John-Candy Movie Reviews

This very funny comedy stars George Wendt as a laid back kind of dude. His up tight, mean wife, Robin Duke. This is just a classic comedy. John Candy directs and has a small cameo as a Russian terrorist. This movie is so much funnier and better than most expect it to be. It costs a lot, I know. But at least rent it or find it somewhere.

A great cast including Stefanie Powers, Lloyd Bochner, John Candy, Anthony Newley, Yvonne DeCarlo and Isaac Hayes. Newley's escapades are hilarious and it's fun to see these well known actors in a show before they were famous.

Flesh Gordon has achieved the status of a minor cult film. Although it carefully instructs the viewer not to confuse it with the real Flash Gordon, it follows the story of the first Flash Gordon serial fairly closely, at least for the first third of the film. Part of its cult status comes from the campy style and humor, but mostly it is the combination of cheesy soft-core porn with relatively decent special effects. The DVD shows that strange amalgamation clearly. Overall, the picture quality is fairly mediocre, perhaps not unexpected in a movie this age that was made on a very low budget in the first place. There is a lot of grain in many of the scenes, and some of them are washed out as well. But the worst scenes are the live action scenes (though not all the live action scenes are bad). The special effect scenes, especially the stop-motion animation scenes, are pretty good. They are sharp and the colors are bright and deep. It is obvious that much more care was put into making the special effects than into the rest of the movie. The sound is also nothing special and the supplemental material consists only of a trailer. The DVD does provide a better viewing experience than the VHS, but not a lot better. We're not talking Dark City, here. If you already have this movie on VHS, it may not be worth upgrading (though the trailer, slightly better picture and sound, attractive cover on a Alpha Keep case, and the permanence of DVD was enough for me) but if you don't have it and want it, then the DVD is the way to go.

I was expecting a little more erotic scenes in this, but if you watch it without expecting TONS of nudity, you'll like it just fine. Flesh Gordon is a really funny parody with great characters. And hey, the acting's better than most movies from this decade. The DVD just needs some actual special features. It's still worth checking out.

Purchased VHS of this years ago and couldn't wait for the DVD because I saw some things I definitely wanted a clearer view of. Unfortunately, the video quality of the DVD is no clearer than the tape which is a shame because there are some real knock outs in this flick. It's an entertaining mix of soft porn and a parody of the Saturday Morning Serials from the 40s. My favorite scene is the attack of the killer robots with their power tools. You guys have got to be kidding about who does the best job of acting in this; if they could act they wouldn't be in it. Pondering who does the best job of acting in this flick is like speculating on who's the greatest poet in Alabama. This is advertized as the Collector's Edition which contains 15 minutes of restored video. Wonder what it was like before it was restored. It's a fun movie but they didn't waste any money on quality film.

Flesh Gordon has achieved the status of a minor cult film. Although it carefully instructs the viewer not to confuse it with the real Flash Gordon, it follows the story of the first Flash Gordon serial fairly closely, at least for the first third of the film. Part of its cult status comes from the campy style and humor, but mostly it is the combination of cheesy soft-core porn with relatively decent special effects. The DVD shows that strange amalgamation clearly. Overall, the picture quality is fairly mediocre, perhaps not unexpected in a movie this age that was made on a very low budget in the first place. There is a lot of grain in many of the scenes, and some of them are washed out as well. But the worst scenes are the live action scenes (though not all the live action scenes are bad). The special effect scenes, especially the stop-motion animation scenes, are pretty good. They are sharp and the colors are bright and deep. It is obvious that much more care was put into making the special effects than into the rest of the movie. The sound is also nothing special and the supplemental material consists only of a trailer. The DVD does provide a better viewing experience than the VHS, but not a lot better. We're not talking Dark City, here. If you already have this movie on VHS, it may not be worth upgrading (though the trailer, slightly better picture and sound, attractive cover on a Alpha Keep case, and the permanence of DVD was enough for me) but if you don't have it and want it, then the DVD is the way to go.

