Gideon58's Reviews

You Don't Know Jack
Oscar winning director Barry Levinson and Al Pacino hit a bullseye with 2010's You Don't Know Jack, a somewhat romanticized look at "Doctor Death" AKA Dr. Jack Kevorkian who became famous for assisting terminally ill people in allegedly ending their lives with some semblance of dignity.

The HBO film introduces us to Jack and his sister, Margo (Brenda Vaccaro), the survivors of Armenian genocide attacks who, with aid of Neal Nichol (John Goodman) and his lawyer, Geoffrey (Danny Huston), helps someone end their life in Michigan and Kevorkian begins to be questioned about the possibility of what he's dong as being murder, which only fuels his passion to help these people.

This is another one of those very prickly subjects that tend to get very preachy when being translated into a viable screenplay, but Adam Mazer provides a balanced and relatively factual account of this doctor whose passion made him a butcher to many, but director Levinson does such an effective job of showing the pain these people are in, one can almost look at Kevorkian as an angel of mercy. The tables begin to turn in this story when one of his patients backs out of the process just as Kevorkian starts it but instead of just walking away, Kevorkian goes about it a different way and assists in the ending of the guy's life anyway. In many eyes, his role as judge and executioner was considered more his opinion than anything else. Another issue raised is if Kevorkian had the right to do what he was doing if the patient wasn't actually documented as terminal.

Levinson's direction is a combination of rich sensitivity combined with often unbearable tension as we watch patients begging Kevorkian to put them out of their misery, with full support of their loved ones, while courts and religious fanatics labeled him as a murderer.

Al Pacino's quietly understated performance as Kevorkian has a lot of punch to it, and a lot of it comes out during his scenes with Brenda Vaccaro as his sister, who I don't think has ever been better. Actually, Danny Huston wins the acting honors here as Jack's attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who has Jack's back for most of the story but turns on him in the final reel. This film is really a triumph for screenwriter Adam Mazer and director Barry Levinson who have crafted a compelling story with surprising balance.

Ball of Fire
With Howard Hawks and Billy Wilder behind the camera and Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in front of it, there's no way the 1941 comedy Ball of Fire couldn't be appointment viewing for classic cinema fans.

Cooper plays Bertram Potts, one of eight college professors who live together and are currently collaborating on an encyclopedia. Bertram is planning to write a section for the encyclopedia on American slang and decides to actually venture outside the college campus to do some research. He finds himself at a nightclub where he is immediately drawn to a hard-as-nails nightclub singer named Sugarpuss O'Shea (Stanwyck)who is on the run from the police who are trying to get her to turn on her gangster boyfriend (Dana Andrews).

On the surface, the film might seem like a live action re-thinking of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs but you know with Barbara Stanwyck playing her, this girl is no Snow White and it is Stanwyck's vivacious, Oscar-nominated performance on which this entire goofy premise hangs. Stanwyck is just dazzling here as the gal who's been around the block a few times, but finds her head turned by a most unlikely source. I loved the way Sugarpuss not only falls for Potts, but for his seven colleagues as well...watch her in that scene at Potts' bachelor party...there's some real acting going on there.

Director Howard Hawks, no stranger to fast-paced comedy, keeps this thing bubbling at a nice pace and makes the most of the surprising chemistry between Stanwyck and Cooper. They also appeared onscreen the same year in Meet John Doe and I'm not sure which was released first, but I'm sure it was no accident. Stanwyck's woman of the world was a perfect counterpart to Cooper's intelligent and folksy quality that reminded me of Jimmy Stewart or Kevin Costner. SZ "Cuddles" Sakall and Richard Haydn were standouts among the seven professors and Kathleen Howard was also very funny as the guys' housekeeper. Even Dana Andrews was surprisingly effective as Stanwyck's gangster boyfriend. It might seem a little dated, but Stanwyck's performance alone made this worth the watch.

There's an Al Pacino Jack Kevorkian movie? Now I'm mad at myself for not knowing about this.

That Funny Feeling
Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee go the Rock and Doris route in the final film they made together That Funny Feeling,a 1965 film comedy in which Darin and Dee provide sporadic laughs, but they are no Rock and Doris.

Joan works as a maid-for-hire for a wealthy businessman named Tom Milford, though she was hired for the job sight unseen. Suddenly, she starts bumping into Tom everywhere and they do start dating. Joan is too embarrassed to bring Tom back to the cramped apartment she shares with her girlfriend, Audrey, so she takes Tom to his own apartment. In order to keep seeing Joan, he doesn't tell Joan that it's his apartment and when it's suggested that they go to his apartment, Tom takes Joan to his boss' Harvey's apartment.

Screenwriters David R Schwartz and Norman Brasna should have given credit for this script where it really belongs...to the writing team who did it much funnier and way more efficiently with their Oscar-winning screenplay for Pillow Talk. Schwartz and Brasna make an attempt to revive the "Will they or won' they?" comedy, but the entire thing just comes off as recycled and Darin and Dee just don't have the chemistry that Rock and Doris did, even though Darin and Dee were married at the time. Actually, this was made at the end of the relationship and they were divorced two years after the release of this film and it wouldn't surprise me if this film had something to do with it.

Bobby Darin really put his heart and soul into this film, he even scored the film and wrote and sung the title tune, but he just seems out of his element. Research revealed that the role of Tom was originally offered to Warren Beatty, who turned it down and when Darin got the role that's probably when Dee got involved, an actress who has never possessed a gift for farce and plays the role with a little too straight a face.

