None can resist the superb performances of every actor, even the one we didn't care for. . .
930870
Gather up a handful of damaged and defeated people and give them a chance to tell their stories in a somewhat shabby chic castle, with undertones of sabotage and mystery, but the essential elements of a bright future: peace, quiet and unhurried days spent in the garden or visiting very old Italian cities. Blessed with the generous and undemanding patronage of Emily Delahunty each one picks up the threads of their life and steps forward into a brighter tomorrow.
446576
I saw the Aviator and loved it because I didn't really know those people.  My Mom refused to watch it.  She grew up with the real people depicted and was bothered by seeing others "pretending" to be them.  However, she watched this movie and all she could say afterwards was "Creepy.  It's creepy how he got into Ray Charles' skin like that!" I couldn't say it better myself.

Jamie Foxx deserved the best actor Oscar more than any other winner--because it is harder to make audiences suspend their disbelief when playing a real peron, and an icon to boot.
985711
I love Sherlock Holmes movies in their many incarnations, especially Robert Stephens version in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (PLEASE RELEASE ON DVD in Billy Wilder's original LONG FORM PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!).
However, I must think Christopher Plummer is the best Sherlock ever.  He brings so many textures and depth to his Sherlock, for once, making him a living, breathing man.  In Private Life...Robert Stephens gives you a brilliant, heart-wrenching performance - at the point he realises he was been betrayed, and with no words he conveys SO MUCH it nearly tears you apart.  Plummer gives you a similar heart-shredder, as he find Annie Crook in Bedlam, tortured, no longer sane, having retreated from the horrors around her and inflicted upon her, and in the following scene on the train ride back to London.  In a masterpiece of blocking, you don't even see Holmes, you just his reflection in the train window while he talks about Annie.  Compelling, heartbreaking, utterly BRILLIANT, demonstrating Plummer is one of the BEST actors ever to grace the screen.
The story line of Sherlock Holmes meeting Jack the Ripper was first explored by Ellery Queen novel.  In it, Holmes identified the wrong person as the Ripper, hence the one Holmes story never published.  It is brought to Queen and he must solved the 100 year old case.  In Study in Scarlet, with John Neville as Holmes (another superior version, but cannot compare to Decree) the Ellery Queen beginning and end was dropped and the middle part of Holmes chasing Jack was turned into the movie in the 1960s.  Neville is a marvellous actor, but pales by comparison to the virtuoso performance of Plummer.  This version of the Ripper vs Holmes, follows the Stephen Knight book exposing the Annie Crook connection.
Lots of super support from a dream cast, such as Genevieve Bujold as Annie Crook, James Mason as Watson, David Hemmings as Foxborough, Susan Clark (Sister of producer/director Bob Clark - YES, people it is HARD TO BELIEVE the man who brought you Porkies create this masterpiece) as Mary Kelly, Frank Finlay as Lestrade, Donald Sutherland as Robert Lees the psychic, Anthony Quayle as Sir Charles Warren and John Giegud as Lord Sailsbury.
I cannot say how delighted I am this is finally out on DVD!!!
3761715
Everyone in the production is superb and give a  ''outstanding and  moving performance''. If you have ever been the '' Son'' of a '' stubborn- savior '' of the 1940's threw 60's ... South,... and has- had to perform as the care- giver into old age, finish all clear out the home, and try to bring comfort to your Mother as she has to make that final transformation from care- giver- '' in-charge '',... to the care - needed. and dependent....Bully's unsuspected , performance will knock - you- out-......All a lesion in forgiveness and friendship.
4683028
This Brazilian drama will leave nobody indifferent. It doesn't happen everyday that we can watch such a controversial, yet interesting story.
Aluisio Abranches did a great job as a director. His picture is sublime. I watched it without taking break etc.
But there is one thing that bothered me a bit.
Maybe it is the way he led the actors and action, but his potray of brothers' love seems to be pure and natural (as if there was nobody around Thomas and Francisco who found their relationship at least "not propriate"). Even parents don't react (well, a small talk between divorced parents doesn't count). But it's then, when mother says that very important sentence, which could be the bottom line of the whole film.
