Gideon58's Reviews

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This Boy's Life
Kinetic direction and a trio of powerhouse performances from the leads make a fact-based drama from 1993 called This Boy's Life well worth investing in.

Caroline (Ellen Barkin) is a single mother who decides to start a new life in Seattle with her teenage son, Tobias (Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio) and finds herself beginning a relationship with an outwardly charming mechanic named Dwight (Oscar winner Robert De Niro). When Toby starts acting out at school, Caroline decides to send Toby to live with Dwight in the neighboring town of Concrete, where it slowly comes to light that Dwight is control freak and an abusive psychopath.

Screenwriter Robert Getchell (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore) has crafted a story that had a surprising amount of balance considering the subject matter and considering the screenplay is based on a book by the real Tobias. We expect a one-sided look at an abusive monster, like Faye Dunaway's Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest, but we get much more than that. It was impressive that Tobias is not painted as an innocent angel in this story. He spends pretty much the first half of the film staying in trouble at school and lying to everyone about everything. We also expect Dwight to be beating the hell out of Tobias for the entire running time, but we don't get that either. Dwight's abuse is mental and emotional, and about control. Dwight doesn't actually strike Tobias until the final third of the film.

And this is the primary reason why this movie is so compelling. We see the potential for physical abuse and as every scene rolls across the screen, we find ourselves on pins and needles wondering how Dwight's need for complete control of his family is going to manifest itself. An almost Hitchcock-like suspense is created throughout the film as the viewer waits and wonders about what Dwight is going to do next and will Tobias be able to escape.

It's very smart the way beginning of the film firmly establishes that Caroline has a history of picking the wrong man. Even if Tobias didn't bring it up in his narration, it's Caroline's actions that bring this to light. I loved the scene where Dwight and Caroline get married...possibly the shortest movie wedding ever and during the brief shot of the pair listening to their vows, they both look miserable. Also loved when Caroline was telling Tobias about her plans to work for the Kennedy campaign but shuts up the second Dwight comes through the door.

Michael Caton-Jones brings the story home with in your face direction that gives this story a voyeuristic feel, but it's what he does with these actors that earns him the credit regarding making this film work. De Niro has played his share of greasy characters over the years, but he has rarely been more menacing than he is here, and does a lot of the menacing with a big ol' smile on is face, making him even more menacing. Barkin is nicely controlled as the tragic Caroline, but it is DiCaprio who keeps this film sizzling with an explosive performance that leaps off the screen. The work of these three actors alone makes this film worth the time.



Detective Story
With a three-time Oscar winner in the director's chair and a brilliant ensemble cast in front of the camera, the 1951 classic Detective Story, is a mostly compelling look at life inside of a police precinct that falters at the finish line with an overly dramatic finale that was hard to swallow.

An effective blend of crime drama and character study, this film chronicles one day in the lives of police detectives and criminals in the dingy 21st precinct, centered around a hard-nosed and principled police detective named Mike MacLeod (Kirk Douglas) who is currently in the center of three cases: there are a pair of burglars (Joseph Wiseman, Michael Strong) who MacLeod is convinced he can get to turn on each other; a young man (Craig Hill), who has embezzled money from his company, his first offense, for which he is wracked with guilt and the main case, a Dr. Karl Schneider (George Macready), a doctor who has been performing illegal abortions, that have resulted in the deaths of several women. Mike's one-sided view of the law is challenged forever when he discovers that his wife (Eleanor Parker) is personally involved with one of the cases.

This is a film version of a play by Sidney Kingsley that opened on Broadway in March of 1949 starring Ralph Bellamy as Mike and Meg Mundy as his wife and ran for 581 performances. It never really escapes its stage origins, evidenced in the entire story taking place inside the precinct, but it doesn't make the story any less compelling. If the truth be told, the claustrophobic atmosphere created here only heightens the tension of the story.

Though the story is populated with various criminal lowlifes, this is really an up close look at this detective Mike MacLeod, whose view of the law is strictly black and white. As the story progresses, we watch MacLeod learn that cases don't always go the way they are supposed to as a bribed witness (a fabulous cameo by Gladys George) compromises one case and everyone wants him to give the young embezzler a pass, a young kid wet behind the ears who knew what he did was wrong the second he did it. A reveal of Mike's troubled childhood offers insight into why he is the way he is, but it doesn't excuse a lot of his behavior here, and with all the criminals present, MacLeod definitely pays more consequences for his behavior than anyone else, especially in the silly finale where he thinks he's Superman.

The legendary William Wyler guides this story with a focused intensity, using his camera and the character of a frightened young shoplifter (Lee Grant) to let us inside this story and what these people are going through.

The film received four Oscar nominations for Wyler, screenwriters Phillip Yordan and Robert Wyler, Eleanor Parker for Best Actress and Lee Grant, in her film debut, as Best Supporting Actress. Unfortunately, after this role, Grant's movie career was stalled because of the communist blacklisting. William Bendix as veteran detective Lou Brody and Wiseman as one of the burglars also do Oscar-worthy work. Exquisite black and photography is the finishing touch on this classic that despite a corny finale, is still compelling screen entertainment.



Opening Night (2016)
Musical theater fans will have a head start with 2016's Opening Night, an oddball comedy with music that starts of promisingly, but gets sillier as it progresses to a ridiculous finale, though there are a handful of performances that might help sustain interest.

The film stars Topher Grace as Nick, a former Broadway actor who gave up acting after being in a Broadway musical that opened and closed on the same night. He is now the production manager on a musical about to open called ONE HIT WONDERLAND and finds himself having to put out several backstage fires right before opening including a bitchy leading lady who gets injured and can't go on; an orchestra member who says he can't play without being high; an arrogant leading man who is working his way through the female chorus members sexually; a gay chorus boy and girl who have a bet which of them can have sex with a new chorus boy they think is bisexual; oh, and there's Nick's ex-girlfriend, understudy to the lead who gets her big break when the leading lady gets hurt.

