Bob-Balaban Movie Reviews

"Prince of the City" is, I believe, Lumet's best movie and one of the best films of the 1980s, an intelligent drama about the conflict between loyality and morality.

It's part of Lumet's investigation of corruption amongst the "men in blue" which includes "Serpico", "Night Falls on Manhattan" and "Q & A".

"Prince of the City" is about morality but it does not moralise. Lumet's characters face difficult decisions and he shows their agonising in all its complexity. Treat Williams' character (Danny) moves back and forth between self interest and loyality to friends and the law - never really clear what is right and always on his own.

Whenever there is a police corruption "scandal" in Sydney (and there often is !) I turn to this film to give me perspective - to remind me of how the protagonists are human and how life is never black and white.

A facinating account of a NYC cop who has a crisis of conscience.
He wanted to be a good cop but is caught up by the circumstances around him. A terrific performance by Treat Williams.
Superbly directed by Sidney Lumet. New York City gritty. Long (2 hrs 45 min) but well paced. Profane language but is used well to show the intensity of the film. Go buy it or rent it at a video store!

I saw Prince Of The City years ago and it has stayed with me ever since. Its a long, heartbreaking story but wonderful from start to finish. Like the other reviewers I thought Treat Williams was headed straight to the top. I can only conclude he was sleeping with some Hollywood bigshot's wife. What a performance.

Remember when you were young and you were told not to watch a movie, or read horror or comic books because they would warp your mind. Here, chillingly is that saying realized. Imagine a writer of horror, a successful person that has had his novels plastered on the big screen. He is the person everybody is talking about, and in the book world he is what every writer wants to be. While on a talk show he is asked whether or not he fears his influence has endangered the minds of youngsters. He replies rather smerkly, "How could something not real hurt the minds of children."

Is it true that your own mind can punish you for damage done? Is there any escape? These questions are answered as the main character takes a spiraled decent into the darkness that he has created. He himself has to deal with the damage his imagination has summoned - To pay the price for what he has released into the world.
Real great story, that you won't forget any time soon.

It was probably "Amazing Stories" schizophrenic nature - amusing family-oriented fare coupled with more mature offerings - that led to the show only lasting one season. An example of the latter is "Mirror, Mirror," a scary story about a Stephen King-like author "stalked" by a mystery figure similar to one of the characters of his novels. Only the author, well-played by a pre-"Law & Order" Sam Waterson can see the spectre until the story's final few seconds. If the show had stuck to one genre, say of the horror/thriller vein, then it may have had a longer run. This reviewed story is, undeniably, one of the program's best.

The second installment in this tape benefits by being paired with this one.

This tape consist of three stories, 'Mirror, Mirror','Blue Man Down' and 'Mr. Magic.'Martin Scorcese(Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas) makes a directing appearance in the stylish little horror "Mirror, Mirror". The portrayal of the estranged relationship with his ex-girlfriend is very smart and economical, especially for television. The antiseptic white home is a unique environment to have a horror story played out. The phantom, played by Tim Robbins in unrecognizable make-up is appropriately menacing to Waterston, but only in reflections. The concept does become frightening and the musical score by Michael Kamen joins in the fun. Next, Blue Man Down...This strong episode is also one of the most unique in the series. Max Gail does a great job with 22 minute character building and Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky and Hutch) handles directing this mini cop drama very well. It is easily defined and yet, could actually warrant second viewing surprises. Finally, 'Mr. Magic'.This impressive piece stars Sid Caesar as Lou Bundles, a slight of hand magician who's slight of hand has slid. His understanding of the character is wonderful and Petrie does a great job of letting Sid go. This is one of the few episodes that actually tugs at you emotionally. Very powerful. Of the 5 tapes, this has the most consistent work. Enjoy!

First I was turned off by the title, which seemed to promise a film about some form of decadence. And when my friend and I started watching this movie I was quickly prejudiced by its apparent subject matter: a self-absorbed, hard-drinking playwrite. But the intelligence and sly, low-key humor, along with a tantalizing sense of the offbeat, grabbed and then held my attention. Simon Gray, Unnatural Pursuit's writer, slowly builds character, plot and momentum. I can't recall many others who could engage my interest in what would otherwise seem so unpromising a protagonist as lead character Hamish Part. Bates, a subtle actor with the good timing of a comedian, is perfect for the lead role. The film skewers Los Angeles, bad actors, impatient directors and Texas before (with relative affection)nailing New York, the only successful destination of the play that Part has been trying to perfect. Yes, you're likely to be interested in what happens to the play. But the film uses so many surreal, comic and surprising tricks (including something which usually would be a real turn-off but which here is frequently refreshingly funny: musical interludes)that one's attention is constantly engaged by what is happening in THE MOMENT, a rare trick indeed. Humor is subtle, then riotous, with disarmingly poignant moments. One is lured into a sort of alternate universe in which midgets, alcoholism and the need for love and for being heard comprise thematic elements which slowly weave themselves unforcefully 'round the viewer. We were sorry to see it end and are now engaged in seeking out other videos of Gray's scripts, including the infamous "Butley." After experiencing "Unnatural Pursuits," almost everything else seems just a little bit stupid and predictable.

