"Wendy & Lucy" is powerful film making and its brilliance is in its simplicity. As with "Old Joy" it relies on limited dialogue and the scenic beauty of Oregon to carry it along. There's something almost deeply poetic about the Pacific Northwest landscape. It's a postcard and simple story about self sacrifice and survival. Some people would refer to it as a character study, I suppose. Wendy, as played by Michelle Williams gives an incredibly nuanced and performance. Notice how she stares down the store owner after she is detained. The character of the security guard keeps it from becoming completely cynical. What else can be said? The film is poignant and disturbing.
Reviews
12 Reviews
Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring
(1971 TV Movie)
Gidget goes counter culture...
3 September 2006
I, like others, saw this movie during a rebroadcast one afternoon late in 1971. At the time I was in the third grade and apparently impressed enough by this movie to remember it 35 years later. (I especially remembered the scene where Dennie "pretend plays" with her dolls and doll house alone in her bedroom). It turns out this movie was in a bargain bin of DVDs for one dollar and I was finally able to see it again. At the time this movie debuted in 1971, Sally Field had just completed the series "The Flying Nun" which had been canceled. In 1971 TV audiences must've been shocked by this drastic change in character in contrast to the squeaky clean image Ms. Fields had been known for on TV. Audiences in 1971 were not ready to accept her drastic change in character and unfortunately did not recognize her versatility as an actor. I found this movie especially poignant since I had an older teenage brother who left home and went to live with his dad during the same time.
"Maybe I'll Come Home In the Spring" is a first rate TV movie about a then extremely relevant issue with good acting, a good script, and a first rate title song sung by a first rate artist--Linda Ronstadt before she achieved superstar status. Where the movie lags is in its excessive flashbacks and a party scene which is rather ridiculous and unnecessarily dramatic. However, production values and direction are excellent, especially for a TV movie. The movie draws the viewer in immediately and keeps its attention, from its interesting beginning starting with Dennie hitch hiking her way across the country with a narration voice over of her speaking on the telephone as she reestablishes contact with her parents. She gingerly approaches the topic of returning home by casually telling them, "Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring", hence the movie's title. Poignant, right from the start!
Sally Fields plays Dennie, a young woman who returns home after a hippie sojourn which didn't work out. David Carradine plays "Flack", the hippie boyfriend who deserted her and Eleanor Parker is the super image conscious mother Dennie must confront and learn to communicate with again.
The rest of the movie deals with Dennie's adjustment and reintegration into the family while she reflects on her sojourn. Her major problem is being ignored by her parents and a mother who simply hasn't a clue why she left in the first place and doesn't understand her. Meanwhile, her younger sister begins to romanticize Dennie's hippie sojourn and copies it, in spite of the older sister's attempts to dissuade her and warn her of the negative consequences of doing drugs.
The movie bluntly shows the audience the reality and negative consequences of living the hippie lifestyle, vis a vis Dennie's experience which is shown in a series of quick flashbacks. At the time, the public's perception and romance with the hippie lifestyle was being drastically altered and portrayed quite negatively by the media thanks to the Charles Manson trial which was in full swing at the time.
In fact, the film is definitely bias against the counter culture relying heavily on stereotypes promoted by the media while in fact not all hippies are meth addicts and rummage through the garbage, etc. Many held jobs and contributed to society or held jobs and lived on self supporting communes. One scene which I dislike, told in a flashback shows Dennie's boyfriend, Flack high on Meth and crashing through a window in slow motion not once but THREE times while Field's character cries "Flaaaaaack!"
Having stated that, this movie was remarkably realistic. There is a lot of yelling and screaming and door slamming in it, and many teen agers who lived during that era can probably relate to it, especially those who got fed up and ran away from home. Sally Fields is especially good at these types of brooding, nuanced performances. She was around 24 at the time this was filmed but could easily pass for sixteen in this movie. The viewing public was not ready for this type of drastic change from her squeaky clean "good" girl portrayals to this "bad" girl characterization. It would be another four years before she would have the opportunity to prove to the TV watching public her versatility as an actor playing a schizophrenic with multiple personalities in "Sybil". After that, it would be another four years for her to achieve superstar status in her Oscar winning performance as "Norma Jean". When Ms. Field's stated "You like me, you really like me" she was referring to the public's acceptance of her as a versatile actor who could play various roles, not just the squeaky clean ones but complex, nuanced characters as well.
I recently saw Ms. Fields on the "Ellen" show where she talked about being typecast and how much she wanted to play more diverse and interesting characters, but she simply wasn't offered such roles because of "Gidget". Patty Duke would've been good in this type of roll because she already had a "bad" girl reputation at the time.
I give this movie three stars *** out of five.
