Michael-Douglas Movie Reviews

The next vol. of Blake's 7 with the epsidoes entitled THE HARVEST OF KAIROS and CITY AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

In the epsidoe entitled THE HARVEST OF KAIROS

Servalan has a cunning plan to take the Liberator but her advisors seem to think her plans as of late have not been working. She finds out that a construction worker has been speaking out on Servalan tatcis. She orders that this man be brought to her. What she doesn't know is that this man was once a general in the Federation army. Servalan is taken by the man and he begins in ernest to capture the Liberator from Avon and the others. Servalan in overjoyed that this man in finally able to do what hundreds of other could not take the Liberator and give Servalan the Federation on a silver platter. Will Avon and the others be ready for whatever cunning plans are in store? Or will they end up as another war story fro this general turned construction worker turned lover of Servalan?

In the next epsidoe entitled CITY AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
Avon has agreed to Bayban the Butcher(the second most dangerous man after Blake of course) the use of Villa and his safe craking abilites. What Villa doesn't know is what Bayban wantd with this door opened? Bayban doesn't know but wants whatever is on the other side. The people of the planet say it is the doorway to another world. Bayban thinks it is a door to wealth beyond wealth. Villa can only do as he says of die trying for Bayban has only given him an hour. Now Villa is racing against time to save his life and possable give Bayban the means to destroying the world. On a personal note this is my favorite episode. Not only does it have Villa being the hero for once it also has to Doctor Who fans Colin Baker as a rather dangerous villian which is nice to watch. But also the actor who played the Black guardian during the time of Peter Davidson run as the Doctor. So all in all the best episode around.

Volume 16 of the "Blake's 7" video collection contains two more episodes of this excellent British science fiction television series. These episodes continue the saga of the space ship Liberator, whose crew battles the oppressive Federation.

In "The Harvest of Kairos," Tarrant plans to steal the subject of the episode's title: a crystal that grows on the planet Kairos. But his plan leads the crew of the Liberator into conflict with Servalan. This episode features one of the series' all-time best guest performances: Andrew Burt as Jarvik, a former Federation officer who distrusts computers and believes in old-fashioned concepts like honor and courage. This episode features everything you could want in a B7 episode: a thrilling space battle, alien monsters, intrigue, romance, and moral ambiguity.

The second episode on the tape, "City at the Edge of the World," is a marvelous adventure that focuses on Vila, the Liberator's cowardly resident thief. Vila gets involved with the notorious bandit Bayban the Butcher (played with a touch of campy humor by Colin Baker), finds romance with a lovely bandit girl (Carol Hawkins), and even gets to expound his theory of safecracking. This episode features lots of action and humor, and great dialogue. Great line: "He's lost a lot of weight, hasn't he?" (Vila, upon seeing a skeleton). This episode shows why Vila is one of sci-fi's all-time classic characters. Together, "Kairos" and "City" represent two of the most entertaining hours in the entire run of this classic series.

City at the Edge of the World is one of the best Vila episodes written,as well as developing the characters of Tarrent, Avon, and Cally. This is a critical episode if you are a Vila fan. It offers a good glipse of Vila's skill, intelligence, and a rare display of bravery. It also shows Avon, and Cally in a good light. Tarrent forces Vila to go down against his will as part of a trade with the natives; which quickly backfires. The others do their best to come to Vila's aid. This is the only episode in which Vila saves the day and gets the girl. The final scenes are exciting, touching, and humorous.

Harvest on Kairos is a decent episode. If you are a Servelain fan this is an episode you will want to see. Avon comes though in the end, but this isn't one of his best episodes. It is an interesting show however, but I didn't care too much for it because Cally and Vila were largely ignored. The only enjoyment I got was out of the further development of Servelain's character. If you like Tarrent this is an episode you will want to see, but if you like Avon better this episode will make you sick!

