Adams Movie Reviews

This is one of the few Ginger Rodgers movies in which she is very funny in. When Rodgers finds a baby and is mistaken for the baby's mother and that is when the fun begins. David Niven is delightful as well. One thing that I remember about this movie is when Niven tries to exchange a child's toy (the store had a no refund policy) in his own store and Rodgers is standing right behind him mumbling word from word what the cashier's says. I won't tell the rest but I laughed and it keeps you entertained too

This is a hilarious comedy of assumptions with a very strong cast. Ginger Rogers, David Niven and Charles Coburn all star in this delightful comedy.

Ginger Rogers is a store clerk who happens to see a woman leaving a baby at the door of a church. She rushes forward to tell the woman not to do such a thing when suddenly the woman flees and the door opens. Ginger is assumed to be the mother of the baby and the priest insists that she keeps the child. And from there the story springs.

The Church, in their role of helping, interferes at the store to make sure Ginger keeps her job so that she can raise the child. This brings her to the attention of her boss. Fascination and romance follow.

Ginger is like a rider on a roller coaster. She can not get off or change things. She must hold on as best she can until the ride ends.

This movie is wonderful and delightful, but only really works if one accepts the innocent nature of films of the day. Ginger is accused of having a baby. Even the people she has worked with every day believe it. All this despite that fact that in the movie Ginger has a waist of about sixteen inches and there is no way she could have been pregnant without everyone seeing her condition. But that aside, it is a truly wonderful film.

A true and utter delight. I love 1930's and 40's comedy-romances, and this one nears the top of my list.

Sinbad and the late Phil Hartman team up for this comedy about mistaken identity. I like the theme of mistaken identity, because it almost always leads to something funny and can be stretched through the entire length of a book or a movie.

The acting was pretty good. There are several scenes in the movie in which Hartman's character is having a row with his wife--and that I could not watch without a heightened sense of realism and an almost grotesque and somewhat sickening dark feeling, in light of what would happen to Phil Hartman in real life not long after the movie was released.

Anyway, Sinbad and Hartman made the movie fun. And I certainly enjoyed the fast pace. The Italian gangsters the movie portrays may appear flat, stereotypical, and silly, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in the context of the whole movie. The gangsters are a prop, a background, they were not meant to be these grand characters. They are simply there so that Sinbad could run away from were he was and end up in Hartman's family. It is a comedy, after all, and it calls for comical characters, not grand characters; for exaggeration and misunderstanding, not for hard core realism and clarity.

I definitely recommend Houseguest.

Definitely one of the most underrated films, "Houseguest" is laugh out loud funny! Sinbad is utterly hilarious and works harmoniously with Phil Hartman.

It's about a man named Kevin Franklin (Sinbad), who owes money to a couple of loansharks. After threatening to kill Derek, he runs to an airport desperately trying to find a way to make it out of their alive, and happens to hear Gary Phil Hartman describing to his kids what his long-lost friend Derek Bond looks like, as they stand there waiting for him. Conveniently, Kevin happens to fit the description perfectly, and jumps up, taking on Derek Bond's identity.

One of my favorite things about Sinbad comedy is that he is able to be extremely funny without being provocative. He doesn't rely in sex to sell, which is quite different from most comedians these days.

If you read the back of the movie, you may think, "Wow, this sounds like it has a lot of potential to be funny. But does it?" And to sum it up in one word: YES! Not too slap-stick, not to talky, just perfect. Give it a shot!

The comic genius and timing of stars Sinbad and Phil Hartman take what could have been a run-of-the-mill dumb comedy film and turn it into a wonderfully likeable tour-de-force. The premise has been done time and time again, it's basically a "fish out of water" story. Yes, the gangsters are dumb almost to the point where they're annoying. Sure, we see the message coming from a mile away.

But there are a few things that separate this film from other comedies, and elevate to the status of excellence. First of all, it's hilarious. There are few jokes that don't work and they are immediately forgotten as this fast-paced romp wastes no time. The speed-up of scenes and the quick editing (several shots seem to last for no longer than a few seconds) do get a slight bit irritating, but it serves its purpose by catering to the fast-paced story and Sinbad's style of comedy. Take for instance, the party scene in which Sinbad is explaining what the "GFH" on his suit jacket stands for. Slow down the scene, and it loses the humor.