"Maybe I'll Come Home In the Spring" is a first rate TV movie about a then extremely relevant issue with good acting, a good script, and a first rate title song sung by a first rate artist--Linda Ronstadt before she achieved superstar status. Where the movie lags is in its excessive flashbacks and a party scene which is rather ridiculous and unnecessarily dramatic. However, production values and direction are excellent, especially for a TV movie. The movie draws the viewer in immediately and keeps its attention, from its interesting beginning starting with Dennie hitch hiking her way across the country with a narration voice over of her speaking on the telephone as she reestablishes contact with her parents. She gingerly approaches the topic of returning home by casually telling them, "Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring", hence the movie's title. Poignant, right from the start!
Sally Fields plays Dennie, a young woman who returns home after a hippie sojourn which didn't work out. David Carradine plays "Flack", the hippie boyfriend who deserted her and Eleanor Parker is the super image conscious mother Dennie must confront and learn to communicate with again.
The rest of the movie deals with Dennie's adjustment and reintegration into the family while she reflects on her sojourn. Her major problem is being ignored by her parents and a mother who simply hasn't a clue why she left in the first place and doesn't understand her. Meanwhile, her younger sister begins to romanticize Dennie's hippie sojourn and copies it, in spite of the older sister's attempts to dissuade her and warn her of the negative consequences of doing drugs.
The movie bluntly shows the audience the reality and negative consequences of living the hippie lifestyle, vis a vis Dennie's experience which is shown in a series of quick flashbacks. At the time, the public's perception and romance with the hippie lifestyle was being drastically altered and portrayed quite negatively by the media thanks to the Charles Manson trial which was in full swing at the time.
In fact, the film is definitely bias against the counter culture relying heavily on stereotypes promoted by the media while in fact not all hippies are meth addicts and rummage through the garbage, etc. Many held jobs and contributed to society or held jobs and lived on self supporting communes. One scene which I dislike, told in a flashback shows Dennie's boyfriend, Flack high on Meth and crashing through a window in slow motion not once but THREE times while Field's character cries "Flaaaaaack!"
Having stated that, this movie was remarkably realistic. There is a lot of yelling and screaming and door slamming in it, and many teen agers who lived during that era can probably relate to it, especially those who got fed up and ran away from home. Sally Fields is especially good at these types of brooding, nuanced performances. She was around 24 at the time this was filmed but could easily pass for sixteen in this movie. The viewing public was not ready for this type of drastic change from her squeaky clean "good" girl portrayals to this "bad" girl characterization. It would be another four years before she would have the opportunity to prove to the TV watching public her versatility as an actor playing a schizophrenic with multiple personalities in "Sybil". After that, it would be another four years for her to achieve superstar status in her Oscar winning performance as "Norma Jean". When Ms. Field's stated "You like me, you really like me" she was referring to the public's acceptance of her as a versatile actor who could play various roles, not just the squeaky clean ones but complex, nuanced characters as well.
I recently saw Ms. Fields on the "Ellen" show where she talked about being typecast and how much she wanted to play more diverse and interesting characters, but she simply wasn't offered such roles because of "Gidget". Patty Duke would've been good in this type of roll because she already had a "bad" girl reputation at the time.
I give this movie three stars *** out of five.
Kindergarten
(2001)
Beautifully done documentary!
27 May 2006
Kindergarten is a 13-part children's documentary series which chronicles a year in the life of a real-life Kindergarten located in Upper Nyack (near Long Island) New York. Each episode which has a title and theme, is filmed unrehearsed and marks a milestone for the class of Jennifer Vaz Johnson, every elementary school child's dream teacher. There is, of course, the first day, the trip to the firehouse, the missing "Gingerbread" man, the acquisition of a hamster, a special spooky Halloween and joyous Christmas episode. And let's not forget the class garden outside and the "mystery" visitor who nibbled up the class's lettuce. And these are just some of the episodes. The thing that makes this documentary work so well is the encumbered clarity and spontaneity of each child's response (often hilarious) to an event or interaction with another student. Sometimes children are caught "red-handed" doing an alleged misdeed: there was the little African American boy who kicked or hit another student and then denied it, the young boy who disrupted class by talking out of turn, or the precious little tyke who snatched a crayon away from another student who then started to cry and make a big stink over it-- ("It was only a crayon", the girl responds in her defense.) Ms. Johnson has infinite patience for each child,never once raising her voice and showing the viewing audience how GREAT a teacher she is (and serving as a great example for new primary school teachers) There is a very special holiday episode where children learn to embrace other cultures and the true meaning of holiday season and how Christmas, Kwanza and Hannekuh are celebrated. This is unforgettable stuff and a truly one of a kind documentary. Interspersed are short animation sequences which serve to announce the show's theme or as narration.
Unfortunately, right now it is only being shown on HBO Family at 7:30 weekend mornings which is a very inconvenient time for both parents and children who may want to sleep late. Hopefully, it will be released on DVD as it would be a great tool to ease the anxiety of preschool children who have not entered the public school system to show them how much fun it can be. Every parent with a preschool age child should run out and buy this documentary as soon as it becomes available (which it isn't right now). Kudos to production executive Bruce Shaw and producer Karen Goodman for making such an innovative documentary. Oddly, a sequel of sorts aired on HBO and was made (not by the same producers) called "Planet Twelve", chronicling a year in the life of sixth graders.
