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TolucaGuy
Reviews
Schindler's List (1993)
Why is it brilliant?
It's been asked, how could anyone not make a deeply moving movie about this subject? There may be a basis for that question, but what Spielberg did was also make a piece of amazing piece of film-making. Despite his phenomnal successes, it seems as if he was hiding his hand at what depths he could demonstrate. After years of awing and amazing us, he now had the skills and power to deliver a most potent work.
To be honest, I haven't seen it since it's initial release. Yet, what I do remember is that Spielberg was able to make a three hour film on the Shoah and make it move a brisk pace without letting up on its impact. That's why it is brilliant.
Anything Else (2003)
anything but....
For years I would see a Woody Allen movie opening weekend or week. I usually went with my friend Patrick, also a big Woody fan. We even stuck it out, despite a serious decline in the quality of his work in the last ten or twelve years. Sure there some pleasant pieces of fluff such as Manhattan Murder Mystery, Bullets Over Broadway and to a lesser degree Small Time Crooks. Alas, I lost Patrick with the Curse of the Jade Scorpion. I stuck it out - but only until 2002's Hollywood Ending.
So even though AE had some decent reviews, I refused to see it in the theatre. (Besides, it's lonely going sitting in a big room watching a movie all alone!) I decided that from now on, it's DVD.
I tried watching AE, but to be honest, I couldn't make it past the first 20 minutes. It is awful. Even though Woody is in the movie as a mentor of sorts to Jason Biggs, the latter takes over and plays Woody a la Kenneth Branaugh in the god awful Celebrity.
It's also really odd that he and his girlfriend played by Christina Ricci both have tastes that are more in line with Allen's (i.e. Cole Porter, Billie Holliday) than people their own age (mid 20's). In fact, their mannerisms and speech are more appropriate for 40 year olds, and then not just any 40 year olds, but 40 year olds from the 70's remembering a better time of their youth.
Allen literally projects himself onto the luckless Biggs who it seems cannot succeed outside of the American Pie series, save for a self-mocking cameo in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. To be honest, I don't like it when Allen does this trick of forcing his leading man to "play" him. It didn't work for John Cusak either, making him a weak link that prevented Bullets from being a truly great movie. Kenneth Branaugh just went down with that other Allen disaster, Celebrity.
As for Ricci, her character is a big pain in the ass for whom tardiness is an art form. It is hard to see why either Biggs' character or his predecessor played by Jimmy Fallon, moved in with her let alone went on more than one date.
In the past, Allen has cribbed scenes and even jokes verbatim from his earlier movies. There were flagrant examples of this in Radio Days. However, the overall excellence of that movie made one overlook the self plagarism. Here it is nothing but a desperate filmmaker trying to recapture the spirit of his best work.
Monster (2003)
Outstanding casting...
Extra kudos to casting director Feren Casalle. Aside from the superlative breakthrough performance from Charlize Theron, there is also Christina Ricci as her lover. This is a Ricci we've never seen. More vibrant and alive than ever, also displaying a tough veneer that apparently goes down to the core as well.
The film is chock full of terrific character actors, several who play the hapless (and in one case very deserving) victims of Aileen Wournos. Annie Corley is a standout as the woman to whom Selby (Ricci) is in charge of "curing" her of her lesbianism.
21 Grams (2003)
Rewarding
Told in a non-linear fashion, 21 Grams is not an easy movie to watch, yet possibly one of the most rewarding. Like the long version of Once Upon A Time In America, the style actually progresses the story along quite well. Another high point for me is that honesty and directness of the dilaogue. Dilaogue such as this is rarely heard in American PRODUCED movies since Woody Allen's prime.
Mambo Italiano (2003)
Birdcage parmissean
My friends have been raving about this movie all summer long, ever since they saw it closing night at Outfest L.A. They have been saying that it is the funniest movie that they've ever seen. Well, I saw it the other night with my boyfriend and two friends. We found it pleasant, but nothing great. All I can figure is that the guys at Outfest saw like a dozen movies there and by the time this came around, it probably seemed like Citizen Kane compared to some of the dreck they had to sit through.
Now, the big questions is, like Birdcage, is there enough there for crossover audiences to enjoy. To be honest, beyond gays and the paisanos who can laugh at themselves, not really. (And for those of you paisanos that can't laugh at yourselves, at least there is no garrotting or decapitations here.)
On the plus side, the lead character Angelo is more human than most mainstream gay characters who seem to always be flaming stereotypes (Nathan Lane in "Birdcage") or uber noble (Tom Hanks in "Philadelphia"). Angelo perhaps represent a more average gay guy. Angelo, a college drop out is somewhat of an insensitive clod. When he mans the gay helpline, his callers end up worse off than before.