I give City a 10 and Harvest a 5(lower if not for Servelain)

The happy ending is clumsily tacked on and reeks "Hollywood" in the worst sense of the word. Otherwise this is another very good Michael Curtiz film with solid acting and great black and white cinematography. Kirk Douglas may surprise you as the obsessed jazzman, Rick Martin. Doris Day and Lauren Bacall are wonderful as the female leads (with Day being so definitively Day, and Bacall so quintessentially Bacall). Hoagy Carmichael is a remarkable screen presence as well. And the music is wonderful. So what's not to like?...well, the cornball ending and the (at times) stilted dialogue. Still well worth watching. And for jazz movie fans, fans of any or all of the stars or admirers of director Curtiz it remains a must have.

Michael Curtiz, who could direct just about any genre of film does it again. Episodic and musical events of a man( not Bix) obsessed with his horn. Any film with a duet between Hoagy and Kirk has to be fun.

Watch for Jerome Cowan as the band leader and of course another fine turn of acting from Juano Hernandez ( Art Hazzard) Day sings, Bacall broods and I do believe I saw what looked like an el!

Bix Beiderbecke was unquestionably one of the forerunners of so-called "hot jazz" that led to the golden era of this musical discipline. His career was short as was his life. This complex young man possessed a grand talent and was able, according to Hoagy Carmichael, to bring tears to those who were wedded to this new musical art form. Bix made his way from the Davenport, Iowa to places East, in the late 'teens of the century just passed. He had a significant impact on the evolution of "Chicago" jazz and his reputation was singular for the sweetness of his tone, and his ability to express what was in his soul.

His music peaked in the mid-to-late '20s, and he died from external excesses in 1931. His cornet was stilled, but his legend was vivid for many decades after he was gone. I would recommend reading the twin autobiographies (under a single cover) of Hoagy Carmichael both of which offer a sincere tribute to Bix and his impact on jazz without being smarmy.

The insinuation that the 1950 flic, "Young Man with a Horn", depicted Bix, just ain't so.

There is something wrong with this DVD at chapter 5 where Sonny takes a hit of weed from 2 pimps at first I thought the echos I was hearing was part of the scene but as soon as the scene continued into the high school scene with his confrontation with the hawks the echoing continued. It ends as soon as chapter 6 starts up with the 1st gang battle between the lords and the hawks. I decided to check the old tape I had of TEO Sonny Carson and the guess what, the echos were not present anywhere in the movie. That means somwhere between the master print and the DVD master somebody forgot to check for audio sync in the transfer. To top it all off all throughout the movie there is video noise on moving edges; I though only amateur/hobbyist of VCD/SVCD/DVD did this. This is a great movie about the tough times that young black Sonny Carson faced in Brooklyn and rose up from. But the production that went into this DVD practically destroys any enjoyable experience one can get from this movie. So my suggestion is to wait for a re-release (not likely) or buy the tape; then you yourself can make a better DVD version of the movie than the guy jonfilms@aol.com did. (jonfilms@aol.com is in the credits for digitizing this movies and I think he is responsible for the error in transfer from master to DVD print). Great movie gone to waste because of carelessnes in the video transposing process.

I must admit that I was disappointed with this film. It suffers from some common mistakes made in many blaxploitation films of this time. I feel that given the man's life, the same budget and actors, I could come up with a better film. Why...?

I never saw this movie before I purchased it. I was expecting something like Cooley High. I did not, and still, do not know much about Sonny Carson. The film ends right at the turning point of his life!

If you sat down in the theater in 1973/4 and watched this film, knowing nothing about him, after the film you would have walked out wondering why they made this film at all.

He gets out of prison and finds that all of his friends have either been killed, succumbed to drug addiction, or are incarcerated. The movie ends here.

We see nothing of the positive changes that he made. We don't know why he joined a gain in the first place. What motivated him? His parents seemed loving and he supposedly got good grades in school. It didn't appear that everyone in his school was in a gang either. Another enigma is his girlfriend, who appears to be clean-cut when we first meet her. When he gets out of jail, she's strung out on heroine. How did this happen? No explanations given in this film.

Instead the movie wastes valuable time showing long scenes of people dancing and other scenes of people singing gospel. This appears often in blaxploitation films... why? I don't like watching people dance and sing, it wastes time, and hurts the flow of the movie. If there was some purpose for the gospel singing i.e. Sonny had an apparent interest in church, that would be ok... but he didn't. And have you ever seen a parade where they allow street gangs to march in them?!?!?! Well you'll see it here!

