Having seen the film when it first came out, receiving such glowing reviews, I have seen the film many times since. Probably the most beautifully filmed movie ever made -- the colors, the famed filming of this movie during the "Golden Hour", the haunting film score, with thanks to the inclusion of Saint-Saens Aquarium movement from "Carnival of the Animals", a story that is intriguing, enigmatic, poignant, gripping and magical all at once. It is a true work of Art -- one of the finest films ever made. The narration of the late (SO hard to believe!) Linda Mainz -- from the perspective of a young girl, the story enfolds -- elegaic, surprising, gripping, intriguing, heartbreaking all at once! Individual scenes which are each works of art are so beautiful, one is drawn to seeing the work, over and over -- like a great piece of classical music, or a great, enduring work of art in a museum -- each time one sees it, one notices new details, experiences new emotions that well up, and simply basks in the supreme beauty of this film, the ultimate power of the story and the strong human emotions one experiences. This film is pure art -- one of the finest ever made.
Reviews
81 Reviews
Rain Man
(1988)
Saw it again, 35 years after my first viewing. It is still as powerful, memorable, & heartfelt as the first time!
2 February 2023
I haven't seen Rain Man in over 20 years, and just watching it again on a plane -- I was just as profoundly moved as the first time I saw it, tears flowed freely. It remains a film unlike any other -- surprisingly gripping, sometimes surprisingly funny, and one of the most genuinely moving and heartfelt films, that is also unlike any film I've ever seen -- and I'm a film buff! Like life itself -- it traverses SO many emotions -- from anger and frustration to forgiveness and enduring love, to excitement and joy, it speaks to the heart with a wisdom and an understanding of life that sometimes takes one's breath away! The acting of Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman is simply astonishing -- as they immerse themselves in polar opposite characters and acting styles that are SO vivid and simply, unforgettable. It was of course the Best Picture Winner of it's year, and I think ranks among the finest American films ever made.
The Sand Pebbles
(1966)
Powerful, gut-wrenching film -- with the best music score of any movie. The opening titles are astonishing.
15 January 2023
This is a powerful film, filled with indelible images of a time and place that should be remembered. The opening screen credit says it all -- with the superimposed American gunboat dwarfed by the Immense Chinese boat -- an image symbolizing how the China of the 20th century is no longer what it had been in its history, invaded by so many -- from the Mongols to the Japanese -- but with change comes an upheavel in people's lives. This is an epic -- and deserving of recognition from its power and intrigiuing plot to its beautifully filmed scenes to its intimate and ultimately heartbreaking story. The opening screen credits is one of the most beautiful of all films -- with a truly beautiful, haunting and gut-wrenching film score by Jerry Goldsmith. This film deserves MUCH more attention and recognition than it currently has. Hopefully it will live on, as a great work of cinematic art.
Midnight Cowboy
(1969)
Unique, Brilliant, A time Capsule of the late 1960's & NYC, fascinating and truly heartfelt...and heartbreaking...
16 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Saw this when it was first released -- and given its X rating. It was considered shocking and was one of the only very famous films given that rating...and then the accolades and awards poured forth! It was a film that was truly unique and groundbreaking, perfectly capturing the NYC of the 1970s before it became SO upscale...but at its heart and soul are people, with their emotions, and struggles, their loneliness, their needs and even their joys. Dustin Hoffman's Ratso Rizzo is one of the great screen performances in the history of American Film, and John Voigt's Joe Buck the perfect foil to Ratso. Talk about polar opposites!!! But often that is what the world of Midnight Cowboy is all about -- people...struggling, succeeding, failing, disappearing, enduring... The poignant ending just takes the breath away -- and tears fall freely. This film is unforgettable...and it continues to resonate some 50 years after its release.
The Capote Tapes
(2019)
Fascinating, effective glimpse of the 1960's-1980's celebrity zeroing in on one of the most famous authors of his time.
24 August 2022
Truman Capote's legacy -- encompassing a literary masterpiece, "In Cold Blood", a beloved Hollywood Movie, "Breakfast at Tiffany's", an incomplete and truly controversial novel, "Answered Prayers" -- (incomplete in that only 3 Chapters of it were ever published), and memorable appearances (for us old-timers) on all the major talk shows of the time from Johnny Carson, to Dick Cavett, to Merv Griffin, to a poignant, funny 1-man Tony award winning Broadway Show, "Tru", featuring the great actor Robert Morse, is now beautifully, succinctly yet comprehensively examined in this excellent documentary, which manages to cover this complex, controversial, pathetic, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic life of Capote. No punches are pulled. In addition to the magical world of celebrity and wealth and fame, a spotight also shines on the sadder aspects of Capote's life, from his sad/poignant upbringing, essentially abandoned by his mother, to his moments of glory with the success of his early literary work and celebrity, and his famous Black & White Ball to his tragic, lonely downfall, created by his own undoing. Black & White! That's Capote's life -- The highest of successes, and fame and money, and recognition -- to the lowest of failures, and infamy and derision, loneliness and sadness. A true American original, who's name will live on. AND this wonderful documentary will most certainly help that legacy long continue!
Rifkin's Festival
(2020)
Woody Allen's gift to Film Buffs!
11 June 2022
Excellent, imaginative, entertaining, and the blending of Classic "Art House Cinema" (We used to call it) with Allen's traditional relationship angst is unbelievably clever and even intriguing. It helps to be a film buff and know all the films being parodied in such a brand new way! A winner!
Fail Safe
(1964)
It is now May of 2022 -- and this film feels just as probable and terrifying today as it did almost 60 years ago.
