Reviews Written By: A13E0ARAXI6KJWprovided by Amazon.com |
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 | Shane | |
 | "Still Golden Age Hollywood's Must-See Western, Still a Masterful Work" | 2009-09-04 |
| Filmmaker George Stevens' (A Place in the Sun) meticulous mastery over the cinematic medium has never been more present than in this 1953 classic, a film that managed to reinvigorate the then-tired Western genre thanks to the director's stunning sense of composition and his sure hand with an excellent cast. Haunted by his traumatizing experience heading up a combat motion picture unit during World War II, Stevens made far more sober, serious-minded films afterward that focused on the plights of society's outsiders. This time, the outsider is primarily the eponymous gunman, but that sense of personal isolation is felt one way or another by every principal character in the film. Written by A.B. Guthrie Jr. and inspired by the infamous Johnson County War (which also inspired Michael Cimino's infamous disaster, Heaven's Gate), the story unwinds slowly as a reformed gunslinger stumbles upon a resolute conflict between peace-loving "sodbusters" and threatening cattle ranchers in 1870's Wyoming. Tensions escalate when Shane's bloody past comes back to haunt him as he defends the homesteaders, in particular, the Starrett family.
Shane becomes close to the family, especially the young son Joey who worships him as the hero figure that his father cannot seem to be. Complicating matters is corrupt cattle baron Rufus Ryker, who wants to rid the valley of the farming families to allow his cattle to roam free. When Ryder recruits a ruthless outlaw named Jack Wilson to instill fear into the farmers, it forces a showdown with the inevitable consequences. For a western, there is one major fist fight and surprisingly little gunplay; however, the impact of those events has strict dramatic purpose and brings a pervasive sense of mortality to this oft-told story. Character actor Van Heflin (Airport) is often overlooked in reviews of this picture, yet he effectively provides the film's sometimes precarious backbone as Joe Starrett, the moral compass for the homesteaders. In her last big-screen role, Jean Arthur brings a subtle poignancy with only a hint of her past scintillating charm as his wife Marian. Stevens coaxed the 51-year-old Arthur to make the film after a five-year absence from the screen, and she slips easily into the painterly backdrop emerging almost fleetingly as a conflicted woman with an unspoken affection for Shane. Much more demonstrative in his love for the gunslinger is ten-year-old Brandon De Wilde, who gives an indelibly memorable performance as Joey. In one of his earliest roles, Jack Palance barely has any dialogue or screen time for that matter, but he makes every menacing moment count as Wilson. Nevertheless, it is the underrated Alan Ladd (This Gun For Hire) who brings the picture together with a superbly rendered performance in the taciturn title role. Known unfairly for his misperceived diminutive stature (he was actually 5'6"), the actor vividly captures Shane's sense of honor and remorse with a barely concealable fury. You will likely recognize Ben Johnson (The Last Picture Show), Edgar Buchanan (Petticoat Junction), Ellen Corby (The Waltons), and Elisha Cook Jr. (The Maltese Falcon) in smaller parts. The 2000 DVD offers a pristine print transfer as well as an excellent commentary by the director's son George Stevens Jr. and the film's associate producer Ivan Moffat. A theatrical re-release trailer is also included on the DVD. If you haven't seen it, you should and on a big screen if possible. | ||
 | Shane | |
| "Still Golden Age Hollywood's Must-See Western, Still a Masterful Work" | 2009-09-04 |
| Filmmaker George Stevens' (A Place in the Sun) meticulous mastery over the cinematic medium has never been more present than in this 1953 classic, a film that managed to reinvigorate the then-tired Western genre thanks to the director's stunning sense of composition and his sure hand with an excellent cast. Haunted by his traumatizing experience heading up a combat motion picture unit during World War II, Stevens made far more sober, serious-minded films afterward that focused on the plights of society's outsiders. This time, the outsider is primarily the eponymous gunman, but that sense of personal isolation is felt one way or another by every principal character in the film. Written by A.B. Guthrie Jr. and inspired by the infamous Johnson County War (which also inspired Michael Cimino's infamous disaster, Heaven's Gate), the story unwinds slowly as a reformed gunslinger stumbles upon a resolute conflict between peace-loving "sodbusters" and threatening cattle ranchers in 1870's Wyoming. Tensions escalate when Shane's bloody past comes back to haunt him as he defends the homesteaders, in particular, the Starrett family.
Shane becomes close to the family, especially the young son Joey who worships him as the hero figure that his father cannot seem to be. Complicating matters is corrupt cattle baron Rufus Ryker, who wants to rid the valley of the farming families to allow his cattle to roam free. When Ryder recruits a ruthless outlaw named Jack Wilson to instill fear into the farmers, it forces a showdown with the inevitable consequences. For a western, there is one major fist fight and surprisingly little gunplay; however, the impact of those events has strict dramatic purpose and brings a pervasive sense of mortality to this oft-told story. Character actor Van Heflin (Airport) is often overlooked in reviews of this picture, yet he effectively provides the film's sometimes precarious backbone as Joe Starrett, the moral compass for the homesteaders. In her last big-screen role, Jean Arthur brings a subtle poignancy with only a hint of her past scintillating charm as his wife Marian. Stevens coaxed the 51-year-old Arthur to make the film after a five-year absence from the screen, and she slips easily into the painterly backdrop emerging almost fleetingly as a conflicted woman with an unspoken affection for Shane. Much more demonstrative in his love for the gunslinger is ten-year-old Brandon De Wilde, who gives an indelibly memorable performance as Joey. In one of his earliest roles, Jack Palance barely has any dialogue or screen time for that matter, but he makes every menacing moment count as Wilson. Nevertheless, it is the underrated Alan Ladd (This Gun For Hire) who brings the picture together with a superbly rendered performance in the taciturn title role. Known unfairly for his misperceived diminutive stature (he was actually 5'6"), the actor vividly captures Shane's sense of honor and remorse with a barely concealable fury. You will likely recognize Ben Johnson (The Last Picture Show), Edgar Buchanan (Petticoat Junction), Ellen Corby (The Waltons), and Elisha Cook Jr. (The Maltese Falcon) in smaller parts. The 2000 DVD offers a pristine print transfer as well as an excellent commentary by the director's son George Stevens Jr. and the film's associate producer Ivan Moffat. A theatrical re-release trailer is also included on the DVD. If you haven't seen it, you should and on a big screen if possible. | ||
 | KitchenAid KICA0WH Ice Cream Maker Attachment | |
 | "Ice Cream with No Reservations (Almost)" | 2009-08-28 |
| If you purchase a serious mixer like the KitchenAid KSM150PSWH Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer, then getting the KitchenAid KICA0WH Ice Cream Maker Attachment is the inevitable next step. The gel canister and paddle that allows me to adjust the mixing speed to move from airy to dense in making ice creams or sorbets. The one downside to the two-quart canister is its size relative to my compact freezer. Since it has to sit there for hours before I can actually use the attachment. Once ready, it is easy to make ice cream in about a half-hour.
The set also consists of a drive assembly, an adapter ring to fix the mixer and a rotating dasher that helps aerate the ice cream without making it taste heavy. Inspired by local San Francisco ice cream parlors like Bi-Rite Creamery and Humphry Slocombe, I have made some tantalizing combinations like strawberry jalapeno and salted caramel that are reasonable facsimiles of their originators. However, I have the discretion of controlling the calorie count at least by minimizing the amount of fat I use. The attachment is also easy to clean. Highly recommended for lactose lovers. | ||
 | Dark Victory | |
| "Davis' Definitive Vehicle Rests on Her Still Brilliant Performance" | 2009-08-24 |
| Coming in the middle of her tumultuous, 18-year reign as Queen of the Warner Bros. studio, this classic 1939 tearjerker proved to be the ideal vehicle for the mercurial talents of Bette Davis in her prime in a year marked by so many other memorable films. Adapted by longtime studio screenwriter Casey Robinson from a short-lived 1934 Broadway play, the story involves Judith Traherne, a frivolous, self-absorbed heiress, living hard in the fast lane at 23, who finds herself confronting her own mortality with the discovery of an inoperable brain tumor. Naturally, she denies anything is wrong with her at first but faces the reality of her condition by eventually rising to the occasion with courage and integrity. It has been the subject of many parodies and at least two remakes in the past seventy years, but the original still works best thanks to Davis' career-defining performance.