I saw this movie on HBO a couple of years ago, and I have been trying to find it on DVD for a couple of months now, I finally found it on VHS and bought it anyway, cause I just had to have it. The story with Taral Hicks is my favorite, she is trying to reach her mother who is dying in the hospital. She gets stuck and eventually she ends up having to call her from the subway station. When she gets a hold of her mother she sings here favorite song to her over the phone, the song is Troubles of the World. That girl sings the mess out of that song, it will bring tears to your eyes. If you have not seen this movie, you really should.

The first time I saw "Subway Stories" on HBO, it totally blew me away. The whole concept behind the film was to compile the winning short stories from a contest (all of the stories had to be connected to the subways of New York). While the stories are diverse in their plots and themes, I couldn't help but be glued to the TV anticipating the next story. There is something there for everyone. I was particularly fond of John Guare's segment about the war vet pan-handling on the train, although all of the stories were much better than average.

My only problem with this movie is that it is not yet available on DVD. IF you haven't seen this and are a fan of short stories, you will love this movie.

Please please please release "Subway Stories" on DVD! Its a great movie, but I'm waiting for the DVD (perhaps with some extras)!

I saw this movie on HBO a couple of years ago, and I have been trying to find it on DVD for a couple of months now, I finally found it on VHS and bought it anyway, cause I just had to have it. The story with Taral Hicks is my favorite, she is trying to reach her mother who is dying in the hospital. She gets stuck and eventually she ends up having to call her from the subway station. When she gets a hold of her mother she sings here favorite song to her over the phone, the song is Troubles of the World. That girl sings the mess out of that song, it will bring tears to your eyes. If you have not seen this movie, you really should.

The first time I saw "Subway Stories" on HBO, it totally blew me away. The whole concept behind the film was to compile the winning short stories from a contest (all of the stories had to be connected to the subways of New York). While the stories are diverse in their plots and themes, I couldn't help but be glued to the TV anticipating the next story. There is something there for everyone. I was particularly fond of John Guare's segment about the war vet pan-handling on the train, although all of the stories were much better than average.

My only problem with this movie is that it is not yet available on DVD. IF you haven't seen this and are a fan of short stories, you will love this movie.

Please please please release "Subway Stories" on DVD! Its a great movie, but I'm waiting for the DVD (perhaps with some extras)!

Another Richard Dreyfuss tour-de-force performance. He portrays a man in his prime suddenly paralysed from the neck down, who pleads with doctors and ultimately the courts to allow him to die rather than spend a long life in misery. Hospital staff and loved ones try to show him that life is worth living, but soon all are convinced that it's "his" life, and because of the extreme circumstance he should have the right NOT to live it out. -- I appreciated that "both sides" of the issue of eutenasia were heard, and that ultimately the viewer could make his decision. This is a moving film of timely relevance!

This highly underrated film expertly examines the right of any person to control the destiny of their own life. As a quadrepelegic who used to be a sculptor, Richard Drefuss plays a character who decides his life is not worth living. Everything he loved in life has been taken away from him. Directed brilliantly with a stellar cast.

I actually studied the play Whose Life is it Anyway? for a drama assignment at school. The movie really did justice to the original story by Brian Clark. Even though I was encouraged to do a different play, as this one is so hard to find information on, I stuck with this one because I loved it so much. The story really moved me, and I found myself crying at more than one point during the movie. This story brings up so many issues that are relevant to all humans... I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good story!

The cartoon was unbelievably funny! That rotten little boy and the smartass dog was too too funny for words.I RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE TO ANYONE WITH AN ATTITUDE PROBLEM BECAUSE THIS MOVIE WILL GET RID OF IT TEMPORARILY. JUST LONG ENOUGH FOR YOU TO FORGET WHY YOU WERE MAD IN THE 1ST PLACE

When I first watched the Amazing Stories TV show I was just
stunned ,I loved it and I even thought it was better than
the Twilight Zone movie and also it was a lot different than other movies and TV shows . What I also liked about it was that it had a lot of famous people in it like: Kevin Kostner, Pat Hingle, Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Stuart Masterson,Christopher Lloyd, Rhea Perlman, and many others. I think it is fun for the whole family. P.S. I think they should put it on DVD.

BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT, just for the short, "Family Dog" I have been looking for this cartoon for years!! I knew of someone's household that was similar to this short! My family and I used to watch this everytime it came on cable, before the series came out.

Anwar, that is, who was at her peak in this movie. That faraway look she gives while waiting in the car of that Englishman, near the end of the movie, still haunts me to this day.

Otherwise, this is a remake of The Apartment starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley McLaine.

This is a fantstic movie. FOX and ANWAR are absoultley fantastic in this romantic comedy. Viewers will agree this movie has a 'feel' to it which a lot of movies (not just romantic comedies) fail to produce. I think it is a combination of the quality of writing and sonnenfelds directing with the Amazing proformances from not just the 2 stars but the supporting cast.

Oh yeah!!, one last thing this movie was VERY hard to find at AMAZON because Im from australia and this movie is called "The Conceirge" instead of "For Love or Money", i personally think the title "The concerige" sounds better because "For Love or Money" sounds like any romantic song or movie. However with the title "The concerige" the title spaces it out from the rest, which a movie like this should because this movie is simply amazing.

The best being "Back to the Future", of course. However, this is by far the most underrated Fox movie, despite having memorable characters, clever plots, and a genuinely sweet spirit. A MUST-SEE for a Michael J. Fox fan.

Christopher Guest is Corky St. Clair, small town Blaine ("The Stool capitol of the world"), Missouri's resident community theater director. With plans of getting back to Broadway, he has created a musical extravaganza "Red, White and Blaine" to celebrate the town's 150th anniversary.

This sly, often hilarious, mock documentary features Guest's resident troupe of improvisational actors -- Eugene Levy (co-writer), Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard and Bob Balaban as the stage-struck locals who pin their amateur hopes on being discovered when Corky hints that legendary talent scout Mort Guffman will be in the audience.

If you appreciated "Best In Show," than check out its predecessor. Over 80 hours of film were shot in Super 16mm and edited down to a brisk 84 minutes. The widescreen print is especially sharp and the sound is clear. Co-writers and stars Guest and Levy share a loose and funny commentary and there's at least 30 minutes of whimsical and surprisingly poignant deleted scenes with optional commentary. Recommended.

Waiting for Guffman is another wonderful mockumentary from actor/director Christopher Guest (Spinal Tap, Best in Show) and cowriter/partner in crime Eugene Levy. The film highlights the big dreams and raw (very raw) talent of the five stars of 'Red, White and Blaine,' the celebratory musical commemorating Blaine, Missouri's 150th anniversary.

The humor in Guffman is of the cut-above variety, founded on relationships and underlined by the characters' hopes. Guest plays Corky St. Clair, a refugee from Broadway who has found a niche for his special abilities as the de facto King of Theater in Blaine. Levy plays the town dentist who is auditioning for the very first time. Parker Posey is the perky, poignant and perhaps pathetic ingenue who works at the Dairy Queen. Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard prove the maxim that matching sweatsuits betray an unhappy marriage. Bob Balaban plays Lloyd Miller the music director who is grounded in reality, although his suggestion that the cast might spend some of the rehearsal time actually practicing the songs and dances is met with hostility. As an ex-theater major from Hays, Kansas I found the characters 100% real even while laughing at the absurdity of their belief in the possibility that they might take their show to Broadway.

The musical itself would make a great cult movie in the vein of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The events commemorated include the settling of Blaine (in which a wagon train leader manages to convince an entire group of people that they've already reached California), the famous UFO sighting and alien encounter, and the founding of the stool-making business which drove Blaine's economy for generations.

The DVD is worth seeing just for the extra features. The commentary by Guest and Levy is more informative than funny. I got the impression that they were distracted from the commentary by the brilliance of certain scenes in the movie. The extra scenes, however, were hilarious. Waiting for Guffman was shot from a bare-bones script and the actors were encouraged to improvise most of the dialogue. From over 60 hours of footage the best scenes were selected: three of the original scenes that didn't get into the musical, an alternate ending for O'Hara and Willard, scenes with characters that never made it into the movie, and an explanation for why the dentist's wife has a Wisconsin accent.

