Reviews

Since I'd like to live in the Vatican and be surrounded by all that beauty, I'll give this film 10 stars to improve its rating. And Christopher Reeve is like a crown jewel, it's so overwhelming to look at him shining so brightly with his sapphire eyes on fire! I don't care what happens or who else appears. This movie could have been just Christopher Reeve walking through those majestic gardens and chambers and I would still want to sit through the whole moviet. It does feel like some parts are missing, particularly one huge chunk. I guess we can call it director's leap of faith. Or editor's. The score is rightfully horrific and highlights the drama, or the horror of realization and acceptance that you're going straight to hell. Really, that intense red color of the cardinals mixed with that intense music can make you faint. You do feel unwell just like the principal characters in that particular scene. Better than most films made today.

I had no idea Twiggy could act and dance and sing like that! This film is a revelation. She really blew me away. And she really looked the part, her face is a perfect 1920's - 1930's type.

The film itself is a perfect blend of romance, comedy and theater. It has Tommy Tune in it, that to me was a reason to see it. Glenda Jackson appears in one of the most hilarious scenes. Every moment is fun. I tried to watch it a couple of years ago, but it was a bad copy and I wasn't able to enjoy it, so I gave. This movie should be seen in all its glory because the cinematography is like an explosion of colors. It's like a kaleidoscope. And it's perfect for those Busby Berkeley choreography bits that are in the film It's a shame that musicals were already finished when this was made.

So, why don't we have film musicals as we once did? "There were these people that knew how to do it", says Tommy Tune. "With the death of the studios and their stables of talent, it's the tail wagging the dog." He should know. It's a shame because he and Twiggy should have made more musicals on film. They were a huge Broadway hit after this, but this is what's lacking in today's films. A sort of innocence that comes from trained talents who genuinely want to get a job done and to do it well and even better with each take. This is what the cast of this film is doing. And this film is about their work, what happens on stage, backstage and in their heads. The director had an inkling of how the performers saw the very act of performing.

It's a very charming homage to stage and film at the moment they collided. And it was called entertainment.

I'll give it a ten because it's great fun and deserves a much better rating.

Imagine The Elephant Man a musical, plus the funniest sex scene ever in which you get to see Emma Thompson nude and beautiful with bits of toast stuck to her bottom, the Superman pajamas in which you get to see The Tall Guy, Jeff Goldblum, not to mention the crazy nuns outfits worn onstage by him and Rowan Atkinson. And let's not forget the Tall Guy's nymphomaniac landlady and her interesting guests. The cinematography is gorgeous as is the production design. "My favorite colors are green and orange", admits Emma Thompson's nurse after letting The Tall Guy into her green & orange apartment, seconds before they smash everything in it while having sex. And there's more fun after that. The screenplay is full of memorable quotes, but humor comes in all forms here. Like, in choreography. Who choreographed this? It's brilliant! Finally, in his quest for love, The Tall Guy is seen cycling through London in his Elephant Man mask. What more could a woman want?

This film feels like watching two celebrities. The two women in question were not famous before this film was released, but they command the screen like true Golden Age Hollywood icons, such is their star power. Especially Little Edie, there's an incredible vulnerability to her, an ingredient that made most famous stars feel like close friend or even ourselves - of course, that was back then while today in the age of perfectionism we can hardly identify with perfectly made up celebrities dressed by their stylists. Little Edie is her own stylist and this film is incredibly stylish. You want to see the old money aesthetics? - This is the right stuff to watch. But this is not style without substance. It's the substance that brings the style out. It's the years of isolation, neglect and poverty. The years of 'what if' and of 'what might have been'. Little Edie feels trapped by her mother, Big Edie, and you can feel this resentment in their everyday dynamics. The daughter escapes reality of having to deal with her selfish mother through cosplay. She doesn't pretend to be someone else, with each costume she becomes more herself, she reaffirms herself. This is her only coping mechanism. She's trying not to fade out, completely aware of her star power. She clings to it. Her power to shine finally outshines her circumstances and she becomes a cultural icon - we don't see it actually happening in the film, but we are aware this is inevitable.

