Movie Reviews
I Married a Witch
Thorne Smith drank himself to death before he could finish the book this is based on. It was completed by Norman H. Matson. Smith’s trademark fantasy stories (he was best known for creating the Topper books) were considered quite racy in the ‘30s, and are pretty tame now, but still a lot of fun. This one was directed by Rene Clair and stars Fredric March and Veronica Lake.
Sometimes ... Read more »
I ♥ Huckabees
A total disaster by the director of the wonderful Three Kings. He also directed Flirting With Disaster, which we liked a lot. This time he flirted too much. It stars Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin as “existential detectives,” a promising idea, and the ubiquitous Jude Law, so I stuck it out to the end, hoping to strike a ♦, but ended up ... Read more »
I Could Go On Singing
I Could Go on Singing (UK/USA, 1963) I yield to no one in my admiration of the late, great, John D. MacDonald. I know several people who love his writing as much as I do, but none more. And I’ve never heard of another writer who doesn’t admire him. I have read every book he ever wrote … except two. One is Weep For Me, his second book, that until recently had ... Read more »
I Confess
The plot of this film involves three of the Top Four Idiotic Practices of the Catholic Church: confession, celibacy, and absolution. (The fourth, actually Number One: Papal infallibility.) Montgomery Clift hears a confession of murder from the janitor of his church. Monty tells him he must go to the police, but the bastard doesn’t, and through several plot twists and turns the priest is ... Read more »
I Capture the Castle
One of those quirky British movies I find irresistible. Movies like this are seldom made by the Hollywood sausage machine. If you want something a bit different, this is a good one.
I Am Love
Tilda Swinton learned to speak Russian-accented Italian to do this film, which is impressive. It’s the story of a wealthy clan that begins with the old man appointing his successors at a family dinner. It is well-acted and looks gorgeous, and didn’t really involve me. It was interesting to me because it was the first time I’d seen Marisa Berenson in a long time, though I see she has worked ... Read more »
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
I can’t imagine how I managed to go this long without seeing this film. Now that I have seen it, I can say that it is simply one of the most important films ever made, and one of the best.
Films of social protest were not common in 1932, and would not be common again for many years, as the terrible Hays Code would not have allowed most of this movie to be shown, particularly the ... Read more »
Hysteria
They say that until 1900, 1910, around in there, for most things that ailed you it was smarter never to call a doctor, never to get anywhere near a hospital. I’m not kidding; they were more likely to kill you than if you stayed home. Other than a few herbal remedies (and not by any means all of those) the standard treatments were either useless or actually guaranteed to make you worse. ... Read more »
Hustle & Flow
Right off the bat I have to say that I don’t believe the central premise of the movie for a minute. You can say, rightly, that socio-economic pressures drive young black men into poor career choices such as dealing drugs and being in gangs. But I believe that being a pimp requires a rottenness of the soul, a deep-down hatred for women, and thus, practically by definition, you ... Read more »
The Hurt Locker
At Metacritic, where the pros rated this 94 and the viewers 8.4, there were some dissenting voices that gave it a 1 or a 0. Some of these were soldiers serving in Iraq, and some even served in the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) unit depicted here. They said the movie is bullshit, doesn’t show real life, and some felt it was insulting to the troops. In particular, they noted, the EOD ... Read more »