Oh God!

MOVIE REVIEW OF Oh God! (1977) PG

Cast
Director:	carl reiner	Runtime: 1hrs 38min ( 98min)
jerry landers	.....	john denver
god	.....	george burns
bobbie landers	.....	tery garr
doctor harmon	.....	donald pleasence
sam raven	.....	ralph belamy
george summers	.....	william daniels
judge baker	.....	bernard hughes
reverend willie williams	.....	paul servino
bishop reardon	.....	barry sullivan
diinah shore	.....	dinah shore
rabbi silverstone	.....	jeff corey
briggs	.....	george furth
mr. mccarthy, district produce manager	.....	david ogdon stiers
greek bishop markos	.....	titos vanois
adam landers	.....	moosie drier
becky landers	.....	rachel longaker
jerry dunphy	.....	jerry dunphy
TV reporter	.....	mario machado
mrs. green	.....	connie sawyer
mrs. levin	.....	jane lambert
check-out girl	.....	kres mersky
TV engineer	.....	byron paul
room service waiter	.....	hector morales
court clerk	.....	wonderful smith
court stenographer	.....	murphy dunne
religious fanatic	.....	boyd bodwell
girl	.....	zane buzby
norman	.....	dennis kort
mechanic	.....	bob mcClurg
checkout-girl #2	.....	celeste cartier
dinah's guest	.....	carl reiner
police officer	.....	john ashton
courtroom spectator	.....	arthur tovey

PLOT SUMMARY

Jerry Landers (John Denver) is your average middle-class guy; wife; two kids-one boy and one girl; manager of the local supermarket; and, oh, yeah...an atheist. This, of course, makes him the perfect candidate for the job God (George Burns) has for him...to spread the Almighty's message to the world.

So, after finally being convinced that this in not a hoax, Jerry takes on all the standard hits of your typical nobody-can-see-him-except-the-hero movie.

Jerry finally realizes that regular people aren't going to get the message out in the way God wants, so he goes a bit higher. He meets with representatives from all the major faiths, including a bloodsucking evangelist who takes in millions of dollars in donations for the church.

The issue finally comes down to a courtroom battle for the determination of Jerry's sanity.

Is there any hope for mankind, or should God just scrap the whole mankind project thing and start over?

TECH INSPECTION

George Burns was one of the funniest straight men who ever lived. Star of vaudeville, radio, television, and movies, he said he never could have done it without Gracie (Allen), but this movie challenges that statement..

This is a great movie for religious and non-religious alike. After all, the main characters are God, and an atheist. It is a movie about being a decent human being on your own. But we have to share in the effort. Sometimes it's about the little things.

This movie pokes fun at the scam-based sect of the religious community, while preserving the idea that mankind still has control, but we shouldn't leave it all up to God. Nor should we blame others for our shortcomings.

There is still hope. As my grandmother used to say to her children, "I brought you into this world, I can just as easily take you out of it!"

This is a really funny movie, without resorting to overuse of slapstick comedy or vulgar (easy) jokes as is often the remedy today for a lame script (which most of them are). Definitely a movie on which to reflect, while being entertained in the best of ways.

QUOTES
Finally, a short list of quotes I think are worth repeating. You may recognize some, but these are my own picks, not ones that are particularly famous:

