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a picture is worth 1 , 000 words
It seemed like Ally Sheedy hadn't done much since " The Breakfast Club " when she starred in " High Art " , and she does a pretty good job here as photographer Lucy Berliner , who becomes involved with neighbor Syd ( Radha Mitchell ) , and they both start reevaluating their lives . I'll admit that this isn't the ultima...
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I probably would have done that if surrounded by French bathing suits !
OK , maybe Tweety does get a little annoying sometimes - despite the fact that he started off as a near sadist in his debut - but I really liked the scene in " A Bird in a Guilty Cage " when Sylvester runs into the display of French bathing suits : given the sound that he made , we can probably at least guess how the b...
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our introduction to Denise Richards
Obviously , the scene in " Wild Things " that really surprised everyone was a certain scene with Kevin Bacon . But as for the rest of the movie , it involves a rape lawsuit in a Florida high school , and the strange things that follow . I'm not sure how much I can tell you without giving it away . I never would have en...
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Does a great job dealing with death .
Some people have treated " What Dreams May Come " with scorn due to Chris Nielsen's ( Robin Williams ) affirmations that he can do anything , even if it violates the laws of nature . I beg to differ . The movie shows how he blames himself for his wife Annie's ( Annabella Sciorra ) suicide , and feels compelled to recti...
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Tokyo holiday
Obviously , when we go to a foreign country , we're likely to experience some unexpected things . I guess that there's nothing outlandish about the possibility of a burnout actor and a neglected wife growing attached to each other . In " Lost in Translation " , that's just what happens to Bob Harris ( Bill Murray ) and...
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Anne Bancroft , RIP
I believe that this was Sydney Pollack's directorial debut . If so , then he certainly gave an interesting insight into his future work . Seattle college student Alan Newell ( Sidney Poitier ) is working at a crisis hotline center when he gets a call from housewife Inge Dyson ( Anne Bancroft ) , who is reaching the bre...
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stoned . . . out of my mind
As the first Jan Svankmajer movie that I ever saw , " Hra s kameny " ( alternately called " Spiel mit Steinen " or " A Game with Stones " ) holds a special place . It shows stones dripping out of a faucet every quarter hour and doing a series of wacky dances , contortions , and whatnot . The kiss is especially impressi...
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notion : the west is never the aggressor ( but we do get to be ignorant )
It was 1965 . The Cold War was raging . Espionage was in its heyday . That year not only saw another James Bond movie ( " Thunderball " ) , but also the first Harry Palmer movie ( " The Ipcress File " ) , the first Derek Flynt movie ( I can never remember which came first ) , and the debut of " Get Smart " ( an add for...
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Yes , a slice-of-life story from the Soviet Union .
After " Osenniy marafon " ( called " Autumn Marathon " in English ) came out , director Georgi Daneliya couldn't get any work for about two years ; the movie didn't conform to socialist realism in quite the way that the authorities wanted . It portrays Leningrad teacher Andrei Buzykin ( Oleg Basilashvili ) , whose life...
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My mom didn't like this movie , but I didn't mind it ( although I wouldn't have given it Best Picture ) .
After almost thirty years in movies , Clint Eastwood took home an Oscar for " Unforgiven " . In it , he plays ex-killer William Munny , who has given up his violent ways . Then , some unexpected events force him to have to decide whether to continue his non-violent life or return to violence . It seems to me that " Mal...
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they made something really creative here
I knew nothing about " The Strangers " when I started watching it . When it became clear that the movie was a horror flick , I figured that it was going to be a typical slasher . But there's more to it than that . A message at the beginning tells the audience that the depicted events are true ( or at least a possibilit...
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If nothing else , it will increase your vocabulary .
Whenever they remake a movie , it's always iffy . But we can count on the Coen brothers . " The Ladykillers " of course has a group of thieves living in an old woman's house to carry out their heist , but she wises up to their scheme ; they try to kill her , but murder isn't as easy as it looks ! Tom Hanks plays the de...
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It's basically propaganda , but I'm sure that it's all true .
