sstack-1 Reviews

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe (1979 TV Movie)

Wonderful adaptation of the C.S. Lewis classic

[9/10 · 30 December 2005]

While certainly the animation is a little dated, this is a wonderful version of the C.S. Lewis classic. My sister and I watched this over and over as kids on our Betamax, and I recently purchased it on DVD and watched it again with my four-year old. She was mesmerized by the trip to Narnia through the wardrobe and all of the adventures with "dear Mr. Tumnus", the White Witch and Aslan. And I must say that I, too, loved seeing it again for the first time in probably 20 years. The actress and actor who lent their voices to the White Witch and Aslan did a phenomenal job. And the action/battle scenes are intense enough to keep even the most squirmy child (or adult) on the edge of their seat but not so scary as to be unsuitable for young children. This movie has been playing almost non-stop in my house since Christmas Day, and I must say that I have enjoyed every showing. An absolute treasure.

Payday (1973)

Rip Torn is a two-bit country music singer living on the road

[21 December 2005]

I remember watching this film late night in college on the movie channel Encore some 15 years ago. It is a great flick that captures what life on the road for a country western singer must have been like. As others have noted, it could serve as a biography for Johnny Cash and many others of that era who lived a life of pills, booze, and one-night stands with a little music sprinkled in between. Rip Torn is great in this movie, though it's hard now not to picture him as Arthur from the Larry Sanders Show. The one line from Torn's character that sticks with me even today is: "You only go through this life once. You might as well do it in a Cadillac." I'd love to see this movie again but I imagine it would be a hard find.