Hector-Elizondo Movie Reviews

Less about dancing and too much about Pablo Ziegler. Best appreciated if you like jazz and the music of Astor Piazolla. I was looking for dance and there are a couple of excellant numbers here but most are too staged and jazzed up. The director spends too much time showing us the sultry and not enough time on full body views of the dancers.

This is an excellent study of Tango... for beginners to the more advanced. Hector Elizondo does an excellent job of narrating this piece. This is Argentinean Tango, and it is good. Great form and dancing, and you feel the music, and the passion. Highly recommended!

i really must say that it was ok could've been better, alot better! if they only would've taken more time & care on the script. the casting was superb that's why it's a shame it falls soo short of greatest , a great idea just poorly excuted. jeff daniels & catherine o'hara are pefect in their roles but the script leaves little for them to do,the beginning is great but runs out of steam.

there are some funny moments that's about it. it's PG-13 for profanity.

It's a copy of mad mad mad mad world. Jeff Daniels strikes again, he is one of the funniest people on this planet, what would the world be whiteout him.

It's a copy of mad mad mad mad world. Jeff Daniels strikes again, he is one of the funniest people on this planet, what would the world be whiteout him.

Leviathan isn't nearly as good as the movie it so obviously tries to be. Though it offers better creature effects and set-designs than ALIEN, as well as a larger cast, and an equally good score, that doesn't justify its total lack of imagination. If you're a fan of the horror genere, you'll likely enjoy this movie. Be warned however. This movie is basically Alien set underwater. So if you're looking for something fresh, look elsewhere, because you'll probably see where this movie is headed less than fifteen minutes into it. Though Leviathan lacks in the plot department, it still exceeds the quality of most monster movies released in the theaters, which is why I recommend it. But to enjoy this movie fully, you should really watch it on DVD. Leviathan was shot in a 2.35:1 widescreen format. And when a movie is shot with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, it means you'll only be seeing roughly half the image when you're watching it on t.v. or VHS, which are best to be avoided if you want to see this movie the way it was meant to be seen.

Having a monster movie filmed in a huge underwater mining lab is kinda silly at first, but gets pretty cool after a while. I've seen several Peter Weller movies, and this is his second best sci-fi movie he's done (right next to "RoboCop"). For people who haven't seen this movie yet, it's about a group of
wise-cracking underwater miners (led by Weller) who's being terrorized by a giant human-fishlike creature that was spawned from a genetic experiment gone haywire. The special effects was pretty cool, although they could have done a little more, but it's still an enjoyable movie to watch. Oscar winning composer Jerry Goldsmith (winner of the Best musical Score Oscar for 1976's "The Omen") does an excellect job conducting action & scary music sequences throughout the entire picture.

Leviathan unlike the Abyss was one of numerous underwater thrillers that had good special effects but needed more work on the script. Peter Weller played a good part but should've stuck to playing Robocop and Richard Crenna who played Doc has never been the same since First Blood in 1982. But all in all A great film.

Leviathan isn't nearly as good as the movie it so obviously tries to be. Though it offers better creature effects and set-designs than ALIEN, as well as a larger cast, and an equally good score, that doesn't justify its total lack of imagination. If you're a fan of the horror genere, you'll likely enjoy this movie. Be warned however. This movie is basically Alien set underwater. So if you're looking for something fresh, look elsewhere, because you'll probably see where this movie is headed less than fifteen minutes into it. Though Leviathan lacks in the plot department, it still exceeds the quality of most monster movies released in the theaters, which is why I recommend it. But to enjoy this movie fully, you should really watch it on DVD. Leviathan was shot in a 2.35:1 widescreen format. And when a movie is shot with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, it means you'll only be seeing roughly half the image when you're watching it on t.v. or VHS, which are best to be avoided if you want to see this movie the way it was meant to be seen.

