Review of The Quiet Man (1952) by Toni J — 14 Apr 2008

[b]August Rush[/b] = totally lame. Saccharine sweet, poorly acted, cheesy dialogue. I kept groaning almost anytime someone opened their mouth. The kid, Freddie Highmore ("The Spiderwick Chronicles"), is trying to find his parents who don't even know he exists. They just had one really great night together and just "feel" that someone is out there. Almost every single movie cliche exists in this film. Avoid. Avoid.

[b]Young Guns II[/b] is not a real improvement on the first film. Everyone who made it alive out of the first movie is back and they brought some friends. Viggo Mortensen ("Eastern Promises") and Gil Grissom (William Peterson) take a bow. This time the story is told in flashback with Emilio Estevez ("Bobby") as a really unconvincing old Billy the Kid trying to get a pardon for his past crimes. His young Billy is equally fake, only now, instead of the steely glare, he's got the maniacal laughter. Lame and disappointing. But Keifer still rules.

I heard so many good things about [b]Once[/b] that it was almost bound to disappoint. I didn't hate the film, it just felt like a really long music video to me. That said, I loved, loved, loved the music. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are amazing as lonely musicians who come together to write some really great songs. Very moving music.

[b]Spider Baby [/b]is just plain weird. Lon Chaney ("Dracula vs. Frankenstein") is the caretaker for some "kids" with special troubles. Some distant relatives turn up and want to take possession of the property. Well, the "kids" don't really know how to play well with others, so there are some accidents a.k.a. violent deaths. I believe this is considered a cult classic, and I can see why. The characters are all a bit strange and over the top. The girls are mostly scantily clad. There wasn't a whole lot of gore, but the deaths were good. This is interesting if nothing else.

[b]The Quiet Man[/b] won director John Ford ("7 Women") one of his four Oscars. John Wayne ("The Shootist") stars as an American returning to his old family home in Ireland. He falls for a fiery redhead, but runs afoul of her brother, which throws kinks in their romance. I think I missed something in this film. Wayne was pretty convincing in his role, except I didn't quite buy the romance. And that was a big chunk of the plot. The cinematography was gorgeous and the side characters entertaining. I didn't love the film, but some of it was amusing. Maybe I was just in the wrong mood?