There is some fun though watching all the familiar faces that pop up in the supporting cast. Donald O'Connor admirably steps into the Tony Randall role as Tom's boss and Nita Talbot, a gifted comedy actress from the 60's, has her most significant film role as Audrey. And if you pay attention, you might also catch Larry Storch, Reta Shaw, Robert Strauss, Kathleen Freeman, Leo G. Carroll, Benny Rubin and Arte Johnson along the way. Everyone involved works very hard but with middling success.

A New Leaf
She began her career in New York working with the late Mike Nichols, but Hollywood did eventually beckon and after a few minor film appearances, May impressed as the director, writer, and star of a delicious black comedy called A New Life that provides a generous share of cringe-worthy moments thanks to a really despicable central character.

Walter Matthau stars as Henry Graham, a snooty, miserly, woman-hating playboy who has been living on a large trust fund for years. After finally coming to grips with the fact that he has gone through all his money, Henry decides that the only answer is to find a wealthy woman, marry her, and then murder her. He thinks he has found the answer to his prayers in the form of one Henrietta Lowell (May), a painfully shy and dim-witted heiress who is hopelessly clumsy and can't get through a meal without spilling half of it on her lap.

May has written a deft and intelligent screenplay whose exterior darkness methodically conjures up laughs through these two main characters. May really scores in the creation of this Henry Graham character, who really doesn't have a redeeming characteristic to speak of not to mention that this plan to continue living the way he wants is reprehensible. The character is smart though sometimes his arrogance and laziness covers up his intelligence. There's a whole lot we have to accept with the Henrietta character...she comes off as the dumbest person on the planet, but I guess this was necessary in order to make Henry's plan viable. When Henrietta's attorney (Jack Weston) suggests that Henry sign what is basically prenup before their wedding, it just doesn't register with her and I found that a bit hard to swallow. She didn't even have a glimmer of suspicion when she finds out they have twin beds on their honeymoon. We realize there is a glimmer of hope when Henry realizes that Henrietta's lawyer and staff have been ripping her off for years and Henry fires most of them.

There is one funny scene after another here. The scene where Henry's attorney (William Refield) is trying to explain to Henry that he's broke and he's just not hearing him was absolutely hysterical. Also loved the attorney trying to expose Henry and the scene where Henry fires his bride's staff was brilliantly executed by Matthau. There was also this very funny bit of physical comedy involving May having her nightgown on incorrectly that was surprisingly funny.

Walter Matthau offers one of his sharpest performances playing a thoroughly unlikable character who the actor completely invests in. May is warm and winning as the hapless Henrietta and in addition to Weston, Doris Roberts, James CoCo, Renee Taylor, and especially George Rose as Henry's faithful manservant offer solid support. A slick and funny comedy that offers laughs and hisses and really makes the viewer wait for a happy ending that is not guaranteed. Matthau and May were reunited onscreen six years later in Neil Simon's California Suite.

John Wick: Chapter 2
John Wick: Chapter Two is the thunderous and eye-popping 2017 sequel to the 2014 smash which finds poor John still trying to retire, but folks just won't leave the guy alone and immediately begin regretting it.

Wick has a reunion with a ruthless crime lord named Santino D'Antonio, who has a marker from John from many years ago and has comes to collect right after John has returned from retrieving his precious car stolen from him in the first film. When John doesn't want to hear anything D'Antonio has to say, the guy burns his house down. Now that he has John's attention, D'Antonio informs John that he wants John to assassinate his sister, who has ascended to an all new level of assassins, but this assignment is just the beginning of troubles for our reluctant hero, including another enormous bounty on is life, more than double the one put on him in the first film

Screenwriter Derek Kolstad is to be applauded for mounting a viable sequel, which actually meets most of my requirements for a good sequel. Kolstad somehow manages to establish the reputation of the central character for those who might be joining him for the first time without really rehashing events from the first time. The character of John Wick has literally come to redefine the phrase "your reputation precedes you"...no matter where he goes, or what he needs, or what he does, his search for assistance always finds him hooking up with the very best in the business and they already know who he is. I loved when he first arrived in Rome and he was asked if he was after the Pope When he replied no, the subject was closed, they didn't care what his plans were, as long as they didn't involve harming the Pope.

John Wick is not a typical hitman...I love the fact that there is a wit and sophistication to the character that one doesn't see in a lot of movie hitmen. This guy is a polished wordsmith who always knows exactly how to verbalize what he wants or needs. There's a wonderful early section of the film where John is shopping for weaponry and when asked exactly what he was looking for John tells him "something robust." I loved his referring to weaponry as "robust", just the last adjective I expected to come out of the guy's mouth.

This film is non-stop logic defying action that never gives the viewer a chance to breathe or figure anything out. I was puzzled by the lack of resistance from the sister when John confronted her to complete his mission. If I had dwelled on this, I would have missed director Chad Stahleski's artistry in his staging of one of the most amazing gun battles I have seen, not to mention a one on one confrontation between John and a killer named Cassian (Common) that rivaled the final fight between Riggs and Mr. Joshua in Lethal Weapon. These movies are not to be taken too seriously because there's not much steeped in realism here...Keanu Reeves spends a lot of time running through crowds of extras covered in blood and no one seems to notice...or do they?

The reported $40,000,000 budget is all over the screen here with some absolutely extraordinary production values, including incredible location photography in Manhattan and Rome, as well as outstanding editing, sound, art direction, and a heart-pumping music score. Reeves again commands the screen as he did in the first film and there are a couple of flashy movie star turns from Ian McShane and Laurence Fishburne in supporting roles. Buckle up and don't try to figure it out, just try to keep up because there are surprises throughout including a creepy finale that effectively sets up the third film.

