Change Your Image
deansscreen
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
East of Eden (1955)
Hard-hitting but only at the End
All great books suffer when translated to the screen. At the same time, some of the movies that come out of this process stand alone at some level of greatness. (Doctor Zhivago is an example.)
I haven't read anything by Steinbeck, so my criticism of the film has to involve only the film all by itself and leave the question of "faithful translation onto the screen" for more cultivated critics....
East of Eden hit me hard only in the very last scene, when the confused kid played by Dean finally realized that he and his Dad were of the same essence, two good-and-bad humans who needed each other deep inside their individual souls. And that realization was brought about pretty much by the quietly magnificent presence of Julie Harris standing in the room where the reconciliation took place. We fans of Carl Jung could have a field day analyzing the scene from the point of view of the ego, the shadow, and the anima.
But even non-Jungians might well be hit hard as they watch Dean come to his senses, reach deep inside, and sit by his father as the older man lies quietly dying. After all, says the scene, the father was once a boy, and the boy whom Dean portrays may someday be a father himself, with a boy as deeply confused by the rushing terrors of life as he himself had been earlier in the film. So father and son aren't completely far apart or totally different after all.
One note on style. The movie is firmly anchored in the mid-1950s, with a static camera and slightly garish colors. Personally, I enjoyed this flashback to my youth. I can't comment on the alleged greatness of James Dean and his acting, except to say that he seems to outdo himself in affecting strange poses all through the film, twisting himself into physical pretzels that, again, seem lost in the fifties. If I directed him today, I'd have him cut out the twisting and just try to show some credible emotion. I really don't understand why Dean, in this film at least, deserves the status of a Hollywood idol. His air of slightly arrogant scowling and bored disappointment may reflect the feelings of people his age in the post-War era, when millions of young people questioned the value of the new, mighty, and super-prosperous America that emerged from the battle against totalitarian regimes. But that air has little to do with genuine acting. Maybe Dean was himself bored with life, which might explain the dangerously slipshod driving that got him killed for no good reason at all (he didn't die on the battlefield fighting Adolf Hitler).
All in all, I'm afraid I found that the film dragged on and on until its conclusion, but the final scene brought me to tears.
Elsa & Fred (2014)
Not Quite as Bad as People Say
This is not a good movie, but I recommend watching it for the few good points it contains.
The bad news: It's full of stereotypes, including one that I particularly detest (Elsa the aging female hippie, whom you're supposed to love because she breaks all those staid conventional rules). The character of Fred starts out equally stereotypical (though it becomes more believable).
So why watch the film? There are moments of almost profound emotion (almost, I repeat) that strike a deep chord among those of us who are about as old as Elsa and Fred. We know their problems intuitively. Chief among these problems, of course, is the nearness and reality of Death (with a capital D). The film occasionally gets deep enough inside the characters to reveal the ways they might be dealing with the approaching end of their lives.
Again--as a film, this film falls flat. I had the feeling it was constructed out of ten hours of film that were designed to appear as a television series or a much longer film. As the film is constructed and edited, Fred's transition from despairing jerk to fun-loving jokester comes across as far too sudden and without credible development. And I found the end of the film especially unsatisfactory. Elsa dies, and Fred is left alone in the same despairing situation he was in at the start of the movie. The movie hints that he bounces back with the new energy he got from Elsa, but her permanent disappearance makes that happiness seem most unlikely. (Don't get me wrong: ambiguous and sad endings are fine, but this one was poorly developed).
One last reason, perhaps, to see the film: The appearance of aging and very solid stars (Segal, et al.) gives the movie a lot of heft. If they had been moved to the center of the action, the producers would have had a much better movie on their hands.
Out of Africa (1985)
Who talks like Streep does in this film?
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why Meryl Streep is regarded as great. Let's focus on her allegedly masterful ability to speak like anyone in any nation on any planet. To me, her opening words sounded like giant pumpkins falling off a cliff onto the rocks below. They didn't sound Danish, in other words. In fact, they sounded a lot like the allegedly Italian accent she later affected in Bridges of Madison County. In that film, she actually sounded east European, as a matter of fact. (In case you wonder why I have such strong views: I've lived a long time in Europe, speak German, and have more than a passing familiarity with the art of impersonating voices and accents.)
