reviewId int64 363k 588k | userId int64 33.9k 15.9M | itemId int64 1 1.42M | rating float64 1 10 | title stringlengths 1 10.9k ⌀ | content stringlengths 81 11.6k ⌀ |
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574,274 | 4,532,636 | 402,399 | 6 | Malick Stumbles | It gives me no pleasure to report that the fourth film in nearly eight times as many years from that most roguish of Hollywood's rogue directors , Terrence Malick , is mostly a failure . Give the guy a break , though . When the first three movies you make are unequivocal masterpieces , you're allowed to stumble . All o... |
574,358 | 4,532,636 | 371,724 | 6 | So Long , and Thanks for All the Fish | I had the exact same feeling watching this film version of Douglas Adams ' cult classic novel as I had reading it , so I guess in that regard you can say the movie is a very faithful adaptation of the book . I thought much of it was clever , and I laughed at individual lines , images and concepts , but overall I felt m... |
574,007 | 4,532,636 | 366,551 | 6 | Harold and Kumar Come Close to Making a Classic Comedy Team ( But Just Fall Short ) | Perfectly enjoyable and appropriately stupid , " Harold and Kumar . . . " isn't good enough to be a comedy classic , but it's much better than the average boys-behaving-badly flick . It aims for smart satire rather than easy gross out jokes , which made me appreciate its efforts even if it doesn't always succeed . The ... |
573,318 | 4,532,636 | 459,666 | 6 | Some of These Times Are Better Than Others | The three times mentioned in this film's title are " A Time for Love , " " A Time for Freedom " and " A Time for Youth , " each a separate segment set in a different time period ( 1966 , 1911 and 2005 ) in Taiwan , but featuring the same two actors . In " A Time for Love , " the best and sweetest segment , a soldier an... |
574,151 | 4,532,636 | 59,712 | 6 | Grand Hotel with Nazis | Ship of Fools reminded me of " Grand Hotel " : take a bunch of big-name stars , fit them out in a screenplay full of romantic melodrama , and watch everyone go to town . Unfortunately , the formula doesn't work so well when the backdrop for the story is pre-WWII Germany ; it makes the melodrama seem not only irreleva... |
574,258 | 4,532,636 | 29,162 | 6 | Kinda Creepy | In " Lost Horizon , " a change of pace for director Frank Capra , a charter plane carrying a group of character actors crashes somewhere over Asia , and they stumble their way into the forgotten city of Shangri-La , tucked cosily away amid the snowy mountains , where the cadaverous H . B . Warner prowls around in bare ... |
574,124 | 4,532,636 | 482,571 | 6 | Fine Looking Production Wasted on an Incoherent Script | Christopher Nolan's latest puzzle movie is like a big heaping plate of spaghetti : when taken together , it looks like a complete and satisfying meal , but if you pick up any one noodle individually , you find that it's not connected to any of the others and just trails into nothing . I felt like a complete moron walki... |
573,471 | 4,532,636 | 31,047 | 6 | Whodunit ? Who Cares ? | What the creators of the original " Thin Man " film didn't seem to realize is that the appeal of the series was in watching the witty banter between Powell and Loy , not the murder mystery plots themselves . " Another Thin Man " has an elaborate plot and drops a boatload of hints along the way , summarized neatly by Ni... |
574,106 | 4,532,636 | 90,830 | 6 | Well-Acted Drama Carries the Faint Aroma of After School Special | Solid if unremarkable screen version of the Broadway play , starring Marlee Matlin before anyone knew who she was and William Hurt at the height of his mid-1980s popularity . The film is sensitive and well-acted , but it never completely sheds its stage origins , and it has that faint whiff of school assembly lecture t... |
573,650 | 4,532,636 | 448,157 | 6 | Original Ideas Stranded by Chaotic Script | Hancock may be many things , but it's certainly not a traditional superhero movie . That's either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view . I appreciated the many original ideas swirling around the perimeter of this movie , but it's a shame that no one idea ever fully takes hold . The script feels... |
573,551 | 4,532,636 | 82,158 | 6 | Stiff Upper Lip , Old Man - - It's Only the Olympics | Very British , very proper and very dull movie about two English athletes competing in the 1924 Olympics . It's one of those inspirational stories that undoubtedly had audiences on their feet cheering at its end , but now the only thing memorable about it is its theme song . " Chariots of Fire " came out at a time when... |
574,425 | 4,532,636 | 120,915 | 6 | Necessary But Inert Installment in the " Star Wars " Series | George Lucas , what hath thou done to " Star Wars ? " Alas , only die-hard " Star Wars " fans will be able to enjoy this first prequel , and even they may be hard pressed to muster up an ounce of interest in this inert story about trade disputes and underhanded politics that doesn't make an ounce of sense until you've ... |
