gudpaljoey-677-715384 Reviews

The Sand Pebbles (1966)

Hollywood Ending Hurt

[7/10 · 29 January 2015]

The Sand Pebbles was an interesting experience seen on Turner Classic Movies last night. I had missed the picture when it first came out. Despite a length of three hours, the film held my attention with a screen play that moved at an agreeable speed. All of the performances were good, especially the acting that Director Wise was able to get out of the Coolie actors. Steve McQueen was less cool than he's noted for and as a result was realistic in his role. I would have scored this film higher but for the Hollywood ending that weakened the picture with 1940 bravado from the leading players: McQueen and Richard Crenna. It was the old one-two punch of 'I'll hold them off while you save he girl. No you save he girl and I'll hold them off.'The film deserved a better ending from the writers than that.

A Coffee in Berlin (2012)

A Delight

[9/10 · 14 January 2015]

A Cup of Pleasure in film making that scored high with me because of its thoughtful humor, wonderful acting, crisp black and white film work, and commentary on the problems of young men fitting into a modern world. No slapstick comedy here. No raunchy jokes like we get in films made and about young people. The comedy is underplayed. The dialog is sharp and meaningful. I read that this is the film makers first effort. That in itself is amazing since the movie shows such maturity in the craft. I hope that there will be more films coming from the people who made this one. Who said that the Germans don't have a sense of humor. I thing that changing the title from Oh Boy to A Cup of Coffee in Berlin was a good move.

The Intouchables (2011)

Tres Watchable

[8/10 · 25 December 2014]

This French farce was given an unfortunate title, but that seem to me to be the only thing wrong with this entertaining, well-acted farce of an energetic character who happens to be black positively affecting the life of a handicapped white man who happens to be sickeningly wealthy. It's a terrible mistake to look at this picture as an unfortunate stereotype of racial relations as some professional critics have done. I wonder what would be said if the black character was cast as Arabic, which was the actual situation on which the story is based. And wouldn't it be peculiar to see an Arab participating in some of the antics that Mr. Sy, the wonderful actor from Senegal performs. His performance is outstanding, and one of the best comedic performances of the year. There is talk of remaking this in English. Please don't do that.

At Middleton (2013)

A Surprising Delight

[9/10 · 18 May 2014]

I selected this movie largely because of how much I like Vera Farmiga. I've always considered her an actor that does not get the attention she deserves. I had seen Andy Garcia in a number of pictures, and although not his fault, his work always seemed one-dimensional. The gangster, the cad, etc. I was completely stunned by the chemistry and nuanced performances of the pair in a film that I consider one of the most delightful movie experiences of the last ten years. This picture stood out with a unique take on a mid-life romance that didn't pander to a false, popular conclusion, but rewarded the viewer with a thoughtful and adult ending. The acting by all the players was first rate; the writing and dialog was crisp and real; filming and direction were beautifully done. It was an excellent mix of humor, pathos, and it delivered a life message so subtly that close attention had to be paid. Thanks to all who made this picture. I love you Vera.

Lorna's Silence (2008)

The Silence of the Lamb?

[9/10 · 14 August 2013]

I wonder if the makers of "Lorna" had that title in mind, considering the moment in another great movie when the lead actor reveals the great pain of her past life. In both cases, the focus is on the slaying of innocence. Some of the criticism of the picture, another wonderful film from the Dardenne Brothers, has pointed to a disappointing ending. I didn't find that to be the case. As we see her guilt develop, the stubborn efforts to dissolve her sham marriage with the junkie, Claudy, rather than see him killed, she recognizes their connection, an addiction, his for drugs, hers for money, both pawns in the criminal plot hatched by others. When she fails to save him, an awkward jump in the picture from him riding away on a bicycle to news of his murder, Lorna's guilt is internalized in a delusion of carrying his child, her way of having him live and salving her guilt. When the deal goes bad because of her, she knows she will be killed also. But she will fight to stay alive, not for herself, but for the life she believes she is carrying. Yes, like their other pictures, this one is something of a religious allegory, but what's wrong with that?