Released right after " Battleship Potemkin " , " Mother " shows a woman forced to choose between siding with her labor-organizing son or her corrupt husband . The movie makes double sure that we get to see the living conditions in Russia in 1905 , but it also uses ice as a metaphor . There are a few scenes where we see...
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I always thought that Peter Jennings was the best of the " big three "
Of the " big three " anchors of the ' 80s and ' 90s , it always seemed like Peter Jennings was the most intellectual . Hard to believe that in his 22 years as anchor , he covered the collapse of the Soviet bloc and later September 11 . As I understand it , early criticism of him came because of his more circumspect app...
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Trust no one and everyone .
Now that " The X Files " has become part of our history , we can let the future judge the show and movie . Ah , but the movie's tag-line is " Fight the future " . As someone who always watched the show , I was naturally quite eager to see the movie . The plot is slightly confusing , but still well done . It portrays FB...
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X the known
I knew about the " X-Men " graphic novels but never read them . Although I did find the movie fairly interesting , mainly because it shows how Sen . Kelly ( Bruce Davison ) tries to create a McCarthy-style fear of mutants . I guess that for the most part , this movie is not much different from other superhero movies , ...
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one of the few good movies based on classic TV shows
Usually , it would seem like there's no incentive to make a movie based on " The Twilight Zone " . But " Twilight Zone : The Movie " is actually quite good . It all begins with Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks driving along a deserted road . At one point , Dan Aykroyd asks Albert Brooks if he would like to see something s...
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straight from the heart
When " The Straight Story " came out , many critics called it a solid masterpiece . I don't know whether I would call it that , but it's definitely worth seeing . The true story of Midwest farmer Alvin Straight ( Richard Farnsworth , in his final role ) driving his tractor down a highway to visit his estranged brother ...
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sort of toying around , sort of not
Around the same time that he starred in - and hilariously carried - " Aladdin " , Robin Williams starred in another movie clearly intended for kids : " Toys " . He plays toy company heir Leslie Zevo , trying to stop his uncle ( Michael Gambon ) from taking over the company and using it to make war toys . Yeah , it's a ...
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the perfect universe to control
On one level , " Click " is the typical Adam Sandler movie , with him as a nervous every-man who explodes when it befits the situation . However , there is more here . Some reviews have said that this is basically the same sort of thing as " Bruce Almighty " , how he gets an unusual power but discovers that it isn't ex...
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How was Winston Churchill as a baby ?
This time , Porky Pig has to baby-sit a bad-ass infant named Butch , while the baby's mother goes to work in the factory , a la Rosie the Riveter . Obviously , the wartime stuff is probably going to make us cringe a little nowadays , particularly since the mother uses a derogatory word for the Japanese . But otherwise ...
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I'd never even heard of " That Girl " before this .
Oh , another awards show ? ! Well , in this case , we get to see individuals whom we rarely get to see . I had only started watching TV Land less than a year before this , and really gotten into some of the shows . It was probably the last time that we would get to see the " Gilligan's Island " cast together before Bob...
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Is this Sylvester's eternal doom ? !
While most of the Sylvester / Tweety pairings would feature just one bulldog ( I seem to recall that his name is Hector ) to counter Sylvester's actions , " Ain't She Tweet " features a whole garden of dogs . When Granny brings Tweety home from the pet store - where Sylvester had already tried to go after him but had t...
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kids with last names as first names
One of Warner's many pre-1948 cartoons stripped of its opening credits and carrying the Blue Ribbon logo in their place , Frank Tashlin's " Booby Hatched " really seems to have come out of left field . Probably the neatest scene is when the mother duck rattles off the ducklings ' names : Franklin , Eleanor and Winston ...
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not robotic at all
Obviously , " I , Robot " is the sort of movie that could very easily end up being completely ridiculous : an action star in a futuristic movie about humans battling robots . That certainly sounds like it could degenerate into an even lamer version of " Independence Day " - and I'm not just saying that because it stars...
