Reviews

The idea behind this film was a good one. Too bad it wasn't written well. Casting Sidney Poitier as the FBI agent was a good idea, and he did an outstanding job. Tom Berenger, on the other hand, only knows one emotion in most of his movies, anger. Kirstie Alley's character could have been a great one, and even showed some possibilities once, but the writer really let us down by making her role mostly a helpless female. This was completely inconsistent with the strongly independent character she was supposed to be. I don't care for Alley's acting anyway. The movie should have ended about fifteen minutes sooner than it did. The director milked the cow dry before the unbelievable final action. I will keep this in my collection only as an example of Poitier's performances.

An interesting film -- a mixture of light comedy, romance, and fantasy, with a dream sequence of very modernistic music and a surreal dance number. Astaire accompanies himself on a harp in one scene and in another dances on a floor with wavy lines that create a three-dimensional optical illusion effect which is almost disconcerting. Frank Morgan (the Wizard of Oz) and Mildred Natwick give excellent supporting performances, as does Leon Ames, who appeared in many movies of the 1940's. It's one of Astaire's better dance movies, but completely different from his earlier ones in tone, creativity, and romantic expression, and it's in color. Worth seeing again.

This is the second of the series Pirates of the Caribbean. It is not nearly as good as the first one. It is a typical Disney pirate adventure film, with much of it designed to appeal to youngsters. This one contains even more silly stunts, done with computer graphics. The story is so convoluted that it makes virtually no sense. The special effects are done well, and it's fun to watch Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley perform, but they don't have much of a script to work with. Finally, the ending makes it clear that this is just the forerunner for the next installment. It is not a complete movie, unfortunately. I probably will not watch it again, but will keep it in my collection as part of the total series.

Trader Horn seems to have set a precedent for later African adventure movies. It introduces the African adventurer (not a hunter or explorer in this movie, but a trader). There are very typical scenes: alligators and hippos in the rivers and lakes; herds of wildlife stampeding; beautiful distant vistas; teeming jungle and swamps; loud waterfalls; variety of African tribes; tribal drums, dances, daily life, and weapons; natives torturing and killing other natives; a paddle-wheel riverboat; native "chief gun bearer" and porters; predator/prey kills; and the shooting of animals to protect the adventurers. It includes a reverse-Tarzan storyline, with a female white person abducted as a child by natives, who later becomes a sort of tribal queen, but is "rescued" by the adventurers and returned to civilization. Graphic scenes include shooting and killing two rhinos and watching lions and leopards killing prey. A considerable amount of the film is devoted to scenes of wildlife, with descriptions of the common names of the animals and something of interest about each type, which is much like a documentary. Most other African adventure movies seem to have borrowed ideas and scenes from this movie.

Something that interests me about this film is that the primary supporting role is played by Duncan Renaldo, when he was a very young actor. About 25 years later, he became a very popular western hero on television, starring in the half-hour weekly show The Cisco Kid.

I am definitely not a fan of Quentin Tarantino. The only films of his that I have seen are the two in the Kill Bill series. I was interested in seeing them primarily because Uma Thurman and David Carradine (in the second one) were the leads, with an interesting supporting cast.

Tarantino has a thing about blood in these movies, with the red fluid being sprayed copiously around the sets. He also enjoys showing an outlandish amount of violence and the after-effects of it. I am not impressed by these features. However, there is something oddly intriguing about these films. The drama, the off-center dialog, the action scenes (even with the blood), and the storyline are fascinating. The weird assortment of music enhances well each segment. He also has a penchant for odd things such as using a sizable chunk of Japanese anime, flashes between color and black-and-white, inserts of titles for various segments, off-and-on foreign language dialog with subtitles, unexpected flash-backs and flash-forwards, and an other-worldly presentation in general. The cast members do an excellent job in their roles, and the makeup and costumes add a nice touch. Finally, it is easy to sympathize with the main character and her quest for revenge.

I saw the Volume 2 film before I saw the Volume 1. Normally, I would never do that on purpose, but I had heard that the second one was the best, and I had the opportunity to see it first. I agree that the second in the series is better than the first, but I was curious to see Volume 1, anyway. It appears to me that the first one was more bloody than the second, although it is probably a close call. I think Tarantino is weird, but I have to admit that he makes an interesting film, even if it's not really my cup of tea.

