Jessica Lange as daughter who suspects her father may have been a war a criminal, while defending him against the slanderous charge. Well acted and well-meaning-- not overly compelling.
JESSICA LANGE, FREDERIC FORREST, LUKAS HAAS
Disney "classic", good animation, some sexism by today's standards.
Fairly intersting animation, but long-winded and dry.
Well-acted and filmed story of Lindy Chamberlain, the Australian woman accused and convicted of murdering her baby at Ayres Rock. Because she kept her grief private, and made some odd comments to the media, the public and the police began to grow suspicious. She is arrested and charged with murder and languishes in jail until a shift in perception occurs. Streep has been criticized for her predilection for big parts with accents, but she does well here. Her Lindy is a little strange, smarter than she sounds, but not quite capable of hearing herself speak. She gets into trouble for saying what's on her mind instead what the public and media think should be on her mind. In real life, evidence later surfaced that provided convincing proof that she had told the truth about the dingo. She and her husband later divorced and she became a spokesman for animal rights.
Big ambitious piece but ultimately cheats the viewer, particularly if old enough to have lived through the sixties. Depicts various persons who coyly justify their newfound avarice and moral decay. Lowest point: a character says something about "remember when we used to think money was dirty word", while discussing possible investment ventures. Seen again April 1, 2001. I wouldn't be as harsh on it at this point. There is a sense of loss of idealism and pragmatism and it might be a tad unfair to see it merely as an expression of rationalization, of "complicity" with the establishment. There is more here to do with personal meaning and friendship and love. Yet, in some ways, I would judge it more harshly. What on earth guided the choice of music? Smokey Robinson and Three Dog Night?!! Sure, "Bad Moon Rising" has a resonance with the age, but most of the other songs reflect a kind of shallow familiarity with the 60's. ANd that is typical of the entire movie-- there's nothing here to really tickle you or inspire you-- it's just a bunch of overly attractive and successful friends hanging around for a weekend and screwing each other. The fact that they feel guilty about not living up to the ideals of the 60's-- but are capable only the most shallow expression of what those ideals were... (that money is a dirty word??-- that blacks sometimes commit crimes?) shows that Kasdan never was part of the counter-culture that he pretends to be so nostalgiac about.
Well-acted but sometimes pointless.
Movie starts well, then gradually declines into predictable stereo-types, special effects, and, finally, idiocy. A film that is entirely representative of dismal Hollywood ethic of building plot, character, and dialogue around special effects. Disappointing, especially in the decline of the female lead into quavering, helpless standby to heroics of Ed Harris.
Hilarious, amazing romp through the African bush with a naive school teacher, a bushman seeing civilization for the first time, and various other bumbling or conniving players. The plot centres on corruption in village as the result of a Coke bottle dropped from an airplane, and thereby revered by the tribesman. The hero is designated to bring it back to the edge of the earth and drop it off.
Fantastic special effects and tongue-in-cheek humour rescue this thriller from predictability.
Amusing animated tale of mouse that comes to America. Distasteful patriotism surfaces in the end, but otherwise well done. Recommended for kids.
Witty, funny tale of emotionally fearful man who learns to live from a flamboyuant pet shop owner. Geena Davis is delightful and William Hurt is functional. Likeable film, about family and eccentricity and passion for life, that doesn't really provide any answers-- just a cozy sense of acceptance.
Effective if predictable crime drama about washed up lawyer, Newman, winning one for the underdog. Better than average.
Very compelling nostalgiac portrait of Fellini's youth.
Freshman year at Harvard University. Bottoms falls in love with divorced daughter of tyrannical professor, struggles through difficult first year of law school. Ultimately, this film is made by two elements: the earthy style of the cinematography, and Houseman's tour de force as a nasty, demanding, but possibly brilliant professor.
JOHN HOUSEMAN
Brilliant TV movie about Salem witch trials, analyzes sources of stories, nature of rumour, outcasts, scapegoats. Redgrave is astounding. Striking resemblance to present-day stories of child abuse and Satanic worship.
Fun, amusing. Geena Davis is eminently watchable.
I vaguely remember this: people walking around memorizing books; Julie Christie looking earnestly horny...