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someone's gotta survive . . . I think
The Survivors is characteristic of Robin Williams's movies before " Good Morning , Vietnam " : innocuously silly . In this case , he and Walter Matthau join up after surviving a robbery , and Williams becomes a survivalist . The whole thing is pretty goofy - maybe even pointless - but some of the gags make up for tha...
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How about that ! It came out right before " Braveheart " !
I had never heard of Robert Roy MacGregor before " Rob Roy " came out , but the movie is definitely worth seeing . Playing the title character , Liam Neeson brings the same spirit to the role that he brought to Oskar Schindler , and Jessica Lange also does a really good job as his wife Mary . Archibald Cunningham ( Tim...
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Lots on the table here .
David Niven won Best Actor for his perceptive role as the shady Maj . Angus Pollock , one of many characters at an English countryside estate . Maybe " Separate Tables " isn't the ultimate masterpiece , but the range of characters makes it worthwhile . It's one of those all-star cast vehicles , looking at various aspec...
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physical communication
Many Australian movies use the theme of communication issues ( think " Walkabout " , " Picnic at Hanging Rock " , " Crocodile Dundee " ) . Some people might question whether or not " Strictly Ballroom " belongs in that group , but I would say that it does . You see , dancing is a form of physical communication , and so...
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always a guilty pleasure with Ursula Andress on screen
Back in the ' 60s , everyone loved a cool spy flick . James Bond , Derek Flint , Harry Palmer ( and even Maxwell Smart ) were the famous secret agents , but probably not as many people remember " Les tribulations d'un chinois en Chine " . It has French everyman Arthur Lempereur ( Jean-Paul Belmondo ) getting involved i...
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magical realism , even outside of Latin America
Usually , it might seem out of place to make 1950s LA the setting for something involving magical realism , but they pull it off here , with Bridget Fonda as an amateur magician going to Mexico to further her studies with a Mayan shaman . While the story mostly focuses on her trip down there , and how a detective ( Rus...
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around the world in 80 or so minutes
Prior to watching " The Bucket List " , I had doubts as to whether or not I would like it : Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are both really good actors , while Rob Reiner has directed good and not so good movies . Well , I liked it . True , there's a predictable plot with the occasional treacly moment , but I liked h...
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Dana Scully and Elwood Blues in the Victorian Era . . . can you dig it ?
No doubt the thought of Gillian " Agent Scully " Anderson and Dan " Blues Brothers " Aykroyd in a movie set during the Victorian Era would probably sound like a joke ; think of it as Leslie Nielsen meets Merchant and Ivory . It turns out that " The House of Mirth " is worth seeing . Anderson plays a woman who risks los...
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Abracadabra and hocus pocus !
Another cartoon compilation ? ! Yes , and this one's pretty clever . It features Daffy Duck opening a business to battle supernatural forces , a la " Ghostbusters " . Probably the funniest part was the cartoon where Bugs Bunny stays in Count Dracula's castle and upsets the count's ( after ) lifestyle , but it was also ...
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Here's what was risky .
Everyone remembers the scene of Joel Goodsen ( Tom Cruise ) dancing around to " Old Time Rock ' N ' Roll " , but some people may have forgotten some of the movie's other aspects . The plot of course has Goodsen hooking up with prostitute Lana ( Rebecca DeMornay ) , but the movie also shows the takeover by greed in the ...
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more than ( air ) plain
Knowing that " Red Eye " comes from the man who gave us " The Hills Have Eyes " , " A Nightmare on Elm Street " and " Scream " , we would probably expect a slasher movie . It turns out that this is nothing of the sort . What we have here is a slick thriller in the vein of another airplane-set movie from last year , " F...
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Starting with Volume 2 , the featurettes on the Looney Tunes DVDs were the locksmiths of love , no ?
In a way , Pepe Le Pew - more than any of the other Looney Tunes - represents that deep down desire that so many men have . The mini-documentary " Behind the Tunes : The Charm of Stink - On the Scent of Pepe le Pew " explains his hilarious delusion of being the world's greatest lover while actually repelling the women ...