23 May 2022
Will mankind learn? Maybe not -- with the Dictators as powerful as ever, and humanity as ignorant as ever -- and with the capriciousness of life and world events, and the tremendous buildup of nuclear armaments around the world -- the realities of this movie may be a mirror of our lives and of our Earth -- potentially sooner rather than later. This terrifying movie may presage our future -- and maybe imminently. Let's hope not!
Spencer
(2021)
Huh? A film not nearly as captivating as watching paint dry!
30 December 2021
What is the point of this movie? As someone who enjoys historical stories and biographies, and who had watched the Joyous Royal Wedding AND the Tragic Royal Funeral, and seen the powerful Panorama Interview and read a few biographies of Diana here in the States -- I was curious about this film, BUT -- WOW!!!! Talk about watching a movie that feels interminable. (And that's just the first 15 minutes...then the next 15 minutes...annnnnd the next...et cetera, et cetera...). I'd write some more -- but I'm feeling kind of comatose right now. I'll wait till the next Season of The Crown......(an infinitely more engaging experience covering the same territory...and with MUCH more character development!)
The Tragedy of Macbeth
(2021)
Visually stunning, emotionally devastating, a towering work of cinematic art.
30 December 2021
Joel Coen's "The Tragedy of Macbeth" is one of the finest cinematic interpretations of Shakespeare's works you will ever see! Breathtaking images -- beautifully shot in black and white -- and riveting performances encapsulating a world of human emotions combine to create a towering work of art which lingers in the viewer's mind long after the film has ended.
Being the Ricardos
(2021)
A Fascinating, Riveting, and Complex Jigsaw Puzzle of the story of "I Love Lucy"!
21 December 2021
As a Baby Boomer, seeing I Love Lucy in the 60's when it was on TV ALL the time in reruns, this movie is fascinating seeing the impact it had on audiences in it's first viewings in the 50s -- it touches on so many aspects of the show -- but somehow it all fits together like a huge jigsaw puzzle. From its creation, to the tremendously complex relationship of Lucy & Desi, to the compllex relationship of the cast members, to the complex relationship of the writers to the actors, to the complex relationship of the audience to the political zeitgeist of the 50's and at it's heart and Soul to the complexity of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz -- "Being the Ricardos" is a real rollercoaster ride of plot lines, and characterizations and historical events -- I've actually had to see it twice to truly take it all in. And Nicole Kidman, Javiar Bardem, Nina Arianda and J. K. Simmons are all perfect in their rolls. To get a real spotlight on the zeitgeist of the United States in the 1950s, watch "Being the Ricardos", one of the best movies of the year!
The Time Machine
(1960)
LOVED this movie ever since I saw it as a kid in 1960!
17 September 2021
What a GREAT film -- imaginative, inventive, sometimes scary as all "get out", and one of the stars of the show is the Time Machine itself! That extended passage of that "ride" in the Time Machine is mesmerizing, and goes from amazing to funny to fascinating to frightening to poignant all in 10 minutes. With a great film schedule, some moments that make you jump out of your seat at the end, to a final ending of sheer amazement and hope makes this a film that transcends Science Fiction. It's actually quite profound!
Kong: Skull Island
(2017)
I thought this was FANTASTIC!
4 April 2021
I don't understand how this doesn't have a higher rating. Not only Kong -- but all of the over-sized creatures are amazing!!! One spectacular creature after another -- yes it's loud, preposterous, relentless -- but that's what a great summer blockbuster should be!!! Amazing effects, relentless, exciting -- what's not to like?
Jason and the Argonauts
(1963)
A truly FANTASTIC film rooted in Greek Mythology , as amazing now in 2020 as it was in 1963!
5 February 2020
I saw this at the Pearl Road Drive-In Theatre in Ohio back in the early 60s. I was a youngster and to this day, I remember every single spectacular special effect from the huge Iron Talos, to the Harpies to the Immense Poseidon and the Clashing Rocks to the tremendous 7-headed Hydra and the battling skeletons (especially the one that gets it's head chopped off! WHAT an adventure. I've seen this film many times since and had the pleasure of introducing my own kids to thiis film right around the age I was when I first saw it. AND sure enough it is now their favorite adventure film too -- heck with those (in all honesty) pretty spectacular CGI effects in every other blockbuster film made these days -- impressive as they are, those films are NO "Jason and the Argonauts"!!! It's something about the sheer imagination of the scenes and those spectaculat mythological creatures, and a story that is truly gripping and SO imaginative. Its actually a "Greek" Road Movie (or I guess make that a "Greek Argonaut Movie" with genuine suspense, a spectaculat film score by Bernard Hermann (who did those great Hitchcock film scores from "Psycho" to "Vertigo" and (Of Course"!!!) the Harryhausen special effects! This film is a classic and I hope someday the AFI will give it the recognition and status it deserves so it will be preserved as an enduring classic for generations of kids (and the Kid in all of us!!!) to enjoy for years and years to come!
Auntie Mame
(1958)
A Classic, pure and simple and Rosalind Russell's shining moment!
22 December 2018
A charming, beloved film that is both timeless and a perfect snapshot of mid-century NYC, with its glamour, theatricality, opulence and class. A once in a lifetime role that Rosalind Russell inhabits with such heart and vivacity, it is impossible not to wish we all had an Auntie Mame in our lives! There are genuinely inspired moments throughout the film -- the truly gorgeous sets, pitch-perfect acting from both the real human characters and the comic, sometimes unfortunate, but nevertheless engaging stereotypes, and the wonderful fadeouts between scenes resulting in a film experience akin to browsing through a beloved album of snapshots, one popping up after another bringing back cherished memories. The speed and energy the film possesses still allows heartfelt moments to shine bringing an occasional tear to the eye, and I can honestly say that as many times as I've seen it, the film remains fresh, bouyant, engaging and truly beloved. AND through it all is the majestic/funny/complex/hard-as-nails yet touchingly vulnerable spirit of Auntie Mame which Rosalind Russell so perfectly and enduringly brings to life in a performance for the ages.
