The mini-series deserves a minus number but you don't offer it. If it had not been for Jack Nicholson, both Shinings would have tanked. He is the master, rising far above scriptwriters, directors and other cast members. The original "Shining" was a terrific, suspense- and horror-filled flick that can challenge the best of its genre. The mini-series left me wondering when the punchlines would pop up. The series also was miscast and the direction was simply missing. What also bothered me were the negative remarks about the original "Shining" cast by the mini-series crew. Not only were the remarks in bad taste but they were untrue. In all, Nicholson remains my idol but I do miss Webber on "Wings."
Reviews
7 Reviews
Angel of Death
(2001)
Stinkbombs
13 February 2005
When we were in junior high school, some of us boys would occasionally set off stinkbombs. It was considered funny then. But the producers, directors and cast of "Semana Santa" ("Angel of Death" in the DVD section of your local video rental) are adults and they are STILL setting them off.
Like the previous reviewer who wondered if the cast were anxious to get off the set and home, I doubt more than one take was done for any of the scenes.
Mira Sorvino, hot in "Mighty Aphrodite" and other top-rated films, seems to have undersold herself to this project. Her acting is non-existent, confined mostly to wistful stares that are supposed to indicate how "sensitive" she is to the plight of the film's various victims.
But let me warn you--do not be the next victim! Step away from the DVD if you find it on the shelf. Tbere are not many good leg shots of Mira (the only high points I could find in the film) and the supporting cast is of inferior quality, delivering a mishmash of badly-done dialogue with embarrassing "Spanish" accents worthy of the best high school theatrical production.
Like the previous reviewer who wondered if the cast were anxious to get off the set and home, I doubt more than one take was done for any of the scenes.
Mira Sorvino, hot in "Mighty Aphrodite" and other top-rated films, seems to have undersold herself to this project. Her acting is non-existent, confined mostly to wistful stares that are supposed to indicate how "sensitive" she is to the plight of the film's various victims.
But let me warn you--do not be the next victim! Step away from the DVD if you find it on the shelf. Tbere are not many good leg shots of Mira (the only high points I could find in the film) and the supporting cast is of inferior quality, delivering a mishmash of badly-done dialogue with embarrassing "Spanish" accents worthy of the best high school theatrical production.
About Schmidt
(2002)
It's all about us
7 July 2003
Jack Nicholson is a master craftsman. From "The Shining" to "Hoffa," "As Good As It Gets," and "About Schmidt," his voice, diction and body language capture the essence of the people he becomes on screen.
It would be too easy to dismiss "About Schmidt" as something that skips over life's surface without digging deep. But Nicholson's Warren Schmidt is a mid-westerner whose Nordic ancestry and upbringing make him stand out from the usual fare among American movies.
Schmidt is unable to express his feelings about life, marriage, friendship, job, the futility and worthlessness of his existence--until he by accident becomes a pen-pal and "foster parent" for a black child he has never met and whose life he cannot hope to understand.
In his letters to the child, the audience is able by eavesdropping to look inside Schmidt and see what he loves, fears, resents. The letters are but a vehicle for the character and a powerful one, especially at the closing moments of the film.
I like Nicholson, and believe he is one of the powerful male actors who get better with age, so it is natural that I rate this a 10. It doesn't get any better than this.
It would be too easy to dismiss "About Schmidt" as something that skips over life's surface without digging deep. But Nicholson's Warren Schmidt is a mid-westerner whose Nordic ancestry and upbringing make him stand out from the usual fare among American movies.
Schmidt is unable to express his feelings about life, marriage, friendship, job, the futility and worthlessness of his existence--until he by accident becomes a pen-pal and "foster parent" for a black child he has never met and whose life he cannot hope to understand.
In his letters to the child, the audience is able by eavesdropping to look inside Schmidt and see what he loves, fears, resents. The letters are but a vehicle for the character and a powerful one, especially at the closing moments of the film.
I like Nicholson, and believe he is one of the powerful male actors who get better with age, so it is natural that I rate this a 10. It doesn't get any better than this.
Power
(1986)
AT LAST! ...
7 July 2003
...the doors opened and fresh air rushed in as a weary audience trudged sleepily from the theater to the parking lot.
"Power" is powerful medicine for those unable to get some sleep. Buy this as a CD or VHS and keep it in your bedroom for those nights when you are wide awake.
Those who liked the film did so because they find a political reason for it. It was written in the 1980s and apparently for no particular reason at all other than to make some quick bucks...which it did not.
