Jephy1 Reviews

Always at The Carlyle (2018)

Quite interesting yet Under-edited

[7/10 · 6 November 2023]

An eye-opening look at one of NYC's great and historic hotels where--as of this writing (2023)--the room-rate is over US$1000 and most of us won't be staying. I found it poorly edited as it often dwelled on individuals with just too long a description of seeming irrelevancies, where more historic detail about the building's architecture or decades past before it was a "rich and famous" destination would have added much. Others have noted the questionable audio track which I thought was due to my marginal hearing loss! I re-ran a few clips to understand what was being said, but couldn't get them. Filmmakers: Test audiences before release!

The Tamarind Seed (1974)

Classic spy Stuff !!

[9/10 · 19 August 2023]

QUESTION #1:

Omar Sharif is pushy, presuming, over-confident in his pursuit of Dame Julie Andrews....why?

A) He's a Russian agent attempting to turn her.

B) He wants to defect to the West, and use her to do it.

C) It's not all that; he's just giving a master class on how to pick up a gorgeous woman! (Hello!...the director writes comedies!)

D) He's forgotten the words to "Do-re-me".

All right, now, you will not want to miss this excellent motion picture. Though it is somewhat dated it holds up quite well in 2023 as a cold war period piece featuring nothing but great acting, a tight plot and wonderful score.

QUESTION #2:

What are you waiting for?? (Answers to question inside the flick!)

Oppenheimer (I) (2023)

Not the Bomb; Good Entertainment

[8/10 · 25 July 2023]

This is a slow-burn grown-up movie that doesn't rely on CGI, swooshes and/or thuds to make us think we're watching something good. The science seems to be lacking (Oppie was a scientist), but this is a biography, not a Manhattan project development tale (read Rhodes' "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" for that). And given this, so is missing a thorough character development of the protagonist. In the end, we know he succeeded yet cannot pinpoint just how that happened: we know that Groves, aptly played by Damon, was outrageously difficult for a scientist to deal with. The IMAX format was not necessary as the visuals/sets don't get a boost from it. It just has no grand visual elements. But the story and subject matter held my attention. Blunder: I was sorry to (not) see a proper epilogue noting the very recent posthumous reinstatement of Oppenheimer's security clearance. Costuming was poor: 1940s men always wore hats and shirts that were (only) white. Aside from hairstyles (and period autos) the piece felt too modern. Truman's Whitehouse was quite authentic. But it does what a flick is supposed to do: entertain! 8/10.

Harriet Craig (1950)

A Master Class.........

[9/10 · 21 July 2023]

Joan's character gives a master class in ball-busting if ever there was one! Hardly any character in the movie can avoid her cheap and egocentric shots at getting her way and/or her outlandish lies to achieve her evil goals. Crawford acts the part to a "T". She is as believable as any of the other great villains of Hollywood history and holds one's attention throughout making the movie anything but boring or drag-on-ish. But you know and feel that her come-uppance is on the horizon: the vase foreshadowing was too obvious. Her "secret" was not what I'd guessed, but made for apt/suitable surprise. See!

Moonstruck (1987)

Jewison's Magnum Opus

[10/10 · 22 June 2023]

Jewison gave us many memorable films and this one certainly caps his career. Maybe working with a screenplay that comes so perfectly full-circle made his work easy. We know every character in our own worlds that show up here in Moonstruck: Tormented NIck Cage, uncertain Cher, doofus Aiello. We just don't get them all at once in our lives in such a beautifully orchestrated comic tale of family turbulence, tolerance and tom-foolery. Every player completely sells their role, for no one appears as a banal script-reader. One easily relates to each character's dilemmas. I highly recommend this film. It 's a joy of a story to watch unfold, a master class in acting and in understanding the human predicament. The score and visuals (a buffed-up NYC near its nadir) are the icing on the cake!

The Anderson Tapes (1971)

? A Lumet Film ?

