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vonnoosh
Reviews
Highway to Heaven (1984)
Route 66 for the Angels
This is more or less a show like Route 66, Then Came Bronson, Quantum Leap, and Incredible Hulk (TV series). Basic premise is strangers (drifters in most cases) arriving in people's lives and changing their lives for the better in some way. Decent family entertainment in this case though the basic premise can be action and adventure or sci fi. This show takes things in a spiritual direction which makes for a nice twist.
Alot of serious true to life issues are touched on like crime, illness, prejudices, illiteracy, drug abuse, disabilities, family problems, poverty , pollution and how if the people involved don't fully recover from these ordeals, they at least find peace of mind and are at least on the right path emotionally.
It's the quality of the writing that makes this show have a secular appeal. It does fit in well with the shows I mentioned above because the stories about the people in each episode are what fuel the series.
Not every episode work for me (can't hit home runs at every at bat) and much of the series dates itself but not in a terrible way. The show is never preachy either. Instead Jonathan (the angel) flatly states something to someone hoping they'll learn it for themselves. I doubt I would have made it through 2 episodes if it were preachy but I've watched nearly the entire series.
New York chiama Superdrago (1966)
Well, I love the score, anyway....
First off, I've seen three versions of this film. All of them in really poor quality except for the Italian language version which was at least complete. SWV put out a DVD of it which ends abruptly before the movie's climax happens. The other English version has the climax in German. Ironically, the onlynway you can actually hear the ending in English is the MST3K riff of the movie. Those English language versions had other major flaws like broken film splices, and incomplete scenes caused by them. A real mess.
People.say alot about Eurospy movies but they still get the least amount of respect and attention of other low budget European action movies. I've seen Hercules against the Moonmen and dozens of Spaghetti westerns with a prestine remaster job done for them but never one eurospy movie. What's left are these messy releases if any release at all. Maybe the worst is The Million Eyes of SuMuru with about 15 minutes of light comedy cut out of it. Again, MST3K had the.most complete version I ever saw.
This movie is something I enjoy and that's because of Benedetto Ghiglia's really great score. Ghiglia was the Italian film score Composer you never heard of from the 60s who was excellent, just not Ennio Morricone. I went so far as to buy the album and still enjoy it as much as John Barry's score for the Ipcress File (and I like them both more than any Bond film's score).
As for the movie.....The plot is a reluctant former spy is pushed back into service to finish the mission a friend of his died trying to complete. The case was of strange incidents of.violence randomly occurring at a Michigan college. This leads to an investigation of a mind controlling drug some.weird rich guy wants to use to.rule the world. Ray Danton plays Super Dragon who is almost indistinguishable from his portrayal as Jaguar in Code Name Jaguar (different from the Jess Franco eurospy comedy spoof. Never saw a good print of that to make it remotely enjoyable.). Marisa Mell has beautiful dark red hair, probably to distinguish herself more from Margaret Lee. Jess Hahn is his.partner on the case. I know him from Welles The Trial as one of the arresting officers who is subsequently tortured at K's office.
It isn't the best Eurospy movie I've seen but I enjoy it for the music. A shame it and basically all eurospy movies will never get much attention..yeah. It's cheesy but they're still more interesting than Ray Dennis Steckler, Ed Wood and at least 2/5ths of Roger Corman's film output.
Cross of Iron (1977)
Futility....
The idea that this brilliant film had a sequel is ridiculous. There are so many very serious messages told in this movie as a stand alone that trying to make a sequel to it undermines half of them also the strength of the ending.
Granted the ending may have ended the way it did because of finances but it sends a lasting message about the futility of war and how pride and hubris have no place in a state of total war. Such messages only make sense if they all are killed.
The movie ends with several main characters in a freeze frame. I took that to mean they died in that moment. I believe Fail Safe used the same method to convey the same thing in the end.
The movie is a suitably dark tale. Fitting for the setting and it works much better if thought of as a standalone movie which I honestly thought it was for the last 23 years since I first saw it.
The acting is exceptional and it has Pekinpah's brilliant ability to convey so much more than we actually see with rapid, almost surreal editing. We as the viewer have flashes of people's faces as they flash through the mind of a character, particularly Steiner's.
Highly recommended movie and valuable to study if you want to learn the craft.
