Reviews

You wouldn't think that Ted Danson would translate well to the big screen, but he is magical in the role of Larry Kozinski. Isabella Rossellini is her usual beautiful, understated, elegant self in the role of Maria. When the two are on screen together, the sparks fly. Sean Young, Norma Aleandro, Lloyd Bridges, Keith Coogan, and William Petersen round out an excellent ensemble. The real star of this picture is the soundtrack. Every time the theme song is played, I cry and cry. It is so beautiful. I could watch this movie every day and find something new every time I watch it. This movie is sly, sophisticated, funny, sad, and very, very real. If you haven't seen it yet, you have missed a gem. It is definitely a must-see.

I saw this movie when it first came out and was mesmerized. I then watched the Tyrone Power version and it didn't come close to measuring up. The soul-searching journey that Larry Darrell embarks upon is one that we should all be so lucky to make. Bill Murray is the essence of understatement in his portrayal. The character does not require a broad performance and Murray was certainly up to the task. Some may think that the movie is slow-paced, but by doing so, the director is able to develop all of the characters so that by the end of the movie, you really know them and what their motivations are. Theresa Russell is exquisite, as ever, in the role of Sophie. She really got to stretch her wings. Catherine Hicks, who usually gets cast in sweet, even-tempered roles, shows a dark side that I have never seen from her before or since. Denholm Elliott is a gem. I highly recommend this film to anyone who hasn't yet seen it. You'll be all the better for having viewed it.

My daughter read the book and wanted me to go see the movie with her. I was truly entertained by all of the back-biting and bitching that went on at "Runway" magazine, which is helmed by the inimitable Meryl Streep. She puts the 'itch' in bitch. You wait on tenterhooks for her to devour demure, clueless little Anne Hathaway. Keep waiting. All the while their little dance of death is going on, there is Stanley Tucci in the background, chewing up the scenery. He plays Fairy Godmother to Anne's Cinderella and it is a scene that would make any girl's heart go pitter-pat. All those designer close being thrown about, and the JIMMY CHOOS!!!! If you're going to see the clothes, you will be happy. If you are going to see Meryl act like a bitch, you will be happy. But go to see Stanley Tucci; he is poetry in motion, dressed to the nines (especially in his plaid suit), and as bitchy and gossipy as any old queen!! Plus seeing New York in all of its glory is always a treat. This was a great movie. I highly recommend it to: 20-30something women, gay men, anyone who loves anything Meryl Streep does, and those Stanley Tucci fans out there (and you know who you are!!).

Enjoy!!

I have always enjoyed watching Anthony LaPaglia in ANYthing, but he really shines in this show. I am intrigued with the manner in which the flashbacks are shown. And I have yet to guess the ending of any of the episodes that I have seen. The only complaint I have, and it's not a big thing, is that I have to put the closed caption feature on because the nature of LaPaglia's character causes him to speak so low and guarded. Even when he is just standing still, you can see the wheels turning in his head, the emotions boiling underneath the surface of the calm veneer that he wears.

And I love the black suits.

I'm sure Phillip Seymour Hoffman did a fine job in "Capote." I haven't seen it yet. But it is much easier to portray your impression of a real person than it is to create a character from scratch. Heath Ledger, as Ennis Del Mar, is one of the deepest, complex, most memorable characters that I have ever seen portrayed, on the screen or on the stage. I don't think he said 50 words throughout the whole movie but the way he carried himself, the LACK of movement that he used, really made this character come to life. I had to put the subtitles on so I could see what he was saying because the manner in which he spoke made it nearly impossible to understand what he was saying. That made Ennis all the more real.

The relationship between Ennis and Jack was so.......God, I don't have the words to describe it. I have never been so moved in my entire life. This was an amazing film, an amazing story, and even now, an hour after I've watched it, I'm still stunned.