• Landers : Uh, sir...
  Security Guard : Yes, sir?
  Landers : H...h...h...h...how do I get to the uh, twenty-seventh floor?
  Security Guard : In this building?
  Landers : Yeah.
  Security Guard : I'm afraid you'd need a can opener. We only have seventeen floors.
• God : Ostriches were a mistake. Silly looking things. Avocados...made the pit too big. Like I say, you try.
• Landers : I don't belong to any church.
  God : Neither do I.
• Bobbie : And he thinks he's God?
  Landers : Well he thinks he's God. And I'm in no position to argue with him.
• Bobbie : So, is that all he told you...that you're going to be the saviour, and that...to tell everybody that we have down here can work, huh?
  Landers : Yes. He also told me that he was very disappointed in avocados.
  Bobbie : He is?
  Landers : He said he made the pit too big.
• God : They've figured out so many ways to talk to each other that finally nobody can.
• God : You deliver those papers to Reverend Williams. The one who looks like a football player.
  Landers : I didn't like him.
  God : He's having one of his big dos at the Shrine Auditorium. Every time I turn around, he's spreading the word...my word. Only my words he ran out of years ago. I'll tell you the truth, the reason I put everybody here naked...I wasn't trying to be cute. I just didn't want to create clothes. With clothes is right away pockets. With pockets you gotta put something in them, right? You take these answers and give them to Reverend Big Mouth and you say that God says he's a phony. And also tell him if he wants to get rich, fine...tell him to sell shoes. But personally tell him, I'd like him to shut up.
• God : You do a show like that, you don't let them put you on in the last few minutes. That's for fellows who write diet books. /li>
  
• Landers : While you're watching over me, would you mind watching the road, too?
  God : I'd rather watch a nice sunset.


• Court Clerk : Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
  God : So help me, me.


• Landers : Aren't you coming back?
  God : No.
  Landers : Ever?
  God : When Ever comes...we'll see.

Here is my personal rating of this movie. This rating is out of ten meows.
¹⁰ /₁₀

---

Thanks for Visiting!!!

Please comment below

The Wrong Guy

MOVIE REVIEW OF The Wrong Guy (1997) PG-13

Cast
Director:	David Steinberg	Runtime: 1hrs 32min ( 92min)
nelson hibbert	.....	dave foley
detective arlen	.....	david anthony higgins
lynn holden	.....	jennifer tilly
fred holden	.....	joe flaherty
ken daly	.....	dan redican
farmer brown	.....	alan scarfe
mr. nagel	.....	kenneth welsh
creepy guy	.....	enrico colantoni
the killer	.....	colm feore
bus station worker	.....	arnie achtman
gas station guy	.....	boyd banks
cindy	.....	johanna black
manicurist	.....	valerie boyce
juddidam	.....	alan bridle
nagel's secretary	.....	dana brooks
engineer	.....	martin brown
jimmy	.....	richard chevolleau
oklahoma cop	.....	jeff clarke
dr. harris	.....	gina clayton
policeman #1	.....	steven page
policeman #2	.....	tyler stewart
policeman #3	.....	ed robertson
policeman #4	.....	jim creeggan
policeman #5	.....	kevin hearn
texas cop	.....	glenn cross
small town man #1	.....	jack jessop
small town man #2	.....	bruce deller
missouri cop	.....	don dickinson
maitre'd	.....	reg dreger
office worker #1	.....	chantal quesnelle
office worker #2	.....	david farant
office worker #3	.....	glenda rush
crime show host	.....	barry flatman
indiana policeman	.....	calvin green
man in elevator	.....	don kelly
bus driver	.....	jay kogen
miss crystal ball	.....	carmelina lamanna
denise	.....	lindsay leese
gavin	.....	william lynn
anchorwoman	.....	arlene mazerolle
captain hughes	.....	robin mcCulloch
motel manager	.....	kevin mcDonald
federal officer	.....	bruce mcFee
teamster	.....	gerry menicino
cleveland detective	.....	steve michalchuk
french restaurant waiter	.....	carlo rota
policeman at gas station	.....	hadley sandiford
quartet bus driver	.....	guy sanvido
security guard	.....	ralph small
outpatient	.....	david steinberg
constance nagel	.....	haley tyson
wallace	.....	mike wilmot

PLOT SUMMARY

Nelson Hibbert (Dave Foley), Vice-President of Requisitions and Non-Human Resources for Nagel Industries in Cleveland, is on his way up the corporate ladder...in fact, he is sure he has the title of President in the bag. Besides, he's engaged to the current President Nagel's (Kenneth Welsh) daughter.

