A delightful crime comedy with the incomparable Edward G. Robinson. The movie follows the escapades of a mob boss put out of business by the end of Prohibition and decides to high-tail it out to California to hobnob with the social elite. The comedy really works and Robinson does a great job being a fish out of water. It's fluffy entertainment with a rather simple romantic angle but still a very nice film.
Average Hitchcock fare. Not terrible in the way it presents the story but interesting enough that even at this early point in Hitchcock's career I find myself stacking it up against his much superior spy films of The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps. Peter Lorre is off the rails loony for sure, yet comically entertaining.
An early Hitchcock classic. The director of suspense wasn't exactly at the beginning of his career here but certainly laying the foundation stones that would support his later fame and penchant for making fantastic films. The Lady Vanishes is a tight psychological thriller that doesn't waste any of its runtime. The buildup at the hotel is masterfully crafted and all the characters really pop. Old Hitch knows how to craft a gaggle of characters that are far from one-dimensional and the script really works. He really excels at how to make a character feel like they're losing their mind and include the audience along in the same boat.
I've always been of the opinion that continuous-shot movies are an incredible undertaking and this one does not disappoint. Being immersed in it doesn't even begin to describe how much we resonate with the characters and their plight. The choreography is stunning and the suspense of our main characters wandering around behind enemy lines is gripping to say the least.
This is truly a powerful movie in more ways than I can probably talk about here. When it comes to cinema and the role of the protagonist, that character is usually front and center in a way that makes them the celebrity of the story, if you will. This film is no different until the very end when reality comes crashing down on both us and the protagonist. LC Schofield has a mission to accomplish and to him it feels like the world rests upon his shoulders and as an audience we feel the same because we're watching him. Cumberbatch then shows up at the end to pop that balloon by reminding us that this is just another day in WW1, that Lance Corporal Schofield is just another soldier doing his job, and that next week they'll probably just attack again anyway resulting in major loss of life. It's the crushing reality that this "hero's journey" is not really that at all, and the loss of his friend is a testament to just how senseless the reality of the war is for him. It's an incredibly bold decision to essentially undermine your own story with this truth and that makes it very powerful.
I always think of this film as a kind of zombie apocalypse movie except without the zombies, or the decent character development, or a plot that makes some degree of sense. I mean Hitchcock is my all-time fave director but this one just seems off. Jamaica Inn and Rebecca were both stories by Dame Daphne du Maurier and both were adapted to the screen by old Hitch. The Birds is his third stab at the same author's material and just feels like a lackluster short story given the big screen treatment. The suspense is very real, but builds towards a disappointing climax, although the attack on the house at night is expertly choreographed and filmed which makes it easily the best part of the film. Overall the film is simply incongruous with the material of the same man that gave us Psycho or Rear Window.
Somewhat thrilling for an action thriller. Heston plays a pretty paint by numbers tough cop and surrounded by a lackluster cast. One thing that really struck me though is how utterly mid-70's the movie is. If nothing else it's kind of a time capsule for costumes, attitudes, and sport broadcasting for the decade. At times it feels almost like a documentary of sorts. I will say that the layout of the film with following around seemingly random characters that will have a part later is something that has certainly been copied in modern films.
Truly a wonderful romantic comedy with a serious edge. The characters are all fleshed out brilliantly over the course of its runtime, even Addie Ross shines in one of the most innovative uses of a character that I've ever seen (or perhaps haven't seen, haha.) The script never strays into dull territory and keeps you engaged throughout all of it.
Tracy's last film is well acted with great performances all around. It feels like a stage play adapted to the big screen but oddly enough it was just the opposite. Poitier is fantastic as always.
Although I enjoyed it I felt that it could have better explored the very serious ramifications that the couple are facing in particular with regards to Houghton's starry-eyed role as the free-thinking daughter. She practically glides from scene to scene blissfully naive throughout the film and as a result it's much easier to take her less than seriously. One one hand you can make the argument that a powerful way to combat prejudice is to be blissfully unaware from a personal standpoint, but that does nothing to prepare you for the harsh reality that's coming. Even if you take race out of the equation completely it seemed so obvious to me that the relationship is doomed to fail from the get-go.
