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bobn425
Reviews
A Patch of Blue (1965)
a total fantasy
have to agree with review by bgh48, this is one total fantasy Cinderella is more believable. this young woman sits in the park alone all day and nothing at all ever happens to her? she doesn't know about the public restroom, so how does she survive? she does..both bodily functions behind a tree? in public? how does she clean up? Her new friend brings her pineapple juice and she guzzles it down? how does she survive all day with nothing to drink? how is it that no law enforcement officer has ever noticed this pathetic creature sitting alone all day? since when do blind people get around by simply waving their hands in front of them? how about getting her a cane or a seeing eye dog? I could go on endlessly...this is an insane fairy tale. It made my cry too...to see something this ridiculous.
The Twilight Zone: I Dream of Genie (1963)
too horrible for words
Absolutely horrible. Not funny or interesting in any way. As a half hour episode it would have been awful but as an hour long story it is nothing short of agony to watch.
Two things in this series almost completely destroyed it. The switch to an hour in length and the pitiful and lame attempts at humor. This is a serious program and should stay that way. If I want to laugh I know where to go.
It would be comforting to know that this is rock bottom but the awful fact is that "The Bard" is still ahead.
BOBBYNEAR
Love Story (1970)
Love Means Never Having To Sit Through This Again
**** SPOILER WARNING ****
Absolutely without a doubt, one of the funniest comedies ever created for the screen. Totally impossible to take any of this seriously. It would take a major novel to list all of the comedy routines in it. During the glory days of her program, Carol Burnett and company, who often did take-offs on films, skewered this one in ways that were hard to imagine. Carol played Jenny who suddenly became ill with only a slight cough and immediately the treacly music came up and everyone looked around wondering where it was coming from. Harvey Korman played Oliver with flowing locks and almost look liked Ryan O'Neal. The only thing funnier than this bit, is the real film.
What a death scene at the end. Jenny really looks like she's dying alright...dying for her make-up artist to come in and give her a little color. And of course, we all know how often hospitals encourage a loved one to get in bed with them during the patient's final moments. The ending scene with Ryan O'Neal sitting on a bench in the snow contemplating his future in the movie business is an instant classic. He had plenty to worry about. He never did recover from this.
The Incident (1967)
An overwrought but still relevant depiction of mindless violence against innocent people.
In a previous post..Jules32 wrote: I have a complaint to register regarding the AMC channel - instead of squeezing the end credits to make room for commercials for the next movie, how about staying true to your movie fans who have a compulsive need to read the credits, and show them full-screen to the end? Who's with me on this one? Thank goodness for IMDb to get us through! _______________________________
I'm with you..I'm with you. AMC starting this obnoxious behavior some time ago and it is disgraceful. Not only is it loud and abusive to the ear, but it totally ruins whatever mood a film has meticulously created.
I'm like you. I not only want to read the credits, but to hear the music which is always integral to enjoying a movie. This is totally uncalled for since AMC does more self promotion than all the other cable networks combined.
This is one reason that..other than films I can view nowhere else, I have pretty much given up on them. Now that I have a new cable system, I stay with Turner Classic Movies (TMC) where they present classic films you can see nowhere else, rather than the same top 40 that AMC endlessly presents..and they are all commercial and promotion free with all the music and credits intact all the time.
As for "The Incident" a film I saw in a theater when it first was released, it is overwrought most of the time. It would have been far more effective if the hoodlums had been subtly menacing. Instead, they are presented as the 2,000 lb. elephants in the room. They're easy to keep track of since you can't miss them.
It's a dirty gritty and unpleasant little film but it does have its moments. Although badly dated, especially in its treatment of gays, women and blacks, its depiction of criminals preying on innocent people is as relevant today, sadly, as it was in the sixties.
Oh..how we might long for the days when all we had to worry about in the subway, was some random attack by hoodlums, instead of murderous attacks by suicide bombers.
Times do not necessarily change for the better.
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
FUNNY, TOUCHING AND SINCERE
Mild spoilers
A perfect example of how screeen magic is created when there is perfect chemistry between actors. No two other comics could ever have made this film more than it is. Laurel and Hardy couldn't have done it better.
It's not just the comic situations but the way they are presented and the way the two lead characters react to them that makes this film memorable.
Some truly wonderful visual moments, especially watching Candy and Martin driving a totally burned out car around as if it is perfectly normal.
Terrific comedy dialogue oftentimes understated as when people are screaming at the two that they are driving the wrong way on the road, which Candy interprets as meaning they are heading the wrong way to their destination. "How would he know where we're going?"
The admittedly very sentimental ending owes more than a little to "It's A Wonderful Life." But it works on its own because it is never less than sincere.
"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" may well be the finest comedy of its kind. At the very least it belongs up there with other screen classics like "Tootsie" and "Some Like It Hot."
In a lesser film, this might only have been about one man trying to get home and the preposterous situations that keep piling on. But this movie is much more than that. Really a film about two strangers who become friends and how they learn not only to tolerate but to love the flaws they find in each other.
On a scale of 1 to 10 Easily a 10.
Road to Perdition (2002)
A Beautiful Movie
SPOILER WARNING!!!! A stunningly beautiful film in spite of its unpleasant subject matter, Road To Perdition with its all star dream cast and incredible photography makes all the right moves and the effect is breathtaking.
Tom Hanks casts away his good guy image in favor of a reluctant hit man for the mob and Paul Newman near the end of one of the greatest film careers in history, were simply born to play off each other, whether in scenes discussing their uneasy relationship or gently touching the keys on a piano. And fifteen year old newcomer, Tyler Hoechlin who according to this web site beat out two thousand child actors for this part, more than holds his own against actors far more experienced than he.