Besides Davis and Max Steiner's equally emotional score, the movie itself has not aged as well due to the pedestrian work of director Edmund Goulding (Grand Hotel) in guiding the venture and lackluster contributions from the supporting cast, one of whom is seriously miscast In hindsight. Judith's Long Island social world is full of hard-drinking party types like the perpetually drunk Alec who tries to woo her into marriage. He's not the only one as Irish stable hand Michael is equally smitten with Judith, but there's the social class distinction to consider. The novelty is that a young Ronald Reagan plays Alec and Humphrey Bogart, two years from his breakthrough in The Maltese Falcon, plays Michael. Reagan does not make much of an impact, but Bogart is sorely miscast as Michael to the point of being distracting as Davis blows him off the screen, in particular, a late-night failed seduction scene when she dismissively half-asks him, "You're making love to me, aren't you?" However, it is Judith's steady best friend Ann and especially the stalwart brain-cell specialist Dr. Steele who help Judith in her true victory over the dark. Both Geraldine Fitzgerald and constant Davis co-star George Brent do solid work in the roles, but nothing nearly at Davis' caliber. Perhaps this was intentional, but it does make for an odd imbalance to the film. Regardless, the last twenty minutes pull at the requisite heartstrings as Judith faces her fate with a heavenly choir. It's a grand Davis sequence worthy of her legacy. The print in the 2005 DVD release is nicely restored. Film historian James Ursini and CNN film critic Paul Clinton provide a perceptive commentary track, and there is a short featurette that explains how the film's reputation has unfairly suffered over the years. See the film itself for the vibrancy and depth of Davis' performance which hasn't aged a bit. | ||
 | Dark Victory | |
| "Davis' Definitive Vehicle Rests on Her Still Brilliant Performance" | 2009-08-24 |
| Coming in the middle of her tumultuous, 18-year reign as Queen of the Warner Bros. studio, this classic 1939 tearjerker proved to be the ideal vehicle for the mercurial talents of Bette Davis in her prime in a year marked by so many other memorable films. Adapted by longtime studio screenwriter Casey Robinson from a short-lived 1934 Broadway play, the story involves Judith Traherne, a frivolous, self-absorbed heiress, living hard in the fast lane at 23, who finds herself confronting her own mortality with the discovery of an inoperable brain tumor. Naturally, she denies anything is wrong with her at first but faces the reality of her condition by eventually rising to the occasion with courage and integrity. It has been the subject of many parodies and at least two remakes in the past seventy years, but the original still works best thanks to Davis' career-defining performance.
Besides Davis and Max Steiner's equally emotional score, the movie itself has not aged as well due to the pedestrian work of director Edmund Goulding (Grand Hotel) in guiding the venture and lackluster contributions from the supporting cast, one of whom is seriously miscast In hindsight. Judith's Long Island social world is full of hard-drinking party types like the perpetually drunk Alec who tries to woo her into marriage. He's not the only one as Irish stable hand Michael is equally smitten with Judith, but there's the social class distinction to consider. The novelty is that a young Ronald Reagan plays Alec and Humphrey Bogart, two years from his breakthrough in The Maltese Falcon, plays Michael. Reagan does not make much of an impact, but Bogart is sorely miscast as Michael to the point of being distracting as Davis blows him off the screen, in particular, a late-night failed seduction scene when she dismissively half-asks him, "You're making love to me, aren't you?" However, it is Judith's steady best friend Ann and especially the stalwart brain-cell specialist Dr. Steele who help Judith in her true victory over the dark. Both Geraldine Fitzgerald and constant Davis co-star George Brent do solid work in the roles, but nothing nearly at Davis' caliber. Perhaps this was intentional, but it does make for an odd imbalance to the film. Regardless, the last twenty minutes pull at the requisite heartstrings as Judith faces her fate with a heavenly choir. It's a grand Davis sequence worthy of her legacy. The print in the 2005 DVD release is nicely restored. Film historian James Ursini and CNN film critic Paul Clinton provide a perceptive commentary track, and there is a short featurette that explains how the film's reputation has unfairly suffered over the years. See the film itself for the vibrancy and depth of Davis' performance which hasn't aged a bit. | ||
 | Dark Victory | |
| "Davis' Definitive Vehicle Rests on Her Still Brilliant Performance" | 2009-08-24 |
| Coming in the middle of her tumultuous, 18-year reign as Queen of the Warner Bros. studio, this classic 1939 tearjerker proved to be the ideal vehicle for the mercurial talents of Bette Davis in her prime in a year marked by so many other memorable films. Adapted by longtime studio screenwriter Casey Robinson from a short-lived 1934 Broadway play, the story involves Judith Traherne, a frivolous, self-absorbed heiress, living hard in the fast lane at 23, who finds herself confronting her own mortality with the discovery of an inoperable brain tumor. Naturally, she denies anything is wrong with her at first but faces the reality of her condition by eventually rising to the occasion with courage and integrity. It has been the subject of many parodies and at least two remakes in the past seventy years, but the original still works best thanks to Davis' career-defining performance.
Besides Davis and Max Steiner's equally emotional score, the movie itself has not aged as well due to the pedestrian work of director Edmund Goulding (Grand Hotel) in guiding the venture and lackluster contributions from the supporting cast, one of whom is seriously miscast In hindsight. Judith's Long Island social world is full of hard-drinking party types like the perpetually drunk Alec who tries to woo her into marriage. He's not the only one as Irish stable hand Michael is equally smitten with Judith, but there's the social class distinction to consider. The novelty is that a young Ronald Reagan plays Alec and Humphrey Bogart, two years from his breakthrough in The Maltese Falcon, plays Michael. Reagan does not make much of an impact, but Bogart is sorely miscast as Michael to the point of being distracting as Davis blows him off the screen, in particular, a late-night failed seduction scene when she dismissively half-asks him, "You're making love to me, aren't you?" However, it is Judith's steady best friend Ann and especially the stalwart brain-cell specialist Dr. Steele who help Judith in her true victory over the dark. Both Geraldine Fitzgerald and constant Davis co-star George Brent do solid work in the roles, but nothing nearly at Davis' caliber. Perhaps this was intentional, but it does make for an odd imbalance to the film. Regardless, the last twenty minutes pull at the requisite heartstrings as Judith faces her fate with a heavenly choir. It's a grand Davis sequence worthy of her legacy. The print in the 2005 DVD release is nicely restored. Film historian James Ursini and CNN film critic Paul Clinton provide a perceptive commentary track, and there is a short featurette that explains how the film's reputation has unfairly suffered over the years. See the film itself for the vibrancy and depth of Davis' performance which hasn't aged a bit. | ||
 | Dark Victory | |
| "Davis' Definitive Vehicle Rests on Her Still Brilliant Performance" | 2009-08-24 |
| Coming in the middle of her tumultuous, 18-year reign as Queen of the Warner Bros. studio, this classic 1939 tearjerker proved to be the ideal vehicle for the mercurial talents of Bette Davis in her prime in a year marked by so many other memorable films. Adapted by longtime studio screenwriter Casey Robinson from a short-lived 1934 Broadway play, the story involves Judith Traherne, a frivolous, self-absorbed heiress, living hard in the fast lane at 23, who finds herself confronting her own mortality with the discovery of an inoperable brain tumor. Naturally, she denies anything is wrong with her at first but faces the reality of her condition by eventually rising to the occasion with courage and integrity. It has been the subject of many parodies and at least two remakes in the past seventy years, but the original still works best thanks to Davis' career-defining performance.
Besides Davis and Max Steiner's equally emotional score, the movie itself has not aged as well due to the pedestrian work of director Edmund Goulding (Grand Hotel) in guiding the venture and lackluster contributions from the supporting cast, one of whom is seriously miscast In hindsight. Judith's Long Island social world is full of hard-drinking party types like the perpetually drunk Alec who tries to woo her into marriage. He's not the only one as Irish stable hand Michael is equally smitten with Judith, but there's the social class distinction to consider. The novelty is that a young Ronald Reagan plays Alec and Humphrey Bogart, two years from his breakthrough in The Maltese Falcon, plays Michael. Reagan does not make much of an impact, but Bogart is sorely miscast as Michael to the point of being distracting as Davis blows him off the screen, in particular, a late-night failed seduction scene when she dismissively half-asks him, "You're making love to me, aren't you?" However, it is Judith's steady best friend Ann and especially the stalwart brain-cell specialist Dr. Steele who help Judith in her true victory over the dark. Both Geraldine Fitzgerald and constant Davis co-star George Brent do solid work in the roles, but nothing nearly at Davis' caliber. Perhaps this was intentional, but it does make for an odd imbalance to the film. Regardless, the last twenty minutes pull at the requisite heartstrings as Judith faces her fate with a heavenly choir. It's a grand Davis sequence worthy of her legacy. The print in the 2005 DVD release is nicely restored. Film historian James Ursini and CNN film critic Paul Clinton provide a perceptive commentary track, and there is a short featurette that explains how the film's reputation has unfairly suffered over the years. See the film itself for the vibrancy and depth of Davis' performance which hasn't aged a bit. | ||
 | An Affair to Remember | |
 | "Excessive Remake of a Classic Chestnut About a Shipboard Romance Ruled by Fate" | 2009-08-18 |
| Directed by Leo McCarey (The Awful Truth), this overly revered 1957 romantic tearjerker has always felt bloated at 115 minutes given the slight story presented and repackaged by McCarey and co-scenarists Mildred Cram, Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart. The fact remains that the veteran director told the same tale in just 87 minutes back in 1939, and the extra half-hour feels like pure padding in the update. Moreover, the sentimental wash of the love story feels even more contrived on the grander scale of a full-color CinemaScope production. You certainly couldn't ask for stars more luminous than Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr at this point in Hollywood history, but their charms can only go so far in sustaining interest in their characters' burgeoning romance.
