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Reviews
The Third Miracle (1999)
The Bishop is not the only one to crack a hard precise whip.
See Peter Heeling's comment Aug 2003 and you will find some brevity that lends great commentary and thought regarding this fine movie. I liked your comment immensely Mr. Heeling. Now, of course it doesn't cover everything without rendering the movie away. Sometimes we find a really good movie that is entertaining, thought provoking, and a work that sets up some serious adversaries played by actors with superior talent. As a great fan of Ed Harris' and Armin Mueller-Stahls, what more can one ask for. The Brilliant yet confused American Priest Postulate vs the just as confused yet in a different way, the haughty German Bishop played to the hilt perfectly by Mueller-Stahl. We just love it when he displays his "I got you last" comments on Priest/Postulate Ed Harris who is just as tenacious, maybe even more so. Harris is backed up by his corner man,his Bishop played by Ed Haid who really almost steals the entire show. You must see these guys at work with the wonderful bantering, the fight for the win. The cigar smoking, whiskey drinking Bishop Cahill played by Charles Haid just cracks the perfect fire on top of the candle. Yes, this cast is not to be missed within fabulous dialog, encompassing thought provoking plot and themes, voices raised up and miracles, well I wouldn't know about that. Would I? To top it off we get a gander at a terrifically beautiful up and coming actress, Ms, Caterina Scorsone. She is wonderfully messed up in her part, and yes a well done job delivering her roll. One really can not ask for a more enjoyable film. Everything seems to fit and yet the mysteries still remain throughout very nicely. One can not leave out a comment on an absolutely enchanting musical score. While this is a great movie, it certainly would not be as good without the finely tuned musical score that plays throughout. A copy of which, I can not find. Please notify your fellow movie lover and IMDb supporter if you know where I can get a copy of he score. Come to think of it Turner Classic Movies and this fabulous web site IMDb, are definitely two of the finer additions to the digital age and the world at large.
Smart Money (1931)
YIddish and other dialect used?
It seems that several cast members sneak a lot of Yiddish within some of the quick dialog. I know that Cagney, brought up in the lower East Side, did actually insert Yiddish into some of his finished product. Seems odd that this would happen. Appreciate it if someone might elaborate as to if mixtures of different languages/dialects were actually permitted in final takes. Obviously this would save funds on retakes and let a well done scene pass through. Perhaps since this film was done in '31,it didn't matter too much. Yet, much of the dialog is hard to decipher in spots. I enjoyed the film. A cute piece of height of the depression era entertainment.
Mitch Albom's For One More Day (2007)
Great! It's finally over.
I must say that I feel as if I got taken. I mean, this movie has to rank as one of the most disappointing films I've ever endured. I did rate the movie with 2 points for Imperioli and Burstyn, but that's all I could muster, all it deserved at best. It just goes to show how far Oprah's name goes. I associate Winfrey with quality. That is why I must ask this; Did Oprah actually see this thing. I think not for if she had, it would not have been released. Certainly not have had her name put right out front with "top billing." Hard even to describe, when I feel cheated out of at least two hours waiting for something to develop. Oh well, I blame myself for not turning it off sooner.
The Music Box (1932)
Non Stop Hilarity
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus (Σίσυφος) (IPA: /ˈsɪsɨfəs/) was a king punished in the Tartarus by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill throughout eternity.
Today, whenever someone finds an assignment extremely pointless or repetitive, they may refer to it as Sisyphean.
The aforementioned is nothing new for the Boys. Yet, in this award winner, which is finely and beautifully preserved for the viewer/listener, The Music Box superbly fills a good hour of non stop hilarity and downright aisle flopping belly laughs.
One often hears that good hard laughing is truly the best overall medicine for what ails ya. With that being so, The Music Box is the finest natural healer on the planet. I dare say that this little film, which is just long enough to fill our souls with just enough great non stop laughing, makes for a requirement in all situations that carry difficult circumstances. It's said that there are no guarantees in life. Well, The Music Box is an amazing piece of film work that comes mighty close to a guarantee. I dare anyone to watch this film and then come out stating that they did not laugh out loud throughout.
