Adams Movie Reviews

As in the original, the lead is a woman newly blinded and having trouble adjusting to a world without vision. The brightest spots in Carly's life are her relationship with her lover, Eric, and the new loft they move into in the deserted warehouse district. Not surprisingly, one evening when Eric is away two parolee's break into the apartment and hold Carly hostage hoping to extract the combination to a safe full of diamonds from her. While a few others try and help, inevitably, Carly finds that the only person she can truly depend on is herself.

This was an OK updating of the classic movie with Audrey Hepburn, but to be honest that movie was so good I wonder why anyone would re-do it. Frankly too much material leads up to the home invasion espcially the criminals hstalking their hapless victim unseen. It doesn't add to the plot and the characters are thinly drawn enough to not need too much on-screen time to show us their motivation. A tighter story that focused on the lead would have worked much better.

I thought the acting was good and that Helen Slater does a great job as the defensless woman who discoves her inner strengh. I also really liked the nice job of forshadowing by having her practice Braille on a quote from Shakespere's Sonnet 94 "sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds".

This was a an OK movie but it suffers by comparison to such a classic as "Wait Until Dark". I have the DVD but there were no special features on it so the VHS would be just as good.

As for the movie itself... Well, it's not a bad story; but there's nothing really unpredictable in it and the two bad guys are way too caricatural.

The DVD edition has no feature at all, not even a chapter menu.

Summary: I'd give it zero stars but it won't let me.

Where does one begin? The cover tells the more prominent story: a touring band from Chicago is stranded in the small town of Hereabouts until their van can be repaired. They are put up for the night by the family of Len, Lacy, and their daughter Sheri. Sheri pines to escape Hereabouts and see the world, and the band is her big ticket out. In the background is Pat, the filthy local mechanic, who has eyes for Sheri. The band, meanwhile, is coping with the drug habits of their lead singer Dave (whose foul mouth alone earns the film a solid "R" rating). The band's romantic couple, Ross and Joy, are on the verge of breaking up, causing further strains. And their bass player, Brendon, is the first target for Sheri to carry her away on their tour.

Alongside all of this is the town's stripper, Leanne, who also desires to escape Hereabouts. Her eyes are set on a traveling salesman, Ward, who is too obsessive-compulsive for his own job. Keeping him sane is his daughter, who is losing her innocence to the dark secrets of her mother.

It's a large number of characters to follow, yet the film manages to give each character's story due attention. By the time "Stalled" is over, you'll discover the secret that every character carries with them. And while there were numerous opportunities for Hollywood endings, the movie has the guts to follow its own lead. This rarity in itself is what makes "Stalled" a movie worth checking out.

A much better choice is the Salzburg Festival DVD of this opera by TDK. First, the negatives: it's one of those productions by a European director who thinks that Janacek would have done it this way if only he had just been as clever as the director. It's set not on the banks of the Volga, but in the courtyard of a Soviet-era apartment building somewhere in Eastern Europe. There are a few distractors: a non-singing drunk/demented person (take your choice) who is on-stage all the time; a broken fountain that substitutes for the Volga; the Kabanicha's room perpetually open onto the stage, and so on.

However, the positives far outweigh the negatives. Angela Denoke is incandescent as Katya. The entire supporting cast beats the Glyndebourne cast, one-on-one, hands down. Dagmar Peckova (Varvara) and Rainer Trost (Kudryas) elevate their roles through their artistry to primario status. The orchestra(the Czech Philharmonic, Sylvain Cambreling conducting) is clear and powerful, and well-balanced with the singers. Worst case, you can turn off the picture and just listen to it.

I got my copy of this version of KK from the Royal Opera's website (Region 0 encoded). ...

Made in 1995 this film is showing it's age. This film wasn't rated. Mostly topless scenes with nothing explicit. Nothing you couldn't see on cable. An PG-17 rating would be a better fit.

Gave it 2 stars for the storyline not for the sexiness (lack thereof). Camera tends to pan too quickly and closeups are too brief. Edward Holzman has made better movies like "I Like to Play Games Too" which is way-hot. I thought this would have the intensity of that, but alas it pales in comparison.

Good for a night out with your girlfriend.

"Body Strokes" looks, for all it's worth, like a bad copy of a VHS tape. The film is blurry, the colours are smeared and washed out. Overall picture quality is horrible.

Sound is your basic stereo, and there are no extras on the disk, but it was the lousiness of the picture that got me the most. I should have bought the VHS version...