Spoiler alert: this film contains early jump cuts or pre-Godard jump cuts. No, Godard didn't invent these. His friend Jean-Pierre Melville who suggested the cuts to him must have seen this film.

People tend to sleep a lot when stressed out, that's a fact, so whoever wrote this, knew it. Our leading man here is a sleepy head, wonderfully dorky, daydreaming his life away. At night, the women he meets every day become his sweethearts and he becomes a famous composer. In real life, he's waiting for a response from The Paris Opera and the uncertainty is killing him. He has written an opera for them. While waiting, he exchanges reality for fantasy - a coping strategy that makes the artist look even more awkward to the small town folk that surround him. Gerard Philipe, a brilliant comedian, plays the fool with great gusto. Laughing at himself, like Marilyn Monroe. They both had the same sense of comedy. What makes this film still very fresh is that it was built like a dream. Everything's achieved by simply removing the pieces of scenography, changing the lights or jump cutting through scenes. Since dream sequences required time travel back to "the good old days", director Rene Clair simply makes jump cuts through history. Or even a car ride through the Stone Age. The humor is so bonkers, it precedes Monty Python's. The beauties of the night, apart from Gerard Philipe who is himself a beautiful sight to behold, are some of the most beautiful French actresses, with Italian Gina Lollobrigida being the most famous of them. She and Gerard shared the screen that same year in Fanfan La Tulipe and both films were a success. However, as our hero's reality becomes more stable - friends start to show up and offer help, there's even a girl who truly likes him, his dreams turn to nightmares and he's done dreaming - again an accurate occurrence. We tend to sleep less and become more active when life is good. The best time is now. Sometimes the people we meet in our dreams walk straight into our reality. I'm not sure that's a science fact, but it is a fact in my case. This film made by the dreamers jump cuts straight to the future dreamers. That's the power of film we lack today. Maybe we should make them the way they were made back in the good old days. Now.

This is perfectly executed from start to finish and to perfect soundtracks. The dialogues are incredibly well written and well acted, while certain scenes deserve to be called epic. Is the main character a female Ted Bundy - she transforms like him. The director wisely employs Christian iconography to point out her heroine's true nature - that of an angel. Even her nails are all in different colors and this is how angels' wings were often painted in classical paintings - like a rainbow. Wings, halos as well as soft lights and pastel colors make the whole film look angelic while dealing with dark subjects such as rape, death, grief, loss, revenge, suicide and, finally, homicide. Songs by Britney Spears and Paris Hilton heard in this movie now have or perhaps had always had a depth that no one had pointed out before this director did it. Our angel approaches a cabin in the woods barefoot, carrying red hills, seemingly carried away by the sounds of violins rendering Britney Spears' Toxic in a very intoxicating way indeed. I wouldn't mind if the film ended there, but the ending is even better. And absolutely all the actors were perfectly cast and did a perfect job. "If there's a God or any kind of justice under the sky, if there's a point if there's a reason to live or die, If there's an answer to the questions we feel bound to ask", well this film does a good job giving some of the answers.

This to me is visually the most striking Oscar nominated film, and unlike Barbie and Poor Things, it's not all style without substance. In fact, it has better script than all Oscar nominees but it's not nominated in that category. I don't know why it has only three stars on IMDb, so I'll give it ten to improve its rating because I think it deserves a better one. It's also the least boring Oscar nominated film. In fact, the story is quite unpredictable which I like. You can't guess what each character will do in the next scene, their motives seem hidden even from themselves, but it's not confusing, it gives complexity to the characters. It's really a new take on vampires. Maybe the end seems too fantastic and over the top, but equating dictatorship with vampyrism is really spot on.