I was really unprepared for how deeply this film affected me. I personally know people who have pursued interracial relationships with all the naivety of Houghton's character, only to be utterly destroyed by the eventual reality of the situation and the trials they refused to acknowledge in advance.
De Haviland holds the entire weight of the film on her two demented shoulders. Excellent acting on her part. It plays out like a kind of psychological thriller that is very entertaining.
Kind of surprised to find old EO without any comments. This one holds a particular nostalgic place in my memory because after working a hard day at DisneyWorld I'd pop over to Epcot and unwind to the songs and special effects of this peculiar movie. Understandably borrows a bit from Star Wars with George Lucas being the Exec-producer. As far as theme park shows go it isn't downright awful but Jackson's acting is rather childish and the plot feels totally bonkers. Songs still remain somewhat catchy though. I distinctly remember the scores of guests piling out of the theater with confused looks adorning their faces.
An all-star ensemble cast really makes this one shine in what is a cold, hard look into the human condition and how necessary objective morality is as opposed to a person or nation's definition of what is right and wrong. Spencer Tracy excels but there isn't a single sub-par performance to be found. An absolute classic.
The movie is chock full of themes and deep-seated emotions. What really struck me was not only the highlighting of mankind's capacity to do great evil, but the insane lengths that are reached in justifying that evil and refusing to believe that one is guilty of any wrongdoing. The ending title card just cements that feeling in your gut.
If you're a fan of WW2 movies then the title alone probably tipped you off as to what it's about. The Doolittle Raid was one of the most interesting bombing runs of the war and this film is pretty much a love letter to it (and by extension, the B-25 Mitchell Bomber.) It also has some of the best pulse-pounding bombing shots of any movie I've seen. Definitely worth a watch.
A running theme with 30's movies is that most tend to have some sort of moral story i.e. the main character is redeemed at the end, the bad guy gets what's coming to him, or a visceral portrayal that crime doesn't pay. Tracy stars as a kind of down on his luck fellow and the film rapidly goes through scenes to indicate passages of time to tell his whole story. Most striking scene is a 10-minute depiction of Hell that is disconcerting to say the least and was incredibly bold for a mid-thirties film.
A classic film with some great flying sequences, a real treat to see on-screen the progenitor of the B-17 bomber, a WW2 staple aircraft. Gable excels as a man pursuing his dreams tenaciously. You really get the feeling that he's uncomfortable when his feet are touching the ground, like a fish out of water and Loy is along for the ride. It would have been easy to push Myrna's character to the background but she's an integral part in the whole process. There exists a tangible love triangle between the three main characters but not necessarily one borne out of romance but deep-seated friendship instead, it really makes the chemistry pop.
Certainly borrows heavily from Devil Wears Prada, a lot of good characters and Emma Stone in particular does a great job. I found her accent fairly excellent and I don't think I was reminded once that she was putting it on for the role. I was a huge fan of the original animated movie so to see that the story is pretty much guaranteed to be totally replaced now is kind of heartbreaking, but par for the course for how Disney is going these days.
There were some major problems with the film though, what really bugged me was how mental illness was treated throughout nearly its entire runtime. Even when a character with unbridled mental illness is harming other people it's treated as something comical and to be laughed at which is quite disturbing. The film tries to straddle the line of Cruella being a well-known villain but then attempts to transform her into a relatable anti-hero with questionable moral behavior. It more or less succeeds but not without delving into dark territory that it just glosses over. The tone of the film belies what is being shown on screen.
Spoilers for the Joker movie below:
There's a lot of talk surrounding the film as a more lighthearted version of the Joker film in how it talks about mental illness. But Joker was not a comedy nor was it intended to be. Nobody was laughing when Phoenix was having a painful laughing attack on the bus or when Joker gunned down De Niro's character. On the flip side, Cruella tries to use mental illness as a way of telling the story especially surrounding her mother's actions and off-the-rails narcissism. But it's presented in the way of a punchline. You can't bring up the plot point of an evil narcissist desiring to murder her newly born baby and treat it like you're just making a lighthearted comedy movie (and a Disney comedy at that.)