The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band
Walt Disney continued his search for the kind of magic he created with Mary Poppins with another dull and pointless live action musical called The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band that tries to be a musical for the entire family, not just Disney's normally intended demographic of children. The film has earned a footnote in cinema history though because it features the film debut of one of the industry's most beloved actresses.

The film takes place in the 1880's where we are introduced to the Bower family, a large family who live on a farm but they seem to spend the majority of their time as a band that they've formed with Grandpa Bower (3 time Oscar winner Walter Brennan) at the baton. Grandpa has written a song for the re-election campaign of Grover Cleveland and is thrilled when the family is chosen to perform the song at the next Democratic National Convention. There is a romance going on as well between a newspaper editor (John Davidson) and Grandpa's eldest granddaughter Alice (Lesley Ann Warren). Mr. Editor persuades the Bower clan to move to the Dakota territory where Grandpa and the editor becomes involved in a political scandal revolving around the plan to divide Dakota into two states, allowing more congressional eligibility. There's also the fact that Grandpa is democrat and just about everyone else in the story is a republican.

Prior to this film, Disney had mounted a lavish and overblown musical called The Happiest Millionaire, which also featured John Davidson and Lesley Ann Warren as the young lovers and apparently Disney thought they really had something with these two, because they decided to recreate another entire film around them, but I'm just not sure who the intended demographic was here. In the 1960's, Disney Studios were the unrivaled leader in children's entertainment, but I really don't see what appeal this story about political machinations almost a century prior would have had with children. It wasn't as long as The Happiest Millionaire, but it sure felt like it. I think if the story had been more about the title family and not all that political mumbo-jumbo, screenwriter Lowell S. Hawley might have had something here. The original score by Mary Poppins composers Richard M and Robert Sherman is uninteresting and Michael O'Herilhy's leaden direction didn't help either.

There were a lot of familiar faces in the cast...Buddy Ebsen took time out from playing Jed Clampett to play the head of the Bower clan, allowing Ebsen the opportunity to sing and dance for the first time since the 1930's. Film vets like Richard Deacon and Wally Cox appear in supporting roles and the Bower children were played by some future stars like Kurt Russell, Pamelyn Ferdin, Bobby Riha, and Jon Walmsley, who would earn his fifteen minutes a few years later playing Jason on The Waltons. There's even an appearance by Butch Patrick, who you might remember as Eddie Munster, but this film made history when it introduced a young dance billed as Goldie Jeanne Hawn to the screen, billed as "Giggly Dancer." She is in a production number near the end of the film called "West o' the Wild Missouri"...she actually has a nice amount of screentime and even gets a single line to speak...this film would be the first meeting between Hawn and future common-law husband Kurt Russell though their romance didn't really happen until they made Swing Shift.

The idea of a family band was a really good one, but the film forgets all about the band about twenty minutes in and that's where the movie falls apart.

Dead Ringer (1964)
Back in 1946, Bette Davis played twin sisters named Kate and Patricia in a melodrama called A Stolen Life. A couple of decades later, Davis again took on the challenge of playing twin sisters in a campy 1964 melodrama called Dead Ringer that isn't nearly as good as A Stolen Life, but Davis still makes it worth watching.

Edith Phillips runs a saloon and is involved with a police detective named Jim Hobson.
Edith arrives at the funeral of her brother-in-law Frank DeLorca, where she is reunited with her snooty twin sister, Margaret, who seems to be taking Frank's death very well. Edith was in love with Frank first but Margaret stole him from Edith by pretending to be pregnant. Fed up with Margaret throwing her wealth and station in her face, coupled with the revelation that Margaret faked a pregnancy to get Frank, Edith takes the opportunity when it presents itself and kills Margaret, deciding to resume Margaret's life. Things are going pretty smoothly for Edith until the arrival of Tony Collins, Margaret's young lover who Edith knew nothing about.

Albert Belch and Arthur Millard's screenplay might seem to be a rehash of A Stolen Life on the surface, but these twins are very different than the twins Davis played in '46. The twins in A Stolen Life are drawn in very primary colors of black and white...one is very sweet and one is calculating and manipulative. Edith and Margaret are drawn in serious mud tones and one might feel allegiances change throughout the story. As a matter of fact, Margaret comes off as such a frosty bitch at the beginning of the film, it felt like she totally deserved what was coming to her, but then I saw what Edith's "death" was doing to Jim Hobson, not to mention when Tony Collins comes on the scene and figures out almost too quickly that Margaret is really Edith.

There were some wonderful touches to the story that have to be credited to the director, Davis' Now Voyager co-star, Paul Henreid. Really enjoyed the subtle inferences in the way the butler and maid treat Edith when she comes as Margaret....it seems like they suspect, but it's never overt and effectively piques viewer curiosity. I also loved that Frank's dog, hated Margaret and loved Edith and was the only character in the story who knew instantly that Edith was not Margaret. I loved the way Edith never stopped thinking. Her solution to being unable to duplicate Margaret's signature was inspired.

Davis has a ball creating two very different characters, but is at her most fun and challenging when Edith is pretending to be Margaret. Though there is some impressive editing in the final scene with the twins where Edith knocks Margaret's purse out of her hand and pushes her into the chair. Karl Malden is sincere as Hobson and Peter Lawford was surprisingly slimy as Collins. Andre Previn's music was, at times, a little intrusive, but it enhances the campy quality the piece has and the ending is a dandy. Davis is always worth watching and this film is no exception.

Shazam!
It takes a minute to get going and it takes a little too long to wrap things up, but the 2019 spectacle Shazam is an eye-popping, slam-bang comic book adventure that takes just about any comic book movie we've seen and mixes in a generous portion of the Tom Hanks classic Big to give us something quite unlike anything we've seen.

