The_Most_Casual_Observer
Tulsa City-County Library
The_Most_Casual_Observer's Completed Shelf
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The Lady in the VanThe Lady in the Van, DVD
DVD - 2016DVD, 2016
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 27, 2024
Quotations
- Neighbor: It's a cut above her previous vehicle.
East Side, West SideEast Side, West Side, DVD
DVD - 2007DVD, 2007
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 26, 2024
Comment:
One of Barbara Stanwyck’s best performances is in the highly entertaining 1949 MGM soap drama directed by Mervyn LeRoy. James Mason is a wealthy investment counselor and Stanwyck plays his wife. Their marriage is recovering from an infidelity on his part when the other woman, deliciously embodied by Ava Gardner despite a disconcerting hairdo, comes back to town and sets her sights on him again. Van Heflin, Cyd Charisse, Nancy Davis, Gale Sondergaard, and William Conrad also appear in the 108-minute feature, which is so highly entertaining almost entirely because of Stanwyck’s calm but palpable performance, as her character is torn between believing that her husband is a changed man, suspecting that he is not, and enjoying the attentions of another suitor herself.
There are optional English and French subtitles.One of Barbara Stanwyck’s best performances is in the highly entertaining 1949 MGM soap drama directed by Mervyn LeRoy. James Mason is a wealthy investment counselor and Stanwyck plays his wife. Their marriage is recovering from an infidelity on his…
TrogTrog, DVD
DVD - 2011DVD, 2011
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 25, 2024
Comment:
Joan Crawford is a benign anthropologist who tries to prevent enraged citizenry in the British countryside from murdering a caveman who has apparently thawed out in working order after a substantial frozen sleep. Instead of placing him in a secure environment, she takes him out in the backyard to teach him how to play fetch, and when a jealous dog spooks him, he’s off on a rampage. The very silly 1970 production is a fine example of entertainment by curiosity, as you are compelled to keep watching the 91-minute feature out of sheer disbelief that grown people could actually have taken the trouble to make it, or that Crawford thought she could get away with appearing in it. Must be seen to be believed.
There are optional English and French subtitles, and a trailer.Joan Crawford is a benign anthropologist who tries to prevent enraged citizenry in the British countryside from murdering a caveman who has apparently thawed out in working order after a substantial frozen sleep. Instead of placing him in a secure…
Somewhere in the NightSomewhere in the Night, DVD
DVD - 2005DVD, 2005
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 22, 2024
Comment:
A Marine with amnesia comes home from the war in search of his true identity and discovers that he may have been involved in several crimes in the entertaining 1946 feature. An early effort by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, John Hodiak stars, with Nancy Guild and Richard Conte. The hero’s face and voice were altered by the war, so nobody knows who he is, and as he begins to track down the name on a letter in his possession, he gets beat up, meets a pretty girl and comes into a bundle of money. The plot taps into the most basic and ancient story devices of the mystery genre, where the hero is in essence searching for himself, and it taps into an equally basic appeal in most viewers, who quickly get wrapped up in the hero’s search, trying to guess or anticipate what he will discover. Mankiewicz, climbing the ladder to classier productions, doesn’t take the film’s premise all that seriously, and there are a number of mild gags or in-jokes around the edges (when the hero signs the register at a hotel, the name before his is ‘Howard Koch’), but he also displays the talents that would soon turn him into one of the most accomplished writer-directors of all time. Conte rocks, Hodiak is a little lost and Guild (pronounced like 'guile' in the trailer) is earnest but in way over her head, yet the performance styles of the cast match each one’s character so well that the disparity becomes organic and not disruptive to the entertainment. The story is brisk and continually intriguing, the atmosphere is appealing and the whole concept of the film is highly satisfying.
Film noir expert Eddie Muller supplies a commentary track. He consciously exaggerates statements to give his talk a conversational style, but he pretty much says all that can be said about the film. He identifies the many well known character actors who show up in secondary roles, he points out the complexities of the narrative (“If you think on this audio commentary that I am going to explain the plot of this film to you, guess again, because I’ve seen this movie probably five or six times and I still cannot figure out what is going on in this plot.”) and compares it, intriguingly, to "Angel Heart." He also goes over the careers of the stars and the filmmakers. He says that Mankiewicz hired Joseph Breen’s son as a production assistant, hoping to finagle the Production Code, and there is a scene in the film where Hodiak’s character spends the night at Guild’s place, something that might not have been allowed if Breen hadn’t been involved.
