Figaro14 Reviews

Knock at the Cabin (2023)

What a missed opportunity!

[2/10 · 17 February 2023]

While this script could have been crafted into an excellent psychological drama dealing with the phenomenon of the echo chamber and conspiracy theories, Shyamalan's obsession with a "real" apocalypse absolutely ruins this film. I found myself getting angrier and angrier as the film progressed towards its absurd conclusion. I don't think I've ever seen so many missed opportunities in one film. He tried this apocalypse idea in After Earth and The Happening, and both films were dismal failures. Add one more to his list. The film lacks the tension, suspense, and scares we'd get from a more traditional home invasion movie, and that he makes all the characters -- except maybe the one played by Rupert Grint -- warm and friendly -- just adds to the overall problem with this film. Epic fail!

Exploited (2022)

Undeserving of a 3.8 rating!

[7/10 · 27 June 2022]

I've sat through many a big budget horror film that was far, far worse. Here's what I'll say. The film held my attention throughout. The characters were interesting, and the acting strong. The film has a polished and professional look and feel -- certainly as professional as any mainstream Hollywood horror genre film. The film also kept me guessing about the killer and it did not have that typical "third act letdown" that so many horror films have.

A Stormy Night (I) (2020)

Ambitious Undertaking

[6/10 · 15 January 2022]

Many will detest this film because it is, simply put, two guys talking. The film is, for the most part, a stage play and is very much in the spirit of 60s modernist European cinema. The acting is strong and the the script is thought-provoking. The film avoids the obvious cliché of having the two characters end up having sex together. They simply talk. I think many of the negative reviews on here are because there is really no intense conflict that develops in the storyline.

Limelight (I) (2017)

What an incredible waste of time and what a mess!

[1/10 · 28 December 2021]

The start of the film strongly implies that this naïve, talentless straight guy thinks he's going to be a "movie star" but will end up in gay porn. However, this incredibly confusing, muddled mess of a script has him making some odd film for 6+ months (????) however, we never actually get to see any scenes shot and there is lots and lots of discussion about social media and competing producers. Also, he's immediately provided (free of charge!) a very nice apartment and presumably all expenses are taken care of. OMG, this is such a train wreck. I kept thinking there is going to be some sort of twist, but no, it just gets worse and worse and worse. The acting is about as good as the script. How did this ever get made and exactly in what alternate universe do guys with no experience or talent from small towns get offered staring roles in legit films?

The Haunting of Margam Castle (2020)

Painfully Bad and Unintentionally Funny

[1/10 · 3 September 2020]

Looking for some horror films to watch during the Pandemic, I stumbled across this hot mess. The film mixes together clunky script, extremely bad acting, and the unintentionally funny moments to make for one of the single worst horror films in recent memory. Let's take for example the scene in the pub where all the characters talk ad nauseum about what Welsh Rarebit is! My favorite moment is when the medium is "seized" by one of the ghosts, and the character's response is to say, "She's gone! We can't help her." That was a laugh out loud moment. The actors playing the ghosts seem more like children dressing up for Halloween than anything remotely scary. Unless you want to use this film for a Mystery Science Theatre party, I'd suggest you use 90 minutes for something else.

Flight (I) (2012)

About as entertaining as attending an AA meeting

[5/10 · 3 November 2012]

During the late 1960's and 1970's I remember that independent producers used to make these "church" films, and rent out the movie theaters to show them. The films were under the guise of "entertainment" pictures, but essentially were morality tales about the evils of drugs, alcohol addiction, infidelity, etc. This movie smacks of that sort of picture. Character with substance abuse problem refuses to admit he has a problem, and must be re-born. God, I hate being preached to. I don't like it in church and I certainly don't like it in movies. This film is a huge disappointment. Preachy, predictable and pedestrian. I would have expected better of Robert Zemekis. Perhaps he has been attending too many AA meetings these days, because the film feels like it was made by Alcoholics Anonymous.

The Watch (I) (2012)

Worst Comedy of the Year

[5/10 · 28 July 2012]

The Watch is a witless film, filled inexplicably with penis jokes. Jonah Hill's unfunny character is especially disturbing to endure given especially the recent real life events. He plays a sociopath loner who collects firearms. While the script makes several references to his interest in heterosexual sexual exploits, he has an odd obsession with large penises. Eventually the script morphs into a comedic version of "Aliens" in a final showdown at the local Costco.

Ben Stiller is somewhat bland in the thankless role of straight man placed in the group of sophomoric buffoons who only want to belong to the neighborhood watch to bond and get drunk. The film is embarrassingly bad, and probably ranks as one of the worst comedies of the year.

