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Reviews
The Dollanganger Saga: Flowers in the Attic (2014)
Disappointing remake of Flowers in the Attic.
I have read the book, Flowers in the Attic. This is a Gothic type mystery where children were locked up in the attic not to be seen. V.C. Andrews was able to convey a dark and sinister atmosphere with Olivia Foxworth being a truly evil grandmother, showing them absolute contempt. Heather Graham portrays their mother, who becomes bored with her life and pursues a man who is supposedly their grandfather's attorney. She stays gone for long periods of time and brings back gifts which are supposed to compensate for her absence. Heather Graham is not right for this part. She comes across as rather vacant and bored, but does not project a sense of evil, which is well demonstrated in the novel. Ellen Burnstyn is an excellent actress and there is no doubt that she can barely tolerate her newly acquired grandchildren. She gives a fantastic performance.
There are gaps in this movie and the viewer is left wondering exactly why the daughter of Foxworth was alienated from her family. Heather does not even come across as a mother, but more like a best friend to her children. But maybe that is the intended effect. She obviously is not interested or does not care about their well-being.
Also in the book VC Andrews was able to convey a sense of anxiety and claustrophobia as the children feel suffocated from living in such close quarters with no freedom. You can feel their sense of doom and emotional deprivation, as they slowly realize that they are in a sort of prison and may never get out. The director, Chow does not give the viewer this feeling of doom. If there is a sense of frustration and anxiety with their surroundings, it is mild discontent compared to what the book shows. Without this psychological drama, it greatly diminishes the sense of doom, which Gothic novels are big on portraying.
I would not watch this movie again. I had a hard time following it and in a way kind of boring.
Behind the Candelabra (2013)
This is a trashy movie -- waste of time
The content of this movie proved to be disgusting. So once again Hollywood is hard at work trying to tarnish and destroy a famous celebrity from days gone by. They seem to feel no sense of consciousness in displaying scene after scene of lurid and promiscuous details of Liberace's personal life. Yes he was a homosexual and probably did engage in dangerous sexual behavior, for which he paid the ultimate price. Seriously, does the general public need to know about his vanity and preoccupation with looking young? Also please leave out the bedroom love-making scenes between Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. Maybe I am in the minority, but watching men kissing each other, etc was revolting and actually turned my stomach. It saddens me that many great actors have chosen to waste their talent on this film. Dan Akroyd and Rob Lowe what were you thinking to pick this movie? I am not too surprised in Michael Douglas since he goes for shocking, violent films, such as Basic Instinct. I am very shocked to see Matt Damon playing this role. He was definitely the wrong choice being 40, since Scott was only 17 when their relationship started.
Probably the younger audience (under 40) does not remember Liberace anyway. Still whatever good name he once had, has been totally shattered. I am of the older generation, who are still offended by this kind of morally degenerate portrayal of a star. I have read other reviews and some young viewers seem to accept this as status quo. So where do we draw the line on what is acceptable and what is not? Today the R-rated movies show every form of love-making and profanity. Nudity is generally accepted. Subjects which were taboo only 20 years ago are now widely included, such as homosexual love-making on the set. Frontal nudity was once excluded, but now we see it all the time. It really scares me to think what will come next. Hopefully, I will not be here anymore to find out.
This is probably the worst review I have ever written. I try hard to find some redeeming light or feature which will help me be fair, but this time there is none to be found.
Chapter Two (1979)
Neil Simon creates a wonderful story.
For the most part I enjoyed this movie. Neil Simon has created many great plays leading to movies such as Brighton Beach, The Odd Couple, Seems Like Old Times and many, many more. Marsha Mason is definitely talented and able to carry off this somewhat difficult role. I also have loved James Caan in other movies such as Godfather, Misery, Kiss Me Goodbye, Gardens of Stone to name only a few. However, his performance as George Schneider seems lacking in content. His wittiness and humor are great and he shines when doing comedy, but with the drama -- such as when conflicted with a new relationship and ultimately, he jumps into marriage not really knowing his new bride. Also Joseph Bologna and Valerie Harper are excellent as the co-stars who ended up pursuing an extramarital affair. I believe it is really Marsha Mason's superb acting that carries most of this film. She was also great in The Goodbye Girl. The only other problem with the dialog is some of Neil Simon's one-liners for Marsha Mason seem trite and overly worn-out. Simon seems to use the same lines over and over again for other scripts he has written. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story (1995)
Brilliant, but flawed news reporter.
