I was about 14 years old and this movie was playing on WGN – channel 9 in Chicago. I thought “cool”, I had never seen this movie, and it was supposed to be a classic Alfred Hitchcock film. I was all geared. My mom asked me what I was doing and I casually mentioned that “the birds” was on, and I was going to watch it. I could not possibly have prepared for her reaction. “No.”. No? what the hell? I just laughed at first and sat down in front of the TV. Then she started to persist. She was actually serious. I couldn’t believe it. I’d already seen “everything there was to see” on the screen (trust me), and my Mom wasn’t going to let me see “the birds”? and it was edited for television no less. I eventually saw the movie. As far as the “scare factor” goes, it was nothing. In fact, I thought it was a bit silly. Perhaps it was scary in 1950, but by today’s standards? It was like watching Disney. As for a movie in more general terms? It was decent, but didn’t blow my mind or anything. I think that’s the case with a lot of old movies. Filming techniques have advanced so much that what was once groundbreaking work by a genius like Alfred Hitchcock is now what everybody does… so it shines less. Too bad, but that’s just how it goes, I suppose.
Category Archives: Reviews
Bio-dome
Really really dumb. But did anyone expect it to be good? I mean look at the plot: MTV flunkie Pauly Shore gets stuck in an artificial biodome with a bunch of scientists? Come on! I don’t even remember the circumstances under which I saw this (well, I didn’t actually see all of it, and I remember even less, but I think I saw enough to write a review). Anyway, you’re prejudice is correct in this case – it sucked.
Billy Madison
At the time I saw this, it was about the only bit of Adam Sandler that I could palette (sp?). It was an incredibly stupid and just plain brain dead movie, but I was able to sit through it. I couldn’t recommend it to anyone though – I saw this so you didn’t have to, so don’t.
Billy Elliot
I never thought I would dig a movie about a poor English kid who likes to dance. But dig it I did.
Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey
This was a bogus attempt to cash in on the original. What made the original so good was that it was so original. This movie didn’t have that. So, we’re just left with the characters. Ok, Bill and Ted? There’s just not enough there to carry two movies. The whole “station” thing seemed to me nothing more than “we’ve run out of ideas”, and that’s about when I ran out of patience for this movie.
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
I remember seeing this movie for the first time, saying “Ya!” and laughing my ass off. It’s still quite funny, but now I’ve seen it like a zillion times and it’s become a parody of itself.
The Big Lebowski
Nice indeed to think that the dude is out there, takin’ ‘er easy for the rest of us. I see in the dude, any of us… most particularly me, or at least what could be me, with a little more or less effort. I have to say that based on my own experience, there is a lot of prejudice out there regarding the “unemployed”. Lately, people have asked me, “what do you do?” although I really think they’re asking “who are you?”. When I respond “nothing.”, I invariably answer the wrong question. They assume that I am indeed nothing. Anyway, sorry for delving there, I just mean that I identified with the dude on a higher level. Although I don’t personally see the attraction of bowling, I see how the dude could. Every man has his nirvana.
Big Fish
You may think that seeing all these movies is just like buttering pancakes, but it isn’t always like that. It was really crowded at the video store on a Friday night, and the new DVDs were flying fast and furious from the walls. From across the room, I spotted a lone copy of “Big Fish” on the shelf, just waiting for that last lucky customer. As I began to walk toward my prize, I caught the eye of the meanest looking man who ever graced the stiffly carpeted floor of the video store. I could tell by the line of his sight he was headed for the very same rack I was. My walk turned into a trot, and then quickly into a run. He didn’t look like the type who would like “Big Fish”… maybe he’d just noticed there was only one copy left. Maybe that made him think it was worth seein’, or maybe he was just out to ruin my day. In any case, he sure looked determined to grab it first. And you know, there aren’t really any laws governing the video store, it’s every man for himself, finder’s keeper’s, you got it, you own it… So, we reached the video at exactly the same time, and grabbed the video at exactly the same time, and lifted it off the shelf together. “It’s mine”, he said forcefully to me. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the video store clerk put another movie onto the shelf behind the man. “Oh my!”, I exclaimed, ” ‘From Justin to Kelly’ is back in stock – there’s only one copy!”. Naturally, he turned his head, and in an attempt to ruin my day further, dropped “Big Fish” in favor of the other film. Now, I haven’t seen “From Justin to Kelly”, and for all I know, it is a fine piece of cinema. But that night I did see a real big fish, and he fell hook line and sinker for the oldest trick in the book.
Big
Sure, it was a cute movie, but it wasn’t that great. I think the idea of this movie would have worked better if it wasn’t a comedy/drama. It would have been a great black comedy or sad drama. Careful what you wish for!
Beverly Hills Cop
You know, I can’t even remember what the hell this was about. Something with a banana in a tailpipe is about all that comes to mind.
