Reviews

At 90 minutes this film crams the 1948 war of survival or as the world called it Jew /Palestine Arab"Civil War"into a coherent timeline to set the stage for the story of Israelis birth of its own Air Force in a riveting tale as told in interviews with serving pilots as well as films from that time.I learned a LOT as well as I was again fascinated by this thrilling story of struggle and perseverance.A must see for History buffs. The story of How cargo airplanes were bought in the US as surplus for 5 thousand dollars is spellbinding. The first fighters were patch work ME 109's from Checksolvokia which were dissembled and flown into Israel in those cargo planes,and on and on. The story of the air raid in Cairo was also new to me.

Ah how to begin.First its too long at 129 minutes but thats the only real negative along with being subtitled.Its a love set in Taiwan between a Japanese advance girl coming to set up a beach front performance by a Japanese male singer but she needs a local opening band act.However if you get through the standard "The Commitments"and "The Full Monty"early sort of storyline.AND that is an improbable love story superimposed over a lost one 60 years earlier with tinges of Casablanca thrown in,another film reviewed here prior, but in reverse.You have to see it to get it.So its worth the time even if it seems silly and obnoxious in the beginning. Oh and the piano music"1945"is as good as that music from"Cairo Time"

The History channel makes highly questionable documentary type mini-series.This 6 hour 3 parter that ran over the memorial days holiday week is no exception.First the good news.The series endeavors to connect the 2 World Wars as no series have ever done before.Most series center on one war or the other.The actors portray most of the characters rather well according to whats known of these deceased leaders.The bad news is that you can spend years studying these wars as to cause and effect,6 hours is far to brief and the inevitable debates over certain things relevance to the total picture of the war,will be many.Mine was a statement of"3 remaining US Carriers"in the same sentence after the Pearl Harbor attack,giving the impression that carriers were lost in said attack,which they were NOT and thus a key point in the war in the pacific.Also it was painfully obvious the history of Japan between the wars was ignored as were its leaders,in favor of Stalin,Hitler,Churchill,Roosevelt and Mussolini.I don't even want to get into the Generals.That said,its still a useful tool to study the ideas about one thing leading to another or as they say"connect the dots"Watch it ONLY after seeing the BBC's"The Great War"and Thames TV's "World at War".They are the definitive 26 episodes series about both wars.The Great War being WW1 and World at War being WW11

Strange this film doesn't get more love.Maybe because I'm a city kid,worked on wall street and was a messenger in HS,and road a Bike A lot as a kid,I see more to this film than most.yeah the story is a little out there but most of the "characters"are fair enough stereotypes and it was released in 1986 and runs 105 minutes,right at the height or low,depending on your point of view,of the "bike messenger" craze that hit all the major urban locals in the country.Kevin Bacon starts a little slow but warms to the character,Jack Casey,soon enough and Laurence Fishburne has a small but very powerful presence in the film as a character named"voodoo".Paul Rodriguez is fun as well as a ,you guessed it,Mexican wants a better life type.Its not great cinema at all,but its very watchable and fits that period of time as well as most films of the day.You could do FAR worse.

While watching "Home Sweet Homicide"there was a reference to the novel this movie is based on,and,oh well I had seen it as a youth and hardly remembered other than I liked it.Time to revisit.What a idea for a novel over 70 years old,set in a period over 350 years old,England under King Charles 11.The story may seem like a pot boiler in todays terms,but for its day it had to be something as I'm sure this movie was,and for me,still is.Forget that Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene,George Sanders and a host of other great actors of that day made this fine film,or that Otto Preminger directed.Whats important is the story.Based on a novel by Kathleen Winsor we have a epic story of a love consummated but never achieved.By that I mean even though the two principals conceive a child on a lonely rainy night the faiths intervene to prevent them from having a true relationship despite the far reaching unbelievable attempts of the woman and the seemingly indifference of the man at that moment.Although the faiths are not done with them until………….

Wise cracking kids,widow,crime novels and a real murder next door,Ingredients to shake than write,then film.As a kid I first saw this 1946 release that runs 96 minutes.The cast is good,story great but the peek into life back in the post war years in priceless.Yes it is not that way today,but nostalgia is one reason to be entertained by a film,STRONG family values is another.Oh yes,Dean Stockwell as a 5 or 6 year old,crazy !!!!Randolph Scott is also believable as a cop rather than his usual cowboy roles.I love this film and TRUE film buffs/historians MUST see.Kids lighting a moms cigarette YES,true,I did that before I knew better,and also had 2 older sisters,though not as happy memories.If you liked the stooges and bowery boys,than see this family style of the same wise cracking.

