sam66

I cry more often now that Mystery Science Theatre 3000 quit making new episodes, and rarely harder than this evening after viewing "Destination Inner Space." This film features a yellow (sometimes orange, depending on aquarium clarity) crucifix-shaped Sealab ("Aquasphere") reached via a yellow-painted soup can on a string and filled with abrasive oxygen-depleting humans being stalked by the Wisconsin state record bluegill. I would applaud the many silent hours of scuba diving, but Scott Brady looks exquisitely uncomfortable in his extremely snug wetsuit; also the lovely silence is often disturbed by loud outbreaks of soundtrack. I like actress Sheree North and was sorry that her character was pressured into falling for the pickup line "Shove that under your microscope and study it." This movie hurts quite a bit, yet amuses in that painful MST3K style, so I recommend it highly to cheese admirers who can drown it out with their own commentary. Grab a puppet and wipe those tears away!

No big drama. No overblown action. Just a beautifully-filmed little movie that tells a simple story against a background of Irish political upheaval. Rebecca Pidgeon plays a sheltered, shabby-genteel girl just turning eighteen, who still has a bit of the outward appearance and behavior of a child. Orphaned young but raised by a loving aunt, grandfather, and housekeeper, she knows her mother is well and truly dead but has doubts about her father and tries to place him among the men she casually observes around town. When a man of suitable age appears on the beach near her rural home, she takes great interest--especially as his secretive nature offers few clues to his identity. Anthony Hopkins, eternally superb, plays the multi-layered character of the "tramp," and the relationship that develops between the two is the heart of the film. Look also for fine performances by Jean Simmons and Hugh Grant, as well as a host of familiar faces in small roles, and take the time to appreciate the lovely wind-whipped seaside locale and green inland vistas. A movie like this relies on character and scenery--The Dawning is a treasury of both.

An interesting and rather dark war story that takes place aboard a German merchant vessel during WWII. The black and white filming adds to the generally drab and realistic ambiance of the ocean crossing. Marlon Brando's expatriate is trapped into a scheme of espionage/sabotage, and his grim, softly sneering coolness gives the character of Robert Crain an added dimension. Yul Brynner plays the captain of the ship, out of favor with the Nazi party and under surveillance, yet still "pragmatically patriotic" to the Fatherland. Brynner is an oft-underrated actor because of the larger-than-life roles he played, but this film better showcases the subtlety he was capable of, and at times his performance excels. This is a complex and tense war movie that views both sides through a curtain of ugliness, yet captures moments of honor and loyalty and even kindness, a facet that other war movies in this genre often lack. The realism of the shipboard action is crucial--you could get a flutter of seasickness just watching--and all of the characters show depth and detail. No spoilers here; try to find this flick at the video store and watch it a couple of times. It's worth the search.