Reviews

Silverado was the perfect culmination of everything we like in a western. So what, if there wasn't much originality to it? So what, if it was more spoof than serious drama? The movie form was executed beautifully. The plot had much going on, but was always honed back to the humor, action, and suspense that doesn't let a moment go by as dull. Perhaps, a few westerns have outclassed it in cinematography, but Silverado has its spectacular moments. The acting, though, propels this movie. The actors in most classic westerns of the 40s, 50s, and early 60s are absurdly flabby. They never get out of their urban physicality. Scott Glenn oozes authenticity. Kevin Kostner is prized colt. Danny Glover is a real person with his own dramatic story as opposed to the "nice token good Indian/black guy sidekick", and Kevin Kline is a far more affable and identifiable hero than the stoic machismo of a John Wayne. Add in a Linda Hunt, Brian Dennehy, and a perfectly reined in John Cleese and you have quite a show!

Academy Award nomination? You gotta be kidding me? Wake me up from this silliness. Fellowship was one long passive video game. Overcome one level and you get to the next. OK, Ian Holm's Bilbo Baggins provided a little interesting drama before the epic game got started. And, yes, the scenery, sets, and special effects were excellent. Of course, we enjoyed the great masks and costumes. But Academy Award? Artificial Intelligence had equally spectacular visuals, and a much more emotionally compelling and intellectually challenging story. Even the Harry Potter movie was better than this. Why not nominate a superb old-fashioned drama such as Charlotte Ray? or the ingenious Amelie?

Take the drama and intelligent dialogue from the era in which this movie is set (1940s) and play it out with the sophisticated filming techniques and cinematography of today and you might begin to get an idea of how great this movie is.

If you are looking for a light action movie, try this one. It's photogenic and very funny. It's far better than the Rush Hour movies. Owen Wilson is a terrific comedic actor - a Bill Murray for the 2000s.

Probably no movie has ever had me gripped tighter to my seat. Few movies have ever elicited so many strong emotional responses. Positively no other movie challenges the mind on so many different levels.

On the surface Jacob's Ladder is a horror movie. It also makes a strong political statement. It speaks mountains about human nature and religion. And its an intriguing puzzle to boot.

As other reviewers have pointed out, some of the scary effects originated here have since become cliche. The cinematography is as good as it gets. The acting is too. We know what's become of Tim Robbins, Danny Ailleo, Jason Alexander, and Macaulay Culkin, but what's become of the Elisabeth Pena who was the most outstanding of all here?

Watch this movie without distractions and without worrying about if the person you are watching this is enjoying it or not. However, it's best you can share it with someone you love.

Angels & Insects is another slow moving undramatic "relationship movie", but totally captivating. Why? Am I a sucker for Victorian manners? Perhaps. Can the actors (and particularly the actresses) be so interesting and believable that I'm mesmerized and drawn into the story? That seems to be the case here. (I must be in touch with my feminine side.)

Don't watch it if you are turned off by male frontal nudity or bugs. However, you'd be missing a gentle fascinating movie.

Last Wedding is a slow moving heart warmer. Three men in a tub: rub-a-dub-dub. The movie is about how they messed up with the loves of their lives, but it isn't painful in the least. You'll laugh all the way through. The acting is draws you in, so you are fascinated by these real life characters. Your heart goes out to them, despite their glaring faults. The directing is expert. The editing and camera angles play up the slow building drama to the max. If there is a fault, it is the lack of a powerful dramatic arc. However, some would call that refreshing. The lack of "special effects" was fine, too. There was no shortage of lasting lovable memories.

Dreamy. Another example of why Meryl Streep is one of the greatest actresses of our times. In a beautiful, gentle, yet powerful way, The French Lieutenant's Woman showed me (a guy) a century's perspective of what it is to be a woman within the context of society.

I see an average of about 40 or 50 movies a year. I'm now 45, so I've seen quite a few. For fun, I've been going back and rating each movie I've seen according to four criteria. They happen to be Grip, Depth, Fun, and Beauty. Mixed Blood came out 9th in one of my favorite years for movies (1985). It is a fascinating poetic eye-opener. The point I want to make, however, is that among all these movies I've seen, this one remains among the most vividly unforgettable.

I only watched this movie, because I have kids - and there isn't much else out there we can all enjoy.

Boy, was I delightfully surprised! I laughed almost the entire movie through, well, except for most of the scenes with Alicia Silverstone in them. The rest of the cast was a blast - particularly Brendan Fraser and Sissy Spacek.

This movie had more than laughs. Blast from the Past was a heartfelt paean to the manners of the Kennedy years. It wasn't preachy, just a good yarn.

If I could nit pick, though, I'd complain that gay men are now overused as the sympathetic understanding witty sidekicks. That's the new gay man stereotype. That's better than sissies or psychos, but can we move on now?

In the late 60s, Rowen & Martin's Laugh-In revived skit comedy television with a fast paced psychedelic vibe that was the talk of television. Despite the comedic brilliance of Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, and Lilly Tomlin, and the giddy charm of Goldie Hawn, when the new decade arrived, the silly psychedelic appeal of Laugh-In began to fade. In a summer trial, Robert Klein hosted this deeper and more old fashioned paced comedy skit show, and it may have been the funniest series on TV I ever saw. Although, it owed its trial to Laugh-In, it's sophistication owed more to Cid Ceaser's Your Show of Shows and predated Saturday Night Live by a half decade. I can't explain why it took so long for that level of sketch comedy to recapture us. The talents of Madeline Kahn and Peter Boyle stood out, so it was not surprising they were the two artists from the Comedy Tonight troupe who went on to greater fame.

Leonard Maltin's review of The Mission is perfectly accurate. It was long for today's attention span. The conclusion was inevitable. The cinematography was superb, and the acting top notch. His overall rating, however, should be double his 2 and a half stars. Yes, it has the flaws Maltin speaks of, but so what? Because of its good points, it was still a long riveting movie experience with unforgettable memories.