newday98074 Reviews

Consenting Adults (1992)

That's Hollywood-again

[3/10 · 27 November 2008]

Any number of Hollywood presentations stretch their plots to allow scenes that add thrills and give the actors a chance to "emote". CA takes this to another level, creating a universe where people do things for no particular reason except to keep the engine chugging along, pulling its strange cargo toward a requisite splashy finale. Along the way the movie becomes much like a creature that has passed through the transformation pods in "The Fly". You can kind of tell what was intended but the actual result is anything but pretty. Accompanying these oddities is the absolute stupidity required of the characters. At one point the lead, accused of one murder, discovers potential exculpatory evidence which he shares with an insurance investigator. This could save the insurance company 1.6 million dollars. The logical thing to do, of course, would be for the investigator, with the help of the police, to check this out saving the insurance company their money and eliminating the murder charge for the lead. But does the investigator follow it up? Well, that would be expecting these people to have high level thinking. High level in this case means what any reasonable person might think about. Since the characters in CA tend to have the thinking processes of turnips the lead follows up himself, resulting in yet another murder on his hands. However that does allow the requisite finale which is completed with the panache of a 5th grade play. The acting is fine, but plot holes and poor direction particularly of action sequences ruined the film.

Wanda Nevada (1979)

What is this?

[2/10 · 11 November 2008]

Wanda Nevada is a pubescent fantasy movie using circa 1979 ideas of what constitutes illicit romance for 13 year old girls. Script, pacing, and direction are uniformly awful. Action sequences defy belief. Characters speak with the simplified diction one usually finds in films aimed at the under 10 set, but also includes multiple sexual references involving Shields' character as well as graphic deaths.

The movie wants to be a comedy on some level but is never funny, an adventure picture but plot and action are insipid, and a children's movie but introduces pedophilia and child rape as real possibilities. It also wants to be a buddy picture, a coming of age picture, a ghost movie, an Indian spiritual movie, a travelogue, and a western. The overall affect is of massive stupidity with a nasty twist. Wanda Nevada is a complete waste of time unless you want to see a good many terrific shots of the Grand Canyon. That it manages to do just fine.

A Good Woman (2004)

So so

[7/10 · 27 August 2008]

Somewhere in the 6.5 to 7 range. Neither female lead seemed to fit their parts. Hunt either chose or was directed into a flat performance, I suppose to simulate a woman with toughness, but her actions and reactions often seemed brittle and unreal. Johansson is simply miscast and that's not her fault. The story/editing broke her performance into pieces so that an understanding of who her character was never happened. I never felt I understood her or a cared about her. The witticisms are funny but are delivered seemingly out of the body of the movie, like one-liners that had nothing to do with the rest of it. The film is pretty, costumes fit, most performance are fine, but as a whole the movie didn't work for me.

A Handful of Dust (1988)

Haven't read the book

[9/10 · 1 August 2008]

A really good book cannot be entirely simulated adequately on screen. There is too much going on underneath, too many subplots, too much conversation and description to undertake in two hours. Choices made by production folk determine which direction the film will go, generally accenting one plot line of or other and allowing the rest to fall to the wayside. HOD does a fine job with the route it takes, darkly stating the consequences of empty lives which rely on artifice for sustenance. These creatures were not creating their lives so much as feeding their idea of existence without exploration. The result is tragedy but the tragedy was already in existence. The actions of the trapped subjects simply began to reflect their emptiness. This doesn't make for a happy movie but it is instructive if one chooses to see the lessons. And as art, the acting, direction and cinematography are quite fine.

The Sweet Hereafter (1997)

Beautiful

[9/10 · 31 July 2008]

Dark, top notch art film with a first rate cast and script. Any great art has levels and you can go about as deeply as you want into "The Sweet Hereafter". Everyone in the film is living by their fingernails, hanging on the edge of falling into the cold water. The attorney, Holm, threatens to expose the facts behind that fragility, but ends up being trapped in his own limbo of expectations. Every moment in the movie has an undercurrent. We know what we are seeing is not simple life, there is a story behind it. That is tough to maintain for the length of a film but TSH manages it nicely. This is a film of people trapped by their expectations, limited vision and spiritual bankruptcy as much as tragedy. The tragedy is an onset, but lives were already ruined. How they were is something to see.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Largely well done

[7/10 · 30 July 2008]