574,223 | 4,532,636 | 97,239 | 6 | Don't Be a Back Seat Driver , Miss Daisy | Driving Miss Daisy is so quiet and genteel that it threatens to evaporate right off the screen . The source material is well written and carries with it a certain poignancy and power , but one suspects that it carried even more power on stage . The impression left by the film is that director Bruce Beresford had trou... |
574,155 | 4,532,636 | 457,939 | 6 | A Holiday Soufflé | The Holiday ( as the name implies ) is that unique animal : the holiday film . You know , the one that comes out a few weeks before Christmas , intended to counter program against all of the serious ( read " depressing " ) Oscar contenders . The one that takes not an ounce of concentration to follow , that goes down ... |
573,800 | 4,532,636 | 34,798 | 6 | The Movie's So-So , But Veronica Lake Is Va-Va-Voom | A fairly minor entry in the noir canon , " The Glass Key " doesn't have the striking visual daring of some of its noir contemporaries , like " The Maltese Falcon , " " Murder , My Sweet " or " Double Indemnity . " Also , since it came out early in the noir cycle , it doesn't have that sense of rotting cynicism that per... |
573,678 | 4,532,636 | 53,779 | 6 | Beautiful Looking But Profoundly Hollow | A triumph of style over substance . One can't overcome the feeling while watching " La Dolce Vita " that Federico Fellini thinks he's being terribly intellectual and profound , but there's precious little going on in this film's head . It's telling that on a second viewing , when I thought I would discover nuance and d... |
573,478 | 4,532,636 | 279,113 | 6 | So-So Dramatic Vehicle for Aniston | The Good Girl was heavily touted as the film that would help Jennifer Aniston break from her Rachel persona and make the leap to dramatic film actress . There was even talk ( however brief ) about an Academy Award nomination for her when this film came out . Surprise , surprise , but that didn't happen . And where ha... |
574,027 | 4,532,636 | 489,281 | 6 | Another Forgettable Entry in the Iraq War Movie Mill | Kimberly Peirce becomes one of the latest directors to try and only marginally succeed in making a compelling film about the Iraq conflict . Peirce takes on as her subject the military's stop-loss clause , essentially a back door draft by which the military can use fine print in recruits ' contracts to prevent them fro... |
574,497 | 4,532,636 | 346,336 | 6 | Only Reviewing First Half , Because I Have No Intention of Watching Part II | I'm sorry to be doing this , and I won't blame you if you disregard my review because of it , but I'm basing my comments only on the first half of this six-hour film . Expecting much from this acclaimed and obviously beloved made-for-Italian-television miniseries , I instead finished the first half absolutely mystified... |
573,777 | 4,532,636 | 38,650 | 6 | Life's Not Always So Wonderful | My apologies to all of you " It's a Wonderful Life " - ers out there . Please believe me when I say that I've tried multiple times to develop warm feelings for this movie . But it's just not meant to be . I've seen this film a couple of times , and I never want to see it again . I want to beat James Stewart's George Ba... |
573,915 | 4,532,636 | 68,732 | 6 | An Awkward Attempt By Altman to Tackle the Psychological Thriller | Robert Altman applies the same widescreen canvas he had previously used to capture the chaotic communities of a Korean War MASH unit and a primitive Pacific Northwest mining town to the quieter but no less chaotic internal workings of a troubled woman's psyche in this unsettling and uneven psychological thriller . Susa... |
574,001 | 4,532,636 | 92,890 | 6 | Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner | Welcome to a more innocent time , also knows as 1987 , when movies about kids grinding their hips together in their parents ' basements qualified as scandalous subject matter . " Dirty Dancing " is the film that kick-started Patrick Swayze's brief time as a major star , though all these years later , it's Jennifer Grey... |
573,565 | 4,532,636 | 411,195 | 6 | Tries for Whimsy , Settles for a Great Soundtrack | With " Breakfast on Pluto , " Neil Jordan attempts a whimsical picaresque tale but creates instead a pale and glaringly underdeveloped movie . Cillian Murphy tries with all of his might to inject some vitality into the character of Patrick Braden , an effeminate boy who grows up to be a cross-dressing gamine , a sort o... |
573,371 | 4,532,636 | 63,688 | 6 | Checkmate , Ms . Dunaway | One of those harmless caper films where the only point is how good-looking the two leads are . But with Faye Dunaway as one of those leads , somehow that's enough . Only a year after her luminous performance in " Bonnie and Clyde , " she had already begun to lose that gauzy feminine glamour ( or maybe she was just lit ... |
574,440 | 4,532,636 | 48,140 | 6 | A Disappointing Adaptation of a Nearly Perfect Musical | I saw the 1992 revival of " Guys and Dolls " on Broadway when Nathan Lane and Faith Prince were playing the roles of Nathan Detroit and Miss Adelaide . That show was so colorful , vibrant and pulsing with energy , that it made Joseph L . Mankiewicz's screen version pale greatly in comparison . Mankiewicz replaces Damon... |