Since the McDonald's issue has been cited again and again in reviews with varying degrees of criticism, let me address it briefly. First of all, there are a lot of people who love to eat McDonald's food. It's not healthy for you, but you'd be lying if you say that it tastes awful. Now, Sinbad's character is established as the lazy, unhealthy, always-eating slacker from the very beginning as he comes home to his apartment and enjoys his McDonald's and 2 liter bottle of soda. The real Derek Bond is completely contrasted with the impostor Derek Bond's lifestyle. Hence the fish out of water comedy. Sinbad's character is put in a desperate situation where he assumes this other man's life and the man he is pretending to be is the complete opposite of him. He's got a successful career as a dentist and he maintains a strict diet of vegetables and muescli cereal. So, when Sinbad's Kevin Franklin character, in this awkward and unfamiliar situation of staying with a suburban family's house and pretending to be someone who everyone expects to be a health-conscious stuffy professional, manages to escape for a moment and sees the familiar golden arches, he's so happy that he feels like he's in a commercial. He knows McDonald's and in many places, McDonald's seems to be an unchanging, constant source of familiar greasy food. McDonald's works in the context of the film because it's a real fast-food place that we can relate to, because we've all eaten there at one time or another. To me, if there was some fictional place like "Lou's Hamburgers", it wouldn't work. The character design might come through, but there could be no jingle resounding in our heads, and it'd take you out of the reality of the story (which I discuss in next paragraph). Yes, McDonald's is a real fast-food joint, and Kevin Franklin loves to eat there. Does that make "Houseguest" a McDonald's commercial? I don't think that it does, I think it maintains an element of reality that we as viewers can relate to. Perhaps we needn't always be so cynical as some professional film critics are.

Now, I mention the 'reality' of "Houseguest" and you must think I'm absolutely crazy. Houseguest is an unrealistic film that requires you to throw logic out the door entirely if you wish to enjoy it, right? Well, not necessarily. I think looking back at this film, eight years after it was made, we can look at the family suburban life depicted, and notice the real-ness of the characters. Phil Hartman's character Gary Young is a hard-working businessman at a law firm. He sucks up to his boss and the boss's wife and spends more time with his job than his family. Gary's wife tries to be there for her family, but she's taken on a career with frozen yogurt stores and it's turning out to be far more time-consuming than she imagined.

Then, there are the three children. The oldest girl is distancing herself from her family, trying to find comfort in a "Goth" phase, taking pleasure from sad poetry and a boyfriend who seems to think that he's a tough kid from the hood. The middle child is the only son, Jason. He tries to win his father's approval by playing basketball and hoping to be good. The youngest daughter seems not to be getting any attention, either. Her busy parents don't have time for her, and she's been getting lessons from television programs instead.

The dysfunctional middle-class family serves as a foil for Kevin Franklin, pretending to be someone he is not, who will ultimately find the desire to help these people, who have unknowingly opened up their home to him, a complete stranger. Kevin Franklin doesn't have a job, a family, or kids, and yet it his interactions with the Young family that allow both them and he to better themselves.

Now, if you've seen the movie, you're probably reading this and thinking, "This guy's nuts. He's completely overanalyzing some stupid comedy." Well, perhaps I am. "Houseguest" is indeed a silly, hectic fish-out-of-water comedy; somewhat formulaic, but very much successful. However, to dismiss the film as 'bad' or a 'stupid comedy' is a superficial assessment of a film that really has a lot going for it.

Sure, the film is glossy and not without faults, but then, so is life and the people that we interact with. "Houseguest" is a winning comedy, and one of my favorite films of the 1990s. It presents laughs but also provides a realistic look at individual and family life in the '90s, even if this comes out of an unrealistic set-up of a man assuming another identity to avoid the mob.

