Movie Reviews
Destry Rides Again
Jimmy Stewart plays a straight-arrow who doesn’t pack a gun, but shows up in the corrupt little burg of Bottleneck to clean up the town. This could have been dead serious and ponderous, but it’s a lot of fun, with a great script and a fine cast. Marlene Dietrich is maybe the all-time best dance hall girl in any western. She sings the classic “See What the Boys in the Backroom Will Have,” ... Read more »
Cold Mountain
Lee and I loved this book so much we both read it twice. So we were a bit nervous about the adaptation … with good reason. Though there is much good about it, it did not really capture the magic of the book. The big reason, for me, was the casting of pretty-boy Jude Law as Inman. I’m beginning to think he’s vastly overrated. Inman should have been more rugged. And why, ... Read more »
Destination Moon
We recently watched the godawful Project Moon Base, and I was reminded that I hadn’t seen this one, Robert A Heinlein’s good movie, in many years. As I said in the PMB review, I recalled that DM was an honest attempt to show a trip to the moon in as scientifically accurate a manner ... Read more »
Coffee and Cigarettes
Just a series of 11 vignettes about people sitting around smoking and drinking coffee and talking. Naturally some work better than others, but the ones with Cate Blanchett playing two parts, the one with Alfred Molina, and the one with Tom Waits and Iggy Pop are little masterpieces. (All the stars are playing themselves.) Hell, I liked all the others, too. Try it some night when you aren’t ... Read more »
Code 46
My friend Paul sort of recommended this, said something like it was an interesting attempt at real science fiction. I agree; unfortunately, it failed. It’s like all the furniture was there, in terms of settings and atmosphere, the party was all ready, but nobody came. The characters were unsympathetic and the plot all but incomprehensible, some hugger-mugger about genetics. It used an ... Read more »
Coco Before Chanel
Coco is right up there with Édith Piaf among the most famous French women. Hell, right up there with Joan of Arc. She had a fascinating life, and this movie tackles only the early years. Some have objected to this, because it ignores her most infamous period, during the occupation of France, when she was the mistress of a German officer and Nazi spy. I read just a little about this, and ... Read more »
Despicable Me
CGI animation is such a crowded field these days that I often don’t even see the movies unless they get very good reviews. That’s because such a high percentage of them are nothing but sound and fury and movement, frenetic action for the sake of action. 3D animation can be the worst, because they are forever thrusting things in your face. Will they ever get tired of that? This one was ... Read more »
Designing Woman
The film came from an “idea” by costume designer Helen Rose, and exists mainly to show off thousands and thousands of fabulous outfits. It is a sort of Tracy/Hepburn comic war of the sexes, only with the new cast of Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall. I didn’t know what to expect of Peck in a comedy, I only recall seeing him in more serious roles, but he does an ... Read more »
Coast to Coast
Not a bad film, but just sort of standard, despite starring two very great actors: Judy Davis and Richard Dreyfuss. A couple who has lost a child and intends to get divorced set off cross-country in a lovely old T-Bird, visiting friends and family. It kept us watching and had some touching moments, but was really nothing special.
The Descent
A truly scary movie is a pearl beyond price. That’s because there’s so few of them. I, myself, have only been truly frightened at the movies three times: with Psycho, Jaws, and Alien. Oh, I’ve jumped now and then, when the pet cat leaps out of the darkness, the sign of a true asshole ... Read more »