Change Your Image
annmason24
Reviews
Columbo (1971)
Pillow Talk
There is sooo much padding in these episodes, each is like an over stuffed pillow. There is endless and useless dialogue between the killer and the sloppy but shifty Columbo; there are scenes added just to take up time; and ad infinitum details that cause you to either set a timer and take a snooze, or give up completely, which is what I finally did during an episode that had the detective showing up in the middle of the night, three times as offensive as usual.
We get it already, the guy's a slob. He's smart, but whoa howdy, you must be able to smell him coming! I watched the program for a while because of the excellent guest stars, but it should have been 1/2 hour. Too much, too much.
Rosemary & Thyme (2003)
A Rare Bloom
Like the flower in "The Italian Rapscallion" episode, a good, nonviolent, lovely, mystery series blooms once after 25 years and then dies.
I feel that "Rosemary and Thyme" is such a rare gift to television, a morass of cheap "reality" shows that dispense with the nuisance of paying those pesky writers, and insult Americans' intelligence.
Speaking as an American, I only watch British television, and Love the old sitcoms. These productions are smooth, clever, and not blood spattered. They actually have (wait for it...PLOTS), and excellent writing as well as characters who are surgically unenhanced and, believe it or not, older than 30!
"Rosemary and Thyme" isn't perfect; but it sure beats whatever is in second place!
Grizzly Man (2005)
The Gift of Awareness
If Timothy Treadwell had been a test pilot, a volcanologist, a doctor working with Ebola patients in Africa, a Christian martyr, or anyone else who believes in, and loves what they do enough to back it with their lives, no one would denigrate him or flood his contribution with hate. But Timothy Treadwell is vilified.
No one regards the Kraffts as crazed loonies; neither do they Gus Grissom, St. Peter, or scientists who die to find cures and to help end suffering. We grant them their "crazy" cause, even though they knew the risks involved. We admire, even worship,some of them; but Tim Treadwell is vilified.
In our upside down societies, we pay to see Evil Kinevels jump canyons; we thrill to death defying, pointless stunts like high speed car and boat races; yet Tim Treadwell is vilified.
For any uninitiated folk, park rangers cannot protect bears 100% of the time and poachers do not respect laws (hence the name,"poacher"); it does not matter what areas are set aside for bear safety. Recently,a man was caught in a Northwestern airport trying to smuggle a large cache of bear gizzards and paws to China. In the scene showing the bear's carcus, the one who killed Tim and Amie, observe the severed paw(s). This was done so someone could make a buck selling them. What the bear did was Nature; what the human did was perversion; the reason Timothy was there in the first place.
Fish and Wildlife Departments are owned by hunters and exist, not for the protection of wildlife, but for Man's killing pleasure.
Timothy Treadwell WAS protecting bears. He brought a spotlight to the entire issue of animal and human rights.
Amie died because she was willing to do so for the person she loved. This was her choice and should be honored. Amie was an incredibly brave human being; let no one use her courage to disparage the very purpose of her death.
All saints and crusaders for any cause, all envelope pushers in whatever field, are committed to something more important to them than their lives, than the brief and otherwise mundane existence the rest of us choose to lead.
In defense of our own self to our self, we somehow must account for this greater courage than our own. We thus denigrate or worship the Tim Treadwells of our world. We worship those we agree with, and deny those we don't. But no matter which, we must bow to their bravery to live and die beyond the usual,the secure confines of our own decisions.
Safety does not give immortality, but passion gives life. Timothy Treadwell lead a passionate and worthwhile life.
Albert Schweitzer said, "We are life which wills to live in the midst of life which wills to live." I thank Timothy Treadwell for reminding us that bears have the will, and the right, to live.
Roommates (1995)
Absorbing but s l o w. Spoilers
This is a good film, but slow. Peter Falk's makeup is excellent, but D.B. Sweeney's is not; at times when he is supposed to be younger, he looks older than in later scenes when he is supposed to be older but looks younger than he does earlier...huh?
I did not expect Beth to die, and IMO the movie hung on too long after that. I think it was about 1/2 hour overbaked.
The main elements of the movie hang together. The writer did a good job of paying attention to his own work (sounds easy, but just try watching "Pushing Tin").
The film did a good job of presenting the value of family. Such loyalty is always welcome.
This is, as I said, a good film.
Pushing Tin (1999)
The whole is not the sum of its parts
For those folks like me who wonder what anybody connected with his film could have been thinking, I have an answer.
The Charles brothers undoubtedly decided to divvy up the writing duties. Since air traffic controlling is a complex area, one 'bro must have said to the other, "Hey, I've got an idea, you do the controller stuff and I'll write the romance part!"
