seeingbystarlight Reviews

Anna Karenina (I) (2012)

"I'm like a starving beggar who's been given food."

[3/10 · 12 March 2021]

This said by the title character to her lover, minutes before that crucial horse racing scene, in which she so painfully reveals just how hard she's fallen for him.

It's a line of dialogue which so describes their relationship in so many different ways, you almost don't even have to see the movie.

I've seen Anna Karenina portrayed three times.

First by Greta Garbo who plays the role with dignity and composure.

Even in the scenes of great passion with Alexey Vronsky, she's always regal and dettached even in places that demand her to be pathetic.

She kills herself not so much because of the affair gone wrong but because all she values has been lost. She will never see her son again. And society has permanently shunned her. She's made a terrible mistake. And now she can never take it back.

Next I've seen her played by Sophie Marceau, who plays the role like a tragic heroine. Fragile. Unable to cope. Sustained by a substantial amount of fantasy about her new lover. When that fantasy collapses, so does she. And she becomes a martyr. Killing herself when her illusions go up in smoke. Paying the price of living in a dream.

Keira Knightley plays her like an unhappy, pampered princess on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Her affair with Alexey pushes her right over the edge.

A short trip for her.

Everything from her swept up hair, to her jewelry, to her gowns which are always slightly off the shoulder, suggest a woman about to collapse...And then she does. Into the arms of an officer who accepts her love with a sort of bored resignation, as if he already knows where it's all going. No chance he loves her the way that she loves him.

To it's credit, the movie does a better job of casting Vronsky than the 1997 version. I never believed Sean Bean for one second in the role. This guy, while he's not believable as being in love with Anna, at least does a decent job of explaining why she's so madly in love with him.

Knightley infuses her character with a sort of insane desperation, which is obvious throughout the entire movie.

From her ecstatic embracing of the affair at the beginning, to her hopeless abyss of despair at the end, it really is all about Alexey.

She's the only one of the three Kareninas who kills herself because she loved and lost.

How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)

So how old are you anyway?

[2/10 · 5 March 2021]

The only reason I gave this movie two stars was out of the deep respect I have for the actors and actresses.

This is the type of movie you only see twice if you're forced to.

If you're on a plane and it's the only thing that's playing.

I saw this movie 20 years ago. I don't need to see it again. Even now it remains very vivid in my mind.

Stella Payne (Angela Bassett), the beautiful, successful mother and career woman.

Her best friend Delilah (Whoopi Goldberg) who's dying of cancer and in need of one last bash before the lights go out.

The excessively idyllic vacation to Jamaica. The too good to be true young and handsome Winston Shakespeare. The romance, the affluence, and the conviction that what we're seeing on screen is not what's happening. It's Stella's perception of what's happening.

Which when considering that she's a wealthy, forty some year old American woman in love with a poor, twenty some year old Jamaican man she met at a resort, might be a little squewed.

There really is no statement in How Stella got her Groove Back.

Indeed anyone would get their groove back after spending a few weeks in paradise being wooed by the perfect lover.

And Winston Shakespeare is a character so transparent, he only really works as a con man. Men like him don't exist. Not even in rom-coms.

Stella Payne is a character so formulaic it is at times quite infuriating. Angela Bassett's strength and intelligence are completely wasted here, as Stella who's supposed to be a smart and accomplished woman, throws caution to the wind, never acting her age, and somehow has it magically all work out in ways that are improbable and annoying.

Whoopi Goldberg is beyond wasted. The only reason her character exists is so she can die, offering sagely advice to Stella that's going to steer her in the direction we already know she's going to take anyway.

The main problem with the movie, is that it tries too hard to convince us that it's material is viable. It clearly believes that itself, and it expects us to nod along with it's little fantasy, while putting the plot on with a paint sprayer.

Even by the standards of cheap romance it's such patent bologna, I feel embarrassed for the for the person who wrote this.

I don't have a problem with age gap romances, I have a problem with stupidity.

Obviously the author needed her fantasy confirmed, by her book, by this movie, by the attention showered on her by the media and the rest of the world.

It's a shame that Terry Mcmillan turned her story into a best-seller, then had it made into a movie, six years before the bomb dropped.

If this had been a private tragedy, I might actually have felt a little bit sorry for the novelist. I might even have felt a little respect for her.

But the fact that she shouted it it from the rooftops, acting as though she found the hope diamond and we didn't, made me lose all the compassion I might have felt.

Don't worry, he doesn't die or anything. That's not the tragedy. Although, I'm sure, looking back, it's the one Mcmillan would've voted for.

But the name Winston Shakespeare speaks volumes about Terry Mcmillan's mindset. At least at the time.

The last scene says it all. When they're embracing and Stella is agreeing to marry him.

Oblivious to the bomb that's about to drop, while the audience is thinking:

I give them a week maybe less. (I'm practically quoting Roger Ebert here).

See this diamond? It's not a diamond.

And P.S. babe, we all knew that years before you did.

Soapdish (1991)

The Sun Also Sets will return after these words...

[10/10 · 3 January 2021]

I first saw this movie when I was fourteen. I thought it was great then. I still think it's great now.

This movie really is a classic in the way it depicts soap-operas. It's the kind of comedy that actually wants to SHOW you something instead of just being cute and funny.

And like The Paper, Working Girl, and others that have tried this sort of thing, it succeeds with flying colors.

Celeste Talbert (Sally Field) has just won her eighth Award for Best Actress In A Daytime Drama.

Glowing, in a bright red gown, Celeste accepts the honor, oblivious to the fact that her supporting cast hates her, and that she's just been dumped by her married lover Adam.

She cries on the shoulder of Rose Schwartz (Whoopi Goldberg), as she relates this news a few days later. Rose, her screenwriter, is also her only friend on the set while, behind the scenes, her arch-antagonist Montana Morehead (Kathy Moriarty) quietly plots her destruction.

Having had enough of being Nurse Nan (the villain on the show) and aiming for bigger and better things, Montana recruits the lust driven David Barnes (Robert Downey Jr.) who's the show's producer. And together, they go on a quest for Celeste to burn.

With this in mind, the two trump up the idea of "turning the country against her" by having Celeste murder an angelic homeless girl named Lori Craven (Elisabeth Shue) who turns out to be her dear little niece...and more.

The strategy back-fires. Lori turns out to be a great unmurdered success, and David and Montana have to come up with a plan B which entails tracking down and resurrecting Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline) who was consigned to hell twenty years ago after being thrown off the show by Celeste... following a passionate affair with her.

Bitter, miserable, and desperate for revenge, Jeffrey Anderson has spent the last two decades in a seedy theater-restaurant preforming Willie In Death of a Salesman.

Following a meeting with David, Jeffrey eagerly agrees to return to the show:

"You're giving me a chance!" He says drunkenly "A chance to BE somebody! I can get reacquainted with Celeste...And wreck her life...just like she WRECKED mine!"

They resurrect Rod Randall (Jeffrey's character) which proves to be a little bit of a feat since, as Rose Schwartz points out, Rod Randall was decapitated in an accident.

Jeffrey dives into his role, ready for some payback, and finds himself falling for Lori (both on and off the show), driving Celeste into a flurry of horror and rage.

Some insane antics follow. And finally Celeste does herself in by confessing everything. On camera.

The title of this movie in Spanish is: Who Laughs Last Laughs Best.

