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Reviews
St. Louis Blues (1958)
Not accurate, but a lot of fun
The film's story line has little in common with Handy's actual life, and some Hollywood writers were brought in to "improve" a few of Handy's lyrics. In other words: don't base your term paper on this picture, unless you're demonstrating how Hollywood can't leave history well enough alone. (Would you be surprised to learn that Handy's real story is more colorful than this -- literally -- black and white movie? Didn't think so).
On the other hand, the cast is sensational -- Kitt and Bailey, particularly, with a nice early sequence featuring Billy Preston as young Bill -- and the music is well played and sung.
Ella Fitzgerald and gospel great Mahalia Jackson are featured briefly, which is another plus.
If you ignore the weaknesses in the (at best) hackneyed script and try not to wince at the stereotyped characters, the film is nicely directed.
I enjoyed it a lot, almost in spite of itself.
Jarhead (2005)
Semper Fi!
There was a Q&A with Swofford after the screening I saw, as well. This audience was largely middle-aged, affluent, and from Los Angeles. Several seemed rather disappointed that the film wasn't more openly anti-war than it is; though politically a liberal, I was impressed by the effort to not take that obvious a stand and (for once) let the audience do its own thinking.
While the action takes place in a relatively restricted time, place and era, I'm willing to bet that soldiers from any war -- Peloponnesian, Hundred Years or Civil -- could identify with the characters and situations. For that reason, I particularly commend it to people who have friends or relatives in the service.
One mild warning: as in real life, the language and situations occasionally get a bit salty.
The Gauntlet (1977)
Too funny for Eastwood fans?
This movie, when it came out, is the one that convinced me that there's a lot more to Eastwood than the Man with No Name and Dirty Harry. It's a straight-out action comedy, as some of the people who have commented figured out, and others seem to have missed. And, there's no orangutang!
Eastwood's humor is more subtle (the only thing about the movie that is) here than in some of his later pictures, and I have to disagree with earlier assessments of Locke's performance, as well -- watch her reactions in the scenes with the Vegas cop.
Looking back afterward, I more fully saw the humor in the Leone and Dirty harry pieces, as well. The DVD looks and sounds terrific, though Warner Bros. certainly does skimp on the extras.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
No surprise to me
Several reviewers noted that there was a "surprise" ending that changed the whole tone of the film. I was so easily able to figure out what was going on, almost immediately, it gave me a change to see how the "secret" was kept up -- I wonder if it was intended as a "surprise" in the sense of "The Crying Game," or if the reviewers were just dense (Imagine!). Relative to my own density, I'd appreciate anybody explaining the scene in the jewelry store -- what did it have to do with anything? Did I fall asleep during a crucial moment?