The real story of these 2 boxing legends would take a TV series a few years to give it justice.This Starrz movie released in 2002 tries it in 106 minutes with a so so cast and a poor choice for the actor,Leonard Roberts as Joe Louis,who doesn't have the screen presence to portray such a legendary figure.However the story of these two men is so compelling that we should be happy for at least this effort by Starrz and enjoy it as such.Til Schweiger as Max Schmeling is a bit more believable since less is known by most about him.He was vilified as a "Nazi"and so this film tries to redefine that image of him and rightly so.Not shown in this film is the fact he helped paid for Joes funeral and although he is shown helping a Jewish neighbor in the film,the story is more compelling then shown.In total the film is a good start but the fact the IRS hounded Joe till his death is indeed a story for our times.Nether Joe or Max with without sin,but they were both heros and deserve to be remembered.

Do not confuse with the 2010 film of the same name.This is NOT a boxing film.It is instead a story of a revolutionary who sets about to help correct the injustice done to his family and village by means of boxing to raise money to buy guns. Based on a book called"The Mexican"written by adventure Jack London that he claims was told to him by riders with Pancho Villa,it follows the alleged true story of a supposed real fighter that Jack called Felipe Rivera ,wonderfully played by Victor Jory who comes to El Paso to work for those running a newspaper writing about the injustice of the Diaz government in Mexico being challenged by Modero. Released in 1952 and running only 78 minutes,I am only sad it is in B&W, however although Jory is a Italian, a few of the actors have hispanic names and seem to be so,rare for Hollywood back then and another reason to praise the film. To come to this film for boxing only is a discredit to the story and a misunderstanding of the films true story.I loved it.

First I am a Mexican via injection although "Chicano"was never in her vocabulary.So much for disclosure.Before WW11 there were a series of clash in the LA area sometimes referred to as the Zoot suit riots. This 1981 rather strange "Musical"that runs 103 minutes,tries to find a unique way to dramatize some real happenings in a way of both prideful remembrance and as a introduction to these histories for the greater un informed masses.( you).Now I'm not sure they succeeded in all these noble endeavors,but what they did succeed in doing was collect quite a fine cast and build a remarkable film character that was also a guide for the viewer in this play within a film setting portrayed by Edward James Olmos "El Pachuco". For me the overt racism is well known but the use of a Zoot suit is better thought of when one things of the urban dress todays inner city youth wear as a comparassion. Bottom line as stated by El Pachuco: The Press distorted the very meaning of the word "Zoot Suit." All it is for you guys is another way to say Mexican . Not a film for everyone,but a gallant try none the less and I did enjoy it even if it made me somewhat dazed and confused.

Strange that I would recommend a "remake"albeit,updated significantly but I guess its because I never saw the legendary 1927 original film that's famous as the screens first"talky"and infamous for its star Al Jolson singing in"black face". This version has the lead,Neil Diamond,in black face early in one scene and given the context,I'm sure you'll agree its not condescending or insulting at all.In fact,its vital to the story on a level showing how he writes music for a all black group he grew up knowing as kids,who in turn,get him his first break as a singer to perform what he has written.So much for historical political correctness.The movie has a wrap around song called" Coming to America"that is still for me,to this very day,a immigration anthem for all to this country of immigrants.Mr Diamond musical strength has always been performing and in this movie that talent carries through when ever he sings,even Hebrew songs of faith.What is not fair is to rate his acting against his co-star the legendary Laurence Olivier.In fact,I actually thought the understated performance of Catlin Adams as Rivka Rabinovitch ,Diamonds characters wife,is almost Shakespearian tragic.The rest of the cast is good enough for a film that is really a story between father and son that all of us men have suffered through in one way or another. Now to the story,update or not.Besides the conflict between father and son,it does show the urban link of the times,blacks and Jew's friends because the wasps of the time would have nether.Perhaps poorly shown,but at least attempted,the music group gets a break in a all black uptown nightclub.Finally they succeed but ONLY as Diamonds backups,not on their

own.Diamond shortens his name as a songwriter from Rabinovitch to Robin.Too often these things happened and for someone who grew up back in the 60's it rings sadly true.My only complaint with the story is how it glosses over the eventual split between Diamond and his wife,or should I say,what happened to her after wards.Diamond fares well enough because there is another waiting to take fair Rivka's place and thats sad.Lucie Arnaz fills that roll but is no Rivka. Still its a strong story and a worthy film experience.