"I think I've said it all, don't you?" Is Whoopi Goldberg's last line of a movie which proves to be juicer than any soap-opera.

The Invisible (2007)

"You'll never be seen again."

[5/10 · 28 May 2019]

This spoken by a character who only has one scene in the entire movie.

Presented as low key horror story, but playing out like an emotional drama, The Invisible is a hard movie to classify.

Is it a love story? A ghost story?

The plot centers (quite surprisingly) around the relationship between Nick and Annie.

Nick is a confident star student with a bright future; Annie is a juvenile delinquent.

Her one redeeming quality is her love for her brother. And that doesn't stop her from nearly beating Nick to death one night because she thinks he reported her to the police.

From then on we follow Nick as he struggles to get out of limbo.

Annie, as it turns out, is the only one who can hear him...And the only one who can save him.

Having hidden his body, she's the only one who can tell the authorities where he is. The question is will she do this.

In the 2002 Swedish version, Nick dies in spite of Annie ultimately getting him to the hospital. She then turns herself in, and the whole journey we have just watched them take together is rendered, pretty much, completely pointless, in spite of the fact that the movie does a fairly decent job of depicting Nick's miserable life.

The flaw here is not Nick's death, it is Annie's depressing survival.

This flashy American remake corrects that mistake: Annie dies, having found redemption in her relationship with Nick.

But in trying to correct one mistake, the filmmakers make another.

It's true that Annie has no future. But does Nick? Really? Anymore?

The depiction of Nick's life in this movie is pretty much the same as in the Swedish film.

There's also an unwitting spoiled quality they were wrong not to develop.

It would have given the movie more dimension:

The juvenile delinquent (who is herself metaphorically invisible in the sense that no one sees her humanity).

And the bright and confident star student who, nevertheless is a bit of a brat.

Also the line "You'll never be seen again." is all but wasted here. It would have been more powerful if Nick had actually died.

Let Me In (I) (2010)

Eat some now. Save some for later.

[4/10 · 8 February 2019]

This is a fairly well done movie. And had the heroine not been a vampire, it could've been brilliant.

Based on a 2008 Swedish film with the vastly superior title of Let The Right One In, this movie is the PG-13 version of The Hunger the filmmakers didn't realize they were making.

Abby is Catherine Deneuve, her aging guardian is David Bowie, and Owen -sadly- is Susan Sarandon. And not a very smart one at that.

It's very obvious once you see where this is all going.

Deja Vu...All over again.

Of course that's not the way the story's told. It's told very tenderly, as if this were some sort of sad and sublime romance/friendship between two lonely twelve year olds rather than the ruthless manipulation it so obviously turns out to be.

The fact that Abby is a vampire is not supposed to bother us. The fact that she's responsible for the deaths of several people (including that of her guardian) is something were supposed to be able to live with because she's angel faced and lovely.

Human life is cheap. Other characters are expendable. And youth is eternal. For Abby anyway.

And to her credit, the lead actress does such a good job portraying this, half the time we forget who she is and what she's doing.

The filmmakers do too. Which is why this movie has a sedated, unrealistic quality. And it almost works, as the boy, the audience and everyone else gets lulled into a sort of dream. A dream in which Abby is not an unscrupulous seducer, but a creature who -some how, some way- has managed to remain a decent person capable of having a caring relationship all in the midst of self-serving bloodshed.

The fact that she uses her guardian to kill people so that she can drink their blood? Coincidence.

The fact her guardian is getting old, tired, and careless now, and was once a shy bullied boy, who felt loved by Abby, and now looks back with longing at a better time? Coincidence.

The fact that Owen is a carbon copy of the boy her guardian was, and is being gently groomed to replace him? Coincidence.

Except it isn't. And as the story progresses this becomes more and more difficult to ignore. Until finally the ending, in which they run away together (Abby in a trunk; Owen talking to her in Morse Code on a passenger train) confirms it all.

We're not looking at a boy with a future. We're looking at a boy who has become her new guardian, and as such he will kill, he will age, he will be replaced. As desperate and lovelorn as his predecessor, begging Abby "not to see that boy again" as he pines away for one last moment of love and affection before eventually allowing her to kill him.

"Eat some now. Save some for later...Eat some now. Save some for later." This is Owen. Unwittingly predicting his own fate.

Lovers of the Arctic Circle (1998)

Destiny cannot be denied.

[3/10 · 8 January 2019]

No. But it can be shattered.

In The Lovers Of The Arctic Circle (Julio Medem's would be masterpiece) that's exactly what we see happen.

Watching this movie is like watching two children use up a fountain pen they're going to desperately need for a memo, on doodles and frivolities, so that by the time they get around to WRITING the memo they can barely get two sentences down on paper before the ink runs out completely.

The movie's title -The Lovers Of The Arctic Circle- leads us to believe that the big denouement (when it happens) is going to happen in the Arctic Circle.

Yet Finland barely gets a slice here, and the denouement is not some sublime experience...It's more like a heartbreaking disappointment.

In many ways it's like a fairy tale with the happy ending at the beginning:

Once upon a time there were two children named Ana and Otto who met, fell in love, and we're able to be together because their parents also met, fell in love and got married.

As teens they became lovers, and were able to live together, and keep their romance a secret.

Everything's wonderful, everything's perfect. Everyone is in love. They seem destined to live happily ever after...

Until the shoe drops: Otto's mother commits suicide. Otto can't cope with it, and deserts Ana, shattering both of them.

They need to get back together, of course, but this never really happens, as all the material they needed for this reunion has been thoroughly used up already.

So that instead of their ardent passion being crowned with glory, we get a reunion that's nothing but a dream, a woman hit by a truck; her helpless lover's face reflected in her dying eyes with not so much as a word spoken between them.

You can't think of this movie without thinking of Sleepless In Seattle which succeeded in all the ways Julio Medem's opus failed.

In Sleepless In Seattle we see two people rising to embrace their own destinies.

We respect them. We cheer them on. For, although in the end nothing has happened, everything has happened. And we know their going to stay together.

In Lovers Of The Arctic Circle we see two people who are given a destiny that's like a gorgeous painting...then watch as they systematically destroy it:

Through a love note initiating a sexual relationship that wasn't ready to take place.

Through a grief-driven abandonment severing a connection they will never find again.

Through a reunion which will never really happen.

This is a story which starts out very well, but is ruined the moment Otto's hand touches Ana's thigh, and we see all the tension bleed out in the scenes that follow.

As the two of them neck shamelessly while they're supposed to be doing their homework. As the two of them make nefarious love in their parents house (Ana inviting Otto to her bed).

And where's Finland? At least ten years away, with all the ink needed for that being used up on trysts that should never have occurred. At least not then.

Their endless tiresome expressions of love (which they indulge in quite greedily) ruin the movie.

You want to slap them into some sort of reality. You want to tell them that Finland, not now is the time to pursue this.

In the end we don't respect these star crossed lovers, we dislike them, and have contempt for their stupidity in treating their relationship like a boomerang.

That being said, you really can't blame the critics for praising the story. It really is a technically superior plotline. But one that's ruined very early on.

It's not them hiding their love from their parents that offends me, it's the fact that the did not also have the discipline to hide their love from each other.

Everything meant for Finland gets wasted on a teenage love affair

And so, they're like two spoiled children who after wasting their expensive fountain pen on a doodle, fully expect to get another one to write their memo.

