Reviews

I walked out when her moon blood became prominent. Should have done so earlier. I'm left with memories I'd rather not have.

"The Giant Claw" is one of the two worst sci-fi movies I've ever seen. (The other is the original "Invaders from Mars," which was really scary when I first saw it, but that's another review.) Read the Goofs page to get a feel for the stupid things that happen in this film.

"Stupid" doesn't do the giant bird justice. Maybe "stupid squared."

But the movie is delightfully bad. Everyone should see it to appreciate how bad such a movie can be.

If the rating were based on up to 4 stars, this movie gets 2.75, not quite 3 stars. It isn't funny enough, though I liked it when I saw it in the theaters in high school and I still like it. The funniest moments are: (1) the pie fight; (2) when the General tells Fate (masquerading as the Prince) "Leslie escaped with a small friar," Fate says, "Leslie escaped with a chicken?" That's hilarious; (3) Baron von Shtupp jumps out the window and smashes into the boat; (4) Leslie's eyes and teeth flashing. But the rest of the movie isn't that funny.

The movie has so much going for it. A great cast, and Natalie Wood is so beautiful. Mancini's music, especially "The Pie-in-the-Face Polka." Great cinematography, sumptuous sets and locations.

But the movie drags. Too much stuff before the race starts. The ice floe scene takes too long.

Almost a really good comedy. And whenever I approach an elevator I say to myself, "Push the button, Max."

Cleopatra is surprisingly good. I don't know where its bad reputation came from.

It looks gorgeous. They spent a mint making this flick, and they put every nickel on the screen. Great sets, truly spectacular costumes for Cleo. Let's face it: when she comes up the stairs on the barge in that white dress with that gold thing in her hair, she's the most beautiful woman on earth. Throughout the film, never has cleavage been so well packaged. Spectacle has never been done better: her entrance into Rome is unsurpassed. Consider that the sphinx is probably life-sized. And there will never be another naval battle like the one in this film.

Several scenes are very effective because of the acting and dialog: Cleo and Caesar's first scene; when they're in bed together; Cleo and Antony's scene when she demands 1/3 of the Roman Empire (Taylor is particularly good in this one); Cleo and Octavian in her tomb (Roddy McDowall shines here).

There are moments of clunky dialog: Cleo talking about "the people" after learning Caesar has been made dictator for life; in Alexander's tomb, Cleo talking about one world living in peace; Octavian's speech upon learning of Antony's death; Caesarion yelling "the enemy" over and over while playing on his toy horse.

The cinematography is excellent (a well-deserved Oscar). My favorite shot is the pan of Alexandria just before King Ptolemy appears.

There's lots of good acting: Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall, Cesare Danova; Martin Landau; and others.

I also want to put in the plug for Alex North's music. It's almost always very good. The opening and closing credit music is excellent. There's an odd moment as Cleo leaves the room after Caesar learns of the attack on the moon gate, and the music sounds too loud and just inappropriate.

Yes, there are slow spots, but during them just sit back and enjoy the costumes and the sets.

I saw this film when it first aired on HBO and came across it recently on Logo. Logo added 28 minutes of commercials to make a 90-minute film, and what a slog those were to sit through.

So I went to Amazon to buy it, only to find out it wouldn't be available on DVD until last July, then September, and now November.

So this review is written a long time after seeing the whole thing.

Enough griping. This film is superb, though I speak with a bias toward sad movies. Christopher Reeve's direction is marvelous. He gets perfect performances from Robert Sean Leonard and Glenn Close as the son and mother. David Strathaim as the father is very good. Whoopi is good, but I thought her "love him" speech sounded forced.

The film's emotional impact is huge. There are three very sad moments: when Glenn Close sings "Danny Boy," when Danny dies, and when the mother and father embrace at the end. For me, Danny's death was the least sad of the three. Glenn Close's singing of "Danny Boy" is beyond perfect ... the way she can't sing the last word ... it rips me apart.

The scenery is so gorgeous. The pullback from the house at the end is very well done. The final credits are great with the song sung by Reeve's wife -- another teary moment -- except Logo ruined them.

Reeve was a great director.

(2014) I was going to post a review of the film, only to find I already had. I upped the rating from 9 to 10 stars. I just checked Amazon. It's still not available on DVD, only VHS. I don't get it.

(Written 12-23-05.) I've seen this movie twice. The first time, I had expectations that it would more erotic and sadder than it turned out to be. I cried a bit at the end. Then I saw it again a week later, and haven't been the same since. If I think or talk about Brokeback Mountain too much, I start crying (so far, six days after seeing it the second time). I probably can't be objective about the film because I'm in love with it, for all the reasons you'll see in the other comments: awesome acting, an extraordinary script, and direction that brought out the best in both. But more so because of its emotional impact. I have never had this reaction to a movie. If you feel lonely (as I did) before seeing the movie, be prepared.

This paragraph is written on March 6, and I'm still shell-shocked from last night's Oscars. (I saw the movie for the 11th time on Saturday.) I realized this afternoon how angry I am: not giving BBM the Best Picture Oscar is in the same ballpark as making My Fair Lady without Julie Andrews. They are the two worst things to happen in the history of movies. Maybe last night's tragedy will fade in time. I don't mean to trivialize the snub of BBM by this comparison, but my anger is comparable.