The Boys show us why they have been revered and remembered so fondly. Laurel and Hardy really do something here that makes us forget how difficult their work actually was. We never ever think of the Boys as working on this film. There is no hint of take after take to get it right. Or, any interruption of any consequence that has us thinking about anything other than what is happening on screen. I think it extremely important to mention how incredibly amazing this kind of work is. We forget how hard it is to produce such greatness whilst all the time not thinking of anything but laughing out loud hysterically. The Boys make it look easy. I assure it took a lot of hard work and let us not forget, talent nonpareil.
Mike and Mike in the Morning (2006)
Enjoyable but has many fixable problems.
Mike and Mike is generally quite enjoyable, yet it has several serious problems that can eventually turn off the viewer/listener. First there is Mike Greenberg. MG's talent is obvious from the jump. He will eventually be a top personality for whichever network(s) he settles with. His star is clearly on the rise. Yet, he comes with all kinds of negatives. The bad parts drip off the guy. For instance he appears to always be looking in the mirror to see how is hair looks. He is constantly brushing his fingers through his hair in an effeminate way and he is absolutely horrible at having anything to do with inventing or ad libbing new ideas when needed. When a man looks in the mirror too much it's obvious and generally annoying. MG is annoying. Little Mike, the play by play guy on the show is supposed to be the pansy with Big Mike Golic, playing the part of the big former dumber jock. Big MG is far from dumb, in fact part of the show's appeal is that he does quite well for himself academically, thank you very much. Big MG is a graduate of Notre Dame and a former good NFL Defensive Lineman. Big Mike Golic does not have an ounce of vain in him. He is the guy most will like a lot. Still, Little MG carries the ball, and is really very good at it despite his neurotic effeminate and rather snooty way. He thinks he is so much smarter than Big MG but that doesn't work. What does work is that he is the one we love to hate. That is what makes the show as far as the personalities are concerned. Big MG is the big lovable teddy bear like, yet knowledgeable and well spoken ex jock. Little MG is the vain, effeminate, very smart leader or play by play guy who is also very smart and very talented. We love to hate little MG. Little MG comes off as the neurotic Jewish washer woman while Big MG is just the opposite. Big MG is the prototypical mid western ex jock who came up the harder way. He comes from a Cathoic home and is a Notre Damer all the way, while little MG is a graduate from Northwestern's school of Journalism. Not bad either way. They both play off each other well but much of the time little MG shows very little inventive ability or imagination. As the show needs a lot of filler little MG is always trying to come up with shtick. One example of how bad little MG is at this is when he decided to bring up a contest of how to rename a very good or what is commonly known in Baseball parlance as a "Nasty" pitch. He wanted to find another word for Nasty to describe a great Baseball pitch. He has such a disgustingly hard time doing this that it got to be embarrassing. For example one description that he brought up was the word "fecalicious." He brought up other ridiculous and embarrassing words like that which were so totally absurd and nauseating that no doubt even his younger viewers and any parents that watched the show were forced to turn it off or at least stop watching during the time that this asinine contest lasted. Little mG is absolutely awful at most things that take imagination. He needs to stop it. In fact Big MG is always telling little MG to "stop it!" and while this does not come off as the most genuine words that big MG could or would use, he must do it. Instead of telling little MG to stop it, he really needs to use words that would fit his personality. Saying "stop it" is not exactly the verbiage that would normally fit big MG. Hey, but they are on live TV and radio. The show has many good points and is generally enjoyable. No show is perfect especially when a show is done live every weekday morning. Let me sum up by saying: I think most avid sports fans will enjoy the show a lot. The show has the potential to get top ratings. The repetition of the latest most popular sports events are done over and over with intermission given usually to a lady named Sage Steele who comes off totally like a fish out of water. We have seen Ms.Steele in other spots in other places for other networks etc. She doesn't seem to be a good fit as a reporter of last night's sports scores. Little Mike Greenberg will be good at reading the scores or doing play by play while Big MG will continue to be good at the amiable color man.