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Jimi Hendrix's song comes to the screen
Ever since Luc Besson directed " The Fifth Element " , it was probably hard to imagine him directing a movie like the mystifying " Angel-A " . But he did , and the movie impressed me . One might interpret it as the same idea as Jimi Hendrix's song in which an angel - whether real or metaphorical - saves a person's exis...
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Good , but in the year that produced " American Graffiti " , " The Exorcist " , " The Last Detail " , " Serpico " , and " Enter the Dragon " , did this deserve Best Picture ?
As " The Sting " is probably the most famous con artist-themed movie ever , you probably know that it's about aging con artist Henry Gondorff ( Paul Newman ) and up-and-comer Johnny Hooker ( Robert Redford ) teaming up to get revenge on crime boss Doyle Lonnegan ( Robert Shaw ) in Depression-era Chicago . This movie ma...
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Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham's flip side
To me , it seems like 1995 was really the year that brought Kevin Spacey into the national spotlight . He played a creepy boss in " Swimming with Sharks " , a strange interviewee in " The Usual Suspects " and a serial killer in " Se7en " . The first one lets him go all out as a total jerk - and he's a movie producer , ...
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the wearing of the green . . .
In the ' 70s , Charlton Heston starred in sci-fi flicks of varying quality . " Soylent Green " is one of the better ones . He plays Robert Thorn , a detective in 2022 New York . In this future , most food is so expensive that everyone needs a product called Soylent Green . But when Thorn finds out the unsavory truth ab...
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Cook the goose , and then imitate Barbarella
Once again , a dimwit unsuccessfully tries to do away with Daffy Duck . In this case , soft-spoken Mr . Meek has to cook a duck for dinner or his wife will cook his goose ( heh , heh ) . Some of the gags here have appeared in so many cartoons that I easily predicted them ( namely the one about lumps ) . But the highlig...
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Who scent you ?
For years , many people have associated the French with certain smells , whether the stereotype of the people not bathing , or Pepe Le Pew . But now there comes something different . Something that I could have never imagined . " Perfume : The Story of a Murderer " tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille ( Ben Whis...
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Say hello to our little film . . .
I've never seen the original " Scarface " , but the remake is not something that you'll forget easily . Al Pacino plays Antonio Montana , one of the Cuban exiles known as " Marielitos " . After arriving in Miami , he soon becomes a drug kingpin , distributing cocaine everywhere , not to mention getting all coked up him...
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many aspects
I had never heard of Walter Winchell before Paul Mazursky's movie came out . I was pretty impressed by his movie . We see Winchell's beginnings and rise to mild gossip ( where he started ratting on philandering politicians ) until he became a major part of the political discourse . But there came a major split . While ...
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cute
The Couch Trip is one of those silly comedies that they cranked out in the ' 80s . In this case , Dan Aykroyd plays a mental patient who poses as a psychiatrist , and he goes to Beverly Hills to sub for Charles Grodin . Most of the movie's humor springs from their satirical look at Beverly Hills and people's empty li...
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Anyone remember in " Gilda Live " , when Gilda Radner played the theme song ?
OK . So Barbra Streisand has a weird reputation ( although I agree with her political views ) , and Robert Redford is . . . well , I don't know how to finish the sentence ( although it seems that his politics are about the same as Streisand's ) . But " The Way We Were " does what it can to look at politics from the Dep...
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Where nothing can possibly go wrong . . .
If people had a chance to experience different eras , they would probably take it . They would probably want to reconsider after watching " Westworld " . It portrays an adult theme park set up to look like the Old West , accompanied by Medieval World and Roman World . Robots play the people in these theme parks . So , ...
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Was the ending changed ?
Frenchman's Bend , Mississippi , is a town that's never seen much change . Will Varner ( Orson Welles ) owns everything in town and doesn't allow any competition . But that's all about to change now that Ben Quick ( Paul Newman ) has arrived in town and has his eye on Will's daughter Clara ( Joanne Woodward ) . From Wi...
