Rope (1948)

I watched this movie February of 2009

Right on the heels of Hitler and his display of the “new man” or the superman of Nietzsche we find a masterpiece of murder from Hitchcock. Hitchcock was a mad genius. I love his pictures. I would not want to try and list them in any order of preference, because they take so many excellent humane ideas, twist them, and paint incredible pictures of how Man lives. “Rope” is no exception.

How can one man kill another? This is the central theme, but laced about it are considerations of the power of the teacher to the student, the superior and inferior friend to each other, which beau would make a better choice for the good looking girl, and finally and most importantly, should the modern or conservative views of life reign in our world?

Starting right off with a murder and in full view the covering up of such, the movie takes us through a dinner party at which there is excellent discussion of the inferior and superior “argument” for taking life. In classic Hitchcock minimalism, there is only one set, basic plot, and very little “action” but you don’t want to try and watch it unless you have all 1 hour and 20 minutes. Are they going to get caught? How? James Stewart is his usual high level of star power, but the supporting folks are all great as well. I did not catch the cameo by Hitch.

Like all of Hitch’s stuff, well worth your time, and well worth a little dinner party of your own to watch and then discuss it afterwards.

The Island, 2005

“A Different Take on a Brave New World”

 

I watched this December, 2007

 

Plot Summary

Curiosity sometimes just makes the cat’s life different.  Lincoln-Six-Echo (Ewan McGregor) and Jordan Delta-Two (Scarlett Johansson) are friends in a futuristic bubble that protects them from the “contaminated world.”  They soon, however, discover they are really just spare parts for wealthy people who have contracted with a company to keep clones of them alive in case they need a vital organ or the like.  The rest is Logan’s Run all over again.  Run, Lincoln, run!

 

What I Disliked

l  I felt they could have done so much more with this idea – that is my biggest disappointment.  I liked what was done, but it could have done so much better.

l  The bad guys are not as bad as they could be – somewhat a little shallow and stilted.

l  SJ is very easy on the eyes, but not at the top of the acting side of things.

 

What I Liked

l  If you read a lot of my reviews, you will perceive that I like these types of dystopian playgrounds.  1984, Brave New World, etc., good stuff.  I still consider Logan’s Run to be the best of these, but there are plenty of others and this one is definitely in the top half of the heap.

l  This seemed to fit EM very well.  I think he did a great job with this part and did not over play it.

 

Would I recommend it and to whom?

Yes, if you like Sci Fi or dystopian type flicks, this is a good one.

 

Date of Review: June, 2008

Oceans Eleven, 1960

“So Much Better Than the New Thing”

 

I watched this April, 2006

 

Plot Summary

So this guy, Danny Ocean, decides upon getting out of jail to try and get back in by pulling a huge heist in Las Vegas.  He brings a crew together (of 11 guys) for the big theft, succeeds, but then finds their plans get a little wacky.  Slick humor.

 

What I Disliked

l  Very little.  I know they filmed this while the Rat Pack worked Vegas, so at times it seems like a few more takes might have pulled off a scene better, but it is great fun the whole way through.

l  I challenged some teens when the modern version of O11 came out to try it next to this one and give me their honest opinion.  They were sure going in that it would be a dud next to Clooney, Pitt, etc, but at the end they were honest enough to say they thought the 1960 was better.  I agree.

 

What I Liked

l  Frank, Deano, Sammy Jr., Joey, the whole crew were great.

l  I thought this plot, with the cremation, etc., was SO much better than the slick ass stuff Clooney came up with, and yes I know he did not write it, but you know what I mean.

 

Would I recommend it and to whom?

If you have not seen this, you have not seen Oceans Eleven.

 

Date of Review: June, 2008

 

 

My Fair Lady, 1964

“Any ol dame will do.”

 

I watched this April, 2006

 

Plot Summary

Well, it’s a musical see, so the plot must flow from one song to another.  Onery ol coot decides he can turn a cockney cussy into a lady with his techniques.  He does so, but does not know how to handle it.  Strange romance, but obviously it has stood the test of time.

 

What I Disliked

l  I am not overly fond of turning Broadway successes into Hollywood successes, though this one seemed to work.

l  Why did they make Henry Higgins so “old” looking?  Seems to fit part of the plot, but not the other.

 

What I Liked

l  Great music

l  Audrey Hepburn always steals my heart.

 

Would I recommend it and to whom?

For those who like musicals, this is a must.

 

Date of Review: June, 2008

Ocean’s Eleven, 2001

 Why, why did we need this film?

 I watched this April, 2006 

Plot Summary: So there was this guy who was a crook.  And he had a big rep with other crooks.  And he did some time, got out, and immediately begins to plan like the biggest heist ever.  And the dude he was stealing from had stolen his chick, but he got all the loot and the chick too, so there. 

What I Disliked 

• Please don’t tell me George Clooney, Brad Pitt, et. al., even with some older farts who actually remember Sinatra and his Rat Pack, are nearly so cool as Blue Eyes.  They just don’t have it. 
• Comedy is not today what it was back in the day.  Now it has to be so sardonic that its almost wrong to laugh.  Frank pulled it off smoothly, George too smoothly. 

What I Liked 

• I still think some of these folks, Garcia and Roberts in particular, can act, even after seeing this movie. 
• The original one a lot better than this one. 

