Reviews

The word "Remake" in generally sends shivers down my spine.

There's only one remake I've ever seen in my life that I can honestly say did it pretty right. ... this is definitely not it.

Miracle on 34th Street (1994), with Richard Attenborough as old St. Nick, and darling Mara Wilson as the little girl, really took pains to get the feel of the time right, and only updated it where necessary ever so gently, bring us a very enjoyable, respectfully handled remake.

This feature tOtally dismisses, and ignores the time in which the classic, original "Annie" took place, the thinking and feel of the time, the whole shmear!

Somebody said it so well.. that if they tried to pull this kind of "remake" stunt on classic plays and productions such as Porgy n' Bess, or Show Boat, or The Mikado, turning it all into an all WHITE cast, it not only would cause an apocalyptic FUROR---it would make absolutely NO SENSE! And truly, at least for me, this makes no sense.

"Call Waiting", "Millions from Heaven", and this gem.. these three are the only episodes from the last season that I absolutely loved, and I think the series would have done well to have ended it all with this one, beautiful, triumphant episode. The only drawback I felt in the whole thing was that the original "Becky" wasn't present. The "2nd Becky" was, to me, never a good fit. The only redeeming factor there being that it allowed the original, and genuine "Becky", {played to perfection by Lecy Goranson}, was able to attend college. To have ended the classic series right here would have left us with such a different feeling... Like "Darlene" said in an early episode, "A HAPPy feeling".

Uusually I'd say remakes are marginally good at best, but I'll have to admit, this one's a HOOT! I LOVED the original, with Haley Mills, Brian Keith, and Maureen O'Hara, and I'd have to vote the original just a bit higher--BUT--This one is a true gem, and the cast was FAN-DAM-TASSTIC!!! Dennis Quaid was the absolute PERFECT fit for Keith's part, and I love the fact that the actress who played "Vicky" in the first one, Joanna Barnes, RETURNS--37 years later, {as beautiful as ever}!--playing Daddy's spoilt pretty-faced fiancé's MOTHER, "Vicki" this time!

And the chemistry, ohh--The chemistry between Quaid, and Natasha Richardson, was simply divine! Maybe a little too, perhaps, because I, for one, never reeally could see how they'd have split in the first place--whyy?!! But this rather quick jump into love again in no way detracts from the movie's deliciousness.

Lindsay Lohan gave a smashing, and natural performance in this, her debut feature, a sure-to-be classic for decades to come.

One of the things I liked most about it is that it didn't go the way of many remakes by smothering it with too much of today's attitude, and modernisations. VERY well done!

If there is a formula for doing remakes spot on right, then this one follows it perfectly!

This movie dealt with such a deplorable subject.. such a sickening act, without so much as one single gratuitously violent scene in the whole perfectly realised masterpiece.

It's a chilling, thought-provoking, hard-hitting piece that's taut, absorbing, and impeccably well-paced.

There are jaw-dropping performances by numerous top-flight actors here, not a-one letting the ball drop even once. Not one actor's time or talents were wasted in this extremely well thought-out project.. not one actor wasted a cent of the money we paid to see it.

Matthew McConaughey's "Jake Brigance" was an incredibly lucky shot of an acting debut that he took and ran with like the wind, turning in an amazing, heart-stopping, truly star-making performance, which may prove to be the crowning achievement of his entire career when all is said and done.. It will be a treacherous climb to try and top it, certainly.

Class act Donald Sutherland is superbly cast in a quiet, and profound role, as "Jake"'s, {now no longer practicing}, professor, a perfect fit, this role, for a man of such rare eloquence~ There is a sizzling sub-story going on between "Jake", a devoted family man, and Sandra Bullock's character that could not have been tighter, steamier, nor more well written and played out.

I recommend this movie to anyone who believes in justice, who has a child, or only knows one.

You want cheap, tawdry, sleazy, violent 'entertainment'? There's not one thing here for you~

Killing cannot be considered "right" by any means; but sometimes it's just not as simple as "THOU SHALT NOT KILL".

So many of us say, "I would kill for my children, {or other loved one's}!".. but would we? ..Would we be in the "right"?