Otherwise, by the way, Out of Africa struck me quite simply as boring.
Midsomer Murders: Death of a Stranger (1999)
Beautiful but Baffling
Once more, this series gives us the best and the worst in this episode. The best: the photography, the scenery, the flavor of the plot. The worst: the plot. No one in history, anywhere on the planet, could have solved this triple-double-quadruple series of murders, intrigues, and everything else short of an emergency appearance by Bugs Bunny to makes sense of the story.
Lovable episode just the same, as the series brings us its usual fine collection of weirdos, killers, and hangers-on.
One last note: Do the scriptwriters laugh themselves all the way to the bank, knowing that their plot makes not sense at all? How do the actors keep a straight face in the face (so to speak) of the comically convoluted events in this show?
I wish I knew. All I know is that the show, in its earliest seasons, was magnetic and irresistible. Too bad that its quality disappeared as it sank into boring plots that were as twisted as those in the early shows but without the flavor and vigor of the start of the series.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Better than Ever. And Yet....
I had to read several other reviews to focus on what seems to be the important elements of this film. I'm grateful to the reviewers.
I first saw the film at the age of 17, thought it was a great flick, and then pretty much forgot about it. I didn't understand the plot (what were the Brits and the French after, anyway?) but I did feel the gorgeous beauty of the photography and the locales, which formed a good basis for appreciating the film as I grew older.
I have just seen the film again, in its socalled restored version. One technical word (as something of a technician myself): I say "socalled" because of the audio. Rarely have I seen a British film that gets the sound right. American films get it wonderfully right, with a sense of presence and clarity that the Brits somehow manage to mangle. That's a severe weakness of this film--even if it was restored.
But getting to the heart of the matter.... My impression, in view of rave reviews of O'Toole and his acting, is that Sharif was the real star of the show (almost, that is). His character enters as a "cruel and barbarous" murderer but then slowly and convincingly evidences the humanity that makes his character virtually fall in love with the difficult Lawrence. In contrast, I found O'Toole's changes (not growth, but devolution) in the course of the film rather stilted, as if O'Toole lacked the experience and depth of his costar (and that's probably true). I can see how Sharif later turned into Zhivago, while I doubt that O'Toole could have handled such a role nearly as well.
Lawrence of Arabia is about life, and it takes decades of life to appreciate its meaning (at least it did for me). As was said at the end of the film, young men make war and old men make the peace--and it must be so. The world is an old, old place, and our youthful dreams and aspirations and perceptions must eventually turn into the more sober and dejected outlooks of the mature. But that doesn't mean that older age is full of depression: appreciating the undulations of life and of our dreams is just part of the deal we get from God and the cosmos.
Somehow, in some inexplicable way, I sense that this was Lean's message, and he delivered it well.
Brief Encounter (1945)
Romantic Affairs Are Usually Doomed--For Good Reason
Sadly, I depart yet again from the tone of most of the reviews offered here.
I agree wholeheartedly, of course, with the reviewers who praise the overall look and feel of the tile. The station and much of the rest of the sites look a little depressing--but interesting and full of intriguing detail.
The point where I depart from the majority comes at the end of the film, when the husband says something like, "I knew you'd come back." In the first place, I like the guy, and it's obvious that Laura loves him as the kind of man who will stick with her despite an affair that he somehow intuits.
Celia may traipse sadly home to a man who can't hold a candle to the romance of the doctor. But, as I see it, she quickly realizes what really counts: she has a family. She has a husband and children--and she has two vital roles as a wife and a mother. Most important, she's the wife of a particular man and the mother of two particular children. They are facts, and those facts, in the end, are far more important and attractive than the short-lived romantic appeal of a lover. Celia can only be grateful, as the years and decades roll by, for the end of the affair.
The import of this is not easy to describe. But if you've ever been involved in an affair, you know how doomed an affair can be right from the start. That's not just because they're outside the framework of regular, married life. They're doomed because each partner usually falls in love not with the actual other person but with some aspect of themselves that they project onto their lover. The lover isn't a full person: he or she simply brings something to the affair that the other person eventually has to discover in themselves. I hope that Celia and the doctor go thru that experience.