Pardon the Interruption (2001)
Bad Personalities make a Bad show.
PTI or Pardon the Interruption has become an awful show. Simply this is due to the main panelists Tony Kornhieser and Mike Wilbon. Both are rather awful. In fact it amazes that this show continues to be on the air daily and gets decent ratings. For a much more enjoyable show try "Around the Horn," this is a similar type of show with some format differences. But Around the Horn is enjoyable3 because of the diverse personalities and the better format.
I continue to watch "Around the Horn," but have stopped watching or recording "Pardon the Interruption." BTW: If you like to be insulted and called a knucklehead by Tony Kornheiser right off the top of the show you will like PTI. Kornheiser is simply awful and Wilbon is right behind that.
The Bronx Is Burning (2007)
Is She Gorgeous? Yes! *A discussion of Greatness" Right here, NOW.
As one who notices great beauty, wonderful new artists in all genre, and one who knows a great performance from an Orchestra compared to a fair one. I consider myself, in all honesty, a person who knows what "great" is when that word, Great! is applied to anything, well, almost anything.
In this case, a few words beg to be said to describe Meredith Deacon. Ms. Deacon is one of the most thoroughly beautiful faces I've ever seen. I notice all sorts of wonderful things that the world has to offer. Beautiful people is one area where I consider myself to be an expert.
I recently noticed Meredith Deacon in a rather disappointing made for TV movie, " The Bronx is Burning." Although I was very happy for Gordy Greisman the Executive Producer/Writer, I have not yet messaged Gordon re: the rather poor showing of his production. Though detailed and well worked in spots, even interesting to some extent in an episode or two, the entire mini- movie was disappointing. I would suggest that while the production was not very good or very interesting, there were some people who were well cast. One, with a minor roll, was Meredith Deacon. During the last episode, the viewer was treated to her incredibly gorgeous face. Seemingly she played one of Reggie Jackson's girlfriend's. Actually, all wasn't very clear as to what roll Meredith plays. The viewer can assume that she may have been some kind of fan of Jackson's, but it is not made clear as to if she is simply a "Groupie" or in a serious relationship with the star of the Yankees during the 1977 season. Meredith is seen hanging out in a bar on the night that Jackson hits three World Series Home Runs. It came all in Game six, which was also the final episode.
Meredith was a wonderful surprise for those of us that appreciate sheer beauty. When I say beautiful, I mean an absolutely, beautifully rare female face. She was my pleasure to watch.
A couple of thoughts stirred after seeing Meredith Deacon. First: Why don't we know more about this stunning beauty and two: why isn't she handled more aggressively so that at the very least, we can see more of her. There are only a very few pretty photos of Meredith that are found on the WWW, but they are noticeably rare. For such an absolutely beautiful face,(we do not see much of her figure anywhere) unfortunately there is not much credited to her for her career of choice, acting. I'd like to know more of her, more about her. Is she a well known Model? I haven't written a review of "The Bronx is Burning," which on this site has received some decent reviews. But that isn't the point here. What I would like to do is open up a discussion to critics who feel that they may have something to add regarding what they consider "GREAT." The word is used much to much. Thus, I open up a discussion on "Greatness." Let's discuss it. Anything beautiful or wonderful or terrific is open for discussion. So, please bring it on. Thanks to all for joining in.
Stu Martin
Swordfish (2001)
Contains some very interesting, entertaining premises
Not a great movie but has enough to entertain. That said, there were some decent ideas behind the silly stuff, (unneeded and poorly produced fluff such as:bad explosion scenes, still more of a reach with ideas which would not be practical in furthering the ideas and goals of the primary character, John Travolta. So while the movie really has too many poorly produced, unbelievable, and unnecessary scenes, which seem out of place at times, the primary objective of the main character, is logical.
The idea behind not taking any crap from terrorists in order to rid the world of them is on it's own a good idea. Fight a hijacked plane by taking out an airport. Kill American civilians, we will use tactical nukes. This particular theme really does make sense. How to fight the war on terror? According to John Travolta, beat the living daylights out of them, BIG TIME. Recall history for a moment. When the small A bombs used to devastate Nagasaki and Hiroshima in WW 2 produced a surrender immediately, we see today, the very real possibility of the same thing happening. Travolta needs money to fight on the right side. So, he gets it by hacking his way in to the billions he needs. In steps Hugh Jackman, one of, if not, the worlds best Hacker.. The money that Travolta, (the Brain behind the process) wants, is lying dormant from a fund that was simply gathering nothing but a great amount of interest. Enough interest in 15 years to catch Travolta's eye. Jackman is forcibly coerced to hack, even though he has been caught and is followed by the FBI. Jackman doesn't want the job, he does want his daughter who lives with the Mother. We find Jackman as a confused yet brilliant at what he does.best, hack into the most secure institutions. In this case it's the Dept of Defense. Or so it would seem. That really doesn't matter too much, suffice to say Jackman and his genius are needed to get the funds produced in the interest baring account which after after 15 years totals $9 Billion. So the war on terror being fought by Travolta's ideals and his genius at getting the money needed to fight is really worth some thought. To add to that, we are now so worried about our own individual safety when it comes to buying something on the Internet or even giving a credit card to a local merchant. This is another worthwhile premise that is brought to the forefront as well as some other very worthy themes that actually confront us even more today than when this film was done, prey 9/11.
Swordfish could have been much better as Halle Berry and most other characters really seem to be there to fill in with the usual sex and violence. Actually, when referring to a headliner like Berry, we might expect more, but it's not to be. Silly looking crash scenes, Buses taken airborne, inexplicable reasons for what Travolta terms, "misdirection" just serve to confuse or at best let the viewer think for themselves. Well, whenever a movie like this one is saying ' just what is misdirection and what is real in order to render a better plot, it's OK. However, we are simply left wondering about this person or that incident. These "misdirection's" obviously play a key role in how Travolta gets away with what he does, but the confusion, the wherefore, the how, why and when are never introduced. They simply confuse an already disjointed picture. Many times the viewer will most definitely say, " what is that, or who is that? What are they doing there, Aren't they supposed to be here? It goes on that way. So be it.
Presume for a moment that this film took itself seriously. Great attention paid to detail (not available in present state), much more attention paid to computers and hacking, identity theft, divorce and custody, the war on terrorism and how to fight it and more. Swordfish does cover these themes. The subject matter, the themes suggested above, if taken much more seriously and then turned out by some top writing, well, this movie really could have been top notch. Sorry to say however, this edition of Swordfish gives us very little if any of these very important yet extremely entertaining issues.
Biloxi Blues (1988)
Neil Simon has us loving these guys. Great movie!
A wonderfully entertaining film. Everything seems to be in it's place. The only thing that one could grab at as being off somewhat, are some of the Simon jokes/funnies, which tend to sound too dated, corny or ill fitted. One must take into consideration on that point that this is a film and a story of an earlier time. A period piece and a script from quite a few years ago. Because of some of the tried for laughs, it seems that none of the Simon plays as they stand or the adaptations for screen will stand the test of time. A bit of re working on the script/dialog would help immensely Even with that BIG flaw that sticks out like a sore thumb, this film is wonderful. One might refer to or call these imperfections in the dialog,New York City Corn. Being form New York City myself, perhaps it's just the way it plays to me, but I doubt it. Most of today's viewers would have the same problem with some of the lines.
The characters could not be more interesting or endearing. The scenes are right on track as one follows the other in perfect harmony. The acting and casting is superb with standouts being just about all of the main characters. Christopher Walken continues to take command. But it's also the great by play and perfect casting of his buddies of all religious persuasions that are just as marvelous. Terrific performances by Matt Mulhern, Corey Parker, Park Overall, and of course Matthew Broderick are all great. A perfectly cast movie I would say. Everyone was terrific but what stands out so nicely about this work is that we don't want the relationship that Simon creates between our beloved characters to ever end. There is always a Bully right? Matt Mulhern is cast as the lovable, honest, Bologna sandwich slamming cretin. Yet he is wonderful in the part he plays, and becomes my favorite. Then their is the enigmatic, always unearthly Christopher Walk en who endears himself to both the audience and to his boys that he makes into pretty good soldiers.
The interplay between the different characters is what makes this work so well. There really isn't a single one in the group that we don't end up liking, at least to some degree. I really think this is where Simon's genius lies, what makes his plays so popular, so likable. We like both Oscar and Felix (opposite personalities) in the Odd Couple, right? Well, despite mostly minor bickering some major which is predictable among a bunch of guys from mostly different backgrounds and religions, in Biloxi Blues, the guys end up liking each other. They even end up realizing that St Toomey is a good guy. They understand that he is raking them over the coals in order to save their lives if and when they are shipped over seas during WWII The adventure really doesn't leave much out. Matthew Broderick goes through all or most of the adventures that we would expect. I found myself easily fitting into the group as the same kinds of things happened to me as I was growing into manhood. Somehow they grow together, they move threw some of life's more difficult moments as young men. In the end, Simon's or should I say Sgt. Toomey's bunch makes it, and we love it. I kept thinking that they really didn't have a care in the world. It was of course, a time of great anxt and worry as the guys wondered what in the world would ever happen to them. However, I couldn't help but go along with Broderick at the end, when the war is over, when none of the guys is actually sent over seas to fight. He states to the affect that as he looks back (narrating in talk over), it was the best time of his life that he seemed to bond with every one of those guys.
I was surprised to find that there is no Sound Track available of any kind. Yet, the choice of songs, taken from the era, the WWII songs some refer to as a wonderful time for Romantic Tunes are perfectly placed throughout the film. I gave this movie a 10 despite the mentioned imperfections because it simply is one piece of great entertainment, and every time I decide to watch it again, it brings me home, home to the comfort of those great characters that I just love to watch and hear.
Artworks (2003)
Good idea but gaps prevail
The flick has genuine entertainment value. At the same time, one can't take it too seriously as gaps in scenes and plot prevail. But, that's OK as this movie is generally enjoyable. I've loved Virginia Madsen for a long time and she looks her sexy best albeit with some obvious good plastic having picked up her somewhat bulging eye type. Her look now is just classy and pretty. There is no one sexier around. Madsen knows what she has and uses it perfectly in Artworks. I didn't find Rick Rossovich to be a good match with Virginia. Somehow he just doesn't do it like say Don Johnson did in another film done with Viginia Madsen. Net net however, the idea is very good and that's what works so well along of course with Madsen's acting and seething hot style. She has a knockout perfect figure, and has never looked better. She now fits into this movie like a glove. Artworks is simply one of those movies, despite it's many gaps, that just entertains, is not too long or too short and then leaves a lot of good ideas for the viewer's imagination. A nice idea but to be taken with a serious grain of pepper. Look out for this movie on cable or rent it. You'll enjoy for the duration of the picture and then most likely will forget it, save Virginia Madsen, of course.
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The Uninvited (1944)
A Beautiful Surprise
The Uninvited captured my attention primarily because of the surprising beauty of Gail Russell. Russell plays a young sweet romantic girl who's beauty took me completely by surprise. The Uninvited is basically a nice entertaining movie with plot efforts centered around a haunted house. Fine performances by all but especially entertaining for me because of the enchantingly beautiful Gail Russell. Perhaps Gail Russell is the epitome of every man's dreams. Russell's Stella can only be described by saying that she is innocent, can not take your eyes off beautiful, intelligent, wonderful, sweet and very personable. The romantic song Stella by Startlight seems to fit the beautifully romantic part that Russell plays. I was in for a further surprise when I learned that Gail Russell died quite prematurely from alcoholism which supposedly brought on a heart attack. She was only 37.