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It may be harsh to say that Michael Winterbottom is one of the most consistently bad directors working today, but his emphasis on often counterproductive technique at the expense of story or character has resulted in an almost unbroken run of poor films from promising material which in many ways is far worse than making bad films out of videogames. Ever the alchemist, once again he manages to turn gold into base metal with The Claim, a fairly lavish version of Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge relocated to the California mountains during the Gold Rush. While the basic story transposes rather well a down on his luck prospector who sold his wife and child for a gold claim and rose to rule the town that grew up around it finds himself on the road to destruction when they reappear and he attempts to make amends it's little more than an underdeveloped skeletal outline that never grips, feeling less an attempt at subtlety, more underwritten.<br /><br />While it throws out the complexity of the source material, there's enough left here that could have made a good adult Western drama in other hands, especially in the neat turn around from genre tradition that sees Peter Mullan's all-powerful Mayor of Kingdom Come trying to persuade Wes Bentley's surveyor to drive the railroad through his town to ensure its growth. Yet it never gets to the heart of the story, playing the big scenes for less than they're worth (hard to believe any director could botch a scene of Mullan harnessing the whole town to manhaul his marital home across the snow and into the heart of town, but Winterbottom manages it) and constantly pushing characters and story into the background without ever placing anything in the foreground to compensate. Worse, no present-day action in the film has any real consequence, which is fairly disastrous for a morality play about consequences. It's the kind of film where people get killed and their death makes no impression on the emotions or actions of anyone around them leaving a dreary, inconsequential film with no drive.<br /><br />Rather than story or character, Winterbottom seems interested in recreating the world of McCabe and Mrs Miller, but he's taken all the worst of Altman without any of the best. There may be an occasional improvised feel, but it's rarely harnessed to the film's benefit, feeling like undisciplined self-indulgence and all too symptomatic of the way that far too much of the film is played out of focus, both metaphorically and literally. Indeed, it often feels like a film whose few strengths have little to do with the director. Peter Mullan is superb as the Mayor, convincingly essaying the kind of man who can rule an entire town by sheer force of will alone, but while you understand his emptiness, the film never allows you to feel for it, leaving the finale a rather empty spectacle rather than genuine tragedy. If anything, the film's tragedy is that Mullan didn't get a film worthy of his performance. Unfortunately the supporting performances are rather dull and characterless: Nastassja Kinski has little to do but waste away, Sarah Polley isn't able to do much with her cardboard good girl, Milla Jovovich lacks the moxie her saloon manger cries out for while Wes Bentley tries to coast on charisma without ever having enough to do the trick. Instead they're outshone by production designer Mark Tildesley's superbly recreated snowy mountain town and a surprisingly powerful and heartfelt Michael Nyman score that abandons his usual mathematical masturbation for something more grandiose and passionate. And you know what they say about shows where you come out humming the scenery
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This had to be the worst film of 2008 by far. The acting was not convincing and made it seem like a cheap version of the "FBI Files" or any Detective/Police TV show on a higher budget. No one call tell me that that a captain of the police will let a mentally insane ex-detective on a serial killer just because they were engaged? Then he wants to act all "iffy" because he might get demoted! Come on! Then the police plants evidence on this mentally ill guy because they were sure it was him; yeah right... It was clearly predictable, specially how the director placed the alleged killer/confidant around her throughout the whole film. I don't even want to get into the special effects...I can make things look scarier using a Polaroid camera. Get the picture.<br /><br />The only thing this movie will be remembered by is for being Eliza's first topless movie after she said that she will never come out nude in any movie. This is the only reason why I gave it a 2/10. | 0neg
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I'm doing a very, very slow John Stockwell Film Festival, and of course, I had to see one as part of the process.<br /><br />I think liked his "My Science Project" a WHOLE lot better.<br /><br />This is barely even digestible. More than a little bit too stupid than not. The detective motif didn't really make much sense. If they were locked away in a bomb shelter as little itty-bitty kids, just precisely how was it that they were able to read the books that they got their detective kitsch from? Who taught them to read if there was no one else but them in the shelter? Just being nitpicky here.<br /><br />Apparently, money was saved by using the very, very, very, very cheapest film stock available at the time. Jeez, shooting it on video tape would have yielded a far superior quality visual. And even more money was saved by not bothering to use proper lighting. So much is so dark, i wasn't really too sure what was going on.<br /><br />It verges almost slightly on the edge of being almost entertaining. But it was done so klunkily, it sort of flops around.<br /><br />I'm impressed how Stockwell always talks out of the corner of his mouth. Not many actors do that. And he has his own unique style of enunciation that makes you wonder if he ever had to go to remedial speech classes and luckily the lessons didn't stick.<br /><br />I can't truthfully say i recommend this "movie" to anyone who isn't doing a very leisurely John Stockwell Film Festival like i am. It's VERY klunky. | 0neg
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This movie was one of Australia's 'attempts' at making a horror movie, Peter Jackson-style, but instead turned out a turkey that went straight-to-video.<br /><br />The plot, (if you could call it that) is simple. A company manufacturing a 'health' drink in powder form decide to distribute it amongst a group of residents living in a cul-de-sac. Little do they know that anyone who consumes the 'health' drink end up mutating and dying in revolting ways that try to be humorous, but instead makes the audience groan in disbelief. This movie treads in the 'been-there-done-that' territory.<br /><br />All the 'characters' are as usual, Aussie stereotypes played way over the top by renowned Australian TV stars, such as Lisa McCune (of "Blue Healers"). One ridiculous storyline has a pair of young men ending up on a farm as captives by a group of mutated hicks. We even get to see the horny guy trying to hit on the big ugly sister which is really revolting.<br /><br />The deaths themselves are quite ludicrous. One woman has her tongue swell up she chokes to death. Another woman gives birth to a mutant baby that crawls around the room like one of the 'face-huggers' from the Aliens series. One man's face literally 'melts' off. All of this is either supposed to make you laugh or cringe. Instead, you will find yourself rolling your eyes at how incredibly foolish you were to either rent this movie or watch it on Cable.<br /><br />Give this movie a miss - there's nothing here to root for. | 0neg
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Hong Kong's first fully-fledged computer-animated movie is, for the most part, a treat. Distinctly Chinese in its orchestration, the fantasy elements are played up for the kids, the humour a little too cagey to really laugh at, while the martial arts spectacles are really quite astonishing. The story concerns local hero Hung Lang, a kung fu supremo, who befriends a talking bird (of course) and is sent on a dangerous adventure to retain the sacred Dragon Blade from the mystically cavernous underworld known as Asteria, facing insurmountable peril along the way, in order to slain the Boar King, a giant pig-looking tyrant causing havoc in the town. The characters are a little wet, particularly our soulless hero, yet Karen Mok's engaging sidekick Ying Ying is a worthy substitute, and the delirious spurts of action make the whole experience quite compelling. | 1pos
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Disappointed with this one. Let's start with the dubbing...it's terrible, I know Godzilla movies are supposed to be badly dubbed but they actually used professionals. Godzilla is missing for most of this movie and we have to watch boring characters we care nothing about blabber on and on about Godzilla but I want to see him fight and stomp Tokyo! The plot was even better in the American version. The ending is by far one of the worst and cheesiest I have ever seen and don't even get me started on the horrible CGI.<br /><br />Overall, this was pretty crappy. Monster fights were minimal and there was even less stompage. **/***** | 0neg
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This is a very cute cartoon, but not an especially interesting short on its own merits. The chief point of interest here is as the very first cartoon which Chuck Jones directed. As I will mention some details, there will be mild spoilers: <br /><br />The basic premise of this short is that the regular night watchman, a full-grown cat, is sick and can't make his rounds and so the task falls to his young son. To say that the mice are less than concerned about the new night watchman would be an understatement. They're bigger, meaner and tougher than the little cat and bully him mercilessly.<br /><br />This turn of events means that they have pretty much got free run of the kitchen for most of the short. There are a few cute food-related sight gags, but the short is a bit flatter and less energetic than you would expect, though, to be fair, if you look at it without comparing it to later work by Jones, it comes off looking a good deal better.<br /><br />The ending is all rather predictable, though fun to watch for the most part. This isn't a bad short, it just pales in comparison to the work which would come later, though it does make clear that Jones was interested in the cute and sentimental from the beginning. This was probably the genesis of the Sniffles shorts done a bit later.<br /><br />This short is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 4 and is worth a look. The Collection, as with the previous three volumes, is most highly recommended. | 1pos
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I thoroughly enjoyed all of the film. The two young actors are well cast. What originally made the movie stand out for me was the sound track. I had never seen,or heard, a film that used the music of Vaughn Williams before. I was flicking channels one night when the music made me stop and I watched the rest of the film. I have watched it twice since. Gloomy, moving and fascinating. | 1pos
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Jenifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony's latest film El Cantante about the Hector Lavoe and the birth of Salsa, is an Oscar nominated-wannabe biopic mess of a film.<br /><br />The film follows the life of Puerto Rican singer Hector Lavoe, who came to New York in 1975 and became a mega star, starting the Salsa genre. Marc Anthony plays Hector and Jenifer Lopez his wifePuchi. One of the many problems with this film was that Marc did not have a strong screen presence and his performance became overpowered by the amazing performance by Jenifer Lopez who did such a wonderful job I started thinking it was more about Hector's wife than about Hector.<br /><br />One effective part of the film I thoroughly enjoyed was how the story cut back and forth through an interview of Hector's wife looking back on Hector's life story. The interview was shot in black and white contrasting with the rich colors of the rest of the film.<br /><br />Despite this technique, the rest of the film was hard to follow. It seemed to follow a pre-made formula of music montage after music montage inter cut with short scenes of dramatic acting, as if the director was following a manual of how to make a musician's biopic film. Also the use of fancy, rapid editing was way overused and after a while seemed only there to give it a sophisticated look.<br /><br />I love long films but this two hour movie had me checking my watch frequently. Overall it was a big disappointment and I felt the only thing that was good in the film was Jenifer Lopez's performance. Unfortunately even her Oscar worthy performance couldn't save this muddled film. | 0neg
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I can not believe this was made into a movie. The concept I guess is good enough but the story. ugh. it reminded me of when we were kids and each kid will add a new line to the story. that's how this film is. it was slapped on together to make a movie that is so corny and has no sense whatsoever. first barry graduates and doesn't want to work in the the hive doing boring work. so he goes out to be a bum and found himself a project to sue humans for taking honey. and unbelievably they won. so all honey is returned to them. now all bees don't want to work. all flowers die. so barry goes to retrieve the last remaining flowers to revive the dead flowers. he does this through a plane which is carried by bees! so that's successful now the bees are back collecting honey. and all flowers live. now barry's job is to be a pollen/honey collector. which is what he wanted to be in the first place! so all the drama was for nothing. i mean if he wanted to be this pollen/honey collector, the story could have evolved to something more meaningful instead of this. this is a waste of time and money. | 0neg
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An easy-going, boil-in-the-bag romcom. It relies a little too much on slapstick to fill out its 90 mins but, given its simple plot it's got enough wit and clean charm to make a go of it.<br /><br />I've always been a Courtney Cox fan and she definitely gives us something in addition to regurgitating Monica Gellerisms. David Arquette is a sweet, chubby version of Adam Sandler. This slightly off-kilter duo, a real life couple, have a first-class straight 'guy' in Viola Davis (one of the better coloured actresses in Hollywood, doing the day job stoically).<br /><br />There's nothing to it but it's not too sickly for a wet afternoon on the sofa. 3/10 | 0neg
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I believe this is my first one-star rating for an IMDb comment entry, and the only reason I award it one star is that there is no zero star setting. I watched an extremely rare Greek made video of this film last fall and only now have found the stomach to discuss it: I gave up at about the fifty minute point, depressed, sickened and feeling used. This is a movie that had no artistic urgency behind it's making, it was just an attempt by some producers and distributors to cash in on a notorious XXX rape fantasy movie made under the same title, FORCED ENTRY. The plot for both is the same: Demented psychopathic retard working at a gas station uses the opportunity and in some cases house keys left behind by his female customers to rape, torture, and then murder them. Are we having fun yet?<br /><br />I have never seen the original version. Rape fantasy movies are about as useful to me as a hemorrhaging spleen or perhaps the decomposing carcass of a camel. But from all accounts the 1974 porn version of FORCED ENTRY is one of the harshest, most uncompromising and gleefully evil movies ever made, working as a sort of a warped commentary on the post-Vietnam era violence obsessed culture which bred it's lunatic murderer. Even if offered the chance to partake I would decline, I do not need to see such things when stuff like the complete H.R. PUFFNSTUFF box set is available, or the bathroom needs cleaning. Life is short.<br /><br />The XXX version at least stood for something and was an original idea taken to it's logical extreme; It is filth for sure, yet at least the filmmakers had the guts to get down there in the trenches with their viewers. By contrast, the 1975 MPAA R rated film is a dismal, depressing slog "livened up" by moments of suggestively sick violence involving things like the bondage rape & murder of a 15 year old girl who stops by the protagonist's filling station with a flat tire on her bike. The attack is not shown in detail but in a suggestive manner that is perhaps even more disturbing in that it allows the viewer to complete the images in their mind's eye. The retarded animal at the center of the story is a general walking disaster area, every attractive young woman who comes in contact with him ends up dead after being mauled & mutilated, and after about the fourth murder I simply decided I'd had enough. To this day I have no idea nor do I care as to how the movie resolved itself.<br /><br />The problem is that the film does not have the interest to be true to it's own convictions, and uses the MPAA R certificate as an excuse to back off from showing exactly what it is that it's target audience of vicarious sex criminals are tuning in to see. It is more interested in selling tickets than being true to its own nature, an incredibly irresponsible approach since there are some who probably took the suggestions seriously. We already had the urban legend of the service station attendant who uses the trust put in him by his female customers to compromise them. It seems to me that what this movie serves to do is provide a sort of blueprint to how you go about bringing that fantasy to life, but does not have the balsam to show the necessary payoff to complete the circle and evoke the sheer revulsion that the XXX version reportedly does.<br /><br />Frankly though, I have wasted too much time on this pathetic, stupid, meaningless and unredeemable movie. Cult DVD company Code Red is supposedly preparing a DVD release, and my question is, why? Who on earth do they think is interested in seeing this? aside from uninformed James Bond fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Tonya Roberts' tits, and the contingent of sick, dangerous perverts who get their jollies out of watching movies that show women suffering. If that's the best they can do for a demographic then they have missed the point of low budget cult horror with an erotic tinge: There are SO many clever, interesting and sick, demented little horror movies out there waiting to be discovered that there is no excuse for making this available aside from sheer greed. The notoriety of the title might ensure enough sales to earn back their production cost and make a few dollars, but it will do so at the expense of a lot of goodwill. Starting with mine.<br /><br />1/10: Complete garbage, without any redeeming qualities at all and that includes the early performances by the A-list actresses snookered into making the film. | 0neg
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Echoing narration informs us about the "diabolical" new threat of voodoo on the island of "Korbai" near Haiti and a laughing, sneering midget in sunglasses cuts the head off a (real) chicken. Then Anabella (played by Julissa), a member of the International Anti-Saloon League informs some soldiers that, "Modern science has proved that alcohol is responsible for 99.2% of all the worlds sins!" She arrives on the island with others to visit her uncle Carl von Molder (Boris Karloff or his masked double).<br /><br />Meanwhile, blue-faced zombies are overrunning the island. Voodoo cultists kill soldiers with a blowgun, strangulation and machete and regularly resurrect the dead with the help of the dwarf (who whips them). Rabid zombie women eat a man and one soldier adopts one as his girlfriend to scratch his back and fan him. ("Imagine a beautiful woman that can't talk. Every man's dream!") The niece has an extremely bizarre dream of her evil double suggestively sucking on a (real, live) snake before kissing her (?)<br /><br />Little of this movie makes sense and the ending stinks, but it has some weird, senseless stuff to recommend. It's one of four much-hated movies Karloff did in 1968 before his death, constituting his final film work. | 0neg
