O-Oz Movies

O Brother Where Art Thou (2000)  Disenchanted with the daily drudge of crushing rocks on a prison farm in Mississippi, the dapper, silver-tongued Ulysses Everett McGill busts loose. Except he's still shackled to his two chain-mates from the chain gang -- bad-tempered Pete and sweet, dimwitted Delmar. With nothing to lose and buried loot to regain -- before it's lost forever in a flood -- the three embark on the adventure of a lifetime in this hilarious offbeat road picture. Populated with strange characters, including a blind prophet, sexy sirens and a one-eyed Bible salesman, it's an odyssey filled with chases, close calls, near misses and betrayal that will leave you laughing at every outrageous and surprising twist and turn.

Funny but tender too.

Oceans 12 (2004)  They pulled off one of the biggest heists ever and now they have another job to complete. Ocean's Eleven, which consisted off Danny Ocean (Clooney), Rusty Ryan (Pitt) and Linus Caldwell (Damon) and others, all thought they would be able to enjoy their money, but someone has other plans. Terry Benedict (Garcia) is still fuming after losing his money and wants it back. The team now have the job of getting all the money they spent back, or risk being thrown in jail. How are they going to get it all back? By pulling off another amazing plan.

Not as good as Ocean's Eleven but funny in spots, especially when the break the fourth wall.

Ocean's Thirteen (2007)  The last time we saw Danny Ocean's crew, they were paying back ruthless casino mogul Terry Benedict after stealing millions from him. However, it's been a while since they've come back together, which is all about to change. When one of their own, Reuben Tishkoff, builds a hotel with another casino owner, Willy Bank, the last thing he ever wanted was to get cut out of the deal personally by the loathsome Bank. Bank's attitude even goes so far as to finding the amusement in Tishkoff's misfortune when the double crossing lands Reuben in the hospital because of a heart attack. However, Danny and his crew won't stand for Bank and what he's done to a friend. Uniting with their old enemy Benedict, who himself has a vendetta against Bank, the crew is out to pull off a major plan; one that will unfold on the night Bank's newest hot spot opens up. They're not in this for the money, but for the revenge.

Ocean's Eleven (1960)  Danny Ocean and his friend Jimmy Foster recruit their buddies to rob four of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve. The men are all known to one another and served in the Airborne during the war. The plan is to knock out the electricity supply to the city and for their electrical expert, Tony Bergdorf, to set the wiring so that the activation of the emergency generators would open the doors to all of the cashier's offices. The men take up jobs in the casinos - entertainers, waiters, busboys - and all goes well until Bergdorf has a heart attack just after the robbery. Not only does his death suggest to Jimmy Foster's soon to be father-in-law Duke Santos just who the robbers are, Danny and the men make an important mistake when they think they've found the perfect way to ship the money out of Las Vegas without getting caught.

Lackluster performance by the "rat pack".  Would have been much better if they had rehearsed and not stayed up late every night.

The Odd Couple (1968)  Felix Ungar has just broken up with his wife. Despondent, he goes to kill himself but is saved by his friend Oscar Madison. With nowhere else to go, Felix is urged by Oscar to move in with him, at least for a while. The only problem is that Felix is neat, tidy, and neurotic, whereas Oscar is slovenly and casual.

Walter Matthau, who played Oscar in both the original Broadway play and the movie, asked the play's author, Neil Simon, if he could play Felix instead. This was because Matthau thought Oscar's personality was too similar to his own and the role would be too easy; whereas playing the persnickety Felix would be a real acting challenge. Simon replied, "Walter, go and be an actor in somebody else's play. Please be Oscar in mine." Matthau finally agreed to it.

Tony Randall and Jack Klugman were considered for the roles of Felix Unger and Oscar Madison, roles that they would later portray in the television series adaptation. 

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)  Zack Mayo is a young man who has signed up for Navy Aviation Officer Candidate School. He is a Navy brat who has a bad attitude problem. GySgt Foley is there to train and evaluate him and will clearly find Zack wanting. Zack meets Paula, a girl who has little beyond family and must decide what it is he wants to do with his life.