Lepke (1975)
More of a 40s and 50s Film Noir throwback
Gangster pictures in the 70s get unfairly maligned. I put this down to being automatically being compared to The Godfather. The reason it's unfair is The Godfather is the first ever epic crime drama. Epics clock in at around 3 hours. It was like Giant from the 50s but with the mob as the focus. Every other movie in this genre was a Film Noir crime drama. Movies like Lepke, Capone and the Valachi Papers are like those movies but with more explicit language and graphic violence. As compared to other Neo Noir movies, this is a pretty good movie.
There's a fair amount of poetic license crowding out the timeline of actual events. There a few more good dramatic acting scenes (referenced in the goofs) which I appreciate seeing because this is a well acted movie with several surprising performances.
This might be Tony Curtis' best role as a leading man in the 70s. The movie had poor box office but I put that down to The Godfather effect. Crime Drama epics are still pretty rare (De Palmas Scarface is another, Scorsese didn't begin making them until after Good Fellas). Not many can manage them but if you like old time b movie Film Noir movies, this is one you might enjoy as well as Capone which features a strangely effective portrayal of the title character by Ben Gazzara.
Night Train to Mundo Fine (1966)
Seems most reviewers didn't see this without mst3k
I have. It's still bad but the jump cuts aren't there in the version released on video. It is a complete movie unlike what is implied with the MST3K version. The version they riff makes it look like random footage, disconnected and vaguely tied together. As though there was an aborted attempt at a war drama and they tried years later to salvage that footage by turning it into a some fugitives on the run crime drama. Personally I think the whole Cuba thing was put in so Francis could use a plane again. Maybe he even tried and failed to get some skydivers to dress up in uniforms. Those things might have happened but the point is the effort he made is much more complete than implied in the version I guess nearly every reviewer saw.
The unedited version is about 20 minutes longer and includes what Griffin does to the blind woman after they throw her father down the well. Early scene at a gas station is included also training scenes and some fight scenes are longer. Of course there's the shooting suspects from airplanes motif during the climax. I'm not giving away much since the description is spoiler enough.
Coleman Francis doesn't make much out of very little like other low budget filmmakers. Maybe he should've drank more coffee.
Man Beast (1956)
One of Jerry Warren's few good movies
Some might say his only good movie though some are bad In a fun way. This is a decent mid 50s sci fi/horror movie on a small budget with a good twist to it.
Being better aquainted with Warren's later work, I expected something as unwatchable as Invasion of the Amimal People. That is difficult to sit through. I feel like a better print of that would make it even worse.
I wouldn't recommend this movie to people who aren't a fan of the genre but for mid 50s on a small budget, this isn't half bad. Typically Warren would build stories around cheap stock footage he bought, film some extra scenes and that's the movie. Looks as though he did it here too with some mountain climbing footage. Most directors would only pad a film with stock footage or use some feet of it to add to a script that already existed without it.
If you do try watching Man Beast and don't like the genre, at least it's short.
Embryo (1976)
Has a made for TV feel to it.
That strips away at how graphic this Sci fi/horror movie can get. Believe me, if this was rated R, it would've gotten really really ugly at times but it's PG so expect the story and the acting to do the job of bringing the horror across. Rock Hudson was one of the best and here he is as a quasi Frankenstein driven to extremes in memory of his dead wife, they both had worked together along the same experimental lines.
No one comes across as completely twisted and insane which makes this feel disturbing.
Yes, this is somewhat slow moving but that went with the times.
Great seeing early Barbara Carrera work. She has a natural talent as an actress. Entirely believable in this role. Diane Ladd is also excellent in this. Rock Hudson is good in just about anything.
True Stories (1986)
Interesting enough.....
Talking Heads was more or less finished with this movie. They would put out another album after True Stories but it doesn't sound like Talking Heads as much as it sounds like a David Byrne solo album and no, Talking Heads was not just David Byrne with some good musicians.
Really the band is barely seen in the movie too, taking a backseat to David Byrne and his self important messaging (much like his lyrics).
What I do like about True Stories is the offbeat feel of it. It's like watching Edward Scissorhands without Edward Scissorhands. The town and the people have this odd feel about them as this odd man comes around and talks to and about them.
Spalding Gray is great giving a strange monologist type performance at the dinner table describing the state of his town.
This might be the big breakout role for John Goodman since this predates Raising Arizona. I doubt those early 80s soup commercials were his breakout role but they very well might have led directly to his being cast in this given how much American advertising played a role in shaping Byrne's vision.