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How can someone buy this film. My husband and I have been trying for two years but we can't find it. Is there a copy out there available, if so what is the price? It is not at all a cartoon but an excellent piece of Victorian art. The drawings evoke the sketches used in Dickens own time. There are moments that are intense, certainly frightening for young children.<br /><br />The pacing causes one to feel as though Scooge has very little time left to mend his ways. The ghost of Christmas Present is much darker than in other versions. Ignorance and Want are included in a very effective and horrific manner. Marley's ghost is not to be missed.<br /><br />This is anything but Mr Magoo or Mickey Mouse Dickens. Please post info as to where it can be found. | 1pos
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I'd like to start off as saying that I, like so many horror film buffs, enjoy the cheap laughs to be acquired from B-grade trash. The film "Campfire Stories," however, isn't even amusing accidentally. I'd love to know how badly Jamie-Lynn DiScala, David Johansen, and the Misfits needed money to partake in this utter waste of celluloid. I knew this one was going to be trouble when I saw a talking skull engulfed in flames at the beginning. From there on in, we have two annoying young men who can't tell a joke correctly get lost in the woods with a beautiful "Sopranos" girl, where they come across Ranger Bill, Buster Poindexter's evil alter-ego. He proceeds to bore them to death with three generic horror tales with relentlessly inane twists at the end of each. The first tale is of a nameless lunatic who escapes the Corbin Bernsen Institute of Dentistry, reestablishes himself as a Catholic high school janitor, and takes out four of the young men they randomly pulled off the street to play the most annoying bullies I've ever seen. The second tale involves three career criminals who rob a Native American spiritualist, smoke his peace pipe, and are tormented by legions of computer animations created by first-year graphic arts majors from a community college. The third tale involves a homicidal maniac whose identity you'll probably figure out long before it's "revealed." After sitting through these three sessions of ungodly torment, we're finally punished with a "surprise ending" which tries to tie everything together but fails miserably along with everything preceding it. "Campfire Stories" has no scares, no humor, and over all, no redeeming value whatsoever. If you want a real scare, light up a campfire and tell your own stories; they'll be a hundred times scarier than this waste of film. | 0neg
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Eugene Lourie did not make socially important film like his fellow 1950's directors like Stanley Kramer, or Elia Kazan. Instead, Lourie made three exciting films depicting a giant dinosaur attacking a major city. His first was 1953's THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, with classic stop motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. The best of this trio was 1960's GORGO, where a highly annoyed off mommy dinosaur rips London into shreds rescuing it's captive baby. Available in this box set is his 1959 Dino-fest, THE GIANT BEHEMOTH, the weakest of Lourie's monster movies, but still, a fun time at the movies. Before, after and during making his own films, Lourie as a art director for Clint Eastwood, Sam Fuller, Jean Renoir, and Charles Chaplin. <br /><br />The behemoth problem with THE GIANT BEHEMOTH is that it is slow paced. 37 minutes in we get to see the monster's shoulder. It will take another eleven minutes to get to our first monster scene- where Behemoth raises out of the water, and attacks a Thames River ferryboat. One wonders how many animators worked on this film. One of the animators was pioneering stop-motion artist Willis O'Brien, who animated life into the silent THE LOST WORLD, the 1933 KING KONG, and many other exciting monster films. The stop motion animation varies from inventive, | 1pos
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Phew! Well, this is certainly no bundle of fun. What an ugly film, was my first thought as I stared at the closing credits. As a seasoned film fan, one is always put on guard when a male lead tells his partner that she should experiment with sleeping with other people. He would not be jealous - oh yea! But here things go from bad to really awful and as someone else has noted it is almost inconceivable that one would be likely to choose to revisit this little number. Having said all that, to discover than long time Chabrol script writer, Paul Gegauff, not only wrote this nasty piece but plays the male lead in question. Not only that but his real life wife plays the appallingly treated partner AND that their actual daughter, plays their screen daughter, just about the only light relief this movie has. Hard to recommend to non Chabrol fans but certainly a powerful piece of cinema. | 0neg
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Nowadays the "Matrix Style" is a common way to make an action-modern-kung fu movie, in most cases with strange results. But, damn, this "So Close" is SOOOO cool!! It has GREAT style and wonderful scenes. I gave it a 9 and I really think it deserves it. Of course, acting is not at the greatest levels of cinema history. But it's not bad and solves its object. Cinematography is great, with some scenes of pure beautiness. Direction is very good. Corey Yuen is really a good director (I also enjoyed "the transporter" another Yuen's movie) and uses the camera with great creativity. People who like action movies should be watching this movie now! | 1pos
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Despite the interesting cast of Arthur, MacMurray and Melvyn Douglas, this film literally runs out of steam with the concocted ending it displays. Arthur marries MacMurray's business partner Douglas after the former is presumed to have drowned in an accident. Of course, a year later, MacMurray turns up alive and who shall Jean Arthur select as her husband. With the kind of ending we get, it appears that the film is a proponent of bigamy.<br /><br />We've been down this road before in movies, but let's remember that when MacMurray shows up alive, her marriage to Douglas no longer legally exists. This is conveniently forgotten.<br /><br />Douglas and MacMurray go through all sorts of silly ideas, even drawing lots to reach a conclusion.<br /><br />Advocates for group marriage shall enjoy this, give me monogany. | 0neg
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In 1942, in Warsaw, a Polish prostitute is murdered in a sadistic way. Major Grau (Omar Sharif), a man from German Intelligence that believes in justice, is in charge of the investigation. An eyewitness saw a German general leaving the building after a scream of the victim. A further investigation shows that three generals do not have any alibi for that night: General Tanz (Peter O'Toole), Maj. Gen. Klus Kahlenberge (Donald Pleasance) and General von Seidlitz-Gabler (Charles Gray). They three avoid a direct contact with Major Grau and become potential suspects. As far as Major Grau gets close to them, he is promoted and sent to Paris.<br /><br />In 1944, in Paris, this quartet is reunited and Major Grau continues his investigation. Meanwhile, a plan for killing Hitler is plotted by his high command; a romance between Ulrike von Seydlitz-Gabler (Joanna Pettet) and Lance Cpl. Kurt Hartmann (Tom Courtenay) is happening and Insp. Morand (Phillipe Noiret) is helping Major Grau in his investigation.<br /><br />The story ends in 1965, in Hamburg, with another similar crime.<br /><br />The first time I watched this film, I was a teenager and I recall that I left the movie theater very impressed. Two days ago, a friend of mine saw this movie again and sent me an e-mail. I decided to watch it again, on VHS, since it has not been released on DVD in Brazil. This movie is really an excellent and very underrated European super production, having a spectacular international cast. Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, from `Lawrence of Arabia', have another outstanding performance working together, highlighting the role of Peter O'Toole as a deranged man. It is amazing how Omar Sharif was a great actor in the 1960's. The story has war, mystery, crime, romance, drama and thriller, in right doses. Further, the character of Omar Sharif, as an ethic man who believes and pursues justice, no matter the price, is exciting. The reconstitution of the period is also fantastic, specially the scene of the madness of General Tanz in a block of Warsaw, when he burns and destroys many buildings. My vote is nine.<br /><br />Title (Brazil): `A Noite Dos Generais' (`The Night of the Generals') | 1pos
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I was extremely bewildered by the purpose of this film, but even more bewildered by the positive reviews a few people have left for it. It truly holds almost no value as a movie or social commentary at all. The acting is static and makes you feel like you are watching the first performance of several understudys. The subplot involving Merle Perkins' character Susan is unrelated and incomplete. The random black and white vignettes featuring the main character "Christopher Bedford" are intrusive and uninformative and I didn't care for a single one of the shallow, archetypical characters we were supposed to relate to.<br /><br />The fact that people found some scathing commentary on the emptiness of the pretty boy "gym-bunny" gay lifestyle within this contrived film astounds me. Did I miss something? I saw a story about one man who sleeps around, cheats, and ends up lonely...Was that not an obvious conclusion? The emotionally charged ending seems out of place and adds 5 minutes of drama to a film that was an hour and a half of blah blah blah....YAWN | 0neg
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This film was sometimes good, but far too often things got silly and it became hard to take the movie seriously. The more dramatic parts actually aren't that bad, but there are many pointless and fluffy moments in this film, and they really killed any momentum. About an hour in, it was clear that this film would only be good in brief spurts, so in addition to being irritated by dumb scenes, I was getting somewhat bored as well. And then there was the predictability of the whole story. So all-in-all, there isn't much to recommend about this film, and therefore I wouldn't suggest that anyone bother with this movie. | 0neg
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Cliff Robertson set out to make two films in J.W. Coop (he worked on the screenplay as well as directed and starred), but in this case his effort winds up as only half a good movie.<br /><br />He starts with an interesting premise -- a former rodeo cowboy emerges from prison c.1970, tries to pick up where he left off, and finds that both society and the rodeo game have moved on. The first half of the film is pretty good, dealing with J.W.'s efforts to adjust to his senile mama (Geraldine Page) and to a society where "the kids, the commies, and the unions" (so says one character) are ruining the country.<br /><br />But when J.W. actually starts rodeoing, the picture shifts to an underdog-making-good-in-a-cutthroat-world scenario, as the old cowboy becomes an unlikely dark-horse contender for the national rodeo championship (competing against a younger rider with more corporate savvy). The ending of the film is unsatisfying and leaves us feeling incomplete -- there's more story to be told, but Robertson leaves us to feel sorry for a guy who, frankly, is not beaten down so much by "the establishment" as by his own pride.<br /><br />Also unsatisfying is Page's role in the film. She appears in one scene toward the beginning of the movie, and then she disappears. Maybe that's reality, but art provides the opportunity to inject more of her story and her relationship with J.W. into the film. That opportunity is missed. We do learn some more about J.W.'s family as the film progresses, but there's no closure on his mom-and-pop issues, although I suppose one could argue that the lack of parental comfort has something to do with the end of the movie.<br /><br />Robertson the actor is pretty darned good in this film, capturing J.W.'s initial bewilderment, suspicion and frustration with the '70s, and later his delight at having gained the love of a younger woman (Christina Ferrare). And Robertson the director has a nice eye for small towns and "the sticks" (there's a scene at a rural crossroads that's beautifully shot). But he's undercut by Robertson the screenwriter -- it's just difficult to buy J.W. as a contender for a major championship right out of prison (even if he has been rodeoing successfully there). And the film bites off more than it can chew in trying to comment both on social change and the rodeo life. This could have been a far stronger movie if it concentrated on one or the other -- and, to be honest, the encounter of a '50s guy with the early '70s was the far more interesting part of the film. | 0neg
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This film was extremely well acted and cast, but the story is what I really enjoyed. Many people are commenting on the "reincarnation" aspect of the film - they've totally missed the point. The film isn't about reincarnation, it's about how credulousness and emotional fragility leads one woman into a dark, disturbing relationship with a lonely prankster, and ultimately about how one woman gets her revenge for a long-ago wrong.<br /><br />The film is beautifully made, with a soundtrack that sets the mood instead of "cu-ing" you on how you are supposed to react to a scene (like so many soundtracks try to do these days).<br /><br />If you like movies that explore the darker side of humanity, then you will really enjoy "Birth." | 1pos
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I have been a fan of Randolph Scott westerns since childhood and enjoy most of his work, but this movie plods along so slowly that you wish that everyone would shoot each other early and end the misery.<br /><br />The good guys & gals are too noble and self-righteous and the villains are obviously rotten, evil and stupid.<br /><br />The best thing about the film is the color scenery.<br /><br />1 * out of 5. | 0neg
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Is it me or has Bollywood really stepped up to a new level these past two years. Performances, locations, directors, make-up and art direction are entering new heights of excellence. While this movie is not perfect, Kudos to Vinod Chopra and his production team in providing the cinema going public with a classy movie. Great locations, great back ground music and powerhouse yet subtle, nuanced performances make this a great watch in the cinema.<br /><br />Bollywood actors seemed to have learned how to underplay and downplay the usual melodrama to give performances that leave a lasting impact. The Big B does not really have much dialogue but his protective and watchful presence can be felt throughout the movie even when he is not in the scene. Now for the Vinot Chopra regulars - After a good performance in the disappointing salaam namaste, saif has been cranking out great performance after performance ( being cyrus, omkara) and Eklavya is no different. He really holds his own against the big B. The supporting cast are all wonderful - Boman Irani was powerful, Jackie had a strong menacing role which was ably suppported by Jimmy Shergill, Vidya Balan mesmerizing as always. Raima Sen and Sharmila Tagore were effective and of course the always excellent Sanjay Dutt in a small role that lightens the mood somewhat.<br /><br />Yes the movie does have a huge star cast but in my opinion the true stars of this movie are the director Mr. VV chopra and the astounding palace/fort location used for the film shoot.<br /><br />This movie can be considered a novelty in Bollywood and I feel it deserves to be watched. It looks as if Yash Raj films, VC films and to a small extent RGV films seem to be at the forefront of Bollywood film making in terms of excellence, profitability and risk taking. | 1pos
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Nobel prize winning novelist James Hanson (Richard Moll as Charles Moll) & his wife Claire (Faith Clift) who is a Doctor and has been suffering from nightmares lately, both set off for a holiday in Las Vegas. While watching some in house entertainment at a casino Claire is hypnotised by an English clairvoyant named Cecil Howard. Claire suffers a vivid hallucination about a sadistic SS officer named Olivier (Robert Bristol) in a Nazi concentration camp. After the show Claire talks with Howard and invites him to supper. Soon after she leaves Howard is killed by what appears to be a red light (don't ask). Meanwhile a old Jewish man named Abraham Weiss (Marc Lawrence) who is a Nazi hunter spots Olivier on a T.V. programme and recognises him as the man he has been after for years. Weiss immediately tells his story to bitter, overworked police officer Lieutenant Sterne (Cameron Mitchell) who lives just across the hall from him. Sterne agrees to look into Weiss's claims but eventually admits there is nothing he can do, especially after Weiss gives him some newspaper cuttings from 1944 which appear to show Olivier but since the paper is over 30 years old and Olivier would now be in his 60' or 70's and the guy on T.V. is still in his 20's & therefore Weiss's story is psychically impossible. That night Weiss is found dead in a parking lot. Lt. Sterne decides to take a personal interest and investigate even further. Claire is starting to lose her mind. Her husband James is about to publish a book called 'God is dead' in which James claims God does not and never has existed. Claire as a stout Catholic is deeply against the book and tries to convince James not to publish it. Olivier, who runs a cult of Satan worshippers, feels James would be a good person to have on board and attempts to convince James to join him and his organisation. A guy with a beard named Papini (Maurice Grandmaison) tries to warn James about Olivier, Satan and his book denouncing God. Various people die including Claire's nephew Jim (Klint Stevenson), Claire decides that she alone must put an end to Olivier and Satan himself. Claire and Jim's girlfriend Ann (Christie Wagner) conduct a bizarre plan that Claire believes will destroy Olivier for good, but will it succeed?<br /><br />According to the IMDb's credit list Cataclysm was directed by three separate people, Phillip Marshak, Tom McGowan & Gregg C. Tallas as Greg Tallas. I am not sure if this information is correct but I don't think I've ever heard of a film directed by three different people and maybe that's why it turned out to be a bit of a jumbled up mess. The script by Philip Yordan tries something different and for that it should get at least an extra point. Even though at the end of the day it's still a mess with the story all over the place. Things just happen for little reason, characters aren't that likable and the dialogue in certain scenes isn't up to much. The story becomes occasionally confusing and unfocused. The script comes across as heavy handed at times with it's religious overtones and story arc. Almost as if Yordan wanted to make a thought provoking horror film with a message, obviously it fails, badly. Cataclysm starts out very interesting and draws the viewer in by not revealing too much, too soon. Unfortunately this decision to try and make the plot more mysterious back fires during the middle third as it gets somewhat boring waiting for something to happen but then things explode into a gore drenched finale. The acting is OK for this type of low budget nonsense, except Cift who seems to speak her lines really slowly compared to everyone else. And it's always nice to see genre veteran Cameron Mitchell. Some characters appear dubbed throughout. There is very little, in fact none, blood or gore in the film until the last 10 minutes or so when the red stuff is splashed everywhere. In this sequence there is some real surgery footage in a blood soaked over the top climax to round the film off. I think the film itself was shot on location rather than studio's and has a generally good feel throughout, the production values were much better than I expected. While not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination the photography, editing, special effects, continuity and music are all reasonable enough and I've sat through a lot worse. I'm sure a lot of people will automatically call this film crap as it's an easy target but for those of us who like this sort of off-beat grade-z low budget horror film from days gone by than this one may interest you and is probably worth tracking down. Just because it dares to try something a little different if for no other reason, it doesn't always succeed but at least those involved tried. Overall I'm glad I watched it, certainly not the best film in the world but then did anyone really expect it to be? | 0neg