I was expecting a little more erotic scenes in this, but if you watch it without expecting TONS of nudity, you'll like it just fine. Flesh Gordon is a really funny parody with great characters. And hey, the acting's better than most movies from this decade. The DVD just needs some actual special features. It's still worth checking out.

Purchased VHS of this years ago and couldn't wait for the DVD because I saw some things I definitely wanted a clearer view of. Unfortunately, the video quality of the DVD is no clearer than the tape which is a shame because there are some real knock outs in this flick. It's an entertaining mix of soft porn and a parody of the Saturday Morning Serials from the 40s. My favorite scene is the attack of the killer robots with their power tools. You guys have got to be kidding about who does the best job of acting in this; if they could act they wouldn't be in it. Pondering who does the best job of acting in this flick is like speculating on who's the greatest poet in Alabama. This is advertized as the Collector's Edition which contains 15 minutes of restored video. Wonder what it was like before it was restored. It's a fun movie but they didn't waste any money on quality film.

I was lured to buy the DVD version of "Q" after reading some amazon costumers' reviews. However, once I saw the film, I had to conclude they greatly overrated it. "Q" is badly written and has a terrible edition. Besides, it focuses so much in Michael Moriarty's character that it ends overlooking the snake itself (and I don't actually mean showing the monster... sometimes you can achieve really artistic results without doing that frequently). There are better low budget monster movies out there. Thus, my recommendation is that you forget about this title and get "The Howling" or something like that.

Q is a fun, low budget thriller from B-movie auteur Larry Cohen. The premise is that an ancient Mexican God Quetzalcoatl has taken the form of a giant flying serpent and is living somewhere in New York, feasting on unsuspecting residents. Sunbathers, window washers, high-rise construction workers are all fair game for this gigantic beast.

Michael Moriarity stars as Jimmy Quinn, an out of work piano man/small time criminal. It's so weird seeing him in a role like this, as I am used to seeing him on the TV show Law & Order as an ADA. In this movie, his character stumbles on the secret location of the beast's nest, and he tries to use that information to get money and the respect he thinks he deserves. While a criminal, I did feel a certain amount of sympathy for this character in the beginning, which evaporated rather slowly as the intoxication of power sets in, along with its' illusions. In the beginning, he was just some poor schlub who couldn't catch a break, but later on his true nature appeared. I read a quote once, I am not sure by who, that said something like 'to really see what's in a man's heart, give him some power'.

David Carradine plays a detective who's trying to solve a series of gruesome murders, and his investigation leads him into uncharted territories of the unknown. The deeper he gets, the more he butts heads with his supervisors, who would rather see things cleared up neatly and without any superstitious mumbo jumbo. Also look for Richard Roundtree, as Sergeant Powell, a cop wound a little too tight whose beliefs are based on what he can see and touch.

The actual creature does not get much screen time, but its' presence is noticeable throughout the movie. I really enjoyed the storyline with Quinn, his tenuous relationship with his girlfriend (Candy Clark), and the manner in which he tries to use the vital information. Here's a small time schnook, never had a break in his life, literally trips over something, sees nothing but the value to himself, and tries to get everything but ends up with nothing.

Here is another fine example of a filmmaker making a lot out of very little. The horror aspects of the movie are present, and the special effects are used sparingly, but the characters drive the story. Another example of this is the original Jaws movie. I suppose the special effects were kept to a minimum due to budgetary limitations, but it helped, rather than hindered, the movie. This movie also has a raw, gritty feel to it, in the sets, use of locations, dialogue, giving us an almost documentarian feel.

The movie is presented in a wide screen format, with good audio. A number of special features include commentary by the filmmaker, biographies, trailers, and promotional materials. All in all, not a bad way to spend 93 minutes.

