Movie Reviews
Titles starting with G
The Golden Compass
This was supposed to be the next fantasy franchise, like Shrek, Lord of the Rings, and The Chronicles of Narnia. ‘Fraid not. The books, which I haven’t read, were popular, and apparently thought-provoking. I may even read them myself, as it seems they strongly attack organized religion, which is always ... Read more »
Goldfinger
Goldfinger (1964) (UK) Some people like this one best of the early Bond films. I won’t argue with them. There’s some good stuff. Like: Bond is tied down to a table and a laser (something brand new at the time) is slowly burning its way toward his bonded jewels. Bond: “Do you want me to talk?” Goldfinger: “No, Mr. Bond, I want you to die.” This is where the iconic Aston-Martin DB5 with its ... Read more »
Gone Baby Gone
Dennis Lehane is much more than just a genre writer, he’s simply one of the best writers working today. There are no easy situations in a Lehane novel, and no easy answers. In Mystic River, the father of the murdered daughter kills the wrong man … which is tough enough, but then Lehane makes it clear that the guy can live with it. Whoa! ... Read more »
Gone Girl
Ben Affleck comes home one day to find his wife, Rosamund Pike, has vanished. There are a few signs of a struggle, though nothing terrible … at first. But when the police start in with their luminol and other CSI techniques, it begins to seem that a murder might have been clumsily covered up. As the days go by, more and more little things seem to point to Ben having killed his wife. Since ... Read more »
Gone With the Wind
I expect I’ve seen this five or six times now, maybe even more, and every time I’m surprised that I’ve forgotten just how vile Scarlett O’Hara is. There is only one point at which I have any sympathy for her at all, and that is at the end of the first act. Brought low, to the point of eating a filthy carrot she has just pulled from the ground, she falls down, and slowly rises: “As God is ... Read more »
A Good Day to Die Hard
A very sad and totally unsuccessful attempt to wring the last drops of blood from the filthy used bandages of the previous four Die Hard movies. Every stupid cliché from every bad action movie you have ever seen is here, and worse than ever. Human skin that is impervious to glass, or impact, or anything else. Thousands and thousands of bullets that are always a ... Read more »
The Good Dinosaur
This is the first Pixar movie that was made mostly for children. And it shows. That is, all the previous ones could be enjoyed by youngsters, but they always had plenty of attractions for larger kids, like me. This one, not so much. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, I did, but the story is about as simple as they come, about a dwarfish brontosaurus kid who has to go out and find his ... Read more »
The Good German
This should have been a real crackerjack, and part of it is. Steven Soderbergh is a hell of a good director, and I understand the book this was based on was a good one. It attempts to look like it was actually made in 1945, and except for a very few camera moves that seem a bit slick, it is amazing. And no wonder, since they used all period equipment and techniques, such as incandescent ... Read more »
Good Hair
This is a great little documentary about the hair of African-Americans. Mostly African-American women. I have to swallow hard to use that term, which I really don’t like, as what we are actually talking about is Negro hair. Not that I really care what any group people choose to call themselves, but this is a term—along with “Asian”—that ... Read more »
A Good Marriage
Here’s a happy accident. Somehow this floated to the top of my Netflix queue and I got it instead of John Wick, which was what I wanted. I put it in the queue in the first place on the strength of Joan Allen being in it. I have always liked her. The co-star is Anthony LaPaglia, who is also usually good. But the Metacritic score was a lousy 43, and the viewers at ... Read more »