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OK I was devastated after I had watched this movie. I wanna run to the box-office and take back my money. What an overrated movie! There are countless of unrelated stuffs putting together. The FBI agent appeared out of nowhere. He even knew where L is and came to help(?).L trusted him(?) The REAL L would never trust an unidentified person like that. N solved a geometry problem and the answer is the plague's solution. Where he got that geometry problem? Why L didn't contact Raito's dad? Raito's dad would help, I am sure.<br /><br />The acting is terrible. When F reported to L the situation at Thailand, he spoke English. If u notice, he was about to laugh (?) Even a non-native English speaker can realize the actors are speaking crappy English. Their English speaking is worse than my 16 years old brother. If the actors can not speak excellent English, please speak Japanese.<br /><br />I have admired the superb L in Deathnote. His smart, his talent, his calmness are totally distinctive. However, in this movie, L solved the problem physically (?). He had to receive the help of the others to solve the problems. He never noticed why the girl's Dad ( I forgot her name, but she's one of the 2 children) asked her to do homework everyday and the homework was odd. Even the female doctor ( one of the villain in the movie) discovered that the homework is unusual at the first glance( why, L! u're stupid) Notice it again, L & N communicate through English. Becuz N is Thai. OK, that's fine. But why sometimes L speaks Japanese to the boy and he still understands (?) ( another wtf!).<br /><br />The jokes are too lame and similar to many movies. That's why if its funny, I can not laugh, because that kind of jokes appeared too much in movies.<br /><br />In the end, the villains died by themselves. So far, the greatest success of L is stop the airplane ( oh I remembered there is one time he showed his intelligence. It was when he noticed the co-writer's name in a dictionary. But yes, there is only one time). I have seen too many of airplane accidents in movies where our main characters always stop the airplanes not being crashed at the end. Lame storyline.<br /><br />wtf is that huge title "L CHANGE THE WORLD". What change? Who change? L ? Everything Kenichi Matsuyama did is act cute. I don't have any problem with him acting L's distinctive style. I have problem with him spend too much time acting super cute in the movie. What for? The movie should change the title like "L's cuteness". "CHANGE THE WORLD" is a big word and doesn't suit with this time-consuming movie. The title acts like a window-dressing and nothing else.<br /><br />On the final note, this movie is for those who love a cute and brainless L. For fans of the REAL L, u should watch it in a boring Sunday. Don't expect in it too much, and don't be deceived by the title. The world is still rotten after this movie. | 0neg
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Well, it was a dark gloomy November night. I was sitting in my sofa thinking what shall I do. The clock's pendulum just made hands align on 1am. I reclined back, wondering whether by watching this movie, I become excitedly thrilled with action or my heart would throb with fear of the unknown powers of human mind.<br /><br />None of these expectations fulfilled. First 20 minutes of the movie I spend figuring out whether it is screenwright's, director's, actors' or componist's fault. I guess it was a bit - sorry - a LOT of all. The screenplay - I can't talk about a story as there ain't a hint of story to this movie - is horribly shallow, purposefully missing all good hooks that could send a shiver down your spine. Even such a straightforward moment as a mortal duel between two best friends passes without the viewer barely noticing anything happened. Actors were - well, matching the screenplay's standards. They walked, talked, breathed to not to suffocate, but that was it. One could expect more at least from J. Reinhold. Regarding the guy behind the camera - I hesitate to call that one a Director of Photography - he could shoot nice sunsets or party pictures. Not a movie. Too many static shots, too many mistakes in picture composition. And the music - I am sorry. There was none. Just some two beats sampled off some stoned DJ's houseparty, pretending to accompany the movie.<br /><br />I managed to watch this tragical attempt, but I'm still considering claiming a health damage insurance. Sleeping, I'd make better use of the time. | 0neg
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An enjoyable quiet movie that examines people's perceptions of the world and themselves. Worthy of a watch. I enjoyed Gabrielle Rose's performance. She was good in "The Sweet Hereafter" and very engaging in this movie. The rest of the cast was equally good. I do have a problem with the title. I kept thinking this character is this sense and this one is that sense which distracted me from the unfolding stories. I think a more generic title like "Sense" would have been better. The ending was unexpected. | 1pos
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"The Petrified Forest" at the time of this review is 71 years old. It has some painted outdoor sets, a very young, pretty Bette Davis, with Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Howard repeating their stage roles as, respectively, a Dillinger type criminal and an idealistic dreamer. It's less a film than a filmed play - and it's obviously a play, by Robert Sherwood. And guess what, it holds up with some wonderful acting and surprisingly refreshing themes.<br /><br />Davis is Gaby Maple, who works in the desert café owned by her grandfather. It's there that she waits on Alan, who speaks loftily and listens to her dreams of leaving the hated Arizona desert, joining her mother in France and becoming an artist. In a short time, they fall for one another, but Alan has to move on. He hitches a ride with a wealthy man and his wife, the Chisholms, but on the way out of the desert, they run into the escaped murderer Duke Mantee and his gang, whose car has broken down. They steal the Henderson's car. While their chauffeur is attempting to fix the Mantee vehicle, Alan realizes that Duke and the gang are heading toward the café, and he walks back there. There, Duke holds everyone hostage, including the returning Chisholms, during which time, Alan comes to an important decision about Gaby, himself, and what his life means.<br /><br />The film has two unusual aspects, the first being the surprising treatment of the black characters. One of the black men is part of Duke's gang and an equal member of it. When the chauffeur asks his boss if it's okay to have a drink, the gang member scoffs at his subservience. "Haven't you heard about the new liberation?" he asks him, shoving a drink in his hand. The second aspect is Mrs. Henderson's feminist counseling of Gaby. Mrs. Henderson urges Gaby not to suppress her dreams for someone else, in this case her grandfather, but to become an individual and know who she is and what she wants. She explains that she was in Europe and offered a stage role by the great Max Reinhardt, but acquiesced to her parents when they demanded she return to the states. She is now unhappily married to a selfish man and has no identity of her own. This is 1936, and acquiescing to what one's family expected of you and losing yourself in your husband's identity went on long, long after that.<br /><br />Unlike today's films, "The Petrified Forest" is rich in dialogue with only a few action scenes. Nevertheless, it holds one's interest due to acting and wonderful atmosphere of this broken-down café with the wind whipping outside.<br /><br />With his finely drawn, handsome features and British accent, Leslie Howard excelled at playing dreamers and philosophers, culminating in his role as Ashley Wilkes in "Gone With the Wind." As Alan, he's above it all, speaking of poetry and art to the wide-eyed Gaby and throwing even Duke Mantee off-balance. Mantee was Bogart's breakout film role, and he's fantastic. He studied John Dillinger's mannerisms to prepare for his stage role. Here he's fierce and angry as a man who knows he hasn't got a chance in hell of making it to Mexico but he's going to go down fighting. As Gaby, Davis conveys the character's fantasies, hope for the future, naive ambition, and love for Alan. Neither one of them belong in the desert, but while Alan is through with life's struggles, and Duke knows he's about to be through, Gaby is looking forward to them. Like the gas jockey who's in love with her (Dick Foran) she's willing to take risks for what she wants. Mr. Chisholm, the fat cat, just hopes nothing upsets his status quo. Mrs. Chisholm is stuck but vicariously roots not only for Gaby but Duke and Alan.<br /><br />Allegorical in its themes, with no special effects, "The Petrified Forest," its title referring to the nearby dead forest where several characters are figuratively heading, is a real treat for lovers of classic film, classic actors, and our country's history of depression and classism. I treasured every minute of it. | 1pos
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Short Version: Japanese culture and American Wild West collide. The two concepts flow together very well. Plot is solid if a bit thin, but contains a few twists. Tone is laid back with some dramatic moments that'll keep you grounded. Characters are amazing and unforgettable.<br /><br />Setting: The movie mostly takes place in a Wild West style settlement, the kind with one street and houses on either side. However, the architecture, the inhabitants, and the atmosphere of the town are all Japanese. Two warring clans, the Reds and the Whites, have taken over, but remain on their own sides of the town for the most part. A lone gunslinger wanders into the town, offering his services to the highest bidder. He soon realizes, however, that both clans are evil and need to be extinguished, and so the plot goes on.<br /><br />Honestly, when you cut away all the fluff, the story boils down to a three-way war between the two clans and a couple of expert gunslingers. Fast-paced action and broken English can make the story hard to follow, but if you pay attention, there are a few twists and turns that'll keep you engaged.<br /><br />Tone: The movie is moderately light-hearted. A couple of characters give some comic relief, and a good chunk of the movie is not rooted in reality. On the other hand, the motivation behind the characters is real enough. There are a few scenes and a large piece of the story that really comes into play later during the movie that grounds you. I'm not saying it's the perfect blend of mindless action with superb storytelling, but it does a pretty good job.<br /><br />Characters: Personally, the characters went a long way towards selling the movie. There are a ton of them, and each one is unique and unforgettable. Both clan leaders are rotten in their own right, combine that with a Japanese Clint Eastwood, a sheriff with a very Gollum-esquire split personality disorder, a gun-toting granny, and Quentin Tarantino. You can't go wrong. | 1pos
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For those of you considering the rental (or god forbid, purchase) of this movie, I have strong advice - DON'T DO IT. This movie should be on the all-time worst list. Where should I start . . . First, the actors in this movie are guilty of phoning-it-in and accepting a paycheck. If you're a Dennis Hopper fan and considering this flick, don't do it. It was determined a long time ago he would appear in ANY movie for cash and this movie is further proof. I suppose the actors shouldn't be condemned completely for their performance, as the writer, director and producers bear the weight of blame.<br /><br />The dialogue - more often than not, makes no sense. And please don't try to tell me this movie is delivering some sort of powerful message of good vs. evil and the grey area in between. It simply doesn't. It completely relies on clichés, inaccuracies (the death chamber/electric chair is one example) and stereotypes. The gross mistakes and overly clever dialogue (which is in fact, borrowed completely and incorrectly from other, more successful movies) completely distracts from the attempted emotional examination of abortion, death penalty, etc.<br /><br />Any talk of the "hunk-quality" of the writer/star of this movie should be immediately dismissed. If I were to note the "beauty" of some model in "Beach Bimbos III" I'd be considered a sexist. This person should not be able to make another movie again.<br /><br />Honestly, what recourse do we have when we buy/rent a product of such inferior quality? With the exception of this site and others we have none. Movies like this piss me off. They promote/promise something they simply don't deliver. And if it were anything else, we could file a complaint with the BBB or return for a refund. <br /><br />Don't get me wrong, my wife and I enjoy this genre. But this movie just plain sucks. Don't waste your time or money. Don't fall victim like we did. Don't watch this thinking it's an 'indie film' or some sort of psychological thriller. Don't be tempted by the cast. Just don't watch this movie. It's crap and everyone involved in this mess/deception should provide an apology for stealing our time/money. | 0neg
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Battlestar Galactica is often dismissed as one of the most expensive turkeys in television history. Labelled a shameless Star Wars rip-off, the show exploded on to TV screens in the late 70s, only to peter out in its first season after audiences tired of increasingly lame scripts apparently built around the re-use of expensive effects footage. But to a generation of kids who could only tear themselves away from their Star Wars action figures for the weekly adventures of Apollo and Starbuck, it was the real deal. Now, like Star Trek before it, the much-maligned series looks set for a possible revival, with ongoing fan interest stirring rival camps to vie for production rights for a new series or cinema version. Battlestar Galactica was initially a major ratings success when it debuted in 1978 with a pilot episode detailing the destruction of human civilisation by the robotic Cylons - chrome-plated disco stormtroopers with metallic voices that were the last word in Casio home synthesiser effects.<br /><br />Lorne Greene as Adama effectively reprised his patriarchal leader role from Bonanza, leading the wretched remnants of human civilisation as they fled their mechanical oppressors in search of refuge on a lost planet called Earth. Richard Hatch played his son Apollo, while a scene-stealing Dirk Bennedict played his roguish friend Starbuck. The two blow-waved heartthrobs were clearly moulded on Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, but worked brown velvet in a way their cinema counterparts never could. Early plotlines -- involving mass starvation, political corruption, class division and religious fanaticism -- effectively detailed the desperate plight of the refugees and caught the imagination of viewers. But when the pilot episode won huge ratings, the full-length series that was hastily rushed into production abandoned such complex and gritty storylines for more puerile scripts that inevitably involved lots of re-used clips of explosions. Character development largely went out the window. Blonde vixen Cassiopeia (Laurette Spang), introduced in the pilot as a prostitute rescued from a baying refugee mob by Starbuck, was inexplicably reassigned as a nurse and a generic love interest. A disgruntled Jane Seymour apparently demanded that her character, Serina, be shot dead by a Cylon at the first possible opportunity. Her wish was granted in the fourth episode, leaving fans wishing that her son, Boxey and his yapping mechanical dog, Muffet, had also fallen under Cylon swords. Human traitor Baltar, who had been so satisfyingly hacked to death by his Cylon allies in the cinema version of the pilot, was the subject of an absurd plot alteration that saw him leading the genocidal robots in their quest to finish off humanity. John Collicos camped it up as Baltar, chewing through his ridiculous dialogue with occassional style. Baltar's queeny power struggles with his lieutenant, Lucifer - a bitchy robot with an impressive wardrobe of capes - were an ongoing feature of the series. Amid the recycled dog fights and budget-saving plotlines that involved characters being regularly stranded on backward planets that inevitably resembled Earth, several excellent episodes were produced that have maintained fan interest to this day. Lloyd Bridges put in a star turn as the war-mongering Commander Cain and Patrick McNee appeared as a seductive alien who was probably Satan. Despite occasional dramatic flourishes, the often-puerile plotlines alienated advertiser-friendly demographics. The show was axed at the end of its first season, leaving the storyline unresolved and a generation of kids feeling ripped off. Many more were tempted the following year with the appearance of Galactica 1980, a ultra-cheap bastardisation of the original show detailing the arrival of the refugees on a contemporary Earth. It failed to attract even the very young demographic it was aiming for. Twenty years later, actor Richard Hatch, series creator Glen A. Larson and the Sci Fi Channel are all working on separate Galactica proposals. Although copywrite issues continue to cloud the possibility of a revival, many fans will retain their fond childhood memories of this much maligned show. | 1pos
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I saw KINKY KILLERS on Showtime the other night; and, I thought the title was totally lame, especially given the content. I cannot believe this was rated TV-MA; it should have been R.<br /><br />The film; and, its corn-ball 70s throw-back plot, just doesn't live up to its potential. The acting is wooden, the plot is twisted, non-sensical; and, drawn out to the point of boredom. Half the cast could have been played by the same person, they look that much alike. There is so much idiocy going on that you cannot tell who is whom; and, what they are doing.<br /><br />And, what no one can look up "Polycarp" on the Internet... I mean how lame is it that the word is such a mystery? <br /><br />Everything about this movie is one cliché after another -- the overworked cop, the inattentive spouse, the "renegade cop," the manipulative shrink... oh, what a waste of time. | 0neg
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I was watching this movie and it came to a point where it had dragged on so long that I was anxious for it to be over, so I checked the time and only fifteen minutes had passed since the beginning of the movie. I spent money to rent it so I kept watching it for another 45 minutes...still no plot after an hour. I would say what the movie is about, but I don't know that it's really about anything. It's a conglomeration of pointless scenes that don't make up a story. I was expecting a great film considering it's 8.0 ranking here at imdb, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how one person would think this movie is in any way good, let alone fifteen thousand. This one has apparently done well at the film festivals, so that should be enough of a sign to steer clear of it. Indie movies are indie for a reason...they suck. This is a great one to rent if you struggle with insomnia. | 0neg
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Shocking! Every American needs to see this movie. A previous comment titled "Duh", at first glance, makes us all seem as though we are somehow keenly aware that civil rights are being denied...in America. But until I saw this movie, I couldn't parallel being arrested, tortured, and denied access to any outside help in China, to the same thing happening here. Somehow, the idea of these things taking place here didn't seem so terribly awful, and fearful, until I put myself in both of the actors roles as victim.<br /><br />Strip Search is one of the best, thought provoking movies I have ever seen. The acting was absolutely superb; making it easy to be drawn into every scene, and Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance was no less than stellar to that end. For short, I was IMPRESSED! | 1pos