The familiar story goes like this. Traveling alone on a transatlantic ocean liner, playboy bon vivant Nickie Ferrante is trying to avoid public glare over his recent engagement to a prominent New York socialite. Onboard, he meets comely nightclub singer Terry McKay, who is also engaged and also traveling alone. The pair strikes sparks quickly, but a combination of guilt and gossipmongers keeps the would-be lovers apart. Things change considerably when they visit Nickie's kindly grandmother at one of the ports-o-call, and Terry sees his more sensitive side under the elderly woman's becalming influence. Needing to attend to their impending marriages, Nickie and Terry vow to reunite on top of the Empire State Building in six months' time. As anyone who has seen Sleepless in Seattle knows, fate intervenes, and their lives take a different route than either expected. Grant is on cruise control as Nickie, exhibiting his debonair manner with easy assurance. His big moment of revelation in the final scene is the only time Grant shows something deeper in the character than a suave lover and a frustrated artist. As Terry, Kerr stands in the considerable shadow of Irene Dunne, whose natural élan and sparkling wit elevated the original to classic status. Another key difference is that while Dunne exhibited her own impressive singing talents, Kerr's voice is dubbed by Marni Nixon on Terry's two nightclub numbers. Still, Kerr manages to convey enough of her character's sharp sensibilities and romantic vulnerability, and the chemistry with Grant is very much in evidence here. Cathleen Nesbitt plays the Maria Ouspenskaya role of Grandmother Janou with twinkly, wizened charm, the same valedictory role Katharine Hepburn played in Warren Beatty's inferior 1994 remake. The rest of the supporting cast is purely incidental with special mention going to the avuncular Charles Watts playing an obnoxious passenger who follows the illicit pair without remorse. The 2008 two-disc 50th Anniversary Edition DVD package seems excessive for anyone but the film's most devout fans. Disc One contains a pristine print of the film along with a perfunctory commentary track from film historian Joseph McBride with additional comments from Nixon, who shares her personal memories of the production. Disc Two has a number of featurettes starting with a pair of retrospective featurettes, one on Kerr, the other on Grant. Just before his death, screenwriter Peter Viertel reminisces about his wife Kerr, while Grant's widow Barbara does the same. The featurette on McCarey is more interesting in that it shows colleagues and film critics contributing their insight to his impressive body of work. Other shorts focus on producer Jerry Wald and the film's cinematography courtesy of Milton R. Krasner. The best extra is an AMC Backstory documentary on the film's production and legacy. Completing the package is vintage newsreel footage as well as a couple of photo galleries. For fans only. | ||
 | An Affair to Remember | |
| "Excessive Remake of a Classic Chestnut About a Shipboard Romance Ruled by Fate" | 2009-08-18 |
| Directed by Leo McCarey (The Awful Truth), this overly revered 1957 romantic tearjerker has always felt bloated at 115 minutes given the slight story presented and repackaged by McCarey and co-scenarists Mildred Cram, Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart. The fact remains that the veteran director told the same tale in just 87 minutes back in 1939, and the extra half-hour feels like pure padding in the update. Moreover, the sentimental wash of the love story feels even more contrived on the grander scale of a full-color CinemaScope production. You certainly couldn't ask for stars more luminous than Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr at this point in Hollywood history, but their charms can only go so far in sustaining interest in their characters' burgeoning romance.
The familiar story goes like this. Traveling alone on a transatlantic ocean liner, playboy bon vivant Nickie Ferrante is trying to avoid public glare over his recent engagement to a prominent New York socialite. Onboard, he meets comely nightclub singer Terry McKay, who is also engaged and also traveling alone. The pair strikes sparks quickly, but a combination of guilt and gossipmongers keeps the would-be lovers apart. Things change considerably when they visit Nickie's kindly grandmother at one of the ports-o-call, and Terry sees his more sensitive side under the elderly woman's becalming influence. Needing to attend to their impending marriages, Nickie and Terry vow to reunite on top of the Empire State Building in six months' time. As anyone who has seen Sleepless in Seattle knows, fate intervenes, and their lives take a different route than either expected. Grant is on cruise control as Nickie, exhibiting his debonair manner with easy assurance. His big moment of revelation in the final scene is the only time Grant shows something deeper in the character than a suave lover and a frustrated artist. As Terry, Kerr stands in the considerable shadow of Irene Dunne, whose natural élan and sparkling wit elevated the original to classic status. Another key difference is that while Dunne exhibited her own impressive singing talents, Kerr's voice is dubbed by Marni Nixon on Terry's two nightclub numbers. Still, Kerr manages to convey enough of her character's sharp sensibilities and romantic vulnerability, and the chemistry with Grant is very much in evidence here. Cathleen Nesbitt plays the Maria Ouspenskaya role of Grandmother Janou with twinkly, wizened charm, the same valedictory role Katharine Hepburn played in Warren Beatty's inferior 1994 remake. The rest of the supporting cast is purely incidental with special mention going to the avuncular Charles Watts playing an obnoxious passenger who follows the illicit pair without remorse. The 2008 two-disc 50th Anniversary Edition DVD package seems excessive for anyone but the film's most devout fans. Disc One contains a pristine print of the film along with a perfunctory commentary track from film historian Joseph McBride with additional comments from Nixon, who shares her personal memories of the production. Disc Two has a number of featurettes starting with a pair of retrospective featurettes, one on Kerr, the other on Grant. Just before his death, screenwriter Peter Viertel reminisces about his wife Kerr, while Grant's widow Barbara does the same. The featurette on McCarey is more interesting in that it shows colleagues and film critics contributing their insight to his impressive body of work. Other shorts focus on producer Jerry Wald and the film's cinematography courtesy of Milton R. Krasner. The best extra is an AMC Backstory documentary on the film's production and legacy. Completing the package is vintage newsreel footage as well as a couple of photo galleries. For fans only. | ||
 | From Here to Eternity (Superbit Collection) | |
| "Involving Military Soap Opera Elevated by Sturdy Performances from an Offbeat Cast" | 2009-08-17 |
| In hindsight, this 1953 classic doesn't seem as much a military drama as it does a highly charged soap opera, which shouldn't come as a surprise given that master filmmaker Fred Zinnemann (The Nun's Story) was at the helm. The veteran director upended the western genre just a year earlier with the Gary Cooper classic High Noon, and he places the same incendiary focus of character over action here, that is, until the inevitable climax which uses the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as a catharsis for the characters' dilemmas now dwarfed by the coming world war.
Based on James Jones' epic novel, screenwriter Daniel Taradash manages to reduce the complexity of the book's themes without trivializing them, and then-offbeat casting enhances the movie immeasurably. Set on a U.S. Army base in Hawaii in the months leading up to the attack, the focus is on two men, both dedicated to the military with no aspirations to become the officers they have grown to detest. One is Private Robert E. Prewitt, a talented boxer (and bugler) who refuses to fight on his regiment's team since blinding a sparring partner. The other is First Sergeant Milton Warden, a take-charge, professional soldier who earns the trust of his men even as he kowtows to his weak-willed commanding officer. Life in the barracks is fraught with adversarial personalities, chief among them Private Angelo Maggio, Prewitt's loudmouthed best friend, and Staff Sergeant "Fatso" Judson, the sadistic stockade warden. Both Prewitt and Warden meet women who seek to change their lives. Prewitt finds cynical nightclub "hostess" Lorene at a brothel masquerading as a social club, while Warden embarks on a passionate affair with his commanding officer's wayward wife Karen. Burt Lancaster is well cast as Warden, and he brings surprising nuance to his character's clandestine encounters with Karen. However, it's Montgomery Clift - despite looking too slight to be genuinely believable as a boxer - who transcends his loner role by playing off his innately sensitive nature to portray a man who will never sacrifice his honor despite how dire the consequences. Well within his comfort zone, Frank Sinatra's turn as Maggio is small but impactful. Still two years away from Marty, Ernest Borgnine makes Judson's malevolence palpable in just a few scenes. Deborah Kerr submerges her Scottish accent and previous lady-like demeanor to reveal the embittered, sexually assertive side of Karen without sacrificing any of the character's vulnerability. The legendary, much-parodied beach scene with Lancaster still sizzles after all these years. Similarly, Donna Reed foregoes her good-girl image (epitomized by her memorable turn as Mary Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life) to play the sultry, delusional Lorene. The 2003 DVD comes with a small set of extras - a three-minute making-of retrospective short, a nine-minute collection of on-set footage and interviews from a documentary entitled "Fred Zinnemann: As I See It", and the original theatrical trailer. The best extra is the commentary track from Tim Zinnemann (the director's son) and screenwriter Alvin Sargent (Spider-Man 2), who had a small role in the movie. | ||
 | From Here to Eternity | |
| "Involving Military Soap Opera Elevated by Sturdy Performances from an Offbeat Cast" | 2009-08-17 |
| In hindsight, this 1953 classic doesn't seem as much a military drama as it does a highly charged soap opera, which shouldn't come as a surprise given that master filmmaker Fred Zinnemann (The Nun's Story) was at the helm. The veteran director upended the western genre just a year earlier with the Gary Cooper classic High Noon, and he places the same incendiary focus of character over action here, that is, until the inevitable climax which uses the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as a catharsis for the characters' dilemmas now dwarfed by the coming world war.