...and I really enjoyed it. Which is probably why it got cancelled so quickly. It was the precursor to the ensemble cast medical shows like "ER" and "Chicago Hope." Rather than being set in a hospital, "Heartbeat" took place in a women's OB-GYN clinic. It had all of the requisite situations; pregnancy, infertility, abortion, rape, lesbians, sexual tension between the doctors, you name it. Kate Mulgrew was excellent, as usual, with her take-no-prisoners attitude that has served her well in just about every role she has played. Lynn Whitfield was a gem, as was Laura Johnson and Gail Strickland. If, for some odd, remote chance, this ever pops up on TV, give it a look. It will probably seem a little dated now, but it was an excellent show for its time.

The "Scary Movie" series were funny. This sucked. I took my nieces to see it and we were extremely disappointed. It could have been a lot funnier, but it was directed so ham-handedly. So many movies were spoofed, but I had to tell my nieces what a lot of them were. We were really excited about going to see this movie, but I wish we had gone to see something else. I don't think this is a spoiler, but the main movie that was spoofed was "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." The girl was Greek, her father was black, her mother was Indian, and her sister was Japanese. It made no sense whatsoever. There was one shining moment when they spoofed "Meet the Fockers." I think that's the only time I laughed.

I've seen them all; "Sweet Dreams," "Coal Miner's Daughter," "Elvis," "The Doors," "Great Balls of Fire," "The Buddy Holly Story." This movie, by far, is one of the best yet. I rank it right up there with "Coal Miner's Daughter" as far as the talent involved and the preparation the actors made to play these roles. I have not been a big Joaquin Phoenix fan, but the way he sings is phenomenal. He starts off tentatively and you can see his talent grows as he becomes more confident. Reese Witherspoon is an absolute doll in the role of June Carter. Her mixture of strength and vulnerability mimic the real June Carter so well that, while the physical resemblance is not there, the emotions certainly are. I HIGHLY recommend this movie to everyone. I think I'm going to have to go see it again.

I don't even know where to begin with how disappointed I was with this movie. Having grown up with the incredibly talented Gene Wilder as "Willy Wonka," I expected my view to be tainted, but I tried to watch this film with an open mind. Nice try. Johnny Depp, who has made some wonderful movies in his own right, cannot hold a candle to Gene Wilder in this role. Whereas Wilder played Wonka as mysterious, a bit mischievous, but good-hearted, Depp played him like he had just done a serious amount of cocaine. His dislike for the children was overplayed and I was waiting for him to beat the crap out of them at any moment. Wilder's performance was more subtle and sarcastic. Depp's June Allyson hairstyle did nothing for me either. Whereas "Willy Wonka..." was made years before all this computer graphics crap, it seemed more real. "Charlie..." seemed like a film student's graduate project. Bottom line: "Willy Wonka..." is for adults. "Charlie..." is for children with a low I.Q. Some movies just don't need to be remade; in fact most don't. Look at "Cheaper by the Dozen" and "Yours, Mine, and Ours." The people who made these movies took classic comedy and turned them into fart jokes and basic toilet humor. Doesn't anyone in Hollywood have an original idea? Or has America lost its integrity when it comes to movies? The best movies being made these days are independent films. What does that tell you?

...but it was a little creepy. Marlo Thomas and Peter Strauss are a very loving couple who live with his mother on the family farm. They have a daughter and then she gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl. For reasons I can't go in to, she has a very strong bond with her son. When a tragedy occurs in the family, Marlo flips her wig and engages in some very odd and sometimes dangerous behavior.

The story here is very good, the characters are believable, and there was lots of snow, which I love! There is a very creepy overtone in this movie that had me shuddering at times, especially during the climactic scene of the movie. If this had been in black and white, this movie could have been almost gothic; it had that feel to it. I highly recommend this movie if you like to get the heebie jeebies. I saw it on Lifetime, so look for it there.

I just finished watching this movie for the umpteenth time,but this time I watched the newly-released DVD. There were many deleted scenes that were added back into the movie, not just shown as extras. These added a lot to the story and clarified a few things for me. Also, I watched with the audio commentary on and learned some really neat facts about the making of the movie.