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Unlike others, I won't even give the premise much credit. This is Saw over an internet connection. It's such a generic movie. All the characters are one-dimensional and get you to invest zero in them. The online dating guy was the most interesting.<br /><br />Holy cow do they get the technology wrong. Zippy noises on computers. We all have computers, why do they insist in Hollywood at making them alter from reality? Computers don't bleep and blip. They also don't pull up video, websites and webpages that fast. It's distracting and insulting.<br /><br />The killer is serving streaming video to 17 million people at one time. Sure. Anyone ever used a proxy server? They're slow as hell to even web browse. Sure buddy. You hacked into Diane Lane's computer network, you're using her ISP to stream to 17,000,000 people. Uh huh. Plus, where does a man buy a machine to deliver an IV drip electronically pegged to another device? Or 250 heat lamp bulbs? Wanna find the killer? Find the address that 250 heat bulbs were shipped to.<br /><br />Oh, and the killer took Diane Lane to her freakin house to torture her? Good choice. They'll never check there. Plus, in that dense, busy neighborhood - nobody noticed the strange teenager moving equipment by the caseload into the basement? Ridiculous and lousy movie. Rent the far superior Silence or Seven. | 0neg
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This is the best killer frog movie ever made. Although for the most part, the Frogs are the conductor of the killing symphony of reptiles that surround a southern mansion owned by Ray Milland. Gators, snakes, and spiders do most of the dirty work; till the finale, anyhow. The frogs are always there though, watching. The one main thing I liked about this movie is that it didn't involve biological mutations caused by the American military, like so many other nature-gone-wrong films. Like JAWS (that came a few years after) this film is plain old nature's revenge on humanity, and nothing more. Sam Elliot is the 'Chief Brody', as it were, of this film, playing an ecologist (so then he's 'Brody' and 'Hooper' combined). The thing I liked also is that he - and the movie itself - wasn't a bit preachy like other environmental sci-fi type movies. The victims of nature aren't really bad guys, just rich and spoiled and miserable. The filmmakers left a couple of unresolved things: like did the African American butler, maid, and girlfriend of one of the dead family members, live? Did the dog live? Well, since we didn't see them die, I assumed they did. Also, the beginning credit sequence is one of my favorite of all time, especially when the title FROGS is shown. And there's a neat little cartoon treat after the final credits roll. Well, all in all, I really loved this movie. It's a laid back gem indeed. Sit and enjoy. And stay away from fancy french food after watching! | 1pos
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This is a really interesting 1991 Mexican drama concerning the eight-year long journey (1528 - 1536) of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, who was shipwrecked in Florida and enslaved by Indians, but who found a career as an itinerant Indian shaman, and eventually, after an endless journey through swamp and desert, ultimately found his way back to Spanish civilization. Cabeza de Vaca's few traveling companions, most notably the Moor Estebanico, helped fuel rumors of the Seven Cities of Cíbola, which led directly to the 1540 Coronado expedition and the first Spanish encounters with the Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico. Cabeza de Vaca's story is one the greatest personal survival tales in world history, and it made him one of the very, very few people who could fully appreciate the tragedy of Spain's conquest of the peoples of the Americas. The movie is in Spanish with English subtitles, but there is actually little Spanish at all, since Cabeza de Vaca is often alone or isolated, with no one to speak to. He is just as lost as the audience, in a world of Indian dialects.<br /><br />The director Nicolás Echevarría greatly simplified, even over-simplified, Cabeza de Vaca's journey. The movie suggests the shipwreck was in Florida, but that was actually the journey's first bloody stopping point. The final shipwreck occurred somewhere west of the Mississippi Delta, and Cabeza de Vaca's enslavement likely occurred somewhere near Galveston, Texas. Why leave that part out? Well, it's complicated, and ultimately for director Nicolás Echevarría may have been unimportant. Echevarría had something else in mind. The important part was that Cabeza de Vaca was thrown into a hallucinatory world of abasement and privation. Cabeza de Vaca carried a Christian cross, and his initial captors decided he should be sent to a shaman who also wore a cross, and be put to work tending the needs of a spoiled armless gnome. What a horrible existence! The hallucinatory quality is reminiscent of the magical realism pioneered by author Gabriel García Márquez and subsequently used by directors like Mel Gibson in "Apocalypto". Cabeza de Vaca's real existence may have been as a turtle-egg collector on the Texas beach, but instead the movie shows him apprenticing the shaman craft with his captors. Cabeza de Vaca's vision-laden emergence as a successful healer is the movie's best moment.<br /><br />The transition from swamp to desert is very abrupt, indicating that Echevarría wasn't much bothered by notions of continuity. Indeed, he had only two Mexican filming locations: the desert (in Coahuila) and the swamp (in Nayarit). As far as I could tell, the Indians were less like the real Indians of the northern Gulf of Mexico coast, and more like the Indians of Mexico. Then I remembered my history of Mexico ("Mexico" by Michael D. Coe, third edition, p. 146): <br /><br />"Into this uneasy political situation stepped the last barbaric tribe to arrive in the Valley of Mexico, the Aztecs, the 'people whose face nobody knows'. They said that they came from a place called 'Aztlan' in the west of Mexico, believed by some authorities to be the state of Nayarit, and had wandered about guided by the image of their tribal god, Huitzilopochtli ('Hummingbird-on-the left'), who was borne on the shoulders of four priests. .... We next see the Aztecs following a hand-to-mouth existence in the marshes of the great lake, or 'Lake of the Moon'. On they wandered, loved by none, until they reached some swampy, unoccupied islands, covered by rushes, near the western shore; it was claimed that there the tribal prophecy, to build a city where an eagle was sitting on a cactus, holding a snake in its mouth, was fulfilled.<br /><br />The director suggests discreetly, by his choice of filming location in the Nayarit swamps, through simplification and also perhaps by conflation of the Texas Indians with Aztecs, and by using a dash of magical realism, that Cabeza de Vaca's real story is about the tragedy of Mexico's conquest by Spain. And Cabeza de Vaca's story is about that, partly at any rate. The film is a meditation about Mexico's tortured birth as a Spanish colony. A powerful film and well-worth watching! | 1pos
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Very disturbing reality break. Child prostitution was prevalent in North America well into the early 20th century. This gives a good insight into demise of many children during this period. We were totally devoid of child protection agencies. Although many narrow minded artistically challenged people will label this movie as child pornography it is not. There is no suggestion of condoning or promoting of such. Louis Malle used a combination of shock and graphically disturbing scenes to get his message across. To have censored this movie would have been a throw back to the dark ages for artistic freedom. Although the acting leaves something to be desired it is a must watch for those wanting to see a dramatization of the hopelessness of the lives of children in the early Southern States. | 1pos
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This exquisitely photographed film portrays the cultural clash between Europeans (in this case the Europeans happen to be French) and various native tribes in seventeenth century North America without romanticizing either French culture or that of the native peoples.<br /><br />Perhaps the most striking feature of this film from my perspective was utter arrogance of the Europeans to come into a wild country presuming the superiority of their way of life over that of the indigenous peoples. No character seemed to understand that better than Father LaForgue, admirably portrayed by Lothaire Bluteau. The good Father soldiers on despite the evidence that his presence in the vast wilderness of North America won't make a whit of difference in his life or in the lives of the people he has vowed to introduce into "paradise." The Algonquin guides worry about their attachment to the "demon" LaForgue and wonder whether they shouldn't just kill him. Even LaForgue's young assistant, Daniel, wonders how the presence of a French missionary makes the the native people's lives any better. The Iroquois, who suffer from a harsh depiction in the film, take a more economically-based view of LaForgue -- he and Daniel are seen by the Iroquois as currency to be exchanged for guns.<br /><br />An aside concerning the Iroquois. While the violence depicted in the film is no doubt accurate, what the film does not reveal is that the Iroquois likely became decidedly more hostile when the French began to assist old enemies, such as the Algonquin, in traveling into hunting grounds that had previously been Iroquois territory.<br /><br />But back to LaForgue, whose journey is the primary emphasis of the film. He has journeyed, apparently from a life of some privilege in France, leaving behind a doting mother and (perhaps) a beautiful young woman. He has journeyed away from the "pleasures of the flesh," lingering on the sight of a couple making love in the communal tipi and later admitting to Daniel that he, LaForgue, lusts after the young Alogonquin woman,Annuka, with whom Daniel had already struck up a sexual relationship. He gets lost on the journey in the cathedral-like forest and rejoices and being found by Algonquin hunters, who express some bemusement that the Black Robe got lost in the first place. Finally, he journeys to the Hurons and a village beset by smallpox, where baptism has been sold to the natives as a miracle cure as much as it has a key to salvation.<br /><br />By avoiding the tendency of films depicting Native American life to romanticize, Bruce Beresford has captured more profoundly the daily harsh realities of life for the peoples inhabiting the northeastern portion of North America at the arrivals of the first trickling of Europeans. Neither way of life is ultimately depicted as superior to the other: each simply is. This is not a "feel-good" film. Instead it is a realistic, thought-provoking tale of a journey of a man, of cultures, and of life itself. Simply a brilliant film. | 1pos
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Night of the Living Dead starts as brother & sister Barbara (Patricia Tallman) & Johnnie (Bill Mosley) visit their recently deceased mother's grave, there they are attacked by one of the living dead & Johnnie is killed although Barbara manages to escape on foot to a nearby farmhouse. There she is attacked by more of the living dead but a man in truck called Ben (Tony Todd) arrives & helps her, the truck is out of gas & they have no choice but to stay put. Then out of the cellar some more people emerge, together they decide to board up the house to try & keep the flesh eating living dead outside as they desperately try to come up with a plan of escape, as the night draws on tensions in the house escalate & the cannibalistic living dead outside rapidly grow in number...<br /><br />Directed by Tom Savini this is absolutely brilliant remake of the George A. Romero classic Night of the Living Dead (1968) who actually turns in the screenplay for this, made years before the recent Hollywood fascination with horror remakes, The Hills Have Eyes (2006), The Omen (2006), The Ring (2002), Dawn of the Dead (2004), The Wicker Man (2006) & Black Christmas (2006) to name just six of the top of my head this '90 version of Night of the Living Dead is how it should be done & I thought it was a great film on many levels. The script stays pretty faithful to the original which to be fair I haven't seen in a number of years so the exact details of it are a little hazy, it starts out almost scene-for-scene although it changes things at the end. This treats the original material with respect & adds it's own ideas without drastically altering things which is how a remake should be I suppose, I really liked the ironic ending where the heroic Ben was in fact wrong & if they'd listened to the selfish Harry they would have all been rescued. The character's are very strong here & I particularly liked Ben who gets some really good dialogue as he tries to explain things from his own perspective & what he has seen prior to meeting Barabra. The film moves along at a great pace, it's never boring, it's as plausible as any film can be featuring flesh eating zombies, it's really nice to see a pretty intelligent horror film with good adult character's rather than annoying teens & a well thought out script.<br /><br />This was the directorial debut of special make-up effects man Tom Savini & it perhaps comes as a surprise that this Night of the Living Dead remake is pretty tame in the gore department, there aren't even many gory head shots, there's a severed hand, a few rotten zombies & not much else but the story compensates. To be fair the filmmakers were forced to cut some of the gorier stuff to get the rating that they wanted, however there is a documentary on the DVD release with some of the gore shots that were cut out. There's a nice tension to the film, the in fighting between Harry & Ben together with the ever growing hordes of zombies outside.<br /><br />With a supposed budget of about $4,200,000 this is very well made with good production values, impressive special make-up effects & very good acting especially Todd.<br /><br />Night of the Living Dead '90 is a top film, it's how remakes should be done & is a fantastic homage to original that is a great film in it's own right. Definitely well worth a watch. | 1pos
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Fellini called his "Satyricon" a science fiction film projected into the past. His expressive portrait of ancient Rome is a richly ornamented fresco of contrasts; variations within a select kaleidoscope of opposites related to the sacred, the pure, the just, and the beautiful.<br /><br />Reportedly a free adaptation of the now fragmentary writings of Petronius, the film also makes fleeting references to various scattered works and myths of antiquity. Even the language is a blend of various dialects and accents, effectively brewed together into a type of "primordial soup."<br /><br />The film features a young man named Encolpio and his sometime friend Ascilto; both of whom seem to prefer participatory experience as a means to finding meaning in life while primarily disregarding status, power and possessions. Contrasting some of the film's more serene scenes with those of unrest and discord, patterns supportive of a life lived from a similar experiential perspective begin to emerge. Some examples are as follows: <br /><br />During the "Death to the Classics" scene, the poet Eumolpo says that the arts have declined because the desire for "virtue" has been lost. Dialectical discussion and philosophy have been replaced with drinking, vice and monetary greed, thus preventing further creation of works of art at the same pinnacle of excellence as the classics.<br /><br />Later when Eumolpo and Encolpio recline in the open field encased in an early morning mist, the elderly poet bequeaths to Encolpio a series of "natural" phenomena; among them mountains, rivers, clouds, love, tears, joy, sound, song and the voices of man...<br /><br />During the "Matron of Ephesus" scene, a young woman mourning her deceased husband by starving to death in a cave has her chalk white face returned to its natural radiance after accepting the embrace of a handsome soldier. The moral being "...better to hang a 'dead' husband than to lose a 'living' lover..."<br /><br />A politically doomed and suicidal married couple free their slaves whereupon a reference is made to the "sacred" earth. Their children are sent away to a place free from tyranny which will be "beautiful." Later, Encolpio and Ascilto arrive at the couple's elegant home and enjoy a night of revelry during which Encolpio quotes the "poet" as having said "...as for me I have always lived to enjoy the present moment as if it were the last sunrise..."<br /><br />The tale of the beautiful Enotea and her subsequent punishment after she tricked the wizard who had professed his love for her seems to be a warning to remain "true" to expressions of affection.<br /><br />Following what appears to be his final corruption after having abandoned his idealistic philosophy, Eumolpo proposes an interesting last will and testament. Those wishing to inherit a part of his worldly fortune are asked to devour his remains. Reflecting the hippie generation's symbolic scorn of rampant materialism during the shooting of this film, Encolpio and his friends smile and turn away, heading onward toward a new adventure.<br /><br />The scenes of discord in the film appear to reflect issues related to social and political methods of enforced control over others. For example, during the banquet of Trimalcione, his sycophants eat, laugh, chant, dance, perform and throw objects on cue. While a captive at sea, Encolpio is made an object of entertainment for the pirate Lica. Later he is forced to battle a huge "minotaur' for the entertainment of a proconsul and his puppet court during the "gladiator prank" sequence.<br /><br />Fellini makes strong use of colour symbolism in "Satyricon." The film opens in what appears to be a large Roman steam bath. There is the occasional sound of water dripping, and in Encolpio's tenement a seemingly wealthy group of party goers arrive on a small boat in the water, perhaps ready to go "slumming" with the poor. There is also a bluish tint to many of these early scenes as if they were being viewed through water. Later, during Trimalcione's feast, a flame red lens filter appears to overshadow the initial candle lit display giving the impression of an envelopment of fire. During the outdoor scenes on Lica's boat, the sound of the wind is recurrent and a blitz of snow appears providing a possible reference to the air element. Near the end of the film, Encolpio enters a maze by sliding in the dirt down a hillside. Following his battle with the minotaur, a dust storm blows as he attempts to make love with Arianna. Later, when he visits the elderly Enotea, she lets dirt fall from her clenched fists as if giving a silent reference to the earth element.<br /><br />There are also many references to the supernatural and paranormal. Eyes stare into the camera as if to give reference to phantoms from antiquity looking at those presently alive as if to question. While Encolpio and Eumolpo have their discussion in the art gallery, a two tiered galley of soundless faces inexplicably passes by like unknown entities observing the men's conversation through a hole in the wall. There is a curious space-like object on the deck of Lica's ship. In addition, a momentary glimpse of supernatural visionary lights appear during the abduction of the "mystical" hermaphrodite who subsequently dies after having been exposed to the "light" of day. The film also presents a recurring symbolism of carved and imprinted heads eventually given great emphasis with Lica's startling decapitation. Perhaps the question is, has society become too obsessed with the intellect at the expense of the heart and the inherent value of the individual person? Perhaps not so for Fellini, as the entire film is intensely alive with a glorious blend of color; each face, each person, in Fellini's words, serving as an integral part of his artwork on film.<br /><br />Finally, like the eternal wheel and his initial greeting, Encolpio's farewell is presented in front of a stone background and he is interrupted in mid sentence giving .... | 1pos
