Movie Reviews
There are movie reviews scattered all over this site, wherever was appropriate but I thought it was important to have one centralized page from which they could all be found, so this is it. My apologies but I had a hard drive failure and have lost about 20 reviews which I hope to rewrite during the next few months. Anyway, here are the categorized pages and below that, the full list of my movie reviews:
A Hard Day's Night 1964 Director Richard Lester's comic-book interpretation of British Beatlemania was as exciting as The Beatles' score...and did much to make this band of hairy limeys presentable to the American public. Still eminently watchable...with some not bad acting by the Fab Four. All You Need Is Cash 1978 Ex-Monty Python member Eric Idle's hilarious LOW-budget TV movie satire of The Beatles. American Beauty 1999 With 5 Academy awards in 2000, including Best Picture, American Beauty was a rare thing: a black comedy that many people undestood. Kevin Spacey gives a brilliant central performance as middle-aged Lester Burnham, who seeks external American Beauty (obsession with his teenage daughter's gorgeous best friend) and discovers it, finally, within himself. A Mighty Wind 2003 The third in Christopher Guest's trilogy of improvised-by-the-actors-on-set script movies...and by far the strongest. A Mighty Wind centers around the reunion concert for some formerly successful folk singers from the early 1960s with loving genre song-writing and musical contributions from most of Guest's troupe. And Now For Something Completely Different 1971 The Monty Python team reshot sketches from their first TV series to create this wonderful teaser for their TV series. It was a huge hit with college audiences around the world and played an important part in Python's domination of the world by 1975 tactics. Annie Hall 1978 Woody Allen's breakthrough movie, a fascinating look at a doomed love affair between two people who should have only been friends. Diane Keaton's Academy award winning performance is suberb but more than anything, Annie Hall is a wonderful time capsule, a looking glass back into the self-obsession that passed as being "intellectual" at that time. Apocalypse Now (Redux) 1979 In my eyes, one of the greatest movies ever made. It's not a movie about war...but one about the nature of war. Martin Sheen plays a U.S. military covert operations operative (assassin) in Vietnam during the war, whose mission is to travel upriver and "terminate with extreme prejudice", an American colonel who seems to be running his own war against the Vietcong. Marlon Brando gives a terrifying performance as Colonel Kurtz, a man-God who has terrifyingly moved beyond all normal human values to embrace "The Horror", the true Spirit of War. The Austin Powers Trilogy A thoroughly eccentric armchair psychologist look at these very silly, absolutely wonderful, trashy movies. Baraka 1992 Stunning visual and world music trip around the planet and its people. A must-see for every hippy and humanist. Bedazzled 1967 Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore), burger-flipper and undying romantic fears that he'll never be able to impress waitress Margaret (Elanor Bron) and attempts suicide. He's interrupted by George Spigott, a.k.a. The Devil (Peter Cook) who offers Stanley a way out, for the price of his soul. A classic Swinging Sixties English romp starring, then, the two funniest men in the world. Bend It Like Beckham 2001 Quirky feel-good culture-clash comedy about an English-born Indian girl wanting to play recreational soccer...against the wishes of her immigrant parents. Incidentally, "Beckham" was the breakthrough movie for a young, skinny Keira Knightley. Best In Show 2000 The second in Christopher Guest's trilogy of improvised-by-the-actors-on-set movies. This time: the peculiar world of dog shows. By nature, the results are erratic though frequently very funny and occasionally hilarious. Birdy 1984 Alan Parker's brave decision to marry Peter Gabriel's dramatic rock/world music with his own stunning sense of visuals, lift Birdy, a story about a young man traumatized by his experiences in the Vietnam War, into grand filmic poetry. A unique and memorable experience. Bonfire Of The Vanities 1990 Slammed by the critics who said it wasn't faithful to the well-respected novel of the same name, it died a sudden death at the box office. But looking at it now, I see a wonderful send-up of the excessive 80s and the me-generation, as epitomised by Sherman Mccoy, (Tom Hanks), whose high falutin' bond trading world starts to rapidly fall apart when, of all things, he's driving with his mistress Maria (Melanie Griffith), takes a wrong turn and ends up in the Bronx. Bruce Willis' turns in a delightful comic performance as Peter Fallow, the alcoholic journalist who unravels Sherman's life...and director Brian de Palma's