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Reviews
Novem (2006)
Amazingly real for fiction
I just watched it on our local PBS station since it was produced locally. The footage shot on campus was shot at the University of Evansville and the production company is here in Evansville too. They produce a lot of cable TV shows. I was blown away by the music. They did a great job of making the music sound like the 70's. Kinda light with a hard edge. Great soundtrack.
It also reminded me of all of my friends from that era that never made it to 30. Friends that died because of Vietnam, Drugs, Booze, Aids and just plain bad driving. I knew it was fiction but it still brought tears to my eyes thinking about all of that. Well done. Although I would have to say there really isn't a market for a movie like this with no sex or blood.
CrissCross (1992)
I am drawn to this Movie
I was 11 in the summer of 1969 and our family was camping near Cape Canaveral during the moonwalk. We sat outside near the bathhouse watching the moonwalk on a portable b&w TV. So this movie takes me back to that time. When I go to Key West now, I can relate to this movie. The place I stay in Key West is just down the street from Eden House. I get this weird but good feeling every time I walk past Eden House, half expecting Goldie or David to come popping out the door. Yes I am drawn to this movie. It takes me back to my youth and lets me relive it just a bit each time I watch it. Despite all of the tourists, Key West is still a simple fun place to visit and you can walk all over the Island, and the Key Lime Pie ain't bad either. This film may not be a classic but my childhood was. And this movie helps me relive it.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Dallas dream ending
This could have been a very good movie.... but it wasn't. I liked the movie all the way to the "Dallas-it-was-all-just-a-dream" ending. O'k here is the problem with the ending... if his Mom's plane didn't crash, then where did the jet engine come from?????? So none of the rest of the movie makes sense. I liked the actors, the script was out there, but I was willing to go with it, but the ending ruined the entire movie. Teen angst is great for a movie, but the ending eliminated the teen angst, since the teen was dead all of the time anyway. There have been sooo many time travel movies made, you really have to go the extra mile to make a time travel movie work. The ending lost that extra mile. I think the Writer/Director just had no real ending for the movie, so he just pulled this ending from his butt and explained it as new and different. It wasn't. It was done in the 80's on the TV show Dallas. Remember the whole Bobby-wasn't-dead-it-was-just-a-dream season? Or the ending to Newhart? It just twisted it to he didn't live, but was dead the whole time. Very lame. Too bad, because it had a very good cast.
Sweethearts (1938)
Great Film
I saw this movie for the first time tonight....WOW! I never really liked these two in their other movies but this one is great and the color... superb. My favorite part of the visuals are the on location shots of New York in 1938 IN COLOR! Amazing that the front of NBC still looks the same as it did then. The songs in this picture are much better than most of the "Mountie" movies they did. And Ray Bolger (a year away from "The Wizard of Oz") just steals the opening scene of the movie... too bad they couldn't find another spot for him to dance in this movie. And Frank Morgan (also a year away from "The Wizard of Oz")....how can anybody not like Frank Morgan as the worried producer. He is so much fun in every movie he is in. It is just ashamed that MGM and the other movie studios didn't use color more in these great old movies. What a treasure they would have become. It certainly helps me see the world of my parents and grandparents in real life color, instead of dull black and white. See this movie if you get the chance... just for the fun of it.
In the Flesh (1998)
Straight playing Gay?
Wow this film was shot in Atlanta... USA????? I was expecting subtitles it looked so foreign. Except there was no flesh "in the Flesh" and foreign films always have lots of flesh. Clearly these were straight film makers trying to make a "Gay" themed movie. Atlanta is a beautiful city and they show none of it. My guess is they wanted that "anywhere" look so they could release it in Europe. They can have it. But I doubt Europe would want this film either. Take out that 1 straight sex scene and you could show in on American TV, but it did look like a porno with no sex. It reminded me of "Matlock" gone wild.. hehehe since it was in Atlanta. Of course Matlock showed a lot more of Atlanta. And had a better script. And the audio was quite distracting. He dropped a pen on a pad of paper and it sounded like a bomb blast... not exactly delicate Foley work. The only good thing about this movie are the cute actors...well models that read lines... not much acting here. Don't waste a Netflix pick on this movie.
Hard Rain (1998)
No More Water Movies
First, I too am from Huntingburg, IN where this Disaster (movie) was shot. I was born there and moved away when I was 10 in 1968. But, I still live near it and go through Huntingburg from time to time. It was cool to see my old hometown's downtown... it looks just like, no movie tricks... minus the sandbags, and the stupid statue. The sandbags actually held the water in the downtown, since it is built on a hill. Now as for the movie... disaster is the correct word. It started off good... maybe a bit too fast, not enough character development. Then it got improbable ... then downright dumb. The town is under 10 feet of water and the power is still on??? Looks like another FEMA mess-up NO National Guard and only 4 cops? But mostly, people don't wanna pay good money to see waterlogged movies, water scares a lot of people. Remember Waterworld? Don't they test these things first before spending $70 mil. And this one was at night! The acting is good, the script half good... the premise no good! Nothing about this movie makes sense. But it was cool to see my old hometown in the movies! "A League of Their Own" involved both my old hometown (Huntingburg) and my current hometown (Evansville, IN) and was a much better movie. I was away and missed the filming of both movies :( So if you're looking to film a new movie, both town are still available and now, so am I.
One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937)
Wow is all I can say!