Based on James Jones' epic novel, screenwriter Daniel Taradash manages to reduce the complexity of the book's themes without trivializing them, and then-offbeat casting enhances the movie immeasurably. Set on a U.S. Army base in Hawaii in the months leading up to the attack, the focus is on two men, both dedicated to the military with no aspirations to become the officers they have grown to detest. One is Private Robert E. Prewitt, a talented boxer (and bugler) who refuses to fight on his regiment's team since blinding a sparring partner. The other is First Sergeant Milton Warden, a take-charge, professional soldier who earns the trust of his men even as he kowtows to his weak-willed commanding officer. Life in the barracks is fraught with adversarial personalities, chief among them Private Angelo Maggio, Prewitt's loudmouthed best friend, and Staff Sergeant "Fatso" Judson, the sadistic stockade warden. Both Prewitt and Warden meet women who seek to change their lives. Prewitt finds cynical nightclub "hostess" Lorene at a brothel masquerading as a social club, while Warden embarks on a passionate affair with his commanding officer's wayward wife Karen. Burt Lancaster is well cast as Warden, and he brings surprising nuance to his character's clandestine encounters with Karen. However, it's Montgomery Clift - despite looking too slight to be genuinely believable as a boxer - who transcends his loner role by playing off his innately sensitive nature to portray a man who will never sacrifice his honor despite how dire the consequences. Well within his comfort zone, Frank Sinatra's turn as Maggio is small but impactful. Still two years away from Marty, Ernest Borgnine makes Judson's malevolence palpable in just a few scenes. Deborah Kerr submerges her Scottish accent and previous lady-like demeanor to reveal the embittered, sexually assertive side of Karen without sacrificing any of the character's vulnerability. The legendary, much-parodied beach scene with Lancaster still sizzles after all these years. Similarly, Donna Reed foregoes her good-girl image (epitomized by her memorable turn as Mary Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life) to play the sultry, delusional Lorene. The 2003 DVD comes with a small set of extras - a three-minute making-of retrospective short, a nine-minute collection of on-set footage and interviews from a documentary entitled "Fred Zinnemann: As I See It", and the original theatrical trailer. The best extra is the commentary track from Tim Zinnemann (the director's son) and screenwriter Alvin Sargent (Spider-Man 2), who had a small role in the movie. | ||
 | KitchenAid KSM150PSSM Artisan Series 5Qt. Stand Mixer (Metalllic-Silver) | |
| "Classic Standing Mixer Delivers the Goods...the Commitment Is Up to You" | 2009-08-10 |
| If you want to impress your "foodie" friends, all you need to do is have this out on display on your kitchen island. No one will question your aspiration to be a good cook, and then at some point, you have to prove you can use it with fluency and frequency. The KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series Stand Mixer is a striking piece of equipment, especially the glossy enamel finish of the empire red model, which is the one I ordered. There are ten speeds with a slide lever on the mixer head. It comes with a five-quart stainless-steel mixing bowl and three mixing attachments - a flat beater, a wire whip, and a dough hook. I've had an opportunity to work with all three on more than one occasion and am more than satisfied with the results. If there is a standout among the three, it is the dough hook. At the lowest speed, it spirals so thoroughly around the bowl that scraping the sides becomes an almost optional task. The most thrilling aspect is that despite the careful instructions that usually come with bread-making recipes, you can literally put all the ingredients in the bowl, turn the mixer on, and let it work into a cohesive dough with minimal supervision. The wire whip works wonders with egg whites or heavy cream, producing stiff peaks in record time. My one reservation in this regard is using a 325-watt motor for such small tasks and then facing the clean-up afterward. That's probably why I generally reserve usage of this mixer for such tasks to dinner parties or potlucks. I originally had concerns that the flat beater would be almost too powerful to produce fluffy mashed potatoes, but in using alternating speeds, I was able to produce the desirable results without turning the potatoes into wallpaper paste. One big benefit is the deep well of the bowl, which minimizes the incidence of splattering. The clear plastic pouring shield is another big plus. The easy twist locks keep the mixer stationary throughout your preparation, and the same principles are at work with the attachments. It is a relief that there are no buttons to press, and the attachments stay put until you're ready to dislodge them. Keep in mind that it is a relatively heavy appliance at 23 pounds with the mixer head a bit daunting if you are in a hurry to move ingredients in and out of the bowl. Still, this is classic kitchenware well worth the price if you are ready to show your culinary skills. | ||
 | KitchenAid KSM150PSER Artisan Series Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield (Empire Red) | |
| "Classic Standing Mixer Delivers the Goods...the Commitment Is Up to You" | 2009-08-10 |
| If you want to impress your "foodie" friends, all you need to do is have this out on display on your kitchen island. No one will question your aspiration to be a good cook, and then at some point, you have to prove you can use it with fluency and frequency. The KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series Stand Mixer is a striking piece of equipment, especially the glossy enamel finish of the empire red model, which is the one I ordered. There are ten speeds with a slide lever on the mixer head. It comes with a five-quart stainless-steel mixing bowl and three mixing attachments - a flat beater, a wire whip, and a dough hook. I've had an opportunity to work with all three on more than one occasion and am more than satisfied with the results. If there is a standout among the three, it is the dough hook. At the lowest speed, it spirals so thoroughly around the bowl that scraping the sides becomes an almost optional task. The most thrilling aspect is that despite the careful instructions that usually come with bread-making recipes, you can literally put all the ingredients in the bowl, turn the mixer on, and let it work into a cohesive dough with minimal supervision. The wire whip works wonders with egg whites or heavy cream, producing stiff peaks in record time. My one reservation in this regard is using a 325-watt motor for such small tasks and then facing the clean-up afterward. That's probably why I generally reserve usage of this mixer for such tasks to dinner parties or potlucks. I originally had concerns that the flat beater would be almost too powerful to produce fluffy mashed potatoes, but in using alternating speeds, I was able to produce the desirable results without turning the potatoes into wallpaper paste. One big benefit is the deep well of the bowl, which minimizes the incidence of splattering. The clear plastic pouring shield is another big plus. The easy twist locks keep the mixer stationary throughout your preparation, and the same principles are at work with the attachments. It is a relief that there are no buttons to press, and the attachments stay put until you're ready to dislodge them. Keep in mind that it is a relatively heavy appliance at 23 pounds with the mixer head a bit daunting if you are in a hurry to move ingredients in and out of the bowl. Still, this is classic kitchenware well worth the price if you are ready to show your culinary skills. | ||
 | KitchenAid KSM150PSWH Artisan Series Stand Mixer (White) | |
| "Classic Standing Mixer Delivers the Goods...the Commitment Is Up to You" | 2009-08-10 |
| If you want to impress your "foodie" friends, all you need to do is have this out on display on your kitchen island. No one will question your aspiration to be a good cook, and then at some point, you have to prove you can use it with fluency and frequency. The KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series Stand Mixer is a striking piece of equipment, especially the glossy enamel finish of the empire red model, which is the one I ordered. There are ten speeds with a slide lever on the mixer head. It comes with a five-quart stainless-steel mixing bowl and three mixing attachments - a flat beater, a wire whip, and a dough hook. I've had an opportunity to work with all three on more than one occasion and am more than satisfied with the results. If there is a standout among the three, it is the dough hook. At the lowest speed, it spirals so thoroughly around the bowl that scraping the sides becomes an almost optional task. The most thrilling aspect is that despite the careful instructions that usually come with bread-making recipes, you can literally put all the ingredients in the bowl, turn the mixer on, and let it work into a cohesive dough with minimal supervision. The wire whip works wonders with egg whites or heavy cream, producing stiff peaks in record time. My one reservation in this regard is using a 325-watt motor for such small tasks and then facing the clean-up afterward. That's probably why I generally reserve usage of this mixer for such tasks to dinner parties or potlucks. I originally had concerns that the flat beater would be almost too powerful to produce fluffy mashed potatoes, but in using alternating speeds, I was able to produce the desirable results without turning the potatoes into wallpaper paste. One big benefit is the deep well of the bowl, which minimizes the incidence of splattering. The clear plastic pouring shield is another big plus. The easy twist locks keep the mixer stationary throughout your preparation, and the same principles are at work with the attachments. It is a relief that there are no buttons to press, and the attachments stay put until you're ready to dislodge them. Keep in mind that it is a relatively heavy appliance at 23 pounds with the mixer head a bit daunting if you are in a hurry to move ingredients in and out of the bowl. Still, this is classic kitchenware well worth the price if you are ready to show your culinary skills. | ||
 | KitchenAid KSM150PSBU Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer (Cobalt Blue) | |
| "Classic Standing Mixer Delivers the Goods...the Commitment Is Up to You" | 2009-08-10 |
