Rating: 
Summary: It's alright.
Review: I watch movies on the surface as they were and are intended. If I want to look deeply into something I read a book. This movie is moderately entertaining though. You do need some intelligence and patience to watch it, as it does drag on in parts of the movie. I think what this movie needed was some twist at the end. Don't we feel ultimately cheated at the conclusion, when we discover that rosebud was a sled? Who cares? Maybe I missed some deep rooted meaning to the big mystery that is rosebud. Sorry! Anyone who saw this film without preconceived notions as I did, wouldn't say, "Oh my God its the sled, rosebud is the sled". They would groan and say as I did; "oh...It's the sled". Once is enough, It's not a movie I could watch again and again as I can with a Hitchcock film.
Rating: 
Summary: Astounding!
Review: Orson Wells plays the role of his career in this movie, i.e., Citizen Kane VHS ~ Orson Welles. The movie centers on a newspaper mogul whom at the end of his gigantic career realizes what matters most in life is neither money nor power since he attains all this and still remains hopelesly unhappy. The script is very well written and the dialogue has a natural feel to it. This movie is a classic and must be seen as one of the select movies of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Who the heck heard him say, "Rosebud?"
Review: I love this movie but it is based on the premise that we, the audience, are trying, along with some reporter, to find out what Rosebud was because it was the final word of Kane. Sooooo, my question is, "Who heard him say this word in the movie?" I guess that the reporter was called by someone who was watching the movie and told that the last word Kane uttered was Rosebud. You know; like in "Spaceballs" when they watch themselves on the video of the movie that they are starring in at the present time. I also would recommend the movie "RKO 281" which tells the story of getting this movie made and, more importantly, distributed. Lots of famous Hollywood and New York people wanted this film destroyed. You also will learn what Rosebud really referred to when Kane/Hearst used the term. Anyway it is great entertainment and I guess I really enjoy it because Welles was such a "loose cannon" in Hollywood and did what he wanted with his movies- as best he could while fighting studio heads.
Rating:
Summary: Just this...
Review: Everything has been said about this movie, so I won't add my comments, having had them said by others with more eloquence, perhaps, than I.
I think of this every time I hear the title "Citizen Kane"...Orson Welles's dying words, I believe to Peter Bogdanovich, were, "Don't let Ted Turner gets his crayons on Citizen Kane...."
And this...my persoanl favorite scenes are the great picnic scene on the beach with the music and the tents and all those black limousines, more suited to a funeral; and the scene of the wife, the Marion Davies character, sitting on the floor in front of a fireplace big enough to roast a rhinoceros, should one want to do such a thing, and doing yet another jigsaw puzzle and complaining that they never did anything or went anywhere...this, in a room of cavernous proportions, another reference to the fact that even San Simeon is not a guarantee of domestic bliss. (Although in life, they did give a few Hollywood parties...) It was after the fireplace scene that the beach picnic took place, Kane's concession to his wife's boredom and loneliness.
Rating:
Summary: Citizen Kane is excellant
Review: Citizen Kane maybe my favorite film. It's hard to say. I read through all the reveiws and I agree with the people who say that many people cant enjoy it cause it's so huge. It was a turning point in movies. I really dont care what those idiots who say that this movie is bad just because they beleive it doesnt live up to all it's supposed to be. It is still an excellant film. I've benn watching classic movies like Casablanca, Gone With the Wind and the Godfather since I was 10 so I consider myself a bit of a film critic, (even if I am 14,) and I can say that this is, without out the hype, and documentries made about it, and all the critical aclaim, a really excellant touching movie about a man who wants all to love him buy moves farther away from those around him as he ages. Some people say that it has too many flashbacks and is too confusing, (like the guy who wrote the reveiw that is a few slots under mine,) in my humble opinion these are the kind of people who have no pateince at all. People who want a movie to be as easy to understand as it could be. But the truth is, the best movies are ment to be figured out and thought about. Despit all the nay sayers who say that this movie wasnt as revolutionary as many say it is and those who just dont understand it, it is a wonderful, excellant movie. If you can just sit and watch this movie without thinking of the naysayers and critics, I think you could really love it. So what if it wasnt the most innovative film ever. It is still very worth your money.
