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martbrad
Reviews
Always (1989)
Always enjoyable
This movie is on my list of films I can see repeatedly and still enjoy, and watching it after an absence is like visiting an old friend. Holly Hunter, Richard Dreyfuss, and John Goodman are extremely likeable in this sweet story of lost and found love and I forgive the implausibilities of the script on their behalf. Audrey Hepburn is luminous, and the scenery of the Pacific Northwest is stunning. Newcomer Brad Johnson is a total hottie and the movie is worth a watch just for his dinner scene with Holly Hunter in her adorable cottage at sunset. His other great scene involves a bus driver & a very realistic (& heroic) administration of CPR. Friends who watched this movie with me found it maudlin and manipulative, but I will ALWAYS hold it dear in my heart.
Harold and Maude (1971)
Watching this movie required effort & attentiveness
I watched "Harold & Maude" on video with high expectations, but could never quite adjust to its erratic rhythms. I found the Cat Stevens sound track intrusive and constantly had to adjust the volume between the loud songs and the barely audible dialogue. Though I admired Harold's quirkiness (and his self-expression through automobiles), his pallid face looked more like 14 than 20, which made his mother's meddling in his social life even more surreal. The character of Maude was amusing & great at talking her way out of trouble, but definitely strange. The 1970's clothes & decor date the movie strongly and the characters seemed more British than American in their accents & sensibilities, which was disconcerting. I just couldn't get into this movie beyond an occasional scene or two. The abrupt scene changes and random characters took so much effort to figure out that I never relaxed enough to enjoy it. "Harold & Maude" felt more like work or obscure philosophizing than entertainment.
Requiem for Murder (1999)
Like a dusty bottle of wine on the shelf
This movie had me baffled, but it wasn't necessarily the plot. Fine that they lead you to suspect various characters as the murderer. Fine that yet again a cop falls in love with his investigative subject. That's all been done before, and this time it's to a classical movie soundtrack. What threw me was the setting. The cars seemed too old & frumpy (even for cops) for it to be a recent movie and the clothes didn't provide any major clues. I figured it was 5 to 8 years old - and was shocked to find it a recent release! Worse yet, it's always dark and usually rainy regardless of the time of day. This is supposed to be Philadelphia, not Seattle, but even the city looks wrong. For one thing, the skyline is missing the major skyscrapers built over a decade ago - did they recycle old footage and film this thing on a lot somewhere? Entryways and security systems, the radio station, and even the restaurant all seem dated, giving this movie a rather clunky feel. Worse yet, the pacing is slow & plodding, the plot never really that surprising, and the characters painfully stereotyped. Furthermore, all the suspects look and dress alike. Was there a sale on brown haired guys with floppy haircuts? And could the detective please shave once in a while? What were they thinking with this movie? The whole project feels like it sat on a shelf for a decade like a bottle of dusty wine. Molly Ringwald looks good and the classical music sounds good, but that's about all the niceties I have to offer about this film.