The Girl by the Lake (2007)

Lovely to look at

[7/10 · 8 August 2013]

A beautifully photographed who-done-it that kept me interested with an array of competent players, headed by the chief inspector. I found it a little hard to follow because several of the players looked so much alike. My biggest complaint is that the movie's beginning makes such a strong case for it being about a pedophilia crime that is was a jolt to find out that it's not, a case of taking the viewer down the wrong road and then slamming on the breaks. I also thought that the inspector's wife should have shown more evidence of dementia in their first meeting. This was much better demonstrated when the daughter goes unrecognized during her visit to he institution.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

A Tale of Two Movies

[7/10 · 8 June 2013]

I had a number of laughs in Silver Lining, mainly because of the great performances of the cast. The film makers gathered together an ensemble that I'd love to see live on in another movie. Performed by lesser actors, the material would never have shone and entertained as well. I thought, however, that this was a movie that in its second half forgot the first half of the picture. We went from an engrossing movie of two characters, both mentally challenged, yet both lovable playing it for laughs to Saturday Night Fever, the second half of the movie, losing it's relationship to what made the characters so good. It was a good entertainment that could have been better had both script and direction held the movie together in a unified whole.

The Loneliest Planet (2011)

Travelogue that's Waiting for Godot

[3/10 · 12 April 2013]

Is there a reason to like this movie? I can't find one and am surprised by those who do. What is pictured is two young characters who like to walk through rugged terrain, play word games, have sex in the dark, and stay trim. Do I have a reason to like either character? No. What I heard was inane dialog, heavy music as if something was going to happen and doesn't, very little sound of any sort to engage my ears. Was I amused by the word games, liked the music, or understood the inane dialog and stories the players tell? No. I was shown photography of some rugged terrain in the Georgia mountains, a place that few have seen. Was I supposed to be impressed by the beauty and awe of this natural setting? The answer is that it wasn't something I'd seen better done in other movies. The movie seems to suggest that relationships can change radically because of an insignificant happening. But never tell us if they change. I'm still waiting to think of a reason for liking this picture.

Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

No Hollywood Ending

[7/10 · 27 March 2013]

For the 1960s, this was a courageous ending to a tragic picture. How many viewers were wishing for Ms Remick to return from the street into the arms of Mr. Lemmon with a vow never to drink again. But rather we see an ending where the husband character knows that the only way to save his own life,and in a sense hers, is to watch her walk across the street from his window. Love is not diminished with the ending, it is enhanced. The picture deals with the alcoholic differently that most movies before it. More realistically, the drinker in older movies is shown as a loner outside society drinking for only one reason to get soused. Here we have two codependents in a marriage,drinking because they find it exhilarating, great sport and an escape from the dismal world they both find themselves in. I did think that the giddy swinging of bottles in the air was way overdone and more should have been made of their compatability as drunks by showing more affection for each other during these scenes. However, he scene of Mr Lemmon tearing up the green house was startling, although his alcholic rages were also taken a little too far.

Monsieur Verdoux (1947)

Murder he says

[3/10 · 2 March 2013]

I saw this film as a child and found it amusing. I watched it last night on TCM, and was happy that I was no longer a child. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this picture seems to condemn the traditional moral structure of our civilization. It justifies the murder of innocent women by a spurious comparison with the murder of innocent people that result in war between states. Gulp. The makers of this film are positing the idea that everybody's doing it so it must be alright. Everyone has a right to amorality or even immorality, but they shouldn't expect murder of any sort to be acceptable behavior that should go unpunished by society.

Diabolique (1955)

Once in a Lifetime

[8/10 · 28 October 2012]

Diabolique is the kind of film that one should never see more than once, and no film maker should ever try to make it again. My first viewing in the mid 1950s was a great movie experience. I was drawn to the wonderful suspenseful picture that M. Clouzot had made and was blow away by the ending. That should have been the end. Last night after more than 50 years I watched it again. Poor me. I was doomed to watch a great suspense film but I knew how it ended. There's something punishing in that. So all I could do was to be impressed with the acting, the photography, the film sets, and criticize some of its implausibility (What well- off French family would send a kid to this school? Who wouldn't want the two woman to kill off "The Head" someone without any redeeming human values? Why was the ending made so abrupt when it was the key to the picture and needed some digestion?) I must say that Mdm Clouzot's death portrayal was worth seeing again. It's better than anything James Cagney ever did. And the retired police commish could have been good for a series of about four more mysteries.

Le Havre (2011)

In your face, cynical critics!