If you haven't seen this movie, watch the DVD. If you have seen it, it's worth watching again.

i'm sure it was very difficult for tracey gold to act in what was a story that mirrored her own life, but i do think it was kind of sick to get an anorexic to play an anorexic. some people might argue that it was therapeutic for her, but once an anorexic, always an anorexic. it's like being an alcoholic; you're never cured.

the parents are portrayed as clueless, especially the mother. jill clayburg manages to take the character and make her unsymapthetic, annoying, bossy, and whiny all at the same time. if she were my mother, i'd skip a slow death and swallow some poison instead. william devane gives a solid performance as always, as does mark-paul goselaar. he plays the role of the caring brother very convincingly. the other brother, the "food cop" could have been played by a cardboard cutout and it would have had a larger range of emotions.

all-in-all, pretty run-of-the-mill lifetime fodder. watch it if only to count how many times somebody tells tracey gold to eat. (i lost count.)

The subject matter in this movie is handled with great sensitivity and taste. A marriage breaks up and the wife becomes involved with her boss, who is a woman. Lifetime keeps making excellent movies that are timely, touching and entertaining. Wendy Crewson is absolutely fabulous in this movie!

i've always thought zach galligan was a little cutey, especially in gremlins, where he played the lovable doofus. i should have known something was up when the movie started and he was trying to come off as some slick, suave romantic type. WRONG!! he couldn't pull this role off if it was a loose pair of drawers.

the story idea is pretty good, but it just does not work with these wooden performances. even if you're really bored, don't waste your time on this one.

If you are a fan of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", then you need to try and catch this show. Suprisingly, Joe Walsh is hysterically funny. He starts out playing the guitar but ends up having some of the funniest lines in the whole show. Greg Proops has always been my favorite from the original British version of the show and he is fabulous here. One thing I did notice was some hesitancy in some of the skits. I realize that improv takes a great deal of imagination and skill, but it made me wonder just how much "polish" went into the skits on "Whose Line...". It seemed to flow a little smoother than this show, but this is definitely worth watching.

...but this adaptation is not. the premise of the story is that a lawyer has an auto accident, resulting in the death of an old gypsy woman. after the good old boy law system gets him off scott-free, the gypsy woman's son puts a curse on the good old boys, the lawyer's curse being that he will grow 'thinner.' he's a hefty boy to begin with, so he has a long way to go.

unless a technique was used like tom hanks did for 'castaway' (shutting down production for a year so he could lose weight), there is no other way to show the weight loss that wouldn't look cheesy. well, have some cheese. this guy has on a fat suit that is SO obvious, i thought for a second that i was watching jiminy glick! even when all of the fat suit is gone, he still looks like a plastic man.

like i said before, the book was fabulous. this is one of those stories that should never have been adapted for the screen. my imagination came up with much better images when i was reading this book than they portrayed on the screen.

Being from the South and having lived here all my life, it just kills me when people try to adopt a Southern accent for movies and FAIL MISERABLY!!! Rachel Ward sounds like she has a speech impediment. If you're gonna do it, do it right and nobody does in this flick. It's distracting from the sucky plot.

But what was Rod Steiger up to with that accent? I couldn't tell if he was Cuban, Irish, Yiddish, or if he had a stroke. The scenery in this movie is beautiful, the plot was good, the explosions were cool...but when Steiger was onscreen, I cracked up!

I liked the fact that most of the people in this movie were pretty much unknowns to me. This eliminated the "superstar" factor; where I get so distracted by the person playing the character that the character doesn't develop. I loved the idea for their screenplay; the premise was so funny, the scenes they showed were hilarious. The scenes with the family at the restaurant were very realistic. Even the gay Christmas party was good. Elliott reminded me of a gay Woody Allen (which, if you think about it, would have saved Mia a lot of trouble). Alex, I couldn't quite pigeonhole that easily. Didn't seem very ethnic, ethereal; he seemed more like a jock than a writer. All in all, I think this was a really good movie. I came across it by accident and I hope you do too.

