SINS OF OMISSION - Entry #39: MISERY (1990)

Running Time: 107 minutes
Directed By: Rob Reiner
Written By: William Goldman, based on the novel by Stephen King
Main Cast: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, Lauren Bacall
Click here to view the trailer

I'M YOUR #1 FAN!

Why in the world this wasn't included in any edition of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, is beyond me. For my money, this is easily the best film Reiner has ever done and without putting a lot of thought into it, I'd call it the best Stephen King adaptation to boot. This should've been included in the very first edition of THE BOOK and never removed - I like this one that much. The scene where Caan sneaks out of his room, while Annie is away, is THE MOST suspenseful scene in all of cinema (again, for my money) and every single time I see it, I'm sure he won't make it back to bed in time. It's also worth noting that during this last 100 films, I also gave Stand by Me a second shot to make my personal list and while I really do enjoy that movie, I didn't deem it quite good enough to make the cut. Enjoy some stills....

RATING: 10/10  Just an outstanding movie and definitely a top of the list candidate. I can't recommend this one enough. Fantastic cast, lead, of course, by two pros - Caan and Bates. Nail biting suspense, memorable scenes and memorable characters, all backed up by King's marvelous groundwork. 

798. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Running Time: 96 minutes
Directed By: Rob Reiner
Written By: Nora Ephron
Main Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby

REINER WEEK: THE FINALE

Well I'm just about ready to close up shop on Reiner Week, but first we come to Reiner's worst film so far (from the book anyway), "When Harry Met Sally", a film that isn't THAT bad, but doesn't hold a candle to the other three I've reviewed this week.

Harry (Crystal) is introduced to Sally (Ryan) a mere minutes before they are to drive from Chicago to New York City together. Harry is dating Sally's best friend and it just so happens that they are both headed to the Big Apple, so they go together. Along the way, they pretty much irritate one another and when the offer is made by Sally to be friends with Harry (and friends only), Harry educates her that it could never happen, because men and women can't JUST be friends. They go their separate way and five years later they Harry runs into Sally in an airport and they subsequently share a plane ride together and once again get on each others nerves. It isn't until another five years, when Sally meets up with Harry in a book store that they finally start to hit it off. Harry has just separated from his wife and Sally is going through a breakup. They walk through Central Park, chit chatting and basically being very friendly to one another. One thing leads to another, and Harry is proved wrong when the two become best buds and inseparable...but will they take that next step and eventually become more than just friends?

I'm way too much of a Woody Allen fan to sit through ninety minutes of a Rob Reiner directed Woody Allen tribute video. If I want a film like this, I know where to shop and Rob Reiner isn't the place. This was an obvious tip of the hat to Woody Allen and while it was a noteworthy one, it just didn't compare to the real deal. Reiner uses typical man and typical woman (one being a comic and one being a pretty blonde) and weaves a tale of relationship trouble and sexual quandaries. Of course, the whole thing is set in New York City too, so that usual Allen backdrop is also in place. All the elements add up to a slightly above par RomCom. I will admit that I thought Billy Crystal was brilliant in this and if you're one of those people who sit around and scratch your head as to why the guy from "My Giant" is so popular, you need not look any further for your answer than "When Harry Met Sally". He's really charming and really funny and proves that he could've been a leading romantic comedy actor on more than this occasion, if given the opportunity.

On the other hand you have Meg Ryan, who just annoys the crap out of me and has never done anything that proved to me she deserved her place in the spotlight. It's the same scenario here, as in my opinion, she really just drags down everything and a better leading lady could've done wonders for this picture. Focusing in on just the film, it starts out good enough, pretty clever little passages of time, separated by old couples talking about how they met and how long they've been married. Then we get into the real meat and potatoes of the movie and once the friendship between Harry and Sally is established, the film really starts to drag. Beyond that it's just a long, boring, drawn out exchange of dialogue between Ryan and Crystal as they whine about their love life, with frequent funny bits from Crystal peppered in. Honestly, I'm probably being a little too rough on the movie, I mean it wasn't THAT terrible and I guess I'd give it a mild recommendation, but this was easily the worst of the quartet of Reiner films I watched this week.

RATING: 6/10 In other news, I've realized that I definitely undercut "This Is Spinal Tap", as the voice of Nigel Tuffnel has been echoing in my head all week and reminding me that his amps go to 11.

MOVIES WATCHED: 284
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 717

July 8, 2011 9:41pm

768. The Princess Bride (1987)

Running Time: 98 minutes
Directed By: Rob Reiner
Written By: William Goldman, from his book
Main Cast: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest

REINER WEEK: PART 3

Continuing on in our quest to conquer the films of Rob Reiner that reside in the "1001" book, we come to the classic, that everyone seems to love, "The Princess Bride".