Ma nuit chez Maud (1969)
Just Buy the Script and Save Time for Good Films
Once again, I strained my neck watching an intellectually pretentious and boring film. The reason for this is that I kept looking for the meaning as it sailed over my head.
You know the plot by now. But to summarize: Four bourgeois people talk about the philosopher Pascal, allegedly as a way for the film to explore different attitudes toward sex, love, and other eternally baffling areas of life.
Great idea, but the film botches the execution. The characters talk (at length, at length) about truly vital values (sex vs. Love, for instance, or sex-as-love, or the importance of faith in something Eternal). I myself have had discussions like this that went on for as long as they do in this film (thanks to living in Europe, where people actually talk about such things in frank and moving discussions). But the film should have been able to condense the discussions, put them in some sort of perspective, and make the plot clearer as well (the ending supposedly reveals a key relationship between the three main characters but I missed it completely). One more thing: Rarely has a movie struck me as so poorly photographed (maybe it was actually trying to look like a clunky documentary, of course, which seems to excite a lot of academic reviewers looking for Obscure Meaning in Film. Films like Casablanca have serious talk and are beautifully photographed as well. You don't need lousy pictures to tell viewers they really ought to pay attention to the soundtrack.)
Again, and very seriously, the themes in the film are vital to life, and every thinking person needs to take part in discussions about the place of these themes in their lives. But a movie should do more than simply record such discussions and then cloud them with a plot almost designed to obscure that meaning.
I'm not pleading, by the way, for more movies on the level of King Kong Meets Dracula's Bride. I appreciate Rohmer's attempt to elucidate life, but the movie he made just doesn't do the trick.
The Ipcress File (1965)
Blockheaded or Over My Head
In my opinion, Deighton is not one of the first-class spy novelists, but I was looking forward to this film for some thoughtful and entertaining viewing just the same.
Sadly, the film disappointed me almost from the start. Its creators may have been trying to depart from the silliness of James Bond films (the wonderful silliness, that is). But their apparent attempt to present a more realistic (or seriously cynical) view of espionage is itself incredible and silly. Right from the outset, fantastic murders and other outrages occur that are preposterous on their face, and things don't get better as the movie continues. Anyone familiar with The Manchurian Candidate will also spot the obvious theft of a key idea in the Ipcress plot.
The only good thing I can say is that the film may have been so subtly fabulous that it went over my ignorant head (I'm not much for so-called symbolism in films like this; just get on with the story). As I say, maybe I'm too superficial to appreciate this movie. (In its defense, I have to admit that there was one bit of funny dialogue about secret clearances that may have been deliberately and cleverly satirical, and there was some notable, almost dance-like, blocking during a spooky meeting in a garage. And the obvious parallel to the Manchurian Candidate may itself have been a sly comment on the absurdity of Candidate's thesis).
In the end, however, I don't think it's fair to give credit to anyone for making a terrible film by assuming they're making fun of other terrible films. Not wishing to sound too much like an ogre, I can only be true to myself by recommending that all copies of this film be banned from viewing for the next couple of centuries. Historians can examine it after that period. Few cinema fans will miss it in the meantime.
Inspector Morse: Fat Chance (1991)
Should Have Been Reduced to a Half-Hour Show
Set partly in some vaguely defined sort of organization that helps people slim down, this episode of Morse is without question the most baffling one that I've seen (I've watched about half of them). Baffling, that is, to the viewer, even if not to the great Morse. It hops around from one setting to another (from slimming club to university and church) with the thinnest possible connections between them all. The episode seems to have been assembled from three unrelated shows. One thread to the plot, the justified need for women to assume bigger roles in the church, features embarrassing scenes of forced gaiety and superficial sincerity among the women concerned. One last thing: One woman gets away with an outrageous lie that subverts Morse's best efforts, but Morse irrationally forgives her because he's smitten by her from the first second he sees her. Altogether, an episode that the producers could safely delete from the series.