Alan Arkin does love mind-bender roles, doesn't he?, and this gem was a virtual playground for him!

The players are all top-notch, and it's never dull for a moment.. but to explain it... hmm, wow.. well, it's really a film you have to judge for yourself..

It's very much like Woody Allen's "Sleeper", which I could watch all day long and still laugh as if I'd never experienced it before! And also herein are wisps of Arkin's most well known work, "Catch-22", in that it does deal with the mind and all its weird wacky wonders!

It's a sort of surreal fun romp, that takes you on one velly intellesting ride.. the scenarios are all hilarious, and it's a must-see for anyone who loves Alan Arkin, Austin Pendleton, and especially (Woody)Allenesque films, that take you just a bit to the left of the center of reality~ ..Ah, but then, that's trying to describe it, and again I recommend that you find it if you can, (I believe it has been put to DVD now), and experience it for yourself, because I would be hard-pressed to whittle it down to a simple description myself!

It's a screeeam, it's got a fabulous cast, and it's got a heck of a lot of phenomenal writers and creators behind it..

A highly underrated classic! . . . Do yourself a favor and see it! :)

I've lost track of how many times I've seen this gem.. but at least 2 or 3.. er, well, okay, 4 or 5 times every year!

Now, my 10 Stars aside, if you're looking for an intellectually stimulating, sprawling epic, enriching to mind, body and soul, forget it!

...Ahh, but if you're looking for an endlessly entertaining, fun movie with a terrific cast throughout, and phenomenally choreographed hijinks, scene after scene.. a movie that's a kaleidescope of cinematic deliciousness from one end of the comedic spectrum to the other!--Everything from slapstick spoofs on classic gangster films, with a bit of suspense; some high-karate; an unbeatable car-chase scene, to a little old-fashioned romance; some actually factual tidbits thrown in! And my-oh-my, would you believe, even some classic opera to boot!--THEN HEY! THIS MOVIE is for YOU!!

It's a screeeam!! Not to mention some of the best work Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn have ever done, together OR separately! In addition, if you're a Bee Gee's and/or Barry Manilow fan, well, hurry up and RENT it! BUY it!! SEE IT!!!

It has two of the sweetest, most perfectly done kissing scenes of any movie, romantic or otherwise, I've ever seen before or since. NO slimy "suck-face" grossness HERE! So tasteful, so romantic, so rare~ The chemistry between these two is so magical~ Right up there with Bogie and Bacall! you could just reach out and TOUCH it.. Sheer MAGIC!

There are countless class-acts here. I love Marilyn Sokol in ANYthing she does.. Dudley Moore.. such comic genius, Billy Barty, Burgess Meredith! The two little ol' ladies, {not sure of their names}, playing Scra.. well, you'll see! Hilarious!! Everybody is just SUPER! The whole thing is just so well orchestrated!

I've loved nearly everything Chevy and Goldie, {who needs their last names?}, have done, {with the exception of "..Vegas Vacation", and the updated "The Out-of-Towners"..eeeshh!} ..But this, this priceless jewel of wonderful silliness takes the cake!

Years from now, when all are watching the 'classic' "Titanic" of the '90's, I'll be in my easy chair crankin' up the old video machine, watching MY classic "Foul Play", relishing every millionth-time-watched moment!:)

It was gratuitously violent. It was interminably long. It was completely implausible. It was, as I remember it, from start-to-finish, excruciating to watch. Most memorably, the last 20 minutes! What more could you HOPE for from a relentlessly bad movie?!

I have never flat-out walked out on a movie, and this was no exception, but as close as I've ever come! I sat through it to the bitter, insipid end, FULLY CONFIDENT that it would get BETTER as it went along.. it had to!.. It just HAD to! Well, silly me, "hope springs eternal", to my total disappointment, and dismay.. it DID NOT! Just more and more violent and unbelievable! ..FIFTEEN SHOTS out of a six-shooter, {somehow.. hellooo.. director??!}, and the guy is still rising up to WALK, and even RUN AWAY??? Yea, riiight! Come on!!!

