zooeyglass70 Reviews

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

A totally enjoyable addition to the POTA canon

[9/10 · 19 May 2024]

As someone who enjoyed both the original series of movies (my personal favorites but more owing to nostalgia than quality of storytelling) and the 21st century retelling (post-Tim Burton's sincere but rightly panned attempt), I really enjoyed this movie.

The story centers on chimpanzee Noa, hundreds of years after the last movies, and serves as a solid vehicle to orient viewers to how far ape civilization has evolved. In this regard, it resembles the ape society seen in 1968, with key differences in terms of both what apes have achieved and what humans are capable of -- not to mention how the landscape looks. But that's for viewers to discover for themselves.

My only complaint is that it felt a bit too long and could have benefited from trimming off about 15-20 minutes.

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Marilyn Who?

[10/10 · 7 May 2024]

Of course this is iconic Marilyn, at her skirts blowing, ditzy blonde best as she dunks potato chips into champagne - though her acting is a tad bit spotty ("So I pushed my big toe up the faucet" is a line that makes me cringe every time I hear it, it's so poorly spoken).

But for me this is Tom Ewell's star turn, he is the one who cracks me up and makes me laugh out loud (dare I also say shakes me, quakes me, makes me feel goose pimply all over?).

Sweet and shy and tender and nervous, Richard Sherman tries to quit drinking AND smoking, a total impossibility when MM moves in upstairs and the wife takes their son to the lake for the summer. Prone to fantasy (and the seven year itch), Tom Ewell is absolutely hilarious as he switches between imaginary worst case scenario and hopeful lechery on the turn of a dime.

Marilyn has her part to play in the laughs, to be sure, and this is still the era of crazy good supporting actors -- notably Oscar Homolka as a psychiatrist (who writes about "the mad lover of Leipzig") and Robert Strauss (as Kruhulik!).

Nonsense to those who say this isn't one of Billy Wilder's better movies :)

Bernie (2011)

It hits that small town quirky spot!

[10/10 · 2 May 2024]

I do indeed love this movie!

Jack Black shines as only he could in the whimsical title role of Bernie. As others have noted, it's almost as if the Bernie's life was created as a vehicle for Jack Black to star in rather than Bernie being a real-life person Jack is playing.

Good turns by Shirley Maclaine and Matthew McConaughey (full disclosure: I like them in pretty everything I see them in) but these are truly supporting roles alongside a cast of "neighbors" who opine about the goings on from the comfort of their porches interview-style. At first, I wanted to described them as being underused in proportion to their talent -- but this really is a one-man show.

Trilogy of Terror (1975 TV Movie)

"No, dear, I killed you"

[9/10 · 28 April 2024]

Ok, no spoilers, the third story about the Zuni warrior doll is what everyone remembers and calls brilliant. I agree. One word: teeth!

But I'm here to defend the first two stories. They get unfairly dismissed, particularly given ALL THREE were solid stories with twists that weren't in your face obvious from the wonderful Richard Matheson.

Karen Black also played the heck out of all the parts - you truly aren't distracted by it being the same actress in multiple roles, she is just wonderful across the board.

The first story ("Julie") is really just as delicious as the Zuni fetish one - deliciously twisted in its twist. The second ("Millicent and Therese") is admittedly the weakest link, but this is still a terrific premise and the brief scene with a neighbor's child is a perfect plot device to throw some dust into your eyes.

This is a made for tv movie, but if you didn't know that you'd have no idea!

Dead Man's Curve (1998)

The ending was interesting

[7/10 · 3 April 2024]

As a horror fan, I can't say this movie ranks up there with the greats -- not by a long shot. But I found this to be a rather competent enough movie that is quintessential late 1990s horror in terms of its look and casting -- it has that slick and aware zeitgeist that permeated post-Scream movies.

I did not think the twists were overdone, it felt rather balanced and I was pleasantly surprised by how things ended. This is particularly true of the Dana Delaney character's response to everything -- no spoilers to what I mean, just that the ending was better than the movie overall (if that makes sense!).

It's definitely worth a watch, even if it's a one and done.

