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Reviews
A Haunting in Venice (2023)
Really less than even ONE Star
I would say this is the absolute worst Christie adaptatation by Kenneth Branagh, but this has nothing to do with Christie at all. Except that there are Halloween parties at the beginning of both the movie and the novel, NO Christie at all. Tina Fey is absolutely ghastly as Ariadne Oliver. Michelle Yeoh, Jude Hill (poor kid) and Jamie Dornan are all wasted. There is a short story somewhere in which Poirot does attend a seance, but again, nothing to do with this movie. I bought the DVD, but I am not sure I can even finish it.
I cannot understand the review praising this - obviously they have never read the alleged source material.
One of the worst movies I have ever seen.
The Corpse Vanishes (1942)
Creepy, but not that scary - but FUN!
OK, I always assumed the reason they were stealingbrides at the altar was that Lugoise needed VIRGIN serum to keep his wife going.
BUT, of course, being 1942, who could say that? But wasn't it assumed back then that these lovely young brides all in white were virgins?
All that aside, this is better than one would think. Lugosi is pretty good as the evil doctor, and I rathr like the plot. And Luana Walters is a hoot as the go-getter girl reporter! Woth s viewing.
The Pleasure of His Company (1961)
I wish this were more available, it's a delight!
I saw this when it first came out - I was just a kid (really) and I think my mother took me along to a matinee, because SHE wanted to see it. I loved it then, I love it still,and finally tracked down an "OK" copy from some dubious source. WHY can't they bring this out on DVD??? With Debbie Reynold's recent passing, I think there owuld be a market.
Tab Hunter is really good! Handsome, of course, but he's really good at playing the light comedy with the deft touch. Gary Merrill, FRED ASTAIRE (Need Is at more!)
Charlie Ruggles, Lilli Palmer, all wonderful. There is once dance scene with Mr. Astaire, and I read an anecdote by George Seaton, so I presume it's true: At a pre-wedding party, they are all dancing the mambo - well, Seaton says he had no clue how to mambo! HIM! So he grabbed one of the extras, had her run him through it, and of course, in a short while, he was mambo-ing better than anyone.
AND a chance to see Edith Head, in one of her very rare on-screen appearences, as the bridal department doyenne at I. Magnin's......and an extra thoguht - San Francisco, particularly in the opening credits, is a wonderful character, in and of itself.
Track it down; you won't be sorry!
All About Eve (1950)
No wonder it won the Best Picture Oscar!
Each scene just flows seamlessly into the next - what a script! And what casting! IF I had been an Academy voter that year, it would have been tough - Bette Davis in this, or Gloria Swanson. Some great lines that live on and on. My only minor quibble - Birdie (the great GREAT Thelma Ritter!)( is never seen or mentioned again after the party scene - what happened?
Pride (2014)
Best movie of 2014!
OK, being gay and from that time, perhaps that does color my impressions, but it was still an amazingly great movie! Wish it had done more in the big-time awards, but the BAFTA isn't small beerish. Imelda Staunton may be the biggest name, and as always, she never disappoints. People may say it glosses over and does "feel good" but having your parents toss you out into the street, or having explosives thrown into one's store/office isn't really feel good. Nor is that snide, self-righteous television clip of Thatcher saying she can't change her style. Nary a bad performance or heavy-handed move therein. Beautifully photographed. Some of those lads, oh, you just want to take them home (and I mean that in a nice way!) The women of the town - love them, especially Sian! (And fun to red what Sian really did with her life - in real life!) Dominic West's (Jonathan's) "Shame, Shame, Shame" scene is worth the price of admission alone. A must see.
White Nights (1985)
Holds us so well!
I remember sitting in a hotel room in Manhattan in June, 1984, and my then-lover had just walked out the door - probably for good. I turned on the radio and the song "Separate Lives" came on. Well. And may I say, NOT for that reason alone did I always feel Stephen Bishop was robbed blind at the Oscarsd the following spring by losing to Lionel Richie's vapid, pointless "Say You, Say Me." BUT back to the movie! Even my mother wanted me to take her when that movie came out. And GOD, what a killer. Much Kleenex. But because it held a depth of emotion that was genuine. Gregory Hines.......................wow. And you know, really, in view of recent world events, the premise which some of us thought rather silly at the time - well, doesn't all that seem more plausible now?
Far from Heaven (2002)
And the Oscar (SHOULD HAVE GONE!) to.........................
Definitely, that was Julianne Moore's year, and she was robbed of her Oscar by that fake nose on Nicole Kidman. This is by far her best work ever. Dennis Quaid wasn't even nominated, although he won the New York Film Critic's Award, and he should have won, too! I won't recap the plot - many others have already, but will emphasize how stunning the film is visually. Not a false note anywhere - Patricia Clarkson - hit all the right notes! Dennis Haysbert - why is not a bigger star? The costumes - perfect! In fact, my mother HAD that exact coat of Miss Moore's. I actually cannot praise this film highly enough. Obviously an homage to those glorious 50's and 60's films of Douglas Sirk, but with two very contemporary twists - man, if you've never seen it - see it ASAP! If you have seen it - see it again, and pretend as I do, Julianne Moore, in that gorgeous green gown, that year hearing her name and stepping up to accept that statuette that certainly should have been hers!
Mulholland Falls (1996)
Underrated and Overlooked.. But why??????????????????
I've never understood why this movie was so underrated and overlooked. Perhaps because I live in Los Angeles, I found the settings compelling. Parts of town, like the Los Feliz Hills where Nick and Melanie lived aren't that changed. A word here about Melanie Griffith - this is possibly the best thing she ever did - amazing - did NOT deserve the Razzie - that was just mean-spirited! Nolte is stunning, Palmantieri is great, Connolly was so lovely and heart-breaking - this was early on - many of us had not yet heard of her! Louise Fletcher is only in a couple of tiny scenes - but has what is perhaps the best line in the movie. And of course, the whole atomic testing thing was so far-seeing. I have had to watch it more than once - the first time was almost too much to take in. Now I get it. And personally, I felt the movie ended the way it had to.