I hate to contradict the listing above, but there is no alternate Spanish audio track. There are alternate Spanish and English subtitles.A Marine with amnesia comes home from the war in search of his true identity and discovers that he may have been involved in several crimes in the entertaining 1946 feature. An early effort by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, John Hodiak stars, with Nancy…
She DemonsShe Demons, Streaming VideoThe Original Schlock Classic
Streaming Video - 1958Streaming Video, 1958
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 22, 2024
Comment:
AN EXERCISE in sublime badness that is not to be missed, every scene contains a new incongruity or unexpected delight. On a ‘three-hour tour’ to an uncharted island within 300 miles of the California coast, the heroes are shipwrecked in a bad storm, where they discover women in bikinis dancing provocatively for the camera around a fire. But then there are Nazis on the island, too… ah, we don’t want to spoil it, but suffice to say that the Nazis are in full uniform and are well disciplined, considering the war has been over for a dozen years and they are a day’s journey from L.A.
The heroine, played by Irish McCalla, has a stork-like neck, but fits perfectly into a cocktail dress from the closet of the head Nazi’s much shorter, deformed wife. The hero, played by Tod Griffin, is given a stunt double who looks 15 years older, is shorter and has different hair. The performances, however, are professional, and it is the competence of the cast that raises the quality of the film and accentuates, so divinely, the wacky script and low budget shortcuts (the same hallway is used for two different hallways, and then the shots are edited back-to-back; a solid-looking wall wiggles when fighters bump against it). Directed by Richard E. Cunha, the 1958 feature has a coherent, if cluttered, narrative, and is continually enjoyable—it is unintentional humor at its best.AN EXERCISE in sublime badness that is not to be missed, every scene contains a new incongruity or unexpected delight. On a ‘three-hour tour’ to an uncharted island within 300 miles of the California coast, the heroes are shipwrecked in a bad storm,…
The Man in the Gray Flannel SuitThe Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, DVD
DVD - 2005DVD, 2005
Added Mar 21, 2024
Comment:
A tip of The Observer's fedora to Mr. vondutch, who thinks the film is set in the Depression! Well, he only saw ten minutes of it. And he wanted a HAPPY story!
Added Mar 21, 2024
Comment:
That’s the trouble with democracy, you go around calling people your brothers and sisters, out of the goodness of your heart, you tell ‘em everyone is created equal, and pretty soon they get to thinking they’re as good as the next man.
The Handmaid's TaleThe Handmaid's Tale, DVD
DVD - 2017DVD, 2017
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 20, 2024
Comment:
A guilty pleasure, the 1990 feature imagines a totalitarian America where pollution has made so many people infertile that women who can have children have become a commodity and are enslaved by the rich. Based upon a partially allegorical novel by Margaret Atwood, Volker Schlöndorff directed the film far too flaccidly, but the fantasy is too potent not to hold your attention. Natasha Richardson is the heroine, with Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall as the power couple who own her and Aidan Quinn as a strapping chauffeur who catches her eye. By placing the classic romantic conflict in such abstract surroundings, the film exposes fresh perspectives on the gender power structure in the real world. The stars are inherently entertaining (the sex scenes with Duvall and Richardson are a gas) and the premise constantly nibbles at your curiosity, so that even though it does not seethe enough with resentment toward the patriarchy, even though the ending seems to deny the empowerment the heroine ought to have achieved, and even though there is no evidence whatsoever in the production design of the pollution that supposedly caused the infertility, the film, for all its faults, is irresistible.A guilty pleasure, the 1990 feature imagines a totalitarian America where pollution has made so many people infertile that women who can have children have become a commodity and are enslaved by the rich. Based upon a partially allegorical novel by…
Basic InstinctBasic Instinct, DVD
DVD - 2001DVD, 2001
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 18, 2024
Comment:
The 1992 movie is plenty stupid, but it has a strong star appeal, with Michael Douglas as a San Francisco murder detective and Sharon Stone as his hedonistic suspect. Poor Stone, who has turned in a number of fine and even stellar performances in her career, is destined to have "Instinct" in the opening paragraph of her obituary, and there’s no way she’s ever going to be able to change it. The film objectifies her sexuality in a manner that some viewers will claim to be crass but most, at least secretly, will find difficult to resist.
Director Verhoeven recorded a commentary track with his cinematographer, Jan de Bont. It is interesting listening to them talk, because you get a sense of the distribution of responsibility—which choices in the film’s design were Verhoeven’s and which were de Bont’s. Toward the second half, they say less about the technical side and settle more into just talking about the story, Verhoeven describing Stone’s character as ‘the Devil’ in recognition that there is no other possible way she could have planned her nefarious activities. That is the essential stupidity of the film. It is not a supernatural tale, but it defies real world logic at too many points, and has only succeeded because of the appeal of Stone and Douglas.