But when the position is given to someone else, Nelson is outraged and threatens, in a roundabout way, to kill Nagel by announcing, "you are dead to me."

As luck(?) would have it, at 10:37 a.m., Nagel gets stabbed in the back of the neck. At 10:38 a.m. Nelson finds the body, grabs the knife, and runs out of the building in a panic. Thinking he is the prime suspect, he takes course to head to Mexico.

Meanwhile, back in Cleveland, the authorities have confirmed via videotape that someone else actually committed the murder.

Through a series of events, the real killer (Colm Feore) gets the impression that Nelson is actually a kind of super-cop, who is following him. In reality, the killer is being followed, but by the police, headed by Detective Arlen (David Anthony Higgins) of the Cleveland PD, who is taking advantage of his unlimited resources.

Nelson finds himself in the tiny farm town of Metcalf, Missouri, where he meets a narcoleptic girl named Lynn (Jennifer Tilly) and her father (Joe Flaherty).

Another round of misadventures bring all the significant players together for a final, albeit mild, shootout (?).

TECH INSPECTION

As far as the public success of this movie, it was rather drab in Canada in both video and DVD format, and it was never released theatrically in the U.S. In my opinion, that is a real disappointment; for the following reasons...

I love movie/television/book references, and this movie has more than one. For instance, can you guess which classic movie this monologue references?

This newspaper's owned by Farmer Brown. He's been trying to shut us down for years. Edgar, your father got the money for that house you're livin' in from the bank. Jacob, you remember when you needed money to start that men's jewelry store?...Well, you didn't get it from Brown, you got it from us. Yeah, I had to foreclose on ya', but...well, it wasn't a good idea, was it? Everybody look, the money from this bank is in that town.

Have you seen It's a Wonderful Life yet this year? Skip to the part where George saves the B & L using his honeymoon money.

There is also a short allusion to Al Pacino in Scarface (except that here, handguns are used instead of fully automatic assault weapons), as well as Nelson using a voice that is what I took as an imitation of Steve Martin using one of his funny voices.

And if you don't spot those, you certainly can't miss the classic Wile E. Coyote ACME fake hole gag at the beginning.

This is a rehash of the theme of mistaken identity, but with several varieties of twist. This makes for a relatively new idea.

Anyone who remembers Dave Foley from The Kids in the Hall or NewsRadio will know that he can be hilarious as a straight man. In The Wrong Guy, though, you can see that he is equally as funny playing a paranoid, hyperactive spaz.

The other characters have their own unique querks that just add to the humor of the movie, written by Foley and David Anthony Higgins (Detective Arlen). For example, Lynn is a narcoleptic who inconveniently has her spells while behind the wheel of an automobile!

Whereas many of the one-liners are hilarious, most of them would not survive without the accompanying facial expressions and reactions. Physical comedy rivals the spoken jokes throughout the movie.

This is further testimony to my hypothesis that foreign actors and movies are often of higher quality than those from the U.S. (at least for the past 50 years).

There's not much more to be said to further the technical evaluation of this film, so just see it for yourself and hopefully you will get up with a smile on your face and a happy mood in your mind.

QUOTES
Finally, a short list of quotes I think are worth repeating. You may recognize some, but these are my own picks, not ones that are particularly famous:

• Nelson : Morning...Big day today...Hey, fellas, today's the big day, huh? G'morning...Morning...Top o' the morning, m'lady. Good morning, big day, huh? Morning. Good morning, Cindy.
  Cindy : Morning mister...
  Nelson : Hibbert. Today's a big day for me.
  Cindy : Really? Ah, good for you.
  Nelson : All set for the big day? Hi! Today's the day. Hey fellas, how 'bout that game last night?
  Water Cooler Guy #1 : What game?
  Water Cooler Guy #2 : There was no game last night.
  Nelson : Gotta go...Hey there. Morning to you. Good morning. Hey, how's it goin'? Morning, folks. Good morning, Denise.
  Denise : Good morning, Mister Hibbert.
• Nelson : Hi. How far will...36 dollars get me?
  Bus Station Clerk : You're there.
• Nelson : Lynn, this may get dangerous. You may want to get two teabags and a sheet of wax paper.
• Lynn : Did I have one of my spells again?
  Nelson : Yes, you did. But those of us who chose to wear seatbelts are fine.
• Killer : You're awake!
  Nelson : Yeah. For awhile now.
  Killer : I've been carrying you!
  Nelson : I thought you wanted to.
• Arlen : There has to be some way out of this.
  Killer : What do you suggest?
  Arlen : Give yourself up?
  Killer : How does that help me?
  Arlen : I don't know.