Not realizing that this it. There are no more fountain pens. It's over. Except for one or two lines, they will never write their fateful memo.

Sea of Love (1989)

Silver Moons. A Lifetime Of Junes. Old Rock Tunes.

[10/10 · 15 November 2018]

This is the Lonely Hearts Column... Where dozens of heartsick, unhappy men place adds in the paper, in the hopes that, while blindly fishing around, they will find the love of their lives.

This is where New York's latest serial killer finds her victims. And after a drink and a dance, and an hour in bed, kills them with a shotgun to the tune of Phillip Baptiste's "Sea of Love".

Partial to poetry, she preys on those unlucky enough to have a talent for making words rhyme.

Twenty years after joining the Manhattan Police Force, Detective Frank Keller (Al Pacino) is a soul not unlike the poets in the classifieds.

He's divorced. His best friend has married his ex wife, and they have since ceased to be friends, there being instead a sort of muted hostility between them (which one night erupts into a fist fight).

He also drinks too much, calls his ex wife at odd hours to tell her he has an ulcer (an obvious lie), and is utterly alone with the exception of his father who has one foot in the grave.

It is then that the strange case of the date murderer falls into his lap, and he meets Queens Detective Sherman Touhey (a spectacular John Goodman), who also has a dead guy shot in the head with an M.O similar to the killer Frank is investigating.

The two team up, become friends, and Sherman invites Frank to his daughter's wedding which is where Frank comes up with an idea to catch the crafty she-devil:

"We put our OWN add in the paper." he says.

The idea being that they will take the women who respond to a restaurant, have a cop pose as the waiter, bag the glasses, then (as soon as they come up with a set of prints to match those left at the crime scene) WHAM! They know they've got their girl.

"I love it." Sherman says laughing "It's **** but I love it."

The lieutenant also laughs about it (offering to set Frank up with his sister in law) but finally agrees after a third victim is found dead.

The add/poetry subplot gives the story the opportunity to lighten up a bit, and what happens next is truly funny:

We see Frank going on a series of disastrous dates with women who are either desperate or don't want to have anything to do with him.

The most cutting (and the coldest) is a woman named Helen Cruger (Ellen Barkin) who wears a bored expression as Frank talks.

"Wine OK miss?" Sherman asks. (He's posing as the waiter).

She nods. But doesn't touch the glass.

Desperate to get fingerprints, Frank raises his own glass, suggesting they have a "Happy Hunting Toast."

Helen refuses, shaking her head.

"I believe in animal attraction. I believe in love at first sight. I believe in THIS." she snaps her fingers "And I just don't feel it with you."

She then walks out of the restaurant, leaving Frank bewildered.

The following night however, he runs into her at the store buying produce.

"How quickly we forget." she says.

"No, I don't forget YOU. You're miss animal attraction right? Love at first sight?"

Then she asks "Still want to go have that Happy Hunting Toast?"

This is how their relationship begins. A potentially dangerous one since Frank has no confirmation she's NOT the killer.

And over the objections of Sherman (by now his best friend) Frank spends the night with her.

But as the romance progresses, Helen begins to look more and more suspicious...

The plot may seem predictable (maybe even a little dreadful). However, the story has a surprise twist ending, and you'll never guess where the suspense is all going.

This is truly one of Pacino's best roles. He's terrific in this, as is the classy Ellen Barkin.

John Goodman injects the story with a lot of humor without which it wouldn't have been as good.

This is a terrific, surprising movie. Worth the time it takes to watch.

Queen of the Damned (2002)

When The ldea Of Eternity Becomes Momentarily Unbearable...

[4/10 · 17 October 2018]

Queen of the Damned has been a complicated film to me ever since I saw it at age 16 when it was first released in 2002.

On the one hand it's a very sad Swan Song for Aaliyah whose role as Akasha doesn't do her any favors, and who should have never taken it to begin with. She was dazzling as Trish O'Day playing opposite Jet Li in Romeo Must Die. And she should have just left it at that.

On the other hand, we have the vastly superior performance of Stuart Townsend over Tom Cruise as Lestat (Tom Cruise is an incredible actor but Lestat just doesn't suit him at all), as well as a relationship no one cares to comment on...

A relationship which effectively ends any future he might have with the titular character before it's even had a chance to start.

It's all there, in the synopsis, for anyone to read:

Lestat, a vampire, reinvents himself as a rockstar, awakens Akasha the Queen of the Damned, and catches the eye of a beautiful young London woman named Jesse (Marguerite Moreau) who falls passionately in love with him.

Yet the critics, for some reason, have decided to ignore this one little detail: Roger Ebert skips the relationship all together, focusing instead on there possibly being more to his association with Marius (Vincent Perez). Still another reviewer from the San Francisco Chronicle chops it up to Lestat's "seduction of a librarian" as if Jesse Reeves were an extra he had a fling with in passing, instead of a driving force to be reckoned with throughout the story...

A story which is extremely low on suspense once we see where it's all going. That Jesse Reeves is responsible for cancelling out a lot of that suspense is something that seems to have been lost on people.

That's probably because they choose to see her as just another groupie, instead of a character who eclipses any enchantment Akasha might have in the eyes of Lestat...albeit on a subliminal level.

Marguerite Moreau is good here. She has a poise and solemnity which make it believable that her obsession with him (which will take over her entire life) is rooted in something deeper than contemptible rockstar erotomania. The fact that he reciprocates--that there's an actual attraction between them--gives the plot it's edge while, at the same time, spoiling Akasha's entrance.

It's the only part of the story that's interesting, and it's a part of the story people callously chose to ignore.

It makes you wonder if anybody was actually watching the movie.

The Mephisto Waltz (1971)

"I want Myles. Whoever he is."

[2/10 · 2 August 2018]

This is a disturbing tale of poisoned love.

But the movie is a collosal disappointment.

I've read Fred Mustard Stewart's terrific novel.

And although the movie (to it's credit) stays very faithful to the source material, the casting, and an incredibly poor script, deal a death blow to the film adaptation.

The plot revolves around Myles Clarkson (Alan Alda), a failed musician-turned-journalist, who, still longing for his piano playing days, lands an interview with famous pianist Duncan Ely (Curd Jurgens) who at first is very hostile til he notices Myles hands.

This is an important detail.

One the audience needs to keep in mind...

Because once this detail is noticed, Ely does a complete one eighty, and along with his daughter Roxanne (Barbara Parkins), proceeds to woo Myles with dinners, presents, offers of friendship.

And, of course, free use of his piano.

Myles is swept up. Overwhelmed.

Completely lost in their glamorous thrall.

His wife Paula (Jacqueline Bisset) is suspicious, and has every right to be. There's something not quite right about this couple.

And as the plot progresses, we learn what it is.

And when we do, we're not really all that shocked.

Is it any surprise that Ely and Roxanne have been having an incestous affair?

Is it any surprise that they're Satanists?

Is it any surprise that Myles has been seduced completely?

The story really is terrific.

With an ending that's as disturbing as Paula's insane love for her husband which causes her to overlook the fact that he murdered their daughter as part of a deal with Satan and Ely.

All of this, the novel conveys brilliantly.

The problem is the movie doesn't at all.

Not only does fail to convey Paula's enamourment with Myles, it also grossly miscasts the characters.

