Movie Reviews
The Eiger Sanction
It’s fun to read a book and then see the movie a day later. Even if you’ve done both before. But it’s been 30 years in this case, so it’s all new to me!
This was Clint Eastwood’s 4th directorial outing, and shows what he demonstrated in Mystic River, that he is very dedicated to the books he buys. Small changes were made, but only one seemed to make no sense. The book itself is ... Read more »
The Egg and I
This was a very popular book written by Betty MacDonald, detailing her (apparently partly fictionalized) experiences as a city girl who follows her slightly demented husband into the chicken farming business. Comic situations abound. Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert are quite good.
Far From the Madding Crowd
“Madding” at this time meant “frenzied.” I’ve always wondered about that. This is one of those I missed when new, and I seem to be catching up on a lot of missed big movies lately. So be it. I enjoyed it, but more for the widescreen spectacle than for the story, which I found to be frequently frustrating. But I get that way when I see people making stupid choices, particularly beautiful ... Read more »
Edward Scissorhands
I’m so happy we have Johnny Depp. He could easily have been a romantic leading man, phoning in his roles. Instead, he consistently chooses oddball projects like this one.
An Education
Nominated for Best Picture of 2009, and deservedly so. It is based on an autobiographical memoir by Lynn Barber, and details her relationship at age 16 with a man of 35. It is 1961, some years before feminism and the rockin’ 60s, and she is bored to death with school, home life, and practically everything else. You know it will end badly, but the great thing about this film is that it is ... Read more »
Far From Heaven
The serious side of Down With Love. This also looks as if it were made in the ‘50s or ‘60s, and it concerns interracial love and homosexuality, and does a very good job of it.
The Edge of Heaven
An old Turkish reprobate, living in Germany. A Turkish prostitute frequented by the old man. The old man’s son. The prostitute’s estranged daughter, living in Turkey. A German lesbian student. The student’s mother. The lives of these six people intertwine in unexpected and, frankly, some rather unlikely ways. But since this is a story told in the style of Crash ... Read more »
The Far Country
A movie noteworthy mostly for its fabulous vistas of the Yukon Territory during the gold rush. It was actually filmed in Alberta, which I guess isn’t too far off. Everywhere you look, towering mountains, snow, glaciers. They even recreated the famous scene of the prospectors laboring up the Chilkoot Pass, which can be seen on a commemorative Alaska license plate. Other than that, I wasn’t ... Read more »
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Everyone once in a while I just don’t get it. A movie comes along that is almost universally praised by critics and audiences alike, and it leaves me cold. I’m not so surprised when it’s something like Sin City. We live in an age when this sort of violent pornography is so standard that no one seems to notice anymore that it is morally bankrupt and, frankly, ... Read more »
The Family Stone
This is one of those down the middle pictures. There are many things to like, and some that don’t make a lot of sense. Mostly, it’s the sort of picture actors love. Everybody is talented, and gets to show off here and there. Sarah Jessica Parker shows up for Christmas as the new girlfriend, almost fiancée, of the oldest boy in a large family. Diane Keaton detests her on sight, ... Read more »