This was another disappointing sequel in the 80's. After the first Indiana Jones film, I was really looking forward to this one, but it was hardly worth seeing. Kate Capshaw's role and script were horrendous, completely silly, useless, and unsympathetic. The movie was actually depressing; it was very dark and more like a not-very-good horror film. It appeared they were trying to copy the Conan movie settings and stories, which was inappropriate for the Indiana Jones persona established in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The mine car scene continued a long time past the point at which it became boring, and the filming of it made it look just like an amusement park ride. Altogether, this is a pretty bad movie, and I do not expect to watch it again.

There was one humorous item: the nightclub in the opening sequence is called Club Obi Wan, a reference to Star Wars.

I am definitely not a fan of Quentin Tarantino. The only films of his that I have seen are the two in the Kill Bill series. I was interested in seeing them primarily because Uma Thurman and David Carradine (in the second one) were the leads, with an interesting supporting cast.

This second film in the series is not nearly as bloody and violent as the first, although there is plenty of both. The dialog between David Carradine and Uma Thurman at the end of the movie is fascinating, a complete departure from the action leading up to it. Carradine's performance is as excellent as Thurman's. As in the first, the selections of music are very interesting, fitting the different segments well, but also representing odd choices. I was most surprised by the very end of the film, which neatly tied up all the loose ends and had a storybook finish. This was not what I expected from Tarantino. It was a pleasant surprise.

This is a good movie, based on the life of Jack Norworth, song writer and performer who wrote Shine On Harvest Moon. It stars Ann Sheridan and Dennis Morgan, excellent actors of the 1940's, with great supporting roles by Jack Carson, Marie Wilson, and S.Z. Sakall (a very good comedic performer in many musicals and comedies of those days). The movie is a period piece about early 20th century life, but there is a final message at the end of the movie that says, "Buy War Bonds," the only reference to the war. Another interesting fact about the movie is that it is in black-and-white, until the final musical number, when it switches to color. The B&W portion plays well with the time period portrayed by the movie, while the color ending indicates the transition of the story to more modern times, with the final stage act being performed as part of the Ziegfeld Follies. I would watch this movie again.

This is a good example of the romantic/musical/comedy light movies that came out in the 1950's and the 1960's. It's in color, with an excellent cast, some good music, a typical love story, and light comedy. It was the introductory film for Vic Damone, with excellent singing by him, Jane Powell, Fernando Lamas, Danielle Darrieux (a singer/actress whom I was not familiar with), and The Four Freshmen. With those outstanding singers, I cannot understand why the director of the movie had Wendell Corey sing two songs, when he couldn't sing worth a hoot. Perhaps it was meant to be a humorous contrast for the other singers, but I can imagine that Mr. Corey was embarrassed by having to do so. This is a good light-weight comedy that I will watch again.

There are three reasons to watch this movie: Rene Russo, Cheech Marin, and Don Johnson. The rest of it is a waste of time. Kevin Costner's character, the protagonist, is a jerk from beginning to end. He never changes, he never learns anything, he is a total loser. I don't know whether to blame the script writer, the director, or Costner, but it doesn't really matter. The main character is entirely unsympathetic. Marin has some great lines, and he delivers them beautifully. Russo is sexy and plays her part perfectly. Johnson's performance is excellent, except for the one scene in which the director or scrip writer or someone decided that he needed to play completely out of character in order to make him the villain. It even appeared that he was embarrassed to have to do that scene, since it was totally inconsistent with the rest of his role. I will watch the film again, but just to enjoy watching Russo, Marin, and Johnson.

A typical extra-light musical comedy of its time. Lots of patriotic references related to the war; popular dances of the time; ridiculous script; but some good performances. Lucille Ball plays herself and does it well. Harry James and his orchestra play beautifully, and James plays The Flight of the Bumblebee on his trumpet. A young Chill Wills looks trim and shows a preview of his future wonderful acting skills. A youthful June Allyson and others do some very good vocals, and a young Nancy Walker is hilarious (a forerunner performance of her later outstanding comedy). The script is more like a high school farce, but the movie is worth seeing because of those other neat features.

