rossini1868

The third movie in what I call "The Italian Trilogy", 1)Raging Bull, 2)Goodfellas, 3)Casino. Every time it comes on Bravo or USA I find myself trapped in front of it (despite the bad dubbing). I used to think the movie was just Scorsese's manufactured form, but I believe now the movie is inspired from start to finish--from Deniro's silhouette floating in the fire during the opening credits and operatic music to him at the desk with the giant eyeglasses at the end saying "And that's that." Stone, Pesci and Deniro were all good enough to be nominated--too bad Sharon didn't win. Even James Woods was good as Sharon's old boyfriend. Its just one great scene after another for the whole three or four hours, peaking with their meeting in the desert ("...you're only out here because a ME!") The movie works on every level, the acting, screenplay, directing and everything else in between.

Tim Burton and Danny Elfman created a living work of art. Its like a semi-serious, comic book Opera. The plot, acting, art-direction and cinematography all hit just the right note. And my God, the MUSIC…I don't know when I've seen a movie lit up the way Elfman did with this beautiful score. The music is so pure and well-written that the Academy must have overlooked it by accident when they were passing out nominations. Oh, well…that happens all the time. In a home theater with good bass, its hard not to notice when Commissioner Gordon switches the bat-signal on at the end-- that music lights up just like it! Then it calms down just enough for Kim Basinger to look up and think about her new boyfriend, and then say Hi to good old Alfred. When their car turns and leaves, the music fires up like a shooting star, showing the main character one last time in grand, heroic fashion.

I had heard so much bad buzz on this movie that I was afraid to watch it. But I finally did and was pleasantly surprised. The premise of an ordinary guy dumping his superhero girlfriend managed to be compelling without going over the top. The special effects were all realistically done, the sound was great, and everybody gave a good performance. Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) really is some sort of master at this kind of movie, weaving fantasy into real world settings about as well as anybody.

The story was light and silly but so goes for chick flicks, which this definitely was, but the superhero thing kept me from getting bored. I loved Uma Thurman but maybe the biggest shock was her boyfriend Luke Wilson, and his best friend Rainn Wilson. Even Luke Wilson's boss Wanda Sykes was cute rather than annoying (like she was in Monster-In-Law) and the "generic on purpose" villain was somehow a likable guy and even a little interesting. Reitman did a good job on this movie.

In short, the movie was not stupid. It was a fun little superhero parody without the over the top stupidity you might expect from something called "My Super Ex-Girlfriend." If the truth be told, the story had a naive, focused simplicity that I almost admired.

Two hours of my life and 4 bucks rental I'll never get back. I watched the whole blamed thing expecting to see... well, read it for yourself--an excerpt from the Marie Antoinette article at Wikipedia...

"On the morning of October 16, 1793, a guard arrived to cut her hair and bind her hands behind her back. She was forced into a tumbril and paraded through the streets of Paris for over an hour before reaching the Place de la Révolution where the guillotine stood. She stepped down from the cart and stared up at the guillotine...

At 12:15, Marie Antoinette was executed. Her head was exhibited to a cheering crowd."

Superman 2: The Donner Cut is clunky and sluggish; Marlon Brando reminds me of the Wizard of Oz in a space suit, his performance lackluster and stiff-- the bright spot being his review of Zod, Non and Ursa in the fortress. The iffy new opening credits are poorly coordinated with the music--the Lois gun scene (a screentest) is so staged and phony that it looks like a bad 70's TV movie that might be called "High Society," does not work with the rest of the film--the acting in this scene is terrible, Christopher Reeve's hair in this part is Revenge of the Nerds 1, 2 and 3 (if there was a 3) --Lois looks like a high class hooker, no, prostitute in a towel. Overall, the new film is poorly edited--has a patchy, clumsy feel that is hard to excuse, Lester's version is much smoother on every level. Even the big scene, the Holy Grail of Lost Scenes in the history of movies, when Lois jumps out the Daily Planet window--even this scene falls flat! Likely it needed to be reshot back in '79-- like half of everything else in this "Donner Cut." This, along with everything else, works only as a "lost scene" and not in the final cut of a finished movie. It feels like little more than a dress rehearsal, like most of the other new footage, with talented actors doing a tight run through just before principal shooting. Maybe, if they had dubbed out Perry White's ridiculous out loud reading of half the front page before he handed the paper to Lois, it might have helped. Jimmy Olson comes across as an idiot in this new cut, and Perry White is a soulless prop. The Holy Grail Scene represents the entire film well enough, as a mountain of failed expectations-- a mirage of unfulfilled promise--a shipwreck of broken dreams, shattered and lost at sea.

