Netflix Customer Reviews

Leaving Las Vegas

This is a great movie, but my God it is hard to watch a second time. I rented it here on Netf'x, but I keep stopping it. It's so damn sad.

Big Fan

The movie starts out OK. Patton is a big fan of the New York Giants, and their star defensive lineman, Quatrell something. Within 30 minutes, however, the plot takes an implausible and irritating twist. Upon seeing Quatrell and his posse at a pizza joint, Patton and his buddy Kevin start stalking him, first just by driving all over Staten Island and then Manhattan, and then into an expensive strip club that they can barely afford, all for the chance to say hello which they could easily had done hours before at the pizza place. And it only gets worse from there. Im a definite Patton Oswalt fan, but this movie blows.

Take the Money and Run

This thing really doesn't stand the test of time. I had to change my 5-star rating to a 3.

Scarface

If youve seen Al Pacinos Scarface, theres really no need to see this one. Many of the plot elements there are also in this one - the big difference is that the acting in this, with the exception of George Raft, and Tonys mother, is embarassing. Raft, though, didnt have much to say or do, so his exception is not a mark of something good in the film. It was OK, but thats it.

The Hit

Unbelievable plot. Terence Stamp turns state's evidence against his robber partners and hides out in Spain under witness protection. Ten years on, he gets kidnapped and, instead of being killed on the spot, is suddenly on a road trip with experienced and yet inept captors. The cops are on their trail and they know it. They bring along the girlfriend of a guy they killed for no logical reason. In fact, from here on almost everything they do doesn't make sense. I turned it off after an hour and a half. There was just no longer any point.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition

If you want to see a good adult documentary about Tolkien and Middle Earth, see "Inside the Hobbit."

Little Dieter Needs to Fly

Wow. A tour de force. This is a combination documentary and re-enactment filmed on location in Laos and Thailand where the events took place, and with the now 30-years-older Air Force pilot Dieter Dengler doing the re-enacting in truly excruciating detail. Christian Bale made a movie based on Dieters story, but this is more compelling. If you have any interest in the Vietnam War, or if you have any desire to know how far a will to live can be stretched, this is a must-see.

Vatel

Francois Vatel (Depardieu) works for the Prince de Comte, a general for Louis XIV, the Sun King. Vatel is the master steward, meaning he is the chief cook and entertainment director for the prince. When Louis comes for a visit, Vatel works magic to impress the sun king and his court, with ornate shows of opulence and feasts fit for a king, the king. Underneath, however, he is a man of the people, and despises the courtly ways, and he falls in love with one of the kings court who is of a like mind, Anna (Uma Thurman). While Vatel has his little rebellions, Anna has no delusions of power and goes to the kings bed whenever beckoned. The acting, the writing, and the look, are all OK, but theres nothing really special here.

World's Greatest Dad

A high school teacher with aspiration to be a writer has an obnoxious teenage son, who beats off all the time to porn on his computer, and uses autoasphyxiation. When the son dies, the dad writes the suicide note. Good premise, and I'm guessing that's how it was greenlighted. But it's a bad movie nonetheless. First off, the kid is truly obnoxious, and not in a good way that might make one smile in a movie. Just earnestly obnoxious. Somehow, dad Robin Williams has a fairly hot girlfriend. This is also offputting, because Robin has aged and it's a bit distubing seeing him making out. Anyway, the suicide note goes viral, the dad goes on an Oprah-show, but finally confesses. That's it. It's not funny, and it's not sad. It's pretty bland overall.

Hardware

No, it's not Alien, Blade Runner, or Gattaca, but this is a good B science fiction movie. I'd put it with Saturn 3 and Mad Max. It's a post-nuclear war world, and people scavenge for whatever's useful. A guy scavenges parts of a robot he found in the desert. The parts make it back to the apartment of a guy and girl, and mayhem ensues. Call it a robot horror movie. And at only 90 minutes, it's no big time investment.

Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon: The Ultimate Critical Review

See the movie, now on Instant Watch, "Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon" which is part of the BBC's 'Classic Album' series. As for this one, I haven't seen it, but will amend this review when I do. -BR January 2010

Pink Floyd: The Dark Side: Interviews

Terrible, poorly edited mishmash of short interviews. Far, far better is the movie Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon. (Yes, that is a different title.) It is apparently part of a series entitled Classic Albums by the BBC. Its a proper documentary, and unlike this pathetic tripe, it includes all the music of Dark Side, and focuses on that album in particular, again unlike this thing.

Lost Horizon

Being a fan of Frank 'It's a Wonderful Life' Capra, and of Ronald Coleman, after watching the wonderful 'A Tale of Two Cities,' I was prepared for a good movie, but the utopian absurdities got in the way. Coleman, as Robert Conway, is next in line to become the British Foreign Secretary. He is working in China (the British effectively ruled in China at the time) when a rebellion erupts and he gets all the Brits under his care safely away in a plane. But the plane is hijacked and taken to Shangri-La, where he and his companions are waited on hand and foot and it is desired that he take over when the current High Lama dies. They've been following his career there, and like his ideas. One of which was, if an enemy comes to attack Britain, they could simply say to them "Come in. How can we help you?" "That'll confuse 'em and they'll throw down their arms in disgust." And this is a 1937 movie, and one Adolf H. was already well known, though he hadn't attacked anything yet. Another idea from the movie - the world of men should operate on one principle: Be Kind. One last gem of a political idea from the movie: the caretaker of Shangri-La was asked, What do you do if 2 men want the same woman. He answered, the correct action would be for one of the men to give up. (Ah, but which one?) One surprise, oh-so-homely Jane Wyatt gets fully naked in a very far shot after swimming in a lake.

The Natural History of the Chicken

This documentary is falsely titled. There is nothing scientific about it. Its about people who have chickens as pets. One lady recounts how she resuscitated one of her chickens, a man tells us how he loves having his chickens on his farm, etc. There is no history, nor any discussion of the nature of chickens. Bad.

Billabong Odyssey

This film is well made, well documented and has some really great footage. Unfortunatly it never even mentioned the Inventor of tow in surfing and, undisputed king of big wave surfing or surfing period, Laird Hamilton. See Riding Giants instead, where Laird and those around him get their due, and that includes the monster waves they find.

Big Wednesday

3 buddies surfing at San Onofre in Southern California (I can tell because of that little grass shack on the beach, and the cooling tower of the nuclear power plant). The plot is fairly thin, but OK. Keg parties, fight scenes, a trip to Tijuana, the draft and draft dodging for some, the Marines for one, a girl who just moved to Southern California from Chicago. Jan Michael-Vincent, who is the best of them, loses his way, starts drinking, but in the end he redeems himself by riding the big wave. If you want to see a good surfing movie, see Riding Giants. Its a documentary, but its the real thing.

Solaris

Theres a lot wrong with this film. Its too long for one, and could have used some editing. The first half hour should just be skipped - mostly a video of traffic through Moscow (?) set to moody sinister music. And there are other such sequences that make you wonder about the makers. BUT, it gets better. When his wife enters the story. And the ending, albeit after 2.5 hours, is good. Plenty of holes, like what were the experiences of his crewmates?, but all in all worthwhile. While the George Clooney remake did a better job timewise while keeping much of the mood, the character of the wife is much better fleshed out here. I watched it in pieces on Instant over 2 or 3 days.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

This is a going over of the Irish war against the Brits and themselves after the Free State was created in the south and Northern Ireland in the north. Unfortunately, the characters are not well developed, and the plot is a bit too loose. Could have been much better; could have been Michael Collins.

400 Years of the Telescope

Fairly disappointing. Not much discussion of the design of telescopes, and too much of the ooh and awe of it all, which would be better used if the program was called Cosmos. (But of course Carl Sagan already made that one.)

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

I was really looking forward to this after seeing the trailers, but I was sorely disappointed. It was boring, ugly in looks, ugly in message, ugly in culture, and just plain ugly. I finally walked out after an hour and a half. The one good thing about it was her second teacher, a gorgeous light-skinned black woman. Precious is 16, huge, has been getting raped by her father, and beat by her mother, because, the mother is jealous of her gettting her man. Yeah. Her mother's all about 'the welfare' and watching TV, and belittling Precious. Precious can read letters, but not words like "Day." She has a face that permanently squooshes up because of the fat, giving her a mean look, but it's just the fat. Overall, it's disgusting.

Cries and Whispers

Well along in my N'x/Bergman festival now. In this one, there is a harrowing death that lasts half the film (Harriet Andersson in constant pain), and a scene of Ingrid Thulin cutting her privates with a sharp piece of glass, and then smearing the blood from that on her face in front of her husband - I think to turn him off. She's very cold to her other sister, played by Liv Ullman, who looks like a million in this by the way. But my god, what a mess of a "film." You can safely avoid this one - go for Wild Strawberries, Smiles of A Summer Night, or at least something in his early period instead. His pre-neurotic-breakdown films are his best.

Passion of Anna

I'm about 3/4 of the way through my chronological Bergman festival - and it's not looking good for the "late" Bergman. The best thing about The Passion of Anna is seeing Bergmans actors in color! What surreal blue eyes they all have... This movie, like all his 1964-1970 movies available on N'x, seem like the experimental work of a film student. Plots are beside the point, and logic has no place at all. Pointless. In this movie, Anna (Liv Ullman) is crazy, and Andreas (Max von Sydow) is a recluse who lives with her for as long as he can stand it. It's not clear, but she may have been the one mutilating animals on the island they live on, but another man gets blamed for it and hangs himself. What these films have in common is they were all written by Bergman after his stay in a psychiatric hospital. Bergman himself, in one of his interviews from this period, said he was pleased but he didn't understand how other people got his films when he himself barely understood them. I wholeheartedly agree with him. So far, his great films for me are: Wild Strawberries, Smiles of a Summer Night, Port of Call (all 5 stars), and To Joy, and Torment (4 stars), all of which are pre-1958. I also 4-starred The Virgin Spring (1960), and Autumn Sonata (1978, with Ingrid Bergman as a cold mother). Bergman has 25 films on N'x, but per imdb he actually made 68 films!

House of Games

You want to see the best of David Mamet? This is the best of David Mamet. Nobody delivers Mamet dialogue like Joe Mantegna, and Lindsay Crouse is simply perfect. This is a movie of con artistry - that's all you really need to know. It's the gem of Mamet's career.

The Battle of Algiers

2.5 stars. It was interesting as a history lesson - I hadn't really known that the French had taken over Algeria for 130 years. I mean, according to this film, the French thought of Algeria as another French province: in the film many French people are there living their normal French lives, dancing, drinking, holding horse races, all in the French part of the city, with the Muslims off in the Muslim part of the city. I guess the French kind of thought of themselves as the new Romans. After the revolt starts, the French soldiers broadcast to the rebelling Algerians "France is your motherland." The action of the film is centered on the actions of the revolutionary "cells" - people who carry out hits on the French policeman and the placing of bombs, and the countering force of the French army. Other than that history lesson, the movie itself is not that good - pretty low budget with serviceable writing and acting, and overly long at 2 hours - it could easily have been done in half that time.