And now, "Houseguest" is finally on DVD. There's nothing in the way of extras, not even the very cool theatrical trailer. The retail price is a bit high, but fortunately the film is presented in anamorphic widescreen and an adequate Dolby Surround track. Audio and video quality aren't oustanding, but they're good enough and I'm pleased to have this film in my DVD collection. Much-maligned and underappreciated, "Houseguest" is a gem of a family comedy that I certainly hope you will give a chance. Or if you initially didn't like it, some more thought on these matters and maybe a second chance.

I have not seen "The Night Stalker" TV Movie in many years. However, it made such a strong impression on me that I will never forget it. Without re-hashing the story (or talking about the "Strangler" which is much more forgettable), here is why I believe "Night Stalker" is Vampire #1!!;(SPOILER CAUTION)I'll be careful.

-People react logically to events in this movie. Few are willing to believe there really is a vampire. "Just a nut who thinks he's a vampire".
-Kolchak relishes the supernatural and enjoys kreeping out his boss. The police keep a big thumb on him to prevent panic.
-Everything is believable. This is how a vampire would live in a modern society.
-You never really get to know the vampire. He is silent, elusive, reclusive, powerful and intelligent. You don't have dialogue with this vampire. He has only one purpose: GET BLOOD! This makes him exceedingly menacing and creepy.
-The vampire is validated by an encounter with a large group of police. Their inability to stop him, dispite shooting him at close range, has them in denial.
-The vampire has an ingenius (and diabolical) method of feeding without getting "take-out". A great touch of "realism".
-Kolchak is a reporter, and the only one willing to face the threat for what it is. Consequently, he is ill-equipped to be a hero. This adds a great sense of dread during the final confrontation.
-The music is used sparingly. Often, the lack of sound builds incredible tension.

There is so much more, but hopefully you get the point. This is a truly scary movie. If you like "prince Charming" Dracula depictions or the Modern "Techno-vamps" from "Blade" (which is a great movie) then you might not like this. This vampire is as down-to-earth scary as they come!!

An important television film from director/producer Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows) and screenwriter Richard Matheson (The Twilight Zone among many others)and a sharp, fun horror film. The Night Stalker set a new standard when it aired in the 70's; it's story with Darren McGavin's narration and the Vegas setting contributed to it being one of the highest rated t.v. movies of the week. Adapted from Jeff Rice's (then) unpublished novel, the story is about a murdered who kills his victims and then drains their blood. Kolchak (McGavin)becomes convinced that the murderer isn't a garden variety psycho but, perhaps, a real vampire. Unfortunately, no one believes him.

Films like Fright Night have used a similar premise but not in as compelling a fashion. John L. Moxey's direction is taunt and shows his roots as a veteran movie and television director. Both Darren McGain and Simon Oakland as his put upon editor give outstanding performances. Additionally, the late and under rated Barry Atwater gives substance to the shadowy role of Janos the creature that Kolchak stalks ultimately must face. Carol Lynley is fine in an underwritten role as Kolchak's girlfriend. Surprisingly, she really isn't given that much to do but, then again, this was the 70's when women in peril pretty much described the role in television programs and movies.

The sequel The Night Strangler couldn't touch the first film despite reuniting the original cast and creative crew. Perhaps it's Curtis' understated direction, but The Night Strangler doesn't quite capture my interest as well as the first film. Richard Anderson plays the title "monster".

Still, it is fun and, if it doesn't quite measure up, it's still an entertaining and imaginative story by Richard Matheson. The DVD doesn't boast any extras but the transfer is very nice given the age and source for the DVD. Anchor & Bay has done a great job returning hard-to-find classics to DVD and video. This is no exception. My only complaint is that there isn't a commentary from director Dan Curtis or actor Darren McGavin. McGavin's acerbic comments would be a welcome addition to this fine double feature.