If you like outrageous humor, Q is simply irresistable. First, there's a giant mythic Aztec "serpent" which makes a habit of swooping down on unsuspecting New York sunbathers and construction workers. (We get to see New York through the eyes of the bird---expressionistic style.) In a likeable performance, David Carradine as a police detective, diligently researches the creature and then tracks it down---his efforts climax in a hilarious "finale" in which Carradine and his cohorts attempt to machine-gun the monster as it collides into buildings. Doubling the fun is a wonderful performance by Michael Moriarty as a frustrated jazz pianist who resorts to small-time crime to make a living and ends up discovering the serpent's egg at the top of the Empire State Building. (As Mr. Moriarty happily confides to the audience, "I'm afraid of almost everything, but I'm not afraid of heights!") Whether singing scat songs, hobbling through New York on a gimpy leg, or demanding immunity from the police ("I want a Nixon-like pardon!"), Mr. Moriarty is always a delight. And so is this movie.

This 1979 WWII comedy spectacle bombed when it first released but its not as bad as its reputation suggests. Steven Spielberg's direction in this movie can be compared to some of the type of direction of today's big budget films (i.e Armageddon). The movie is noteworthy for the fact that it boasts an all-star cast including Tishiro Mifune, Christopher Lee (as a German officer on board the Japanese sub as a guest), stars from SNL, Second City, and stars from tv sitcoms of the 1970's. Also, it's one of the few movies John Belushi did before his untimely death. There are a lot of people screaming, great special effects and stunts, and some outrageous characters. The plot is mainly about a Japanese submarine that is off course, arriving in the L.A. harbor, and causing hysteria among the L.A residences. With that, there are related subplots such as Belushi's Wild Bill Kelso flying an airplane to L.A. and Ned Beatty's Ward Douglas receiving an anti-aircraft gun from the army to be placed on his beachfront backyard. Some standout supporting performances from Bobby Di Cicco as Wally Stephens, an unlisted man whose only joy is to dance in his zoot suit, and Dianne Kay (from TV's EIGHT IS ENOUGH) as his girlfriend. These two (along with Robert Stack as General Stillwell) are the "calm in the hurricane" or the only sane people in this movie. The rest are all too cartoony and over the top. This is the type of movie to watch as background noise if you are doing other things like writing your bills, doing your homework, or surfing the net. You can look up occasionally to catch something for a chuckle or two.
Note: Back in 1979, Dan Ackroyed must have been embarassed by this movie. In movie ads and posters released after this film, his face is removed from the original movie poster and replaced with someone else's face.

Days after, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. America went in a State of Panic. The Japaneses (Lead by Toshiro Mifune) and a Nazi (Christopher Lee) are planning to Attack on Los Angeles, California in Hollywood from thier Subnarine. The Citizens of L.A. are in a State of Pandemonium. Creating much more fear to themselves, which they are making more Havoc and Crazed than the Enemies.

Directed by Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones Trilogy, The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun) made a Spectacular, Outragerous comedy that is extremely Wild and it's a surprisngly well done Epic for this kind of film. This film turned out to be a Box Office Disappointment and it was a Critical Failure to the Critics. This has become an Cult Classic and then got Rediscover later on Video, Laserdisc and the Extended Television Version. Spielberg did expanded his cut to added 26 mintues of footage. Director's Cut is a better cut that his Original Release Version. Lavish Special Effects, Some Excellent Vignettes and Excellent Cinematography by William A. Fraker highlight this flawed but interesting flick. The Cast included:Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, Treat Williams, Nancy Allen, Robert Stack, Tim Matheson, Warren Oates, Bobby DiCicco, Dianne Kay, Murray Hamilton, Lorraine Gary, Slim Pickens, Eddie Deezen, John Candy and more. DVD has an good non-anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an strong Digitally Remastered-Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD extras are good, including:102 Minutes Documentary, interview with the filmmakers:Spielberg, Bob Gale, John Milius, Robert Zemeckis, A.D. Flowers, Fraker, Gregory Jein, Micheal Fahn and John Williams. Avoid the Pan & Scan version, which ruined Fraker's Cinematography. Watch for Penny Marshall, James Caan, Micheal Mc Kean, David L. Lander and Mickey Rourke in Cameos. This is a Unique film that has some Excellent Vignettes, even thought it`s a Gargantuan Comedy, it`s worth a look. Written by Zemeckis & Gale, from a Story by Zemeckis, Gale and Milius. Panavision. Grade:A-.