Two Women
(1960)
One of the most Powerful films about war ever made & the Brilliance of Sophia Loren
1 November 2018
In 1960 in the back seat of our Chevrolet at our local Drive-in Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio, I saw "Two Women". Of course I was supposed to be sound asleep as this very adult film was showing late in the evening after the earlier Jack Lemmon film had already played. But nope -- I was discreetly up and watching -- not really getting it all, but remembering that something full of life and tragedy was being shown with one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen up on the screen. Now, almost 60 years later, I finally saw the film again in the original Italian language with subtitles, and I found it to be one of the most powerful, heartbreaking and disturbing films about war and its effects on common people, poor people, ordinary people just trying to live their lives that I've ever seen. Well, you really can't call Sophia Loren ordinary or common -- but her brilliance as an actress, her great beauty and her riveting screen presence made her an instant "star" - one of the greatest in film history. The overwhelming sadness and poignance of her performance and of this entire film stays in your mind and memory long after you've seen it. The film resonates with life, loss, heartbreak, and yet...resilience as the indomitable spirit of life and the will and the need to survive becomes the essence of this indelible cinematic experience. Who knows what happens to these two women, this strong/fragile mother/daughter duo after the film has ended? But their story becomes an indelible part of one's imagination and one hopes...prays...that somehow they survive, that their mother-daughter bond of love becomes eternal and that the unimaginable horrors they experienced during the War years can somehow be eased if not erased from their lives.
Florence Foster Jenkins
(2016)
Meryl Streep hits another peak in her career in a Honey of a film!
5 September 2016
Brimming with life and vitality, Florence Foster Jenkins is a triumph! The film makers have captured all the known details of the life of this extraordinary lady, and Meryl Streep positively gleams as she captures the spirit, indomitability, passion and zest for life that her character obviously possessed. The outrageousness of the story must undoubtedly seem to be a made-up Hollywood fantasy to many -- but the details of FFJ's life are too well known, and too many accounts of her life exist -- and this film is completely faithful and truthful to the details of her life story! It is the Real McCoy as it lavishes attention to period detail -- NYC in the 40's is portrayed so lovingly from the sets to the clothes, to the mannerisms of the circus of characters surrounding the grande dame -- her vast circle of friends and artistes. AND that voice! Streep's singing is astonishing in the way she so totally captures the essence of the original FFJ recordings -- beyond bad -- brilliantly bad! And the arc of the story which is by and large a vocal slapstick comedy, becomes surprisingly tender and even heartbreaking in spots. The film is as indomitable, passionate and zestful as the character of Florence Foster Jenkins -- a comic masterpiece to cherish and relish. Chalk up another deserved acting triumph for Meryl Streep -- with a big thanks to her for sharing her own zest for life, pleasure and joy! A happier experience at the movies can't be had!!
Stranger Than Paradise
(1984)
LOVE this film! NY Grunge, Cleveland Snow, Florida Blues! Paprikash, anyone?
7 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
What a great film! Loved it, even before I saw it, watching it's quirky trailer at the "art house" theater near Lincoln Center, where the film eventually played for well over a year in the 80s. Seeing it again today, it felt just as fresh, funny, familiar, endearing, charming and goofy as the first time I saw it so many years ago. Boring? Heck no!!! Different? You Bet!!! BUT it also feels more like real life than all the reality shows on TV these days!
Why I love this film so much:
1. The film maker obviously loves the character's he's created -- from Willie's newly Americanized con-man wannabe, who has very real affection and love for his cousin, to his goof-ball best pal, Eddie, who has a heart of gold, to the shy, but ultimately sincere and down- to-earth Eva, mature and self-aware. They form a strong bond, simply by being with each other, simply by hanging out, simply out of human desire to connect with each other -- to not be alone. And the audience also shares, identifies with, and cares about the characters with all their idiosyncrasies and quirkiness. We are captivated, and in this sense, the movie, often described as being "avant-garde" or "minimalist", has a surprisingly old-fashioned feel to it!
2. Aunt Lotte! Those of us who are 2nd Generation Americans, with grand parents who got off the boat in Ellis Island, sure remember Grand Parents who were just like Aunt Lotte. From the accent, to the comfortable, dowdy furnishings in her home, to the mountains of food offered to EVERYBODY who visits their homes -- plates of kielbasa, and sausage, and stuffed cabbage and the glorious Chicken Paprikash, to the heated temper they can possess, to the knowledge of the appropriate American cuss words. The character of Aunt Lotte is beyond real!! And consequently, hilarious.
3. The look and feel of the older, more run-down, nondescript sections of NYC at the height of it's grimy, crummy glory, in the late 70s, early 80s with all the crime, and garbage, before the encroaching Disneyfication, gentrification, and sanitization of Manhattan! Of course it's better now, but this film shows that under-belly side of urban/non-touristy NYC, with pure realism.
4. The look and feel of the older, more run-down, nondescript sections of freezing cold Cleveland in the midst of a good old fashioned snowy winter, with the bitter cold winds blowing off of Lake Erie. This, folks, is Cleveland in January!
5. The look and feel of the older, more run-down, nondescript sections of Florida with the endless budget motels, lining the "Yellow Brick Roads" to Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. As beautiful as much of Florida is, lots and lots of Florida -- looks like this!