On the plus side the acting is very fine throughout. Scenes are nicely set up and the cinematography is generally excellent. The plot is interesting, characters well drawn, and the script reasonably intelligent. Ledger is as advertised, consistently in charge of his role and the film when on screen. He is a very fine physical actor as well as convincing in closeups. He didn't have a false note throughout, a tough achievement when playing essentially a one note character who is off the wall. Negatives: the film could be improved with 1/2 hour of excess trimmed. Some plot contrivances didn't work to forward the action, especially in the second half where plot and action dragged because scenes just wouldn't end. There is too much of stylized crashes and explosions, to the point where they lose any effect. And the plot twist is so far outside reason it just doesn't work, especially with the ridiculous CGI display. However with all that the movie is probably worth seeing, if you like blockbusters and their attendant frailties.

Anaconda 3: Offspring (2008 TV Movie)

Camp

[2/10 · 29 July 2008]

Fourth rate movies all have the usual suspects. Implausible actor reactions, bad continuity, draggy editing, vacuous scripts and in the case of Anaconda 3, laughable CGI effects. Poor acting is often also a feature of such films but actors can be victims of lousy direction, editing and scripts that make them look like patchwork mannequins. There's plenty of that in Anaconda 3, but only Hasselhoff is genuinely ridiculous. His well publicized personal demons appear to have removed any likability he once evidenced. He now just makes you wince. The female lead had an impossible role so her sins must be forgiven till she has a chance to show herself in something better. As an example of her plight Rhys-Davies, a man who we know can act, became a screaming buffoon instead of the more subtle, well rounded character he expresses in other roles. Let's leave it at no one in this production was done any favor by the raw material they had to work with. Which brings us to the monster. The snake blended as smoothly to the real world as a tarantula on a wedding cake. A man in a rubber suit would have been more believable and a good deal more enjoyable. As in so many movies the monster attacked everyone with vigor except one certain cast member who was allowed to escape-twice-unharmed despite being trapped and at its mercy. Not that there isn't humor. For example all the characters fire machine guns at the snake except Hasselhoff, who inexplicably carries a bolt action rifle that would have seemed ancient in 1936. People continue to follow the snake with apparent confidence in its destruction despite dwindling numbers and no effect by their weapons. Hasselhoff, given a cell phone, drums his fingers on it like playing a Beethoven sonata, but the call goes through. There are plenty of laughs and they are the only reason to visit Anaconda 3.

Sin City (2005)

A failure to communicate

[2/10 · 23 July 2008]

I admit I didn't get through it. Stylized violence, like any art, has its place, and murder, blood, and ugliness can be instructive. The implied beating of the prostitute in the original "Cape Fear", coupled with her subsequent terror peeled a layer off the persona of Robert Mitchum's character, for example. But to take violence and accompanying stupidity to the lengths in Sin City, with no perspective or reason made me feel uncomfortably like a visitor to the Coliseum in Hadrian's day. The issue is entitlement. One is shown depravity without a sense that this is not what mankind can or should be. Like a video game there is no moral compass. It is "okay" because it isn't real. But we live our reality and to the point one excludes understanding and perspective one can become trapped by that lack of understanding. One can live in a personal ghetto that doesn't allow for much reasoning. I hated Sin City not because it is bad art but it is horrific example. I don't think that is something we need at present.

Immortal Beloved (1994)

Lots of high points

[7/10 · 21 July 2008]

I wrestled with the rating because there is much to dislike about Immortal Beloved. However there is also much to like, among which are Beethoven's music, the plot twist which I felt worked well, and set design. The highs are very high. Oldham may not have nailed the great composer but he is a reasonable representation and the director's method of presenting his affliction is poignant.

To the negative the film is a bit clunky, continuity seems just a bit off, and some scenes could have been omitted or edited to speed things up. Beloved is not a character study as everyone is pretty much a caricature. It is a mystery and as such works pretty well even though the basic plot might have been written to the lives of less formidable personages without changing the real story. Beethoven's involvement provided additional depth and interest but no more sense of tragedy, and ham handed direction/editing watered down the impact even then.

That said, I'm glad I saw it and would recommend to anyone who doesn't mind considerable artistic license being taken with the life of Ludwig Van.

