Movie Reviews
The Magic Christian
So we recently saw Candy, a disaster of a comedy, and then moved right on to this, another black comedy from Terry Southern. Peter Sellers is a multi-billionaire who adopts Ringo Starr (who once again proves that he is no movie actor) as his son, and enjoys demonstrating that people will do absolutely anything if the money is right. To prove it, he pays stacks of ... Read more »
Candy
Some films hold up fifty years later. Some don’t. This doesn’t. I recall thinking it was pretty funny, pretty racy, when it was new. Now it is just painfully silly. Ewa Aulin is Candy, who seems to drop to Earth from outer space, like Mr. Bean. She is clearly as naïve as a space alien. Then she is off on a series of adventures, meeting men who all want to take advantage of her. I read that ... Read more »
Funny Face
Audrey Hepburn was 29, Fred Astaire was 58. A bit old to play a romantic lead with a woman so young, probably, though the chemistry works well enough. Fred wasn’t past his sell-by date, but it was coming up. This was his next-to-last dancing film, just before Silk Stockings. Neither film made money, and he hung up his tap shoes.
He really hasn’t lost a ... Read more »
Personal Shopper
Kristin Stewart is the personal assistant for a supermodel, which is a pretty weird job if you ask me. She buys stuff for the model to wear. She believes she is a medium of some sort, and tries to contact her twin brother who died recently. They made a pact that whoever died first would try to contact the other. Then the model gets murdered.
I felt this was really a mess. She gets ... Read more »
The Last Waltz
If there has ever been a better concert movie, it’s not coming to mind. (Woodstock is not a concert movie.) The farewell performance by The Band and friends like Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, and Muddy Waters took place in Winterland (sadly, demolished in 1985), in San Francisco on Thanksgiving Day in 1976. I went to a few concerts in that big old ... Read more »
Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood
… or, The Ninth Quentin Tarantino Film. QT has said that he will probably make ten films and then retire. Actually, by my count, if you consider Kill Bill, Part One, and Kill Bill, Part Two as one film, and that he only directed the Death Proof part of the double feature Read more »
In a Lonely Place
Humphrey Bogart has always struck me as the unlikeliest romantic leading man ever. Just take the name. Even back then, I don’t think many people saw Humphrey as very sexy, and how long has it been since you’ve met a Humphrey in real life? He wasn’t handsome. He had a speech defect. And yet he dominated every film he was in. I guess it’s down to something like charisma.
This was an ... Read more »
Skyscraper
If you’ve seen The Towering Inferno and Die Hard, you really don’t need to see this one, because it is exactly like those two much superior films. I think it’s kind of sad to notice how CGI has changed the action movie … and not always for the best. To me, the huge and totally unbelievable effects in a movie ... Read more »
Hotel Artemis
The year is 2028, and Jodie Foster, “The Nurse,” operates a high-tech hospital that caters to rich criminals who can’t afford to be seen in a regular one. She offers all sorts of services, but has strict rules, like no weapons, no non-members, no killing other guests, no farting in the elevator. (Well, if that last one wasn’t a rule, it should have been.) It’s an action thriller with a ... Read more »
Colossal
This little low-to-medium-budget gem totally tanked at the box office. I don’t know why. Probably not enough publicity. I know I never heard of it until I happened on the DVD.
Anne Hathaway is an alcoholic writer who has to leave New York and return to Stephen King country to try to get her life together. Meanwhile, a giant Godzilla-like monster is ravaging its way through Seoul, ... Read more »