Belinda S.'s Reviews

I live in New York City. On 9/11, I was working at NYU at the time, which is a mere 30 blocks from where the Towers stood. Of all the post 9/11 documentaries, this one, which airs every year on the anniversary of 9/11 on the History channel without commercial interruption, is the most compelling. It truly captures the horrific tragedy of the day, alongside the heroism and the unrelenting fear. From the first moments of the NYPD officer's incredulity as he listens to a caller explain that a plane has hit the Trade Center, to the final devastating moments, you cannot look away. I cry each and every time I watch it, and I have promised my son that I will no longer view it. As I drive by the new One World Trade Center and watch its rebirth, I can't help but think back to that day in September and all the lives lost. 102 Minutes is difficult to watch, but something we all need to do. Always remember, never forget.
Review Date: 3/27/2012

Utterly ridiculous and ludicrous. Non-stop destruction. I live in New York and had flashbacks to 9/11 just watching it. Plot holes so large you could have driven a plane through it. Laughable performances by John Cusack, who will always be the geekazoid kid from 16 Candles, which is probably his best performance. Actually felt sorry and embarrassed for Chiwetel Ejiofor and Danny Glover, two notable actors with good work done between them. Pretentious -- took itself way too seriously. Watch it for the effects but please don't expect anything remotely resembling a story. Oh, except that the world is coming to an end. And I feel fine.
Review Date: 4/5/2011

Drivel. Bubblegum filmaking at its worst. Actually slapped myself in the forehead for the hour and a half of my life I'll never get back. Who is Katherine Heigl and who decided that she can act? That she should be in a film? In every ~ cough ~ film she's in, she's the same: a big, thin, wooden stick in high heels. Go home, be a mom, disappear and stop torturing the world with bubblegum movies.
Review Date: 1/20/2011

This has always been one of my guilty pleasure films. Hard to say why; whenever it rolled across my screen some late night I would inevitably sit down and watch it.

However, there was always something just a little off about the film. One that I could not put my finger on. I'm no director or screenwriter; just a fan sitting on the sofa.

Fast forward a few years I find out that the original, director's cut was test shown before an audience at a Long Island mall, who of course, did not care for the dark themes -- drug use, sex, homosexuality and bisexuality -- and screamed holy terror. Harvey Weinstein stepped in and took his scissors and monster hands to it, all but destroying the director's version. That explains why I always found something lacking in this film.

If at all possible, try and watch the director's cut of this film. The narration is gone. Original scenes were put back in, fleshing out the characters, particularly Ryan Phillippe's performance as Shane. Breckin Meyer is a wonder, as is -- surprise, surprise -- Mike Meyers, playing Steve Rubell, one of the original owners of the original "Studio 54". Welcome to 1980 indeed.


Review Date: 9/21/2021

I watched this movie -- shot entirely in 3D -- and had an epiphany: I cannot watch a film in which 80% of the characters are CGI. I need human beings, real people, with real stories. So I am grateful to James Cameron for bringing this overblown, overhyped film to the local theatre because I learned something about myself in the process.

Guilty of one of the biggest problems since technology catapulted film-making into a quasi-art (think Star Wars, think Forest Gump), it is clear that the $300 or so million dollars it cost to make this monstrosity was all spent on visual effects. It sure was a pretty movie to look at it, and for the trillions who saw it and loved it, I guess they were so mesmerized by the blue people that they did not have the attention spans to realize that, erm, there was no story. Or at least a story that was stolen from countless films, (Ferngully, Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas) that it was the least original in that regard.