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Marty is typical guy who wants to spice up his boring married sex life. He gets the idea that he should get his wife together with another woman and he does this because he is self centered, of course. At first his wife does not want to be with another woman but soon enough she likes it. She likes being with another woman so much that she starts to reject Marty and his whole plan blows up in his face.<br /><br />I think Marty gets what he deserves and it's pretty funny. He gets more than he asks for and that is what makes the movie great. The whole scene with the sister is pretty funny as well. Wishes do come true and sometimes they come true a little too much. | 1pos
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I was given some old videos and this Mascara was with them, i just put It on and really enjoyed the whole Drag and Transvestite theme, with The Lovely Eva Robin's as Peppa.... watch and enjoy something a little Different from the normal every day films.<br /><br />I didn't expect to see such good actors as Michael Sarrazin and Charlotte Rampling in a movie of this theme but they play the parts very well and convincingly.<br /><br />For me Eva Robin's portrayal of Peppa was touching and I felt great sorrow for the character and found her strangely intriguing.<br /><br />Murder mystery and a Love story with a different theme what more could you ask for?<br /><br />I would say give it a chance and you will enjoy, but if you don't like the drag and transvestite theme then steer well away. | 1pos
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I watched this show when I was 19. I enjoyed it since it seemed to grasp how every marriage that I knew from friends and family. Granted not all marriages are carbon copies of the ones on the show, but at least it hits on ones that are familiar. I found that the awkward moments with Mickey (Mike Binder) and his wife (Sonya Walger) looked like bad acting seemed to emphasize that awkward feelings they were having. Little nuances like this made it a little better for me. And the support characters are real to me. Especially since I have been on both sides (being the single guy and the married guy *sort of) The complaints seem real and the responses genuine as far as I could tell. I have since watched it and still find the humor. I was more curious about how long the show would last since they covered the main question of infidelity? The second season I am sure covered another topic, but I don't really remember. I do hope they put out the second season just so I can complete my thoughts on the show. All in all I did enjoy it when I was single and when I got into a serious relationship. | 1pos
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This could of been a Hughes all time classic, I enjoyed it right up to the part Whaley stopped parading around in his underwear, (oh this sick mind of mine.) I'll say it loud and clear to everyone who has failed to realize it, " Whaley Rules! ". I think this movie loses what ever it had going for it, when a straight forward plot, which leads to lotsa dead writing, and a film that seems rushed together to make air time. This could have been a wonderful impromptu, since Whaley is a natural riot, and Connely can hold her own. But instead we get a lesson in bad writing, crippled production, and wasted casts. Oh what this could have been. | 0neg
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Eddie Murphey stars as a father who starts taking advice from his daughter in Imagine that. Now I know that everyone has given up on Eddie Murphey. Because both Meet Dave and Norbit were disasters. But Imagine that actually isn't a disaster.<br /><br />I am not going to go too much into the plot. Or into it at all. Now Eddie Murphey at a time was a great comedic talent, but now he chooses all of these bad films. But Eddie Murphey sure does make a comeback in this film. <br /><br />Imagine that is a funny film. Though at times seems a little too crude. Trust me people this ain't Norbit but this film is a good movie. I also felt like the film was a little bit cliché'd if you know what I mean. There is a scene in the film where Eddie Murphey leaves his meeting to see his daughter sing at her school. Clearly it's not a great movie, but I appreciated it so thumbs up. | 1pos
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I saw this film and thought it was totally cool. Finally... a chic flick without a bunch of wimpy women. This is the real stuff girls. And guys... this is what we're all about. Thora Birch was amazing. The clothes were killer. Loved it. | 1pos
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This film is a direct copy of the mainstream Jennifer Tilly film "Bound," done in B-movie fashion. The main difference is that the Gina Gershon character is played by a male, Jason Schnuit (see also, Club Wild Side 2). Otherwise, the film is virtually identical in plot. The main character, played by Kim Dawson, lately of the late-night cable series "Bedtime Stories," is not the ditsy showpiece of a mobster, but the unhappily married showpiece of a mobster. Jason Schnuit plays her old boyfriend whom she left at the altar. He comes back into her life and together they hatch the Bound-like plan to get out of the desperate situation and be together. The story is unoriginal, as are the mediocre sex scenes. The film doesn't even have the female-female scenes that made "Bound" so interesting. | 0neg
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This movie made me feel real sorry for one of the old ladies that is trying to get a date. Even years from seeing the movie at the theater, I think about that lonely old heart. What I didn't care for was the ending of the movie. I had this big ole buildup with Ellen Barkin and that was the end? Please! Give me an ending that is just as suspenseful as the rest of the show was. I just felt like the director took an easy way out after entertaining me the entire film. The acting is fantastic, the script is wonderful, casting unbelievable, the ending just kind of sucked. And guess what, I have a stack of 45s and I'm still waiting for them to become valuable. | 0neg
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I know there are many out there who think that Lena Horne would have been better cast as Julie than Ava Gardner was. She was considered for the role and desperately wanted to play it, according to her own commentary on the film from the documentary "That's Entertainment III". Lena had also done a brief turn as Julie in the 1946 Kern biopic, "Till The Clouds Roll By". Lena had, and still has, a wonderful voice and would have been wonderful in the part vocally. With that said, let me say that she would have been miscast in the role of Julie. There is no possible way that Lena Horne could have believably played a woman born to one black and one white parent who is credibly passing as white. With no racism or malice intended, Lena Horne is very obviously a black woman. The whole crux of Julie's story has to do with her attempt to hide her parentage and her marriage to a white man. How could a black woman who "looks" black pull this off? I think MGM was wise to cast Ava Gardner and pass on Lena Horne. It is just too bad that there weren't really any roles written for her during her time at MGM. She proved that she could carry a real part in such films as "Stormy Weather" and "Cabin In The Sky", especially that latter. | 1pos
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I bought this at Wherehouse Music for $6 and its not worth 6 cents. i would have returned but it was a going out of business purchase so i ended up giving it away to my fiance's parents. They hated it also and are trying to find someone else to take it off their hands. It's another in a long line of "spoofs" of horror movies, it tries to be funny and tongue in cheek but its just total garbage, don't waste your time watching this.<br /><br />Davey M. | 0neg
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This movie is a genuine piece of eroticism. Some comments pointed out that the acting was awful. Well in a way one could say that the actors are not acting, they are living the situation ! (I wouldn't be surprise to learn that they had a lot a sex together when the cameras where not shooting...). What I try to say is that this movie is not "manufactured" according to the canonical rules, it is "genuine". This is why it conveys a unique impression of freedom - seldom found elsewhere - that I would call A LIBERTARIAN EXPERIENCE OF SEX. And therefore it gives to the receptive spectator a mostly exhilarating experience.<br /><br />It is the combination of the world of Henry Miller and the sexual liberation of the 70's (more advanced in the Scandinavian countries - this is a Danish film) that made it possible.<br /><br />If I where to keep just one erotic movie, it may well be this one. Of course if you watched too many lousy porn, your look may be too much formatted to appreciate this movie... | 1pos
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I haven't even seen it, and it's bad. I have read the comments and the summary though. For those people who believe that I can't comment on this because I haven't seen it or that it is actually a good movie, or that I've been brainwashed by action movies, think about the author who originally wrote the story. From what I have read from comments and summaries, and from the novel From the Earth to the Moon, it has terrible graphics, a bad story-line, bad acting, and poor special effects. I wanted to cry when I read the summary, as it had absolutely nothing to do with the book. I wonder if the producer had even read a summary of the book. They should be ashamed to say they based the movie off of his book, and ashamed to even name the movie after it. For those of you who liked the movie, or those that didn't read the book, read it, as it is a lot better way to spend your time. | 0neg
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A fun short film, some crazy manoevres, but not as fast as it makes you believe. <br /><br />On the Champs Elysee the car is (according to the soundtrack) running close to max revs in 5th gear which means it should be doing about 150mph, yet it takes 67 seconds to cover 2 kilometres which puts its average speed at 67mph on a dead straight road with supposedly almost constant full throttle.<br /><br />By taking the 'racing line' through corners, mounting the camera close to the road and dubbing the sound it gives a good impression of speed, but other cars pass by too slowly and most of the pedestrians barely notice what is supposed to be a 4 litre V12 Ferrari bellowing through a city at full chat.<br /><br />What C'etait un Rendezvous aspires to, Getaway in Stockholm achieves. | 0neg
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With Hollywood's usual sugar-coated approach to everything, including prison life, it's nice to see how independent filmmakers in some of the most impoverished societies of the world handle the subject. This is not the first time Brazil has been the subject of international attention. From their numerous wins at the world cup to being the place a once-good hardcore band called Sepultura started, it is probably the most well-known country in South America.<br /><br />Those who are familiar with Sepultura's music will know the name Carandiru already. Although I forget the name of the song, the prison was covered in a song detailing the brutal murders of prisoners. Some things implied in the song are flatly contradicted here, but I will deal with that later. Where Carandiru, the film, succeeds while Sepultura's song failed, is that the film gives the prisoners a very rational, human face. They're not portrayed as angels, but neither are they portrayed as devil incarnates. They are given enough humanity to matter, and that is literally everything in this type of film.<br /><br />It is also interesting to get a listen to some of the other musicians of Brazil in some of the soundtrack. I forget the name of the band (Ratos Du Parao or something like that), but their song Crucificados Pelo Sistema can be heard very prominently during one memorable scene. As you get to learn more about the criminals, both major and minor, the title seems exceptionally appropriate. In fact, a wide variety of music that is appropriate to the setting is presented here, as opposed to the one-note selections presented in many American films set in prison.<br /><br />There has been criticism levelled at the film, along the lines of being too long and distended. That is true to some extent. Such scenes as the pop singer's visit to the prison should definitely have been left on the cutting room floor. The statements of the prisoners about the massacre were also unnecessary, as they build a sometimes false impression of who lived or died, and prematurely at that. It has also been said that the film lacks focus, with many prisoners getting a little detail, while others get none at all. Personally, I prefer it this way. Following a singular hero around is getting tired, especially when there is such a wide, diverse mix here.<br /><br />It has also been said that the film builds a false, overly negative portrait of life in Brazil. I can see shades for and against that. As I mentioned before, Sepultura are a famous example of the music scene in Brazil, mixing elements of Napalm-Death style with Biafra-like punk. It is only in a nation so disrespectful of human rights and truth that a band that screams about injustice or abuses would have to leave. But at the same time, Brazil has a culture all its own, which most certainly should not be replaced by Americanism.<br /><br />The aforementioned-song has it that the inmates in Carandiru were annihilated in what was described as a "holocaust method". The film has it that in a prison housing some 7500 inmates (it was intended to house 4000, apparently), 110 or so were killed. Either way, the prison was eventually closed and torn down. And Americans think their prisons are brutal!<br /><br />In all, I gave Carandiru a seven out of ten. It is far from perfect, but as a change from the staid formula of Hollywood, it is just what the doctor ordered. Give it a squiz, if only for the cultural expansion. | 1pos
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This is clearly Hawn's attempt to shake off her stereotypical image. Strangely enough she isn't the problem. In fact, she does okay without her usual smiling and giggling. The problem here is the ridiculous plot. It makes no sense whatsoever. At first sight it may seem complex but the truth is it's just not well thought out. I'll refrain from going into details but suffice it to say the story is very uneven and incoherent. Also, John Heard is terrible as a murdering psycho. It's easy to see why; he was completely miscast. His lines, which are supposed to terrify viewers, are laughable. The standard scares in the film are effective but very cliched and worn out. It sounds like a B-movie and that's exactly what it is. | 0neg
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Absolutely inane Martin and Lewis film where Dino is the doctor and Lewis, a railroad employee, supposedly comes into contact with a radioactive car. Dean, at first, feels that Lewis is terminal but soon reverses himself. That reversal doesn't come before N.Y. newspaper lady, Janet Leigh, arrives and gets the two to come to N.Y. for a sympathetic last trip with the hopes of increasing the newspapers' circulation. Fred Clark, as the editor, is his usual cynical self.<br /><br />What makes this film so ridiculous is that it could be obvious to anyone that there is nothing wrong with Homer Flagg (Lewis.) His antics are as silly as ever. The attempt at slap-stick comedy with the three doctors is nonsensical at best.<br /><br />Even some of the dance sequences are out of line here especially the one with Sheree North playing herself. | 0neg
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Emergency Landing, a film I saw under the title Robot Pilot, is essentially a romantic comedy disguised by a story of war production of planes, an invention of a new navigational remote control system, and foreign spies and intrigue. Forrest Tucker , a very young Forrest Tucker, plays Jerry Barton, a pilot trying to convince a big airplane producer to see his friend's navigational remote control system. The test fails and Barton goes home with Doc - only to soon both become "wardens" to the pretty daughter of the fly tycoon and his sister Aunt Maude - for their complicity in stealing gasoline. You get then a bunch of scenes of the two- Tucker and the spoiled brat Carol Hughes fighting against each other only to fall in love and the same for Maude and the inventive Doc. As far as romantic comedies made on the real cheap, you could do far worse. Director William "One Shot" Beaudine has some skill with the camera and all of the actors are engaging - something you seldom see in these kind of movies. Tucker is amiable if nothing else, Hughes does a believable job, Emmett Vogan plays his part as Doc with great gusto, and Evelyn Brent does the best job as Aunt Maude with great style and a wonderful sense of humour. Even the worst actor, Thornton Edwards playing Pedro - a Mexican stereotype that would have every civil liberties group out against you today, has moments that are funny. The real problem with this film is that is is advertising to be what it is obviously not - a spy thriller or war picture or science fiction film even. It really is nothing close to any of those things. It is a simple little comedy that is cheaply made and has some good scenes working with the materials at hand. I was entertained at the very least although I was expecting something else. A minor bonus: Midget extraordinare Billy Curtis makes a brief cameo as a hard-dealing, justice-giving judge of the West. Funny and cute! | 1pos
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Many a B-movie fan blame Jim Wynorski, David DeCoteau and this film's director, Fred Olen Ray (using the alias "Nicholas Medina"), for turning the low-budget horror industry into one big, dull, plot less soft-core sex romp. All three have some enjoyable flicks under their belt, but this one's unfortunately a prime example of their detractors' gripe; a vampire movie with awful acting, lame writing and a tired, boring plot about bloodsuckers working out of a strip club. Beverly Lynne, a short-haired blonde who used to be a pro football cheerleader and frequently acts in these things, is Jill, a struggling reporter for "Crime Beat" magazine. She goes undercover in the club to investigate a murder. Jay Richardson virtually replays his 'Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers' part as an aged detective who calls everyone around him "kid." The owner of the exclusive "Underground" strip club is played by long-haired porn actor Evan Stone, who proves he's an old-fashioned kind of vampire by keeping his pants on during his sex scenes. He talks softly, wears a frilly shirt, mascara and black fingernail polish, is seen for about two seconds as a winged monster, claims to be two-thousand years old and presides over a live sex show where everyone wears masks. One evening, he shows up at Jill's place and tells her to "give into the darkness," which results in an aerobic sex romp that seems more like a professional wrestling bout than a piece of erotica. Jill is bit (on her breast), but never becomes a vampire.<br /><br />There are at least half a dozen time-devouring topless strip sequences and just as many sex scenes. We also get some S&M, a threesome, two token lesbian scenes, some awful computer effects (the slow-motion bullet is hilarious) and typical Ray movie in-jokes. The ending is as mundane as they get. I've also seen enough of these things by now to recognize that the music itself was even reused scores from 'Haunting Fear' and 'Sorceress.' The composer of those scores is a guy be the name of Chuck Cirino, who has been contributing great, catchy theme music to B films for twenty years and deserves some recognition for it. He's given a "special thanks" in the end credits, along with Gail Harris (the great star of Wynorski's 'Hard to Die' and 'Sorority House Massacre II'), Skye Blue, Richard Gabai and George Stover. | 0neg
