Movie Reviews
The films here are rated on the combination of two measures: the skill of the film maker and the actors, and the quality of the story.
Best films:
Ben-Hur – The best religious epic of all time. The chariot race alone is worth the viewing, but be sure and see the letter-box format for the full effect. The story of forgiveness would have counted for more if the hero had actually forgiven the villain before he killed him (albeit by accident, in the movie at least), but it does make the point that revenge is an empty victory. The first century world was most convincingly recreated; the sweeping views of Jerusalem were, unfortunately, missing in Mel Gibson’s The Passion which made it seem a little less authentic. In this movie the life of Christ was in the background, but was effective nonetheless. aaaa bbbb
Casablanca –Humphrey Bogart at his best: playing the cynical and flawed man who, in the end, not only figures out that there is a right thing to do, but actually does it and does it with incomparable style. aaaa bbbb
Citizen Kane – This film broke new ground with
inventive story telling and innovative camera work. It
does have a good message, several actually, but the problem is that it is, in the end, not
an uplifting story but the sad tale of a life wasted. aa bbbb
City Lights – This Chaplain film may lack the social commentary and humor of Modern Times, but it is, nonetheless, his best film. The ending is unforgettable. That the film is silent actually adds to it. aaaa bbbb
Ground Hog Day – This comedy carries a strong moral message without ever being preachy. This is the most recent movie in the “Best Films” section, so if good films can be made these days, why aren’t more? aaaa bb c
Lawrence of Arabia – A visually stunning shot-on-location (before being located in the Middle East meant being shot) adaptation of T.E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom. This film recounts the Arab revolt in conjunction with the allied war against the German-aligned Ottoman Empire during the First World War. But the story is about Lawrence, who seized a miniscule opportunity and made himself larger than life, only to throw it away in the end. Lawrence made himself up as he went, and that proved to be his undoing. aa bbbb c
Metropolis – This German silent film gave birth to the sci-fi genre and even more than three-fourths of a century later nothing has come close. The movie makes the best of what is a mundane plot, but the visions of the world of the future are stunning even today. Watch either the 1980’s release with the modern sound track or the more recent reconstruction; avoid any older releases, especially those lasting more than 100 minutes—they just slow the film down to stretch the story and that is boring after a while. aa bbbb c
Patton – A well executed and (mostly)
historically accurate epic of the most incredible military leader of modern times. Gen. Omar Bradley came out looking too good,
probably because he was an advisor for the film. George
C. Scott’s portrayal was the role of a life time.
The musical score was one of the best ever as well. aa bbbb c
Rear Window – This film does not have an
extremely strong theme, but it is the perfect example of a well crafted film. This Hitchcock film is neither graphic nor
gruesome, but is probably the most effective suspense film of all time due to the sheer
skill of the director. The most jaded horror
movie fan will be left on the edge of their seat. aa bbbb c
Rocky – Underdog has one shot at making good
during the malaise of the mid-1970’s, and while he loses the fight, he wins in the
end not because he was a better fighter but because he had heart. The casting was such that it seems less like a
movie and almost like a documentary at times. aa bbb c
Treasure of the Sierra Madre – A well directed and acted film with a great story. One of the most moral movies ever made without ever being preachy. aaaa bbb
Honorable mentions – Good
but not great, or at least good fun:
Batman Begins – This movie is the precursor to the 1989 Tim Burton film, and although not as stylized as Batman, it actually has character development and a fairly tight story, both of which were lacking in Tim Burton’s film. This film explains the origins of Bat Man, his motivations and his conflicts. It also explains how he got all those wonderful gizmos and how he became a martial artist. It does contradict Batman in many ways, but the ending leaves the door open for that film. The theme of the movie does have redeeming messages about revenge, mercy, and the innate value of human life. The portrayal of Sergeant Gordon (later to be Commissioner Gordon), as the honest cop in a corrupt system, was very well done. aaa bb
The Big Sleep – Humphrey Bogart in Raymond Chandler’s classic film noir story. Likely most people won’t figure out who actually did what until they watch it four or five times, nor even figure out what the mystery was really supposed to be first place; but that is all beside the point which is the atmosphere and the chemistry. This is a better example of the genre than The Maltese Falcon (over done) or Double Indemnity (too corny). a bbb c
Blade Runner – This nightmare world of the near future is visually stunning and has great music as well. The style could be called sci-fi film noir. The story becomes more prophetic as time goes on: genetically engineered humans, created in a laboratory to be slaves, revolt and try to find, while killing any who get in their way, a cure for their programmed four year life spans. The hero, of sorts, is a detective who is supposed to track down and kill the manufactured humans. But is shooting down an engineered human in cold blood murder? If humans are engineered do they have souls, or any innate worth? If not, then why should they value “real” human life? Just because technology allows one to do something, should they? Does mercy and forgiveness have any place in such a world? The movie is a bit violent, but a good one overall. Personally, I prefer the original release and not the director’s cut. aa bbb cc