The Krays (1990)

Doesn't arrive

[4/10 · 14 January 2008]

How "The Krays" fails would take a book, and that tome would example the way nearly every sincere effort at reproducing real live people on film comes to a bad end. First, the real Krays apparently had script approval based on comments in IMDb. Mark Twain said it, everyone's autobiography puts forth it's author as hero. The Krays is no different. Two hard-boiled gangster-killers are shown largely through their mother's eyes, as youths led astray, and their evil deeds were committed against equally foul creatures, therefore weren't really crimes but efforts at achieving equilibrium. The "suffering woman" viewpoint portrayed throughout, mirrored by not one single admirable male, operated as negation to the entire society. Therefore crimes weren't really crimes, they were strikes against the apathetic construct of British life. The Spandau Ballet boys were singers, not actors, so they can't really be blamed for their acting failings. But they did fail in scene after scene to strike any tone of true commiseration with their characters, and with that the movie lost any hope of success. Billie Whitelaw's powerful and supreme statement of motherhood only served to contrast the weakness of their efforts. She was wonderful, though, I remember her performance in a long ago TV movie, where she played a whore opposite Jack Palance in Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde. She was good in that, if quite a bit younger. To sum up, this isn't a good movie, it might be interesting to those who know something about the Krays, and Whitelaw is worth seeing for her performance. Other than that, it is a pass.

Horror Express (1972)

Better than average

[7/10 · 14 January 2008]

The Hammer crew is on hand in this loose remake of "The Thing", with their usual fine performances and not so fine special effects. Telly Savalas no doubt took advantage of the opportunity for a working vacation in Spain to appear as a Cossack with a superiority complex, but while jarring to see him with Cushing and Lee, it works. The movie is well-paced and builds to a nice climax. Because of the nature of the beast several people carry the acting load, making for more of an ensemble piece than usual in the Hammer world. The effects, well, they did what they could, all actors being attacked were splendid, and the director tried to keep shots of the monster to a minimum early on at least. I haven't seen many movies this side of Bond with two women as drop dead beautiful as the Countess and the Russian spy. That of course, never hurts either. Worth seeing especially if you like Hammer type productions.

American Psycho (2000)

Black

[7/10 · 19 December 2007]

AP is more "black satire" than "black comedy". It creates a Manhattan yuppie world where no one does any work therefore appearance is all, symbolized best in a competition for who has the best looking business card. However beneath one man's overlay is a Jack the Ripper character who kills and carves at will. The violence isn't as graphic as in some Peckinpah films but the lead actor does a fine job celebrating his character's bloody hidden personality. That inside killer blends with his "real" persona toward the end till reality and fantasy merge-or were they always merged? Apparently so, as the ending makes it clear the only crimes committed were in his mind, the ultimate satire of a society concerned only with appearances. I can't say I recommend the movie to everyone but it did keep my attention for the most part. There are some clunky moments, especially with the investigator, whose last conversation with the lead probably should have been placed closer to the end of the film. The final clue to the truth of his madness was given by someone who carried no threat, therefore the impact of the message softened. However all the actors did a fine job IMO, production values were fine, there were no clanging goofs, and that world was fun to look at.

Just Cause (1995)

Inept

[4/10 · 18 December 2007]

As other reviewers have noted the film dies in the last 1/2 hour. However before that it suffers from predictability and a stunningly vapid performance by Kate Capshaw, who clearly never found her character and ruins every scene she's in. Connery is fine as is Fishbourne, but most scenes are manipulated for effect rather than truth which overlays the entirety with a sense of unreality. And the ending is simply bizarre. The film makers apparently knew when they pieced this mess together that all they needed were sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie to have Thanksgiving dinner, so to compensate they added an overloud "dramatic" score. Every little jump is accompanied by a crescendo of orchestration, to the point where it becomes laughable. If you want an example of major league bad film this is one to see, otherwise skip it.

My Uncle Antoine (1971)

Wow

[9/10 · 18 December 2007]

I saw this film when it first came out and have never forgotten it. My Uncle Antoine is much, much greater than the sum of it's parts. The movie, loosely, is about a pre-adolescent who is sent to live with a relative in a small town in Canada. There are adventures that seem more or less typical but underneath there is a current building. MUA has a leisurely pace but have patience, the reward is coming. I believe the film was sub-titled and as with all non-English speaking movies I've seen it is well worth avoiding any dubbed version. Inevitably dubbed movies reflect the attitudes of a new director and actors, with the additional necessity of lip-synching lines that don't quite fit. The English speaking Amarcord is a travesty, for example, while the sub-titled version sings. My Uncle Antoine is well worth the time to find and watch it in French.

