DTL Reviews

Schindler's List (1993)

Amazingly moving

[10/10 · 24 June 2003]

I saw this film originally in 1993 and have just recently watched the video. I did not truly appreciate the brilliance of this film ten years ago. If you have seen THE PIANIST which was a marvelous epic struggle of a single individual, take a look at this film about the struggle of 800 which is truly Spielberg's most amazing work.

The most incredible fact is that there are less than 4000 Jews remaining in Poland today, while there are 6000 decendents of those whom Schindler managed to save.

This film will insure that we never forget him or what he did in the name of humanity. It simply must be transfered to DVD as soon as possible.

What to Do in Case of Fire (2001)

Terrific Characters

[8/10 · 7 June 2003]

The films that I have seen out of Germany are limited I admit, but the ones I have been seeing are just wonderful. I have added to my list of German favorites which include RUN LOLA RUN and THE HARMONISTS, the charming an edgy dramedy WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF FIRE? The characters in this film simply crackle. The plot about a reunion of 80's anarchists zooms along to its conclusion. The film is both funny and real.

Signs (2002)

Worst Movie of the Year

[1/10 · 23 September 2002]

I went to see SIGNS on the urgings of two colleagues. In a word the film is dreadful. I haven't been so bored by anything since I gave another two hours of my life up at VANILLA SKY last year. The first act had me scratching my head trying to follow the plot. In the second act I was battling following asleep. By the third act I smiled a lot because the film then seemed a bit clever the way it wrapped itself up. I say a bit…definitely not enough to save this turkey. It will surely be top of my TEN WORST LIST for this year. A MUST MISS.

City by the Sea (2002)

It's All About the Atmosphere

[6/10 · 23 September 2002]

CITY BY THE SEA is an atmospheric cop story about a murder starring a rather grizzled Robert DeNiro who is quite wonderful. It takes place in Long Beach, New York a once bustling suburb of Manhattan. A beach playground for the middle class of the nineteen fifties. It is now a desolate sewer for the scum of the earth. A once proud Casino on the boardwalk is now a shooting gallery for local junkies. This is the community that DeNiro's character a Police Lieutenant grew up in. He now resides in Manhattan works his shift there and waits to walk Francis McDormand home from her job in the theatre. They have a nice relationship although DeNiro has many secrets that he keeps from her. Primarily that his father died in the Electric chair when he was eight and that he left his son when he was 14. Although this is a cop thriller it is much more about what father's do to sons and vice versa. GO SEE IT

One Hour Photo (2002)

Williams is amazing

[6/10 · 23 September 2002]

I saw the Robin Williams thriller ONE-HOUR PHOTO when it first opened and was playing at only a few theatres. It has since opened wide and you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. It is well worth the trip. Although the screenplay and film are flawed Williams performance is not. It is Williams' best work since GOOD WILL HUNTING. Along with INSOMNIA earlier this year he seems to becoming quite adept at playing the deranged.

Have you ever thought about the guy behind the photo counter? The one who takes your weekend film and turns it into snapshots? Did you ever consider who might be looking at those naked shots of your wife or girlfriend, you know what I mean, those last two shots you snapped of her…just to finish off the roll for developing? Well, after seeing ONE-HOUR PHOTO you'll never look at Cy the Photo Guy quite the same way again.

The performances in ONE-HOUR PHOTO from Williams on down are flawless. The film however is too short, a brisk ninety minutes or so. Too little screen time for a story that needed so much more development.

The Adams Chronicles (1976)

Big Fan of the Chronicles

[18 September 2002]

I am old enough to have seen this when it was originally presented on PBS. I also grew up in the shadows of Boston where most the mini series takes place.

I am currently listening to the audio CDs of JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough read by Edward Hermann which got me to thinking about how wonderful THE ADAMS CHRONICLES was. I came on IMDb looking for the series on DVD or VHS or in some form that would allow me to revisit it. Disappointedly it would seem not to be available in any of those forms.

If anyone KNOWS of or about a version or if this series may be run again on PBS would you please let me know.