573,665 | 4,532,636 | 26,778 | 6 | Wanted to Like It More Than I Actually Did | Marx Brothers movies are hard to review , because you can't apply the same criteria to them as you can to other movies . The Marx Brothers created an entire method for delivering screen comedy ; they created the rules and the logic , and you either accept that logic or you don't . I have to base my opinion on " A Night... |
573,741 | 4,532,636 | 89,941 | 7 | I Should Have Known Better Than to Mock Joe Buck | A movie I thought I'd be able to make fun of ( I just couldn't see myself taking Jon Voight seriously in the photos and brief snippets I'd seen ) and ended up liking quite a bit . Voight and Eric Roberts play escaped convicts who end up on the runaway train of the title with a female train worker ( Rebecca DeMornay ) a... |
573,888 | 4,532,636 | 88,011 | 7 | Not Indiana Jones , But a Pretty Good Runner Up | A terrific action adventure film obviously modeled after the Indiana Jones films . Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner have boatloads of chemistry together as a cocky diamond hunter and a pampered New York writer , respectively , trekking through the jungles of Colombia in search of treasure . The film has all of the r... |
574,395 | 4,532,636 | 372,784 | 7 | Second Best of the Series | It still doesn't beat Tim Burton's first film , but " Batman Begins " is better than the rest of the Batman movies to date . Christian Bale makes a terrific Bruce Wayne - - he may be the best actor to have played him so far . And top-tier actors like Liam Neeson , Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine , while maybe not grea... |
573,763 | 4,532,636 | 78,199 | 7 | Good Vehicle for Burstyn and Alda | This two-person play is transferred to the screen without being able to escape its stage origins , but it offers a great opportunity to see two fine actors give two fine performances . Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda play lovers who meet once a year at the same time and place for a weekend together . In between , they live... |
573,386 | 4,532,636 | 105,107 | 7 | See for the Lovely Performances of McDonnell and Woodard | Mary McDonnell had a brief spate of success in films in the early 1990s before disappearing from the scene and reemerging recently on the television series " Battlestar Galactica . " First she came to major attention in " Dances with Wolves , " for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress , an... |
573,841 | 4,532,636 | 462,504 | 7 | Ending Is Uncharacteristically Flawed for a Herzog Film | Director Werner Herzog revisits his favorite theme - - Man going mad in the wilderness - - in " Rescue Dawn , " the fictional remake of his own documentary , " Little Dieter Needs to Fly . " Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler , an American pilot shot down while on a covert bombing mission in Laos in 1965 . He's tucked... |
574,166 | 4,532,636 | 436,078 | 7 | Amusing , But Not Much More Than That | A fairly humorous documentary about the world's dirtiest joke . This isn't a very meaty film , and there was a lot of potential untapped by its creators . This could have been an interesting investigation into what makes comedy funny , and how the exact same material presented in different ways can be either hilarious ... |
573,499 | 4,532,636 | 499,448 | 7 | Prince Caspian Lands with a Slight Thud | This disappointing follow up to " The Lion , the Witch and the Wardrobe " had the unfortunate disadvantage of being based on a book that just doesn't tell as good a story as its predecessor , but even with that it could have been a better movie . I liked the intensity Andrew Adamson brought to the previous Narnia story... |
573,464 | 4,532,636 | 256,276 | 7 | Not the Novel , But Enjoyable on Its Own Terms | The supremely literary and ambitious novel by A . S . Byatt has been streamlined into a more conventional love story for two beautiful Hollywood actors in this screen adaptation directed by ( of all people ! ) Neil LaBute . Aaron Eckhart and Gwyneth Paltrow play scholars of a Victorian poet and poetess , respectively ,... |
574,429 | 4,532,636 | 70,510 | 7 | A Father / Daughter Con Team Played by a Father and Daughter | A charmer . Ryan O'Neal stars with his real-life daughter Tatum in this story about a father and daughter con team scraping together an existence in Depression-era America . Along the way , the dad picks up a brassy floozy , played by the expert comedienne Madeline Kahn , which doesn't go down well with the precocious ... |
573,675 | 4,532,636 | 24,034 | 7 | A Whole Lot of Heart and a Whole Lot of Ham | If your knowledge of " 42nd Street " comes from seeing the stage musical , you'll be surprised to find how much less of a musical the film actually is , and how much darker it is than its stage counterpart . The spectre of the Great Depression pervades every frame of the film . These Broadway hoofers never once look li... |