[2/10 · 20 June 2023]

It is hard to believe that the same director that has given us Serpico, The Verdict and Dog Day Afternoon did THIS!! It's really quite an unimaginative take on the concept of cool-crime-cape (done infinitely better in Ocean's Eleven) or techy-eavesdropping stuff like the superior Conversation. And it is a master class slooowwww mooovvviinng!

Alan King makes a bad gangster--I almost thought I was missing a farcical comedy trying to buy-in to his 'gangster'. (Well, he WAS a stand up comedian).

The movie fails. 007 wouldn't waste his time on this petty gang of crooks and/or inept cops. What was Lumet thinking?

How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)

Wonderful Nostalgia Romp

[9/10 · 14 June 2023]

A few short notes on my take on this one: Spectacular opening orchestral sequence, clearly to draw interest to the newly-created cinemascope capabilities, that modern music-naive* audiences won't "get". (*formal music education has been off-the-menu in schools for decades). It sets the mood and time and feel of the story perfectly. (Woody Allen did it better in "Manhattan" (and in Paris; "Midnight in..."), but this works quite beautifully in 1953). Also, if you didn't know technicolor-you'd know it after seeing this! I wonder if the apartment's furnishings and fashion colors were chosen just to show off that colorizing method.

The war & depression were over and with the two superpowers waving atom bombs at each other, I suppose people needed a fantasy amusement to laugh about.

We may be 70 years on...but does the aggravating realtor in the opening scene remind you of.....a 2023 aggravating realtor?

Marilyn owns the movie from the first scene in the new apt. . Meanwhile....why is Grable wearing a wedding ring in the dream sequence? And like Loren she's a no-sale who just doesn't fit the goofy-comedy role assigned her. I like their star power, but that's all.

After all that, this is a predictable but quite fun romp back to the early 1950s people and places and sensibilities. Its flaws barely diminish its virtues. See!

Out of the Past (1947)

Convoluted Mess

[2/10 · 29 May 2023]

Why does Kathy want to kill Fisher? What's so crooked about Jeff's past that he needs a pseudonym? Why is he drawn to murderer Kathy when he's got a beautiful girlfriend he loves already? Et Cetera. And there are SO many more. Good direction and screenplay writing means we can FOLLOW WHAT'S HAPPENING! Not here, kids! And the smallest bit of research on this film turns up many more reviewers who found it the same confusing-impossible-to-follow tale as well. Perhaps if you can muster viewing this one half-a-dozen times you'll get it; but I don't have half-a-dozen times. I found a lot of noir cliches, etc.....maybe that's why the noir crowd is so drawn to this (?).

The Domino Principle (1977)

Couldn't Take It!

[1/10 · 24 May 2023]

Well, the old concept of hiring a patsy to do your own really nasty dirty work is understood and the center of many a conspiracy theory, however, it appears to be pretty unanimous that this is a poorly conceived example: I had to turn it off during a recent showing on the Movies! Network. "The Berlin Conspiracy" by Tom Gabbay, a novel in the historic-fiction category has a similar theme and concept carried out exceptionally well in its written-thriller form (where's the silver screen version?) Check out that one!! And in the future, give me Gene Hackman anytime with the exception of THIS ONE!!

Mildred Pierce (1945)

Ann Blyth !

[9/10 · 19 May 2023]

Well, Joan was certainly the big name here, but I found the performance of Ann Blyth to be the tour de force of this interesting tale, which I also note seemed more Hitchcockian than strictly film-noir. Blyth thoroughly sold her role in every scene in which Veda appears. One really believes she is the spoiled child she portrays! And she was quite young and relatively inexperienced upon taking the role--a nod to both her and her director. Her character was considered by The American Film Institute as one of Hollywood's greatest villains.

I'm not a melodrama lover, so this aspect of the screenplay was not a draw for me. Why did the younger daughter have to die?---I found that a peculiar plot annoyance. Finally, given the excellent story and the age of the film, I can't help but think that a modern remake would do the story well; but then, we wouldn't get Joan, would we? Who can touch her today?