[8/10 · 3 October 2012]

Le Havre was a joy to watch for me. When I thought about why I liked it so much, I concluded that it returned me to so many of the joyful moments of pictures of the past, riding the cliché's but at the same time hiding them. As a homage to films past, the film maker never is obvious, but builds his film as if all of the happy moments of past films, never happened. A child being pursued by evil forces. A grandpa like figure coming to the rescue. A medical miracle. A show put on to raise needed funds with an incomprehensible rock star, not a Mickey Rooney to produce a barn raising musical. A neighborhood coming together to help save a child from deportation. The film maker gives it all to a jaundiced post modern idea of what film making should be, and people who never want to go home. The movie is technically brilliant, color and photography that show a shabby French port as the land of Oz. Actors who know how to make you love their characters. A delight. See it.

Gilda (1946)

Paul Newman, When we needed him.

[6/10 · 23 September 2012]

Gilda was on TCM last night, more than 60 years since I'd seen it the first time. I suppose that the first time, I must have been taken with the beauty of Rita Hayworth and never thought of the film in a critical fashion. But last night, I was taken not by her beauty and good performance, but how Glenn Ford kept the movie from being an interesting and entertaining picture. Mr. Ford's performance was wooden, unimaginative, and contributed nothing to a flawed script, but a beautifully filmed motion picture. I think how Paul Newman would have handled the role of the Ford character. He would have created a chemistry with Rita Hayworth that would be explosive and believable, something the baby-faced, and miscast Mr. Ford was unable to do. I found it hard to believe how she could have felt the passion she showed for the character as played by Mr. Ford. I realize reviews are not for the purpose of wishful casting, but I can't avoid mentioning what Mr. Newman would have brought to this picture.

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

We need to talk about Tilda.

[8/10 · 22 July 2012]

For me, this movie represents a bravura performance by Tilda Swinton, and not much more. This is a picture that invites the viewer to peel off layer of meaning like an onion, but at the end, I find it just a magnificent portrait, read portrayal, of a woman, struggling at an unwanted motherhood. who ultimatately finds herself the mother of a teenager who commits a heinous crime for what can only be concluded to be psychopathic reasons. Ms. Swinson gives us a snapshot of the mothers of the boys of Columbine, and all of the other mothers who have had sons lose it and punish the innocent when minds are twisted in uncontrollable knots. Movies like this have been done before, but perhaps with a different emphasis, on the action, on the victims, on the corrective measures. But here, thanks to Ms. Swinson, we see the pain of mothering madness, finding a way to live through it, and finally accepting the role of motherhood again, after all that has happened.

The Way We Were (1973)

Not the Way I Wuz

[3/10 · 25 April 2012]

When I first watched this picture thirty years ago, I liked it a lot. After seeing it last night on TCM, that's hard to believe. I don't think that it's because it hasn't aged well, but that the movie just suffered from a badly done screen play and some bad writing. If the picture had been directed by Barbra Streisand, I might understand why Robert Redford and all of the other actors were like scenery standing around while Ms Streisand emotes. But I don't think more participation from them would have helped. The romance is implausible between such divergent characters. The war time Navy never stationed any of its officers in New York. The line drawn between a raving radical and a selfish wasp is far too wide. What was I thinking thirty years ago?

Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

What's to Like?

[3/10 · 20 March 2012]

That this movie was so well received by the critics amazes me. The the lead player, Cage and Shue, were honored for their acting is almost as amazing. The story is trite: an alcoholic and a prosty hook up in Vegas, where everything stays, not for a sexual encounter, but for emotional support. I'm okay with that. But the screenplay and the acting are too far beyond belief to make the picture one that I couldn't wait for the end. Cage's alcoholic is a buffoon and his behavior defies realistic behavior of the lush. He surrounds himself with every kind of booze imaginable, the serious drinker is a one brand user. He chugs a pint out of a bottle, a real alchie wouldn't and likely couldn't drink that way. Ms. Shue plays an experienced hooker, and does anyone believe that a pro would take three wild college kids into a room for tricks? Come on. What's more this woman is tolerant and loves a guy who is never sober, yet throws him out when she finds him in bed with another hooker. Where is her professional courtesy? Come on again.

