grypnhmr Reviews

The Taste of Things (2023)

Food Inglorious Food

[5/10 · 15 February 2024]

This movie, the blurbs say, is about a chef who sets out to overcome a woman's reluctance to commit to marriage by cooking for her. Be patient---you will have to sit through a third of the movie before that even happens. In the meantime, you will watch cooking, cooking, cooking, and eating, eating, eating. Then cooking, eating, cooking, eating, cooking, eating. The ingestion of the chef's creations is mostly by his small circle of friends, somberly dressed professional men, one of whom is a physician, who should know better. I couldn't help worrying about these gentlemen's digestive tracts. Wouldn't they suffer from chronic "dyspepsie" (as the doctor would say) gorging on course after course of rich dishes? It was too much for my GERD-afflicted esophagus. Those with stronger stomachs and, I suspect, a foodie bent, might love this food porn on a grand scale. For me, it was too short on character and relationship development. Maybe it was the effect of vicariously indulging in multicourse meals, but I confess, I was nodding off in the final half hour.

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Maybe I rated it too highly

[4/10 · 15 March 2023]

I finally watched this in 2023. It does not hold up well. Not a timeless movie. The best part is the first 5-10 minutes as Travolta walks down the street carrying a paint can. Travolta's character has a bunch of creepy friends. A girl is raped, but the rape isn't acknowledged in the film. Women are talked about in a demeaning manner. Maybe so 1977, but very not 2023. Travolta's dancing doesn't even seem so hot in this day and age---fancy moves, but too stilted to my eyes. Karen Lynn Gorney as Stephanie was not good casting. She's the weakest element as far as acting goes. This was a film extremely popular in 1977, but it's one of those that does not age well.

Belfast (2021)

Feel good movie about The Troubles

[5/10 · 7 July 2022]

A film that tries very hard to pull at your heartstrings. Maybe I'm a monster, but my heartstrings were unmoved. One of my gripes was the lack of authenticity in reflecting the times (1969). Mostly I detected this in the middle-class Protestant family that the movie centered on. They at times expressed themselves in ways one wouldn't have done back then. This is a minor gripe, and it takes an oldtimer like me to even notice. A bigger problem was the choppy progression of the story with switches from the wider political upheaval that was the background of the movie (though a flimsy one, taking up few minutes of the movies full running time), to the family discord, to the little boy's adventures, back to a taste of the street battles, then to warm-hearted interactions between Pop and the boy, back again to the marital tension. Add to that the random insertion of a soundtrack that was disruptive rather than enhancing, and the film just required more effort on my part to follow than it ultimately ended up being worth.

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Suspenseful to a point

[7/10 · 12 May 2022]

The reviews are right. This is quite suspenseful---until about the last 15.minutes, when the action got a bit confusing. If the viewer isn't quite sure who's attacking who, well, there goes the suspense. This movie was made in 1990, and that ill-founded western, or at least U. S., hope that Russia would go on to better things and erase its nasty past was evident in the final warm, fuzzies exchanged between the captain, played by Sean Connery, and Jack Ryan, played by an almost unrecognizable Alec Baldwin (I forgot he was once that young). SIde note: There is a character actually called "Putin" in this movie. Little did they or we know...

Miller's Crossing (1990)

Authentic slang

[9/10 · 15 April 2022]

There's a lot of good things about this movie, but I just want to highlight that the writers, the Coen brothers, were sensible enough to use language, idioms and slang, appropriate to the times (the 1920s) and to the underworld that was its setting. Just a few examples: yegg, feeling daffy, to "queer" something. There were others, but I didn't keep a running tab though I wish I had for the purpose of this review. When a film is free of anachronisms in the setting or any other element, a viewer can settle into the cinematic experience without distraction and annoyance and be transported into the world the actors and director have created. This quality is rare in movies, but Miller's Crossing has it.