The public response to 1941 is the epitome of examples in how differently people see movies, yet it is also a prime example of how viewers tend to agree with the vast majority. My response to those who are members of the latter...think for yourselves! Just because the critics and your friends hated it does not mean you will, too!

1941 is without a doubt the definitive cult film, loved and hated by millions...more of the latter, unfortunately. But for those who love it, they truly do LOVE! Like Spielberg himself says in the documentary "It's a small, twisted crowd that appreciates '1941'." I'm proud to be a part of that core group as I am able to notice, understand and appreciate the jokes director Spielberg, producer John Milius and writers Bob Zemeckis and Bob Gale spewed forth into this film while I'm now living such a disgustingly politically-correct environment like our own.

Racist? Hardly...merely a pie in the face of the Statue of Liberty (as Speilberg calls it) and a Stooges poke in the eye to the American social environment of the 40's. Funny? Absolutely! Who can't laugh at Eddie Deezen, Murray Hamilton and the dummy on the runaway ferris wheel? Who can't laugh at Ned Beatty blowing up his own house with a anti-tank mortar? And who can't appreciate and simply gawk at what is still some of the greatest miniature effects ever put onto film?? A.D. Flowers was a genius in this department!

My advice to those naysayers is this...free your minds of the contemporary P.C. clutter poisoning our world these days for 2-1/2 hours and watch this painfully UNDERRATED movie once again. You'll be surprised as to how much more you'll appreciate it. Even Spielberg himself loves it again!

once again snoop movies continue to amaze me with their incredibly bad plots. For anyone who gave this more then a 3 stars get a life. Boyz n tha hood worked. Wanna know why because it had cube in it and singleton actually planned it out. This movie is typical of singletons work.
my title sums this up.........at least "bones" ( the other snoop movie) was soooo dum it was funny. but this wasnt THAT dum. soo its not funny.
which leaves it being, what was that word again, BAD.

Not as preachy or sappy as some of John Singletons other pics. Little too much sex for my taste (When I want sex I'll rent porn, thanks). But this movie is funny and true to life. Its about a man who has two babys mammas and doesnt want to settle down, hes a mommy's boy and things get ugly when mom gets a new man. The main characters are interesting and you get some laughs out of this movie. I dont believe it is just a "black" movie its a really good watch. Snoop has a small part and his acting is decent.

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF ''BOYZ N THE HOOD'' COMES THIS DRAMA ABOUT AN UNAMBITIOUS 20 YEAR OLD WHO LIVES AT HOME WITH HIS MOTHER. UNEMPLOYED, HE HAS TWO CHILDREN FROM TWO DIFFERENT MOTHERS AND HE SEEMS DESTINED INTO A LIFE OF CRIME. GREAT URBAN DRAMA REALLY TELLS THE VIEWER THAT MOST AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN NEED TO GROW UP AND STOP PLAYING GAMES ALL THE TIME. THIS CAN BE COMPARED WITH ''BOYZ N THE HOOD''. THIS MOVIE IS PERFECT IN BOTH THE DRAMA AND THE ROMANCE SECTIONS. TYRESE EVEN DID A GOOD JOB PORTRAYING JODY, THE MAN WHO TENDS TO BE IRRESPONSIBLE. GOOD MOVIE FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SEE A ROMANTIC DRAMAM AND LEARN A MORAL.

once again snoop movies continue to amaze me with their incredibly bad plots. For anyone who gave this more then a 3 stars get a life. Boyz n tha hood worked. Wanna know why because it had cube in it and singleton actually planned it out. This movie is typical of singletons work.
my title sums this up.........at least "bones" ( the other snoop movie) was soooo dum it was funny. but this wasnt THAT dum. soo its not funny.
which leaves it being, what was that word again, BAD.