Supremely entertaining. The style of the animation was a little off-putting at first if I'm honest but it didn't take too long to get used to. Lots of humor and touching moments. I especially liked the theme of becoming Spider-Man being a
"leap of faith." Granted I don't read too many Spidey comics but the whole catalyst of becoming a superhero and overcoming that initial fear really hit home. The danger of dying while trying to save the world was really evident and powerful in that particular moment.
There are certainly enough Marvel offerings at this point that it's hard to not judge one against the majority, and especially if it is yet another origin story. It's just another average Marvel superhero movie. A twist or two thrown in to keep things interesting and despite taking place in the 90's it certainly didn't dive in head first into being overly nostalgic. Just stunningly average.
Based on the level of hate I was expecting a lot of what I like to affectionately refer to as "agenda moments" but they weren't really there. Other than a brief suggestive comment from a male fighter pilot it wasn't the core part of the movie at all which was a nice surprise. The hate seems to stem from Brie Larson's activity off-screen which is not really the best way to judge a movie, particularly if your politics don't bleed over onto the celluloid.
I can't remember ever seeing a spectacular middle-age themed movie but this one wasn't too bad. The action more or less makes up for the cheesiness that pervades pretty much everything else. The costumes and sets were a particular highlight.
Very short documentary but a whimsical look at what has to have been the inspiration for the fictional Bedford Falls from It's a Wonderful Life. It's presented in a flavor of compiling all the circumstantial evidence and letting you make up your own mind about it. Learned a few cool things about the town that seemed to have made it into the movie too, like a man who actually dove off a bridge into the water to save someone. Worth a quick watch if IAWL is one of your all-time favorite Christmas movies.
When you think of "cash grab" movies you tend to think of modern movie franchises with endless sequels and reboots. This one's just a classic example all the way from 1970. It's not a sequel in the truest sense because it has no continuity with the groundbreaking In the Heat of the Night. Really nothing flows together in the movie and it lacks some serious cohesion. Even the title of the movie is misleading. That famous line was directly tied into the racism that Tibbs' was experiencing and how things were different in Philadelphia, yet this movie jettisons that entire plot line and is a long way from Philly.
I was kind of excited to see Martin Landau of Mission Impossible fame here but his talents are so incredibly wasted. Anthony Zerbe's character gets slightly more room to maneuver but is still lackluster.
From the opening scene you know you're going to see some pretty excellent directorial stuff. The beginning where Mike Nichols brings the camera in super close and jerks it around while moving about the party just perfectly illustrates the character's emotional angst and nervousness. It's a pattern that permeates the film and Nichols' Oscar was well deserved. The film resonated especially well with college kids in the late 60's but the overall theme of an uncertain future and finding yourself has kept it relevant.
Full credit to Dustin Hoffman, being convincingly nervous and incredibly awkward is not easy to portray but he pulls it off so well.
It's rather expertly done how Benjamin's relationship with Mrs. Robinson progresses. At first it naturally feels sexy but as the tone of the film shifts you really feel how incredibly unsatisfying the entire experience is for both characters. It felt super realistic and it just goes to further back up the entire plotline of Benjamin searching for something greater and how quickly interest is lost over something believed to be desirable.
It's a fascinating look into the undercurrent of racism that obviously flows beneath the surface of a small southern town. Taking place only 3 short years after the Civil Rights Act, the film draws a thick circle around the fact that law has little to do with changing people's long-seated emotions and biases. Poitier is at the top of his game as Mr. Tibbs, and Steiger is great as a Chief trying to walk a tightrope between the oath he took to seek justice and his own prejudices.
The slap is just too perfect. It's like pure equality demonstrated onscreen. You slap me, I slap you. Equality.
"good cop takes drastic measures to prove his innocence and is eventually vindicated"
story is fairly old but this one had at least a few twists that made it interesting. Particularly Samuel L's character being in a "turn the tables" kind of situation. Jackson brings a ton of intensity to the role and that's so essential because this is practically a limited-set movie if we're honest. Spacey also comes off well cast and they both have good chemistry with each other. Not exceptionally good but decently entertaining.
A fine example of an incredibly good concept packaged in nothing more than a popcorn movie. There are a lot of great themes and subplots in there but it's overshadowed by it's mediocre pacing, flow, and scriptwork. If it had chosen to go a more serious route than just another popcorn action movie it would have greatly improved. With virtual reality now taking off it'll most likely become more and more prophetic as time marches on.