In 1983, I moved to Ellensburg, Washington.  On a vacation in 1984, I "discovered" Port Townsend, WA.  (It was a great Hippie city then, yuppy now.)  Soon after, it was a good retreat to go on, especially with new girlfriends. I stayed in the Tides Inn and noticed they had copies of this movie you could borrow.  I had no idea why.  Later I realized it had been filmed in Port Townsend and the Tides Inn was part of it.  If you get this DVD make sure to watch the extras.  Also, near the end of the movie Lisa Blount and Lisa Eilbacher were injured in an automobile accident and were patched up at Olympic Medical Center where I would go to work in 1997.

Oh, God!  (1977)  Jerry, an assistant grocery manager, is approached by God to help spread his message. Reluctant at first, Jerry finally ends up in a court case involving the slander of a popular TV evangelist.

David Ogden Stires in a small part.  David would replace Larry Linville on MASH.  Larry Gelbart wrote Oh, God and of course MASH.

Highly predictible fluff but it has its moments.  I especially enjoyed when they gave God a test.

Oklahoma! (1955)  Set in Oklahoma in the early 1900s', the musical is partially about the Indian Territory becoming a state. Curly is a stubborn cowboy who had trouble admitting his feelings to Laurey, as does she. They both love each other, but have much difficulty telling each other because of their stubborn behaviors and reputation. The story is also set around Ado Annie trying to choose between Will, who has strong feelings for her, and the peddler, who thinks he's a ladies' man and doesn't really want to marry her. Judd, Laurey and Aunt Eller's hired hand, tries to come between Laurey and Curly, because he is alone and has feelings for Laurey. Aunt Eller is a peppy and friendly middle-aged woman who pretty much knows everyone, and everyone respects her.

A vey good adaptation of the play of the same name.

Old Dracula (1975)  A faulty blood transfusion turns Dracula's wife black.

An obvious attempt to capitalize on the success of Young Frankenstein.  It doesn't work and it is painful to watch sometimes, but there are some very clever bits.  The fault is the directors.

Omega Man (1978)  Two years after much of humankind was destroyed in a global war with biological weapons, Dr. Robert Neville leads a solitary existence in Los Angeles. Those humans that do remain are pigment-less albino creatures that roam the night destroying what remnants that may exist of the previous civilization. Neville, who had worked on an antidote to the virus, is one of their main targets. By day, he searches for their nests while they sleep. He comes across a small band of survivors, mostly children, but which includes two adults. Having injected himself with his experimental serum several years before, Neville in fact may carry the immunities needed to reverse the creatures' condition. The only question is whether he can survive their constant attacks long enough to prove it.

This is the second of three movies based on the book I am Legend by Richard Matheson.  The first was The Last Man on Earth and the more recent I am Legend.  All are worth seeing.

In the film, the plague that causes the end of the world was unleashed by germ warfare as the result of a border war between China and Russia. In fact, China and Russia had some very serious border skirmishes during 1969 that had many world leaders concerned about the possibility of an all-out war between the Communist superpowers.

Rosalind Cash was uneasy before her love scene with Charlton Heston, saying "It feels strange to screw Moses."

On Golden Pond (1981)  The loons are back again on Golden Pond and so are Norman Thayer, a retired professor, and Ethel who have had a summer cottage there since early in their marriage. This summer their daughter Chelsea -- whom they haven't seen for years -- feels she must be there for Norman's birthday. She and her fiance are on their way to Europe the next day but will be back in a couple of weeks to pick up the fiance's son. When she returns Chelsea is married and her stepson has the relationship with her father that she always wanted. Will father and daughter be able to communicate at last?

This movie deals with relationships as we grow older.  The world changes, we change, we don't like it.  Enjoy.  Then tell someone you love them.

On the Beach (1959)  In 1964, the nuclear submarine USS Sawfish arrives in Australia after the worldwide nuclear holocaust. Commander Dwight Lionel Towers confirms that the world has been destroyed and the nuclear dust is coming to Australia. The widower Cmdr. Towers, who grieves the death of his wife and children, is befriended by Royal Australian Navy Lieutenant Peter Holmes, who is a family man with wife and the newborn baby Jennifer. He has a lover affair with the local Moira Davidson, a still beautiful alcoholic woman with a past, and she falls in love with him. Cmdr. Towers and his crew invite the drunkard scientist Julian Osborne to join them in their reconnaissance voyage to the further North and to the United States, and they return hopeless and aware that Australia and the rest of the mankind has very few days until the doomsday.