So this spoiled son of a rich businessman named Thad Sivana and a 15- year old orphan who lives in a group home named Billy Batson have both been summoned by a Wizard named Shazam to be his Champion. Billy was selected to be the Champion but Thad was rejected and was endowed the powers of the Seven Deadly Sins. It's not long before Billy discovers that uttering the word "shazam" turns him into a superhero of undetermined powers, but Dr. Sivana is not happy with the power of the Seven Deadly Sins and has decided he wants to be Champion instead and, after destroying his father's company and murdering his father and brother, goes after Billy Batson to steal his powers.

What gives this story an air of distinction is that Billy's adventures are carefully monitored by Freddy, a crippled kid who also lives in the group home, who works tirelessly to get Billy to embrace his new life as a superhero, as well as helping Billy determine exactly what kind of powers he has. Of course, as expected in a situation like this, Freddy begins to take advantage of his friends' new powers while, at the same time, Billy's powers start to go to his head and starts blowing Billy off.

Screenwriter Henry Gayden is to be applauded for his seamless blending of comic book fantasy and childhood friendship even if it is overly-detailed. The opening scenes with the Wizard go on way too long and are a might confusing. but once Billy becomes aware of his powers, this is where the movie becomes so much fun. Remember those scenes of Peter Parker experimenting with his new powers in the Sam Rami Spiderman? Well this movie takes that to a whole new level as we watch Billy and Freddy trying to figure out exactly what Billy's new powers are, not to mention their difficulty in finding a proper name for the superhero or their initial disappointment at the fact that he can't fly.

What also makes this movie fun is the almost child-like innocence and joy that Billy experiences as he realizes what kind of powers he has inherited...loved when he and Freddy encountered the thieves in the convenience store and Freddy immediately knew that the thieves had to shoot Billy in the face to determine whether or not Billy is bulletproof or if it's the suit. I also LOVED when Billy was strutting through the mall charging everyone's cell phones. Turning his group home family into superheros was a lot of fun but it should have happened a little sooner. The whole story just could have been a little tighter.

Director David F. Sandberg has employed first rate production values in pulling off this terrific popcorn movie, with special nods to film editing, sound, and visual effects. Zachary Levi appears to be having a ball in the starring role and golden-voiced Mark Strong made an impressive Dr. Sivani, but the real scene-stealer here was Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy, who impressed a couple of years ago in It. Grazer steals every scene he's in. This overlong but effective combination of comedy and CGI action has a wide appeal that should make it appealing to multiple demographics.

Hud
Director Martin Ritt triumphed with 1963's Hud, a beautifully photographed tale of family dysfunction mixed with an enigmatic character study that earned Paul Newman a fourth Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Based on a novel by Larry McMurtry, this story revolves around the Bannon family. Homer Bannon (Melvyn Douglas) is an aging cattle rancher trying to deal with the fact that his cattle have become diseased while dealing with his son, Hud (Newman), a rebellious, arrogant, hard-drinking smart-ass who likes to chase after married women. Homer is doing what he can to keep Hud from being a hero to his grandson, Lonnie (Brandon de Wilde) but is not doing a good job with that, despite the fact that Hud's drinking led to the death of Lonnie's father many years ago. In the middle of all this is Alma (Patricia Neal), the world weary housekeeper who cares for this family maybe a little too much for her own good.

There are few authors out there who capture small town/western sensibility better than McMurtry, who also wrote The Last Picture Show. Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. have effectively adapted the novel into a workable screenplay that takes a close look at a family coming apart at the seams through an often reprehensible central character who simultaneously evokes laughs and anger from the viewers.

Director Martin Ritt is to be credited for a lot of the mini-dramas that manifest themselves here, one in particular. Ritt creates an undeniable sexual tension between the characters of Hud and Alma that explains Hud's attraction to married women. It's not so much the dialogue exchanged between the characters but everything else that happens between them, which does eventually come to a boil in one unforgettable scene. The tension here is not just on Hud's side either...Alma clearly feels something for Hud as well but is fighting it with every fiber of her being.

The rest of the drama here comes from the emotionally charged relationship between Hud and his father, who has never really gotten over the fact that Hud was responsible for the death of his other son. The resentment does come full circle when Hud has decided that his father is incompetent and decided to take a short cut to obtaining his birthright. The resolution of the problem with the diseased cattle is also dealt with in a startling manner that is extremely difficult to watch.

Ritt has mounted a lovely story here, highlighted by the breathtaking cinematography by the legendary James Wong Howe that won him his second Oscar. Patrica Neal's smoky Alma earned her the Best Actress Oscar, though some might debate as to whether or not the role is lead or supporting. Melvyn Douglas won his first Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his strong and prideful Homer and despite all this, what you go away from this film remembering is the dazzling performance by Paul Newman that will rivet you to the screen and make you a care about a character that doesn't really deserve it.

Gloria Bell
Though not aimed at the cherished 18-34 demographic, the 2018 indie sleeper Gloria Bell is a poignant and thoughtful character study that those of us over the age of 30 will be able to relate to a little better than the younger crowd. It doesn't hurt that there are some stylish directorial touches that almost overcome minor problems in the screenplay and a wonderful ensemble cast breathing life into the story, led by a dazzling performance by one of the best Oscar winners in the business.

Julianne Moore plays the title character, a middle-aged divorcee who works for an insurance company and is the mother of two grown children. Her son has been abandoned by the woman he loves to raise a toddler by himself ad her daughter wants to move to Sweden to be with her boyfriend. There's a hairless cat that keeps sneaking into her apartment and a psychopath lives directly above her. She seems to be living a fishbowl existence but there are attempts at socialization, her most favorite seems to be hanging out at LA dance bars. One night at one of these bars she meets Arnold, a divorcee on paper, who is still more emotionally tethered to his wife and daughters than he cares to admit.

