bs122782 Reviews

Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

This movie just keeps getting better and better

[11 November 1999]

Kathleen Turner has never been better than she was in those 1986 film. A much more touching time travel film than Back to the Future -- Turner's character (an unhappy middle-aged woman) has the chance to re-live her high school days and do things differently only to end up making the same mistakes she made before. Turner is a gifted comedienne who has the ability to convey the pathos underneath the comedic layer.

Nicholas Cage is grating at first but the character grows on you after awhile. A then unknown Jim Carrey has a small role as does Joan Allen.

Francis Coppola may have just been a director-for-hire on this film but he is never an uninteresting director. Look closely he adds many small touches to the film. I especially liked a scene where Barbara Harris (as Peggy Sue's mother) is having her jewelry appraised when Peggy Sue walks into the house. Mom lies to Peggy Sue and tells her the man is taking an election poll then tells Peggy Sue she will vote Democratic in 1960. The scene is never explained any further but it is interesting to note that 1960 was the very beginning of the women's movement. Perhaps Mrs. Kelcher is beginning to see that there is a life outside of being a housewife and mother. She wants to but is afraid to assert her independence. Hence the jewelry appraiser. Since Mrs. Kelcher has no skills outside of the house it is comforting for her to know that should it come to it she would be able to support herself temporarily by selling her jewelry. Her nest egg so to speak should she decide to leave the nest.

Malibu Hot Summer (1981)

cheesy 1970's style softcore porn

[28 September 1999]

Shot in 1974 but not released until 1986 the film can be mainly of interest to anyone because 19-year old Kevin Costner plays a small role as a ranch hand. Interesting thing is, he is actually the best thing about the movie -- he at least tries to act. He's rough around the edges but one can see that a couple years of acting lessons added to that laid-back "aw shucks ma'am" demeanor will make him the star he is today. The rest of the cast gives your typical low budget talent-free performances. Plot (if you can it that) centers around three uniquely untalented women trying to make it in la-la land. lots of t & a, tacky sets and costumes, bad cinematography, a cheesy script, and tuneless music.

Mame (1974)

What were they thinking?

[14 September 1999]

This is surely one of the oddest film adaptations of a Broadway musicals ever.

Lucille Ball, through a combination of miscasting and misdirection is rarely funny (the exception being the scenes on the Georgia plantation). Gene Saks seems to directed her to read her lines in a slow, faux-sophisticate voice. These are the type of lines that should be effortlessly funny given a rapid-fire line reading as Rosalind Russell did in "Auntie Mame". And Saks' direction is at its strangest in the cuts -- he cuts from a close-up of an in-focus Beatrice Arthur or Kirby Furlong (with the background out-of-focus) to an out-of-focus close-up of Lucy (with the background in-focus). It is visually very disturbing and hard on the eyes. Most of the songs have been re-arranged to accommodate her lower register and narrow vocal range. They don't have the pep and bite of the original cast album.

The movie does have some good features: Beatrice Arthur gives a valiant performance, Lucy looks fabulous in Theodora Van Runkle's costumes which are a wonderful parody of 20's and 30's fashions and at times witty (notice how Lucy's pink dress in the scene in which she first introduced to Beau's family and friends on the plantation is almost the exact same dress and hat -- albeit different color -- that Cecil Beaton designed for Audrey Hepburn for the Ascot races scene in My Fair Lady). Robert Preston is very good in a rather brief role and the sets (filmed on the Warner's backlot in Burbank) are evocative of NYC in the 20's and 30's.

But there's more bad. In "Auntie Mame" (1959) the Upson's were hilariously funny caricatures of bigoted snobs. (Remember those martinis made with strained honey?) In "Mame" they play it straight and the scenes are no longer funny -- the characters become too real and it bothers us to know that people like that did (and still do) exist. And that dancing. It is hard to believe that six years prior Onna White received a special Oscar for her choreography in "Oliver". Pedestrian does not even begin to describe the choreography in "Mame" and the dancers themselves are a disgrace--none of them seems to be in step with the other. It makes one think that Gene Saks shot a couple of takes of each dance chorus number and figured he could put it all together in the editing room. Wrong.

Okay who is too blame? Well, you can't really blame Lucille Ball for the mess. They offered her a lot of money and probably convinced her she would be perfect for the role. Gene Saks may be a great stage director but his film record is spotty at best and he was certainly the wrong guy to direct a lavish big budget musical comedy. Paul Zindel (author of the play - The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-the-Moon Marigolds) kept a lot Laurence & Lee's play and musical scripts but not enough. But ultimate blame must go to Jack L. Warner who bought the rights to the musical, cast Lucy in the first place and hired the others. And this only a couple of years after his disastrous film adaptation of "1776".