Reviewers and public held the project in such low esteem that only a few critics and political zealots bother to comment on it.
"Power" is powerful medicine for those unable to get some sleep. Buy this as a CD or VHS and keep it in your bedroom for those nights when you are wide awake.
Those who liked the film did so because they find a political reason for it. It was written in the 1980s and apparently for no particular reason at all other than to make some quick bucks...which it did not.
Reviewers and public held the project in such low esteem that only a few critics and political zealots bother to comment on it.
The Hours
(2002)
Now I know why they called it "The Hours"
5 July 2003
Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? I am, now.
The writer titled this movie "The Hours" because when you are done watching it, you know you spent hours, and hours, and hours sitting staring at a group of very drab, dysfunctional people.
Nicole Kidman's performance is suitable for a suicidal woman suffering from severe depression, documenting that the author Woolf succeeded very well in passing her mental illness to others both in her family and among her readers.
My wife chose to rent this movie based on critical acclaim. Both of us regretted bothering with it, deeming Kidman's performance nothing less than morbid--a continuous downcast countenance, mumbled lines, and dowdy costuming put the Kidman character into perspective.
That Hollywood actors, directors and writers are so infatuated with their own works is proved only by the esteem by which it was regarded at Oscar Night. But time will show Kidman's effort to be lacking in any subtlety and the script to be a wandering dull and depressing effort to capture the atmosphere Woolf created in "Mrs. Dalloway."
The writer titled this movie "The Hours" because when you are done watching it, you know you spent hours, and hours, and hours sitting staring at a group of very drab, dysfunctional people.
Nicole Kidman's performance is suitable for a suicidal woman suffering from severe depression, documenting that the author Woolf succeeded very well in passing her mental illness to others both in her family and among her readers.
My wife chose to rent this movie based on critical acclaim. Both of us regretted bothering with it, deeming Kidman's performance nothing less than morbid--a continuous downcast countenance, mumbled lines, and dowdy costuming put the Kidman character into perspective.
That Hollywood actors, directors and writers are so infatuated with their own works is proved only by the esteem by which it was regarded at Oscar Night. But time will show Kidman's effort to be lacking in any subtlety and the script to be a wandering dull and depressing effort to capture the atmosphere Woolf created in "Mrs. Dalloway."
The Two Jakes
(1990)
Even better than Chinatown
8 April 2003
After Chintatown Nicholson fans probably were waiting for this film, like the other shoe dropping.
Nicholson's character is more well-worn in The Two Jakes than the youngish Gittes of 1974, and he brings to the role a greater smoothness than Chinatown's Gittes.
I rated this a 10 because I see Nicholson getting better with age and developing characters that generate empathy in the audience.
And Harvey Keitel was no slouch, either.
Nicholson's character is more well-worn in The Two Jakes than the youngish Gittes of 1974, and he brings to the role a greater smoothness than Chinatown's Gittes.
I rated this a 10 because I see Nicholson getting better with age and developing characters that generate empathy in the audience.
And Harvey Keitel was no slouch, either.
Mira Sorvino outdoes herself
28 December 1998
When another viewer said Mira Sorvino had finally stepped out from her father's shadow, I immediately thought, "Yes, and a big shadow, too."
"Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" was a step up even from "Mighty Aphrodite" for Sorvino, who takes to the screen as a blonde bimbo with such gusto that it seems entirely unnatural to view her any other way. Her Harvard degree and knowledge of Chinese culture and dialects reflect the opposite of the Romy character, but Sorvino proved in "Romy and Michele's" that it may take exceptional intelligence and talent to portray a bimbo. The supporting cast were in "Romy" were fine. If the plot seems juvenile, we must remember that it deals with the adult celebration of long-gone adolescence. I rated this a "10," all the time wondering why it is that they won't let me vote an "11."
"Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" was a step up even from "Mighty Aphrodite" for Sorvino, who takes to the screen as a blonde bimbo with such gusto that it seems entirely unnatural to view her any other way. Her Harvard degree and knowledge of Chinese culture and dialects reflect the opposite of the Romy character, but Sorvino proved in "Romy and Michele's" that it may take exceptional intelligence and talent to portray a bimbo. The supporting cast were in "Romy" were fine. If the plot seems juvenile, we must remember that it deals with the adult celebration of long-gone adolescence. I rated this a "10," all the time wondering why it is that they won't let me vote an "11."
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