Unfortunately, right now it is only being shown on HBO Family at 7:30 weekend mornings which is a very inconvenient time for both parents and children who may want to sleep late. Hopefully, it will be released on DVD as it would be a great tool to ease the anxiety of preschool children who have not entered the public school system to show them how much fun it can be. Every parent with a preschool age child should run out and buy this documentary as soon as it becomes available (which it isn't right now). Kudos to production executive Bruce Shaw and producer Karen Goodman for making such an innovative documentary. Oddly, a sequel of sorts aired on HBO and was made (not by the same producers) called "Planet Twelve", chronicling a year in the life of sixth graders.
Green Stones
(2001)
Loses original focus and momentum, becoming bogged down in mysti
13 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Piedras Verdes, loosely translated in English as "Mystic Stones", is the debut feature of director Ángel Flores Torres and starts out as pure soap opera melodrama but becomes something else. In fact, both Vanessa Bauche and veteran Mexican soap star Blanca Sánchez are no strangers to the genre. Bauche may be better known to English viewers who will remember her as Susanna in the acclaimed Perros Amores.
Here she is Mariana, who has been sold as a black market baby to a rich and powerful Mexican couple when her mother unexpectedly dies in a horrible accident in the beginning scenes of the movie. She is sent off to Catholic boarding school until her adoptive father dies and she returns home, ambivalent about her life and plans. She clashes wills with her stepmother and after her car is stolen by a valet, of all things, she is evicted from the house and refused any inheritance. The most striking thing here is her determination and her strong willed determination to persevere in the face of adversity, and Bauche conveys this impressively.
From there, her situation quickly deteriorates after she tries recreational drugs and moving in with a wealthy playboy. Her boyfriend becomes abusive and during one altercation she pushes him out the window, accidentally. She assumes he is dead and hastily runs away, not knowing where to go or what to do. Up to this point, the movie treads no new ground and is fairly predictable, yet it is all interesting somehow. The scenes where Mariana interacts with her stepmother provide the movie with the most momentum, unfortunately it is at this point her stepmother becomes ill and dies. It is here the movie becomes confusing, as it unexpectedly shifts gears and essentially changes genres, becoming a road movie (similar to Lucia, Lucia, a movie in which the pilgrimmage thing was presented much better). But it's a bad move, as director Torres leaves conventional ground and the movie uncomfortably changes scenes from Mexico City to the jungle, practically grinding to a halt and becoming bogged down in subterfuge, and later strange mystical going ons. Thereafter, the scene changes once again to the northern desert and stays there the rest of the movie, slightly picking up speed as she unravels information leading her to her real father, but losing focus again during a mystical desert sojourn which is confusing to the viewer. To put it bluntly, the movie bites off more than it can chew and spit out. Torres had a good thing going with the firm plot and characters he put forth, so it's not quite clear why he felt the need to convert the movie into something else than what he started out to convey. Bauche's acting is good, and in the first part when the focus is on her survival and ingenuity it clicks. I thought the usual themes of alienation, social isolation, violence in the barrio and police corruption would be addressed here, but they are just skimmed over here.
No, this movie turns into a young woman's quest to find her biological father, which isn't as interesting as you'd think it would be. Frustratingly, the movie doesn't tie up loose ends, but leaves the viewer hanging. Director Torres intentions are good since it's obvious he is trying to discard the soap opera cliché in the beginning by embracing something unconventional, but there he is simply trying to cover too much territory. The premise set up in the beginning, though conventional, was a good thing, so why did he change it?
Ultimately, this movie isn't really bad, but could've been so much better. It's interesting to note that this same theme, reworked and thrown together with several other subplots, was presented again a year after this movie as an individual story in "Ciudades Oscuras" (2002).
Here she is Mariana, who has been sold as a black market baby to a rich and powerful Mexican couple when her mother unexpectedly dies in a horrible accident in the beginning scenes of the movie. She is sent off to Catholic boarding school until her adoptive father dies and she returns home, ambivalent about her life and plans. She clashes wills with her stepmother and after her car is stolen by a valet, of all things, she is evicted from the house and refused any inheritance. The most striking thing here is her determination and her strong willed determination to persevere in the face of adversity, and Bauche conveys this impressively.
