cornucopia9 Reviews

Mr. Majestyk (1974)

great movie!

[20 August 2003]

What a top notch action movie of the 70's. Bronson is so cool and Lettieri and Koslo compliment each other perfectly as bad guys. What about the dialogue...it's great..Crystal says to Bronson, "if you want to sleep with me why dont you just ask", Bronson replies, " i dont want to ask i want to do it, lets go". Bloody brilliant! And then after Charlie tells Crystal to leave town for her safety, but she turns up at his place later on, he says something like "since you're here why dont you make yourself of use and go look for anything that moves out the window" and then he gives her a look as if to hurry her up. Beautiful 70's chauvenism! Mr Majestyk has some of the best 70's music aswell by Charles Bernstein.

Shattered Spirits (1986 TV Movie)

Powerhouse Movie

[19 June 2002]

If ever there was a movie that you should watch to battle alcoholism, this is it. It deals with such important issues relating to the addiction- family relationships, denial, social behaviour, work, the heartbreaking effects and the treatment. This may be just a TV Movie but boy does it pack a punch, thanks mainly to the performance of Martin Sheen which is nothing short of superb. In fact it's hard to think of anyone else who could have done better if half as good. There are some truly memorable scenes - Sheen lawnmowing at night, and the family confrontation in the family room where Sheen destroys the room and then his kids are taken away, are almost hard to watch because of the honesty and detail of such a disrupted family. I watched this movie on Foxs Hallmark channel and im glad i did. If you can get past the dated 80's look and feel (tic tac toe, bubble gum, terrible hair and music apart from Billy Idol) then this is one you should not miss. An important film that everybody should watch. 9/10.

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

strange film

[4 April 2002]

Interesting film made in a unique way. Told in chapters of a book it features some excellent acting by a strong cast. Hackman is brilliant, Huston equally as good and Paltrow, Stiller, Glover and the Wilson brothers Luke and Owen are all memorable in their twisted characters. Glover looks really old and Bill Murray being very unlike himself. Luke Wilson once shaven and cut looks unbelievably like Pat Rafter. The charcters are what makes this black comedy work. I also enjoyed the soundtrack of the Stones, Paul Simon etc. A 7/10 from me.

4 for Texas (1963)

A 6/10

[29 March 2002]

By the look of it, too much fun was had on the set of this film, but what would you expect from Martin and Sinatra. Never too sure whether it tries to be a comedy or a straightforward western. The story is not bad revolving around the two mentioned and the ownership of $100 000, where each intends to use for the rights to a gambling cruiser. More focus seems to be on Martin and Andress, where the latter seems to at times struggle with some of the english dialogue. But all is forgiven, she looks beautiful. Plenty of cleavage is provided by Anita Ekberg who also slaves around her man Sinatra. These boys must have had a wild time on this one. The bad guy comes in the form of Charles Bronson, who really needed more screen time, he displays his limited time to full effect, perhaps the only one there with a job to do, he mutters "lets go" to his men to prepare them for action. Not a memorable western, but for fans of the stars, this would be 4 u!

6.5 / 10

Breakheart Pass (1975)

enjoyable western

[5 March 2002]

This movie was made at the height of Bronson's career. He had just done Death Wish a year before and Hard Times and Breakout were the other two to follow. It must have made a packet and its easy to see why. A train heading for a destination where Indians await and mysterious murders happening along the way. Many characters make this movie seem alas Hitchcock/Christie and the music by Jerry Goldsmith is one of the best of the 70's. His music captures the mood of every scene whether it be high pitch as the train moves along or dark as the shady characters go about their business in the carriages. Some of the location shooting is breathtaking and i actually felt cold watching it. The acting is solid as expected. Bronson, Crenna, Johnson, Lauter, Durning and even Jill Ireland are all good while not giving much away to their character. The action explodes at the end and gunfire a plenty making this one of the most entertaining action films of that era.

8/10

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

haunting

[4 March 2002]

I found "The Virgin Suicides" one of the most depressing films i've seen for a long time. But i like to feel different emotions during the course of a movie, whether it be happy or sad or both. I also enjoy watching movies that are set in past decades such as the 50's, 60's and 70's, which is why i'm a big fan of "The Wonder Years". Sofia Coppola has made a very good film, it captures the time and feeling so well. It tackles so many issues in life such as adulthood, suicide, parenting, drugs, rock n roll and relationships. There are so many good scenes in this movie, the "party" for the Lisbon girls, the phone sequence playing records, the dance, burning the records (if that happened to me i would be devastated. The movie quite remarkably enabables you to relate to these young girls and boys. I know so many Trip Fontaines and wish i knew more Lux Lisbons. The music captures the mood as does the use of the camera colour lenses. The cast is first rate, Turner and Woods are twisted parents, Hartnett is cool and nervy at the right times, but the film belongs to Kirsten Dunst, she is beautiful, seductive, lovable and believable as Lux. She makes me wish i was her boyfriend. Not a film for everyone, but certainly worth a look.

The Family (1970)

Violent City - 1970

[9 February 2002]

First of all i must admit that i'm a Charles Bronson fan and have been for quite a while. I have seen a lot of his films including all of them made after Violent City. So when i came across the movie being released on DVD and i was still yet to see it, i was quick to buy it. The DVD is presented in a fantastic format (trailer, production and movie stills, 15 minute interview with the director and cast and crew backgrounds). The movie is structured in a very unique way. Being an Italian/French coproduction and filmed largely in New Orleans the film consists of English and Italian dialogue to satisfy both cultures and uses flashback scenes to illustrate what is a very straightforward story of hitmen and mobsters and doublecrossings. The music score is by Ennio Morricone and as expected first rate. The cast is headed by Bronson. He doesn't talk much in this movie, more so than in his other outings and uses more of a physical style of acting with many close ups on his charactaristic face. He does well as usual. Telly Savalas has a small, but important role as the head of his "family". His philosiphies to Bronson are interesting. And Jill Ireland as Vanessa is truly seductive. She has never looked more beautiful than in this movie and you get to see plenty of her in this version. Her acting is not great but not too bad compared to some of her later stuff with her husband. As a whole i wasn't expecting too much but "Violent City" is quite under-rated and does have some very good scenes including a car chase, a sniper scene and the very well done ending. There are no good guys in this movie, but it is truthful. I give it a 7 out of 10, but i don't know if non-Bronson fans would enjoy it as much. I hope they continue to put more of Charlie's films on DVD and done in a similar way. Particularly "Rider On The Rain", "The Mechanic", "The Valachi Papers" and the little known Bronson/Curtis "You Can't Win 'Em All.