I sat in the cold theatre watching Avatar a few weeks after the earthquake in Haiti and thought of the thousands of people, dead or near dead, and then watched the actors on the screen -- dead or near dead -- and could not help but wonder where and how that $300 million dollars could have been put to so much better use. As I pondered getting up and leaving the theatre -- as did my 14-year old son, who hated it nearly as much as I -- I realized a year later that vindication was right around the corner as I watched James "hubris run amuck" Cameron's ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, win not only Best Director but Best Picture with The Hurt Locker. ~Happy Sigh.~ There is a God, after all.
Review Date: 2/26/2011

Stunning. Poignant. This one stayed with me long after the final credits. Movies you wish Hollywood had the guts to make. You almost felt like a voyeur, along for the ride. Not for everyone. Moments of sheer, unfortgettable, perfection. I'm so glad I stumbled upon this true piece of art.
Review Date: 1/30/2013

There are some films that I have seen in my lifetime that creep into my bone marrow and stay there. This is one of those films. I'm grateful I did not see it in the theatre; my weeping needed to be private. Gorgeous, horrific, brilliant, almost seductive in its beauty. Javier Bardem took my breath away. Masterful performance. This film reminded me to stay hopeful about cinema and filmaking today, just when I had nearly given up hope. Don't expect overt explanations, car explosions and comedic dialogue. If you want an experience, if you want to be moved, if you want to be reminded of the directors who are out there still taking risks and the handful of studios willing to oblige, this is the film for you.

Review Date: 5/29/2012

I came across this movie in the $1 vhs bin and took a chance because of the cast. I must admit I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this film. Ellen Burstyn and Diane Lane are reunited in their first film together since the ground-breaking "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore". The cast also features the incomparable Olympia Dukakis -- who is hilarious, as always -- and another fine character actor, Danny Aiello.

Drama-filled, poignant, warm and laugh-out-loud funny, it had some truly endearing moments. I think it was marketed more as a kind of "laugh-filed comedy" but it really wasn't. There were some spectacular moments of real, heart-felt drama and I guess that's what appealed to me -- comedy often teeters on the borders of drama, and this film, I thought, went to some places I was surprised they chose to go. But those choices made for a much better film. The film also featured a scene-stealing Lanie Kazan and a young Christina Ricci. Take the time to check this one out. You will be pleasantly surprised.


Review Date: 7/22/2012

Geena Davis. Joe Morton. James Woods. Ellen Burstyn. Richard Dreyfuss. I got schnookered by this cast, and the hope that it would at least be as good as the 1978 film. Ridiculous, highly implausible, plot holes you can drive an air craft carrier through. Pretty predictable, no real surprises, stereotypical characters. Not even the acting chops of the above could save this one.
Review Date: 3/31/2020

Harry Stevenson: God is either dead or he despises us.
Bradley Smith: You don't really believe that.
Bradley Smith: God doesn't hate us, Harry. If he did, he wouldn't have made our hearts so brave.

Maybe it was just the mood I was in (a month after my 51st birthday) or the time (Christmas Day) that influenced me as I sat on my sofa and watched this deeply touching film. Christmas is like one of those old-fashioned spin tops: you pull the top and it makes the thing whirl out of control, briefly, beautifully, and then it slows down and just stops. Once the packages are open and the dinner is eaten, you're sitting there surrounded by pieces of wrapping paper and a pile of dishes in the sink and life just goes back to the maddening rush, like the top while it whirled.

Watching this movie in a quiet house made me sit and think. Looking back, it came at a perfect time: it unfolded, like a beautiful flower, as it buds and then blooms. You have to take your time over it; luxuriate over the beautiful dialogue, and the bravura acting. Morgan Freeman and Jane Alexander, folks I would gladly pay money to see them stand in front of an audience and read the phone book. Newcomers Alexa Davalos and Toby Hemingway, who reminded us of the beauty of young love, a story as old as Romeo and Juliet; Radha Mitchell in a prime Ice Queen Melting role and Greg Kinnear, who has demonstrated more range than I thought possible.