Consider a couple of other times when the Director and Picture Oscar were split. In 1967, Mike Nichols won for directing The Graduate, which I remember vividly. Does anybody remember In the Heat of the Night? A less exceptional example is 1998, when Spielberg won for directing Saving Private Ryan, and Shakespeare in Love won for Best Picture. Yes it was good, but nowhere close to Saving Private Ryan. 1972 is a counter-example, w/ Bob Fosse winning for directing Cabaret and Godfather winning Best Picture.

Five or ten or twenty years from now, BBM will be remembered for the landmark and masterpiece that it is. Crash will be almost forgotten.

Some other thoughts on the movie after so many viewings. Ledger's and Gyllenhaal's acting is some of the best I ever expect to see. I'm still stunned at--among other things--how good their (and everyone's) accents were. Just about every word sounded perfect throughout the entire film. And Gyllenhaal does a lot of good acting w/ his eyes. A friend, contrasting Gyllenhaal's previous movies w/ BBM, gave credit to Ang Lee for bringing out Jake's talent. I suspect the same would apply to what Ang Lee did for Heath's performance. Both of these guys are under 30, and it's a scary pleasure to imagine what kind of careers they have ahead of themselves.

Finally, let me put in a plug for the trailer that's on the Brokeback website. In its way, it's as good as the movie--a masterpiece that makes me cry. The music breaks your heart. Ironically, I haven't seen it in a theater because I'm always there to see BBM.

This show is outstanding. I wanted to comment mostly on the actors, something that hasn't happened much so far among the reviews.

Let's start with Sharon Gless. She is beyond perfect as Mikey's mother Debbie. It's a cliche but an accurate one: it's impossible to imagine anyone else in this role. Her acting is outstanding -- if she doesn't win an Emmy at some point, I will be shocked and appalled. Her answer to Mikey's question "How do you like the brie?" was one of the funniest moments in the history of television.

Before turning to the men, let's note that Peter Paige (Emmett) is gay, and Hal Sparks and Chris Potter are not. I don't know about anybody else, but they certainly could be.

Gale Harald (what can we infer from one of those adrogynous first names?) is superb as Brian. He wears his smirk as if he'd been born with it. On QAF's website you can see a video clip of an interview with him, and the smirk is gone! He looks like a regular person. It underscored how good his acting is. And though he's an unsympathetic character, the writers give him something nice to do about every third episode.

Hal Sparks as Mikey is quite an actor -- a straight guy absolutely convincing as a gay man. And we can retire the word "cute" after him. Dr. David's most frequent description of him -- "adorable" -- is right on the money. And I shared his agony when he was having to endure those dates with his co-worker. The scenes were so well done they were painful to watch.

Peter Paige is letter-perfect as the moderately swishy Emmett. I thought he was that gay in real life, but not so. I think on the QAF website you can see a video clip, and he's still gay but not as noticeably. He really shines in the birthday party episode when he's dealing with his uncertain HIV status.

Scott Lowell is excellent as Ted the accountant. Another reviewer comments quite rightly that his constant self-deprecation (though funny) is a problem because the actor is very sexy. He's got a great chest and posterior -- and those eyes! -- but he takes his clothes off less than anyone else on the show. It's really frustrating. But back to his acting. He's perfect, too. His best moment also comes during the birthday party episode when he tells Mikey to give up his pointless one-sided love affair with Brian and concentrate on David, who loves him. His lines are superbly written and superbly delivered. If you watch Frazier reruns, watch for him in a marvelous bit part: a radio announcer who has problems with his l's, I believe. The IMDB identifies the episode.

Randy Harrison is great as Justin, the gay high school student.

Which brings me to Chris Potter as Dr. David and Mikey's boyfriend. Although he's a good actor, he isn't quite as good as his colleagues in portraying a gay character. I found everyone else absolutely believable, but not him.

The two best episodes are Mikey's 30th birthday and the finale. In the birthday episode, all the plot developments are handled very well, and the final shot pulling back from Brian is really well done. And one of the lesbians does a good drunk, which is tough to do. In the finale, the staging of "Save the Last Dance for Me" was just awesome. And it was a perfect cliffhanger: is Blake gone for good (I predict yes); is David out of the picture (I predict yes -- having one of these guys settle down is not good for the show). Oh, and will Justin survive? I predict yes, but recovery will be slow. I was glad they didn't put the entire cast in a plane and then crash it, or have terrorists spray the room with machine gun fire.

I can't wait for next season.

The New Yorker's thumbnail sketch said it best: "A superstar (Barbra Streisand) redeems an impersonal circus of a musical." Streisand is excellent and the best thing about the movie, but they should have picked Carol Channing.

I blame director Gene Kelly for taking a dynamite stage play and turning it into a big, lumpy movie. This movie does not grab you, or excite you, or give you nice warm feelings. It just sits there.