The star of this film, Micheline Presle, has passed away.

I watched this film a year ago and I couldn't believe how fresh, how not-boring, how full of emotions were all these films made before the New Wave. What was New Wave trying to fix, anyway? Perhaps only the production design costs.

This film about a younger man dating older woman sets an ominous tone right from the start. It's Gerard Philipe's acting that gives away the immaturity of the young man. It's not that he is so much younger than her, it's just that he's too young to act maturely, to be able to make decisions and stick to them. He's a child. Back then, this story was scandalous, today it would even be criminal. I enjoyed every minute of it! The cinematography is such that one can feel Gerard Philipe's skin when Micheline Presle caresses him. What more could you want?

Don't blink! You might miss a gorgeous frame. This film is like liquid silver. When you look at the two main characters and mainly what they do is talk, it could easily be turned into a stage play, but the fact that they drive each other crazy against all kinds of fantastic backdrops is what makes this piece exquisite to watch. The beauty of Gerard Philipe alone is supernatural. And he is equal to Michel Simon when it comes to acting. They really are the odd couple. And the special effects in this film are much more convincing than all the CGI or AI stuff that we see today. If you'd like to see a completely different version of Faust, this is it.

Watch this and you'll think it's New Wave. But it's not. It's better. It's what came before and was later rebranded. French cinema was liberated long before the sixties and did not suffer the same sort of censorship as American. I don't know if American cinema of the fifties has to offer anything similar to Monsieur Ripois. Here is this perfectly charming man who is also a parasite that you cannot help but like because he is also childish. Rarely does a film show a narcissist as someone to feel pity for. This one offers, in my opinion, an accurate aspect of the disorder. He is his own worst enemy. But it's really the acting that makes this character so convincing. Learning French with Gerard Philipe in this film is one of the funniest movie scenes I've seen. The women he meets are all better than him, yet they all fall for him. He truly falls for one of them. Quite literally. A very refreshing take on the battle of the sexes free of today's mores. Looks like women were able to take care of themselves over the past century. It's not the New Wave.

I think contemporary Hollywood should take note here. This is the kind of movie that would bring audience back to cinemas to look at the stars. Contemporary film has lost the leading man and the leading lady, and therefore has lost the plot. I crave romance, adventure, beauty and godlike presence that both Gerard Philipe and Gina Lollobrigida radiate from the screen. I'd like men and women to be free to joke again and this film tastes like freedom. Also maybe because of Gerard Philipe stunts he did on his own. You can see it's him doing it and it seems so easy, the roof jumping, the horseback riding, the fencing, the swimming, this movie is packed with action. And comedy. The dialogue is just as fresh as Lollo's melons, constantly half way out of her corset. There's plenty to gaze at, male or female. Gerard Philipe is possibly the most gorgeous leading man in film history and no actor today can top his charisma. Thanks to this attraction I started watching "old wave" French films and made an important discovery - there's really nothing new about the New Wave. They just stole the best bits and convinced everybody it was their invention. In fact, those innovations can already be found in Gerard Philipe movies. In this one, he is his own stuntman long before Belmondo. Credit where credit is due, we need a reevaluation of Nouvelle Vague.

Would you believe that Auschwitz could be so picturesque?

The film looks like a garden of Eden as seen in gothic paintings. The colors are vibrant, we admire the beauty of the flowers. This unfiltered beauty only enhances the horrors we never get to see in this film, just a wall apart. We watch a Nazi family going through the motions and while we expect something to happen, nothing ever does. It gets boring, perhaps on purpose. We hardly see any interactions with their prisoners from the other side, or conflict, or conflicting thoughts. No sign of remorse, guilt, no conscientiousness or even consciousness. These people are brain dead. They are only conscientious about doing their "job" right. The conflict arises when they are told to leave. Mutti won't have it. Sandra Huller's Nazi hausfrau feels that the death camp is a perfect place to raise her children. This indeed could be a never before seen side of Nazism on film. They just thought it convenient to kill people for teeth and shoes, and get rid of all the rest that they didn't need. The light coming from the gas chambers at night is their hell and they know it, but they choose not to think about it. The night shots of the girl who leaves food for the prisoners are pure magic, like she's a magical being. And instead of ending - the cleaning ladies in the Holocaust museum. Just brilliant.