Buttercup (Wright) is a beautiful, blond damsel who lives on a farm in Florin. Also on the farm, is the farmhand Wesley (Elwes). Day after day Buttercup orders Wesley around, demanding that he fetch this or that. Wesley only ever responds with a simple reply, "as you wish". One day, Buttercup realizes that when Wesley says "as you wish", he is actually saying "I love you" and the two fall in love. Wesley, wanting to make the best life he can for his beloved Buttercup, leaves the farm in search of his fortune. While out to sea, Wesley's ship is captured by the dread Pirate Roberts and he is thought dead. Five years later, Buttercup is set to marry the Prince of Florin, but before the festivities can get underway she is kidnapped by Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) and his two henchmen: Inigo Montoya (Patankin), a Spaniard who wants nothing more than to avenge his father's death that occurred twenty years prior at the hands of a six fingered man and Fezzik (Andre the Giant), a giant...plain and simple. While Inigo and Fezzik don't agree with the underhanded tactics of their leader Vizzini, they go along with him. As they are in the process of taking Buttercup to the shores of Guilder (a neighboring town), where they will leave Buttercup, thus starting a war, they notice they are being tailed by a man in black. The man in black turns out to be Wesley and he cleverly makes short work of the trio, reuniting with his true love. But that's just the beginning...

Seriously, who doesn't like "The Princess Bride"...is there anyone? It's such an enjoyable film and it's so easy to fall in love with the characters and get wrapped up in the outlandish fantasy story. You can't help but laugh and be touched by at least some of the elements of the film. For me, I've always had a soft spot for Inigo Montoya. You can have all the Buttercup/Wesley parts and I'll take the Inigo/Fezzik parts. In fact, if my rating seems low, it's because there's such a big chunk of the film where the most interesting/funny character disappears, that being Inigo. But otherwise this just seems to be a film that everyone loves and most probably have sitting on their DVD shelves, so that when they go through a bad breakup or are just feeling blue, they can pop it in and laugh and fantasize for a couple hours. It's a good film for that.

For me, Reiner's films are good while they last. They're the types of films you can watch over and over, but in the end they're not really ones that you'd label as favorites, at least for me anyway. They each have characteristics all their own and Rob Reiner is definitely not a director who stays within a set genre. I mean, in just three films we've gone from rock mockumentary to solid drama based on a Stephen King novella to fantasy/comedy tale. After this we make our way to a romantic comedy with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan and it proves that Reiner is indeed a versatile man when it comes to making pictures. As far as "The Princess Bride" goes, yes I'd recommend it. It's a film that holds up as well today as it did in 1987 and all the jokes still work and all the characters are still lovable. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to label it a "MUST SEE", but rather a "why wouldn't you see".

EDIT: I guess I should mention the Peter Falk/Fred Savage parts of the film. I really liked this device, as Falk plays the grandpa reading the story to his sick grandson played by Savage. Falk passed away a couple of weeks ago and I went into this not even remembering that Falk was the one who played the grandpa. Great storytelling device that worked and made me miss Peter Falk just a little bit.

RATING: 7.5/10 I'm just as eager as anyone to see how my next TOP 20 pans out. I honestly have no idea how it's going to go and it seems like everyday we pile on more contenders. Next up for Reiner: "When Harry Met Sally".

MOVIES WATCHED: 281
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 720

July 7, 2011 1:06pm

738. Stand by Me (1986)

Running Time: 90 minutes
Directed By: Rob Reiner
Written By: Raynold Gideon, Bruce A. Evans, from the novella The Body by Stephen King
Main Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, Kiefer Sutherland

REINER WEEK: PART 2

Next up in my salute to Rob Reiner, is an old favorite of mine, "Stand by Me". For the unaware "Stand by Me" is based on a Stephen King novella and while it's not a horror story, I've always thought the film felt like it was taking place in King's world.

During Labor Day weekend in 1959, our tale focuses in on four kids on the cusp of junior high. We've got Gordie Lechance (Wheaton), the thinker of the group, who's home life has taken a downward spiral since the death of his older brother Denny. There's Chris Chambers (Phoenix), the rough one of the group, who smokes and when he's not smoking he keeps his Winston's curled under the sleeve of his white t-shirt. We've also got Teddy Duchamp (Feldman) who's a bit of a loon (but don't say that to his face), especially since his father (who stormed the beaches of Normandy) got committed after he burned Teddy's ear on a stove. And finally you've got Vern Tessio (O'Connell), the heavy-set, scaredy-cat, but also brings to the group their plans for the forthcoming holiday weekend. One day while hanging out in the tree house, playing cards, Vern comes a calling with the news that he overheard his brother talking about the dead body of the recently deceased Ray Brower. Vern knows where the body is and asks his pals the big question, "Do you guys wanna' see a dead body?". The foursome agree that they'll hoodwink their parents into thinking they're going camping and then set out to find the body of Ray Brower and get their pictures in the newspapers, as the boys who found what the authorities couldn't.