The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)

A Pleasant Documentary

[6/10 · 1 September 2002]

THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE is a documentary that I was told by the only other patron seeing the film with me that received "a twenty minute standing ovation at Sundance." I'm not a big fan of the documentary and don't see a whole lot of them. Although I enjoyed THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE its reported ovation may have had more to do with its subject matter Robert Evans famed Hollywood Producer and the fact that Sundance is attended by many people in the industry who know him.

Evans is credited with bringing back Paramount from the scrap heap with films like LOVE STORY and THE GODFATHER. He began as an actor. He plays the Matador in THE SUN ALSO RISES which everyone including Hemmingway himself was dead set against. But Daryl Zannuck the film's Producer said "The Kid stays in the Picture." Evans who narrates the film based on his autobiography said "that's when I decided I wanted to be the guy who could say that."

TKSITP may be difficult to find in a theatre near you but if you can it certainly is a pleasant watch.

Undisputed (2002)

It's Better Than ROCKY V...maybe

[2/10 · 1 September 2002]

I am certain that UNDISPUTED got pitched in Hollywood as: "picture Rocky in Prison only he is African American." The problem UNDISPUTED ain't no ROCKY. Neither Wesley Snipes nor Ving Rhames as imprisoned boxers are interesting or likeable enough to give the audience anyone to root for. First rule of boxing films, the hero has to be the underdog and we have to want him to win. Snipes has been in prison for ten years for murder. He is the best that this film has to offer as the underdog. Rhames the current Heavyweight Champion is thrown into prison, get this for raping a girl he claims to have consented to the sex…hmmm, I have heard that story somewhere before. Rhames has all the personality of Mike Tyson as well, so you sure can't be rooting for him.

The boxing scenes themselves are fought in cage that reminds you more of WWF wrestling or MAD MAX in THE THUNDERDOME. They are shot so badly you can hardly follow the action. The sound of the punches a staple in fight films I admit are way too loud to be believable here.

UNDISPUTED's only saving grace is a charming performance by Peter Falk as an aging Mafia Don who uses his outside connections to set up the fight between the two boxers.

UNDISPUTED weighs in as better than ROCKY IV and V but other than that it is a pure TKO.

Possession (2002)

One of the Best of the Year

[9/10 · 1 September 2002]

It seems that the new season of good films may well be upon us starting with POSSESSION starring Gwenth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhart and Jeremy Notham. It is set in modern day England where Paltrow and Eckhart are academic scholars of Victorian poets and it is one of the most touching films I have seen in some time.

Roland Michell (Eckhart) is an American on a fellowship to study a poet named Randolph Henry Ash whose Centennial the Brits are currently celebrating. Through a series of events Roland discovers that the married Ash believed never to have as much as looked at another woman, may have had a torrid affair with another Victorian poet named Christabel LaMotte. Roland's investigation leads him to seek out Maud Bailey (Paltrow) an authority on the life and works of LaMotte. Together they become detectives in search of the truth and along the way fall in love with each other.

The film cuts flawlessly back and forth from the modern to the Victorian era making pure cinematic magic. Notham as Ash and Jennifer Ehle as LaMotte are pure delight.

The screenplay by David Henry Hwang based on a novel by AS Byatt is wonderful, as is the direction by Neil LaBute. POSSESSION is a very special film and one of the best I've seen this year.

Cold Feet (1997–2020)

Great British Series

[27 August 2002]

COLD FEET which can be seen in the USA on the BRAVO channel has the edgy quality of HBO's SEX AND THE CITY another favorite of mine. It

follows the ups and downs of three British couples and their relationships. Kind of British THIRTYSOMETHING although at least one of the couples is on the forty side of thirty.

It surely is better than most anything shown on American Network tv and worth checking out.

S1m0ne (2002)

One of the Best Films of 2002

[9/10 · 25 August 2002]

SIMONE written and directed by Andrew McNichol who also wrote THE TRUMAN SHOW, which in the opinion of this writer was one of the best films of 1998, opened this week starring incomparable Al Pacino.

THE TRUMAN SHOW was a brilliant send up of television and those of us who will watch whatever is on. SIMONE does the same for movies and Hollywood. It will certainly make my list of the Ten Best Films of 2002. Put quiet simply McNichol has once again hit one out of the park.

