Change Your Image
Sonetto
Reviews
Mentor (2006)
Not nearly as bad as rated by other reviewers
I have seen this film twice. While it certainly was not a great picture, it was enjoyable, it was poignant, it was plausible, the young leads were charming, the older man intense. The soundtrack was the biggest minus for this movie, instrumentation harsh & tinny (if that is possible) electric guitar, boiler plate instrumentals would have been better, in my opinion. I've seen much worse. The second time around I paid attention to details I had missed the first time. If I were making the film myself, I would have changed a number of things, but since it has already been made, I have to say I'll even watch it again if it comes around on one of the movie channels I subscribe to.
Hear and Now (2007)
Comments on "Hear and Now"
I have just seen "Hear and Now" on HBO. I regret to say that my comments cannot be positive because anyone seeing this documentary would be profoundly discouraged about the possibility of a successful cochlear implant. It did not work for the couple in the film for a variety of reasons, none of which is discussed. It is much too easy for people to become discouraged because of this kind of movie. Here are a couple of experiences that have occurred that do not project the discouraging outlook of the people in the film.
(1) One and one-half years (2006) ago one of my first cousins who had been profoundly deaf for at least 25 years had a cochlear implant. Her four sons tell me they are overjoyed that they can now carry on a conversation with their mother.
(2) After my cousin's successful implant, I then told one of my best friends about the implant surgery. This friend had been unable to converse with others even with the most powerful hearing aids available. She and her husband had been misinformed by an audiologist about her eligibility for surgery. When she went to the hearing institute in the city we live in, physicians not only said she was eligible, but performed the procedure September 2007. This week-end my friend was at two parties given for one of my sons and she was able to engage in give and take conversation with all of the guests. She is now going to have an implant in the other ear.
If I had seen this film and was eligible for an implant, I would have been terribly discouraged.
The film did not present a balanced view.
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Error in previous review
It has been three years (18 December 2005) since drednm posted a review that characterized Wanda Landowska as an organist playing the harpsichord. In fact Landowska was first and foremost a harpsichordist without equal in the time in which she lived (1879 1959) and almost single-handedly revived the harpsichord as an instrument. While watching the movie just now I noticed the hunched over small figure and the rapidity and precision of her playing. I was pretty certain it was Landowska and a search of the web confirmed this. I also found the review by drednm and ascertained that apparently no one had corrected the statement that she was an organist playing the harpsichord. In fact I could find no reference to her as an organist, only as a pianist and harpsichordist. Without correction, someone might assume that the information given was accurate.
Amy's Orgasm (2001)
It was cute ...
There were enough take-offs on both male and female behavior in relationships that neither gender need feel neglected. Witty tongue-in-cheek dialog that becomes funnier with each viewing. Performances by Julie Davis as Amy and Nick Chinlund as Matthew are realistically or perhaps even stereotypically contrasting but in an enjoyable way. The story says something too about our pop psychology, now hopefully more past than present, way of looking at human behavior. Worth a good look for laughs. I thought it was hilarious! Perky, well-shot, well-cut ... for a little film with a very limited budget. Julie Davis certainly shows her versatility as writer, director and star.
Father Is a Bachelor (1950)
"Father is a Bachelor" should be issued on DVD
At the moment I'm watching "Father is a Bachelor" on TCM. I think it is a movie well worth issuing on DVD ... its audience potentially is great ... especially for those parents who would want their children to see an appealing film without gratuitous violence and sex as can be the case even in today's PG films. Who makes decisions about which films to reissue? I would like to find out. One person who previously commented mentioned the person who dubbed the singing. Both the singer and William Holden made it look very real, the singer by matching his vocal quality to Holden's speaking voice and Holden by perfectly matching his mouth and facial expressions to the music. A charming and sweet movie. Not the norm for this star, whose roles hardly ever involved children but were dramatic and sometimes violent. Then there are the children portrayed in the film ... not the pseudo-sophisticated worldly, overly made-up kids that today are often shown as far wiser than their parents. I can truly appreciate those qualities in a movie.
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Could I be wrong?
I don't think so. I wanted to like this movie because I had seen a very good stage production of the musical. I rented it, thinking I might buy it if I liked it. It was the worst movie I've ever seen. Out of all those who might have sung the Phantom, Gerard Butler was chosen. The man simply cannot sing. His voice is so agonizingly bad I sat in my chair wanting to sing many notes for him and I'm a soprano. It was publicized that he had had no voice training and I believe it. His female counterpart Emmy Rossum is on edge of being off-key and will certainly be there before many more years have passed. Now that I've said all that, obviously people all over the world disagree with my assessment. Sobeit. I found a copy of the DVD on sale for $2 at my video rental store ... even at that price, I was unable to turn loose of that many dollars.
The Truth About Love (2005)
Like a 1930s or 1940s romantic comedy
I enjoyed "The Truth About Love"because frankly it evokes memories of the improbable romantic comediesof the thirties and forties (with the addition of cell phones and phonesex to give it a contemporary touch). It's comparable to films like TheAwful Truth and Bringing up Baby, though not quite of theirquality. I liked the fact that the three main characters, the husband,the wife, and the best friend, were very distinctive -- that they didn't have the dreadful sameness of the looks of some of today's Hollywood leading men and women. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jimi Mistry and Dougray Scott deliver good performances in this screwball comedy. When I select a movie to watch, I don't always require a blockbuster film with a perfect script, just one that is pleasant and fun to watch. The Truth About Love was just right for middle of the night viewing.
Meet Joe Black (1998)
A better movie than I originally thought...
I didn't particularly care for this movie when I first watched it, but on viewing it a second time I had a different judgment. This is a movie that has its own pace, a little slow at times, and the viewer must adjust to it. Once you're attuned to it, the movie has a charm and a poignancy that makes it possible then to see that it's about the transcendency of love over death. When "Death" comes to earth in the form of Joe Black to find out what it's like to be mortal, he learns that love trumps "Death," though not in quite the way one would expect. It's a fantasy based loosely on "Death Takes a Holiday," a 1934 film directed by Mitchell Leisen. The luminous presence of Claire Forlani as Susan lends beauty and a moving piquancy to the scenes between her and Brad Pitt as Joe Black. When one sees Susan and Joe Black together, one wants the scene to last "forever." Anthony Hopkins is as usual excellent, though it seems by now that he could almost, to use a cliché, phone in his performance. Brad Pitt is studiedly thoughtful, and one can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he portrays Joe Black.
It's a long film that could have been a little shorter without sacrificing the mood or the plot. The music, by Thomas Newman, is a perfect complement to the movie, though once or twice I thought it a little loud and thus intrusive.
Forget what the professional critics have said. See this movie, but be prepared to let it sink in.
Too Close to Home (1997)
Movie was true to the story it was based on
The movie was certainly true to the real life story on which it was based. It was hard for me to find newspaper articles about the actual facts, but when I located them, I could see that truth, in this case, was stranger than fiction. Judith Light was frighteningly evil in her role as the mother in this movie, so much so that it was difficult to separate her from the role, the mark I think of an excellent performance. Rick Schroder was appropriately clueless as her son who also defended her in court, an example of how hard it can be in some circumstances for a child to accept the actions of a parent, no matter how criminal they may be. One can find fault with the movie, but not with its treatment of the reality on which it was based.