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mission im-possum-ble
One of Robert McKimson's miscellaneous cartoons features a pair of hick possums trying to get their lazy son to do chores , to the point where the father dresses as a dog to scare the tyke . . . but the little guy turns out to be the Road Runner of possums ! Two of McKimson's one-shot cartoons that come to my mind feat...
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If I could do this . . .
Okay , so " 50 First Dates " is mostly silly , but they do a good job with it . Honolulu veterinarian Henry Roth ( Adam Sandler ) falls for Lucy Whitmore ( Drew Barrymore ) , only to find out that , due to an accident , her memory only lasts one day , so she won't remember him the next day ! How will Henry cope with th...
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Paul Newman , RIP
Two days ago , one of the greatest actors of all time left this life . Paul Leonard Newman was best known for films like " Hud " , " Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid " and " The Verdict " . But he also starred in small , less noticed movies over the years . One example is " Where the Money Is " . Newman plays an aged...
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grow old gracefully
One of Marco Ferreri's movies from later in his career focuses on a woman in a retirement home and her new relationship . Protagonist Adelina ( Ingrid Thulin ) hooks up with a man whose wife is undergoing treatment . Many of Adelina's acquaintances don't approve of her relationship , to the point that someone steals he...
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Woody Allen was beginning to show his lecherous side .
Following his Oscar win for " Annie Hall " , Woody Allen took another look at relationships . Except that this time , his character Isaac Davis is in love with 17-year-old Tracy ( Mariel Hemingway ) . Maybe nowadays that looks like a premonition , but one shouldn't let it overshadow " Manhattan " ' s high quality of fi...
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We now know where the Acme factory is located .
While accompanying his owners to a certain national park , Sylvester finds a nest and decides to wait for the egg to hatch . Guess who comes out ! While most of " Tweet Tweet Tweety " has the usual sorts of gags - albeit in a forest setting - there was one thing that I saw that should be of particular interest to Loone...
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strange days have found us
Released a few years before the millennium , " Strange Days " portrays Los Angeles at the turn of the millennium . And it's become a total hellhole : a police state to the core , and there's crime everywhere . The actual plot centers on street hustler Lenny Nero ( Ralph Fiennes ) uncovering a police conspiracy . Maybe ...
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Espionage . . . what a business !
OK , in retrospective , we should all know that 1960s espionage was all about cool dudes battling evil , and attracting hot babes in the process ( though the latter often overshadowed the former , as Austin Powers showed ) . " Our Man Flint " is no exception . I will say that Derek Flint ( James Coburn ) isn't exactly ...
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an acceptable remake
Usually , when they attempt a remake of a classic sci-fi / horror flick , they bungle it beyond redemption . " The Blob " is actually a pretty good remake , elaborating the original's story . In this case , the protagonist - aside from the title character - is punk Brian Flagg ( Kevin Dillon ) . The movie's strength co...
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The post-September 11 world .
Some people say that the country became more violent after Kennedy got assassinated ; following that argument , one might say that we got even more violent still after September 11 . Certainly , Kennedy's assassination destroyed the image of a squeaky-clean , wholesome America , and September 11 changed the way that we...
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better than you would expect for such a movie
It doesn't quite suffice to call " Runaway Train " an action movie . True , it's got a prison escape and an out-of-control train , but there is actually a plot . After safe cracker Oscar Manheim ( Jon Voight ) and tag-along Buck ( Eric Roberts ) escape from an Alaska prison , they jump onto a train whose engineer sudde...
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birds
What one notices while watching " Sabotage " is the role of avians . There's the birds in the cage ( like the lovebirds in " The Birds " , maybe ? ) , and after Sylvia Verloc ( Sylvia Sidney ) watches the cartoon " Who Killed Cock Robin ? " , she gets an idea . You see , her husband Karl ( Oscar Homolka ) is involved w...
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How to describe it ?
I should identify that " The Ipcress File " is not the easiest movie to describe ; the truth is , it's a little hard to follow . In the role that turned him into a star , Michael Caine plays cockney agent Harry Palmer , hired to investigate the brainwashing of some scientists . I think that's what happened , but the mo...
