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Reviews
The Jazz Singer (1980)
No Jazz, but still a great story
I liked this movie even though there was no jazz, because I thought the story worked. The theme of whether to follow one's dream or stick with wife and family is significant and was treated well. Neil Diamond may not be a great actor, but he made me believe in his role and he made up for his acting limitations with his music, which I found appropriate to the larger context of the film. When his father disowns him because he has left his wife for a gentile woman I found Lawrence Olivier's performance quite dramatic and effective. I also saw genuine character development in Neil Diamond's character and thought the issues he was wrestling with were familiar and helpful to any musician trying to balance career and family.
The tension between father and son is real throughout the movie and I liked the way Neil Diamond and Lawrence Olivier portrayed that tension.
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
Brilliant character study and portrayal of American Jazz
I was surprised how much I responded to this movie. I have worked as a jazz trumpet player, and I thought Spike Lee's presentation of the darker side of jazz was brilliant. I myself have had to address many of the problems faced by Denzel Washington's character in this movie, and I think it should be required viewing for aspiring jazz musicians. Why? Not because of the entertainment value, but because of the Truth value (with a capital "T".) Jazz Musicians are artists at the heart, and any good jazz musician has to deal with the necessary tension between the somewhat egotistical act of creating one's art, and the cold realities and consequences of sharing it with an audience. Denzel Washington did a good job of portraying the conflict between his character's narcissism and his relationships. Admittedly selfish, his character is eventually transformed in a powerful and realistic way. Reminiscent of William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, Spike Lee has contributed to the popular lore and also to human understanding with this work. (And he also is a good actor!) To me the unique camera angles and choice of sets served to amplify the message of this movie, which transcends race. While I would have preferred a different ending, and I hated to watch the violence, I am forced to acknowledge the realism in the way this movie ends in a positive way. I believe I am a better person for having watched this movie.
One Night with the King (2006)
An exceptionally bad movie: Like a bad film school project!
I saw this when it was aired on TBN, and I'm glad I did not waste my money on a ticket. This is a 'B' movie trying to be more, but failing miserably. Maybe it was better in the theater, but I sincerely doubt it.
Although this movie had promise, it appears that the filmmakers did not have sufficient grasp of the mechanics of film-making to produce an acceptable result. The dialog is stodgy and excessively verbose, and is not uniform. The acting is weak, and the characters were not well cast, especially the two lead roles of Esther and Xerxes. This is Esther remade as a harlequin romance, except there is no chemistry between Tiffany Dupont, who seems like an adolescent rather than a woman of presence, and Luke Goss, who seems especially unfit for the role of a Persian king. I could not believe in their romance. The score is nice, but mixed too loudly and therefore is distracting. John Noble almost saved the film, but was not given enough screen time. Although pretty, Tiffany Dupont lacks the confidence to win a beauty contest.
The pace of the scenes alternates from a spastic and confused flurry of flashbacks in the beginning to grandiose and overdone and pretentious pomp that was not true to history. There are many unresolved dramatic subplots that do not enhance the storyline. In fact the main casualty of all this excess is the plot, which bears no resemblance to the biblical book of Esther. Frankly, it was hard for me to determine what the filmmakers were trying to accomplish. Of what benefit was the portrayal of Haman as trying to choke Queen Esther, when the bible tells the opposite story? I have not read the Tommy Tinney book, but this movie gave me no desire to explore it further. The idea that Xerxes has to physically stop a sword from hitting Esther is preposterous in light of the biblical account. It could never have happened.
As a bible scholar I do not appreciate the departures from the plot from the bible story. Even worse is the propagandistic implication that the Greeks and the Jews were aligned in their love of democracy, which has nothing to do with the historical events. The dramatic scenes did not work, and the narration was excessive and detracted from the opportunity to tell the story. Cutaways were often poorly done and did not match the geometry of the scene. In fact, the picture has a remarkably flat or two-dimensional appearance for a picture that was shot on location in India. I don't think there was any clear concept of the space that the filmmakers were trying to portray.
