holisticgardener Reviews

Our Friend (2019)

About as good as it gets

[9/10 · 10 August 2021]

Wonderful performances by an amazing group of actors. This is a lovely movie and just reinforces how much we need our friends and the people who love us.

Baby It's You (1983)

If it's so bad, why can't I forget it?

[7/10 · 12 October 2005]

In spite of the negative review above I would say this is a good film and a story that may hang around in your mind for a long time. It isn't so much a "movie story," a la Meg Ryan romantic comedy type, as it is a slice of life. The characters in this movie are much more like the people you went to high school and college with than they are like Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan! Life is messy and confusing and people change. People are attracted to the wrong people all the time. They make bad choices. They do things they can never forget. This movie reflects these human foibles and that is why it is a great small movie that got overlooked and under-appreciated.

The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

Most Entertainment at a Movie in Years

[10/10 · 3 May 2005]

I don't know where else you could get so much gorgeous music, overwhelming romanticism, gorgeous sets and costumes, and even more gorgeous actors than in this production. It's the most fun you can have for the price of a movie ticket! Gerard Butler is a sexy rock-star phantom. Emmy Rossum is sweet and quite willing to be seduced! Patrick Wilson does a great job in a pitiful role -- no way can he compete with the Phantom's sociopathic allure! The 100+ piece orchestra used in filming this movie was money well spent. The sound is huge and does justice to the beautiful score. There have been complaints about the quality of Gerard Butler's singing and the fact that he is too handsome. That's like saying cheesecake tastes too good, and peanuts aren't almonds. Butler was a perfectly cast Phantom for this version which is much more romantic and much less creepy than the Michael Crawford versions. A 50 year old Phantom allegedly seducing a 16 year old singer is pretty much pedophilic -- a problem that is avoided by having a younger believably alluring Phantom. This movie is a blast -- so much so that I had to buy surround sound and a big screen TV so I can have the experience in my own home for years to come.