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF ''BOYZ N THE HOOD'' COMES THIS DRAMA ABOUT AN UNAMBITIOUS 20 YEAR OLD WHO LIVES AT HOME WITH HIS MOTHER. UNEMPLOYED, HE HAS TWO CHILDREN FROM TWO DIFFERENT MOTHERS AND HE SEEMS DESTINED INTO A LIFE OF CRIME. GREAT URBAN DRAMA REALLY TELLS THE VIEWER THAT MOST AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN NEED TO GROW UP AND STOP PLAYING GAMES ALL THE TIME. THIS CAN BE COMPARED WITH ''BOYZ N THE HOOD''. THIS MOVIE IS PERFECT IN BOTH THE DRAMA AND THE ROMANCE SECTIONS. TYRESE EVEN DID A GOOD JOB PORTRAYING JODY, THE MAN WHO TENDS TO BE IRRESPONSIBLE. GOOD MOVIE FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SEE A ROMANTIC DRAMAM AND LEARN A MORAL.

I have seen all of John Singleton's films now except for "2 Fast 2 Furious." Generally I have critized some of his films in the past and his style but his perspective is fascinating nonetheless and his films are always entertaining. Baby Boy plays out like an inner city soap opera with incredible acting by the entire ensemble cast and some very interesting cinematography. I particularly appreciated that Singleton took the gloves off with this one and didn't play around the bush with the social issues he was exploring as a storyteller. I really thought that this was going to be a bad movie, but I was thankfully pleasantly surprised. The movie carries a great deal of weight. I think it is WAY better than Boyz In the Hood. Can't compare it to Rosewood or Higher Learning because they are really different films, but it blows Poetic Justice completely out of the water. If there are three "inner city films" to see in my opinion they would be in this order: 1. Menace To Society 2. Baby Boy 3. Dead Presidents 4. Clockers. I hope this review has been helpful.

I have never in my life been more confused by a movie. The title I selected for this review was intoned somberly by mystical guru Marlon Brando. As I couldn't sum the movie up better myself, I therefore selected the quote as representative of the quality dialogue found in 'Candy.' If you watch this movie, you will know what I mean.

I am actually quite a fan of campy and strange films, and enjoy plotlines gone wildly astray (think 'Red Zone Cuba' here, for instance), but this takes it to a whole new level, that being the level of having no identifiable plot whatsoever to begin with. I watched this movie twice, and was still trying to figure it out when it was done the second time. It is, evidently, a coming of age fable/parable about Candy, a lovely young woman played by Ewa Aulin.

The general operating concept here seems to be pitting Candy against any number of totally unsuitable middle age suitors, and hilarity (in theory) ensues. First there is the John Astin father figure with an electrical outlet in his head (into which a radio playing Steppenwolf is often plugged) who desperately needs a complex surgery performed by James Coburn, who is quite mad. Other potential trysting partners include Walter Matthau as an insane paratrooper, Ringo Starr as a Mexican Gardner, and my personal favorite, Richard Burton, as a scenery chewing poet who has lines like this: "The wind whipped strawberry passion of my fractured spleens."

Two stars for the supporting cast alone. The execution here is quite dismal courtesy of director Christian Marquand. If you want to have a rather bad headache or are possibly under the influence of hallucinogenic substances, this movie is perfect for you.

You can read any of the other reviews and get the idea. This film puts together vignettes featuring a panoply of famous actors (Brando, Coburn, Burton, Matthau, et al.)and not-so-master-thespians (Sugar Ray Robinson, Ringo Starr, et al.) It is fun. Ewa Aulin is nice looking and generates the one or two emotions required for the role. The film is entertaining more for seeing the cast do so well in silly situations than for serving any plot or theme.

The soundtrack is special. Dave Grusin is mostly known as a jazz composer and musician. His soundtrack has the simplicity of the rock sounds of the late sixties blended with jazz elements. The result is one of the best collections of music I have ever heard. In addition, there is "Child of the Universe" performed by the Byrds, co-written by Grusin, and "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf. My old vinyl disk has seen better days and I am not aware of this soundtrack ever making it to CD. Darn!

