Finally, after many years of desiring a viewing, I had a chance to see this just before Halloween -- thanks to Turner Classic Movies (paired with the classic "M") -- and while I could echo previous comments lauding Lorre's performance and the many fine aspects of the film, there's one matter I don't believe anyone has addressed in this forum. And that is how "The Hands of Orlac" plays a recurrent role as a motif in one of the great novels of the 20th century, "Under the Volcano," by Malcolm Lowry. If you haven't read it, I recommend that you do. Then watch the fine 1984 film version of that novel by John Huston, starring Albert Finney. Let me also take this chance to applaud TCM's continuing use of the smooth, erudite Robert Osborne as host. Is there anyone better today at this role? Which makes me wonder: What ever has become of the equally adept Bob Dorian?
Reviews
10 Reviews
The Straight Story
(1999)
Another great Farnsworth performance
28 March 2003
If you enjoyed Richard Farnsworth's great work here, you should check out another performance of his that didn't get much notice but also deserved an Oscar: 1982's "The Grey Fox," in which he plays an aging train robber facing with a changing frontier. A much underrated actor. And "The Straight Story" is an unfairly overlooked film that was much, much better than 1999's Best Picture winner, "American Beauty" (which is a fine film itself nonetheless).
Hollow Man
(2000)
'Hollow' indeed
18 May 2002
To quote the Eliot poem from which (I assume) the title of this piffle is arrogantly pilfered:
"We are the hollow men/ headpiece stuffed with straw/ alas."
Well, maybe I'm paraphrasing. I can't recall the stanza exactly. But the sentiment fits exactly with this wasteland of filmmaking, and I use that last word loosely. What's really invisible here is any sense of craft!
"We are the hollow men/ headpiece stuffed with straw/ alas."
Well, maybe I'm paraphrasing. I can't recall the stanza exactly. But the sentiment fits exactly with this wasteland of filmmaking, and I use that last word loosely. What's really invisible here is any sense of craft!
Passion Fish
(1992)
C'est vrai!
18 May 2002
The kudos here go to David Strathairn (a wonderful, overlooked performer in "Matewan," "L.A. Confidential" and numerous other films). He comes the closest I've seen on film to an actual Cajun, from the accent down to details such as the white shrimp boots. When will this actor get the Oscar he deserves (as Jim Broadbent finally did this year)?
Chocolat
(2000)
What's Eating Lasse Hallstrom
23 February 2001
Hard to believe this is the same director who made "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and "Once Around," two films of subtlety and true emotion. After last year's somnabulent "Cider House Rules," this is simply more evidence of a talent in decline. "Chocolat" is a cliche from beginning to end, contrived, cloying, without one honest moment. Well, at least it was well-filmed.
Gladiator
(2000)
Glad it's over
13 January 2001
Well, there go two and a half hours of my life I can never retrieve.
Perhaps a better name would have been "The Comedy of Commodus", as I laughed through most of this travesty -- that is, when I wasn't groaning. This is the kind of "historic epic" that is neither historically correct in the details nor the epic it considers itself to be. The endless historical errors are mentioned in other comments and in the "goofs" section of the IMDB page for this movie, so there's no need to get into them here. As for the epic part ... well, I spent much of the time trying to decide which real epic was being ripped off ("Braveheart" a lot of the time; "Private Ryan" definitely in the opening battle scenes, via the hectic camera work and the leached-out colors).
Let me put it this way: If you thought "Legends of the Fall" was a good movie, you'll probably fall for it again here.
Perhaps a better name would have been "The Comedy of Commodus", as I laughed through most of this travesty -- that is, when I wasn't groaning. This is the kind of "historic epic" that is neither historically correct in the details nor the epic it considers itself to be. The endless historical errors are mentioned in other comments and in the "goofs" section of the IMDB page for this movie, so there's no need to get into them here. As for the epic part ... well, I spent much of the time trying to decide which real epic was being ripped off ("Braveheart" a lot of the time; "Private Ryan" definitely in the opening battle scenes, via the hectic camera work and the leached-out colors).
Let me put it this way: If you thought "Legends of the Fall" was a good movie, you'll probably fall for it again here.
Local Hero
(1983)
Penetrating character study as comedy
17 August 2000
Warning: Spoilers
Warning -- possible spoiler!!!