but I can tell you that this is one mockumentary you should not miss. Having been in local productions I immediately picked up on situations that happen - the ongoing clash between the musical director and the director, the director having a meltdown and leaving only to come back at the urging of the loyal cast, things getting out of hand with the budget, etc. (with director having meltdown with the powers that be over not getting any more money). The UFO stuff is a great added attraction ("I was probed"). What makes this movie a tour de force, though, is the fine cast and their ability to ad lib and become these quirky hilarious people - especailly the ALWAYS hilarious Fred Willard. No matter how many times you see him in one of these films, it is NEVER enough and Katherine Ohara perfectly compliments him in the husband and wife duo. The movie gradually pulls you in and just when you think "Well maybe this one isn't so great" the auditions scene comes along and you are hooked - Fred and Katherine's song and dance routine is priceless (Midnight at the Oasis). Guest and Levy are at their best and the always reliable Parker Posey is wonderful. I can't say for sure if this one is my favorite of the mockumentaries - I love them all - but this one is really great, especially if you have participated in local theater or just enjoy going to the productions.

This film is bizarrely uneven. What seems like a reasonably straight-forward comedy (albeit a pretty subdued one) gradually gives way to a depressing portrait of displacement in the inhuman contemporary work force. However, while changing gears, the film never loses the audience. The more comedic beginning commits us to these characters. We like them, we like them together, and we like them together in the ridiculous and pointless do-nothing jobs they keep. So as they drift apart and as the work conditions become more and more dehumanizing, we empathize totally and feel a disappointment in the deterioration of this little community we'd really come to like. Furthermore, most of us have had friendships drift apart, and more specifically working relationships become estranged. "Clockwatchers" preys on this and as a result is one of the more effective downers I've seen.

Much of the early half of the film reminds most viewers of a more tame "Office Space," for obvious reasons. But "Clockwatchers" distinguished itself well from this movie and others of its type. Actually, I think a far closer companion film would be the early portions of "Fight Club" (another film that dramatically shifts gears but keeps the audience in tow). Like "Fight Club," "Clockwatchers" relies on cynical and ironic wit and moreso on extremely stylized sets, lighting, and camerawork. Another unusual aspect of this film is the unmistakable lack of anything resembling a romance plot whatsoever. How many girlfriend comedies - commercial or independent - can you think of that don't land boyfriends on the laps of at least one of the characters before the credits roll? "Clockwatchers" succeeds by these differences. Its a film like really no other, and it fascinates us and sticks in our memories as a result. I mean, "Clockwatchers" isn't saving lives or anything, and Bresson it ain't, but it is a film I keep going back to for its many (refreshingly) atypical handlings of a pretty well-tread concept.

As someone who has been both a "perm" and a "temp," I find much in "Clockwatchers" to be completely truthful. Where "Office Space" (a movie I also loved) offered a cathartic revenge fantasy, "Clockwatchers" dares to tell it like it is -- that dead-end jobs really have no way out or up -- even if it is dreary and depressing.

There is humor, but rather than the cartoonish humor of "Office Space," "Clockwatchers" shows the ridiculous in little everyday workplace happenings: playing with the adjustment mechanisms on your chair, popping sheets of bubble wrap, or using Liquid Paper as nail polish.

The weird combination of emotions that these temps go through -- hopelessness and ambition, despair and frivolity, anger mixed with s**t-eating grins -- are extremely realistic and something that those in a similar work situation can probably easily relate to. The performances are outstanding, especially Toni Collette and Parker Posey.

Highly recommended!

I liked this film a lot. Besides the fact that I like to support smaller, independent films (especially since this one features a lot of women in front of and behind the scenes), CLOCKWATCHERS is simply an entertaining show! It has a smart tone, and is a close cousin to OFFICE SPACE (featuring that *other* FRIENDS star, Jennifer Aniston).

The story is engrossing and concerns a pack of temps. Toni Collette plays Iris, who starts out as a timid, shy and introverted person. Her encounters with the other girls changes her (especially with the outspoken and quirky character played by Parker Posey - she's great in this!). Toni Collette is very good here - and although she is an Academy Award nominated actress (THE SIXTH SENSE) it's funny how the director's use of a new shade of lipstick is filmatic shorthand for the character change Iris goes through! Lisa Kudrow is not quite as ditzy as she usually is on FRIENDS. It's nice to see her in a different mode.

There's not much more story than that. If you've been a temp or work in an office environment you will appreciate this film. The film's theme is about sleepwalking through life and making your mark. Most of the girls cow to the corporate machine. One of them scratches "I was here" on her desk - just to make her mark.

There's an interesting subplot about an office thief that gets tied into the movie's theme nicely.

Please rent or buy this film. It's not SPIDERMAN, but it deserves your attention. Again, it is a "small-character-study" sort of film. But it is very well done, with excellent performances from its cast.