The look of the film is most vivid, but I found that the filmaking was somewhat choppy. 6 out of 10.
The Secret Lives of Dentists (2002)
Like novacaine...
To be honest, I've never been much of a fan of Campbell Scott or Dennis Leary. For that matter, I've usually found director Alan Rudolph's films snail paced and DULL. You can make a slow movie that works (i.e. Michael Mann's The Insider), but it's difficult. As usual, Campbell seems to be in a semi-coma. How the hell is he the product of two such dynamic actors as the last George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst? Both of them were such vibrant magnetic people. Was he cowed by them?
So, we end up with the nasty, ugly Dennis Leary stealing the show. Hope Davis, who is so luminous as the schleppy Mrs Harvey Pekar is also reduced to a dullard, who might be having an affair with the conductor of the opera she appears in at the beginning of the movie. Did I have to mention that? Did this movie have to be made? All I know, if someone I was living with said that they could kill me out loud, let alone in front of our kids, I'd be out of there, helter skelter, no questions asked!
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Just doesn't have that indie vibe...
A pleasent little movie that seemed to become more and more villified in proportion to the money that it kept grossing. Released in April of 2002 this movie becams a box office jugarnaut in the summer...the fall...the winter...into part of the next spring when it was released on video.
What seems to rankle people is that it is considered to be an independent film, yet it doesn't have the edginess that we expect from an "independent." But, independent it was when every studio turned it down. Not the greatest, but certainly not worthy of being despised. A lot worse dreck has also grossed tons of moolah and not been trashed as much.
Rita Wilson aka Mrs Tom Hanks produced this movie along with his production company. I don't understand why one of the studios that he's made a gazillion dollars (Hello, Dreamworks?) for didn't take a flyer on it. Oh well. Their loss.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
the fuzzy end of the lolly pop
Great movie, great performances,great script, great filmaking. Why try to analyze it? So many great lines throughout...
"You must be the new girls!" "Brand news."
"I thought you girls said that you were at the conservatory for four years?" "We got time off for good behavior."
"Mother doesn't like girls that smoke."
"The old Shell game"
"Mine's a rich millionaire."
A non-recurring phenomona if there ever was one.
Ben-Hur (1959)
Hollywood craftsmanship at its best
For some reason William Wyler doesn't always seem to get the respect that he deserves. This man did all. He could handle the divas from Bette to Barbra, the tough guys like Bogie, the wartime homefront dramas such as The Best Years of Our Lives and the nearly forgotten Mrs Miniver.
A lot of movies seem to drag on and on, not knowing when to stop, making 90 mintues to 2 hours seem double. Even while watching them you can see what is just excess and should have been trimmed. Not Ben Hur. At three hours and forty five minutes, there isn't a wasted frame in the whole thing. Credit that to Mr Wyler.
Casablanca (1942)
Of course I remember this...
What's left to say about this movie? Along with a handful of films such as Some Like It Hot and the first two Godfather movies it is as close to perfection as a the movies get.
Just watch the scene where Ingrid comes to Rick in the bar the night she comes to Casablanca. The lighting is to die for, the dialogue is of the hard boiled Warner Bros kind and there is a score either by Max Steiner or Steiner like being played on the soundtrack. And you know what? The damn thing still works!
Seabiscuit (2003)
trotting down the oscar road to perdition...
An OKAY movie. I liked it, but it didn't grip me in a tidal wave of emotion. Director Gary Ross failed in that regard in that I never got a sense of the excitement that supposedly surrounded Seabiscuit back in the thirties.
The more I think about, the more the backstories on the main characters seemed unecessary. It's August and I think the movie will be like last year's summer Oscar movie, The Road to Perdition and will be only nominally remembered at Oscar time. I don't think that this will be the movie to bring Jeff Bridges his trophy.
American Wedding (2003)
American Junk
The first American Pie was a delight. There was a lot of funny stuff in it. Some of it tasteless, but it worked within the reality of the movie. I found APII was kind of forced, but it didn't suck. I just didn't have any desire to go back to it like I did with the first.
Now we have American Wedding and this one is like the old joke about the elephant having been designed by a committee of blind men or something like that. There are a few guffaws, but even for a dumb comedy, there are a lot of holes in the plot.
For example, Jim and Alyson met a high school graduation party in the first movie ("there was this time in band camp..). It was already set up that she went to the same school as him, yet in this one, her parents come from out of town never having met Jim IN THE FOUR YEARS THAT THEY HAVE BEEN DATING!!!! This is one among many dumb things in this movie that just seemed forced. Even worse, there are moments of sappiness that just don't belong here. Let's hope that it's the end of the line for this half baked series.