This film starts off as a pretty accurate look at life in the theater and all the insanity it entails, staying pretty much in the realm of reality. The problems start when the theme of the onstage musical starts bleeding backstage and we all of a sudden get these spontaneous musical numbers backstage, all one hit wonders, that spit in the face of the realistic backstage movie that began.

We sympathize with all the backstage troubles Nick has to deal with, but when the injured leading lady is given ecstasy instead of aspirin, the battle for the bisexual chorus boy results in a production number backstage (very well choreographed) and the understudy getting wracked with guilt because the producer wants to fire the leading lady, and when Nick walks out onstage in the middle of the show and starts singing, we're pretty much checked out by then.

Topher Grace does deliver a terrific performance as Nick as do Anne Heche as the bitchy diva, Taye Diggs as the gay chorus boy, and former NSYNC member JC Chasez as the show's leading man, but this movie just gets too silly to be believable. The best thing about this movie is that it runs less than 90 minutes.



Matilda
The bold and uncompromising directorial eye of Danny De Vito is the standout element of a bizarre comic fantasy from 1996 called Matilda that features some frightening imagery, unsympathetic characters, even if it takes a little longer than necessary to get to the requisite happy ending foreshadowed in the final act.

This is the story of a gifted and adorable little girl named Matilda, who was born to a crooked car salesman and his dim-witted wife. Matilda is simultaneously abused and neglected by her parents until she starts school, where she is befriended by a kindly teacher named Miss Honey and terrified by the school's sadistic, Neo-Nazi school principal, Miss Trunchbull. It's not long before Matilda learns that the anger and abuse she endures from her parents and Miss Trunchbull actually fuels the magical powers inside Matilda that will allow her to rebuild her life into something that will make her happy.

Nicholas Kazan's screenplay is based on a book by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) that messily combines elements of black comedy, fantasy, and genuine horror to mixed results. The story starts off as a loopy story of family dysfunction that eventually morphs into a black comedy nightmare that walks a thin tightrope between reality and fractured fairy tale. It seemed odd that De Vito chose to narrate the story as well, since he also plays one of the story's primary villains. The narrator should have been someone more distanced from the story. It was fun watching Matilda get revenge on Miss Trunchbull but her parents get off way too easy.

The standout element here, though is De Vito's unapologetic direction, rich with inventive camerawork, outrageous color schemes, and some first rate visual effects. This is De Vito's most effective work behind the camera since The War of the Roses, giving this film an almost Tim Burton quality in its presentation. Fans of films like Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands will be right at home here.

In addition to his solid work as a director, De Vito is appropriately smarmy as one of the most despicable movie parents I've seen, well-paired with real life spouse Rhea Perlman as his wife. Paul Reubens and Tracey Walter were fun as a pair of goofy police detectives, but it is Pam Ferris who steals the show with her over-the-top scenery chewing as Miss Trunchbell, though her scene in the middle of the film torturing a student with chocolate cake came off as so much filler. Mara Wilson, who was so adorable as Robin Williams' daughter in Mrs. Doubtfire is equally adorable here as the title character. This oddball fantasy provides sporadic entertainment, but never really provides the complete pay off it should and I'm really not sure who the intended demographic was for this film



Pacific Heights
Stylish direction by Oscar winner John Schlesinger and a bone-chilling performance from Michael Keaton notwithstanding, a 1990 thriller called Pacific Heights is hard to engage in due to plot holes you can drive a truck through.

Drake Goodman (Matthew Modine) and his girlfriend Patty Parker (Melanie Griffith) have sunk everything they own into restoring an old San Francisco house with two rental units. Their lives and their home are methodically destroyed when a slick con man who calls himself Carter Hayes (Keaton) talks Drake into allowing him to rent one of the units and is able to take possession of the unit, despite his never paying the rent. It's not long before it comes to light that he is not just a con man, but a dangerous psychopath.

The basic premise of the film is decent but there are so many inaccuracies and unanswered questions in Daniel Pyne's screenplay that it's difficult to believe a lot of what happens here. Just like Max Cady in Cape Fear, it was difficult accepting the way the law seemed to protect Carter Hayes through most of the film. It's hard to believe that the police cannot forcibly remove someone from an apartment who hasn't paid a dime of rent. When Drake goes to the door and and Carter's partner Greg, who Drake has never met, answers the door, that should have been grounds for Drake to call the police. And just like Max Cady, Hayes was actually able to get a restraining order against Drake. It's never made clear exactly what Hayes was doing in the apartment and no one seemed to care when Patty finally gets in the apartment and it's been destroyed.

Drake and Patty make their share of dumb moves in the story as well. No landlord on the planet would ever let anyone get into an apartment without the rent in their hand. And the fact that Carter refused to fill out the tenant application should have been a red flag for Drake anyway. That coupled with the fake references not checking out made Drake look like a moron. Patty was a little smarter than Drake, but her playing Junior Detective wasn't really smart either. I did like the fact that Patty was smarter than Drake.

John Schlesinger, who won an Oscar for directing Midnight Cowboy, shows endless style in his presentation of the story, filling the screen with equal doses of cinematic clues and red herrings that simultaneously pique and confuse the viewer. Michael Keaton is genuinely frightening as Carter Hayes, creating a character that does demand audience attention, but definitely not sympathy. It's impossible to accept a lot of the ridiculous directions this story goes, but the work of Keaton and Schlesinger also make the nonsense worth it.



Inception
The creative force behind Dunkirk and The Dark Knight is the driving force behind a bold and challenging cinematic journey called Inception, an effective blend of science fiction, corporate espionage, and star-crossed romance that requires complete attention, which doesn't always pay off, but keeps the viewer engaged because of an edgy story, effectively served by a sterling cast and state of the art production values.

This 2010 roller coaster ride stars Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb, a thief who, along with his partner, Arthur (Joseph Gordon Levitt) has made a very comfortable living by stealing corporate secrets by entering into people's dreams, a technology known as extraction. He has now been offered a job that could set him for life that has never been done before. A Japanese businessman wants Cobb to plant an idea into the dreams of an important CEO, process known as inception. Cobb knows the process, but is beyond the scope of his and Arthur's skillset and they must assemble an elite circle of specialists to pull this off.