And then there is a second commentary track, which begins thusly: “Hello. This is Camille Paglia. I’m professor of Humanities and Media Studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and I’m very happy to be talking to you about one of my favorite films, "Basic Instinct," a film that, despite the controversy attended upon its production, has become a great classic, beloved by audiences around the world.” ‘Beloved?’ "It’s a Wonderful Life" is beloved. "Snow White" is beloved. Someday, perhaps Ron Howard’s "Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" will be beloved. But "Basic Instinct"? In San Quentin, maybe.
The film can be supported by English, French, or Spanish subtitles.The 1992 movie is plenty stupid, but it has a strong star appeal, with Michael Douglas as a San Francisco murder detective and Sharon Stone as his hedonistic suspect. Poor Stone, who has turned in a number of fine and even stellar performances in…
Brute ForceBrute Force, DVD
DVD - 2007DVD, 2007
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 18, 2024
Comment:
Burt Lancaster stars in Jules Dassin’s 1947 Universal-International prison drama. The cast includes Charles Bickford, Howard Duff and Whit Bissell (the first screen appearances for the latter two) as convicts festering inside a corrupt penitentiary, with Hume Cronyn in the film’s most memorable role, as a sadistic and power-hungry assistant warden. Although newer prison films have superseded the movie in terms of realism and thematic depth, the drama remains a gripping and potently nihilistic tale of incarceration.
A tip of The Observer's gray snap-brim fedora to a comment from 1aa below, in which he refers to "flashbacks" in the movie. For years he's been talking about "cutbacks" in movies, which he objects to, and I always wondered what that meant. I know what a cutaway is, and what a flashback is, but not a cutback. So I'll assume he meant 'flashback' all along.
The 96-minute program is not captioned.Burt Lancaster stars in Jules Dassin’s 1947 Universal-International prison drama. The cast includes Charles Bickford, Howard Duff and Whit Bissell (the first screen appearances for the latter two) as convicts festering inside a corrupt penitentiary,…
BrigadoonBrigadoon, DVD
DVD - 2005DVD, 2005
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 17, 2024
Comment:
Gene Kelly stars with Cyd Charisse, along with Van Johnson, in the community theater favorite about two Americans who stumble across an enchanted town in the Scottish Highlands, and the romances that ensue. The theatricality of Minnelli’s stage designs are recognizable but subtle, and are fully appropriate in the context of the narrative. There are many pleasing dance numbers, and the costume designers naturally had a field day (replete with heather) with the Scottish motifs. In 1954 the film was trumped by "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," and deservedly so, but time has made its artistry precious without undercutting the enduring attractions of the story and the timeless appeal of the performers. Along with a trailer, there are 11 minutes of nice deleted and alternate musical numbers (including a lovely pas de deux with Kelly and Charisse that ends in a pretty hot kiss), and a 4-minute audio-only Kelly song outtake. Whenever we sit through the film, incidentally, we can’t stop our mind from wandering, and imagining a comedy skit, “Brigadoon II: The Following Week,” where a succession of crazier and crazier futuristic characters wander into the village as each day progresses.
The 108-minute program has an alternate French track in mono, and optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles.Gene Kelly stars with Cyd Charisse, along with Van Johnson, in the community theater favorite about two Americans who stumble across an enchanted town in the Scottish Highlands, and the romances that ensue. The theatricality of Minnelli’s stage…
Finian's RainbowFinian's Rainbow, DVD
DVD - 2016DVD, 2016
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 17, 2024
Comment:
The movie is too glorious to disparage whatever shortcomings it may have. The running time is much less of a problem on home video than it might have been in a theater, as you are more than happy to spend time with the characters and take breathers between each sparkling song. The presentation also has an Intermission and Entr’acte music. Set in a near-timeless Kentucky town, Astaire and Clarke are travelers who arrive with a stolen leprechaun’s pot of gold, and the leprechaun, played by Steele, following close behind. The pot grants three wishes, mostly by accident, which change the fortunes of the community; and several people fall in love. It is, in essence, a musical milieu, with just enough narrative to sustain a sense of momentum and incorporate some unfailingly funny slapstick. The songs do the rest. The song performed by Francks and Clark, "Old Devil Moon," remains the most succulent romantic duet ever captured on film. It doesn’t matter that Astaire breaks no new ground with his dances. He had reached that point in his career where the mere fact that he was gung ho enough to appear on the screen again, doing the comedy and evoking the utter class of his unique skills, was enough to leave a viewer transfixed by his every move; and surprisingly, the effects of that appearance linger even today—you view his presence as a lovely punctuation to his screen career, the last easy steps in a number that has already brought down the house.