Director and co-screenwriter Sebastian Lelio has done an admirable job of creating an original motion picture experience that, on the surface, seems to be a re-thinking of films like Looking for Mr. Goodbar and the Blythe Danner indie I'll See You in My Dreams, rivets the viewer to the screen through its glorious central character who is not promiscuous like Theresa in Goodbar, but is working very hard to remain a relevant human being in contemporary society like the Blythe Danner character. I love in the early scenes where Gloria is observed in several kinds of socialization like yoga classes, but the very first glimpse we have of her she is leaving voice mails for her children and feels the need to identify herself at the end of the voice mails.

The initial connection between Gloria and Arnold is lovely...I love when they are getting undressed before having sex for the first time and it is revealed that Arnold is wearing some kind of girdle to hold in his stomach. The story then makes a couple of very disturbing moves that don't make sense near the end of the second act that are akin to spitting in Gloria's face before bouncing back for a terrific finale. There is a lengthy scene where all the central characters are gathered for Gloria's son's birthday party where the tension cuts like a knife, the kind of squirm worthy tension that recalls some of Woody Allen's strongest work, easily my favorite scene in the film. Lelio never allows us to forget that this is Gloria's story either. I love the two scenes of Gloria and Arnold's dates being interrupted by calls from Arnold's family and the camera stays focused on Gloria.

Lelio gets a glorious, Oscar-worthy performance out of Moore, which was no surprise and John Turturro is warm and natural as Arnold, despite some of the dumb moves the character makes. Michael Cera was surprisingly good as Gloria's son as was Brad Garrett as her ex-husband and Jeanne Tripplehorn (where has she been?) as his new girlfriend. I also thought it was an interesting move that most of the song score consisted of disco hits from the 70's and 80's. I don't think there was a song on the soundtrack recorded after 1985. A very special film experience thanks to the talent in front of and behind the camera.

My Dream is Yours
Doris Day and Jack Carson so impressed audiences in Day's film debut Romance on the High Seas that they were reunited the following year for 1949's My Dream is Yours, which isn't nearly as successful because it makes our gal Doris look like an idiot chasing the wrong guy for most of the running time.

Carson plays Doug Blake, an agent who works for a popular radio show who can't get the show's arrogant star crooner, Gary Mitchell (Lee Bowman) to sign a new contract. Blake promises the sponsor of his show he can find better talent for the show and flies to New York where he discovers Martha Gibson (Day), a war widow and mother of a young son turning records in a jukebox factory. He flies her out to California but the owner of the show (SZ "Cuddles" Sakall) thinks Martha is a little too "hip" for his show, but Doug is determined to make a star out of Martha somehow and, of course, falls for her, but for some reason, Martha only has eyes for Gary.

This musical revolves around a common plot for musicals, the romantic triangle; unfortunately, in this film, the screenplay has Doris falling for the wrong guy. It makes no sense that Martha can't see that Doug would walk through fire for her while Gary really doesn't care about her. More than once, the guy puts up obstacles to Martha getting her big break and during the final act, he even suggests that she give up her career completely. Martha's fascination with this guy is further muddied by the fact that he is played by the eternally wooden Lee Bowman, whose performance is about as interesting as watching paint dry. Hell, Bowman doesn't even do his own singing (his songs are dubbed by Hal Derwin).

Ralph Blane, Harry Warren, Johnny Mercer, and Al Dubin do contribute to a very tuneful score to the outing, including songs like "Tick, tick, Tick", "You Must Have Been a Beautiful baby", "With Plenty of Money and You", but the definite musical highlight of the movie was the fantasy number "Freddy, Get Ready", a fantasy number which featured Day, Carson, and Warner Brothers' biggest star, Bugs Bunny.

The film is shot in gorgeous technicolor and the women are gorgeously gowned by Milo Anderson. Carson is terrific, Sakall, and Adolph Menjou make the most of thankless roles, but, as expected, Eve Arden steals the show as the wisecracking Vi. Sadly, Arden cannot make up for a screenplay that has the leading lady falling for the wrong fella.

The Sisters Brothers
2018's The Sisters Brothers is a sumptuously mounted western drama that simultaneously respects the genre and gives it a healthy tweak that never really defies logic. The film takes a minute to get going but works thanks to moody direction and some really charismatic performances.

Based on a novel by Patrick DeWitt, the story opens in 1851 Oregon where we meet Eli Sisters (John C. Reilly) and his brother, Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix) who are professional hitmen who have been hired by someone called The Commodore (Rutger Hauer) to find a gold prospector named Herman Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed) who has apparently perfected some kind of formula that allows mining for gold without all of the traditional gold prospecting equipment. Warm has already hooked up with another bounty of The Commodore's named John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal) who quickly strikes a deal with the guy and the hunt begins though what happens when these four men finally come face to face isn't exactly what we expect.

When I first saw the premise of this film, I checked the credits to make sure it wasn't a Tarantino film. I mean, a pair of Old west hitmen sent by someone called The Commodore" to kill a mad scientist named Warm? If that doesn't sound like a Tarantino film, I don't know what does this. Actually, Jacques Audiard is credited as director and co-screenwriter of this unique cinematic, which featured some authentic western dialogue that had an almost, old world, even Shakespearean sensibility to it, though it is peppered with enough adult language that the 18-34 year olds will stay awake. But what comes through as the prime attraction of this story is the relationship between the Sisters Brothers...a very complex relationship rich with buried resentments that quietly simmer to the surface as the story progresses.