Hour of the Wolf

2.5 stars. Bergman's horror movie is not bad for a horror movie. A man and his pregnant wife are alone on an island, except for all the odd people who live in the castle, and invite them up all the time. One of them is a dead ringer for Bela Lugosi, and another is like the hot girl from "The Shining" who turns into an old hag just after Jack starts to make out with her. Another is a kid who bites the man like a vampire, and so he kills the kid and tosses him into the sea. The best scene is of one of the ghouls walking up a wall and then across a ceiling. Chilling. Disturbing. Gave me a bit of a headache.

Anatomy of a Murder

I gave this thing an hour and 50 minutes. But even then there was still the better part of an hour to go. I just couldn't do it. I had almost turned it off just before George C. Scott came on - his presence led me to watch for another 40 minutes. James Stewart is set up as almost too good of a guy: he loves to fish, he loves books - he's a lawyer, he's kind to an old drunk lawyer, he has a good relationship with his feisty assistant, Eve Arden, he listens to jazz, he's good pals with the local jazz musician, he plays jazz. Arrgh. Enough! In the case, he's defending a soldier for killing a man who allegedly raped his hot tramp wife (lucscious Lee Remick), the defense being that this soldier was simply compelled to do it. Verrry slowww. I had a headache by the time I was 3/4 through it. And that jazz music soundtrack just sucked.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent: The Third Year

Having watched every episode for the first 3 years, Season 3 is the worst so far. The stories are just too convoluted for a one hour show. Season 1 is the season to watch - the shows were original, surprising, and not formulaic.

Persona

1.5 stars. I've been on a personal Bergman festival for the last few weeks. Having watched over a dozen of Bergman's films that preceded this 1967 one, many of which I gave 4 or 5 stars to (Torment 1946, Port of Call, 1948, Smiles of a Summer Night, 1955, and Wild Strawberries, 1957), it was surprising to see this one with a very, very, student-film quality to it, so much so I think this is the quintessential target for parody. Bergman, in his private life, was transitioning from Bibi Andersson to Liv Ullman (the 2 actresses who share the lead in this film) at the time, so I guess he just wanted them both in one film. Maybe it was porn for him. Speaking of which, the only reason I give this 2 stars instead of 1, is the erotic monologue by Bibi, almost like a Penthouse letter, that comes in at about 30 minutes into the film, regarding her and stranger sunbathing on a secluded beach. Otherwise, this is a very disjointed film about a nurse (Bibi) caring for a self-imposed mute (Liv) in a beautiful beach house provided by the mute's psychiatrist. The mute was a famous actress, and possibly went mute because she got pissed off by getting pregnant, perhaps. (It's all very unclear. Bibi herself in a 2002 interview in the special features pretty much admits she still doesn't understand what this film was about.) Ingmar wrote this when he himself was in the hospital (from a nervous breakdown?) and doped up on drugs, and just after he had met Bibi's young friend Liv. One look and he told the pretty young thing he would put her in his next picture. So if you want to see an extremely goofy film starring Ingmar Bergman's girlfriends, this is it. -8/26/09

The Serpent's Egg

I haven't even seen this film and I'm gonna go ahead and give it a 1-star, just based on the reviews. A lot of them read like 2-star reviews ("the acting was horrible, and the story was weird) but the reviewer goes ahead and gives it 3 or 4 stars, because it's Bergman. Bergman made a lot of great films ("Smiles," "Strawberries," "Port of Call") but that shouldn't elevate sh*t to sh*nola.

District 9

Seeing the huge number of 5-star reviews here (it is now Aug 21, 2009, and there are "10,095 ratings") for this amateurish and uninteresting flick, I'm convinced N'x has been invaded by paid or otherwise compensated reviewers. Amateurishness per se isn't bad - I loved Cloverfield for example - but this thing just sucks. I walked out after 45 minutes. When I came home and read the N'x reviews, I was surprised and heartened to read that more than a couple of reviews mentioned people walking out on this thing. As a sci-fi lover, I'm disappointed once more (kind of like a Cubs fan). But I do have hope on the horizon: Cameron's 'Avatar' coming in December looks like the real thing.

Funny People

If you take out the last awkward 20 minutes, this is a 5-star movie. With it (let's hope the director's cut actually cuts) it's still a 4.5 star. Adam Sandler plays a circa 1995 Jerry Seinfeld-ish comic. The public is in love with him, and will laugh at practically any utterance. He gets diagnosed with leukemia, and gets depressed, and hires amateur open-mike-night comic and fan Ira Wiener/Wright (Seth Rogen) to write jokes for him, and to be his personal assistant. I actually liked Seth in his role here. (Over the last few years, I think he's gotten way overvalued and thus a bit annoying. At this point he's made more movies than Judd!) There's a great and big supporting cast here (and an even bigger comedian cameo cast), and it was funnier than I was led to believe by some of the professional reviews (again, barring that last 20 minutes). Apatow is allowed to use some 20-year old videos of Adam Sandler as his young up-and-coming self, which was quite a nice touch at the beginning. The music selection is great too, a bit like Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous." (The big perk to being in your 40's is that 40-ish directors are finally using all the music I love. When they started playing music from Robert Plant's "Dreamland," I was hooked.) Apatow's wife and daughters are in this (as they were in "Knocked Up"), and this time they play the family that Adam could have had, but he let her (Laura, played by Aimee Mann), get away decades ago when he was young, dum, and full of cumb. (Judd, re-cut the ending, please!) Ross Douthat pointed out something about Apatow's movies that I had never realized before: they're socially conservative. Knocked Up is about having the baby, Virgin is about waiting, and this is about family and friends and life. The penus (sic) and fart jokes throw you off of that association, but it's there.

Fresh

3.5 stars. I'm a huge Sam L. Jackson fan, ever since "Jungle Fever" (though he he's never surpassed that). I also love good movies about African americans (Boyz in the Hood, Menace II Society, The Inkwell, Clockers, The Miracle of St. Anna), partly because they're so few and far between. The lead actor here, Sean Nelson, is top-notch. What happenned to him? I just saw this (Aug '09) and yet this movie came out 15 years ago. That would make him about 30 by now. It's a damn shame, because this kid was great in this. He's a smart kid who runs freebase cocaine for one gang, and heroine ("H") for another, and the 2 gang leaders admire him for his smarts. He lives with his aunt and grandmother and a dozen cousins in a small apartment, and periodically plays chess with his (alcoholic? homeless?) chessmaster father in the park (the smallish role for Sam L.) His pretty older sister is an addict and sleeps with the dealers, but is especially preyed upon by the H-running gang leader. One of the sub-commanders of the freebase-running gang collaterally shoots a girl he was interested in - not quite his girlfriend yet, but just on the way to getting there. He gets his revenge. Even with all his smarts, it was a little hard to believe the complexity and success of that revenge - a grandmaster game indeed. I wish I could say keep an eye out for this actor, but with 15 years under the bridge, it's sadly moot.

The Pawnbroker

The movie opens with a scene of Jews having a picnic in Germany circa 1938, in slow motion, with some horrible be-boppy 1960's jazz music playing. This super slo-mo idyll goes tortuosly on for 5 or 10 minutes, then turns out to be the flashback of our hero, Sol, while sitting in a lounge chair in the backyard of a 1960's Long Island home next to a freeway. Then it goes on to him at his work as a pawnbroker in a depressingly 'gritty' setting in Spanish Harlem. He's seen hating almost all people, including his obnoxious Puerto Rican assistant, conversing with no one, and flashbacking occasionally to his time at the Nazi camp. Special emphasis is paid to his memory of his wife, topless, in the camp, being used for the Nazi officers' pleasures, a memory which comes upon him as a customer, a black prostitute from the neighborhood, propositions him for a little extra cash by showing herself to him in a similar way. He is dislikable throughout, as is EVERY CHARACTER in the movie. Add a ridiculous soundtrack by the Quincy Jones of 1965 (he improved dramatically after this), and you have the recipe for a 1-star film.

Frontline: Ten Trillion and Counting

There is a much better documentary on the U.S. debt - I.O.U.S.A. It takes a look at the debt per se, whereas this documentary has a large focus on George W. Bush. Not that Bush and the Republican Congress of the 00s did us any favor, but I.O.U.S.A. is completely unslanted politically - the problem with the national debt is thoroughly bipartisan at this point.

The Stoned Age

Based on the first 4 minutes, I give this thing 4 stars. By the way, the preview is TERRIBLE - dont look at it! I almost didnt instant-stream this thing based on that. But, the first 4 minutes had: Black Sabbath, that yo-do-lay-ee-oh song by I dont know who, a trashed VW Dasher, Torrance (California), a pinch of columbian weed dust at the bottom of a sandwich baggy that they were going to get high off of, Reynaldo bean and potato burritos (famous in So Cal), an all night 7-11, what more could you want? Ill watch the rest later... OK. Having watched the rest, the girl Lanie ups this another star. If you were a 70's stoner growing up in Southern California, this movie is a must.

Bottle Shock

This is based on a really good real-life story: the first time California wines beat out French wines in a blind-tasting contest, when such an occurance was thought impossible. Unfortunately, this movie adds some extremely extraneous nonsense as filler: an uninteresting sub-story of a blonde intern who is helping out in the vineyard and sleeping with a couple of the vineyard owner's employees. It takes up half the film and adds nothing to the otherwise true story. The other half, with Alan Rickman and the wine tasting, is good. I just started using my fast forward.

Fantastic Planet

2 stars. Yes, yes, it's very original. No one in the West would have made such a low-quality movie in 1973. As the creator describes, this is communist-era (and communist-inspired) animation. Whereas the Americans (i.e., Disney) are into smooth animation, he is more concerned with good "graphics" at the expense of good animation. Well, he's right about one of those things - the animation here is very poor, pretty much stop-motion, very herky-jerky. But the graphics are no improvement: line drawings with plenty of hatching, and under that sloppy water colours. If you've seen any Eastern European animation before you know what I mean. And the images are more mentally deranged than fantastic. The creator got his start by working in a psychiatric ward and produced a movie made in part by the inmates. This movie is to 'Yellow Submarine,' what Soviet cars are to American cars: second-rate vs. first-rate. And the story is alright, but no great shakes. Some humans are kept as pets by giant beings called 'Traags,' and the relatively puny humans are known as 'Oms.' It's not said how the humans got to the world of the Traags, but there they are. Some of the Oms are kept as pets, while others are wild, periodically exterminated, and are treated as pests. (I guess the analogue would be how we treat rabbits.) The first half of the movie is an introduction to this strange world of Traags and Oms, and all the weird plants and animals, and in the the latter half the Oms try to escape their slavery. It's OK, but if I had it to do over again I would have skipped it.

Swing Vote

Liberal B.S. It tries to be even-handed, but fails, because the assumption that Republicans are connivers and the Democrats are do-gooders comes clean through. In one scene, fearing that social services is coming to take away the daughter, they get into a lets pretend to be religious mode. He grabs the emergency bible and she puts the emergency cross around her neck so they can trick the social worker. Anybody who knows anything about contemporary social workers knows that that attitude would be much more likely to get the girl taken away than left alone. In another scene the aide to the president is heard telling someone over the phone to send big blond men to the election polling places in Miami, because everyone knows that will scare off the Jews.

