Pythius Reviews

Clueless (1995)

Hilarious satire

[9/10 · 19 November 1998]

Hilarious adaptation of Jane Austen's "Emma" to the screen in the context of spoiled Beverly Hills girls, Cher and Dionne. This is the film that made Alicia Silverstone a star and it is easy to see why. Silverstone practically makes the character her own, which may be a worry considering its nature, and this could explain why the subsequent sitcom didn't rate nearly as highly. Amy Heckerling, writer and director, skilfully pokes fun at the various stereotypes evident in Beverly Hills culture, at the same time as encouraging the audience to retain sympathy with the main characters, however spoiled they may appear to be. Like Emma, Cher is honest and reliable, despite her faults, and she is seen to have good intentions at heart. This is partly what makes us sympathetic to her boy and friend troubles. Using constant cultural references ("Baldwins", "Friends of Dorothy" etc) Heckerling's script roots itself in its own generation, which may hamper its becoming a classic, but it is doubtful that that was ever the intention anyway. The film is backed up by a bright soundtrack, mirrored by the colourful mise en scene. It never, despite the high drama, seems to rain much in Cher's world. The colours and styles of the fashions, often an integral theme, seem to be burlesques of actual fashions although, in all likelihood, they are quite earnest. Silverstone is backed up by a truly talented support cast, including the always engaging Breckin Meyer and Stacey Dash, who's Dionne always perfectly complements Silverstone's Cher. Also featured is a superb performance by Justin Walker as Cher's would-be boyfriend and it's a bit surprising that he hasn't gone further based on his effort here. All in all, "Clueless" is an engaging and genuinely hilarious film, which, with "Reality Bites" and "Empire Records" could well become earmarked as a symbol of its decade.

Blue Heelers (1994–2006)

Well-crafted and intriguing

[18 November 1998]

Genuinely intriguing long-running series about a police station in a small country town. Consistently good writing and acting helped to make "Blue Heelers" one of the best and most-watched homegrown dramas on Australian television, arguably spawning other admirable programs such as "water Rats" and "Murder Call" (all three were and are made by Hal McElroy (spelling?) productions). "Blue Heelers" utilised the careers of well-established actors (John Woods and Martin Sachs) at the same time as providing a head start for less well-known but still talented actors (Grant Bowler, Lisa McCune, Tasma Walton etc.). Genuinely three dimensional character writing helped avoid the cliche saccharine nature too common to the genre, all of the characters can be seen to be realistic, they all have their faults and personal obstacles. Although it can be quite often seen to be a little unrealistic, why should a town as small as Mt. Thomas have so much crime and intrigue??, this is easily forgivable as the viewer gets immersed in the storyline. "Blue Heelers" utilises the continually evolving sub-plot to further distance itself from the routine one-case-an-episode formula. Will PJ and Maggie ever get together? What about Dash and her fight against breast cancer etc. The characters have also established themselves with the Australian public as a source of concern. The higher rating episodes have been those involving major life changes for the main characters, recently Maggie's struggle with her heroin addicted brother and Nick Schultz's departure from the show. I would argue, that, had the series not been so well-constructed, this phenomenon would not be in evidence.

Batman & Robin (1997)

Pathetic waste of time

[1/10 · 4 October 1998]

"Batman Forever" was bad. This, unfortunately, is much worse. It is hard, when attempting a serious critique of a film of such low-calibre, to know where to start when picking out its faults. Certainly the script is terrible. Over these last two movies in the series, the scriptwriting has undergone a dramatic decline from the quality of the first two, largely (if not entirely) due to the influence of Akiva Goldsman. Here the one-liners come thick and fast and not one of them is worth repeating. The narrative is extremely poorly formed and there are many loose ends jumps in logic as to the devolving relationship between the title characters. Particularly, the character of Poison Ivy makes absolutely no sense, at least that I can fathom. Robin comes across as a spoiled brat and Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr Freeze merely defies description as possibly THE worst Batman villain on the screen. George Clooney is new to the cape and seems to be lost in trying to find his own way of translating the character. Not to worry, if this is the standard of quality, there hopefully won't be a fifth film. Chris O'Donnell plays a marvellously annoying Robin, but it is quite arguable as to whether this was intended of indeed, whether O'Donnell is acting at all. Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy at least tries hard in the role, but not even Thurman can pull off the snake-headed flowers and emerge unscathed. Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, I suspect, would have maintained a better handle on the role if only it were better developed and her second side not introduced so late in the film. Indeed, this lack of character development is any many ways the major problem with the script. We know, from Batman mythology, that the characters of Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze and Two-Face (from "Batman Forever") are all intricate character with their own storylines and sympathetic sides. This is totally ignored in this film in deference to the implausible and uninteresting stunts. Schumacher has tried to play the action card upon us once again and has failed miserably, where in "Batman Forever" it was probably the saving grace. Schumacher's revamped Gotham is truly hideous and impractical to say the least and the observatory itself is quite quite exquisitely awful. I would recommend this film only to budding film-makers not only as a dystopic view on how films should NOT be made but also as a lesson in how much advertising and hype can shield the public from actual quality

The Last Days of Disco (1998)

Witty stylish comedy

[10/10 · 22 September 1998]

Don't be deceived by the title. The Last Days of Disco is essentially an incidental theme to Stillman's third film, the plotline really revolves around young Americans falling in and out of love at the same time as commenting on the various mores of their social set. The film is heavily laced with irony, as is typical to Stillman's other films "Metropolitan" and "Barcelona". Again, many of the jokes and humour will pass over the heads of some people unfamiliar with Stillman's style but it is well worth sticking out and/or viewing again. Stillman's obvious fondness for snobbery in modern American society is matched by his sharp perception. This third in an often (and perhaps erroneously) claimed trilogy examines the context of the club-going social set in the early eighties, unlike "Metropolitan" which examined the debutante set and "Barcelona" which was rooted in foreign perception of American culture. All are set in the early Eighties and make particular reference to those times. In this film, in particular, spot the many Disney references and the folly of the "Railway Apartments". The film has a very glossy look to it, especially in the actual disco, and this draws clever comparison to the later scenes in the characters house, where affluence (or lack thereof) is denoted by the mise en scene. The film's soundtrack is excellent, featuring many forgotten disco hits. Kate Beckinsdale and Matt Keeslar deliver outstanding performances in their roles with Chloe Sevigny and Chris Eigeman providing their usual excellent work.

The Game (1997)

Stylish but flawed

[6/10 · 22 September 1998]

Stylishly directed by David Fincher in a very convincing modern-day film noir mode. Plot is genuinely intriguing but takes a long time to gain any momentum at all. Ending is a real let-down particularly when an obvious window was there for a more intriguing and intelligent conclusion, although I suspect that popular tastes are the cause of this problem. Penn and Unger are good but Douglas as the lead character gives a rather lackluster performance that could easily have been put together from bytes from his other films.

Barcelona (1994)

Excellent, perceptive.

[9/10 · 19 September 1998]

This film is probably the best of Stillman's to date. It has a tongue-in-cheek humour rarely seen in mainstream films and despite being a comedy does at least examine the serious issue of American perceptions in foreign countries. Stillman presents all side of the issue fairly and although, heavily fictionalised, the audience is still left to decide for themselves about the perceived American arrogance in Spain. I recognise that Stillman often comes across as being too-clever, and this alienates some viewers but their is a definite mind-set there and one well worth getting into. Stillman seems to use a complex system of irony and self-reflexive humour to get his point across and I personally would consider him to be amongst the greatest of cinema auteurs.