Many of the comments previously posted touch upon the outstanding but obvious aspects of "Local Hero" -- the beauty of the scenery, the understated but penetrating humor of the script, the whimsy of the characters, the wonderfully evocative Mark Knopfler soundtrack. With all of this I concur. It's an amazingly multi-layered film. With every viewing -- and there have been dozens -- it seems that something I failed to notice before catches the eye. And what also becomes more apparent with each viewing is the underlying melancholy that permeates everything and everyone in the film. While ostensibly a comedy, this to me is really a study of loneliness and alienation. Happer, isolated in his penthouse, seeks succor in the stars and assurances from his therapist that he hasn't wasted his life. Mac, the workaholic, wraps up mega-deals with ease but is uneasy and fumbling when it comes to dealing with people. Danny pines for Marina, who finds meaning only in the sea. Even the minor characters -- the frustrated scientists in the Inverness lab, the storekeeper swaying as she watches Victor sing, the two women sitting alone, wistful and sad, at the ceilidh -- are marked by yearning, feelings of something not attained. The ending drives this home -- the empty apartment high above the bustle, the ringing phone unanswered. It's all very subtle and not so easy to decipher, cloaked as it is in humor and eccentricity. And it only adds to the luster of one of the best-written, best-acted and best-directed movies ever. Ten out of 10 without a doubt.
Many of the comments previously posted touch upon the outstanding but obvious aspects of "Local Hero" -- the beauty of the scenery, the understated but penetrating humor of the script, the whimsy of the characters, the wonderfully evocative Mark Knopfler soundtrack. With all of this I concur. It's an amazingly multi-layered film. With every viewing -- and there have been dozens -- it seems that something I failed to notice before catches the eye. And what also becomes more apparent with each viewing is the underlying melancholy that permeates everything and everyone in the film. While ostensibly a comedy, this to me is really a study of loneliness and alienation. Happer, isolated in his penthouse, seeks succor in the stars and assurances from his therapist that he hasn't wasted his life. Mac, the workaholic, wraps up mega-deals with ease but is uneasy and fumbling when it comes to dealing with people. Danny pines for Marina, who finds meaning only in the sea. Even the minor characters -- the frustrated scientists in the Inverness lab, the storekeeper swaying as she watches Victor sing, the two women sitting alone, wistful and sad, at the ceilidh -- are marked by yearning, feelings of something not attained. The ending drives this home -- the empty apartment high above the bustle, the ringing phone unanswered. It's all very subtle and not so easy to decipher, cloaked as it is in humor and eccentricity. And it only adds to the luster of one of the best-written, best-acted and best-directed movies ever. Ten out of 10 without a doubt.
It Happens Every Spring
(1949)
One of the best baseball flicks
17 August 2000
A hilarious comedy as well as one of the best baseball films. Ray Milland has one of his best roles as Vernon/King Kelly, and there are great supporting turns from the likes of Paul Douglas. What I truly enjoy about "It Happens Every Spring" is that it celebrates, tongue in cheek, one of the great "unspoken" traditions of the Great American Game -- cheating! (Spitballs, corked bats, steroids -- they all fall into the same category as Kelly's wood-repellant serum.) What other baseball movie does that? Good goofy fun.
The very definition of wondrous
11 August 2000
This struck me as the height of whimsy and marvel on its initial release, and it has only improved with each subsequent viewing. Wondrous and magical. The sets and effects are exquisite; the scene of the baron latching onto the cannonball always sends me into spasms of mirth. The performances are likewise uniformly excellent, from the main roles to the cameos: Oliver Reed is hilarious; Sarah Polley turns in one of the most memorable child performances ever (and amazingly has gotten better and better since, as evidenced by "The Sweet Hereafter" and "Go"); and John Neville holds it all together mightily as the baron ("Beautiful ladies!" -- a treat for viewers who might only know him from "The X-Files"). Jonathan Pryce, Robin Williams, Eric Idle, Uma Thurman, etc. -- everyone outstanding. "Munchausen" melds the regular Gilliam themes -- adventure, fantasy, raucous comedy, melancholy, the struggle against mindless and repressive authority, the spectre of death -- into a jewel, his crowning achievement to date, topping even "Brazil." Kudos, kudos, kudos. A true 10 out of 10.
Legends of the Fall
(1994)
Comedy for the ages
8 August 2000
One of the top comedies of the 1990s. Unintentionally, of course. There's really no other way to take it. Yes, the cinematography is fine. As for the rest ... Anthony Hopkins channels Popeye. Brad Pitt channels his hair (I wasn't aware long, flowing locks were all the rage among officers of the Great War). The sheer heavy-handedness and predictability of the story. ... Seriously, when I saw this in the theater, I burst out laughing several times -- most notably, the ludicrous scene involving the barbed wire and the machine gun. Hard to believe this is the work of the same director who made "Glory" and "Courage Under Fire."
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