| If you want to impress your "foodie" friends, all you need to do is have this out on display on your kitchen island. No one will question your aspiration to be a good cook, and then at some point, you have to prove you can use it with fluency and frequency. The KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series Stand Mixer is a striking piece of equipment, especially the glossy enamel finish of the empire red model, which is the one I ordered. There are ten speeds with a slide lever on the mixer head. It comes with a five-quart stainless-steel mixing bowl and three mixing attachments - a flat beater, a wire whip, and a dough hook. I've had an opportunity to work with all three on more than one occasion and am more than satisfied with the results. If there is a standout among the three, it is the dough hook. At the lowest speed, it spirals so thoroughly around the bowl that scraping the sides becomes an almost optional task. The most thrilling aspect is that despite the careful instructions that usually come with bread-making recipes, you can literally put all the ingredients in the bowl, turn the mixer on, and let it work into a cohesive dough with minimal supervision. The wire whip works wonders with egg whites or heavy cream, producing stiff peaks in record time. My one reservation in this regard is using a 325-watt motor for such small tasks and then facing the clean-up afterward. That's probably why I generally reserve usage of this mixer for such tasks to dinner parties or potlucks. I originally had concerns that the flat beater would be almost too powerful to produce fluffy mashed potatoes, but in using alternating speeds, I was able to produce the desirable results without turning the potatoes into wallpaper paste. One big benefit is the deep well of the bowl, which minimizes the incidence of splattering. The clear plastic pouring shield is another big plus. The easy twist locks keep the mixer stationary throughout your preparation, and the same principles are at work with the attachments. It is a relief that there are no buttons to press, and the attachments stay put until you're ready to dislodge them. Keep in mind that it is a relatively heavy appliance at 23 pounds with the mixer head a bit daunting if you are in a hurry to move ingredients in and out of the bowl. Still, this is classic kitchenware well worth the price if you are ready to show your culinary skills. | ||
 | KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer KSM150PS (Caviar Black) | |
| "Classic Standing Mixer Delivers the Goods...the Commitment Is Up to You" | 2009-08-10 |
| If you want to impress your "foodie" friends, all you need to do is have this out on display on your kitchen island. No one will question your aspiration to be a good cook, and then at some point, you have to prove you can use it with fluency and frequency. The KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series Stand Mixer is a striking piece of equipment, especially the glossy enamel finish of the empire red model, which is the one I ordered. There are ten speeds with a slide lever on the mixer head. It comes with a five-quart stainless-steel mixing bowl and three mixing attachments - a flat beater, a wire whip, and a dough hook. I've had an opportunity to work with all three on more than one occasion and am more than satisfied with the results. If there is a standout among the three, it is the dough hook. At the lowest speed, it spirals so thoroughly around the bowl that scraping the sides becomes an almost optional task. The most thrilling aspect is that despite the careful instructions that usually come with bread-making recipes, you can literally put all the ingredients in the bowl, turn the mixer on, and let it work into a cohesive dough with minimal supervision. The wire whip works wonders with egg whites or heavy cream, producing stiff peaks in record time. My one reservation in this regard is using a 325-watt motor for such small tasks and then facing the clean-up afterward. That's probably why I generally reserve usage of this mixer for such tasks to dinner parties or potlucks. I originally had concerns that the flat beater would be almost too powerful to produce fluffy mashed potatoes, but in using alternating speeds, I was able to produce the desirable results without turning the potatoes into wallpaper paste. One big benefit is the deep well of the bowl, which minimizes the incidence of splattering. The clear plastic pouring shield is another big plus. The easy twist locks keep the mixer stationary throughout your preparation, and the same principles are at work with the attachments. It is a relief that there are no buttons to press, and the attachments stay put until you're ready to dislodge them. Keep in mind that it is a relatively heavy appliance at 23 pounds with the mixer head a bit daunting if you are in a hurry to move ingredients in and out of the bowl. Still, this is classic kitchenware well worth the price if you are ready to show your culinary skills. | ||
 | KitchenAid KSM150PSBW Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer (Blue Willow) | |
| "Classic Standing Mixer Delivers the Goods...the Commitment Is Up to You" | 2009-08-10 |
| If you want to impress your "foodie" friends, all you need to do is have this out on display on your kitchen island. No one will question your aspiration to be a good cook, and then at some point, you have to prove you can use it with fluency and frequency. The KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series Stand Mixer is a striking piece of equipment, especially the glossy enamel finish of the empire red model, which is the one I ordered. There are ten speeds with a slide lever on the mixer head. It comes with a five-quart stainless-steel mixing bowl and three mixing attachments - a flat beater, a wire whip, and a dough hook. I've had an opportunity to work with all three on more than one occasion and am more than satisfied with the results. If there is a standout among the three, it is the dough hook. At the lowest speed, it spirals so thoroughly around the bowl that scraping the sides becomes an almost optional task. The most thrilling aspect is that despite the careful instructions that usually come with bread-making recipes, you can literally put all the ingredients in the bowl, turn the mixer on, and let it work into a cohesive dough with minimal supervision. The wire whip works wonders with egg whites or heavy cream, producing stiff peaks in record time. My one reservation in this regard is using a 325-watt motor for such small tasks and then facing the clean-up afterward. That's probably why I generally reserve usage of this mixer for such tasks to dinner parties or potlucks. I originally had concerns that the flat beater would be almost too powerful to produce fluffy mashed potatoes, but in using alternating speeds, I was able to produce the desirable results without turning the potatoes into wallpaper paste. One big benefit is the deep well of the bowl, which minimizes the incidence of splattering. The clear plastic pouring shield is another big plus. The easy twist locks keep the mixer stationary throughout your preparation, and the same principles are at work with the attachments. It is a relief that there are no buttons to press, and the attachments stay put until you're ready to dislodge them. Keep in mind that it is a relatively heavy appliance at 23 pounds with the mixer head a bit daunting if you are in a hurry to move ingredients in and out of the bowl. Still, this is classic kitchenware well worth the price if you are ready to show your culinary skills. | ||
 | KitchenAid KSM150PSMC Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer (Metallic Chrome) | |
| "Classic Standing Mixer Delivers the Goods...the Commitment Is Up to You" | 2009-08-10 |
| If you want to impress your "foodie" friends, all you need to do is have this out on display on your kitchen island. No one will question your aspiration to be a good cook, and then at some point, you have to prove you can use it with fluency and frequency. The KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series Stand Mixer is a striking piece of equipment, especially the glossy enamel finish of the empire red model, which is the one I ordered. There are ten speeds with a slide lever on the mixer head. It comes with a five-quart stainless-steel mixing bowl and three mixing attachments - a flat beater, a wire whip, and a dough hook. I've had an opportunity to work with all three on more than one occasion and am more than satisfied with the results. If there is a standout among the three, it is the dough hook. At the lowest speed, it spirals so thoroughly around the bowl that scraping the sides becomes an almost optional task. The most thrilling aspect is that despite the careful instructions that usually come with bread-making recipes, you can literally put all the ingredients in the bowl, turn the mixer on, and let it work into a cohesive dough with minimal supervision. The wire whip works wonders with egg whites or heavy cream, producing stiff peaks in record time. My one reservation in this regard is using a 325-watt motor for such small tasks and then facing the clean-up afterward. That's probably why I generally reserve usage of this mixer for such tasks to dinner parties or potlucks. I originally had concerns that the flat beater would be almost too powerful to produce fluffy mashed potatoes, but in using alternating speeds, I was able to produce the desirable results without turning the potatoes into wallpaper paste. One big benefit is the deep well of the bowl, which minimizes the incidence of splattering. The clear plastic pouring shield is another big plus. The easy twist locks keep the mixer stationary throughout your preparation, and the same principles are at work with the attachments. It is a relief that there are no buttons to press, and the attachments stay put until you're ready to dislodge them. Keep in mind that it is a relatively heavy appliance at 23 pounds with the mixer head a bit daunting if you are in a hurry to move ingredients in and out of the bowl. Still, this is classic kitchenware well worth the price if you are ready to show your culinary skills. | ||
 | KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer KSM150PSOB (Black) | |
| "Classic Standing Mixer Delivers the Goods...the Commitment Is Up to You" | 2009-08-10 |
| If you want to impress your "foodie" friends, all you need to do is have this out on display on your kitchen island. No one will question your aspiration to be a good cook, and then at some point, you have to prove you can use it with fluency and frequency. The KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series Stand Mixer is a striking piece of equipment, especially the glossy enamel finish of the empire red model, which is the one I ordered. There are ten speeds with a slide lever on the mixer head. It comes with a five-quart stainless-steel mixing bowl and three mixing attachments - a flat beater, a wire whip, and a dough hook. I've had an opportunity to work with all three on more than one occasion and am more than satisfied with the results. If there is a standout among the three, it is the dough hook. At the lowest speed, it spirals so thoroughly around the bowl that scraping the sides becomes an almost optional task. The most thrilling aspect is that despite the careful instructions that usually come with bread-making recipes, you can literally put all the ingredients in the bowl, turn the mixer on, and let it work into a cohesive dough with minimal supervision. The wire whip works wonders with egg whites or heavy cream, producing stiff peaks in record time. My one reservation in this regard is using a 325-watt motor for such small tasks and then facing the clean-up afterward. That's probably why I generally reserve usage of this mixer for such tasks to dinner parties or potlucks. I originally had concerns that the flat beater would be almost too powerful to produce fluffy mashed potatoes, but in using alternating speeds, I was able to produce the desirable results without turning the potatoes into wallpaper paste. One big benefit is the deep well of the bowl, which minimizes the incidence of splattering. The clear plastic pouring shield is another big plus. The easy twist locks keep the mixer stationary throughout your preparation, and the same principles are at work with the attachments. It is a relief that there are no buttons to press, and the attachments stay put until you're ready to dislodge them. Keep in mind that it is a relatively heavy appliance at 23 pounds with the mixer head a bit daunting if you are in a hurry to move ingredients in and out of the bowl. Still, this is classic kitchenware well worth the price if you are ready to show your culinary skills. | ||
