The Belle of 14th Street (1967)

The most fascinating thing about The Belle of 14th Street is that Barbra Streisand had the power and the moxie to get it made and put it on television; but like anything that attempts to entertain in modules not all are equal. Streisand shines throughout though and is ably supported by Jason Robards, Lee Allen and...um...herself. Young Barbra (when she had a sense of humor) is the best Barbra and this special is special.




I see a few instances of NINA, do you?

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...Rogue (2007)

An American writer who inexplicably explains why he has no computer in the Australian outback, an Australian tour guide who inexplicably endangers the lives of her paying customers, a dying lady who isn't dying (twice!) and all sorts of other broad characters are food in Rogue, a passable (not plausible) to ridiculous movie that was allowed to be made only because of the director's earlier success with Wolf Creek. Radha Mitchell (so good in Silent Hill) is passable (not plausible) probably because the story relies on too many forced situations. It's a killer crocodile but even killer croc fans, despite some decent computer generated imagery, would be hard-pressed not to see the wires in this flick.

...Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home (2009)

If there is one easy thing every family can take away after watching the documentary Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home it's that wrapping paper is not recyclable so don't buy it or use it! And there's plenty more to learn from this record of one family's garbage - if only it were half as popular as, for example, The Dark Knight. Watch it and allow its lessons to seep into your daily life.

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...Pineapple Express (Theatrical) (2008)

I revisited this movie but this time watched the theatrical version and, from a high level (no pun intended, really), Pineapple Express is the spear, stoner version of Outrageous Fortune - two innocent, main characters (Seth Rogen and a very cute James Franco) get involved with murder and crime (or go further back and liken it to Billy Wilder's classic Some LIke It Hot). There are some genuinely funny moments but the pop guns and over-the-top violent non-violence do tend to drag it down. Probably not worth viewing except from a high level (pun intended).

...The Plague (2006)

It is 24 hours later and I am watching another horror movie with mutant, murdering children called similarly enough The Plague. Like the other movie, I found myself in the middle of a plague that is never explained and then ends. So, if you must see one, see the other - if you know what I mean.

...Plague Town (2008)

Plague Town drops you in the middle of something, never explains what it is, and then ends (with a nod towards the inevitable sequel) excepting you to be happy. Considering how slow the first half of the movie is one might expect a little plague back-story but it just stays in front and interest soon wanes. There's some tension and some middling effects but, en toto, the movie is nothing to ride into town for.

...Away We Go (2009)

Who knew Maya Rudolph had the chops? The Saturday Night Live veteran and John Krasinski (of The Office) shine in Away We Go, director Sam Mendes's bright and beautiful, sweet and funny tale of a pregnant couple on a road trip. A bunch of solid supporting performances and an excellently written script make this one a must see: an intelligent film that's both comedy and drama, but life.

...Stage Struck (1958)

Susan Strasberg gives a cringe-inducing performance of the likes rarely seen in the otherwise midly interesting theatrical rags-to-riches story, Stage Struck. Everything surrounding her performance might have made for a better picture had a different actress been cast as the central character (although I knew it was going to be bad when they handed her a pin wheel in Times Square during the credits). Henry Fonda, Christopher Plummer, Herbert Marshall and director Sidney Lumet try but not even the New York City photography belies Strasberg's left-field caricature of Katherine Hepburn or the age of this story - which I found out halfway through my viewing was Katherine Hepburn's 1933 vehicle, Morning Glory.

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...The Reaping (2007)

The Reaping starts out religiously enough but with ten plagues to squeeze into the story it becomes overburdened by the sheer weight of the undertaking. I do like Hilary Swank best in her populous roles (of which this is one) as opposed to her Oscar-winning roles (of which this is not one) and she looks phenomenal throughout but there's not much else of note. Skip it.

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...A Star is Born (1954)

A Star is Born is an absolutely perfect musical drama starring Judy Garland as an amalgam of Esther Blodgett, Vicki Lester and...um...Judy Garland. She, the music, the script,and James Mason are phenomenal. Take a look at the artistry (as directed by George Cukor) and see for yourself.

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Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

I called my mother who told me she had just started watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall; fifteen or so minutes into our conversation she said, "Ugh, I don't need to see these sex scenes." Sorry mom but the acrobatic sex scenes to which you are referring are, indeed, very funny and the whole movie is charming and well-written, that resting primarily on the shoulders of actor/screenwriter Jason Segel. Director Nicholas Stoller added his 2¢ by casting the charmingly bitchy Kristin Bell, the adorably natural Mila Kunis and the hysterically funny Russell Brand - making this one movie I won't soon forget.

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Marty (1955)

Marty is a day in the life of two dogs that ain't such dogs as they think they are. Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair are sweetly touching in this honest and romantic story of their search for love in spite of self-perceived limitations. Not to be too trite but, they don't make 'em like this anymore.

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...The Cheat (1915)

Fannie Ward turns from Doris Day to Angelina Jolie (and back again with innocence intact) when she becomes The Cheat in this silent film. Like most films of the 1910s, this one is over-dressed and over-acted although, in its defense, it stars an Asian man, Sessue Hayakawa, who brands a Caucasian woman with a hot poker who herself rips off her clothes in the climactic courtroom scene - not too common occurrences in films of the time. Still it gets bogged down in histrionics and becomes more of a curio (Cecil B. DeMille's second film) than a film worth its salt.