As for the DVD: the video quality is good but the sound is a real joke! As noted by an earlier review. The synchronization is off by a fraction of a second and it is quite noticable. Think of a bad dubbing on a low budget kung-fu movie.

Buy this only if you are a die-hard collector of blaxploitation films, like me... otherwise steer clear of this one!

I finally got to see this Film recently&couldn't stop feeling the depth&Realness of the film.this Film is straight up in your face&doesn't hide from what went down back in the day.it touches on so many levels.Films like this truly Kept it real&also are a front runner to much of what we see&hear today.

It's a fine film and certainly a good one for those of us who like exciting war films. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Mason's Rommel is every bit as good as his Rommel in the earlier superb Desert Fox. But, you should know the information on the back of the case has conflicting information about the film's DVD format. In the orange box listing features it clearly notes it's Full Frame at 1.33:1. But in the small white print at the bottom it says Widescreen Version. The 1.33:1 (full screen) is the same as The Desert Fox and many other BW films of the same general time. Considering the action and character exchanges fit nicely into the full screen format, my guess is that the film was filmed in this format and the widescreen note is a typo on the case.

Richard Burton stars in this excellent war drama, directed by Robert Wise. James Mason reprises his role as Rommel, from "The Desert Fox."
I have to admit, I watched this in the hopes that I might gain some additional insight into the desert fighting in Iraq.
And I did. Even though this is a 50-year old movie, the desert scenes...the horrible reality of a "war in a desert"...gives this film another subtext for the viewer, and makes it all the more gripping.
Yes, there are the standard war-movie subplots, but for the most part, there's a lot of uncommonly good elements to this movie. The Aussie aspect, the procedural details to the raids and attacks. It's constantly involving...
Consider this a safe bet for war film fans, and an equally safe bet for those who simply enjoy a good story well told.

This is a very good WWII movie set in North Africa. Richard Burton is very good in his role. It seems that he put a lot more depth into his characters in his earlier pictures as you can see here. As for Mason, he is one of a handful of actors that are always good no matter what role they play. Robert Wise also demonstrates why he is such a gifted director turning in a film with both a good story and character development. This is a notch above many other war movies.

It's a fine film and certainly a good one for those of us who like exciting war films. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Mason's Rommel is every bit as good as his Rommel in the earlier superb Desert Fox. But, you should know the information on the back of the case has conflicting information about the film's DVD format. In the orange box listing features it clearly notes it's Full Frame at 1.33:1. But in the small white print at the bottom it says Widescreen Version. The 1.33:1 (full screen) is the same as The Desert Fox and many other BW films of the same general time. Considering the action and character exchanges fit nicely into the full screen format, my guess is that the film was filmed in this format and the widescreen note is a typo on the case.

Richard Burton stars in this excellent war drama, directed by Robert Wise. James Mason reprises his role as Rommel, from "The Desert Fox."
I have to admit, I watched this in the hopes that I might gain some additional insight into the desert fighting in Iraq.
And I did. Even though this is a 50-year old movie, the desert scenes...the horrible reality of a "war in a desert"...gives this film another subtext for the viewer, and makes it all the more gripping.
Yes, there are the standard war-movie subplots, but for the most part, there's a lot of uncommonly good elements to this movie. The Aussie aspect, the procedural details to the raids and attacks. It's constantly involving...
Consider this a safe bet for war film fans, and an equally safe bet for those who simply enjoy a good story well told.

This is a very good WWII movie set in North Africa. Richard Burton is very good in his role. It seems that he put a lot more depth into his characters in his earlier pictures as you can see here. As for Mason, he is one of a handful of actors that are always good no matter what role they play. Robert Wise also demonstrates why he is such a gifted director turning in a film with both a good story and character development. This is a notch above many other war movies.

