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etherkiss
Reviews
Remember? (1939)
Don't want to "remember" this wreck
This movie was painful and outlandish, at best.
Greer Garson is engaged to Lew Ayres and meets his best friend, Robert Taylor. Robert Taylor immediately (and blatantly) starts romancing Greer RIGHT IN FRONT OF LEW when they are supposed to be best friends. Greer keeps putting herself alone with Robert, and (duh) they end up together to the dismay of the ever tolerant Lew (Greer also shows no signs of remorse at cheating on her fiancée).
The WORST part was when Robert and Greer elope...then, when a surprised and dismayed Lew shows up, Greer has the NERVE to chastize him for being angry.
She is probably the most despicable of the three because of her patronizing and holier-than-thou attitude...despite all of the rotten things she does to the man she supposedly once loved. Robert is next. I, for one, would never throw Lew over for this jerk. At least they deserve each other.
Lew Ayres is the only good part of this movie, even though you want him to slap the other two and he never does.
Do NOT see this movie...unless you want to be frustrated and annoyed...
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Good but not great
As a movie it is a good. As a representation of the book it is mediocre. Most of the wonderful words and dialogue from the books are dumbed down in the movie. The beavers, wolves, and Ginarrbrik are especially awful (corny dialogue, badly animated, etc). It seemed like the people who made the movie were not huge fans of the book (they may have liked it, but you could tell that they did not love it).
Visually it was pretty nice (besides some of the animations), but basically, whoever wrote the script needs to be replaced before the next movie comes out. C.S Lewis would have never written some of the crap the actors were made to say in the movie.
Certain small details I enjoyed (never closing the wardrobe door, as is stressed several times in the book...the white stag...etc). The final battle was well done, but the fight between Peter and Maugrim was very anticlimactic. It was well cast...the children and the witch were very well done...though I thought the professor could have been better (he was a bit too goofy).
It definitely could have been better...hopefully in the next one they will get someone who can better interpret the book to a screenplay and ditch the corny dialogue...especially when the original dialogue from the book is so wonderful and strong! The average viewer will most probably like it. Lovers of the book, however, may find some bits lacking...
Bad News Bears (2005)
Horrible...see the original if you want a good movie
The original is sooooooooo much better! The jokes were better, the kids were better actors, Walter Mauthau is a much better Buttermaker...Billy Bob just made the role sleazy and unsympathetic. It was much more shocking back in the 70's also...now the humor just seems crass and sleazy. All the magic from the first one was absent in this one. It seems like they were trying way too hard to copy the original and somehow got lost, ending up with a dud of a movie. Why mess with a good movie anyway? It's like trying to remake Grease...you just can't do it. Just an overall BAD remake.
1/10.
Skip this one; see the original instead.
The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
Multiple personalities IS real
First off, I would like everyone who has read the review by "bouledogue" to disregard his/her comments completely. He/she has no idea what he/she is talking about.
Dissociative Identity Disorder is a valid disorder, though many, even in the psychiatric community, believe otherwise. Just as any disease has its distinctive characteristics (spots go along with chicken pox) so does DID. These people (as children) were most likely the victims of child abuse (physical or sexual or both), witnessing something traumatic, poverty, or something else equally horrifying. It is disgusting that someone can even insinuate that these people are making this up. Dissociation is a defense mechanism that a child may use to escape a situation which is too difficult for them to bear. Anyone who is familiar with the disorder can pick out the real cases from the fakers. The only reason that people don't believe this is because they are ignorant to it. Read a book about it. Learn about it. Don't just assume it doesn't exist because it's too hard for you to believe.
Back to the movie: I enjoyed it very much, in fact even more so than the book. You could definitely see the little Hollywood touches (the happy ending, for one) but for the most part it seemed pretty accurate and (because it was based on a true story) happens to be one of the only movies out there about multiple personalities that is even somewhat accurate.
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
Kutcher did well, but the movie was average
One of Kutcher's better movies (if not his best) but the movie was average on the whole. Kutcher surprised me as actually having some acting talent...now all you have to do is put him in a decent movie (not that this one was horrible, just average).
However, despite my bad review, I saw this in the theatres with 3 or 4 other people and all of them loved this, so you might too. But if you really want to see a good mind f*ck movie (as my friends were raving that it was) watch something like Mulholland Drive or Fight Club.
My friend described this as a "mind f*ck for fratboys"...I'd say that's pretty accurate.
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Best Screwball Comedy Ever Made!
Bringing Up Baby pairs two of the best actors of all time (Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant) together at their best to make one of the best films of all time! This is THE best screwball comedy of all time and one of the best movies of all time to boot. Hepburn couldn't be more funny as the accident-prone scatter-brained Susan Vance who chases Cary Grant all over creation, leading them into one adventurous accident after another.
I couldn't pick a favorite part because this movie is full of them (Cary Grant slipping on the olive, the jail scenes, Grant in a frilly white ladies bathrobe shouting "Maybe I just went GAY all of a sudden!").
There is not a dull moment in this movie, thanks to the clever and humorous dialogue and the mass of physical comedy (and I do mean physical, Hepburn and Grant are literally running, jumping, and falling all over the place). You can't help but fall in love with this movie.
10/10
Closer (2004)
Closer? No thanks, I'll keep my distance
The only redeeming thing about this movie was its cast. I watched this with my two roommates and at the end we were all depressed and confused as to why four such excellent actors would ever sign up for this movie.
When I say depressed, I mean DEPRESSED. This has to be one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen, not necessarily because of the subject matter (though that was depressing) but more because all four of the main characters were unlikeable and miserable the entire movie (Julia Roberts smiled maybe twice in the entire thing).
The movie tried to establish a theme of Lying and Being Lied To, but in the end just ended up being entirely predictable and boring. By the end you didn't really care who was lying and who was being lied to, nor did you care what happened to the characters because they were all so completely unlikeable (immoral and bland are the two best words that come to mind). Bland is a perfect word for this movie. Every scene was filmed in a dull, colorless location, with the exception of the strip club scenes, which were really the only salvageable scenes in the entire movie.
I really expected more from Mike Nichols, who directed the Graduate, a masterpiece where this was more like a flop. Some movies you can seek out the good points even if you dislike it in its entirety, but this had nothing short of the strip scenes and the cast to fall back on, and in the end that just wasn't enough.
I give it a 1/10. I was going to be generous and give it a 2, but that Damian Rice song, that just wouldn't go away, happened to be the straw that broke the camels back.
Holiday (1938)
A Holiday indeed!
As always, Kate and Cary are fabulous together! This is definitely one of my favorite classics. It's more romance than hijinks, but they still managed to add some fun into it (the circus/gymnastics scene). Seeing Cary Grant (and later Katharine Hepburn, as well) do a somersault makes me smile every time.
Though it wasn't quite as fun as Bringing Up Baby, it was still a good pairing and a good movie overall.
Lew Ayres (playing Kate's alcoholic brother) was also excellent in his small, but striking role. He's definitely an underrated actor.
The only one who annoyed me was Doris Nolan (playing Kate's sister, who's engaged to Cary in the film)...but I guess she was supposed to.
If you love the Kate/Cary combo and equally love old movies, then this is a must-see!
Dillo con parole mie (2003)
Va bene
The film is full of beautiful scenery and a fun, though sorta out-of-place soundtrack (mainly consisting of upbeat Indian music...which doesn't really go with the language OR the location, but is fun nonetheless).
The 14 year old girl was sort of painful to watch...mostly because she was on the borderline between "awkward" and "kinda cute". The whining got old after a while though.
I LOVED the last scene though. Enough said. Go see it if you want to know what I mean.
Overall it was a cute film.
I'd give it somewhere between a 6 and a 6.5
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
Hilarious piece of work...5 stars!
This movie is definitely one of the best mockumentaries of all time. Like one of the first beauty pageant spoofs "Smile", "Drop Dead Gorgeous" plays up the obvious humor in the beauty pageant circuit.
It documents the competition of 8 contestants in the Mount Rose Beauty Pageant. But this is no average beauty pageant. Murder and mayhem characterize this particular beauty fest.
Ellen Barkin is at her best as the trailer-park beer-chugging mother of contestant Amber Atkins (played wonderfully by Kirsten Dunst). While Kirstie Alley plays the rich, pushy, competitive mother of contestant Becky Leeman (portrayed to bitchy perfection by Denise Richards). This movie's all-star cast is part of what makes it so great.
It has all of the elements a good comedy needs: a variety of quirky and fun characters, witty dialogue, and above all it keeps you interested. The Minnesota accents alone cause a laugh.
5 stars