Now it's time to return these vintage horror classics to DVD.

i seen the night stalker when it was 1st shown on tv
in the early, dan curtis was a name most knew
from his dark shadow work, this film was shot very good,
and the storey line was great...i think all of us would have liked to have seen a directors cut or even a expanded 2 hour version, if enough footage was shot.
darren mcgavin will always be remembered as carl kolchak
the nosey newsman..his series the night stalker
had several good episodes also.
noted guest star's: claude akins as sheriff warren butcher
would later claim sheriff lobo
guest star: ralph meeker, actor from the 50's and 60's
played a good supporting role.
yhis is a must have, must see for hard core coleectors
of vampire flix,...the evolution in storey and special effects.

This Movie Is Great! Both Of Them. I Like Both Of Them. I Thing The People Who Like "Sometimes They Come Back" And "Sometimes They Come Back Again" Should Try "Sometimes They Come Back For More"

This movie was extrememly fun and exciting. Although it's considered horror, to me it was just pure action and entertainment from start to finish! I love the way 3 cool greasers from the '60s come back in the '90s and are exactly the same as when they died in '63. How cool those greasers were and the way all the other kids marveled at their charisma in the classroom was cool! It was also cool how that kid Jimmy became a man and then stood up to them. Those greasers and their hotrod were so cool. This movie is an A plus! Rock on Stphen King!

Sometimes They Come Back, a thriller tim matheson plays Jimmy Norman plays a teacher from Chicago , returns to his old town after 20 years ,where his brother Wayne was murdered by a gang of hooligans in a spooky train tunnel the hooligans get killed by the train in the car and they want revenge, now 27 years later Richard Lawson, North , and Vincent all come back one by one to his classroom after the murders of innocent Hs students. and then attack his house and go after his son with the ghostly black hotrod and want to replay the whole thing over again i liked this movie i bought it .really cool movie , highly recommended and really good.

This Movie Is Great! Both Of Them. I Like Both Of Them. I Thing The People Who Like "Sometimes They Come Back" And "Sometimes They Come Back Again" Should Try "Sometimes They Come Back For More"

This movie was extrememly fun and exciting. Although it's considered horror, to me it was just pure action and entertainment from start to finish! I love the way 3 cool greasers from the '60s come back in the '90s and are exactly the same as when they died in '63. How cool those greasers were and the way all the other kids marveled at their charisma in the classroom was cool! It was also cool how that kid Jimmy became a man and then stood up to them. Those greasers and their hotrod were so cool. This movie is an A plus! Rock on Stphen King!

Sometimes They Come Back, a thriller tim matheson plays Jimmy Norman plays a teacher from Chicago , returns to his old town after 20 years ,where his brother Wayne was murdered by a gang of hooligans in a spooky train tunnel the hooligans get killed by the train in the car and they want revenge, now 27 years later Richard Lawson, North , and Vincent all come back one by one to his classroom after the murders of innocent Hs students. and then attack his house and go after his son with the ghostly black hotrod and want to replay the whole thing over again i liked this movie i bought it .really cool movie , highly recommended and really good.

This is, without a doubt, one of the funniest films I've ever seen. It walks the line between clever and juvenile as far as humor goes, but what a flick! Pryor and Wilder's chemistry is fantastic, as usual. These two have got to be the best comedy duo ever. They're both hilarious on their own. Sure, it might be a little un-pc to get laughs from handicapped characters, but I really don't think the film exploits that angle all too much. Most of the humor basically comes from alot of incidents of miscommunication. Richard Pryor's performance of the blind man is scarily realistic and well done. Wilder's once again the sarcastic wise guy he does so well. Most people have seen this before, but if you haven't, you shouldn't wait another minute. If you have seen it, see it again. Why not?

Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder team up for their third film SEE NO EVIL,HEAR NO EVIL. They together starred in SILVER STREAK(1976) and STIR CRAZY(1980). Wally Carou(Pryor) is blind. David Lyons(Wilder) is deaf. Wally applies for a position as a sales associate in David's magazine stand. After a customer,Wally's bookie,is threateningly shot to death by a beautiful woman named Eve(Joan Severance),Wally and David witness the customer's dead body and are framed for the murder which they were not responsible for. There are many silly scenes in this film.One where David and Wally fake foreign accents. Also,when eating ice cream on cones in the park,Wally crowns David with his(Wally's) cone and in the last scene,in that same park,David does the same to Wally. It was so funny when David labeled Wally in another scene as a "blind egotistical ---hole who denies he can't see s--t". David and Wally end up framing Eve with the help of Wally's sister Adele(Kirsten Childs). Gene Wilder met his current wife while filming this movie in 1988. He was then married to comedienne Gilda Radner who died of ovarian cancer at age 42 in May 1989,the month this film was theatrically released. Stewart Copeland of the rock band The Police wrote the soundtrack music for this film. There's also a scene where Wally and David "go on a cable ride". Jim Belushi and Charles Grodin did the same in director Arthur Hiller's next film,TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS.

I have never seen such a greater idea than this movie. I think it is so hilarious, especially in the beginning when Wilder is yelling at the truck driver, and Pryor thinks Wilder is yelling at him! So hilarious, I have this movie and love it.

While I loved the DVD, it's not worth the money if you are planning on buying the complete first season. I bought the first season DVD after taping every episode from the TV. The TV Pilot makes it sound like it was not aired on TV. It was and I had it on a VHS tape (I threw them away when I bought the DVD's). If you buy the complete first season, the episode is listed as "Wheel Of Fortune". ...

I saw the Chris Walken 1983 version in the theatre when it was first released. This version isnt bad- I always thought Stephen King was very imaginative.

After watching two episode of "The Dead Zone" I was hooked. This a great show. Anthony Michael Hall is great, "Dead Zone" makes me forget him in of the 80's movies that he did. The acting by the surpporting actors is also really good. If you are like and discover "The Dead Zone" in the middle of season two then this a must DVD! Can't wait for the season packs to be out!

Being a BSC fan, I saw this movie right when it came out, and I also have a copy of it at home. It's a great film with a good storyline, but I can't help wondering what was wrong with the casting. Let's start with the leader Kristy Thomas. There's nothing wrong with Schuyler Fisk's acting, but she simply couldn't carry out the bossy, assertive, character that Kristy had. In this movie she's whiny, wimpy and totally takes a back seat--all the qualities that the character certainly should not have had. The other six girls were decent, but if you want to see these books come to life, stick with the videos that came out in the early 90's. Those girls knew how to carry out these roles--the movie is weakened by the poor acting and the changed personalities of the leading girls. It is a sweet story and has a fine message--very much in the Baby Sitters Club tradition--but the video series is 100 times better. BSC fans might be disappointed with this movie.

You'll love this movie. I used to be hooked on the BSC books years ago when I was in middle--and even the beginning of high school. I saw this movie the day it came to theaters. It involves Kristy's dad coming by and trying to be a part of Kristie's life..while she (and Maryann) try to keep it from her mom. The other bsc members get a little jealous that the two are so secretive but Maryann doesnt want to break their trust. Claudia is in a dilemma..if she doesnt pass her course in summer school...she will have to leave the bsc per her parents wishes. Stacey is involved with an older boy. Cokie Mason (yep shes in the movie!) is always in Maryann's hair and will stop at nothing to get Logan. All this and they still have to keep the kids under control at the summer camp the bsc has organized. And yes..you will find a lot of the kids mentioned in the books..ie..Karen, Suzy, Buddy, Nina, Rosie, etc.. You wont be disappointed.

For the person who wanted to know who the guy in the yellow shirt was - are you sure you tried everything? Like looking at the credits at the end of the movie? His name is Christian Oliver. I remember him from Saved by the Bell.

Don't have much to say about the movie - loved it when it first came out and still do! Hence the five stars!

From Don (Dirty Harry, The Shootist) Segal comes this engaging World War II combat drama with an all star cast including Steve McQueen, Harry Guardino, James Coburn, Bobby Darin (!), Bob Newhart, LQ Jones and Nick (`Godzilla vs. Monster Zero') Adams.