On a Clear Day
Middle-aged guy has no passion in his life, so decides he’ll swim across the English Channel. It’s your typical “group of losers from a small English town band together to do something great” movie. I think there is a whole genre of this kind of movie.
White Night Wedding (aka Brúðguminn)
I guess I have a soft spot for Icelandic movies. I’m not sure if this movie was trying to be a quirky wedding comedy, or a dark drama about mental illness. You might call it a dark comedy, but the juxtaposition of the “dark” and the “comedy” parts is just a little hard to mix in one’s head. Anyway, I enjoyed it simply for the slice of Iceland that it provides. And in the end, if you just accept the Icelandic psyche is a little strange and warped, I suppose you can accept this strange, warped movie.
Take the Money and Run
Woody Allen’s second (by some measures) movie… maybe you could call it his first. It’s interesting to watch just to see how Woody Allen’s style has developed… but is it a great movie on its own merit? Well, not really… But, all the same, I don’t feel like I wasted time watching this.
Whatever it Takes
I wrote a note to myself to review “Whatever it Takes”. I have no idea what this movie was… searching just tells me that there are like 10 movies with this title. I have to wonder – if you’re going to make a movie, don’t you google it first to see if it’s been used already? Sheesh. Whatever this movie was, it couldn’t have been that good because I have no memory of it.
Footloose – 1984
Looking back, it’s amazing how ridiculous and yet moving this movie was. I mean, if someone tells you the plot, you have to laugh – really??? But, then when you watch John Lithgow’s transformation at the end of the movie, you have to think… well, I guess so. Kind of makes you see the Taliban in a whole other light – they’re in the USA too.
Wrongfully Accused
My god what a dumb movie. This was nothing more than 1.5 hours of really pathetic attempts at humor. It was just plain worthless. Why do they even make these movies? Why does HBO show them? Why do I watch them? It’s a viscous circle – the blind leading the blind round and round. Leslie Nielsen has hit an all time rock bottom low with this one. (Of course, I never saw Mr. Magoo).
Word Wars
It seems every sub-culture is getting a documentary these days. Someone ought to make a list. Someone probably has… in fact there’s probably a documentary about all the sub-culture documentaries, wouldn’t that be something! Anyway, this one is pretty good… There are some real characters playing scrabble out there. The end was especially hartwarming – considering who won, and what it meant to him and his Dad. I really felt genuinely great for them both. In the world of scrabble, there is nothing greater… and no drug testing either!
The Wizard of Oz
I wonder what the world would think of this movie if it came out just recently. I think it would still be a classic. It has aged well.
Just curious… was there a good witch of the south? Perhaps an indifferent witch of the northwest? A somewhat nasty witch of the east-by-northeast?
Without the King
Can the world have one good king? Please? Why is this so impossible? Why can’t these people see how corrupt they are? Why does it have to be so hard?
Wisdom
One of those movies that’s easily forgettable. I think Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore were “a thing” once, so they decided to do a movie together. No wonder they broke up.
Winged Migration
Birdwatching on film. If you’re intrigued by birds, you’ll love it. If you’re not…. you should be.
The Wind Will Carry Us
An Iranian film that takes a quite different approach. The plot concerns some filmmakers trying to make a documentary about a death-ritual in a remote village in Iran. Nothing in the movie is overly dramatized, all the action is very ordinary. Even an “accident” near the end of the movie is not over-played like most every mainstream movie is prone to doing. There are no big emotional scenes – you have to look for the emotion of the movie. Many of the scenes focus on things other than the main action (for example, a conversation is filmed, but the whole time the camera focuses on an uninterested 3rd party) At times it comes across as quite tedious and dull, but that’s how everyday life is. I’m glad every movie isn’t like this, but I’m also glad this one is like it is. (plus, the setting – the village – was really neat)
Willow
I remember the previews for this movie came out like 6 months in advance… which was a big deal back then. It had me wondering. Willow must be an amazing movie to deserve such promotion! Alas, it was only average. There wasn’t any groundbreaking anything in this movie. It was just your run-of-the-mill fantasy-adventure movie. In retrospect, this was done before hollywood “figured out” how to do fantasy-adventure movies.
Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory
Absolutely amazing. Gene Wilder is obviously a genius in this movie. So, why did he do so many mediocre movies afterwards? This film is a satirical rip on everything that was wrong with pop culture 30 years ago, but it still rings true today. I want an umpa-lumpa NOW!!!!
Wild Wild West
God, what a dumb movie!!! I feel I should apologize for this even being on my list. I didn’t mean to see it, really! It was a total accident. Some idiot gave us the wrong directions to a theater and this was the only thing playing there. We meant to see Austin Powers II that night. Instead, I got to experience a new low in Hollywood moviecranking.