6. Priceless scenes like Willie's sincere analysis and description of American TV dinners, to the silly Poker Game, where Willie and Eddie's rather awkward and juvenile "cheat" is exposed, to the hilarious Kung Fu Film seen by our 3 protagonists plus Eva's boyfriend wannabe. Only "hearing" the film, with the camera trained on the audience, we can remember every single cheap, Bruce Lee rip-off we watched in the budget theaters in the 70s and 80s, complete with endless "action" and crappy music.
7. The structure of the the film from the small individual "blackouts" -- simple, seemingly fragmentary, but actually very carefully calibrated scenes which serve as glimpses and sort of cinema-like "selfies" without the traditional arc of a cinematic "scene". Just as effective -- just as revelatory, and actually nice and succinct.
8. There is even an old-fashioned sense of a story, with very real suspense created in the final part of the film in Florida. I remember sitting on the edge of my seat the last 10 or 15 minutes wondering how this was all going to resolve itself. And here's the spoiler: It does resolve itself and it doesn't at the same time! Cool! i was fascinated how the movie's structure is so carefully worked out! Throughout most of the movie, we have 3 characters tied at the hip together, UNTIL the very last scene when all 3 go in very separate ways, though of course not by choice. This is a film that consequently makes you think as well!! Amazing!!
9. The genuinely satisfying humor -- sometimes even laugh-out-loud (Aunt Lottie; Eva's disposal of Willie's gift to her that he was so proud of; that Kung Fu movie) It was all ultimately good-natured, and even though the film ends a bit wistfully, the overall feeling is one of having enjoyed getting to know the characters, sharing their experiences, and laughing -- well not with them, but certainly at them!
10. Screamin' Jay Hawkins and his rendition of "I Put a Spell on You" MASTERFUL of Jim Jarmusch to include this raucous, hokey, wild tune as the leitmotif of the film! Jim Jarmusch puts a spell on us with this truly remarkable and justly lauded film!! It's both a time capsule of America in the later 20th century, and an enduring tale and character study for the ages!
Why I love this film so much:
1. The film maker obviously loves the character's he's created -- from Willie's newly Americanized con-man wannabe, who has very real affection and love for his cousin, to his goof-ball best pal, Eddie, who has a heart of gold, to the shy, but ultimately sincere and down- to-earth Eva, mature and self-aware. They form a strong bond, simply by being with each other, simply by hanging out, simply out of human desire to connect with each other -- to not be alone. And the audience also shares, identifies with, and cares about the characters with all their idiosyncrasies and quirkiness. We are captivated, and in this sense, the movie, often described as being "avant-garde" or "minimalist", has a surprisingly old-fashioned feel to it!
2. Aunt Lotte! Those of us who are 2nd Generation Americans, with grand parents who got off the boat in Ellis Island, sure remember Grand Parents who were just like Aunt Lotte. From the accent, to the comfortable, dowdy furnishings in her home, to the mountains of food offered to EVERYBODY who visits their homes -- plates of kielbasa, and sausage, and stuffed cabbage and the glorious Chicken Paprikash, to the heated temper they can possess, to the knowledge of the appropriate American cuss words. The character of Aunt Lotte is beyond real!! And consequently, hilarious.
3. The look and feel of the older, more run-down, nondescript sections of NYC at the height of it's grimy, crummy glory, in the late 70s, early 80s with all the crime, and garbage, before the encroaching Disneyfication, gentrification, and sanitization of Manhattan! Of course it's better now, but this film shows that under-belly side of urban/non-touristy NYC, with pure realism.
4. The look and feel of the older, more run-down, nondescript sections of freezing cold Cleveland in the midst of a good old fashioned snowy winter, with the bitter cold winds blowing off of Lake Erie. This, folks, is Cleveland in January!
5. The look and feel of the older, more run-down, nondescript sections of Florida with the endless budget motels, lining the "Yellow Brick Roads" to Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. As beautiful as much of Florida is, lots and lots of Florida -- looks like this!
6. Priceless scenes like Willie's sincere analysis and description of American TV dinners, to the silly Poker Game, where Willie and Eddie's rather awkward and juvenile "cheat" is exposed, to the hilarious Kung Fu Film seen by our 3 protagonists plus Eva's boyfriend wannabe. Only "hearing" the film, with the camera trained on the audience, we can remember every single cheap, Bruce Lee rip-off we watched in the budget theaters in the 70s and 80s, complete with endless "action" and crappy music.
7. The structure of the the film from the small individual "blackouts" -- simple, seemingly fragmentary, but actually very carefully calibrated scenes which serve as glimpses and sort of cinema-like "selfies" without the traditional arc of a cinematic "scene". Just as effective -- just as revelatory, and actually nice and succinct.
8. There is even an old-fashioned sense of a story, with very real suspense created in the final part of the film in Florida. I remember sitting on the edge of my seat the last 10 or 15 minutes wondering how this was all going to resolve itself. And here's the spoiler: It does resolve itself and it doesn't at the same time! Cool! i was fascinated how the movie's structure is so carefully worked out! Throughout most of the movie, we have 3 characters tied at the hip together, UNTIL the very last scene when all 3 go in very separate ways, though of course not by choice. This is a film that consequently makes you think as well!! Amazing!!
9. The genuinely satisfying humor -- sometimes even laugh-out-loud (Aunt Lottie; Eva's disposal of Willie's gift to her that he was so proud of; that Kung Fu movie) It was all ultimately good-natured, and even though the film ends a bit wistfully, the overall feeling is one of having enjoyed getting to know the characters, sharing their experiences, and laughing -- well not with them, but certainly at them!