The casting call for extras must have been hilarious for this movie. It probably read something like "looking for beautiful people" or something, lol. Unlike every other movie, this is one where extras were not supposed to look like average people.
Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt square off in this occasionally interesting drama. The IRA plot had the potential to be much more but it never gets off the ground thanks to an incredibly long buildup and a disappointing payoff. Pitt seems to struggle with the accent and as a result rarely ever speaks loudly. His role is not the soft-spoken type so the portrayal really handicapped his character.
Comments 176 - 200 of 737
Movie comment on The Little Giant
DisneyStitch
A delightful crime comedy with the incomparable Edward G. Robinson. The movie follows the escapades of a mob boss put out of business by the end of Prohibition and decides to high-tail it out to California to hobnob with the social elite. The comedy really works and Robinson does a great job being a fish out of water. It's fluffy entertainment with a rather simple romantic angle but still a very nice film.Movie comment on Secret Agent
DisneyStitch
Average Hitchcock fare. Not terrible in the way it presents the story but interesting enough that even at this early point in Hitchcock's career I find myself stacking it up against his much superior spy films of The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps. Peter Lorre is off the rails loony for sure, yet comically entertaining.Movie comment on The Lady Vanishes
DisneyStitch
An early Hitchcock classic. The director of suspense wasn't exactly at the beginning of his career here but certainly laying the foundation stones that would support his later fame and penchant for making fantastic films. The Lady Vanishes is a tight psychological thriller that doesn't waste any of its runtime. The buildup at the hotel is masterfully crafted and all the characters really pop. Old Hitch knows how to craft a gaggle of characters that are far from one-dimensional and the script really works. He really excels at how to make a character feel like they're losing their mind and include the audience along in the same boat.Movie comment on 1917
DisneyStitch
I've always been of the opinion that continuous-shot movies are an incredible undertaking and this one does not disappoint. Being immersed in it doesn't even begin to describe how much we resonate with the characters and their plight. The choreography is stunning and the suspense of our main characters wandering around behind enemy lines is gripping to say the least.Movie comment on The Birds
DisneyStitch
I always think of this film as a kind of zombie apocalypse movie except without the zombies, or the decent character development, or a plot that makes some degree of sense. I mean Hitchcock is my all-time fave director but this one just seems off. Jamaica Inn and Rebecca were both stories by Dame Daphne du Maurier and both were adapted to the screen by old Hitch. The Birds is his third stab at the same author's material and just feels like a lackluster short story given the big screen treatment. The suspense is very real, but builds towards a disappointing climax, although the attack on the house at night is expertly choreographed and filmed which makes it easily the best part of the film. Overall the film is simply incongruous with the material of the same man that gave us Psycho or Rear Window.Movie comment on Two-Minute Warning
DisneyStitch
Somewhat thrilling for an action thriller. Heston plays a pretty paint by numbers tough cop and surrounded by a lackluster cast. One thing that really struck me though is how utterly mid-70's the movie is. If nothing else it's kind of a time capsule for costumes, attitudes, and sport broadcasting for the decade. At times it feels almost like a documentary of sorts. I will say that the layout of the film with following around seemingly random characters that will have a part later is something that has certainly been copied in modern films.Movie comment on A Letter to Three Wives
DisneyStitch
Truly a wonderful romantic comedy with a serious edge. The characters are all fleshed out brilliantly over the course of its runtime, even Addie Ross shines in one of the most innovative uses of a character that I've ever seen (or perhaps haven't seen, haha.) The script never strays into dull territory and keeps you engaged throughout all of it.Movie comment on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
DisneyStitch
Tracy's last film is well acted with great performances all around. It feels like a stage play adapted to the big screen but oddly enough it was just the opposite. Poitier is fantastic as always.Although I enjoyed it I felt that it could have better explored the very serious ramifications that the couple are facing in particular with regards to Houghton's starry-eyed role as the free-thinking daughter. She practically glides from scene to scene blissfully naive throughout the film and as a result it's much easier to take her less than seriously. One one hand you can make the argument that a powerful way to combat prejudice is to be blissfully unaware from a personal standpoint, but that does nothing to prepare you for the harsh reality that's coming. Even if you take race out of the equation completely it seemed so obvious to me that the relationship is doomed to fail from the get-go.