Foyle's War: The Hide (2010)
Should Have Been Called "Holes"
Outstandingly sensitive acting by Michael Kitchen and an interesting story. But I agree with other reviewers that too many holes crept into the plot.
First: I join with the reviewer who questioned the credibility of Stanford's so-called return to the service. How did he even get past the guard at the door to this super-secretive outfit?
Second: Foyle goes to a hotel looking for a Mr. Chambers; the clerk plays him off and makes a short call warning someone that they have a problem. And who is it who has the problem? And what is the problem? All of this goes unanswered (in my opinion).
Third: What is the meaning of the envelope addressed to Mr. Chambers (it contained a coded letter from Devereux inside of a second envelope)? Why was Devereux's letter inside of two envelopes (one to Chambers, one to his murdered girlfriend)? Who was Chambers (if he exists at all)?
Last: I certify here and now that I didn't sleep thru the episode and miss the obvious answers to my questions. I have seen the episode twice, and I still haven't grasped the answers to these questions.
Mystery!: Foyle's War, Series VI: Killing Time (2010)
One of Foyle's Best
A well-handled love story backed up by the destructive impact of the War on men's souls. Foyle neatly solves the usual mystery but this episode digs far deeper into the hearts of the people involved, including the guilty and not just the innocent. The viewer feels forced to sympathize with both the guilty and innocent, even if the cunning American mastermind deserved the maximum punishment he undoubtedly receives under the full force of British law. To top everything off, this episode portrays a moving portrait of American racial problems at the time of the War, and does it with no false sympathy or exaggeration of the black soldiers' plight. Watching this episode can only remind an American viewer of the tragic and in fact evil discrimination routinely applied to the Black citizens of our country.
Foyle's War (2002)
Compelling and heartwarming
I loved the series for many reasons. World War II is an obsession of mine (my father having served in the South Pacific and Italy) and this series treats the War with respect and intellectual vigor.
One question I have is rather trivial but I'd like to know if the actress who first played Mrs Milner with a certain acerbic resentment was replaced by somebody else who played the role with a totally different understanding and warmth.
A small criticism: Milner loses most of a leg during the War. After a few episodes, he regains full vigor and movement with a gait that suggests the producers and directors opted to have us pretend that his injury never happened. Am I right?
Inspector Morse: Last Seen Wearing (1988)
Confusing, or just Confounding?
Frankly, I have to admit straight away that I have to watch episodes of Morse more than once to even begin to understand the plot. Last Seen Wearing is no exception. I've seen it twice (with years between viewings) and I still don't understand it. As I say, this is typical of my Morsian experience, but on top of my puzzlement, I have to admit also to being bored by this episode. I don't look for American-style idiocy like car chases in detective stories (I'm an American, by the way), but this episode was far from gripping. My last comment: I may be obtuse and simply unable to follow anything more complicated than Magnum, but I wonder if other viewers feel a certain empty and ephemeral sense of letdown after a dose of Morse and the scripts that he follows. I sense that even John Thaw actually retreats to the pub during each episode out of a sense of confusion even after reading the script before the filming. Does even he understand what's going on?
Grantchester: Episode #3.6 (2017)
One Vast Disappointment
Unquestionably the worst of all episodes in the series--at least at this writing. The kidnapped lad is himself less than likable, Geordie brutally beats up a suspect, and the parties guilty of moral and legal crimes seem to escape without punishment. On top of that, the absurd basic presumption of the series--that a vicar would be allowed to interrogate prisoners and carry on most of the other work of a detective--lies here like a festering wound. In other words, this episode requires so much of the classic "suspension of disbelief" that the viewer might as well imagine that the Lord, the Devil, and Winston Churchill will make an appearance to give the episode some overall coherence and meaning. One vast disappointment in an otherwise fabulous series.
Grantchester: Episode #7.1 (2022)
Massive Confusion
Great to see a new series of this fabulous show. But it would have been even greater to see an episode that a person of average brilliance could hope to understand. I think it would take that level of IQ to get the point of this episode. I saw it twice and still confess to being baffled. Too much coincidence, too many subtle hints, and too much left to the viewer's imagination to fill in the holes in the plot.