Director and screenwriter Christopher Nolan has completely redefined the "And then I woke up" genre of film making here. He has employed endless imagination and eye-popping movie technology in making the concept of getting inside of people's head and controlling destiny through their dreams a viable concept. The story is given a more human layer as Cobb's personal demons come to light, revealing how Cobb's work has kept him separated from his family. Not long after the character of Cobb's wife (Marian Coitillard) is introduced, we're thrown when it's revealed she is dead but that in no way keeps her from being pertinent part of this story.

Nolan's attention to continuity is impressive here as the action switches with often lightning fast pace from dream to awake. Often we're not sure what is awake here until the abrupt cut to sleep (with a strong assist from film editor Lee Smith and often the viewer's wait to find out what state we're in is unbearably long, but it keep the viewer on its toes. The film is rich with visual images unlike anything ever seen. There is one incredible scene where characters are seen walking down a city street and the far end of the street actually unearths and folds itself on top of the other side of the street...absolutely spectacular. Nolan's imagination and the technical craftsmen he has assembled to pull this off work in perfect tandem to create amazing visuals that often legitimize the often completely illogical elements of the story. And you gotta love Arthur's fight scenes without gravity.

DiCaprio is solid, as always and works well with Levitt as his cynical partner. Tom Hardy, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Ken Wantanabe, Tom Berenger, and Pete Postlewaithe head up the supporting cast who effectively serve Nolan's vision. The film received eight Oscar nomination, including Best Picture and won richly deserved wards for cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing, and especially visual effects. It's a slightly exhausting journey for the viewer, but it's worth the challenge and a triumph for Christopher Nolan.




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Fun with Dick and Jane (1977)
Despite some contrived and dated plot elements, the 1977 comedy Fun with Dick and Jane is still worth checking out thanks to the wonderful performances by the stars that make the film seem a lot better than it is.

George Segal plays Dick Harper, an aerospace engineer who is abruptly fired from his job just as wife Jane (Jane Fonda) is supervising the installation of their new pool. Dick has trouble finding another job and the part time modeling job that Jane gets isn't enough to support their upwardly mobile lifestyle, the Harpers feel they have no choice but to resort to armed robbery.

David Giler and Jerry Belson's screenplay is rich with a lot of dated and predictable elements. It starts off as a relatively effective look at how the economy of the 70's had millions struggling, but becomes less effective as it starts to be a more cynical look at greed and what it does to people, taking some of the sympathy away from the central characters and the situation they are in. I love the scene in the Harpers' bathroom where they first come up with the idea for their new lives and the first few failed attempts at armed robbery were also very funny. Though the scene where they rip off a phony evangelist induces cheers, It was a little predictable that the finale finds the Harpers going after the company that fired Dick, which leads to a finale that is too protective of the Harpers.

Ted Kotcheff's direction is rather pedestrian and the exposition takes too long, but George Segal shows a definite affinity for physical comedy and, as she often did, Jane Fonda brings an intelligence to her character that wasn't in the screenplay. Mention should also be made of the late Ed McMahon, surprisingly smarmy in a rare film appearance as Dick's boss. The story is a little safe and predictable, but the stars definitely make it worth watching. Remade in 2005 with Jim Carrey as Dick and Tea Leoni as Jane.



The Four Musketeers
In 1973, moviegoers were treated to a sumptuous re-thinking of the Alexandre Dumas novel The Three Musketeers, featuring a brilliant all star cast and directed by Richard Lester, It was determined before the release of the film that it was too long and instead of editing the finished product, it was decided to divide it into two separate films, resulting in 1974's The Four Musketeers, sometimes referred to by its subtitle Milady's Revenge.

This film begins exactly where the 1973 film left off, as D'Artagnan (Michael York) is officially made a musketeer and has prevented Milady de Winter (Faye Dunaway) and Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston) from their plot to destroy the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward) and Queen Anne of Austria (Geraldine. Chaplin) you, and has also found romance with the Queen's dressmaker, Constance (Raquel Welch). D'Artagnan enlists the aid of his fellow musketeers (Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Frank Finlay) as Milady and Richelieu resume their plan, beginning with the kidnapping of Constance and Milady providing the kind of distraction to D'Artagnan that only she can.

Since it was originally part of the 1973 film, director Richard Lester and screenwriter George McDonald Fraser assume that the viewer has watched the first film and offers virtually nothing in terms of rehashing the events of the first film. They do efficiently establish where we are in the story through the multitude of players on this cinematic chessboard. One thing that made the first film so successful was the tongue in cheek approach that Lester took with the story, keeping the characters and what thy go through flawed and funny. A darker tone is utilized in this part of the story, but the characters remain deliciously flawed. Though the events of the first film are not rehashed, there is backstory revealed between Milady and one of the musketeers that is seamlessly woven into the story and remains pertinent throughout.

This film is a lot more than just swordplay. If the truth be told, there is a lot less swordplay here than in the first swashbuckler. This is a complicated tale of loyalty and politics, that is rife with a sexual tension unlike anything ever seen in similar films. The director and screenwriter makes no bones about the fact that a lot of this story has to do with lust and sexual debauchery and how no one in the story is above using their sexuality to get what they want. It's not overt or obscene, but it quietly simmers at the core of every scene involving Lady de Winter.

Don't get me wrong...this film does provide spectacular swordplay, impeccably staged by fight director William Hobbs. I was especially impressed by the fight on ice which I didn't see coming and the final showdown between D'Artagnan and Rochefort (Christopher Lee) literally had me holding my breath.

The cast is splendid, with standout work from Michael York, just as sexy and charismatic as he was in the first film, Oliver Reed as Athos, Lee as Rochefort, Frank Finlay as Porthos, and an icy performance from Faye Dunaway that makes her Joan Crawford look like Carol Brady. Big shout outs to cinematography, art direction/set direction and costumes as well. I also loved the final delicious touch of Lester's where, instead of rehashing the events of the first film, he provided a brief look at the first film which might effectively motivate viewers who didn't see the first film to check it out.