This isn't the big musical movie event of the 80s (Prince's Purple Rain owns that title), but if you like offbeat comedies or movies with a strange feel about them like Jim Jarmusch, Alex Cox, Wim Wenders, David Lynch (only The Straight Story), this film feels at home in their company.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Did The Writer Play Too Many Video Games????
Chase scenes, chase scenes, chase scenes, chase scenes. Ridiculous device that creates time travel, new main character with as much personality as a video game character. In this, insert Indiana Jones who is like an annoying obstacle for the new characterto deal with along with the Nazis in this silly story.
Sprinkled into this lousy mess of ideas is tiny bits of nostalgia and little reminders that this is an Indiana Jones movie and not like watching someone playing a video game.
I hate it. I hate everything about it. I hate how movies like this show Hollywood's opinion of the movie going public. Especially in terms of intelligence. We're not all 6 year olds watching a fireworks display for the first time, you know. We need more than dazzling visuals and big noises to keep us engaged.
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
First of the goofy Bond movies
This is a tongue in cheek Bond movie and the first that drifts well into comedy at times. Previous Bond movies had some jokes in it but not quite like this. Diamonds Are Forever starts the trend with comedy that Moore's movies would carry on with. The humor peaked with Octopussy which is alot of fun for a Bond movie. It hasn't quite been as fun as that or this movie since. Given the direction of the franchise, they might as well go back to comedy.
Diamonds Are Forever has an interesting plot which strangely mirrors reality. Blofeld's plan to destroy nuclear weapons with a laser mounted on a satellite sounds alot like the Strategic Defense Initiative or Star Wars as the media coined it during the Reagan era. Only difference is the motive behind the use of the satellite. They also parodied Howard Hughes and the moon landing hoaxers. Who ever said conspiracy theories couldn't be good comedy?
This is a decent Bond movie that doesn't take itself so seriously which is probably why movies like this are beginning to age so well. Bond movies now go overboard (overbored is more like) with the drama which is making them heavy handed.
Every character is a little jokey. Even Charles Gray's Blofeld has a comedy line or two.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
For fans of the books
This really is the best Bond film if you liked the original novels and had they followed Thunderball with this one and starred Connery, no one would question its place among the Bond movies. Connery himself might have considered it his best outing in the role, then again maybe other aspects of the movie wouldn't have been better.
Peter Hunt does an exceptional job directing this movie and alot of the action scenes don't seem so static. Hunt uses closeups and really takes the viewer into alot of the scenes. This doesn't really happen often in the earlier movies. The series needed an updated look and filming style which it does have to go with the new actor in the role.
This was the Bond film I usually ignored when I was a kid (before the Brosnan and Craig movies, most of which i've still never seen) then I caught some of the action sequences like the ski chase while channel flipping. I was pulled in and watched it to the end. I suppose it's a little too meticulous setting things up in the first act but that's how the book is too.
The movie does offer much more for the actors to do instead of saying quips and playing with plastic gadgets. The latest Bond movie tries to follow this one's lead but drags out for almost 3 hours and is unwatchable. This shows why Ian Fleming was a better storyteller. Its a shame other Fleming novels weren't given such a faithful rendering. Some try to come close but mostly they copy the names and is light entertainment.
Burke's Law (1994)
Has the flavor of those newer Columbo episodes
Burke's Law was a 60s police detective series when it started out. First two seasons were anyway. The third season was a bizarre attempt to turn it into a Man From UNCLE type show. This reboot is a throwback to how the original show began. Burke is a swave and wealthy police captain who excels as a detective. That was the original series. Here, much of the work is not done by Amos Burke who by this time is a police chief.
The newer shows make me think ofn he Columbo reboot episodes more than the newer Perry Mason episodes. The format was always good. The writing is not quite up to the level of the original series but it is still pretty good. Recommend searching this one out. I didn't have the easiest time managing that.
Stealing Home (1988)
Two films in one.
This movie is at one time a coming of age drama and a story for those who go through a mid life crisis. It is not about a washed up ball player dealing with the end of one life and adjusting to another. This isn't Bull Durham in any way. Mark Hamon plays a guy who quit baseball before his prime and basically drifts for 14 years until he learns someone very important to him took her own life back where he grew up.
Half the story is flashbacks to memories of Katie played excellently by Jodie Foster and half is the story of Wyatt grown up (played equally well by Mark Harmon) figuring out what to do about Katie's ashes because she left the responsibility up to him in her will which in itself is a mystery since neither of them saw each other in nearly 15 years.