Frankly, I'm both disappointed and dismayed by the hype surrounding this movie that did not correspond with the truth about the movie. Are we American Christians so shallow that we desire neither a movie that is true to the bible nor true to history? It might have been excusable if the drama worked, or if the cinematography was believable. But the cameo by Peter O'Toole seems to have been included only to enable the filmmakers to misrepresent the film by using his name in such a way as to imply that he had a lead role, which left a bad taste in my mouth. As a high school or a college film school project this would have been OK, but it did not measure up to the standards of Cecil B. DeMille, despite the promotional statements to that effect. This film was a resounding disappointment.
Body of Evidence (1992)
Not worth your time
OK, I wanted to see this partly because I wanted to find out if Madonna can act and also thought there might be good chemistry between William DeFoe and Madonna. Well, I had to turn it off! I was watching the movie on VHS and I stopped the tape. I found it disgusting, I don't like movies that mix sex and violence in such a way that it corrupts good morals. I didn't really expect Madonna to be moral, but I found this movie to lack entertainment value. Even though the sex scenes are realistic, I think the problem is that they are too realistic.... and the relationship between William DeFoe's character and Madonna's character seems somehow very contrived. It breaks all the rules of good conduct, and the cinematography leaves little room for the imagination. Regrettably the script allows for very little character development on the part of either Madonna or William DeFoe's character. If you like aggressive women, you may enjoy this movie merely for its fantasy fulfilling aspect... but for me the perversions took away from the enjoyment of the fantasy aspect of the romance.
This movie left me with the impression that Madonna hates men. Perhaps that is the message that the script wants to convey, I'm not sure. But twisted love should have some root of sincerity in order to be convincing, IMO. S/M types will probably love this movie... but those of us who don't like pain and sex mixed will find it revolting.
I think this movie would have been much better if there had been more time allowed on screen for genuine dialog between Madonna and William DeFoe's character. As it stands, based on what I saw, I wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone.
The Owl and the Pussycat (1970)
Excellent acting which made me believe in this comical romance
Barbara Streisand plays a prostitute named Doris, who moves in with George Segal's character, Felix (but he claims his name is Fred by the end of the movie.) This movie is an interesting mix of 60's romance, comedy, and psychological study. The dialog is witty and I found the characters believable. The chemistry between Streisand and Segal is what makes this movie, and I liked the way the sex scenes were shot, almost as if we were watching reality TV instead of a film. Nevertheless, the characters develop as the film progresses, until one has the feeling at the end that Streisand's character has softened, and Segal's has matured. I found Streisand's character to be irritating at first, and more and more likable as the movie progresses. This movie illustrates how opposites attract, and then how in a love relationship each partner becomes more like the other as they become a couple. Although the pace of scenes may be a little slow for a modern audience, the quality of the dialog definitely makes up for it. I still felt the film was relevant even watching the video 35 years after I first saw the movie in a theater.
Resurrection Blvd. (2000)
A warm and sympathetic look at Latino Culture
The characters in this show are likable. This series tried to resist racial stereotyping and ended up making Latino culture palatable for a wider audience. Although some scenes were paced more slowly than I would have preferred, dramatic suspense is well managed, and the acting in this mini-series is generally excellent. It would be fun to see a full-length feature film using this cast. I like the fact that the lead characters are not in the economic bracket of those who have necessarily "made it" financially, but represent likable, hard working people (such as the woman who owns her own restaurant and works there constantly and her husband who comes in for an occasional drink,) who talk to each other about their goals and aspirations. This show reminds me somewhat of the Novellas that appear on Telemundo and Univision, but of course the primary language is English. Nevertheless, occasional lines in Spanish add to the realism and local flavor of this production, which caused me to wish that the show were still in production. The struggles that these characters go through are compelling, such as a foster child learning to forgive his foster father and a family learning to deal with the loss of the patriarch of the family to prostate cancer. I liked the fact that substantial issues were being addressed in a way that made me like the characters and want to invite them into my living room.