Paula's obsession with Myles is never conveyed well in the script.

Roxanne (a femme fatale in the novel) has been reduced here, to a weak, trembling waiffe.

And Alan Alda is a good actor. He's just not good for this. He has no sex appeal, making it ridiculous that women like Paula and Roxanne are getting into a cat fight over him.

It's a little bit like them getting into a cat fight over Woody Allen... only worse: With Woody Allen it's hysterical; with Alan Alda, it's just plain stupid.

Acrimony (2018)

"So...do YOU think you have an anger problem?"

[8/10 · 31 July 2018]

So asks an unseen therapist in Tyler Perry's Acrimony, as we see Melinda (Taraji P Henson), open up about her husband, her life, and her bottomless pit of rage.

And as the movie progresses, we begin to understand the depth of this woman's misery, and despair.

The story takes us back 20 years, to a rainy day in college when the life of a younger, more trusting Melinda collides with Slick, a.k.a Robert Gayle.

Their initial encounter doesn't go well, in fact it's a preview of coming attractions.

Their second encounter, however, sweeps Melinda off her feet. Very sadly, as it turns out.

And when her mother dies, and Robert helps her through the emotional crisis, the audience knows she's completely lost.

Robert is handsome, Robert is charming, Robert is inventing a battery called the Gayle Force Wind. He's also a seasoned con artist; Melinda doesn't stand a chance.

When (against her the advice of her sisters), she tells Robert about the house, and the $350 thousand dollars she's inherited, things start to get very serious very fast.

He uses words like "Forever", he refers to her as "Mrs. Gayle", he convinces the reason for his interest is not her money, it's her.

Things also start to get ugly...

Robert doesn't ask, he suggests. And soon his suggestions lead to her buying him a new car.

After which he disappears, only to be found two days later by Melinda, in the arms of another woman.

The ensuing confrontation ends in tragedy, and Melinda is left unable to have children.

A large part of her life destroyed, it's hard to imagine her ever being able to justify taking Robert back.

Melinda, however, finds a way, and soon she's being conned into paying for his last two years of college.

He proposes.

Although not with a real engagement ring.

This, he promises, will come later, when he's wealthy, and can give her everything she wants.

The wedding is a sad affair by anyone's standards, and soon he's living in her house, unable to get a job because of a felony he'd thought had been expunged, and using every last cent of her inheritance on one thing: His battery.

His battery is his first love, his true love. His wife Melinda is just a way of obtaining it...

A human ATM machine of time, money, and free room and board.

And when Robert's precious invention forces her to rewire her entire house, Melinda sees the last of her inheritance evaporate.

Twenty years pass with Melinda working two jobs while Robert does practically nothing.

Twenty years, during which her house (her mother's house) is mortgaged.

Melinda's youth is gone, and a slow building rage has replaced her vivacity, and self confidence.

The money for the mortgage has, of course, all gone to the battery, as her cold, and ungrateful husband awaits a call from Prescott, a company that will help him launch it.

And just when we learn there's a foreclosure on Melinda's home, fate intervenes in the form of an old mistress named Diana.

Diana works at Prescott. Diana is going to be the one to eventually help him score his big home run...

And fate has another few bombs left in store, because Diana is not just AN other woman she's THE other woman:

The lady Melinda caught Robert with all those years ago. The lady who's unfortunate prescence caused the tragedy which prevented Melinda from ever having children.

We see the marriage go into it's death throws, and that's an overstatement since it was never really alive to begin with.

A relationship which should've ended with Melinda's hysterectomy, has been sustained largely through Robert's promises, and Melinda's wishful thinking.

But the final straw comes when after fire bombing her family's attempt to keep their mother's house, Robert turns down an $800 thousand dollar check from Prescott to sell his battery.

With $800 thousand dollars, he could repay Melinda's inheritance, save her house, and their marriage.

There's a moment in the movie when we all hold our breaths, hoping against hope that he will do this...

But we know our leading man far too well by now. Robert is ambitious. He's also greedy.

$800 thousand dollars is not what he has in mind.

And so the marriage is dissolved, with Melinda losing the house that she grew up in, and Robert waiting for Prescott to offer more.

When that happens, Robert shows up, at Melinda's office, bearing flowers, a ten million dollar check, and the keys to her mother's house.

This little twist is one of the finer ones in the movie because it makes something crystal clear, something which I will explain later on.

Melinda, having misinterpreted Robert's gesture as a sign of love and reconciliation, goes to his apartment to throw herself at his feet...

And this is where the death blow occurs, because Robert is not alone in the apartment, he's in the company of his fiance, Diana...

A woman Melinda recognizes all too clearly.

And from then on, she can only watch...

As Diana becomes the new Mrs. Gayle. As Diana gets the ring Melinda was promised, and (in a final, cruel irony) as Diana becomes pregnant with the baby, Melinda can never have.

And as Melinda becomes increasingly violent and insane, the audience knows, she has reached a point of no return.

It's isn't the yacht, or the designer wedding gown, or the trip to Paris that's pushed her over the edge.

It isn't the lavish apartment.

Or the in fact that she's entitled to $150 million dollars instead of only ten.

It's the fact that for the past 20 years she has lived on dreams.

Dreams of love. Dreams of devotion. Dreams of everlasting gratitude, and affection.

Money? What is that? Her mother's house? What is that? These things pale in comparison to the adoration she so desperately craves. The promise of which has kept her alive these past two decades as everything else disintegrates.

That distant promise is why she has held on year after year, waiting for Robert to materialize as a man of substance, and integrity.

He never does, of course. That's the big punch line.

That's what's made Melinda's life into a sick, collosal joke.

There are three things that make this movie worth watching:

One: Ms. Henson's performance.

Her transformation from an innocent victim to a ruthless destroyer is a joy to watch, it having been executed with very few flaws, none of which are her fault. And the words/definitions used to describe that transformation, really are excellent.

Two: The prescence of THE other woman, (archrival Diana). This explains Melinda's hopeless descent into psychosis. Although I don't agree with how the character of Diana was portrayed, I do agree with the character herself.

Three: The twist of the 10 million dollar check. This shows more than anything else could, Melinda's lack of interest in her husband's money. It's a a surprising little twist, and one that I really didn't see coming.

But there are three strikes against this movie which prevent me from giving anything higher than an 8.

One: Diana is way too sympathetic when she should be a gold digging snake. In my scenario she helps Robert with Prescott, then steals him away from Melinda, knowing that by helping him, she will, eventually, marry into his money.

Two: Melinda is a raving maniac toward the end, when she should be calmer, and more calculating. It's the one part of her transformation I don't agree with. Portraying her as a smart woman doing an incredibly stupid thing.

Three: Robert's survival. I agree that Melinda should die. Her life is over. But why should Robert be allowed to live? He's the villain.

They try to make him Michael Douglas in Fatal Attraction but the strategy backfires: If he's Michael Douglas to Melinda's Glenn Close, he's not the man who's been lying, cheating and stealing year after year.

I will never see Acrimony again, but it's a poignant, and powerful movie. Worth watching. Even if it's only once.

Good Will Hunting (1997)

"Sorry, I had to go see about a girl."

[10/10 · 30 July 2018]

Good Will Hunting is an impressive movie on many levels not the least of which is the screenplay written by it's two young actors. One of the best scripts ever to be put on film.