Special Treatment (2010)

Eyes Wide Shut, All Over Again

[4/10 · 8 March 2012]

This movie bears a strong resemblance to Stanley Kubrick's film "Eyes Wide Shut," which also failed at what I think the film maker was trying to say. In this one, the similarity went even so far as having an orgy scene. Doing that took a lot of courage. Does it surprise anyone that there is a parallel between psychoanalysis and prostitution? Both in the roles of client and helper; in the exchange of service for money; in a neurotic desire that needs adjustment through a session. The picture also seems to be saying that in these changing times, both "professions" are in decline. The one because of the new sexual freedom. The other because of an attitude of 'there's nothing wrong with me; this is who I am.' I like Ms Huppert, but don't think that this role was right for her. Yet it is because of her performance that the picture was watchable. Otherwise it didn't tell me anything that isn't obvious, and it did all this with a happy Hollywood ending.

The Misfits (1961)

Three Ways of Looking at a Woman

[7/10 · 29 January 2012]

There seem to be a long and varied number of views about what this movie was about from a story about the fading life of the cowboy to an homage to the natural world. After a recent viewing on TCM, I'm thinking that it was about how three different men look at and are attracted to a beautiful woman, or perhaps even how Arthur Miller was seeing his wife at the time. Three men attracted to the same woman for three different reasons. For Clark Gable, the crusty old cowboy, this recently divorced woman played by Marilyn Monroe was seen as the child that he wanted to father after a wasted life in which he 'lost' his real children. For Montgomery Clift the Monroe character has become the mother who turned cold on her little boy, a boy unable to grow up, and the Clift character finds her sensitivity to him becoming the mother who has abandoned him. Eli Wallach on the other hand is entranced by the pure sexuality of the young divorcée, a sexuality that had been missing in his deceased wife and that he has lived without for all the years since her death. Could it be that the writer of the screenplay has been seeing his wife in all three ways? John Huston's direction and the photography are flawless, but not so with the Monroe character as it is written and how it is played. It's too much of a stretch for me to see a glamorous woman, who danced in nightclubs, attends to the details of making up her face, and dressing as sexily as she does would be a woman to dance in the field and hugs trees. I find the inconsistency too much to swallow. The other players are real and believable, but because of the way it was written, or a need to showcase the sex goddess the way viewer have been seeing her, it became for me the one major flaw in what I'd expect to be a great picture given the credentials of all involved, including the music of Alex North.

The Visitor (I) (2007)

What I Call a Beautiful Picture

[9/10 · 11 January 2012]

I loved the characters in this picture (Where did the director find these actors?) that I wanted him to make a terrible mistake: to have Walter and Mouna marry, and thereby save her son from deportation. But happily, Thomas McCarthy wasn't listening. Maybe some lesser director will do a sequel for my feel-good needs. On the surface, the movie rightfully slams immigration policy, but that wasn't the level on which I saw it. Through the characters brilliant performances, and the writer's subtle story line, I saw the movie as the story of a depressed man, involved in the power of economics to solve world problems, not believing that, then finding a way out of depression by discovering the heart beat and oneness of people in the metaphor of music. In this small picture, a large truth was told. What does it matter that we are asked to believe in the goodness of Tarek and his girlfriend, in a man who doesn't call the police upon finding squatters in his NYC apartment, in a college that carries him on the strength of past accomplishment, and in his sudden conversion to the new way of living. Finally, the ending in the subway station, Walter beating wildly on an African drum was so powerful. Thanks, Mr. McCarthy.

3 Women (1977)

Arguably Great Movie

[8/10 · 7 December 2011]

This is one of those pictures that offers viewers something to argue about ad infinitum, and everyone could be right. None can argue, however, about the quality of the performances given by Ms. Spacek and Ms. Duvall. I watched it for the first time last night, and read some of the user reviews today. I see the movie as a mural (there was a nagging use of murals painted on the bottom of swimming pools) that depicts the personality of three different characters common to the psychic development and desires of all women: that of being mothered and nurtured, that of being accepted socially and sexually, and that of being creative. A kind of Three Faces of Eve but not in one body and soul if you will. At the end, all of these desires are met by finding role reversals within the circle of three that satisfy their desires. If anything, the film also paints in the mural an unfavorable inset picture of the male, a barrier that a woman must face and overcome before achieving her completeness. This is a picture that shocks one into thinking, something Robert Altman movies usually do.