French Kiss
The scenery is gorgeous and there is some chemistry between the stars but 1995's French Kiss is a silly and illogical romantic comedy that starts off promisingly, but gets more illogical and more silly as it makes an overlong journey to a predictable conclusion.

Meg Ryan plays Kate, a woman who lives in Canada with her doctor fiancee, Charlie (Oscar winner Timothy Hutton). Charlie has to fly to Paris for a medical convention and asks Kate to accompany him, but she's terrified of flying. Charlie flies to Paris alone and 24 hours after his arrival, calls Kate and tells her he's met another woman and that he and Kate are over. Kate doesn't accept this and gets up the nerve to get on a plane to Paris. Sitting next to her on the plane is a sexy French jewel thief (Oscar winner Kevin Kline) who gets Kate through the takeoff and then hides his latest booty in her bag. Unfortunately, the bag gets stolen with not only the jewels, but Kate's money and passport. The thief, partially worried about getting his jewels back and partially feeling guilty for Kate being stranded in France, attaches himself to Kate while she continues her mission through Paris and Cannes to get Charlie back.

There are multiple issues with Adam Brooks' screenplay that are troublesome. First of all, why would a woman whose fiancee breaks up with her over the phone then get on a plane and fly across an ocean to get him back? Once she gets there, she loses her all of her possessions and still the only thing on her mind is getting this scumbag Charlie back? She actually locates him on two separate occasions and then doesn't say a word? And she doesn't seem to be the least bit concerned that she's stranded in Paris with no money and no passport. It was also troublesome that there were a few pertinent scenes where the characters spoke French and it would have been nice to know what they were saying.

Lawrence Kasdan, director of The Big Chill and Silverado, doesn't put a lot of imagination into the direction, outside of brilliant use of scenery in Paris and Cannes. I wish he had reined in his leading lady a little bit too. Ryan is normally a charming screen presence, but her irritation factor here is pretty high. We're forced to put up with a lot here, but when we get to the point where Kate is crawling around on her knees in a Cannes restaurant covered in chocolate cake, it's really time to check out. Even when she finally confronts Charlie, it just seems like so much screen padding, as we wait for this girl to admit she loves the sexy Frenchman who is responsible for her being stranded in France with no money.

Oscar winner Kevin Kline is undeniably sexy as the jewel thief and the Paris and Cannes scenery is breathtaking but it doesn't change the fact that an hour and fifty minute movie felt four and a half hours long.



I Wake Up Screaming
A love triangle and a murder are the primary ingredients of a slightly dated, but still effective little film noir from 1941 called I Wake Up Screaming.

Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature) is a slick sports promotor who meets a pretty young waitress named Vicky (Carole Landis), who lives with her over protective sister, Jill (Betty Grable). Frankie sees star potential in Vicky and decides groom her for stardom, completely oblivious to the fact that while Framkie has been showering Vicky with all his attention, Jill has developed feeling for him. Vicky even mentions it one day in front of Frankie and Jill, who vehemently denies it. A short time later, Vicky is found murdered and a hard-nosed police inspector named Cornell is convinced that Frankie did it.

Dwight Taylor's screenplay is based on a novel by Steve Fisher that features a lot of cliched dialogue and outdated police procedures, but the set up of the mystery is first rate. The film actually opens with Frankie and Jill being brought in for questioning about the murder as the story leading up to Vicky's death unfolds in front of the viewer through flashbacks of several different actors. And even when we get to the point where Vicky's body is discovered, all evidence pointing to Frankie and the movie is not even half over, we know that Frankie being the murderer is just too easy, but we really don't know who did it and the road to the answer leads to a terrific twist we don't see coming.

Bruce Humberstone's direction is dark and atmospheric and provides motivations for the actors that keep the killer's identity a surprise until we're supposed to know. There are red herring thrown in to throw us off the scent, but this one definitely keeps the viewer guessing until the climax.

Victor Mature's slick performance as Frankie appropriately anchors the proceedings and Betty Grable is surprisingly effective in a rare non musical role as Jill. Carole Landis is lovely as Jill and Laird Cregar is totally creepy as Cornell. Loved the "Over the Rainbow" theme in Cyril Mockridge's music, which really served the story. Yes, it has dated elements, but purely as a murder mystery, it still holds up. Remade in 1953 as Vicki.



The Laundromat
Oscar winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) anchors a highly theatrical look at a poison that could someday completely destroy the world's economy called The Laundromat that begins as a look into insurance fraud that balloons into so much more, though the viewpoint from which Soderbergh chooses to share this story is questionable, to say the least.

The opening credits of this 2019 Netflix film reveals that it's "based on secrets", which initially confuses the viewer but becomes clearer as the story progresses. Oscar winner Meryl Streep plays Ellen Martin, a widow who lost her husband on a tourist boat which killed 20 other people as well as her husband. Outraged by the settlement she received regarding her husband's death, Ellen begins an investigation that leads to a shell company in Panama, which was set up by a Panama law firm headed by Jurgen Mossack (Oscar winner Gary Oldman) and Ramon Fonseca (Antonio Banderas), who have been setting up shell companies globally, that all lead the viewer into stories revealing the ramifications of what these guys have done including murder, bribery, extortion, tax evasion, and human organ trafficking, and the eventual downfall of it all, which was eventually documented in something called the Panama Papers.

Scott Z. Burns' merciless screenplay, based on a book by Jake Bernstein, strips bare the tragic and sometimes deadly consequences of what these two lawyers are doing, but the approach taken here, specifically, that we're told the story from Mossack and Fonseca's point of view, completely forsaking the 4th wall and talking directly to the camera, with these two guys trying to legitimize what they were doing and making them look like misunderstood martyrs, which, of course, they are not. The pair are observed telling their story from several different locations, depicting them living lives of luxury while Ellen Martin still has not found any answers, a Panama businessman is able to set up an entire second identity, a West Indies millionaire can buy his daughter's silence with a shell company, and a Chinese couple begin a profitable business trafficking human organs. In some cases, the simplicity of what these people are doing triggers their greed and having them go too far. At one point in the narration, we are even told that Soderbegh owns one of these companies, which puts a real stink on everything we've seen this far.