From there, her situation quickly deteriorates after she tries recreational drugs and moving in with a wealthy playboy. Her boyfriend becomes abusive and during one altercation she pushes him out the window, accidentally. She assumes he is dead and hastily runs away, not knowing where to go or what to do. Up to this point, the movie treads no new ground and is fairly predictable, yet it is all interesting somehow. The scenes where Mariana interacts with her stepmother provide the movie with the most momentum, unfortunately it is at this point her stepmother becomes ill and dies. It is here the movie becomes confusing, as it unexpectedly shifts gears and essentially changes genres, becoming a road movie (similar to Lucia, Lucia, a movie in which the pilgrimmage thing was presented much better). But it's a bad move, as director Torres leaves conventional ground and the movie uncomfortably changes scenes from Mexico City to the jungle, practically grinding to a halt and becoming bogged down in subterfuge, and later strange mystical going ons. Thereafter, the scene changes once again to the northern desert and stays there the rest of the movie, slightly picking up speed as she unravels information leading her to her real father, but losing focus again during a mystical desert sojourn which is confusing to the viewer. To put it bluntly, the movie bites off more than it can chew and spit out. Torres had a good thing going with the firm plot and characters he put forth, so it's not quite clear why he felt the need to convert the movie into something else than what he started out to convey. Bauche's acting is good, and in the first part when the focus is on her survival and ingenuity it clicks. I thought the usual themes of alienation, social isolation, violence in the barrio and police corruption would be addressed here, but they are just skimmed over here.
No, this movie turns into a young woman's quest to find her biological father, which isn't as interesting as you'd think it would be. Frustratingly, the movie doesn't tie up loose ends, but leaves the viewer hanging. Director Torres intentions are good since it's obvious he is trying to discard the soap opera cliché in the beginning by embracing something unconventional, but there he is simply trying to cover too much territory. The premise set up in the beginning, though conventional, was a good thing, so why did he change it?
Ultimately, this movie isn't really bad, but could've been so much better. It's interesting to note that this same theme, reworked and thrown together with several other subplots, was presented again a year after this movie as an individual story in "Ciudades Oscuras" (2002).
B-Happy
(2003)
Bleak character study, not your average story
7 October 2005
Director Gonzalo Justiniano's "B-Happy", along with "Machuca" (2004) proves that Chile can compete with Argentina's new wave and avant-garde cinema, though the latter is getting most of the worldwide recognition now.
"B-Happy", whose title is taken from an English phrase written on the blackboard in the lead character's classroom, tells the bleak story of Katty, whose family slowly abandon hers forcing her to rely on her own wits. The movie's narration, never losing focus from the lead character, is completely devoid of any sentimentality and is matter-of-factly and bluntly told in a series of vignettes, which resemble visual postcards. Kathy's father is incarcerated and her mother works in the general store. We get the feeling that Katty doesn't know her father that well, but in a moving scene he proudly relates the history--and resilience--of the family name.
The movie's bleakness is punctuated by the barren Chilean landscape which could substitute as a visual metaphor for the quiet desperation which young fifteen year old Katty must feel. The cinematography is stunningly impressive. Actress Manuela Martelli (Katty) portrays her character's suffering stoicly, with little emoting--her repeated mantra to the world is: "I'm not afraid of anything". She approaches each unpleasant event she is forced to contend with in the same detached, stoic manner. One scene which sticks with me ends with Katty sitting catatonic contemplates her bleak and worsening situation with a sad resignation. Unlike the character Maria for example, in "Maria, Full of Grace" she lacks any kind of carisma or inner conflict about what she does--in fact, she seems to embrace it, with gusto. She eventually must take drastic steps in order to survive, because, as she notes in one scene where she loses her virginity, "The only thing you can control is your first one". Katty is repeatedly victimized by a cruel system and society's unscrupulous, though she soon proves she is anything but a victim. One can't help but feel sympathy for her, but her Martelli's stoic characterization and the director's unique telling of the story-- (in short vignettes, some lasting less than 15 seconds)-- prevents the movie from turning into one cliché after another. Never once does she feels sorry for herself--the only sentimentality she allows herself is keeping a Polaroid taken of herself and her father, with a llama at the zoo. She wishes things could be different but they aren't, so she deals with the cards dealt her pragmatically, without allowing sentimentality to overcome her.
The second part of the movie takes place in the Chilean port city of Valpariso, as Katty sets out on a quest to locate her father, and the movie takes a predictable course without really going anywhere--this is, after all a character study with distinct noirish elements, especially with the gritty Chilean port of Valpairiso featured prominently. A good companion piece to compare this picture with is Argentinian director Maria Victoria Menis' "Little Sky", "El Cielito" (2004)--just as bleak but with the same theme.
"B-Happy", whose title is taken from an English phrase written on the blackboard in the lead character's classroom, tells the bleak story of Katty, whose family slowly abandon hers forcing her to rely on her own wits. The movie's narration, never losing focus from the lead character, is completely devoid of any sentimentality and is matter-of-factly and bluntly told in a series of vignettes, which resemble visual postcards. Kathy's father is incarcerated and her mother works in the general store. We get the feeling that Katty doesn't know her father that well, but in a moving scene he proudly relates the history--and resilience--of the family name.