Patrick Dempsey is a cutie pie, especially in this movie. He plays the awkward, gangly every-guy with such aplomb it doesn't seem like an act. This movie is a lot of fun! It's one amusing situation after another. Kate Jackson, Kirstie Alley and Barbara Carrera are all wonderful in their roles. It's too bad this movie didn't get the recognition it deserved.

this movie grabbed my attention right away. the premise was exciting, albeit a little too realistic after 9-11, but maybe that's what made it so interesting. after the chilling opening sequence, the movie spiraled into a mish-mash of unidentifiable latino-type people. i couldn't figure out who were the bad guys, who were the good guys, and who was that guy in the helicopter?

it would have been easier to keep up with the players if, say, the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys black and white stripes. and while arnold is good in his usual role as the ass-kicker, you'd think that by now he would have mastered the english language with a little less accent.

this is not really a bad movie, but it is not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination. watch the first ten minutes, then skip over to the last twenty. that's all you need to see.

i am not a big sean penn fan. the last thing i liked that he was in was "at close range." imagine my surprise when this turned out to be a great movie! i was flipping the channels around and came across "i am sam." i had seen previews and knew i would never watch it. i was hooked from the delivery room scene. the honesty that was displayed by sam (sean penn) was so believable it was painful. i only wish more people could be this honest. the guys who were his friends were a little rag-tag band of retarded men who were just as cute as they could be. lucy, sam's daughter, gave such a moving, mature portrayal. you could feel the emotions she was feeling because she made them seem so real.

i was disappointed with laura dern. she has one expression and she wore it through all of her scenes; that pinched-face thing she does that shows the wrinkles between her eyes. and there is one scene with michelle pfieffer that just screams "Oscar clip!!" she was adequate in her role as the lawyer who represents sam in court. and diane wiest!! i would watch a movie of her buying groceries. she is wonderful and quirky as usual, a true treasure.

however, this was, without a doubt, sean penn's movie. i've had problems in the past with actors who play retarded people. everytime i see leonardo dicaprio, all i can think of is "where's arnie? where's arnie?" sean penn became sam in this movie so much so that it was like sean penn was not there. he created the entirely different persona that is so different from what we usually see from him.

i am truly impressed.

This is a movie I can watch over and over again, even though it has a long running time. This was truly a gift of love for Kevin Costner. You can tell that he really cares about the subject by the way he paid attention to the smallest details. The music is one thing that really impresses me. It is so beautiful and uplifting. I find myself humming along while I am watching the movie. The scenery is incredible. You find yourself wanting to run in those fields, maybe not with the buffalo; that could be dangerous! The actors that were chosen by Costner were perfectly cast. I could not picture anyone else in the roles. The Lakota are beautiful people and are portrayed as a noble, caring, brave and close-knit community. They take pleasure and pride in family. This movie has everything; action, drama, suspense, humour and yes, a gratuitous butt shot. Kevin Costner is a fine male specimen and a joy to behold. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who wishes they could have seen the west before it was tamed.

the first time my daughter and i saw this movie, we had rented it from the video store. when it was over, we immediately rewound it and watched it again. we were laughing so hard, we could barely breathe. this is one of the funniest movies i have ever seen. at times dark and brooding, at other times downright slapstick, "beetlejuice" is one of tim burton's best movies.

Oh my goodness!!!! The Bionic Woman was a much more believable role for Lindsay Wagner than this. She plays Billie Winthrop Ikehorn, a character that morphs from a chubby teenager to an elegant woman in her mid- to late-thirties. If it weren't for the fact that she has ENORMOUS legs, she would not have looked like a fat girl, which is the only part of her character that she nails. Barry Bostwick is a dream, as usual, with his tremendous head of hair and some very tight jeans. Marie-France Pisier is probably a jam-up actress in France, but she does not translate well to English. She played the luckless yet conniving Noelle Page in "The Other Side of Midnight." She played both characters identically,with the two emotions she posesses; blank and pissy. The book was much much better than this miniseries. At least with a book, you can use your imagination and put faces on the characters that make sense to you. Nothing about this makes sense. >