 | KitchenAid KSM150PSTG Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer (Tangerine) | |
| "Classic Standing Mixer Delivers the Goods...the Commitment Is Up to You" | 2009-08-10 |
| If you want to impress your "foodie" friends, all you need to do is have this out on display on your kitchen island. No one will question your aspiration to be a good cook, and then at some point, you have to prove you can use it with fluency and frequency. The KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series Stand Mixer is a striking piece of equipment, especially the glossy enamel finish of the empire red model, which is the one I ordered. There are ten speeds with a slide lever on the mixer head. It comes with a five-quart stainless-steel mixing bowl and three mixing attachments - a flat beater, a wire whip, and a dough hook. I've had an opportunity to work with all three on more than one occasion and am more than satisfied with the results. If there is a standout among the three, it is the dough hook. At the lowest speed, it spirals so thoroughly around the bowl that scraping the sides becomes an almost optional task. The most thrilling aspect is that despite the careful instructions that usually come with bread-making recipes, you can literally put all the ingredients in the bowl, turn the mixer on, and let it work into a cohesive dough with minimal supervision. The wire whip works wonders with egg whites or heavy cream, producing stiff peaks in record time. My one reservation in this regard is using a 325-watt motor for such small tasks and then facing the clean-up afterward. That's probably why I generally reserve usage of this mixer for such tasks to dinner parties or potlucks. I originally had concerns that the flat beater would be almost too powerful to produce fluffy mashed potatoes, but in using alternating speeds, I was able to produce the desirable results without turning the potatoes into wallpaper paste. One big benefit is the deep well of the bowl, which minimizes the incidence of splattering. The clear plastic pouring shield is another big plus. The easy twist locks keep the mixer stationary throughout your preparation, and the same principles are at work with the attachments. It is a relief that there are no buttons to press, and the attachments stay put until you're ready to dislodge them. Keep in mind that it is a relatively heavy appliance at 23 pounds with the mixer head a bit daunting if you are in a hurry to move ingredients in and out of the bowl. Still, this is classic kitchenware well worth the price if you are ready to show your culinary skills. | ||
 | KitchenAid KSM150PSIC Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer (Ice Blue) | |
| "Classic Standing Mixer Delivers the Goods...the Commitment Is Up to You" | 2009-08-10 |
| If you want to impress your "foodie" friends, all you need to do is have this out on display on your kitchen island. No one will question your aspiration to be a good cook, and then at some point, you have to prove you can use it with fluency and frequency. The KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series Stand Mixer is a striking piece of equipment, especially the glossy enamel finish of the empire red model, which is the one I ordered. There are ten speeds with a slide lever on the mixer head. It comes with a five-quart stainless-steel mixing bowl and three mixing attachments - a flat beater, a wire whip, and a dough hook. I've had an opportunity to work with all three on more than one occasion and am more than satisfied with the results. If there is a standout among the three, it is the dough hook. At the lowest speed, it spirals so thoroughly around the bowl that scraping the sides becomes an almost optional task. The most thrilling aspect is that despite the careful instructions that usually come with bread-making recipes, you can literally put all the ingredients in the bowl, turn the mixer on, and let it work into a cohesive dough with minimal supervision. The wire whip works wonders with egg whites or heavy cream, producing stiff peaks in record time. My one reservation in this regard is using a 325-watt motor for such small tasks and then facing the clean-up afterward. That's probably why I generally reserve usage of this mixer for such tasks to dinner parties or potlucks. I originally had concerns that the flat beater would be almost too powerful to produce fluffy mashed potatoes, but in using alternating speeds, I was able to produce the desirable results without turning the potatoes into wallpaper paste. One big benefit is the deep well of the bowl, which minimizes the incidence of splattering. The clear plastic pouring shield is another big plus. The easy twist locks keep the mixer stationary throughout your preparation, and the same principles are at work with the attachments. It is a relief that there are no buttons to press, and the attachments stay put until you're ready to dislodge them. Keep in mind that it is a relatively heavy appliance at 23 pounds with the mixer head a bit daunting if you are in a hurry to move ingredients in and out of the bowl. Still, this is classic kitchenware well worth the price if you are ready to show your culinary skills. | ||
 | The Rains Came | |
| "Old-Fashioned Exotic Melodrama with a Smoldering Loy and Special Effects That Still Impress" | 2009-08-01 |
| In the same high-watermark year that saw the burning of Atlanta in Gone with the Wind and Dorothy's house spinning perilously in a tornado in The Wizard of Oz, this little-seen 1939 romantic melodrama won the first Oscar ever awarded to a film for Best Special Effects. Seventy years later, the earthquake-to-flood sequence still holds up impressively, even in the age of CGI programming with a surprisingly seamless combination of models, mattes and huge dump tanks. The artistry of Fox effects whiz Fred Sersen's work is worth slogging through the first fifty minutes of archaic set-up. Directed by MGM veteran Clarence Brown (The Yearling), the story would appear to have the makings of a romantic triangle given the three leads, but it actually consists of two contrasting love stories. Set in colonial India at its most exotic (although filmed entirely on the studio back lot), one thread centers on Tom Ransome, an aging, alcoholic British playboy pursued by Fern Simon, the love-struck daughter of local missionaries. The other is the forbidden romance that develops between Lady Edwina Esketh, the adulterous British wife of a pompous horse breeder and Major Rama Safti, a Hindu doctor devoted to his homeland. The calamitous disaster obviously veers all four off course as they find themselves re-evaluating their feelings for one another until fate steps in and decides for them. The second love story is obviously a metaphor for the diminishing hold Britain had on India in the years prior to Mahatma Gandhi's rise as the leader of the burgeoning republic. However, the May-December romance between Ransome and Fern initially follows a Lolita-esque course that offsets the balance of the film. Course correction comes with the unusually well-cast principals. Usually playing warm-hearted wives both scrappy (The Thin Man) and noble (The Best Years of Our Lives), Myrna Loy surprises with a sexy, assured performance as Lady Edwina. She cuts a diaphanous figure as a voracious temptress and transitions convincingly to a woman desperate for moral redemption. It's a shame Loy had so few opportunities to show this uncensored side of her talent. Ridiculously handsome, Tyrone Power doesn't look remotely Indian even with a turban and constant tan. During the matinee idol phase of his career, he lacked depth and nuance, for example, take note of his embarrassing bad breakdown scene late in the film. However, he is obviously here for eye candy, and Loy's lustful glances are well justified in this regard. Perhaps because he is not playing opposite the vivid fieriness of constant co-star Bette Davis (Dark Victory), the usually bland George Brent is terrifically engaging as Ransome. I have to admit his witty banter with Loy held my interest far more than the concealed passion between her and Power. For better or worse, Brenda Joyce brings a strangely off-kilter dimension to Fran. Several great recognizable character actors fill the supporting parts, a few playing purely Hollywood versions of exotics - Jane Darwell, Henry Travers, H.B. Warner, Marjorie Rambeau, Joseph Schildkraut - though none makes a more vivid impression than Maria Ouspenskaya (Love Affair) as the worldly wise Maharani with her dangling cigarette holder. The print transfer on the 2005 Fox Studios Classic DVD is impressively pristine. There is a chatty commentary track from film aficionados Anthony Slide and Robert S. Birchard, a gallery of stills, and the original theatrical trailer. | ||
 | Columbine (First Edition) | |
| "Cullen Meticulously Shows How Reality Challenges Our Collective Memory of Columbine" | 2009-07-13 |