The movie's bleakness is punctuated by the barren Chilean landscape which could substitute as a visual metaphor for the quiet desperation which young fifteen year old Katty must feel. The cinematography is stunningly impressive. Actress Manuela Martelli (Katty) portrays her character's suffering stoicly, with little emoting--her repeated mantra to the world is: "I'm not afraid of anything". She approaches each unpleasant event she is forced to contend with in the same detached, stoic manner. One scene which sticks with me ends with Katty sitting catatonic contemplates her bleak and worsening situation with a sad resignation. Unlike the character Maria for example, in "Maria, Full of Grace" she lacks any kind of carisma or inner conflict about what she does--in fact, she seems to embrace it, with gusto. She eventually must take drastic steps in order to survive, because, as she notes in one scene where she loses her virginity, "The only thing you can control is your first one". Katty is repeatedly victimized by a cruel system and society's unscrupulous, though she soon proves she is anything but a victim. One can't help but feel sympathy for her, but her Martelli's stoic characterization and the director's unique telling of the story-- (in short vignettes, some lasting less than 15 seconds)-- prevents the movie from turning into one cliché after another. Never once does she feels sorry for herself--the only sentimentality she allows herself is keeping a Polaroid taken of herself and her father, with a llama at the zoo. She wishes things could be different but they aren't, so she deals with the cards dealt her pragmatically, without allowing sentimentality to overcome her.
The second part of the movie takes place in the Chilean port city of Valpariso, as Katty sets out on a quest to locate her father, and the movie takes a predictable course without really going anywhere--this is, after all a character study with distinct noirish elements, especially with the gritty Chilean port of Valpairiso featured prominently. A good companion piece to compare this picture with is Argentinian director Maria Victoria Menis' "Little Sky", "El Cielito" (2004)--just as bleak but with the same theme.
There Goes the Bride
(1980)
Awful roaring twenties spoof
10 September 2005
When a US movie has its first premiere overseas, as this one did, YOU KNOW something's amiss with the movie and that the producers were nervous about its US premiere. Not many US movies premiere first overseas and then are shown in the US, as this one was. The IMDb indicates that this movie was first shown in the UK, then premiered in NYC the following December. The movie attempts-horribly, I might add, to spoof those goofy, beloved depression era dance movies--specifically, the ones with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Yup, there are truly awful dance sequences in this film! (Astaire would be turning in his grave!) Perhaps a better explanation would be that this is an example of a potentially "good" movie idea, but which was sunk by a bad script and horribly miscast. I can just see the producer pitching this idea: "Hey, why I've got this idea to parody the old dance movies using a card-board cut out of a Roaring Twenties flapper...I want Twiggy and Tommy Smothers for the principal roles..."
Smothers, who once upon a time was on the cutting edge of comedy, doesn't stand up well against his various co-stars. Playing a funny character in a movie is not the same as hosting a variety TV show. But that is not to completely blame the Tommy Smothers for this collosal dud: the script is vapid and lame. This movie appears to have employed a veritable "who's who" of once great '50-'60s out of work character actors, like Broderick Crawford, Jim Backus, and Maude's funny maid, Hermoine Baddeley (who, btw winds up stealing the movie with her funny expressions).
This movie, doubled billed on a 99 cent DVD, was renamed "There Goes the Neighborhood".
Smothers, who once upon a time was on the cutting edge of comedy, doesn't stand up well against his various co-stars. Playing a funny character in a movie is not the same as hosting a variety TV show. But that is not to completely blame the Tommy Smothers for this collosal dud: the script is vapid and lame. This movie appears to have employed a veritable "who's who" of once great '50-'60s out of work character actors, like Broderick Crawford, Jim Backus, and Maude's funny maid, Hermoine Baddeley (who, btw winds up stealing the movie with her funny expressions).
This movie, doubled billed on a 99 cent DVD, was renamed "There Goes the Neighborhood".
No Way to Treat a Lady
(1968)
Macabre, well-acted classy thriller
26 July 2004
I turned this gem of a film on one afternoon having no idea what it was about. The opening scenes with Rod Steiger as an Irish priest calling on unsuspecting, soon-to-be victim Marline Bartlett was truly startling in its viciousness. Why have I never heard of this movie before and why has it been shelved all these years? This movie is definitely a cut above the rest in the genre of thrillers featuring serial killers. Rod Steiger is brilliant in a tour-de-force as he assumes various identities-- i.e., an Irish Priest, plumber and effeminate hair stylist--as a psycho on the loose who targets middle aged women and whose calling card is to draw a pair of lips in red lipstick on each victim's forehead. Steiger is pitted against underdog detective George Segal, who plays an overworked cop who gets no recognition for his work. Lee Remick plays the love interest who adds spice to the movie and supporting actress Eileen Heckart plays detective Segal's overbearing mother who bureates him for being a cop (and Jewish) every opportunity she gets. Heckart as the overbearing stereotypical Jewish mama is annoying, to say the least. Remick's character is a free spirit who gives museum tours and she is HIP! In fact, her dialogue suffers in part from an effort to be *too hip* and contemporary: in one scene she tells Segal, "I swinged, and I swang until I swung", in explaining a previous relationship. The most interesting victim plays a drag queen in a bar who is scorned by the other bar patrons and met with homophobic comments, but this was, after all 1968. All the acting is good, though the best scenes are those involving Steiger and his unsuspecting victims. One slight flaw is that the idea that the police department could control what the media prints and use it to manipulate the killer is a little too contrived, and the movie's ending is mediocre, doesn't satisfy and wraps it up too quickly. The scene involving Remick and Steiger is also contrived, and it's a little inconsistent with Remick's character that she would let a total stranger into her apartment, especially since she's dating a cop.