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
no pretenses...
Even though it was direced by John Singleton, this movie like the first, has no pretenses that it is any more than what it is. Granted the first had a hotter cast (Vin! Jordana! Paul! Jordana! Michelle! and did I mention Jorana?), this one was a hell of a lot of fun. Not as much as the first, but still an enjoyable afternoon at the movies with loud noises.
S.W.A.T. (2003)
J.U.N.K.
This movie must have some of the worst dialogue of the year. It is just downright horrible and the acting is substandard. This is what I call a "whore" movie for Samule L. Jackson. It is obvious that the only reason for him doing it was the paycheck. It's the kind of project that even if it is a hit and he gets an even bigger paycheck to do the sequel, he would still be justified in firing his agent.
There was something else I noticed: quite a few members of the cast were just plain odd looking. I'm not talking character, but just plain odd.
Funny Lady (1975)
Actually Cranky Lady is more like it
As a Barbra freak, I must have seen this movie at least five or six when times when it came out. At the time I thought that Barbra could do no wrong. Not having seen the movie for at least 10 or 15 years, I went to a recent screening here in L.A.
Well, this movie just doesn't hold up. It just doesn't work for me any more. Obstensibly a backstage romance, it lacked the romance. When James Caan as Billy Rose proposes to Barbra's Fanny Brice, it seems to come out of left field. There's no real set up, no hint that there's anything seriouis going on between them. Is it love or just a way to keep her from leaving his show? She doesn't even seem that excited. Hello, this is James Caan, you know, Sonny Corleone? (Maybe he needed to take Barbra into the john and do her against the door like he did Lucy Mancini in The Godfather?)
That aside the musical numbers are a mixed bag. When Barbra's singing the standards, the film soars. Highlights here are I Found A Million Dollar Baby and a very simple If I Love Again. There's something odd about The Great Day number and it has to do with Barbra's performance. Vocally, it's thrilling, but her onscreen acting doesn't match the vocal track's heat.
Then there are the Kander and Ebb numbers written for the movie. When they had to write music for second rate performers in Cabaret and Chicago, they ended up with some first rate tunes. Here, they are writing for a first rate performer, yet end up wiht second rate tunes. How Lucky Can You Get just comes off as a Rose's Turn knock off.
Then there are the costumes. Barbra wears a few outfits that are quite low cut and reveal a nice bosom (was that sensitive enough?). However, they seem wrong for the character in the 30's. In fact, they don't even seem right for the 70's. (Designer Bob Mackie should go back and take a look at them and redo them for J Lo or Toni Braxton.)
My advice is that if you like Barbra, get the remastered soundtrack. If you're a non-discerning fan who loses all sense of judgment as far as Barbra's concerned, then go for it.
Funny Girl (1968)
One shot, one gun shot and bam!
I hadn't seen Funny Girl for years, so I was eager to catch it when it was reissued in a restored print a couple of years ago. While everyone seems to go on and on about Barbra, what I discovered was that the movie is as much about old fashioned solid Hollywood craftsmanship. Led by director William Wyler, the movies is just a pleasure to watch. You can see all the care that he, cinematographer Harry Stradling and the rest of the team took to make sure that the movie came off as the work of professionals. (There are a couple of interesting close ups where the camera appears to zoom in on Barbra and the background sort of shimmers. The story goes that these came about not out of any creativity as much as they lost the close ups and this was the only way they had to process the close ups out of the master shots.)
I even appreciated Omar Shariff. It was no accident that this guy was such a sensation in the 60's. Along wiht Lawrence of Arabia and Dr Zhivago, this guy had a hell of a decade.
My major gripe is that the movie does slow down in the second act as a lot of musicals (and movies) tend to do. There are fewer musical numbers and except for My Man, they are not as exciting as the first act's. And what numbers there are in that first act including The Greatest Star and the thrilling Don't Rain On My Parade which has to rank as one of the 10 best musical numbers in movies (one of my others is Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard's Midnight at the Oasis in Waiting for Guffman).
No wonder Streisand has such a big ego. If you were only 25 and had already been told by Sinatra, Garland and Armstrong that you were great and then had Wyler direct this movie just to work with you, how could you not be affected! At least she hasn't gone Michael Jackson weird.
The Wedding Planner (2001)
A chick flick for dumb chicks
3/1/06: An addendum to my previous review (see below). Unbeknownst to me, I caught the last 10 minutes on TV a few weeks ago. Dumbstruck I sat there wondering: Is this supposed to be a comedy??? Afraid that this one won't improve with age. At least half a dozen trite clichés in the last 10 minutes alone!
