twilight2000

Of all the Christmas specials we watch (most every Rankin/Bass stop motion with Santa ever made) this is one of our very favorites. Let me note that this is the animated version, not the stop motion one - it's the only of Rankin/Bass's productions I've ever taken a pass on.

The animation is beautiful, the script is at once touching and terrifying and lovely. Hal Holbrook voices both The Great Auk and the Narrator - they couldn't have found a better choice. Robbie Benson outdoes himself as "Young Santa" and Jim Cummings as "Older Santa" - the two of them make a seamless performance of Santa and give a wonderful fully- developed character.

*Spoilers* This story is much more ancient than most we see - This Santa was a foundling that a Wood Nymph breaks all her kind's laws to raise in the Forest of Berzee. This Santa, after he grows up, wears the Christmas Wreath we've seen in historic engravings - The Great Auk is introduced to us as "The Master Woodsman" ruling over Faeries, Nooks & Rills (& wood nymphs) in a very woodland interpretation of the Santa Claus story. Santa delivers toys as gifts to children many times a year on a regular basis - until the Augua start attacking Nicholas of Berzee (his name during his mortal lifetime) and endanger the children. Then he negotiates with the Ril who is responsible for all the deer for one night a year - and when they ask which night, Auk suggests there is one night the humans celebrate each year when their hearts are a little more full and a little more caring - that should be the right night. They agree and he begins delivering toys one night a year with the 8 reindeer he's able to borrow from Wil (the deer keeper). In the Great Battle the Augua are joined by Dragons & Giants - they're defeated by the great magic of the immortals. The rest is the wonderful story of his travels as what we think of as Santa and Christmas presents and even touches on how he gets in even without a chimney! In the end, Nicholas is, after all mortal. And when he must finally pass, Auk petitions for immortality for him. The story ends well - but you should watch to see the particulars.

This Santa is wonderful - he's constantly amazed at the world around him - all is new and lovely and surprising and wondrous. This story by Frank L. Baum, is lovingly told and animated and given to us in voice by Hal Holbrook.

Of all the Christmas Specials we watch, this is one of only 2 my teenager still asks for - the other is Call Me Claus (Whoopie Goldberg & Nigel Hawthorne). That's pretty high praise - and very well deserved!

It's not at all what I expected -- it's a great deal more. I suspect this movie has maybe 40% of the lines a "normal" movie of this type and length would have -- and not surprisingly, it's the silences that speak the loudest.

In some amazing performances, both Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson bring home the destruction of war and what it does to a soul. It is amusing, just as an anecdote, that two Irishmen are fighting the American Civil War -- but they do it *so* well and David Von Ancken does such an amazing directing job that there isn't a moment that you don't believe. The amazing lengths to which each of these men will go -- Guideon (Brosnan) to stay alive and Carver (Neeson) to kill the man he defines as murderer - is amazing. There's some very graphic knife violence -- and it's perpetrated by the unexpected (in terms of actor history) -- and quite well brought off. That this man will go to these lengths to accomplish this goal is never in doubt in your mind. From belly wounds to horse entrails, this is an amazing story.

I'm not surprised it didn't do big box office. This is a thinking person's movie and it's profoundly unsettling. The look at what blind hatred can do to a soul is disconcerting enough all by itself. It may have some qualities of a Western, but hardly the traditional Western. These actors, far from their regular beaten track, turn in an amazing performance.

Well worth the watch.

This is a fine concept piece and the acting by Brando is a fine piece of work. Dean Martin isn't bad and Montgomery Clift is quite good as well. Unfortunately, it's a very disjointed, very long piece that really should have been edited down to something closer to 2 hours (it's almost 3 hours).

We follow the lives of 3 men from 1938 through the end of WWII and watch as they discover who they are and what they might become as they discover both the world about them and what they're made of. For some, it's the women in their lives that brings about this realization, for others, it's the broader general circumstances. All too often however, I found myself asking what had just happened or what the import of a particular scene was.

This is very traditional Southern Slice of Life piece. It's also a love story. Not usually my cup of tea, but done so well, it's worth the 3 hours. It moves slow, so if you're not up for a long, slow, southern drawl don't go here. The movie opens with what is clearly a hot afternoon (no, i don't know how, but the cinematography is only one of the many things done right in this movie) that's about to slide into night. We watch a man light a cigarette, pick up a can of something, walk over to a barn, poor it at the foundation, and light it. All this is interspersed with pictures of a horse in its paddock and the sun thinking about setting. The next thing we see is our lead, Ben Quick, walkin' along the road/through a field somewhere in rural U.S.A. This is a slow moving, slow telling, slow building story. There is never any question that we're in the South, from the accents (not always perfect, but never jarring at least to a westerner's ear), to the race interactions (again, perhaps this is from a westerner's perspective), to the big plantation houses.