What we have here is a pair of brothers whose sense of family has kept them doing what they do for a long time, partly because they don't know how to do anything, but as we learn, partly out of obligation to each other. We're not terribly surprised when it is revealed that Eli wants to stop what they're doing or that Charlie doesn't, but what is surprising is why Eli is so protective of his brother, a reveal that left a lump in this reviewer's throat.

Reilly, arguably the busiest actor in Hollywood right now, shows why with another bravura performance and is beautifully matched by Phoenix with a raw nerve of a performance that gnaws at the gut and once again Ahmed proves to have what it takes to be a real movie star. Ahmed and Gyllenhall are reunited onscreen for the first time since Nightcrawler. Mention should also be made of Benoit Debie's extraordinary cinematography and Alexandre Desplat's lilting music. It takes a minute to get going and gets a little saggy in the center, but this offbeat western delivers western action and thoughtful character study in perfect tandem.

Autumn Leaves
Joan Crawford wrings her hands appropriately throughout Autumn Leaves, a weepy and overheated melodrama from 1956 that should produce some genuine conflicted emotions among the viewer, but mostly just produces unintentional giggles.

Crawford plays Millicent Wetherby, a stenographer who meets a nice young man named Bert Hanson, who is way younger than Millicent, at a diner and there is an instant attraction between the two, which excites Bert but somewhat confuses Millie. Bert pursues Millie claiming that he is head over heels in love with her and even when she pushes him away and encourages him to date women his own age, he comes right back and wears Millie down until she agrees to marry him. Not long after their marriage, evidence begins to surface that Bert might be mentally disturbed and it might be up to Millie to make the decision to have him institutionalized and lose him in the process of treatment.

For some reason, it took the collaboration of four writers to come up with this overbaked story that I'm sure the star could smell miles away well, because there is a lack of commitment in Crawford's performance here that makes it difficult for the viewer to commit to the silliness as well. Crawford's disdain for the script comes through in her performance, though there are a couple of scenes worth viewer attention: the scene where she tells off Bert's no good father and Bert's trampy ex-wife, which actually includes use of the word "slut" is pretty much worth the price of admission.

Robert Aldrich's direction is a little over the top. Aldrich would later direct Crawford to much greater effect in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?. The film suffers from a rather cheap look too...the film appears to have been made on a budget of about $1000 and judging from Crawford's performance, that $1000 came out of her own pocket. Cliff Robertson, in his second theatrical film, works very hard to believable as the psycho Bert but the performance eventually becomes whiny and annoying, though he does shine in the scene where he accuses Millie of conspiring with his dad and his ex, well-played by Lorne Greene and Vera Miles. I guess hardcore Crawford fans might enjoy this one, but this one might be hard going even for them. You can't beat that title song though, dreamily crooned by Johnny Mathis.

Isn't It Romantic (2019)
Netflix continues to destroy American cinema as we know it with a piece of rom-com tripe called Isn't it Romantic, which has a great idea for a story, unfortunately the casting kills it.

Rebel Wilson, who put herself on the map with the Pitch Perfect franchise is sans-Bellas here as Natalie, a romantically challenged architect who is treated like she's invisible at the office and displays her rampant cynicism with a long and detailed rant about romantic comedy movies. One night on her way home on a subway platform, a guy tries to steal Natalie's purse and in the ensuing struggle, she hits her head. When she wakes up, she finds her life has turned into the leading character of a romantic comedy.

Everyone at the office treats her like a goddess and can't wait to see what she's prepared for "the big presentation", her apartment has gotten bigger and prettier and the gay drug dealer who lives down the hall is now REALLY gay and her very gay BFF. Her neighborhood has become more Soho and whenever she's in Washington Square Park, dozens of park goers burst into choreographed dance routines, but most important of all, she is now receiving attention from a handsome millionaire in a limo, whose making her forget about Josh, her office BFF.

To be fair, Screenwriters Erin Cardello and Dana Fox have a really clever idea here, even though the territory is not completely unheard of. Back in 1991, John Candy starred in Delirious, where he played the writer of a soap opera who hits his head and wakes up as a character on the soap. The problem here is that the whole thing is done with "Netflix" cast instead of A-list stars, who could have turned this silly idea into something really special, but Wilson is the biggest star that director Todd Strauss-Schulson was able to wrangle for this catastrophe. Throughout the brief yet still agonizing running time, I kept picturing other stars in just about all the roles, the lead one in particular. I understand the point of casting Wilson, but a real actress in the role of Natalie someone like Drew Barrymore or Emma Stone, would have given this story the legitimacy it deserves, even though it is a fantasy.

The leading men are equally problematic. Adam Devine seems to be becoming the Netflix version of Tom Hanks. I thought he was the best thing about a previous Netflix mistake called When We First Met, but his character here just seems to be retread of that one and Liam Hemsworth seriously overacts as the millionaire in the limo. I guess because the film is supposed to be a comedy, the director thought it was OK for these guys to overact. Sometimes less is more.

Maybe a lot of my disenchantment with this movie stems from my basic misunderstanding of the appeal of Rebel Wilson. I didn't find her funny in the Pitch Perfect movies and didn't find her funny here either and some really unflattering wardrobe didn't help either. That reproduction of the Julia Roberts-shopping-on-Rodeo-Drive suit from Pretty Woman did nothing for the star. And needless to say, with Wilson in the lead, we are subjected to her vocal abilities as well, which are, in this reviewer's opinion, overrated. Great idea that fell completely flat in its execution.

Save the Tiger
A frightening unhinged performance by the late Jack Lemmon notwithstanding, the 1973 drama Save the Tiger is a dated and pretentious character study that hasn't aged very well over the years, primarily due to a screenplay that works very hard at trying to be important and never quite achieves same.