One of my favorite scenes in this film... Michael Sullivan sits and eats in a diner while his son waits in the car during their run for revenge. In comes the evil killer for hire and photographer to the dead, McGuire who sits directly across from Sullivan. Watch Tom Hanks as he says little and acts only with his eyes while he sizes him up quickly, not even blinking for what seems like an eternity. When McGuire puts film in his camera and sits it on the table pointed directly at Sullivan, Michael knows he's about to become the latest poster boy in a murderous gallery of death. Don't even dare to blink or you'll miss the micro-second as Sullivan grabs a knife off the table to use outside in order to buy some time to escape with his son.
A brilliant scene of understated acting, Hanks has simply never been better. While not nearly as good or as epic in scope as The Godfather, Road To Perdition does what that classic did so well. It gives us basically unpleasant characters involved in a dirty and sordid business and makes us care about them in spite of what we see. Michael Sullivan may be the first hit man with a heart, but he's still basically a killer, never hesitating to put a gun to someone's head and blow them away. That he only kills other mob members who have gone astray is of little comfort. But his reluctance to involve his son is still touching and Hanks brilliantly brings just a touch of humanity to the inhumane.
In the end, this is a film not so much about the sins of the father, but the salvation of the son.
But aside from all of this. if you don't like the actors or the story, you can just sit and look at this incredibly beautiful film. Every moment in every scene, whether one of violence or just someone walking away from the camera, is so lovingly and carefully created, you can only wonder how one cinematographer could be so talented.
That would be the late Conrad Hall. Anyone unfamiliar with what this man has done for decades, needs to go back to the early part of his career, and the memorable film, In Cold Blood.
At the very beginning of that movie, while the opening credits are just begining to roll, we see a bus speeding down a highway. Inside the darkened bus, a little girl walks up the aisle, as she hears someone strumming a guitar and investigates. She runs up against the guitar player and says, "excuse me." Robert Blake, playing Perry Smith, one of the killers to be, says nothing as he lights a match and holds it so that the light just barely illuminates his face. This one simple scene strikes fear in the viewer's heart right from the outset and it never lets up.
Conrad Hall recreated that kind of scene for decades and this, his last and perhaps greatest overall effort is filled with them. From the acting, to the scenery, music, costumes and its amazing sense of time and place, Road To Perdition travels on a highway to perfection.
On a scale of 1 to 10... easily a 10
Bobbynear
On the Beach (1959)
A LITTLE TOO HOPELESS?
POSSIBLE SPOILERS: Always one of my favorite films, this had a tremendous impact on me when I was 12 years old, so much that I immediately went and sought out the book in the public library.
Thought provoking and memorable. However, one thing has bothered me for years. While it is sad and stunning to see mankind reduced to such a state, I don't know how realistic it is to see so many people willingly commit suicide. Of course, we did see that many years later in the real life incident at Jonestown, but that was more murder at the hands of a religous fanatic than suicide.
Humankind has always had a built-in survival instinct. If not, then we might not be here now talking about this film. We live in a hostile environment, whether through nature or at our own hands, but we have managed to last through all of it. AIDS is as hopeless and devastating a disease as radiation poisoining and yet there are some patients who have denied the inevitable and are still alive. There is something in mankind that simply refuses to give up.
A previous poster mentioned the lack of anyone in this film even considering building an underground shelter in advance of the inevitable. I think that is a good point. The final scene shows a sign that reads, "There Is Still Time...Brother." Perhaps they should have taken that to heart and tried to find a way to save someone before it was too late. Instead we have people simply walking around in a daze and the only people who show any life, seem to be trying to find ways to accelerate their demise, such as in a brutal and absurd car race that promises only death as the final prize.
The scene near the end with the young sailor and his wife in bed reminiscing about how they met, "on the beach," was touching but her sudden announcement that she's "ready to have that cup of tea now," does not ring true. People who have not seen it, should check out the Showtime reprise of this film, from a few years ago. That scene is done in a far more emotional manner, with the couple sobbing as they end their lives in bed with their crying child between them. It is admittedly hard to watch, but looks far more realistic than what is done here, with the child not even on screen. You can't have it both ways.
If you're going to show the end of the world and the despair of people to such a degree that they would even consider such a thing, you need to take it all the way and not pull any punches at the end.
In spite of this reservation, this film and the book it is based on, remains an object lesson for all of humanity. It should be required viewing and reading for all world leaders who dare to place themselves ahead of and above the safety and the survival of the very people they profess to lead.
The Thrill of It All (1963)
A Blast From The Past
A real throwback to another era, sadly missing from most films today. Really not quite as dated as it might initially appear to be. An "older" woman having a baby, something we're used to seeing today, was rather ahead of its time back in '63.
I have always enjoyed this film. While not a big Doris Day fan, this one is consistently funny. And why not..with genius writers like Carl Reiner and Larry Gelbart behind it?
Too many funny situations to list here and standout performances and perfect comic timing from everyone involved. Especially James Garner who does this kind of thing better than anyone. His attitude throughout the film, taken to task by some people here, was just indicative of the pre women's lib thinking in the early sixties.
The real thrill for me in watching The Thrill Of It All, is that this film after four decades and dozens of movies that have tried to copy it, still makes me smile. A solid 9 out of 10 from me. : )
Moment by Moment (1978)
Purely agonizing
Should have been called not "Moment to Moment" but "Exruciating Second to Second." This kind of film is a certain career killer and that either one of these actors went on to later success in anything, is a testament to their real abilities when placed in the right vehicle. Wagner and Tomlin would have served the public a lot better if they had made a movie about their own real life relationship with two women in the lead roles. At least it would have been a lot more believable than this.