Better Off Dead – The teen movie genre often descends into ninety minutes worth innuendo or just plain smut (e.g., American Pie), or, if they try to be serious, they are a bit too serious, besides doing silly things like having twenty-somethings play high schoolers (e.g., The Breakfast Club). Better Off Dead is a teen movie that not only cast teens but also was very humorous and had a lot of heart. Sixteen Candles is a runner up, but Better Off Dead wins with its almost surreal humor. One Crazy Summer was a weak follow-up that proved that a bigger budget does not make a better film. a bb
Buckaroo Banzai – This cult sci-fi film is just plain fun to watch. Hilarious performances by John Lithgow and Christopher Lloyd. The plot is simple, but the myriad sub plots and sheer campiness of the whole thing make it worthwhile. There is not much of an overall message to the film, but it is nice to see all the odd ball good guys (not many of whom seem to have both oars in the water) pull together as an unstoppable team to save the world. aa bb
Bullitt – Steve McQueen as the rebel cop
before it became cliché. The car chase
through the hilly streets of San Francisco is perhaps the best car chase of all time. McQueen’s character is noble in that he
refuses to compromise his principles, in contrast to the scheming politician who is almost
more trouble to him than the mob. The early
fax machine used in the movie is good for a laugh. aa bbb c
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – This movie
was a pleasant surprise. Most Tim Burton
movies create enchanting worlds, but then fail to do anything with them. This movie, however, is classic Burton in that the
world that he creates is compelling, while the story line is as unpredictable as it is
satisfying. aaa bbb
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – The animation was convincing and it is a wonder that the movie was made at all with any of the book’s plot. Lucy was very well cast. That being said, it did seem to tone down the divinity of Aslan some, and seemed to take a dualist equal-but-opposite approach to the lion and the witch. Aslan was not merely “there when it was written”, he wrote it! The temptation of Edmund was very poorly portrayed. And poor Peter, can we just once have some good old can-do attitude and sense of adventure instead of the obsessively reluctant hero. It was good, but fell short of the glory of the book. Some reviewers have complained about the depiction of the blitz at the start of the movie, but with history poorly understood these days it was probably best to include it. aaaa bbb
Clue – Before there were movies based on comic books there was a movie based on a board game. The timing is a bit uneven, and Tim Curry’s performance verges on the scenery-chewing at time (which is not all bad), but overall a fun movie. Great physical humor and clever plot twists (for all three of the endings). a bb c
Dr. Strangelove – This film was meant to be an
anti-nuclear message. But with the arms race
over the humor comes out full force. Tremendous
performances by Peter Sellers and George C. Scott. Unforgettable
scenes and one-liners. Watch for references
to this film in Back to the Future and Raising Arizona.
Major Kong (Slim Pickens) riding the “nookliear” bomb like a
rodeo star was classic. a bbbb c
The Emperor’s New Groove – Disney over dosed on Lion King knock-offs and got back to its roots in this film. Goodbye saccharine love story with one or two smart mouthed side kicks played by stand up comedians and the obligatory theme song from slightly over the hill British singers. Hello good story with fantastic casting. Unbelievable in that an intact and non-dysfunctional family was featured in the film. aaa bbb
Fargo – This Coen brother’s film includes some violence and other such things that make it not appropriate for kids. But it is on this list because it is a sort of anti-Hollywood film. It dispenses with the cheap stereotypical storyline and plot devices so common today. Normally, the really bad guy can only be taken down by the really tough good guy, and everyone else must simply lie down and die in the bad guy’s path. In the climax of this movie the really bad guy is taken into custody by a small town Midwestern several-months pregnant police officer, and not by some steroid-popping Bruce Willis character. The slow descent into Hell as William Macy’s lies and plots slowly unravel make for a good moral message. aaa bbbb ccc
The Ghost Breakers – Bob Hope at his best. More about witty dialogue than physical humor. Funny, but not overwhelming. Good spooky atmosphere. Scary enough for young kids, but not too scary. Much better than the Martin and Lewis remake. The organ scene was later copied in a Scooby Doo cartoon and in the Goonies. aaa bbb
The Great Raid – This film, based on a true story, portrayed a rescue mission thirty miles behind enemy lines in the Philippines in WWII. A group of 127 Army Rangers penetrated enemy lines, into an area that held around 10,000 Japanese troops, to rescue over 500 POWs from a prison camp. The brutality of the Japanese against the POWs and the Filipinos in the film is shocking, but was restrained in comparison to actual history. There were two holocausts in WWII, and this was the other one. The movie follows three threads: the Rangers, the camp, and the underground. The underground centered on Margaret Utinsky, who really did exist and did much of what was portrayed in the movie; however, the romance between her and a POW was invented to tie the two threads of the movie together. The details of the raid were all pretty much correct, in fact, if anything the details were toned down slightly to make it more believable. Strategically, saving the POWs (whom the Japanese planned on