This cast is an interesting collection of folks. From Jason Robards in the role of Will Varner, old style boss of the town who owns everything, controls everything and designs all -- that is, except his children who are huge disappointments to him to Don Johnson as Ben Quick, the out of towner, drifter, and general trouble maker who decides that this just might be the place to settle down, to Judith Ivey as Miss Noel the "old maid" older sister who is educated, more than a little uptight and not-quite-engaged to a gentleman that is as flat and uninspiring as Alan Stewart can make him to William Russ as Jodi Varner, the son that never quite measured up to the overbearing father to Cybil Shepphard's Eula, the sex crazed, manipulative southern belle with a good heart for those who really can't keep up (the town "dim-with" for instance), the performances manage to exceed "stereotype" and become "archetype". Ava Gardener (Minnie Littlejohn), Stephan Davies (Alan Stewart), and Albert Hall (Armistad Howlett) all add depth to this production in beautifully played character parts. William Forsythe, as Isaac the town dim-wit, is a beautiful piece of casting. One of the many unexpected bonuses is James Gammon in the role of Billy Quick, Ben's no-account, shiftless, bad news dad.

That they're using William Faulkner's works as the basis for their scripts has, I suspect, a lot to do with that. He's been able to describe the South for the rest of us for most of the 20th century. He can describe a moment in time like very few others and the director, Stuart Cooper, managed to capture Faulkner's ability to paint pictures with the camera. You almost begin to sweat with the first shots of this movie the scenes are so beautifully shot.

It's not long before you forget it's a movie and you start to think you're listening on the veranda as Don Johnson and Jason Robards meet, speak, plan and plot. As you watch the interplay between William Russ and James Robards, between Don Johnson and William Russ, you feel like you're watching a great plantation house collapse under the weight of years of neglect. Frenchman's House, a great old plantation home, is used as an excellent allegory for the condition of the Varner Family.

But in all of this, lest you forget, it's really also, at it's heart, a love story. Ben pings to Miss Noel right off. She's a challenge, she's reserved, she's sharp as a tack and Ben is attracted to all these qualities and more. It's apparent that he sparks to her long before Will Varner "buys him" as "stud for his daughter". It's no surprise that in the end, Ben gets his girl and Jodi grows up -- how that is accomplished over the course of the 3 hours is what's worth the ride.

Don as Ben is, by turns, deliciously mischievous, honest to the point of brutally blunt, mysterious, genteelly caring, willing to run roughshod over folks & their feelings, exceptionally tender and more. This is a stellar performance for Don and he matches up to Robards (also in a very strong performance) with no trouble at all. Judith Ivey, whose work I'm not familiar with, makes a great opposing match for Don. She isn't the beauty or care-free soul that Shepphard's Eula is, but then that's part of the attraction for Ben. She's a puzzle, a nut to be cracked, a woman to be loved. That Daddy is willing to pay him to go there is a bonus and that he loves her anyway and aside from that becomes very clear. Don is strong & sexy & romantic & adventurous & dangerous and makes Ben Quick as Agent of Change very believable and very real. This movie also has what is possibly one of the most intense & sizzling romantic love scenes I've seen anywhere. This isn't about wham, bam, thank you ma'm and it's not about nudity. It's about discovering what 2 adults can find in each other if they let themselves and it's got all the more impact for that.

This movie is a joy to watch. That you know where it's going is unimportant. The point is the journey and this cast makes it a very satisfying journey indeed. The only thing I can name as "getting in the way" of my total immersion was the unfortunate 80's almost-farrah-fawcett 'do they put on Miss Ivey. If the worst you can say about a movie is that one of the women had a bad hair style, you're doing pretty well.

It shows up on cable every now and then, but as it's still only on VHS, Netflix doesn't have it yet. Which is a REAL shame.

For any one who is/was a fan of the Hepburn/Tracy movies, go see Laws of Attraction! This is a beautiful piece of work in just that vein with a pair of actors who pulled it off quite satisfyingly. Pierce Brosnan is as comfortable in his skin as I've seen him in years and Julianne Moore has become quite an accomplished comedienne.

The bonus is Francis Fisher, as Julianne's mom (but don't call her that in public) -- My pick for either the next Mrs. Robinson or the next Auntie Mame -- she's WONDERFUL in this role! The script is fun, the actors have fun with it and it's a perfectly lovely flick.

For any one who is/was a fan of the Hepburn/Tracy movies, go see Laws of Attraction! This is a beautiful piece of work in just that vein with a pair of actors who pulled it off quite satisfyingly. Pierce Brosnan is as comfortable in his skin as I've seen him in years and Julianne Moore has become quite an accomplished comedienne.