Summer Magic (1963)

Even Hayley's Mother Didn't Like This

[4/10 · 3 April 2022]

This is one of Hayley Mills's sorriest movies. It reeks of phony nostalgia. Worst of all, it has no plot. What is the point of this movie other than to stupefy the audience into longing for "good ol' days" that never existed? Hayley's mother, Mary Hayley Bell, wrote a scathing letter to Walt Disney about this film. She thought her daughter deserved better, and she did. I will say Michael J. Pollard put in a good effort, which is admirable. Burl Ives was creepy, as usual.

The Childhood of a Leader (2015)

Gripping but flawed

[7/10 · 19 August 2021]

This movie had my full attention. The last ten minutes, however, were a letdown. Those responsible for the script/direction did not make a strong case for the tyrant child, Prescott, evolving into a (presumably) despotic leader. The final part could also have benefited from a clearer expose of what kind of leader he had become (charismatic, apparently from the size of the crowd, but not much else). Also casting Robert Pattinson in the two roles---I wonder if anyone at the end said, "Wait, the reporter guy became a dictator? I thought the kid was supposed to." Though the ending was disappointing, I don't regret spending the two-hour viewing time.

The Florida Project (2017)

Brats and Adults Run Wild

[6/10 · 26 July 2021]

Tagging along with a group of kids is basically what 90 percent of this movie is. And while I "heh-hehed" at a few of the kids' lines, mostly I was annoyed with their bratty cracks. It just got a bit much. I am not a person who needs big drama to feel engaged in a film, but I was hoping for some in this movie, like maybe an alligator grabbing a child or two into a lake. That would have felt very satisfying.

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Unappreciated in Its Day

[8/10 · 5 July 2021]

It's hard to believe that this movie got zilch Academy Award nominations. "Sayonara" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai" were the top nominees and winners, which just shows you the mentality of the U. S. in the late 1950s. I've read that the movie-going public could not handle seeing their favorite leading men, Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, playing heavies. Fortunately, we've moved from this naivete so that this film now gets the recognition it is due. Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster give stellar performances. I like Susan Harrison too. You might have wondered, like me, how it is you've never seen her in other movies. She retired from acting in 1963, just six years after this movie was made. Clifford Odets contributed to the screenplay, and it's he we can probably thank for much of the hard-boiled dialogue. It sounds tough, but not illiterate. You have the crooked cop say, "Come back, Sidney, I want to chastise you" and the cigarette girl uses the word "Consequently," but it all somehow sounds believable. The direction by. Alexander Mackendrick (who also is credited with the screenplay in addition to Ernest Lehman, the author of the original story) is very fine. With effective camera work, this film was shot in black and white---I can't imagine it being otherwise.

Long Day's Journey Into Night (2018)

Conned

[4/10 · 21 June 2021]

I feel conned by all the accolades and good reviews this film received. It's pretentious; for example, the camera following a glass on a vibrating table as it slowly nears the edge, then falls ("ooooh," I said to myself, sarcastically). I'm not a person who needs a lot of action in a movie I'm quite content with lingering camerawork and atmospheric storytelling; character studies are more engaging for me than chases, fights, and explosions. Yet this movie, for me, was boring. The director/writer did not make me interested in the main character's search. Some love this film, and you might too, but be aware that you might be greatly disappointed, as I was.

The Queen's Gambit (2020)

Starts well; ends predictably

[7/10 · 29 November 2020]

The first four episodes are the most engaging. In the next two episodes, although the writers and director tried to make the chess tournaments and the lead ups to the tournaments thrilling and suspenseful, I thought they failed. I skipped ahead to the next scene a few times. The last episode sparked my interest again, but in the end, it was predictable and lacked dramatic tension. The last scene was a nice touch. The acting I can't find much fault with, and the early 60s cultural references in set design and music were on the money. Overall, I was mostly entertained, but I was not bowled over.

Tortilla Flat (1942)

All the sad left out

[5/10 · 17 August 2018]

This movie was made during the U.S. entry in WWII. Maybe that is why it leaves out the deaths that occur in the actual story of Steinbeck. The people in charge perhaps had the directive to make a light inspiring movie ("no heavy stuff, y'hear?"). I don't think it was in the spirit of the novel AT ALL. My low rating is based on the movie's lack of faithfulness to the novel AND the casting of Spencer Tracy in the role of Pilon. It was just not a good fit. Even if I could ignore the messing with Steinbeck's story, I could not watch Tracy's performance with any ease. It pretty much ruined the movie for me despite what I thought were pretty good performances by everyone else.

