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Death on the Nile (2022)
The negatives have some agenda
This is a fairly good movie. I especially like the ancient sites in the background. It seems to be the age of pile-on attacks for all the negative reviews I've read. I think there are more nasty people than I realized before.
You May Not Kiss the Bride (2011)
Gilligan's Island Revisioned
I found this movie to be enjoyable while disregarding the silliness of the story. The beautiful scenery along with an attractive cast was a pleasant distraction that kept me entertained through the end of the film.
Many of the plot twists are not unlike an episode of Gilligan's Island, if you need believability you're probably not going to watch this film or Gilligan. But likable characters and beauty make eye candy that escapism can be made from.
So get ready for pretty damsels in distress, exotic local, evil villains, unrealistic natives and kick back for a bumpy ride.
Broadway to Hollywood (1933)
Best Watched with Historical Perspective
I'm glad I read a previous review entitled "The back story is more interesting than the movie" because the background greatly enhanced the viewing experience. Speaking for myself, I love knowing facts of lives of actors and others surrounding any older film. And I think many of us watching these films have a bit of film historian in us.
There is a bit of obvious pre-code Hollywood at times, which time stamps the movie, and so many cast members became Hollywood legends. And offense taken by Buster Keaton is notable off-screen insight.
So, it depends on the lens you look through. The long-shot lens of this time capsule shows some tragedy, closeups show some comedy, as Chaplin once said about film making.
I enjoyed this. Frank Morgan, Mickey Rooney, Alice Brady, Jimmie Durante, Curly and Moe Howard, Jackie Cooper... footage from an unreleased musical that otherwise wouldn't have any use... so many careers and so much information floated the boat for what otherwise may have been a creaky ship of viewing.
I was entertained on several levels.
Thanks (2011)
Sharp Dialogue and Sharp Turns
This film was a pleasant surprise. The quirky dialog is what makes the characters compelling and that is really the glue here. Through the 3 Thanksgiving gatherings the storyline zigzags unexpectedly and its always interesting.
The humor is dark, and it works so well for me. Part of the charm is that no matter how despicable any family member may be at times, they don't seem totally bad. Its a comfortable place to watch from when all the characters have shown their clear vulnerabilities.
The film description on IMDb tells what I don't need to repeat. If you like quirky characters, unpredictable twists set in the wild card of family gatherings, you should check it out.
Sandman (1993)
Eric Woster's Movie
Sandman is a paranormal story from the mind of Eric Woster. Nick Hanson (played by Eric Woster) is a single father who is haunted by unseen evil in his North Hollywood home. Hanson is a native Montanan, and in an effort to escape the evil element, takes his daughter back to his home, Columbia Falls, Montana. As he ponders his demise, he is visited by an angel (played by Stuart Whitman) on the top of Hungry Horse Dam.
Hanson eventually returns to California, is confronted again by evil at his house. I won't reveal how the film ends, but this is a scarce title and I hope you have a chance to see it.
Tragically, this film plays very much like Eric Woster's real life. In real life, he was very proud of his home town and wanted to include Columbia Falls in his movie. It was really exciting for the community when Eric brought his film crew to Columbia Falls on this project.
After filming in Montana, he returned to California to put final touches on Sandman. Eric has many familiar actors in his film and also made a point of including his lifelong friends in Columbia Falls scenes. I'm proud he allowed me to have that experience with him.
Eric called me in January 1992 as he was editing the soundtrack. He was laughing so hard because he'd just seen the part where I trip over the camera dolly in the bar scene. Just a couple weeks later, he was found dead in his house, the same house that was haunted in the film.
What a tragic loss, Eric was so young and learning his craft at such a rapid pace, who knows what he would have accomplished. Understandably, his family refused to have this movie released as Eric's autobiography. But having known him since childhood, I see his life story in this film.
Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)
Give It a Chance
I have to admit that my review might have been among the more negative ones had I not watched Oz the Great and Powerful a second and third time. Initially, it's impossible to view this film without using the 1939 classic as a measuring device. Once a person lets this one stand on its own, it becomes more coherent and satisfying.
Of course there are liberties taken with characters in this re-imagining through film making. That is Hollywood, an unacceptable place for purists. But the special effects honor the time-period effects of the classic film as being state of the art of the day.
The characters, good and evil, all do their parts nicely, and the darn witch is wicked and scary as she should be. If a person doesn't expect Judy Garland, Toto and the rest to fill in the blanks before they ever arrived in Oz, this film can give the viewer a nice, escapist trip.