Stealing Home likely didn't appear in many theaters. It's not really for the 14 to 24 crowd. It did get alot of showings on cable when I was a kid. I vaguely related to having a Katie in my life growing up, but mostly I didn't understand or appreciate the story. Now that I'm middle aged and experienced the directionlessness after being defeated by some of life's challenges. I understand it better now and like it more.
Also I live about a 10 minute bike ride from where many of the flashback scenes were filmed. It also features a scene filmed at the Vet. Sure it ended up being a rathole but it is gone but not forgotten and still fondly remembered.
Harold Ramis, Jonathan Silverman and Blair Brown are also all excellent in the movie. Well acted with some light comedy (second city alumni wrote and directed it) but nothing too major.
Ciao Manhattan (1972)
Worn out and exhausted remains of the 1960s
This movie had a DVD release about 20 years ago and I highly recommend viewing this movie with the audio commentary because then it becomes a documentary about Edie Sedgwick. Without that commentary, you have a quasi drama(with a little sci fi) movie based around a fictionalized version of Edie Sedgwick. This character is burned out from the same setting but is living in an empty pool with a palace of pies owner for a mother. She recounts her life while showing off early breast implants much of the time. That's when the movie shifts to black and white archival footage. There's a rich and powerful shadowy figure stalking her. We never really know why. She has a love interest named America. Cant remember if that was Captain or Mr. A Jesus looking type character is the rich guy's henchman. The movie tries to be alot of things. Whatever plots they were trying to develop never really get resolved.
What we learn in the audio commentary is what the footage actually means regarding Edie Sedgwick. Roger Vadim has a role as a doctor because his mother was deeply enamored with Edie Sedgwick and wanted to be near her. Some footage from a gathering in '68 is significant because it shows Edie falling apart and this happened around the time she abandoned Andy Warhol for Bob Dylan. A betrayal Warhol never overcame.
Also they explain how much input Edie herself offers in the making of the film which is apparently alot including the filming of a real electroshock therapy session which she insisted be done.
We learn about other people always around Andy's Factory like Brigid Polk and other models. We also get more explanation of the story they were trying to tell.
I'd give this an 8 with audio commentary by the directors David Weissman and John Palmer and costar Wesley Hayes and a 6 without it. On its own, its just showing footage with a vague story tying it all together. I can see how so many viewers find the movie appalling given the fact that Edie died weeks after much of the later footage was shot but as they said in the commentary, making this movie kept her going. This was something she wanted to make and when it was just about finished, she was gone.
Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special (2022)
Just don't start here, ok?
You know it's a bad sign when people say a comedy special made them cry. Yes, this is Norm MacDonald doing a show (sort of) but it's like when I saw George Carlin perform live in Red Bank in 2007. Carlin walked on stage looking feeble with a script on a stool he used as a reference. The entire show ended up feeling like it was just a rehearsal for doing the show live as the HBO special the following March. Here, Norm MacDonald is basically practicing to do the show that would be the real special which he hoped to film. The timing is a little off. He has no audience to gauge the quality of one joke compared to another. Performers aren't born with the gift to be perfect every time they perform, it takes A LOT of preparation and hard work and this show is an example of that work and not Norm at his best during the real specials filmed
I feel like I have to make that point since Norm MacDonald was far more popular and nearly ubiquitous 25 to 30 years ago. A generation has grown up and another is growing up since then. If you are relatively uninitiated, this is not the place to start even if it is the one getting the most press.
All that said, it is nice seeing a hopeful Norm practicing his material and yes, it is poignant knowing he was doing this material while also facing such an ordeal like cancer. The value of work is it gives you purpose to keep fighting, otherwise you just rest and try not to think about being sick.
Potter (1979)
They have better known works anyway...
I seem to revisit the first two seasons of Potter alot. They have alot of comedy in them that is subtle and enjoyable. Its not a noisy laugh out loud type of sitcom like Fawlty Towers. It has moments of physical comedy but much of it is driven by dialogue.
The first two seasons are excellent but the third season loses me. The show was slated to start shooting but Arthur Lowe passed away a few months before they started. By that time, Harry Corbett who played the recurring role of ex gangster Harry Tombs passed away (he himself replaced Sydney Taftler in the role who had also passed away during the show's run) and they didn't bring back the character. Robin Bailey took over the role of Redvers Potter but the storylines ended up being mostly about just Potter and the Vicar getting Tolliver in trouble. Not only were these great actors gone but gone were some fresher ideas of where the story could go.
