Movie Reviews
2046
(China, Hong Kong, France, Italy, Germany, 2004) The director, Wong Kar-wai, is a well-respected auteur with a big international following. We thought we’d give him a try, and we did, for about 40 minutes. It was too slow, too obscure, and not at all interesting, though some of the photography was beautiful.
Alien
On this site I have a list of my 25 favorite films of all time (plus two more that I added later). It’s agonizing to make a list like this—I started out to pick my Top Ten—because there are always so many films that ought to be on the list, but there’s just not room! However, if I expanded this list to the Top 50, or maybe even the Top 30, Alien would be on it. There ... Read more »
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
This is loosely based on The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney, which itself loosely resembles a novel. I read the book in high school, and was fascinated and baffled by it, as I think a great many other people were. It’s a series of episodes around the mysterious Dr Lao and his menagerie of mythical animals ... Read more »
The Avengers
This gets so, so tiresome. The reviews were through the roof, and several people I respect told me it was pretty good. So once more I violated my pledge to not see a comic book superhero movie, and the same damn thing happened: I was bored.
It was touted as having some witty dialogue, and some characters with a few traits that are recognizably human. Yes, there were a lot of ... Read more »
20 Million Miles to Earth
A showcase for the stop-motion talents of Ray Harryhausen (still alive this year of 2013, at age 92!), whose name appears quite early in the credits. It was made in Italy, because Ray had never been there, wanted to go, and had the studio foot the bill. Good for you, Ray!
I guess the 20 million miles in the title refers to ... Read more »
The Awful Truth
Guest reviewer for The Alpo Movie Review, by Rin-Tin-Tin VIII.
Here’s a movie that makes a few more strides in the acceptance of canine-Americans into the film industry, but is still plagued by the usual shortcomings. It stars Skippy, the famous wire-haired terrier. Skippy’s humans are Henry and Gale East and the Weatherwax Brothers, and he first appeared ... Read more »
The Apartment
It’s hard to believe this movie was controversial, but it was. It dealt with adultery and fornication without really disapproving of them. Most critics loved it, but a stupid few dismissed it as a “dirty movie.” My, my, how far we have come. It still holds up pretty well, despite being quite dated by the revolution in mores that got started shortly after it was made. Read more »
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Nobody has had as much trouble getting a film made and distributed as Terry Gilliam. His Don Quixote project was destroyed by a deluge right out of Noah’s Ark. But his biggest troubles have come not from God, but from insane studio heads. They almost succeeded in burying Read more »
The Adjustment Bureau
Philip K. Dick was the Vincent van Gogh of science fiction. Vincent painted these weird things that no one understood, and never sold a canvas. Phil wrote these weird stories in pulp magazines no one read and books on trashy paperback racks and never had two dimes to rub together. Now Vincent’s works sell for 8 or 9 figures, and Phil’s ... Read more »
Anaconda
We were both in the mood for a brainless action movie, and this was on. We could hardly have done better. The brainless part, I mean. It stars Jennifer Lopez before she was J Lo, and Jon Voight, who follows in the tradition of Captain Ahab in Read more »