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dutchmonkey
Reviews
The War of the Worlds (2005)
Not the worst movie ever created
Granted this film by Timothy Hine can't hold a candle to either the wonderful 1953 version by Byron Haskin or the clunky 2005 Spielberg version, it is still notches above the sheer waste of time known as "H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds" directed by David Michael Latt (for those of you who were unaware, yes, there were no less than three movie versions of this public domain story that were released this year).
And let's be fair - worst movie ever created or worst version of Wells' story? In either case, you will find that the winner is Latt's preachy, 90-minute version, not this one. At least Hine's version is daring enough to be the the first to set the action in the same period as the original novel.
Con Air (1997)
One of the Best Comedies of 1997!!!
This has got to be Nicolas Cage's funniest film! A laugh riot from beginning to end, "Con Air" has everything a funny movie should have: a ridiculous plot, cartoonish characters, silly dialogue, and unbelievable situations!
Cage's "Southern accent" is a hoot and his performance as a slow-talking sleepy-eyed soldier wrongfully imprisoned is hysterical! John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi try to outdo each other imitating Anthony Hopkins and Christopher Walken. Watch this one on DVD if you want non-stop laughs (yes, there's a few dramatic parts, but those are easy to spot because of the slow motion)!
Jerry Bruckheimer knows how to make a funny film - this one easily tops his other comedies "The Rock" and "Gone in 60 Seconds" !!
Forty Guns (1957)
Sick, Creepy, Beautiful
For those of you haven't yet seen it, on the surface it may look like it, but this is not your typical western - not by a long shot. This story in the hands of another director would probably be disgusting, but director Fuller makes it compelling and watchable. I doubt that even David Lynch - whose style seems to me to be somewhat influenced by this film - could be this outrageous and restrained at the same time. Sick characters, uncomfortable situations, a creepy musical demi-narration and even a tornado! Beautifully shot besides, and in CinemaScope.
Highways by Night (1942)
Snazzy little flick
Richard Carlson (of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "It Came From Outer Space") is excellent as the naive, bespectacled, non-smoking, non-drinking millionaire Tommy Van Steele who takes his uncle's advice to experience life in this action-filled comedy. As the chief engineer and owner of a major automotive manufacturing company, he winds up going incognito into the blue-collar world of trucking (Howard Hughes himself went undercover early in his life to work for a major airline in order to learn from them, but Carlson's character is more like Howard Bannister in "What's Up, Doc?"). He eventually discovers, embraces, and falls in love with the real world. Jane Darwell (famous for "The Grapes of Wrath," among others) plays the feisty heart-of-gold grandma of babe Jane Randolph (she was Alice in both "Cat People" movies). Not quite a "screwball comedy," but darn near. Plus some great (and corny) fight scenes!