I saw this movie when it first came out on DVD. I was looking for something light and asked the clerk about it. He said I wouldn't like it. I asked if that was because he knew my taste or because it was really awful. He said because it was really awful. But, I figured what the hell. It can't be that bad to look at these two cuties for a couple of hours.
OY. To put it bluntly, this movie insulted my intelligence. There was nothing in it that hasn't been in at least a dozen other hot-chicks-who-can't-find-a-guy movies. (Now that's an idea: J Lo, Julia, Meg and Sandra are members of a hot chick cum frustrated spinster therapy group.)
I got so frustrated with this piece of drek (I don't know why I didn't just turn it off. I guess it's because they are both so damned good looking.) In any event, I thought of the legend how if there was something that Elvis didn't like on TV, he's shoot it. On the Elvis scale, TWP rates a 12 gauge.
This was the first movie for choreographer turned director Shankman. It's hard to believe that anyone who watched this felt that they just had to have him direct their project, but indeed he has done two movies since. Last year's simpy A Walk to Remember, which I blanch at every time that I catch a part of it on cable and this year's Bringing Down the House which I will dissect on its own. In any event, he is emblematic of a breed of mediocre directors of comedies who shouldn't be directing anything more than episodes of Reba.
There's Something About Mary (1998)
Hard to top...even for the Brothers Farelley!
I chose There's Something About Mary to be the first movie that I am going to review here on IMDb. To me, it is a near perfect comedy that ranks up there with such all time greats as Some Like It Hot and Airplane. What really makes this movie work though is the first rate acting by the cast. Cameron Diaz actuall received the New York Film Critics Award for Best Actress and deservedly so.
Just catch the moment at the end when she catchers her good friend and neighbor Magda eating a banana split. Diaz does a great double take when it dawns on her that Magda has just slept with an old sailor. (Earlier in the movie, Magda tells her that after sex, she always has to have a banana split.)
Magda, played by Lynn Shaye is fantastic. Magda is supposed to be a dried oversexed leathery skinned 50-something who is way too much in love with her dog, Puffy. She even tells Mary (Diaz, duh!) that if Puffy likes a prospective suitor, then he's "a keeper." Shay here herself was at least 25 years younger than her character, but she plays her so well that most people were surprised to see that it was the make up and good acting.
Of course there's Ben Stiller and Matt Dillon leading the charge of Mary's suitors. Stiller is quite game for all that he goes through in this movie and pulls it off. Dillon, who for years was one of the most handsome guys in film, turns himself into a seedy looking...and acting private dick (and you can use that word in both its meanings here).
The movies' most famous scene is the hair gel scene. However, when I saw it for the second time in the theatre in '97, the scene that was even funier was when Puffy went Psycho on Stiller.
Indeed, this is a true comedy classic that is hard to top. So hard, that the Fareelley Brothers subsequent movies have been abysmal outings. Here, the low brow humor comes naturally out of the situation recalling the old line that it isn't in bad taste if you laugh at it.
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Better than the first?
I am one of those Godfather junkies (well at least the first two) who not only owns the DVD, but will stop to watch the movies every time I come across them while channel surfing. To be honest though, recently I am not as enthralled with The Godfather. Over time, Part II has become a much better, richer movie going experience. Not that there's anything wrong with The Godfather, I just happen to prefer this one. I think that it paint a broader canvas thanks in part to jumping between the two stories.
There are just so many wonderful scenes. The film starts off with the story of how Vito Corleone came to America. This part of the movie is in Sicilian and even shot on location in Sicily. Then we jump to the 50's and the confirmation of Anthony, Vito's grandson. Like the wedding in the first one, we get an idea of who the main players are going to be. One of my favorite shots in this part is when Fredo's tramp wife meets Connie's gigolo fiance. Coppola cuts to a shot Mama Corleone saying something to Consigliori Tom Hagen in Sicilian. it is a brief shot, not more than 2 or 3 seconds but you get an idea of the relationship between them. This is of interest to me as a Godfather obsessive since in the original novel, it is noted that the adopted Hagen never thought of Mama Corleone as a mother nor were they particularly close. This shot shows how in the enusing years since her husband's death how they developed a bond.
There is so much good in this movie to rave about. Coppola apparently loves commerative events: the wedding reception in the first movie, the aforementioned confimation party (which of course has little to do with the confirmation and everything to do with Michael's power) and New Year's in Cuba.
While we may remember the big scenes, there are also some wonderful simple scens just between two characters: Michael's visit to Hyman Roth in Miami, his drink with Fredo (a banana daquiri?) in Cuba, Kaye's leaving Michael ("this Sicilian thing") and Tom's final meeting with Frankie Pantangelo. All these scenes are written with wonderful, intelligent dialogue accompanied by solid acting.