During the final act of this horrific story, Soderbergh obliterates the 4th wall completely and pontificates on what we have seen, the most disturbing aspect being the fact that these two lawyers only spent three months in jail for what they did. It was also a downer that we never really get resolution to any stories, especially poor Ellen Martin.

Soderbergh was afforded a huge budget for this film, evidenced in the round the world location shooting and breathtaking set designs. Streep, Oldman, and Banderas are splendid, but we almost don't notice because the anger that this story instills in the viewer overshadows the quality of Soderbergh and company. Anger over the fact that Soderbergh doesn't provide any solutions to the danger presented here and the fact that a lot of what goes on here is still legal.



The Court Jester
Handsome production values, a near brilliant screenplay, and a 100-megawatt movie star performance by Danny Kaye in the title role combine to make the 1955 medieval musical comedy The Court Jester sparkling entertainment.

Kaye plays Hubert Hawkins, a carnival performer who is part of the crew for The Black Fox, who has been assigned the mission of caring for a baby who is actually the rightful heir to the King of England, who somehow survived the slaughter of the rest of his kingdom. Hubert and a loyal soldier of the Black Fox named Maid Jean (Glynis Johns) are trusted to get the baby king into the palace but the only way in is through a key that is in possession of current King Roderick I (Cecil Parker), whose interests are protected by his evil henchman Sir Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone). On their way to the palace, Hubert and Jean run into the new Court Jester on his way to the palace. They overpower him and Hubert pretends to be the new Court Jester as a way into the palace.

Jean is forced to put her budding romance with Hubert to the side when she arrives at the castle and is mistaken for a wench being sent to King Roderick as a gift. The story is further complicated by the King's spoiled daughter, Princess Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury) who is trying to get out of an arranged marriage with the assistance of her lady in waiting (Mildred Natwick) who has magical powers. The lady in waiting puts a spell on Hubert (which can be reversed with a finger snap) that makes him fall for the Princess and forget about the mission at hand.

Co-director/screenwriters Melvin Frank and Norman Panama triumph here with a clever and intricate screenplay, rich with amusing word play that redefines the use of alliteration in cinematic conversation unlike anything I have ever seen. I also loved the fact that the three primary female characters in the stories actually have brains and agendas that are independent of the male characters in the story. Loved that Jean is all about this mission, Gwendolyn is all about marrying for love, and the lady in waiting is all about self-preservation.

Danny Kaye still manages to dominate the screen with a performance that is a perfect combination of tongue-twisting dialogue and outrageous physical comedy. My favorite Kaye performance is still in Hans Christian Anderson, but he knocks this one out of the park too and it's probably his most famous performance and the love for it is richly deserved.

Sammy Kahn and Sylvia Fine contribute some terrific songs for the story that always enhance the proceedings, never feeling like time fillers. The score includes "Outfox the Fox", "I'll Take You Dreaming", "I Live to Love", and "Life Could Not Be Better".

Kaye's supporting cast is splendid, led by Basil Rathbone as Ravenhurst, a classic mustache-twirling villain. This was my first exposure to Rathbone, most famous as movie's most popular Sherlock Holmes, and the touch of class he brings to the nuttiness here is ingratiating. Johns, Lansbury, and Natwick make the most of their roles as well. The film also features spectacular art direction/set direction, cinematography, and breathtaking costumes. Paramount poured a lot of money into this film and it was money well spent. A classic movie comedy not to be missed...and don't forget: "The pestle with the poison's in the vestle with the pestle."



The Bad Seed (1956)
The direction is overly stylized and melodramatic and some of the plot characterizations are definitely questionable, but the 1956 psychological drama The Bad Seed is still riveting entertainment due to some squirm-worthy subject matter, the origin of criminal tendencies in particular.

Christine Penmark is a housewife whose outwardly perfect life goes spinning out of control when she learns that a classmate of her daughter, Rhoda, drowned and tries to turn a blind eye as evidence begins to mount that Rhoda might have been directly involved in the child's death. Christine's gregarious landlady, Monica, thinks Rhoda is an angel and never considers it, but her handyman, Leroy, has suspected that the little girl is pure evil, and makes sure Rhoda knows that he is onto her and will make sure that she pays for what she has done.

This story began as a novel by William March that was turned into a play by Maxwell Anderson that premiered in December of 1954 and ran for almost a year. Apparently, the play made such an impact that several members of the Broadway cast were allowed to reprise their roles for this film version, Screenwriter John Lee Mahin's adaptation of the play is probably very loyal to the stage play as the film's stage origins come shining through as the story progresses, but the story is so compelling and so well-acted that we never feel like we're watching a photographed stage play.

Despite director Mervyn LeRoy's melodramatic approach to the story, I still found this movie playing havoc with my emotions due to questionable character motivations throughout. LeRoy's direction makes it clear to the viewer that this little girl is guilty pretty early on, but the journey to the rest of the cast figuring it out is a little hard to believe at times. We get hints regarding the truth about Rhoda as it's revealed almost immediately that Christine lets us know that Rhoda doesn't have a penchant for lying, but her horror when the teacher from Rhoda's school questions her is so tell...that scene is so effective because the teacher never says outright what she believes.

The presentation of the Mrs. Daigle character, the mother of the victim, was also questionable. This should have been the most sympathetic character in the movie, but she isn't because in her two scenes, the character is drunk and it was troubling to me that a woman's initial reaction to losing her child is round the clock drinking. Her second appearance in the film where she directly confronts Rhoda is genuinely frightening.

Equally frightening is this little girl Rhoda Penmark...this girl is no dummy, she knows exactly what she's doing, what she's done, and knows that her mother and the landlady have her back. The only time she loses her composure is with the creepy handyman. Her mother's guilt about thinking Rhoda may have inherited her criminal tendencies from Christine's mother is simultaneously tragic and hard to swallow. Her guilt leads to a shocking climax that we don't see coming.

