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Reviews
Lady in the Water (2006)
Unbelievably difficult to take seriously
I absolutely couldn't believe how goofy this movie ended up. The opening is all-telling of the impending horrible storyline. From the start to finish it just meanders from one moronic scene to the next. The whole plot is a modern-day fantasy that has no real sense to it. I literally groaned out loud during several scenes. Later on, some scenes made me laugh out loud. From that point on I could not take the movie seriously and could only anxiously wait for the end. That was the best part of the movie...seeing the credits at the end.
This is what happens when movie makers have early successes and then try to follow-up with even better films. It seems the maker of this farce is going in the opposite direction. I would have expected something better for my $9.00 ticket, my $5.00 bag of popcorn, and my $4.50 soda. Wait for the DVD...it should be out in a month or two.
Ben-Hur (1959)
Heston's Best!
This is arguably the best movie ever! It's my favorite anyway. Of all movies I've seen, I've watched this one the most and, though it does contain a few small errors, I never grow tired of seeing it. There are some movies we've seen several times and they get worse with each subsequent viewing. This is not the case with Heston's Ben Hur.
It is a long one, but it keeps you pulled in for the entire show. What's more, the movie has a perfect balance of drama and action; moving fluently between the two. In addition, the scenes with actors displaying their emotions are superbly crafted...Wyler was a master at directing emotional sequences. Lastly, the message the movie sends transcends time. My only disappointment is the movie's fall in favor over the years...loosing ground to the likes of American Beauty, Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, and Sin City, to name a few. That's just plain disappointing.
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Not a Top 250
This movie isn't very good. I do not know how it made it onto the Top 250 list. The scenes don't flow very well. The dialogue is somewhat contrived. And the editing is horrible.
It appears that Charles Laughton was creating something symbolic with this attempt at directing. However, I fail to see any real point to this symbolism. It ends up looking like a B-grade film noir. Yet it has somehow been elevated to classic status.
I think this movie's lofty place in film history is based solely on the people associated with its creation because I don't see anything here that justifies it being one of the top films of all time in the Internet Movie Database.
The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)
Excellent Drama
A first-rate drama from Richard Brooks. Excellent acting. Well done, albeit a somewhat tragic ending. Van Johnson appears miscast at first, however, as the plot unfolds, he plays his part very convincingly. Liz Taylor is, as always, quite lovely. A must-see if you're a 1950's Taylor fan.
Gods and Generals (2003)
Watching This Was Sheer Torture
While the battle scenes were fairly well done and accurately portrayed, the dialogue was agonizingly painful to sit through. Virtually all the dialogue was some sort of speech, recited in long, drawn out scenes that were probably better off being left out of the movie. If nothing else, deleting the dialogue would have made the movie much shorter and less painful to watch. With the dialogue, this movie is sheer torture to watch!
Twin Husbands (1946)
So bad it was good!!!
This old-time short was so horrible that it was excellent. But really folks, Leon Errol is such an unusual character. I wonder how he became so popular? Does anyone know? If not, that's OK, we'll just continue to enjoy his funny, funny short subjects for many more decades.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Timeless Theme - Instructive for Us All
The story and movie (almost 60 years old) make for a timely subject even today. Vanity and selfishness seem to pervade our modern society. Dorian Gray embodies these two traits and reminds me of several people I know. Many of the young people I meet nowadays are quite a bit like him--more people than I care to meet. The movie is instructive and I highly recommend it to the selfish, conceited and vain daycare generation that our society has foisted upon us.