Halloween (2007)

A really bad movie

[1/10 · 15 December 2007]

Whatever made the original Halloween a decent film is lacking in Buffalo herd size droves in this version. Halloween, the event, has an aura, a history, that was drawn upon in the original. Zombie's Halloween pretends to reflect that history bur really is another slasher film with no invention and an especially ugly veneer. I don't believe Zombie has one ounce of understanding of the genuine human condition, and certainly no empathy for it. His persona is a 12 year old voyeur who wouldn't understand true communication and value. The original Halloween drew upon that part of humanity that sees humanity as improvable. Zombie's people are without souls. His movies are garbage. Let's hope this sort of thing finds the refuse pile as is deserved.

Skinwalkers (2006)

Save it a for de end!

[5/10 · 10 December 2007]

Horror movies always have the problem of the last twenty minutes. No matter what juicy twists and curves they've thrown at you, in the end the bad guys bite the dust. And, every possible way for them to bite it has been repeated in a hundred good, bad, and indifferent movies. That said, Skinwalkers moves along pretty well and the chase scenes aren't bad. But I don't recall offhand a film that falls apart with more splat in its last twenty minutes. Continuity takes a gross beating, people do incomprehensible things, and physical action is at times ridiculous. But the main problem is the buildup to the question of what is going to happen when midnight arrives is allowed to crumble like a dry leaf. Nothing happens but the ridiculous. I have seen worse but wouldn't recommend it.

The City of the Dead (1960)

Better than Average

[7/10 · 8 December 2007]

Atmospheric Hammer production with stunner Venetia Stevenson holding court during the first half of the film with an adorable, persistent innocence. She carries the movie by creating a character that anyone would care about whether on screen or not. I wonder she wasn't seen more often in subsequent films. The second half consists of most of the usual detective yarn mumbo-jumbo but Chrisopher Lee et al raise it well above the average for the genre. There is certainly a case to be made for black and white cinematography as no other medium carries light and dark in nearly so creepy a manner. Hammer, as Disney, raised supporting roles to an art form as well. Everybody does their job exceptionally well. If you like Hammer this is a must see, otherwise you could do worse.

300 (2006)

That's Hollywood

[4/10 · 21 November 2007]

One of the great stories in history reduced to a comic book isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. BUT to make it such a boring experience took some doing. The movie is one scene after another of "dramatic tension" consisting of moving from affectation to more affectation. Even the battle scenes have this formula. Someone says something, then someone says something louder, then they fight, then they fight louder. There is zero reality and zero humanity but posing, posturing and preening are tossed around like eggs at 50 cents a gross. Evenually what kills 300 is the lack of any genuine characters. All emotion is press board material, which suits comics but at 120 minutes becomes intolerable long before the last frame. People die, so what? This is one tedious movie.

Chinatown (1974)

One of the greats

[10/10 · 15 November 2007]

Top notch art has layers. That is, a painting, a sculpture, a movie, can be recognized as superb no matter who is viewing it, because intellectual and emotional levels are struck to depth. Chinatown is such a work of art. Much must be assigned to the splendid performances of the leads, Nicholson and Dunaway. Jack never bit so deeply into a roll and found such flavor. His wise guy determination not to be screwed over makes the perfect foil for Dunaway's worldly innocence. All of the supporting actors pitch their tents on this base and none come up wanting. Of course Polanski was the genius behind the curtain and no matter what his personal foibles he gave us Chinatown, a period piece, humanistic commentary, railyard gristle, and detective story up with the best of them. This is first class stuff and worthy of any award that can be given to it.

War (2007)

Hollywood

[3/10 · 14 November 2007]

Perhaps War could have been better, even good. But the director was indifferent to so many little things throughout that they end up bringing a falsity to the entire project. Examples: A house has just been burned. The fire truck is still on site. But there is no water dripping from the eaves or even dampening the floor, and no smoke whatsoever. People walk through the house with no concern. Example: Japanese who speak limited English often speak in English to each other even when under considerable stress. Example: The daughter of the Yakuza chief is sent to the US to run the show. Besides the fact that she is a very poor actor, she easily cows high ranking members of the Yakuza clan despite no personal bodyguard. Example: The most dangerous man alive is guarded by only two men leading to his escape. Example: An "FBI" agent has a cultived half beard all the time, never reports to a superior or apparently has any controls placed on his actions. Not too common in that organization. Example: FBI personnel firing machine guns into an open street with no warning or need. In general the script, acting, shot selection and continuity are poor, driven by what comes next instead of natural occurrences. This really is a bad movie, probably thrown together to offer the two stars in a platform they both could accept. Definitely not worth the time.