Mervyn does elicit some theatircal yet extremely effective performances from his stars. Joan Crawford look-alike Nancy Kelly, Eileen Heckart, and Patty McCormack all received Oscar nominations for reprising their Broadway roles as Christine, Mrs. Daigle, and little Rhoda Penmark, respectively. McCormack and Heckart are particularly impressive in performances that made by skin crawl. And Henry Jones' undeniable creepy performance has the s handyman Leon should have earned him a nomination. It's not exactly steeped in realism, but this unsettling story will definitely hold your attention. The film was remade for television in 2017 featuring McCormack in a supporting role. It was also re-thought in 1993 with a gender switch of the leading role called The Good Son with Macauley Culkin.



Where'd You Go Bernadette
Emotionally charged direction by Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Dazed and Confused) and a dazzling star turn by two time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett are the primary selling points of 2019's Where'd You Go Bernadette, an often squirm worthy black comedy wrapped around a character study that looks at passion, creativity, regret, and family dysfunction through an uncompromising cinematic eye.

Blanchett plays Bernadette Fox, an award-winning, world famous architect who gave up her career due to an incident at the height of her career and her marriage to a Microsoft engineer (Billy Crudup) and their 14-year old daughter (Emma Nelson). When her daughter asks her parents if they can take a trip to Antarctica, a request that springboards an up close look at Bernadette. We're somewhat amused as it's revealed that Bernadette is a hermit with a biting tongue who avoids contact with people outside of her family at all costs, has a medicine cabinet that looks like a pharmacy, erects billboards to keep people off of her property, and has hired a virtual assistant who is really a Russian identity thief who might cause Bernadette some serious criminal ramifications.

Director and co-screenwriter Linklater attempts to tell a balanced story about this hot mess of a central character that is not as balanced as it seems initially. The first half of the film presents Bernadette as this tortured martyr who no one understands and has been dealt one injustice after another in her life and we are not only completely on her side, but we are amused by her. Then the story looks at the story from her husband's point of view, with the aid of some initial backstory, including a serious medical crisis with her daughter and failed attempts at therapy. Bernadette's husband is certain she needs therapy and tries to sit on it as long he can because she'll have none of it, but learning about the billboards, the pills, and the identity thief, decides he can no longer can turn a blind eye. Unfortunately, his desire to help Bernadette is complicated by his daughter, who thinks the sun rises and sets on her mother and that there's nothing wrong with her.

Linklater puts painstaking detail into setting up backstory for Bernadette, through an authentic looking mock documentary about Bernadtee's career, which features cameo appearances from David Paymer., Laurence Fishburne, Steve Zahn, and Megan Mullally. it's a little confusing why Linklater spends so much screentime looking back at Bernadette's career. but it does turn out to be they key to all of Bdernadette's issues.

Cate Blanchett's tour de force performance in the starring role is Oscar-worthy and is beautifully complemented by Billy Crudup's subtle underplaying as her loving and frustrated husband. Kristen Wiig also impresses as Bernadette's tightly wound neighbor. As always with Linklater's work, it's flawed but watchable.



I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale
He was one of the most iconic actors in cinema history, despite the fact that he only appeared in five feature length theatrical films that receives 40 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture nominations for all five of them. Second only to James Dean, no actor with a career of such brevity was as loved, admired, and respected by those he worked with and those he influenced and idolized his work. The actor's brief but incredible contribution to movie history is lovingly chronicled in a 2009 documentary called I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale.

This documentary scores because it brings the viewer straight to what they came to the film to see: who this actor was, how his involvement in these five movies came to be, and how other actors felt about working with him. The movie only spends a few minutes documenting his childhood through his graduating from Boston University and moving to New York to become an actor. We understand from a practical standpoint as the film only runs 40 minutes, but I feel that director Richard Shepherd (The Matador) would have made the same choice if the film had been three hours long.

The incredible cross section of actors, directors, and playwrights interviewed for this film (and something tells me they all jumped at the chance) were unanimous about certain things regarding John Cazale...that this was a man who most likely had a painful childhood that he channeled into his acting, he was an actor who NEVER phoned it in, never did multiple takes the same way and always forced whoever was doing a scene with him to step up their game, that he said more onscreen with his large, soulful eyes than he did with dialogue, and that he was very, very funny.

Loved Richard Dreyfuss' story about when he was doing a play with John and invited one of the producers of The Godfather, to see the play in hopes of getting a part in the movie but he was more impressed with John, a performance that eventually landed him the role of Fredo. Al Pacino and Sidney Lumet share gems from the set of Dog Day Afternoon as did Gene Hackman regarding The Conversation. I was impressed that Hackman appeared in this documentary because I've never seen him in a celebrity documentary before. It was also quite moving how hard it was for these stars to talk about John. Obviously, for a lot of these actors the pain of his passing is still fresh.

News to me was the romantic relationship between John and Meryl Streep, which began when they appeared together in Shakespeare in the Park. Everyone in Cazale's life was moved by Streep's complete devotion to John right up to the time of his passing. Brett Ratner, Steve Buscemi, Sam Rockwell, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Francis Ford Copolla, and Olympia Dukakis also share their love of the actor and remind us that his too early passing at the tender age of 42 was one of Hollywood's greatest losses.



Begin Again
A terrific performance from Mark Ruffalo raises the bar on a somewhat cliched and predictable musical drama from 2013 called Begin Again that attempts to put a contemporary flavor on some well worn cinematic themes that turns out basically to be Babes in Arms meets A Star is Born via Let it Be.

Ruffalo plays Dan, a hard drinking former record producer who has just been fired from the record label that he started, and trying to hold onto a shred of a relationship with his teenage daughter. Keira Knightley plays Gretta, a struggling singer/songwriter who has been living with a rock star for five years named Dave Kohl (Adam Levine) whose career is about to explode. After walking out on Dave because he cheated on her, Gretta goes back to singing in dive bars and guess who's there one night and thinks her music is the best thing she's ever heard.