Its a clever show and well written. It is also a unique show in that British sitcoms mostly ignored older wealthy characters as featured centerpieces for a show. There is nothing young or trendy about Potter. Maybe thats why it's basically buried in the archives.
A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)
Jean Shepherd made it all look so easy and effortless
,but that is the mark of a brilliant entertainer with years of experience developing his talent. That is the real history of A Christmas Story. Yes, it has stories based on a collection of short stories but even they were written after decades of performing on stage, decades on the radio telling stories and even getting mentioned in Kerouac's On The Road (that angel headed hipster on the radio). How many hours did he spend in preparation for everything he did? Above all else, Jean Shepherd was a comedian. He knew how to get a laugh. Doing this movie without Jean Shepherd is like trying to make a pizza without dough. It is the movie no one asked for because of this.
The writing is the weakest thing about this film. Nick Schenk and Peter Billingsley havent published dozens of humorous stories and they are not comedians. Ralphie's asides all grown up are not even a fraction of the quality Shepherd offered in the first movie. The one thing that made My Summer Story worth sitting through was his narration. Here, they are dry observations instead of brilliant prose. No tapestries of obscenities or warm hot glow of electric sex beaming from windows. I can't really blame the writers. As I said Jean Shepherd was a legendary writer and performer. They're not and will never be in his league. Shepherd even turned up on a Charles Mingus album "The Clown". Served as inspiration for a stage character (Murray Burns in A Thousand Clowns), Lenny Bruce singled out one of the bits from a comedy album he did as being something that made HIM laugh. He was nearly 40 years into his career when A Christmas Story was produced. That followed over a decade of learning how to best infuse narration with images instead of crafting images in the reader and listener's minds. He had PBS shows like Jean Shepherd's America, Shepherd's Pie and several other early made for tv attempts to bring his short stories to life on the small screen. Who involved with this has a CV like this? He was a later day Mark Twain.
I knew this was going to be disappointing and it is. I give it 5 stars for nostaglia and because it makes me want to dig out those old radio shows based on Shep's Limelight performances.
I would rate this much higher if this movie were based on other stories Shepherd had written and DID NOT try to invent narration on the level he produced but simply quoted the text.
Arrested Development: Development Arrested (2006)
Perfect ending.
Arrested Development chronicles Michael Bluth's attempt tp keep the family together and their business alive despite his desperation to abandon them. The show goes all over the place but basically that's the premise and they repeated it often enough at the start of the show.
At some point you can't help people who only think of themselves while being incapable of helping themselves. Hence the lesson learned making this the real ending to this classic series.
What comes after season 3 is equal to Police Academy 7 Mission to Moscow, The Harlem Globtrotters on Gilligan's Island or Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love. Try to like those later seasons if you must but you know it's not the same.
Arrested Development (2003)
"What has gotten into you? Have you been eating cheese?"
10 stars belong to the Fox network run of the series. I still remember watching the debut season on Sunday evenings. The netflix reboot was just.........wrong and I knocked off 2 stars because it feels little more than a knock off than an actual continuation of the show. The reboot feels like there's 2/3rds less comedy in each episode compared to the shows in the first 3 seasons. Also, it does a really lousy job trying to pick things up years down the line. More clumsy than offbeat funny. They really could have done better. Maybe it tries too hard but its years too late, maybe it forgot the show had likable characters, maybe it was too busy trying to be a political allegory instead of being funny like, a sitcom. I guess it's true what they say about any art. You can't go back and pretend it's the same. Then again, there's a few netflix reboots that failed miserably after moving to that streaming service (Designated Survivor anyone??].
So the show has the appearance of a reality tv show/mockumentary about a rich family who ends up broke and mired in legal troubles. In the orginal run, it focused on the middle son of the family trying to keep the family and business going despite his desperation to abandon them. The show throws alot of comedic curves and stays fresh for awhile as things get more outlandish. I rank the oringal 53 episode run up there with Fawlty Towers considering the amount of jokes and gags stuffed into a single episode. It is incredible how much they got into one 23 minute episode. Its like a joke every 7 seconds and yet they still develop a story in that. Those first 3 seasons are the fastest feeling and most enjoyable binge watching experience of all time.
Arrested Development had a very strong cult following (sadly lousy ratings) hence its demand for a reboot but honestly the first 3 seasons are a perfect bookend. It ends where it begins under similar circumstances but with opposite resolutions. One can only do so much for people who only think of themselves but are still somehow incapable of helping themselves. That was the lesson learned and leaving it there was right.
