Reviews

There is no question that Ayn Rand's words didn't translate perfectly to film. And there are some notable flaws. For example the man playing Peter Keating looks way too young to have been a schoolmate with Gary Cooper's Roark. And also there is the fact that Cooper is not a "carrot top" which is something which Rand stresses in the novel. Nonetheless this is a very interesting film attempt at a script which stresses individual rights, and must have seemed out of place back in the late '40's when made, and especially by what was probably the most left wing of all the movie studios, Warner Brothers. I have always felt that Atlas Shrugged was the stronger of Rand's 2 most famous novels and hopefully we will get to see "Who Is John Galt" before long.

I know that this film does not get much acclaim, and it is indeed a rather inconsistent affair, but the fourth segment featuring the late great Walter Matthau (whom we unfortunately lost last Saturday)is absolutely hilarious and is by far and away the best in the film. Matthau is able to pull off the "hide the hooker" from my wife skit so convincingly that one could almost view this as actually happening in real life. I know of few comic actors who would not overplay this scene, and it is a great testament to the man himself.

What were they thinking? In all fairness, it would be nearly impossible to render Joseph Heller's classic anti-war novel into a feature length film. But what really annoyed me was that entire characters, and may I add rather significant characters such as Dori Duz and General Peckam were left out altoghether. As a result, the movie makes no sense. In the novel we can understand Colonel Cathcart's motivation for raising the number of missions. Here, it just looks like he is doing it for the sake of doing it. I give Alan Arkin credit for trying, but please read the book and skip this incoherent mess.

I LOVED this film. Incredible plot twists keep you engrossed. Jeff Bridges is perfect as the hippie bowler "Dude". As a matter of fact everything is perfect here. I generally like all the Coen brothers films, although at times they have a tendency of getting too offbeat just for the sake of being offbeat. This is NOT the case here. All in all, this and Barton Fink are their 2 best films in my opinion.

Believe it or not, this is one of my all time favourite films. The speeches at the proxy fight by Jorgy" and "Larry the Liquidator" are sensational. I have not seen any movie that has done this better including Gordon Gecko's "Greed is Good" in Wall Street. I was applauding after I heard DeVito talking about fiber optics and obsolescence.

Sadly, this film seemed to be very under-appreciated at the time of release back in '96. Perhaps this is because people wanted to see a "likeable" performance by the rubber faced one, and this was just too dark for most viewers. But this is an incredible black comedy which probes the dark side of pop culture, and my prediction is that it will become a cult classic in the years to come and will be recognized for its genius in terms of direction, acting, and style.

I found this to be a rather cute comedy, which has gotten a bit of a strange reputation owing to the fact that the "Gipper" plays an unusual role. But Reagan does play comedy well (it's unfortunate that he didn't make more comedies in his day), and Walter Slezak is amusing in a nice, if a bit stereotypical kind of part as his German professor/mentor.

First off, let me state that I have tremendous respect for Robert Altman, but this film is misguided on virtually every count. Harry Nilson's songs are pathetically bad, Robin Williams is almost incoherent at times, and the plot makes absolutely no sense. I remember that I was never even able to get more than an hour into this without switching off HBO to find something more interesting (a test pattern perhaps)

I had to rent this at Blockbuster one rainy night, and while I would certainly not call it great, I don't know how anyone could say this is the worst movie ever made. The worst movie ever made would be a boring, misfire of a flick which cannot be endured all the way until the end. (My personal vote goes to Robert Altman's Popeye in that respect). This is watchable, even with bad continuity, acting and "special effects"

This film has a really promising beginning as the title character(played by Bruce Willis) is sprung from jail and finds himself back in his former occupation of cat burgular. The scene in which he and Danny Aiello rob an Art Museum in perfect time to "Swinging On a Star" is extremely well choreographed. Unfortunately, about a half hour into this, it descends into utter silliness from which it never recovers. Very unfortunate, since this had the potential of being at the very least, a cult classic.

I just saw this on Turner Classic Movies earlier tonight and WOW! Lugosi's facial expressions alone make this worth watching. It just goes to show that even with a low budget and just one star you can make a very effective picture. And by the way, do you have a match I can borrow?

The best part about Go West, which is actually a later, lesser Marx Brothers affair is Groucho's name. S. Quentin Quale is a reference to underage girls who will land you in San Quentin if you, ahem, go too far with them. That and the scene where the brothers literally destroy a train make the film worth seeing.

This is an enjoyable flick in a Michael Moore kind of way. But the ending (which I will not give away) was conspiratorial to such an Oliver Stone degree that it kind of negated the purpose of the whole enterprise.

Snub Pollard's short "It's a Gift" is inventive in more ways than one. He plays an eccentric inventor who looks as if he could have influenced the cartoons of Rube Goldberg, who was famous for depicting simple inventions done by convoluted means. And thankfully this is a silent, because talking would have just gotten in the way of this very creative pantomime. And I would love to drive one of the those magnet cars for real one day!

High Anxiety almost seems like the forgotten Mel Brooks film for some reason. If you ask the average person for their favorite Brooks movie, they will likely answer Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, or the Producers. But this gem is ripe for rediscovery. As a matter of fact, it probably is his most consistent film in terms of laughs, if not his absolute funniest. It is also his best directed, great camera angles, inspired by Hitchcock, and a wonderfully "kinky" performance by Cloris Leachman as Nurse Diesel. Excellent.

Although Duck Soup is my favorite Marx Bros. film, Animal Crackers is a very close second. What I especially like is that even though it is an early talkie, it nontheless has the feel of a "roaring 20's" production which in fact it had been as a Broadway show. Also the secondary characters such as Roscoe Chandler (aka Avi the Fishman) are actually slightly interesting which really can't be said of many of the other Marx Brothers films or about Zeppo for that matter.

Where do I begin with this film. Very enjoyable, if a bit too British at times. It has some offbeat casting (Would you believe Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame, as a stoned sound technician?), as well as a mad scientest performing "evil" experiments on the eve of a visit by the queen and subsequent protests. The ending of this will make you shake your head as well.

Movies based on Stephen King works are always a hit or miss affair, but this one does indeed work. This is really more of a psychological thriller film than a strict horror flick for which he is known. The performances are quite strong as well, and Brad Renfro is quite believable as the student/provocateur.

I first saw this film about 11 years ago when my former college Accounting professor recommended it to me. I was amazed that a movie from 1968 could so coherently and hilariously portray computer crime. Maggie Smith is delightful and Ustinov plays the "retro hacker" perfectly. "O Nolo Mio"!!!!!

This is my favorite W.C. Fields film because of its surrealistic and sometimes outright off-beat directorial style. Fortunately, there is no plot here, just "Uncle Bill" acting at his looniest best. The scene where he jumps out of an airplane should be an all time classic.

Bananas is Woody Allen's best film, hands down. Sorry, Annie Hall fans but the gags in here are the most creative I have seen in any movie of his. I would put Sleeper a fairly close second.