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...Next Stop Greenwich Village (1976)

Overlong and a bit too precious (particularly when its characters act and dance through the streets of New York City), Next Stop Greenwich Village is writer/director Paul Mazursky's cinematic ode to his own formative story. Unfortunately Lenny Baker's characterization as the lead belies his theatrical roots with histrionics; his performance would come through better in a campy, silent film. The supporting ladies (Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Dori Brenner and Lois Smith) and gents (Christopher Walken and Antonio Fargas) fare best and hold viewer interest on their own but it was supposed to be about Larry Lapinsky, right?

Stonewall (1995)

Stonewall has its heart in the right place which always makes for good viewing. It tells the story of the riot at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, 1969 through the eyes of some well-thought out fictional characters. Excellent acting and great period music add to an engrossing watch which also does well in placing the anointed start of the gay rights movement in historical context.

...I Spit On Your Grave (1978)

I Spit On Your Grave (initially and currently - but not intermittently - called The Day of the Woman) is not a comfortable movie to watch. Fortunately, its unflinchingly long and graphic rape scene is bested by the scenes of revenge that follow. By then though you know where director Meir Zarchi's sympathies lie and you can relax and enjoy the...um...day of the woman.

...Isn't She Great? (2000)

Isn't that Bette Midler talking to a tree? Isn't that Nathan Lane with her? Isn't Isn't She Great, purporting to be the life of author Jacqueline Susann, just a really poor mashup of The First Wives Club and Beaches that Bette and Nathan (but not Stockard Channing) should be ashamed of?

...The Dead Girl (2006)

The Dead Girl is the multi-layered story of circumstances surrounding the discovery of the titular corpse. An excellent cast (including Toni Collette, Piper Laurie, Mary Steenburgen, Nick Searcy, Mary Beth Hurt, Giovanni Ribisi, Josh Brolin, Kerry Washington, Robin Byrne, and many more) act the hell out of writer/director Karen Moncrieff's script of five vignettes that unfold the crime. It's not an easy watch (and I also mean that literally as the film is not lit brightly) but it is fascinating.

...Doomsday (2008)

Take the virus from 28 Days Later, add costumes from the Mad Max trilogy, hire Rhona Mitra to emulate the feminism of Silent Hill, stir in music that would not have been out of place in Urgh! A Music War, pay writer/director Neil Marshall (the auteur of The Descent and Dog Soldiers) and you get Doomsday, a seemingly plagiarized tale of Great Britain's struggle to overcome a doomsday virus. The movie is violently exciting with enough thrills to hold interest but it is difficult to classify it as original. It's a Neil Marshall film but without the smarts of his others.

...Celebrity (1998)

In Celebrity, Woody Allen continues his reinvention as a young goy with Kenneth Branagh taking on the writer/director's eccentricities without a hint of nuance or shame. Even the most interesting scene between Judy Davis and Bebe Neuwirth as an uptight New Yorker and her hooker/sex teacher (guess who played who) seems poorly directed and photographed. The story concerns a bunch of celebrities and hangers-on in New York City which, in the end, feels presumptuous, pretentious and predictable.

...Catch Me If You Can (2002)

There is not one character with a redeeming quality in Catch Me If You Can which is why I initially wasn't enthralled by it; then I noticed a bunch of filmmaker flubs and watched a number of well paid actors acting sub par (excluding Christopher Walken) which was really annoying. Steven Spielberg is not the most original filmmaker and the way he films this story seems almost like a throwaway. Certainly in light of today's economic crisis (and con man Bernie Madoff) I can't imagine anyone thinking this is an enjoyable movie to sit through.

...Carmen Jones (1954)

Oscar Hammerstein II took the music from Bizet's classic opera Carmen, added his own lyrics, rewrote the book (transporting the story to Louisiana in the 1950s) and came up with a pastiche called Carmen Jones. Otto Preminger filmed the musical redux with singer/actors Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge in the lead roles only to have them dubbed by two white singers with a more operatic range. All of this stitching is very present in the movie which feels listless, has less than memorable songs and, despite a sultry performance by the aforementioned Dandridge and a funky one by Pearl Bailey, ended up putting me to sleep.

...Psycho II (1983)

When the first few minutes of Psycho II turned out to be the shower scene from the original classic, I expected trouble. What I got was a tensionless movie that was somewhat interesting but whose first major twist was predictable and the later sub-turns not enough to keep the story moving forward. The ending though is perfect.

...The Departed (2006)

The Departed is much ado about a micro processor that will blow a missile up a camel's ass. A lot of well-received actors earn their paychecks but it's been done before and done better. Director Martin Scorcese won the Academy Award, et. al. for this film but it was most likely for his long and prestigious career and not this standard cop movie with way too many Boston accents per screen time.

...Can't Stop the Music (1980)

Can't Stop the Music might have been a fun, bad cult film had the editor cut a half hour off of the film's running time. At over two hours, it is just too long to be anything but tired. But there is a great scene put together for the Village People's huge hit YMCA that does make a portion of the film worth a look.