SIMONE is a beautiful actress that is made up of pixels. A series ones and zeros put together in a computer and placed into the film. Even her name is an abbreviation for the computer program that has made her possible: Simulation One.

When Hollywood diva Wynona Ryder walks off director Viktor Taransky's (Pacino) film unfinished for nothing but silly reasons, his career is finally in the dumpster. He is offered salvation when a computer whiz, played in a fabulous cameo turn by Elias Koteas, offers him the solution.

Taransky with the aid of the computer creates SIMONE the perfect actress. She doesn't talk back, does what she's told and doesn't make trouble. Made up from parts of the very best that Hollywood has to offer she is breathtakingly beautiful. She becomes bigger than life itself which McNicholl cleverly shows by placing Simone's picture on the sides of three story buildings and has Pacino or other mortals walk by in front the portraits. As an actress Simone is less than brilliant, but no one seems to notice. In fact, that is the point, nothing this woman does is wrong. The public as McNicholl's character Christoff in the TRUMAN SHOW says `accepts whatever Universe that is presented to them as real.'

McNichol tell us in both SIMONE and TRUMAN SHOW that people believe what they want to believe; what they feel comfortable believing. SIMONE says that your eyes will lie to you. That what you see is only true if that is what you want it to be. It is a warning to a complacent society to be on guard. The media is capable of creating their reality, one that will make us happy, warm and fuzzy, in order to control what we see, think and feel. That they in fact all ready do this through advertisement and slanted, controlled news. It warns us not to blindly trust what we are shown by the media. SIMONE reminds us of elements in WAG THE DOG where a fictious war is created and since it is shown on TV we will believe it.

SIMONE is both hilarious and thought provoking. Pacino's performance as the washed up film director takes on a rather Dr. Frankenstein feel when his creation becomes uncontrollable, not for what she does but for the way that the public reacts to her. After she becomes big he can't admit to the fraud because no believes him and he can't kill her off because the public refuses to let her die. Pacino is brilliant. You cannot go wrong with this one, it's a winner.

The Truman Show (1998)

The Film of 1998

[10/10 · 25 August 2002]

The TRUMAN SHOW should be of interest today because its author has just opened SIMONE starring Al Pacino which will surely be one of the top ten films of 2002.

THE TRUMAN SHOW stars Jim Carrey in arguably his best role. You may recall the Oscar snub that year when Carrey failed even to get a nomination after he won the Golden Globe for the same role. Carrey sans the silly faces and Jerry Lewis antics plays this very seriously and is brilliant. Serious follow-up roles in MAN IN THE MOON and MAJESTIC have proved that Carrey has the chops to be a serious actor. Hopefully Hollywood will stop typing him and the world will start accepting him for his more serious work.

TRUMAN also stars the terribly under used Laura Linney who made such a wonderful splash with the indie YOU CAN COUNT ON ME.

Briefly THE TRUMAN SHOW is a futuristic soap opera in which its star TRUMAN thinks his life is real. He was born on TV and has lived his whole life there on camera. The town in which he lives and all of the people who populate it are sets and actors hired to fill in his life. How he discovers the truth and the manner in which the Network tries to prevent that is what the film is all about.

If you have never seen THE TRUMAN SHOW and especially if you have enjoyed SIMONE, it should be on the top of your MUST rent list.

K-PAX (2001)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest Meets ET

[3/10 · 27 October 2001]

Have we seen this film before? YES

I was really looking forward to seeing this movie and it may just make my ten worst of the year. Keven Spacey is wonderful. When he is off the screen the movie is simply dull, lifeless and stupid. It sets us up for certain expectations and in the third act denies them when it turns into ordinary, boring we-have-seen-this-a-million-times-before.

The screenplay is a sham. The editing plodding. I haven't seen such wasted time in at least a week. RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS had almost as bad editing.

Avoid this turkey at all costs.

True Colors (1991)

Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

[16 October 2001]

True Colors is certainly not a classic, but it is worth a look, Having seen it years ago I have always considered it one of those mini discoveries. A little film that I enjoyed that most people were not aware of. Viewing it now I still enjoyed the relationship between Cusak and Spader. We all know that politicians are scum and that the government is always at work for US, so NOTHING about this film or the morals of the people in it should surprise. What is a bit amusing is the fact that the film makers wish us to believe that Spader and the Justice Department have integrity. This is quite laughable.

My advice is to enjoy the concept and the journey these people take to achieve power.

Field of Dreams (1989)

Baseball the One Constant

[22 September 2001]

FIELD OF DREAMS has been called the greatest baseball film ever made, but it so much more. Baseball is the metaphor of who we were because as boys we all played this game. So many of life's lessons were first learned on the diamond between those white foul lines. FIELD OF DREAMS is about finding that part of our past and dreaming it again. It is about making that dream a reality. But it is mostly about second chances.

In these trying times of terrorism and fear it is so positive to know that you can go back and visit a terrific film like this and cry all over again. That you can see this movie and know what is truly great about America and our way of life.

If you need a lift right about now as most of do, go to the video store and rent the tape that Kevin Costner called "It's Wonderful Life" for our generation. If what we saw in New York last week was truly hell, then maybe FIELD OF DREAMS could be a little bit of heaven for you now as it was for me.

You might want to try seeing this with EIGHT MEN OUT as a solid double header.

David London

The Crying Game (1992)

A Very Clever Film

[8/10 · 15 September 2001]

As I recall the CRYING GAME was one of the first thinking person's films One of those little Indie's that came along and changed the way we looked at movies. I have recently viewed in on tape not having seen it it since 1993 and there wasn't much of it that I remembered except the big surprise which even then I had figured out a half hour earlier.

The best part about this film is Jaye Davidson's performance and Neil Jordan's wonderful screenplay. They were both unique for the time and stand up to it on this second viewing some eight years later. The plot twists and turns and one is never quite certain where it is going. There are two story lines that seem unconnected until they connect up perfectly in the film's third act.

As for Jaye Davidson he is quite amazing. I also recall at the time of this film was out that I thought the Academy had best give him the Oscar this time because although he was young, his career would probably be limited. I can see from his bio that it was indeed. He did a couple of small films after CRYING GAME but by 1995 he had now gone back to working in London's fashion world. That is sad. It would have been nice to see him get more chances to act. Stephen Rhea on the other hand as the film's main character pretty much looked like he was sleep walking his way through it. HE unfortunately is still very much out there acting. Most recently appearing in THE MUSKETEER. There just ain't much justice in Hollywood.

I urge you to take a look at this fine film if you haven't seen it or to revisit if you have.

U-571 (2000)

WW II Painted with a Broad Brush

[2/10 · 25 August 2001]

U-571 is quite simply the worst WW II movie ever made. The talents of such fine actors as Bill Paxton and Harvey Keitel can't save this watery lead weight.

The screenplay was written as if the viewers were twelve and if the plot points were not sledge hammered home they wouldn't get the story.

The special effects were laughable. There have been many well told and filmed stories about submarine life. I suggest that you rent one of them.

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

A Dream of A Movie

[10/10 · 25 August 2001]

I have just seen SENSE AND SENSIBILITY for the second time having viewed it once a year or two ago. It stands up to everything that I remembered and more. It is delighful.

This romantic telling of the Jane Austen novel written and starring Emma Thompson and directed by Ang Lee would make a perect date night on the couch at home. A bottle of wine, some popcorn and the one you love close at hand would make for the perfect evening. This is a nearly perfect film.

If you enjoyed Mr. Lee's film CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON imagine it without the kung fu and subtitles and you may have a good idea of the fantasy and majesty of S & S. In it your heart will be doing all of the flying.

Stand outs in the cast are Ms. Thompson and Kate Winslet as her sister. Hugh Grant is a bit stiff and perhaps out of place, but he certainly does not distract.

I urge you rent this film if you haven't seen it and see it again if you have.