incredibly choreographed opening 5-minute tracking shot has to be seen to be believed, it's as excessive as everything it's satirising. Caveman 1981 Ringo Starr er...stars in this ridiculous prehistoric dinosaur spoof. I'm ashamed to say that I actually enjoyed this quite a bit when I first saw it at the movies. Also stars Barbara (soon to be Mrs. Ringo)Bach, Shelley Long & Denis Quaid. Warning: Paleontologically unsound! Clueless 1995 Alicia Silverstone in her one great role as Cher, teen do-gooder extraodinaire, who finds Love in the last place she expected. Colorful and littered with tight, snappy, mid-90s teen-speak, Clueless still holds up fine as a rare thing, a teen movie with brains. Cry Freedom 1985 Sir Richard Attenborough's follow-up to Gandhi is Cry Freedom, a well-meaning attempt to dramatise the despicable Apartheid situation in South Africa, centering around the killing (murder?) of charismatic black leader Steve Biko (Denzel Washington) by State Security forces in 1977. Driving Miss Daisy 1989 Winner of 4 Academy Awards, a love story of sorts, set in the American South between a black chauffeur Holt (Morgan Freeman), and his boss, cantankerous Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy), over a period of 40 years. Erik The Viking 1989 Monty Python director Terry Jones' only partially successful attempt to meld Norse mythology with Monty Python. Stars Tim Robbins with John Cleese as the bad guy & Terry Jones as the dimwit King of Atlantis. Evil Dead 2 1988 Sam (Spiderman) Raimi's Hollywood calling card. A wonderful, almost funny, horror movie that doesn't even bother to have a coherent ending. Low-budget film-making has seldom looked so good. Recommended for teens and/or stoners. Fried Green Tomatoes 1994 Another love story set in the American South, this time between two young women who would have been lesbians...if they knew such things existed. Friendship, Love, Feminism, Racism & bbq-s, all explored interestingly in a modest "let me tell you a story" series of flashbacks between an old woman, Ninny Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy) and her younger friend Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates). Gandhi 1982 Winner of 8 Academy Awards (including Best Picture), Richard Attenborough's Gandhi is movie-making on a massive scale. Excellent introduction to the life-time struggle of India's inspirational "spiritual" father, Mahatma Gandhi (Ben Kingsley), who brought independence to his homeland. Get Shorty 1997 After the incredible Pulp Fiction, John Travolta was not only re-established as an A-League star...he was now the coolest of the cool! Get Shorty, a wonderful, witty satire, was the perfect follow-up vehicle for him, playing Chilli Parker, a loan-shark with a heart of gold, who loves movies. By circumstance, Chilli gets a tilt at becoming a Hollywood movie producer when he's asked to call in an outstanding casino debt from B-grade movie producer Gene Hackman... Gimme Some Truth 2005 The documentary on the making of John Lennon's Imagine album in 1971. Happy Texas 1999 Even though the story is predominantly straight, I believe that Happy Texas is virtually unknown outside the gay community, which is a shame, because it's really quite gently funny. Two convicts on the run, Harry Sawyer (Jeremy Northam) & Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr. (Steve Zahn), accidently discover the van of two very gay junior beauty-pageant experts who're heading to the small town of Happy Texas, where they've been commissioned to help with preparations for the Little Miss Fresh-Squeezed Pre-teen pageant. When Happy's Sherriff Chappy Dent, William H. Macy discovers Harry & Wayne on the highway, he assumes who they are and escorts them into town, where the two cons hilariously try to convincingly act out their parts. Of course, two such sensitive boys are bound to win a few hearts...but the well-meaning and genuine country-folk are completely unaware that the two cons are actually planning to raid their local bank... Indahouse 2002 Sacha Baron (Borat) Cohen's first movie, the puerile...but genuinely funny story about white-boy, weed-smoking, unemployed homey, Ali G...and his escapades when he's surprisingly elected to parliament. Indiana Jones A Very brief look at Stephen Spielberg & George Lucas' Indiana Jones Trilogy. Kingdom Of Heaven 2005 Ridley Scott's visually stunning look at The Crusades...and the political similarities with today. Very much a Humanist post 9/11 film with pretty-boy Orlando Bloom playing the man in the middle. N.B.: Excellent DVD extras (make sure you get the 2-disc edition) also make this a fantastic resource for any high school kid wanting to do a very detailed History project. Labyrinth 1986 Chick-flick coming-of age movie with a script by Monty Python's Terry Jones, George Lucas producing & Jim Henson directing Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie and lots of fabulous puppets. Manhattan 1979 Woody Allen's follow-up to Annie Hall, a suburb of self-obsessed neurotics with the only sense of Hope coming from a teenage girl and Manhattan's glorious skyline. Bleak, sometimes funny...and still very watchable, all these years later. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence 1983 David Bowie stars as Jack Calliers, a new prisoner in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, whose commander feels...an affinity of spirits...bordering on a homo-erotic atraction, to him. A very Japanese film...it's really a comment on the Japanese culture being hard-wired to dish out violence to those who fail, such as prisoners of war...or even their own soldiers who lose a battle...and how different that is to the pragmatic West, which will accept losing a battle...but still keep fighting to win the war. Review includes the video of the title "song"...and Forbidden Colors, a song not in the movie but which was used as a kind of publicity music video. Midnight Cowboy 1969 Winner of the 1969 Best Picture Award and shocking in its time, Midnight Cowboy is an odd couple love story, about a country-boy would-be hustler (Jon Voigt), whose lack of success has brought him to turning homo tricks...and Razzo Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) a pathetic, rather ill con-man. Together they just manage to keep alive in New York until they can escape to sunny Miami. Monty Python & The Holy Grail 1975 Though sketch-like and dated, The Holy Grail contains many classic Monty Python moments, including the unforgettable Black Knight and the Knights whi say "Ni". Eric Idle has now expanded the movie to become that award-winning Broadway show, Spamalot. Monty Python & The Life Of Brian 1978 Directed by Terry Jones and much more thematic than their previous movie, The Holy Grail, The Life Of Brian created much controversy in the USA with its story about Brian, a man mistaken as The Messiah during the time of Christ. Far from being blasphemous, though, The Life Of Brian is really about how gullible people are...and how they will fight you with all their might, to remain ignorant. Monty Python LIVE 2003 A compilation of DVDs, including their LIVE in concert movie from 1976, Monty Python LIVE At The Hollywood Bowl Monty Python & The Meaning Of Life 1984 John Cleese was unhappy with the Monty Python decision to revert to sketch-format for The Meaning Of Life, but this poorly disguised musical brims with verve and vigor...and does, in its own way, provide an answer...of sorts. Munich 2004 Stephen Spielberg's dramatisation of how an Israeli hit-squad carried out retailation killings after the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Munich is certainly not easy viewing...and its humanist "message" is frustratingly inapplicable to The Middle East (or any hot-point, for that matter)...nevertheless, it's still worth catching. Personal Services 1987 Monty Python director Terry Jones with the ever-so-slightly smutty and very warm real-life story of Cynthia Payne, known in the movie as Christine Painter (Julie Walters), who fell into low-key prostitution through circumstance...and soon moved on to the better paying niche of catering for mens' exotic fantasies. Her clients soon included many of the highest in the land. Pulp Fiction 1996 For me, quite the most delicious black comedy of the 1990s with a stunning, out-of-sequence script, stand-out performances by all the cast (John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurmann, Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken et al) and the coolest, eclectic soundtrack you could imagine! Psycho Beach Party 2000 Adapted form the extremely gay Broadway play, Psycho Beach Party is a very guilty pleasure with virtually no redeeming qualities. Camp, ridiculous and fun...with some great one-liners, I suggest taking some mild mind-altering substances before viewing. Shattered Glass 2004 I'll admit that I only purchased the little-known Shattered Glass because it starred Hayden Christensen (Darth Vader in Star Wars 6, Revenge Of The Sith)...and my sons thought he was the bees knees...but this is a really terrific movie for adults, though it's hardly known. Christensen plays Stephen Glass, a young, funny and charismatic journalist for the prestigous New Republic magazine, whose stories entertain...and educate. Unfortunately, they aren't based in fact but in fantasy...and as they unravel, Glass is revealed to be a pathological liar. Probably the best film about journalism since "All The Presidents Men". Super Size Me Considerably less manipulative and histrionic than Michael Moore's well-intentioned but dangerous work, Super Size Me is nevertheless, considered of Moore's genre, biased documentary. The concept was simple:
