Rc-Movie Blog II

 Amusing, but forgettable, satire about a Film company invading a small town in vermont to film a picture.  Filled with a great cast (Phillip Seymour Hoffman,  Bill Macey,  Rebbeca Pidgeon, etc) its worth a few smiles, and Mamett includes a few hard-nosed zingers.  However,  the townspeople (except for Mamett's wife - Rebbeca Pidgeon) are mostly ill-defined stereotypes and the story is very slight and familiar.  Seymour Hoffman's performance as the likable conflicted writer is the highlight.  As expcted, there's lots of talk: some  it witty, much of it trite.  Seems longer than its 105 minute run time.  Note: As a director Mamet is just average. 

 Great acting. Great photography.  Some cliches but overall an interesting plot.  Too bad it wasn't more realistic, and had Woody Harrelson character as straight-shooter and not a hypocrite.  "Dark and Gritty" can be boring at times. 

Plot:  Based on the James Bassett Novel.  A US Navy Captain fights the Japanese and finds Romance in the South Pacific  Stars:  Patricia Neal, John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Burgess Meredith,  Dana Andrews A mixed bag.  One of last Big Screen B&W World war II movies, it was puzzling choice by Otto Preminger,  a director better known for film noir, musicals, and sex dramas. A big budget, sprawling affair with an all-star cast, it suffers from a too literal adaptation of the source novel and an uneasy mixture of melodrama, action, and romance.  Despite the assistance of the US Navy, and onlocation filming in Hawaii,  Preminger has little feel for action scenes or military affairs.  The cast saves what could have been a massive failure,  with Neal and Wayne having excellent chemistry, and Douglas adding some spice as the reckless, violent, and impulsive 2nd in Command.  Overall, mediocre with some good scenes here and there....

 Plot: Biopic of Physcist Robert Oppenheimer, Head Scientist at the Manhattan Project Stars: Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jnr,  Elizabeth  Blunt First, my hats off to Christopher Nolan, not many film-makers could make even a C+ movie about a subject so intrinsically boring and un-dramatic. The acting and cinema-photography were great and kept me awake, but all the flashbacks, cut edits, horse rides, sex scenes, train rides, explosions, B&W photography, wonderful set design, and period authentic costumes’, couldn’t make what was actually said very interesting, or the actual story being told engaging. Or make me care about Oppenheimer. It was a puzzling choice by Nolan.  Why did one the 21st Centuries most successful Directors decide to tell the now obscure stories of Oppenheimer’s 1954 security clearance trial and 1957 Admiral Strauss’ Senate confirmation hearing? Or dwell on Oppenheimer’s private life? Even the one part of the movie that should be fa...

 Crooklyn (1994) Plot: Spike Lee's semi-autobiographical story a 1973 black family with five kids in Brooklyn. I always find Spike Lee hit or miss. This is a miss. Spike was going for vibrant, funny, and touching but ended up with loud and annoying. Given the mediocre script and lack of charm and story, this needed a much better cast.

  Plot:  The trials and tribulations of criminal defense attorney (and former conman) Jimmy McGill before his meeting Walter White.  I had a hard time getting into this one.  Sleezy lawyers and con-men are not my favorite characters.  Although labeled a "crime drama" the first episode seemed more comic than dramatic. Maybe, I will give it another shot later on.