Justine Triet direction is godlike: she's not there, you can't see her, you can't hear her, you can't feel her, yet there's this whole reality happening before you. The Same goes for Sandra Huller's acting. It's not acting. It's real. And the boy who plays her son is almost surreal. How can such a young actor embody such an array of not only adult, but very nuanced emotions? He is incredible. This film is entirely driven by the performances. No lavish production design, no eye-popping cinematography, no beautiful locations... It's very much stripped down to basics. But,it works precisely because of it. It's not trying to be an Agatha Christie whodunit draped in exquisite garments. It's exactly the opposite. Though Sandra Huller plays it like she's innocent and had no hand in her husband's death, we are left wondering - how DID he fall? I'm not sure it's possible to fall like that in real life without being pushed or hit, so I think maybe that blood stain on the wall should not be in the movie, as well as the client/lawyer flirtations. This movie, most likely, won't have fans who will like to go back to it and see it once again, but the soundtrack to which the husband is being killed will be ingrained in our collective memory.

I won't rate this because I was not able to watch it to the end. I tried twice and managed to watch the first forty minutes. I wanted to like this film, but couldn't make myself watch more. This is when the director gets in his own way by overusing the methods that worked well in his previous films. The sound actually gets in the way of whatever the characters are saying. The CONSTANT sound in the backrgound was like being stuck in a traffic jam with nowhere to go and escape the noise. I either could not hear or was unable to concentrate on the dialog. And because the story constantly switched from now, to the past, then to some near future, then further down the rabbit hole, I seriously couldn't find any other way out but to turn it off. It's a shame, because I like all the actors involved and I'm wishing them best of luck at the Oscars.

It's very, very, VERY long. BUT! After two hours of watching all those Indians getting murdered, it's very, very, VERY rewarding watching FBI at work. And Leonardo DiCaprio is a proper yokel. I can't believe it's Leo! I mean, the faces he makes... My god. He must be the stupidest looking criminal in film history. Ok, maybe Eli Wallach as Tuco looks more stupid. But it's such a great portrayal of the banality of evil. His wife, so graceful, with a Mona Lisa smile. How do they make such a great couple? It's really their chemistry that makes the whole story believable. Otherwise, we would probably be wondering how come those Indian women didn't assume anything. The cinematography is decent, easy on the eyes. No fish eye, no over-the-top filters that make today's films so hard to watch. I like to see what's on the screen. The film could have been an hour shorter, but then at least the ending is smart and the director spares us of another two hours watching. But I don't hold it against him the time he took. This subject deserves a film that is like one of those great American epics that they used to make in Hollywood a long time ago. I miss such films.

I watched the whole movie just to see which next great reference I will be reminded of. The cinematography is like a tribute to David LaChapelle photography (color). Black and white reminds me of Twin Peaks season 3. Obviously, this is some version of a Frankenstein/Dr. Moreau movie while the reanimation of Bella is straight out of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927). Bella's dance is Martha Graham style. Her acting is like Jodie Foster in Nell (1994) and Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element (1997). Both childlike heroines, their character development is not impeded by nyphomania. Great coming-of-age films about young women discovering the world and their own sexuality are My Brilliant Career (1979), Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), L'effrontée (1985), The Rainbow (1989), Amelie (2001), etc.

I don't mind so many references and "stealing" from others, but these stolen gems just pop straight in your face all the tame, like champagne corks, so much so that you end up feeling like you've seen this movie before. There's nothing new about it. Its lavish production and good acting are wasted and even though maybe in the end one can say, "Well, at least it's Steampunk", I don't know what it's for.

