Jane Fonda is somewhat weak in this otherwise solid portrait of aging and alienation. Some jokes that should have been duds sparkle because of Fonda. I'm not sure I'd bother to see it again. Yeah, I probably would. [401]
Beautifully filmed, low-key, unpretentious film. Rises above even Solchynitshin's material. [364]
Interesting, effective thriller, marred by psychobabble at conclusion. Noteworthy for originality and brooding depiction of mental illness, but not as powerful today. [345]
Based on John Fowles book, a Harold Pinter script. Interesting contrast between liberated relationship of actors and the inhibited relationships of the characters in a period film set in the Victorian era. Stunning ending, in many ways. Brilliant performances. [279]
Fine, quirky film. Never really gets of the ground but very entertaining attempt to state something profound about an everyday misery. Carrie Snodgrass is funny as the bored housewife who wants something interesting to happen to her, and thinks it might be an affair with hunky Frank Langella. Richard Benjamins is her stock-broker husband who hounds her to improve herself. This is a quietly subversive film-- the children are not cute, and Benjamins is not redeemable-- that suggests that madness lurks just beneath the surface of our lives of daily antiseptic normalcy. [196]
Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed, edited, and composed the music for this silent era masterpiece, arguably one of the ten best films of all time. Chaplin is a tramp wandering around the big city, using his wits to survive. A poor blind girl mistakes him for a rich man and he impetuously tries to live up to the bluff. When he discovers that a potential cure for the girl's blindness exists, he tries to raise the money to get it for her. In the process, he is mistakenly accused of robbery and sent to jail-- but not before he gets the money to the girl. Years later, he is back on the street, even poorer and more pathetic than before. He stumbles into a flower shop-- and there is the girl. Her sight is restored thanks to the operation he paid for, but of course, she doesn't recognize him since she has never seen him. When some boys make fun of him, she chases them away and offers him a coin. Here, as she places it in his hand, she suddenly realizes.... A wonderful, wonderful film, and a consummate realization of all the best techniques and styles of the silent era. And when you watch a masterpiece like this, it is difficult not to agree with those who felt that the introduction of sound to films may have cost us more than it gained. Not impossible... but difficult. [176]
CHARLES CHAPLIN, VIRGINIA CHERRILL, HARRY MYERS
Well-made off-beat dramatization of Eric Liddell's early career, and his refusal to compete on the Sabbath at the Olympics. He truly went his own way on the issue, in spite of the imprecations of the British Olympic body. [171]
Vaguely memorable. [155]
Moderately interesting thriller about a femme fatale who lures an honest private eye into that dubious territory of moral ambiguity. The principals (William Hurt and Kathleen Turner) are sexy and know how to act. [133]
KATHLEEN TURNER, WILLIAM HURT
Cheesey exploitive Brooke Shields flick relies on pure titillation. [129]
Gennarino is a Marxist labourer who works summers on the yachts plying the Mediterrean Sea. Raffaella is the rich, right-wing, highly opinionated wife of the owner of one of these ships. Her favourite sport is berrating her husband, and the crew, of the boat, for their "idiotic" opinions on social and political issues. In fact, she goes at it non-stop, ridiculing all who disagree with her. She is a monster. One day, Gennarino has to take her to an island to swim, in a little rubber dighny. The motor fails, and while Raffaella lets Gennarino have it for his incompetence, another storm blows up, and they are "swept away" to a secluded island. At first, Raffaella continues to order Gennarino about, as usual, but gradually both come to the realization that the tables have turned. Instead being dependent on her wealth as an employer, she is dependent on Gennarino's skills as a forager and provider. And a monster of a master he becomes. Rather than liberating both from their slavery to an economic system, their roles become reversed with Gennarino acting the cruel master, and Raffaella becoming the submissive slave. Worst of all, she begins to like this new arrangement. I won't give away the ending, but it is a remarkable, unexpected twist. The film raises a host provocative questions about both economics and gender roles, leaving some of them unanswered. [60]
GIANCARLO GIANNINI, MERIANGELA MELATO, RICCARDO SALVINO
No, B movies really were b movies. [50]
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