Reviews

I was not particularly impressed with the story, being a criminal defense attorney I could see some major holes in it.

BUT Kathleen Robertson, the main character grabbed me like a boll dog and would NOT let go.

I can see a long and great career for this young woman - she has a stunng beauty and is a great actress.

Brava, brava, brava Kathleen.

I look forward to seeing more of her work.

Glad to read that she has moved here, I suspect her career in the great while cold north would be very limited.

I liked it - it is hard NOT to like The Music Man:

BUT Matthew Broderick is no Robert Preston. He lacks the personna to pull off the Harold Hill scam. And, as far as I know, Meredith Willson had Preston in mind when he wrote the show.

Kristin Chenoweth, however, was a better Marion than Shirley Jones. Kristin has as good a voice as Jones but she has a natural midwest accent that fits River City well, and she LOOKS like a small town librarian.

The music was great - at least those songs which were left in from the Broadway-Chicago-1962 versions (All of which I saw many times) The songs added later were not up to the standard of Meredith Willson's original score.

However, the ending was more in keeping with the original - the '62 sudden switch to the "Band of America" rather than a bunch of kids. And the "Marion" sequence was a bit more enjoyable than the highly polished "62 version.

All in all, a good remake but not up to the original.

I remember reading the original Balzac story in college French.

I remember Ken Nordine of WGN-TV in Chicago reading it as one of his late night shows.

Always loved the story but never believe they could or would make a movie of it. To my surprise they did and did it VERY well.

Few of any Balzac stories lend themselves to dramatization, which is unfortunate, and -cat lover that I am, I was always hoping it WOULD be filmed without a lot of Hollywood sexing up. This is as close to perfect conversion as could be done.

The theater of the mind is always better than what the eye can see, but this is as close as I think it can come to letting the imagination of reading meet the reality of seeing.

Girl is in the 70s "sanctuary: movement, girl gets killed in plane crash, US System gets blamed AGAIN.

Kids, if it stinks so bad here, if the system is so corrupt WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE. Go someplace better. (And hope you can survive protesting THEM THERE.

If they had kept the leftist, AMERIKA stinks rhetoric out it might have been a good movie, but this is just another even less talented Michael Moore type screed (not that Moore shows any talent or originality himself).

Actually, I caught this twittery on the Sci-Fi channel, of all places, seems they have run out of decent Japanese monsters and bad space westerns to show on Sundays.

Sadly, a lot of money was wasted with another anti-American piece of crud.

By good luck, the weather here last night was horrible so I stayed home, and, to my delight saw WIT was on HBO again.

I watched it AGAIN. I will watch it anytime it is available. Every character is so perfectly drawn. The research MDs who can't see a patient for the disease, the charge nurse who can't (and won't) see the disease for the patient and her needs, the Code Crew who couldn't care less - just let us do our job and get the hell out of the way!

And Emma Thompson, one of the greats of all time doing one of the most intense tours de force I have ever seen. On a par with Agnes Morehead's "Sorry Wrong Number" (Or the Old Woman and the space ship on the Twilight zone.)

She plumbs the depth of pathos without ever nearing bathos.

Of particular joy was Evelyn reading the "Little Bunny" story. I can imagine what it must be like to know you're terminal and on the way to death ALONE.

I first saw KMK on stage in Chicago in about 1949, saw the movie with Kathryn Grayson (Didn't like her too much - rather unusual for me) but loved the two hoods. James Whitmore was terrifically funny.

I really enjoyed this version since it was far closer to the original show than the Hollywood version was.

Unfortunately there IS a major problem with the script.

To understand many of the references you have to be in at least your 60s because if the WWII references and the immediate post-WWII references.

The General tho was the perfect pompous ass and Rachel York as Lily was outstanding,

As to the comparison with Music Man, let's face it NOBODY will ever replace Robert Preston as Prof Harold Hill, not now not ever. Mathew Broderick is a nice actor, but I would never cast him in that part, NEVER.

I stumbled on this late last night n TCM.

Hadn't seen it since it came out originally, but had never forgotten it.

I had completely forgotten how gorgeous and talented Signe Hasso was when she was still young, ditto for Shelly Winters before she balooned out.

Ronald Coleman, though, was the quintessential state actor of his time - I had read Othello in high school English - and HATED it. After seeing "A Double Life" I read it again and finally understood what the play was about.