I was really unprepared for how deeply this film affected me. I personally know people who have pursued interracial relationships with all the naivety of Houghton's character, only to be utterly destroyed by the eventual reality of the situation and the trials they refused to acknowledge in advance.
Movie comment on The Snake Pit
DisneyStitch
De Haviland holds the entire weight of the film on her two demented shoulders. Excellent acting on her part. It plays out like a kind of psychological thriller that is very entertaining.Movie comment on Captain EO
DisneyStitch
Kind of surprised to find old EO without any comments. This one holds a particular nostalgic place in my memory because after working a hard day at DisneyWorld I'd pop over to Epcot and unwind to the songs and special effects of this peculiar movie. Understandably borrows a bit from Star Wars with George Lucas being the Exec-producer. As far as theme park shows go it isn't downright awful but Jackson's acting is rather childish and the plot feels totally bonkers. Songs still remain somewhat catchy though. I distinctly remember the scores of guests piling out of the theater with confused looks adorning their faces.Movie comment on Judgment at Nuremberg
DisneyStitch
An all-star ensemble cast really makes this one shine in what is a cold, hard look into the human condition and how necessary objective morality is as opposed to a person or nation's definition of what is right and wrong. Spencer Tracy excels but there isn't a single sub-par performance to be found. An absolute classic.The movie is chock full of themes and deep-seated emotions. What really struck me was not only the highlighting of mankind's capacity to do great evil, but the insane lengths that are reached in justifying that evil and refusing to believe that one is guilty of any wrongdoing. The ending title card just cements that feeling in your gut.
Movie comment on Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
DisneyStitch
If you're a fan of WW2 movies then the title alone probably tipped you off as to what it's about. The Doolittle Raid was one of the most interesting bombing runs of the war and this film is pretty much a love letter to it (and by extension, the B-25 Mitchell Bomber.) It also has some of the best pulse-pounding bombing shots of any movie I've seen. Definitely worth a watch.Movie comment on Dante's Inferno
DisneyStitch
A running theme with 30's movies is that most tend to have some sort of moral story i.e. the main character is redeemed at the end, the bad guy gets what's coming to him, or a visceral portrayal that crime doesn't pay. Tracy stars as a kind of down on his luck fellow and the film rapidly goes through scenes to indicate passages of time to tell his whole story. Most striking scene is a 10-minute depiction of Hell that is disconcerting to say the least and was incredibly bold for a mid-thirties film.Movie comment on Test Pilot
DisneyStitch
A classic film with some great flying sequences, a real treat to see on-screen the progenitor of the B-17 bomber, a WW2 staple aircraft. Gable excels as a man pursuing his dreams tenaciously. You really get the feeling that he's uncomfortable when his feet are touching the ground, like a fish out of water and Loy is along for the ride. It would have been easy to push Myrna's character to the background but she's an integral part in the whole process. There exists a tangible love triangle between the three main characters but not necessarily one borne out of romance but deep-seated friendship instead, it really makes the chemistry pop.Movie comment on Cruella
DisneyStitch
Certainly borrows heavily from Devil Wears Prada, a lot of good characters and Emma Stone in particular does a great job. I found her accent fairly excellent and I don't think I was reminded once that she was putting it on for the role. I was a huge fan of the original animated movie so to see that the story is pretty much guaranteed to be totally replaced now is kind of heartbreaking, but par for the course for how Disney is going these days.There were some major problems with the film though, what really bugged me was how mental illness was treated throughout nearly its entire runtime. Even when a character with unbridled mental illness is harming other people it's treated as something comical and to be laughed at which is quite disturbing. The film tries to straddle the line of Cruella being a well-known villain but then attempts to transform her into a relatable anti-hero with questionable moral behavior. It more or less succeeds but not without delving into dark territory that it just glosses over. The tone of the film belies what is being shown on screen.
