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joejdanielson
Reviews
Shoot the Moon (1982)
Dana Hill steals scenes
Well done, realistic film. Though Keaton gives her usual strong performance. And Finney does a good job of acting as the man coming apart (he reminds me of Richard Burton in Night of the Iguana). But the real story here for me was between Dana Hill's character and both her parents. I am not too familiar with Dana Hill, though I somehow recognize her from something. But in this film she does a marvelous job of showing the pain felt by children from parental separation. Another thing about this film is that it somehow really manages to remind me of the late 70s/early 80s. A side note for compaction equipment fans: check out that Dynapac roller!!! No idea which model is being used to compact the tennis court. But it looks like a great machine.
The Secret Garden (1949)
Over acting & film tricks do not do justice to a great novel
I just saw this for the first time on TV. Missed the beginning, but thought the rest was rather lousy. Came into it with over acting child actors screaming wildly during tantrums. Quite amazing how the directors got that out of those kids, I guess. But a bit too unrealistic.
I found the switch from b/w to color when revealing the renewed secret garden was a bit too gimmicky. Of course, it was probably much more effective for audiences in the late 40s.
All in all, I think Dean Stockwell stole the show here. Especially in the final scenes. But then again, there was not much of a show to steal.