Well,I'm a big Temple fan and I certainly didn't totally hate this movie but I sure didn't totally love it. This movie may be good to someone who is interested in this kind of stuff but for an 11 year old girl who loves to see the dancing and singing Shirley this comes as quite a disapoitment.I read that this was Temple's favorite movie of hers. While I can't criticize her opinion I think she has done much better. Wee Willie Winkie doesn't even wink! Some ok parts but if you're a Shirley fan you probably would rather stick to doing something else.

One over-looked strength of so many Shirley Temple movies is that they can introduce young children to the topic of death and loss in a sensitive way. When Shirley's soldier friend Victor McLaglen dies of his wounds in his hospital bed during Shirley's visit, it is obvious to the audience, but not to the naive child. I found that scene the most touching in the whole movie. In other respects, it is a very good piece of movie-making, with old war horses C. Aubrey Smith and Cesar Romero turning in solid performances as Shirley's commander-grandfather and the villainous enemy to British concerns, respectively. Shirley manages to quell troubles in India, at least for now, by virtue of her innocence and pluck. Well worth seeing.

I love all Shirley movies, but this one takes her acting
a cut above. It allows Shirley to show her acting range.
I loved the story especially because it made you laugh and cry.
The scenery is beautiful and so is the story!

Well,I'm a big Temple fan and I certainly didn't totally hate this movie but I sure didn't totally love it. This movie may be good to someone who is interested in this kind of stuff but for an 11 year old girl who loves to see the dancing and singing Shirley this comes as quite a disapoitment.I read that this was Temple's favorite movie of hers. While I can't criticize her opinion I think she has done much better. Wee Willie Winkie doesn't even wink! Some ok parts but if you're a Shirley fan you probably would rather stick to doing something else.

One over-looked strength of so many Shirley Temple movies is that they can introduce young children to the topic of death and loss in a sensitive way. When Shirley's soldier friend Victor McLaglen dies of his wounds in his hospital bed during Shirley's visit, it is obvious to the audience, but not to the naive child. I found that scene the most touching in the whole movie. In other respects, it is a very good piece of movie-making, with old war horses C. Aubrey Smith and Cesar Romero turning in solid performances as Shirley's commander-grandfather and the villainous enemy to British concerns, respectively. Shirley manages to quell troubles in India, at least for now, by virtue of her innocence and pluck. Well worth seeing.

I love all Shirley movies, but this one takes her acting
a cut above. It allows Shirley to show her acting range.
I loved the story especially because it made you laugh and cry.
The scenery is beautiful and so is the story!

Well,I'm a big Temple fan and I certainly didn't totally hate this movie but I sure didn't totally love it. This movie may be good to someone who is interested in this kind of stuff but for an 11 year old girl who loves to see the dancing and singing Shirley this comes as quite a disapoitment.I read that this was Temple's favorite movie of hers. While I can't criticize her opinion I think she has done much better. Wee Willie Winkie doesn't even wink! Some ok parts but if you're a Shirley fan you probably would rather stick to doing something else.

One over-looked strength of so many Shirley Temple movies is that they can introduce young children to the topic of death and loss in a sensitive way. When Shirley's soldier friend Victor McLaglen dies of his wounds in his hospital bed during Shirley's visit, it is obvious to the audience, but not to the naive child. I found that scene the most touching in the whole movie. In other respects, it is a very good piece of movie-making, with old war horses C. Aubrey Smith and Cesar Romero turning in solid performances as Shirley's commander-grandfather and the villainous enemy to British concerns, respectively. Shirley manages to quell troubles in India, at least for now, by virtue of her innocence and pluck. Well worth seeing.

I love all Shirley movies, but this one takes her acting
a cut above. It allows Shirley to show her acting range.
I loved the story especially because it made you laugh and cry.
The scenery is beautiful and so is the story!

Maybe I just did not get it. I sat through this thing because I have been a fan of Miss Dunaway's for quite some time. It is hard to sit through and makes little sense. Kirk Douglas is old and is messing around with Dunaway behind his wife's (Deborah Kerr) back. Douglas rethinks his life and changes it. About the only reason to watch this movie is to see a young post-Bonnie and Clyde Faye Dunaway.