Busby Berkeley's musical pieces in this film set high standards and expectations for future musical films. His work was excellent, and his additional films continued to raise the bar for visual effects, precision dancing and movement, and creativity in costumes, sets, lighting, and camera work. The story is a bit hokey, as most were in the early 1930's, but the performances by Dick Powell and Joan Blondell were outstanding. I have never understood the movie audiences' infatuation with Ruby Keeler. In my opinion, she was far from star quality. Her voice was grating; her acting was amateurish; her dancing was mediocre; and she wasn't nearly as beautiful or striking in looks as many of her contemporaries. Perhaps it's just my perspective from many decades later, but I just do not enjoy her in any movie in which I've seen her. She reminds me of the silent screen actress who couldn't sing, speak, or act well in "talking pictures," as beautifully lampooned in "Singin' in the Rain." Ginger Rogers, who had a much smaller part in the film, so upstaged her that it is obvious to me who the better actress and singer really was, and certainly I know Rogers could out-dance Keeler easily.

There was at least one actor whom I seemed to recognize in a quick scene, even though he had no speaking part. I had to review the cast list to discover William "Wild Bill" Elliott, an actor I enjoyed very much in western films produced much later. I also was interested in the short scene with Sterling Holloway, who later was much more famous as a comedian. I had no idea Billy Barty was in movies this early. Until I read the cast list, I didn't even realize Dennis O'Keefe had a bit part in the film. Finally, I was most impressed by the singing of Etta Moten; what a fabulous voice she had.

This is an interesting movie. I am a sucker for Berkeley's films, and I will enjoy seeing this one again.

This is a silly farce, even a little over the top for a typical Doris Day comedy. But, there are some things worth noting. The support cast of comedians who were popular at the time is outstanding -- John McGiver, Paul Lynde, Dom DeLuise, and Dick Martin (from the extremely popular TV comedy series Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In). Eric Fleming is a surprise supporting actor; he was famous from the TV western series Rawhide, which also starred Clint Eastwood. Arthur Godfrey is also a surprise. This is the only movie I recall seeing him in, but I remember him from his popular radio and TV shows of many years before this film was made. Finally, I enjoy the nostalgia provided by hilarious references to the space race, space age automation, and Cold War spies. Doris Day plays her typical beautiful madcap woman who, of course, falls in love and gets married at the end of the film. I will watch it again, in spite of the crazy slapstick antics and ridiculous script.

This is a good James Bond movie. It would have been great if Sean Connery had starred in it. George Lazenby just didn't have the necessary charisma to be Bond. Diana Rigg was outstanding in this film. I had really enjoyed her in the British TV series The Avengers earlier, and she was even better in this movie. I recall that when I first saw this film, and Bond married the character played by Rigg, I had hopes that she would continue in future 007 movies, as Mrs. James Bond. Alas, it was not to be. This Bond movie showed a growing professionalism in the special effects area. In spite of Lazenby's less-than-stellar performance, I will watch this film fairly often.

This is a fun movie, one I enjoy very much. It is completely outrageous, with a motorcycle/horse chase in a high-rise hotel, an atomic bomb explosion, the destruction of a bridge in the Florida keys, a Rambo-style shoot-out with uncountable dead bodies and huge fireball explosions, and the final rescue using a Harrier VTOL aircraft. But, in spite of the off-the-wall action, the movie is hilarious, due to one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's funnier performances, an outstanding comedic job by Jamie Lee Curtis, and humorous lines delivered by Tom Arnold. With good support roles played by Bill Paxton and Eliza Dushku, and excellent work by Tia Carrere and Art Malik, it is great escapism. Malik was also excellent in The Living Daylights, that time as a good guy, this time as the villain. The script is very entertaining, and I will enjoy watching this movie frequently.

The first movie starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello was very good. America had not yet entered World War II, but this is very much like a propaganda film. In addition to the usual Abbott and Costello madcap comedy, there is a decent storyline, but the best part of the movie is the performance by the Andrews Sisters singing the hit song -- Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. There was also a good bit part by Shemp Howard, one of the Three Stooges, while Lou Costello sang a song (a rare event in these movies). This not only set the tone for future Abbott and Costello comedies, it also gave a good indication of future movies in the 1940's that dealt with the war. Good script, good music, good acting, good comedy: good entertainment.

This is a good film. The dialog sounds like crime movies of the 1940's, but the script is very good. The performances by Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, and William Bendix are excellent. Russell sings a couple of songs, very well, and is drop-dead gorgeous, in the role of a torch singer. Gloria Grahame has a supporting femme fatale role, similar to many she played in the 1940's and 1950's, and she always did a good job. The movie opens with a documentary-like description of Macao, assuming audiences would not know much, if anything, about the island and its location (which probably was true). It's a good adventure/crime story, done in black-and-white, which works well, since most of the action takes place at night. I will enjoy watching this film often.