Dan believes in Gretta but he has no money to back up the promises he makes to Gretta so he actually organizes a band out of nowhere and arranges to cut an entire album of Gretta's music at outside locations like alleyways and rooftops because he has no money for studio time. Of course, as the final touches are being put on the album, Dave suddenly re-appears in Gretta's life and wants her back.

Those who saw the 2007 musical Once might have a head start on this one because this film comes from the same director, John Carney, who attempts to bring us something different here, but a lot of the plot elements just seemed to be borrowed from other movies. The first meeting between Dan and Gretta plays like something out of any version of A Star is Born and the creation of a band to back up Gretta was something like Mickey and Judy putting on a show in a barn. It was also a little convenient that Gretta and Dan's daughter, Violet, hit it off instantly. as was the return of the scummy boyfriend turned big rock star Dave.

What totally worked though and kept me invested in what was going on here was the charismatic star turn by Mark Ruffalo in the starring role. Ruffalo lights up the screen in an Oscar-baity kind of role that suffered from some uneven writing, but Ruffalo so completely commits to this character that he makes the audience want exactly what he wants. Carney's screenplay is a little vague about that too...the story seems to bet set up as a love story between Dan and Gretta, but their relationship never quite plays that way, and that includes the unbelievably corny montage scene halfway through the film where they're wandering through Times Square listening to each other's playlist.

Carney's direction is unimaginative, though he does make good use of genuine New York locations, though the recording session in the alley was kind of odd because, despite what we've been getting in Hollywood movies forever, there are no alleys in Manhattan. The original songs are nice though. Knightly was OK as Gretta, though I kept thinking someone else should have played this role, maybe Amy Adams or Anne Hathaway. Catherine Keener scores as Dan's ex as does Mos Def as his ex business partner, but this is Ruffalo's show and his performance earned this film an extra half a rating point.



My Bodyguard
A smart screenplay rich with universal themes, solid direction, and surprisingly effective performances from the young stars make the 1980 teen angst drama My Bodyguard, a story that moves into directions that anyone who has ever been a teenager can relate to.

Clifford is the pampered 15 year year old son of a hotel manager beginning his sophomore year at a new school. It's not surprising that not long after arriving for his first day in the limo that his father arranges for him, that Clifford is immediately harassed by Moody, the school bully who extorts money out of classmates who are small enough to be intimidated. Clifford's refusal to be extorted results him being locked in a gym locker, a situation from which he is rescued by Linderman, an oversized student with a questionable past whom Clifford offers to pay him to be his bodyguard. Linderman does defend Clifford against Moody, without laying a hand on him, but it's revealed that he refused Clifford's money and feels his work is done. Clifford then decides if the guy doesn't want to be his bodyguard, he's going to make Linderman his friend instead.

Alan Ormsby's screenplay is effective because not only does it not go anywhere expected, but provides a dead on look at the jungle of survival known as high school. We think we're getting a typical teen revenge comedy but when the expected scene of Clifford asking Linderman to be his bodyguard never happens, we know we're going to get something different than typical 80's teen fare. This story accurately documents the pain so many of us went through in high school, pain that can't be remedied by going to the principal or telling your parents. Also loved the development of the friendship between Clifford and Linderman, even if it's a bit rushed. The story even provides just the right amount of comic relief in Clifford's ditzy grandmother, who likes to pick up men in bars.

Actor turned producer Tony Bill who won an Oscar seven years earlier for being one of the producers of The Sting makes an impressive debut as a director here, accurately zooming in on the often choppy navigation of high school survival waters. Bullies get away with what they do because school administrators can't do anything without actual proof and parents calling the school to complain gets back to the student in question, most often exacerbating the situation and this movie brings that home. There's a beautifully shot scene where Clifford is chased all over the school climaxing in the theater, that shows real directorial skill. They don't call it "teen angst" for nothing.

Chris Makepeace delivers a real movie star performance as Clifford. He showed real promise as an actor here, but mysteriously his career didn't really go anywhere and he hasn't worked since 2001. Adam Baldwin's performance as Linderman has a quiet power and Matt Dillon impresses in one his earliest roles as the brutish Moody. Oscar winner Ruth Gordon garners laughs as Clifford's grandma and Martin Mull makes the most of his role as Clifford's dad. A teenage Joan Cuscack can also be glimpsed as one of Clifford's classmates. For a movie that's 40 years old, this film still is emotionally charged with emotions with which we can all relate.



Almost Christmas
Director and screenwriter David E. Talbert tries to go the Tyler Perry route in a contrived and predictable comedy of family dysfunction from 2016 called Almost Christmas that starts off promisingly, but consistently loses steam thanks to stereotyped characters, overheated performances, and a finale that is a perfect blend of melodrama and good old fashioned schmaltz.

Danny Glover plays Walter, the family p
atriarch who has mixed emotions regarding the upcoming first Christmas with his family since his wife passed away. His son, Christian (Romany Malco) is in the middle of a congressional campaign and even brings his campaign manager (John Michael Higgins) home with him; daughter Cheryl (Kimberly Elise) is trying to pretend her marriage to a former basketball pro (JB Smoove) is still on shaky ground; younger sister, Rachel (Gabrielle Union) doesn't want anyone to know that she may have to drop out of law school because she can't afford it. Throw into the mix Aunt May (Oscar winner Mo'Nique), the deceased's sister, who has spent her life on the road as a backup singer and Malachi (Omar Epps) the now grown neighbor who always had a thing for Rachel and has never forgotten her.

This movie starts off wonderfully, as we see Walter excitedly preparing for his family's homecoming, trying to overlook the memories of his wife everywhere he looks. One of the loveliest parts of the story finds Walter trying to recreate his wife's sweet potato pie with no success. But with the arrival of the family, we are thrust into all the typical scenes that we've witnessed in a hundred holiday family dysfunction movies...the two sisters who never got along, the impromptu dance scne. the touch football game that ends in a fight, and the know-it-all uncle trying to repair rooftop decorations. The only difference between these scenes here and in a million other movies is that the scenes here involve a black family.

