Michael-Duncan Movie Reviews

I bought this movie because of the description. I thought it would be a tale of an envious neighbor who is jealous of idol Jayne Mansfield. A fun, yummy script full of wit and fashion. Someone had said it is what "Single White Female" had been based on. NOT EVEN!

What I found was you need an attention span longer than the great wall of china if you want to have a chance at enjoying this movie. That and you shouldn't be a fan of Mansfield, since she is hardly IN IT! The only good scene is the end, and then surprisingly, just when it gets half-good, it stops. It ends.

In one word: BORING
In one phrase: The description (on the cover) is OVERRATED.

The movie is not good but a lot can be learned by watching it through, even though it drags. The 1950s 'babe' played by Jayne is a period piece, but having lived in Las vegas for the past five years, I can tell the readers of this review that the type is alive and well in this city. The film is about a certain niche, created by men and probably by religion too, and into this niche women step and become stigmatized. The whore or babe is like the witch in the medieval period - something demonic and devilish. I assure you, the values in the film are not out-of-date. The movie also is an interesting source of info about ethnicity and regionalism - espec. Italian and the NYC area. And you see in this a connection to Las Vegas too. The film, if it teaches anything, teaches us that we are far less emancipated, liberated, rational, liberal, etc. in regard to sex and to women than we thought we were. Again the parallel to witchcraft is a good one: naive liberals thought the witch-hunting was over in the early 1700s. In fact, witches were burned in all major European ocuntries into the late 1700s. And 1950s babes a la Mansfield are not only the adult identity of many, especially in Las Vegas, in the year 2000, but are probably the role-models of 6 and 7 year olds. .... the movie in another sense is an epigone of Italian neo-realism. I am adding this last bit just so poeple will be more inclined to accept the savvi-ness of the first part of my review.

There is something poignant about watching Jayne Mansfield in her last film role. There is also something prophetic as well, for Jayne Mansfield would never be remembered as a Grande Dame of screen dramatics. Perhaps her admirable attempt coupled with the reality of her untimely passing make watching her performance even more fascinating. What Mansfield brings to this role is a mixed bag of hysterics and brood. But we never forget, not even during a dramatic scene in which Mansfield (with shabby Bronx accent) admits to being "in the family way", that we are watching an icon of a bygone era attempting to inhabit the skin of something "mod". SINGLE ROOM FURNISHED almost plays like a cautionary tale for the bombshells of the future. Yet that was surely not the original intent.

I first saw this picture decades ago on home video. The source for that video was so faded and tattered. For years I recalled the "faded glory" aspect of the print. Watching this wonderful DVD master was eye-opening. The colors are beautiful and the widescreen presentation shows little to no wear from the source print (except for the dates soundtrack which is the weak link here). An absolutely stellar remastering on the video level. Watching SINGLE ROOM FURNISHED 2 decades later was a revelation to me and a delight. But in the final analysis, this low-budger affair is far from perfect. But perhaps that is the essence of Jayne Mansfield's legacy.

This movie was just plain dull so don't bother. I am a Richard Chamberlain fan and after seeing Shogun and The Thorn Birds this movie is just a waste of his talent and my time.

Alright...'Murder By Phone'. It was an okay movie. I definitely think it could've been a lot better. It's one of those cheesy 80s horror flicks. I found it more funny than scary, though I admit, I'm gonna be scared to answer the phone for a while! This movie is pretty much about a crazed murderer dude who kills his victims by calling them + then playing a high frequency sound which makes them have like convulsions + then he sends high voltage through the phone + they die. This movie is also a little confusing at times. (Keep in mind, I saw the movie at like midnight) This is DEFINITELY a REALLY good movie to watch with a bunch of your friends during a sleepover in the middle of the night!

Even given that the screenplay by Richard Cassidy is based on a novel by Danielle Steel, director Adrian Carr creates the depth of a TV commercial. Made in the era when Australians thought they had to import American stars to give their product international appeal, Cheryl Ladd plays the American wife of novelist Robert Coleby. Coleby's English accent another form of throwback, where Australians spoke in English accents to show that they remain civilised in the primitive colony. The narrative focuses on Coleby being accused of the rape of Christine Amor. Carr establishes that Coleby is innocent, but he is convicted even when the prosecution only have circumstantial evidence. But whilst the trial is a farce, we know Coleby must suffer for betraying Ladd, who appears in a series of unflattering clothes. At least in her testimony, Amor conveys some real emotion, which is something one can hardly accuse Ladd or Coleby of. Coleby in particular is presented bare-chested a lot, presumably to give him a Robert Redford kind of appeal. The universe portrayed here is so conventional that we are supposed to find Coleby living as a writer as a "kept man" by Ladd's successful boutique Lady Jane "unconventional", though what is more unbelievable is the kind of prison he ends up in, with no cells and resembling a boy's camp. Carr provides a laughable montage of Coleby pre-trial writing in various hardbourside locations, and has him and Ladd talking over each other to show their breakdown in communications. Ladd's drunk scene isn't bad enough to be self-parody and the level of her risk taking is making her character a smoker.

This is a cute movie but I would not have bought it if I had known it was a cartoon version.The write up says that it stars Duncan Regehr and it does not.Think you should change your description of this item Thank You