I had not seen this film for about 25 years, and I looked forward to watching it again. If, like me, you enjoy Cloris Leachman and Bea Arthur, in particular, then you are surely tempted to pick up this DVD. May I suggest you rent it first?
For me, this film has the sort of period-specific humor that does not age well. Now, it seems forced and quite unfunny (unless you still laugh at homophobic jokes, for example), and it doesn't even hold any charm as a time capsule. It's "Love American Style" -- unbearable to watch now -- stretched into movie length.
I Know How You Hate Veiny Veal. . .
Just one of the brilliant lines in this wonderful film that is STILL not out on DVD.
Wonderful cast, although you have to buy that Cloris Leachman is the mother of Bonnie Bedelia and Anne Meara.
Best lines: Bea Arthur. Best scene: love on a toilet seat.
And I wouldn't mind a book about Spain, either. . .
Still a classic
This is over 30 years old, but still a classic. Diane Keaton fans will love her in one of her first roles. We still use some of the lines, especially "So, what's the story, Richie?" and I often tell my husband his hair smells like raisins just to let him know I still love him. I just wish Icould buy a copy at a reasonable price!!!!
Philip Roth's novel of Jewish identity and assimilation in the suburbs of New York gets a spirited comic reading in this 1969 film, which marked the acting debut of model Ali McGraw (and who thought that was a good idea?). Actually, she's pretty good as the Jewish princess whose father has made a fortune in plumbing supplies. Richard Benjamin, who went on to become an odd sex symbol of the '70s, had just the right comic twist as the young man who can't overcome McGraw's middle-class morality with his sense of passion and romance. Jack Klugman is outstanding as her hard-driving and unyieldding father. A touchstone film. --Marshall FineMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Richard Benjamin - Ali MacGraw Director(s): Larry Peerce DVD Release Date: Released the 08 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Maggie Smith is so witty and commanding in this film, you might forget that the script paints Jean Brodie as an ultimately self-deluding spinster. Dame Maggie won the first of her two Oscars for playing a teacher in 1930s Edinburgh more in thrall to her romantic notions of art and beauty than the real world, a cultivator of worshipping "Brodie Girls." (She exalts the Mona Lisa and Mussolini with equal fervor.) Smith's expert playing makes many of the brogue-heavy Brodie-isms worth memorizing ("She seeks to intimidate me by the use of quarter-hours.") and raises the picture above its generally theatrical style. Real-life husband Robert Stephens plays Jean's married lover, Celia Johnson excels as the hostile headmistress, and Pamela Franklin is the deadpan whistle-blower within Miss... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Maggie Smith - Gordon Jackson Director(s): Ronald Neame DVD Release Date: Released the 06 July 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Actually, this comedy is one of the more enjoyable films to examine midlife crisis in the 1980s. Written and directed by Alan Alda, it examines the effects of middle age on a group of married couples who are longtime friends. Each season they go away on a vacation together, but the dynamic gets skewed when one of the men dumps his wife for a younger woman. Though some may find the characters' self-satisfaction and upscale neuroses a shade cloying, they are more than matched by Alda's solid, often funny writing. The couple with the biggest laughs: the hilariously paired Jack Weston and Rita Moreno (although Alda and Carol Burnett also strike comic sparks). --Marshall FineMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Alan Alda - Carol Burnett Director(s): Alan Alda DVD Release Date: Released the 31 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Tierney - Dana Andrews Director(s): Rouben Mamoulian - Otto Preminger DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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People who cherish the post-Terms of Endearment, post-reincarnation phase of Shirley MacLaine's career might be surprised to discover just how sexy and kooky she was in a past life--that is, the first few years of her movie career. After the triumphs of Some Came Running and The Apartment, MacLaine had a run of starring roles, including this elaborate comedy vehicle. What a Way to Go! cast MacLaine as an unlucky bride whose husbands meet early deaths, leaving her wealthy but unhappy. Gimmick casting of the hubbies adds a bit of dash: Dick Van Dyke as a simple country storekeeper, Gene Kelly as a two-bit entertainer, bearded Paul Newman as a Brandoesque, bohemian painter in Paris. In the movie's best turn, Robert Mitchum gets to play a Howard Hughes character,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Shirley MacLaine - Paul Newman - Robert Mitchum Director(s): J. Lee Thompson DVD Release Date: Released the 11 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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