smoothjazzandmore Blog

I remember watching this film with my mom on a weekday afternoon as a kid and wondering why she was crying at the end.  It seemed boring as a kid watching it.  But as my taste for movies advanced, so did the understading of this film.  I took a chance on this film again and was pretty touched by it.  It's a carefully patterned film with one of my favorite actors.  William Holden is a true romantic leading man.  He would get another shot on a similar project, "The World of Susie Wong."   The casting of Jennifer Jones was satisfactory as she plays her part very well, although it loses it's luster as she is not asian.   But it's the backdrop of Hong Kong and the beautifully photographed landscape that impressed me the most, epecially the unforgetable musical score that surrounds the couple. Though the film does seem tame compared to the chick-flix nowadays.  But I'll take this film over any of the others currently being made.   As for the familiar tune, you'll have it in your head all day.   Recommended for those who long for the good old days of film.

I first viewed this film in 1980 on an arts network that was then called "Action Plus" (now called Bravo).  I thought the film was slow paced and dull at the time.  After recently watching the film on IFC, my opinion has changed.  This story based on the real life escapades of the most notorious murders in New York State really grows on you.  I'm still enthralled by the performance of Shirley Stoler.  Not only was her performance of Martha Beck powerful, in the end, it made you feel no empathy for her character.  I wish she could have been more successful as an actress (For another great performance by Stoler, check out Lina Wertmueller's "Seven Beauties".).  Tony LoBianco is outstanding as the cunning other half, Ray Fernandez.  Though dark and disturbing, the film doesn't glamorizes the two criminals.  I also thought the use of music added to the drama was also very effective.  Though not a horror movie, this film will leave you haunted for days.  It show us what people will do in times of loneliness and despair.

Marshall Mathers, a.k.a. Eminem, gives a rather humbling performance as Jimmy "Bunny Rabbit" Smith, Jr.; a wanna-be rapper with problems bigger than what we can imagine.  He's down on his luck and has to move back home to his mom's house.  Couple that with the fact that he has a fear of rejection.  In more ways than one, his problems are our problems we face in everyday life.  This makes the movie smart and easy to manufacture.  It's not the best film, but it does entertain as well as tell an effective story about challenges and courage.  

When four brothers go home to Detroit to bury their deceased foster mother, they find out her death was no accident.  They then search for the truth and bring the perpetrators to justice.  Director John Singleton brings together some high class talent to make this film work.  Mark Wahlberg, Garrett Hedlund, Tyrese Gibson and Andre Benjamin playing the brothers gives the movie substance.  They work together nicely as a unit.  Oscar nominee Terrance Howard gives a strong preformance in a supporting role as the police detective searching for clues.  The action sequences are stellar.  However, it does fall flat at times with the dialogue and plot.  Overall, its a good action film that I would recommend.  

When Oliver Stone makes movies of historical value, he tends to exagerate the facts (i.e. JFK, Salvador, Midnight Express).  In this film, he completely stays out of delivering negative propaganda on who was responsible and focuses on the ordeal and rescue of Port Authority policemen John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Peña).  The result is a movie that all viewers would be proud of.  The film was made with courage and sympathy to the victims.  Some viewers may be put off by the intensity of the subject matter, due to the film being too soon to watch.  This film is very much needed in this day and age in hopes that the events of September 11th, 2001 are never forgotten.

I used to be a Conservative Republican. I voted for George Bush in 2000. I used to think Michael Moore was a big fat, disgustiung ogre who had a chip on his shoulder against President Bush.  Watching him up there on the stage at the Oscars giving his acceptance speech in 2003 enraged me at the time. But one year after the Iraq war, things started coming unraveled that would change my faith in the GOP and give this movie an honest look. 

More and more, I started hearing about bad intelligence.  One was the fact that Iraq had "NO" weapons of mass destruction, as alleged by the Bush Administration.  Intelligence made up by the CIA had us believing Hussein was manufacturing Uranium in the African country of Niger.  That intelligence was rebuked by PBS's Frontline story, "The Dark Side" and lead to the outing of CIA agent, Valerie Plame by Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, L. "Scooter" Libby.  Another was the fact that the Patriot Act was never scrutinized when it was passed.  This was information I already knew prior to watching this film.  Democrats never stood up and questioned the blatant violation of the First Ammendment for fear of being, "Unpatriotic".  But what put me over the edge was the fact that Saddam Hussein was made a scapegoat to coverup the Bin-Laden/Bush linkage. 

I sincerely wonder if the Administration knew about 9/11and did nothing to stop it.  There are so many questions that Michael Moore asked in this film that were never asked by the mainstream press (FOX, CNN,NBC, ABC, CBS). That leads me to believe, either the Americans are dumb or just plain stupid for not. Judging from the results of the 2004 election, Americans have only themselves to blame for this debacle for not getting rid of the problem.  Me included! 

Whatever your feelings on Michael Moore, you owe it to yourself to watch this film.  Take the name Moor out of the mix and imagine it was made by someone else.  At least get both sides of the story and make a honest judgement on President George W. Bush and his decisions. 

I wouldn't consider this a really bad film.  But I couldn't fault it for not trying.  It did have some potential.  The updated story now takes place in New London, Connecticut; not San Francisco.  And, there are some adopted kids of all ethnicities, which made perfect sense in this day and age.  The problem lies in the one thing that makes all films like this faulter, the screnplay.  There are very few laughs aside from trying to make the dad look like a complete imbecile in slapstick moments.  Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo struggle to put the film together.  All in all, this was a huge disappointment.  You're better off with the Lucille Ball/Henry Fonda original. 

Hollywood has always wanted to have a big named star play Muhammad.  But Islamic law would not allow that to happen as it would be blasphemy to show the image of Muhammad.   However, fellow Muslim Moustapha Akkad found a way to make a film without insulting the masses.  "The Message" was an epic film that took 6 years to prepare for and a year to shoot.  Led by Oscar winner Anthony Quinn, the film is very faithful and accurate in its historical value.  However, there are some shortcomings.  One problem is the film's length.  Three hours is way, way too long.  The film could have been chopped off by about an hour and it still would have been able have an effective story to tell.  Another problem is the dialogue. In the film, "The Message", Muhammad is referred, but is not seen.  That makes it a little confusing when the characters are referring to Muhammad.  Despite the shortcomings, "The Message" gets its point across without insulting the Islamic religion.  This is a film that should be recommended to people of all faiths and will answer lots of buring questions regarding this controversial faith.  Ironically, Moustapha Akkad was killed by a terrorist bombing while attending a wedding in Jordan in 2005.  It appears that some members of the Islamic faith have not followed Muhammad’s “Message" not to kill fellow Muslims. It shows that Islam still has many obstacles to climb in getting Muhammad’s “Message" to its followers.