cloud_nine Reviews

Norman (2016)

Relief from CGI-Filled Movies

[8/10 · 8 May 2017]

Norman Oppenheimer is a nobody who desperately wants to be a business consultant for the big players in New York City. He stalks anyone he thinks he can latch onto, anyone who will give him a little prestige and maybe, some income. He brazenly crashes a private dinner party in someone's home. We feel Norman's embarrassment when he is escorted out.

It's important to know that while Norman tells some white lies to bolster his influence, he is basically an honest man. He is not running a Ponzi scheme, selling junk or debt bonds like those crooks who sent the world into a recession in 2008.

If Norman was simply trying to survive, he would get an ordinary job. We get the feeling that sometime in his life, he acquired a taste for elegance and the finer things but never quite achieved his dream. There's a lot we don't know about Norman. He claims to be a widower and have a daughter but there's no evidence he was ever married or had children.

Early in the movie Norman befriends a visiting Israeli official who later become prime minister. When the minister becomes the subject of a politically motivated bribery investigation, Norman wants to help his friend but ends up a person of interest who is expected to testify against him. Norman also promises to raise $14 million dollars to keep his synagogue from being demolished. Clearly in over his head, Norman eventually succeeds but is sacrificed "for the greater good."

Richard Gere does a great job in making us sympathize with Norman in this comedy-drama. At times the character reminded me of Woody Allen in his speech and mannerisms. Ultimately, the story reminds us of how the best laid plans and good intentions don't bring us the rewards we expect.

Flight That Disappeared (1961)

Pretty Good Morality Play

[7/10 · 21 January 2017]

TV regularly questioned the ethics of building bigger and more deadly weapons during the 50s and 60s. The Twlight Zone seemed to tackle this subject best. This movie could have benefited greatly from a rewrite from Rod Serling.

Though released in 1961, the film has more of a mid-50s feel to it. The acting is B level but adequate. The message has a "preacher" feel to it but makes it's point. At first the movie looked like the entire story was a dream of one passenger but events following the plane landing proved that it actually happened.

Growing up in the 50s and 60s, we all lived with possibility of nuclear destruction. The US and USSR were in a contest to build and test larger and larger bombs. The year after the release of this film, the Cuban Missle Crisis brought us unbelievably close to nuclear war. Some forward writers tried to warn us of the dangers. The Flight That Disappeared isn't the best of this genre but it's far from the worst.

Strike Up the Band (1940)

Fun But Terribly Dated

[6/10 · 8 April 2016]

The public wanted Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland so that's what MGM gave them. All of their movies together were variations of "let's put on a show." At least this one has Gershwin's music which I love.

The downside is Rooney has to be the center of attention. Yes, he was the star but you'd think he was the only boy in town.......leader of the he band, lead in the school play, boyfriend of the most popular girl. And meets Paul Whiteman at a dance. Was this once most popular band in the country reduced to playing one night stands at teenage dances?

You know he'll get the money for his band to compete in the national contest (during the depression) because they've got to win....they just GOTTA! So little Willie can have his operation and.......

Once Mickey's band wins the national contest (was there ever any doubt?) he gets to conduct all of the bands in an unrehearsed grand finale. In addition to conducting, Mickey solos on the drums, sings and dances with Judy and ends up dressed in a naval officer's uniform.

Did pre-war audiences really buy this?

Artists and Models (1955)

Great Movie From a Time When Hollywood was Great

[10/10 · 17 March 2016]

I saw this movie for the first time just this week on Turner Classic Movies. Hard to believe that at age 65 there was a Martin & Lewis movie I hadn't seen. In widescreen and glorious Technicolor, this movie comes from a time when clean entertainment and spectacle mattered to Hollywood and the American public.

Martin and Lewis are in top form with a wonderful supporting cast. Eighteen year old Shirley MacLaine is a funny, sexy standout. Dino gets time away from Jerry to sing and dance on a classic American 1950s city street......kind of like Gene Kelly.

Why can't we get stand alone DVD and Blu-Ray of this film?

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

Keeps You Guessing Until the End

[8/10 · 11 March 2016]

This is a very well made (and inexpensive) movie for this genre. As you know by now, a young woman wakes up in a bomb shelter and seems to be kept prisoner by John Goodman along with a young man there of his own free will. Is Goodman's character crazy or not? Well, yes. And no. We hear he has a theory on mutant worms from outer space.

Things happen to both prove and disprove whatever you expect. This takes up about and hour and twenty minutes of the movie. Once Michelle, the woman, escapes, the plot takes a turn I never expected but enjoyed seeing. This is where the Cloverfield reference comes in.

During this final chapter there is a short sequence shot with a shaky hand held camera. Luckily it lasts only a few seconds.

As I moved into the lobby, couples were discussing the movie, what this and that meant. The ending was pretty straightforward really, if a bit short.

If you like the trailer, you'll enjoy the movie. Great orchestral soundtrack. One final thing: once the credits start, the movie is over. There is no final five second scene following the credits.

The Wave (2015)

Better Than "San Andreas"

[4 March 2016]

This is a Norwegian movie with English subtitles.

"The Wave" is better because it is on a more believable scale. Yes, there are clichés: one scientist no one will believe, birds flying from danger, the hero rescuing his family against incredible odds. People whose job is to monitor the geological causes of the wave can only watch their computer screens in helpless silence.

Still, it was well acted and the special effects were good, especially considering the low budget. The aftermath was typical post apocalyptic with stunned survivors unable to believe what happened. Our hero's family is reunited and closing credits remind us of how close this is to actually happening.

It DID happen to a part of Norway in 1906.

San Andreas (2015)

Good Popcorn Movie

[6/10 · 30 May 2015]

Bottom line, this is a good action movie that happens to take place within the framework of a huge earthquake. Turn off your brain for a couple of hours and enjoy.

Plot: the Rock and his estranged wife struggle to rescue their daughter in San Francisco following The Big One. As in all action movies there are certain rules that don't apply in real life.

After the quake hits in San Francisco, the daughter is trapped in a car located in a garage two floors below street level. Her cell phone works! She is able to call daddy in his rescue helicopter over Los Angeles which has also been hit. (It is at this point where the audience began to laugh and make funny comments.) Daddy has just rescued his wife and though they are in a rescue helicopter and people in LA need saving, they take off for SF. We do get to see the obligatory destruction of the "Hollywood" sign.

Daughter is rescued by a young man she has just met. There is debris in the garage but no dust in the air. And though they are in a ruined garage beneath a ruined building, there is enough light to see what they are doing.

Daughter's new boy friend has a shard of glass embedded in his thigh. When Daughter pulls it out, I expected a geyser of blood but no. Nothing. She wraps a cloth bandage around it and off they go. Later, they kiss.

Fast forward. The Rock and wife are in a rubber pontoon boat in the bay when the tsunami hits. They are able to ride the boat up the crest of the wave and over to the other side just in time for the same wave to take out the Golden Gate Bridge. They easily maneuver the boat through the debris filled sea water which has covered the city. Funny how the boat is not shredded by the debris and nor is the propeller broken off.

Soon the Rock is swimming through tsunami water inside a building to find his daughter. There is plenty of light and they both hold their breath for a Very Long Time.

Once they are all safe and rescue operations are under way, someone asks "what do we do now?", the Rock says "now, we rebuild." This is how the 1936 movie "San Francisco" ended. "San Andreas" borrows parts of "Earthquake" (1974), "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004).....well, you get the idea.

The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death (2014)

The Movie You've Already Seen

[6/10 · 5 January 2015]

It's the WWII blitz. Two women are sent to the countryside with a small group of children to remove them from the dangers of German bombs. I can't imagine the British government allowing children to inhabit a rundown house that has been deserted for 40 years. Besides being filthy, the house looks as if it's about to collapse.

When you have a sequel that takes place 40 years after the original, there is some repetition . We have the setup, mysterious and frightening scenes (that turn out to be dreams), denial, discovery of what came before and acceptance. Of course there are the obligatory "shock" shots when one character flashes into view to cause a jump from the audience.

Once trouble starts, there is a young, handsome Royal Air Force officer whose only purpose is to show up Just In Time. This happens throughout the movie. The Woman in Black is defeated of course and it seems our heroes are safe. But there is a final shot that suggests we can expect Woman in Black 3 in a few years.

M-G-M Jubilee Overture (1954)

When Hollywood Still Had Class

[9/10 · 21 December 2014]

A full orchestra in formal attire plays a medley of songs made famous in MGM films through 1954. Oddly, there is no music from "Gone With the Wind." As shown on Turner Classic Movies, the music was in stereo and the picture in Cinerama but unrestored. Hopefully it will run again so I can record it. To my knowledge, this short has not been released on DVD or Blu-Ray as an extra with an MGM movie.

It remained me of the prologue to 20th Century Fox's "How to Marry a Millionaire" in which Alfred Newman led an orchestra playing "Street Scene." This came out the year before the MGM film and was also in stereo and Cinerama.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

A Difficult Movie to Figure Out

[7/10 · 15 November 2014]

On the positive side, the acting is superb. Michael Keaton was never better and Ed Norton also gave a brilliant performance. Oddly, Norton's role ended about 20 minutes before the end of the movie. The difficult part for me was determining what was real and what was in Keaton's demented brain.

At least twice before the movie ended, I thought that it was ending: first when Keaton jumped off the building and secondly when he shot himself on stage. But he just kept on going like the Energizer bunny. The ending was ambiguous. He jumped out of the hospital window. He had just shot himself in front of 800 people. Why was he left alone? His daughter comes in and looks down from the window. Not seeing him, she looks up and smiles. Fade to black. So Keaton is really Birdman? I doubt it. Maybe they were stuck for an ending.

Interstellar (2014)

Good But Confusing

[7/10 · 6 November 2014]

Overall I enjoyed "Interstellar" but left the theater with major plot holes running through my head. Matthew McConaughey mumbled a bit so I lost a lot of his dialog. The soundtrack made great use of pipe organ music which reminded me of "Thus Spake Zarathustra" from "2001: A Space Odyssey." This may have been deliberate. Another feature from "2001" was the confusing, metaphysical ending.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Cooper passes out in some sort of 5th dimension and wakes up in a hospital bed. His daughter, who is now elderly and near death, is responsible for saving humanity. The human race lives in a space wheel (like in "Elysium") orbiting Saturn. Why not orbiting Earth? And HOW was Cooper's daughter responsible for this? Did these trips through the wormhole really accomplish anything?

Maybe other people in the audience caught something I missed or couldn't wrap my brain around. A group of people were discussing the movie in the lobby when I left.

In closing, "Interstellar" is worth your time and money. There really weren't any times when the movie lagged. It starts out at a moderate pace and doesn't let up. Be prepared to pay attention and think.

Field of Lost Shoes (2015)

A Good If Unspectacular Movie About an Obscure Civil War Battle

[7/10 · 29 September 2014]

I enjoyed this movie about the involvement of cadets from the Virginia Military Institute in the Battle of New Market which delayed U. S. Grant's invasion into the Shenandoah Valley. Most of the movie takes place at the academy in 1863-4 showing the cadet's dedication to duty, honor and concern about the war.

The movie takes a decidedly ant-slavery stand though this is mostly in the background. This first scene in 1858 shows the governor of Virginia, who opposed secession, taking his 12 year old son to a slave auction to see the misery and pain inherit in the practice of slavery. Five years later the son is one of the cadets called to serve in the reserves of CSA General Breckenridge's army for the battle.

The cadets experience romance, fear, death, loss of comrades, fear but finally victory. The title comes from one of the last scenes when Confederate soldiers recover boots and shoes from the battlefield. Their sacrifice is still honored each year at VMI. This movie will only appeal to a small audience of course. It received no advance publicity of any kind. I was the only person in this theater at the multiplex. It probably won't last long wherever it plays.

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

Good Date Movie

[7/10 · 3 August 2014]

Critics have written pretty savage reviews of this film but my date and I liked it quite a bit. The country gardens were pastoral, the background music toe tapping and the acting very good. Allen's casting is always excellent even for small parts. Even "only fair" Woody Allen is far better than this summer's CGI releases. The audience applauded at the end.

The dialog was typical Allen. The lead male and female characters took Allen's own opposing views on God and spirituality. He wants to believe but in the end rationalism wins out. So does love.

My only criticism is the "screen door" effect of digital filming. The movie looks as if we were viewing it through a screen. The country scenes would have been much sharper and colorful on film.

A minor point: The music piece "Bolero", played early in the film, wasn't composed and premiered until late 1929, a short time after this story takes place.

The Quiet Ones (2014)

So Boring

[4/10 · 26 April 2014]

The beginning sets up the premise in an Oxford classroom in 1974. I didn't trust the professor from the start. Why would a world-class university allow anyone to keep a mentally disturbed girl locked up in a room to perform experiments on her? After the directors cut his funding, the professor takes his patient, two students and a young cameraman to a decaying manor house with no phones or contact with the outside world.....the English equivalent of a cabin in the woods.

Once there, the movie goes into low gear with nothing exciting happening for about 40 minutes. Of course, there are a lot of arguments and accusations. They basically torture the patient while filming it. Why that beautiful young student was attracted to the professor I'll never understand. There really aren't any thrills until the very end and it's over before you know it. The lone survivor is accused of murdering everyone else.

The film makers are able to set up a mood but fail to exploit it. For most of the movie I had no idea what was happening. When it was over I wondered what I had just seen. Save your money and watch "The Haunting" from 1963.

The story was "Based on actual events" like so many movies are these days. Here's the true story: http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/75544/quiet-ones-witness- films-true-events#axzz303jcfAA7

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

The Plot Simply Doesn't Gel

[7/10 · 14 March 2014]

Interesting sets, beautifully locations, wooden characters. Too much of the story takes places in trains, a prison and the countryside. I really wish more of the plot had taken place in the hotel. Following a confusing beginning (there is a double flashback), the story took off without any real direction or reason. When the movie ended, many people in the audience applauded. My feeling was "that's it?" All the ingredients were there but the cake didn't rise.

Still, I'm not sorry I saw the movie. It was different and that's always refreshing in a time of cookie-cutter plots.

At one point I noticed that the movie was no longer being shown in widescreen but more of a television aspect ratio. Once the movie returned to 1985 or the present, it was widescreen. Weird.

Dark Skies (2013)

Would Make a Good Movie on the Sci-Fi Channel

[22 February 2013]

"Dark Skies" is a well acted and photographed movie that builds suspense early and and steadily until the end. The problem is that the payoff just isn't that exciting or frightening. After seeing the trailers I wasn't sure if the family was troubled by aliens or the supernatural. It turned out to be aliens and I was curious as to why ghosts or demons were never suspected.

Even before the unexpected began, this was a family in crisis. The father had been out of work for some time. They were more than three months behind on house payments. The mother sold real estate with little apparent success. The 13 year old son was consumed with girls and the much younger son is being visited by the "sandman".

This movie has elements of "Poltergeist", "Signs" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." One night the mother finds the kitchen floor covered with food from the icebox. The next night cans of food, utensils and crockery are stacked on a kitchen table in ways that form shadows of crop circle patterns on the ceiling. Neighbors discover burn marks on the boys that form crop circle patterns. The parents track down an elderly man who conveniently Explains Everything, tells them they are not alone in this but offers no practical help. The mother adopts an aggressive German shepherd which barks when the aliens come but then disappears when he's really needed.

Remember in "Close Encounters" when the aliens come to the farm house and take the boy? That's the payoff in this movie but it's not nearly as exciting or frightening. The neighbors never seem to hear the noise or see the lights that come with the alien arrival.

So there you are. A good but not great movie, better than most of this genre.

9 (I) (2009)

Visually Stunning. Weak Story

[6/10 · 9 September 2009]

"We had such potential, such promise" says the scientist. He's describing the human race but he may as well be talking about this movie. The premise is good enough but it quickly turns into a Terminator film. There should have been more plot development without so many action scenes. The nine dolls are supposed to succeed in a world where humans have failed. But how can they? They possess the same qualities, good and bad, that humans had. And they're 1/6 the size in a destroyed city. Good luck saving the world.

The machines look like they were built with Erector sets and why do they have animal skulls?

Forget about taking the kids. It's far too violent.

Gomorrah (2008)

Far Better Than "Slumdog Millionaire"

[10/10 · 21 March 2009]

This movie should have won Best Foreign Film but wasn't even nominated. The characters in this movie were born into a mindset from which they can't break away. Why don't they just walk away from this lifestyle? Or move from this area? One young man has to courage to do this when he refuses to bury toxic waste for a living. Another man with a family quits making knock-off fashions to drive a truck. They're the exceptions. Most simply can't conceive of anything other than what they see every day. They die suddenly and clueless.

Another great movie in this genre is "City of God". In this suburb of Rio de Janeiro even the gang bosses die while teenagers.

Knowing (2009)

Better Than Average Science Fiction

[8/10 · 21 March 2009]

This posting is about the ending, so reader beware.

The movie makers designed the space ship and aliens after the Biblical visions of Ezekiel. He wrote of four beings shaped like men standing beside "wheels within wheels". There are strong allusions to the Bible and Ezekiel in the movie. Also following Noah's flood, God says that the next time the earth is destroyed, it will be by fire.

I can't help but compare the final scene of "Knowing" with the ending of "Battlestar Galactica". The survivors are left to start over on an Eden-like planet (though on Galactica it is an early earth). They retain none of their technology but are starting over from zero. Memories of their former life will be handed down and form the basis for new religions or mythology.

Five (1951)

Excellent End of World Story

[8/10 · 9 May 2008]

I had never heard of the film before tonight's showing on Turner Classic Movies. Slow moving, it took time to deal with peoples' feelings, good and bad. The characters walking through deserted cities and towns reminded me of several Twilight Zone episodes. It was also similar to the other "end of the world" movies TCM is showing tonight: "The World, the Flesh and the Devil" and "On the Beach". But "Five" predates these and all other movies covering this subject.

I was born the year this movie was made and the fears I grew up with in the atomic age have stayed with me, especially those from the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962.

The movie makers didn't need a big budget or special effects, something Hollywood should pay attention to 57 years later.

Good movie and the message is still valid.

Ring-A-Ding Rhythm! (1962)

Good Time Capsule of a Time Passed

[6/10 · 29 December 2006]

I never heard of this movie until seeing it tonight on Turner Classic Movies. Who would have thought that Trad meant Dixieland Jazz in Britain? This movie is full of excellent jazz performances but the American rock and roll artists seem out of place. Most of their careers, like Gene Vincent, were on the decline in the US. Chubby Checkers' was on the rise due to the twist craze.

This was the first time I've seen Helen Shapiro though I've heard of her in conjunction with the Beatles. Lovely girl, I never would have guessed that she was only 15 when this was filmed. Luckily I was able to find out more on her web site.

Too bad this movie isn't out on tape or DVD. If it's broadcast again, I'll record it.

The Descent (2005)

A Chic Flic Men Can Get Into

[7/10 · 8 August 2006]

I've just returned from seeing this movie and can honestly say that it held me in suspense from beginning to end. I now see that it was released in the UK last year and has an alternate ending that hopefully will be on the American DVD. Some minor criticism: SPOILERS (1) Why was it necessary to kill Sarah's husband and daughter in the beginning? The affair with Sarah's friend was what caused tension underground. (2) The creatures really weren't necessary. The tight spaces, darkness and being trapped in a cave without a way out were frightening enough, especially once the infighting and mistrust took root. (3) Those creatures could not have gone unnoticed even though they hunted at night in a very isolated area. They would have been part of the folklore of early settlers or Indians.

Still, I recommend this movie and will watch it again on DVD.

Match Point (2005)

Held My Interest Throughout

[10/10 · 21 January 2006]

This is easily Woody Allen's best film in years.....in spite of (and maybe because of) being his least typically "Woody Allen" picture. Perhaps filming in London gave him a different perspective. It reminded me of "Room at the Top", several Hitchcock films and Allen's own "Crimes and Misdemeanors". So many movie plots today are formula. You know the entire story after seeing the preview. "Match Point" kept me guessing until the end. There are so many ways the story could have gone or could have ended. The characters are all believable and intelligent…..some of them clueless but believable. Performances are excellent all around. I hope Woody is over his aversion to the Oscars. He may be receiving another one for this.

Sahara (2005)

Boring!

[4/10 · 9 April 2005]

Why is it that in any action flick the bad guys can't hit anyone with automatic rifles, tanks or rocket-firing helicopters? The cars and boats they pepper with machine gun fire keep right on going way longer than they should. The good guys must have force shields around them because they're never hit. But they hit everything they fire at........

Spoilers Below.

.....even with a 150 year-old cannon. OK, the toxic waste is a few days from reaching the ocean and causing global catastrophe. Apparently once the bad guys are dead the danger disappears. The river is clean, people are no long being poisoned and the toxins are cleaned up. And the doctor has a treatment for severe toxic waste poisoning. Yeah, right. Finding a Civil War ironclad in the desert was more of an anti-climax than the fulfillment of a lifelong quest. The scene of the ironclad escaping Union canon fire was well done but there was no explanation of the crew's mission rather than to escape with gold. Of all the places they might have sailed, why Africa and up the Niger River? In the book the crew had kidnapped Abraham Lincoln and our heroes found his remains in the ship. Not here. Characters walk or ride camels through the Sahara Desert for days with no food or water while cracking jokes. Have I made my point? Another interesting premise ruined by failure to suspend disbelief.

Behind the Front (1926)

Funny Funny Movie About WWI

[24 May 2004]

Wallace Beery joins the army and heads to France not knowing that his new best friend is the pickpocket who stole his watch. This silent movie is a great comedy about day to day life in the trenches of The Great War (before we knew to number them). The two friends spend time in the stockade, eat bad food and meet French girls. They also "volunteer" for a dangerous mission in no-man's-land, accidentally capturing an entire German company and violating the armistice. Laurel & Hardy repeated this gag in "Pack Up Your Troubles" a few years later. By 1926, Hollywood was making war dramas showing the courage and sacrifices the doughboys made. "Wings" and "Hell's Angels" would be made in the next three years. Maybe it was time to forget the horrors of the war and laugh at it for a while.