paluska

I thoroughly enjoyed TV "Superman" George Reeves with Rosemary Lane as the girl he pursues and tries to "win over" from John Eldridge. George does play his out-of-work, contrarian, devil-may-care role "over the top," because that's JUST THE CHARACTER HE IS: a' la Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby, Joel McCrea in Sullivan's Travel, etc. Imagine either of those two actors, Bob Cummings, Robert Young--any of these would have played the part the same. It's BOY meets GIRL, BOY loses GIRL and BOY wins GIRL back by being himself. Good supporting cast, too. With all the renewed interest in poor George via Hollywoodland, see this picture for yourself when it comes on Turner Classics again. You'll really enjoy it: the underdog, march-to-the-beat of his own drummer vs. the staid, safe world out there--who should a girl (and her parents) choose?Some clever dialogue about marriage, nifty mayoral race tactics and a love triangle to boot. GO SEE IT for yourself. It's NOT awful. It's pretty darn good, and only about an hour long!

What starts out as a most realistic and exciting Year 2000 "Invisible Man" eventually unwinds into a far-fetched, unbelievable story--show--of blood and gore. Josh Brolin gets "stuck" by rod and about frozen to death and/or bled to death but then--out of the literal "blue" he bounces back to fight Kevin Bacon. Bacon gets fried alive by flame thrower Elizabeth Shue (looked like about 80% 3rd degree burns to me!) but just keeps coming back. Then appeared to be electrocuted (maybe 4th degree burns this time--oh, but Bacon is hollow, so....) but is he through yet? Don't bet on it I would rather have seen the special effects needed for Bacon to attempt to "have his way' with his sexy next door neighbor whom he observes from his rear window into her rear window. Less violence to be sure. Other than this hollow conclusion with almost un-ending gore, the exciting, dazzling special effects DO hold one's interest. The "credit crawl" after the movie is entertaining, as well, with the pyro effects people and wild names of companies who assisted. Literally hundreds of special effects people credited.

I just happened upon this great little 1984 made-for-TV (ABC) movie starring Jeff Goldblum who is dead-on Ernie Kovacs. Great direction, music and even a cameo by Edie Adams (Ernie's widow, by whom this story is based)playing Mae West. Plus just watching all the 1950s cars go by. Nostalgia city!

Not only is the direction by veteran Lamont Johnson wonderful, but the casting by Lynn Stalmaster is just superb! The two Kovacs daughters are delightful (especially the younger's reply at the end to Ernie's admonition about still sucking her thumb!).

The picture captures the wacky, frenetic pace--and true life--that was Ernie Kovacs. How to film all this, with kids screaming "they want their mommy," and yet keep Goldblum and the Edie Adams actress true to their characters is marvelous.

Special commendation, too, to a real pro: Cloris Leachman, who plays Ernie's mother. Her walking around with no underwear and just long-sleave men's shirts, while speaking with a thick Hungarian accent and broken English, is just spellbinding.

Don't miss this great little movie when it's on: I had wanted to watch it because I thought it was a 2-hour Biography on A&E; instead, as a movie made for TV, it was almost a better biography (save for no beginning about Ernie or his tragic death in a car accident and later great help by Edie to pay all of his IRS and other debts).