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This contains a spoiler. Stop reading if you don't want to know the only "funny" thing about this flick.<br /><br />Man, was this a funny movie. When I was 9. Well, not even then, really. The most memorable thing from the whole picture was a !SPOILER! small dog involved in a running gag. The little cur would lower his head and sink his front, then raise his butt in the air. The punchline was delivered via a butt busting fart and clear the area of any hominids by virtue of its nose hair stinging stench.<br /><br />As originality goes, there are some things that rate higher. Like K-Fed. Well, on second thought, not him.<br /><br />The acting was very not memorable. The performances did nothing to engender the glowing reminiscence of movies watched when I was a child. They were so unremarkable, as a matter of fact, that I was immediately critical as I walked from the theater. And so, this experience forever changed me. The lesson was: not every pic is a good one.<br /><br />I suppose that this would help kids who are in the "farts are funny" developmental stage pass a rainy afternoon. Don't expect, as an adult, to be even mildly entertained by this. Unless, of course, you take pride in the ability to belch the alphabet. | 0neg
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I'll make this as concise as possible: Terrible Script, Poor continuity, God-awful acting, Plot holes a plenty, Direction with no style, Horror movie that isn't frightening.<br /><br />For anyone interested in the film industry, I strongly recommend attending genre specific film festivals in the future. You get to experience the work of truly talented people at the beginning of their careers...the price (outside of admission) is enduring the work of delusional people like those attached to this movie. However, it's the bad which allows us to appreciate the good.<br /><br />If the director of this movie gets the opportunity to direct again, than everyone should be allowed to direct films. You, me, our grandmothers. Now, I'm not saying he won't work in the industry...he will. Possibly as a P.A. or a gaffer or even a best boy. He just doesn't have what it takes to direct. And, these actors should find another career or go back and take some classes. | 0neg
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Unrelieved stuffiness, written by Julian Mitchell from his play, chronicling the true-life account of homosexual prep-school lad Guy Bennett in 1930s London who later became a spy for the Russians. Director Marek Kanievska chooses to sequence the film colorlessly in flashback, with aloof Rupert Everett posturing and pursing his modulated lips in continual pensiveness (he has one expression to express every emotion). The British play was very popular, for reasons which are not evident here. The burnished cinematography by Peter Biziou and fine supporting performances from Colin Firth (in his debut) and Cary Elwes do help, yet I found this picture extremely cold and rather indifferently-made. * from **** | 0neg
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To get it right, that is. The best film in the Matt Helm series: best soundtrack, best villain, best female sidekick, best (by far) choreographed action and fight (thanks to Bruce Lee) sequences and best climax. Were these the same people who made Murders' Row and the Ambushers? Hardly seems likely. | 1pos
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I HATED this movie! It was one of the most painful, nerve-grating "comedies" I've ever watched. I normally like Danny Kaye, but this movie was like fingernails on a blackboard.<br /><br />The story: Nightclub comedian Buzzy Bellew (Danny Kaye) is murdered by gangsters after witnessing a murder committed by their boss, Ten Grand Jackson (Steve Cochran). The spirit of Buzzy contacts his twin brother, Edwin Pringle (also played by Kaye), a stuffy bookworm, and asks him to testify before the D.A. in Buzzy's place. Buzzy can possess Edwin's body when he wants to, and make him act like an idiot. The situation causes all sorts of complications with Edwin's girlfriend (Virginia Mayo) and Buzzy's fiancé (Vera-Ellen).<br /><br />The main problem is, Danny Kaye spends too much time trying to be funny by acting funny. Seeing someone act funny is not funny, unless the people around them are also funny. (This is why the Marx Brothers were funny. They were surrounded by stuffed shirts and pompous characters like Margaret Dumont. You could see who the Marx Brothers were skewering with their humor.) <br /><br />Characters who act funny when normal characters are around are NOT FUNNY! They are just annoying!<br /><br />Take the scene where the spirit of Buzzy possesses Edwin for the first time. They are in a park, and what does Buzzy immediately do? He makes Edwin jump around like a crazy man, in front of a cop! An interesting tactic, since Buzzy is supposedly counting on Edwin to avenge his murder by testifying against a gangster. You'd think the last thing he'd want Edwin to do is end up in jail!<br /><br />Danny Kaye is not funny in this scene! He is trying to be funny by acting funny! But of course, that just ends up being annoying and painful to watch! (You wonder why the cop, who has a billy club, doesn't just whack Danny over the head and cart him off to the funny farm.) <br /><br />From there on, Buzzy possesses Edwin only when he wants to -- not when Edwin needs him to. One of the most painful scenes in the movie comes when Edwin is called to testify in the D.A.'s office about the murder that Buzzy witnessed. Edwin sits there pleading out loud for Buzzy to possess him, so he can tell the D.A. about the murder, while the D.A. and his men look on, bewildered. Does Buzzy show up and possess Edwin? Of course not! And Edwin is humiliated.<br /><br />Later, we find out the reason why Buzzy didn't show up. He had a hangover from drinking too much champagne in a nightclub the previous night, while he was possessing Edwin's body.<br /><br />Would someone please explain this to me. HOW IN THE NAME OF JACOB MARLEY CAN A GHOST GET A HANGOVER, OR EVEN GET DRUNK, AS BUZZY DOES? <br /><br />Kaye's character has a grating habit of only half-explaining things to people. There's a scene where Edwin, on the run from gangsters, ducks into a delicatessen owned by S.K. Sazall.<br /><br />"The men in black are after me," Edwin tells Sazall. Of course, Sazall thinks he's crazy, and they go through this whole annoying scene of turning the lights in the deli shop on and off, which alerts the gangsters to their presence.<br /><br />All Edwin has to say in this scene is "Gangsters with guns are after me. Be quiet and keep the lights out or we'll both get killed."<br /><br />But that would be too easy, too logical a solution to the problem. Instead, they try to be funny, and end up being annoying again.<br /><br />There are other annoying characters in the movie. There is a gangster who wears a hearing aid. He keeps asking people, "What'd you say?" Or "What did she say?" But according to his partner, the gangster is only pretending to be deaf and doesn't really need the hearing aid.<br /><br />WHY? Why would a gangster pretend he needed a hearing aid? Answer: It is just another way that the movie tries to get cheap laughs but doesn't.<br /><br />The Oscar-winning special effects are good for their time, but lend nothing to the story.<br /><br />There is ONE good thing in this movie. Vera-Ellen does a tap dance number with the Goldwyn Girls that is AMAZING to watch. Vera-Ellen was an incredible dancer, and it's too bad she didn't achieve greater stardom in her career.<br /><br />Except for the Vera-Ellen dance number, I would skip this movie, unless you like having your nerves twisted watching people who are not funny trying to be funny. | 0neg
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While most movies are geared toward the younger crowd, this one tickled the funny bones of the 40+ generation. What a nice change! The language was surprising, but the antics were refreshing. There were some memorable moments, and some visuals you wish you could get out of your mind (Michael McKean to be exact). All in all...it was a fun-filled comedy. | 1pos
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I would have given the movie a 0 but it wouldn't let me. Never in my life have I watched a movie and left it wanting the last 2 hours of my life back. This was without a doubt the worst and most boring film i've ever witnessed. To say that the story is lacking is a vast understatement and the movie moves at a snails pace. No life to the film whatsoever. <br /><br />The only redeeming quality was the cast. Although given the experience of the cast, one would expect a much better product. I say with complete certainty that this is the worst movie i've ever seen, even worse than Daredevil. | 0neg
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A good looking, well acted (the leading players are excellent)but dull and VERY disjointed biopic of the famous prophet that seems of though it was cut down from something much longer. Karyo is a good casting in the title role but he struggles in a fairly flat role. Director Christian, (who was art director for Ridley Scott's Alien), gives the film a handsome old world look but he just ambles through the script that rambles on and on and tells us nothing that we did not know about the future and nothing even about the Nostrodamus himself. The performances and occasional moments of interest keep one's eyes half open, but this is missed opportunity on such an interesting subject matter. | 0neg
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All the things that come to my mind, when I think to David Lean, are reunited in this movie:<br /><br />Bigger than life locations (here: Africa, Cambodia, Tchetchenia) Bigger than life love story (here, Lara's song has been changed into a piano theme) Bigger than life actors (Angelina shows another time all her talent) Bigger than life scenes (here, it's not a bridge which explodes)<br /><br />So, if you like Doctor Jivago, Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge upon Kwai River, you will like this movie.... <br /><br />... Except we are in XXI century.... and (American) Movies in XXI century mean digital effects...<br /><br />So, the desert looks like Mars, snow becomes a black and white illusion, and starving babies are real babies "edited" by computers. The director recognizes the production pulled the moral line, and debating more over wouldn't be reviewing this movie anymore.<br /><br />In conclusion, a great movie which succeeds to give its message, all the more crucial actually after the tragedy in Asia.... | 1pos
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Black comedy can be a difficult genre to get right, in the cinema as well as in the theatre. We can, I am sure, all think of films which were intended to be gross but hilarious and ended up as simply gross. There are too many examples to list them all, but high on my personal list of offenders in this regard must be "The Sweetest Thing", "Beautiful Creatures" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous". On the other hand, when black comedy succeeds, the result can be superb. Two of my favourites are Kubrick's "Dr Strangelove" and Scorsese's "King of Comedy", both of which derive humour from serious subjects (nuclear war and crime) but do so with a brilliant satirical wit.<br /><br />John Waters's "Serial Mom" is not quite in the same class as those two films, but is one of the better black comedies of recent years. The main character is Beverley Sutphin, a middle-aged, middle-class Middle American housewife. Beverley, happily married to dentist Eugene with two teenage children, Chip and Misty, lives in an affluent, idyllic suburb which looks as though it has been taken from a fifties sit-com. (Like most of Waters's films, this one is set in his home town of Baltimore). There is only one thing which disturbs the peace and tranquillity of the area. Beverley combines her role as a housewife and mother with a part-time career as a serial killer. Her first victim is Paul Stubbins, a teacher who makes some unkind remarks about her son at a PTA meeting, and she progresses to her daughter's unfaithful boyfriend, a couple who are rude about Eugene's dental practice and various people who commit minor social gaffes such as failing to rewind rented video tapes (the film predates the coming of DVD), failing to recycle their garbage, and wearing white shoes after Labor day. (This last is, apparently, regarded as a major fashion crime in America). Eventually she is arrested and put on trial.<br /><br />Waters has the reputation of being a director to whom the notion of good taste is quite alien, and, with a plot like this, "Serial Mom" could have ended up as nothing more than horribly tasteless garbage. It is, of course, horribly tasteless and not a film to see if you are at all squeamish- Waters does not spare us sight of plenty of blood and gore- but is saved from ending up as garbage by two things. The first is an often very witty script, displaying a refreshingly cynical sense of humour, which includes some great lines such as "He killed people, mom- We all have our bad days". and "Jesus said nothing to condemn capital punishment as he hung on the cross, did he"? (the local priest is preaching a pro-death penalty sermon).<br /><br />The second is Kathleen Turner's manically over-the-top performance as Beverley, alternating between a model of bourgeois domestic virtue and a bloodthirsty maniac, and playing both with equal relish. My favourite parts were the courtroom scene where Beverley conducts her own defence with great brilliance and the scenes where she makes obscene phone calls to her neighbour Dottie, a woman who can be shocked by a phrase as seemingly innocuous as "Are those pussy willows?" Turner is an actress who has somewhat disappeared from view in recent years, but in the eighties and nineties she was one of Hollywood's best known leading ladies and gave some excellent performances in films like the neo-noir thriller "Body Heat" and "The War of the Roses", another very good black comedy.<br /><br />Like most good black comedies, "Serial Mom" has some serious points to make. The mores of suburbia have been fair game for satirists ever since the first suburbs were built, and here Waters is sending up the culture of middle-class conformity which all too often attaches to such places. Beverley is far from being the only all-American soccer mom who looks with horrified disfavour on her neighbours' minor deviations from accepted norms; all that distinguishes her from millions of others is the extreme lengths to which she will go to punish such deviations. The satire, however, is not just aimed at Beverley, but also at her victims, some of whom are such obnoxious individuals that it is impossible to have any sympathy for them, despite their horrific fates. There is one grotesque scene where Emma Lou Jensen (she who fails to rewind her videos) sings loudly and tunelessly along to "Tomorrow" from the musical "Annie" while allowing her dog to lick her feet all over suggesting she is, to say the least, a somewhat strange person. Stubbins, who suggests that Chip is in need of "therapy" because of his love of horror films, is the sort of arrogant, self-important teacher who thinks that he is paid not just to teach maths but also to control every aspect of his students' lives, down to their taste in films.<br /><br />"Serial Mom" may not be the best cinematic satire on suburbia of recent years (that must be Sam Mendes's "American Beauty"), but it is, for all its lapses of taste, a witty and entertaining black comedy. 8/10 | 1pos
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Contrary to the croonings of Liza Minnelli and Frank Sinatra, The City That Never Sleeps is not New York, New York but Chicago, Illinois. At least it is in John H. Auer's 1953 movie of that name, sort of a noir-inflected Grand Hotel or Dinner At Eight, that opens and closes with floodlit vistas of the wedding-cake Wrigley Building. Several characters' lives intersect in an urban crime drama that even offers a touch of the fanciful.<br /><br />Gig Young, at the center, plays a cop who's dissatisfied with his job and with his marriage (his wife, Paula Raymond, makes more money than he does). Off hours, he hangs around a strip club called The Silver Frolics on Wabash Avenue to see, both on stage and backstage, headliner Mala Powers. That relationship is a rocky as his marriage, and she's as unhappy with her lot as he with his (`Whaddaya want me to do? Crawl into a deep freeze?' she taunts him during yet another breakup). Then Young heads to the precinct for the graveyard shift, riding in a prowl car with a new partner he's never met before (Chill Wills, who also plays the unseen `Voice of the City'). <br /><br />During Young's nocturnal tour he meets up again and again with the various players in the plot. There's rich, crooked lawyer Edward Arnold, who blackmails him into burglarizing some incriminating papers; his two-timing wife, Marie Windsor; former magician turned criminal William Talman; his own brother (Ron Hagerthy) who's now Talman's apprentice; his pop (Otto Hulett), a police veteran; and a `mechanical man' (Gregg Warren) who entertains passersby in the Silver Frolics' window.<br /><br />Some of the ties among the characters are up front, others furtive, to be doled out as the plots thicken. By the end (Poverty Row having learned the lessons MGM taught a couple of decades earlier in the titles cited above), there's tragedy and heartache, reappraisals and reconciliations. There's even a character who vanishes as mysteriously as he materialized a whiff of the supernatural which curiously fails to leave any influence on the way the stories unfold.<br /><br />The City That Never Sleeps shows the right breadth for a big, urban story from Arnold's moderne penthouse to Young's middle-class flat to the raffish alleys running off Wabash Avenue. Director of photography John Russell (later to film Psycho) helps Auer out with some crafty touches (a telephone dial glowing from a flashlight shone upon it comes to mind). It's not a haunting movie, but it's a satisfying one a title that did Republic Pictures proud. | 1pos
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This is a truly awful film. Bad cinematography (I lost count of how many first-year film school rules it broke), bad writing, and an ending that came out of nowhere. The only reason I stayed until the end is that the friend I was with fell asleep.<br /><br />STAY AWAY! Rent Parting Glances or Beautiful Thing if you need to see a good gay movie. | 0neg
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What's most surprising about this film is the date, 1955. It is a nice criminal detective comedy since all ends well that had started very grimly and so bad. If we take this film like all films by Hitchcock should be taken, that is to say as a metaphor of real life, of history, of fate, then we might be less surprised by the date. After all the worst is gone, is behind. The war is finished, the second world war and the Korean war, and even McCarthy is dead and buried, politically I mean. We can breathe. The future is clear. The complications are all behind. We are finally getting out of this dark hole in which we had been buried for a long time. The famous post war thirty glorious years and its baby boom generation are starting to bring in the fruit of our suffering, sweating and efforts if not travail. What we have produced is being bought by some millionaire. Our work is recognized and valorized. We are going to be famous, great, rich, beautiful, who knows what else. So we can bury the past. We can un-bury it, and then bury it again, and eventually un-bury it a second time, but why not re-bury that poor past in order to finally get it out once more and discover it was not so bad and it was nothing but some kind of sad heart disease, a disease of the heart, a weak heart crushed by passions, love passion, dreams that me made into nightmares, and maybe some anger. But the film is surprising because Hitchcock manages to have absolutely no staircase, no flights of steps, with or without mezzanines, and yet don't believe me that easy because it is not flat country indeed. And so up they go and down they go, the roads and the tramps, and all the other people in that village, uphill and downhill, upstage and downstage, upriver and downriver, up the strokes and down the strokes to paint and paint and paint reality till no one recognizes it or sees it. And if it were not enough to constantly go up and down lanes and paths and trails and tracks, you go up and down into and out of the ground, you dig out and fill up and dig in and refill up and dig out again and fill up a third time and dig up this time and fill down for the last time. All that vertical movement around a man who is dead and lying horizontal in the middle of the auburn and russet leaves of the fall. Hitchcock is still with us. And he is all the more with us because he explores the psyche of the human species. When they meet with death, their first reaction is to feel guilty for a crime they assume at once they have committed. Paranoid species. Then they feel relieved because someone else assumes the crime they have committed till they feel guilty again and reveal their own doing in the crime. Neurotic, psychotic and schizophrenic, all in one same species. But then they try to forget and wipe it out to go on with the present and their lives. But that is to no avail because life is stronger than illusions and death is even stronger than life. So the crime comes back because it has to be brought out and registered for the life of the living to be able to go on. And it is then that it is all revealed that human beings are as dumb as my thumb and instead of having thought and thought again and pondered, they jumped to conclusions without even thinking one second. And it is the crazy doctor who trips on cadavers all the time and beg their pardons for having disturbed them who finds out all that death was natural and the hullabaloo was nothing but a mid summer night's dream in the middle of the fall. In other words Hitchcock is questioning us on the real value of life when death is no longer a crime. There seems to be little left in life if that is the case. Crime and murder are the real spices of life which is so banal and tasteless otherwise.<br /><br />Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines | 1pos