574,296 | 4,532,636 | 21,885 | 7 | Norma Shearer Plays a Daddy's Girl | A Norma Shearer soap opera about a free-spirited woman and her alcoholic attorney father ( Lionel Barrymore ) who stand together against the disapproving snobbery of their family . Shearer falls in love with a thug who her father defended in court ( Clark Gable ) , and finds that her father's talk about the second chan... |
574,158 | 4,532,636 | 43,879 | 7 | Fascinating But Uneven | On Dangerous Ground is a strange , schizophrenic film that straddles the fence between film noir and romantic melodrama , managing to be both and neither at the same time . It has the same otherworldly quality that director Nicholas Ray frequently brought to his films , but ultimately I'm not sure whether it's succes... |
573,434 | 4,532,636 | 41,954 | 7 | A Noir with a Sense of Humour | Actor Barry Sullivan kicks things off in " Tension " with a pre-credits monologue spoken directly into the camera , in which his police detective character explains his method for getting criminals to trip up and give their crimes away - - he applies pressure to them slowly and steadily until they have no choice but to... |
574,381 | 4,532,636 | 75,860 | 7 | Sci-Fi with a Heart | It's impossible to recreate the feeling audiences at the time of this film's release likely had watching it . Special effects and movies about alien visitors have become so commonplace as to make this one quaint . But one of the things I admire most about " Close Encounters " is its hypothesis that aliens could possibl... |
573,995 | 4,532,636 | 33,152 | 7 | Psychedelic Trip Through the Arabian Nights | A colorful and downright trippy version of the Arabian nights tale about a street urchin who stumbles upon a magic lamp and is granted three wishes by an all-powerful genie . Actually , that's only part of the story as presented here , but it's the part of the film that provides the craziest and most spectacular specia... |
573,943 | 4,532,636 | 493,459 | 7 | Entertaining , But Not as Scathing as It Could Have Been | Kirby Dick's expose of the MPAA's ratings process only confirms the suspicion that motion picture ratings are virtually worthless , arbitrarily assigned by an elite panel who purport to have our country's children's best interests at heart , but who seem to think that an exposed breast is more harmful to them than seei... |
573,866 | 4,532,636 | 87,892 | 7 | Can't We All Just Get Along ? | I read the E . M . Forster novel between viewings of " A Passage to India , " and found that my impression of the film was somewhat diminished the second time as a result . But there's an old-fashioned splendor to David Lean's style of film-making that I love , and so I very much admire this film despite its faults . J... |
574,096 | 4,532,636 | 37,055 | 7 | Peter Lorre Puts His Unique Mark on This Story of International Intrigue | Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet star in this atmospheric noir from 1944 . Lorre plays a writer who becomes fascinated with a criminal known as Dimitrios , who's cut a path of thievery and murder across the Mediterranean . He's approached by Greenstreet , a mysterious stranger , about hatching a scheme to blackmail D... |
573,988 | 4,532,636 | 56,541 | 7 | Good Acting Makes Up for a Cop-Out Ending | This well-acted screen version of the Tennessee Williams play makes for entertaining viewing , but it's hopelessly marred by an overly-censored ending that dilutes the story of much of its power . I've never seen or read the original stage version , and I didn't know how the film's ending differed from the original unt... |
574,291 | 4,532,636 | 95,497 | 7 | As Usual , the Protesters Got It Wrong | As is typical with religious-themed movies , the broo-ha that greeted Martin Scorsese's " The Last Temptation of Christ " was completely unnecessary . The controversy all stemmed around the film's last 30 minutes or so , when Jesus imagines what it would be like to skip out on the crucifixion scene and live the life of... |
573,794 | 4,532,636 | 106,977 | 7 | A Thinking Man's Action Thriller | Harrison Ford runs and Tommy Lee Jones chases after him in this big-budget film adaptation of the popular television series . This is a Hollywood action movie for the thinking man , where you can tell that at least as much thought went into characterizations as into the numerous technical stunts . One of the film's str... |
573,826 | 4,532,636 | 414,055 | 7 | All Hail Queen Blanchett | A history lesson dumbed down so much that 7-year-olds could understand what's going on , " Elizabeth : The Golden Age " is nevertheless a wholeheartedly entertaining film . It reminded me of the fluffy , goofy historical epics Hollywood used to make back in the 1930s , when the emphasis was on romantic swooning rather ... |
574,390 | 4,532,636 | 37,017 | 7 | Hitchcock Light | This Hitchcock film , made soon after he burst into prominence in America with films like " Rebecca " and " Suspicion , " is a lot of fun , but it's ultimately more of a technical experiment than it is a satisfying narrative film , much like " Rope " would be 4 years later . The suspense here comes more from wondering ... |