Finally a version of Esther and the King a little more entertaining than "One Night with the King"or "Esther and the King 2006"that were both reviewed on this blog.Released in 1960,and running 109 minutes, back when they regularly made adaptations of Bible stories with great liberties,we get this Raul Walsh produced and directed version of the story that is the root of the Hebrew Holiday of "Purim".Again a major issue of not mentioning her real name of "Hadassah"but thats par for these old adaptations.You have to decide would you rather these or none at all?? Since I've reviewed "Ben-Hur"and"The Ten Commandments" and "Ivanhoe" amongst others,I think you know my stand on that.This movie also a flaw that I can't really buy, Richard Egan as King Ahasuerus but Joan Collins as Esther more than offsets that and Sergio Fantoni as Haman is slimy enough.There's a little luridness quality in some parts due to a early assistant director by the name of Mario Bava. However,all things included,I enjoyed it more than the other two films that tell the story.

After viewing "One night with the King"which is the story of Esther I decided to check out the two films actually named Esther and the King.This one released in 2006 and running only 62 minutes is 50/50 at best. Musically its no "Jesus Christ Superstar"also reviewed on this blog.It's also is made as a modern / biblical telling style which I am not really that crazy about.However it is passable considering all the trash out there for parents who want to have a biblical film for young kids to watch without the violence. So not for me BUT there is a large audience hungering for movies like this so indulge.One major issue,no mention of Hadassah,her REAL name.

There was a civil war in the US 150 years ago,no one truly remembers it.There is the terror of sniper combat so well displayed in the film"Enemy at the gates"that was reviewed on my blog,but it was uniformed soldiers.We begin to understand sectarian violence from Iraq and Afghanistan BUT in a white European country,in our own lifetime,before 9/11 changed our focus on everything?No I doubt anyone truly understood it or does to this day,but since WW11 the first war crimes trials were held because of it. The country of Yugoslavia,was a patch work of forced uniting of diverse Balkan peoples of different ethic and religious backgrounds that fell apart when the strongman holding it together,Marshal Tito,died. Its capital city was Sarajevo,home to a Winter Olympics Game in the recent past,and a shinning example to the world that a different sort of new kind of capitalism/socialism,much like what China IS succeeding with today,could work in Europe. Tito's death changed everything to again remind us all that old hate and grudges lie just below the surface and rise like puss from a wound and fester to infect and kill us all. This film doesn't shed much new light how that came to pass in what was Yugoslavia,but it does focus a narrow light on what people living a very similar life as we in the US live,can fall into when "wounds"are not treated and how fragile our life styles really can be. In a sense this is very personnel human horror story without zombies.HBO films made another film worthy of all our attention to understand what modern war in cities and sectarian violence can be right here if we are not smart and allow ourselves to let the mess our country is in continue.The families and people in this film are like us.Middle class,educated and see their lifes decent into a living and in many cases dying hell. Congress and the President should see this picture ,as a teachable moment,before they forget how fractured our own country has truly become.Like most docudramas the story is a copulation of many events to give a picture of a event that is not rational but that did happen.

Up front I'll state I'm a fan of the music legend Phil Spector BUT I was a fan of football player and actor OJ Simpson.A killer is a killer and both are now in jail.However this film is slanted ,and rather interesting,that Phil was innocent.However,as a former juror who had to judge a case on all evidence as it was presented,I'll trust the jurors who convected Phil in his second trial.That all said,it is interesting in that IF this film is truly accurate,it would indeed explain the first case deadlocked jury.All that said, Helen Mirren as Linda Kenney Baden,the defense attorney, has a advantage over Al Pacino as Phil Spector in that you weren't going to "know"her character as you know Al's.Both were still outstanding and I never got board watching them weave their point of view of a accident death rather than the second degree murder conviction he finally received.

I found this film by accident and watched it.Its pretty good in a adult "French "film sort of way and not really a fetish film in the sense we usually use.My take is a very adult continental view of wacky humans trying to get through the day and those who "help"those who need it,really need as much help from THEM as well. The psycologist didn't kill her,her husband did ( or did he ??) but he is as messed up as she was and the film takes on a sort of "Rashomon"quality,which was reviewed on this bog, with the murder being the center and far more graphic than the scenes in Rashomon were. Mind you thats a simplistic view by me to try to explain it as I have never seen so intriguing a film before and again it illustrates just how "provincial"we can be in the states. Extreme adult content which limits the audience and it does drag a bit explaining things.

