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Reviews
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
One of my all-time favorites
I will argue about this movie forever. The big complaint is that Streisand is too young for the role of Dolly. She is not! If you keep in mind this is set in 1890, when life expectancy was 40, the idea of a young widow throwing herself at a 40-year-old half-a-millionaire makes sense. Matthau, in spite of the trouble he had with her, was the right actor at the time for the role of Vandergelder. The production is spectacular. Keep in mind that this cost $26 million. Fast forward to 1985. A Chorus Line cost $26 million. That was the budget for a movie that had no scenery, no costumes and no stars! Where did the money go? The following year, Little Shop of Horrors cost that much, but it's obvious where the money went.
I've seen Hello, Dolly! Onstage six times and with six different Dollys (from best to worst: Dorothy Lamour, Bette Midler, Betty Buckley, Carol Channing, Sally Struthers and a community theater actress) this is a sensational movie. If you see it from the point of view I've offered, I think you'll find this is quite a remarkable version of the stage musical!
A Matter of Time (1976)
What this movie could have been
Think what this movie could have been had it been done in the 1950s. The Contessa would have been a perfect role for Ethel Barrymore and the girl could have been a star-making role for Leslie Caron, Julie Andrews, Yvette Mimieux or Audrey Hepburn. The film shares elements with the Mademoiselle sequence in Minnelli's film The Story of Three Loves, but sadly, this movie doesn't deliver. It could be remade with someone like Rita Moreno or Ann Margret as the Contessa and Amanda Seifried as the girl. (Maybe she's too old for the role now). Minnelli's last film should have been terrific. It just isn't.
My Fake Boyfriend (2022)
How did this get Greenlit?
The script is terrible and is basically a lot of nothing. The acting is mediocre at best, although when the men are in states of undress, they bring some interest to it, but is one of the most unbelievably ridiculous and pointless movies I have ever seen! The actors try but without anything to play, there's not a real commitment to this. There are far more interesting gay romantic comedies out there that aren't a waste of time! I wish there was something to recommend this, but there really isn't. Even Dylan Sprouse can't breathe life into this wooden script. Not even the sets and backdrops are good!
Uncoupled: Chapter 5 (2022)
It's good, but needs more sex!
This is a gay variation on Sex and the City, and it's quite good. I could relate to it, because I went through this. I love NPH. He's a marvelous actor and the characters are similar to people I know.
However, am I the only one who's sound goes out the last few minutes of each episode? I have the subtitles on, but I have no idea why this is happening. Any suggestions?
Blithe Spirit (2020)
Positively dreadful!
For one thing, Blithe Spirit didn't need a remake, but it certainly deserved a better one than this. Only Judy Dench as Madame Arcati comes close to the spirit of Noel Coward's original. The screenplay adds a lot of unneeded nonsense and the entire thing lacks the joy and humor of the original. It's not any fun, either. If you want to see a decent production, the original film version, the 1956 TV production starring Coward, Lauren Bacall and Claudette Colbert and the 1966 version starring Ruth Gordon, Dirk Bogarde, Rosemary Harris and Rachel Roberts are all on YouTube. This monstrosity is directed by Edward Hall. I saw his production of A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway and it, too, was ghastly. This is a waste of time. It goes back to the library tomorrow.
A Small Circle of Friends (1980)
Good movie, but...
...sadly, it doesn't hold up. I'm finding a lot of films during this era don't. What was considered a bold movie about a young, rebellious man when it was released, for example, I find The Graduate is now just a nasty movie about nasty people; Bonnie and Clyde was an important film when it was released, but now, I can't get past Estelle Parson's whiney performance (which won her an Oscar!!) This is another. Although they were too old for the roles, Jameson Parker, Brad Davis and Karen Allen made a marvelous trio and a lot of fine actors made their first film appearances here. I just didn't find it the compelling movie I did when I saw it 40 years ago!
In the Heights (2021)
Best Picture of the Year
In the Heights is easily the best movie I saw in 2021. It was beautifully realized and superbly directed. I had gained respect for Lin Manuel Miranda after I saw him in Mary Poppins Returns, but I am even more respectful now that I saw the TV version of Hamilton and this glorious movie musical! The woman who played the Abuela should earn a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. I wish I could get up the energy to see the remake of West Side Story, but I don't see why it needed to be remade. On the other hand, In the Heights was entertaining and original, a great movie!
Bare (2020)
Beautiful but incredibly tedious
While it's fascinating to watch all these good looking men work through the rehearsal process naked, this film captures exactly what rehearsals can be: a tedious time. This is especially true when the choreographer isn't sure what he wants and he's taking almost a year to create his latest work.
This isn't a film for the general public, and theater people (like me) will recognize both its merits and its faults, so be prepared for a lot of slow, dull sequences as it moves toward its climax.
1313: Hercules Unbound! (2012)
Positively dreadful
I lasted about a half hour and I skipped from scene to scene. There's a lot of men posing, then doing something athletic, although there's no reason or purpose to this nonsense. I wasted $1.99 on this garbage. Don't make the same mistake!