The Offence

4 stars. Little girls are being abducted from their school, with all that entails. Detective Seargent Johnson (Sean Connery) is especially upset by the very idea of these abductions, and when a suspect is brought in (Ian Bannen), the Detective Seargent is determined to close the case. The final scenes, approximately the last hour of the film, between Bannen and Connery, depict a tremendous psychological grappling between the two, and is the centerpiece of the entire film. This is hard stuff for 1973, but nothing that should scare away anyone here in 2009. Like The Collector, the subject matter has scared away a larger audience for this overlooked gripping film.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Its July 2009. I cant remember for sure when I first came across The Hitchhikers Guide, but it could have been this TV series back in 1981. I did read and love the book trilogy. Watching this TV series now, the cheesy effects are distracting. If this is your introduction to the Hithchhikers Guide, and you find yourself about to give up on it, do watch Episode 6. Its the one regarding the A, B, and C arks. Its the best one. And read the books!

Grandma's Boy

Pretty bad. It took a good 15 minutes before a good joke came along (the one where he borrows his buddy's action figure for a late night jerk session). There were about 5 good laughs in it. Also, know this: the lead character is about 45, hair graying at the temples, holds a job as a videogame tester, and smokes weed. There was one pair of * exposed, and they were capital S Silicone. The whole thing seems to be set in New Jersey.

The TV Set

Having just watched and been badly disappointed by David Duchovny in Californication (title stolen from, but no relation to, the Red Hot Chili Peppers song), the link to this identical-setting film (Hollywood writer circa-Now) came up while I was surfing around N'x. Call me masochistic, but I was mildly curious to see if this was the basis for Californication (Instantwatch is tooo convenient). I was quite surprised by how intelligent this was. Really bad title by the way, for such a good script (if you know what I mean :) In fact, comparing this to the 6-times more popular and higher-rated Californication (based on the number of Nx ratings), is exactly the point of the story here. Duchovny's got to be chuckling to himself. Where that was dumb, juvenile, and popular, this is smart, funny, and relatively ignored, and that was the theme of the movie: cheesy sh** does better than good sh**. Given the same lead actor and Hollywood setting (and even the same year of production?) this is a Class-A example of life imitating art.

Very Young Girls

What a world we live in. Its inspiring to see the work the people at GEMS are doing, but they are really up against social norms making it easy for evil to flourish. It was especially hard to watch a vibrant girl like Ebony try to make it, and heartwarming to see the gifted Dominique actually make it. I was bothered by reading the first review here (Im offended and shocked by the 2 previous reviews as they are blatantly racist... -JeF) and then not being able to see what she was referring to. Apparently N. deleted it. I almost always find charges of blatant racism to be blatantly racist themselves. My guess is the racism charge came about because the reviewer said that all the girls turned prostitutes in the film are black. Is it really racist to bring up the fact that this films deals almost exclusively with blacks?? It shouldnt be. It was a top-notch expose on the method and consequences of black pimping. It was very illuminating that the leader of GEMS, Ms. Lloyd, made a point in receiving her well-deserved humanitarian award, of saying that Hollywood, that leftist bastion, awarded the song Its Hard Out Here for a Pimp with an Oscar, when the truth is exactly the opposite: over the decades, inner-city policies of excessive social welfare and insufficient law and order, have made the inner cities positively plushy for pimps (and insanely hard on young black girls).

Californication: Season 1

I watched the little video-bio for the creator, Tom Kapinos, after watching the first 2 episodes, just to vet my guess that he was the opposite of the main character, Hank. And I think Im right. Tom is a pale flabby introverted nerd writer from New York, trying to make it out here in California, whilst hating California and wanting to put it down. (All hail New York, he seems to be saying.) Who else would come up with this drivel about a 40-ish New York writer being the stud of LA and getting every hot woman in his vicinity offering to blow him? I like onscreen sex, but it has to have some realism to it. The sexual fantasies here are juvenile, and are probably a homosexuals ideas of whats hot in the heterosexual world. Who knew writers were considered the hotties of Hollywood? I guess Tom did, for one. Toms other writerly stance here, and one that I dont disagree with, is that women should have hair down there and real boobs. But that hardly makes up for the superficiality of this series. My guess? Tom, not unlike John Hurt in Love and Death on Long Island, has got the hots for David Duchovny and wrote this for him. Good guess, right? For a MUCH better movie of Duchovny being a writer in Hollywood, see: The TV Set.

Red River

Im writing from a 2009 perspective, having watched it for the first time just now; Im not going to judge it in its historical context. The script is unbelievable in the extreme. A cattle rancher kills his cowboys for expressing the desire to quit a cattle drive, threatens to hang others who snuck off in the night, and the rest dont just turn around and shoot, or better, hang, the rancher? John Waynes character Dunston should have been killed by the middle of this ridiculous plot. And the ending has them absurdly laughing it all off. That said, Waynes mean character is out of the ordinary, Montgomery Clift and Walter Brennan do great jobs, and Joanna Dru is something special. 2.5 stars.

Advanced Algebra Tutor

It's just a guy at a whiteboard with colored dry erase markers. Exactly what you'd get if you sat in any classroom across America on the first day of algebra class, and with a mediocre teacher. His first foray is to tell us what f(x) means, as in, "f(x) is just something that messes with x to give us a new number, f(x)."

Ch�ri

First off, Michelle Pfeiffer does not play "Cheri." That goes to her "godson," the son of a fellow courtesan, who was so charming that Lea (Michelle) gave him that nickname as a child. One gets the idea that she partly raised him since his mother was gone so often. These courtesans and their offspring are also very rich with investments and side-businesses, since their clientele included the numerous kings and princes of the day. So, the movie has many echoes of "The Age of Innocence," with grand hotels and sumptuous country estates... The godson "Cheri," having grown to 19 and having his fill of the normal women of this world, starts a relationship with Lea - and it quickly becomes a heartfelt relationship for both him and her. Not to give anything away, the story goes from there, and a good story it is, based on contemporaneous novels by a woman who might well have known of this particular society. With wonderful deep music, lush scenery abounding, and Michelle Pfieffer, it is a worthwhile excursion to a time and place.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

The best thing about this movie was the collection of 70's actors. I especially liked Peter Boyle and Steven Keats, and of course, Mitchum. The story, however, was oddly not that dramatic. Good atmosphere was built up in the first half of the movie, but the tension in the second half kind of languished. Like "Heat", it's a cops and robbers tale involving bank robbery, but it doesn't even approach Heat's intensity. See it for Mitchum, and enjoy the other actors and the Boston locations. That's about it. 3.5 stars.

My Dinner with Andre

The title does describe the movie - I'll give it that. Wallace Shawn, the funny teacher from "Clueless," is Wallace (playing himself I guess, since his character is a writer and he wrote this movie, along with his counterpart), and he's having dinner with the mentally unstable Andre (the co-writer and co-character), played by Andre Gregory. Andre crazily talks. Wallace politely listens. Andre speils out insane stories of travel as an acting/directing teacher. This can in no way be considered a 'normal' conversation between intellectual writers living in New York City. Andre talks about a bizarre trip to Poland, which includes a "beehive" experience which I suppose is like a 60's "happening": people saying and doing strange things as if they're in an acting class. And then a similar event in a Polish forest, with everybody getting in touch with one another. Actually, they way I wrote that, it sounds almost interesting. But it's not. It's borderline insane, and yet Wallace just keeps smiling and saying "Ah-hah, and then what?" as he eats his potato soup as if this is the most normal of conversations instead of making up an excuse to get the hill out of there. I had been hoping it was going to be more like "Swimming to Cambodia," which was an intellectual monologue. But instead of an intellectual dialogue, what you get here is drivel masquerading as intellectualism. I had to wait 30 years for this?? (I was intrigued back in 1981 but never saw it then.)

The 'Wood

I think this is the reason: Hollywood ADORES young talent - the younger the better. This lame b.s. is the result of someone very young who theyre trying to get into the system. The quality doesnt matter - the youth of the creator does. (And its probably somebodys kid (who got Flash for Xmas) )

Our Brand Is Crisis

An all too revealing look at the disgusting practice of political polling and campaigning. The two major tools used by Snakes Incorporated (Carville, Greenburg, et al.) were 1) Convince the people there is a gigantic crisis going on that only your candidate can solve, and 2) Sow the seeds of doubt regarding your candidates opponents, even if you have to make stuff up (like implying theyre Nazis: an oldy but a goody). Truly vile.

The Dick Cavett Show: Hollywood Greats

Disc 1: Kate Hepburn for 3 hours (2 segments) and Fred Astaire for 1. Kate Hepburn reveals an incredibly self-assured attitude, confidence in spades, and is fascinating to listen to. She has very definite views on life, happiness, religion and ethics. There's a pretty good little bonus section which shows Cavett's real side too. I didn't watch the Astaire part.

The Girlfriend Experience

OK, Steven Soderbergh is a film genius. No director going creates more original works of art. I already suspected this after 'Traffic' and this film just adds to that reputation. I saw it after being intrigued by the trailer of the guy playing the drums in Times Square (When that scene showed up in the movie, I was a little afraid that that meant the end of the movie - luckily I was wrong)... For me this was a surprisingly disturbing and unsettling film. Very voyeuristic and anti-voyeuristic at the same time. The girl is a high-end call girl working in New York City. She has a lavish apartment that she shares with her professional-trainer boyfriend. The movie works like a documentary: scenes of daily life for her, along with her journal entries after each encounter. But it's anti-voyeuristic because this woman is very closed down - letting no one in to her "real" self (assuming she even has a "real" self. E.g., her journal entries are about what she wore and whether the guy commented on it or not.) One set of scenes shows this well: a reporter is doing a story on her and tries to get inside her head, but gets nowhere. Is her defensive wall too thick or does she even have an interior life? There is much scattered talk of the tanking economy, so this is a very contemporary film (all set ca. Sep 2008) and therefore interesting on that level alone. I did find it a bit on the long side though, because it is a somewhat haphazard set of non-chronological scenes, seemingly sequenced at random, and none of the loose ends are tied up. And it's all loose ends. Still, very worthwhile, especially if you're a fan of Soderbergh's.

35 Up

I just got done watching 21 Up here on Nflix Instant. Somehow I missed it (I think Ive seen them all up to 49 Up, except for the original 7 Up.) (Is 7 Up even available?). I think 21 Up is the best of the lot, assuming youre trying to see all of them as I am. At 21, they know much more about themselves, and they havent become overly guarded about what comes out of their mouths yet. For example, Neils lines about his upbringing, they wanted me to care about other people to the point of neuroticism, and, they just let me fend for myself, giving me no guidance whatever. And the future newspaper writer is still there (he quit by 42 Up), who I think is one of the more interesting personalities (I do hope he changes his mind by 56 Up). Tony turns out to be the absolute genius on life and living (thats all I know and thats all I want to know), though I do really respect Johns points of view also (I think thats his name - hes the one in the 3-piece suits). I cant help but wonder what happened to Neil and to Jackies blonde friend, whose name I cant remember. Both were great looking kids and seemed to be destined for great social lives but something went wrong along the way. Perhaps in another decade well find out. I do hope that all of them come to understand what a wonderful service theyre doing for humanity by graciously allowing this intrusion in their lives; some Im sure already do.