If you only know the series from its initial 3 season 53 episode run but never got around to the 4th and 5th season netflix run, you aren't missing anything. They're forgettable. The reboot is like those Gilligan's Island movies after that show ended or the Revenge of the Nerds movies that never made it to theaters. The fast paced humor is gone, the story is a mess, the premise restated during the opening credits is abandoned and instead of the narration helping fuel comedy, it turns into boring exposition most of the time. Like the plot and existence of the characters alone is meant to be the joke and the show was always about black comedy which it never was (more of a screwball comedy than anything else). I question if anyone involved in the reboot really wanted to do it for more than just money.
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2005)
Bookends Albert Brooks' career as writer/director
Albert Brooks comes full circle as a star/writer/director with this movie. From playing a fictionalized caricture of himself in Real Life to playing a fictionalized caricature of himself in Looking For Comedy in the Muslim World. This even has Penny Marshall in the beginning like his '76 short film about a comedian school. Its been 17 years since this was released and Brooks is now in his mid 70s so I doubt he will labor to handle all three tasks again.
Brooks doesn't play as much of a caricature of himself in this movie compared to Real Life and thats for the best. He is playing someone who is a fish out of water instead of someone who is comically tone deaf while being in over his head.
Brooks' comedy is driven by dry humor and subtle scenes that catch you off guard with the humor. Its almost like they aren't intended to make you laugh, you just do anyway. Subtle humor is less appreciated now with attention spans about as long as short hairs but if you give yourself time to pay attention instead of waiting to react, then you will like this movie.
The plot is about Brooks being tasked by the state department to find out what makes Muslims (and Hindis too as it turns out) laugh and it centers around the performing of a standup act. It is a product of its time ("Wars on Terror") which dates it but I found it enjoyable enough. Deserved kudos for not being particularly offensive too. There is a subtle line there that does not get crossed. Some looking for reasons to be angry might try to find something they consider wrong in this picture but that's more on them and not the movie.
As I said, this is somewhat dated and it surprisingly coincides with the actual increased tensions between India and Pakistan that occurred in the 2000s. I cant remember the exact year their strained relations made international news but i know it was before 2008. This film is also daring for American audiences considering 9/11 happened only a few years earlier and Bush's wars were raging upon its release. I can imagine war hawks hating this movie for one reason and anti war zealots hating it for other reasons and the rest who dont like it never were fans of subtle humor to begin with. I personally just think of comedy when watching a comedy and find this to be pure Brooks. It is even the theatrical debut of some of his vintage standup material. It isn't his best work but alot better than the reception it got and rating it has. People treat it like it's as lousy as the love guru.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Not as good when revisited
Once the novelty of seeing Michael Keaton playing someone who played a superhero un the movies wears off, there is not too much more this film has to offer. It's worth to see Michael Keaton's performance and he is mostly why this still gets a positive rating.
The story is about an actor seeking to find his true identity as a performer, father and husband after learning he has been a bit of a caricature of all three most of his adult life. The story ends up being mostly about self acceptance and it doesn't offer much beyond just that. The subplots are forgettable and frankly, most stories revolving around the theater are pretty boring.
There are some darkly comic moments but not enough. I watched this again for the first time in years and I felt like i was watchung something that wasn't fleshed out and fully realized as a compelling story. It's unfortunate. Still, 7 stars for Michael Keaton. He clearly was playing someone he wasn't despite playing an actor. Or I should say he is a good actor playing one who isn't so good.
D.O.A. (1988)
So much soap opera....
This was the first version of DOA I saw. Mainly because cable beat it to death when I was a kid. I have since seen the original which was a straight up film noir mystery. About covering up the sale of stolen uranium. That is definitely a product of its time with atomic warfare on people's minds once the USSR stole how to make such a bomb. The story was going to need to be updated which it is but how ridiculous can it get?
Basically the plot is about a college student who all these women are in love with and his college assignment which is a 400 page novel every9ne except his professor read. The story instead of becoming more suspensful as the mystery unravels grows dull and very very boring and there is not much mystery either. In the original, the story becomes very involved following one plotline before it diverts at tue very end. This version wanders and focuses on someone else's death before reaching the big reveal in the end. Looking back, i think I watched this because Quaid played his character like he was offbeat funny. A drunken writer who lost his touch and never bothered to try and recover it. A common story of all creative people once they reach middle age and begin to doubt themselves after making some clunkers as life becomes more complicated with age. I like that the main character was someone more interesting than a notary with a love interest but the reason for his murder is no less trivial.