This film chronicles about 36 hours in the life of one Harry Stoner. Harry is a middle-aged dress manufacturer who has a passion for baseball, suffers from a slight case of PTSD dating back to WWII and is pretty disenchanted at the state of his life right now. His business is in serious financial straits that have him considering arson as a possible solution and is not thrilled that sometimes the only way to get business out of important clients is by acting as a pimp. He has also attracted the attention of a 21 year old pot-smoking hitchhiker who is house sitting at the beach.

Director and writer Steve Shagan has crafted a story about a man at a serious crossroads and the moral barometer that has completely taken control of his life and how angry he is about it, but the impetus for all of the emotional upheaval in Harry's life is not really explained for viewer satisfaction. Yes, there are myriad problems at work, but who doesn't have problems at work? Shagan attempts to provide a look at what he believes is a singularly unique at a singularly unique character, but there is nothing particularly unique about this guy that deserves all this attention.

Things happen in this movie that are supposed to be emotionally charged but primarily come off as pretentious and affected. The scenes of Harry and his boss, Phil (Jack Gilford) meeting the arsonist (Thayer David) seemed silly and Harry's speech at the fashion show where he suddenly imagines the audience being his WWII buddies just didn't ring true for me and neither did his frantic word game at the beach house with the hippie.

What does work here is Lemmon's often powerful performance as Harry Stoner, which won him his second Oscar, but was he really better than Pacino in Serpico, Brando in Last Tango in Paris, and Nicholson in The Last Detail? Gilford received a supporting nomination for the performance of his long and distinguished career and Laurie Heineman made the most of a pointless role as the pot-smoking hitchhiker. Lemmon is excellent, as always, but the years have not been kind to this one.

Tully
The Oscar-winning writer of Juno and the director of Up in the Air collaborated on a lovely little 2018 comedy-drama called Tully, which works thanks to a fresh look at some well-worn subject matter and some on-target performances.

The film stars Oscar winner Charlize Theron as Marlo, the mother of three who is at her wit's ends. Her son, Jonah, is a special needs child, though his specific needs have not really been determined and she has just given birth to a newborn she has named Mia. Marlo has pretty much given up on everything in her life outside of motherhood, including sex, and has resigned herself to the fact that she will never have a full night's sleep again. As a present for the birth of Mia, her wealthy older brother decides to gift Marlo with a night nanny, a woman who comes to the house at night to take care of the baby (except for breastfeeding) and give the mother a chance at a life. The night nanny is a luminous, 26-year old free spirit named Tully who ends up forming a remarkable bond with Marlo in addition to giving Marlo her life back.

Diablo Cody has crafted a starkly realistic yet often humorous look at the toll that motherhood can have on a woman. This Marlo has basically had three children back to back and her entire life has been reduced to diapers and expressing breast milk and carpools. She feels guilty about not being a supermom who bakes cookies and runs the PTA but feels no guilt about the extra attention she has to give Jonah, even though no one seems to be able to tell her exactly what's wrong with him. Marlo is also refreshingly realistic about what being a mother has done to her physically and how she has basically stopped caring about what she looks like anymore. I would have liked the screenplay explore the feelings of Marlo's daughter, Sarah, who between special needs Jonah and newborn Mia, has to have felt some serious neglect at some point. it would have been nice to see this addressed in at least one scene.

Director Jason Reitman does a marvelous job of crafting the evolution of the relationship between Marlo and Tully...love the first time Tully knocks on the door and Marlo looks terrified as she hesitantly approaches the door. I also felt Marlo's awkwardness the first time Tully hands Mia over to breastfeed and Tully sits there and watches. It's lovely watching Tully become a friend and confidante to Marlo, but the change that having a break night brings about in Marlo. It's great to see Marlo start to care about things like bathing, makeup, and sex again and beginning a deliberate journey back to the person she was pre-babies. Watching the journey Marlo makes during the running time is an absolute joy.

Charlize Theron gives a rich performance as Marlo, meticulous and detailed even in its tiniest moment. One of my favorite Theron moments comes when Tully is asking Marlo about what she wanted to be before she became a mother and you see Marlo bow her head and her heart break a little inside. Theron, like she did in Monster, sheds any pretense of glamour in order to make her character more real, which includes a tummy pooch and sagging breasts. Mackenzie Davis lights up the screen as Tully and Ron Livingston has one of his best roles as Marlo's husband. There's a slow spot here and there, but for the most part, an engaging comedy-drama which will have a special appeal to young mothers.

Strangers on a Train
Since joining this site, I have become acquainted with a lot of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest work and movies like Psycho, Vertigo, and Rear Window lived up to their reputation. I wish the same could be said for 1951's Strangers on the Train, a psychological thriller that features some stylish direction from the master and a fantastic performance from Robert Walker, but the changes to the original story ust don't make sense.

The film stars Farley Granger as Guy Haynes, a tennis pro who is taking a train back to his hometown to get his trampy wife, Miriam (Kasey Rogers) to give him a divorce so that he can marry the daughter (Ruth Roman) of a US senator (Leo G. Carroll). On the train, he meets Bruno Antony (Walker), a tightly wound and slightly unbalanced young man who agrees to murder Miriam for Guy if Guy will murder Bruno's father for him, because Bruno thinks if they "swap" murders, they can get away with it because there is no motive if they're murdering strangers. Bruno wastes no time in dispatching of Miriam but things get complicated when Guy refuses to have anything to do with murdering Bruno's father.