Having a monster movie filmed in a huge underwater mining lab is kinda silly at first, but gets pretty cool after a while. I've seen several Peter Weller movies, and this is his second best sci-fi movie he's done (right next to "RoboCop"). For people who haven't seen this movie yet, it's about a group of
wise-cracking underwater miners (led by Weller) who's being terrorized by a giant human-fishlike creature that was spawned from a genetic experiment gone haywire. The special effects was pretty cool, although they could have done a little more, but it's still an enjoyable movie to watch. Oscar winning composer Jerry Goldsmith (winner of the Best musical Score Oscar for 1976's "The Omen") does an excellect job conducting action & scary music sequences throughout the entire picture.

Leviathan unlike the Abyss was one of numerous underwater thrillers that had good special effects but needed more work on the script. Peter Weller played a good part but should've stuck to playing Robocop and Richard Crenna who played Doc has never been the same since First Blood in 1982. But all in all A great film.

This movie was so boring and stupid, I turned it off after about 45 minutes. Maybe I had a poor copy, but I could barely understand what Paula Prentiss was saying -- and it wasn't because she was "under the influence!" I ran it back a few times but still couldn't make it out. From the other reviewers, it sounds like it got better but, if something doesn't grab my attention after 30 minutes, I say forget it!

This little film from the early seventies stars major film star Robert De niro in a role I'm sure even he can't remember doing along with george segal who plays JJ a sucsessful hairdresser who's hooked on heroerin and runs afoul of the mob. So JJ is up to his neck in trouble when the cops use him to get the goods on a drug smuggler. Absorbing at times very well acted By segal in this somewhat twisted comedy/drama Best scene is when JJ & His friend are shooting up in a washroom in an abandon office floor JJ'S friend overdoses on what he thinks is heroin but instead it's battery acid laced inside the drug meant for JJ. A powerful scene displaying Segal at his efftictive moment in the film. A bittersweet film more regareded and appriciated today then it was first relased over twenty years ago.

Today, it seems like every major studio in 1971 was distributing a film having to do with the drug "culture" (THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK for Twentieth Century Fox, CISCO PIKE for Columbia, BELIEVE IN ME for MGM, etc.) United Artists, however, jumped maybe too much on the band wagon in releasing JENNIFER ON MY MIND (also with De Niro in a bit part as a gypsy cab driver), but their other film drama involving drug abuse was BORN TO WIN. This film is a small hidden gem that has not yet received its well-deserved audience. It features what is, in my opinion, the best performance of George Segal throughout his whole career, as well as involving supporting performances from Karen Black, Jay Fletcher, Robert De Niro and others. It also featured the prime signal that this was an authoratative film on drug abuse: Marcie Jean Kurtz (who appeared in THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK, BELIEVE IN ME and other films of this type).

The scenes that have remained striking and unforgettable include the one in which Segal, after having been dropped off in a neighborhood of junkies by his girlfriend, retires into a dark, musty alley of strung-out derelicts as he attempts to find his friend (Jay Fletcher); the scene on the beach with Karen Black conforting George Segal; Karen Black having to resort to lines like "Come back home to me"; the closing scene.

In analyzing this film, some film authorities may declare BORN TO WIN as an archetypal piece about drugs and how they allow characters to make the decline from temporary decadence into personal debauchery, alienating them from anyone who does not see them as an addict. Ivan Passer, who also in CUTTER'S WAY illustrated technique and theory in labeling cinema as the cultural vengeance for the socially impotent, demonstrates this element at an early juncture in his career. BORN TO WIN simply uses the component of drugs to use as an allegory for that crowd of socially impotent people, as well as various techniques at how they make pitiful attempts as silent revenge while they drive themselves to personal apocalypse in an urban jungle. This allows more privileged people to create "caste systems" for these types. This may sound terribly pretentious, but this is the only way to explain my viewpoint on this film to whoever reads this review. Also adding onto the film's sense of milieu is the graininess utilized in editing and camerawork. Without these two factors, BORN TO WIN would not have retained its gritty disctinction and probably would have drifted into "another typical picture about drug abuse".