Talbert cast some talented actors in the movie, but has many of them working out of their comfort zones. Union, in particular, seems really out of place in a role that involves a lot of tricky physical comedy, that is definitely not her forte. Malco, a known comic commodity, is wasted in a seriously thankless role that doesn't play at all to his strengths as an actor. Mo'Nique has been brought back to the sassy loudmouths she played before winning an Oscar. Glover is really the only actor appropriately cast in his role and it is his presence that almost makes this silliness worth sitting through.

It was nice the way the deceased mother remains a viable character throughout the story but it becomes a detriment after her secret box of recipes is found and the family learns that Walter is thinking about selling the house. This reveals plunge the story into an overdrive rich with corny melodramatics and way-too-quickly resolved resolutions to everything we've witnessed. Talbert and Glover try hard, but this one is just too corny and predictable to serve as viable entertainment.



Rushmore
Director and screenwriter Wes Anderson had his first commercial success with an edgy black comedy from 1998 called Rushmore, a squirm worthy coming of age story centered around what ism basically, an extremely unlikable character.

Max Fisher is a brilliant 15 year old student at a prep school called Rushmore, who utilizes all of his brilliance becoming the king of extracurricular activities and applying none of it to his school work. This eventually gets Max expelled from the school, but as he attempts to buckle down in public school, Max still has unfinished business at Rushmore that he can't let go. Primarily, a pretty teacher at Rushmore named Miss Cross and his friendship with a wealthy benefactor of Rushmore named Herman Blume, unfinished business that blossoms into a bizarre love triangle that moves in some shocking and logic-defying directions.

Anderson is a film maker who has never gone for the simple and uncomplicated and this film is no exception. This Max Fisher is a true movie enigma...it's obvious five minutes into the movie that this guy is teetering on the edge of genius, but he uses his genius for all the wrong reasons...his genius manifests itself in a constant quest for power, popularity, seniority and self-absorption that has him wanting everything on his own terms. Just about everything he says in the first half of the film is a lie and he manipulates people to is advantage even if he can't remember their names five minutes after he meets the,
derson employs his accustomed theatrical and stylized way of presenting this story, which takes a little bit of the sting out of Max's behavior, but not much. His obsession of Miss Cross borders on the dangerous, but she initially doesn't do a lot to discourage it either. Yeah, Miss Crown is no prize either...she does nothing to encourage the attention of this 15 year old kid or Herman Blume, despite the fact that she still has feelings for ex-husband. And Herman Blume, who is also married, doesn't display much of a moral barometer either, sparing neither Max nor Miss Cross of his very special brand of venom.

Jason Schwartzmann,real life son of actress Talia Shire, put himself on the map with his star-making turn as Max. Schwartzmann doesn't shy away from the negative aspects of this character and makes him quite riveting, and almost allowing the viewer to buy his semi-redemption as the film wraps up. Bill Murray received some serious Oscar buzz for his unhinged Herman Blume, though he was eventually denied a nomination. Brian Cox was also funny as the Rushmore dean and Seymour Casssel is lovely as Max's father, but this film primarily documented Wes Anderson as a director to be reckoned with.



Midnight Express
The recent passing of director Alan Parker motivated my long overdue first re-watch of the movie that cemented his position as one of Hollywood's most gifted and underrated directors. 1978's Midnight Express is a chilling and emotionally charged look at how a couple of stupid choices completely destroyed the life of a young college student. Those who have issues with the American justice system will definitely be quieted by this often unbelievable story.

On October 6, 1970 a young man named Billy Hayes attempted to smuggle two kilos of hashish out of Istanbul. but is caught just before he boards the plane for the states with his girlfriend. Billy is actually offered freedom by Turkish authorities if he agrees to lead them to the people who sold him the drugs. Billy agrees to do so, but during the sting, he attempts to escape and ends up being recaptured, which leads to him being sentenced to four and a half years behind Turkish bars, a consistent nightmare of beatings, torture, isolation, and loneliness.

Oliver Stone won an Oscar for his screenplay, adapted from Hayes book, which actually condenses a lot of what happened to Hayes, but still gets the point across...that point being that an American convicted of a crime outside of the United States, Turkey in particular, has absolutely no recourse but to serve his time. Apparently, the US State Department attempted to have Billy's sentencing transferred to the US but to no avail. After serving two years of his sentence, the real Billy Hayes was transferred to a psychiatric hospital to see if he could get released on humanitarian grounds, but that wasn't happening. And as his sentence rolls down to 53 days, Billy is thrown the ultimate curve ball and knows that escape is his only option.

Parker's atmospheric direction is the real star here...beautifully creating the isolation and futility of Billy's situation. In reviews of other films, I've complained about scenes where characters don't speak English and no subtitles are provided, but it really works to this film's advantage....there are several moments where Billy is thrown in front of a bunch of people deciding his fate and he has no idea what they're saying...from the initial strip search at the airport to his first meeting with the judge to his final sentencing. It's heartbreaking watching Billy's fate being determined before his eyes but without his comprehension of what's going on. There are even a couple of squirm worthy moments where officials are actually laughing. There's also one corrections officer at the prison who, at moments, seems to comprehend English, but never speaks it, but we're never really sure.

The scenes between Billy and his father were among the strongest scenes in the drama. Loved the beginning of that scene where Billy's dad has his head on the desk waiting for Billy to be brought in and when he hears the gates open and his head pops up, it's so clear that this man has been through hell, spending the last couple of weeks crying and not sleeping and terrified about his son's fates.

After a few years of working in television, the late Brad Davis made an impressive film debut as the tortured William Hayes. The late John Hurt received his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting for his Max, a prisoner for seven years who self soothes with a self-concocted narcotic. Mike Kellin's heartbreaking performance as Billy's dad was also Oscar worthy. Giorgio Moroder's haunting music score also earned an Oscar. Another true story turned into a compelling entertainment by a gifted director.