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A cunning king of France allows a rapscallion poet to become Lord High Chancellor - for the space of only one week...<br /><br />IF I WERE KING is a fascinating film based on the fictionalized lives of two very real personages, Louis XI and François Villon. The performances are impeccable, Preston Sturges' script is literate and Paramount Studios provided excellent production values.<br /><br />As Villon, Ronald Colman makes full use of his most magnificent talent - his beautiful speaking voice. Like honey flowing over velvet, it caresses the dialogue & adds emotional heft to the lines of Villon's poetry used in the film. While perhaps a bit mature to swashbuckle altogether convincingly, he plays the lover very creditably in the romantic scenes.<br /><br />Obviously determined not to acquiesce the entire film to Colman, Basil Rathbone is hilarious as King Louis. Gaunt, wizened & cackling like a crone, he effortlessly steals his every scene. Eschewing the use of his own superb speaking voice, Rathbone plays a character that will remind some viewers of the disguises the actor would use shortly as Sherlock Holmes. The sequences between Rathbone & Colman are very enjoyable, especially since in their only other joint appearance, A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1935), they had no scenes together.<br /><br />The two women involved in Villon's life are portrayed by Frances Dee & Ellen Drew, one an aristocrat, the other a wench - lovely ladies both. Smaller roles are filled by fine character actors Henry Wilcoxon, Walter Kingsford, Sidney Toler, John Miljan & Montague Love. Way down the cast list is the always reliable Ralph Forbes, playing the king's toady.<br /><br />Movie mavens will spot an uncredited Lionel Belmore playing the Chief Steward of the royal palace.<br /><br />**********************************<br /><br />Fat & ugly, Louis XI (1423-1483) was nicknamed 'the Spider' as a grudging tribute to his remarkable skills at plotting & scheming. Although he showed talent in administration from an early age, he also was quite adept at angering his father, Charles VII, and ultimately had to take refuge at the Burgundian court until the time of his succession to the throne. Almost universally unpopular, he set up an elaborate spy network which kept him informed as to nearly all that went on in his kingdom. His overriding mission was to crush the power of the great nobles, especially Burgundy - now ruled by the successor to Louis' former protector - and this he was largely able to do, thanks to his policy of encouraging the minor nobles and the middle class. The might of the French crown was significantly strengthened during his despotic reign.<br /><br />François Villon (1431-1463?) was both France's greatest lyric poet and a complete scoundrel & ruffian. Raised by a chaplain, Villon absorbed none of the virtues of the Church, consorting with the basest of companions and involving himself in numerous scrapes, misdeeds & robberies. His murder of a priest during a street brawl was but one of several outrages. Imprisoned many times both in Paris and other French municipalities, Villon was almost preternaturally fortunate in being able to take advantage of various pardons & amnesties - all undeserved. After one final clemency, he was banished from Paris for life - whereupon he completely disappears from the historical record.<br /><br />Although stained by a most unsavory reputation, critics have long admired Villon's poetry and have extolled both the exquisite imagery of his tender verses and the unremitting detail in the poems describing his coarser experiences.<br /><br />The bulk of the tale told in IF I WERE KING is a complete fantasy. There is no indication that Louis XI & Villon ever even met. | 1pos
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At the beginning of this film, there's a tight shot on Brooke Shields' baby face: she's watching something with interest and we hear a woman moaning just in front of her. Since we all know what "Pretty Baby" is about, one is to assume the child is watching some sexual act with curiosity. Actually, it's just the opposite. This is writer-director Louis Malle's clever way of laughing at the viewer, saying "You have the dirty mind, not I." It's a very smart way to begin to the picture, but little else occupied my mind after it got going. Why would Keith Carradine's colorless older man want to marry a pubescent prostitute? Nobody here is saying, especially not Carradine (who has one sullen expression to express every emotion). The photography and background scoring are gorgeous, however the story and characters provide no passion, no emotion. The film is like a stylish painting, but one full of dullards. *1/2 from **** | 0neg
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Ford shoots for the stars in this uneven parable, but mostly fails.<br /><br />You know you're in for some heavy-handedness when, near the beginning, Henry Fonda's priest (none of the characters are named, as in a fable) opens the doors to an abandoned church and the camera lovingly lingers on his shadow, which forms a crucifix in the dusty doorway.<br /><br />It doesn't get better from there. Soon the viewer is introduced to the pious Dolores del Rio, a Madonna/Whore bathed in glowing nimbus and Pedro Armendariz, a Pilate-like jack-booted thug with the attire of Himmler but the philosophy of Lenin.<br /><br />J. Carrol Naish's informant/Judas character is the principle racial stereotype, though such stereotypes abound with an abundance of serape and sombrero clad extras mugging the camera throughout. Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, obviously influenced by this film, recreates the dusty revolutionary Mexican village with more authority and authenticity.<br /><br />Perhaps expected to be a spiritual successor of Tom Joad, Fonda is badly miscast; his dour, pseudo-Hispanic performance is greatly reminiscent of the later The Wrong Man. It isn't until the end of the film that he's able to give a speech worthy of his natural humanity, but it comes too little, too late.<br /><br />John Ford, working at the top of his technical game, supplies beautiful compositions and Gabriel Figueroa's lush lensing is the highlight of the film, and for that reason alone it is recommended. | 0neg
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I had pretty high hopes of this film, primarily due to it having a couple of decent actors. Unfortunately the whole thing doesn't work at all. The attempt at a plot is just terrible. Some of the editing is very bad, for example, Keitel standing on a elevated road, and a second later getting on a tram down at ground level with no explanation as to how he got down there (that part's probably on the cutting room floor.) I also think some of the problem is it tries to be an artistic film but doesn't have any interesting plots or story, except for the tiniest interesting part at the swimming pool. I ended up just laughing at the stupidity of the whole thing. | 0neg
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a perfectly mediocre, expendable picture about an old Lapa character. Lapa, FYI used to be the bohemian district par excellenceof Rio de Janeiro from the 20s through the 50s. This film takes place in 1932. The protagonist is a malandro (scally-wag) who was born in 1900 and died in 1976. He was sentenced twice. the second time for a first-degree murder. Although the cast is fine and energetic, there was no reason to invest in this kind of soft-core homo porn, with lots of tongues, sweat & pricks. I, for one, definitely do not see homosexualisty as an avant-garde attitude in principle. Satan was a poor misfit, but also a violent hooligan and a cowardly assassin, as this film, based on his own autobiography, actually shows . Indeed the film's success proves how low are current standards of undemanding movie audiences ... This is amateur filmmaking, badly scripted, poorly filmed (lots of socked closes & absence of tripods). The ocasional soundtracks compensates a little for that. We hear a vintage, lovely duo by Francisco Alves/Mario Reis singing Nilton Bastos' Se voce jurar, we have great Kitsch tenor Vicente Celestino singing Candido das Neves' immortal Noite Cheia de Estrelas. Satan himself, or rather herself does a curious impersonation of Josephine Baker, who by the way is also be seen in the excerpts from the original Madam Satan, directed by Cecil B de Mille in his most extreme, odd mood (the action of 'Madam Satan,' the original 1930 musical, takes place inside a Zeppelin!). May I add that I was at one time introduced to Madam Satan in person. This happened during a Baile dos Enxutos, which was not yet called a 'Gay Ball' then, at the teatro Republica, 1961. He was a discreet, short, middle-aged, short-haired mulatto in his early sixties. I never forgot his quick, perceptive repartee. He wittily remarked about two frolicking guys in my own mardi-gras group (the actor Heleno Prestes and his lover, theatre director Martim Gonçalves): "Bonecas tambem hein?" (sissies too eh?) | 0neg
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I LoVe this movie i have DVR on my TV and i watch it almost every day !!!! all of them have amazing voices !!! and Vlad is so HoT !!!! he is FiNe !!!! i HIGHLY RECOMMEND this movie if u like comedy, drama , and Romance !!!! Dee in the movie has a VERY POWERFUL voice !!!! fritz in her main singing play is beautiful and indescribable !!!! the " mean girl" Jill is so convincing and i want to hate her so much !!!! i had a party and i played this movie and everyone loved it !!!! i also really loved all the music in the movie!! Jenna is just a doll in the movie too and a little low key then she starts to blossoms LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> | 1pos
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Hmmm, after reading the others' comments on "Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie", I am wondering if they really watched the same movie. Characters are the same, events are the same, even the silly cardboard cut-outs in the "big game" scene are the same.<br /><br />So why would these people take the time to write glowing reviews of a boringly predictable moral tale?<br /><br />Answer 1: Novices. Perhaps these people have never witnessed a "moving picture" before and are very impressed simply by the illusion of movement across large white screens (or glowing dots of light if they're watching on a television). Perhaps they have never experienced any of the thousands of children stories that show a protagonist doing something ethically questionable and then regretting it in the end (ie, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", "King Midas", "The Godfather", or any story involving getting wishes).<br /><br />Answer 2: Friends of the movie. Perhaps these people either worked on the movie or are somehow associated with people with interests in the movie.<br /><br />To keep with the movie's theme, I'm giving 3:2 odds on the latter.<br /><br />Okay, the review (skipping a summary as you can read that elsewhere): From the opening scene, the protagonist, Benny (ably played by Numb3rs' star David Krumholtz), tells us this is the story of how he came to regret his current state. This swift reveal also destroys much of the opportunity this movie had to keep us engaged. Instead of letting us discover what happens, we already know how it's going to turn out. There's a fourth act and a bizarre epilogue as well, but I'll get to that later.<br /><br />Benny's sidekicks are capably but predictably played as your basic NYC stereotypes. Benny's girlfriend is decently portrayed by "House" star Jennifer Morrison. The other bookies, bad-guys, and the basketball star (Tory Kittles) are again simple characters marking simple stereotypes. While better actors could have squeezed something out of the characters, there was clearly nothing in the script for them to work with.<br /><br />One interesting note is the excessive use of body-mounted cameras. These shots are used to portray various intense moods of Benny, but are so used that they get very annoying. Instead of hitting the same note on the piano, let the DP use other tricks, please. Other than that, the look and style was decent for an ultra-low budget film.<br /><br />But for a movie that indulges so much in the coarse pleasures of life (drugs, violence, strip-clubs, etc.), I am amazed at the lack of female eye-candy in this film. This is made especially more painful from the tease of the establishing sequence of why Benny chose to come to Arizona in the first place. Even the titty-bar shuns nudity (the girls are all wearing bikinis or silly-looking pasties). Sure, this was a made-for-TV movie, but it's already rated R. Truly sad is the decision to make an exploitation movie and not have any exploitation.<br /><br />While the occasional breaking of the fourth wall (where the Benny talks directly into the camera during a scene a la "Malcolm in the Middle") is amusing, the near constant use of voice-over narration to explain, re-explain, and re-re-explain the plot is not only overkill, it's downright insulting. I paused the movie eight times to cool down before I finally finished it. Had I been in a theater I would have simply walked out.<br /><br />And if the painfully clear moral of the film wasn't drop-dead obvious enough, after the out-of-no-where fourth act comes an epilogue. In this final bit, the real Benny Silverman talks directly to the audience (think "Blow"), re-re-re-repeating the moral, insisting for the audience to never do what he did (what? and never get a movie made about your life?).<br /><br />It's like paying to hear a rich drug addict preach about not doing drugs. For me, the message is clear: I want my money back! | 0neg
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I thought this was a terrific comedy. The dialog is well-written and believably delivered on the screen. It has clever comedy set-ups with payoffs late in the film, which is hard to do well and I really love when it is. It was genuinely funny all through the movie. I felt it captured a part of Indian culture not often seen elsewhere. This is not Bollywood! All the characters are well-acted and believable. The American versus Indian culture gap hits all the marks and is mined for comedic gems. The romance between the lead characters plays very well, both are wonderful and appealing. I left the theater feeling like I had just enjoyed a delicious Indian feast. Don't miss it! | 1pos
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I put together my Top Ten Worst Movie List some time ago, and find that it's going to be difficult for newcomers to bump any of those titles for the privilege. But "Doomsday Machine" looks like a definite contender, to the extent of making even "The Beast of Yucca Flats" look pretty good by comparison. I've read most of the other reviews on this board to know that I'm not alone on this, in fact it's pretty much an entirely one sided view that this groaner sets the standard for space junk in a vacuum.<br /><br />Interestingly, the only other place I've ever heard the word 'azimuth' was in another sci-fi space turkey, and wouldn't you know it, it popped up here in an early conversation aboard the Astra. Keep your eye on the clock that records the elapsed time following blast off, you'll note that it goes, 2:58, 2:59, and then 2:60 instead of 3:00, which makes perfect sense considering all the other goofy stuff that was going on.<br /><br />Like the selection of astronauts for the mission. Wouldn't you think that the men selected for this flight would have been among the most highly disciplined and talented that NASA had to offer? So how does a guy like Major Mason (Grant Williams) go from seasoned professional to a raving sex maniac? Not a whole lot of thought was put into this.<br /><br />No sense belaboring the point, this was one sad effort in the name of science and cinema. While I'm trying to make up my mind about that aforementioned Worst List, I'll have to reconsider another flick with the same destination. Up till now, I thought "First Spaceship on Venus" had a lock on interplanetary travesties, but now I know better. | 0neg
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Moody, strange and very dark. Mort Shade(Kevin Howarth)and John Dark(Luke Goss)are a pair of police detectives working with the vice squad in a notoriously rough neighborhood near the docks. When Mort is killed in an altercation in a refrigerated warehouse, Detective Dark leaves the scene to get help...only to return and find his partner alive and well. Soon some of the hardest to touch criminals Shade and Dark have been tracking turn up deader than dead. Dark discovers that his parter has been possessed by a bloodthirsty evil entity that is responsible for the savage killings. Other cast members: Carly Turnbull, Carrie Clarke, Matt Lucas and Jake Curran. | 0neg
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I love this one. Sam has a vision and learns about his future. Sam for sees his own death. Gordon tries to kill Sam for he knows the secret of Sam. Sam has the help of a fellow person with the same skills. A turn about where, Dean gets captured by Gordon, and Sam come to the rescues. Sam shows, a good plot twist, that he is the smarter brother by getting Gordon arrested by the cops, and Gordon will probably do 100 years. The humor is added when Dean is impressed and says don't drop the soap. What a great story, which keeps the viewer wanting more. What does all the plot development have to do with Sams future. Sam develops in this story form the younger brother to a much stronger character. I believe this episode will lead the way for what season 3 will be about. 8 out of 10 | 1pos
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As a reader of EQ mysteries, and a collector of his films, I have to say that this is the absolute WORST in the entire series!<br /><br />EQ, far from being a "master detective", is portrayed as a bumbling fool who continually gets in his father's way.<br /><br />Not only that, but the background music in this film is totally UNRELATED to the action....it's as if someone off-screen turned on a radio and let it play while the movie was being shot.<br /><br />Pass on this one! | 0neg