This one was marketed completely WRONG. It is NOT your basic RomCom and if anything, actually anti-RomCom. No goofiness, no silliness. No Jennifer's in sight (Aniston or Lopez or Garner). Just a thoughtful rumination on love -- being in love, to love and to be loved back. A joy.
Review Date: 12/26/2013

Just when I had just about given up on film, I saw a movie that blew my mind: Happy Accidents, with Vincent D'Onofrio and Marisa Tomei. I do not even know where I found this haunting, beautiful film. You can find plot scenarios online, but I will say only that the end absolutely blew me away. Tomei and D'Onofrio's performances were so real, they were like people you knew. It was one of those rare moments when you¿re so caught up in the film unfolding that you feel like you're some kind of a purveyor/fourth wall -- there but not there. It's a bit slow, and the story, as it unfolds, seems utterly ridiculous and at times you will be like, WTH??? -- but stay with it. One of the best films I have ever seen. EVER. This is why the indie folks get it and mainstream Hollywood doesn't. It will haunt me forever. Truly.
Review Date: 7/27/2012

The scene of them singing "Walk Like A Man" and dancing in the street, albeit brief, is just precious and exquisite. I was shocked by how much I loved this film. Robert Downey Jr. has said of all the films he has made, this is one of his favorites. Sweet and touching. Great chemistry of all the cast.
Review Date: 9/11/2020

I am proud to say I tracked this one down and bought it on Amazon.

I must watch this every year. What a great story: Susan Stone, played by Ally Walker, is a disappointed adult, and an observer in her own life. She is about to be fired from her job as an editor at a publishing company, divorced and is ostracized by her only family, her brother. She has lost her way. She falls on her way home, hits her head and once home, she is "visited" by her younger self, played with great sass by Hayden Panettiere. Her younger self reminds her of the little girl she used to be -- strong, resilient, kind, happy. It is an oft-told tale, but one that remains resonant, and is buoyed by a wonderful cast: the delightful Ally Walker (whatever happened to her??), the wonderful character actor Tom Amandes and of course, the scene-stealing Hayden. A sweet, touching film that raises the usual Lifetime fare. You will not be disappointed.
Review Date: 12/31/2014

To my utter surprise, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed the first Iron Man. Wonderful story of redemption and it rose above the usual action-figure schlock, thanks to a wonderful performance -- as always -- by Robert Downey, Jr. I looked forward to its sequel.

After viewing Iron Man 2 last night, I have to write it is a disaster from moment one until the end credits. Incoherent, boring, the absolute-wooden-bra-on-a-stick Scarlett Johhansson (someone please remind me why this woman gets any work at all?) absurdly ridiculous at times. Even my 14-year-old son remarked that it was just a bunch of scenes jumbled together. This film is a cautionary tale to all of us from Hollywood: beware of any movie that makes a ton of money, as they will dumb-down to its lowest-common-denominator the sequel, to try and rake in even more cash. They flushed any idea of a possible story all in the name of the almighty-buck. I wasted $34 on this blu-ray disc and immediately posted it to the swapadvd community so someone can have a go at it. You have been duly warned.
Review Date: 12/26/2010

So here's the disclaimer: I am a native New Yorker, a fan of the Beatles (who isn't?), a fan of Billy Joel and my beloved Metropolitans, otherwise known as the New York Mets.

What a treat. I remember watching the last game at Shea Stadium on tv. It was the same weekend that Paul Newman had died, and I kept thinking this was the end of an era. Seeing all those great New York Mets return to Shea one last time, left me in tears. A year or two later, I had heard about the "Last Play at Shea" but wrote it off as a concert video. Boy oh boy, was I ever wrong.

It is a concert video, but it isn't. They are able to intertwine, quite effortlessly and seamlessly, the history of Shea Stadium, how the Mets came to be, Robert Moses, who built (or destroyed, depending on your point of view) the highways that criss-cross the city, the bedraggled Mets teams over the years -- highlighting the remarkable Game 6 comeback in the 1986 World Series -- and the life and music of Billy Joel. I am three weeks from my 51st birthday, and when I was in high school, Billy Joel's music was ALL OVER THE PLACE. And with the birth of MTV, he hit paydirt in the 80s and 90s. It wasn't until years later that I began to appreciate Billy Joel for the tremendous talent that he is, singer/songwriter and Piano Man.

I learned things about New York City I did not know prior to watching the documentary. How they were able to gently fold in so much in just an hour and a half is brilliance. The songs take you back, Billy Joel playing his heart out on stage with an on-point band, and the cavernous, decrepit Shea Stadium, months away from being torn down. As Mets outfielder Darryl Strawberry said, "it was a dump, but it was our dump."