Watch yourself and find it.
Moreover, the ending itself left a little marigin of doubt. A small question mark, so visible on Thomas' face...Was it meant to be there? Did the director want to tell us something?
We will never know that.
To sum up:
Acting (both young and older actors) is magnificent, beautiful soundtrack suits the action very well. Don't miss this one!
1934354
All right, so I will never be recognized as the one true arbiter of good cultural taste.  For years, I have tried (and, finally, with the help of others) helped Lord Kenneth Clark's Civilisation series reach the DVD pantheon here in America.  But other remarkable series have gone a'begging.  One is Alistair Cooke's America.  Another is this extraordinary series hosted by Michael Wood.  It is not only true eye candy (as any good art history survey should be), but its "brow" is never too high.  Wood is ever the companion and personal docent who allows us to come along with him, while never looking (or talking) down at us.  On top of this, he never comes off as the "hired gun" series host, but is constantly energized and engaged.  Finally, we do not merely go museum hopping, but we are transported to wherever we are really supposed to be in order to appreciate and immerse ourselves in the art, the history and the culture.  Not only is there no DVD, but it appears not possible even to acquire the full VHS set on Amazon anymore.  This is a great loss.  If Kultur Video, the original producer, or anyone else finds this not a worthwhile endeavor, go on the Annenberg/CPB website and watch it there (if you still can).
2072715
There are many reasons to watch this movie, one of the essential films of the past 50 years. But the primary motivation is to see the greatest screen actor of all, Spencer Tracy, deliver a performance for the ages. Watch this master emote with movement, voice and nuance. He steals the picture (as he usually does), but there is another brilliant performance as well. This is delivered expertly by the underrated Fredric March, in one of the meatiest roles ever handed to an actor. March is at turns witty, cunning, over-the-top, hammy or contrite, depending upon the demands of the scene. His scenes on the witness stand with Tracy are among the best written and beautifully acted pieces in movie history. It's impossible not to be on the edge of your seat as Tracy quizzes March about various passages from the Bible.
I won't bother with the details of the plot, which is well known to most movie fans. Don't expect real or truthful history, and accept that Kramer's direction is sometimes limited and even claustrophobic. Watch this film because there has never been such an array of spellbinding performances as were delivered by Tracy and March. An astounding display of acting talent.
4766975
Strong feelings of hate, anger and saddness could not have been evoked without the tremendous performances of Simone Signoret and Laurence Harvey.  Simone Signoret was ideal for the part of Alice, the very intelligent, worldly but totally feminine character, and Laurence Harvey lived that part as the boy from the working class, not trying to deny it, but utterly ruthless in his pursuit to reach the top in the factory in Northern England.
The sex scenes were only incidental in comparison with the deep issues beneath the surface.  Oh, yes, Joe was a cad with a capital C.  He cared for Alice to a point, but he was looking to further his own nest, namely with the daughter of the factory owner.  So, he had a full relationship with Alice while seducing Susan in order to gain his own ends, to marry to the boss's daughter.  You feel compassion for Alice with the cruel creton she is married to, and let's face it, the way she is being used by Joe.  Anger and hatred are stong feelings only too good for Joe.
This movie is over 40 years old, but comparisons can be drawn to issues of the present day of abrasive, coarse young people along with their own arrogance employing all kinds or any kind of measures to get places in the corporate world with no concern of stepping on or hurting anyone along the way.  And at the other end of the spectrum, comparisons could also be drawn to an era before WWII, when at the turn of the century, Clive (?) seduced the young woman, and at the same time, he was trying to inveigle his way in the factory with the boss's daughter in "An American Tragedy."
Laurence Harvey had a true to life 'industrial north' accent.  The black and white clearly depicted the bleakness of an industrial Yorkshire town during the post war period in England.
Although this film was produced in 1959, and might be thought of as dated, the issues of ruthless ambition, marital abuse, and class distinction as very well played by the factory owner's wife still exist and might even loom larger than life today.