| Columbine. The name still haunts our collective subconscious a decade later, and that was the intention of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold as they carried out a shooting spree that left thirteen dead. They wanted to build their own legacy through the unfettered killings, and author Dave Cullen's meticulous and constantly involving account goes into extensive detail about just how wrong the news reports were about the crime. He takes what we remember of the crimes and shows how our own memories of the media coverage continue to be at odds with the lingering aftermath. The author shows effectively how ten years have not altered the fact that the massacre is still about nothing but two high-school kids who were motivated by nothing more than their own warped desires for fame and self-rationalized view of the small world around them. As unforgivable as their crimes were, they say something substantive of the perspective shaped by their environment. Consequently, those who claimed ignorance of the motivation behind the spree should have known better and taken some accountability. Polarizing public figures running the gamut from Jerry Falwell to Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder shaped their own agendas around the massacre and touched off their own cultural wars in an atmosphere of disbelief and hysteria. There was the myth surrounding one of the victims, Cassie Bernall, who was supposedly killed because she professed her faith in God. Investigations have since debunked this account. Several films have been inspired by Columbine, each with its own personalized interpretation like Gus Van Sant's Elephant to Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. According to Cullen, none of them got the story right. Neither Harris nor Klebold were victims of abuse or Manson-like cultists, and Colorado's gun laws didn't come into play with their crimes. The bottom line is that Harris was a Machiavellian psychopath who took joy out of killing as many people as possible, while Klebold was a suicidal depressive who felt he had nothing to lose in joining Harris. Cullen is especially effective in showing the sloppiness of the reporting at the time. Part of this was due to the unchecked facts emanating from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, but the bulk of misinformation came from the live reporting that has brought forth the level of tabloid journalism that continues to thrive today. Take notice of the overwhelming coverage of Michael Jackson's death. The massacre itself lasted barely an hour, but news was slow to reach the reporters. What the author shows us is how the various networks filled the time with speculative theories that eventually became part of everyone's collective memory. With utter clarity, he shows us the massacre was really about two amoral and vainglorious boys. | ||
 | Hearst Castle - Building the Dream (Large Format) | |
| "A Brief History of the Inspiration, Ingenuity and Megalomania That Made Hearst Castle" | 2009-06-17 |
| If you can't make the trek to San Simeon in the middle of the California coastline, you may find this 2006 DVD the next best thing to being there. Running 40 minutes, this 1996 IMAX documentary was produced specifically for the National Geographic Theater at the Hearst Castle Visitors Center with the intent of providing tourists the history and cultural context for publishing magnate William Randolph Heart's palatial weekend home. Directed by Bruce Neibaur, a specialist in IMAX documentaries (Mysteries of Egypt), the feature is a condensed dramatization of the genesis and construction of the undeniably magnificent estate that rests in splendor five miles up the hills. You will learn that Hearst Castle was built on what started as a 40,000-acre ranch that Hearst's father, George Hearst, originally purchased in 1865 after he struck it rich in silver. During periodic camping trips in the area during his childhood, young William became fond of this site. His mother Phoebe, a former schoolteacher, also took him on holiday to various European castles, museums and other important attractions, all of which made a vivid impression on him. When Hearst inherited the ranch in 1919 upon his mother's death, the property had grown to an astounding 250,000 acres, and construction on the estate began that same year. It continued unabated through 1947, when Hearst stopped living there due to ill health. San Francisco architect Julia Morgan was the pivotal figure who designed most of the buildings and kept Hearst in check for his excesses (for example, building him a private zoo) and his impulsiveness in tearing down structures and having them rebuilt at a whim. Dominated by John Gavigan's reassuring narration, unknown actors play the key roles, including Hearst as well as a fictional starlet who was invited to one of Hearst's typically elaborate weekends when he would invite a plethora of Hollywood stars and world-famous dignitaries to have fun. Although that sounds like a lot of ground for this film to cover, the abbreviated length of the movie feels just right for covering the history of the subject. Production values are first-rate, and the DVD captures the IMAX experience to a surprising degree. | ||
 | You Were Never Lovelier | |
| "Astaire and an Alluring Hayworth Dance to Jerome Kern and Rise Above the Predictable Shenanigans" | 2009-04-02 |
| This movie is appropriately titled, as it's hard to imagine a woman more breathtakingly beautiful than Rita Hayworth in the early 1940's. The fact that she was an accomplished dancer - reportedly Fred Astaire's favorite partner - only adds to her ethereal, otherworldly appeal. Their second and sadly last pairing in this lightweight 1942 confection hardly does justice to either star, but it's a pleasant enough romantic comedy highlighted by just two numbers where they dance together. Those unparalleled moments are worth slogging through the silly plot co-penned by Michael Fessier, Ernest Pagano, and Delmer Daves. Directed by studio journeyman William A. Seiter, the film has American hoofer Bob Davis in Buenos Aires losing his savings at the racetrack. Looking for work, he seeks a chance to audition for hotel owner Eduardo Acuna. Enlisting the help of bandleader Xavier Cugat (Charo's future husband) and his orchestra, he fails to impress Acuna. However, through various plot machinations including mistaken identity and parental scheming, Bob meets and becomes smitten with Acuna's headstrong daughter Maria, who has decided she will never marry. This upsets her two giggly younger sisters who cannot marry their respective sweethearts until Maria marries. The resolution to this dilemma is predictable, but it is all wrapped in a soundtrack that combines Latin rhythms and sonorous songs by Jerome Kern. One of the composer's best, the über-romantic "I'm Old-Fashioned", provides the film's unequivocal high point as Hayworth lip syncs the classic chestnut to Nan Wynn's dusky alto and moves into a graceful pas de deux with Astaire peppered with a Latin-flavored interlude. On the other end of the spectrum is the be-bop delight, "Shorty George" where a bobby-socked Hayworth tap dances with impressive abandon as she matches Astaire step for step. Astaire's artistry goes without saying, although Bob is pretty much like every hapless character he played in all those movies with Ginger Rogers. At 24, Hayworth is such a serene object of desire as Maria that it's no wonder Astaire's character is rendered speechless and asks her to turn around to avoid further embarrassment. Adolphe Menjou is his usual pompous blowhard as Acuna though hardly believable as an Argentinean, while Cugat seems far more at ease with a baton than with a script. Compared with their 1941 film, You'll Never Get Rich, this movie has a more fanciful tone without the wartime context, but the highlights are less frequent. This was Hayworth's favorite film, and apparently a fifteen-year-old Fidel Castro is among the extras. The 2004 DVD offers no additional features. | ||
 | Love is a Many-Splendored Thing | |
| ""We shall now have tea and speak of absurdities."" | 2009-03-30 |
| That line never fails to make me laugh when I hear it within the context of an intentionally dramatic scene in this atmospheric 1955 romantic sudser that was a big hit in its day thanks to the familiar Sammy Fain theme song. At the same time, the somewhat patronizing Orientalism of that line represents much of the arm's-length approach the film has in reflecting the U.S. attitude toward China in the 1950's. Viewed by today's standards, the result feels emotionally simplistic like a more thoughtful Harlequin romance novel, even though the production values are first-rate. However, the bigger problem with the film is the unfortunate lack of chemistry between the two leads, Jennifer Jones and William Holden. Their characters' romance never quite resonates, and the pacing is not helped by Henry King's lugubrious direction. Set against the backdrop of the 1949 Communist Revolution, Han Suyin, a Eurasian doctor in Hong Kong falls for Mark Elliott, a married war correspondent. The film focuses on their somewhat illicit love story at a time when a relationship between a half-Chinese, half-European woman and an American was considered as forbidden as the inevitable adultery. The racism and culture clashes between East and West take up much of the storyline with the lovers surrounded by English colonialists thriving on the class distinctions left over from the Victorian era, and by her equally traditional Chinese relatives who shun the imprint being left by the Europeans. The film benefits immensely from the use of actual Hong Kong locations with the cinematography by Leon Shamroy and Charles G. Clark providing a textbook example of how to create the right atmosphere given the exotic locations. Because of her Svengali-like relationship and eventual marriage to mega-producer David O. Selznick (Gone with the Wind), Jones had an interesting array of roles during her career. She can be appealing in the right role (Portrait of Jennie, Beat the Devil), but she never quite brings this conflicted character to life. Burdened with trying to look and act Chinese, she comes across as stiff and often actressy, although she improves as the story moves along. As Mark, Holden is wasted in a relatively colorless role given that he was at his career peak at the time, and despite his expressions of enduring love, he can't seem to create the desperately needed sparks with Jones like he did with Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly. Even with all its flaws, the movie is still worthwhile to see for its lush production and for the surprisingly robust set of extras on the 2003 DVD with a commentary track provided by film historian Sylvia Stoddard, UCLA film scholar John Burlingame, and cinematographer Michael Lonzo. Stoddard and Burlingame fill in a lot of the interesting details on the life of the real Han Suyin, while Lonzo's comments are limited to the technical details of the CinemaScope production. | ||
 | Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing | |
| ""We shall now have tea and speak of absurdities."" | 2009-03-30 |