I remember the last game at Shea, and explaining to my son in that mournful weekend as we processed the loss of Paul Newman, the epic moments that happened at Shea: the tumultuous 1969 season when God blinked and the Mets won the Series, the visit by the Pope, the game played two weeks after 9/11 and the blast in the night by Piazza that saved us all, and of course, The Beatles. This documentary was able to capture it all.

And how they managed to get Sir Paul to return to Shea, to come full circle, with Pete Flynn ("get off me grass"), the Mets groundskeeper who whisked the Beatles off the field back in 1966, was nothing short of stupendous. The last scene is singed in my brain: a time-lapse of the final walls being torn down of Shea Stadium, revealing, like a curtain, the glittering jewel of Citi Field, new home of my beloved Metropolitans, all to the soaring notes of "Let it Be." I wept like a baby, truly. This documentary touched me more than I imagined it would. Thank you, Billy. LET'S GO METS.
Review Date: 11/11/2013

I was on a flight from NYC to London and had some time to kill, and picked this movie out of the ones listed. I am a huge fan of Jake Gyllenhaal, and while it followed a pretty typical "alien" like story, it blew me away.

I think the key is to have no expectations, aside from hoping to be entertained. On a long flight from NYC to London, this film was perfect. Gripping, believable, a few plot holes that I overlooked, and excellent performances.

Gone are the days where one could hope to have a life-transformative experience watching a movie/film, but if you're hoping to be entertained, this will do it, and then some.

Just as the movie was ending, I clearly remember thinking, "wouldn't it be great if THIS happened instead of THAT", and that's exactly what happened! I was shocked they chose to go, well, there. What a great surprise.

Highly, highly recommend. Get your big bowl of popcorn and sit down and enjoy.
Review Date: 1/27/2020

I am, but not really, surprised by some of the negative reviews regarding Spielberg's Lincoln. If anyone had taken the time to read a little bit before seeing the film they would have read that this film is based on historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "Team of Rivals". It takes place during a very specific time in Lincoln's presidency, right after he signed the Emancipation Proclamation and deals with the politics of him trying to get the 13th amendment passed.

I will admit, on my first viewing, I could only watch it for about 40 minutes and realized immediately that this was a film that had a great deal of dialogue, and needed to be seen without distractions and the amount of time. So on a recent Saturday afternoon, I turned off my phone, turned on the subititles, and sat down to watch this film.

It is brooding, it is dark. It has to and deserves to be carefully watched. I'm glad I didn't see it in the theater. Many, many characters, some of the best character actors in Hollywood today -- David Strathairn, Hal Holbrook, Sally Field, Bruce McGill, James Spader, et al. And Daniel Day-Lewis, just when you think he could not possibly top his previous performances, stands there and channels Abraham Lincoln. What a glorious, stupendous performance.

Some reviewers are clearly angry -- if not downright enraged -- that they must bear witness to a horrific time in this country's history and be reminded that yes, some are descended from people who chose to enslave others. But it is an important time in this country's history, and kudos to Spielberg and the daring Tony Kushner to bring this painful part of our history to light. I am grateful for having seen it, and a better person for having seen it.
Review Date: 8/1/2013

After watching what seemed like 20 straight to-the-core, can't-get-off-my-sofa, earth-shattering dramas on my Netflix queue, I thought I would choose a comedy for a change, and selected Little Miss Sunshine. As soon as I popped the movie in my dvd player, within the first 20 minutes, I realize -- oh, crap. This is not a comedy. But without question, this is one of the best movies I would see that year.

Remarkable performances by Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette, who are reunited as husband and wife again (some of you may recall them in the equally charged film, Dinner With Friends). I remember Greg Kinnear when he used to host Soup Dish or whatever that 30 minute thing he did on the "E" network and would have never, in my wildest dreams, imagine that he had so much dramatic range and talent. As for Toni Collette, well, I've loved her since "Muriel's Wedding" and it is quite conceivable that this woman can do no wrong.