Bully (2001)

Plays Like a documentary

[5 August 2001]

BULLY is clearly the best release this summer. Raw and powerfully written, directed and performed. Larry Clark gives us a dramatic film that within the first five minutes you forget that you are watching. It seems more that we are eavesdropping on something that is actually taking place before our eyes.

BULLY is based on actual events that took place in Hollywood Florida in 1993. A group of under achieving, low self esteem teenagers decide that the only way to protect themselves from one of their own, A Bully, is to kill him. These kids are sad because they are so hopelessly stupid and naive. They numb themselves to the harshness of reality with a constant diet of sex and drugs.

All through the film I kept thinking that it was all such a waste. It was all so sad to watch, knowing what MUST happen and hoping that one of them will put up a hand and stop the madness before it is too late.

This film is raw. Rachel Miner the chief plotter in the murder spends much of the film in the nude. The sex is strong and at times shocking for a mainstream film. But it is totally believable and necessary. When you have nothing. No goals, no jobs, no education, no direction, sex is bound to be a huge desensitizer to the pain of the real world.

I urge you to go see this film. It is a shoe in to make many Ten Best lists for 2000.

DL

Avalon (1990)

A truly brilliant picture of the American Family

[6 July 2001]

AVALON which is the third leg of the Baltimore Trilogy was unfortunately overlooked at Oscar time in 1990. It is a truly brilliant film written and directed by Barry Levinson.

It is about the evolution of the storyteller. Sam the head of the family comes to America in 1914 on the Fourth of July. It was a time when family meant something and those that came here first sent money back so that other family members could join them in the land of hope. Sam is the the family storyteller. He tells the family history to the children in hopes that they will always remember where they came from. As the years go by the family moves away from Avalon, the neighborhood that they first came to and the family begins to change. They move apart and splinter and the new technology known as the television becomes the storyteller. Thanksgivings which are the unifying holiday throughout the story begin with the family waiting for all of the brothers to arrive before "they cut the turkey" and proceeds through smaller family groups sitting at TV stands watching television and ends finally when grandson Michael, with his son visits Sam in a nursing home where the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade plays silently on the televison in Sam's room.

As the film concludes Michael, who is the embodiment of Barry Levinson in the tradition of the storyteller shares his grandfather's story with his son.

All of this backed by Randy Newman's haunting score one of the most fitting ever written for a film.

This is a must see.

The Family Man (2000)

Great Holiday Treat

[9/10 · 2 January 2001]

FAMILY MAN is a new holiday film in the tradition of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and with a bit of luck it will be a part of out Christmas' for as many years. Nicholas Cage another big time action hero opted to something smaller and quieter and has done so with tremendous success. He is delightful as is his charming co star Tea Leoni, who I thought before seeing this movie, was only known for being the real life wife of David Duchovney. Ms. Leoni simply lights up the screen like sparkling Christmas tree.

Cage is a sort of modern day Scrooge. A Wall Street wheeler dealer who insists that his staff work through the holidays to make this big merger come together. He goes to sleep in his New York penthouse on Christmas Eve and awakens in a middle class New Jersey house the next morning. He is married to Leoni his college sweetheart and they have two children. Like Jimmy Stewart in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE Cage is given a glimpse of what his life might have been if he had chosen differently some thirteen years earlier. But unlike Stewart, who wants to go back to his real existence, Cage realizes that he may have made a huge mistake by leaving Leoni.

Although the ending of the film may be a bit forced it does not mar the quality of the script and the performances. FAMILY MAN is a real Holiday gift.

What Women Want (2000)

A CHARMER

[9/10 · 2 January 2001]

WHAT WOMEN WANT is the new Mel Gibson film and after last summer's lackluster THE PATRIOT, he desperately needed a winner and this is it. WHAT WOMEN WANT is the smartest, most delightful romantic comedy to come out since last year's NOTTING HILL. Gibson is brilliant. He is more than capable of playing light and frothy. In the tradition of a Cary Grant, I think Gibson will be able to play romantic leads long after his action hero days are over.

This film has a smart, tight screenplay with wonderfully drawn believable characters. The stellar supporting cast including Helen Hunt, who seems to be everywhere this year, is well worth the ticket price.

If you see one film this holiday season, see this one.