An Affair to Remember (1957)

A Pleasant but Hollow Watch

[6/10 · 15 February 2023]

This is a worthwhile view into 1950's sensibilities and styles, all the while presenting two of Hollywood's best actors in a simpleton-hardly-believable tale. I thought the sets and costumes were quite good. The music inserts--especially the childrens' parts--just don't work anymore; screenplays today would never hold an audience if this style remained, and is why the film probably won't register with the 'below 60' crowd. The picture is saturated with cliches that might make one quit it there and then (!)--perhaps it's this period from where they all originated (?)! It needs another remake and maybe with a bit more of a theme or moral than "love-conquers-all", etc.

Can-Can (1960)

Decent Musical

[7/10 · 20 December 2022]

Musicals were all the rage during the '50s and the '60s; this outing certainly met the demand for this type of show at the time. The art form does not quite have the following today (2022) that was huge back then. And this is a good, but not great example of the genre. I found the Belle Epoch setting to not match the 50s hairstyles and makeup glaring. The acting and musical numbers/dancing is really good, but the script just is not there. I thought Shirley looked great throughout and the fact is, you probably watch the film for her performance.....the rest is quite middle-of-the-road. Predictable. Fun.

Rebecca (1940)

Across-the-Board Beautiful Movie

[10/10 · 16 November 2022]

It is difficult to add, at this late date, to the many excellent reviews of this motion picture. The whole thing is a tour-de-force. Its characters and timing and plot-pace all capture one's interest and hold it until yet another Hitchcockian turn or surprise arises. I will add that as a period piece, today it is an informative and exciting eye into a long-gone era of style and class. Against this backdrop perhaps is much of the atmosphere that surrounds and makes the noir elements of the film and story most realistic and believable and attention-holding. The screenplay comes full-circle, and ends with all loose ends succinctly tied-up. Best Picture, 1940: well worth it!

Wild Rovers (1971)

Tired. Cliched.

[1/10 · 9 November 2022]

Perhaps this picture is why westerns fell out of favor right about...........after this was released. Character development is minimal and cliched. Studios did period pieces poorly in the 60's and 70's-----costumes look like actors in the 1970's dressed up like 1870's people.........but wait! We are never told what year the action takes place: with no dialogue about civil war, no telegraph lines, no light bulbs or motorized ANYTHING.....we're stuck pretty much with a late 1860s period. Maybe viewers with a strong sense of Montana history can place it better. I'll place it in the circular file.

The First Deadly Sin (1980)

Thank Frank

[1/10 · 29 September 2022]

Thank Frank for making this one marginally watchable. His character is not the most memorable, however he executes its nuances well. Why the producers wasted Dunaway''s talents here with a flat and shallow and wholly uninteresting role will remain unanswered. The motives of the murderer, too, are ill-explained and his background and justifications are not addressed at all. This movie is that major league pitcher than fiddles with the ball, stretches, concentrates on the plate, winds up-and then........never throws the damn ball! Maybe Hollywood will give strong consideration to remake it correctly someday..

Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring (1971 TV Movie)

Excellent Period Piece

[9/10 · 2 May 2022]

Over fifty years later, after seeing this TV movie just once as a 15-year-old boy, it still resonates. Then, I was completely empathetic towards Dennie and Susie and their situation given how typical it was of the times. Really hit the nail on the head, I thought! So many highly promoted and reviewed movies over many decades since, most long-forgotten, yet this one sticks: amazing little movie!

Nightmare Alley (2021)

How About A Plot ??