The combination of the various elements of "Candy" results in a movie I recommend viewing. I have the DVD and will view this every once in awhile for the fun and the music.

This movie was made in the year I was born, so it's gotta be good right? Right. I must admit I was curious, not only because it starred Ewa Aulin, whom I'd first seen in Joe D'Amato's Death Smiles On A Murderer, but it co-starred John Astin, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, Walter Matthau, and Charles Aznavour! What a lineup!

It turns out that those five all play exaggerated cariacatures of their roles, the uncle (Astin), a mystic who travels across the country in the back of a diesel truck (Brando), a drunken poet who struts like a rock star and whose hair blows constantly as if having a personal wind machine around him (Burton), a surgeon whose operating theatre is like an actual theatre, complete with audience looking down at his performance (Coburn), a general who has been airborne without the company of women for way too long, and a hunchback (Aznavour), all of them trying to score with Candy.

The opening scene is a true stunner--the appearance of a ball of heavenly light in outer space, the scene shifting to various galaxies, with the heavenly light coming to the familiar blue-green planet of Earth. The camera then pans along a desert, a stretch of cracked earth, and then the ball of light materializes into a covered white sheet. The sheet unfurls to reveal our beautiful heroine--Candy Christian, who gazes at the camera with a dazed but sensual look. She gives us the briefest glimmer of a smile, nothing more.

While the next scene revealed that she was in her father's class daydreaming and that she was an Earth girl, I kind of wonder if she was an extraterrestrial, and that scene told of her arrival to Earth. The Byrds' "Child Of The Universe" playing over the closing credits also lend credence to that theory.

The 60's rock guitar score provides a bit of nostalgia, of a style of music and movies that bely a period long gone. And Candy predates Star Wars by nine years in having only the opening titles without launching into the credits.

Standout scenes--In the hunchback's hideout, the hunchback's friends douse them with pillow feathers (ground shot looking up) while they are making love on a piano (ground shot), whose strings ring with a discordant sound provide a psychedelic moment. And the various of bogus mystic Grindle (Brando), as he and Candy bend themselves into awkward sexual yoga positions, with the sheets squirming amoeba-like inbetween each position change. His parable of the pig and the flower seems a cynical denunciation of the classic princess and frog fairy story.

Candy is the most decent of all the characters in that movie. If she isn't being accosted by all these males trying to get into her pants--including her own uncle (!!), she is arrested by a pair of Mutt and Jeff cops, verbally abused by other females (e.g. the doctor's mother, disguised as a cleaning lady, or the doctor's chief nurse and chief piece of skirt, who is jealous of her).

The sick twist ending in the book is diluted somewhat in the movie, but it's there nevertheless. Then there's the final scene of her walking among the people who took or tried to take advantage of her in the scene not unlike a convention held by the Society of Creative Anachronisms, with her pure white virginal robe gaining a flower print and her head gaining a crown of flowers. Were the flowers a symbol not of love but of the stains of "human beings" that soiled her, or did the flowers stand for the universal love she believed in? And with the starfield scene reappearing at the closing credits, did Candy turn back into that ball of light and set out across the universe for somewhere more civilized than this sick planet Earth, where she was besmirched over and over?

Finally, I'm sick and tired of reading all these negative things about Ewa Aulin. Okay, so she looks like rape-bait with that innocent look and short skirt, speaks like she was drinking Nyquil like it was Coca Cola, and eyes that alternate between being drooped as a result of said Nyquil and that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. The point is, she succeeds as that well-meaning idealist or alien who truly believed in that idea of giving freely of oneself. After one look at that dazed sensual gaze, all I want to do is just hold her in my arms and tell her I love her for what she is.

