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jfulbright
Reviews
Schultze Gets the Blues (2003)
This movie was adorable.
I really, really loved this film. I live in Texas, not too far from where Schultze ended up (although, I can't for the life of me figure out how he BOATED from the International Accordian Fest in San Antonio to Louisiana...maybe it was a different festival?).
At any rate, I loved the fact that even though Schultze is quiet and his expression rarely changes, I could still tell if he was happy, frustrated or sad.
For me, this was a film about obsession, but it never resorts to melodrama. It was just a quiet, charming little film.
BTW: Schultze's Cajun accordion playing just isn't very good. I found that pretty charming, too.
No Time for Sergeants (1958)
My goodness...a film about a Southerner...and he's the HERO!
I simply adored this film the first time I saw it. I'm from the Louisiana side of Texas, and I'm not a big fan of the way we and other Southerners get portrayed in films (if you can't match the accent to the region, don't try. I don't speak like someone from Mississippi, and I never will. Thanks), but this was simply great.
As a person who had an extremely lukewarm reaction to the homespun nature of "The Andy Griffith Show", "No Time for Sergeants" was a comic surprise. I'll agree with other commenters when I note that the first thing I thought was, "Oh, my goodness, it's Forest Gump! And it's funnier." From the "Permanent Latrine Orderly" (PLO) bit, all the way to steadfastly refusing to admit that what he's looking at is not a gorgeous woman but, in fact, an officer, Griffith's portrayal is a real gem (especially if you stumble across it on cable television and don't know what to expect).
Love this movie...with one minor exception. Nuclear bombs really aren't funny. Can't figure out a context in which a mushroom cloud is amusing.
Other than that, I'd see it again in a heartbeat.
Festival Express (2003)
Bob Weir, sweet cop defender
Great film! "Never had such a good time in my life before".
The highlight for me was a baby Bob Weir (rhythm guitarist for the Dead) chewing out a hippie for condoning violence against the Canadian police:
"I talked to some of those guys, and those cops were BOSS!"
He then went on to explain that one policeman had been injured so badly that he was in the hospital with a metal plate in his head because his skull had been fractured. Weir said the policeman didn't deserve that because he was only doing his job, and that the people who wanted the festival to be free were wrong because the musicians needed to make a living.
People never understood that real hippies were not violent/political, and they didn't hate the police. The Haight Ashbury freaks got on well with the police, and there really weren't any problems until (get this) the "hippies" without jobs moved into the neighborhood.
This film was a real joy, and it proves to the general public a couple of things:
1. Hippie folk were not lazy. They were capable of extremely hard work. 2. Janis Joplin was a lot of fun, regardless of what the people in my hometown in Texas say. 3. Jerry Garcia simply wasn't built for EVER drinking alcohol. 4. That was one helluva train trip!
No Way Out (1950)
It bugs me that Poitier is listed 4th in the cast!
In my book, he MADE this picture watchable. Widmark's character was terrifying, and maybe he was the star that this vehicle hitched to, but Potier made this film a great experience.
This is the oldest film that I've seen (other than "Pinky") that featured white people as the bad guys. It's creeped me out from the moment I saw it. Hasn't anyone else seen this and been utterly afraid of Widmark's character (and admiring of his absolutely slimy portrayal of the character)? I think maybe very few people saw this film. Those who did, I hope, pegged Sidney Poitier as a major star. His turn at the end of the picture ("Let him LIVE!!!") is so amazing. Sidney Poitier was the first superhero of my life. My mother used to plant me in front of the TV and say, "Sidney Poitier is in this movie...we have to watch it!!" She made him into my superhero. From this film to "A Patch of Blue" to "To Sir, With Love" and ANYTHING else he was in...it was always required watching at my house.