Game Change (2012 TV Movie)

Stellar film and performances -- but only a fraction of the actual book

[8/10 · 9 April 2012]

This film is a must-see for anyone the least bit interested in the political process. While Palin supporters undoubtedly will be deeply offended by it, it presents an accurate, realistic and unbiased account of McCain's team to find a running mate that would attract the right wing vote and in the process fails to properly vet her.

I had read the book prior to seeing the film, and I knew the film really deals with only one very small section of the entire book. The book itself "Game Change" is actually much more about the Clinton's and Obama. There is also a large section of the book which deals with John Edwards and his wife. Any of these sections would be material for several more films.

I felt one of the real strengths of the film was in the performances. Julianne Moore, Ed Harris and Woody Harrelson all turn in outstanding performances without attempting to do "impersonations" of the real life characters.

Dream Boy (2008)

Powerful and underrated film

[7/10 · 16 February 2010]

I began watching the film with mild interest and very quickly was drawn into the quiet intensity of the film. One must avoid any discussion of specific plot elements, which would ultimately spoil the experience of the film. It is NOT as some have called it, a "Brokeback Mountain" about teenagers. It is different. It is unique. It is beautiful photographed, sensitively told and atmospheric. I was especially impressed with the performances of Stephan Bender as Nathan and Max Roeg as Roy. While I had no idea what the exact outcome of the film would be, there is a "foreboding" that overshadows the entire story; You get clues along the way that "something is wrong." But the final 20 minutes or so will probably really surprise you. There is much more going on here that can be easily summarized in a user review or with a catch line that describes the plot's formula. I think it's the type of film that will provoke a great deal of discussion and it deserved to be released on DVD.

Bernadette (1988)

An interesting side by side comparison to Song of Bernadette

[7/10 · 14 September 2008]

When I was in Lourdes, I wanted to see this version, which plays daily at the small movie theatre -- but the theatre had shut down for the season. I finally got to see this on DVD recently. I was aware that the version with Jennifer Jones, "The Song of Bernadette" took quite a few dramatic liberties with the story so I was eager to see how this version compared. The attempt here is to present a more accurate re-telling of both the miracles as well as Bernadette's family life. We don't have the antagonists in this like we do in the original and we don't have much of the dramatic conflicts that drive the original so as a narrative, this doesn't work as well, but the story is told with beauty and simplicity. The settings far more accurately represent what Lourdes really looked like too. I think this is well worth watching for anyone interested in Lourdes.

Mack the Knife (1989)

A flat but passable version

[6/10 · 13 September 2008]

I remember when this version opened at the Chicago Film Festival. There was a reasonable about of excitement about it since there is no contemporary filmed version of Three Penny Opera at all. My conclusion after seeing it is that the big problem is that Three Penny Opera probably can't be successfully filmed at all and still capture the raw stage energy of the stage production. The very idea of the piece is the break the fourth wall between the actors and the audience. I think it's odd nonetheless that this version has never been transferred to DVD. I agree however that the criticisms of it are too harsh. Many a filmed musical from the 1980's and 1990's period has this same look and feel where all the energy of the stage version has been completely drained from the piece.

Saraband (1948)

Look for the Well-Executed Montage Sequence

[6/10 · 20 May 2007]

This is the type of film that shows how one can find interesting small moments in an otherwise rather average film. Buried in the middle of this film is a five minute beautiful example of a montage by rhythm as Joan Greenwood tries to make her way through a chaotic masque ball in order to meet her lover. The sequence climaxes with a series of flash pans and POV shots as we are thrust into the center of the action with the character. The filmmaker inserts fast POV shots of close ups of the masked revelers. The cuts and flash pans are edited rhythmically with the music and make for a wonderful example of a well-executed montage sequence. Show just this sequence to film students.

AKA (2002)

Much better without the triptych effect

[7/10 · 5 March 2007]

I (fortunately) viewed this for the first time on the DVD version where the filmmaker chooses to use the triptych effect only once to punctuate a party scene. This is much the same way that this technique was used by the French Impressionist filmmakers of the 1920's. They never filmed entire movies using these kinds of avant-garde techniques. However I understand that those who watched this film in the theater had to endure the triptych effect throughout the entire move. As a reference, the director has included the triptych version on the DVD. The technique wears thin after only a few minutes and makes it impossible to focus on story and character. See this film in its conventional version and I'm certain you will enjoy it.

