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The Good German, a review by Eric

The Good German


What they say:Who knows what American journalist Jake Geismer (George Clooney) expected to find in postwar Berlin? Peace, maybe. Or at least a story. But certainly not Lena (Cate Blanchett), his beautiful, embittered one-time love. And not the trail of secrecy and deception that leads from Lena to the scheming young corporal (Tobey Maguire) who's her new lover... and to a murder no one seems interested in solving. Except Jake. Steven Soderbergh directs three of today's top talents in this zigzag thriller that's both an atmospheric homage to 1940s filmmaking and a deft modern film noir. 'The Good German' is "haunting and hypnotic, it's pure moviegoing bliss" (Peter Travers, 'Rolling Stone').

What I think: So you take a few good actors, a good director and a good story, you throw in a few million dollars and that gives you a good movie right ?   Well......not always, making a good movie also requires that little something that is missing here.  "The Good German" is an attempt at making a film noir as in the 1940's and at that it is very successful.  The atmosphere is there, the actors performances are right on the spot.  Unfortunately the good stuff ends there and the story is told in a boring way.  My feeling at the end of the movie was that they've put too much effort into the style and not enough on the story.



(From Eric's DVD watching. on December 27th, 2009)

Hi-De-Ho, a review by Danae Cassandra

Hi-De-Ho
Year of Release: 1947
Directed By: Josh Binney
Starring: Cab Calloway, Ida James, Jeni Le Gon
Genre: Musical

Overview:
Bandleader Cab Calloway is tiring of his sexy girlfriend Minnie, who in turn is jealous of Cab's manager Nettie. When Nettie gets Cab a job at the Brass Hat Club, Minnie retaliates for his imagined infidelity by setting gangster Boss Mason, owner of a rival club, against him. Will she regret her action before it's too late?

My Thoughts:
The plot is really thin and none of the performers can act.  Seriously, they are all about as good as the cast of a high school play.  Fortunately that plot only takes up half the film, interspersed with music.  The second half is all music, and the music is the reason to watch this.  What Calloway lacks in acting chops he makes up for in fabulous jive. 

If this was just the music I'd rate the film higher, but the plot parts really drag.  Recommended only for the music - and hit fast-forward when those aren't on.

Bechdel Test: Fail
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 2.5/5

(From July Movie Marathon: Musicals (Yes... You read right!) on July 20th, 2016)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

If I See You In My Dreams (1998/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia Anime Works (United States) Length: 220 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:
Misou managed to get through all of high school and college without a grilfriend. A wizened fortune-teller has predicted that it is his destiny to be alone for his entire life! When Misou sees the beautiful Nagisa, his heart is awakened for the first time. He has serious competition in the form of the flawlessly handsome Kaizuka and the amazingly ugly Kujira.

Misou is determined to succeed, but he is stalled by his knack for ending up in compromising situations with other woman at exactly the wrong moment.


If I See You In My Dreams
.01 A Red Umbrella in the Rain
Writer: Noriyuki Yamahana (Original Material By), Nao Tokimura (Screenwriter)
Director: Hiroshi Watanabe
Cast: Japanese Voices), Mami Kanezuki (Nagisa Shiozaki (voice)), Hiro Youki (Masuo Fuguno (voice)), Rika Matsumoto (Namiko Isobe (voice)), Hiroko Konishi (Miho Hamaoka (voice)), Hiroshi Hirose (Kujira (voice)), You Hachito (Funakosi (voice)), Takako Honda (Voice from Radio (voice)), Rei Igarashi (Fortuneteller (voice)), Takayasu Usui (Fortuneteller (voice)), Haruhi Terada (Station Announcer (voice)), Katsuhiro Harasawa (Follower A (voice)), Taeko Kawada (Yoshio (voice)), English Voices), Steve Stacey (Masou (voice)), Laura Chyu (Nagsia (voice)), Mona Marshall (Namiko (voice)), Susan Marque (Miho (voice)), Bob Buchholz (Kaaizuka (voice)), Dave Mallow (Kujira (voice)), Grant George (Funakoshi (voice)), Wendee Lee (Minako (voice)), Melique Berger (Teacher (voice)), Jessica Gee (Director & Fortune Teller (voice)), Cindy Alexander (Kayo (voice))

A typical story about a shy guy meeting the girl of his dreams. I watched the first episode of the more series OVA series instead of the comical TV series. The OVA series is well done, though there aren't real surprises in the story.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 3rd, 2012)