This was the first time I'd ever seen Steve Carell (save for the voice in Over the Hedge) and he was sublime, near perfect as the suicidal uncle. The real surprises were Alan Arkin (who truly deserved his Oscar), Abigail Breslin and Paul Dano, as the tortured, silent brother, Dwayne.

Little Miss Sunshine has some remarkable moments of drama followed by profound hilarity. Families are not perfect. Life is not perfect. There will be disappointments and misgivings and loss, but if you're lucky, you will still be standing, with your family, trying to act normal. And what looks like normal on some days can easily be mistaken for chaos on others. That's just life. Don't miss this one. And you will never hear Rick James's "Superfreak" the same way again.


Review Date: 12/27/2012

Halfway through this amazing series I remember thinking, "they should just give the Emmy to Kate Winslet right now". She is truly the actor of her generation. She was stunning and absolutely believable as a woman haunted and nearly paralyzed by grief. Multi-layered storylines, so you'll have to pay attention. Slow pacing, spectacular attention to detail. They captured the bleakness of this fictitious city in Pennsylvania, ravaged by drug addiction, teen pregnancy, and jobs to nowhere. Stunning performances by Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart and Evan Peters, who all deserved their Emmys for their performances. I believed these people and their struggles. When Mare is asked about surviving grief and the loss of a loved one, her words were powerful: "At some point, you have to get up. Put food in the pantry. Pay the electric bill. Change your sheets. And get on with it. You learn to live with it." Haunting, beautiful and poignant.
Review Date: 2/3/2024

Don't. Even. Think. About. It. Just. Rent/Purchase/Swap. The. Original.

As others have posted, I do not for the life of me understand why someone felt the need to remake this classic, and for the eight people who actually sat through it I guess there was nothing remotely interesting on tv that night. As was already mentioned, it was literally stolen line-by-line, scene-by-scene. Daniels and Heaton brought absolutely nothing to this charmless, souless remake. Shameful.
Review Date: 3/21/2011

Without question, one of the most poignant, brilliant films I will see this year.

I guess my perspective is unique in that I have seen few films featuring international martial arts scholar Jet Li. He takes on a role of such beauty and simplicity, it is astonishing. He plays Wang, father to Dafu, who is autistic. Wang has been diagnosed with end-stage liver cancer. Dafu's mother died when he was seven. Wang is Dafu's only caregiver, in every sense of the word. It raises pivotal questions: who will care for the children with disabilities when their parents die? What responsibility does the community, city and state have for those with disabilities? Whose child is this, anyway?

We watch Wang carefully, delicately, raise his son. Dafu, played by Zhang Wen, gives an astonishing performance. Slow and delicate, at times almost difficult to watch, but a testament of the power of love, patience, community and family.
Review Date: 5/25/2014

Nearing the end of a re-watch of this beloved series. First learned of the show in a TV Guide -- remember those? -- feature, back in the 90s. I was a little late to the party, watching it while it was well into its third season. It was the episode in which Sam leaped into a pregnant 15 year-old in the 50s in a small town in Texas. It was a hilarious but incredibly touching episode, with Sam -- played by the truly joyful Scott Bakula -- nailing the mannerisms of a very pregnant female. And as we all know, the only other person from his time that Sam can see and hear is Al, played by the amazing Dean Stockwell.

What has been stunning to me in this rewatch of this series is first and foremost, the chemistry between Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. By the third season it was clear how much they enjoyed working together, nearly finishing each other's sentences and ad-libbing like crazy. Their camraderie, their friendship, their love and respect for one another is palpable.

What I never realized when I watched this show when it first aired was how powerful so many of the episodes are, particularly the ones in which Sam leaped into a woman. The showed aired in the late 90s. There was plenty of "T&A" shows still on during this time. But in a time of misogyny the show was surprisingly pro-female. An episode comes to mind in which a woman, spurned by her married lover, is ready to jump from a ledge. There is Sam, who leaped into the woman's female roommate, on the ledge with her, in the rain. As he tries to coax her from the ledge, she cries how her married lover made her feel special. "You don't need a man to make you feel special" was Sam's reply to her. I sat on the sofa, astonished. What a deeply profound thing to say, even more so for the late 90s. And remember, with the exception of Al and Gooshie, all the people who worked on Project Quantum Leap were women.