Now.. don't get me wrong, I am very fond of Jamie Lee Curtis, and at the time I was quite set in my opinion that Ron Silver was about as handsome as it gets!~*blink-blink*~ I think liking the actors in the film made it worse! I thought, "Why would they do a thing like that?!!"

I often wonder why Louise Fletcher, {who has quite an interesting bio bit to be found right within these IMDb walls}, has never taken but a few HAPPY movie roles! Her stint as "Nurse Ratched" was in a class by itself, in an all-time classic masterpiece of a movie. They couldn't have done that one better, but that's separate story.

This piece took what could have potentially been an ultimately triumphant story, and from my vantage point, ran amok with it, hopelessly destroying it!

I've read critics reviews saying it was "fast-paced", and indeed it was that, but.. assuming this is a plus, "fast-paced" couldn't make up for the rest of the gaping flaws in the muddled mess, and at no point did it ring true for me. It was like a bad wind-up doll.. like "Chucky" on super-duper-long-life batteries, with BACK-UP! It just kept going.. and GOing.. and GOING!

No, this one did not have me in its grips, on the edge of my seat in eager anticipation of what was coming next. It had me checking the bottom of my box of popcorn searching for the last tiny ort, gritting my teeth in eager anticipation of an end to the remaining, seemingly endless minutes of this relentlessly bloody, bad film.

A better title would have been, "THE THING THAT WOULDN'T DIE!"

Boo-hiss!

Contrary to many critics, and people in general, who say with great confidence, "Of course the theatrical version was by far superior, {to the television miniseries}!", I believe in many respects, that this humble, human take on the story, featured some aspects, and yes, even performances, that indeed out-shined those played out in what I consider an extremely overrated, "Let's see how big a "blockbuster" movie James Cameron can make", movie.

I was so moved by the chemistry between, and charisma exuded by CatherineZeta-Jones, and Peter Gallagher, playing "Isabella", and "Wynn".. what a magnificent couple they made.

The story here was so filled with who the people were, how they lived, what they cared about, what their lives had been, and where they were going! My head spun with the meticulous attention payed to even the most infinitesimal details, and the simplicity in which it was told.

The casting, sublime.. with the possible exception of the fact that the inimitable Kathy Bates boarded the other "Titanic".. my favorite part of that version! I felt that each one of these people on board were real people! I felt their struggles, their despair, and their hopes.. their fears, their dreams, and their nightmares.. their great wealth, and their poverty.. I felt swept away to where these actual human beings had been on that fateful day in April, 1912.

The people that they were, noble or ruthless, rich or poor, romantic or hopeless, was all so vividly portrayed, you could feel the pulse of these people's hearts, and each individual's reasoning.. right or wrong. Why they were the way they were was so palpable.. it was quite chilling. You even felt for the dastardly, and yes, despicable, "Simon Doonan", played to perfection by the the irrepressible Tim Curry.. so clever a man, Doonan, with a wealth of talents and knowledge so disastrously wasted, the poor schnook.

I would go to see Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Peter Gallagher any day over Kate Winslet, and Leonardo DiCaprio, so completely, woefully miscast in the Cameron production.

The only characters I thought were equally superb in BOTH versions, were the players of Captain Smith. The man in the theatrical release.. I had not seen before, and I felt he embodied the legendary captain to an eerie degree, and with incredible insight, bringing to life again the honor, grace and stoic peace-of-mind so often attributed to the real individual. And George C. Scott, well, it just doesn't get any better than that. Performed with his signature passion and intensity, he gave us a heart stopping portrayal of Capt. Smith's quiet dignity to the very last, tragic, historic moment.

I will remember the individual people of this tender, and powerful.. intricate, human, and masterful rendition for the rest of time.

I will be recalling the ringing in my ears I experienced for many months, from the "My HEART Will Go On" song, {at first beautiful}, that went on and on, wailing throughout the theatrical extravaganza, and the grandeur of the sets, and the hype, and the technical bits, and the wonderful Gloria Stuart, {another true highlight, of but a few, in the BIG one}, for a long time to come.