Hollywood Canteen (1944)

Fast forward to Carmen Caballero

[4/10 · 18 June 2018]

I was prepared for a lot of entertaining acts and a passable story line. The story line was so ridiculous and invasive, about a young soldier and his crush on Joan Leslie (played by herself), that this movie ends up being a big gobble-gobble. Some performance highlights are an aging Eddie Cantor (whose banjo eyes are not as cute at 52) doing a tired old his-wife-is-pregnant routine, an all-black singing group called the Golden Gate Quartet that I've never heard of but probably should have, a TERRIBLE number featuring Joan McCracken with embarrassing crotch shots and the worst costumes ever to grace the big screen (I am embarrassed for her), and a quasi-flamenco dance by the Spanish team of Rosario and Antonio. The one incredibly good performance was by Carmen Caballero. Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet do a small bit that is genuinely funny. I've also watched Stage Door Canteen, which is poignant and entertaining as well, and of the the two, SDC is without a doubt, the better of the two WWII-era morale boosters.

How the West Was Won (1962)

Extravagant Oater

[5/10 · 6 April 2018]

I saw this in the theater when I was 8 years old, with my clearest memory being how long it was. As an adult rewatching it, I can say length isn't its problem. The screenplay, script, and casting, and more are subpar. The movie, unfortunately, comes across as a deliberate vehicle for Cinerama and Debbie Reynolds, who hogs the first half of the film and is pretty unbelievable as a mid 1800s woman. A few past-their-prime actors, James Steward, Robert Preston, and Gregory Peck (the latter two looking older than their years) are the romantic interests. Likewise, George Peppard is too old to be the son of Eva Prescott. You'd think there were no young talented actors yearning for work in 1961 when the film was made.

In one scene in the film, Julie Rawlings, played by Carolyn Jones (who appeared the most authentic of all the women, with the exception of Agnes Moorehead as an early pioneer woman), cries at the prospect of her husband losing his life, but in barges Debbie Reynolds with her bad imitation of an old lady, ruining one of the few emotionally genuine bits of the whole movie.

Besides the big name stars---Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, and John Wayne, to name a few of the biggest---there's some hefty historical name dropping: "Sherman..." says Sgt. Friday's sidekick to John Wayne, to which Wayne replies, "Grant...."

This was an ambitious idea that ends up being squeezed into 2 hours and 45 minutes---actually less because surprisingly large segments of time are taken up with a static western scene and just music, and then there's the credits that also eat us some of that time. So, you are getting about 2 hours and 15 minutes of the supposed story of how the U.S. expanded its territory westward. It's pretty silly watching the California Gold Rush and the Civil War given such short shrift. My favorite scene was the buffalo stampede because a running herd of buffalo is awesome. I secretly wished it had gotten out of control of the animal handlers and destroyed the whole production company and put an end to this cinematic endeavor.

The Crown: Dear Mrs. Kennedy (2017) Season 2, Episode 8

JFK

[5/10 · 5 January 2018]

That was the lousiest portrayal of John F. Kennedy that I have ever seen. The director and actor obviously had no idea what the man was like---at least his public persona. All they had to do was watch some old videos to get it right.

The Hateful Eight (2015)

Wow, what a stinker from Tarantino

[4/10 · 21 December 2017]

When Quentin Tarantino bombs, he drops the big one. I am not an anti-Tarantino person; I really like much of his work, but it seems he's been slipping since "Kill Bill." His movies are getting stuck in a pattern of juvenile fascination with violence sans any cleverness, which his earlier movies had in abundance. I regret spending the 3 hours plus watching this, hoping something might save it at the very end. In fact, I actually didn't spend 3 hours---the last 13 minutes I fast forwarded. To sum up: this film is a waste of time, and to think of all the money poured into this.... Well, at least it employed a lot of people.