The Art of Film (1976– )

1 of the first important series on film studies

[10/10 · 20 September 2006]

This series of mostly 15 - 20 minute 16mm film programs was made in the 1970's by Film Perspective company out of Chicago. If you happened to be at a high school or college where any of the films in this series are still owned, guard them with your life!

Even though the film examples are dated, much of the series is still highly educational.

"The Emerging Chaplin" is especially good as are the episodes on sound and the edited image among others.

Rod Serling's mellifluous voice is a bonus. I've tried for years to find out if any company holds the rights to these and would love to see the entire series restored to DVD.

Solo (1972)

A Nice Learning Tool For Film Students

[8/10 · 8 September 2006]

I continue like this this very short film by Mike Hoover. It's really more of a poetic documentary. It is completely wordless and really makes us feel the joy that this filmmaker gets from mountain climbing. The film incorporates nearly every basic film technique taught in film school and its a great learning tool for beginning film students. I especially like the way Hoover uses time compression so skillfully. We forget that his climb up the mountain actually a series of climbs compressed into about 9 minutes) and his descent (about 30 seconds long) is all created with skillful editing. It's too bad that Pyramid films which owns the rights to this couldn't have struck a new print before transferring this to DVD! The DVD transfer looks really bad. It appears to be simply a copy of a video dup of the original 16mm.

Defying Gravity (1997)

Look beyond the low budget production values and sometimes really bad acting

[7/10 · 20 July 2006]

There's a gem of a script here. Clearly the filmmaker is working on a ultra low budget. Many of the supporting cast deliver their lines as if they are in a high school play -- they are painfully wooden. However the idea behind the film is an important one and the film will touch you on multiple levels. I somehow wish this script could get fine tuned and remade as a major production. I feel the film as a lot to say about the pressures of college life -- especially that of living in a frat house on a big ten campus and having to lead a double life.

Some of the material for the story appears to have been inspired by the Matthew Shepard story and the film feels extremely relevant.

In spite of the low budget nature of the film, see this picture!

Making Love (1982)

History will be kinder to this film, I think

[7/10 · 15 May 2006]

From a purely sociological viewpoint, this is a very important motion picture and should not be so lightly dismissed.

I remember vividly when this film first came out. Audiences were either thoroughly disgusted by the subject matter or simply ambivalent. I sat in a movie theater during this film, and when the part where the two men kiss came on the screen, people stormed out of the theater demanding their money back.

One of the most laughable (and saddest) aspects of the release was that Paramount had to put a HUGE RED WARNING MESSAGE on the screen before the film started to caution audiences about the subject matter.

I re-watched the film the other night and its interesting to see that this film was 25 years ahead of Brokeback Mountain and in many respects has far fewer gay stereotypes in it than Brokeback does. (No one dies or wishes they were dead and no one kills anyone because they are gay.) It's a deeply satisfying love drama much the same as The Way We Were.

I have a tremendous respect for Barry Sandler who wrote the screenplay. In another time and place, this film would have succeeded. The film is an important part of film history for several reasons. It was the very first mainstream Hollywood film to deal openly with Gay subject matter in a positive way. It proved that male actors in Hollywood could play gay roles. (However neither of the male leads careers were ever the same again because of the film. Harry Hamlin couldn't get work for five years and Michael Ontkean career as a leading man came to a screeching halt. ) In the new DVD release of the print, Paramount has removed the original warning message since the film is quite tame by today's standards. However I think it should have stayed there as a reminder to us all of how narrow minded and prejudice our American society can really be.

Watch this back to back with Brokeback Mountain and you'll see how groundbreaking this film really was. In 1982 critics and audiences jeered at this film and now in 2006 critics and audiences are praising Brokeback Mountain.

Trick (1999)

Great Gay Romantic Comedy

[8/10 · 23 March 2006]

Jim Falls applies the mainstream Hollywood romantic comedy genre to a gay situation and the results are delightful. The film is a breath of fresh air and in some respects groundbreaking because it shows us that stories are stories and people are people no matter what their sexual orientation. The film traces a few hours in the lives of a couple of young men who meet and are attracted to one another but can't find a place to be alone and have sex. In the process of a few episodic situations, they actually get to know one another.

Some day maybe this will be trite stuff, but based on prejudicial attitudes that exist in society today, it's a fairly important film. The drag queen in the restroom scene is priceless. And those cute ears on J.P. Pitoc!