If it is true that Latino culture has a vitality that is sought after and needed in the United States, then this show offers what could be a glimpse into what that is all about. Characters that are coming to terms with their own shortcomings and learning to embrace each other and celebrate their heritage form a nice platform for the diversity one expects in a blended minority family. For this reason I was willing to forgive occasional awkward moments when the dialog seemed to lack that special spark that would have been needed to make the show into a masterpiece, or when the occasional sub plot fizzled out without sufficient development to give it a firm place in the story line, as well as I was able to forgive the occasional lack of character development on the part of some of the minor characters.
Beggars and Choosers (1999)
Satire of the Broadcast TV industry
I watched one of these shows on a VHS cassette that I found at a thrift store. I liked the energy of the cast, and thought that the idea of a behind the scenes look at a TV network had potential, but found that the attempt to parody the network TV selection process itself came across as insensitive at times. As with many Showtime and HBO releases, I noticed that the percentage of swear words was significantly higher than one hears in real life. I can't help wondering if this might be a reason for the show's demise. Still, two years is not a bad run for a TV show these days, and I'm sure the percentage of swear words used in Hollywood and the TV industry is in fact greater than the use of such words in the general population, so in this sense the show may be said to mirror reality.
I couldn't help thinking that there were many inside jokes being presented on the screen. The episode I watched, "White Woman's Burden" presents some openly racist dialogue thinly disguised as satire. Is it possible that the underlying themes of racism and sexual orientation were found to be too controversial even for Showtime? If so, then maybe this show has potential to make a comeback as a full length feature film.
If anything prevents this show from reaching a wide audience, it's the extremely upscale lifestyles of the cast. Everyone seems to be living in an artificial reality dominated by big money, the struggle for power, and gangsters. Yet it looks enough like the reality in the Television industry that maybe it offended some of the same people whose support it needed to continue in production. Overall, I think this show has great potential and I liked the honest attempt to present a behind the scenes look at network television. Possibly this show may illustrate some of the reasons for network television's shrinking audience.
Lola rennt (1998)
A Moral Action Thriller
"Run, Lola Run" is an action film that has a moral focus. In three different shorts, three different possible outcomes of the events are explored. The film is dominated by the figure of Lola running, who is a young girl trying to save her boyfriend's life in 20 minutes by bringing him 100,000 Marks, which was to be paid to a thug her boyfriend is afraid of. The fact that Lola believes she can rescue her friend made me like her from the beginning, but the tension is created by her boyfriend's statement that if she is not there in 20 minutes, he is going to steal the money... so Lola is running in an attempt to save her boyfriend's moral standing as well as his life. Good use is made of animation in tying the scenes together, and the effect of switching from a live actor to an animated one, then back to a live one gives the whole film a surreal quality. The moral consequences of various actions she takes are explored in differing plots with differing outcomes. For example, in one sequence Lola dies, but in another one her boyfriend dies. You get the feeling that you are viewing the same scene over again, but you quickly realize that the action is different, so the movie is exploring differing outcomes from the same basic plot. The fast pace of the scenes and the repetitious techno soundtrack adds to the suspense in the movie, and the effect is heightened because the audience is able to consider the action three different times.
One of the interesting ironies in the plot is that it repeatedly explores the nature of romantic love in the tensions that exist between Lola's dependence on her father and her need to help her boyfriend. This is the classic formula for romance, yet it is set in the context of an action film. This is one of the aspects that makes this film unique. This is not your average psychological drama.
The idea of a circular plot, where the same scene repeats itself with different outcomes is a creative one and works well within the setting that the director of the film has chosen. I liked this film more because of the conventions it breaks than because of the conventions it keeps. Yet there is a good mix of the expected and the unexpected in this film, with a nice mix of camera angles to keep the film exciting. The effect of repeating the time sequence is to allow the audience to more deeply consider the moral impact of Lola's actions, and how a simple thing such as bumping into a stranger might mean the difference between life and death. I never stopped feeling Lola's urgency until the very end, and the surprising conclusion.