The Gordon/Kanin writing team was at its peak when this script was done -

A movie well worth remembering and rewatching,

An outstanding show, Burnett can hold her own against Ruthie Henshall, who is about half her age.

All well seasoned Broadway types doing a tour de force job and doing it well.

Script is a rather silly revue format and the lyrics inane but the case, especially Carol and Ruthie sell them SO well.

The male performers all did good work and I was once again surprised that Branson Pinchot could do so well in a straight, non-accented role (I still see Balkie when I hear his name}.

All in all, a couple of hours of fun and fine singing.

It is hard to remember a movie where there are so many well-known, talented actors and tech people have worked SO hard to produce such a major league piece of crud. I guess Travolta and Whittaker must have needed a tax payment or some other MAJOR cash inflow.

I like science fiction, I like to watch Travolta and Whittaker (who is fast becoming the true utility actor - throw any role at him and he'll do it well) but this "movie" could be a career stopper for lessor names.

I can even enjoy BAD movies if they're at least consistent with the main script idea (Howard the Duck springs to mind - wonderful concept, silly execution, but a thoroughly enjoyable piece of fluff) But THIS one, no way.

But I hope the actors overcharged the producers - then at least SOMEONE would have gotten some enjoyment out of it. I didn't.

One of the best "Jesus" films I've seen. Theater was packed - opening night - and SILENT,SILENT, SILENT!! Something I have never seen in more than 60 years of movie going. No crackling papers, sloshing soft drinks, no cell phones and NO CONVERSATIONS

The fact that the dialogue was in Latin and Aramaic did NOT seem to bother this small town Texas audience.

It WAS BLOODY, but not as bloody as the original event must have been - according to writers of the time crucifixions were extremely brutal and bloodily painful slow deaths - one writer mentions that in many cases death could take 2-3 DAYS. Nor as bloody as any "Freddy" or Tarantino movie and not one profanity or obscenity,

This is a must see for adults, but far too intense for children.

In spite of the howls from professional howlers, I did not find it particularly anti-semetic, nor even anti-Roman. I was bothered though that the 2 thieves were so clean since a normal part of the crucifixion according to contemporary writers always involved flogging and other torture of the convict as a part of the procedure, and these guys were absolutely clean, looked almost freshly showered.

One other problem, the woman playing Mary looked far too young for the part. Mary would have been in her middle to late 40s in a time when the life expectancy of most people was about 50 and she had lived in something less than luxury conditions in a part of the world that was (and is) long on disease and short on ease for the common people.

But over all, a very well done film.

I have this piece of nocore porn a 1 (one) because there is no zero on the scale. I think I switched out of it about 15 seconds after the opening credits finished.

I love well built girls but even that wasn't enough to get me past the first line of "doalogue" (Sp intentional)

I caught the pilot almost by mistake, loved it, particularly Ellen Muth as George. Patinkin gave his usual outstanding, dryly humorous curmudgeonly performance and the rest of the cast was more than acceptable.

Considering the subject matter, I thought the concept was handled well, even though the language was a bit saltier than needed, though I guess were I about to be hit by a falling piece of space comode, my comment might also be "aw s**t!!!" as Georgia put it.

Worth watching and I am happy to see that it may be continued next season.

I grew up with a taste for sendups and HTD is that. The writers, director and cast took a completely silly story and a hopelessly unbelievable underlying theme and ran with it VERY well. (A duck with the hots for Lea Thompson Even Groucho couldn't carry that off - Harpo maybe)StarTrek it ain't never tried to be, but StarTrek as seen by Monty Python on Speed - yes.

I was forced to watch it by my granddaugher, after 5 minutes, when I sensed what I was really watching I started waiting for the edge to wear off. It didn't. In a way it was like watching a Disney "Satyricon or "Golden Ass of Apuleus". And it cracked me up. (Of course this was pre-Eisner Disney, now, who knows.)

One of the hardest things to do is satire. Most actors can't do it, those few who can handle the silliest concepts and lines with straight faces and without cracking up, get my vote every time, after all THEY know what's coming next. Yet they keep their character and seem to avoid a line which would embarrass most actors.

Interesting concept, tho a lot of time was wasted on the usual academic in-fighting and the sub-plot of Pacula raising her sister's son was not really necessary to the plot and, in my opinion, distractd from it.

Enjoyed the action, the history was way far off, and Why oh Why did Calpurnia. a noble roman lady, speak with such an accent - the actress didn't have one in her Ramada roles in Hot Shots - at least not so obvious a one.