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Say Anything, a review by Antares

Say Anything...





Year: 1989
Film Studio: Twentieth Century Fox, Gracie Films
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Length: 100 Min.

Director
Cameron Crowe (1957)

Writing
Cameron Crowe (1957)...Written By

Producer
James L. Brooks (1940)
Paul Germain (1959)
Richard Marks (1943)
Polly Platt (1939)

CinematographerMusic
Anne Dudley (1956)...Composer
Richard Gibbs (1955)...Composer

Stars
John Cusack (1966) as Lloyd Dobler
Ione Skye (1971) as Diane Court
John Mahoney (1940) as James Court
Lili Taylor (1967) as Corey Flood
Amy Brooks (1971) as D.C.
Pamela Adlon (1966) as Rebecca
Jason Gould (1966) as Mike Cameron
Loren Dean (1969) as Joe

ReviewSay Anything. Written and directed by Cameron Crowe, Say AnythingIn Your Eyes, the insight that she imparts to him, rings the truth that transcends the atypical approach made by similar films of a lesser pedigree.

       If you are only familiar with John Cusack from films such as Better off Dead, The Sure Thing or One Crazy Summer, you owe it to yourself to see the film that helped him graduate from teen oriented comedies and set him on the path to acting adulthood.


Ratings Criterion4 Stars - Historically important film, considered a classic.

(From Say Anything (1989) on February 19th, 2010)

Magnificent Obsession, a review by Antares

Magnificent Obsession (1954) 65/100 - This film had three things working against my enjoying it for more than just a curiosity. This is my first film Douglas Sirk, a director whose particular skills were in the realm of Technicolor. So I was a bit disappointed by the fact that after the first half hour of the film, he starts to use a more muted palette, with most of the cinematography dwelling more on shadow. He proves that he also can master the lighting techniques needed for highlighting faces in light and shadow, but at the cost of Technicolor splendor. It doesn't help that the story is beyond hokey, with elements bordering on melodramatic, romantic fantasy. Which brings me to my second problem with the film, Rock Hudson. You remember that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine is dating Tony, the guy who always says Step off. George has a man crush on him and Jerry tells Elaine that Tony is a mimbo, Seinfeldese for male bimbo. Whenever I watch Hudson, I'm reminded of this, because he was probably the first actor in Hollywood who could carry this sobriquet, unless you mention Robert Taylor. Both of these actors were movie stars, not thespians. They are there as eye candy for the ladies and tend to be outclassed by the cast around them. Hudson is beyond unbelievable and somewhat cartoonish in his delivery of his character's lines and emotions. Finally, my third reason for yawning at this movie and why I consider it romantic fantasy, is Jane Wyman. Never for a moment, could I believe that someone with such a shallow personality like Bob Merrick, would fall head over heels in love with her, especially when Barbara Rush is in the same room.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on December 5th, 2014)

"Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009), a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Baltar and his Basestar is driving the Galactica and the fleet forward. And of course he is driving them into a trap. Starbuck and his patrol detect a Cylon-occupied planet on which a huge pulsar cannon is positioned. This gun could destroy a Battlestar with a single shot. Starbuck, Boomer, Apollo and a group of demolition experts (read: criminals who like to blow things up) try to destroy it, but they get shot down and have to fight for their survival on an ice planet.

My Opinion: Except for the cold it must be paradise for Starbuck: Countless nice women and they are all equally beautiful (because they all look the same ). I didn't remember that the old fleet also had a prison ship. But it bothered me that Boxey could sneak in on the shuttle - that boy seems to be everywhere. And crash-landing (instead of just landing) also seems to be a recurring theme on the show. But I didn't care much for this or the following episode.


Synopsis: Having found help in the form of a group of Human clones the colonial fighters are still trying to destroy the pulsar cannon. But they are running out of time because the fleet is closing in on the shooting range of the cannon. If they fail the fleet will most likely not survive.

My Opinion: An OK conclusion to the story (of course they destroyed the gun). But I liked how Baltar toyed with the fleet and made them do what he wanted.

Synopsis: The Cylons have attacked the fleet and destroyed two of the agricultural ships and damaged another. The fleet needs new seeds and they hope they can trade for it on a nearby planet. Even Adama is coming along on this landing mission. But Boomer and Starbuck get robbed and have now nothing to trade. Fortunately for Starbuck the people there play cards, too. Unfortunately that brings him in even deeper trouble and in the middle of a fight between the local Humans and another alien race.

My Opinion: A rather ridiculous story. The entire story about Adama and his "stalker" was absurd and the way Starbuck became the Constable was ludicrous. And on top of that all were these "pig aliens".

Synopsis: Starbuck gets shot down by a Cylon patrol and has to crash-land while Boomer returns to the fleet. Shortly after he got apprehended by a patrol of the local Cylon garrison he gets freed by local Human resistance fighter. But they are merely children, not warriors.

My Opinion: "Starbuck crash-lands" I should put this on a shortcut key. I really liked the banter between Lucifer and Specter (same production line as Lucifer), the commander of the local garrison. I also liked that he was able to lie and to deceive but I didn't like that Baltar fell for it the whole time. But the story on the planet was again over the top. Starbuck attacks a garrison with a bunch of kids (some of them not older than ten) who ride on unicorns(!) and they win.
Interestingly the female lead was a young woman called Miri who had a crush on Starbuck. In Star Trek there was also an episode called Miri where the female lead was a young woman called Miri who had a crush on Kirk.

(From "Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009) on March 21st, 2009)