Spoilers for the Joker movie below:
Movie comment on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
DisneyStitch
Supremely entertaining. The style of the animation was a little off-putting at first if I'm honest but it didn't take too long to get used to. Lots of humor and touching moments. I especially liked the theme of becoming Spider-Man being aMovie comment on Captain Marvel
DisneyStitch
There are certainly enough Marvel offerings at this point that it's hard to not judge one against the majority, and especially if it is yet another origin story. It's just another average Marvel superhero movie. A twist or two thrown in to keep things interesting and despite taking place in the 90's it certainly didn't dive in head first into being overly nostalgic. Just stunningly average.Based on the level of hate I was expecting a lot of what I like to affectionately refer to as "agenda moments" but they weren't really there. Other than a brief suggestive comment from a male fighter pilot it wasn't the core part of the movie at all which was a nice surprise. The hate seems to stem from Brie Larson's activity off-screen which is not really the best way to judge a movie, particularly if your politics don't bleed over onto the celluloid.
Movie comment on First Knight
DisneyStitch
I can't remember ever seeing a spectacular middle-age themed movie but this one wasn't too bad. The action more or less makes up for the cheesiness that pervades pretty much everything else. The costumes and sets were a particular highlight.Movie comment on The Real Bedford Falls: It's a Wonderful Life
DisneyStitch
Very short documentary but a whimsical look at what has to have been the inspiration for the fictional Bedford Falls from It's a Wonderful Life. It's presented in a flavor of compiling all the circumstantial evidence and letting you make up your own mind about it. Learned a few cool things about the town that seemed to have made it into the movie too, like a man who actually dove off a bridge into the water to save someone. Worth a quick watch if IAWL is one of your all-time favorite Christmas movies.Movie comment on They Call Me Mister Tibbs!
DisneyStitch
When you think of "cash grab" movies you tend to think of modern movie franchises with endless sequels and reboots. This one's just a classic example all the way from 1970. It's not a sequel in the truest sense because it has no continuity with the groundbreaking In the Heat of the Night. Really nothing flows together in the movie and it lacks some serious cohesion. Even the title of the movie is misleading. That famous line was directly tied into the racism that Tibbs' was experiencing and how things were different in Philadelphia, yet this movie jettisons that entire plot line and is a long way from Philly.I was kind of excited to see Martin Landau of Mission Impossible fame here but his talents are so incredibly wasted. Anthony Zerbe's character gets slightly more room to maneuver but is still lackluster.
Movie comment on The Graduate
DisneyStitch
From the opening scene you know you're going to see some pretty excellent directorial stuff. The beginning where Mike Nichols brings the camera in super close and jerks it around while moving about the party just perfectly illustrates the character's emotional angst and nervousness. It's a pattern that permeates the film and Nichols' Oscar was well deserved. The film resonated especially well with college kids in the late 60's but the overall theme of an uncertain future and finding yourself has kept it relevant.Full credit to Dustin Hoffman, being convincingly nervous and incredibly awkward is not easy to portray but he pulls it off so well.
Movie comment on In the Heat of the Night
DisneyStitch
It's a fascinating look into the undercurrent of racism that obviously flows beneath the surface of a small southern town. Taking place only 3 short years after the Civil Rights Act, the film draws a thick circle around the fact that law has little to do with changing people's long-seated emotions and biases. Poitier is at the top of his game as Mr. Tibbs, and Steiger is great as a Chief trying to walk a tightrope between the oath he took to seek justice and his own prejudices.Movie comment on The Negotiator
DisneyStitch
The wholeMovie comment on Surrogates
DisneyStitch
A fine example of an incredibly good concept packaged in nothing more than a popcorn movie. There are a lot of great themes and subplots in there but it's overshadowed by it's mediocre pacing, flow, and scriptwork. If it had chosen to go a more serious route than just another popcorn action movie it would have greatly improved. With virtual reality now taking off it'll most likely become more and more prophetic as time marches on.The casting call for extras must have been hilarious for this movie. It probably read something like "looking for beautiful people" or something, lol. Unlike every other movie, this is one where extras were not supposed to look like average people.
Movie comment on The Devil's Own
DisneyStitch
Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt square off in this occasionally interesting drama. The IRA plot had the potential to be much more but it never gets off the ground thanks to an incredibly long buildup and a disappointing payoff. Pitt seems to struggle with the accent and as a result rarely ever speaks loudly. His role is not the soft-spoken type so the portrayal really handicapped his character.Showing items 176 – 200 of 737