The premise here is a good one and classic Hitchcock material, unfortunately, the original novel by Patricia Highsmith was severely altered by the screenwriters, who included Raymond Chandler. I loved the idea of two people exchanging murders that wouldn't have motives attached to them, but since Guy refuses to have anything to do with murdering Bruno's father, the story just becomes a standard blackmail drama, where Bruno threatens to implicate Guy in Miriam's murder since he won't complete his part of the deal. This story would have been SO much more interesting if Guy had actually murdered Bruno's father, which I'm told is what happens in the original novel.

But even a standard blackmail drama is afforded a little sophistication under the directorial eye of Alfred Hitchcock. Hitch's style is all over this one, creating wonderful cinematic images that remain burned in the memory forever. I love that shot of Bruno strangling Miriam through Miriam's broken glasses or the juxtaposing of Guy's final tennis match with Bruno trying to retrieve that cigarette lighter from the storm drain. And I swear my knuckles actually got sore when Bruno started kicking Guy's hands during that over-the-top runaway merry-go-round finale.

Hitch also pulls an absolutely brilliant performance from Robert Walker that anchors the proceedings, no matter how nonsensical the story gets. Leo G. Carroll was terrific as the senator and it was also great to see two future cast members of the ABC sitcom Bewitched in the cast: Kasey Rogers (Louise Tate) as Miriam and Marian Lorne (Aunt Clara) as Bruno's dotty mother. I just wish Hitch and the Hayes code would have had the guts to present the story in its original form. The film was re-thought in 1964 as Once You Kiss a Stranger and again in 1987 as Throw Momma From the Train.

I just watched this last night and I thought it's subject mater was very important, especially for the 1950s during the civil rights movement. Sometimes the acting goes over top and it's not my favorite Douglas Sirk film. But there's scenes that are powerful, like the gospel song in the church during the funeral. I liked Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner in it. I liked Sandra Dee too, I'm not a fan of Lana Turner but she played the icy cold, self absorbed mother to a tee. Did you know that this was her first film after the scandalous trial in which her own 14 year old daughter fatally stabbed Lana's mob connected boyfriend.

You really should check out the original version of Imitation of life (1934) with Claudette Colbert, Rochelle Hundson and Fredi Washington. It has a much, much different tone to the film and even the storyline is different. The 1934 movie closely follows the ground breaking 1933 novel of the same name.

Midnight Cowboy
Despite some dated elements, the 1969 Oscar winner for Best Picture, Midnight Cowboy still packs an emotional wallop thanks to highly imaginative direction and a pair of superb lead performances, one of which should have won the Best Actor Oscar that year.

Based on the novel by James O'Herlihy, this film is, at its core, the story of the friendship that develops between two people who really never should have become friends. Joe Buck is a wide-eyed Texan who has just arrived in Manhattan to fulfill his dream of being a male prostitute who finds himself connecting with a sickly, two-bit hustler named Enrique Salvotore "Ratso" Rizzo.

This film has a footnote in cinema history as the first "X" rated film to win the Oscar for Best Picture, but understand, back in 1969, an "X" rating didn't mean the same thing that it does today? An "X" rating simply meant that the film was for adult audiences only and there is no argument there. This is a story for and about adults and even 50 years after its release, I don't think anyone under the age of 18 should be watching this film. This film's bold and uncompromising look at life on the streets of New York was unlike anything moviegoers had seen up to this point. The idea of a central character whose ambition in life was to be a male prostitute was virgin territory for mainstream theatergoers but it is actually made digestible here when Joe Buck reveals that his desire to be a male prostitute stems from the fact that he doesn't really know how to do anything else.

Waldo Salt's Oscar-winning screenplay effectively presents a provocative backstory for the Joe Buck character in a methodical manner. Aided by John Schlesinger's Oscar-winning direction, Joe's backstory is revealed in brief and brilliantly edited flashbacks that reveal Joe's history with the opposite sex and how his believed power over women have him believing that he was put on this earth to serve women, though his encounters have gotten him in just as trouble as they have provided him pleasure. These flashbacks are juxtaposed with Joe's stepping off the bus in Manhattan and learning that sex hustling is not going to be as easy he thought. As a matter of fact, Joe doesn't actually earn any money having sex with a woman until the final act of the film.

Joe finds aid in surviving on the streets of New York with the aid of Ratso Rizzo, a guy who has clearly been hustling and stealing for years to survive, while ignoring multiple health issues. Somehow, Ratso has been able to squat in a dirty vacant apartment for years right in the middle of New York, something no one would be able to get away with today, but the story of Joe and Ratso's friendship was so compelling I was able to let this go as the dated plot element that it is.

Schlesinger also does a wonderful job of establishing the midnight to dawn atmosphere that directors like Martin Scorsese would later perfect in films like Taxi Driver. The seedy atmosphere Schlesinger creates here is vividly realistic. Mention should also be made of Hugh A. Robertson's film editing, the first African American to receive a nomination in that category.

But the real selling points of this film are the breathtaking performances by Jon Voight as Joe Buck and Dustin Hoffman as Ratso Rizzo, which earned both actors Oscar nominations, and, I am of the opinion that this should have been the first Oscar Hoffman should have won. After his success in The Graduate, it would have been so easy for Hoffman to take on more pretty boy roles, but he goes the polar opposite here and gets lost in this pathetic character, delivering a powerful performance that galvanizes the screen. Sylvia Miles also received a supporting actress nomination for her flashy, virtual cameo as Joe's first New York sexual encounter and Brenda Vaccaro does a star making turn as well as a glamorous socialite who score with Joe in the final act. There is also an eye opening turn by veteran John McGiver, cast radically against type, that was a shocker. And if you pay attention, you might catch Phil Bruns, Bob Balaban, and Barnard Hughes in small roles. It might be slightly dated, but this is a Best Picture winner the Academy got right.