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but not an urban legend , says I
Many's the day that we've heard of cures , medicines , drugs , etc . , having unintended consequences . So there had to be a movie like " I Am Legend " . It portrays a future in which a miracle cure wipes out cancer but turns the cured people rabid . New York City is now empty except for Robert Neville ( Will Smith ) ....
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I would like to learn Esperanto .
Obviously , the two things that " Incubus " really has going for it are that it's spoken entirely in the artificial language of Esperanto ( listening to that language , it sounds like a bastardization of Italian ) , and that it stars William Shatner right before he became Capt . Kirk . He plays a man who gets involved ...
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Here we " state " our point .
William Hurt made a mind-shattering debut in this somewhat disturbing - if improbable - movie about a Harvard scientist who does tests with hallucinatory drugs and an isolation chamber . . . but what kinds of effects will this combination have on him ? After watching " Altered States " , you may be reluctant to try any...
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I don't know whether or not cats is duh cwaziest people , but Bob Clampett was sure one of duh cwaziest directors !
Since cartoon characters usually take their dogs hunting , it was at the very least interesting to see Porky Pig take his cat hunting . But not even that idea could have prepared me for what was in store here . After Porky tells the loopy feline that they're having fish for dinner , the cat sort of flips out to the poi...
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you might want to see it
Immediate Family is a look at the vicissitudes of adoption . Glenn Close and James Woods play Linda and Michael Spector , a middle-aged couple who have never been able to have children . They meet with a younger , economically strapped couple to discuss adopting from them , but further complications ensue . I will ad...
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HAL's next step
I suspect that the total control of society depicted in " Eagle Eye " is nothing compared to real life . The movie actually comes out a little better than I expected it to be . It focuses on two people who start getting telephone calls from an unidentified source telling them what to do or face drastic consequences , a...
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And that's the way it is , folks .
A tongue-in-cheek look at soap operas , " Soapdish " portrays a series of events involving several people in the TV world . Specifically , some of these people don't even know about each other , but they're all about to crash head-on into each other . Sally Field , as star Celeste Talbert / Maggie , almost seems to be ...
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interesting idea , killing us softly
Watching " Natural Born Killers " , I can certainly see why it caused so much controversy . Portraying husband and wife mass murderers Mickey ( Woody Harrelson ) and Mallory Knox ( Juliette Lewis ) , the movie doesn't leave you with a soft feeling in your stomach . But I think that simply writing the movie off as a vio...
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Let them tell you about some friends they know . . .
What I mainly find interesting about these " making of " mini-documentaries is seeing the cast members all these years later . But even beyond that , " The Yearbook : An ' Animal House ' Reunion " is still quite entertaining , as most of the cast and crew put in their two cents about the production . One of the most im...
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The squirrels of Central Park
Arthur Davis , who directed " Porky Chops " , was most famous as an animator ; maybe he just didn't have exactly what it takes to be a director . This cartoon is pretty funny - hell , it looks like " Citizen Kane " compared to some of the cartoons coming out today - but it mostly seems to be a one-joke premise , as Por...
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Who wants to see violence ?
Previously , I had seen Michael Haneke's movie " Cache " with Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil , and so I only knew of Haneke from that movie . It surprised me more than a little when , after watching " Funny Games U . S . " , I learned that it's a nearly shot-for-shot remake of an earlier movie by Haneke . When an ...
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mutiny on the Porky
The early , morbidly obese Porky Pig had only existed for a little over a year ( and Mel Blanc was not yet providing his voice ) when he appeared in " Shanghaied Shipmates " . The cartoon portrays a sadistic captain kidnapping Porky and several other sailors to use as his crew . The whole voyage is practically a tortur...
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What is corn silk anyway ?
Some of the coolest Warner Bros . cartoons were their riffs on children's stories . One example is Robert McKimson's " Paying the Piper " , in which pied piper Porky Pig rids Hamelin of the rats . While the citizens rejoice , it disturbs the cats that they won't have any food . So , their New Jersey-accented " Supreem ...