RATING

Here is my personal rating of this movie. This rating is out of ten meows.
⁹ /₁₀

---

Thanks for Visiting!!!

Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte

MOVIE REVIEW OF Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) NOT RATED

Cast
Director:	robert aldrich	Runtime: 2hrs 13min ( 133 min)
charlotte hollis	.....	bette davis
miriam deering	.....	olivia de havilland
dr. drew baliss	.....	joseph cotten
velma cruther	.....	agnes moorehead
harry wills	.....	cecil kellaway
sam hollis	.....	victor buono
jewel mayhew	.....	mary astor
sheriff luke standish	.....	wesley addy
paul marchand	.....	william campbell
john mayhew	.....	bruce dern
editor	.....	frank ferguson
foreman	.....	george kennedy
taxi driver	.....	dave willock
gang leader	.....	michael petit
new boy	.....	john manga
2nd boy	.....	kelly flynn
funeral director	.....	percy helton
young girl	.....	alida aldrich
3rd boy	.....	kelly aldrich
boy dancer	.....	willam aldrich
geraldine	.....	carol delay
nellie	.....	ellen corby
town gossip	.....	marianne stewart
town gossip	.....	helen kleeps
cleaning woman	.....	lillian randolph
cleaning woman	.....	geraldine west
cleaning woman	.....	mary henderson
chauffeur	.....	bill walker
ginny mae	.....	idell james
band at party	.....	teddy buckner and his all - stars

PLOT SUMMARY

It is 1927 Louisiana. Sam Hollis (Victor Buono) is a big time rich southerner who has learned of one of his precious daughters' (Charlotte - Bette Davis) plans to elope with a married man (John Mayhew - Bruce Dern).

At a party in the Hollis mansion, John is told to inform Charlotte that he has changed his mind and does not wish to continue the relationship.

After a violent scene in which John ends up without a head or right hand, the scene moves to the ballroom, where Charlotte enters in a blood-stained dress.

Skip ahead 37 years to 1964 in the same mansion. However, now it is not more than a broken down house with only one stubborn resident (Betty Davis) and her housemaid (Agnes Moorehead). Charlotte has been mocked, teased, and shunned her entire life...being accused of getting away with John Mayhew's murder. Her distress is furthered by the State Louisiana Highway Commission, who is trying to tear down her beloved home in order to build a connection bridge. She is told she has one week to leave. She has no intention of doing so.

Charlotte thinks her only hope for saving her home is to write to her cousin Miriam (Olivia de Havilland), asking her to come to the mansion and fight the authorities. Miriam shows up, but realizes that there is no hope for the cause, instead deciding this would be the perfect opportunity to have Charlotte committed to an asylum, taking what is left of Charlotte's inheritance. With the help of Charlotte's doctor, Dr. Drew Bayliss (Joseph Cotten), who also happens to be a former lover of Miriam's. Together, Miriam and Drew set up scenarios, along with drugs, to convince Charlotte that John has come back for her. Of course, in the meantime, convincing everyone else that she needs to be committed.

In the background of the plot, enter Harry Wills (Cecil Kellaway), the lawyer for Jewel Mayhew (Mary Astor). He is interested in the 37-year-old case because of some odd circumstances surrounding the incident. He meets with Jewel to find out some enlightening information. She gives Harry a sealed letter and tells him not to open it until the time of her death, which is on the horizon.

