Reviews
The Wings of the Dove (1997)
Beautiful but So What
I liked the beautiful cinematography in this work. A lot of trouble was gone to to make it an authentic period piece and very pretty. I think the characters were not drawn well enough to support the plot. I was not drawn into caring about them and at times they themselves seemed not to care.
Soldier (1998)
Kurt Russell follows Michael Ansara
This film is another worthy version in the genre of soldiering in the future. Kurt Russell gives a perfect understated performance as the bred-from-youth soldier caste away literally and figuratively as obsolete. I enjoyed the high production values of the sets and special effects. A previous version was an OUTER LIMITS tv show that had Michael Ansara playing Quarlo Kopregni, a soldier from the future cast back to present time through a plasma wormhole. The Terminator series is another version. What's left is, hopefully, an adaption of Orson Card's ENDER'S GAME.
Moby Dick (1998)
moby pickle
This version of Melville's classic is a mess. I find it ruined by a gross mis-casting of Starbuck, by a mish-mash of accents, by poor acting on the part of all except Patrick Stewart. Admittedly it is a difficult work to adapt to cinema because of its richness and length, but I wish the producers hadn't cranked out a turkey. Also I found the special effects not so special and the editing sloppy. Although I saw previews for this version in a theatre, I now realize it was made for TV. Such watery slop.
Eve's Bayou (1997)
power to the children
This is one complex film. I like it for its beautiful photography, stately pace, and beautiful characters. It weaves themes of coming of age, adultery, second sight, black magic, loyalty, family triangles, and selective memory into a a magical modern version of RASHOMON. It left me with a feeling of awe and a sweet appreciation of human frailty.
Lost in America (1985)
lost and hopefully never discovered
This movie is boring. I was embarrassed for Albert Brooks for having written and directed it. It is not funny. It is like a soap opera with banal dialogue about watching grass grow. Brooks comes off as a poor imitation of Woody Allen.
The Spanish Prisoner (1997)
elegant tale of industrial espionage
This film takes its title from the common con game played on the protagonist. The music, acting, dialogue, and crisp direction elevate it far from the commmon. Joe, the inventor of a valuable industrial process, becomes the unwitting victim of industrial spies in a thriller reminiscent of Hitchcock's work.
Your Friends and Neighbors (1998)
What do women want
This well-acted piece rich in facial close-ups explores mis-communication between the genders and the problems humans have in finding sexual fulfillment. None of the six characters are particularly pleasant but the two most direct in their communication seem to get more of what they want. This film is no skin show. Its power comes from the brutally-honest dialogue.
Le procès (1962)
This rich film is about the descent of Joseph K in...
This rich film is about the descent of Joseph K into paranoid insanity, about the corruption of some political and court systems, about the basic shame that is at the core of most folks, about the frustration that many feel when dealing with bureaucracy, about the capriciousness of fortune. All this is rolled together in an incredibly rich tapestry of images and sets that are breathtaking. The print I viewed is brand new but awful in quality. One hopes that quality prints are available somewhere or that the film will be restored. It is too good to be allowed to disintegrate.
Pi (1998)
Horror Film about Headache, Number Theory, and Cults
Pi is a marvelous blend of the terrors visited on a math genius by physical ailments (migraine), cults (Hasidic numerologists), and industrial spies. Black-and-white photography gives it a starkness reminiscent of the insanity in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Hand-held camera filming amplifies the nausea and disorientation of the migraines. Not a "fun" film but very rich.