10. Screamin' Jay Hawkins and his rendition of "I Put a Spell on You" MASTERFUL of Jim Jarmusch to include this raucous, hokey, wild tune as the leitmotif of the film! Jim Jarmusch puts a spell on us with this truly remarkable and justly lauded film!! It's both a time capsule of America in the later 20th century, and an enduring tale and character study for the ages!
Being There
(1979)
A sweet/sad surrealist fantasy, profound and delightful
11 April 2013
I LOVE Being There. Captivated the first time i saw it, I probably have watched this film a dozen times since -- each time immersed in the fantasy world of Chance and Eve and her billionaire beau, and the President of the United States, and the Russian Ambassador and all of the loony/quirky/needy/flawed/normal/outlandish characters eager, even desperate, to connect, to understand, to cope with and ultimately love and embrace a too-often incomprehensible world, thanks to the "insight" of the magical Chance. There are countless moments to cherish in this film, thanks to the subtle, surprising, carefully calibrated direction of the one and only Hal Ashby and the impeccable comic timing of the seasoned pros Melvyn Douglas and Shirley MacLaine, playing the magisterial Benjamin Rand and his beautiful sexy "concubine" Eve, with a script that keeps the viewer endlessly intrigued, with a combination of laugh-out-loud moments, moments of genuine suspense, and scenes of tenderness and even a few tears. Ultimately the film belongs to Peter Seller's brilliant character, Chance, with his sweet/calming, genuine/wise spirit; Chance -- on the street, in the elevator, at dinner, in a car, at a party, on TV, providing the laughs, but also the comfort, insight, warmth and wisdom. An unforgettable character in an unforgettable film. You know, it's time for me to see this film again!!
Being There
(1979)
A sweet/sad surrealist fantasy, profound and delightful
10 April 2013
I LOVE Being There. Captivated the first time i saw it, I probably have
watched this film a dozen times since -- each time immersed in the
fantasy world of Chance and Eve and her billionaire beau, and the
President of the United States, and the Russian Ambassador and all of
the loony/quirky/needy/flawed/normal/outlandish characters eager, even
desperate, to connect, to understand, to cope with and ultimately love
and embrace a too-often incomprehensible world, thanks to the "insight"
of the magical Chance. There are countless moments to cherish in this
film, thanks to the subtle, surprising, carefully calibrated direction
of the one and only Hal Ashby and the impeccable comic timing of the
seasoned pros Melvyn Douglas and Shirley MacLaine, playing the
magisterial Benjamin Rand and his beautiful sexy "concubine" Eve, with
a script that keeps the viewer endlessly intrigued, with a combination
of laugh-out-loud moments, moments of genuine suspense, and scenes of
tenderness and even a few tears. Ultimately the film belongs to Peter
Seller's brilliant character, Chance, with his sweet/calming,
genuine/wise spirit; Chance -- on the street, in the elevator, at
dinner, in a car, at a party, on TV, providing the laughs, but also the
comfort, insight, warmth and wisdom. An unforgettable character in an
unforgettable film. You know, it's time for me to see this film again!!
Everything WILL be all right in the end: The Best Exotic Marigold Movie.
2 June 2012
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a wonderful twisting and turning maze of a film (like the maze of Jaipur's markets with their frenetic chaos and gorgeous burst of color), with seven distinct, charming, annoying, frustrating, endearing, wise, colorful Brits and several equally distinct, charming, etc. etc. Indians whose lives we miraculously learn all about, care about, get angry at, shed a tear with, laugh with...and at, and ultimately wish them all enduring happiness during the precious waning or waxing years of their lives.
Seeing this film in a NYC theatre filled with people like myself - gray-haired, yet often feeling like 18-year-olds, despite what the mirror too often tells us, we were laughing up a storm, shedding those tears, and embracing the meaning and message of this film. ABOUT TIME there's another movie for us "Golden Oldies"!! Are there a few clichés a la "Enchanted April", or a few moments where it is necessary to suspend belief and accept the fantasy like "Forrest Gump"? You Bet! But that can be the magic of cinema! To get lost in a fantasy, to treasure an adventure in a foreign land, to listen to wizened, but wise people, flawed, some more than others, knocked about by life, but with the fortitude to realize that it is not over until it's over!
Like the classic movies of the 70's such as "Harold and Maude" and "King of Hearts", there are so many delectable bits of dialogue or wonderful sound bites that just shine with wisdom and understanding at the Divine Comedy of life: Graham waxing rhapsodic over the "Light, Colors, Smiles"of his cherished India, saying that "It teaches me something!"; Evelyn's simple declaration that "India, like Life itself, I suppose, is what you bring to it", and the goofy, eternally optimistic Sonny intoning with youthful wisdom that "Everything will be all right in the end, so if it is not all right, it is not yet the end!". One walks out of the film enchanted--with India, with these lovely cast of characters, so beautifully and vividly sketched by a stellar British ensemble, and with optimism that Everything WILL be all right in the end!"
Seeing this film in a NYC theatre filled with people like myself - gray-haired, yet often feeling like 18-year-olds, despite what the mirror too often tells us, we were laughing up a storm, shedding those tears, and embracing the meaning and message of this film. ABOUT TIME there's another movie for us "Golden Oldies"!! Are there a few clichés a la "Enchanted April", or a few moments where it is necessary to suspend belief and accept the fantasy like "Forrest Gump"? You Bet! But that can be the magic of cinema! To get lost in a fantasy, to treasure an adventure in a foreign land, to listen to wizened, but wise people, flawed, some more than others, knocked about by life, but with the fortitude to realize that it is not over until it's over!
