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Reviews
The Graduate (1967)
read the book.......
If you read the book it's more obvious that Ben has a stalking problem. In one scene his father comes to tbe boarding house he's staying in and tells Ben that he needs to see a shrink. We don't see this scene in the movie and it could have taken the film in a direction that would have made it more interesting but they chose not include it sending the film on a dull path. As Pauline Kael said this movie is a typical 60's comedy in many ways, which I agree with. It's right up there with "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" if you think about it and even has a few characther actors from Bewitched. The filmmakers didn't want this to be a picture about mental illness so they tried to make it into a comedy which didn't really work in the end. Anne Bancroft is sexy in this movie, you can't deny that and I think people loved the fact that this movie was about the unthinkable, an older woman having an affair with a family friends son. At the time these things supposedly never happened and people must have enjoyed the shock of the idea. Now it's passe so I think you had to be there when it came out to really get it. It's very dated and not that enjoyable at this point in time.
For viewers that like to watch this over and over get a vcr that has a dial on the remote where you can go slowly through each clip, the party scene is the best place to do this, you see a lot of stuff that you miss watching the movie on regular speed.
For design buffs get a look at that beautiful Braun toaster in the Braddocks kitchen. The Robinsons house is very nouve riche. Check out the speakers in the bar and in the bedroom. These are made by a company called Nelco and they would be for someone with "New Money". The Robinsons lived through the depression and want it all in the 1960's. Bens parents house seems to be a little different, no bar and we see some of Bens gadgets in the bedroom. A nice portable tv(very expensive in those days, tv's were like portable computers now(i.e. IMAC)
Tony Rome (1967)
MOBSTER MOVIE
If you haven't seen this don't worry it's on cable almost every week. Whenever I realize I haven't seen it in a while it comes on again. This is a really fun movie, much better then the sequel "Lady in Cement", my friend and I were really disappointed in the sequel that we couldn't wait to see. Anyway Sinatra plays a local Private Eye, sort of a Rockford Files without the trailer, Sinatra is in a houseboat. After a local rich girl ends up in a broken down motel and her pin is missing, Sinatra is hired by her father(the great Simon Oakland) to find out who stole her jewerly. This was filmed on location so you really get to see 1960's Miami, it's fun just for that. Gena Rowlands stars as Oaklands wife, Jeannie Cooper the soap star is married to Gena's ex, Joe E. Lewis of Car 54 fame is a bartender and it also includes a lot of other 1960s character actor regulars(watch for Joan Shawlee as "Fat Candy", she was one of my favorites in "The Apartment", the girl Jack Lemmon spends christmas eve in a bar with. Keep an eye on AMC or TCM, they seem to run it the most
Far from Heaven (2002)
Please breath some life into these inflatable characters!
After the New York Times gave it a great review and supplied great photos I had to see it. I should have waited until it came on network tv. I don't usually like Haynes movies but I thought this would be an exception, it wasn't. Haynes seems to be obsessed with Barbie dolls(see Superstar)and it was obvious from watching this movie. The characters were lifeless and so was the plot. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, for this movie to go somewhere but it never did, spurts of ideas that were never fully developed. Why Haynes gets so much credit is beyond me. I think he got a lot of attention for the Carpenters movie and we never got rid of him. He is an artist but film doens't seem to be the right medium for him. Maybe a sculpture of Far from Heaven would have been more appealing.
Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story (1998)
Mediocre at best.
This is better then the Bette Midler vehicle but still doesn't work in my opinion. Michelle Lee looks a lot more like Susann then Bette Midler but she doesn't have Susann's spark, you need both. Lee produced this I assume because she wanted to play Susann. The same thing happened with Jessica Lange in the Patsy Cline story, she produced it, she played it, it didn't work,totally miscast. Bottom line: watchable but a missing something.
Isn't She Great (2000)
Isn't she wasting her time!
Anyone who likes this movie needs brain surgery. Why would you get Bette Midler to play Jackie Susann? The problem with this movie and the movie where Michelle Lee(HBO) played Jackie is that these woman produced and/or financed these films. If you back a film you can pretty much do what you want including playing the lead. Hopefully someone will try this again using the right people playing the parts(Regis Philbin as her husband is my choice). Micheal Korda(the writer) didn't like Susann so maybe this was his way of getting back at her. This film is pathetic and an insult to Susann. Please don't waste your time or money on it.
BKLYN_NY
Promises in the Dark (1979)
Good 80's movie
A fairly depressing movie with Kathleen Beller playing a dying preppy/suburban teenager. Great music(Cars, Kansas, James Taylor) and Marsha Mason is a hottie in this flick. The acting and the storyline are excellent. See this movie if you want to reflect on the early 1980's and look at Marsha but remember it's basically about someone dying, its depressing.
Fun with Dick and Jane (1977)
Insanity
This is a great 1970's movie with a hint of Blaxploitation. We have a couple of actors hear from Blaxploitation flix. Harry Holcombe who plays the pharmacist was in Foxy Brown and Thalmus Rasulala(the income maintenance technician) was in Blacula and Willie Dynamite. Gene Page who does the music for this movie wrote the music for Blacula. Lamont Dozier also contributes to the music, I think thats him singing in some of the songs towards the end of the movie and he also did the music for Detroit 9000(1973, another Blaxploitation flick). I also like the theme song to this movie sung by a group called "The Movies". This is a fun movie that I highly recommend.