This was a very sketchy and vague account of Jessica Savitch's life. If not for the outstanding performance by Sela Ward and Ron Silver, I think this film would have done much worse in ratings. We are given no background of this character and why she is so aggressive and driven to succeed as a newswoman. You only see a highly successful, celebrity type of anchorwoman who outshines many of her peers, but her personal life and relationships are disastrous. With Ron Kershaw, she has a stormy and tumultuous relationship. Still they do love each other and cannot seem to go very long without getting back together. Her first assignment was in Houston and then moved onto Philadelphia where she landed her first big assignment. Being very demanding and temperamental though, she is hard to work with and earns a bad reputation. Ultimately this will lead to her famous Meltdown video which was copied and sent to networks throughout the country.
Sadly she was plagued by tragedy both in marriage and in personal relationships. Both of her marriages failed, one from suicide of her spouse, who had been heavily into drugs. Then becoming pregnant, she suffered a miscarriage, which she was slow to recover from. Then cocaine became a problem for her later in her career which may have led to her professional downfall.
Still Jessica Savitch was a brilliant anchorwoman who gained a celebrity status. She was well known throughout our country and very popular too. Her legacy will live on as the first woman anchor in news and as a role model for many up and coming newswomen. For this alone she will be remembered.
Homo Faber (1991)
Mesmerizing plot.
This is probably one of the best love stories I have ever seen because inevitably it is doomed. With a stellar cast and gorgeous scenery, the movie instantly grabs your attention. Sam Shepard as always gives an intriguing performance as Faber, a civil engineer traveling across the Europe. He has a dry wit and cynical sense of humor, seeming reluctant to make friends with his fellow passengers until he meets Sabeth played by Julie Delpy. With her charm and outspoken personality, he is soon drawn to her. The passion of their love affair and strong physical attraction makes this story all the more tragic as it unfolds. It is heartbreaking to witness the coolness and detachment which consume Faber as the realization of who this woman really is, hits him. I almost cried to see how devastated Sabeth was at Faber's rejection of her. This is a truly great performance and have always admired Sam Shepard as one of the great actors of our time. Julie Delpy does a fantastic job portraying the young woman. Also her mother gives a good performance.
I would highly recommend this film, but to a more mature audience who is not easily shocked.
Premonition (2007)
This was kind of a disappointment for a film with Sandra Bullock.
Ordinarily I would jump at the chance to see Sandra Bullock, as I have always loved all her acting performances -- from Speed to this movie. However, I really was disappointed in this movie. Maybe this was not necessarily Sandra Bullock's fault. First of all the sequence of events was very disorganized and hard to follow. I understand that she was looking into the future and actually living the future before it came, but this was not evident until later in the movie. The dialog was not good and development of characters was lacking. We never really got to know her husband, played by McMahon, whose acting seemed flat. He showed no emotion whatsoever until the end. Also I thought the idea of using the same policeman who informed her of her husband's death, to stop Sandra Bullock for speeding was in bad taste, even though I understand this may have intensified the suspense. I do believe the theme of supposedly living the perfect life with a great husband was examined in this movie and its real meaning explored. Obviously the character, Linda did not have a perfect marriage at all, but to give her credit, she did try to rectify this and make amends with her husband before he was killed.
This was certainly not a happy movie and not even very entertaining. I believe with a better choice for playing the husband and better dialog, it could have been a worthy effort. Also the script needed to be re-written as to sequence of events. I believe the viewer might have an easier time of following the time-line of events if not so much rambling and switching back and forth -- from present to future scenes. As always, Sandra Bullock's wonderful performance probably saved this movie.
A Loss of Innocence (1996)
Loss of Inocence
I recently watched this film and found it very conflicted emotionally and with religious overtones. The treatment of Erik by his own family was difficult to watch, leaving the viewer wandering just what terrible thing had he done to warrant such treatment. Also the love triangle involving Chel, Erik and Jens added more drama to an already tense and stormy situation. It is truly heart-wrenching to watch these poor characters -- Chel and Erik struggling with right and wrong and also the morality of their situation. Then when Jens is killed in the hunting accident, the situation seems to regress to an even worse pitch -- with the family completely against Erik. This is truly a Shakespean ending -- sans Romeo and Juliet -- if there ever was one. I thought the acting performance by Jennie Garth and Rob Estes was outstanding -- truly a worthwhile viewing, even though the theme was so tragic.