Like the classic movies of the 70's such as "Harold and Maude" and "King of Hearts", there are so many delectable bits of dialogue or wonderful sound bites that just shine with wisdom and understanding at the Divine Comedy of life: Graham waxing rhapsodic over the "Light, Colors, Smiles"of his cherished India, saying that "It teaches me something!"; Evelyn's simple declaration that "India, like Life itself, I suppose, is what you bring to it", and the goofy, eternally optimistic Sonny intoning with youthful wisdom that "Everything will be all right in the end, so if it is not all right, it is not yet the end!". One walks out of the film enchanted--with India, with these lovely cast of characters, so beautifully and vividly sketched by a stellar British ensemble, and with optimism that Everything WILL be all right in the end!"
The Descendants
(2011)
Mana from Cinematic Heaven
25 January 2012
Mahalo, cast and crew and everyone associated with this great, funny, heartbreaking and beautiful film. It is a film anyone who has lost a loved one too soon (It is ALWAYS to soon to lose a loved one) can identify with from the opening scenes of jarring Hawaiian images to a simple, quiet, comforting family tableau, perfect in its simplicity. The stages of grief: disbelief, anger, denial, resolution, are all there. But so is a kaleidoscope of everyday life that surrounds the grief, that makes the grief bearable--the moments of surprising humor, the life stories both ridiculous and truthful, that make life fascinating, that make life the great human comedy and great human tragedy that keeps us guessing, keeps us striving, keeps us coping and enduring.
The characters are all vividly etched, and powerfully portrayed by a stellar cast from George Clooney's majestic, conflicted, ultimately heartbreaking Matt, to his beloved, infuriating, but ultimately wise and charming daughters, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller, to the enjoyably goofy teenage boyfriend with a surprisingly poignant past, Nick Krause's Sid to a whole host of neighbors and friends and extended family, all of whom seem oddly familiar--so carefully cast and played with short revealing moments highlighting each of them. What an assortment of characters! SAG -- take notice of this ensemble when you give out your award this year!!
There are images in this film that are sure to endure: the silent cry of grief underwater of Matt's elder daughter, the final, haunting ceremony in the waters of Waikiki, as the ashes of Matt's wife drift away in the azure waters, the calm, comforting walk along the beach of Matt and his family as day turns into the "only in Hawaii" dusk, with the golden light highlighting their newly discovered bond, the quiet spying through the slightly opened hospital room door on Elizabeth's old "p***k" of a father, as his face becomes contorted with unbearable, painful grief as he says his final goodbye. The moments of grief are handled so carefully and are vivid but also understated, so that they become all the more powerful, and we never feel manipulated -- we only feel as if we are sharing the feelings of these memorable and exquisitely etched characters. Somehow, we ultimately wish all of them well, with all their tremendous imperfections. They are human -- all too human. And, we feel for them and we celebrate them.
Alexander Payne has created some of the most heartfelt films over the last decade -- "About Schmidt" and "Sideways". With "The Descendents" he has given us his most deeply felt film yet -- a film to treasure, to cry and laugh with, and to hold dear to our hearts, a film that keeps us guessing, that resonates with life's unpredictability, that ultimately celebrates life and love and family, told with warmth and wisdom and genuine insight -- the best film of 2011. Mahalo.
The characters are all vividly etched, and powerfully portrayed by a stellar cast from George Clooney's majestic, conflicted, ultimately heartbreaking Matt, to his beloved, infuriating, but ultimately wise and charming daughters, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller, to the enjoyably goofy teenage boyfriend with a surprisingly poignant past, Nick Krause's Sid to a whole host of neighbors and friends and extended family, all of whom seem oddly familiar--so carefully cast and played with short revealing moments highlighting each of them. What an assortment of characters! SAG -- take notice of this ensemble when you give out your award this year!!
There are images in this film that are sure to endure: the silent cry of grief underwater of Matt's elder daughter, the final, haunting ceremony in the waters of Waikiki, as the ashes of Matt's wife drift away in the azure waters, the calm, comforting walk along the beach of Matt and his family as day turns into the "only in Hawaii" dusk, with the golden light highlighting their newly discovered bond, the quiet spying through the slightly opened hospital room door on Elizabeth's old "p***k" of a father, as his face becomes contorted with unbearable, painful grief as he says his final goodbye. The moments of grief are handled so carefully and are vivid but also understated, so that they become all the more powerful, and we never feel manipulated -- we only feel as if we are sharing the feelings of these memorable and exquisitely etched characters. Somehow, we ultimately wish all of them well, with all their tremendous imperfections. They are human -- all too human. And, we feel for them and we celebrate them.
Alexander Payne has created some of the most heartfelt films over the last decade -- "About Schmidt" and "Sideways". With "The Descendents" he has given us his most deeply felt film yet -- a film to treasure, to cry and laugh with, and to hold dear to our hearts, a film that keeps us guessing, that resonates with life's unpredictability, that ultimately celebrates life and love and family, told with warmth and wisdom and genuine insight -- the best film of 2011. Mahalo.
Hello, Dolly!
(1969)
What's not to Love about this Movie?