Unstrung Heroes is one of my alltime favorite books, and I was deeply disappointed how the filmmakers homogenized, pasteurized, de-ethnisized and generally watered it down. Granted, paring is a function of filmmaking - but the treacley script fails to capture the memoir's honesty, humor or dark irony. Unlike the book, the film wallows in sentimentality. Gone are 2 of the uncles - most missed is Uncle Leo, whom the young boy visits in the asylum that's been his home for more than 30 years. Instead of being genuinely mad and edgy, the two remaining uncles play out like Oscar and Felix on The Odd Couple. (They've been Disneyfied, like the rest of the major characters). And the boy's profoundly evil best friend - Ash - is reduced to a sort of Eddie Haskell. This film loses a lot - mostly an urban edge - by shifting locales from New York City to Pasadena (!!!) On top of that, the father (John Turturro) is shorn of all humor - the Sidney Lidz portrayed in the book was an extremely witty (though deeply flawed) man. Turturro does a fantastic job with a badly scripted, unplayable part. He transcends this disappointing adaptation and warrants 5 stars. And Disney has added all kinds of dopey capers (like the boy "saving" his uncles from eviction) to "move the action along." Really dumb and insulting to the viewer! My advice: Buy the book! It's richly rewarding, still in paperback and dirt-cheap.

I liked this movie a lot, until I read the following by Franz Lidz, the book's author (now I like it a lot less) (The book is great!):At the other end of this decade I wrote a childhood memoir ("Unstrung Heroes") that recounted my mother's six-year struggle with breast cancer. From my ninth birthday, in Year Two, almost every step she took was a step going down. "Her hospital stays were becoming longer and longer," I recalled. "I measured them by the nights that she was away. And I didn't like it now when she was home. She had become unpredictable. She wasn't dying like some movie heroine. She could be sullen and bad-tempered. I resented her." And yet when Disney adapted the book for the screen in 1995, my mother, Selma, was shown dying EXACTLY like a movie heroine. No anguished outbursts. No unkind thoughts. No endless days lying mute and tubed and suctioned in grim hospital rooms. My mother's celluloid counterpart (Andie McDowell) was a secular saint whose main cancer symptom was that she tripped over furniture. What I had described as a long, painful, ugly death was made quick, painless, almost pretty. On film, the more the cancer spread, the more luminous my mother became, as if she were pregnant, not ill. The way Disney spun cotton candy around my mother's suffering reminded me of Ali MacGraw's blissful description of her six-minute struggle with cancer in "Love Story" (1970). "It doesn't hurt, Ollie, really it doesn't," Ms. MacGraw, as Jenny, told her husband (Ryan O'Neal). "It's like falling off a cliff in slow motion. Only after a while you wish you hit the ground already." The way Disney killed off my mother -- after fixing pancakes, she praises her kids, plants a perversely passionate kiss on her husband's lips and, to soulful strains of "You Are My Sunshine," drifts off to die in a comfy armchair -- reminded me of Mad magazine's send-up of "Love Story." Instead of cancer, the diagnosis for Ms. MacGraw's character was Old Movie Disease. "In the old days, they used to die beautiful glamorous deaths!" a cartoon oncologist tells O'Neal. "Your wife is going to die such a beautiful death, it'll take your breath away before it takes her breath away." The Big C has always been a fruitful subgenre of Old Movie Diseases. Actresses from Bette Davis ("Dark Victory," brain tumor, 1939) to Debra Winger ("Terms of Endearment," lymphoma, 1983) to Diane Keaton ("Marvin's Room," leukemia, 1997) have received Oscar nominations for playing cancer victims. The latest Hollywood divas to brave cancer on the screen are Meryl Streep ("One True Thing") and Susan Sarandon ("Stepmom"). Both play well-off, middle-aged domestic goddesses, but only Ms. Streep is made to look ravaged by the disease. Her skin pale gray, her eyes rimmed red like a Kabuki's, she becomes so gaunt and frail that in the film's most affecting scene, she has to be lifted out of the bathtub by her daughter. Reduced to a miserable shell, she weeps, rages, endures Bette Midler songs and yet -- inevitably -- maintains her nobility. "Terminal illnesses can inspire voyeurism," Jackson Peyton, a public health consultant in Washington, said in a telephone interview. "Unable to find meaning in their own lives, some people seek it through the drama of the fatal sicknesses of others. But the hard reality of dying is brutally disappointing. For the most part, the deaths of cancer victims don't play out like characters in 19th-century novels or 20th-century films. The truth is that most suffer terribly, and many unload their bitterness on their loved ones." Old Movie Disease-driven films support their romantic agendas by evading and overlooking hard realities. The chaos and horror of cancer are papered over with sentiment and sanctimony, then packaged as a higher state of being. Hollywood cancer mutates ordinary people into angelic beings who straighten out the lives of all the mixed-up souls around them. In "Marvin's Room," the selfless Ms. Keaton draws on an inexhaustible fund of goodness to teach her selfish sister (Ms. Streep) to be more humane. In "One True Thing," the upright Ms. Streep is sacrificed so that her icily ambitious daughter (Renee Zellweger) can learn "life lessons" and turn compassionate caregiver. In "Stepmom," cancer works curative wonders on Ms. Sarandon's prickly perfect homemaker. She remains hostile toward her ex-husband's trophy wife-to-be (Julia Roberts) until, succumbing to the dynamics of the honeyed plot and repeated dosings of her own cancer theme song ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough"), she wearily slouches toward canonization. The more advanced the cancer, the more potent its redemptive powers. Terminal cancer trumps a relatively benign strain in "The Doctor," a 1991 tearjerker in which William Hurt sinks from lordly physician to lowly patient. Stricken with a treatable form of throat cancer, the chilly, insensitive heart surgeon befriends a fellow patient (Elizabeth Perkins) with an inoperable brain tumor. This doomed (and, of course, radiant) young woman guides him on one of those journeys of self-discovery that can begin and end only in Hollywood. Along the way, he learns to appreciate sunsets, desert dancing and rooftop pigeons. Watching this once heartless cardiologist transform into a benevolent St. Francis, replete with birds, I was reminded of another exchange in Mad's spoof. The oncologist tells a shaken Ryan O'Neal: "I'm afraid it's out of our hands." "You mean medical science is powerless?" O'Neal asks. "What medical science!? I'm talking about CINEMA science! Think back! What have we got so far? A corny soap-opera plot! Unbelievable dialogue! A schmaltzy piano music background! Can't you see? If the producer doesn't have a tragic, sobbing ending to make all this garbage seem meaningful, he's got absolutely nothing!" Someday somebody may find a cure for cancer, but the terminal sappiness of cancer movies is probably beyond remedy.