I grew up in the 50s.  Nuclear peril was a continual new item.  People built fall out shelters.  I remember one radio broadcast (TV was still in its infancy) when I was 10 years old.  The narrator was saying that nuclear war was inevitable with in the next five years.  I didn't think that was very fair.

Gregory Peck was a lifelong opponent of nuclear weapons, and made On the Beach for this reason.

According to Philip R. Davey, author of the book "When Hollywood Came to Melbourne: The Story of the Making of Stanley Kramer's 'On The Beach'", director Stanley Kramer experienced many problems with the thousands of bathers who stood in shoulder-deep water to watch the proceedings, and who applauded the cast after each take. Their enthusiasm was gratifying in this respect if not in others, such as when thousands of people began crowding forward to get a closer look at Ava Gardner, they repeatedly moved into camera range, thus necessitating many frustrating retakes.

On the Waterfront (1954)  The Waterfront Crime Commission is about to hold public hearings on union crime and underworld infiltration. As workers are turned against each other, Terry Malloy inadvertently participates in the murder of fellow longshoreman Joey Doyle. Union boss Johnny Friendly orchestrates the murder along with other illegal dockside activities, aided by Terry's brother Charley. Terry begins to feel pangs of conscience. When Joey's sister Edie sees more in Terry than he sees in himself and Father Barry urges him on, Terry reassesses his past and begins to regain responsibility for his actions.

Nominated for twelve Oscars; won eight, including Best Picture.

The idea for the film began with an expose series written for The New York Sun by reporter Malcolm Johnson. The 24 articles won him a Pulitzer Prize and were reinforced by the 1948 murder of a New York dock hiring boss which woke America to the killings, graft and extortion that were endemic on the New York waterfront. Budd Schulberg was captivated by the subject matter, devoting years of his life to absorbing everything he could about the milieu. He became a regular fixture on the waterfront, hanging out in West Side Manhattan and Long Island bars, interviewing longshore-union leaders and getting to know the outspoken priests from St Xavier's in Hell's Kitchen.  

Elia Kazan was loath to do business with Darryl F. Zanuck who had insisted on multiple cuts on Man on a Tightrope. Fortunately when Kazan and writer Budd Schulberg met with Zanuck, he started talking about widescreen Technicolor pictures. Zanuck eventually came clean and said he didn't like a single thing about it, stating "Who's going to care about a bunch of sweaty longshoremen?" This led Kazan and Schulberg to meet with independent producer Sam Spiegel who set up a deal with Columbia.
 

Shortly after the film's debut in 1954, the AFL-CIO expelled the East Coast longshoremen's union because it was still run by the mob.

According to Richard Schickel in his biography of director Elia Kazan, Frank Sinatra had "a handshake deal"--but no formally-signed contract--to play the character of Terry Malloy in 'On the Waterfront' after Marlon Brando's original refusal to play the role. Sinatra--who was producer Sam Spiegel's first choice for the Terry Malloy role--actually attended one wardrobe fitting to prepare his costumes for the film. But Elia Kazan still favored Brando for the role, partially because Brando's casting in the film would assure a larger budget for the picture. Kazan was actually contacted by Brando's agent, Jay Kanter, to assure the director of the agent's continuing efforts to persuade the actor to perform in the film. Kazan in the meantime enlisted actor Karl Malden--whom Kazan considered more suited to a career as a director than a career as an actor--to direct and film a screen test of a "more Brando-like" actor as Terry Malloy, in an effort to persuade Spiegel that "an actor like Marlon Brando" could perform the Terry Malloy role more forcefully than Frank Sinatra. To that end, Malden filmed a screen test of Actor's Studio members Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward--neither of whom had as yet appeared in a motion picture--performing the love scene between Terry and Edie. Finally persuaded of the point by the Newman/Woodward screen test, Spiegel agreed to reconsider Brando for the role, and shortly afterward Brando was persuaded by Kanter to reconsider his refusal. Within a week, Brando signed a contract to perform in the film. At that point, a furious Frank Sinatra demanded to be cast in the role of Father Barry, the waterfront priest. It was left to Spiegel to break the news to Sinatra that Karl Malden had already been signed for that role. Later that year, Paul Newman appeared in his first motion picture, 'The Silver Chalice,' which was a critical and commercial failure. Newman and Joanne Woodward married four years later.