NBC's Brandon Tartikoff, then president of NBC, took a chance on Quantum Leap and was fervent in keeping the show on the air. Once Tartikoff left NBC and Warren Littlefield took over, one of the first things Littlefield did was cancel Quantum Leap. Could it have gone on for another season two? We'll never know. All we got instead was the last episode -- where I will not share any spoilers -- which was an insult to fans, the actors and all those involved in such an endearing show. Has it aged a bit? Yes, but only in a few teeny places. But it has been such a joy to rewatch this series. Highly, highly recommend, for nothing else just to watch the acting and amazing chemistry of Scott Bakula -- a relative unknown at the time -- and the late Dean Stockwell.
Review Date: 4/18/2023

For the first half hour I could not understand a single word because of the thick accents. No subtitles. I clearly remember thinking: I'm going to give this another half hour and if I still can't understand what is being said I am going to turn it off. Magically, unbelievably, within the half hour I was able to understand.

To say this is a gritty and dark film is an understatement. You feel as with each passing moment you sink lower and lower into the dark earth and at the film's conclusion, you struggle to make your way to back to the light.

Stunning, absolutely stunning. Left me breathless. As the credits rolled, I could not move from the sofa. I realized that us Americans will never get it right; we cater too much to advertisers and make films/shows for 14 year old boys. You have to stay with it because it is quite the puzzle but it was written with the thought that the audience that does hang around and get it are the ones they were going after anyway. This is not a pretty film. There are no happy endings. Definitely not for the faint of heart. "Dark" does not even begin to describe it. I felt as if I were on a roller coaster, hurtling through the darkness, buckled in only by the slimmest of belts, and left never quite the same way again. Haunting. A cinematic masterpiece, in my opinion.
Review Date: 7/2/2015

Did not like this film at all. As a New Yorker, I was deeply offended by this film. Contrite, contrived, saccharin-soaked. Adam Chandler should stick to what he does best: the banal, lame-brain comedies. No more forays into the darkness, Adam.
Review Date: 3/16/2011

This film has haunted me for years.

I have grown, over time, to have such admiration and respect for the wonderful actor, Ellen Burstyn. When you look back over he career -- from the Oscar winning performance in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore to her fairly recent nomination in the truly brilliant "Requiem for a Dream -- I have to remember the ground she broke as an actor. She could have received a Producer credit for "Alice" but chose not to. I have loved her in everything, but I digress.

I am fairly certain I did not see this one in the theatre. I am pretty sure I saw it on VHS, tucked away in the back of a video store. Or maybe late night on cable TV in the 80s. Never matter. Here she plays Edna, a woman living a carefree life when suddenly, in a horrific car accident, she loses her husband and has an afterlife experience. She realizes soon after that she has the ability to heal others through touch, and now must return home to live with her family as she can no longer care for herself.

Scenes of this film flash through my head as I write this review: the grief of loss when she learns that her husband has died, stopping along a desert gas station as she bitterly returns home to an indifferent, emotionally distant father, a kind gas station attendant, who sees her leg braces and reminds her to make "lemonade from the lemons" and the tears in her eyes, the way she holds a child in her lap who suffers from a nosebleed, the look on her face when she bends a fireplace poke. This is quite a startling film.

The film is steeped with wonderful character actors: Richard Farnsworth, Sam Shepard, Lois Smith and the luminous Eva La Gallienne, who plays the family matriarch. I adore this film. It is nuanced, well-written, well-thought out and lastly, well acted. It was filmed with a tiny budget and probably a very limited release and for the 12 people who were fortunate enough to see it in the theatre, I envy them. It's one of those hidden, undiscovered gems. If you can find it -- it's out of print -- it is well worth the two hours of your time. Ellen Burstyn reminds me again that she is the actor of her generation.
Review Date: 3/9/2014

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