In spite of the mediocre ending, this is an excellent movie.
In spite of the mediocre ending, this is an excellent movie.
Herbie Rides Again
(1974)
tired and uninspired sequel
2 July 2003
In the first movie, Herbie was a real personality and he could be jealous, angry, depressed or suicidal and even intoxicated. The viewer saw that there was a special bond between car and owner. But in this sequel, again set in San Francisco, the bond is with Helen Hayes and Herbie instead of the man. Stephanie Powers as the love interest is too violent and aggressive, and her character played against the wimpy Ken Berry comes across as downright harsh--there is no chemistry between them (unlike Dean Jones and Michelle Lee in the original film). In various scenes, she is seen assaulting Berry.In one scene they are having lunch at Fisherman's Wharf and she stands up and smacks him in the face with a lobster ("He's YOUR uncle?!") Is this really supposed to be funny?
But in this uninspired sequel, the real star is Helen Hayes--not the car and certainly not with Ken Berry, who merely becomes a supporting character in this. Helen Hayes, as an old lady battling a developer, is seen in various life-threatening situations in the movie. In various surreal scenes, Haye's character is knitting while riding Herbie,impervious to the danger around her as Herbie scales a skyscraper or rides atop the Golden Gate Bridge. She is sickeningly sacharrin sweet but she plays her scenes well.
The climax of this movie is weak, and it is really a collection of surreal scenes involving Herbie and Helen Hayes. There is no romance and no racing, both of which were key elements which made the original such a success. This movie was made in the transitional period, between the really great Disney classics like "Mary Poppins" and the excellent productions that Disney puts out today. The movie and plot are very predictable as is the inevitable outcome. Naturally, there's no way that the outcome is realistic as city zoning laws forbid houses in a district of skyscrapers.
But in this uninspired sequel, the real star is Helen Hayes--not the car and certainly not with Ken Berry, who merely becomes a supporting character in this. Helen Hayes, as an old lady battling a developer, is seen in various life-threatening situations in the movie. In various surreal scenes, Haye's character is knitting while riding Herbie,impervious to the danger around her as Herbie scales a skyscraper or rides atop the Golden Gate Bridge. She is sickeningly sacharrin sweet but she plays her scenes well.
The climax of this movie is weak, and it is really a collection of surreal scenes involving Herbie and Helen Hayes. There is no romance and no racing, both of which were key elements which made the original such a success. This movie was made in the transitional period, between the really great Disney classics like "Mary Poppins" and the excellent productions that Disney puts out today. The movie and plot are very predictable as is the inevitable outcome. Naturally, there's no way that the outcome is realistic as city zoning laws forbid houses in a district of skyscrapers.
Rina
(1977–1978)
Macabre telenovela that deals with the supernatural
21 May 2003
Warning: Spoilers
"Rina" is the rags to riches story of a poor destitute street urchin who comes to inherit a fortune. One afternoon she has her fortune read via tarot cards, and is told she will become wealthy. However Rina sells straw dolls to support her paraplegic father and younger brother and sister who attend school, so she does not believe it. In fact, the entire family is on the verge of being evicted. One day Leopoldo, an elderly and sick man yells out the window to her and they become friends. Leopoldo lives with his sister-in-law, Rafaela and her son, Carlos Augusto. Rafaela hates Leopoldo, but Leopoldo plays a nasty trick on her, revealed upon his death. Rina is to inherit everything. Rafaela and her son come up with a scheme to retain the house: Carlos Augusto must marry Rina. But how will Carlos Augusto get Rina to fall in love and marry him? And will true love conquer all in the face of overwhelming adversity?
Remade with Thalia as "Maria Mercedes" (1992)and "Inocente de Ti"(2004)
Remade with Thalia as "Maria Mercedes" (1992)and "Inocente de Ti"(2004)
María Mercedes
(1992–1993)
Not the best of the Maria trilogies
21 May 2003
"Maria Mercedes" was a dismal remake of the 1977 novela "Rina" by director Valentin Pimstein with Thalia in the role originally played by Ofelia Medina and without the macabre flavor. Thalia's sister, Laura Zapata, plays Malvina del Olmo, a selfish and materialistic woman who is disinherited by her late husband as punishment for her greedy and selfish nature. Instead, he has left the house and fortune to Maria Mercedes, a poor and destitute girl he met on the street, on the condition she live there. According to his will, Malvina and her well-meaning but inept sister Filagonia may live there, though they will not inherit anything.