573,893 | 4,532,636 | 87,921 | 7 | Of Tornadoes and the Ku Klux Klan | A solid dust bowl soap opera that stars Sally Field as a weary widow struggling single-handedly to keep her cotton farm running . Director Robert Benton's ( " Kramer vs . Kramer " ) strengths are his ability to get great performances out of his actors ; stylistically , there's nothing distinguished about his films . Th... |
573,322 | 4,532,636 | 32,701 | 7 | Solid If Uninvolving Davis Vehicle | Bette Davis won her fourth Best Actress Academy Award nomination for this moody William Wyler melodrama , made previously in 1929 as a vehicle for stage actress Jeanne Eagels ( who also won an Oscar nomination for the same role ) . The movie gets a high ranking at IMDb , but it's not one of my favorite Davis films . Th... |
573,493 | 4,532,636 | 47,647 | 7 | These Cowboys Sure Know How to Use Their Guns | Robert Aldrich's smart-ass take on the western stars Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster as white hat / black hat cowboys , respectively , who sign on with Emperor Maxmillian in post-Civil War Mexico to escort a countess to the port of Vera Cruz . Unknown to the cowboys , at least at first , is the fact that what they're re... |
573,454 | 4,532,636 | 235,198 | 7 | Has Much More to Say Than Hype Would Have You Believe | There are about 15 minutes of " Audition " that everyone remembers and talks about , and about 95 minutes of movie that you'd think didn't even exist if you listened to others ' comments . But this is the director's fault ; when you set out to shock your audience as much as Takashi Miike does in this film , you can't b... |
574,168 | 4,532,636 | 441,909 | 7 | Ghosts of Mothers Past | With " Volver , " Pedro Almodovar gives us a sweet and warm film about the ways in which women can be care givers for one another , and the responsibilities that go along with that . He also examines the impact that the actions of parents have on their children , while at the same time cautioning children about making ... |
573,874 | 4,532,636 | 138,524 | 7 | A Hit for the Coen Brothers | The Coen brothers are a very hit-or-miss film-making team . Either I love their movies ( " Fargo , " " Blood Simple , " " The Man Who Wasn't There " ) or I hate them ( " The Big Lebowski , " O Brother , Where Art Thou ? " ) . O . k . , so I didn't necessarily love " Intolerable Cruelty , " but it does qualify as a hit ... |
574,418 | 4,532,636 | 54,331 | 7 | Good for a Hollywood Film ; Ehh for a Kubrick Film | Far , FAR better than " Ben-Hur , " which came out the year before , " Spartacus " still doesn't quite shake some of the same epic movie shackles that made William Wyler's film such a dismal bore . The point of this film is the sets and costumes ; the studios denied Kubrick the freedom to direct this movie in his insta... |
573,566 | 4,532,636 | 47,673 | 7 | One of the Best Bad Movies Ever | Pour yourself out a nice big boatload of gravy to go with this gigantic slice of holiday ham . . . . I love this movie , and I'm not ashamed to admit it . I don't even feel like doing a critical analysis of it , or talking about the acting , or anything of the kind . It's not even a good movie , really , and it suffers... |
573,700 | 4,532,636 | 870,111 | 7 | A Consummate Ron Howard Film , Which Means It's Not Remotely Artistic | Frank Langella is getting heaps of praise for his performance as Richard Nixon in this Ron Howard film , but it's Michael Sheen , who delivers a spunky performance as David Frost , the lightweight British talk-show host , who deserves the most acclaim . The film chronicles the famous Frost / Nixon interview that occurr... |
573,610 | 4,532,636 | 97,757 | 7 | Under the Sea with Disney | The Little Mermaid revitalized Disney's animation department and would make it a force to be reckoned with over the next several years , before Pixar came along and picked up the mantle . " Mermaid " isn't one of my favorites ( I prefer " Beauty and the Beast , " " Aladdin " and " The Lion King " over it ) , but it i... |
574,459 | 4,532,636 | 61,407 | 7 | Burton and Taylor Don the Boxing Gloves Once Again | Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor apparently hadn't had enough of each other the previous year in " Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? " so they re-teamed in 1967 in this Shakespeare comedy for round two . Once again , Taylor gives as good as she gets , and claims a decided victory . There's not much to say about this ... |
573,507 | 4,532,636 | 870,090 | 7 | Inheriting the Sins of Our Fathers | City of Men is a companion piece to Fernando Meirelles ' 2002 film " City of God , " but it's a much different animal from the earlier film . Both are set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro , and both are about young men fashioning lives for themselves out of the only resources available to them . But whereas " City of G... |