The director, Francis Coppola, has a wonderful commentary track. There are optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles.The movie is too glorious to disparage whatever shortcomings it may have. The running time is much less of a problem on home video than it might have been in a theater, as you are more than happy to spend time with the characters and take breathers…
RainRain, DVD
DVD - 2004DVD, 2004
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 16, 2024
Comment:
Lighten up, you two! He didn't write "the most important film in the history of cinema"! He wrote "Probably one of the most important films of its time." Arguable!
The Libertarian MindThe Libertarian Mind, BookA Manifesto for Freedom
by Boaz, DavidBook - 2015Book, 2015
Added Mar 16, 2024
Comment:
I see that the TCCL has two copies of this book, both more than a month overdue. Is this an example of Libertarian values?
V for VendettaV for Vendetta, DVD
DVD - 2006DVD, 2006
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 14, 2024
Comment:
A dour political fable dressed up as a funky comic book movie, there is the sort of action one associates with comic book movies at both the beginning and the end of the 132-minute feature, but the long middle act, in which the heroine is imprisoned and tortured (a metaphorical representation of her life before that point, but no matter), drains the film of whatever energy it establishes elsewhere. Natalie Portman stars, rescued one night from rapists by a man in a Guy Fawkes mask (don’t worry, the film explains who Guy Fawkes was). She stays with him for a while and, before and after the torture sequence, they have long conversations. Hugo Weaving is said to play the man in the mask. But all you see is the mask—no lip movements, no eyes, nothing human except his voice—and so there are numerable static shots where you are listening to the dialog and staring at the nearly immobile mask (he always bobs a little)—a comic book panel not brought to life. Initially, it’s a cute idea, but eventually, it starts to feel like part of the torture.
Directed by James McTeague from a script conceived by the Wachowski Two, the political narrative is also used as a distraction while the film attempts to glamorize and justify the emotional catharsis of bondage and submission, with the explosions and briefly energetic action sequences used to trick viewers into sitting through it. Set in the future, where England has subsided into a dictatorship, the intelligence of the political climate these days has regressed so far that the 2006 film does indeed speak to the simplicities being foisted upon the public at large by their leadership, but that does not justify its own failure to achieve an intellectual dynamic as sophisticated as its sense of design. "V for Vendetta" celebrates the political movement beloved of adolescents who are mad at their parents, anarchy, and has pretty much an adolescent’s level of intelligence to drive its political arguments, as it ends up demonizing not the society responsible for supporting the oppressive political structure, but the few specifically corrupt leaders who are exploiting it.A dour political fable dressed up as a funky comic book movie, there is the sort of action one associates with comic book movies at both the beginning and the end of the 132-minute feature, but the long middle act, in which the heroine is imprisoned…
The Unsinkable Molly BrownThe Unsinkable Molly Brown, DVD
DVD - 2011DVD, 2011
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 14, 2024
Comment:
Many people like the 1964 MGM musical, with Debbie Reynolds as the wealthy Titanic survivor, but we find much of the film and the song numbers to be grating. Even the catchy songs are irritating, all the more so because you can’t get them out of your head. Reynolds pours a lot of energy into her performance, but she comes across as shrill. The narrative, being based upon a real biography, is also something of a downer. An episodic portrayal of Brown’s life, it often seems stretched out and meandering. Directed by Charles Walters, there are some good dance sequences and some decent humor here and there, but if we happen to be channel surfing and come across it, we keep going.
