tilnun3 Reviews

A Hard Day's Night (1964)

REM rotting yuppies

[5 July 2002]

This is a Richard Lester movie made in 1964 that harks back to the Peter Sellers movies of the 50's when British comedy was at it's best. The Beatles only had to kick back and have some fun with the straight square world of 1964. The music was hopeful and psychedelics were still just a curiosity and not a political tool. The implosion was about to ignite. "All coppers are villains....sly villains."

Sphere (1998)

illegal aliens

[20 April 2002]

I thought this movie was too long. If about 20 to 30 minutes of maudlin dramatics were cut out and maybe some clues given about who or why the alien entity is there at all it would have been a better movie. The acting is well done though it can't overcome the lack of script. I especially liked Peter Coyote as the tight lipped bureacrate and Hoffman as the down to earth phychologist.

Bound for Glory (1976)

Bound for the promise land

[20 April 2002]

I thought this movie wasn't a true depiction of Woody when I first saw it in the 70's but looking at it again it's more about the class struggle during the depression era. At the same time author Upton Sinclair was running for governor of California as a socialists. When Woody came out there was a big campaign by the Hollywood rich to stop any socialists ideas from getting to the public. Sinclair almost won but because FDR didn't want to appear red he didn't give him any support. FDR eventually put social security through so he did have some red in him after all. Today most of the old people, like my father, who have been collecting social security vote republican. I guess on the whole it will be a long time for any real change but in the meantime there may be some more great artist, like Woody, that will sing about it.

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

easy money

[9 April 2002]

Prohibition was very profitable for gangsters then just like the war on drugs is for the United States bureaucracy now. Freedom to choose means not letting others choose for you. This movie was made just before

the second world war when Germany was having Nazi beer busts. With Cagney's character we don't see how he ended up broke and Bogart's ended up rich. We just see Cagney get busted as prohibition ends. This was an interesting movie if only for it's tough take on the people of that era. They had to be tough to vote both Coolidge and Hoover into the White House.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

o bill monroe, where art thou?

[29 March 2002]

Until The Big Lebowski I did not know who the Coen brothers were. Fargo was interesting but blood is not that much of a turn on for me even if it is tongue and cheek. But when I saw Lebowski I thought it was the best movie I had ever seen. So I had to see everything that the Coen's did including Fargo again. Seeing Blood Simple for the first time and knowing who the Coens are and what they had to go through to get into the movie industry was an education in how talent can overcome political connections in the movie industry. I didn't think they could top The Big Lebowski so I didn't see O Brother, Where art thou? until now. In fact I have to admit that O brother now is the best movie ever made. In fact they don't even make movies they make works of art. I know that reviewers like Rodger Ebert are not that impressed but that's only because they have to take the movies seriously and not as just entertainment first. I think the soul of America is in it's humor and not knee jerk political correctness.

The Wild One (1953)

"remember when the beatles were on your back,johnny?"

[27 February 2002]

Brando said that he thought his ass was too big in this movie. I think he was embarrassed because he's not the tough greaser that this movie depicts. The movie is a classic and if you were in high school when the beatles came on Ed Sullivan then you may remember how some of the greasers started combing their hair down. John Lennon was actually a greaser turned pop star. But until Lee Marvin shows up the movie moves kind of slow and awkward. To me the Lee Marvin bikers represent the real California incident in which this movie was taken from. Kind of like the Grateful Dead meet the British Invasion.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

"Charlie Don't Surf"

[7/10 · 22 December 2001]

Reagan just got elected, Jimmy Carter had to swollow that s___t eating grin of his, and the Vietnam Vets got their heads rubbed in that quagmire one more time. I think this was inevitable because as we all know history tends to repeat itself and fortunately at this time I wasn't draft bait and The End really wasn't the end. For Martin Sheen this was his best role and he did a fairly good job of it. The main umph of the picture is the music and the scenery. Brando is awesome and Duval is hard to imagine as a surfer groupy but the movie does capture the insanity of that war and the apocalypse of those times. Compared to todays standards the story is a bit far fetched.

Autumn in New York (2000)

not bad

[1 December 2001]

I know the reviews were bad but I don't think this is a bad movie. The photography is nice even if it is New York City. And I liked how it ended because the whole movie is about time and how we are caught up in the idea of time and money. New York being the financial capital of the world was appropriate. I don't care for Gere but he did a fair job of a bad character. Winona was exquisite as usual.

Goin' South (1978)

A gem

[6 November 2001]

This movie is one of my all time favorites. I saw it when it first came out in the 1970's and thought it deserved more praise than it got. It is mostly an entertainment comedy with such lines as "You weren't that hard to find. You were standing in the middle of town with a rope around your neck." I read someplace where Mary Steenburgen had been working as a waitress in an Arizona dinner and Nicholson stopped in and thought she would be perfect for the part. I think there is some very touching scenes between Nicholson and Steenburgen that are well written and acted. Except for Christopher Lloyd the rest of the cast is wasted. I think the only reason John Belushi is in the movie is because Nicholson wanted to meet him. At that time Saturday Night Live was considered radical chic.