| That line never fails to make me laugh when I hear it within the context of an intentionally dramatic scene in this atmospheric 1955 romantic sudser that was a big hit in its day thanks to the familiar Sammy Fain theme song. At the same time, the somewhat patronizing Orientalism of that line represents much of the arm's-length approach the film has in reflecting the U.S. attitude toward China in the 1950's. Viewed by today's standards, the result feels emotionally simplistic like a more thoughtful Harlequin romance novel, even though the production values are first-rate. However, the bigger problem with the film is the unfortunate lack of chemistry between the two leads, Jennifer Jones and William Holden. Their characters' romance never quite resonates, and the pacing is not helped by Henry King's lugubrious direction. Set against the backdrop of the 1949 Communist Revolution, Han Suyin, a Eurasian doctor in Hong Kong falls for Mark Elliott, a married war correspondent. The film focuses on their somewhat illicit love story at a time when a relationship between a half-Chinese, half-European woman and an American was considered as forbidden as the inevitable adultery. The racism and culture clashes between East and West take up much of the storyline with the lovers surrounded by English colonialists thriving on the class distinctions left over from the Victorian era, and by her equally traditional Chinese relatives who shun the imprint being left by the Europeans. The film benefits immensely from the use of actual Hong Kong locations with the cinematography by Leon Shamroy and Charles G. Clark providing a textbook example of how to create the right atmosphere given the exotic locations. Because of her Svengali-like relationship and eventual marriage to mega-producer David O. Selznick (Gone with the Wind), Jones had an interesting array of roles during her career. She can be appealing in the right role (Portrait of Jennie, Beat the Devil), but she never quite brings this conflicted character to life. Burdened with trying to look and act Chinese, she comes across as stiff and often actressy, although she improves as the story moves along. As Mark, Holden is wasted in a relatively colorless role given that he was at his career peak at the time, and despite his expressions of enduring love, he can't seem to create the desperately needed sparks with Jones like he did with Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly. Even with all its flaws, the movie is still worthwhile to see for its lush production and for the surprisingly robust set of extras on the 2003 DVD with a commentary track provided by film historian Sylvia Stoddard, UCLA film scholar John Burlingame, and cinematographer Michael Lonzo. Stoddard and Burlingame fill in a lot of the interesting details on the life of the real Han Suyin, while Lonzo's comments are limited to the technical details of the CinemaScope production. | ||
 | I Remember Mama | |
| "Dunne and Stevens Soar in a Vintage Remembrance of the Early 20th-Century Immigrant Experience" | 2009-03-22 |
| There are two key reasons to watch this sentimental yet emotionally involving 1948 immigrant family saga today. The first is George Stevens' assured direction, his first post-WWII film and a palpable sign of his wartime experiences that portends his deepening sense of character in dramas like A Place in the Sun and Shane after his years of breezy comedies and musicals. The second is star Irene Dunne, who caps her impressively versatile screen career with a performance of unforced warmth and uncommon depth. With no make-up and sporting a convincing Norwegian accent, she provides the film's heart and emotional anchor as Mama. The framing device for the story is the recently completed manuscript by Katrin Hanson which she reads out loud while reminiscing about her Norwegian family in San Francisco circa 1910. A family of six living on hilly Larkin Street, the Hansons maintain their core family unit despite a lot of hardships and eccentric relatives. While father Lars toils as a carpenter to support his family, Katrin's memories inevitably revolve around her stoic mother Martha, who consistently shows the courage of her convictions. When spinsterish Aunt Trina decides to marry a milquetoast pharmacist, it is Martha who must get consensus from her intolerant sisters Jenny and Sigrid as well as Uncle Chris, a black-sheep blowhard who acts as the family patriarch. When Katrin's baby sister Dagmar goes to the hospital overnight, it is Martha who disguises herself as a charwoman to be able to stay with her. And when Katrin becomes discouraged enough to give up her writing aspirations, it is again Martha who finagles her way to meeting a famous author and convincing her to read one of Katrin's short stories. Beyond Dunne's exemplary work, there is a sturdy supporting cast to consider - Oscar Homolka bringing the requisite bluster to Uncle Chris, Ellen Corby in her only first-rate screen role as timid Aunt Trina, and at 25, Barbara Bel Geddes conveying convincing adolescent innocence as Katrin. DeWitt Bodeen's screenplay captures the episodic nature of the real Katrin Forbes' remembrance and one can assume of John Van Druten's Broadway play. It should be noted that without Stevens and Dunne, the film would surely feel far more interminable at its 134-minute running length. The 2004 DVD is sparse on extras offering only a three-minute introduction from George Stevens Jr. and the original theatrical trailer. | ||
 | I Remember Mama | |
| "Dunne and Stevens Soar in a Vintage Remembrance of the Early 20th-Century Immigrant Experience" | 2009-03-22 |
| There are two key reasons to watch this sentimental yet emotionally involving 1948 immigrant family saga today. The first is George Stevens' assured direction, his first post-WWII film and a palpable sign of his wartime experiences that portends his deepening sense of character in dramas like A Place in the Sun and Shane after his years of breezy comedies and musicals. The second is star Irene Dunne, who caps her impressively versatile screen career with a performance of unforced warmth and uncommon depth. With no make-up and sporting a convincing Norwegian accent, she provides the film's heart and emotional anchor as Mama. The framing device for the story is the recently completed manuscript by Katrin Hanson which she reads out loud while reminiscing about her Norwegian family in San Francisco circa 1910. A family of six living on hilly Larkin Street, the Hansons maintain their core family unit despite a lot of hardships and eccentric relatives. While father Lars toils as a carpenter to support his family, Katrin's memories inevitably revolve around her stoic mother Martha, who consistently shows the courage of her convictions. When spinsterish Aunt Trina decides to marry a milquetoast pharmacist, it is Martha who must get consensus from her intolerant sisters Jenny and Sigrid as well as Uncle Chris, a black-sheep blowhard who acts as the family patriarch. When Katrin's baby sister Dagmar goes to the hospital overnight, it is Martha who disguises herself as a charwoman to be able to stay with her. And when Katrin becomes discouraged enough to give up her writing aspirations, it is again Martha who finagles her way to meeting a famous author and convincing her to read one of Katrin's short stories. Beyond Dunne's exemplary work, there is a sturdy supporting cast to consider - Oscar Homolka bringing the requisite bluster to Uncle Chris, Ellen Corby in her only first-rate screen role as timid Aunt Trina, and at 25, Barbara Bel Geddes conveying convincing adolescent innocence as Katrin. DeWitt Bodeen's screenplay captures the episodic nature of the real Katrin Forbes' remembrance and one can assume of John Van Druten's Broadway play. It should be noted that without Stevens and Dunne, the film would surely feel far more interminable at its 134-minute running length. The 2004 DVD is sparse on extras offering only a three-minute introduction from George Stevens Jr. and the original theatrical trailer. | ||
 | The Red Shoes - Criterion Collection | |
| "What Price Art? The Red Shoes Show the Price in Unapologetic Splendor" | 2009-01-06 |
| One could find a lot to ridicule about this ripe 1948 melodrama since there are plenty of excessively theatrical moments trumpeting the more dramatic passages. However, the film's enduring appeal comes down to the cinematic artistry of the Archers, co-directors and co-screenwriters Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, the British dynamic duo who had just released another classic, 1947's Black Narcissus. Visually, it's a stunning piece full of vibrant, stylized colors that fit the florid contours of the story adapted from the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. There is an audaciously surrealism that courses through the film, but the Archers don't lose sight of the love story at its core. Ballet enthusiasts have sung this film's praises for over six decades now, but there is much more to appreciate here. After showing a horde of youngsters flooding the balcony of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden for a ballet performance, the filmmakers settle their story on Victoria "Vicky" Page, an aspiring prima ballerina who comes from a wealthy London family and catches the attention of impresario Boris Lermontov. When his star dancer Irina Boronskaja decides to get married, Lermontov concludes she has forsaken her art and gives Vicky a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the company's newest ballet, a fantasy piece based on Andersen's "The Red Shoes". Under Lermontov's unyielding tutelage, she learns the role of a young girl cursed to dance herself to death in a magical pair of red slippers. At the same time, prodigiously talented composer Julian Quentin, another of Lermontov's protégés, is completing the score for the ballet and unsurprisingly falls in love with Vicky. Despite the success of the ballet at its premiere in Monte Carlo, Lermontov forces Vicky to decide between her career and her pending marriage to Julian. The mounting pressure of the decision overwhelms Vicky and forces her to face unforeseen consequences. All of 21 when she was cast, Moira Shearer is ideal as Vicky, as she is not only a striking, flame-haired beauty but an accomplished ballerina and an affecting actress. Despite a flood of offers after the film's release, she never made as significant an impression in her career, and the film itself would not be nearly as magnetic without her presence. She is showcased brilliantly in the mesmerizing fifteen-minute ballet sequence that is said to have inspired Gene Kelly to produce his magnificent ballet piece in An American in Paris. "The Red Shoes" ballet is boldly imaginative in its expressionistic visuals and the dream-like state in which Shearer dances to Brian Easdale's majestic score and Robert Helpmann's dramatic choreography. Pulling at Vicki in opposite directions, the two male leads perform admirably within the confines of their stereotypical roles - Marius Goring as the brilliant yet petulant Julian and especially Anton Walbrook who does a Barrymore-level turn as the tyrannical, smitten Lermontov (take note of the fastidious brocade robe he wears in an early morning scene). Major credit also needs to go to cinematographer Jack Cardiff, who did similarly impressive work in Black Narcissus and later became a director himself (Sons & Lovers). As expected, the 1999 Criterion Collection DVD is a gem and a great tribute to the production. Actor Jeremy Irons reads excerpts from Powell and Pressburger's 1978 novelization of "The Red Shoes" and the original Andersen fairy tale. There are also slides of ardent fan Martin Scorsese's collection of "Red Shoes" memorabilia; publicity and behind-the-scenes production stills; and film clips and stills from the Archers' illustrious filmography. Particularly fascinating is "The Red Shoes Sketches", an animated film of Hein Heckroth's painted storyboards set to "The Red Shoes" ballet. The commentary track is the best feature even if it is a bit of hodgepodge with clips of audio interviews with Cardiff, Shearer, Goring, composer Brian Tisdale, and Scorsese. British film historian Ian Christie leads an entertaining discussion of the movie's development and production with Shearer surprisingly candid about the challenges in making the film. The original theatrical trailer rounds out the extras. | ||
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