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Reviews
Montana (1998)
Everyone steals; some moviemakers steal from better sources
I just saw Montana for the first time last night. The fact that my weak attention span was insistent that I finish it means I must have liked it at least reasonably well, but on a more conscious level I know this movie is not all that good. I really want to note that if the writing team and/or director stole from any director, it was probably much more Peckinpah than Tarantino. The story gives the violence a kind of nihilistic "this is the way we really are" quality that Tarantino has never addressed (nor does he need to; this is not a value judgement), but is Sam Peckinpah country. I think what kept me at it was outstanding acting all around, no wasted time editing (except for the one or two overly long firefights) and the possibility of new beginnings for very damaged people, which is neither Peckinpah or Tarantino in character. Just one more note, Robbie Coltrane's part does seem underwritten; one really irritating flaw in the movie.
Gotta get back to tying the rebar. L
Performance (1970)
Re: Donald Cammel
Looking at the previous comments, I have to wonder if anyone knows how much work director/writer (yeah, he wrote it; so don't give credit or blame entirely to Nic Roeg". Cammel was fire from the movie, essentially over, ("Yeah!You got it", as Miller said to Bud in Repo Man) what else, "creative differences", yet he probably directed the better part of the movie. As far as the movie itself, to paraphrase my old dead friend Tom S.who used to say, "MMMGOOD" or "ooly drooly", meaning he wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad movie, but it sure was weird. Note,try to find a tape of Robert Altman's "Images" cuz' if ye likes heavily weird matey,"Images" may be to your taste. Or better, see if you can find a tape of Alejandro Jodorowsky's
"El Topo" --- ooo gleet to that. Wow is that flick freakin' weird. cheers L
Mr. Skeffington (1944)
The Good, the Bad, and ooo-gleet
We can skip the plot because you can piece it together from other comments. I just saw this for the first time (and it was the 146 min. version) and have a schizoid reaction. But first, the most unbelievable thing in the entire movie was that some shmoe at Ellis Island turned a long Eastern European name with a "scz" sound followed by a warbly, then howling sound into "Skeffington". Maybe it's too trivial for anyone else to mention; if so, sorry. So, you have high melodrama dealing frankly, for the era, with some tough issues, but nothing happens if Davis' character is a little less slow to mature, which, when it does happen, takes about 5 minutes of screen time. Now, you've seen the other comments, so you know this might be a highly improbable character, even for melodrama, but I have to say I actually know someone kind of like that, so I had to respect the possibility. The two stars get into their characters very well, but Rains doesn't have nearly the screen time Davis does, so he has a Hobson's choice; overplay Skeffington to compensate, or play as straight as possible and hope not to get buried. Fortunately, Rains chooses the latter, and uses his considerable talent to keep Skeffington in the movie. So, there's good stuff here, but it's awkwardly paced, and the supporting cast is underused, and to me it is in part uncomfort- ably dated and yet relevant and contemporary in some ways, so the result is a schizoid response. One more thing; the interior shots (it's a very well photo- graphed picture) steal, in angles and contrasts, from Citizen Kane, of all things. Well, I think so. Am I nuts, or does anyone else see this?--the screamin' hamster shuts up now;Adios
House of Games (1987)
my own 2 cents on an outstanding movie
It's interesting to note that there are quite a few comments on a movie almost no one saw in a theater. Comment on comments:The intentionally hyper-stagy dialog style Mamet sometimes uses is here used only between the two leads (Crouse and Mantegna); the rest is quite naturalistic for movie dialogue, especially the dealer at the poker game (admittedly a small part, but I've heard various types of poker patter before and this was good.) and between the con guys, even though that dialogue was frequently, in the movie, staged. I thought, as a lot of commenters on IMDb did, that this has near-great quality, but one thing really bothered me, plot-wise. The "pre-con" relies on a water pistol that looks very much like a real gun; I've never seen such a thing, but this is the USofA so it's quite plausible. The problem is that the water pistol had to be filled to move the story along; a plot point, right? And the shrink has to notice water dripping from it. It is also necessary for her to be hooked by the con as an exotic activity. She's impressed and fascinated. THIS is a problem, because, if these guys are so good, why would they put water in the fake gun? It gives Ricky Jay a good line, but doesn't make sense. The shrink is not THAT naive and not in THAT dire need of an exotic hook (though she is both) that she could believe these smart guys could be so stupid. I love this movie and it is near-great, but that one thing bothers the heck out of me. And stop with the "Sting" comparisons! It's like quasars and Allen wrenches (i'm tired of apples and oranges); one is a fine Hollywood entertainment about charming cons and this other is a study of the darker side of our own desires and obsessions. The similarity is only superficial at best.
Promised Land (1987)
Restlessness v. pull of small town home leads to tragedy
Two principles are anxious to get out of a small burg in the mid west and one refuses to leave the only place where he ever had any recognition (as a star high school athlete) and becomes a local cop. The wild card here is a drifter and borderline sociopath who nonetheless also needs something like "home", but has no idea what that is.
Played by Meg Ryan as you've never seen her. Although if you rent "Hurlyburly" you'll see what she can do with a well written part not seemingly made for her; this woman can act, but apparently would rather have Nora Ephron help her be a star and get fat deals playing variations on the same person. Rant aside, Ryan's character hooks up somewhere in the west with the most disaffected of the small-towners, played as a not very bright but enigmatic loser by Kiefer Sutherland. The pull of "home", both real and imagined, leads Kiefer and Meg back to small-burg with tragic consequences. There is a real 80's feel to this. Ennui and fear and neediness combine as America ostensibly does big things, a few people get really rich, and people like these characters instinctively know that most people, especially ones like them, have fewer prospects than their parents. Unlike me, the movie is not at all didactic, so check it out as one of the more outstanding "feel-bad" movies I've ever seen.
Promised Land (1987)
Restlessness v. pull of small town home leads to tragedy
Two principles are anxious to get out of a small burg in the mid west and one refuses to leave the only place where he ever had any recognition (as a star high school athlete) and becomes a local cop. The wild card here is a drifter and borderline sociopath who nonetheless also needs something like "home", but has no idea what that is.
Played by Meg Ryan as you've never seen her. Although if you rent "Hurlyburly" you'll see what she can do with a well written part not seemingly made for her; this woman can act, but apparently would rather have Nora Ephron help her be a star and get fat deals playing variations on the same person. Rant aside, Ryan's character hooks up somewhere in the west with the most disaffected of the small-towners, played as a not very bright but enigmatic loser by Kiefer Sutherland. The pull of "home", both real and imagined, leads Kiefer and Meg back to small-burg with tragic consequences. There is a real 80's feel to this. Ennui and fear and neediness combine as America ostensibly does big things, a few people get really rich, and people like these characters instinctively know that most people, especially ones like them, have fewer prospects than their parents. Unlike me, the movie is not at all didactic, so check it out as one of the more outstanding "feel-bad" movies I've ever seen.