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Freddie ("She's All That") Prinze Jr., and Julia ("10 Things I Hate About You") Stiles are attending a New York City college when they discover each other one night in a trendy bar and experience love at first sight. Not long after Imogen (Stiles) and Al (Prinze) shack up, the anxieties of living together take a toll on the 'tingles' of the true love that they felt when they first met. Their relationship runs aground when Imogen fears that she is pregnant. Later, they split up when Imogen has a one-night stand with another student that resembles late legendary musician Jim Morrison. A few years pass, and Imogen and Al rekindle the old flame or 'tingles' as they referred to them about their first love. The surprises are few and far between in this romance as the sparks.<br /><br />The major flaw in writer & director Kris Iascsson's directorial debut is that his characters lack vitality, and their story skirts conflict. Nothing unique happens in this breezy but thoroughly predictable boy-wins-girl, boy-loses-girl, and boy-wins-girl back plot. Essentially, "Down To You" qualifies as a lite, twentysomething's version of the Bruce Willis & Michelle Pfeiffer soaper "The Story of Us" without the sizzle. If comedy broadens character, drama sharpens it. "The Story of Us" dealt with the ups and downs of a relationship. Nothing that either Imogen or Al do in "Down To You" is calculated to make us feel either love or hate for them. Indeed, Prinze and Stiles are as cute but just as plastic as Barbie and Ken dolls. They go through the motions without ever showing any genuine emotions.<br /><br />You know a movie is in trouble when the supporting characters are more interesting than the protagonists. Henry Winkler of "Fonz" fame from "Happy Days" has a field day as Freddie's loony father, Chef Ray, and he steals every scene he has with his rambunctious wit. The best scene in "Down To You" concerns a father and son TV show that Chef Ray pitches to Al. Chef Ray wants to produce 'Cooks,' a gourmet parody of the gritty reality based Fox TV show "Cops" where Al and he invade homes with a platoon of cooks at random and conjure up meals from scratch for the surprised occupants.<br /><br />The second best scene occurs when Al dreams about being a guest on a macho male talk show segment where tough guys ridicule his sensitive man routine. This is the closest thing to genuine comedy that Iascsson comes up with here, especially when one of the guys warns Al "to cross your legs because your panties are showing." Actually, Al lets Imogen wear the pants in their relationship. She steps out on Al, and he throws a tantrum when she tells himself about her infidelity. Things would have been hotter had Al caught Imogen in the sack with her lover, but then "Down To You" would have gotten pretty raunchy.<br /><br />Al and Imogen's friends provide some welcome relief with their comic antics. Al's pal Monk (Zak Orth of "In & Out") a porno star & director and supplies the frat lectures to everybody about the necessity for hot, sweaty sex. Monk probably displays more character development than anybody else in "Down To You." The next time that we see him, Monk has turned into an Orson Welles type auteur and is making Shakespeare movies. In a slight, throwaway role, Lucy Arnaz, the real-life daughter of Lucille Ball, plays Al's mother.<br /><br />Freshman writer & director Kris Iascsson does everything that he can to keep things light and effervescent without descending into harsh reality. He makes even more mistakes by telling "Down To You" in a series of flashbacks with both characters addressing the audience directlyin other words, breaking the fourth wallas in either "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" or "Annie Hall." Freddie Prinze Jr. and Julia Stiles appear to be stooping in "Down To You" after scoring respectively in winning comedies such as "She's All That" and "10 Things I Hate About You." Unless you've never seen a teenage romantic comedy, skip this weepie. Oh, yes, at least, the soundtrack is worth buying, even if the movie vanishes from your memory the next day. | 0neg
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When Ballad for Americans became a big hit in 1939 out of the WPA Theater Project Musical Sing for Your Supper, MGM quickly bought the screen rights to the song. Both Paul Robeson and Bing Crosby made hit recordings of it that same year, though the song is pretty much identified with Robeson now. <br /><br />MGM waited three years before putting it into a film and it went into one of the products of their B picture unit, Born to Sing. This film is no doubt something that Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland rejected for one of their 'let's put on a show' films.<br /><br />It's just that kind of film. Crooked producer Lester Matthews and even crookeder press agent Charles Lane, plagiarize the work of Virginia Weidler's father, Henry O'Neill for their show. Topping that all off they frame Ray McDonald, Larry Nunn, and Leo Gorcey on an extortion rap.<br /><br />As they're being taken to jail, they're riding in the same paddy wagon as gangster Sheldon Leonard. They go along in an escape his gang has planned and he in turn gets ensnared in their machinations. Which as it turns out is to put on a show before Matthews does and showcase O'Neill's music.<br /><br />So help me that's the plot of this one. It's all quite innocently and charmingly done, but the presentation leaves one breathless.<br /><br />Tacked on to the end of the show is Ballad for Americans where the lead singer is Douglas MacPhail whose career came to tragically to an end the following year. Staging the number is Busby Berkeley and the staging of it is similar to some of what he did in Ziegfeld Girl the year before.<br /><br />Why MGM didn't put Ballad for Americans into one of their A films is something we'll never know. | 1pos
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Let's face it: after "Batman and Robin," the Batman movie franchise needs help. If only WB would realize that the solution is right under their noses! I've heard that "SubZero" went straight to video after "B&R" bombed, despite plans to release it theatrically. WB, please don't do that again! "SubZero" is what the live-action films should be. <br /><br />Mr. Freeze, voiced to chilling perfection by Michael Ansara, is one of the best characters. The term "villain" cannot be applied loosely here. Yes, he is cold-blooded (literally). Yet you just cannot help but feel for this guy. He does not do anything for money, power, or fame: he does it all for love. Mr. Freeze is basically nothing more than a man who loves his wife so much that he will do anything to save her. His intentions are good, but he goes about it the wrong way. In that sense, he is no different than the rest of us. And deep down, Victor Fries does have the power to love and can be gentle, as seen in the beginning and touching ending of the film. Top this film off with a great score and the fact that Barbara Gordon gets to hold her own against the baddies WITHOUT her Batgirl suit, and you have a winner. <br /><br />So please, WB, release more animated Batman films like this one into theaters. Spend money on them! Promote them like you would "Wild Wild West!" See what happens! | 1pos
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This has to rate somewhere among the 25 worst high-production-value movies of all time. The plot and story line are so weak and poorly developed that a lot of the action doesn't make sense, nor does the dialog and reactions among the actors during the scenes. A lot of the problems they encountered throughout the movie could have been resolved by applying high-school-level common sense. But then the movie would only run for a half-hour or less.<br /><br />Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are supposedly a detective team along the lines of Danny Glover and Mel Gibson in the "Lethal Weapon" series, or the spy team of Bill Cosby and Robert Culp in the 1960s "I Spy" series.<br /><br />The difference is there is no chemistry between Smith and Lawrence, unless you consider a cocktail of hydrochloric and sulfuric acid "chemistry." Their non-stop verbal abuse of each other without comic relief quickly stopped being entertaining and migrated to the tedious and boring. I found myself surfing other channels, but came back because other interesting shows were either in Spanish or German with Spanish sub-titles.<br /><br />Sure, watch the movie for the first time if it's on TV and there's nothing better. It will help if you're of age and have a pitcher of Margueritas or a bottle of wine handy. If not, consider having a root canal that day and be on Codine -- the movie will replace your focus on the pain. | 0neg
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If you decide to watch the movie, count how many times Terry Farrell's character makes a dumb decision. Get this: AFter she finds out that a serial killer is on her plane hunting her and her family, she keeps LEAVING HER DEFENSELESS SON ALL ALONE at every opportunity! Also, I've never seen a more nosy wife. Also, if you were an FBI agent hunting a serial killer, would you really bring your wife and son to Austarlia with you to interview the serial killer? Dumb, dumb, dumb. | 0neg
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An ex-stripper who has now settled down with her husband gives birth to an uncontrollable, monster of a baby that's growing bigger and stronger everyday. This puts a lot stress on the mother and father, as strange occurrences and violent actions are caused by this baby. Making the mother believe that the baby is possessed by the devil, which a dwarf she used to work with - had cursed this evil spawn onto her.<br /><br />This newborn has the strength of a thousand man, although looking at it; it probably doesn't know that. Most times it looks clueless, but that's just ploy to surprise it's victims with it's amazing abilities! Your probably bemused in what I've written so far, but that's how you're going to feel when watching this quite silly, out-of-control baby horror flick. But that's the best way to take this rib-tickling, exploitation mess. The serious temperament that's laid out doesn't do the aimless structure much favours and makes it even more unintentionally funny. As you won't be on the edge of the seat for this one, but you'll be cracking up at how poor it is, or maybe you'll be out like a light in your cosy chair. It can go either way. For me I found it poor, but kind of entertaining in certain purple patches. Although, it can be quite drawn out and you can call the disappointing ending rather anti-climatic.<br /><br />The odd mixture found in this English horror is easily influenced by such films in the period like "Rosemary's Baby" and "It's Alive!". The groovy 70s holds a psychedelic awe here, especially with its snazzy and quite jerky music score. The pizazz of the bold score is just relentless! The empty story is simply a gallery of routine nasty shocks and not much else eventuates in this dismal vassal. Even the careless direction twaddles along with many shabby touches and the dour looking background of London paints an sordid product. But still in patches in delivered one or two eerily, hasty scenes involving a graphic decapitation and trippy dream sequence. There's also some scenes involving women being in the buff, because of the main character's ex-occupation. But more often you'll be waiting for something different to happen and the constant flashes of the dwarf's face on the baby when it's chucking a hissy fit and knocking off the unexpected victims it's just far from menacing. Ha.. Ha! Now that's more like it. Well that's what any sane person would do because you'll be struggling not to find this whole concept to be simply droll. This violent, tantrum wielding baby just strikes the fear in the hearts of people
that's if you can't stand cute looking babies, or (oh no, how terrifying) parenthood.<br /><br />The performances by a decent looking cast are pretty much middling stuff. It's suspiciously campy with many awkward and REALLY repetitive lines of dialogues. No one entirely looks that comfortable with the farcical material. There's a special guest appearance by Donald Pleasence who gives a collected performance as Dr. Finch. An over-the-top Joan Collins does her best (yep, she tries real hard) in the emotionally, wayward lead role of Lucy Carlesi. Ralph Bates is dead as wood as the husband Gino Carlesi. Eileen Atkins plays the concerned Sister Albana. Caroline Munro has a small part as Lucy's friend. John Steiner is fitting as the sleazy ex-boss / boyfriend and Hilary Mason as the disgruntled housekeeper.<br /><br />Horribly poor and it's lulls about in spots, but there are certain aspects within the film that makes it watchable. | 0neg
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Because it came from HBO and based on the IMDb rating, I watched the first season of this series, what a waste. The characters are occasionally interesting but mostly cartoon-like. The acting ranges from good to mediocre talent with a S T R O N G emphasis on the latter. Not only prisoners, also viewers should leave all hope at the cell door that this story is believable, it's such a load of dung that you will need unusually strong testicular fortitude to keep watching. The violence, as with most of the developments in the story, is titillating and whatever morality is supposedly served up, it's of the lite variety. If your idea of excellent television includes the the writing, acting and overall production quality seen in THE SOPRANOS, DEADWOOD or SIX FEET UNDER, avoid OZ. If you want to see a Disneyland for Illiterate Jerks, watch OZ. Stuff like this gives edgy a bad name. | 0neg
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When I heard Godzilla 2000 was coming to American theaters, I was really excited. For the first time ever, I'd get to see Godzilla on the big screen. I was not disappointed. Godzilla looks great with a meaner, leaner look. The special effects, although not without their bad shots, are generally very good. The enemy UFO/Monster is really cool and the final fight is fantastic and exciting. The dubbing is fine, but it did have its bad moments. Tristar's edits were fairly unobtrusive, so I didn't mind. Would've liked it if the they did make a few shots grainy. Oh well. And the movie dragged a little. Despite its bad points, though, Godzilla 2000 is a very fast paced and exciting entry into the Godzilla. It's one of my favorite Godzilla movies. And I the movie left me with a big smile on my face. I can't wait to see it again. 10/10<br /><br />(kaiju = monster) | 1pos
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To me, a romantically inclined gay man, this was a fascinating but ultimately unfulfilling tale of a `normal' French couple, Nicole and Jean-Marie Kunstler, who have grown unsatisfied with their settled, routine lives. The couple runs a dry cleaning business in an unexciting small French town. Their lives change when they go to a bar with some business associates and encounter Loïc and Marylin, a cross dressing brother/sister act. From the first, the couple is fascinated with the pair but particularly with Loïc, the sexually ambiguous brother, (played to perfection by Stanislas Merhar).<br /><br />The couple is so enchanted with the pair that they take a weekend to the city where the performers are appearing next. When the sister decides to end the act and run away with her lover, the brother insinuates himself into the couples lives. The young man claims to be, and is by all indications, straight and soon takes the wife as a lover. The husband is also aroused by the boy but denies his attraction. Soon the boy is living in the couple's home and working in the Dry Cleaning shop and is showing a talent for that type of work. He even befriends the couple's child and helps him with homework and takes him skating.<br /><br />Whether his good work arises from Loïc's desire to repay Jean-Marie or from some innate talent for dry cleaning is unclear. I think that Loïc feels guilty about cuckolding this man who has shown him nothing but kindness, genuinely likes the guy, and is aware of the man's attraction to him. He wants to make amends in any way that he can. Ultimately Loïc offers himself to Jean-Marie physically but is rebuffed. <br /><br />Whether it's the husband's `homosexual panic' or his actually seeing his wife with Loïc during one of their trysts, Jean-Marie decides that Loïc must go. This leads to the final and I think dissatisfying concluding scenes.<br /><br /> | 0neg
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This is a moving and educational look into a period of U.S. history that has gone largely unrecognized by Hollywood in recent years. We all know the words 'suffragette' and about the 19th amendment. But herein we learn that our own U.S. citizens, 'guilty' of only exercising their 1st amendment rights, were treated so harshly that the U.S. would have been in violation of numerous articles of the Geneva Convention had it been in effect at that time. Human rights violations such this are are why the ACLU exists today. The same resistance tactics were used 25 years later by Gandhi, who liberated roughly the same number of people, and he is a household name. Why isn't Alice Paul equally recognized? This should be required viewing for every American, before they claim to understand what the words 'freedom' and 'liberty' truly mean. | 1pos
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I seriously don't know how to describe this movie. I'll start with my obvious statement, that I'm not necessarily a big fan of musicals (quite the contrary) and while I will write that I also didn't enjoy "Sound of Music" as much, I am aware that some/many will dislike my comment here.<br /><br />But it's not as much about other musicals, as it is about this particular musical, the Song of Norway. Even people who love musicals despise this film, which brings me to my theory. This film might be a comedy after all. It might be a genius thought of the director, dragging the musical down the road and showing it with so much sugar coated (music) numbers, that it really takes the wind of the drama and anything else. You could say then, that this was a master plan ... but on the other hand, it still doesn't make it an entertaining view. Far from it. Nice cinematography/landscapes though ... | 0neg
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I was drawn to Sneakers because I heard the story was of my favorite genre, a spy thriller. However, I found this movie to be more along the lines of a caper film.<br /><br />Robert Redford is the leader of a team of experts who break into security systems so that institutions (such as banks) can see how good their system is. The team is made up of a diverse group: an ex-Cia agent (Portier) and three computer whizzes (Ackroyd, Phoenix, and the blind Stratharn). The group has great chemistry and often this leads to some fun humor.<br /><br />Redford and his team are hired by the government (so they believe) to retrieve a black box that can decode encrypted computer firewalls. After retrieving the black box, the team finds themselves in dire trouble. <br /><br />I was hoping the film would be more intense, yet Sneakers incorporates a lot of humor. It is a fun film and is enjoyable to watch, but if you are looking for a true spy film, then you may want to pass.<br /><br />This film more closely resembles recent movies like Ocean's 11 or The Italian Job, popcorn films that have some laughs, some danger, and some suspense.<br /><br />Redford is really great in this movie as is Straitarn; Mary McDonnell is also very good. Phoenix holds his own. Although far from their best roles, Poitier, James Earl Jones, Ackroyd, and Ben Kingsley are decent.<br /><br />Overall an enjoyable film which incorporates computer hacking before it was mainstream. Rating 7 of 10 stars. | 1pos
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Please listen to the post claiming it's literally so bad it's not funny. I can usually find the silver lining in a terrible horror movie, but this movie, this is really something special. Usually a movie this god awful would be so bad it's in some way amusing, nope. This movie is so bad it took me 3 watches until I could finish it without falling asleep. Unfortunately I'm one of those people who has to watch a movie in it's entirety before forming an opinion. Somehow this middle school project waste of time ended up on a Blockbuster shelf with a cool cover. Someone posted a review defending the acting and calling this a good new independent horror film. That poster should make it clear that they're directly related to the absurdly inept director of this movie. I'm a pacifist in general, but this movie was so bad I actually became furious with everyone involved in this inane venture. Absolute trash. | 0neg
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