Change Your Image
pjmille
Reviews
Frenchman's Creek (1944)
secret pleasure
Yes, this movie is a secret pleasure of mine. I loved the book by DuMaurier--considering it one of my all time favorites--and have read it several times. To have the book brought to life on the screen is rewarding. Yes, the color and acting are great, but I imagine so much more in my fantasies. I wish Hedy Lamarr would have played Dona. She was so beautiful, and I believe, could have carried off the "tomboy" just as well, if not more believably, than Fontaine. (Such as her Samson and Delilah role.) As far as the pirate, I'm OK with Cordova, but his small stature sort of detracts from the fantasy. He's adequate enough, and foreign enough, to carry this film for me. I puzzle over who I would have preferred to play that part. I'm not sure I would have liked Errol Flynn in the part (as suggested). I not familiar with enough foreign actors at that time (1940's) to suggest who. I suppose if it were more recent, possibly Gerard Depardieu would have fit in nicely. All in all, I love this movie. The ending is bittersweet. Basil Rathbone provides a believable menace and Nigel Bruce is perfect in his role as the dithering husband. As I said, a "secret pleasure". I treasure this movie.
Legend of the Lost (1957)
Great movie.
I loved this movie and after getting my first DVD player, ordered the DVD as one of my first. I love the story, music and cinematography. It transports me to the desert every time I watch it. I disagree that there's no chemistry between Wayne and Loren. After all they are almost at each other's throats up to the point when the lost city is discovered. He disdains her and believes she is manipulating Bonnard. When she follows and joins them in the desert, his troubles are doubled. He has one more person to look out for and must ration--even further--food and water. They begin to bond as Brazzi begins to go mad.
I need to correct one commenter who describes the skeletons of the prostitute, Bonnard's father, and the guide. The guide is the one with the knife in his back and the prostitute embraced him--not Bonnard's father. Bonnard's father is the single figure off to the side with the bullet to the head. The letter found in the prostitute's purse is from Bonnard's father. The father was obviously in love with the prostitute and promised to shower her with jewels. She apparently was in love with the guide as she died with her arms around him instead of the father. Since the guide died with a knife in the back, he was the one to die first.
All in all, I love this movie, and enjoy seeing Wayne in a different movie than the usual western. I would also recommend two other Wayne pictures in which he is excellent. Horse Soldiers and North to Alaska.
Blast from the Past (1999)
wonderful movie
I agree with so many--this movie is wonderful. I tuned in as Brendan was leaving the shelter. From that strange beginning, I became enthralled with the story. Brendan is fantastic. Now I know who my favorite, sexiest male star is. I agree with someone else who wrote that Alicia Silverstone's character is rather hard to understand. The movie doesn't quite give us much about why she seems so hostile about men interested in her, and why she treats Brendan the way she does. I laughed out loud when he said "I was going to ask you why he wears other men's underwear". (re: Ralph Lauren) Again, when his mom (Sissy Spacek) senses there's trouble by Adam's frantic entrance and asks what's wrong. "I'm being followed by psychiatrists!" (his parents gasp--hilarious!)
This movie is sweet and tender. I wish more movies were like this one.
Falling in Love (1984)
wow
Getting ready for work this morning, I only got to see part of this movie. What little I got to see was enchanting. The romance between DeNiro and Streep seemed absolutely real. It's one of those movies that makes you forget these are two big stars. They became the two normal people they were playing. The romance between them, the looks, the dialogue, were electric and as solid as if you could reach out and touch something with body to it. As many of the reviewers state, if you've ever been in love, you can identify with this romance--especially if you've been married. The feelings this man and woman bare to their friends are exactly the way it is, and things you don't even bare to the lover. "I know you disapprove. I don't approve either. It just is." (Forgive me if I misquoted badly.) I have got to see this movie again!