My First Mister

Yikes! 49-year-old celibate Randall and 17-year-old virgin outcast Jennifer are slowing getting together. He's going to be her first "Mr." They're both lonely souls about to find some happiness in each others arms. OK, I'm in. I really like Albert Brooks, and I love to see Sobieski on screen as well. Her character in this is attracted to him and he can't quite understand why, but starts to go with it. It'll be nice to see how they handle their affair, how it'll end, etc. And the movie goes that way for the first hour and a half, and then, BLAM! Apparently the age thing is suddenly really gross so the story takes a GIGANTIC LEFT TURN and he rejects her and hooks up with his age-equivalent nurse in his hospital bed instead, WHILE WEARING ONE OF THOSE OXYGEN NOSE TUBES! And I'm suddenly watching a nauseating afterschool special on the poignancy of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and the inappropriateness of older men and younger women. A morals lesson from Christine Lahti is headed right for me! EJECT THE DISC! EJECT THE DISC! "Treacle" is a word I've seen on occasion but never had the chance to use, but it's appropriate for the last ridiculous portion of this. What happened? The nice little story got totally aborted. Yikes!

State of Play

See the 2-disc BBC version (available here on N'flix) before you see this Ben-Affleck-ruined version.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Except for Norah with her really nice, sweater-fillers, this was a completely gay movie, which is fine, but it sure as sh** wasn't marketed that way. (Check out the geographic popularity map in the New York Times.) I guess the gay writers figured girls like her should be attracted to punky loser guys with beat-up cars, so they wrote it that way. I started super fast forwarding after 50 minutes (so I did give it a chance), but had reached my limit with the ever-present gay angle. A bunch of D-list actors make cameos in this, including one of the Harold and Kumar guys, and 2 of the lesser guys from Saturday Night Live. The marketing of this movie was good, which is how I got sucked in.

The Fifth Element: Bonus Material

I LOVE The 5th Element. But this bonus disc is practically worthless. For example, there's a section on the 'stars' of the movie, but they don't include: Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, or Michael Black. And the interview with Bruce is really bad, taken on a ship and you could tell he really didn't want to be there. The ones with Milla are better, but nothing special. The disc includes a bunch of screen tests of rooms! Somebody on staff walks into a room just so they could see how the room would look with a live person in it. BFD! Skip this disc - I've seen better "Special Features" on DVD's of movies from the 50's. There's no way this should have been a separate disc. There's one 'featurette' on 2 famous French cartoon artists who helped with the film, and that was good - everything else was b.s.

Cruising

The ending is unresolved, which apparently was the fashion at the time, because I saw another movie in the same timeframe that did the same thing: The Laughing Policeman. Whos the killer? Well, the audience is made to care throughout, and is given clues, but at the end, the writer just gives the audience a big f u. Thanks for wasting my time, %$$&*le.

Goya's Ghosts

This is a ridiculous story. The first half hour is fine, but then it becomes terrible. A rich mans daughter (Portman) is sent into the Spanish Inquisition torture chambers in 1780. (Yes, 1780.) A powerful priest (Bardem) is besieged by the rich man to release his daughter, but instead he visits her in the dungeon and there rapes her. The rich man has his revenge by torturing the priest. Cut to 15 years later. Napoleon invades France and releases all the Inquisition prisoners including Natalie - she looks like a disease-ridden lunatic, and unfortunately, continues in this repulsive and laughable guise for the rest of the movie (Natalie as lunatic is one of the worst pieces of acting caught on film). She is on the hunt for her daughter, product of the rape. The powerful priest has become a Bonapartian, and is rich and powerful. When Natalie comes to look for their daughter, he has her locked up in an insane asylum. By the way, Goyas only interaction here is that he has painted all these people. He acts as a kind of witness. Natalies daughter, also played by Natalie (but with big buck teeth), is a hore, and Bardem tries to send her off to slavery in America. But, the English arrive, defeat Napolean, and return Bardem to the Catholic Church who have him publicly executed. Who knew the English re-instated Inquisitorial powers to the Catholics in 19th-century Spain? Not I.

Zone 39

This is a lame re-writing of "1984." Only the Party has been replaced by the Corporation.

Thrilla in Manila

Finally, a documentary that takes Frazier's side! Ali used the most racist, vile language to get under Frazier's skin (and raise his boxing fees), by using terms like Uncle Tom and gorilla, and the media not only gave him a complete pass on that, but unwaveringly lauded the man. All in the name of loyalty to the Democratic party, the press left Frazier to twist in the wind as the "dumb gorilla" that Ali had called him. Muhammad Ali was a narcissistic prima donna who went way over the line of common decency, and now has uncontrollable palsy because he pissed off the wrong man and the better fighter, Smokin' Joe Frazier, who righteously pummeled Ali and permanently scrambled his brain at the "Thrilla in Manilla." Ali, the fighter, was effectively finished.

One, Two, Three

The real value of this movie for me is as a time capsule for the political viewpoints of 1961, the year the Iron Curtain went up in Berlin and all of Europe. I give it 4 stars on that basis. Capitalism is being represented here by Coca-Cola, and its Berlin chief, Cagney. Id rather not have watched the last half hour, which for me was just bad way-over-the-top 2-star comedy, with Cagney shouting and shouting and the pace going faster and faster. Yikes! But it was enormously interesting to hear the views coming out of the young communist that are practically no different than views coming out of young protesters of today. For example, this movies Yankee Go Home is almost identical to todays protesters shouting US out of (wherever). The first half of this movie should be shown in history classes when theyre considering the Cold War.

The Tin Drum

A story of Gdansk/Danzig and World War II, as seen through the bizarre eyes of Oskar, a dwarfish man-boy who wills himself to stop growing at age 3. This film is great for me, being a 3rd-generation American of German and Polish heritage, especially since Danzig/Gdansk is THE city that illuminates the relationship of the 2 countries. I learned that Danzig was a creation of the "peace" that came after WWI, and that there was there a Polish Post Office that held an import far above any ordinary post office. This movie looks at the coming of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis through Oskar and his lower middle-class family. Also, a huge part of this movie is its weirdness - very David Lynch. (I wouldn't be surprised if Lynch was heavily influenced by this film and/or the book it was based on, by Gunter Grass.) Also, the editing, for a 1979 movie, is quite unique. Even though this was made at the same time as Blade Runner, the rather simple yet effective FX here make you feel like it was made in the 1920's or '30's. Very well done, I thought, and quite enjoyable... If you can handle this kid's crazy eyes and a middling amount of trippiness/grossness (not as bad as Lynch, but still present), this is a great way to get a view of the rise of Nazism and its effect in Poland. The characters speak in German and Polish; English subtitles. 4.5 stars.

Far from the Madding Crowd

Flighty yet sensible Julie Christie is in a love quadrangle with the stoic Gabriel Oak (Alan Bates), the dastardly charmer Sgt. Troy (Terence Stamp), and the sensible but unappealing country gentleman and confirmed bachelor next door, Mr. Boldwood (Peter Finch). Bathsheba (Julie C.) destroys his bachelor contentment for good, though she in no way reciprocates, driving him to near madness... This is based on the novel by Thomas Hardy of 1874, set in the English coastal countryside. I took advantage of the "Intermission" set 1.5 hours into this movie and watched the 2nd part on the 2nd of 2 nights - and was glad I did. The tempo definitely rises in the 2nd part, and really caught me off guard. I never thought I would be surprised by this story after having watched the 1st part, but I certainly was. The acting is good all around, and the cast is vast. Very worthwhile.

Gattaca

There are, unfortunately, only a handful of excellent science fiction films, and this is one of them. The others are Alien, Blade Runner, and 2001. Ethan Hawke is a janitor with aspirations to be an astronaut, though in this future, only the genetically gifted are allowed in. Racism/classism has been replaced by geneticism. Anyone with a subpar DNA profile (all those G's, T's, C's, and A's, from which the film gets its name) may as well hang it up, because your destined for the menial jobs. With the help of Jude Law, he cheats his way in. Uma Thurman, who looks lovely in this by the way, is a colleague he gets involved with at the academy. Her DNA profile was just good enough to get in. The real appeal to me of this story was the combative relationship of Ethan and his brother, whose DNA had all the right sequences, and who lorded it over his genetically challenged brother. Acting was great all around, as was the writing, photography, editing, etc.

Touchez Pas au Grisbi

This is film noir from France: "Touch Not the Stash." Jean Gabin is a robber, a great screen prescence who seemed to me a mix of Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant. He hangs out at a wiseguy restaurant, and a classy strip club where he and his partner in crime have a couple of girlfriends, one of whom is a young Jeanne Moreau. Gabin knows that he and his friend are getting too old for this, and wants to retire. He just has to let things cool off after their last heist and lay low (just like DeNiro's desire in "Goodfellas"), but things turn ugly (Scorsese must have known this film). A good film with a-la-francaise eye candy, though the ending didn't have that American punch. 3.6 stars... The special features were worthwhile, especially the interview with Daniel Cauchy, who had a minor role in the film. He describes all the actors well and how this film really helped all of them. It did for Jean Gabin what Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta.

Frozen River

Fairly interesting movie to begin with, but it starts making some ridiculous plot twists towards the middle to make its point that rural white people are mostly stupid and racist, and the US border policies are stupid too. Ray, working mom abandoned by her husband, who has stolen the money for a new double-wide mobile home from the family so he can go out and gamble with it, is at her wit's end. The boss at her place of work just won't let her go from part-time to full time, even after 2 years of good employment, because "I just see you as a short-timer." Huh? After 2 years?? Well, being a white male, even though a businessman, he has to be stupid, right? Ray gets hooked up with another put-upon loner mom to smuggle Chinese across the US/Canada border through the Mohawk reservation that straddles it. At one point the smugglees are not Chinese but Pakistani, so Ray, stupid white patriot that she is, becomes suspicious, and halfway through the smuggle throws out the duffel bag that the Pakistanis brought in case there's a nuke or "god-knows-what" in it (the Pakistanis, like all the smugglees, ride in the trunk), only to find out later that the Pakistanis' baby was in there. Huh? Oh, well. I can see why Melissa was given that AA nomination - the opening scene where she is definitely distraught and struggling which lasted about 3 minutes, but the rest of her acting in this is actually kind of bad. Though in fairness, that may be the script's fault. At one point she has to act surprised and shocked that sometimes policemen were involved in smuggling. "Really? Someone in the police?" It doesn't come off as credible. I could have skipped this one, but I was curious to see what the nomination was for. It was for 3 good minutes of acting anguished in the very beginning, tears and everything.