When the second bother protested being stuck with the technicalities and jargon (never mind FAA regulations), they decided to flip for who wrote what. The poor loser who got to research this complex and impossibly stressful profession became a bad sport and learned as little as possible. He stole scenes from "The Right Stuff","Top Gun" and "Return To Me", then said, "I'm done!"
Meanwhile, the romance guy, having just returned from Maui, spent at least two hours thumbing through tried and true (trite) clichés and tossed several into the pot, making a mell of a hess stew. Nothing blended together, each element was half cooked and inedible.
Well, no matter, how could a fast paced romance with proved great scenes (see aforementioned flicks) performed by proved fine actors miss?
Well, it certainly did miss; both on a large and small scale. It missed in the outrageous flaunting of FAA and Air Traffic Control regulations, and in Angelina Jolie's lips, for God's sake! I just couldn't get past those smackers. Do you guys find kissing watermelon halves sexy? Maybe with salt.
The insulting and appalling ending was for sure texted in from another vacation spot; for nothing in this movie was treated with knowledge or respect; most of all the stunned audience.
Canadian Bacon (1995)
More relevant today than ever!
This is a wonderful, hilarious, movie. It is sadly so true and more relevant today than ever in regard to media control by the war machine and its invented enemies. We are hearing the same BS about manufactured enemies in the Middle East today.
This film certainly is not against Canada, unless one believes fairness, cleanliness, and calm reason are undesirable. It's we Americans who come out looking stupid and easily controlled by the media, but we already know that don't we?
And throughout this, Michael Moore makes some very important statements, the bombing in the Gulf of Tonkin, for instance. This is much funnier in its black humor today than it was when it was first made. This is my favorite John Candy film. Everyone does a wonderful job here, and the jokes are hilarious.
Arachnophobia (1990)
Spinning an odd tale
The problem with Arachnophobia is that no one seems to know what kind of the movie they wanted to make! I like the film because it's just different, but it is not clear whether they wanted it to be a comedy, bringing John Goodman out was funny and provided a more light hearted sense to the movie. But it also tried to be scary and did have its moments. It ended up just being kind of a mishmash, but I found it entertaining. I like Jeff Daniels and I love spiders. Spiders make something out of nothing and most people make nothing out of something. We have benefited from spiders far more than we have lost because of them.
The Sound of Music (1965)
A loaf of Wonder Bread!
Hey, its not Lost Horizon!The Sound of Music is a colorful bloated bland musical that Julie Andrews does not really fit. I was never convinced she was a nun, or wanted to be a nun; she was just Julie Andrews pretending to want to be a nun.I don't know my history very well, but this was probably made after she lost the role of Elisa Dolittle in the movie version of My Fair Lady. I think she was still miffed.
The movie is OK, its like a big loaf of white bread that has no texture. But it could be worse; we could have Ross Hunter and Burt Bacharach and a troop of truly no talent people banging around the stage dodging polar bears and ferns at the top of the world! The Sound of Music is a good movie for insomniacs.
Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
I missed the point!
This was a movie to sit through on a rainy day in the Northwest. I like Julia Roberts, but I think any actress could have played her role.
The movie was not edited well, in my opinion, Julia's role was not a constant point. The story glanced into the lives of the students, but it failed to show how the main character made any difference in what those lives were.
The movie was simply too long, Julia Roberts' character was poorly developed, and the whole thing can be chalked up as escapism. I don't know how true a picture this film portrayed of wealthy upper class white girls in the early 1950s, but it failed to hold my interest, whatever it was. As soon as it stopped raining, I was outta here!
Big Business (1988)
The rant about the pant
This is a fun film for a rainy day. It is nice to hang out at the Plaza Hotel for an hour or so.
Bette Midler steals the show, but with the full cooperation of Lily Tomlin, who is extremely annoying. Miss Tomlin pants her way through the New York character and "hicks" her way through the other. Neither is anywhere near believable, and the viewer needs a remote to fast forward through her scenes.
The more I watch this film, the more and more grating is Lily Tomlin's voice. She seems to want to convey stress by panting and panting and panting, only relieved by flapping her hands and losing her shoulder pad before panting and flapping some more.
If I were the New York City Sadie, I would have dumped this this nails-on-the-chalkboard Sis long before she inherited.
An Affair to Remember (1957)
If you can paint, I can walk!
I agree with a poster who suggested the Zucker brothers rise to the challenge of remaking "An Affair to Remember". The lines are hilarious! It reminds me of the 1973 remake of Lost Horizon, another turkey.
However, I give this 3 stars, because Cary Grant is, well, Cary Grant. He is smart and beautiful and always stands apart from the dialogue, although he is of course, a good actor as well. I also agree that Grant and Deborah Kerr had no chemistry. She reminded me (as someone once said of Julie Andrews),of having "all the sex appeal of a very efficient dietitian." Yes, there were elements of this movie that reminded me of the Sound of Music. Perhaps it was the cinematography.