The 135-minute program has optional English and French subtitles.Many people like the 1964 MGM musical, with Debbie Reynolds as the wealthy Titanic survivor, but we find much of the film and the song numbers to be grating. Even the catchy songs are irritating, all the more so because you can’t get them out of…
DeathtrapDeathtrap, DVD
DVD - 2016DVD, 2016
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 13, 2024
Comment:
Rather disappointing on two grounds. First, you can't fail to see the reworking of "Diabolique" in the first act. Secondly, introducing a know-it-all psychic into the script saves a lot of work, doesn't it, since you have an omniscient character, which is just not something that ever happens in real life. Whenever the author needs to have some fact revealed, why, the old lady next door comes over and senses it by psychic powers! It's a double cheat, because the superstitious half of the audience believes in psychics. No quarrels with the acting, though, which is of a high standard, except for the highly excitable Dyan Cannon.Rather disappointing on two grounds. First, you can't fail to see the reworking of "Diabolique" in the first act. Secondly, introducing a know-it-all psychic into the script saves a lot of work, doesn't it, since you have an omniscient character,…
The Girl Who Had EverythingThe Girl Who Had Everything, DVD
DVD - 2011DVD, 2011
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 11, 2024
Comment:
Running just 69 minutes, the one real problem with the 1953 MGM feature, an Archive Collection title, is that it seems to rush through a very condensed third act as if its budget had been slashed halfway through the production or something. William Powell is a widowed defense attorney and Fernando Lamas is a gangster he gets off the hook, but when the attorney’s daughter, played by Taylor, takes up with the gangster, then the ethics of practicing law strike too close to home. The triangle between the young vivacious heroine and the two older men (Gig Young is also in the mix, as a dismissible boyfriend) has great potential, and the film has plenty of star power, but the premise is over almost before it really gets started, leaving one with the feeling that the movie has everything, and nothing.Running just 69 minutes, the one real problem with the 1953 MGM feature, an Archive Collection title, is that it seems to rush through a very condensed third act as if its budget had been slashed halfway through the production or something. William…
Why We DieWhy We Die, BookThe New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality
by Ramakrishnan, VenkiBook - 2024Book, 2024
Added Mar 11, 2024
Comment:
Well, if we didn't die, evolution would have a hell of a time making any progress.
SpiesSpies, BookThe Epic Intelligence War Between East and West
by Walton, CalderBook - 2023Book, 2023
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 11, 2024
Comment:
Truly an epic tale which winds up with the author's vision for the future of the United States. I will say that in the past I have said that intelligence was a side show at best, and mainly it was like the old Spy vs. Spy cartoons in "Mad Magazine." Well, I take it all back, at certain times, like the Cuban Missile Crisis, intelligence agencies have provided information that made a major difference. That goes for US and British agencies both. The Russian services are especially covered, with much new archival material. Long, but hard to put down. The Observer says, check it out!Truly an epic tale which winds up with the author's vision for the future of the United States. I will say that in the past I have said that intelligence was a side show at best, and mainly it was like the old Spy vs. Spy cartoons in "Mad Magazine."…
Splendor in the GrassSplendor in the Grass, DVD
DVD - 2000DVD, 2000
Added Mar 09, 2024
The Flesh and the FiendsThe Flesh and the Fiends, Streaming Video
Streaming Video - 2021Streaming Video, 2021
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 09, 2024
FleshFlesh, DVD
DVD - 2006DVD, 2006
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 09, 2024
Comment:
Produced by Andy Warhol and directed by Paul Morrissey, the 1968 film depicts a day in the life of a young hustler, who wakes up in his girlfriend’s pad, goes out to turn a few tricks and do some nude modeling, and then returns to crash. There are many jump cuts and other jerky camera movements, combined with long, pointless shots of Joe Dallesandro standing around, but you can see Morrissey start to get a good handle on the concept of characters and interesting conversation as the 89-minute film advances. It remains more compelling from an academic standpoint, as a representation of Morrissey’s artistic beginnings, than as pure entertainment, but it also establishes a tone that Morrissey’s later movies play off of.
There is no captioning.Produced by Andy Warhol and directed by Paul Morrissey, the 1968 film depicts a day in the life of a young hustler, who wakes up in his girlfriend’s pad, goes out to turn a few tricks and do some nude modeling, and then returns to crash. There are…
The Man With Two BrainsThe Man With Two Brains, DVD
DVD - 1999DVD, 1999
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 09, 2024
Comment:
Steve Martin stars as a scientist who loves the conscience of one woman and the body of another in the 1983 Carl Reiner feature. Reiner chose to play it in a very clownish manner, so that nothing can be taken with even the veneer of seriousness, but that gives the film a tiresome and distancing tone, wholly dependent upon gags that are not consistently funny. Fans will be intermittently amused, but others may become impatient with the program rather quickly. Kathleen Turner, seeming at times to do a Bernadette Peters imitation, co-stars.Steve Martin stars as a scientist who loves the conscience of one woman and the body of another in the 1983 Carl Reiner feature. Reiner chose to play it in a very clownish manner, so that nothing can be taken with even the veneer of seriousness, but…
The Democrat Party Hates AmericaThe Democrat Party Hates America, Audiobook CD
by Levin, Mark R.Audiobook CD - 2023Audiobook CD, 2023
The_Most_Casual_Observer's rating:
Added Mar 08, 2024
Comment: