Change Your Image
jam-58876
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
Wow! On so many levels!
The animals! "The wife" and others cuddling SO many animals! White lion cubs! Elephants! Breathing life into an almost dead elephant! Helping bison to mate! The camel loping along like a dog! Lions! And tigers! And bears! Oh my! So beautiful!
The Cruelty! Shooting the animals And of course the horribleness of the Holocaust! Persecuting the Jews and persecuting people who helped the Jews. What a horrific time to live!
Rescuing the Jews! What a brave thing to do!
The actors..the sinister yet good looking Lutz. Jessica Chaistain always does well. The kind and brave husband. The Jews!
This was a superb and educational movie!
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969)
A true story that looked like a joke.
I watched this movie thinking perhaps it was a joke. Katherine Ross certainly looked like a joke with her dark makeup, shiny and wavy wig, and her bland passive features. She always looks like she goes along to get along, with Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, and with Paul Newman and Robert Redford in Sundance. Why didn't they hire an Indian woman? She looked ridiculous! Robert Blake looked okay, but why not hire a real Indian? The way they looked took away from the story. The Doctor looked too well bred and sophisticated. I don't criticize Redford because I've seen him in a lot of Westerns. The actual story was very sad, and I checked switch Wikipedia after the film was over. A sad story but poorly presented.
Young Sheldon (2017)
Perfect!
I loved this show right from the beginning. All of the characters are very likeable... Cute, smart, good actors. "Young Sheldon" of course is the star but he has plenty of help from castmates. "Dad " was the biggest surprise. I was expecting him to be an unlikeable redneck, but instead he is a likeable "good old boy" There's a big difference between the two. He tries hard to be a good Dad and husband, and often shows a down to earth wisdom. I don't mind him drinking beer at all. Sheldon is intellectually precocious, hut limited socially. Twin sister Missy is precocious socially and average intellectually. Friend Paige is brilliant intellectually and loves the girly things like Missy and her dolls and later teenage flirtation. I love to watch the three of them interact! Brilliant writing!
Sheldon mother is religious, and Sheldon questions believing in God. There was a brilliant episode in Season 2 where Sheldon pointed out that if gravity was any stronger the solar system would collapse. And he also pointed out that he was born to the perfect mother. Every episode is well written, dealing with faith/science or socially precocious/ nerdy and so on. I'm going to miss this show. I'm glad its on On Demand where I can watch old episodes.
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Almost Perfect!
Kevin Costner...looked great, acted great, rode a horse great, danced with the wolf great, he was funny when he fell down, his little butt is cute, and he communicated well with the Native Americans and showed an eagerness to learn from them.
Native Americans...all great. I especially liked Wind in his Hair, Kicking Bird and Smiles a Lot. I enjoyed hearing them speak in Lakota.
Mary McConnell was just okay as Stands With a Fist.
The cinematography was outstanding, especially on the big screen.
I thought music enhanced the movie.
It was so sad at the end when Dunbar returned to the fort to retrieve his notebook. I don't like to watch that part when I see it on TV.
All in all a great movie!
Elvis (2022)
Spectacular allegory, fantasy, exaggeration and reality!
Wow! Mostly great! Austin Butler as Elvis! Had the build, the moves, not quite the face, but a nice looking face. Great seeing him in the early clothes, like the pink suit, the pink plaid suit, etc which I only saw previously in black and white photos.
Tom Hanks as Col Parker narrating the film was odd and quirky. I have never heard Tom Parker's real voice so I don't know how accurate it is. I pictured Parker's voice to be gruff and garrouless as his appearance is jowly and he always has a cigar in his mouth. Some of the lines....something like "we're both orphans with big dreams" were oddball.
The allegories.... Boy Elvis being "annointed" in a Black church ( "he's got the spirit"). What I've read is that Elvis enjoyed White churches and singing with his parents and that he enjoyed standing outside Black churches listening. I've also read that he picked up guitar licks from Black folks in the neighborhood.
Another interesting allegory.. Elvis and Parker having a conversation on the ferris wheel (over the top??)
This movie showed Parker hampering and inhibiting Elvis....persuading and manipulating Elvis to join the Army...which dented his career ( IMHO). Signing him up for a string of meaningless movies (another dent in his image) and keeping Elvis overly busy on tours and thereby forcing him to take uppers and downers. Makes you wonder what Elvis' career would have been like without Parker! Parker's taste in movies and music was poor, all he cared about was making money and he made millions off Elvis.
The movie showed Elvis getting death threats. Was this a manipulation by Parker to keep Elvis fearful and under his control? So many murders of famous people in the 60s...Kennedys, King and Sharon Tate.
The movie just showed a little about Elvis' relationship with Priscilla, Mom and Dad, the Memphis Mafia. The actors were good.
All in all a good movie!
Don't Look Now (1973)
Yuck!
I watched this movie because I was bored and because it starred Julie Christie and normally I like her! In other movies she looks like she has inner vitality and "spirit" but in this she did not. She would smile her sexy, vivacious smiles but she looked flat. Of course she was playing a grieving mother, but that didn't ring true either. In her other movies she didn't look so skinny and short but in this she did. In other movies she played against tall costars...Warren Beatty, Omar Sharif etc. With her other costars she had chemistry and with Donald Sutherland she did not. And then there was the gawd awful sex scene.... YUCK!!
I normally don't like Donald Sutherland too much, but I can tolerate him in a good supporting role. Here he was the lead in a supposedly romantic, sexy role. Again I say YUCK!! He was good as JPGetty...an old miser grouch(LOL). He's good as an old grouch!
Most of the scenes took place in Venice. I enjoyed that. I didn't enjoy seeing them run around Venice in the dark. They're not afraid of drowning, considering their daughters recent drowning death? If I had a child that died by drowning, I probably wouldn't want to be around water.
The medium and her sister were weird...why the pictures of children?
A stupid weird movie....don't waste your time!
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Glorious and tragic drama!
I first saw this picture in 1961 on the big screen when I was 14. I thought it was a 10 then and I think its a 10 today. The book was written by a woman ( Margaret Mitchell) and its a women's picture. The three best characters are #1 "Scarlett O' Hara" played extremely well by Vivien Leigh. Who could play her better? Her beautiful and expressive cat like face expressing joy, childishness, flirtatiousness, jealousy, anguish and hardness. But her character makes a lot of mistakes, chiefly thinking she loved Ashley when she really loved Rhett. I like to think they eventually got back together.
#2 Then there's "Melanie Wilkes" played beautifully by Olivia D'Havilland. Melanie is frail physically but she is strong because she loves with wisdom and altruism.
#3 And Mammy. She is strong and wise and very moral. She scolds Scarlett many times and Rhett a few times. She was given a lot of great lines. GWTW is often criticized for being racist, but would the writers have given her so many great lines if they were racist? IIRC, the book gave her a lot of great lines. Pork and Prissy have some good lines too!
And of course, the men. "Rhett Butler" played so well by Clark Gable. Could any one else have played him?? I do think they could have found someone better ( younger) for Ashley Wilkes. But Leslie Howard did a decent job. Thomas Mitchell as Pa was excellent! When I was young I had a crush on Clark Gable. Now that I'm older I'm crushing on Thomas Mitchell (LOL)
The music was excellent! Always appropriate and never overwhelming.
And of course the cinematography... Excellent.
Dialogue great. When I watch, I enjoy the lines again and again!
Best movie ever made!
Intermission (2003)
Hated it at first
I hated this film at first and stopped watching. I paid to rent it and I was mad! Then I went back and watched it and it's funny. You have to get used to the hand held camera and the constant swearing. Its about breakups, having crummy jobs, getting fired and trying to find new love and new ways to make money, accompanied by a lot of swearing ( of course). And lots of drinking Guinness. Ah yes, I love me a pint of Guinness now and then too. Yes, I can relate, but I hated it at first, the constant swearing. Well I've got 75 more characters to write! How annoying! What else to say? 600 minimum a drag! Done!
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
Ick!