I saw this movie on the big screen years ago when I was a university student, and it is definitely still one of the most impressionable, memorable movies I have ever seen. The movie grips you from beginning to end and you wonder what it is heading for. I recall the slow horror that filled me as the leading actor's (i learn from the reviews it is Kirk Douglas) mind begins to show schizophrenic tendencies, but what is scary is that schizophrenia appears as something very everyday, a form of alienation, something that I felt we are all going through without realising it. I thought this is a movie about myself - or my two selves ! I want to see it on video to see if I feel the same intensity I felt then. And another thing , it was intensely ..., the scenes between kirk Douglas and Faye Dunaway. This is definitely a special movie, bringing out deeper inner traumas...and oh yes reminds me of other movies of this genre(The Graduate comes to mind) that expose the hollow,social world of high society. A very watchable movie though very disturbing !

Although director Elia Kazan ultimately failed in this uneven if brilliant attempt to bring his best-selling semi-autobiographical novel to the screen, it is a wonderful sociological portrait of a man driven to the edge of madness and despair by what material and career success does to his soul. Kirk Douglas is terrific as Eddie Anderson, the deeply conflicted Greek-American second-generation crossover who buys into the pursuit of American business success and now feels as though his talent and creativity have been totally corrupted and squandered in pursuit of the bitch goddess of success. He has it all, money, sex, and power, and all the toys and accessories such material success means. But his life is increasingly ashes in his mouth, a bitter, lonely, empty and unfulfilling existence that is literally driving Eddie insane.

We watch enraptured as he plunges head-first into a disastrous mid-life crisis, spiraling dangerously down the slippery slope toward madness and involuntary commitment, until slowly and painfully he begins to figure out what is wrong and how to fix it, although all this is obviously done at an amazingly hurtful and angst-filled cost to himself and his loved ones. Deborah Kerr co-stars as his loving but also self-concerned and controlling wife, and Faye Dunaway turns in a compelling performance as the insightful and sarcastic love interest who draws him out of his mid-life diversions and makes him see how expensive his sell-out has been to the real Eddie underneath all the glitz and glamour.

They say this movie had it all in the can, but that somehow author/producer/director Elia Kazan blew it all by cutting and editing it terribly, leaving it disjointed and hard-to-follow. Even though this seems to be true, the movie is uneven but still quite good, with a number of intense and moving scenes with Douglas, Dunaway, Kerr and Richard Boone that are among the best dramatic footage I have ever seen. Watch for the scenes late in the film when Eddie tries to explain himself and his actions to his wife, tryng to verbalize the very complicated reasons he simply cannot work at the ad agency any more. Although she coaxs him into the monologue, promising him she'll do "ANYTHING, god-dammit!" to make him happy, in the end she is quite conflicted, as well, and as a result totally misunderstands him, discounting his problems and conflicts and not hearing his plaintive pleas because she really doesn't want to give up their privileged lifestyle. He pours out his heart and needs, but she isn't listening, reacting angrily instead to what she sees as his selfishness even though she has begged him to be honest about what he really wants.

Such powerful scenes honestly and accurately document the terrible failed attempts at critical communication that too often characterize the destruction of life-long relationships and tragic divorce. Richard Boone of the TV series "Have Gun, Will Travel", an old Douglas friend and associate, also turns in a wonderful performance as Eddie's domineering and senile Greek-immigrant father, a once successful rug-importer who torments Eddie because he wants Eddie to bankroll him for another chance to control his own life. The way all this spins together was the powerful driving stuff behind a best-selling novel. The movie isn't quite as good, but it is still a wonderful, entertaining and powerful drama eminently worth watching.

If memory serves me correctly, this film was a made-for production on HBO back in 1985. The cast is top-notch, and the story plays on serial killers from the '70's and early '80's. I won't reveal the entire plot, but I will say that this is a somewhat disturbing picture to watch. Especially while alone in the dark. I recommend viewing this movie with at least another person in the room. Just make sure you know that person well, and that your telephone is off the hook...

A note of caution: This VHS is in the lousy EP mode.

I LOVED THIS MOVIE BECAUSE IT KEPT ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT. IF YOU LIKE THRILLERS AND RICHARD
WIDMARK, SEE THIS MOVIE.