There is a reason HBO films had a rep for make movies that were ,well,not what Hollywood was making,yet what the public needed.This is such a film.I reviewed Red Tails on my own little blog,and enjoyed it,BUT as I stated it was a little"safe"for the box-office.This is NOT.Far sadder and shameful in the depictions of the disgraceful treatment these WW11 black airman faced.Think of a hundred Jackie Robinsons,who as a Army officer went thru much of the same BEFORE he played Baseball.But this movie is NOT about him. The mostly all black cast is well cast and recognizable and it would seem unfair to name but a few,so I won't .For this film had a true repertory feeling. My favorite scene was when Mrs Roosevelt has a spare of the moment flight at the hands of Lt.Lee and that signals that this group of pilots have finally been accepted to a certain degree,at least to now go oversees at least.In the end most of the airman would probably admit that the destination was worth the rocky ride to get there.They are better men than me,for I would have blown that road up !!!! Thats why their story must always be told and remembered and indeed,celebrated as we do Jackie's.

This is the sort of film Hollywood was famous for making back in the day and has now forgotten how to make.Thank GOD for a vibrant Canada film industry.Bollywood has learned how to try to reach more western filmgoers and this 2011 release that runs 101 minutes has everything you need.The standard coming of age and rebellion of family,sports and ethnic adjustment to a white world while keeping its ethnic pride and truths.There is nothing wrong with this film,nothing.A great group of ethnic actors with 2 familiar white faces for the masses and the timeless story of being accepted while remaining true to ones own identity and family pride.Throw in interracial romance as the final tie in and well,its now my favorite sports movie but its a whole lot more.My favorite part is when the all Sikh hockey team is ready to play in a tournament final,their appeal to not wear helmets,because their religion dictates a turban at all times, is finally rejected and they might have to forfeit the finals,is avoided by the white girl friend and sister of the team's white coach showing that the new design of a metallic headdress in place of the standard helmet MUST be accepted because of rights protection under the law.This also works for the Sikh's because its modeled on the metal helmet worn by a famous historic warrior.Thats a compromise !!!!!Enjoy this film as I did.

When I originally saw this 1982 TV movie that runs 200 minutes,I was scared silly.Today its kinda dated and has the TV film feel, BUT it still is a scary cold war film and far more believable than "Red Dawn"ever was. Deep cover KGB plant,elite Russian KGB shock troops,native eskimo week end warriors,grain embargoes,miss reads by politicos,a none elected former VP now president,and on and on.Anchoring it all is a military romance by Army officers thrown into the breech so to speak against determined and desperate Russian troops fighting for a pipeline in Alaska.Its still scary because it shows just how fragile peace can be and add nukes,its a wonder we are all still here.See it,but be scared,be very scared.The cast?? B+ anchored by Rock Hudson and David Soul.

Maybe the best "American"band in history.They started in the late 60's broke up in the 80's reunited in the 90's and are still around today.Only the Rolling Stones are around longer and they are not American. Showtime has put together a great 2 part documentary totaling 3 hours of the story of this bands history and turmoil and the music.There are now 4 members and 3 ex members.Not bad for this super group that still counts its 2 songwriters as there through it all.Glenn Frey, Don Henley.Their personnel life and relationships are not delved into,but the story doesn't shy away from drugs and booze. They may not have be as edge as other bands but their music was unique in the harmony and melodies unlike the harder edgy songs of the times.As someone said in the film,what the country also needed was someone saying"Take it Easy"which had a great lyrics and romantic overtones that everyone needed and that song provided.The solo artist and close friend of Frey contributed to the song with the lyric,

"Well, I'm a standing on a corner In Winslow, Arizona "and Frey added "And such a fine sight to see It's a girl, my lord In a flatbed Ford Slowin' down to take a look at me "

and thats also when I became a fan back in the day.Nostalgic ? Yes. Important,hell yes. If you like the music from the are 60's and 70's you'll flash back to as someone else said in the film,the 70's as you remember them even if thats not the way they really were.

OK,movie executives brainstorming,what if 1 guy left the Alamo??Everyone thinks he's a coward,but he lost a lottery with fellows from the same area and had to leave to warn THEIR families of renegades in their area. Now that seems how the idea came about to make this movie ??? But dang if-in it just done works !!!!!!! I love the cast,all great from that era,headed by Glenn Ford,as the"coward"and Julie Adams as the woman who believes him.I'm sure there was a very subtle political message hidden because at the time this 1953 movie was made,the cold war was at its hight and "commies"were everywhere and courage,well,that came in short supply.What better way to dramatize that then going back to something as religious non debatable patriotic as the Alamo and yet have someone, such a coward for leaving that temple,actually be bearing news about renegades truth??? Er,or just the movie exec brainstorming,ether way its a thrilling ride with old west values and fine right vs wrong character portrayals we don't see enough of in today"gray"hero's.Well worth the view.