The Scarlet Letter (1995)
This is NOT The Scarlet Letter
Demi Moore said "Not many people have read the book." She certainly hasn't because when I was in High School, it was required reading in Junior English. I know that when I read it, I couldn't put it down, and I tutored a student in literature for a few summers as extra credit and one summer we read this and Jane Eyre. This ghastly movie has very little to do with Hawthorne's masterpiece, except for character names and possibly some of the plot elements. Women in Puritan America would never have been allowed to show their ankles or dress as provocatively as the costumes in this turkey. Don't waste your time. There are better versions, such as the Colleen Moore and especially the 1926 Lillian Gish production. See one of those instead!
The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (2000)
A very nice version of the story, but...
I have written an adaptation of this book and directed it three times for my theater group, and while this is a very nice version, it strays from the original story a little too much. For example, Queen Zurline, who is one of Claus' guardians is completely left out of the story, and there a characters such as Wisk, who are not part of the book. The animation is fine, and they really captured Blinkie, whom I made into a more important and vocal character. The thing I think disappoints me is that Baum's language is so beautiful and it's not part of this version.
By the way, my play is available for production, so please contact me if you would be interested in a production. It can be done as a full production, with a large cast, or with about 7 or 8 actors as a Reader's Theater. Both versions were successful, and it's a pleasant alternative to A Christmas Carol.
Christmas on the Square (2020)
A Campy Mess
This is really so bad that it's kind of fun. The story is dreadful, a merging of A Christmas Carol and It's A Wonderful Life, with vapid, uninspired characters singing mediocre music and lots of silly moments. It's heartfelt, but essentially empty. It's nice background noise while you're doing other things like cleaning the bathroom.
Damn Yankees! (1967)
A delightful rendition of this musical
I have wanted to see this since its broadcast in 1967. It was shown on Christmas Eve and I was at a family gathering so I didn't get to see it. The production is very cartoonish and the camera work isn't the best, but this is a sensational cast and their having fun with it. Ray Middleton is Joe, and Fran Allyson (without Kulka and Ollie) is his wife. Phil Silvers is slick and funny as Applegate, with a young Linda Lavin as Rocky, Jim Backus as the team's coach and Bob Dishy as one of the players. Lee Remick is smashing as Lola, and she gives it her all. Fresh from Mame, Jerry Lanning plays young Joe and there are moments of pure joy. As far as the television musicals of the 1960s go, this is a treat! I've recently discovered that YouTube has a number of them, such as Cole Porter's Aladdin, featuring Cyril Ritchard and Sal Mineo; the Armstrong Circle productions of Brigadoon with Robert Goulet and Kismet with Jose Ferrer and Anna Maria Alberghetti, as well as the Merrill-Styne Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood starring Liza Minnelli. These are shows that should be rediscovered to understand how television benefitted Broadway back then!
Say Yes (2018)
Lovely little movie
The story is lovely and very heartfelt. The husband's character needs some better writing. It's frustrating to watch what he's going through and his lines tend to be repetitious, but overall, it's a nice movie.
Capital Games (2013)
Great concept, but really?
The leading character, Steve Miller is more interesting than the second lead, but really. The plot was dreary and needed some umph. The character development was non-existent. Some narrative to let the audience in on what's going on with all those driving scenes would have been helpful, too. The last 15 minutes seem endless! Spoiler: it's a rip-off of The Graduate, too.
During this quarantine, there are far better movies than this thing!
The Sea Beast (1926)
Glorious Score, fascinating adaptation
While this is not very faithful to Herman Melville's novel, indeed, Ishmael isn't even a character, this is a good film. Barrymore, of course, is perfectly cast as Ahab, with Dolores Costello, his lover at the time, as Esther, the woman both he and Ahab's brother (where did he come from)fighting for her love.
The print isn't perfect. It's washed out in places, but overall, it's not bad, and the score is terrific. I waited a long time to see this and really enjoyed it! If you want to see a Moby Dick that's closer to the book, there are the 1956 version with Gregory Peck, which is excellent, and the TV version starring Patrick Stewart, which really follows the book!
Orson Welles also wrote a stage adaptation that's exciting. Now why hasn't that been one on a PBS Theatre in America program?
A Good Day to Die (2010)
An Outstanding Documentary
I saw this eye-opening film at the Twin Cities Film Festival tonight and it was tremendous. It follows the life of Dennis Banks, one of the founders of AIM, the American Indian Movement and their efforts to make the American public and politicians aware of the difficulties Native Americans have had over the centuries. The broken treaties have led to the movement's activities, climaxing with Wounded Knee. Many people are interviewed, including Banks, his daughter, many of the people who were involved in the movement. We get both the Native point of view and that of the politicians who have resisted their requests for the past 40 years.
The discussion following the film merited discussion, including the lack of true curriculum for the Public Schools regarding Native history.
The movie hasn't found a distributor yet, but it's a Must See!!!