The Ordeal of Patty Hearst (1979 TV Movie)

1970s made-for-TV Treatment

[9/10 · 14 February 2024]

I don't understand the low reviews. I won't say the acting is always stellar, but this does a very credible job of dramatizing the Patty Hearst kidnapping. And it's made in the 1970s so it has that indefinable 1970s feel to it the 1988 movie could never achieve.

Think of Helter Skelter from the 1970s, when made-for-TV movies were booming.

It focuses on FBI Agent in Charge Charles Bates, played by the always enjoyable to watch Dennis Weaver, and his investigation. Lisa Eilbacher is neither here nor there as Patty, but you're given enough of a sense of her ordeal.

This is before Patty's published account but, as the title suggests, it is sympathetic to her viewpoint. It. Worth a look.

The Hot Flashes (2013)

Menopause is Fun

[8/10 · 25 January 2024]

This is a sweet movie that has some truly funny moments.

It's a great cast of likeable women "of a certain age" we remember from their younger days mostly: Brooke Shields, Darryl Hannah, Virginia Madsen. With a name like The Hot Flashes, it's not a spoiler to say the opening sequence does a credibly interesting job of showing the onset of a hot flash.

The premise is a menopausal Brooke Shields reuniting the high school girls basketball team of 30+ years ago to raise money to save the local mammogram mobile. It's a feel good movie that hits gently on very female concerns. I thought it moved along nicely and was worth the watch.

We're Not Married! (1952)

Just a fun watch!

[9/10 · 3 January 2024]

I was a bit surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. I'd considered it a movie you'd never hear about if not for Marilyn Monroe...

Actually it's just - well - FUN. Different couples find out their marriages aren't legal. The couples are made up of quite a lovely assortment of folks who are typically supporting players, like Eve Arden, Eddie Bracken, Paul Douglas, and David Wayne. And headliner Ginger Rogers is at the start of her interesting, short-haired 1950s period...

The movie doesn't dwell on any one couple so you don't have a chance to get tired of any pairing. You move nicely through the initial responses, then circle back for the endings you know darn well are coming!

If you want light, frothy, love will out fare, this one fits the bill.

Jane Eyre (1983)

40 years later, this one is still the best

[10/10 · 16 September 2023]

I saw this as a teenager on A&E a year or so after it was on the Beeb in the 1980's. I hadn't read the book yet...

I loved it then and just watched it now after seeing many versions and doing many deep dives into Currer Bell's world. And I STILL can rave about what drew me into the world of all things Brontë long ago.

This is so well-done and nothing before or after really compares. Of course you needed a mini-series, a normal movie length couldn't contain the necessary storyline.

And, even if Timothy Dalton is a bit too good looking for Rochester, he and Zelah Clarke more than fit the bill.

Seek it out !

She's So Lovely (1997)

Only John Cassavetes can make a John Cassavetes movie

[7/10 · 9 September 2023]

I saw this in the 1990s before I'd ever seen a John Cassavetes written/directed film. I vaguely recall being underwhelmed, not sure why I should care about these people.

I just watched it again in 2023, now a definite Cassavetes devotee, and sigh for what was surely meant to be an homage by his son but just proved only John Cassavetes could make this movie something truly worthwhile.

Would it have mattered if his son had stuck with his script as is and not rewrote parts? Perhaps, but his son clearly didn't have his father's vision, he treated it like mainstream movie making and corrupted it by making it fit those parameters.

Ultimately John's magic was his alone and couldn't be replicated by anyone, this movie proves that.

Death Proof (2007)

Slasher-Exploitation-Muscle Car Triple Threat

[7/10 · 24 February 2023]

QT said he wanted to make a slasher film his way, which (I feel) inevitably morphed into displaying his love of the types of movies he (and, being 6 years younger, I) grew up watching in the pre-cable days where all they seemed to show on the weekends were these exploitation/muscle car movies of the 1970s.

The homage to all three genres is done well enough, though the slow burn leading to the action is not as compelling as to the dialogue as QT has done in other movies (others have noted this as well).

I frankly enjoyed this more than The Hateful Eight and I found the ending particularly satisfying.