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Kubrick's mild letdown sandwiched in between two greats
Following a troika of masterpieces ( " Dr . Stranglove " , " 2001 " and " A Clockwork Orange " ) , Stanley Kubrick decided to make a period piece . In " Barry Lyndon " , the title character ( Ryan O'Neal ) abandons all morals with the goal of becoming rich and titled in 18th century England . Of course , he's only doin...
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Would you believe that I see a connection to a Porky Pig cartoon ?
Set in a mental institution near Chechnya , Andrei Konchalovsky's " Dom durakov " - " House of Fools " in English - indirectly poses the question of whether the real insanity lies inside or outside the mental institution . It does have a plot fairly similar to " King of Hearts " ( the staff flees and leaves the patient...
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it may be hard to believe , but I derived some character development
If I remember right , when " The Waterboy " got released , critics called it things like " a deflated football comedy " and " utterly dehydrated " ( and some considered it ironic that Oscar-winner Kathy Bates stars ) . Well , when I saw it a little while later , I did something that probably few if any people did : I d...
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Here's why it outdoes the original :
You see , the first " Terminator " had someone protecting Sarah Connor ( Linda Hamilton ) , and she depended on him . In " Terminator 2 : Judgment Day " , Sarah goes all bad-ass to protect her son John ( Edward Furlong , in an impressive debut ) . Oh , and of course there's the Terminator ( Arnold Schwarzenegger ) batt...
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life as a film noir
After so many politically-themed movies , Oliver Stone decided to try something very different with " U Turn " . Sean Penn plays Bobby Cooper , whose car breaks down in Superior , Arizona . Over the next few days in this small town , Cooper gets to know the various people there . . . but is he learning everything about...
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almost San Juan Bautista
In basically any cartoon where a cat attempts to eat birds , it's pretty much a guarantee that the birds will give the cat hell . And Robert McKimson's " Swallow the Leader " gives the feline star ( he looks like a slightly fatter version of Sylvester ) some real hell ! Awaiting the return of swallows to San Juan Capis...
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Hitchcock's guilty woman
A common motif in Alfred Hitchcock's movies is the guilty woman : " Blackmail " , " Psycho " and " The Birds " are all prime examples . In " Blackmail " , Alice White ( Anny Ondra ) goes home with an artist one night and he tries to rape her . She murders him , and from then on everything reminds her of it . The jester...
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John Candy and Carl Reiner : what could be a better combo ?
For most of his career , John Candy played a bunch of rather silly roles that - while they were completely goofy - were great nevertheless . " Summer Rental " is one such role . Candy plays overworked air traffic controller Jack Chester , who takes his family on vacation in Florida . Naturally , it ends up being not as...
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stop / start the presses
The Paper does seem slightly more serious and less sentimental than most of Ron Howard's movies . Focusing on an overworked reporter ( Michael Keaton ) getting torn between a big story and his wife ( Marisa Tomei ) , it's worth seeing . I wonder how many movies there can be about someone getting between his family an...
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they told us so
I read that there was a version of " The Quiet American " made in the 1950s . Since the Vietnam War had not yet happened - at least not its really famous stages - that version could have been seen as a warning . Since this one came out long after the Vietnam War ( in fact , shortly before the invasion of Iraq ) , it's ...
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Get away from the computer and read a book , gosh darn it !
The Pagemaster may have been the only really good movie that Macaulay Culkin ever did . Playing accident-obsessed youngster Richard Tyler , who goes to the library and gets transferred into a world of horror , fantasy and adventure , he makes the most of the role . Patrick Stewart ( a pirate-like book named Adventure...
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Oh , to participate in this race !
Sometimes , it's good to think that certain movies have no purpose except to be funny . " The Great Race " is one such movie . You know how in " Dr . Strangelove " , the characters ' names describe who they are ? Well , in this movie , it's even more exaggerated . Set in 1908 , Tony Curtis plays eternally kind stuntman...
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sweet Woody-back's good-ass song
When " Sweet and Lowdown " came out , I was somehow led to believe that Emmet Ray was a real person . Although it turns out that he wasn't , this is still a very well done movie . Sean Penn makes the most of the role , with the same sort of intensity that he always brings to his roles . He shows Ray as a rather impolit...