6 July 2011
One of the most underrated films of all time (even by IMDb viewers!!) What's not to Love about this film? It showcases Barbra Streisand at her Barbra Streisand best, and has one of the top five musical numbers in the history of Broadway. It's a sweetly innocent, escapist billowy tale, old-fashioned and charming, set within a gorgeous palate of lavish Belle Epoque era interiors, and Hudson River Valley Scenery, with a Louis Armstrong appearance that is the cap-per of a truly delightful entertainment. Those of you who haven't seen the film--please ignore the naysayers and the snobbish critical reviews--just escape into an earlier, innocent time, where strolling down the Avenues of turn-of-the 20th century NY, enjoying a lavish, calorie and cholesterol - laden banquet at a beautiful restaurant, watching with child-like glee a great old-fashioned parade and relishing the simple beauties of a sun-filled day all dressed up with tuneful melodies and snappy dancing warms your heart and provides a jolly good time! Relish and enjoy this treasure of an American Musical! Heck with the critics! This is one of the most fun musical entertainments ever captured on film!
Lilies of the Field
(1963)
Schmidt!!! Amen........Amen!!
30 December 2010
I don't believe in "miracles".......BUT........This film is truly a miracle! Filmed in just a couple of weeks, made for very little money, lasting a brief 90 minutes, it is one of the most beloved and cherished films probably ever made in the U.S. It is at once so simple and so profound. It is a film about resilience....about true love, and true sacrifice. In the middle of Nowhere (and I really mean the middle of Nowhere), USA, as a group of poor nuns, and poor parishioners, and a poor priest elicit help (and grace) from a poor black man, they go about their routines...Homer repairs a roof, the shopkeeper makes breakfast, the German nuns repair a fence, and charmingly practice and learn their English first from a Gramophone, then from Homer, the "Mother Superior" keeps an iron fist determining what should and should not be done...when and how, and a tiny church is built by hook or by crook by Smith. But every few moments, as a particular truth is uttered, or a connection made, or a kindness offered, or a smile bigger than the sun spreads across Homer's face--the film sometimes just takes your breath away. It looks so sympathetically at all these people--it embraces them, makes us understand them, respects them, feels for them. We should all be so lucky to encounter a Homer Smith in our lives--filled with the joy of life, realistic, pragmatic, but also a dreamer with the soul of a great and generous man, who makes us laugh out loud and feel protected and safe. But all the people, with their faults and foibles become just as cherished in their own ways as Homer. The nuns with their spiritual purpose and sacrifice, Strong Sister Mary with her unshakable (and often annoying) faith, the parishioners with their jealousies, but also their generosities....they are a microcosm of all of us. They are every race and creed. They are generous and stingy, happy and sad. But they survive--they go on and work and struggle....and sometimes a bright, shining, inspirational light like Homer enters their lives, but, even when he will disappear, as inevitably happens (all good things come to an end!)...they still go on...with love and work and toil and ultimate optimism in life and all its glorious, radiant possibilities. Lilies of the Field. One for the Ages!!!
Five Easy Pieces
(1970)
1970 Toast recipe: Chicken Sal San on Wheat Toast---hold the butter, lettuce, mayonnaise AND the chicken! Brilliant, iconic film.
25 November 2010
The time is 1970, the Happy-go-lucky Pop culture of the Beatles and the Hippies was quickly devolving into the drug culture plague, as Nixon presided over the beginnings of the various Watergate-related intrigues, and millions of young people protested the horror of the Vietnam war, a war which was broadcast in all its ugliness and violence on the nightly news day after day. As the big eastern cities were continuing to decay and the poverty and the hopelessness of a huge percentage of the American population was recently exposed in the 60's summer race riots, this was a time in American Cinema in which those alienated from society, in films like Easy Rider and Alice's Restaurant and Taxi Driver and Joe became the new American heroes--those people with whom so many of the youth could identify. The anti- hero, like Travis Bickel from Taxi Driver and Joe from "Joe" reigned supreme, and gone were the days of the prominence of the Jimmy Stewarts and John Waynes of previous generations.
No film captured this dispirited, almost depressive time with more insight, imagination and searing truth than Five Easy Pieces. But the film is not depressing in and of itself. On the contrary it is filled with such rich characters and situations, that we are captivated from the opening frames straight through the heart-breaking non-conclusive conclusion. There are moments of great humor as well--in the portrayal of the goofy friends Bobby and Rayette hang out with, to Sally Struther's pre-"All in the Family" hysterical nymphet, to the Lesbian couple's obsession with "crap and filth" in America to the insufferable snobs in Bobby's father's home to the priceless Diner scene and that infamous order of toast.......errr... the chicken sal sand on wheat toast minus the butter, lettuce, mayonnaise.....and chicken salad. Brilliant.
The heart and soul of the film is Jack Nicholson's Bobby. Talented, direction-less, thoughtless, cruel, helpless, trapped--the very essence of the alienated anti-hero of 1970 that all could identify with. He is sympathetic, but poisonous, a product of the times and a rootlessness that is both real and symbolic. Karen Black's Rayette is the polar opposite of Bobby, and her innocent, naive sweetness becomes heartbreaking as she, like all those Bobby touches becomes a victim of his ultimate callousness. But of course no one is more a victim of this alienated spirit than Bobby himself. He'll escape from his friends, his life, the world around him, those who love him or want to love him so desperately....but the ultimate tragedy is that he'll never escape from himself. One knows where Bobby will end up...alone, lost, bitter, all beauty gone from his life, all purpose a distant and faded memory.
No film captured this dispirited, almost depressive time with more insight, imagination and searing truth than Five Easy Pieces. But the film is not depressing in and of itself. On the contrary it is filled with such rich characters and situations, that we are captivated from the opening frames straight through the heart-breaking non-conclusive conclusion. There are moments of great humor as well--in the portrayal of the goofy friends Bobby and Rayette hang out with, to Sally Struther's pre-"All in the Family" hysterical nymphet, to the Lesbian couple's obsession with "crap and filth" in America to the insufferable snobs in Bobby's father's home to the priceless Diner scene and that infamous order of toast.......errr... the chicken sal sand on wheat toast minus the butter, lettuce, mayonnaise.....and chicken salad. Brilliant.