The story revolves around Will Hunting (Matt Damon) an orphan from South Boston who spends his nights bar hopping with his friend Chuckie Sullivan (Ben Affleck), and his days working as a janitor at MIT.

There, the illustrious Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgaard) teaches high math to his students. To challenge them, he puts an impossible problem on the board with the promise that whoever solves it will win the prestigious Fields Medal of which he, himself, is a recipient.

When the problem is solved within a week by an anonymous genius, the student body is baffled, and Lambeau sets out to find the elusive prodigy.

He erupts into Will's life just as the latter is about to be sent to prison on an assault charge, and convinces the judge to release the boy into his custody with the condition that he see a therapist.

Will is against the idea, and treats his first five therapists with utter contempt (providing some of the funniest scenes in the movie).

In desperation, Lambeau turns to Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) a former roommate with whom he has never gotten along.

With some effort, Lambeau finally coaxes Sean into seeing his new protégé.

Sean, a widower who has never gotten over the loss of his wife, finds this new patient to be a challenge, while Will realizes he can't play his silly games with this particular therapist, and either has to fish or cut bait.

Adding tremendously to the movie is the presence of Skylar (Minnie Driver) who almost immediately falls in love with Will, and is crestfallen by his inability to admit his own feelings.

Back when the Oscars used to mean something, this movie was nominated for nine Academy Awards, and received two of them which it deserved completely.

This is a movie that has depth, and meaning. There isn't anything that could be added or changed.

It's a perfect little jewel. Flawless in it's execution.

Originally, Review #90

Posted On: April 16, 2010

The Ladykillers (2004)

"Let us go back to God."

[10/10 · 30 July 2018]

Five merry miscreants: Charlatan Professor, Goldthwait Higginson Dorr (Tom Hanks), Jack-of-all-trades Garth Pancake (J.K. Simmons), a retired General/Donut Shop owner (Tzi Ma), Custodian Gawain McSam (Marlon Wayans), and dumb but adorable, brute Lump Hudson (Ryan Hurst); have all teamed up to rob Mississippi's hottest Casino, The Bandit Queen.

For this purpose, The Professor has rented a room in the house of the unimpeachable, and Godfearing Mrs. Munson (Irma P. Hall), a no nonsense widow of strong moral convictions.

Under the pretext of being "devoted and passionate musicians of the early Renaissance", the five thieves gain access to the root cellar, in Malva Munson's house.

With Gawain as the inside man at the Casino, they set out to tunnel their way to the counting room of said establishment, and rob it blind (while snowing the nice old lady).

Mrs. Munson, however is not quite the fool the thieves take her for.

When the men make a disastrous mistake which finally leads to her discovering the truth, the well meaning old widow gives them an ultimatum in an attempt to help save their souls which results in events that are catastrophic, brilliant, and totally hilarious.

This is the kind of movie that needs to be WATCHED. A mere description of the plot not nearly doing it justice.

The script and direction by the Coen Brothers in impeccable. The entire cast is spectacular (especially Tom Hanks, and Irma P. Hall).

The gospel music threaded throughout the story, adds tremendously, and always makes me want to see the movie again.

This comedy is realistic, funny, and completely original. A classic, and one of the best ever made.

So will the miscreants kill the widow?

As Garth Pancake is fond of saying:

"It's the easiest thing in the world."

That may appear to be the case, but God always has a few aces up His sleeve.

Originally, Review #45

Posted On: December 22, 2009

Something's Gotta Give (2003)

"If you were writing this, I'd be dead."

[10/10 · 30 July 2018]

"Some say I'm the expert on the younger woman...That's probably because I've been dating them for over forty years."

Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) prides himself on his many affairs with beautiful ladies.

As the movie opens, he's about to spend a nice long weekend in the company of Marin (Amanda Peet), whose mother, famous playwright Erica Berry (Diane Keaton), owns a beach house in the Hamptons which seems perfect for a romantic tryst.

The appearance of Erica herself, however, interrupts the two love birds just as their relationship is about to get serious, and along with her sister Zoe (Frances McDormand), descends upon Harry as he's raiding the refrigerator, and (mistaking him for a burglar) nearly gets him arrested.

What follows is a very uncomfortable dinner during which Erica is barely able to conceal her dislike for Harry.

"He says he's leaving as soon as the sun comes up." Marin tells her mother in the kitchen.

"Why? His car doesn't have headlights?"

The unpleasant evening culminates with Harry having a heart attack.

After Erica is forced to give him mouth to mouth, Harry is rushed to the hospital where he is attended to by Dr. Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves) who happens to be a huge fan of Erica's, and sets out to pursue her.

After a series of disasters which lead to Harry staying at a begrudging Erica's beach house (he's unable to travel), the two find themselves falling into a torrid love affair, from which neither of them will emerge unscathed.

This is a rare jewel of a movie.

Not only is it hysterically funny (it is that), but it also deals with a theme rarely seen in romantic comedies, which is that of two older people falling in love instead of the usual post High School couples we always see.

After all, there is life after forty.

All the actors are just spectacular.

Nancy Meyers does an incredible job making this movie. She's incredibly talented both as a writer and as a director, and I have yet to see a movie of hers I dislike.

In an age where Hollywood seems to be going down the drain, it's nice to know there's a filmmaker out there who still knows what she is doing.

Originally, Review #128

Posted On: August 18, 2011

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

"One hundred Nazi scalps!"

[9/10 · 30 July 2018]

Inglorious Bastards is a surprisingly funny, original, and fresh take on World War II.

Quentin Tarrantino has my everlasting respect as a director after he made Pulp Fiction, and no one else could've done a better job with this movie.

Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) has a mission:

To kill as many Nazis as he possibly can.

For this purpose, he has recruited a small group of soldiers-turned-assassins (later dubbed the Basterds by the Germans), to carry out his plan.

Among this group of incredibly effective (and unlikely) warriors is Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger), murderer of thirteen members of the Gestapo Police before being imprisoned, and rescued by Raine.

Also there's Sgt. Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth) known as the "Bear Jew", and Pfc. Omar Ulmer (Omar Doom) the most credible "Italian" during the reconnaissance of the premiere of "Nation's Pride."

"Nation's Pride" is a film directed by none other than Joseph Goebbels, starring Germany's most prominent war hero Pvt. Frederick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl), the movie based on his military accomplishments.

Frederick Zoller has become enamoured of Emmanuelle Mimieux (Melanie Laurent) owner of a small movie theater, which, Frederick has persuaded Goebbels, should be the site of the "Nation's Pride" premiere (which promises to have every major Nazi officer in attendance).

What Zoller doesn't know, is that Emmanuelle Mimieux is really Shosanna Dreyfuss, a French Jew who saw her entire family executed at the hands of sadistic SS Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), and having narrowly escaped with her life, has longed for vengeance ever since.

Meanwhile Aldo Raine, and his men (learning of the premiere), have hooked up with Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), a popular German actress who's also a spy working against the Third Reich. It is with her collaboration that they inflitrate the "Nation's Pride" opening night.

Little does anyone know however, that Shosanna has a stunning revenge plan of her own.

Everyone is terrific in this movie.

Brad Pitt is excellent (as well as funny).

Diane Kruger is everything a 30's actress should be: Beautiful and classy.

And as for the men who play the Basterds (as well as the men who play the Nazis)...

Everybody plays their part, everybody plays it well, and appears to be enjoying it.