The Grey Fox

Reading the reviews here, I guess I lucked out. There will be a showing of this film, tonight, 2009 March 13, at the Mechanics' Institute in downtown San Francisco. Public welcome. 6pm. Now that I've seen it: Richard Farnsworth is great in this. It's a story pulled from real life of a robber of stagecoaches who gets jailed for a decade or two and when he gets out, all the stagecoaches are gone, so he starts robbing trains. There's a Robin Hood -esque quality here, though I wasn't really sure why. A good, worthwhile film, with a great ending.

The Clan of the Cave Bear

There are slim pickings when you want to see a movie of prehistory - this is one of the best. It's an adaptation from an excellent novel that I could not recommend more highly if you like this subject matter. Unlike "Quest for Fire", this is a feasible storyline regarding ancient man in Europe... Ayla is a young girl separated from her Cro-Magnon counterparts and found by a group of Neanderthals. Initially, and throughout, many of the Cro-Magnons want her dead or gone since she is part of the "Others." But the priestly ones, Izza and Creb, keep her around for as long as they can, and are filled with wonder at her unusual intelligence. I particularly liked these characters Izza (played by Pamela Reed), and Creb, who becomes Ayla's surrogate parents within the tribe. No one really knows what it was like when Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons lived at the same time in the same place, and Jean Auel's stories, which this is the first of, are an excellent exploration of this friction.

Cashback

This was a short British film where they came up with an artistic way to get a lot of models naked (kudos), that was excellently expanded into a feature-length film (I highly recommend the "Making Of" special feature) with a fairly good story, good acting, lights, etc. Actually, there is some really good photography here, the director having been a photographer originally. I also enjoyed the use of opera music set to slo-mo's of the gals. Ben is an art student working the night shift at a drugstore, and imagines he can stop time and disrobe and sketch the women. In the opening, which is quite well done in this operatic fashion, he is breaking up with his now-livid girlfriend. The night job is helping him with his sleepless nights following the regret he feels for that self-inflicted loss. There is one scene that had been part of the short film and that I'm sure would have been rated X not so long ago, tracking a young woman going up the stairs as Ben as a 7-year-old watches, instilling in him his artistic drive. The movie was a bit slow at times, but besides the obvious there are some really good comic scenes here as well when the mates at the store get together. 3.75 stars.

Miracle at St. Anna

I am absolutely baffled that this movie didn't garner a host of Academy Award nominations: Best Film/Director, and a bunch of Best Supporting Actors (there is no lead actor). It is a bit long, but that last half hour was as powerful a bit of filmaking as I've ever seen. Great performances all around. 4 black soldiers get trapped behind enemy lines in an Italian village, and interact with the locals. SL's portrayals of the numerous relationships within this big ensemble cast were the standout for me. There's a love triangle between the good-guy seargeant (Derek Luke), the predatory light-skinned soldier (Michael Ealy), and a beautiful Italian (Valentina Cervi). Luke accuses Ealy and his crude unwanted advances on Cervi as "setting the race back, just when we're getting somewhere", while Ealy accuses Luke of being a stooge for the white commanders. Another is between the boy and a big, shy soldier (Omar Miller) he calls his "Giganti Chocolato," who becomes his protector... I'm also amazed that I find myself in agreement mainly with other reviewers who I'm normally only 12%, 18%, 15%, compatible with per N'x. Something about this movie (which I think is SL's best, just above Do the Right Thing and The Inside Man). There's also a lot of talk about this being too anti-white racist, but I, white male that I am (and on the lookout for such ****), really didn't see it. Yes, the company has a very racist commander, but so what, that's just one guy and so it's hardly far-fetched. As long as unracist whites are portrayed too, like D.B. Sweeney's character, that's just what was. I also see a lot of reviewers saying SL dropped the ball on this one. Could it be that he's just going more "mainstream"? And by mainstream I mean good storytelling. This is a great film. And the music is great as it is in all his films.

Moonlighting

Jeremy Irons, tall, regal, is supposed to be the Polish foreman for a job of renovating a flat in London for some Polish big-wig. (No offense, but he doesn't look the part of Polish construction worker. His cohorts all do, but he has the look of a master spy or something.) He and his 3 cohorts leave Poland, surreptitiously bringing in hammers and nails to do the job (they couldn't buy them in Britain?). His boss has given him 1,200 pounds sterling for the whole job, which is to last a month. (We are told it would cost 5,000 pounds to have it done legitimately.) Much of the action in the movie is the actual construction work: demolition of walls, plumbing, painting, etc. Talk about watching paint dry. It is a historically special month though. In December 1981, there was a military crackdown on Solidarity in Poland. Jeremy, as the only 1 of the 4 to know English, hears this in the media, but for unknown reasons doesn't let on to his companions, even though they have wives and children back home. He thinks they'll all run away? Because the money is so tight (they botched the plumbing and had to re-buy materials), he resorts to shoplifting, and these scenes are another subplot of the film. He almost gets caught a couple of times. He also cheats the men on their sleep time by ruining their watches and lying to them about how much they've slept. So, he's a slimeball. Whent the job's completed and they're on their way to the airport to go home, he finally tells them of the troubles, and they beat him up. You see, Nowak, the foreman / shoplifter / cheater, was in no way in 'solidarity' with his colleagues, which I guess was the overall point of the movie. Yikes! That was a long ride for that little gem. And by the way, having put off telling them for weeks, and they're about to get on the plane home, he couldn't have just skipped telling them altogether?? As a political statement (especially a 1982 one) it's fine, but as a movie it was pretty much a snore.

Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow

I saw this 40-odd years ago, and I'm excited to see it here on N'flix (even if I can only "Save" it, and not get it now, Feb009). Patrick McGoohan's scarecrow scared the **** out of me in my jammies! The image burned into my neurons all those years ago, and has been with me ever since. Come to think of it, it's reminiscent of Heath Ledger's Joker. I hope, I hope, I hope, this actually gets released, unlike a dozen "dozers" that have been in my Save list for over a year now. Do I sound like a kid? I've re-become in the last few minutes finding this as possibly available! If you've seen it, you know what I mean (and with a 4.4 average, it appears most of you have). If you haven't, you may be in for a treat (God knows things we treasured as kids can disappointingly surprise when re-viewed in adult life.)

The Girl from Monday

Not as good as Henry Fool, but certainly a similar style, which I like, and similar music, which I really like. I suppose I'll compare all of Hartley's films (which I plan to see) to Henry Fool, which just floored me and I rated the full 5 stars. This "sci-fi" movie (it just barely qualifies as sci-fi) is a commentary on global domination by corporations; a condemning commentary; and an idea that I'm ideologically opposed to. "Corporations and businesses are bad for people", which is the theme of this movie, is a ridiculous notion. "Business" just translates to "busy-ness"; it's just the sum total of what people do for food and shelter and all the niceties of life. They trade their labor for money to buy food and shelter and whatever else they want. Sometimes they get other people to join them in groups to be more efficient in these labors. These groups are called companies, and many of them are "incorporated" companies. That's it. There's no evil intent, no dark cabal masterminding domination of the human race. It's just people being busy. I mean, what's the alternative? We all sit on our ***** all day? Please, liberals, get over it, and see the light of reason and science revealing the simplicity and awesomeness of it all. I'm guessing Hal Hartley would ban me from his set, and that's OK. I still think his Henry Fool is a work of genius, and so everything else of his is something to see.

Quest for Fire

Just resaw this (Feb '009) after seeing it in the theatre 20-odd years ago (how time flies!). I got it because there are so few realistic caveman movies. I love books like "The Ice Age" describing Australopithecines, or Jean Auel's fictional "Clan of the Cave Bear". It's a pretty neglected arena for storytelling. But I had forgotten how bad the acting and the underlying understanding is here. Cro-Magnons would have been much more like us (no enhanced brow ridges, for example). In this movie the actors have been told to move like chimpanzees, which is scientifically plain wrong. We, and Cro-Magnons, have different hips and shoulders than chimps, and so we do not and did not walk like them. Also, every tribe they come up against is apparently practically of a different species, which is also absurd. So for the science, it's a 2-star endeavor, but I have to up it to 3 because at least it tries to convey prehistory.... I really hope someone comes along and remakes it or does a sequel, using more accurate science. That said, Ron Perlman, Rae Dawn Chong, and the the actor playing the leader of the tribe, all do great work here. Their performances are worth seeing.

The Laughing Policeman

No payoff, at all. The plot goes along nicely for the most part, but in the end, nothing makes sense. Was this the point, or did they just forget to put in a point? The intro is a machine gun massacre on a city bus. One of them was the partner of San Francisco cop Walter Matthau. Another passenger was a guy who recognized the killer and screams out "Not yet!" but gets killed anyway. Great so far. But then it turns out the killer is a gay wealthy businessman, who has something to do with a heterosexual porn subplot, and he was army buddies with the guy who screamed "not yet!". But none, zero, of these clues gets resolved in the end. And if that's not enough, their boss seems to really want them to not look into this old porn case (anticipation of a corrupt cops scenario?), which also goes nowhere. And finally, Bruce Dern shoots the killer in the back from outside another bus right through the back windshield, even though there's no way in **** he could see that the killer had his machine gun again and was going to do another massacre. Then it ends, saying nothing about any of the subplots!!!! I suppose the one thing that could have saved it was the last line from "Chinatown," in which a cop comes over to Jack Nicholson and tells him, "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown." That at least would have said something about the futility of it all. See instead Matthau's "Charlie Varick," which for me rates 4 stars, or his "The Taking of Pelham, 1,2,3".

The Final Cut

As a sci-fi fan, there's not much worse than bad sci-fi, because I feel it gives the whole genre a bad name. In this, we're supposed to believe that some of the most well-respected, and feared, people in the future are professional eulogists. They're the only ones who get full access to the tape of a person's life after they die, the full tape of every piece of sound or vision that person ever experienced because they had a device like a webcam installed in themselves at birth (that's the sci-fi part). And then they make a final "This Is Your Life" video for the funeral, deleting out all of that person's gross behaviors (murder, incest, etc.) and just leaving the best one-millionth of their lives for display to the funeral guests. And it's a big profitable business. Really? They're supposed to be like priests with solemn vows never to reveal what they see. I watched a full half of it before giving up.

The Big Town

3.6 stars. OK, the story is a little amateurish, but it makes some good points, and the lead, Matt Dillon, isn't too bad (far better than the infantile Keanu Reeves or the unwatchable Ben Affleck), and the supporting cast line-up is truly special: Diane Lane, Tommy Lee Jones, Lee Grant, Bruce Dern, Tom Skerritt, and Suzy Amis (skinny redhead from "Titanic"). In the end, the hooker does not have a heart of gold (like the idiotic premise in Julia Roberts' Disney movie), they do a decent discussion of the odds in craps (but then they blow it by showing him win far too easily), and you get to see all of Diane Lane. And there did appear to be real chemistry between Diane and Matt. They had done another 50's era movie together before this, 'Rumble Fish' I think, so they probably really were an item at one point. Definitely worth a look if you're a fan of any or all of the above.