I watched this movie because it is listed as an "Irish" movie. I started out slightly icky (the weird teenage boy), then got ickier with the weird music, then " the Dad" told a colleague "My daughter started her period" and from then further descended into an abomination! I kept watching because it starred Colin Ferrell and Nicole Kidman. What on earth do people like about this movie?? Its crap!! I have nothing more to say however it says I now have to write 137 more characters in order to enter this. I have seen that some people write very short comments yet
I have to write a minimum of 600! Done!
The Devil's Own (1997)
Well done
Well acted, intriguing story. I was wondering while I was watching whether it was a true story, however it is not. Its plausible that it was as there is a lot of unnecessary violence in N Ireland. Brad Pitt did a good job, his accent was good, and he didnt look weirdly pretty like he does in some movies. He had the look of a bad guy who lost his innocence at a very young age. He was abused at a young age and came to terms with it by getting tough yet he had a look of frozen innocence. There are probably a lot of people like that in N. Ireland, frozen innocence and forced to get tough. Its tragic.
Picnic (1955)
William Holden at his hunkiest!
I first came across this movie in 1999 while channel flipping, and I never saw William Holden look so hunky! He was a hunk in pain and the various women responded to him in different ways. Kindly and older Mrs. Potts invited him in for beakfast. A risky thing to do, but he was a hunk in pain. Smart and sassy Millie was attracted but sarcastic. She had an inferiority complex to her beautiful older sister Madge. Madge was cautious, but attracted and she already had a beau, A rich and safe guy and the person Hal was coming to see. Mrs. Owens was very suspicious, he looked like trouble. Rosemary spinster school teacher wished she was younger and was angry and jeaulous! I enjoyed the way the different women reacted to him and the small town picnic, the interplay between the brainy and beautiful sisters. I just saw it again recently and enjoyed it very much.
Hunger (2008)
Ugly but watchable
I am an American who is part Irish and part English, and in the neighborhoods I lived in ( which were many) there were no hassles about ethnic group whatsoever. The Troubles in Ireland remind me of the Star Trek episode where two separate races, one Black on the left side, and one black on the right side, HATE each other and are violent. Ridiculous! But of course in the USA there is racism, mostly verbal and psychological if at all( in places where I lived) So this movie was informative. However I don't know who to sympathy with! The Brits abused the Irish for a long time. Disgusting! All abuse is disgusting!
The Hole in the Ground (2019)
3rd worst horror flick I've seen
Back in the 80s, I saw Little Shop of Horrors in the Movie Theatre and my friend and I walked out. In the 90s saw "Blair Witch Project" in the movie theatre and watched until the end, though I hated it. I googled"Irish movies" in honor of upcoming St Pats Day and came up with this! What a bore! So amaturish. I watched it through just to see how it ended. What a drag! No explanation of her life! What is she doing in that big house? A new single mother and she doesnt work. Most Irish movies show people being poor! The Irish accents were very faint. Didn't say where this took place. A flat dull movie!
The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
Magical and Sweet
A story about a brave girl Fiona who's mother recently died and her father is too ill to take care of her and so she lives with her grandparents. She, her parents, little brother, her grandparents, and other family members previously lived on the small island of Roan Innish, but all had to evacuate. While evacuating, the infant brother Jamie was carried out to sea in his wooden cradle. Family members tried to rescue him, but they lost him and gave him up for dead. Fiona and her older cousin visited the island and saw Jamie, A two year old who was taken care of by the seals. They persuaded the grandparents to move back there and they reunited. All of the actors were good and the cinematography and music was great. If you liked "The Secret Garden" you'll like this.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Best of the Bounty movies
Marlon Brando as Fletcher Christian is handsome, sexy, aristocratic, compassionate, thoughtful melancholy, plays the game and rebels against the game because Capt. Bligh really doesnt play fair. He isn't A good captain because he lacks the instincts and background of a gentleman and its important qualities of good judgement. Trevor Howard was good as Capt Bligh, much better than Charles Laughton who did not look physically fit enough to be a ship captain who sailed around the world. Marlon Brando and Tarita fell in love, got married, and had a beautiful daughter named Cheyenne who died tragically. Marlon Brandos life is almost as tragic as Fletcher Christian, though he had a much longer and freer life.