One of the best (and lightest) World War II movies I've ever seen.

With a subtle depth of its own.

Originally Review #32

Overboard (1987)

Arturo & Catalina

[10/10 · 30 July 2018]

Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn) is an obscenely wealthy, married socialite with nothing to do but languish in her large yacht, painting her nails in an array of skimpy bathsuits.

Then disaster strikes:

Joanna needs some additions made to her closet, and for this she calls Dean Profitt, a struggling, happy-go-lucky carpenter with four boys to raise, and no wife to help him.

After he's finished doing two days worth of work, Joanna complains that the wood is oak instead of cedar, and every carpenter who knows his salt should be aware that closets are made out of cedar not oak.

On these grounds, she refuses to pay Dean what she owes him, and when he protests, she throws him, and his tools overboard.

Dean vows revenge, but never dreams he'll get it...until Joanna has an accident, falling out of her yacht, and washing up on shore in Dean's tiny little town with amnesia.

And though Joanna's husband (Edward Hermann) is perfectly capable of reclaiming his wife, he chooses instead to seize the day, and go on a pleasure cruise with a group of starlets, clearing the way for Dean to get his revenge.

Bursting with plans to get back at her, he eagerly reclaims his "wife", and makes her the keeper of of his little shack, and the mother of his four rowdy boys.

He makes her sleep on the couch because of her " bad back", and insists that not too long ago she was big as a balloon, therefore she has to wear dresses that are hideous, and twelve sizes too big.

The story may seem predictable but it is, in fact, rather wonderful.

It's funny, it's bright, and it has a surprising amount of subplots to make it interesting.

There's even a legend about two lovers, and the sea which is where the title of this review came from.

The direction by Gary Marshall is excellent.

And the chemistry between Goldie Hawn, and Kurt Russell really makes the movie.

Edward Hermann really adds in his cameo role as the dissolute husband.

Wonderful movie. One of my favorites. Really a nice surprise!

Originally, Review #63

Posted On: April 22, 2010

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

Four Days Steal The Bridegroom.

[10/10 · 30 July 2018]

Thanks so much forJulianne Potter (Julia Roberts), is a difficult food critic, who's been best friends with sports writer Michael O'Neal (Dermot Mulroney) for nine years, without realizing she's hopelessly in love with him.

But when she gets a phone call from him informing her that he's getting married to the rich and lovely Kimberly Wallace (Cameron Diaz), she gets on a plane to Chicago with a covert plan to break up the wedding, and make Michael see that his place is with her.

"He adored ME for nine years." She tells her editor and friend George Downes (Rupert Everett), who -although gay- may harbor some secret feelings for her.

When she arrives in Chicago, she is greeted by the glowing Kimmy who is only too eager to make her rival her best friend, and within ten minutes of meeting Julianne asks her to be her maid of honor.

And when George visits her three days later (all her schemes are failing miserably up to that point), Julianne, on impulse, claims he's her fiance.

It's a lie that unleashes one of the funniest set of subplots ever conceived in a romantic comedy.

Rupert Everett, and Cameron Diaz shine like new pennies in their roles.

They are positively radiant, and give the movie it's light.

Julia Roberts is perfect as the scheming Julianne, whose actions get increasingly more desperate -and hilarious- as the story progresses.

Dermot Mulroney is very well cast as Michael.

He does a good job of conveying that he loves both women, and literary leaves the audience in suspense about which one he's going to chose.

Relentlessly hysterical, and charming, this is one of the freshest most original comedies I can remember seeing.

The ending (which in this case makes or breaks the movie), is as terrific as it is unpredictable:

You'll never see it coming, yet it'll make you want to applaud.

A stunning conclusion to a first rate story.

Originally, Review #153

Posted On: December 17, 2011

Always (1989)

"You're the reason I'm here."

[10/10 · 30 July 2018]

Always has a lot of special things about it, a few of which I'm going to name in this review.

It is these details (subtle as they are) which make it the gem that it is (although I don't think the fact that this is a classic is recognized by very many people).

A softer, more lighter version of Ghost, as well as a remake of a 1943 movie called A Guy Named Joe, Always is set in the world of firefighting, and daredevil pilots.

Peter Sandich, a.k.a Pete St. Pete (Richard Dreyfuss), and his best friend Al Yackey, a.k.a Al The Pal (John Goodman), have been flying together for years putting out fires in the forests of Colorado.

The only rift between them has been Pete's dangerous flying which also causes problems between him, and his girl Dorinda (Holly Hunter) who knows his number's up.

When the movie opens, Pete barely makes it back to the base on an empty fuel tank, stating sarcastically that he's been "a little rusty on panic."

Dorinda is furious; Al tries to persuade him that maybe it's time to quit, and get a job doing something safe like helping pilots get their license in a place called Flat Rock.

In what will turn out to be their last night together, Pete gets Dorinda's birthday wrong, and throws her a party, in what is really one of the nicest scenes I've ever noticed in a movie.

A young pilot named Ted Baker (Brad Johnson) just happens to be present, and falls in love with Dorinda even though she's with someone else.

The next day, after being persuaded by Dorinda to take the job in Flat Rock, Pete dies saving Al's life.

He then encounters an angel named Hap (Audrey Hepburn), who informs him that he is in fact dead, and that six months have gone by since his passing.

Dorinda isn't over it. Al isn't over it. And it's up to Pete to help them find closure, as well as give inspiration to a pilot, just as he was given inspiration.

The pilot chosen to be his protege is none other than Ted Baker, still hopelessly in love with Dorinda even though he only saw her the one time.

This makes things very difficult for Pete who can't bear to see her fall in love with someone else.

Always is an extremely well done movie. It's classy, it's funny, it's heartfelt, and sad.

It's a worthy Swan Song to Audrey Hepburn who is, in a sense, the movie's crowning glory, as the quiet and graceful angel Hap.

It's fitting that her last role should be as an angel.

Another thing that's great is the chemistry between Holly Hunter, and Richard Dreyfuss which shines throughout the entire movie.

Also, the presence of John Goodman, who gives the movie it's humour, and levity.

And Brad Johnson whom I've never seen in anything else, and was excellent.

I have great respect for Stephen Spielberg for directing this movie, and admire the script which he co-wrote.

One of the best things about this movie was how it depicted the afterlife.

None of these ridiculous dress-ups, and special effects disasters.

They kept it simple, honest, and to the point.

A really wonderful love story. Far better than the original could've ever been

Originally, Review #89

Made in America (1993)

"And don't forget...Hal's your pal!"

[10/10 · 30 July 2018]

This is the signature line of used car salesman Hal Jackson (Ted Danson) who's known for his banal T.V. ads, and whose placid, carefree life is about to be shattered by a nice girl named Zora Matthews (Nia Long), who's strong, independent mother Sara (Whoopi Goldberg) conceived her through artificial insemination after the death of her husband.

The movie opens with Zora storming out of the class room, after a blood test confirms that the man Sara was married to couldn't possibly be her father.

And after a sobbing accusation in Sara's shop ("Mom, before dad died, you had an affair!" To which Sara's employee replies: "Thank goodness this happened on one of MY work days!"), the truth is revealed to the agitated Zora.

Though Sara wants the matter of Zora's father closed, her daughter's curiosity is awakened.