The Human Stain (2003)

The Stain is Pervasive

[26 September 2011]

I would like to like The Human Stain. A picture with Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman, what could be better. I don't know Philip Roth's novel on which the movie is based, but he had a reputation as a good novelist. But for me, the picture failed in so many areas. True, there was some good acting, but not by the principles. Mr. Hopkins was called on to play a black man, who decides to pass the line to live as a white man, who takes on the persona of a Jew! That's a lot to ask, even for such an accomplished actor as Mr. Hopkins. So the facial expression of concern he shows in the film, seem to be more about what he's doing in the picture in the first place. Ms. Kidman, although a versatile player, is far too cerebral a performer to take on a tough, uneducated woman, a traveler in all the wrong places, and I think it's a reach to believe that familial abuse would turn her into what she is. Was that why she screamed her way through the part? Besides, she's too pretty for the role as presented. Simply two sad cases of miscasting.

But more then that, the screen play and writing are flawed. We're asked to believe that a long-term college dean is called on the carpet because of an ambiguous racial reference? The narrative of the picture is abruptly cut with flashbacks just as ambiguous, and the overall effect was not a satisfied viewing of a plot that verged on the edge of being hackneyed. Or too stained to wear well if you will.

Don't Bother to Knock (1952)

Don't Bother to Watch

[13 September 2011]

This is a watchable picture if only for the players. It's curious to see Marilyn Monroe as a drama queen. Richard Widmark not in uniform or in a cops and robbers setting. But most of all, Ann Bancroft as a lounge singer and a respectable voice. The problem with the picture is not the cast. All of them perform well, but the movie suffers from the screenplay. The dialogue sounds like it might have been written by a film student, and the structure is pedestrian. How much better would the narrative have been if he writer had flashed back to Ms. Monroe's earlier dilemmas, shown some violence against the little girl in the hotel room, supported Richard Widmark's personality that turned Ann Bancroft against him.

The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)

ATale of Two Pictures

[9 September 2011]

"The Tree of Wooden Clogs" was a unique experience for me. I felt that Mr. Olmi's achievement was the creation of a movie that has to be viewed twice. First it was a marvelous recreation of peasant life with its hardship, fortitude, and community. To get such performances out of untrained actors who communicate with the audience so beautifully without words. We get to know these people and to love them.

On a second viewing, I see a film that points to the hardships and inequities of a society dominated by autocracy in which religious faith provides its only solace. Yet even here, it portray a church comfortable in this reliance, wanting no part of the rebellion happening around it, something of complicity in keeping the peasantry where they are.

I come to this after reading that Mr. Olmi is both socialist and devout Catholic, positions that some feel are mutually exclusive.

It's a wonderful movie, not a perfect one-- the pacing could have been better-- but a bonus getting two pictures out of one when so many film makers would have created an inseparable hybrid in its place.

Of Gods and Men (2010)

Not 7 Dwarfs--7 Giants

[29 July 2011]

Several reviewers have referred to the monks in 'Of Gods and Men' as seven dwarfs. This in an unfortunate reference, a cheap comment, and that shows where there mind is about this unique picture. I can't remember a movie that has ever depicted the problem of living the pious life while living just as completely in the world. This movie does the job by presenting the monks not as rigid cloisters, forever on their knees with eyes toward heaven, but men who live fully the virtues of faith, hope, and love. For God and Man as the title suggests. Others have questioned their decision to continue to stay in their monastery and go on with their work in the face of threats of death. I think this is just as wrong. They rightfully see their mission to remain with the people of the village, muslims who want them to stay, not so much for the help they give, but for their example of stability in an unstable land. A great film.

Fanny and Alexander (1982)

Portrait of the Artist

[16 July 2011]

After watching this great film a second time some thirty years after the first time, it is unquestionably one of the best in cinema history. I thing of it as Ingemar Bergman's 'Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." Unfortunately, he never followed up the movie with his "Ulysses." But this can be excused because "Fanny and Alexander" is a hard act to follow. The movie deserves all of the plaudits it has received, as well as its Oscar (Isn't it interesting that one of the major characters is named Oscar) so there is nothing more to add. My only question is that because of the title, it seems that Bergman is holding back something from us about "Fanny," It doesn't seem to make sense that she be part of the title, yet have little consequence in the narrative other than being a foil for her slightly older brother. I wonder if this question had ever been addressed to Bergman before he died.