In response to the minimal amount of negative reviews I have read about BORN TO WIN, you cannot expect a genuine message to come after a half hour of viewing time and you cannot regard it as just another drug picture before you think and ponder the film's ultimate meaning in the film's culminating moments. I admit to its sometimes deficient endeavors at portraying the comical value of the drug culture (the scene in which Segal dresses in pink robe and prances around in Time Square to avoid his pursuers and stopping in at a shop for mens' suits), but the dramatic moments of the film are pinnacle for trying to understand this "class" of people. BORN TO WIN is a remarkable film and nothing allows me to make hesitations about giving it a five star rating.

This movie was so boring and stupid, I turned it off after about 45 minutes. Maybe I had a poor copy, but I could barely understand what Paula Prentiss was saying -- and it wasn't because she was "under the influence!" I ran it back a few times but still couldn't make it out. From the other reviewers, it sounds like it got better but, if something doesn't grab my attention after 30 minutes, I say forget it!

This little film from the early seventies stars major film star Robert De niro in a role I'm sure even he can't remember doing along with george segal who plays JJ a sucsessful hairdresser who's hooked on heroerin and runs afoul of the mob. So JJ is up to his neck in trouble when the cops use him to get the goods on a drug smuggler. Absorbing at times very well acted By segal in this somewhat twisted comedy/drama Best scene is when JJ & His friend are shooting up in a washroom in an abandon office floor JJ'S friend overdoses on what he thinks is heroin but instead it's battery acid laced inside the drug meant for JJ. A powerful scene displaying Segal at his efftictive moment in the film. A bittersweet film more regareded and appriciated today then it was first relased over twenty years ago.

Today, it seems like every major studio in 1971 was distributing a film having to do with the drug "culture" (THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK for Twentieth Century Fox, CISCO PIKE for Columbia, BELIEVE IN ME for MGM, etc.) United Artists, however, jumped maybe too much on the band wagon in releasing JENNIFER ON MY MIND (also with De Niro in a bit part as a gypsy cab driver), but their other film drama involving drug abuse was BORN TO WIN. This film is a small hidden gem that has not yet received its well-deserved audience. It features what is, in my opinion, the best performance of George Segal throughout his whole career, as well as involving supporting performances from Karen Black, Jay Fletcher, Robert De Niro and others. It also featured the prime signal that this was an authoratative film on drug abuse: Marcie Jean Kurtz (who appeared in THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK, BELIEVE IN ME and other films of this type).

The scenes that have remained striking and unforgettable include the one in which Segal, after having been dropped off in a neighborhood of junkies by his girlfriend, retires into a dark, musty alley of strung-out derelicts as he attempts to find his friend (Jay Fletcher); the scene on the beach with Karen Black conforting George Segal; Karen Black having to resort to lines like "Come back home to me"; the closing scene.

In analyzing this film, some film authorities may declare BORN TO WIN as an archetypal piece about drugs and how they allow characters to make the decline from temporary decadence into personal debauchery, alienating them from anyone who does not see them as an addict. Ivan Passer, who also in CUTTER'S WAY illustrated technique and theory in labeling cinema as the cultural vengeance for the socially impotent, demonstrates this element at an early juncture in his career. BORN TO WIN simply uses the component of drugs to use as an allegory for that crowd of socially impotent people, as well as various techniques at how they make pitiful attempts as silent revenge while they drive themselves to personal apocalypse in an urban jungle. This allows more privileged people to create "caste systems" for these types. This may sound terribly pretentious, but this is the only way to explain my viewpoint on this film to whoever reads this review. Also adding onto the film's sense of milieu is the graininess utilized in editing and camerawork. Without these two factors, BORN TO WIN would not have retained its gritty disctinction and probably would have drifted into "another typical picture about drug abuse".