573,771 | 4,532,636 | 422,720 | 7 | A Piece of Candy | Those who want to learn the history of Marie Antoinette will not find it in Sofia Coppola's film . This movie raised more questions than it answered for me . I didn't know much of anything about this famous French monarch , other than that she was eventually beheaded ( which is not shown in the film ) and that Norma Sh... |
574,305 | 4,532,636 | 427,470 | 7 | There's a Lot to Be Said for Movies Like This | The Lookout is the kind of film there needs to be more of . It's a pleasant , simple genre piece , unambitious , but solidly crafted with strong writing and good acting . That's a formula that is hard to find in current Hollywood movies , and it's woefully under-appreciated . Gordon Joseph-Levitt has proved himself a... |
574,117 | 4,532,636 | 56,687 | 7 | High Camp , Low Art | A kitsch lover's wet dream . Bette Davis prances around wearing pancake makeup and Little-Bo-Peep dresses while her invalid sister , Joan Crawford , quakes and cowers upstairs . Jane is mad , you see , that her sister is ( or was , before an " accident " ) the more popular actress of the two , and Jane's mission in lif... |
574,104 | 4,532,636 | 91,530 | 7 | Feast for the Eyes and Ears | Roland Joffe's period film is breathtaking to look at and listen to , but it's directed with a heavier hand than his breakout film from two years earlier , " The Killing Fields . " I had trouble with the casting too . Jeremy Irons feels right for his role , but it's tough to accept Robert DeNiro in period films - - he'... |
574,079 | 4,532,636 | 63,374 | 7 | Winning Pair in a Slight Neil Simon Effort | There's nothing really to dislike about " The Odd Couple , " and it's no surprise that Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau make a hugely winning comedic team . But there's something so underdeveloped about Neil Simon's adaptation of his hit stage play as to make it seem more like a skit on a sketch comedy show than a full-b... |
574,452 | 4,532,636 | 32,798 | 7 | Fun for Film Buffs | This short film purports to be about the intricacies of sound technology , but it's really more of an excuse to showcase a batch of big-name MGM stars and some coming attractions . But either way it's fascinating . We go behind the scenes for the filming of a scene featuring Jeannette McDonald and Nelson Eddy , and get... |
573,766 | 4,532,636 | 77,928 | 7 | Parker Directs with an Iron Fist , But the Results Are Fascinating Anyway | Alan Parker's pitch-black and bizarro account of Billy Hayes , a young American who was caught trying to smuggle drugs out of Turkey and was thrown in a harsh Turkish prison , where he remained while his family fought for his release . The movie unreels like a series of outrageous indignities , each meant to top the on... |
573,702 | 4,532,636 | 41,546 | 7 | Not the Comedy Masterpiece So Many Claim | Those who come to " Kind Hearts and Coronets " because of the reputation of Alec Guinness's performance ( or rather performances ) may find themselves disappointed in this dark comedy from Britain's Ealing studios . Not because Guinness's performance is bad , but because there's much less of it than admirers would have... |
574,075 | 4,532,636 | 45,943 | 7 | Solid If Not Groundbreaking Shakespeare Adaptation | As film adaptations of Shakespeare go , Joseph L . Mankiewicz's " Julius Caesar " is a pretty good one . In general , the stunt casting approach works , even in some of the most dubious cases ( Marlon Brando ? Greer Garson ? Louis Calhern ? ) . Brando , against all odds , makes a fine Marc Antony . I had expected to fi... |
573,457 | 4,532,636 | 87,800 | 7 | Still Very Frightening | Wes Craven's horror classic holds up remarkably well , and remains a truly scary movie . Freddy was always a more chilling villain than Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees . Whereas the other two went about their ritualistic killings like zoned-out zombies , Freddy delights in his , and enjoys the fear his victims feel as ... |
573,361 | 4,532,636 | 66,327 | 7 | Santa Claus as Che Guavera | Just watched this on T . V . last night - - I didn't remember this one all that well from my childhood years . So basically Santa became Santa because he was a revolutionary leader who had to go into hiding . O . k . who knew ? He gets kudos from me for bagging Mrs . Claus though , who was exceptionally hot when younge... |
573,526 | 4,532,636 | 89,715 | 7 | I Expected the Worst , But I Liked This One | Perhaps it's because I came in with bottom-of-the-barrel expectations for a movie I've heard absolutely nothing good about , but I found myself enjoying " O . C . and Stiggs " quite a lot . I know from experience how bad bad Altman can be , so I expected the worst . But if you share Altman's smart-ass sense of humor , ... |
574,152 | 4,532,636 | 59,113 | 7 | Suffers from Comparison to Other Lean Epics | I credit David Lean with introducing to film audiences epics that could think as well as dazzle . " The Bridge on the River Kwai " and " Lawrence of Arabia " are as fascinating to watch as intimate character studies as they are big historical panoramas . With " Doctor Zhivago , " Lean lost that intellectual edge and ma... |