Of course the movie musical was dead by 1974 and this film probably never should have been made. The period 1967-1974 had seen big-budget musical film adaptations with star casts that flopped -- Finians Rainbow (Fred Astaire, Petula Clark); Man of La Mancha (Peter O'Toole, Sophia Loren); Sweet Charity (Shirley MacLaine); Paint Your Wagon (Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood); How to Succeed in Business (Robert Morse, Rudy Vallee); A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Zero Mostel); On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (Barbra Striesand, Yves Montand); Camelot (Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave); Hello Dolly (Striesand & Walter Matthau), Song of Norway (Florence Henderson); and original film musical bombs like: Star! (Julie Andrews), The Happiest Millionaire (Fred MacMurray, Greer Garson); Darling Lili (Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson); Goodbye Mr. Chips (Peter O'Toole, Petula Clark). While artistic successes, neither "Oliver!" nor "Funny Girl" were profitable in their initial runs although both later became profitable through re-issues. In this period only "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Cabaret" were unqualified successes (Both critical and financial).

Reflections of Murder (1974 TV Movie)

almost as good as the original french film

[25 June 1999]

made-for-tv remake of french suspense classic "Diabolique". Excellent script, eerie locale (the rain drenched and fog thickened landscape of Puget Sound), sharp editing and fine directing from John Badham make this far superior to average movie-of-the-week. And the performances could not be better. The great Joan Hackett (gone, alas, but not forgotten) and Tuesday Weld give tense, piercing performances. It takes a little while to get used to Sam Waterson playing a villian but when you see this film you understand how easy it is for Waterson to play the dark side of Jack McCoy on LAW AND ORDER. You will be on the edge of your chair during the scene on the bridge as the two women try to change a flat tire with a dead body in the trunk.

Gaslight (1944)

Based on classic play "ANGEL STREET"

[23 May 1999]

a lush MGM production. Lavish sets and costumes. Lush cinematography. A madman trying to drive a sane woman mad. Story does not hold up well over time but Bergman's performance is still a gem and Boyer is charmingly malevolent. For real suspense see the 1938 British version which is more faithful to the play. Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynward can't hold a candle to Bergman & Boyer when it comes to acting but the 1930's stage-style acting, the cheap production values (poor cinematography, cheesy sets and costumes) somehow add an eerie effect that while barely avoiding camp still makes it a more suspenseful thriller than the 1944 version.

Titanic (1997)

What a piece of whale excrement!!!

[19 April 1999]

Brilliant visual effects along lavish sets and costumes do not a great movie make.

First and foremost, that horrible, cliche-ridden, cheesy screenplay with those stereotypical characters right out of central casting.

The acting: Billy Zane should be suspended from the Screen Actors Guild as punishment for the most severe case of ham acting I've seen in 30 years of moviegoing. Leonardo DiCaprio (who can occasionally do good work) is out of his element. He's a valley boy trying to a historical piece. Even an actress as talented and beautiful as Kate Winslett can't make that cheesy dialogue work. Kathy Bates is good but her role is little more than a cameo. And Victor Garber's delicate performance as architect Thomas Andrews allows him to subtly steal the few scenes he is in. Frances Fisher and Gloria Stewart are embarrassing to watch just what the heck is going on between Bill Paxton and Suzy Amis in that ridiculous story bookend. The rest of the cast seems to have been inspired by the central casting stock character actors of the 1930's (the high society snob; the bumbling billionaire and his heavily accented manservant; the poor pitiful Irish peasants; the arrogant industrialist; the hero's comically zany best friend who meets an untimely death; the first class gentlemen who behave like gentlemen while the third class men push women and children out of the way to get on the lifeboats, I could go on and on...

James Cameron direction has a few inspired moments (mostly some interesting camera angles) but for the most part each scene tries to out cliche the previous one.

To see a real movie about the Titanic with real characters and real story rent "A Night to Remember".

Storm of the Century (1999)

Imagine if Stephen King wrote "It Takes a Village"

[25 February 1999]

"Storm of the Century" is Stephen King's perverse twist on the importance of a community working together in times of crisis. In brief, Little Tall Island off the coast of Maine (yes, it's Dolores Claiborne's old haunt) pop. 400 is besieged by the worst winter storm on record. It is also besieged by the arrival of the strange Mr. Linoge and a string of violent murders/suicides. Linoge's mantra is "Give me what I want and I'll go away." When the townfolk finally find out what Linoge wants they surprisingly do not even hesitate to give him what he wants. And it is a pretty major thing that he wants. Only one man dares to speak differently, to be the voice of reason in a crowd of madness.

What is most surprising about this movie is the climax. It is quite unpredictable (hint: the power of love is not stronger than the power of evil). In the end the townfolk may end up saving themselves but their souls are as cold and desolate as a coastal Maine winter. Only one man is able to leave the town and recapture at least part of of his soul but he too will be forever haunted by memory of the winter storm of 1989.

Tim Daly gives his best performance to date and Debarah Farentino is quite good as his wife. Jeffrey DeMumm, Jeremy Jordan, Kathleen Chalfant, Myra Carter, Becky Ann Baker stand out in the large supporting cast. But the actor you will most remember is Colm Feore as Linoge. He doesn't say a lot in the script but then he doesn't need to. This actor works theatrical magic with his use of body language (his eyes, his lips, his hands, even his breathing). Nothing short of brilliant.

You might be troubled by the ending but this is still Stephen King's best television adaptation to date.