Far from Heaven (2002)
Everyone overdressed
I disliked this film for several reasons:
Clothes
I was 10 in 1957, and lived in a Middle Class suburb. My mother and the other women did NOT wear heels every day. No one wore fluouncy skirts or dresses like "Cathy" wore! They looked lame! The only time she looked realistic was at the end when she was wearing a pink suit!
I can't believe so many people in the Northeast would be so mean just because of a friendship with a Black man. I didnt know anyone who was friends with any Blacks in 1957, however in 1963 and 1964, there were a couple of Black guys at my high school. One wore a suit to school every day and was a nerdy kid who was in the chess club and some other nerdy kids were friends with him. No one was mean to him. The other guy was a soccer player and was well liked.
"Cathy" voice was so annoying! ALWAYS soft and even! No matter what was going on! Some women YELLED in those days!
"Cathy" reminded me of women in commercials in the 1950s...dressed in an evening gown in high heels while moping the kitchen floor!
The only reason I kept watching the movie was because I just had to see how it ended! Meh ending!
Priscilla (2023)
Sofia dislikes Elvis?!?!
Ah yes, Sofia Coppola grew up with Hollywood Royalty and has made her own contributions to Hollywood! She is very sophisticated and Elvis was a dumb hick who sang dated songs. The whole era was full of boring dated songs and so few were used in this film! It seems the whole reason this film was made was to put down Elvis. I disliked this film for many reasons. #1 Not just Elvis, but EVERYONE is taller than Priscilla. I was thinking the actress must only be 4'10", but no she's 5'2" which is Priscilla 's height. Even in heels, Priscilla is tiny. I am 5'4" and the world doesn't tower over me, especially when I wear heels. Sofia deliberately chose actors and actresses that all towered over Priscilla.#2 I read the book "Elvis and Me" and it was EXCITING! Had a lot of chemistry!! I could imagine what is was like to have your first love as Elvis! Wow! And Priscilla must have something going for her to attract and keep Elvis! This movie portrayed Elvis as a dumb hick who took advantage of a young girl and she was too dumb to leave!! The book and other movies were much much better!! Priscilla was executive producer?? What was she thinking?! This movie portrays both her and Elvis in a very unflattering light. She must be tired! She's getting old! She's not very sharp! My advice...read the book!!
Good Joe Bell (2020)
Sad!
A person should be able to watch a movie without consulting Wikipedia. I watched this movie at home and I was clueless about what was going on. I had never heard of Joe or Jadin Bell before, and so I consulted Wikipedia. Of course the movie is sad. Jadin didn't decide to be gay, but he decided to "come out" in a small blue collar town. Not a good idea. He could have just decided to be quiet, finished high school, go to college in NYC or else just move to NYC. And then been "openly gay" with plenty of company. The father could have decided to stay home and pay attention to his wife and son Joseph. They were grieving also. Instead he burdens her with the responsibilities of being a single mother to a grieving son! So selfish! He also should have walked on the side of the road facing traffic! What a waste! I hope the family has made some money off this movie!!
The Sundowners (1960)
Visually appealing and sweet
This film was very visually appealing with rugged Robert Mitchum and always pretty Deborah Kerr (no matter what she wears). And of course Australia with its kangaroos and koala bears and birds I can't identify. There was tension with Mitch mum's character drinking and Kerr's character needing security. I liked Peter Ustinov's character, a man who appears like a stuffy aristocrat, but he's got a good heart. The racing sequences were good to watch. I do get bored with movies that look good only, but this had interesting tension. I was disappointed in the ending, the tension and conflict wasn't resolved.
Older Than America (2008)
Excellent plot, dialogue and the visions were spooky!
I don't understand the negative reviews here! They must be from people who don't have dreams! I have dreams and they are quite intense! I try to figure out if they are guidance or revelation, most of them arent, but it is quite believable to me that some people can have a lot of accurate dreams. I have read books and seen other movies about the abuses at boarding schools and it is atrocious! The authors own father was a victim of boarding school abuse and he committed suicide when she was only 18! What a trauma!! She did something good with it!! Well done! I am White and I say its good that Natives are speaking up. We Whites can learn a lot from them!