ON THE BEACH -- Stanley Kramer, dir

©1959
studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
production company: Lomitas Productions Inc.
dir: Stanley Kramer
cast: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins, Donna Anderson
screenplay: John Paxton
based on a novel by Nevil Shute


The residents of Australia after a global nuclear war must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.

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I quite enjoyed thi smovie. Much of it was very powerful and certain scenes still stick with me (for instance, I just loved the moment when the captain of the sub (Peck) lets each man take a look through the periscope at the devasted shoreline of San Francisco. Instead of any kind of commentary or even sighs or gasps from each man, we simply see each snap the handles to the periscope closed and then walk away, very stone-faced. It's a strong moment and works better than any dialog could have.

From time to time I wondered why this all-star cast movie wasn't more popular, but I think that there are a number of reasons that it's not a viewer favorite. First, it has a terribly depressing ending -- the end of all life on the earth. Hard to walk out of a movie theatre with that on your mind.

A secondly, it is a tad too long. There were too many sub-plots and some of the scenes just ran too long. The story-line of Anthony Perkins looking for a special pill for his wife and baby to take in order to die quickly, was too extended, and of course has a false resolution of him returning home to them (even though they will all be dead in a matter of months).

A good movie, well put together, worth watching, but could using some trimming.

THE MALTESE FALCON -- John Huston, dir

©1941
studio: Warner Home Video
production company: First National Pictures Inc., Warner Bros. Pictures
director: John Huston
cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Lee Patrick, Sydney Greenstreet, Ward Bond, Jerome Cowan, Elisha Cook, Jr.
screenplay: John Huston from a novel by Dashiell Hammett


Sam Spade, a private detective, gets involved in a murderous hunt for a valuable statuette.

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There are reasons that something which is considered to be a classic, is such. The direction, acting, plot, all bring the story to life. It is difficult to find one aspect that makes it successful.

Bogart is really quite wonderful as Sam Spade. We never quite know where Spade is coming from, and when he is on the up-and-up, though we hope that he's honest, we just don't know. This really adds the right spice to the character.

I was quite surprised to learn later that this was Huston's first film.

If you haven't taken the time to watch this film, you should. If you have, but haven't seen it in awhile, you should make the time to watch it again.

BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE -- Stephen Herek, dir

©1989
studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
production company: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), Interscope Communications, Nelson Entertainment, Soisson/Murphey Productions
director: Stephen Herek
cast: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin, Terry Camilleri, Dan Shor
screenplay: Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon

In order to pass their high school history final, two "valley dudes" travel back in time to bring historical figures to their school.

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I'm not sure where I was in 1989, but I am sure that I was NOT in the theatres watching this movie.

I will admit to being slightly surprised that there was actually an interesting story in this film. Unfortunately, I was not able to enjoy it because the "valley speak" of the duo was just too much for me to over-come. And while I generally don't have any problem simply accepting some aspects of a science fiction story, there were just too many inconsistencies in this for me to enjoy.

Although my wife and kids really like this film, I simply can not recommend it.

PLEASANTVILLE -- Gary Ross, dir

©1998
studio: New Line Home Video
production company: Larger Than Life Productions, New Line Cinema
director: Gary Ross
cast: Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, Jeff Daniels, J.T. Walsh, Don Knotts
screenplay: Gary Ross

Two teenagers find themselves in a 1950's sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that complacent world.

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I rather wanted to like this movie, but it failed on too many levels. First was the character, played by Don Knotts. I appreciate the "joke" of casting such a familiar figure from the "good old days" of television, but I never understood who he was, why he had the powers that he did. If he was some sort of an "angel" or what have you, why was there ever any question about giving the magic remote to Tobey and Reese?

Reese Witherspoon was never believable ... not as a "slut" and not as a "good girl" (would any person ever really say, "I've done the slut thing"?). And for a television junkie, nerd, Tobey Maguire somehow became too cool.

The absolutely best thing about this DVD was listening to Randy Newman talk for two hours, and occassionally listen to the score he wrote. For Randy Newman, I recommend renting this DVD.

OCEAN'S TWELVE -- Steven Soderbergh, dir

©2004
studio: Warner Home Video
production company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Jerry Weintraub Productions, Section Eight Ltd., WV Films III LLC
director: Steven Soderbergh
cast: Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, George Clooney, Ed Kross, Julia Roberts, Don Tiffany, Anne Jacques, David Sontag, Larry Sontag, Andy Garcia, Casey Affleck, Dina Connolly, Scott Caan
screenplay: George Nolfi
from characters created by: George Clayton Johnson & Jack Golden Russell

After successfully robbing a Las Vegas resort, Daniel Ocean gets his gang of thieves back together to pull of a major hiest in Europe.