executing if the advancing US Marines threatened to overrun the camp) was irrelevant, but it was the right thing to do and the Rangers stepped up to the task in what was almost a suicide mission. What is most striking is how the rescuers were just doing their duty: they had a job to do and they did it very well without a lot of speech making. It is humbling to have inherited this country from such honorable men. This was the film that Saving Private Ryan should have been; why Spielberg could not have spent his big budget and used his big name actors on a true story like this is simply beyond imagination. This film was shelved when being patriotic became uncool again about six months after 9/11. It was then released with little fan fare when the studio needed to dump dead films. This movie, along with Patton and the Longest Day, is one of the best WWII movies to come out in the last forty years. Almost even more shocking was the portrayal of Priests (who actually did help the underground), and religion in general in a positive light. aaa bbb cc
The Hudsucker Proxy – Besides Raising Arizona, this is the Coen brothers best film. It has a good plot, which is too complex to do it justice to here (it has a lot to do with hoola-hoops), and it is only made better with the brothers’ signature humor. aa bbbb c
The Incredibles – Who would have thought that such a story line of heroes and individualism would have ever been made this day and age? Did Ayn Rand’s ghost come back to haunt Hollywood? The crisp animation style was appropriate for the story. aaa bbb
The Lady Killers – Alec Gunnies and Peter Sellers (before he was famous) stared in this flawlessly crafted British dark comedy. The way the story is so neatly wrapped up at the end is almost magical. aaa bbbb
The Lord of the Rings Series – The films were
good, but the director made some changes that detracted from the story. Frodo’s angst was a bit over done at times,
and his standing about looking nauseated for hours on end was mistaken for drama. The films also seemed to press home a concept,
also on display in the Narnia movie, that
heroes (i.e., Aragorn) are always reluctant heroes, which does not seem right. A person wallowing in self-doubt who is finally
forced to be heroic is not much of a hero; a real hero is heroic because they willingly
take up the challenge. What ever happened to
good old can-do attitudes? Finally, the
scourging of the Shire was one of the most important parts of the story. After many wars, while the heroes went off to
fight, the cowards and nay-sayers stayed behind and took over, which took away what the
heroes were fighting for in the first place. aaaa bbb
The Mask – Given the right role Jim Carey can be very funny without being annoying. Of all the Jim Carey movies, his character in this one was the most likable too. aa bb
Moby Dick – I’m hardly a fan of Gregory Peck, but as Captain Ahab he turned out one of the most commanding performances in screen history. A screen presence does not simply mean talking loudly (memo to Patrick Stewart), it requires something else entirely; and whatever that is Gregory Peck had it in this role. The tight screen play by Ray Bradbury did not hurt either. aa bbbb
My Big Fat Greek Wedding – Overall a good film; more about family than a romance film. Unfortunate in that the throw-away line with a curse word was there apparently only to force a PG rating, and the strongly implied pre-marital sex really did not do much for the plot. On the other hand, it was a very funny movie and did show the value of family. Instead of running away from her strange, but sincere family, the subject of the movie learns to enjoy it. aaa bb c
Mystery Men – This screwball comedy concerns everyday people who try to be super heroes, while lacking useful powers…if they have any sort of powers at all. In the end, though, they pull together and save the world, or at least their city. Good for a laugh if one has overdosed on the modern Batman movies. aa bb c
A Night at the Opera – In my opinion, the funniest of the Marx Brothers’ movies. Groucho is strong seasoning: too much or too little is a bad thing. In this film he got it just right. a bbb
Office Space – For anyone who worked in an office in the mid to late 1990’s this movie is a riot. Idiotic consultants, downsizing, clueless bosses, evil fax machines, weird office mates, cubicles, and staplers that jam, the fun goes on and on. The movie has an uneven plot and timing and lacks any real theme, but is great fun. It is not a kid’s movie, but kids would not get it anyway. a bb cc
Outland – A fairly decent sci-fi movie for
having an obviously low budget. Notable in
that the attention to scientific detail is at least as good as it was in 2001. It
is basically High Noon in outer space, with
Sean Connery as the Sheriff, but without being as preachy as High Noon. aaa bbb c
The Passion – A somewhat Roman Catholic leaning, but accurate, portrayal of Good Friday. It did not really impart many of the teachings of Christ, but focused almost solely on the crucifixion. The movie was very effective, but would have been better with different music and with a greater sense of first century Jerusalem. aaaa bb ccc
Raiders of the Lost Arc – Great fun as homage to the classic matinee serial and pulp fiction heroes. The writers did not bother to read the Bible for the story of the arc, and from a historical perspective the story was nonsense. Brittan, not Germany was in Egypt in the pre-war era. The Bazooka had not been invented (by the British) until after the war started. Hitler had more interest in Pagan mythology than in Jewish religion, and besides that the Bible reported that Philistines had been cursed when it had been in their possession. And how did Indy hitch-hike on a submarine all the way to that distant secret island? But in spite of all that the story was great fun, and at least it did portray Yahweh as one not given to being bossed around (unless one wants their skin melted off). The defect being that after a point Indy was, well, just invulnerable and that took away from the plot: see Mr. Invulnerable be invulnerable. There was no doubt that he would win, it was just a question of how. aa bbb