Major problems with the cast. Michael Crawford is lousy as Cornelius Hackl: can't sing and doesn't act well. E.J. Peeker is lousy as Minnie Fay: her twittery schtick is not remotely funny. Marianne McAndrew is OK as Irene Malloy. They were considering Ann-Margret as Irene, and she would have been much better. David Hurst overdoes it as Rudy the headwaiter, with the awful line that his waiters' service "will be twice as lightning" when Dolly arrives. Not funny at all.

On the plus side, Walter Matthau is perfectly cast, except he can't sing. Danny Lockin is good as Barnaby Tucker, but both his and Crawford's roles should be much funnier. Tommy Tune was fine as Ambrose. And Louis Armstrong was great as Louis Armstrong. But if they'd been thinking, they wouldn't have put his name in the credits. Think how much more fun it would have been if he'd been a complete surprise to the audience.

And of course Streisand is magnificent. She hams it up now and then, but that works with the part. The scene where she cuts Matthau's turkey dinner is hilarious. But at 27 she's too young. The 22-year age difference between Streisand and Matthau grates.

The score is excellent, but the play's was better. The play's opening song "I Put My Hand in There" is better than the movie's substitute "Just Leave Everything To Me," which is almost a clone of the former.

The opening scene where the New York street scene comes to life was very well done. The Hudson River valley was beautiful. But the "Hello, Dolly" number seems cramped inside the restaurant.

This movie is a major disappointment.

The Sound of Music is an excellent movie, but one with big problems. First, the good news. Director Robert Wise, who's had an awesome career, is in top form: the movie is very well made and looks terrific throughout. The opening sequence is truly wonderful, with the beautiful Julie Andrews singing at 10,000' without gasping for breath. Christopher Plummer is good.

Much of the music is good. My favorite numbers are "Do, Re, Mi" and "The Lonely Goatherd." Both are staged very well and are extremely hummable. Here's a fantasy of mine for "Do, Re, Mi." Part of the number is done along a road with a white fence. The fence has five horizontal rails, which reminded me of the staff on sheet music. The kids should have been positioned on the fence like notes on the sheet music, matching what was being sung. But they didn't do that.

The wedding is impressively staged.

But you come inevitably to the flaws, mostly ones of sentimentality. The song "So Long, Farewell" is awful. And its staging is bad. At the end, when all the dinner guests wave good-night to the kids, I want to throw up. "Maria," though tuneful, is a dumb song.

There are soft spots in the cast. Eleanor Parker as the baroness is stagy. Charmian Carr as Liesl is stagy, and particularly bad in the dialogue leading up to "You are Sixteen" at the gazebo. She had a deservedly brief film career, making only one other movie, and it was for TV.

Let's not forget the plot. This pretends to be a true story. But ... the von Trapps did not flee Austria one step ahead of the Nazis, climbing all those mountains (with the grass waving due to the helicopter carrying the camera) -- they just left. So all that stuff after the music festival is fiction. I believe, but I'm not sure, that the Nazis did not try to force Capt. von Trapp back into the armed forces, either.

As good as Julie Andrews is (and I'm a big fan), there are some awkward moments. After she runs back to the convent in the beginning, she runs past this group of nuns, and does a lousy double-take when she's caught. Then she gives a bad speech about how nice it was in the country, "... and the sky was so blue ..." It rings hollow. Much later, her speech to Peggy Wood explaining why she left the von Trapps and returned to the convent is weepy and sounds forced.

But in spite of the flaws, the movie is still a winner.

One of the best musicals ever made. So much of the movie is perfect: plot, music, most of the cast. One weak spot is Susan Luckey as Zaneeta, though the part is not well written. Another is Monique Vermont as Amaryllis, worse than average for a child actor. But the 8-year-old Ronny Howard as Winthrop is excellent. He shines at the end when Harold Hill gets his foot caught in the door. Of course, Preston is perfect, as is Shirley Jones, who never looked better. (Someone said Heaven is where all the men are 33 and all the women are 30. Jones was in her late 20s.) Paul Ford, Hermione Gingold (overdoing it once), and Pert Kelton are all outstanding.

The director Morton DaCosta uses a gimmick here and in Auntie Mame that I don't care for. At the end of some scenes, all the lights go out except those on the principals. Sometimes that's more of a jolt than necessary, because we've gone from outdoors to inside the studio.

My favorite song is Sadder But Wiser Girl. The reference to Hester winning just one more A meant nothing until 11th grade when we read The Scarlet Letter. And after Preston sings that line, he looks guiltily over his shoulder at Amaryllis to see if she understands how naughty he's been.

My second favorite is Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You. Such a beautiful song. It pains me that the rocking chairs at either end of the screen are sometimes out of sync. It should have been done perfectly.

One brilliant touch concerns the Buffalo Bills. Early on, Mayor Shinn says "The members of the School Board will not present a patriotic tableau. Some disagreement about costumes, I suppose." At the time, the four are dressed quite differently. As their singing progresses, they start dressing more and more alike, until at the end they're dressed alike (I'm pretty sure).

Marion's epiphany during The Wells Fargo Wagon is quite sweet.

As is a lovely line from Goodnight, My Someone: But I must depend on a wish and a star/ As long as my heart doesn't know who you are. (Sigh.)