolved into brotherly and loving. His performance is the highlight of the film. Dustin Hoffman is less convincing to me as the autistic savant, though, to his credit he was fairly consistent throughout the picture, except when they got to Vegas he seemed to stretch out a bit and lost some credibility (for me). Overall, I liked the movie for it's warmth, despite the plausibility strains.

Legends of the Fall (1994)

Turn of the century western of Americana

[7/10 · 14 February 2008]

This is quite an excellent film. Anthony Hopkins anchors a fine cast to the tarmac of the Montana pre-world-war I countryside with an epic fatherly performance as Colonel William Ludlow. Ludlow has 3 sons, who are raised to be real men sometime before, during, and after the first world war on a ranch somewhere in Montana. Aidan Quinn plays his eldest son, Alfred, and gives a stirring performance. All 3 sons (the other 2, played by Brad Pitt and Henry Thomas) have an affair with the same woman (played ably by Julia Ormond) at some point during the picture. Brad Pitt, as Tristan Ludlow, the 2nd in line, is wild at heart, but ably seems to underline the emotional familial texture of the film. His performance is pretty good, though his 20th century modern style is sometimes too apparent (IMO). The movie is a tad long and drawn out, and takes the viewer through a series of tragedies. Tears will fall from the watching of this one. The musical score bothered me some for it's melodramatic stylizing, but the cinematography was among the best ever put upon the screen in capturing the beauty and wonder of the Rocky mountain scenery. The storyline is very well developed, engendering pathos and energy throughout. Give kudos to director Edward Zwick for this movie. For it's length (almost 3 hours) he holds it all together quite capably.