You need to see the movie for the specifics, but I can assure you that disappointment is not an emotion you will encounter. Although shock is almost guaranteed.

TECH INSPECTION

Although typical Betty Davis attitude permeates this movie, the actress is a victim in this case rather than the antagonist. Davis is remindful of Ingrid Bergman in the 1944 film Gaslight, although Paula Alquist is an innocent, likeable character, whereas Charlotte Hollis...not so much.

NOTE OF INTEREST: Joseph Cotten appeared in both Gaslight and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Incidentally, in the former, you are routing for his character, in this film, you are never quite sure.

Bette Davis made this film after years of experience and fame in Hollywood. However, I found that in more than one spot, her delivery to be amateurish for film. Her performance seemed over-dramatic as you might expect from a stage play or vaudeville act.

Olivia de Havilland delivers the most captivating performance as Charlotte's cousin Miriam. Miriam is appealing in appearance and personality in the public eye, she is appalling in character behind closed doors.

The movie on the whole is one to watch. The twists in the plot are remindful of an Alfred Hitchcock film. Although not as frightening, the camera shots are sometimes more graphic than the shower scene in Psycho.

Finally, I will call your attention to the beginning of the movie when Charlotte is yelling at the construction workers to stop what they are doing. Out of anger, she pushes an enormous urn off the second floor balcony to come crashing on to the concrete below, barely missing the construction foreman (George Kennedy). Remember this scene in the last few minutes of the movie.

QUOTES
Finally, a short list of quotes I think are worth repeating. You may recognize some, but these are my own picks, not ones that are particularly famous:

• Sam Hollis : You guiltless soft-suckin' swine!
• party guest : Champagne wouldn't be half as fun without prohibition.
• Charlotte : But this is my home. I haven't any other place to go. They can build their damn bridge anywhere.
  Sheriff Standish : No, ma'am. They have to build it to meet up with the road on the other side of the river.
• Charlotte : What is it you call your job? Oh, yes, public relations. Sounds like something pretty dirty to me.
• Dr. Drew : People who oblige to live alone have a habit of creating company for themselves.
• Jewel : Go away from me!
• Wills : You're my favorite living mystery.
  Charlotte : Have you ever solved me?
  Wills : No.
• Velma : Well, what about when she comes back? Or ain't she comin' back?
  Miriam : Since the house won't be here, I hardly think that's relevant.
• Velma : So you're finally showin' the right side of your face, ain't ya'?

RATING

Here is my personal rating of this movie. This rating is out of ten meows.
⁹ /₁₀

---

Thanks for Visiting!!!

Billy Elliot

MOVIE REVIEW OF Billy Elliot (2000) R (PG-13 video version)

Cast
Director:	Stephen Daudry	Runtime: 1 hrs 50min ( 110 min)
billy elliot	.....	jamie bell
nan	.....	jean heywood
tony elliot	.....	jamie draven
jackie elliot	.....	gary lewis
michael caffery	.....	stuart wells
george watson	.....	mike elliot
mr. braithwaite	.....	billy fane
debbie wilkinson	.....	nicola blackwell
mrs, wilkinson	.....	julie waters
librarian	.....	carol mcGuigan
gary poulson	.....	joe renton
mr. tom wilkinson	.....	colin maclachlan
billy's mom	.....	janine birkett
PC jeff peverly	.....	trevor fox
sheila briggs	.....	charlie hardwick
miner	.....	denny ferguson
NCB offcial	.....	dennis lingard
simon	.....	matthew thomas
Dr. Crane ( ballet doctor)	.....	steve mangan
tutor in medical	.....	paul ridley
principal	.....	patrick malahide
vice - principal	.....	barbara leigh - hunt
tutor #1	.....	imogen claire
tutor #2	.....	diana kent
tutor #3	.....	neil north
tutor #4	.....	lee williams
teacher	.....	petra siniawski
secretary	.....	merelina kendall
sandra	.....	zoe bell
geography teacher	.....	tracey wilkinson
michael (age 25)	.....	merryn owen
billy (age 25)	.....	adam cooper

PLOT SUMMARY

This is a brilliant exhibition of the importance of individuality. Going along with the crowd is sometimes advantageous, yet other times, it can be the death of you.

