backbaybos

I just read all of the negative reviews and didn't get what was so bad about the film.

Maybe, I was just in the mood for this type of film. I thought it was fun, atmospheric, and a bit disturbing. Yeah, the beginning was a bit slow.....but it did get going at a fast rate.

I actually liked the twist. In fact, I'm even looking for the Blu-ray.....if there is one.

Watched it on BloodyDisgustingTV. In view of this, there were too many station interruptions....not the movie's fault. But still, a good movie for a cloudy day. I highly recommend giving it a chance.

I just recently saw this filming of the rough cut of the stage play. I loved it! It was raw and edgy, and had enough atmosphere to give you an idea of what Berlin was like in the 1930's. People have said that the stars couldn't sing. BALONEY! Sally Bowles couldn't sing, she was hired to bring in business to the Kit Kat Klub. Jane Horrocks is a fantastic singer in other productions...but the character in Cabaret requires a horrible or mediocre singing ability! She wasn't supposed to be Liza. If you don't believe me check out LITTLE VOICE! Alan Cumming isn't Joel Grey. He wasn't trying to be. But Cumming added a sinister spin to the Emcee that wasn't in the 1972 film. Joel Grey was comic relief in the movie. In this production, Alan Cumming just added a foreshadowing dread to what was happening to Berlin at that time.

Sara Kestelman was also wonderful and convincing as Frauline Schneider. Torn between her love for Herr Schultz, and what would happen to her if she went ahead with her marriage. She reminded me of Lotte Lenya when she sang SO WHAT.

This filmed staging was directed by Sam Mendes who brought it to the stage in the mid 90's. There were songs added and scenes deleted. But all in all, it really give the viewer a look at what Christopher Isherwood had in mind when he wrote it. Don't get me wrong, I love the 1972 film, but this is world's away from that story. This shows the viewer the sleazy side of Berlin, without the glitz and gloss.

If you get a chance to see this depiction, be prepared to be shocked! The ending will blow you away!

I just re-watched Season of The Witch. I hadn't watched it in years. I found I had the time to analyze it 100%. Jan White playing Joan Mitchell (the lead), was too pretty and young for the role...but it worked. Why? Because her husband married her and put her on a shelf...as perhaps a trophy wife. Joan's friends are WAY too old for her. It seemed they bordered on being senior citizens, whereas Joan wasn't. No wonder she was bored. Her husband hardly paid attention to her and she had to fit in with women decades older.

Joan has a 20-ish year old daughter, Nikki, and she makes an appearance and you never see her again. We get an all too brief glimpse of the kind of dynamic they have. Nikki's friend and TA, Gregg, takes a liking to the older Joan. Joan and Gregg have a small affair. He kept referring her to Mrs. Robinson in the Graduate. You could actually feel Joan's angst in the whole film. Being bored and frustrated, the viewer hopes that she has the affair with the younger Gregg. There is an unkind scene where Gregg teases one of Joan's friends. Jan White is such a good actress you can feel her anger toward Gregg in this scene. Again, in praise of Jan White, you can see how comfortable she is with Gregg. I felt that if she ended up with Gregg, he could fulfill her. I thought she would kill him for making her have feelings of unbridled sexuality.

It takes Gregg to make Joan realize how unhappily married she is. I won't give away the ending. But, the film is a great character study. We see Joan coming apart in front of our very eyes. The witchcraft thing is secondary. The poor woman is fighting for her sanity and self esteem. Director George Romero is genius at letting the viewer FEEL. Someone said it was slow paced. YEAH...but we get to feel what Joan is feeling. That's the beauty of it. It's not a horror film!! Great movie making on the part of Jan White and George Romero. It worked for me. I think a lot of reviewers expected Night of the Living Dead results. It isn't that kind of film. More of a thinking person's study. I'm so amazed. Kudos.

I saw this film initially in 1996. I remember having to work in the morning and had a few hours to kill in the afternoon. I decided to give it a try, because it starred Anthony Hopkins and I'm a fan. Being a Merchant Ivory film I thought it was going to be boring. It wasn't. It held my interest until the ending credits. I sat amazed when it was finished....just processing what I had just witnessed.

Pablo Picasso has to be one of the most complex of human beings ever. Surviving Picasso chronicles his love affair with Françoise Gilot. He spent from 1944 to 1953 with her, and fathered two of her children, but wouldn't marry her. Gilot is realistically played by Natascha McElhone. We get to see how difficult Picasso was to live with. Anthony Hopkins plays an emotionally weak, yet tyrannical genius. Literally, holding this young woman hostage. He was the father of her children, but never gave her any monetary compensation to raise those kids. She had to depend upon the kindness of her grandmother.

Of all of his women, we start to see that she alone understood his weaknesses. I got the impression that out of all of the women he was involved with, she probably loved him the most. He knew this and used this to hold her his emotional prisoner.

Surviving Picasso is not an easy film to sit through. You begin to hate Picasso for manipulating everyone he comes in contact with. My thought was that he was a spoiled child that never grew up. He relished when his women fought over him, pined over him, and even did desperate things to show him how much they loved him. Yet, he didn't seem to appreciate any of their efforts.

I was totally drawn into this film and think one needs to give it a chance. It's a thinking person's film. The character development is complex, but you begin to have sympathy for the victims of this madman.

Cmon, this film is a holiday favorite. A local TV station would show it every Thanksgiving. I even saw it in the theatre when it came out. It's a simplistic film for children. Perhaps you're not getting that fact.

For it's time....it was done very well. This was before FINDING NEMO, RATATOUILLE, and TOY STORY. Remember, in 1966, there were no computer generated images to dazzle. It was all done one frame at a time. We're not talking Spielberg here. You have to give credit to the crew members. In the day...this was state of the art.

OK, so it's not to everyone's taste, I understand. But to this child, it will always bring back wonderful memories of turkey, a lit fireplace, adults at the dining room table, and us kids glued to the TV screen watching Hans Christian Anderson come to life. When this was played we knew Christmas wasn't far behind.

This movie is truly an ensemble piece. Most of the stars are dead. At least we have the DVD to see the great performances. They really were great. This is a true classic!