The story begins when a squad of combat-weary GI's is sent back to the front and then left behind by the rest of the Company to defend an insignifigant portion of the Siegfried Line. Then the Germans decide it is not so insignifigant after all. The hook is the diminutive squad must convince the company of Wermacht soldiers that they are facing a much larger force. They employ a variety of illusions to keep up the charade (James Coburn runs a backfiring jeep in low gear in a circle to make the Germans think they have a tank, Bob Newhart sits in a pillbox making up radio traffic, and they string up rocks in empty ammo cans to make it sound like troop movement), but eventually the Germans begin to figure it out. The only thing left for them to do is hit the enemy hard and without warning to discourage their advance until the company returns.

This is an engrossing small scale drama with some intense action (despite a liberal use of wartime stock footage, mostly of artillery crews, to give us a sense of place) - the scene where the German patrol charges McQueen's foxhole with fixed bayonets is pretty desperate, with McQueen resorting to throwing his helmet to beat down their advance!

Without a doubt this movie is carried by the skillful gritty direction of Segal and an awesome cast. McQueen comes on strong and early as the grizzled vet busted down from Master Sergeant for trying to run down a colonel with his jeep. Little details hint toward a bloody and intriguing past - he favors a captive Schweisser German machinegun and keeps a butcher knife strapped to his hip. This is just about the toughest I've ever seen him. Guardino as the Sarge is paternal, Newhart endearing as an inexperienced typist who stumbles onto the squad and gets his jeep requisitioned, and Nick Adams is pretty authentic as a Polish D.P. desperate to prove his worth and go back to America with the squad - I didn't even know it was him till the credits rolled. James Coburn is reserved as a tinkering engineer, and Bobby Darin is fine too as a profit-minded procurer. All the cast gives standout performances, never once blurring as individuals in my mind - which makes the impact of some of their deaths all the more real and shocking.

Little details about the movie help to sell it - the toilet seat hung on the base wall as a frame for a picture of Der Fuherer, Newhart talking into a radio-phone with the severed chord dangling there, and that nerve-wracking night crawl through the minefield! Plus, what a climax! Great movie.

Like Citizen Kane this movie plays more like a movie made yesterday that just happened to be in black and white.

Cheesy musical scores, guns that never run out of bullets, and ...Germans are WWII movie elements this one leaves out. Like Saving Private Ryan, there is little music and very realistic fighting that detail the horrors of war.

Certainly dark, this movie consists almost soley of 5 characters on one set. But there's still plenty of action and suspense. Although no really large battle scene, we really feel for these characters and understand the dispare of their position.

One of the grittiest and effective war films ever produced, "Hell is for Heroes" centers around a small band of WWII infantrymen who are ordered to hold their ground against hundreds of German soldiers despite the odds. While the movie centers around Steve McQueen and his patented off his rocker characterization, the real gem here is the legendary Bobby Darin, who handles drama, comedy, and pathos with the best of them. Darin later went on to win French Film Festival and Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in the psychological drama "Pressure Point," and he garnered an Academy Award nomination for "Captain Newman, M.D." The whole cast is great, but Darin---as great an actor as he was a singer---really stands out. A great film---one of the best war movies ever made. God only knows how great Bobby Darin would have become had he lived beyond his thirty-seven years.

What a 180-degree turn from his role in Deep Blue Sea!
LL showed he had much talent in acting as in Hip-Hop.
His acting here was vivid, energetic and fierce, which made "GOD" scary as hell but at the same time revealed his "family" side...Really GREAT

However, I think the film lost focus when Omar was pulled off his undercover job in the middle. And the ending is somewhat tame and tasteless

this is a really great film, the two actors Epps and Cool j where
great in this film, this is a powerfull film but i dont think its
as good as mennace to society but this is still a great film,
Epps is the only cop that will go deep enough into the case of catching the crime lord of the streets (cool J) known as god, but the only thing is has Epps gone into DEEP and will he ever get out, a must see film

This movie did a good job of presenting the trials and tribulations of acceptance. I honestly felt bad for the "badguys" at some points in the movie. The drug dealers were like family, but their actions weren't commendable by far. The money and love provided by the "underworlds" were quick fixes for the things the main character seemed to be lacking. It made me really think how easy it could be to get engulfed in the life of crime if the situation presented itself.