573,589 | 4,532,636 | 41,507 | 7 | Unnecessary Remake , But Enjoyable on Its Own Terms | This affable film is a musical remake of Ernst Lubitsch's 1940 classic " The Shop Around the Corner . " Though actually it's not so much a musical as it is a movie with some songs added , nearly all of them performed by Judy Garland , who happens to be the best reason for seeing this movie at all . Lubitsch's film is ,... |
574,483 | 4,532,636 | 418,763 | 7 | As Unfocused as the Gulf War Itself | Jarhead is like a " best-of " compilation film of other classic war movies . At different times , it reminded me of " Apocalypse Now , " " Full Metal Jacket , " and David O . Russell's " Three Kings , " among others . The problem is that it never achieves a style or point of view of its own . As a narrative , it's as... |
574,253 | 4,532,636 | 48,021 | 7 | Stylish and Thrilling | Rififi is a terrific heist movie , and one from which subsequent heist films have drawn ever since . Jules Dassin had a feel for the seedy underworld in which these thieves live - - - you will not find here the Hollywood glamour of " Ocean's Eleven . " The robbers in " Rififi " don't rob for the thrill , and they're ... |
574,312 | 4,532,636 | 258,463 | 7 | I've Finally Gotten Around to Jason Bourne | I was slow in coming around to the Bourne movies , and now I'm squeezing in " Identity " and " Supremacy " so that I can see " The Bourne Ultimatum , " which is getting raves . " The Bourne Identity " is about what I expected . It's a slick action thriller that will satisfy the craving for dumb stunts , car chases and ... |
573,833 | 4,532,636 | 382,932 | 7 | Not as Incredible as " The Incredibles " | Wow . Number 51 on IMDb's top 250 , huh ? I thought " Ratatouille " was cute , but I didn't like it THAT much . Pixar's latest boasts beautiful animation , perhaps the most accomplished yet , but the film as a whole never reached the inspired and dizzy heights attained by " The Incredibles , " to my mind a small master... |
573,742 | 4,532,636 | 89,643 | 7 | Sally Field and James Garner Make Nice | A low-key romantic comedy that pairs Sally Field with James Garner , and proves that the two actors have a great deal of chemistry together . Sally Field is a newly-divorced mom setting up house with her son . Garner is a good ' ol boy who takes a hankering to her and promises to be a positive male influence . The doof... |
574,156 | 4,532,636 | 72,424 | 7 | Love Them Misers | I find this holiday made-for-T . V . movie to be one of the more charming of its kind , maybe because it's not as well known as " Rudolph " and " Frosty " and other holiday perennials . In this one , Santa ( voiced by Mickey Rooney , who also did Santa honors in " Santa Claus Is Comin ' to Town " ) decides he's had eno... |
574,218 | 4,532,636 | 97,351 | 7 | Americans Love Baseball , Even When the Players Are Dead | A surprise hit from 1989 , and one of a few late 1980s movies that launched Kevin Costner into super-stardom for a period of time during the next decade . This magical realist fable finds Costner's farm owner building a baseball diamond in one of his fields as a place for him to commune with baseball players dead and g... |
573,412 | 4,532,636 | 405,422 | 7 | Funny But Overrated | There are many humorous moments in this film , and kudos to the creators of it for making an adult movie for adults , but I think the praise heaped on it has made it out to be a much better movie than it is . Given the desultory crop of summer movies we've been subjected to in 2005 , it's no wonder that a film that's e... |
574,399 | 4,532,636 | 86,005 | 7 | Hated It as a Kid ; Think I Would Like It as an Adult | I've only seen " Never Cry Wolf " once , during its original theatrical run . I was eight years old then and was completely bored by this film . I have a feeling that I would love it now for all of the reasons that I hated it then . Those reasons are the fact that it takes place in the Alaskan wilderness and is full of... |
573,726 | 4,532,636 | 39,208 | 7 | What Goes Around Comes Around | A priest is shot point blank in the head in the middle of a dark street . The killer gets away , despite the presence of several witnesses . A public outcry ensues when the police department can't make any headway in the case , while a rival administration that wants control of city hall milks the situation for all it'... |
574,095 | 4,532,636 | 39,211 | 7 | Claire Trevor Is the Reason to Watch ( And What More Reason Do You Need ? ) | When this film first starts , one might think the title refers to the character played by Lawrence Tierney , a killer who hitches himself to the affluent sister of a woman ( Claire Trevor ) who happened to stumble across the scene of one of his crimes . But by the time the film reaches its conclusion , it's clear that ... |