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

One of the Best Films of 2005

[9/10 · 26 December 2005]

Don't let the advanced press about the subject matter of this film dissuade anyone from seeing this. OK, sure the characters are repressed Gay men living in the 1960's attempting to conform to what society expects of them. But the movie is so much more than this. It's about unfulfilled dreams and the missed chances for happiness. It is something every human being can relate to. I think the performances are outstanding and the movie treats the subject matter with a seriousness that prevents it from ever becoming maudlin or even simplistic.

Heath Ledger is superb as the tormented cowboy trying desperately to conform. If there is but one weakness with the film, it is that the Gyllenhaal's performance cannot possibly match Ledger's.

This is by far one of the best films of the 2005.

Casino (1995)

Grim and depressing

[6/10 · 23 September 2005]

While I realize this is based (inspired?) (adapted?) from a true story, nonetheless the main characters are truly disgusting people. I find absolutely nothing redeeming in any of them. This makes the film itself quite difficult to endure.

I think a documentary on the history of the Las Vegas casinos would be far more interesting than watching these people commit unspeakable acts of cruelty in the name of greed. I know there's suppose to be a social message in here somewhere, but its somehow lost in all the screaming and horrible beatings we have to witness along the way. The plot line of the unhealthy relationship between Sharon Stone's character and DeNiro's grows tiresome very quickly and I found myself wanting this film to be over with much much sooner. The one good thing I can say about it is that it makes me want to never visit Las Vegas again.

The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

Gay Subtext?

[9/10 · 16 July 2005]

This film is a great example of some of the low budget independently produced films of the film noir movement. At first you may wonder where our "femme fatale" is in this noir film. However this is one of many such films of the noir movement that show that you don't have to have a woman that causes you to enter the twilight zone of despair and doom.

The film demonstrates some of the essential elements of noir and even hints that the "wrong turn" that our main characters take, this time two men, not one, is because they are really attracted to one another. Noir is one of the best types of film produced at the height of the Hollywood Production Code to heavily encode its material. Read between the lines of this movie and see if the undoing of our main characters is not really caused by the fact that they are having an "illicit romance."

War of the Worlds (2005)

Don't Waste Your Time. It's a HUGE disappointment.

[1/10 · 30 June 2005]

This is a film that is all special effects and zero plot. Many of the plot elements -- loosely based on the George Pal 1953 version -- make absolutely no sense in this version. Having Tom Cruise play an auto mechanic instead of the Gene Barry role of the scientist takes away any opportunity for plausible explanations of what is happening. Essentially what you are left with is two hours of running from Alien war machines.

There is no growing threat whatsoever. Within minutes of the start of the film, the Aliens are attacking and people run and die. Not much to hang a two hour film on. Don't waste your time. Watch the original instead. It's far superior to this shoddy remake.

Joy Ride (2001)

Script Continuity

[8/10 · 20 April 2005]

While I enjoy this movie, there is an obvious script continuity problem with the ending. Three of the four characters all get a good look at Rusty Nail. Venna has ample opportunity to look at Rusty Nail while he's taping her up in the chair. Fuller sees him when Rusty Nail grabs him. Charlotte certainly has seen him. She's been riding with him for hours (days?) And Fulller clearly knows what the "ice man" looks like. However none of them realize that the body in the driver seat of the truck is that of the "ice man" and not Rusty Nail? The "ice man" and Rusty Nail look nothing alike. This is really hard to swallow even on first viewing! Why would they

Irma la Douce (1963)

Good if you don't know the musical

[13 November 2002]

I have always been disappointed with this movie only because I was a huge fan of the very under-rated musical upon which it is based. Hollywood has often significantly altered stage musicals (ie. Cabaret) and written new scores for the movie versions, but I've seldom known them to do what they did with this film. They completely scrapped the songs and re-wrote the book. (Some on the music from the original stage musical remains as incidental music in the film score.)

While Lemmon and McClain deliver strong comic performances, I wish Wilder had tried to retain more of the original musical and those wonderful melodic songs when making the film version. (Imagine "Sweet Charity" with all the songs removed and the book re-written and that's what you have here.)

Oleanna (1994)

Not as electric as the live stage production, but still worth seeing

[7/10 · 7 February 2000]

For those who saw the theatrical production, this version seems flat even though William H. Macy repeats his stage performance and the script is virtually the same. Mamet uses every conceivable camera angle in an attempt to ventilate the play for the screen. Somehow it just doesn't come off quite as well as seeing the same show in the live theater. I think people who never saw the stage show will still argue just as forcefully over who is right and who is wrong. It is a minor criticism, but I was constantly distracted by the idea that a non-tenured professor would have an office suite on the campus larger than any president of a major university.