As a last comment, I hope that Leonard can carry as much of the story as he seems to have been assigned in this episode. His character is amusing and affecting and I hope the producers continue to give him something meaty to offer.
To repeat, it's great to see the series continue. I watch it more for atmosphere and character than I do for the action. It's rarely disappointing, especially in comparison with the insipid television invented by American networks. This show makes me wish my ancestors had never left England. I'd be soaking up atmosphere and watching a lot more of excellent TV.
One Special Night (1999)
Great Chemistry in a Disappointing Story
This film needs a lot of work. The weakest part concerns the supporting actors, most of whom have too little presence, charisma, or acting ability (I don't mean to sound like an ogre, but these actors seem stiff and insincere in too many scenes).
Andrews and Garner, of course, are terrific just being themselves (or their personas, at least). But their short one-night conversation provides too little reason for a viewer to think they've found something so deep within their relationship that they definitely need to continue seeing each other. This is especially true for Garner, whose character no sooner loses his wife than he's pursuing Andrews at a speed that makes a mockery of any grief he may be feeling for his wife.
If the writer and director had doubled the screen time given to the two leads, and put the rest of the story on the cutting-room floor, they'd have a film I would have rated much more favorably.
Despite these problems, I would recommend watching the film--while tuning out the subplots and concentrating on the scenes with Andrews and Garner.
Doctor Finlay: Mercury (1996)
Strange and Dark
This series fairly often takes a turn into the depressing and confusing. It may have something to do with the setting: postwar Scotland, rationing, and a generally unsunny atmosphere. There must be something to the Scottish and British psyche that proves susceptible to this obscure sort of television (and literature, too). For audiences in other countries, I'm not so sure that the dark and confusing plots in the series make as much sense as they do to the people where they were produced. I'm not pleading here for an American-style upbeat and phony cheerfulness and simplicity. But Finlay's plots could have been constructed, it seems to me, in a more understandable manner.
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
Miscast Almost All the Way
Gregory Peck was apparently on vacation when he made this film. He simply isn't up to the demands of portraying someone Hemingwayesque, namely, Hemingway. Ava Gardner doesn't look or act the least bit melodramatic even though her character is supposed to be troublesome and annoying. (I can't see what Peck is supposed to have found in her). Hildegard Knef does a nice job with very little material, which means that her segment is basically wasted. The film looks to have been shot with a Brownie Instamatic Movie Camera or some such instrument. The color is terrible, forcing me to go into the television's settings and make adjustments to take care of the appalling colors in foreground and background. Bernard Herrmann's music is boring and insipid, with few major themes standing out or minor themes supporting the more tender aspects of the film (there weren't many to support, of course). Worst of all, the film is full of cliches from an earlier and dangerously macho time, with ugly scenes of hunting innocent animals who weren't out to bother anyone, especially the bull in the ring in Madrid (I was hoping to see the bull win, but the film was even disappointing on that score). All in all, a film to remember, i.e. To remember to consign to the wastebasket or other appropriate recycling bin.
Midsomer Murders: Dead Man's Eleven (1999)
No Magic Needed
For once, Barnaby has little need in this episode to solve the murder in the last four seconds by exercising his stunning powers of intuition and solving the murder through intuitive guesswork based on years of brilliant detective experience. Although he does indeed come up near the end with the requisite insight while nearly dying from his partner's driving, Barnaby puts on a fairly believable show in this episode. The plot unwinds brilliantly, keeping at least this reviewer baffled right up to the end. It's very sad that the series descended from this standard of excellence into the same bombastically incredible plots that have fractured other formerly excellent programs as well (New Age wizard kills ten children in druggy haze at annual Festival of the Green Pumpkin held in an Oxford dorm whose most brilliant student is the evil grandson of Hitler's chauffeur). Getting back to the point: This was an excellent episode.
Doc Martin: Control-Alt-Delete (2015)
A Sickening Episode
I agree that this episode presents a criminal in the guise of Doc Martin. I too cannot believe that Martin the actor agreed to the scene in which the Doc tries to kill a beautiful, loyal, and entertaining dog. The producers should issue an apology. It took all of my loyalty to this fabulous series to watch more episodes after seeing this installment. Years later, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I realize that it's only a television show, and that it's to be taken as lightly as possible, but I can't help loving the characters and the events of the series (why else would anyone watch?). My love for the Doc, however, has never quite recovered, and I find myself siding with his opponents more often than not.
Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel (1987)
Mystifying Mystery
It's a good thing this film is well acted and, for the most part, well photographed. The plot almost ruins the story, since it's ridden with "deus ex machina" devices that Christie must have dreamed up in a desperate attempt to finish the novel for her publishers (unless the fault lies with the screenwriter, of course). I recommend watching strictly for the atmosphere and most of the acting, although the actress in the key role of the spoiled daughter might have benefited from more experience. All in all, watch this one only if you need a break from the estimable Midsomer Murders.
Poirot: Cat Among the Pigeons (2008)
Incomprehensible short version for American viewers
I listened to the great Hugh Fraser read the novel and had to wrack my brain to keep up with the story. The TV show is even worse in this regard. It barges past the viewer (past me anyway) with breakneck speed. I note, however, on IMDb that ten whole minutes were subtracted from the original British version for the easily-distracted American audience, which is used to ADHD-inducing commercial interruptions that shorten TV shows of all sorts. In other words, the producers (or editors) of the British version realized that millions of Americans wouldn't sit still to absorb the full show in its original length. I suppose that the shortening of the show accounts for some of my confusion and for my feeling that important points in the plot ended up on the cutting-room floor.
Other than the incomprehensible plot, the show is magnificent, drenched in period atmosphere and in fabulous acting from everyone in the show.
Back to my complaint: I imagine that if the crew had done Hamlet, the show would have stopped at "To be. That is the." How tragic that intelligent American viewers able to sit still for a longish television show have been cheated by whoever cut a large hole in this otherwise wonderful production.
Foyle's War: Casualties of War (2007)
Brilliant Examination of Immorality in a Moral War
Foyle encounters an adulterous couple who murder the spouse of the woman involved in the affair. Not much brilliance there, except that the couple are part of a top-secret project to invent a bomb that can destroy German dams and flood Nazi installations with a roaring wall of water. The highest military officials manage to keep Foyle from arresting the murderous couple because they mean so much to the War. Foyle quits in disgust.
By the way, the bomb being invented in the show is an actual bomb that really did destroy a dam and kill not only workers in Nazi installations but countless innocent civilians caught in the path of the flood. As a German documentary later showed, one woman, for instance, woke up in her bed as she floated down the cascade created by the breaching of the dam. Somehow, she survived to tell her story. As the episode makes clear, there are questionable forces (like murder and revenge) that mix themselves into the most moral of endeavors (like the Allied cause) in human affairs. What is a moral man like Foyle to do? What are the rest of us to do in our own times as we confront the same issues in our national and international politics?
Midsomer Murders: Dark Secrets (2011)
Utterly Ridiculous Fun
Once again, we're faced with a hilarious murder--this is a TV show, after all--that defies all logic and reason. A demented recluse murders his wife by tipping over a tower of newspapers onto the woman. Don't ask about the tower; just assume it's possible that the couple could save, apparently, thousands of papers and construct towers of them all over their mansion.
The rest of show is relatively straightforward by comparison. The son of two siblings (yes) turns out to be entirely normal, even handsome and intelligent. A crackpot artist divines diseases in horses. And the new Barnaby stitches everything together by getting Jones to examine the names of craters on the moon.
I have stopped asking for verisimilitude in this series. It's best to sit back, watch the carnival, and ask how scriptwriters come up with entertainment like this.
If my irony is too heavy-handed, I'm saying that I enjoyed this episode. It's light-hearted murder at its best.
Foyle's War: War Games (2003)
Fun but forced
This episode seems forced. Big industrialist gets caught dealing in a slimy way with Nazis and so he shoots himself. His son is even slimier and when he's caught he confesses without a whimper. Little kids accidentally find vital evidence just when Foyle needs it. Very watchable but the villains are cardboard and the good guys benefit from obvious and overly convenient coincidences. The episode lacks the emotional punch of other episodes. However: It is still a Foyle so it's still worthwhile.