I think this film would have been better had it remained on the boat. That part, although silly, was light and funny. The transformation of the suave, handsome Cary Grant to a billboard painter in overalls is worthy again of the Zucker touch. come to think of it, the Zuckers couldn't top that!
When Deborah Kerr walked in front of whatever hit her, it reminded me of the scene from Plan 9 from Outer Space. That work has Bela Lugosi leaving his front lawn only to be instantly hit by a car off camera. That was hilarious in and of itself, but the same scene with Deborah Kerr flouncing and singing her way to the Empire State Building and thus being mowed down by a taxi, was a close second.
The movie was not logical, if she loves a man why did she not let him know what happened? And if he could paint she could walk, wouldn't the reverse be true? If she could walk, he could paint! Therefore, following the logic of this movie, all he had to do at the beginning was watch her walk around and he would have become a great painter. Oh yes, and by the way, the little intercity cherubs that she taught from her perch reminded me of the children in Lost Horizon.
I don't mind chick flicks,being a chick myself or at least an old hen; I don't mind sentimental movies, & I certainly don't mind Cary Grant, but I do mind scenes, characters and dialogue crafted to manipulate the audience.
Come to think of it I should rate this a 2.
Nah, I really like the beautiful well written scenes with the grandmother. Wait... come to think of it, one of the worst scenes in this movie occurred during that segment. It was the chapel scene when Deborah got down on her knees and prayed, and Cary Grant watched her with growing awareness that this was the gal for him; he also prayed and I think even crossed himself.
OMG no I think I'll rate this flick a 1.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
I was forewarned
I did not see this movie. The reason I did not see this movie is because, essentially, Spielberg and Ford themselves panned it in a publicity interview prior to its release. I figured if the director and star couldn't recommend the flick, why should I waste the money?
In the interview, both these main guys kinda glanced at each other (or I perceived intuitively perhaps, that they did), then said the reason they had not made a sequel to "Indy" movies before was because George Lucas would not budge from demanding that it be about the Russian Cold War, which they obviously felt was both boring and inappropriate for the Indiana Jones character. I believe Ford and Spielberg should thus be recognized for having made the attempt to avert this disaster for years; to no avail. I think they finally gave up and let Lucas have his way. Might as well pocket some money before the anticipating audience died and Harrison grew older.
I did see the first three Indy films. Lest we reviewers wax too nostalgic, it should be remembered that the second film was pretty bad also, I've repressed the name. The third, "The last crusade" was great...and to my knowledge did not have to rely on CGI.
Did you guys say something about a GOPHER?? and a FLYING SAUCER?? Come on, you're joking, right? Tell me you're joking.
Thanks for the imaginative reviews. I will make a point of continuing to miss this movie...but I loved your descriptions!
Life of Brian (1979)
Antidote to Fanaticism
Perhaps to really appreciate this film you have to have a knowledge of history; it is not just sophomoric humor, it is humor based in the historical milieu of the time.
Judea was, as always happens in the Middle East (it must be something in the water), fighting both outside invaders and inside itself, between Jewish factions. The "Judean People's Front", "The People's Front of Judea" and all the rest were real,though not in actual name.
One truth of history is that a foreign power is able to conquer new territory by exploiting the infighting that is often there. Romans didn't have to resort to the tactics of the present day CIA and infiltrate factions to incite civil war; the nations in those days were already doing that. Hence the reference in the scene, "What have the Romans ever done for us?", "Well, they brought peace, no one else could have with this lot!"
It is a paradox that the Romans, through conquering, brought peace. That was the great power of the Roman Empire. They were in the right place at the right time.
"Life of Brian" made me appreciate Jesus. This film world was probably more on the mark than we think. After all, who really did say that Jesus did all the miraculous things others said? His later followers.
I believe Jesus was a human being who did change the world with his message of peace and love; the fact that he was a man makes it all the more miraculous. After all, Gods can do that miracle stuff; it's their job. But this lone man, Jesus, brought the message of love and peace to the world; what we do with that message is up to us.
Christianity used to be based on the concept of "following Jesus", living according to his teachings. Today, the Christian concept seems to be standing in front of Jesus with your hand out saying, "Hey, Dude, I believe in all that stuff, whatever you said; now give me salvation." It is the Idiot's Guide to Salvation.
This movie is about the beginning of such hypocrisy; the factions with their shoes and gourds and condemnation of each other. Jesus did his thing; they made it what it is today, and poor Brian was caught in the middle.
This is a wonderful film. I agree that to appreciate it fully, one has to know that it is based in truth. All great humor has a serious foundation. To view "Life of Brian" only as a comedy makes it seem perhaps shallow. It is not.