Wild Strawberries (1957)

A Favorite

[10/10 · 20 July 2007]

Wild Strawberries is one of those rare films that works underneath the surface, building emotion in the viewer while the story unwinds. The themes are universal, death, family, the generations, even technology. I think it helps a viewer to realize the care with which a Bergman, or a Kubrick, or any film maker of the first rank approaches the script, shoot, edit, release sequence. Because Bergman had his hands in all of that he had a chance to look at every scene from all angles. Any seeming clunkiness or absract reality presented has a reason for being there. I found it best to sit without concerning myself with why anything happened and let the movie roll forward trusting the people to be who they were and go where they would. The ending was lushly satisfactory. I love this film.

Open Water 2: Adrift (2006)

Open water part deux

[3/10 · 28 April 2007]

Open Water 2 falls on the same sword of most sequels. Open Water No. 1 achieved a sense of dread for its young stranded couple that carried on to a logical conclusion. 2 naturally assumes it has to top this, so characters are invented to occupy cubbyholes in order to create tension. That sort of thing is a surefire way to destroy any sense of emotional reality and it does so here. But the greatest weakness of 2 is physical. There are many idiotic ventures into near impossibilities, such as diving after a dropped knife into deep water and managing to catch up to it's fall and make it back to the surface. A woman manages to drag a large man to the surface by his hair from deep water, quite a feat for an Olympic class athlete much less a woman who never swims and has spent hours in the ocean with no food or water. Have you tried treading water for an hour? Not so easy but these folks manage it for many hours and still talk with most of their necks out of the water. It makes for better shots but not better reality. This is one you can skip.

Horrors of Spider Island (1960)

Unique

[2/10 · 20 April 2007]

Imagine a two hour episode of Gilligan's Island, with 5 or 6 Gingers and one Maryanne, written, choreographed and overdubbed into German then back into English, by Ed Wood. Toss in The Skipper turning into a werewolf-like creature with six inch fingernails and you have a hint of the pleasures awaiting you in "Horrors of Spider Island". Stock footage takes you without explanation or shame from a two engine to a four engine passenger plane, becoming a B-29 turning turtle with all four engines afire, for no particular reason. There is semaphore (crossing or uncrossing legs to indicate approval of auditioning dancers) deduction (discovery of a long-handle hammer must mean there's uranium mining in them thar hills) and quicksand (not a generally noted feature on volcanic islands, but what the heck). All in all if you can hold your nose for 114 minutes it is quite an experience.

Forrest Gump (1994)

Hollywood

[9/10 · 19 April 2007]

at its best. When blockbusters work they do so through creating an alternate universe near enough to find our emotions while effecting magical art, beauty and experience. Forrest Gump is a shining example of that clarity. Hanks' performance is so natural that no wheels can been seen turning, astonishing when compared to Rain Man, the several iterations of "Of Mice and Men", and a myriad other movies where low IQ individuals are portrayed. Hanks brings to Gump dignity and individuality that allows us to love him without sympathy for his condition. All the supporting actors play off this lead wonderfully, without exception. The result is a fantasy as heartfelt as any in my experience. A truly wonderful film.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Relationships

[6/10 · 18 April 2007]

Based on Brokeback and Crouching Tiger I believe Lee is better showing representational relationships than the real thing. Westerns, gangster movies, teenage love films, have used this method for years to bypass building stories. Viewers assume the lone cowboy and rancher girl will fall in love, the hard-bitten gangster moll has a heart of gold, etc. Lee wants us to assume facts about the marriages of the two cowboys but gives us little more than cliché. Neither marriage succeeded as a relationship I could believe in and that removed the reality of the cowboy's love for each other. Did these guys really love anyone? It might have been better to make their meetings strictly sexual trysts (as they were portrayed when in action) and skip the love angle because I couldn't figure out if they loved each other or loved the sex or loved being loners and used that to get out of facing the world, another unexplored angle. A pet peeve: reaction shots to show us what to think about what is going on. Such shots tell me the director believes that the characters and script need help, as in the closeup of the daughter's face toward the end of the film displaying adoration of her father. If she had shown a fraction of understanding of him, empathy, even sympathy, it might have worked, but why use that shot at all? Let us think what we think. Ah well, that's Hollywood.