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On the piano , folks !
Maybe " The Fabulous Baker Boys " was mostly one of those " small " movies , but it was certainly well-done . Jack ( Jeff Bridges ) and Frank Baker ( Beau Bridges ) are professional musicians whose lives consist of playing in clubs . Figuring that they need a back-up singer , they hire Susie Diamond ( Michelle Pfeiffer...
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vintage Lemmon and Matthau
Okay , so the sequel was pretty absurd , but it was Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau doing what they do best ( it was also their final teaming ) . In this case , Felix Ungar ( Lemmon ) and Oscar Madison ( Matthau ) are driving to their son's and daughter's wedding in San something , California , experiencing various unpl...
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Destined to happen ?
Obviously , there have been many movies about people having affairs . In fact , Adrian Lyne - who directed " Unfaithful " - directed " Fatal Attraction " . But good performances keep this one afloat . They create an interesting blend of drama and suspense here , with wife Diane Lane having the affair , and husband Rich...
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OK , if nothing else . And it did affirm Paul Giamatti's presence on the silver screen .
For the most part , " The Negotiator " is kind of a cliché : a Chicago hostage negotiator ( Samuel L . Jackson ) gets framed for something and has to take hostages to prove his point , so another negotiator ( Kevin Spacey ) is brought in to talk everything over with him . But in this case , there's the interesting bala...
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Shakespeare in the army
Halt thyself , thou knave . I shall tell thee of a film in which a great thespian of our time plays a man who teacheth a group of milit'ry people about one of the greatest playwrights of all time . Never have these men and wenches known such masterful work , but eager they are to learn . OK , I'll cut the Shakespearean...
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Maybe the ending was a little unclear , but it was overall a good movie .
Communication with the dead is a fairly common theme in movies , but Electronic Voice Phenomenon ( EVP ) is not . " White Noise " deals with it . Michael Keaton plays architect Jonathan Rivers , whose wife disappears and is then found dead . Then , a strange man shows Jonathan a recording that appears to be his wife tr...
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a plot as perfect as the murder planned
Steven ( Michael Douglas ) and Emily Taylor ( Gwyneth Paltrow ) look like the typical rich New Yorkers : he's twice her age , they live in a high-rise , and both have prestigious jobs . But she doesn't know that he's planning to have her killed to pay off his debts . And he doesn't know that she's cleverer than he thin...
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still , it does seem that they could have looked at more
I would have given " Saving Private Ryan " a higher score had it looked at more issues abundant during WWII ( they could have focused on the various roles that each country specifically played in the war ) . But don't get me wrong : watching the movie , you can literally feel the bullets hitting you . Tom Hanks command...
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Fox molded
Fox-Terror has something that I never expected to see : Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dog as friends . In this case , a fox is doing everything possible to keep BD out of the way while he attempts to snatch the chickens , so he gets FL to inadvertently harm BD . Meanwhile , a tiny rooster sounds an alarm but BD never ...
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One can definitely see this as a Monty Python movie .
In a movie that could have only come from Monty Python , Erik ( Tim Robbins ) and his crew set out on a voyage to find Valhalla , encountering many zany situations along the way . " Erik the Viking " not only makes fun of Viking life , but also of Christianity ( well duh ; Monty Python did that in " The Holy Grail " ) ...
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Wait ' til you hear what Rosebud was . . .
OK , so we all know that " Citizen Kane " was probably the all-time # 1 masterpiece . Not as many people know that William Randolph Hearst tried to have the movie destroyed . " RKO 281 " does a really good job telling that story . I will admit that Liev Schreiber seems to be overacting a little bit as Orson Welles , bu...
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keeping up with the Dickens
Somewhat confusing story about a Londoner ( Vinnie Jones ) who gets involved in a web of intrigue centering on newly discovered Charles Dickens manuals . I spent much of the movie wondering how much of the stuff about Dickens himself was true ; I would like to know more about Charles Dickens as a person . Other than th...