573,541 | 4,532,636 | 407,265 | 7 | Huffman Better Than the Movie | A surprisingly vanilla film given its subject matter , " Transamerica " would be as at home in a TV movie-of-the-week line up as it is on the big screen at your local multiplex ( o . k . so maybe a made-for-television movie on HBO - - I don't think CBS is quite ready for this ) . Duncan Tucker has taken a unique premis... |
573,580 | 4,532,636 | 433,416 | 7 | Admirable , But Suffers the Fate of Book to Screen Translations | The Namesake is an admirable film , and it offers an interesting glimpse into Indian culture , but it feels too much like what it is - - an adaptation from a novel . I haven't even read the book version , but even I could tell that the movie was racing to touch on all the major plot points , and sacrificing along the... |
573,519 | 4,532,636 | 368,794 | 7 | Bob Dylan Film Is a Ship Without a Sail | I felt about " I'm Not There , " Todd Haynes ' tribute to the spirit of Bob Dylan , much about the way I feel about Bob Dylan himself . I like the IDEA of Dylan more than I enjoy sitting down and actually listening to him , and that's how this movie was for me . " I'm Not There " is not a biography of Bob Dylan , and f... |
573,320 | 4,532,636 | 32,910 | 7 | Animation as an Art Form | Only the second feature length animated film to be released by Disney , " Pinocchio " is not as accomplished as " Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , " but it still exists as a high-water mark of screen animation . The story and songs will probably be very familiar to you , but what this movie , and really all early Disn... |
574,197 | 4,532,636 | 43,625 | 7 | John Garfield Runs All the Way | This strange entry in the noir canon features John Garfield delivering a sweaty , paranoid performance as a small-time crook who shoots a cop during a heist gone bad and then holes up with the family of a girl he meets and desperately latches himself on to ( Shelley Winters ) . He virtually takes the family hostage , t... |
574,453 | 4,532,636 | 41,716 | 7 | Sailors on the Prowl | An energetic and fun screen adaptation of the Broadway musical , outfitted in the grand MGM style . This acts as a kind of bridge in the career of Gene Kelly between his lightweight emerging efforts of the early to mid-40's ( " Anchors Aweigh , " " Cover Girl " ) and the artistic dance spectaculars he's most known for ... |
573,393 | 4,532,636 | 120,667 | 7 | Fantastic May Be Stretching It ( Get It ? ) But These Films Are a Lot of Fun | I'm used to being in the minority when it comes to movies . But usually , I hate movies that everyone else seems to love . It's much rarer that there will be a movie almost universally disliked , but which I actually enjoyed . " Fantastic Four " is one of those . Maybe by the time I saw this I was just sick of all the ... |
574,387 | 4,532,636 | 390,521 | 7 | Convinced Me | I wasn't someone who really needed to be convinced that eating fast food was bad for you , and yet Morgan Spurlock's film managed to convince me all over again . The shocking thing about this documentary is not that a diet of McDonald's turns out to be bad for you ( wow , what a surprise ! ) or fattening ( get out of t... |
574,397 | 4,532,636 | 85,995 | 7 | Here Come the Griswolds | One of those movies you always remember as being better than it actually is . " Vacation " tells the story of Clark Griswold ( Chevy Chase ) leading his family across country on one of those most dreaded of dreaded events - - the Family Vacation ! It's episodic in nature , moving briskly from one disaster to another , ... |
574,398 | 4,532,636 | 85,970 | 7 | Keaton and Garr in a Battle of the Sexes | Aw , come on folks , why the low rating at IMDb ? OK , so " Mr . Mom " ain't exactly " Masterpiece Theatre , " but it's a very good , solid comedy that holds up surprisingly well today . Michael Keaton is one of those actors who I've always found to be intensely likable , no matter how good or bad the movie he happens ... |
574,434 | 4,532,636 | 66,434 | 7 | A Tad Gloomier Than " Star Wars " | George Lucas's striking dystopian fantasy belongs to the same cluster of gloomy futuristic parables that includes Orwell's " 1984 " and Huxley's " Brave New World , " and that in recent years has found expression in films like " Gattaca " and " Children of Men . " " THX 1138 " feels much more like an experiment than a ... |
573,536 | 4,532,636 | 34,862 | 7 | Astaire , Crosby and a Very White Christmas | Well , Astaire and Rogers weren't drawing the audiences in anymore , so who better to be a replacement for Rogers than . . . . . Bing Crosby ? Yep , it's Astaire and Crosby headlining this one , and the females in it just have to look pretty and sit back while the boys do all the work . " Holiday Inn " is a fun , mindl... |
574,271 | 4,532,636 | 30,287 | 7 | Look Out Tara , Bette's on the Loose | Bette Davis sashays her way through the role of a Southern spitfire belle , proving that maybe she wouldn't have been such a bad choice for Scarlett O'Hara after all . Actually , though " Jezebel " is compared frequently to " Gone with the Wind " ( understandably , since the latter came out just a year later ) , it doe... |
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