I caught this movie on TCM and WOW, what a voice. Deanna was just incredible at only 16. Plus she had such personality, and who doesn't like Adolphe Menjou and Eugene Palette. This could have been just another depression era "rags to riches story" or a "let's put on a show" movie, But it had a real story, formula, yes, but a step above. I love classical music and I never realized there was a popular musical like this using only classical music. Boy how times have changed...hehe. I just can't get over Deanna's voice. And yet you just never here about her like Judy Garland. Well Judy is great but Deanna Durbin was just as great in my opinion. Too bad she didn't make more movies or record more records. I could listen to that voice all day. The director, Henry Koster, did a masterful job. The scene of the orchestra playing in the conductors house, is shot in a style way ahead of it's time and not a low budget 30's movie style. Koster went on to direct some very good movies. You can see why in this movie. This movie would be great for film students to study... a 1930's formula film, that rises above formula to Art.
Cat Ballou (1965)
all-time fav movie
This is still one of my favorite comedies even though Lee Marvin as "Tim Strawn" scared the hell out of me as a kid of 7 when i first saw this movie in the theater in 1965. I have watched it at least 15 times on TV since then. I even sat through commercials. Thank god for Encore movie channel, no more commercials. I have been a Lee Marvin fan ever since. His performance in this movie is along the same line as his role in the "Flint" movies, which I watch every time they run. Jane Fonda is delightful in this movie as well. I'm still a fan of her too. I love the "singing narration" of Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye and who could ever forget "The Horse". I remember as a kid, we talked about this movie for months after we saw it. And who doesn't enjoy a happy ending?
Presque rien (2000)
What happened???
O'k the guys are cute... but what happened? I hate sub titles, but usually they at least let you know what is going on. They are few and far between in this movie, because there is so little dialogue during important scenes. Lots of talking when nothing is going on or they are just sitting around shooting the breeze. Then the movie jumps from the beginning to the ending to the middle. It jumps from winter to summer back to winter then a different summer....! I liked the story and the actors were very good, but the director or editor forgot to tell US what was happening. Too many holes. We had to guess most of the time. This isn't a spoiler cause I am asking a question... at the end, why did they break up... they lost me there some place. They are supposed to write dialogue so that we can follow the story, not get lost. Good movie poorly executed!
Walk the Line (2005)
Great film
Considering the formula junk coming out of Hollywood these days, I was blown away by how good this movie was. The direction was perfect. Using close ups to get us in under the skin of Johnny Cash. And since it was a period piece, he could have bored us with lots of cgi of Memphis and L.A. to take us back in time. Instead he used the actors and the music to take us there. Biopics naturally have a formula to them, but the director and screenwriter did not take us down the track of overly sentimental scenes. These were real and done with a bit of well placed humor. Just like real life. Afterall you still have to follow the real lives of Johnny and June. You can't make it up, just to be original! The movie was also a movie you can take most of the family to. No nudity and sex to SHOW how in love they are, just real dialog...it's nice to hear REAL dialog and not just another chase scene, or four letter word. Yes, some movies need that to tell the story, this one doesn't. This movie goes onto my short list of great biopics, with "Ray". Not much else comes close to Ray or Walk the Line. The true test of any biopics is: can you still understand the plot even if you never heard of the people the movie is about. This movie is a great love story even if you never heard of Johnny and June Cash. Oscars all around I say! Plus I loved the Rockabilly music through out the movie.
Dancing Pirate (1936)
This Movie almost killed Musicals!
This movie bombed so bad at the theaters in 1936 that RKO didn't make another color musical for 16 years!!! And it still stinks today! And to make matters worse... the DVD copy they are selling is a Black and White, 16mm bootleg print, that they somehow got copyrighted.. or at least they claim to hold the copyright. This thing has bad film splices and grainy picture quality. Plus the DVD jacket confuses Frank Morgan who is in this picture and was the Wizard in "The Wizard of Oz" with Harry Morgan who is not in this movie but was in "Mash" on TV. Real film historians!!!! Yeah right! I would have liked to seen the color version though, just for the fun of early Techocolor. I should learn not to take free movies from "friends". Do yourself a favor... don't buy dollar DVD's and never take free movies from friends! Oh and BTW, saying it is "digitally remastered" just means they transfered the film onto a digital DVD. They love to play word games.
Firebird 2015 AD (1981)
Really, Really, I mean Really BAD!
First, I got this movie free from a friend who was going to throw it away... I should have let him! If somebody offers you a free movie.... don't take it! This movie is so bad on so many levels. I really like Darrin McGavin, but even he couldn't save this garbage. It's not even funny, it is a crime! There seems to be a goof in every scene. My favorite goof is when the guy is being chased by the cops on mopeds (Ilove cops on mopeds) and in one scene he isn't wearing a helmet and the next he is! Or when 4 cops shoot high powered rifles from point blank range and miss about 100 times! And then get mad at the other cop who kills the perp with a missile. What were they trying to do... wound him? They couldn't even shoot out his tires! And since the "burners" drove on the roads... maybe the cops should have staked out the ROADS! And why are there roads if there are no cars? I love "bad" futuristic movies like "A Boy and his Dog" and "Death Race 2000" and now they seem like "Gone with the Wind" compared to this crap.
I'm sure the biggest item on their budget was the $900 for the used Mustang II to blow up. I also love the cops of the future living in canvas tents in the desert and having no two way radio contact with the rest of the world.
Did I mention just how bad this movie is???? No I can't use those words here...hehehehe! Free movies are never free... there is always a price to pay. My price... there's 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back! One last thing... why does Darrin McGavin's son in the movie have an English accent???? WHY???????????