Change Your Image
usajdfields
Reviews
Little Dorrit (2008)
Dickens "lite"
How a debtor's prison in the 1800's is presented as no worse than a seedy hotel in the suburbs is jaw dropping. Or a city tavern with an anxious to please waiter? All of these presented in 'glorious' technicolor. Clearly, no one who was involved in this production ever even heard of, no less watched, any filmed versions of Dickens from the 1940's (eg Nickolas Nickleby, Oliver twist, Great Expections). Go look them up and watch those instead.
As Orsen Welles famously said, ...get your crayons off my movie...
The 'production values' of Little Dorrit are so inappropriate and out of step with the spirit of Dickens' grim writing, it's just jarring. Far better to read the text! If you crave 'fast food' easily digestible Dickens, Little Dorrit is the sort of gooey mush for you. Then again it's no different than the "Greeting Card" channel pablum.
The Last Seduction (1994)
3rd rate noir
Plot line simply drags along and is pretty shaky, even for a noir. Ms Fiorentino, Mr Pulman really don't have much chemistry and do little more than annoy each other. Peter Berg is unconvincing in his roll as the seductress's 2nd mark. These 3 main characters just seem to be sleepwalking from one scene to the next.
The screen writer(s) apparently have never even watched any actual noirs made in the past 75 years. I suggest they read some Dashiell Hammett novels and watch any films that featured Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor or perhaps Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. With films directed by John Huston or Otto Preminger. After that they should study how films are made...
The Grasshopper (1970)
1 star for the storyline + 2 for Jackie Bissett
You can get a quick glimpse of a Vegas Review from the '70s, if that appeals to you.
Besides that, the cliche'd theme of a restless small town girl aimlessly 'escaping' to the big city to find excitement and then falling in with a 'bad' crowd, the only other asset here is Jackie Bissett.
Now that we're in the 21st century, there's no reason to wait 27 years;
I suggest you look for something far, far better like Boogie Nights (1997) and skip the last 60 minutes of Grasshopper and consider it a failed attempt.
Don't get me wrong, other important film makers have had early failed films, like Peter Bogdanovich with Targets. It's just that Marshall, Belson and Paris only graduated to making TV sitcoms.
The Million Dollar Kid (2000)
formulaic family drivel
There is such a wealth of creative/imaginative/outstanding films of the past century, you shouldn't waste 1 minute or 1 cent on this dreck. May I suggest you start with Hitchcock, Harold Lloyd, Fritz Lang, The Marx Brothers, "REAL" 'Walt Disney' animated films from the 30's-60's, and ten thousand more (at least a 1000 in the last 10 years). Just start by watching Ebert's 100 greatest films list, explore, expand your horizons and ENJOY!
This is another 'family oriented' formulaic film of mindless drivel that offends anyone possessing two brain cells to rub together. Another case of marketing media products to the mindless masses. Unfortunately this apparently includes 99.9% of typical American audiences who also believe that 'Father knows best' and 'Leave it to Beaver' factually depicted typical American family units.