Would I recommend it and to whom?  Yes, to only the most brainless folks I know (have I recommended it to you?  I hope not!). Date of Review: March, 2008  

Oceans Twelve, 2004

“I’m too cool for the big screen”

 I watched this April, 2006 

Plot Summary:  Where the last one left off, this one takes up.  Three years after getting way more money than any of them need, the originals masterminds find that Tony Benedict is out to get his money back.  To avoid jail they have to get it all back.  How?  Pull another big heist.  That’s really all there is to this, folks. 

What I Disliked 

• Hollywood does this way too often, and demonstrates every time that they have long since forgotten about art and is simply into mercenary work.  They find a good idea, which this was in 1960, and then run it to death, way past its time.  So we now have a total of four movies out of one great idea, three of which were unnecessary and a real waste of the viewers’ time and money.  Is that straight enough for you? 
• To be more specific: the actors, the acting, the idea, pretty much all of it. 

What I Liked 

• Maybe some of the witty repartee, maybe. 

Would I recommend it and to whom?  Not on your life, sexy. 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004

 “Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d” fr. Pope’s “Eloisa to Abelard”

 I watched this February, 2006 

Plot Summary: This is one of your basic start at the end and then work backwards type of things.  Joel and Clementine are a thing.  Joel finds out that Clementine has undergone a procedure to erase him from her mind as a sort of high tech break up.  So then Joel decides he wants the same brain drain.  That is when humanity interjects its little effect: Joel finds as he “loses” Clementine that he still loves her and now wants to hang onto the memories, but he can’t stop the drain.  Thus at the end, they meet each other but do not know each other. 

What I Disliked

• This got sloughey.  Tough to follow at many points.
• Carey has what it takes to act, but I don’t think he can overcome his penchant for comedy at times, even when he wants to.  This was just a little bit shallow.
• Could have done a lot more with this idea. 
• Hollywood is far too in love with the F word. 

What I Liked

• As I googled the title, I hit Pope: How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot! / The world forgetting, by the world forgot / Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! / Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d.
• I liked the idea of examining our memory and what it means to us, I just thought they stopped really short of the possibilities.  We cannot get away from pain by erasing the memory of someone.  There will always be someones to replace the someone forgotten.  And so much of our relational pain is 50% us. 

Would I recommend it and to whom?  Nah, not really, it really isn’t worth my friend’s time. Date of Review: March, 2008  

Delores Claiborne, 1994

 “Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has to hold onto.”

 I watched this February, 2006 

Plot Summary: An estranged daughter returns to her hometown in Maine where her mother, decidedly differing from the norm, has been accused of killing the woman she was housemaid for.  As the police and daughter dig up the evidence, the past comes forward to punch the daughter and the mother in the stomach. 

What I Disliked

• Seemed a little cheap with the secondary actors.  Not a strong supporting cast.
• Though I liked the use of flashback, some of them were hard to follow. 

What I Liked

• Stephen King wrote it.  Nough said.
• Kathy Bates just continues to awe me.  She is awesomely scary here.  Its like she is the consummate King character in real life.
• Because it’s a King, it had a solid plot that kept me going. 
• Some great quotes: see the IMDB section on this here 

Would I recommend it and to whom? Yes, but realize its going to be rough. 

Catch 22, 1970

You are so crazy that you are not crazy

I watched this February, 2006

Plot Summary:  Ummm, yeah. Okay. I will let Netflix try to explain this one. “A cinematic adaptation of Joseph Heller’s scathing black comedy about a small group of flyers in the Mediterranean in 1944. Capt. Yossarian tries to escape the travesties of World War II by convincing his Air Force commanders that he’s crazy. Hilarity ensues, but so does reality as he watches his close friends die in the ridiculousness of war.”

What I Disliked

• I have not read the book, but if the movie sticks to the book, then Heller was too big a fan of “stream of consciousness” writing, just writing down what came to mind rather than worrying about plotting. Very difficult to follow at times.
• It is not authority that makes a war wrong or evil, but rather its motives and objectives. While I am not a true blue pacifist, I am also one who believes most war is an outworking of man’s evil rather than God’s righteousness. This movie really ticked my dad off back in the early 70’s when I first watched it with him on TV.
• I would probably get it better if I read the book, so some of this is on me.

What I Liked

• The humor is great.
• I am a fan of much of Alan Arkin’s work. His audacity should not be enjoyed by me, but it usually is. (See my upcoming review of “Little Miss Sunshine”).

Would I recommend it and to whom?

Yes, but read the book first.

The Long Hot Summer, 1958

Do you get angry when it’s hot?

 I watched this February, 2006 

Plot Summary: A drifter rolls into small town Mississippi after the depression with rumors of a less than good past.  His resourcefulness and ‘tude get him in the door with the town ogre and a shot at the man’s attractive daughter, then it all gets hot and sweaty, and fairly loud. 

What I Disliked

• I have the story from good sources that Orson Welles was so annoyed at working with method actors Woodard and Newman that he purposely spit out his lines in nearly indiscernible “southern dialect.”  I like the story, but can’t understand much of what he says in the movie.
•  Moves a little slow for my tastes at points. 

What I Liked 

• A story line taken from two Faulkner stories and one of his novels: (stories Barn Burning, The Spotted Horses) (novel “The Hamlet”)
• Great chemistry between Woodard and Newman – I believe this is the movie that led to their marriage. I simply have to admit to a penchant for Paul Newman.  Some of his movies are some of my most favorite: Color of Money, Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke, and others.
• One of those movies that believes a great script done by great actors does not need much else. 

Would I recommend it and to whom?: Yes, with little or no reservation.