The results surprised both Spurlock and his doctor, as his body went into a sudden tailspin of salt & sugar addiction marked by rapid weight-gain. In a world in which, presently, 60% of adults...and an increasing number of children...are overweight, often from eating too much junk food, I invite you to put your politics to the side and view the data. Terrifying viewing, highly recommended. Sweet Toronto 1969 D.A. Pennebaker's documentary of John Lennon LIVE in Toronto in 1969 with a band that included Eric Clapton. The soundtrack has been available for years as LIVE Peace In Toronto. Take The Money And Run 1969 Woody Allen's spoof about a bank-robber who can't ever really get the...make that...any, job done. While it looks pretty dated, there are still many genuinely funny moments...and well worth catching. The 40 Year Old Virgin 2004 Tragic miswriting and miscasting of the female lead hamper this otherwise pleasantly dirty little foray into the minds of contemporary men. A must-see for any dating-age woman, at the very least for educational purposes. The Hunger 1986 First feature for director Tony (Top Gun) Scott, The Hunger looks like a giant ritzy commercial with vampires Catherine Deneuve & David Bowie dining on New York's beautiful people. Research scientist Susan Sarandon (yeah, they always look like that) finds she's suddenly drawn into their loop...and that's how she wants it. The Life Of David Gale 2003 Another box-office fizzer that I thoroughly recommend. A movie about ethics, in which anti death-penalty activist, philosophy lecturer David Gale (Kevin Spacey) is on death row for the rape and murder of his female best friend and fellow activist Constance Harraway (Laura Linney). With only 3 days left before execution, only reluctant last-interview journalist Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslett) is in a position to work out the clues that could save Gale's life. The Man Who Fell To Earth 1976 Difficult English cult director Nicholas Roeg with a highly visual story about the inevitable corruption of good intentions. As if the role was tailor made for him, David Bowie plays an extra terrestial, one Thomas Jerome Newton, who has come to Earth to save his planet...but Life gets in the way. The Name Of The Rose Medieval whodunit with only the barest connection to Umberrto Eco's dense, provocative original novel, The Name Of The Rose is, nevertheless, still enjoyable with Sean Connery as William of Baskerville, a rational monk living in irrational times, who's visiting a monastery where monks are dropping like flies. Dark Powers are thought responsible but William believes the killer is one of the monks. Who...and why? This Is Spinal Tap 1984 Dated, yes but if you like rock music, This Is Spinal Tap is a must-see. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean & Harry Shearer star as England's Spinal tap, "the loudest band in Rock'n'Roll". Jumping on every trend after it has peaked, Tap makes delicious swipes at The Beatles, Yoko, (presumedly) Jeff Beck, the excesses of Heavy Metal, Record-biz people. Keep an eye out for very early appearances by Billy Crystal & Fran Drescher, too. Team America 2005 From the makers of South Park, a nihilistic, curiously unfunny assessment of US Foreign policy using Thunderbirds-like puppets. Mind you, there are some good moments...and the sex-scene was...educational...but I'm sure Cartman would sum up everybody's feeling by saying: "Screw you!" Troy 2004 Troy is a guilty pleasure in this souvlaki beefcake $200 million epic. It's no Gladiator...but it's certainly worth seeing, if only to see how the money was spent with Brad Pitt surprisingly good as he-man Achilles, on a quest for immortality. Waiting For Guffman 1997 Christopher Guest's first movie from his improvisational ensemble about Theatre in a small town. Who Is Cletis Tout? 2002 A pleasant totally indulgent 2-hour diversion as eccentric film-buff and hit-man, Critical Jim (Tim Allen), invites victim Trevor allen Finch (Christian Slater) to tell him a story that's as good as any one the great movies...and he might live. Wind In The Willows 1997 Swallowed up on both sides of the Atlantic by extremely poor marketing campaigns, Wind In The Willows isn't a "cute & cuddly" movie, it's a fairly accurate representation of author Kenneth Graham's warning about disappearing traditional values...with one difference...the "animals" have human faces. Starring Terry Jones (as a very green Toad), Eric Idle (as Ratty) & John Cleese (as a mean human lawyer). Yellow Submarine 1968 Directed by Canadian George Dunning, this is simply the best introduction to 60s graphics and animation that I've seen. The story is, well, trippy...and other than the music, there was little input from The Beatles...but there are segments in this glorious film that are still, simply breathtaking.
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