This movie is about a Frankenstein monster-turned-sex tourist. That's about it. It goes nowhere, has nothing to teach you or its heroine who never really grows up. Astonishingly, only her motor skills and speech develop, while mentally she never matures. Would probably be diagnosed bipolar or narcissist nowadays. But really, what era is this? Conveniently, it's both the future and the past. To put this whole story centuries ahead of our time, it would lose its shock value, therefore it's dressed up in Belle Epoque/Victorian robes to at least be shocked at itself, because I am not. I had seen so many great films with great sex scenes and fully nude great actors. But, those films also had a story to tell. I will just make a list of films with shocking sex scenes and/or body horror that are far better than this one.

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1976) Little Lips (1978) 1900 (1976) Last Tango in Paris (1972) Sweet Movie (1974) The Damned (1969) The Innocent (1976) Fellini's Casanova (1976) The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) Don't Look Now (1973) Possession (1981) Pretty Baby (1977) Dead Ringers (1988) Damage (1992) Lolita (1997)

Obviously I have a great respect for Jeremy Irons and his willingness to play sexually perverted characters fully nude. But, he's a great actor and those are great films. Can Poor Things be the Rocky Horror Picture Show for Gen Z? - I hope not.

Here's what I like about it - the Martha Graham dance scene and Bella's wedding veil. I liked when her Belle Epoque sleeves turn less puffy and her dress (Bram Stoker's Dracula) dark red to convey that she is now back in Victorian era, with her Victorian husband in his Victorian mansion. Yes, I get it, I get it, but what I don't get is an intelligent way out of this situation. She's saved by sheer luck.

Also, it's great to see Hanna Schygulla, but this movie is far from the Fassbinder masterpieces she had appeared in decades ago. It's trying to be so and to have these edgy female characters, but they end up being cartoonish sexually liberated lesbian socialists. In the end, Bella has become a Circe surrounded by her own zoo of creatures and studies medicine to perfect her skills of turning men into animals. And God Created Woman (1956) is a far, far superior portrayal of a nymph.

This is brilliant!

Actually entertaining, hilarious and well-lit! This is what most of the new movies lack, entertainment, wit and light. I can't see what's going on on the screen most of the time. The scripts are boring and I don't care what happens to the characters. Well, not this time! If you like real cinema, good comedy and great acting, let the wrong one in! I couldn't stop laughing from the very first scene to the end of the credits (yes, it has funny credits, too). I also loved the 1980's-looking special effects. In the sense, they seem creative and funny here, like back then when people had to come up with their own ideas. The script is comedy gold and all the actors deserve ten stars each. Deco is my favorite vampire now. He and Sheila deserve a place in the Great Vampires Pantheon. The kid who plays his younger brother is very good, too, very natural and unpretentious. Anthony Head - very charming. The whole cast is fab! And ten stars for the funny umbrellas!

I know what an egg is, I know what's it for, but I don't know what this movie's for. Delete it.

"Sorry, your review is too short. It needs to contain at least 600 characters", says IMDb. Well, what can I say. Here's what NOT to do in a movie: 1. Don't put in any speaking photographs of your father and/or speaking fetuses.

2. Don't constantly change your aspect ratio for no particular reason.

3. Don't try to be intimate with gods by painting humiliating pictures of them.

Andrew Dominik, DO SHAKE YOUR HEAD.