Once Around (1991)  Renata Bella feels like a failure at life and career. But when Renata attends a seminar on selling real estate, she finally finds True Love. Sam Sharpe, while a top-notch, successful salesman, is much older than Renata. She is swept away by his excessively flamboyant style and irrepressible nature. The very traits she finds romantic, however, lead to repeated conflict with her family, especially her beloved father Joe, leaving Renata trapped in the middle.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)  McMurphy has a criminal past and has once again gotten himself into trouble with the law. To escape labor duties in prison, McMurphy pleads insanity and is sent to a ward for the mentally unstable. Once there, McMurphy both endures and stands witness to the abuse and degradation of the oppressive Nurse Ratched, who gains superiority and power through the flaws of the other inmates. McMurphy and the other inmates band together to make a rebellious stance against the atrocious Nurse.

Albany Civic Theater in Albany, Oregon put on Cuckoo's Nest and had some hopes that Ken Kesey would show up to see his work on an amatuer stage.  He didn't.  Much of the movie was filmed in Oregon.  When the inmates go fishing, the location is DePoe Bay, Oregon.  A great place to visit on the Oregon Coast.

One Million B.C. (1966)  Tumak, a member of the Rock Tribe, is expelled from their cave after running afoul of their leader Akhoba, who also happens to be his father. After several days of wandering, he stumbles upon several female members of the Shell Tribe, a group that lives on the coast. Loana, the daughter of the chief, sees that he is in terrible shape from his ordeal and nurses him back to health. This causes her betrothed, Payto, to become jealous and eventually the two of them get into a major fight and Tumak is expelled as a result. However, Loana decides to join him and follows him back to the caves of his people. While there Loana teaches the Rock people civility and this causes Tumak to become the new leader (Akhoba was severely injured while Tumak was away). This doesn't sit well with Tumak's brother Sakana who begins to plot to have Tumak overthrown.

Not a bad movie, the basic intent was to show of Raquel Welch's body.  More character development and better dialoge would have been nice.  Still it is worth seeing.

One True Thing (1998)  When a tough New Yorker's mother is stricken with a serious illness, she is forced to quit her job and her relationship with her boyfriend to take care of her mother, finding out a lot of things she didn't know about her parents and her life along the way.

One, Two, Three (1961)  Berlin, after the Second World War: C.R. MacNamara presides over the Coca-Cola branch of Germany. He is working hard and trying his very best to impress the Atlanta headquarters, since he has heard that the European headquarters in London will soon be looking for a new head. Now, Coca-Cola boss Mr. Hazeltine asks MacNamara to take care of his daughter Scarlett, who is going to take a trip to Europe. Scarlett, however, does not behave the way a young respectable girl of her age should: Instead of sightseeing, she goes out until the early morning and has lots of fun. Finally, she falls in love with Otto Piffl, a young man from East Berlin and a flaming Communist, and marries him surprisingly. When MacNamara hears of this, he intrigues quite a bit with the help of his assistant Schlemmer to get Piffl into an East German prison, but when he also gets note of his Boss and wife coming over to visit their daughter in Berlin, he needs to get Piffl out again, convert him to Capitalism and present him as a fine young and noble husband in order to get his London post, and all of that very quickly!

Awesome comic performance by Cagney who is more noted for his tough guy roles.  This film reveals the secret reason why the Berlin wall was first erected.

The Onion Field (1979)  Two new partnerships have a fateful encounter late one evening in Los Angeles in early 1963. Patrolling, Los Angeles Police Department Detectives Ian Campbell and Karl Hettinger pull over what they consider a vehicle carrying two suspicious looking men. Those two men are Greg Powell and Jimmy Smith aka Jimmy Youngblood, who indeed are petty crooks - although Powell is more of a minor thug - and who were on their way to commit the latest in a string of robberies. This encounter escalates to a standoff culminating in an onion field outside of Bakersfield, where one of the four is shot dead. Beyond the shooting, the evening does not end as any of the men would have envisioned when the encounter began. In the aftermath of this event, the three survivors recount the activities of the evening in the trial into the shooting and in their everyday lives, the most contentious issue being what happened immediately following the firing of the initial shot. In recounting the event, they contemplate what went wrong and what they would have done differently if given the chance again. That evening has a profound effect on the lives of the three survivors, who have problems emotionally dealing either with what happened that evening or the consequences of their actions that evening, especially in the issue of if the justice system was indeed just both in its process and outcome.