[2/10 · 8 January 2022]

There's no story. A con man rattles around in the early 1940's doing what cons do. This is a pretty visual consisting of a set of vignettes saturated with interesting foreshadowing that never turns out to foreshadow anything!! What do you call THAT literary tool? Others have noted the "surprise" ending. Well, maybe if you're ten and the only surprise you've had to date was Dorothy's dream, but the only thing I saw that remotely resembles a surprise was highly predictable. Beautiful sets make it a nice period piece, but do not save this film from an inevitable trash heap. Skip. (Costume designer: to discern the way carnival goers dressed in mid-century America, see "Strangers on a Train".)

Badlands (1973)

Not too Much Here

[4/10 · 23 September 2021]

Below-average and quite one-dimensional trashy crime story. Why aren't two of Hollywood's biggest stars ever noted to have teamed up for this one? Well, it's a long-lost tale because ............see my first sentence. A pretty good sound track can't get this one into average territory. But it'll provide an hour-and-a-half of mindless amusement.

House of Strangers (1949)

Vacuous screenplay just for the sake of it all

[1/10 · 20 September 2021]

This seemed like a script written solely for the sake of providing an outlet to give actors an excuse for going to work one day. Really an inconsequential group of events and contrivances. The female roles are especially unbelievable if not marginally acted; amazing that Hayward took the part. Called noir, but really no noir elements. One star to recall how things looked and behaved in the years just after WW2.

Walk the Dark Street (1956)

Jr High Film Club

[2/10 · 3 September 2021]

Was this a Jr High Film Club project? Well, the camera boy did a good job, but the script and acting must be about the most inept, unlikely set of events in Hollywood--or anywhere else--history. One you-got-to-be-kidding moment after another! Why'd they make this thing? Who funded it, what was he smoking and where can the rest of us get some? Good for beginning screenwriting class: what not to do!

In a Lonely Place (1950)

Where's the Noir ?

[4/10 · 30 August 2021]

I got exactly NO noir vibe off this story. Additionally, I'm not a screenwriter, but I know I personally could have done better than this. The story is really quite linear, has all the suspense of watching a drawbridge open after you've seen it once already and can't generate any sympathy for anyone aside from, perhaps, the poor hatcheck girl. I get it, though: Grahame and Bogey were big draws...so...ya gotta make it. Maybe the flick's good for reminding us all not have a tolerance for the likes of Dixon Steele.

The Wrong Man (1956)

Grabs You Early

[9/10 · 27 August 2021]

A different and more naive time of the 1950s must have left audiences aghast watching Fonda's excellent portrayal of an innocent wrongly arrested. Before 'Miranda' did theatre-goers recognize Manny's errors in speaking with law enforcement? The plot holes have been noted; I'd have appreciated a better explanation of the wife's neurosis, which Hitch generally does more thoroughly than in this film (Psycho). And though excellently played, I never bought Fonda being 38 in this character.

Wild Things (1998)

Slick Script; well-cast; Twisty

[10/10 · 19 August 2021]

Once in a while the script and the cast and the direction all come together and make what might have been an average, forgettable movie a memorable one. And that is what happened here with Wild Things: It all clicks quite perfectly. Plot twists and surprises are aptly dealt with by maybe the 'perfect cast' for this production. And so, it does what you go to the movies for: great entertainment. Oh, that ending!!

The Edge (1997)

Profound Allegorical Tale

[10/10 · 29 July 2021]

This is one of Hollywood's great allegories---almost a fable in its staging and screenplay with "the bear" taking center stage. The story asks the question: who are we, especially when we are taken away from our normal constructs, situations and fellow human beings? And it does so quite beautifully, whether it be the cinematography, aptly recognized in almost every review you'll ever read of this film, or its well-conceived and concisely developed plot line. Gorgeous flick! Don't miss! You'll need to watch it more than once!

The Window (1949)

1949 Hokey

[6/10 · 23 July 2021]

An excellent premise is really ruined by a nonsensical ending and unexplainable kidnap attempt. Too bad because the first 3/4 of the movie was quite enthralling mostly due to Driscoll's excellent child-performance. It might make a great modern remake if they can cast a comparable 10 year old star and tune up the stupid end plot.