dmombit Reviews

Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985)

Earnest Parody Hits The Mark!

[28 July 2002]

Hey! Don't forget the handsome Patrick Wayne's performance too! He was a perfect movie "hero" in this well-made farce.

Tom Berenger's blue eyes just stare out at the moviewatcher and beg him/her to believe him.

I haven't seen this in years but sure would love to find it again.

dmombit

The Wings of Eagles (1957)

Touches Me

[28 July 2002]

I have two fav John Wayne movies and this is one of them. The other is "McLintock!"

Today is the first time I've seen "Wings of Eagles, The" for years and years. Probably because it's always been such an emotional movie for me. I always cry at the ending...most likely because the very thing Spig Wead wanted seemed to elude him. Perhaps because his desire was never really clearly defined, even to him.

As I sat watching it, I got the bright idea of looking it up in the "IMDB" movie database. I was curious about the writing that Wead did and also the timeline. I came across a couple of reviews and decided to add my two sense (sic) worth.

I realized today that the things I like about the movie were partially the things that one of the other reviewers didn't. I LIKE the way Wead's story is presented. It isn't neat and orderly. No cheating endings or story movement. It seems like he was very self-involved and dealt better with other men than with his wife. I suspect that both Spig and Min were trapped by their societal roles in a way that many others were at that time. They did't have that same open way of spilling their guts that we've all embraced in today's world.

Men were men and women...weren't! LOL!

Anyway, I was always crazy about John Wayne and had such a crush on him whenever he'd appear in Navy whites. Something about that craggy face and those blue eyes grabbed me every time. Plus, I share his birthday so that made him extra kewl in my eyes.

Ford was wise NOT to turn this into a typical John "Hero" Wayne vehicle. That was probably why they worked so well together in all of those films. He was no more snowed by Wayne's larger than life personna than Wayne was of Ford's. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when those two were goin' at it.

Although Wayne was fiftyish when he did this film, I think he displayed a good youthful Wead as well as the somewhat more mature one. A better, more subtle acting job than the other reviewer gave him credit for doing.

Time for Spig to bite it so I'm off now...

dmombit

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)

Colin Firth at his very best!

[10/10 · 25 June 2002]

As a huge fan of the play, I didn't expect to see a theatre production. Get real! A movie calls for a much more full-bodied vino and that's what the movie-goer gets with this film.

The production values were excellent, the costuming superb, and the actors brilliantly cast. Including Reese Witherspoon who more than held her own in the august British cast.

Judi Dench was quintessentially "denchian" as was the outrageous Rupert Everett. Always a delight to behold on the beeg screen. The actress portraying "Gwendolyn" was saucy and sexy and fun. But, saving the best for last, I was most impressed with Colin Firth's range. Generally cast as the tall, dark, brooding and Byronic hero, it was fun to see him showing real visions of his acting abilities. His facial expressions were a visual treat and we chuckled in our theater seats during the closing credits as the "Gwendolyn" tattoo was being applied to "Jack's" derriere. The reactions he showed us had a very real ring to them.

Yep! This Colin Firth fan is having a hard time to clinging to the duo "Mr Darcy's" of "Pride and Prejudice" and "Bridget Jones' Diary" as her fav roles now that she's seen him in "Earnest."

Can't wait for it to go to video (DVD-o) to add it to the burgeoning collection of his work.

It was funny, irreverent, slightly modern, and an enjoyable Sunday afternoon treat.

She's the One (1996)

HE's thuh wun!

[23 November 2001]

It was interesting to read the comments in late 2001, pro and con, about this movie since it's been out for awhile.

As a woman old enough to be Ed Burns' mother, I guess I have a slightly different take on his films. They are heavily skewed toward the young man on a quest for himself genre. Both this film and "The Brothers McMullen" seem to be part of some trilogy in the making. Burns himself (in interviews) and in his subject matter seems most comfortable with his "brothers" and male bonding. Women are really incidental and deceptively placed as diversions. The real intimacy and inter-relating in his films is between the guys. A father's approval rating is the highest of all while mother is (or should be) clearly the homemaker.

This is not a negative thing to this film buff but it is just an observation. The appeal of this type of film to a female viewer is similar to watching a group of jocks or real "guy guys" interacting. It's fun to be with them but the female is never really a part of their inner group. Guys like that tend to focus exclusively on each other until one of them breaks the eyelock at the sight of a babe or some guy diversion. Then it's fun to watch them oogling or crowing. As a woman, you feel a part of their group because they include you and not because there is any type of equality thing going on.

That's what watching an Ed Burns movie is like for me. And I really enjoy the process by which he turns over each stone carefully, seeking information through introspection and by dialogue with his brothers. Even the vain and judgmental Francis is subject to private doubts about himself. I like watching seemingly ordinary, flawed human beings reaching outwardly and inwardly, as they trundle through the days of their lives. Burns' characters are pretty and petty, shallow in some areas and show depth in others. They seem real to me and I enjoy the up-close view he gives us as they examine their own faces in the bathroom mirror and when they put on their public faces for their outside lives.

The writing is smart and realistic. The pace seems more lifelike than many of today's obsessively action-driven films. Personally, I enjoy seeing these big screen men rather involved in exploring their inner selves and their relationships with others. Ed Burns is a very appealing Irish-American "Woody Allen" whose movies are much more accessible and a hell of a lot less neurotic.