This review refers to the DVD edition(Hollywood Pictures Home Entertainment) of "Unstrung Heroes"......

In the mood for something just a little different? Try spending some time with Michael Richards and Maury Chaykin. They're about as different as you can get. They are Danny an Arthur Lidz, the two very eccentric brothers(not too far removed from Richard's 'Kramer' character on "Seinfeld")who take in their young nephew Steven when things at his house are a little tough to take.

Steven Lidz has always been a bit different from the rest of the kids, this no doubt due to the fact that his father is a bit of an eccentric himself.He is learning to deal with his father's way of life, but when he learns of his mother's terminal illness it's more than he can handle and runs away to stay with his uncles. Uncle Danny and Uncle Arthur are not the ideal choice for baby-sitters, but may be able to teach Steven and his father what's important in life.

The story based on a book by Franz Lidz(the now grown Steven), set in the 1950's, will evoke many emotions. It is touching, at times poignant, sometimes funny, but most of all, I found it to be very heartwarming. It a story of love and family.

Diane Keaton directs this emotional film, and gives us a look at her terrific behind the camera talents.Richards and Chaykin are perfectly cast in the roles of the uncles. Nathan Watt plays the young Steven(Franz) and holds his own with seasoned veterans Andie MacDowell and John Turturro as his parents.The music by Thomas Newman is as moving as the story, and was nominated for an Oscar.

The DVD is a good buy for the price. It has a nice clear picture, with good color and is presented in widescreen.The sound in Dolby Dig Surround(stereo) is very good.It may be viewed in French and has subtitles in Spanish only.There are no other features.

For a few smiles, a few tears, and lots of love, check this one out and enjoy.....Laurie