Interesting, well-acted suspense thriller.
Interesting, off-beat tale about a couple that dress up as the infamous Dr. Crippen and his wife. Later, he becomes obsessed with Baron Von Richthoven. Actually, the whole thing kind of floats around with necessary landing anywhere anyway.
Frightening, rattling film about a private detective who is hired to follow a young woman and clandestinely record her conversations with a young man she is seeing on the sly. The private detective begins to suspect that the information he gathers may provoke violence against the young couple and, contrary to lifelong practise, contemplates intervening. He is taken by something about the young woman, an innocense or charm. The plot gets more complex as the story proceeds and we are no longer sure of what the private detective should do. The story is really about privacy, and invasion of privacy, and the the character of the men who commit these intrusions. Powerful film with a timeless subject.
Yeecch. Why does Dick Van Dyke get away with that bullshit cockney accent? Julie Andrews is better, but the film generally sucks. [2014] In the allegedly biographical "Saving Mr. Banks", P. L. Travers-- Pamela-- negotiates with Walt himself over the film rights and only assents once Disney has moved her with his own tales of childhood heartbreak. Pure bullshit. Also bullshit: Travers attends the premiere and is moved by the ending of the story, suddenly convinced that Disney has rendered it well. No, she was disgusted, especially with the cheesy animation sequences. She was so contemptuous of Disney's efforts that she refused to allow him to ever make another movie based on the series; nor did she have any contact with Disney ever again. Travers was against contrivance and sentiment and so against the ever essence of almost every Disney film. That said, Poppins is oddly anti-capitalistic: the father, Banks, works at a bank, and neglects his family (of course). Why is this film so venerated? I mean, even for a popular, family entertainment, it's really not very good, aside from a few catchy songs. And you have Dick Van Dyke's horrible cockney accent destroying every scene he is in.
Stunningly filmed documentary, breaks new ground in terms of interpolation of subjective element, and direct advocacy of the cause of a hitch-hiker convicted of killing a Dallas cop. This acclaimed film ultimately led to a re-examination of evidence and subsequent exoneration of the man.
What is love? Seriously, what is love? I know-- sounds like a hackneyed phrase form some 60's beat poet. But it is a question that sounds trivial and absurd because it matters so much. It matters so much, but we understand very little about it. The Unbearable Lightness of Being takes on that question. It plunges you directly into the heart of need and want and lust and dependency, and asks you, which of these are love? Tomas is a doctor in Czechoslovakia. He has lost his license to practise because of his political views and now washes windows. Tomas is tall and suave and he finds many women willing to let him wash more than her windows. One day, a young woman named Tereza arrives on his doorstep, intending to stay. She is a photographer, and an incredibly needy, emotional woman, who quickly attaches herself to Tomas. She is the weight of love, the dependency, and she holds on to Tomas by virtue of this need. Tomas is also in a relationship with an independent woman named Sabina. The three form an unlikely triumverate of shifting amorphous desires and wants. Sabina, a painter, doesn't want to be tied down either. When the Russian tanks roll in (nother crushing weight) they flee to Geneva, where Sabina takes a new lover, and Tereza tries to learn Tomas' philosophy, unsuccessfully. In the end, Tomas, and Sabina have to choose: life with weight, attachments, anchors, location, but also with the weight of dependency, or love without anchors, a wandering lonely love, that, stark as it may be, offers the greatest amount of freedom.
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, LENA OLIN, JULIETTE BINOCHE, DEREK DE LINT
Tom Hanks is a delight as a 12-year-old boy who unexpectedly gets his wish: to be big. He finds the adult world scary, but other adults find his lack of affectation and his enthusiasm fresh and amusing. Hank's makes the preposterous story line work with a body that jerks and jumps like it's inhabited by a kid, and with every dopey, un-self-conscious smirk. Notice how the adults gradually behave more and more like (bad) children, fighting for professional status and throwing tantrums at perceived slights to their own importance. There is a sub-text here about manipulation and greed, and about how we grown-ups sometimes lose sight of the importance of friendships and family. Watch for the hilarious job interview and the dance on the giant piano keys.
TOM HANKS
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