Raising Arizona – The classic Coen Brothers film. The surreal comedy proves that one can be side-splitting funny without being crude. The film does have some moral themes if one looks for them. aaa bbbb
Rio Bravo – A well constructed John Wayne western. A few miss-fits led by the Duke face down impossible odds to do the right thing. Great atmosphere, scenery, and music to boot. aaa bbbb
Rocky IV – A fairly good encapsulation of the cold war a few years before the iron curtain fell after what had been thought to have been America’s suicidal opposition to the unstoppable USSR. I recall columnists at the time pooh-poohing the patriotic story line. Sad thing is that some of those columnists are still around today writing the same drivel. Not a deep movie, but fun. aa bb
Schindler’s List – it is not that Spielberg is not a good story teller; he just chooses not to tell good stories. He made some attempt at a story in the eventual transformation of Schindler from a war-profiteer to a humanitarian, but without much explanation of why he took the path less traveled. Most, if not all, if those who helped the Jews did so out of religious convictions, the portrayals of which are prohibited in Hollywood. Therefore the film is left wanting in why Schindler did what he did. There is some historical dispute as to the accuracy of the film: there were Schindler-like heroes, but Schindler was apparently not one of them or was at least over-hyped. Spielberg can, however, create a convincing world within which his films are shot. In the case of most of his films these worlds are wasted with cheap relativism. In this case, however, a painstaking recreation of the place and time of the movie was all that was needed despite the incomplete plot line. aaa bbb ccc
Second Hand Lions – In today’s culture of androgynous child rearing by single moms, how do boys become men? Mainly they become either wimps or barbarians after raising themselves ala Lord of the Flies. In this film, set in the 1950’s, two old uncles, who seem to be wasting time until they die, give a young boy what he needs most: role models. aaaa bb
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty – The hen-pecked and put-upon man finds a damsel in distress to rescue, and actually becomes a man when faced with that challenge. Danny Kaye, who is usually just plain annoying in other roles, fits perfectly into this one. aa bbb
Singing in the Rain – The best musical. The singing was actually part of the story line (not just a bunch of random drive-by singing), and the comedy of the story could have stood on its own without the songs. aa bbb
Sleeping Beauty – The best classic Disney animated film. Notable for its unique animation style and classic story. In this film it was perfectly fine for a male hero to rescue a damsel in distress. And what is wrong with a man proving himself in a valiant fight for his love and for a lady to want to be wanted? If it were made today the princess would be some sort of Amazon warrior queen and the prince would have been a bumbling fool or would have been in need of rescue himself. aaaa bbb
Son of Paleface – Bob Hope on a rampage. Not sure what he did to blackmail Roy Rodgers into co-staring. The physical comedy makes this movie the best of the breed. Rip-roaring funny without ever being base. a bbb
Spider Man – Hands down the best comic book adaptation. This movie, with the common man taking on responsibilities, along with the moral clarity and fortitude of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, made for good medicine after 9/11. The sequel was not bad either. aaaa bbb
Star Trek II – Hands down the best Star Trek film and one of the best sci-fi films overall. A great story line before the original crew were too far out of their prime. The first film was good sci-fi, but the movie kept on running after the plot ran out. The films after the second one were afterthoughts (III), comedies (IV), silly (V), or predictable (VI). aaaa bbb
Thief – Michael Mann directed this highly stylized cops and robbers film with James Caan as a thief who betrays his values (such as they were) to get what he thought he had always wanted, only to lose what really meant the most. In the end the hero must throw it all away to be free. Extreme realism, albeit dated, in the alarm bypassing and safe cracking methods, as well as in the gun play, rate this an honorable mention. The silly cameo by Willie Nelson was mercifully short. The music by Tangerine Dream was spot on. aa bbb c
Tron – Ground breaking computer animation. This (along with The Black Hole, The Black Cauldron, Something Wicked this Way Comes, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit) was one of Disney’s last attempts at a creative film, before it started mass-producing Lion King type movies in the 1990’s. As an aside, this film portrayed computer programs as the embodiment of their programmers. The idea that a program that one writes, or any work that ones does for that matter, reflects one’s personality is intriguing. What does that say of the bloated and error prone programs that plague computers today? aa bbbb
UHF – This late 1980’s pop corn movie has actually aged well over time. It features a couple of actors that later went on to do bigger things and it is fun seeing them in the roles they played here. Weird Al Yankovich is given a struggling UHF TV station. The movie has a plot, but that is beside the point, which is to showcase a number of hilarious parodies of TV shows and movies. a bb
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? – The last hand drawn animation – live action film, with both Disney and Warner Brothers characters. aa bbbb