Malvina, along with her bumbling sister Filagonia, schemes a plot to disinherit Rina so they can control the fortune. Whereas the original was sinister the new version drops the supernatural elements and focuses on the comedic talents of Thalia as Maria. Thalia is quite striking and looks terrific but the revised plot is simply not interesting enough to hold much interest. Arturo Peniche as Jorge Luis del Olmo makes a handsome and romantic leading man for Thalia. but the chemistry is missing between the two. This was part of a three novela trilogy--the three Marias--starring superstar Thalia: Maria Mercedes, Mari-Mar, and Maria la Del Barrio. Of the three, Mari-Mar was the most successful.
Malvina, along with her bumbling sister Filagonia, schemes a plot to disinherit Rina so they can control the fortune. Whereas the original was sinister the new version drops the supernatural elements and focuses on the comedic talents of Thalia as Maria. Thalia is quite striking and looks terrific but the revised plot is simply not interesting enough to hold much interest. Arturo Peniche as Jorge Luis del Olmo makes a handsome and romantic leading man for Thalia. but the chemistry is missing between the two. This was part of a three novela trilogy--the three Marias--starring superstar Thalia: Maria Mercedes, Mari-Mar, and Maria la Del Barrio. Of the three, Mari-Mar was the most successful.
Ciudad de M
(2000)
A Peruvian "Clockwork Orange"
10 January 2003
Warning: Spoilers
*may* contain a *few* spoilers in order to evaluate film.
Director Felipe Degregori presents a pseudo-documentary of a Lima youth's descent into a life of crime. City of "M" starts out promising with "M" (Santiago Magill) seeking employment and making friends with 15 year old neighbor Karina (Melania Urbina) who shares the same apartment building. But M soon becomes frustrated in his lack of prospects and abandons efforts to seek legitimate employment, instead deciding to deliver cocaine to Miami for a friend. Other members of the cast include M's friends and cohorts in crime, "Coyote", (Jorge Madureno) "Pacho" (Christian Meirer) and girlfriend Sandra (Gianello Negra).
The movie starts out with an engrossing plot, focusing on "M" and his relationships with both Sandra and Karina, but soon looses its continuity and characters and subplots are never fully developed or left hanging. The character of Karina, who helps him find employment, disappointingly disappears once "M" agrees to deliver drugs. "M"'s motivation, or what causes him to drop out of society, is never really explored in any depth. There's no real background or reason given for his descent into crime other than his failure to find employment. Evidently, director Degregori feels that's enough. The grittiness of Lima's shantytowns comes through, and the characters perform in a mindless, unmotivated way: much like hoodlums found in Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange". "M", however, is somehow different from his cohorts because he has a conscience. He doesn't show the same pathological tendency toward cruelty or petty crime that his friends do. The scene where they are eating the cat was incredibly gross and distastful(and also unbelievable that they would do this--they aren't starving to death, after all). Once "M" has decided to smuggle drugs and the movie shifts focus from him to ironing out the details of drug smuggling, the movie stalls, then picks up speed again just toward the end. But the focus is no longer on "M", only on the group and what they do.
Coyote and Pacho are juvenile delinquents but the film treats them and their actions in a superficial manner. There is only one scene in the whole movie to indicate that "M" has a conscience and is somehow different from his cohorts. If poverty is the driving force behind these criminals, then director Degregori doesn't show it.
The biggest disappointment is the ending which quickly fizzles out after slowly building up tension in the last 30 minutes or so of the movie. There's no resolution to the film at the end, just a disjointed, unsatisfying finish which leaves the viewer up in the air as to its conclusion. In order to tie up loose ends, the director offers post-scripts to each character's fate as the movie ends.
City of "M" does have redeeming value as a portrait of Peruvian youth gone haywire, though there's ultimately little resolution.
Director Felipe Degregori presents a pseudo-documentary of a Lima youth's descent into a life of crime. City of "M" starts out promising with "M" (Santiago Magill) seeking employment and making friends with 15 year old neighbor Karina (Melania Urbina) who shares the same apartment building. But M soon becomes frustrated in his lack of prospects and abandons efforts to seek legitimate employment, instead deciding to deliver cocaine to Miami for a friend. Other members of the cast include M's friends and cohorts in crime, "Coyote", (Jorge Madureno) "Pacho" (Christian Meirer) and girlfriend Sandra (Gianello Negra).
The movie starts out with an engrossing plot, focusing on "M" and his relationships with both Sandra and Karina, but soon looses its continuity and characters and subplots are never fully developed or left hanging. The character of Karina, who helps him find employment, disappointingly disappears once "M" agrees to deliver drugs. "M"'s motivation, or what causes him to drop out of society, is never really explored in any depth. There's no real background or reason given for his descent into crime other than his failure to find employment. Evidently, director Degregori feels that's enough. The grittiness of Lima's shantytowns comes through, and the characters perform in a mindless, unmotivated way: much like hoodlums found in Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange". "M", however, is somehow different from his cohorts because he has a conscience. He doesn't show the same pathological tendency toward cruelty or petty crime that his friends do. The scene where they are eating the cat was incredibly gross and distastful(and also unbelievable that they would do this--they aren't starving to death, after all). Once "M" has decided to smuggle drugs and the movie shifts focus from him to ironing out the details of drug smuggling, the movie stalls, then picks up speed again just toward the end. But the focus is no longer on "M", only on the group and what they do.