And in the company of her friend Tea Cake Walters (Will Smith), she begins a relentless pursuit to discover the identity of her mother's donor.

When she finds Hal Jackson's name in the sperm banks computer, she is overjoyed, but there's one little problem... Hal is white.

Moreover, he has absolutely no interest in having a relationship with Zora.

But he soon finds himself having no choice, as a furious Sara (who's devastated about her child's father being white), storms in to the used car lot to yell at him, and an unlikely attraction sparks between them.

Whoopi Goldberg, and Ted Danson are terrific. I have rarely seen better chemistry between two people.

Nia Long is perfect, and Will Smith is -as always- great, as is a surprising Jennifer Tilly, who does an outstanding job as Hal's girlfriend Stacy.

This is a movie which restores one's faith in the inherent goodness of people. And in humanity as a whole.

It's a real rarity. One I hope will be appreciated as time goes on.

Originally, Review #144

Posted On: November 26, 2011

One Fine Day (1996)

Peter Pan Complex; Captain Hook Complex.

[9/10 · 30 July 2018]

Jack Taylor (George Clooney), and Melanie Parker (Michelle Pfeiffer), are two divorced parents about to have the worst day of their lives.

Melanie, an architect, is the mother of five year old Sammy (Alex D. Linz) who has both a school field trip, and a soccer game on the day his mother has to give the most important presentation of her career which could mean a promotion...or the loss of her job.

Jack, a newspaper columnist, is having some career troubles himself.

On the morning of the day he has to focus all his energy on getting a story confirmed, or getting fired, his ex-wife drops by, telling him he has to watch their five year old daughter Maggie (Mae Whitman) since she's going on her honeymoon with her new husband, and can't find anyone else to care for the child.

Maggie is Sammy's classmate, and -like him- is anxious to get to the field trip.

Which is how Jack and Melanie meet...

Arriving late for a field trip their children cannot attend, having missed the boat by a very few minutes (which Melanie blames on Jack, and counters with an upset involving the class goldfish).

This is the first of a series of disasters which make us wonder how the quartet make it through the day alive.

As for Melanie, and Jack, they hate each other, but begrudgingly grow to depend on each other as their phones get accidentally switched, and no one is willing to care for the children during the hours that could make, or break their careers.

Add to that, the rain. Maggie's tendency to wander (which she does). And Sammy's tendency to put things up his nose (which, of course, he does).

What makes this movie enjoyable, however, is the obvious attraction that exists between the two frazzled struggling parents, and which smolders throughout the story, promising to, ultimately, burst into flame.

Also, the presence of Amanda Peet, Charles Durning, Holland Taylor, and Ellen Green, add humour and dynamic to the story.

What's reassuring about it -and what a story like this is really here to remind us of- is that everything will be alright in the end, no matter how bad things look at any given moment.

Originally, Review #143

Posted On: November 24, 2011

Only You (1994)

A Date With Destiny.

[8/10 · 30 July 2018]

Since childhood, the ingenious, hopelessly romantic Faith Corvatch has dreamed of finding her soulmate.

She consults a Ouija Board to learn his name (which the contraption claims is DAMON BRADLEY), and later even goes to a fortuneteller to have his existence confirmed.

But, as time wears on, her hope of finding him fades to nothing, and so she settles for a Pediatrist, and is a week away from marrying him when something incredible happens...

While trying on her wedding gown in the company of her best friend, and sister in law, Kate (Bonnie Hunt), Faith gets a telephone call from a man claiming to be an associate of the man she's about to marry. He's at the airport leaving for Venice, and could Faith please take a message.

His name? Damon Bradley.

In a mad dash, Faith drops everything, and rushes to the airport (wedding gown, and all), where she finds Damon's airplane just taking off.

She has never seen him in the flesh, and has no idea what he looks like.

Convinced, however, that he is her destiny, she follows him to Venice, taking Kate with her, only to find that he has checked out of his expensive hotel, and has apparently gone to Rome.

In Rome, the two exhausted women learn the name of the restaurant he will be dining that evening.

They go. Eagerly. Only to find themselves losing him again...then finding him in the form of a handsome, young stranger (played by Robert Downey Jr.) who claims to be Damon Bradley.

Faith loses consciousness, only to be revived again in the arms of the man she believes is her one true love.

They have a magical evening (indeed it looks like Faith might really have been right), until the man reveals -quite reluctantly- that his isn't Damon Bradley, that his name is Peter Wright, and that his motive for lying about his identity sprung from his being captivated by the sudden appearance of the beautiful Faith.

Furious, Faith rejects him, dismissing their brief romantic interlude (which Peter believes was real) as being the product of a manipulation.

She resumes her feverish search for Damon Bradley, vowing never to see or speak to Peter again.

Peter, desperate, quickly finds a way to stay close to Faith...by finding Damon Bradley.

Now it's up to destiny to decide how this will end.

Marisa Tomei is radiant in this role. I have rarely seen a more luminous performance by her.

Robert Downey Jr. is great.

Bonnie Hunt is perfect, as is the rest of the supporting cast.

Director Norman Jewison (In The Heat Of The Night), does an outstanding job with this movie. I don't think a lesser director could've done as good a job.

It's warm, it's romantic, it's original, and it's fresh.

Glowingly confirming that there are forces out there that are greater than ourselves.

Originally, Review #155

Posted On: January 4, 2012

Carrie (1976)

"I knew they'd hurt my little girl."

[7/10 · 30 July 2018]

These are the words Margaret White says, as she's about to stab her daughter Carrie to death, as punishment for going to the prom.

I have seen both movie adaptations of this story, read the novel, and can honestly say that if I had to choose a favorite version, I'd pick this one, if -for no other reason- than because of the outstanding performances of both Piper Laurie, and Sissy Spacek, both of whom shine like new pennies.

There is also the presence of John Travolta, early in his career, and Amy Irving early in hers.

Though not one of my favorite movies, this film does have something of it's own to offer. It's one of Brian DePalma's best, and will haunt you long after you've finished watching it.

What's striking about this story, is the rush one can get from pushing an already racked, and fragile creature over the edge...And the dire consequences that can come from that action.

Shy and mousy Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) has been the butt of every cruel joke since toddlerhood.

Raised by the fanatical and insane Margaret White (Piper Laurie), Carrie's home life is hell, and her school life is not much better.

Constantly demeaned and humiliated, Carrie is surrounded by kids who have no compassion for her situation, and do everything they can to make it worse...

That is until pretty and popular Sue Snell (Amy Irving), feeling genuine remorse for her actions, asks her boyfriend Tommy Ross (William Katt), to take Carrie to the prom...

But there are certain others in the group, among them Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen), and Billy Nolan (John Travolta), who see this prom night as a perfect opportunity to do some mischief with an appalling stunt...not knowing it'll be the one that kills them.

And not even the caring, and compassionate Miss Collins (Betty Buckley) can stop things now.

People say Carrie's gifts are evil.

It would be more accurate to say that this is what happens when mean people start preying too much on the weak, and the helpless.

Like a myth or a spook story:

Don't bully innocent people. Or powerful forces will get you.

Originally, Review #88

Posted On: July 23, 2010

Guarding Tess (1994)

"It's the worst job in the Secret Service."

[10/10 · 30 July 2018]

Special Agent In Charge Doug Chesnic (Nicholas Cage), is very fond of his assignment guarding former First Lady Tess Carlisle...as long as it's over.

