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Reviews
The Greatest Showman (2017)
Cheap, glittery, shallow and boring
I did not enjoy this at all. I found the music to be generic, bland pop that sounded like it was created by a marketing department, in fact the whole movie seemed like a cheap, glittery plastic bauble from an arcade game. The songs were completely interchangeable and after awhile I cringed every time someone launched into song. There was absolutely no narrative; it seemed like a music video. There was a lot of talent but the characters were like stick figures, with no actual character development, and no motivation. There was not a genuinely creative moment in the whole movie. I started looking at my watch after about a half-hour hoping it would end soon.
God Is the Bigger Elvis (2012)
A deeply touching and profound documentary
This is the improbable story of Dolores Hart, Hollywood starlet turned cloistered nun. Best know for "Where The Boys Are", Ms. Hart in 1963 seems to have the perfect life: she is young, beautiful, talented, sought after and about to marry the love of her life. But there is something missing...how she finds that missing piece and where it leads her is the substance of the film. Inter-cutting scenes from her 60's film career with her very different life in the past 50 years and in the present makes for a compelling story. The last ten minutes of the documentary will absolutely haunt you as you realize the full implications of her decision to walk away from her former life.
The Lone Ranger (2013)
Very entertaining
I saw this last night, and I found it very entertaining. It was like an amusement park ride, with plenty of humor, and some truly spectacular action scenes that can't possibly be computer generated. Johnny Depp's Tonto is wonderful - he is a treasure. Armie Hammer does a great job as the masked man. I know that The Lone Ranger has received a great deal of negative critical attention, so I was surprised that when I entered the theater as the previews started, it was so crowded that there were few seats left. The rest of the audience enjoyed it as well - the two women sitting next to me laughed throughout the movie and there was applause when the film ended, something that I have not encountered for a long time. I would highly recommend it as a great film for families, but not small children as there are some intense scenes.
The Social Network (2010)
Why was this movie made?
It is hard to imagine what possessed anyone to think that this story would make for an entertaining film. There is nothing inspiring, or profound, or even very interesting in the story - stories like this play out in the corporate world just about every day. The only reason the movie was made is because someone became obscenely wealthy at the age of 23 due to his technical savvy and Ivy League connections. So what? That has happened before, too. The main character is really unpleasant, and not in a fascinating way. It is depressing to know that people who behave in such a reprehensible manner can profit so greatly. How many people can even relate to the characters in this film? I am glad that I saw it at a friend's house and didn't pay ten dollars in a movie theater.
The Godfather (1972)
Still resonates after all these years
Wow, this is a great film. Repeated (and I do mean repeated) viewings have not changed its power to fascinate and enthrall after all these years. Like the great Greek tragedies, Godfathers I and II just speak the essential truth about humanity and familial relationships in a way that everyone can relate to and can use to understand their own lives. Great art has the power to do that. All of the elements - screenplay, cinematography, acting, music - come together just about perfectly. Perhaps it is because of an accident of time and place and circumstance, like Casablanca, but it is hard to imagine this film being done any other way, or being remade by anyone else, with another cast. Truly one of the essential movies in the cinematic canon.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Confusing, Violent and Too Long
This was not a bad movie, but had way too much going on, and went on too long - I started looking at my watch after about an hour and fifteen minutes, and the last half-hour seemed like an eternity. Sometimes it seems as if pictures such as this one are made for audiences who are easily bored or who have ADD. Too many explosions, car crashes, too many plot points, not enough substance. Heath Ledger's characterization was interesting, but in light of his death it is difficult to objectively analyze his performance. The other performances were so-so. The movie takes itself a bit too seriously; it is, after all, a film about a comic-book character, and doesn't resonate the way a truly great film like The Godfather does.
The Jolson Story (1946)
Fascinating as a slice of entertainment history
This movie is fascinating in its way, but not so much for its basic storyline; it is obviously a glossed-over version of a real life and there is practically no conflict or dramatic tension in the movie. It is more interesting as a portrayal of an energetic entertainer who clearly appealed greatly to audiences of his time, but his style of entertainment is so bizarre and dated by today's standards that he has completely fallen off of the radar. The "blackface" performance mode is cringe-inducing to watch now, as is the hokey singing style and oft-imitated gestures and phrasing; this makes the movie too politically incorrect to be aired often.
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
A palpable sense of dread
I found this movie to be more truly scary than any other movie I have ever seen. I lived alone when I first saw it in the mid-80's, and I had trouble sleeping after I watched it. The metaphysical quality of the mystery, the ambiguity with which the mystery is treated, are far more horrifying than films where the shocks are blatant and obvious and concrete. What really happened on Hanging Rock? There is no way to tell. It is the horror of the unknowable, the existential void, that makes this film so deliciously chilling. This film's subtlety does not work for those whose idea of horror is the guy jumping out from behind a tree with a knife - I recommended it to a friend, and he told me it was one of the most boring movies he had ever seen. Picnic at Hanging Rock is beautifully filmed, but plays more like a dream than a conventional narrative. The pan-pipe music is evocative of another world. Peter Weir has made some wonderful movies - The Last Wave, The Year of Living Dangerously, Witness, The Truman Show - but none of them top this.
Cleopatra (1963)
Just about unwatchable
I have truly tried several times to watch this film. I have probably seen the entire thing at this point, and it has to be one of the worst films ever made. Garish and anachronistic, badly acted, boring dialog, you name it. The scenes between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are cringe-inducing; they were lovers in real life, how could they be so tedious on screen? Of course, the incessant blather they are speaking doesn't help.
I could not help comparing Elizabeth Taylor's plump little dumpling of a Cleopatra with the slinky, gorgeous Claudette Colbert in the 1934 version. That movie, while dated, holds up better than this junk. I was not able to suspend disbelief for even one second and believe that I was viewing ancient Egypt, despite the vast sums of money spent on the production. A travesty.