Rating:
Summary: Whoa...
Review: To hell with technical achievement, camera shticks and the like (even if they were important).This movie is great not just because of those things, or because it's about the fact that rich people can be just as lonely and hopeless as anyone (despite having lots of money). It's because it illustrates the theme so amazingly well with Welles' landmark portrayal of Charles Foster Kane. It is believable, which is the highest compliment anyone can pay to a job an actor does. You see Kane as a real person, and like the guys in the movie, you try to understand him - but you can't. Kane is a man who's desperate to be loved, but who himself is incapable of loving anyone. The result is that when he dies, there's utterly no one to remember him, and no one that has ever understood him - themes and images near and dear to my heart. The reporters in the movie are trying to figure out what Kane meant with his dying words. In the process, they try to figure out Kane himself, but they fail, because no one was close enough to Kane to understand. Kane is a man who, despite having amassed unbelievable wealth, has wasted his entire life. He has no appreciation of art or culture or beauty even though he collects statues, builds opera houses, and marries beautiful women. His life is concentrated on "getting stuff" for no real reason. There's an amazing scene in the end where his wealth is just lying in piles and some workers just throw it in the fireplace (since no one wants to buy it). Everything is really expensive - finely crafted chairs, Oriental rugs, paintings - but there's so much of it and it's all in piles, so it looks like trash. And that's the point of the movie - the American Dream as it's commonly known is hollow. Of course, all that would just be preaching if not for Welles' performance, which is outstanding, and creates a truly powerful film. I definitely recommend seeing it.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe if they spliced in some explosions...
Review: Dunno if it's "the greatest movie ever made," as there's a lot of competition, but it's a pretty darn good one. The high incidence of "it's boring" comments is a sad indication of just how many painfully short, fragmented little attention spans are out there these days.
Rating:
Summary: Ultimately _Citizen Kane_ speaks for itself
Review: Sometimes "they" are right, and that's all there is to it. "They" say that _Citizen Kane_ is still the best American movie ever made, and so it is. Best for its innovative cinematography (shot after shot have been copied by other filmmakers ever since), witty script, and superb acting - with Joseph Cotten, in my opinion, taking the honours from Welles himself on that score. But also best for being so incredibly entertaining while being self-consciously clever. There are lots of good jokes (including one famously rude in-joke*), and it's splendidly cynical about business and politics in a way that US films probably aren't allowed to do any more. The DVD release does everything a DVD should: giving us a generous supply of outtakes, "making of" information that help you look at details (even now) with a fresh eye, discussions with the people who made the film, and some of the many critics who've carved themselves a living out of talking about it. But in the end, I don't expect I'll watch all that other stuff very often. Maybe once more. In the end it's the film, _Citizen Kane_, in a format that beats the hell out of video, looking crisp and clear and sounding terrific, that makes this a worthwhile buy. Cheers! Laon * "Rosebud" wasn't just a symbol of Kane's innocent, lost,childhood. It was also, out in the real world, a pet name that William Randolph Hearst used for, er, an intimate part of his lover's (Marion Davies) body. And though in public Welles insisted the film was not getting at any corrupt and powerful newspaper magnate in particular, that detail made it clear to Hearst that Welles meant Hearst, and he meant it _personally_. No wonder Hearst went out to destroy Welles. I might have been annoyed myself.
Rating:
Summary: Boring yes, but still the greatest American film ever made!
Review: To the average guy who's going to watch this film, it's probably the worst movie they'll ever see. However, Citizen Kane was great for it's technological and story line aspects. Also, the struggle Orson Welles went through to get this film made makes it a masterpiece. To better understand that struggle, and have a better appreciation for the film I suggest you watch the HBO movie "RKO 281"; it's on sale at Amazon.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for everyone...
Review: This film about the life and times of an 18th century sugar farmer doesn't really live up to the hype. Perhaps if the time period interests you, however, you might find something enjoyable in it. The costumes are incredibly lavish and, I would assume, authentic of the time. The newly released DVD version of the title is filled with extra stuff...including a previously unrealeased interview with Big Daddy Kane. So if this is your thing, the purchase of this DVD may be well worth the money. If not, check out the sequel, Raising Cain.
|