U can't hit home runs like Babe Ruth, can't put your finger on the truth You can't feed the hungry, can't talk Shakespeare to a monkey You can't bounce a square ball, you can't fight city hall You can't argue with death, can't break a burly sailor's neck You can't drink lava from plastic glasses, you can't influence the masses (Shake your head)

This is the best movie I've seen. From the opening "cattle call" scene, it remains fascinating to the very end. The best directing, the best acting, the best dancing, the best costume/set design, the best editing. I'm in awe of Bob Fosse and Roy Scheider, in fact, I think the latter was the best dramatic actor of them all, unfortunately trapped in a boxer's body and sentenced to straight-to-video action movies. I have seen many great film performances, but I have never been so touched by one. Joe Gideon, played by Roy Scheider, is not stricken by tragedy, is not a member of any minority group, doesn't fight for justice or survival and doesn't require prosthetic makeup. His tragedy stems from himself, he is his own undoing. But what drags him down is not his carelessness, it's his conscientiousness. He's a perfectionist. To achieve perfection, he needs a constant fuel of women, booze, cigarettes and Dexedrine. He grows as an artist, but never grows up. Or grows old. The film not only deals with death, it's the death of an artist. Quite a spectacle. The final scene is a masterpiece of cinema and religious art. It's the modern Transfiguration of Christ. I remember one critic writing that it's not clear what drives Joe Gideon. Clearly his art is his life. And his death. It could be confusing for an outsider looking in, but as the end credits roll over the plastic bag to the tune of There's No Business Like Show Business, every artist understands and shivers. Joe Gideon is not only Bob Fosse or Roy Scheider, he's all of us. Leland Palmer as Joe's ex wife, Ann Reinking as his girlfriend, Erzsebet Foldi as his young daughter and Jessica Lange as his angel of death give equally astounding performances. And so do all the dancers that appear in the opening scene and throughout the film. Ben Vereen, who finally hosts Joe's death, is funny, dark and electrifying. Ann Reinking's legs stretch from here to eternity and it's strange that she, Leland and Erzsebet didn't make another movie. Hollywood is sometimes only that much smart. And then, All That Jazz ended the era of musicals, because - who or what could top this? Fosse is God.

This sleaze-o-rama would have been a good theatrical play. But not a movie. I believe the cast made of the finest actors took the roles because the screenplay played like a play in their heads. On screen, it plays like a rather dull porn film because the actors talk too much. There's a beautiful closeup of Roy Scheider in bed with a prostitute. Turn it into a gif and throw the rest away.

This movie has no great sets, costumes, art direction, lighting and everything else that a 10 star movie should have, but I'll give it 10 stars to improve its overall rating because it's unpretentious, has excellent characters - excellently acted, requires no suspension of disbelief, is packed with great action and drives you like a real road movie should - without stopping. Three guys in a car driving all night doesn't sound promising and it takes a great director to make something out of that. Congratulations, you made it! If you liked Near Dark, you will like this one. It's just as scary and violent.

Can we throw out the whole murder-mystery plot and just watch Ellie and her landlord getting it on in their lovely apartment? The chemistry between Roy Scheider and Janet Margolin is so good, it's a real shame this movie wasn't conceived as a romcom: he even adopts her cat. Roy Scheider in black speedos is a sight to see! And right after that there's a closeup of his long monologue, without any cuts. This man was gold. The film is enjoyable, with beautifully shot interiors and exteriors and interesting characters played by John Glover and Christopher Walken. It's interesting how the movie transforms from cold cop thriller to warm, romantic, mysterious love story. It's a change of genre that should have been complete.

This movie works because Churchill and George VI actually look like themselves. Bad prosthetic makeup or actors that don't look like the well known public figures they are supposed to represent is something that always distracts me. Delete the tube scene! Too bad for all the good actors in it, but the scene is out of place, like we are suddenly in a cartoon or Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. I can't decide if the scene is there to satisfy the nationalists or the politically correct. Just get rid of it, it ruins the movie big time. Of course Gary Oldman is superb, he's been superb for decades. Imagine my surprise maybe a year earlier when I discovered he didn't have a single Oscar. Ben Mendelsohn even sounds like the King. Give him the wrong set of teeth and he can play Joe Dimaggio. Kristin Scott Thomas is impeccable, as always. Just don't distort historical facts, no need for that.