The bonus is Francis Fisher, as Julianne's mom (but don't call her that in public) -- My pick for either the next Mrs. Robinson or the next Auntie Mame -- she's WONDERFUL in this role! The script is fun, the actors have fun with it and it's a perfectly lovely flick.

This film was very pleasantly surprising. The actors involved suggested a decent flick, but it's not my type of film at all. I don't do "family flicks" and I don't do "chick flicks" -- and this appeared to come down right between the 2.

Surprisingly, this one is a beautiful piece of work that someone who prefers "Taffin" and "4th Protocol" by style really enjoyed. The acting is strong, the people are *real*, it all just gels.

This one is *definitely* worth taking a look at -- yea, there's a little schmaltz (there's 3 kids billed ABOVE Pierce Brosnan, whaddya expect?), but it's well within the bounds of the story -- but it's a *good* piece of theatre and gives us the chance to see Pierce Brosnan in an entirely different type of role.

If he weren't so pretty, he could have made an excellent character actor :).

There are many adaptations of movies -- and this one is definitely in the better end of the pool of that genre.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is well done if a little *too true* to the book for many adults. The characters are beautifully done, Maggie Smith and Richard Harrison are a joy in their roles as Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore and Alan Rickman makes a most wonderful Severus Snape (you can actually *enjoy* disliking this man -- he's WONDERFUL in this role). Robbie Coltrane makes a great Hagrid and the kids are so well cast that they have *become* Harry, Ron and Herminone (and Draco) to kids across the world.

The filming is on a grand scale, the fantasy is complete and beautiful, and attention to detail makes this fantasy come to life. It's a great introduction to fantasy for kids and your "not into fantasy" adult buddies as well -- and it's a good, solid, piece of work for the rest of us.

I'm looking forward to the rest of these -- tho Richard will be missed (this actor died shortly before the filming of the 3rd movie and the role will be played by Sir Michael Gambon, a veteran of British Stage and not a few movies).

Some Spoilers Contained...

While an old story, it's beautifully done by Robin Williams and Nathan Lane who are hilarious in this complete remake of La Cage (finally saw the original French flick -- good work -- but VERY French and not designed to be particularly funny -- the comedic bits are much more subtle and quiet and the desperation much more pronounced...) Gene Hackman does a grand job as the uptight father of the girl who's fallen in love with Robin and Nathan's son. The small role by Christine Baranski is fun, Diane Wiest is perfect in her role as well. The unexpected scene stealer (if you can imagine *anyone* stealing a scene from either Robin or Nathan) is Hank Azaria as Agador Spartacus, the "house boy".

This is Robin and Nathan at their best -- and the cast that surrounds them stands up to the demand for wonderful performances as well.

If you like this, I suspect you'll also like the comedic (but more poignant) To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar!

Kick back and enjoy this one -- and you'll never look at "We Are Family" the same EVER AGAIN!!!

Janis Joplin forgive me -- but it's totally the right sentiment!

(Very Light Spoilers contained...)

Reviews that call this a Turkey simply missed the point. This isn't high art -- this isn't supposed to be. This is a grand afternoon and a couple of beers and a lot of fun.

If you can't COMPLETELY suspend your disbelief, you'll hate it -- and that's sad, because as an "afternoon hoot", it's one of the better ones.

Bruce and Danny have fun, spoof a whole genre (or 3) of films and take you on a very light and amusing adventure. But that was the point. The film work is interesting, the views are even occasionally breathtaking. But that's *not* the point.

The point is to kick back and have fun with this film. Bruce and Danny did -- James Coburn, as the overblown characature of an "EV-IL Villain" certainly did (he's been quoted as saying this was the most fun he'd had in years) and Sandra Bernhardt and Richard E. Grant, as the evil twins *most* certainly did.

And I did. It's certainly a matter of taste -- but if you ever liked the lighthearted Cat Burgler "roue" films of the Golden Age, this will be a great deal of fun. And the singin' ain't bad either.

WARNING: LIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD

This piece has wonderful historical elements in addition to a well written script. Angela turns in a predictably enjoyable performance as Jessica Fletcher, as well as in the role of Sarah McCullough, her own great aunt.

Phylicia Rashad, in the role of Cassandra Hawkins is both intriguing and firey. That the 2 don't get along based on views of how history should be used/interpreted/shared adds a nice element to this well constructed who-dunnit. That it's an historical murder makes it all the more fascinating to us history buffs.

Phylicia and Angela work very well together in this movie -- well worth watching for Jessica Fletcher fans and History buffs alike!