The movie begins in 1984 in Durham Coalfield in North East England. Jamie Bell plays 11-year-old Billy Elliot, the younger of two sons in a working-class family with a single father (Gary Lewis). They live in a coal-mining community with Billy's grandmother Nan.

The area is in a political uproar from a Union strike causing riots and protests in the streets. The Elliots are barely keeping afloat.

Meanwhile, Billy's father Jackie is sending him off to boxing lessons every week, where Billy is flailing and failing miserably.

When he arrives for his workout one day, the boys are informed that one end of the gym is going to be used by the dancing instructor from downstairs (Julie Waters) because her area is being set up as a soup kitchen for the striking coal miners.

The group of dancers captures the attention of Billy, and he becomes more interested in what they are doing than in boxing, for which he has no talent or skill.

Billy begins to secretly attend the dancing classes instead of his boxing sessions. When his father and brother Tony (Jamie Draven) find out, he is forbidden to continue for fear of him being seeing as a sissy or poof.

Sure enough, Billy is ridiculed by his family and friends, except for his best friend, Michael (Stuart Wells), who reveals himself to be a closet-gay, and supports Billy in his efforts with the ballet.

Jackie is picketing, and Tony is getting in trouble with the police concerning the Union strike in which they are both involved. Initially outraged to the point of violence at Billy's choice of ballet, Jackie is finally torn with emotional conflict when he sees Billy's natural talent first-hand; going so far as to pawn his late wife's jewelry and attempt to cross the picket line so he might afford to send Billy to a prestigious ballet school in London.

TECH INSPECTION

Billy Elliot was filmed in a former mining community in the UK and originally released in Ireland. The cast is superb, as are the performances. As is the case with a vast majority of foreign actors, this company gives highly convincing performances that seem very natural on-screen, as opposed to many American movies, which often seem contrived or manufactured.

These actors rely on their talent, rather than publicity or looks, for the quality of the final cut.

The score aptly follows the varying benchmark changes in mood of the movie, while scenes of Billy's boxing and dancing are inter-cut with scenes from the riots at the coal mines to exhibit an ironic parallel.

The plot may seem a little drawn out, but it contributes to artistic value and deep development of characters. Note the running theme of Swan Lake throughout the movie.

As is the reverse of orthodoxy, Billy Elliot was written first as a screenplay, then novelized, and finally adapted to the stage.

QUOTES
Finally, a short list of quotes I think are worth repeating. You may recognize some, but these are my own picks, not ones that are particularly famous:

• Michael: Look at them gloves. They're outdated.
  Billy:They're me dad's, these.
  Michael:Exactly.
• Mrs. Wilkinson:Oh, for fuck's sake, Billy. If you want to piss about with your little mates, that's fine with me.
  Billy:Alright, alright, don't lose your blob.
• Mrs. Wilkinson:She must've been a very special woman, your mother.
  Billy:No, she was just me mom.
• Tony:He's only a bairn. What about giving him a childhood?
  Billy:I don't want a childhood. I want to be a ballet dancer.
• Billy:Just because I like ballet doesn't mean I'm a poof, ya' know.
• Jackie:Is that absolutely necessary? Walk normal, will ya'?
• Billy:Dad! Dad! Dad, for fuck's sake! I've changed me mind.
  Jackie:Get back in there. Don't be so stupid.
• NCB Official:Well, was there any particular aspect of the ballet which caught your attention?
  Billy:The dancin'

RATING

Here is my personal rating of this movie. This rating is out of ten meows.
¹⁰ /₁₀

---

Thanks for Visiting!!!