You Can Count on Me (2000)

ONE OF THE YEAR'S BEST

[10/10 · 2 January 2001]

YOU CAN COUNT ON ME this years Sundance Film Festival winner shows what can be done with a small budget, a good screenplay and smart casting choices.

Several of my New York readers wrote to ask if I had seen this one a month or so ago. It has taken that long for it to reach us here in the hinder lands of Florida and it was well worth the wait. This film is a little jewel. A triumph for excellent acting and writing. It stars Laura Linney, best know for her performance as Jim Carey's wife in the TRUMAN SHOW and she is simply brilliant. If Oscar ignores this performance it will be a travesty of justice.

YOU CAN COUNT ON ME is the story of a grown sister and brother who were orphaned as children when their parents are struck head on by a truck. They live in a small rural town. The brother grows up and is a wanderer, while the sister stays in the town in the family house. She has a job of responsibility with the bank and struggles to raise her son as a single parent. The brother comes back into their lives because he is broke and has no where else to go.

This film is about all of the love between these two people as well as the guilt.

YOU CAN COUNT ON ME is one of the years very best films.

Finding Forrester (2000)

Good Idea Not Realized

[3/10 · 2 January 2001]

FINDING FORESTER is best described as GOOD WILL HUNTING meets SCENT OF A WOMAN. Since the director Gus Van Sant directed GOOD WILL that wouldn't be surprising. That the film looks like a nickel and dime NYU Film School Film is. If it were not for the immense talents of Sean Connery this film would be totally without merit.

They began with an excellent concept. An African America youth, a terrific basketball player, happens to be brilliant and well read. In his public school he is a C student. He does just enough to get by, but here is the hook, but NOT enough to get noticed. Jamal Wallace is comfortable having his ghetto friends believe he is rather average, but after he scores high on some city wide academic tests he can no longer hide the truth. This point could have and should have been made in the first ten minutes. Then we should have been launched immediately into the story of the boy discovering Connery. Instead Van Sant lumbers aimlessly for what seems an eternity bringing in superfluous characters and situations. All the while utilizing the worst cinematography I have seen in years. His hand held camera is in constant unsteady motion. Some might think it gritty or arty, it made be seasick and as a result you never have a chance to focus on anything on the screen.

With a tighter screenplay, better casting and a bigger budget this could have been a wonderful film. With all of the experienced actors there are out there why Van Sant chooses to use a totally talent free young man in the pivotal lead is beyond me. His total lack of experience is being trumpeted on all of the magazine and talk shows to amaze us. I suppose. After seeing the film the only thing that amazed me was that I had paid seven bucks to see such an amateurish performance.

American Beauty (1999)

One of the Best films of 1999!!

[10/10 · 25 September 1999]

A definite addition to my Ten Best List for 1999, is AMERICAN BEAUTY which is sure to earn Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning (robbed in the past for her work in BUGSY and THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT), and Alan Ball (most original screenplay to come along in awhile), Oscar nominations. It is the story of what suburban life and the pursuit of the American Dream can do to an American Family. But unlike the critic's darling from a few years ago ICE STORM, which left me freezing, this film is genuinely funny and moving at the same time. The ideas projected by director Sam Mendes literally leap off the screen. Spacey's edgy performance as the ad exec pushed over the brink by the pressures of having to have it all and his passion for "The American Beauty" he missed when he was young enough to enjoy it, offer a visual feast. Annette Benning as the Queen of suburbia, Spacey's wife, is a sort sexy, gorgeous, Martha Stewart gone mad, convinced if she has just one more motivational seminar she will reach nirvana. She is in a word "wonderful." The boy next door is sort of cross between Timothy Hutton in ORDINARY PEOPLE and Benjamin in THE GRADUATE. He deals drugs, observes life around him through a video camera and convinces almost everyone that he is the straight arrow next door. We know immediately, that like everyone else in this movie, he is not as he appears. AMERICAN BEAUTY peals away, layer by layer, this oh so imperfect world of suburbia and those in denial who live there. If you have already seen NOTTING HILL you NEED to see AMERICAN BEAUTY.