Open Range (1999)  Boss Spearman, Charley Waite, Mose Harrison and Button freegraze their cattle across the vast prairies of the West, sharing a friendship forged by a steadfast code of honor and living a life unencumbered by civilization. When their wayward herd forces them near the small town of Harmonville, the cowboys encounter a corrupt sheriff and kingpin rancher who govern the territory through fear, tyranny and violence. Boss and Charley find themselves inextricably drawn towards an inevitable showdown, as they are forced to defend the freedom and values of a lifestyle that is all too quickly vanishing. Amidst the turmoil, life suddenly takes an unexpected turn for the loner Charley when he meets the beautiful and warm spirited Sue Barlow, a woman who embraces both his heart and his soul.

This is a very good movie that captures more of the true west.  Not as brilliantly acted as Unforgiven but still well worth watching.

Other People's Money (1991)  A corporate raider threatens a hostile take-over of a "mom and pop" company. The patriarch of the company enlists the help of his wife's daughter, who is a lawyer, to try and protect the company. The raider is enamoured of her, and enjoys the thrust and parry of legal manoeuvring as he tries to win her heart.

Presents two points of view regarding money and values in corporate America.

Out of Africa (1985)  Karen Blixen, a Danish woman, marries a friend for the title of Baroness and they move to Africa and start a coffee plantation. Things unfold when her husband begins cheating on her and is away on business often, so she's at home alone, working on the farm and bonding with two men she met in her first day in Africa. She eventually falls in love with the one, Denys Finch-Hatton and goes on safari and whatnot with him. Later, she begins to want more from him than the simple friendship/relationship they have and pushes marriage, but Denys still wants his freedom. By the end, she's gained a much better understanding and respect for the African culture than when she came.

Well told story based mostly on facts.

Out of Towners (1999)  The remake of the 1970 Neil Simon comedy follows the adventures of a couple, Henry and Nancy Clark, vexed by misfortune while in New York City for a job interview.

Not quite as good as the original but updated well and the cast makes it work well.  John Cleese's performance is well worth the visit. 

Outland (1981)  Marshal W.T. O'Niel is assigned to a mining colony on Io, one of Jupiter's moons. During his tenure miners are dying - usually violently. When the marshal investigates he discovers the one thing all the deaths have in common is a lethal amphetamine-type drug, which allows the miners to work continuously for days at a time until they become "burned out" and expire. O'Niel follows the trail of the dealers, which leads to the man overseeing the colony. Now O'Niel must watch his back at every turn, as those who seek to protect their income begin targeting him.

High Noon in outer space, but a good film.

Outlaw Jose Wales (1976)  Josey Wales makes his way west after the Civil War, determined to live a useful and helpful life. He joins up with a group of settlers who need the protection that a man as tough and experienced as he is can provide. Unfortunately, the past has a way of catching up with you, and Josey is a wanted man.

Very entertaining, too long of a begining to set the stage.  Great perfomaces by supporting cast.  Chief Dan George steals the scenes he is in.  Sort of a Dirty Harry of the old west.

The Outrage (1964)  Three disparate travelers, a disillusioned preacher, an unsuccessful prospector, and a larcenous, cynical con man, meet at a decrepit railroad station in the 1870s Southwest. The prospector and the preacher were witnesses at the singularly memorable rape and murder trial of the notorious Mexican outlaw Carasco. The bandit duped an aristocratic Southerner into believing he knew the location of a lost Aztec treasure. The greedy "gentleman" allows himself to be tied up while Carasco deflowers his wife. These events lead to the stabbing of the husband and are related by the three eyewitnesses to the atrocity: the infamous bandit, the newlywed wife, and the dead man through an Indian shaman. Whose version of the events is true? Possibly there was a fourth witness, but can his version be trusted?

Outrageous Fortune (1987)  Lauren and Sandy are total opposites who end up in the same acting class and who don't know they are sharing a lover. When he disappears under mysterious circumstances they refuse to believe that he is dead and are the only ones who are searching for him across several states. Ending up in the western US., they discover he had other interests as they find their lives in danger.

Fluff, but fun.  Good cast.  George Carlin as the world's most unbelievable indian is worth seeing.