1834077
You can't go wrong with Spielberg and Hanks. The cast was fabulous, with mostly unfamiliar faces taking their places among the best acting talent available. I went into this series unaware that each character was based on a REAL hero and told their own story. Cinematography, Editing and Effects felt 'authentic' to those of us with NO real way of connecting with a combat experience. The Pacific War is often given second billing in our collective reflection regarding WWll, but was fought earlier by a less prepared America, with greener recruits and in much harsher conditions than the war in Europe. Poorly supplied and often ineptly led, the Pacific troops faced an unknowable enemy that would never surrender, regardless of terms in absolutely the most ghastly of environments.
3741768
I'm siding with the 5-star folks on this one.  The acting was great.  Both Howell and Turturro turn in superior performances.  The supporting cast, especially the victums and the killer's family, are also great.  The only thing keeping C. Thomas Howell from being an A lister is that he isn't ethnic enough for general audiences; his acting skills are fantastic!
3286274
One of the best movies of all time and THE best court room movie ever, with sophisticated ethical issues that have no easy answer. A gritty, authentic setting and stand/out, highly idiosyncratic performances by the entire cast including--most especially--the judge who, as a lawyer in real life (with no prior acting experience--nearly impossible to believe!), gained fame by standing up to Joe McCarthy at a nationally televised senate hearing. Read his extemporaneous challenge to McCarthy (brilliant!). This was inspired casting: no real actor would have been comfortable being as peculiar )and ultimately convincing)?
790376
Tremendous performances by Eddie Marsan and Joanne Froggatt; Eddie's character is so full of pathos, empathy and goodwill.  What he does on behalf of the deceased who have no family or friends to bury them is a worthy theme for literature and drama.  He makes me want to have as much love of mankind as he does.  But, just when you believe that his life will finally flourish, having met Joanne's character, tragedy unfolds, and it's so unnecessary!!  Totally hated the ending of the film.  As a philosophical treatise, it may rank high on the ironic scale, but as a story unfolding about a human being who's just trying to find some measure of happiness - and who richly deserves it - the irony feels misplaced and spoils the effect of the film.
2806975
Michael Redgrave, that's who!  Surely his has got to be one of the greatest performances of our century.  The words "Magnificent" and "Brilliant" only come near to describing the work of this actor in this film.
Be prepared to feel sad, and even cry.  This is a film about the death of humanity and the concommitant loss of self-esteem in a person.  Yet the story bespeaks compassion and love of fellow man.
The perfect direction by Anthony Asquith and a fine supporting cast draws one in from the get-go.  Redgrave holds one spellbound.  I can't praise it too much, and if any film buff misses this one, he is sorely lacking in the knowledge and experience of the very best.
1027548
The acting was superb!  Great choice of actors...very interesting story ...Victoria was certainly  not a good mother! All she knew was how to be queen...
2215249
A triumph of acting for the entire cast, but especially for Elizabeth Taylor and Sandy Dennis. The chemistry between Burton and Taylor was palpable--and perhaps gave some insight into their stormy real-life relationship. The story is timeless; profoundly disturbing, yet at times hilarious. One of the finest performances, if not the finest, ever given by Elizabeth Taylor.
4418937
I was torn between two stars and four. It was a very hard watch for me! Like others, I only watched it because I heard McAvoy's performance was his best ever. He did not disappoint! In the end I couldn't help but give it four stars for the truly amazing performance McAvoy gave and the way the film was made. I almost turned it off several times. It really is filth-pure and simple. Drugs, alcoholism, violence, corruption, crime, mental illness, bullying and sex sex sex.

In the end, the film DID make me feel sorry for him, but he was a pitiful, depraved, disgusting human being.

McAvoy gave the performance of a lifetime here.
1616291
There are certainly a number of actors who are forever identified by a single role (think Sean Connery as James Bond), but only a small number seem to actually BECOME the person they portray. George C. Scott becomes General George S. Patton. This is a towering performance, and the movie itself is fantastic.  Scott owns this film, and he is breathtaking. The Limited Edition packaging is quite well done. A must have.