Films that should have been
better:
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle – The animation was great, and having the original voice actor for Rocky was fantastic. But the key feature of the original cartoon was that it worked on two levels: physical humor for the kids, and satire for the adults. The Shrek movies capitalized on that, albeit dipping into base humor on occasion. This movie, unfortunately, was aimed only at kids and really was not that funny even for them (albeit better than Dudley Do Right). What could have been a great franchise was wasted on lazy and timid writing. a b
Apollo 13 – That strange breed: an adventure movie without a real bad guy. A good film overall, except that to raise tension in the film, or whatever, everyone seems to be screaming at everyone else at one point or another. These were professionals, and they acted like it in real life. The suspense of the circumstances should have been enough to elicit emotion in the audience, without resorting to emotional outbursts on the screen. aaa bb
Batman – In typical Tim Burton style, Gotham is created in meticulous detail, and then not much is done with it. The Joker steals the show while Batman’s character not only fails to develop but seems to regress. To be fair, the original comics did not really have much character development for Batman either. This is where Spiderman shined. a bb
Cold Comfort Farm – One never does learn what exactly was seen behind the wood shed, but one does see a fun and clever movie. An orphan from the city moves in with distant relatives on a farm. That the relatives are dysfunctional is an understatement. The spunky orphan helps the various family members find their destiny in their own way and brightens up the farm immeasurably. However, the lead character is flippant at times, and even seems downright shallow at moments. a bbb c
The Dead Poet’s Society – In a classical
education one studies grammar (facts), logic (make something of the facts), and rhetoric
(convince someone of your logic). The Dead Poet’s Society had the young poets
skipping to the last stage and trying to say great things without gaining experience about
what was great to begin with…the ingredient for first class boors. Trying to make the best of every day, and giving
value to cultural heritage (i.e., dead Poet’s), and (literally) standing for what is
right were strong points. However, the
suicide in the movie was senseless, and was just a cheap trick to raise the tension in the
movie. aa bb cc
Dick Tracy – First the good news: good set and costume design, and not a bad plot overall for this comic book adaptation that actually tried to look like a comic book. And as the bad guy who knows he is bad and almost feels guilty because of it, Al Pacino put in a great performance. The bad news: Warren Beatty, the shy reluctant hero, was just not quite right for Dick Tracy, and one had to put up with Madonna acting (although she mercifully dies in the end). aa bb
Diner – This coming of age story has a boat load of actors before they were famous, and the atmosphere of the film is appealing. All of the characters need to grow up and some do, and some don’t. The only real problem is trying to do too much in one movie, and a few of the characters almost seem irretrievably lost. It is positive in its depiction of male friendship (memo to Hollywood: believe it or not, guys can be friends without any sodomy being involved). aa bbb cc
The Emperor’s Club – This film was good,
but could have been better. The incredible
ending of the film was both memorable and meaningful and the film deserves to be seen if
only for the final few minutes. The only
defect was that this film (and Finding Forester,
for that mater) treats education as one big game of trivial pursuit whereby one swallows
and regurgitates random facts and figures. There
is mention of character and its importance in the film (and it is important in the end), but it does not really
connect the dots between character and education. aaa bbb
Gross Pointe Blank – Named after a suburb of
Detroit, the subject of this comedy returns to his ten year high school reunion. This is ten years after disappearing in thin air
and eventually becoming a hit man. The plot
concerns the gradual thawing of his heart by his old girl friend, and ends with him saving
the man who was supposed to be his next target. There
are some funny parts of the film, especially those with Dan Akroyd (another hit man trying
to start a union for hit men), and his reluctant psychiatrist. However, although the violence is not graphic, it
does depict the lead character murdering an innocent person in one scene and that is just
too much. aa bb ccc
Heat – This Michael Mann (who made the much
better Thief years earlier) crime drama should
have been better. Good action sequences, but
it tried to do too much with the myriad plots in this very long movie. The scope and scale of the heists were of such
magnitude that it did not seem realistic. Thief focused on the conflict within the lead
character and the actual crime was in the background; in Heat the crime was, well, pretty much the only
thread that held it all together. a bbb ccc
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – I enjoyed the book back in high school (and all the other four or so books in the “trilogy”), but it just did not transfer well to the screen. The screen play, which was only very loosely based on the book, just wandered about without any apparent purpose and merely stopped periodically to display some slightly clever jokes. Sci-fi meets stand up comedy. a b
Intolerable Cruelty – This Coen Brother’s movie has some fun parts, but the overall plot comes up lacking. The few minutes in the court room devoted to the Baron’s “Silly Man” testimony and the few minutes devoted to the video camera wielding private detective will leave one laughing out loud. But the rest of the story, despite some witty dialogue on occasion, was not very believable, and in the end one is left wondering if it was really a happy ending or just another double cross...and that is the problem, one is not left trusting or even liking either of the lead characters. a bbb c
The Patriot – I really wanted to like this film. So many people today are ignorant of the founding of the country, and a film like this was sorely needed. But what came out was a story that reflected no reason for revolution other than the Hollywood vengeance story (good guy lives peacefully, bad guy hurts good guy, good guy kills bad guy). Even if one likes that sort of story, the evil red coat officer was far too evil to be believable. According to the film, in the end, it was not about freedom and liberty and self-governance; rather it was simply a personal vendetta. The hero could have just as easily been a loyalist fighting against the revolution. It cheapened the revolution; it did not illuminate nor glorify it. a bb cc
The Professional – This film, of an assassin who helps a helpless orphan, has some redeeming qualities, but the US release of the film has some problems. In particular, besides the obvious violence of the film, there is cause to suspect a Lolita type sub plot in the film. However, the longer release (Leon: The Professional) clarifies that issue and makes it plain that the hero’s love for the young orphan was fatherly. In the end, the assassin, who, it must be said, only killed mob members who had it coming anyway, made himself vulnerable when he first helped the orphan and ultimately dies protecting her; and one has the sense that he would have done it all over again if he had the choice. Gary Oldman’s portrayal of the corrupt DEA agent was fantastic. aaa bbb c
Saving Private Ryan – This picture portrayed the gruesome reality of WWII as the sun began to set on the WWII generation. That generation had been the old fogies spat upon and vilified in the 1960’s by their kids who thought they knew everything, so it was about time that these heroes had their due. While the sacrifices made were plain to see, it was hardly evident why they were doing so. To save one private at the risk of a whole squad? That was lame plot and a cowardly way to avoid taking sides. Who knows, maybe the Nazi troops were out there to save a private in the Nazi army. Which meant what? That no one was better than anyone else… This was after Spielberg filmed Schindler’s List, so one is amazed that he could not find the fortitude to take a stand against the Third Reich. If you can’t stand against Hitler then you can’t stand for anything. The failure to stand for anything is not to be tolerant; it is to be aimlessly adrift like a dead fish. In the end, Spielberg has no real story, so he shocks with violence to elicit emotion. Basically a slasher horror film that tries to pay homage to heroes while denying them anything meaningful to be heroic about. a bbb ccc
Shadowlands – This version (the one with Anthony Hopkins) is mixed. It does portray C.S. Lewis in a sympathetic light, but it subverts much of what he stood for. In classic post-modernism, the student ends up teaching the teacher and the uptight fuddy-duddy religious philosopher loses faith in his abstract philosophy when exposed to cruel reality for the first time. In real life, Mr. Lewis lost his mother at an early age, lost his best friend in WWI, and was badly wounded himself in that war as well…some safe and shielded life. The plot of the story is loosely based on the chronology of his life with Joy Gresham, but the theme is completely divorced from his writings (especially A Grief Observed and The Four Loves) before and after Joy’s death. The screenwriter put words in his mouth that he never said and never would have said, and that is a low down dirty trick. The character that Lewis was supposed to turn into in the movie could have been one of the antagonists in his book The Pilgrim’s Regress. It is interesting too, that the key figures in the commercializing of Lewis’s estate seemed to get a few self-aggrandizing messages put into the film: Douglas Gresham is the only son in the film (not one of two), and Walter Hooper may have turned Lewis’s brother Warnie into a drunk in the film in a pointless throw-away line (Hopper’s legitimacy as literary executor depended on Warnie being incompetent). The earlier movie with Joss Ackland, which was obviously written by one very familiar with Lewis’s writings (judging by the subtle references even to his obscure work), is much closer to the truth, and is really the superior film in every way. a bbb
Films that are overrated, or are just plain
stink-bombs:
Armageddon – Watching Liz Tyler break into hysterics for the tenth time made one wish that the asteroid really would end it all--anything to make her shut up for five minutes. aa b c
Double Indemnity – This film noir story of
betrayal had potential, but it was just overdone. In
retrospect it is hard to see the dad from My Three
Sons, and any number of 1950’s Disney films, play the cold blooded killer that he
was in this earlier work. But besides that,
the lead character was an insurance salesman,
and the voice over dialogue made it sound like he thought he was James Bond, and that came
off as being corny. The love story between
the lead character and the victim’s wife had no chemistry and there was no reason to
buy into it. If one can get over the
absurdity of the insurance salesman-turned-007, the film does depict fairly well how the
best laid plans can slowly and painfully unravel in front of one’s eyes and how easy
it is for the double crosser to be double crossed. a bb cc
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life –
First of all, the twenty minute “short feature” in front of the movie, about
accountants turning into pirates, was a riot. It
is some of the funniest twenty minutes ever put on film.
I still watch those twenty minutes from time to time. The rest of the film, the film proper, just does
not work. It is a mish-mash of overdone
comedy which takes the lazy way out and depends on vulgar and base humor for laughs. In the end, it is actually depressing, and
although there are some laughs here and there it leaves one wishing that they had not
watched it. It is a pity, as The Holy Grail was a genuinely funny and one that
one could watch over and over again while being a low budget PG movie. b ccc
Remember the Titans – Everyone get a warm fuzzy, or else. It reminded me of a certain type of TV commercial: a bunch of feel-good words and phrases and scenes strung out without much coherent thought to tie them together. Too predictable. One would hope that a movie that tried to portray the tearing down of stereotypes would avoid being a stereotype itself. aa b
Revenge of the Sith – Not a bad film overall, much better than the first two, and a good tie in to film four, but the randomly tacked on one-liners that jabbed at the war on terror were pointless and in poor taste. “Only a Sith believes in absolutes,” which is itself an absolute, which means what? That Obi was secretly a Sith? And was not the Emperor weaving a tapestry of half lies to entrap Skywalker while the Jedi instructions to Skywalker were at least clear and consistent if not sympathetic? Was not Skywalker’s compromising his values, i.e., straying from absolutes, that started his journey to the Dark Side? What absolutes are you talking about Mr. Lucus? “You are for me or against me” came not from the President but from the New Testament, not that the line made much sense in the context of the movie. Lucus can make good films, but an eighth grader could write better dialog. One hardly suspects that the original 1977 Star Wars movie would be the classic it is if it had random barbs at President Ford or Carter over some now forgotten issue. a bbb
Silence of the Lambs – This revolting waste of celluloid contains one of the most sickening stories of all time. I’d rather watch Manos: the Hands of Fate a second time than open up this steaming cauldron of over cooked sewage. The film was unrealistic and made the mistakes that Fargo corrected: all policemen are stupid and bad guys can only be stopped by some super-good guy (or girl). Too bad that there were not any pregnant police officers around to blow Hannibal’s miserable head off with a snub nose .38. The gore in the film should have given it an X rating. If there was some sort of redeeming feature to this movie it was to confirm once and for all that the Oscar voters are a bunch of stark raving mad lunatics. Hollywood: try building suspense, not with gore, but with a plot and skillful directing (watch Rear Window, and pay attention to how it is done). I saw this film at a student center. After the lights came back on I saw a “thousand yard stare” on the face of an Arab student in the audience. He seemed to have been enjoying the college experience on this small-town American campus, but I wonder what he then thought: Americans have freedom from strict codes of conduct and what do they do with it: Skin people? Become cannibals? Emasculate (literally) themselves? Who would not want that kept out of one’s homeland? Thanks Hollywood: you may have made a terrorist supporter that day. You spew this filth around the world and when it comes back to hurt the country you have the gall to lecture us about why we should not defend ourselves. b cccc
Silverado – The Western genre is woefully absent these days. This mid 1980’s foray should have been better, but was sort of all dressed up with nowhere to go. It just strayed all over like lost cattle on the prairie before the cliché ending. It was not offensive; rather it just seemed to be a pointless waste of time. a b
Sneakers – Petty jabs at President George H. Bush in the early 1990’s by past-their-prime Hollywood millionaire actors were in poor taste then and have not improved with age. b
2010 – Sometimes you just have to feel sorry for Hollywood when they try to make political statements—sort of like baboons attempting Boolean algebra. The prediction of woes between the USSR and the USA fighting over Nicaragua in 2010 seems to have been poorly made in retrospect, what with the USSR and the Sandinistas all going out of business a few years after the film was made. Overall, the movie was just another lame film barely distinguishable from made-for-TV movies for late night on the Sci-Fi channel. b
Wall Street – Capitalism, according to Oliver Stone, is nothing but leveraged buy outs. Which begs the question: where did something to buy out come from to begin with? By managers of a company raising capital to fund growth; you know, to buy air planes and factory machinery and such. A company does not have to (and some do not) sell stock on the open market nor have it traded on any particular stock exchange. The stock market, i.e., Wall Street, is the most efficient way of raising capital and also allows ordinary citizens to own a part of the economy. Would one rather that a few wealthy aristocrats own all of the companies in the country; or is it OK with Mr. Stone for the common man to buy or sell a few shares of this or that company? Apparently Mr. Stone’s alternative would be to nationalize all companies ala Castro’s Cuba. The phenomenon of corporate raiders and such is and was unfortunate. But the issue is that capitalism is about creating wealth, not devouring it through back room machinations (unless we’re talking about tort lawyers—who are invariably the heroes in Hollywood films), and the movie missed that point completely. While the Reagan economy was not based on hype or slick deals but on real growth, I won’t hold my breath waiting for Mr. Stone, or anyone else, to capture on film the Clinton era dot-com economy where companies with no assets and no profits were speculated out of sight and the little guys were left holding the worthless companies. a b c
What’s wrong with Hollywood?
Movie revenue comes from movie tickets and from DVD sales. DVD sales depend on success at the box office to generate support for the movie; ergo revenue depends on movie tickets. Who goes to movies? Not a lot of people want to pay a high price for a ticket, and a higher price for pop corn, for the pleasure of traversing sticky aisles to sit with eighty strangers talking on cell phones and to each other during the show. At the price of one ticket one may later rent, or even buy, a DVD to watch in a home theater with the whole family or a group, while eating free popcorn from the kitchen.
If ten percent of the population sees a movie, or if five percent see the same movie twice, then that movie will gross over $200 million dollars, which is a “block buster” and will stay number one at the movies for at least several weeks. But consider that if only five to ten percent of the population had cell phones or DVD players, those commodities would hardly be considered popular. The size of the group that determines what is and what is not popular is comparable to the population of Pentecostals, NASCAR fanatics, or vegetarians. One has to wonder how different films would look, for better or worse, if one of those groups were the gate keepers of civilization. Ultimately, a relatively small portion of the public is establishing what is and what is not a success at the box office.
The group going to the movies the most is 15 – 20 year old males, and they go to movies mainly for the sake of going to the movies. This is the group that Hollywood must fight over to steer in front of one screen or another once they make one of their frequent trips to the theater. In the golden age of movies, kids went to the movies for the matinee on Saturdays, and the grown ups went to the movies at night. Therefore every kid’s movie screening had six or seven grown up movie screenings; now that ratio is probably the opposite. There are not a lot of 15 – 20 year old males with good taste, in fact, as far as that group goes the grosser and the trashier a movie the better. So a large part of popular culture caters solely to what may be called the Beavis and Butthead demographic, and one wonders that such trash is produced these days? The only “serious” films, which are almost certain to lose money, are made just to indulge Hollywood pretensions, and Hollywood feels most heroic when it talks down to the rest of America, and thus “critically acclaimed” duds are a badge of honor.
The solution, ultimately, has to be for studios to derive more revenue from DVD sales and rentals and to mostly bypass theaters. That would remove Beavis and Butthead as the target demographic and as the de facto gate keepers of culture. It would also make for a more efficient delivery mechanism. Some films are simply “shelved” if a studio sees no merit in the final product. Some perfectly good movies may never been seen. A Christmas Story was almost shelved as was Diner and The Great Raid. Who knows what treasures may have been judged unworthy of release?
The problem with TV is that network and cable TV shows are sold on the backs of advertisements. Advertising is aimed at people with more money than sense (seen a McDonald’s commercial lately?) Hence, TV shows tend to be a mad race to the bottom: the dumber the audience the more easily they will be separated from their dollars. Take the A&E network as an example: who would more likely slap down a dollar at McDonald’s for a Styrofoam hamburger: someone who just watched a Shakespearean drama, or someone who just watched Dawg the Bounty Hunter? Thus the decline of the quality of the programs on A&E over the past fifteen years, and pretty much everything else. The most popular TV show right now is CSI, and it is little more than a glorified snuff film. Apparently someone who is that indiscriminate in wasting their leisure hours will be indiscriminate in wasting their wages as well. People who do not watch a lot of cable won’t likely pay for pay-channels to be tacked onto that cable; hence the premium pay channels are not much better, and even tend to be worse as they are freed from decency standards..
Direct to DVD movies, on the other hand, could open up a second golden era of Hollywood. Good movies would dispense with the Beavis and Butthead demographic and go straight to homes, and unlike TV shows, DVD’s do not depend on advertisements. The desirability of a DVD would depend not on ticket sales but on reviews, most of which would be made available over the internet, so that if one wanted a good film with good values they could look for critics with those same values. As well, one has a feeling that parents may have more control over what junior watches at home over what junior watches with his buddies at a theater.