Change Your Image
thefonz003
Reviews
Lantern Hill (1989)
Awesome film!
I first watched this movie when I was late-elementary-school age (about ten-ish, if I remember properly). I was mesmerized, ironically, by the scenes that did not take place in the book (Colleen Dewhurst's character, and the nightmares). I'll admit I haven't read the book, so if I had, I might be disappointed by the film, as some viewers have obviously been; but as it stands, I found the movie version uplifting as spellbinding. The young Sarah Polley demonstrates the abilities that would later lift her to iconic status in her native Canada, while Mairon Bennett, though decidedly less over-the-top, turns in a respectable performance as well. Bear in mind that I was only about ten when I first watched this film. Now consider this: I am now twenty-one years old. The nightmare scenes have stuck with me all through the past decade, to the point where for about two years, I would quiz people to find if they knew in which movie these scenes had been found. I even posted on the IMDb boards. In either September or October of '05, someone read one of my posts and pointed me in the direction of this film. I bought a DVD from eBay and watched it last night for the first time in at least ten years. Although I am an adult now, it held up extremely well. How I saw it in the first place, I'll never know: it was a Canadian made-for-TV film, and I'm from Ohio and, at that time, my family had only what our antenna gave us (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, TBN, and UPN). At any rate, I consider this an amazing film, and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an under-appreciated cinematic experience.
Ordinary People (1980)
Heavy movie but very compelling
In this psychological drama, a young man deals with the aftermath of his older brother's accidental death. As the story progresses, we see that his parents are affected just as profoundly as he; it's just that he, being younger, is more willing to admit it.
Conrad Jarrett (Timothy Hutton) is a high school student reeling from the accidental drowning of his older brother Buck. Conrad had to be hospitalized for a while, but now he is out. However, he finds that his problems are just as persistent. He is unnerved by a new psychiatrist, Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch), and cannot relate to his mother (Mary Tyler Moore). His father (Donald Sutherland) seems to be the only "normal" person in the family.
The only people in whom Conrad feels he can confide are Karen (Dinah Manoff), who was in the hospital the same time he was, and a high school classmate (Elizabeth McGovern) with whom he hopes to become romantically involved. Gradually he also begins to trust Dr. Berger, but Conrad cannot seem to get over his hang-ups with his mom.
I haven't seen a whole lot of other movies from the year 1980, but I would say this one deserves its Oscar. Stunning, compelling...it's a movie that you really get caught up in. I give it a 9 out of 10---actually, a perfect 10 if you're interested in psychology.