In response to the minimal amount of negative reviews I have read about BORN TO WIN, you cannot expect a genuine message to come after a half hour of viewing time and you cannot regard it as just another drug picture before you think and ponder the film's ultimate meaning in the film's culminating moments. I admit to its sometimes deficient endeavors at portraying the comical value of the drug culture (the scene in which Segal dresses in pink robe and prances around in Time Square to avoid his pursuers and stopping in at a shop for mens' suits), but the dramatic moments of the film are pinnacle for trying to understand this "class" of people. BORN TO WIN is a remarkable film and nothing allows me to make hesitations about giving it a five star rating.

Paramount should not release DVD's anymore if they continue to
edit them. ... This time they have edited the scene where the killer reads a letter in voice-over where he originally makes reference to raping a woman using a "meat cleaver." ....

This is a film about an aging actress who has an obsessed fan stalking her. This film keeps your attention throughout. Nothing is wrong with the cast. Nothing is really wrong with the script. It does not meet the level of "better" slasher/suspense films, however. It has a very now-cheesy late 70's/early 80's look and feel to it, which in some ways is nostalgic, but in other ways dates the film quite a bit and makes it seem almost silly in parts. At least the similar "Eyes of Laura Mars" is SOOO over the top late 70's, it's a time caspule. The Fan is just sort of dull and dated. It is never really scary, though never boring. It is a strange combination I cannot quite explain. The musical numbers are of the Valley of the Dolls lounge singing variety. They are so bad they are funny. The Broadway rehearsals and numbers are hysterically funny and worth the price of the tape or DVD alone. If you are not a big fan of Lauren Bacall, rent, do not buy this film. It is great for an afternoon viewing but nothing special. Something just did not come together.

I have always liked Lauren Bacall as a "tough dame" type actress and her gritty outspokeness off-stage. But this film was a mistake. Maybe in the hands of a better director it would have worked. Bacall tries to make the dilemma of an aging stage star terrorized by a psychotic stalker believable but everything is against her. She forges ahead with her "comeback" Broadway show even after several of those near and dear to her are either slashed to death or just slashed by the straight-razor weilding weirdo who sends her dirty "fan" letters. The facial slashing of poor Maureen Stapleton is downright ugly and repugnant. But it sure heals fast in time for the opening of Bacalls' show. No one could have healed that fast---the multiple slashes were DEEP. Bacall trudges through her stage show numbers surrounded by adoring male dancers. After all, Broadway has been called the Gay White Way and no aging diva would set foot onstage without adoring male dancers. James Garner is utterly wasted as her love interest. He seems to be in the movie just because the two are friends. At any rate, despite Bacall's formidable presence this is a tacky New York filmed slasher show that disappoints on all counts. Bacall deserved better than this.

First of all, this movie is not as bad as many people said and not as dumb as you would appreciate from the storyline (which I'm sure you know). I saw it for the first time yesterday on TV and that's what it's good for - Friday night chill-out, when you don't want to think of anything, just sit before the TV, nearly falling asleep and concentrating on something that doesn't make you wonder what's going to happen next.

There's only one point where the movie fails. After watching it I wondered that it could have been done much better with this cast. We all know Ray Liotta and he's the perfect psycho - though this time a bit overplayed - anyway not annoyingly. Lauren Holly is cute and from the shy stewardess she becomes the 'captain' and an Amazon - she made her part absolutely believable. The rest is OK, too.

This movie could have been a perfect shocker - two people on a plane in a turbulence (a killer and a possible victim) - and only one can survive or both die. The director didn't take advantage of the claustrophobic setting and thrilled the audience only with the usual clichés - which are absolutely boring as we all know them. Would he have had a little fantasy, with this cast he could have directed a much better movie.

Anyway, it's not that bad and for a lazy Friday evening this is a good movie, if you don't expect too much and switch off the IQ switch in your brain - that's what Fridays are for :)).

you've all seen movies where the bad guys seize the plane and reck havoc like in Con Air, Air Force One, Executive Decision and so forth. Liotta is dynamite in a tour-de-force performance as he kills off everyone on the plan except a few and Lauren Holly who has trouble dealing with the fact that a psycho is trying to kill her and she doesnt know how to land the damn plane. intense, violent and that is good enough for me.