The heart and soul of the film is Jack Nicholson's Bobby. Talented, direction-less, thoughtless, cruel, helpless, trapped--the very essence of the alienated anti-hero of 1970 that all could identify with. He is sympathetic, but poisonous, a product of the times and a rootlessness that is both real and symbolic. Karen Black's Rayette is the polar opposite of Bobby, and her innocent, naive sweetness becomes heartbreaking as she, like all those Bobby touches becomes a victim of his ultimate callousness. But of course no one is more a victim of this alienated spirit than Bobby himself. He'll escape from his friends, his life, the world around him, those who love him or want to love him so desperately....but the ultimate tragedy is that he'll never escape from himself. One knows where Bobby will end up...alone, lost, bitter, all beauty gone from his life, all purpose a distant and faded memory.
The Out of Towners
(1970)
Awful, Dreadful, Unfunny, Terrible, Boring, Endless Dreck,
23 November 2010
Well, truth be told, I don't like this movie very much. Now--I'm a HUGE Neil Simon fan, a HUGE Jack Lemmon fan, a HUGE Sandy Dennis fan. How in the world could this movie have gone so wrong?
1. Neil Simon's episodic tale of an obnoxious neurotic and his annoying wife running into one disaster after another in NYC, happening at the rate of probably one screw-up every five minutes, is so relentless--it induced in me a headache of major proportions. The episodes are not really funny, because they are all so unpleasant--seeing Sandy Dennis' foot bleeding after stepping on a twist top bottle cap in the middle of Central Park, watching Jack Lemmon breaking a tooth eating cracker jack, and the relentless parade of stereotypical NYC (circa 1970) loonies contributing to the unpleasant atmosphere of Dante's Inferno transported to Manhattan is so inexorable, one watches the movie in absolute awe at the blatant humorlessness of it all. Instead of being funny, it is noisy, chaotic and relentless. The two hour or so movie feels like it lasts an eternity.
2. Jack Lemmon's character is just SO obnoxious and obsessive compulsive and unpleasant, he is a walking talking perforated ulcer. Think of a terrible headache, or earache or toothache that won't go away. That's Jack Lemmon in "The Out-of-Towners"!
3. Sandy Dennis says "George" (Jack Lemmon's character's name) I swear to God--maybe 300 or 400 times during the course of the movie. I loved watching Sandy Dennis with her quirks and ticks and unexpected crescendos and decrescendos in her voice in films like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and "Up the Down Staircase"--but in this movie, these all just become annoying. But if she didn't keep saying George every 5 seconds in the movie, I probably would have tolerated her a little more. Her final monologue enumerating all the rotten aspects of NYC was a bitter whining recitation at the end of a crappy movie.
On paper this movie might have seemed like a sure thing--maybe it read better then the God-awful resulting translation to the big screen.
For those of us living in New York City for the past 40 years, this movie feels like a relic from the distant past. In place of the strikes and the crime and the stereotypical rudeness, nowadays, with NY being OZ for most of the rest of the world--the main annoyance in 2010 is that the cost of housing is so exorbitant. But this relic of a film is not a revealing view of NY circa 1970--it's just a dumb trifle, taking pot shots at easy targets, and causing queasiness in the viewing audience. Have your Alka Seltzer or aspirin (mega-doses) at hand when you prepare to watch this movie.
1. Neil Simon's episodic tale of an obnoxious neurotic and his annoying wife running into one disaster after another in NYC, happening at the rate of probably one screw-up every five minutes, is so relentless--it induced in me a headache of major proportions. The episodes are not really funny, because they are all so unpleasant--seeing Sandy Dennis' foot bleeding after stepping on a twist top bottle cap in the middle of Central Park, watching Jack Lemmon breaking a tooth eating cracker jack, and the relentless parade of stereotypical NYC (circa 1970) loonies contributing to the unpleasant atmosphere of Dante's Inferno transported to Manhattan is so inexorable, one watches the movie in absolute awe at the blatant humorlessness of it all. Instead of being funny, it is noisy, chaotic and relentless. The two hour or so movie feels like it lasts an eternity.
2. Jack Lemmon's character is just SO obnoxious and obsessive compulsive and unpleasant, he is a walking talking perforated ulcer. Think of a terrible headache, or earache or toothache that won't go away. That's Jack Lemmon in "The Out-of-Towners"!
3. Sandy Dennis says "George" (Jack Lemmon's character's name) I swear to God--maybe 300 or 400 times during the course of the movie. I loved watching Sandy Dennis with her quirks and ticks and unexpected crescendos and decrescendos in her voice in films like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and "Up the Down Staircase"--but in this movie, these all just become annoying. But if she didn't keep saying George every 5 seconds in the movie, I probably would have tolerated her a little more. Her final monologue enumerating all the rotten aspects of NYC was a bitter whining recitation at the end of a crappy movie.
On paper this movie might have seemed like a sure thing--maybe it read better then the God-awful resulting translation to the big screen.
For those of us living in New York City for the past 40 years, this movie feels like a relic from the distant past. In place of the strikes and the crime and the stereotypical rudeness, nowadays, with NY being OZ for most of the rest of the world--the main annoyance in 2010 is that the cost of housing is so exorbitant. But this relic of a film is not a revealing view of NY circa 1970--it's just a dumb trifle, taking pot shots at easy targets, and causing queasiness in the viewing audience. Have your Alka Seltzer or aspirin (mega-doses) at hand when you prepare to watch this movie.
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