Coyote and Pacho are juvenile delinquents but the film treats them and their actions in a superficial manner. There is only one scene in the whole movie to indicate that "M" has a conscience and is somehow different from his cohorts. If poverty is the driving force behind these criminals, then director Degregori doesn't show it.
The biggest disappointment is the ending which quickly fizzles out after slowly building up tension in the last 30 minutes or so of the movie. There's no resolution to the film at the end, just a disjointed, unsatisfying finish which leaves the viewer up in the air as to its conclusion. In order to tie up loose ends, the director offers post-scripts to each character's fate as the movie ends.
City of "M" does have redeeming value as a portrait of Peruvian youth gone haywire, though there's ultimately little resolution.
The Sterile Cuckoo
(1969)
Neurotic girl falls in love with college freshman (contains SPOILERS)
17 August 2002
Warning: Spoilers
Liza Minelli plays neurotic "Pookie" who falls in love with a conservative, bookish college freshmen whom she meets riding a bus. And how neurotic (and irritating) she is!! Her schtick is to act out outrageous pranks in order to grab his attention (like sitting cross-legged on his roof). The theme to the movie, "Come Saturday Morning", sung by the Sandpipers on massive doses of seconal, plays repetitively in the background of this movie. Liza is an overbearing misfit, who clings to her serious, no-nonsense boyfriend like the lingering smell of nauseating incense after it has been burning in a room. In a long and painful monologue over the phone-- a tour-de-force for Liza Minelli--she begs him to let her come and spend time with him alone in his college dorm room. Boyfriend Burton is the "strong, silent type."
When she shows up, her boyfriend totally ignores her and instead they spend the days in nerve wracking silence. One is therefore led to believe that Burton the boyfriend felt compelled out of sympathy and compassion to let her stay. Poor Pookie--she plays every trick in the book to grab his attention but to no avail. While he studies, she asks him--suggestively--if he "wants to peel a tomatoe?" She serves him lunch and pours him soda out of a bottle with a three foot long neck. She has masking tape over her mouth(get the picture?). To the viewer, this either creates sympathy for her character or you find her pranks irritating--why doesn't she just go away and leave him alone so he can study? You never really know if her schtick irritates or amuses him, or if he just stoically accepts it. In as much as they don't seem to really "connect"--(or really communicate well, is what the director is trying to convey here) he suggests that they spend some time apart, oh, say three months-- before they contact each other again. She agrees, one assumes--because she doesn't protest; she just nods and drives off. When she drives off in her Volkswagen, the viewing audience can't help but breathe a sigh of relief. (Gee, is this called letting someone down "gently"?) One would naturally expect this to be the logical "ending" to this movie, (Sandpiper's theme playing in the background) but it isn't. Inexplicably, Burton's character spends the rest of the picture trying to locate her! After the complete lack of chemistry between the two, one has to wonder: "why would he want to?" Perhaps Pookie's kind of like someone who hangs around and you take for granted, and then, when they're gone, you finally notice them missing, or begin to miss them, anyways. Or maybe he needs someone to cook and wash his clothes for him while he studies.
When she shows up, her boyfriend totally ignores her and instead they spend the days in nerve wracking silence. One is therefore led to believe that Burton the boyfriend felt compelled out of sympathy and compassion to let her stay. Poor Pookie--she plays every trick in the book to grab his attention but to no avail. While he studies, she asks him--suggestively--if he "wants to peel a tomatoe?" She serves him lunch and pours him soda out of a bottle with a three foot long neck. She has masking tape over her mouth(get the picture?). To the viewer, this either creates sympathy for her character or you find her pranks irritating--why doesn't she just go away and leave him alone so he can study? You never really know if her schtick irritates or amuses him, or if he just stoically accepts it. In as much as they don't seem to really "connect"--(or really communicate well, is what the director is trying to convey here) he suggests that they spend some time apart, oh, say three months-- before they contact each other again. She agrees, one assumes--because she doesn't protest; she just nods and drives off. When she drives off in her Volkswagen, the viewing audience can't help but breathe a sigh of relief. (Gee, is this called letting someone down "gently"?) One would naturally expect this to be the logical "ending" to this movie, (Sandpiper's theme playing in the background) but it isn't. Inexplicably, Burton's character spends the rest of the picture trying to locate her! After the complete lack of chemistry between the two, one has to wonder: "why would he want to?" Perhaps Pookie's kind of like someone who hangs around and you take for granted, and then, when they're gone, you finally notice them missing, or begin to miss them, anyways. Or maybe he needs someone to cook and wash his clothes for him while he studies.
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