This is a pretty good movie. Ray Liotta is totally over the top and Lauren Holly is not that good. The action is not that bad it kinda cool. But if you want a good air disaster film see "Air Force One" and stay away from "Turbulences" two sequels: "Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying" and "Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal" The 1st is enough!

First of all, this movie is not as bad as many people said and not as dumb as you would appreciate from the storyline (which I'm sure you know). I saw it for the first time yesterday on TV and that's what it's good for - Friday night chill-out, when you don't want to think of anything, just sit before the TV, nearly falling asleep and concentrating on something that doesn't make you wonder what's going to happen next.

There's only one point where the movie fails. After watching it I wondered that it could have been done much better with this cast. We all know Ray Liotta and he's the perfect psycho - though this time a bit overplayed - anyway not annoyingly. Lauren Holly is cute and from the shy stewardess she becomes the 'captain' and an Amazon - she made her part absolutely believable. The rest is OK, too.

This movie could have been a perfect shocker - two people on a plane in a turbulence (a killer and a possible victim) - and only one can survive or both die. The director didn't take advantage of the claustrophobic setting and thrilled the audience only with the usual clichés - which are absolutely boring as we all know them. Would he have had a little fantasy, with this cast he could have directed a much better movie.

Anyway, it's not that bad and for a lazy Friday evening this is a good movie, if you don't expect too much and switch off the IQ switch in your brain - that's what Fridays are for :)).

you've all seen movies where the bad guys seize the plane and reck havoc like in Con Air, Air Force One, Executive Decision and so forth. Liotta is dynamite in a tour-de-force performance as he kills off everyone on the plan except a few and Lauren Holly who has trouble dealing with the fact that a psycho is trying to kill her and she doesnt know how to land the damn plane. intense, violent and that is good enough for me.

This is a pretty good movie. Ray Liotta is totally over the top and Lauren Holly is not that good. The action is not that bad it kinda cool. But if you want a good air disaster film see "Air Force One" and stay away from "Turbulences" two sequels: "Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying" and "Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal" The 1st is enough!

First of all, this movie is not as bad as many people said and not as dumb as you would appreciate from the storyline (which I'm sure you know). I saw it for the first time yesterday on TV and that's what it's good for - Friday night chill-out, when you don't want to think of anything, just sit before the TV, nearly falling asleep and concentrating on something that doesn't make you wonder what's going to happen next.

There's only one point where the movie fails. After watching it I wondered that it could have been done much better with this cast. We all know Ray Liotta and he's the perfect psycho - though this time a bit overplayed - anyway not annoyingly. Lauren Holly is cute and from the shy stewardess she becomes the 'captain' and an Amazon - she made her part absolutely believable. The rest is OK, too.

This movie could have been a perfect shocker - two people on a plane in a turbulence (a killer and a possible victim) - and only one can survive or both die. The director didn't take advantage of the claustrophobic setting and thrilled the audience only with the usual clichés - which are absolutely boring as we all know them. Would he have had a little fantasy, with this cast he could have directed a much better movie.

Anyway, it's not that bad and for a lazy Friday evening this is a good movie, if you don't expect too much and switch off the IQ switch in your brain - that's what Fridays are for :)).

you've all seen movies where the bad guys seize the plane and reck havoc like in Con Air, Air Force One, Executive Decision and so forth. Liotta is dynamite in a tour-de-force performance as he kills off everyone on the plan except a few and Lauren Holly who has trouble dealing with the fact that a psycho is trying to kill her and she doesnt know how to land the damn plane. intense, violent and that is good enough for me.

This is a pretty good movie. Ray Liotta is totally over the top and Lauren Holly is not that good. The action is not that bad it kinda cool. But if you want a good air disaster film see "Air Force One" and stay away from "Turbulences" two sequels: "Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying" and "Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal" The 1st is enough!