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Home (Re)Viewing: Double Poseidon and Indemnity
The best addition to the new release wall this week is a big ship that didn’t deserve to sink quite as fast as it did.
Poseidon: Most critics scoffed at the idea of another budget-busting Hollywood remake, In fact, quite a few spent more time grousing about that idea than actually reviewing the new version of The Poseidon Adventure. Taken purely as a B-movie with A-list production values, this remake actually steams past the 1972 version, simply because Wolfgang Petersen is a better action director than Ronald Neame. True, the personalities are more vivid in the original, but the remake zips along and is not bogged down by a laughably stupid opening. Until the overwrought ending, this movie had me on the edge of my seat. GRADE: B+
Also out today
Just My Luck: Considering this Lindsay Lohan vehicle made all of $252, the title is either fitting or grossly inappropriate, depending on how you look at it. Whatever the case, Lohan’s days as a “teen queen� are over. If she sticks to good projects like Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion and stops hanging out with people less talented than she is, Lohan may remind some cynics that she really can act.
Silent Hill: Another horror/action movie based on a video game. Some of us can take it, others can leave it. We know who we are.
From the catalog
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure: This is obviously being released today to cash in on Poseidon’s release, but given everything I’ve heard about it, I’m not getting my cash out.
Double Indemnity: Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck star in, and the peerless Billy Wilder directs one of the greatest film noirs ever made. Maybe the greatest. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, watch it. If you have, buy it for the new DVD extras. If you have seen it, but weren’t convinced of its greatness, see it again and correct yourself. GRADE: A+
State of the Union: I’ve never seen this movie, but considering it stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn and is directed by Frank Capra, I’m very glad I can now. Into the Netflix queue it goes.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: On Video/DVD
Comments
By SRCputt
August 23, 2006 10:22 AM | Link to this
How can you review Beyond the Poseidon Adventure without seeing it? I’ve seen it and … you’re right. It’s horrible.