The Fifth Element

In the genre of sci-fi/action/comedy, this one is tops. Not that I can think of many more in that category. The disappointing version of Hitchhiker's Guide (disappointing because the books, TV shows, and radio programs were so damn good) comes to mind, and that weird movie with Teri Garr, and the principal from Ferris Bueller whose station wagon flies off into space to confront the evil space emperor played by Jon Lovitz... But I'm getting off track. Bruce Willis plays the cab driver (flying cab) who falls in love with Leeloo (Jovovich), who is "The 5th Element," the quintessential being capable of saving the world from Evil. Evil enlists Gary Oldman to disrupt Leeloo. Ian Holm is his typical excellent self as the priest who has been anticipating Leeloo's arrival, and who will help her with the 4 other elements needed to defeat Evil. The finale with Leeloo and Bruce bathed in blue light, all 5 seconds of it, is one of the best moments in cinema. And I can't forget to mention Chris Tucker as "Ruby Rod!", who drives all the women wild. See this movie! You cannot be disappointed!

WWII: Battlefront

It (Disc 1) has 4 main sections (Dunkirk, Norway, England, and Malta), plus �special features� on propaganda posters, battle medals, newsreels, and �Mussolini�s Italy�. At first I didn�t like it, because it seemed amateurish and not very informative after watching the Dunkirk section, but the Norway and Malta sections were far better, and the posters and the special features were all worthwhile. I especially liked the small bit within �Mussolini�s Italy� showing a map with moving arrows display of the invasions of �Jugoslavia� and Greece that illustrated how the Axis armies cut up the British and Greek defensive lines. I assume the other 4 discs also have 4 25-minute sections a piece. Not the best, but not too bad either.

Night Nurse / Thou Shalt Not

This movie was OK, but if you're renting this to get a taste of pre-Code T and A, I would recommend "Gold Diggers of 1933" instead.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

N'flix guessed correctly again. They had me down as less than the 3.0 average (at 2.9). I really like John C. Reilly, but somehow this comedy just fell totally flat for me. He was great in Perfect Storm, Boogie Nights, Criminal, Talladega Nights, and Hard Eight. I'd recommend getting one of those instead. (Perhaps it's because I really liked "Walk The Line," and hate to see it spoofed (and badly spoofed at that)).

Fay Grim

This is a sequel to Hal Hartley's "Henry Fool," a movie that I rated 5 stars. Henry Fool was a movie dripping with quirkiness and profundity ("An honest man is always in trouble."), and is clearly one of those movies that are either loved or hated. Henry Fool marries Fay Grim in that movie, after befriending her brother Simon Grim, who goes on to become a superstar poet. (As if that could ever happen.) For whatever reason, Hal Hartley decided that he would make a sequel in which all the characters from the original would be used to make an espionage movie. "Henry Fool" had no, zero, espionage in it. It's as if Hartley set himself an academic exercise or a puzzle, just to see if he could do it. Jeff Goldblum, as the CIA agent, is awful, but it could be either his acting or simply the script. Hopefully Hartley's next sequel will be called "Simon Grim" and it will have no espionage in it, and will be closer to the original. Given how much I liked 'Henry Fool', I'll watch it no matter what.

Miss All-American Beauty

If you love Diane Lane, this movie is worth watching. Otherwise, no. She's in that awkward area between being a pretty little girl as she was in "A Little Romance," and the gorgeous woman she became in "Lonesome Dove" (and everything else). There is one really good scene in which she is walking down the runway after winning, and she doesn't even look like herself: she transforms herself into one of those cookie-cutter, crying beauty queens that we've all seen but could never name, another beauty with her 15 minutes of fame. It's one minute of real acting that showed her later potential.

Somewhere in Time

This is an oddly compelling movie. By the synopsis this is a movie I should hate. I'm no Christopher Reeve fan, and I don't like implausible science fiction, or simple romances. But it kind of grew on me, I don't know why. It's set in a hotel which reminded me of the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, only this one is in Michigan. Christopher Reeve, a resident of 1980, sees a picture of Jane Seymour circa 1912 and falls for her, and basically wishes himself there via a means of time travel which was recommended to him by a scientist who tried but failed to do it. Jane Seymour is (or was) a famous actress performing at the hotel's theatre. They get together, Christoper Plummer notwithstanding. An odd movie, but you may find it worthwhile... Looking at the extras, apparently a fan club has grown around this movie and they hold annual meetings at the hotel it was filmed at, the Grand Hotel in Mackinac, Michigan.

War File: Battlefield: Battle for the Mediterranean

BASED ON a wonderful series from the BBC called "Battlefield" narrated by Timothy Piggot-Smith. The original had a definite and very unique structure. Apparently, some company bought the original and butchered it to come up with this, more conventional and less interesting series they call variously "War File:...", or "Battlefield:...", and with a different narrator. (The narration is the only way to distinguish between the original and this hack job.) This is not the great series I, and apparently hundreds of other people, were expecting.

Reprise

From Norway, with subtitles, and a Joy Division soundtrack. It's a little hard to get into initially - 2 23-year-old kids who grew up together and both become published authors, interviewed on television. Really? What can a 23-year-old know about life that would be lauded by his elders? Then again, maybe things are different in Norway, or any small country with a language that is not world-dominating like English. But, past that, this is a nice look into modern Norway, and the editing I liked - many scenes end in a quick cut to black, and there's some playing around with the chronology. I also enjoyed the actress playing Kari, and the other one playing the publisher. Apparently its a very small world over there in Norway, with everybody knowing everybody. The storyline kind of snaps around, keeps you intrigued. I really liked it. Now, if this had been made in and by Americans, I probably would have given it only 3 stars, but I really enjoy a good honest look into other cultures.

Henry Fool

Wow. What a revelation. It looks like I found an "art" film that I really, really like. It's both dark and comic. All these characters are mesmerizing. Henry Fool is an oddity of a human being, and he's not really the central character. That would be Simon Grim, a cartoonish-looking guy that I think I've seen before in late-night Adult Swim shows. And his sister Fay Grim played by Parker Posey. This was one of the better roles she's had, I think. The dialogue is stilted, but the ideas are so lofty that I think the lines have to be delivered that way to take them seriously. This is one I will definitely be watching again. Another reason to have N'flix!

A Tale of Two Cities

I'm always surprised at how good, and how modern, some of the older movies can be. I often can't help but think, assume really, that people of generations ago, with their odd dress and manners, were innately different from us. But movies like this let you really feel a common humanity. Ronald Coleman's portrayal of a boozing guy who never got the girl, who let life pass him by, who never amounted to much, is worth every minute. (And when was the last time you saw a "catfight" like the one in this film!? :)

The Sentinel

Oh, man. What a piece of garbage. When people complain about Hollywood churning out ssssh, this is the type of movie they're talking about. There's no real redeeming value here, unless you're a fan of basic production values (lights, cameras, action) but don't care about any other qualities of a movie. The plot was thin, and nowhere near feasible. The 1st lady is having an affair with the old secret service guy? Really? And then he goes "rogue" to discover the real mole? Come on. This is patently ridiculous. I'm not sure how I got snookered into renting this, but probably it was the "Average rating" of 3.5 stars. I should have believed the rating N'x told me for "viewers like me", which was just over 2. Live and learn.

Lady Jane

This is a pro-Protestant anti-Catholic romantic drama involving teenage royalty in England, loosely based on real life. In fact, it's probably better if you don't know the actual history of Queen Jane before watching this. Bookish, quiet, introverted Jane, young but confident in her understanding, debates but finds a friend in an intellectual Catholic cleric, and unexpected love in an arranged marriage. The film gives a great portrayal of the growing sentiment in England against Catholicism ("Conjurers of Rome!" per the Duke of Northumberland in one of the better scenes) around the time of Henry VIII. Plato's beautiful words regarding Socrates' death are highlighted here, bookending the film. Jane is unusual in that she is reading Plato in the original Greek, and is both disparaged and admired for it. She believes that priests and 'superstition' are not needed by man to connect to the spiritual realm.

Saturn 3

This is really quite a good little horror/scifi movie: a killer robot (Hector) on the loose, Harvey Keitel as a crazy, Kirk Douglas as an old guy stashing himself away on a far away world with the yummy (and occasionally nude) Farrah Fawcet as his assistant. The special effects are definitely cheesy - you might even just want to skip the first 10 minutes. But when they get into their working environment, the story and acting are all fine for sci/fi fans. No, its not Alien or Blade Runner, but its good nonetheless. They should remake it! Imagine Jack Nicholson and Keira Knightley.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

I love Hunter Thompson. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was a roller coaster of a book, and a book of essays by him called The Great Shark Hunt continued the ride. And I've seen Hunter Thompson on TV and he's just as enjoyable (I'm sure he would groan at that description) just being himself... That said, this movie is a pale, pale imitation of the man. Depp's acting is odd in this particular instance; I'm guessing he just couldn't get into the character, just one of those things, because all in all Depp is a great actor with loads of great performances under his belt. Instead it seems as though he's merely acting odd instead of being Hunter. It's too bad too, because HST's story is one of the greats, one that really deserves a good telling. So far (2008), the best thing to watch is "Gonzo: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson"

Battlefield: Arnhem: Operation Market Garden

I'd like to slap the people that apparently bought out the great series "Battlefield" which was shown on PBS about 10 years ago, and butchered it up to create this "new" series called variously "Battlefield" or "War Files". The original "Battlefield" was a masterful production, narrated always by Timothy Piggot-Smith (hard to forget a name like that, and the only way I can see to assuredly differentiate between the two productions) that was mostly set-up, set-up, set-up, (discussions of the soldiers, the weapons, the commanders, and the battle plans, for each side) followed finally at the end of the program by a presentation of the actual battle. If you saw it on PBS, you know what I mean. This particular DVD called "Battlefield: Arnhem" is similar because they basically stole a lot of the footage, the graphics, and the music, from the original, but in bits and pieces which they completely re-arranged (they thought they could "improve" it????), put in a different narrator, and apparently merged with another documentary covering the same battle resulting in huge overlaps in the footages shown and the discussions, oftentimes the same exact sentences being repeated over and over again. It's a real crime what "Cromwell Productions" did. If you have any chance to get the originally broadcast "Battlefield" series, do so and quickly, before these hacks get their hands on it.

Babette's Feast

Reminded me of "Big Night." A big, glorious meal is the central character in both, and not revealed in all its glory until the end, because it is the climax. I liked the meal scene here better than Big Night, but Big Night was the better movie for me because of the acting by Tony Shaloub and ?, and the more entertaining pre-meal storyline. This movie, before the big meal, is quite slow and undramatic. But I think that was a conscious choice so that the appearance of the meal could be that much more liberating.

Where the Buffalo Roam

I love Hunter Thompson. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was a roller coaster of a book, and a book of essays by him called The Great Shark Hunt continued the ride. And I've seen Hunter Thompson on TV and he's just as enjoyable (I'm sure he would groan at that description) just being himself... That said, this movie is a pale, pale imitation of the man. Murray's acting is atrocious in this particular instance; I suppose he was here just beginning to learn about acting, but hadn't caught on yet to the detachment required. Instead it seems as though he's uncomfortable in every scene, trying to act "free" but in reality feeling no such thing. And this is a role that would require an actor to really let go of all inhibitions. Even Johnny Depp couldn't do it, and it's too bad too, because HST's story is one of the greats, one that really deserves a good telling. So far, the best thing to watch is "Gonzo: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson"

Talk Radio

A succesful Jewish talk radio host based in Dallas, schmoozing with all the farmers and ranchers? I don't think so. And all his callers are losers/idiots/monsters. Well, of course, since these folks don't live on one of the coasts, they must be low-lifes. The story here is meant for New York/San Francisco consumption - yet another liberal xenophobic attack on folks outside their cosmopolitan elitist confines.

Mongol

What a dissappointment. "The epic story of Ghengis Khan"? I'm there. One of the greatest stories in history. However, this story should have been called a prequel to that story, still yet to be made. Throughout, the main character here is named Temudjin. He is shown as a young boy, as a prisoner, as a slave, as a beggar for another man's army. Only in the last 10 minutes does he actually get together a large army, and that is done magically (no explanation). And only in the last 10 seconds is it revealed that Temudjin is Ghengis Khan, by putting line of text on the screen saying so... So, we all still have to look forward to the epic telling of Ghengis Khan - because this ain't it.

In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word and Deed

I agree with the other high-rating reviewers here. Let me just add that I especially liked the end portion entitled CODA, in which the towers going down were shown as a reminder that there is still evil to be stood up to. This is a great tribute to Ronald Reagan and what he did for the United States and the world.

Junebug

Knowing that this was Amy Adams' "breakout" role, and having heard good things about it (Ebert), I rented this expecting a humorous look at quirky Southern culture. NOOOO. This movie basically takes Southern culture into the muck and drags it around in it for a while. I was extremely disappointed. Don't rent this movie unless you're a big-city snob prejudiced against the South. This is yet another liberal xenophobic attack on folks outside their cosmopolitan confines.

The 400 Blows

Beware the label "classic." Both Godard and Truffaut are over-rated. This is the story of the creation of a juvenile delinquent in 1950's Paris, nothing more. Pity him, he had a cold mother, and a teacher who disciplined him for acting out and cutting class. Why are mediocre foreign films always so highly praised by pseudo-intellectual film buffs? If you want to see a good foreign film from the same era, I would recommend the Italian film "Il Posto." It's a more enjoyable journey to a similarly depressing conclusion.

Religulous

There is a message here: "How could anyone possibly believe this ****?" And boy is it easy for the acid-tongued Bill to point out the inconsitencies and absurdities of religions - it's just that it hasn't been done for a while due to some political correctness. He also has a much more serious message at the end: "If we (non-dogmatics) let you go on, you'll kill us all!" at which point we see the Muslim suicide bombings and the place in Israel called Meggido (of "Armageddon" fame). This is good stuff and well worthwhile for the non-religious among us.

Mail Order Wife

This is a FICTIONAL movie of a director making a 'documentary' in which the hot Asian mail order bride is ordered by a character whose written to be as obnoxious as possible. And then, ta-da, the hot mail order wife falls for the guy making the "documentary." A much better movie on mail order wives is Nicole Kidman's "Birthday Girl".

The Bicycle Thief

In my opinion, just because some movie was "groundbreaking" at the time of its release, IS NOT a reason to recommend it to the general movie-watcher. There are many old movies in that category, and this is one of them - films important for film students, but not the rest of us. I found nothing special here, a small tale of a guy who desperately needs his bike for his job but it gets stolen and he and his small son look for it. Sure, it's nice to see the little kid helping out his dad in his search, but that doesn't make this a fantastic picture. If you feel the need to see an Italian picture for the sake of seeing a foreign film, I would recommend "Il Posto," which has a couple of attractive leads, and gives you a better taste of Italian city life (albeit a couple of decades later).

Rocky Balboa

"Rocky" was the first time I ever sat in an audience at a movie theatre where everybody, myself included, spontaneously cheered at the end. That was 1976. I just happened to see the last half or so of "Rocky" on Bravo the night before watching this "Rocky Balboa" movie. It's too bad "Rocky II" was already taken, because this movie is the real Rocky II. In combination, "Rocky" and "Rocky Balboa" are great films that will last and last. They are the exact opposite of "artsy," they are simply good stories that make you feel good to have seen them, and that they were ever made in the first place. A lot of this movie's power came from the fact that it's a sequel made 30 years later, by knowing about Mr. Stallone's story. There are reminiscences in the movie by Rocky for Adrian, and I couldn't help seeing Rocky's show of love for Adrian in this movie as Sylvester Stallone's show of love for the 1976 movie itself, a movie that he wrote and that transformed his life. If you didn't see the original, and didn't see it in a movie theatre 30 years ago, I'm guessing you might rate this particular movie a 3, and I wouldn't blame you. But as part of the Rocky story, with all that time under the bridge, this movie is something special. It's an honest, heartfelt, homage to that great original movie.

Stranger than Paradise

A paint-dryingly slow and amateurish movie of a "hip" guy (you can tell he's hip because he wears clothes out of the 50's and talks like Mickey Spillane) lives in a crappy apartment in an odd ghost town section of New York (no people, no activity, no homeless, no cars), and sits around. Wow. How incredible. And in grainy black and white, but that was ok for me. The plot (his cousin comes to visit, she's cute, he doesn't like her, his friend likes her, then he begins to like her, she leaves to go live with an aunt in Cleveland, a year later they take a road trip to visit her, they drive down to Miami with her and do nothing, and she abandons them, the end) is slow and plodding. Hipper-than-thou and self-proclaimed but-not-actual "art".

The Big Blue

I liked it, partly because I'm a big fan of Luc Besson (The 5th Element, La Femme Nikita), but this movie is very long, almost 3 hrs. Rosanne Arquette never looked better, and Jean Reno is great...That said, I read another reviewer who said there is a shorter, non "Director's Cut" version. I'm guessing I would have liked that a lot more. (After see the Director's Cut of Blade Runner, I know how that can paradoxically ruin a movie.)

The Wages of Fear

Finding a movie like this is the reason I joined N. in the first place. I try to only give about 10% of the movies I see 5 stars, and this was the first. I rented it because I liked the Roy Scheider version called "Sorcerer", and I read the book (by a French author, and which I highly recommend). The tension is superbly crafted, and unlike some other reviewers, I liked the ending here (enough said - I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone else).

Reign Over Me

This is Don Cheadle's movie, for the most part. And he is good, as always. Actually, it was Liv Tyler who had a small role as a very soft-spoken psychiatrist who came across for me as my favorite character to watch. Adam Sandler was good too in this non-comedic role, but I thought he was better (non-comedically) in Punch Drunk Love. All in all it was a fairly good movie.

Science in Action: Color and Light

This is a very short film: 18 minutes. It is also amateurish, but does adequately explain the difference between colored light and colored pigments, and neon lights. I would have sworn it was made in 1970, but the credits say 2000. The problem is, it's the only game in town as far as I am aware. Perhaps there's something better on You Tube?

On the Beach

Great performances by Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, and Anthony Perkins. But this is one depressing movie. SPOILER ALERT It's a post-nuclear war world of 1950 and everybody's gonna die. They were able to film a silent San Francisco (no cars moving, no people anywhere, no one on the Golden Gate bridge), which was impressive. There is no happy ending, and barely even happy midpoints for that matter.

The Good Shepherd

A liberal fantasy. Bobby would have you believe the CIA is a creation of cold-hearted people (well, not people really, just some kind of humanish things that inhabit the planet with him and all the really real people), and they get what they deserve for being meanies. Damon is the head of the CIA, and because he treated his son coldly, Karma gets him when his son betrays a secret thus creating the Bay of Pigs disaster in 1961. Yes, the blame for the disaster therefore transfers neatly from the liberal god-king JFK and incompetent Democrats, to cold-hearted Republicans. Thank God we have Bob DeNiro to set us all straight...P.S. The pattern of Democratic incompetence is really striking: Kennedy gave us the Bay of Pigs (Castro's greatest triumph, Cuba's democratic hopes dashed), AND the subsequent Cuban missile crisis ("here come the Russian nukes - everybody duck and cover"); LBJ gave us the Gulf of Tonkin and the ensuing Vietnam War (Nixon eventually ended it), Truman - the Cold War (both Winston Churchill and General Patton wanted to keep fighting all the way to Moscow in 1945, which would have ended Stalin's reign; Reagan finally won the war), Carter - the tragedy with the helicopters falling to the ground in the Iranian desert trying to get back the hostages (another Reagan fix), and Clinton - the Black Hawk Down fiasco AND the insanely cowardly lobbing of cruise missiles at bin Laden bases in Sudan and Pakistan (what do you think that did to the American image overseas??), a mess we're still trying to clean up.

Michael Collins

It's a bit long (there's a side A and a side B on the DVD), but definitely a well-done movie. The acting is good all around (except maybe Julia Roberts), the plot is good, the photography and editing are top-notch. Not an indie-picture this. ... And best of all I learned something: the Irish first fought the British, and then fought each other - a true civil war I never knew of. And Michael Collins was like a Ghandi for Ireland, without the non-violence. But like Ghandi (and preceding Ghandi), he believed the best way to fight the British was simply to not cooperate in the very idea that the British were the rulers and the Irish (or the Indians) the ruled. He created the first insurgency the world had ever seen...P.S. There is a well worthwhile 50-minute documetary on side B.

Pieces of April

A pretty white girl lives with her black boyfriend in a crime-ridden area of NYC. She invites her estranged family to come to Thanksgiving. She pointlessly washes the turkey in a dirty sink and then drops it on the floor. How wonderfully charming and intelligent and quirky she is! - certainly she will show us all The Way. She borrows the kitchens of all her neighbors, and surprise, surprise, only the non-white neighbors are decent people. The whites are variously mean, stupid, and lecherous. Hooray for mulitculturalism! Boo white people! Thank you for teaching us whites what devils we are. What would we do without you?

The Battleship Potemkin

Soviet propaganda. Here is the plot: "The sailors have been mistreated, so let's overthrow the czar!" If content is king, then this is garbage. (Stalin killed over 12 million of his own people - doubling the oft-cited number of murders of The Holocaust.) While I find it idiotic to glorify this film, I wouldn't say don't see it. It is historic, after all. On the contrary, it should be seen and by as many people as possible. But those with brains will see this as the devilish propaganda of the new Soviet overlords of the Russians condemning the old czarist overlords of the Russians. Also, this is not compelling film making. It's amateurish to modern eyes, and tediously long at 74 minutes. It is a propagandist milestone of the nightmarish Soviet Union.

Embrace of the Vampire

OK, the movie is mostly worthless, a tepid horror movie, but... Alyssa Milano gets seduced by another woman; it is without a doubt her lifetime-best scene: Chapter 11 of this movie if you want to fast forward.

Thief

Having read several member reviews after having just watched it, I am clearly in the minority. This is a bad version of Michael Mann's terrific "Heat". But certainly you can see many of the elements of Heat here, just done badly. I thought maybe it was Caan's acting, but I think the real blame has to go to the script. It's just amateurish compared to Mann's later work. In fact, it makes me wonder how he was able to get this writing/directing gig. I loved his under-appreciated "Manhunter", the original prequel to "Silence of the Lambs" starring William Petersen, and Petersen shows up in this movie for a small scene. Michael Mann has made a lot of great movies, this just isn't one of them.

The Dark Knight

NOT as good as the excellent original "Batman Begins". There I said it. Why? First off, Maggie Gyllenhaal is one ugly girl to be the object of his affection. The guy's a billionaire dating supermodels and he wants her?? She's not a bad actress, but come on! I wasn't a big fan of Katie Holmes either (acting-wise, not looks-wise), but I'm sure they could have gotten a better replacement. (Jessica Alba? Amy Smart? etc.) In fact, a lot of the NEW supporting actors in this one are down in the B/C leagues for a big movie like this. Also, I thought the movie was over with the introduction of Two-Face, but that was just a midpoint... That said, the overall look and feel and FX are as good as the original, Christian Bale is great, and Heath Ledger is excellent as the Joker, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get an Oscar for this. I can easily recall a scene of him hanging his head out of the window of a cop car he's stolen, tearing down the city streets at night. The guy created a new branch of creepiness. The villain Two-Face was cartoonish in comparison. (It was the lack of cartoonishness that made this latest series of the Batman story so compelling in the first place.) So, a couple of flaws, but otherwise great.

The Bank Job

Great. Based on a true story involving Princess Margaret having a threesome in the Carribean and getting photographed by some shady character as part of a blackmail scheme. The photos are in a bank vault in London and need to be stolen. The acting is good all around, and the heist plot is the best I've seen since "Heat".

Me & Isaac Newton

I am a scientist/engineer, and like science documentaries, but this was a real disappointment. A badly organized mess. I can't really call it disorganized, because I think what it suffers from is over-organization. 7 scientists, who each get about 5 3-minute stretches (7x5x3=105 min) all mixed up, so you never get to enjoy any one of their stories (unless you can fast forward to just the bits of the chapters that the ones you like are in). I had to end my suffering after about 80% of the way through it...P.S. Amazingly enough, this has NO CONNECTION to ISAAC NEWTON!

Jean de Florette / Manon of the Spring

A simple story that is way too long (3 hrs). Manon's pretty to look at, but hardly says a word and is only in Part 2. It's the story of a spring that is concealed to lower the value of her father (a hunchbacked Gerard Depardieu)'s land, which leads to regret for the perpetrators.

Yes: Gates of Q.P.R.: Vol. 2

I don't know how it's possible, but there apparently is no corresponding Vol. 1. .... Best song on this Vol. 2 is the last, track 6. Steve Howe's solo on Yours Is No Disgrace is great.

The Jane Austen Book Club

I've really gotten into a lot of the recent Jane Austen movies that can be rented here, and the wave of Austen miniseries on PBS recently, and have usually enjoyed all these stories which are new to me. But this film is no one where in that league. Don't get it. There is a good bio in the Special Features, but that's about it. It's not like what "Shakespeare in Love" is to Shakespeare, more like what "Shakespeare for Dummies" would be to him.

Lars and the Real Girl

Antisocial Lars buys a sex doll for companionship. The people of his small town enable his delusion on the advice of the wise doctor (Patricia Clarkson). A really good unique plot, and I was going to give it 4 (better than average), but it just went on a bit too long, so 3.

Dust to Glory

Subject matter: great. Photography: great. Story/plot/focus: terrible. It's kind of like watching a movie that's just a collection of trailers for a movie. I want to see that other movie ("On Any Sunday"?)

The Lord of the Rings

ONLY 2/3 of the story is here. Be warned: it abruptly ends before Frodo enters Mordor proper. I still appreciated it, however, as another view on a story that I loved reading as a kid. It was the first lengthy book that I ever read. Comparing it to the recent Peter Jackson version, Frodo and Sam are more "believable." I know that is an absurd term for a fantasy, but they do seem much more believable as a British medieval master/servant pair. And animation being such a different medium from live action, this is well worth the rental for those of us who know the story well. There is a Rankin/Bass "Return of the King" that is mangled but serves as the conclusion to this animation of the story. P.S. I highly recommend the documentary "Inside Tolkien's The Hobbit" for a look at Tolkien and all the books.

Inside Tolkien's The Hobbit

First off, beware. This is a documentary and would not be enjoyed by little kids just getting into Tolkien, and should have been called "Inside Tolkien" or "Inside Middle Earth," because it in no way focuses on "The Hobbit." That said, this is the best film by far to celebrate this world of Tolkien (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth). I've rented the animated and rotoscoped versions of various bits of Tolkien's main work, but none really added to my enjoyment as much as this documentary. Original illustrations by Tolkien and the Hildebrandt brothers is here, and of course backstory on the man himself. Great.

Grand Prix

Acting's fairly bad, but the race scenes are great - just not nearly enough of 'em. To get enough (and a true feast at that), rent the much more engaging "Le Mans" with Steve McQueen and listen to those McLauren's purr!

The Big Lebowski

After watching this movie, I found out I am not a 100% Coen brothers' fan after all. I loved Raising Arizona and Fargo, and therefore thought that I should like everything else of theirs, but I surprisingly tried and didn't like: Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, and now this one. It meanders a lot, with no great payoff, and no great jokes. It's nice to see a stoner in an action/comedy, but Fast Times At Ridgemont High does that better.

Hamlet: Special Edition

This is a 4-5 hour Hamlet - all of Shakespeare's words put on display, so, it's very long. (I recall when it came out it was considered a feat just to see it.) Also, there are a good number of very distracting performances by non-Shakespearean actors like: Jack Lemmon, Robin Williams, and Billy Crystal, who shouldn't be anywhere near a Shakespeare play. I'm guessing the studio forced them on Kenneth Branagh. I did like Charlton Heston in it, though, as the actor. I think if you want to see Hamlet on film you're better off seeing the Mel Gibson/Glenn Close version, which I found to be much more passionate and riveting. I think Branagh did a much better job of Shakespeare when he made his excellent "Henry V" with his wife Emma Thompson.

Titus

This is a fantastic movie, one of my all-time favorites. You'll notice a high number of 5-stars and a high number of 1-stars. That's because there's a filter: preposterous characters and scenes. For example, it mixes Facist Italy and Roman Empire artifacts throughout. Not like in flashbacks, but within the same scene and the same characters; Roman soldiers carry swords, shields, and shotguns, and drive in cars. If you're the type who can handle this type of oddity in a movie, then you'll get to see tremendous performances by Jessica Lange (her best ever, I think), Harry Lennix (her evil Moor lover), and Anthony Hopkins. This is heavy, dark, gory material, with the music, lavishly strewn throughout, to match. It's nearly 3 hours, and like all great long movies, you leave it feeling you've been to another world and need to re-acclimate to this one... P.S. This is Shakespeare's first play, and one that apparently many Shakespeare scholars do not like, and either wish he had not wrote it, or believe this is not one of his, all because of the violence.

The Big Sleep

The plot is hard to follow, with a host of characters and motives and murders. Based on a Raymond Chandler crime novel. Terrible plot (Bogart himself complained to Chandler about who killed who), with lots of extraneous scenes of girls hitting on Bogart. (I thought maybe the studio was throwing them in there as a screen test to find their next starlet, which Bacall was just becoming). If you want to see Bogart and Bacall at their best, get 'To Have And Have Not' instead. This movie is not in the same league as: T.H.A.H.N, Casablanca, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, or The Maltese Falcon. I found out later that there is a 1945 version that supposedly makes more sense. Apparently the studios were upset that actress Martha Vickers was so appealing in this movie (the nymph little sister) that they re-cut the movie to reduce her screen-time. Also, the hot wife in hiding was too hot and so she was replaced too. There were other plot-affecting changes as well; see the 1945 version if you can.

The Point

I also saw this as a child. I would have been 10. I kept it in my heart all this time, warmly remembering the "me and my arrow" song, and fuzzily remembering the plot, figuring I would never come across it again though, that it was lost forever like so many loved TV shows back then. But I unexpectedly came across going thru someone's review list, and on re-watching it, it was only the song that I liked. The point of it was terrible: if you're different from everyone else, get punished for it and then become like them and all will be well.

3:10 to Yuma

Easily one of the stupidest movies I've ever seen, which is unfortunate since Christian Bale and Russell Crowe are 2 of the best actors going today. The bad guy gets caught, gets away, gets caught, gets away, then helps the good guy fight his own posse (the other bad guys), and then puts himself on the train to prison. Apparently they left out scenes from the original that were showing him going through a conscientous awakening to his evil nature. But if that was the case, he should have just shot himself in the head. There's also the stagecoach security guard, Peter Fonda, who gets shotgunned in the gut, bleeding all over the place and near death, but is fit as fiddle the next day to help deliver the bad guy to the train. The original with Glenn Ford is far better, since it makes the plot sensible.

Buffalo '66

Absolutely awful. The plot is nonsensical; the characters are beyond stupid. Watch it at your mental peril! (Rated "Epsilon": IQs under 80 Only!)

Blade Runner: Theatrical and Director's Cut

The original theatrical cut is by far the best (5 stars). If you're old enough to have seen and loved the original in the theater, beware of the mysteriously inferior "director's cut" (2.5 stars). What I eventually figured out is that the missing Harrison Ford voicover, cutting Edward James Olmos' screentime, and the changed ending turned it from one of the greats to run-of-the-mill. I never would have considered that such small changes could be so devastating, but this is the example as far as I'm concerned of what an impact a new "cut" can have. I don't care what the director's thoughts are, producers (and viewers!) have rights to this movie too. (Remember Coca-Cola's disastrous "New Coke.")

Igby Goes Down

Pretentious. Vapid. A dimwit's attempt to be witty, and a bad plagiarism of Catcher in the Rye. The writer/director is obviously a dunce with delusions of intelligence. Just try and listen to the director "commentary" track - I dare you. The actors were wasted on this vanity project; I hope they got paid well.

Eagle vs. Shark

True, this guy is one of the funniest guys to come along in a long time, but this movie just made him out to be obnoxious and trailer-trash stupid, and loved by this idiot woman (badly acted to boot) who works at a fast food restaurant. Very disappointing, especially given that promising cover picture of him in his eagle outfit and her in her shark outfit. It was that photo, and his other works, that made me rent this. A bland portrait of 2 stupid, unlovable, people.

A History of Britain

First off, I have only seen and this only refers to Disc 1: This is an excellent review of Britain's history, from the pre-Roman Skara Brae, through Roman, Saxon, Viking, and Norman times. Narrated by Simon Schama, who did that great series on PBS recently on singular paintings.

Donnie Darko: Director's Cut

Just watched it. Recommended to me by a youngster (I'm over 40). Reminded me of "Jacob's Ladder" with Tim Robbins, which is a much better movie along the same lines.

For Your Consideration

NOT the best in this series of films from Christopher Guest, but I love him and his people (Parker Posey, Harry Shearer, Fred Willard, et al.) and its good to watch them again. (I think Id be entertained by watching Parker Posey read a phone book.) Advice: Whatever you do, if you rent this, watch the bonus material, especially the extended scenes of the two movie reviewers, and of Nina and Monk - the conversation between this British woman and her monkey was the best thing in the movie.