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Part of the failure of this movie is that we learned from the forst that not all is as it seems. Like the classic Mission: Impossible television show, even the supposed mistakes and captures are all part of the plan, and so here to we are now prepared to see them get out of all scrapes.

The action was more disjointed, and my wife and I felt the need to go back and remind ourselves who some of the characters were. It didn't help that not every character is listed in the credits at the end. I'm not sure why they did that, but it was damned frustrating!

If you loved Ocean's Eleven, you may enjoy this, otherwise, it's probably a waste of time.

SERENITY -- Joss Whedon, dir

©2005
studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
production company: Mutant Enemy, Universal Pictures, Barry Mendel Productions
director: Joss Whedon
cast: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Summer Glau, Ron Glass, Chiwetel Ejiofor
screenplay: Joss Whedon

Former galactic war veteran turned hired transporter Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds and his crew of the transport shuttle "Serenity", are hired to protect teenage girl River Tam, from The Operative, the mysterious agent of the Alliance.

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I liked this film quite a bit, but I did wonder if it would make any sense to anyone not familiar with the series Firefly.

Part of what I liked about the film was that the deaths of some of the major characters seemed so random and quick, and not at all heroic, as one might expect in such a film.

Knowing the past of the crew and the girl, River, seems vital to understanding why and how the characters relate to one another, and in that sense, the film does not stand well alone. For those already familiar with the series, the film seems to be a wonderful culmination of events, still with the potential for a future.

Recommended for those who've seen the series.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND -- Steven Spielberg, dir

©1977
studio: Sony Pictures
production company: Columbia Pictures Corporation, EMI Films Ltd.
director: Steven Spielberg
cast: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban, J. Patrick McNamara, Warren J. Kemmerling, Roberts Blossom, Philip Dodds, Cary Guffey, Shawn Bishop, Adrienne Campbell, Justin Dreyfuss
screenplay: Steven Spielberg

After having a close encounter with a U.F.O., Roy Neary (and others) struggle to understand why they are drawn to Devil's Tower in Wyoming.

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Though I've seen this quite a number of times, it has been a long time since I last watched this classic.

Even though I remember the movie fondly, it's not one that begs my attention, and as I watched this again, I can understand why. It is obvious that this is an early Spielberg movie. It relies too much on simply accepting a few improbable ideas (not the only which is that U.F.O.'s really are ships of an alien race and from outer space).

For instance, how is it that he loses his job but there is no change in the household? How is it that he hooks up with the Melinda Dillon character, and suddenly we see nothing more of Teri Garr? How is the music interpretted into colors? Where does this HUGE, MASSIVE mothership come from without our having seen it before? Why have people been kidnapped? ... then returned, un-aged? ... and yet we don't see the presence of the mothership as a threat?

Actually, as I watched this again, my biggest disappointment is seeing an alien at the end. I know that it was based on all the supposed sightings (which was all the rage back then [J. Allen Hyneck was a known figure to most people who watched the movie in the 70's]) but my feeling now was that it would have been much more suspenseful and creative to never actually see an alien -- only what they are capable of.

Still a recommended movie, but it lacks the power and punch that it had thirty years ago.

THE SHIPPING NEWS -- Lasse Hallström, dir

©2001
production company: Miramax Films
dir: Lasse Hallström
cast: Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Pete Postlethwaite,
screenplay: Robert Nelson Jacobs
based on a novel by E. Annie Proulx

An emotionally-beaten man with his young daughter moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life.

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I wanted to like this film, but found it unnecessarily confusing and odd. All along I thought that perhaps the Kavin Spacey character was "slow," but this was never developed or answered, and yet it might have made a difference.

Judi Dench was quite wonderful, but the fact that she held a dark secret was not revealed until much too late in the movie. And the little girl's "gift" ... is this important? Yes! Is it developed? No!

Some great possibilities here, and the novel is probably quite wonderful based on this potential, but a failure to follow through.

Skip it and read the book.

TREASURE PLANET -- Ron Clement & John Musker, Dirs

©2001
studio: Walt Disney Video
production company: Walt Disney Pictures
cast: Roscoe Lee Browne, Corey Burton, Dane A. Davis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tony Jay
directors: Ron Clements & John Musker
screenplay: Ron Clements
(based on a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson)

A Disney animated version of "Treasure Island". The only difference is that the film is set in outerspace with alien worlds and other galactic wonders.

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This was a Netflix film for my kids which barely held their interest. There is really nothing at all engaging about this film. The bad guys aren't quite bad enough and the good guys aren't quite good enough.

It of course featured a typical Disney "cute" character, which, as they often do, took away from what story they had left in this bastardized adaptation. It felt as though the studio was trying to show how many strange and creative aliens they were able to come up with, rather than developing a solid story. And so the story falters, and quite frankly even their variety of aliens pales next to sci-fi films of three decades past.

You probably haven't heard much hype on this film, and there's good reason. It's just not very good.