The movie starts with Doug literally floating out of Tess's Ohio home after a hasty farewell to her, and her staff, and smiling all the way back to Washington.

Then, in his boss's office, the bomb drops that Tess Carlisle has contacted the President of the United States, asking him to please send Doug back...he's indispensable to her guarding detail.

Devastated, Doug tries to get out of it, only to be reminded that the President himself is asking him to do this...

"What if I say no?" "I'm going to give you a minute to think about that." his boss replies.

And 24 hours later, Doug is back in Ohio, taking breakfast up to Mrs. Carlisle, after just having ripped off the rosebud from the stem in her flower vase, as a way of showing his rage at his reinstatement.

Later, after Mrs. Carlisle feels the urge to play a game of golf on a snow covered winter afternoon, Doug decides it's time to lay down the law.

He informs Mrs. Carlisle that from now on, the Secret Service intends to do their job by the book which means, no caddying, no running errands, and no making snacks.

He's still bragging about straightening Tess out, as he sits in a pub with his colleagues, when the waitress walks up announcing a phone call for Doug which turns out to be none other than...the President who informs Doug in a not-so-pleasant tone that he is to submit to everything Mrs. Carlisle wants.

Chastened, with no other choice but to do his job, Doug bites the bullet.

But when the former First Lady is kidnapped, Doug and his subordinates go on a desperate quest to find her, resulting in an unlikely filial bond between Doug Chesnic, and Mrs. Carlisle.

This movie is a real diamond. Nicholas Cage, and Shirley McLaine are terrific in it, as is all the supporting cast.

Hugh Wilson does a great job -not just with this film- but also as the voice actor for the President of the United States.

Originally, Review #142

Posted On: November, 19, 2011

L.A. Confidential (1997)

There's trouble in Paradise.

[10/10 · 30 July 2018]

L.A. Confidential revolves around three cops:

Officer Bud White (Russell Crowe) who, as a child saw his mother beaten to death, and has been trying to avenge her ever since, as well as engaging in some illegal activities he feels bad about but can't escape.

Sargeant Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) who's father served on the Force before him, and was killed in the line of duty. Ed's dream is to measure up to his father, but his self-righteous naivete proves to be a serious drawback.

And finally, to quote yellow journalism, Celebrity Crime Stopper Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey), who, aside from his job, lives for being the technical advisor on Badge Of Honor (a popular television series which shows L.A cops "walking on water as they keep the streets clean of crooks").

All three men have their differences, and none of them get along, until a shooting at a diner called The Night Owl drives them to ultimately join forces, as they dig deeper into a case which grows darker, and more treacherous the more they investigate it...

And with the digging, come the other characters into the story.

There's Captain Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) who -by all appearances- is a pillar of integrity, but has secrets of his own to keep.

There's D.A. Ellis Loew (Ron Rifkin), who has bad appetites to keep under wraps.

And the wealthy Pierce Patchett (David Strathairn) who runs the very illicit Fleur De Lis: Whatever You Desire.

Then, there's the beautiful Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger) who belongs to a group of high class call girls cut to look like movie stars, and who steals the audience's heart away when, upon first seeing Bud White, immediately pegs him as a Police Officer.

"Is it that obvious?" Bud White asks. "It's practically stamped on your forehead." she replies.

All of them are being watched like hawks by Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito) a tabloid reporter who loves to uncover dirt, and has recruited Jack Vincennes to help him do it.

I have not had the privilege of reading James Ellroy's novel but I can say without hesitating that this movie does it justice.

Everything is impeccable, from the dialogue, to the settings, to the soundtrack.

Kim Basinger deserves her Oscar. And these are great roles for the lead actors (especially Guy Pearce who stars in the best role I've ever seen him in).

Kevin Spacey, and James Cromwell add tremendously also, but it is Danny DeVito with his blithely amoral outlook on life who is the shining star of the supporting cast, kicking off one of the best opening scenes ever put into a movie, and adding levity to the story, as he digs relentlessly for the dirt...

"Off the record. On the q.t. And very...HUSH-HUSH!"

Originally, Review #80

Pay It Forward (2000)

Kindness Between Two Strangers.

[10/10 · 30 July 2018]

This is what Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) comes up with for his assignment on his first day of Social Studies.

The assignment is simple:

Come up with an idea to change the world.

What Trevor conceives is an idea where instead of paying back the favors that are done for us, we pay them forward...

By finding three people in need of something vital -something they can't do on their own- and doing it for them, thus creating a chain of benevolence, and goodwill which hopefully will be perpetuated:

By the three people we've just helped, following our example.

With this in mind, he finds an indigent man (Jim Caviezel), and decides to help him out, giving him some money, and letting him sleep in his house for one night without his mother's knowledge.

When this first attempt seems to crash and burn, Trevor turns his attention to his diligent but but deeply sorrowful teacher Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey), who appears to have no one in his life who loves him, and who's face is tragically disfigured.

Trevor's mother Arlene (Helen Hunt), is a struggling young cocktail waitress in Las Vegas who's recovering from a long bout of alcoholism, and having trouble coping with her child's disappointment in her.

With a little maneuvering from Trevor, the two of them get together, and begin a relationship which, though great in the beginning, threatens to fall apart as obstacles block it's path.

Meanwhile, in what appears to be the near future (and serving as a poignant opening to the movie), an L.A journalist named Chris Chandler (Jay Mohr) is given a brand new Jaguar by a complete stranger after his own car gets destroyed.

Struck by this out of the blue event, he decides to investigate the matter further, which uncovers a chain of events eventually leading to Trevor himself.

Pay It Forward is a terrific, and refreshing movie which manages to have a little humor despite it's dramatic premise.

Everybody is good in it, and everybody seems committed to what the story has to say.

I was particularly impressed that the director was a woman, since not too many women are good at directing movies.

The ending is shocking, but is really the only good way to bring the story to a close.

Those who don't agree should see the movie again.

Originally, Review #75

Posted On: May 31, 2010

Three Men and a Baby (1987)

"Goodnight sweetheart. Well...it it time to go!"

[9/10 · 30 July 2018]

Peter Mitchell (Tom Selleck), Jack Holden (Ted Danson), and Michael Kellam (Steve Guttenberg) are three carefree bachelors, living out their lives as room mates in a trendy New York apartment.

They shoot pool, drink, party, date as many girls as they want, and live the life most men can only dream of.

But that all changes one sunny morning, when a baby named Mary is dropped on their doorstep, with a note from her mother addressed to Jack (he's the father), saying she can no longer take care of the infant, and he will have to do that from now on.

It just so happens that Jack is out of town shooting a movie, and it's up to Peter and Michael to take care of the frightened baby...which they have no clue how to do.

And to make things worse, Jack has gotten himself involved with a drug dealer thanks to his less than honest agent, and a package of heroine is delivered to the apartment, which ultimately puts everybody (including Mary) in danger.

Ironically, it is this disaster which ultimately warms the the bachelors hearts towards the child, in spite of how anxious they are to get back to their normal routine.

But when her mother, Sylvia Bennington (Nancy Travis) decides she can't live without her daughter, and is going to raise her after all, the three men realize they can't go back to their former lives.

Endearing, and very funny, this movie is refreshing in the wholesome values it embraces.

One feels better about the world after watching it.

Originally, Review #152

Posted On: December 16, 2011