It is well acted and I imagine all the actors involved got a kick out of doing a film noir which got to be very common in the 80s. Several remakes like this and a few originals like Fatal Attraction and Grifters were popping up quite a bit. This era even produced the Chinatown sequel.
I suppose I just don't buy the plot or some college student generating so much interest without doing very much to prove it at that stage of his academic career. Why did who read the book bother reading it in the first place? That was too random and outlandlish to be believed. Why did this writer manage to have so many conveniently vital affairs to further the narrative? It tries to have a sort of Chinatown type plot twist in the middle. Maybe if the student's character were better developed it might be more interesting. Instead, the big surprise in the end doesn't make too much sense to me because it isn't believable.
Saturday Night Live: Dave Chappelle/Black Star (2022)
Alot of burned cookies
..over Dave Chappelle allegedly going rogue with his opening monologue. Kudos to him for reminding anyone who still bothers to watch SNL that words aren't assault weapons. They are words. We don't have to give them power or weight if we choose not to. It is our business to listen or ignore them. Did anyone not make it to Sunday morning's sunrise after Dave Chappelle opened his mouth on national TV? No one was harmed? Imagine that. People sure do act like they were legitimately threatened or is it just in their mind? Then maybe the people screaming bloody muder over sentences uttered in a comical way should get a life and find something better to do with their time and money instead of pretending words actually harm people. They don't. They never will. If you want to come across as deranged thinking in such a way then keep it to yourselves. I know the arguement is that harmful language can damage mental health and yet, the more concern over language, the worse mental health is becoming. Dramatically worse in the last 5 years alone. Imagine that...As they used to say in the 70s when this show really meant something "F---'em if they cant take a joke". The them is anyone who gives comedians additional celebrity status by being outraged over the words they say. Again, get a life and SNL still needs a better writing staff. This season has been dreck so far.
Bone (1972)
Clever way to make a point
Social commentary today in entertainment is an insult to the audience. There is no art behind the way the messaging comes across. Now you will see literal lectures on the screen and be bored out of your mind until you change the channel. Ths movie is the opposite to that approach.
The point of the movie is the final scene where the couple's conflict reaches its conclusion. I for one think the woman is insane the entire film and Joyce Van Pattan is great at playing characters who are somewhat off. Also, the film gets a little hallucinatory which adds to how the story takes place. Alot of it is like a deranged dream.
The resson I watched this is Yaphet Kotto who is great in anything he did. He isn't the straight man in a comedy (like Midnight Run) he is simply part of it. The role is such a change of pace from what he would be later known for (personally that's the movie I mentioned and 7 seasons of H:LOTS) that this is a real treat to watch.
Also it is entertaining as an offbeat black comedy. So few in comedy understood how to manage creating dark humor, but Larry Cohen wasn't one of them. There is just enough humor to lighten the seriousness of the content. I think I would show this movie to a class to so they can see how it is done right.
This is a 70s movie of course so the pacing is a bit slow, that can take a little getting used to but it's worth it.
The Squeeze (1987)
Meat Loaf is as menacing as, well, meat loaf...
This is an 80s action movie with a clunky plot about rigged lotteries. I put this in the same class as Jumpin Jack Flash. Both are mid 80s action comedies with clunky plots. They have no flow at all causing the movie to stall at times. That gets tedious. That's when you start noticing how your butt is getting numb in tue seat and the mind starts to wander like wondering if you should bother going to the bathroom or what you will eat later. Your mind looks for something, anything more interesting than what you are seeing.
The unintentional comedy in this flick is Meat Loaf's portrayal of a mute psychopathic henchman. He manages the facial expressions and all but just being ugly doesn't make you a convincing bad guy. I think if he played it as someone trying to be friendly, it would have been 10 times more creepy and effective. He doesn't ruin the movie but he makes me laugh just looking at him. I think he was trying to be a little like Hugh Keays-Byrne in Mad Max with the staring.
Michael Keaton is great in just about everything and he would go on to do better work. Rae Dawn Chong unfortunately is mostly only remembered for movies of this caliber because she didn't get too many leading roles later in her career. She is good in this. Actually, the overall cast is pretty good but I dont know, the script or directing or both fail in a major way.