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robreic@bigfoot.com
Reviews
Les orgueilleux (1953)
Top rank
I saw this movie when it first came out, have not seen it since, but have remembered it vividly all these years. Seldom, if ever, has a film held me riveted the way this one did. Of course, I would have paid to see Michele Morgan read the Manhattan phone book, especially attired in a slip (no, I am not a lezzie). The mood created by the meningitis epidemic in Mexico and the sexual tension, created mostly by Morgan, are more enveloping than real life. This remains one of my top 10 - perhaps top 5 - favorite movies of all time. For the life of me, I cannot understand why there is neither a VHS nor a DVD version available, apparently anywhere. What can be done to rectify this situation? For years, I moaned about the lack of a DVD of The Informer. Now, one is available but only as part of the overpriced John Ford collection of some of his lesser films.
Jen
Island in the Sky (1953)
OK as far as it goes.
Maybe I'm jaded by the kind of movies being made these days, but despite the solid performances by a number of outstanding actors, the movie didn't build the suspense I would have liked. When, as we all knew they would, the other guys finally find the downed crew and drop supplies, everyone cheers and tears into the parachuted boxes and the planes that found them turn around and head home, almost out of fuel. The movie ends. Hey, wait a minute. Those guys still are a million miles from anywhere in uncharted wilderness, snowmobiles haven't been invented yet, nor have Hueys or GPS. Yeah, dog sleds they have, probably. But the big question remains unanswered: How in hell are they going to get those guys back to civilization before they freeze to death, even with their new supplies?
The Informer (1935)
Why oh Why oh Why
WHY ISN'T THIS MOVIE AVAILABLE IN DVD? That it isn't is just a crime. It is one of the most gripping, well-made movies ever. It gets no DVD treatment while all sorts of trash goes right to DVD. There ain't no justice. Is it because of the touchiness of the subject? Tensions appear to have eased in Ireland, at least for the moment, so no one's toes would seem to be in danger. Is it because the transfer media is in such bad shape? That is hard to buy. I really, really, really, really (going for the 10-line minimum) would like to have someone tell me why there is no DVD of this movie or, even better, have someone transfer it to DVD this spring. I waited forever for a DVD of My Sister Eileen and finally got it. Now, I want a DVD of The Informer.
Be Cool (2005)
Bummer.
Should've left it at Get Shorty. First, they dropped Elaine, Chili's squeeze in the book and an excellent character. Why didn't Chili do Linda Moon when she said she wanted to f**k him? Because he kept seeing Elaine's face. Second, the lines are laughable but not in the way they are intended. How could Leonard have permitted this garbage in the picture? His characters in the book wouldn't have been caught dead talking like this. After all, they are "cool." Third, not only is the product placement obvious and irritating, but it spilled over into the casting. Get Shorty had some big names but they were there because they can act, not because they were celebrities as apparently is the case in Be Cool. I still think there might well be a good movie in the book, although the ending simply amounts to Leonard's stopping writing, but this ain't it!
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Very powerful theme, beautifully made and acted.
Today, the theme of this film does not shock; indeed, it may be considered by some as rather mundane. Similarly, its raw, grainy, more real than life atmosphere does not strike us as especially noteworthy. At the time it was made and released, however, movies were just beginning to come to grips with "the elephant in the living room" themes. This film and "Snake Pit" were examples. "The Lost Weekend" sent shock waves throughout the country. The direction, the acting, particularly on the part of Ray Milland who was better known at the time as a suave, slightly cynical society-type actor somewhat in the Cary Grant mold, is exemplary and stands up even today. It made an "in" place for decades out of a grungy old bar on the east side of Manhattan, a place where 95% of the young executive types in their shiny tasseled loafers would not otherwise have been caught dead. Toward the end of its heyday, probably precious few of its clientele even knew why the place had such notoriety. The solid, carefully crafted structure, the story line, and, especially, the acting make this film a classic for all time.