What few actors that were in the movie all had a good feel for this deep, psychological horror story. It involves a family curse, that takes members of a wealthy family to a place worse than death. Faye Dunaway sells this perverted material but is at times hilarious, with flashes of campy brilliance, (especially near the end). If you like simple, inspired horror stories, a la Rod Serling, then this is for you. Its too bad our American audiences don't care enough about intelligent, disturbing stories like this one. The bitchiness between sexy Gina Philips and hot older mama Faye Dunaway is wicked and classic.

This movie lulled me into the best nap I think I 've had in years. But before I went to sleep, I was treated to some of the most breathtaking cinematography I've ever seen. The fight scenes are all inspired and the colors are so vivid and beautiful to watch. (Especially "Duel in the Yellow Forest"). Hollywood should plug one of these movies into their plot machine and make something with a story people can follow, but with the same depth and feeling as "Hero."

The movie is about an attempt to assassinate a King, I think. But more importantly, the images sing like a sublime, romantic symphony. Coherent and linear storytelling might have been a distraction from the film's beauty. Forget the hazy, murky plot and just enjoy the colors, the characters, and their love and hatred for one another.

Yes, its a bad movie. But by what standards? Blade? Daredevil? Batman and Robin? On second thought, maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought. It didn't matter anyway, because Halle Berry was a "10" in that costume and Sharon Stone's sex appeal was off the charts. After you get used to Pitof's cheesy, fake directing and the horribly insignificant story and characterizations, its fun to watch Halle and Sharon heat it up. Their cat fight at the end was worth waiting for.

What Halle Berry lacks in talent, she makes up for in charisma and screen presence. She is smokin' even before she turns into a bronze goddess Catwoman, and then she's on fire. As for Sharon Stone, she looks like she can bring a man (or a woman) to their knees just by looking at them. Two out of four paws for this movie.

Everybody should just relax and enjoy watching a red hot, middle aged Momma's sexual jealousy over her beautiful daughter in law. The photography was great, loved the rural location (without the stupid horses), and Gwyneth and Jessica look as good as they ever have. The problem is that the director tried too hard for believability, and that resulted in a very average, plodding, sometimes laughably bad movie. If they had taken it over the top, like what you find in good novels, (torture, perversion), then we would have had a classic.

Its a shame they held back because Jessica and Gwyneth looked amazing. Who cares if their performances weren't great? Their screen presence made up for it. They were ripe for a deliciously violent, twisted older woman/younger woman B-movie and the director blew it. (Check out Piper Laurie and Sissy Spacek in "Carrie." They set the standard for over the top, twisted mother-daughter action.)

*SPOILERS*

I enjoyed watching Sherilyn Fenn in this poorly directed, badly acted movie. A good concept about parallel worlds, clumsily executed. At least, if Fenn's daughter (and not a son) had been the one she killed in the parallel world, it would have made some sense. And why did the little girl she kept seeing recognize her as "Mommy?" And the woman who played her bitchy sister (in the parallel world) seemed as ghostly and pointless as every other character. The whole thing was too typical and convoluted. Overall... disappointing.

Sherilyn Fenn was great.

The movie isn't as lame as I thought it was. Don't get me wrong, its bad, but not THAT bad. And I'll have to admit that after the fifth time seeing it (God help me), I actually LIKE the movie now. They did a good job capturing the creepy, depressive spirit in the novel. At least, the mother and the kids look like they literally jumped out of the book and onto the screen. Their acting was terrible because the movie had a bad director. And poor Louise Fletcher was either miscast or so poorly directed that she almost ruined the film. Anyway, the movie works on a camp level (the scene when the grandmother lifts the little girl up by her hair is hi-LARIOUS). As bad as it is, it still manages to make you feel sorry for those kids, and angry at their evil mother.

There is enough gratuitous violence and nudity here to satisfy every B-movie connoisseur, with a good story besides. Vincent Price leads a cast of unknown actors with some talent but no motivation and very poor directing (at least the cinematography is pretty good). Price is more than aware of how bad this movie is, and he compensates with some of the best over the top, intentional bad acting you'll ever see. Its hilarious. The plot concerns a hunt for a known witch named Oona, who has put a death curse on Vincent Price's family, enlisting the help of a "Banshee" to do the killing (it ain't Rick Baker's work, believe me). The search for Oona gives us the chance to see at least three women suffer when they refuse to tell where she is. One of the best bad movies ever made, hands down. Throw your inner critic out the window and enjoy!