Reiner proves that he's a versatile director by going from a mock documentary, comedy to a story about youth and adventure. Watching "Stand by Me" will put you in a time machine and immediately transplant you back to the 1950s, with fixtures like junkyard dogs, old cars, t-shirt fashion statements and oldies music (like "Lollipop", "Yakkity Yak" and, of course, "Stand by Me"). As I mentioned above, this film also really feels like a piece of Stephen King fiction, despite it's obvious exclusion of horror. I've never read the "The Body", although I have read several Stephen King novels and speaking of King novels, it begs the question as to why Reiner's other King adaptation isn't in the "1001" book, that being "Misery". In fact, if given the choice between "Stand by Me" and "Misery", I'd probably choose "Misery", eventhough I do like this movie too.

Anyway, we're getting off track here. "Stand by Me" is a movie that I don't have a problem labeling a "MUST SEE". It's a fantastic little tale about escaping youth, adventure, friendship and it seems to paint a pretty accurate picture of what life was like in the 1950s. It makes me think about my own childhood and while I didn't have a lot of backwoods adventures, it does make me look back and remember the people and places that were the sum of my childhood years. And as I'm writing this review, right this second, I also realize that "Stand by Me" is also a film that I like and I'm not sure why. I'm trying to think of some wonderful things to write down here, but nothing is coming to me. "Stand by Me" is just a really good movie and I think a lot of people would agree with me on that. It's not a film with great sets or great costumes or WONDERFUL acting (although the acting is fine). It's just a good movie - plain and simple.

RATING: 7.5/10 Why is it that I have a much harder time writing about films I've seen before and a much easier time writing about things I'm seeing for the first time? Next up for Reiner: "The Princess Bride".

MOVIES WATCHED: 279
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 722

July 5, 2011 5:16pm

714. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Running Time: 82 minutes
Directed By: Rob Reiner
Written By: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer
Main Cast: Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, Tony Hendra

REINER WEEK: PART 1

Sure "Meathead" isn't the greatest director of all-time, but the fact that he has four films in the "1001" book gives him rights to a tribute week here on the blog, so damn it, I'm going to give it to him. His first film up is "This Is Spinal Tap", a film that I had never seen and that is currently streaming on Netflix.

The film doesn't really have a plot, but rather, is set up like a documentary (expect it's fake, earning it the name "mockumentary") and tells the story of the fictitious band Spinal Tap. We're introduced to the band, including front man David St. Hubbins (McKean), guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Guest) and bassist Derek Smalls (Shearer). The "documentary crew" meets up with Spinal Tap during their newest U.S. tour, as they promote their new album, "Smell the Glove". The film is loaded with one-liners and comedy bits that there really isn't a whole lot of time for a plot. Instead we get fake archival footage of the band, road stories, stories about how the band was formed and life on the road for the British rockers. However, a plot is sort of squeezed out when David's girlfriend joins the band on the road and becomes their new manager, ruffling Nigel's feathers. Rob Reiner plays the documentarian, Marty DeBergi.

"This Is Spinal Tap" is a film that I've always wanted to see, but until last night, had just never gotten around to it. After watching it, I was left with that "That was it?" feeling. It frequently happens with me and movies that I put off seeing for years and years, because when I finally see them, I've built them up in my own head for so long that they've become great without me ever witnessing them. However, when trying to erase all the preconceived notions of greatness about the film and looking at it based solely on the picture itself, it wasn't half bad. It was actually really funny and sure, I laughed out loud a few times. I've always enjoyed Michael McKean, though I've really never seen a whole lot of him and prior to "This Is Spinal Tap" had NEVER seen Christopher Guest and he turned out to be a new find for me, as he was really the star of the film - comedy wise.

If you're looking for a laugh...or two, then give "This Is Spinal Tap" a look. Musicians will probably get an extra kick out of the jokes, as there's a whole bunch of stuff in there that kind of pokes fun at real life rock bands, including the many deaths of the many drummers of Spinal Tap, the controversy surrounding the cover art of their album and the on-stage perils of the band. The film isn't perfect, even for a comedy, but it has it's moments.

RATING: 6/10 Nothing great, nothing horrid, so a '6' is fitting. Next up for Reiner: "Stand by Me".

MOVIES WATCHED: 278
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 723

July 5, 2011 1:10pm