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itchy-8
Reviews
JFK X: Solving the Crime of the Century (2023)
OK if you look at it as a comedy
There's a book theorizing that Aristotle Onassis killed JFK because he wanted his wife. I never thought I'd ever find anything more ridiculous. I was wrong. You have got to be kidding me. Maybe you are kidding me. Maybe it's all a joke. No interviews with the doctors, and I thought there were supposed to be interviews with doctors, emergency room doctors, who actually worked on Kennedy. It's all a bunch of goofy theorizing by some guy, very glib and and perfectly rehearsed, claiming the use of then-unknown technology, and I'm not talking about the technology of assassination. Also, he calls mobster Johnny Rosselli, Johnny Rossalini. In fact, he knows nothing about the mob.
The Opposite Sex (1956)
Meh, watch the 1939 "The Women" instead
The songs stink (I guarantee you've never heard of any of them) the women are unappealing-they even managed to make the young Joan Collins yucky. Letting the men onscreen ruins the mystique. The comedy is ruined by the deployment (or not) of the countess. Don't bother.
Rebecca (2020)
Du Maurier fans: consider it a comedy
This is a very expensive and stylish adaptation, a real treat for the eyes. But as a big du Maurier fan, I was angered the first time I saw it. It improves on subsequent viewings.
As usual, they cast a beautiful blonde as the nameless heroine. We could live with that, but she is loaded with agency. She demands unconventional breakfasts of the waiters in Monte Carlo, she has an anachronistically revealing bathing suit, she even tells Mrs. Danvers to scram. Twice.
They do it, or something that looks awfully like it, before they are married. Mrs. Van Hopper finds out about their romance from gossips. Mrs. Danvers calls Rebecca-and Frank Crawley-by their first names. Maxim writes Jack Favell a check for 10,000 pounds, and Favell decides not to cash it, but to turn it over to the proper authorities. Perhaps funniest of all, when the heroine realizes the importance of Dr. Baker, she jumps in the car by herself, drives hundreds of miles to London, uses subterfuge to get into Dr. Baker's office, and steals Rebecca's medical record. Get the picture? Enjoy the scenery, be glad that a new generation has been introduced to du Maurier, and don't become too angry at the weirdness.
Ivy (1947)
Can't Tear Yourself Away
Warning: contains a spoiler. Corny plot and in many cases terrible acting. Fontaine is great, but some others, particularly Richard Ney, Ivy's husband, are exceedingly wooden. Ney lies in bed, dying of arsenical poisoning, with every hair in place. Yet the movie is so juicy and so suspenseful. More faithful to the book than most movies of its era. Casting Joan Fontaine as a poisoner (and an adulteress, which was just as shocking then - I'm not kidding, kids) was a masterful stroke. She's just her usual Joan Fontainey self. As murderers were supposed to, she dies by falling "feet foremost through the floor into an empty space."
The Green Mile (1999)
More than Meets the Eye--Don't Miss This One!
This is an excellent adaptation of a novel, far better than most adaptations. I've been to see it 4 times (I'm not usually that type) and each time the audience is larger and more expressive. Full burst of applause at the end, as at a play. Too bad there's no curtain call, because everyone is great. This movie, I'm afraid, is going to get ripped off at the Oscars. I've seen many excellent movies this year, but this is the best.
Watch for the little things. ([1] I think the last line of the movie is an "in" joke. [2] Del assumes a Jesus-crucified position as his mouse runs across his shoulders. [3] John refers to God specifically as "God the Father"; there is more than a hint that he himself represents the Son, whose initials {and, in some cases, abilities} he shares. [4] Check out the names on the tombstones at Elaine's funeral. [5] Old Paul's teacup is one of a set that he and his wife had in the 30s. [6] Melinda gives John a St. Christopher medal; St. Christopher is supposed to have carried Christ to safety once. [7] Hammersmith, an unsympathetic observer of the early part of John's ordeal, has a name that suggests preparation for crucifixion. No doubt there's more!)
In the Company of Men (1997)
More Than Meets the Eye
The moral of this story is NOT Nice Guys Finish Last, but Know Thyself. The world is filled with human jellies who don't know who they are or what they want, who allow their actions to be directed by the wishes of others. Hence, Howard crumbles while Christine, well-grounded in her personality, apparently bounces back.
If you've come this far, you already know the essence of the plot. What most viewers miss is that Howard has a chance to live on his own terms and goofs because of a misguided need for male bonding. As a "nerd", he just has to "carry Chad's sweater". At one point he's at a fork in the road: he is given the benefit of an outsider's perspective, but he takes the wrong path. A colleague, who, not coincidentally, is black, says, on learning that Howard is dating the deaf girl, "You're a bigger man than I am." He explains that such a bold variation is dangerous in their corporate culture! Howard is taken aback at the man's admiration of his daring; this new perspective astonishes him. It doesn't sink in, though. He has a chance to be a real man, and he misses it through his own brand of deafness to the "invisible man" (who has just paid him the compliment of confiding in him and assuming that he's not a shark).
There is a subtle implication at the end that Chad may indeed get what's coming to him. His live-in girlfriend has the upper hand emotionally; he explicitly asks her for love.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Save Your Money. You Can't Say I Didn't Warn You.
This movie was a waste of time. I went into it "cold", never having paid any attention to the hype about it (I've just discovered the hype now, because I went looking for it) and never having read any reviews of it. I admire originality, don't expect or admire gore, and am capable of appreciating experimental filmmaking. The movie was boring, confusing, and lacking in payoff. You won't miss anything if you go to the bathroom. That's all.