matusekpres Reviews

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

"Candid Camera" stunt

[2/10 · 8 July 2004]

To call this a "documentary" is an insult to Robert Flaherty

("Nanook of the North," "Man of Aran," "Louisiana Story"), Per

Lorentz ("The Plow That Broke the Plains," "The River"), and Basil

Wright ("Night Mail"). Michael Moore is a Yasser-Arafat-lookalike

who claims to empathize with "the little people," but who actually

uses his "Candid Camera" stunts to express his sneering

condescension toward the American "common man." We need a

satirist on a par with Preston Sturges to skewer Moore's

self-importance and the faddish approval bestowed upon him by

the glitterati who wallow in Stalinist nostalgia. By the way, I am an

Individualist-Anarchist in the nonviolent tradition of Montaigne,

Henry David Thoreau, Dwight Macdonald & James T. Farrell -- so I

did not vote for Bush.

One, Two, Three (1961)

Was there ever a faster-paced comedy?

[10/10 · 26 March 2003]

Cagney is dazzling as a fast-talking Coca-Cola representative in Berlin. This Wilder film ranks with the best of the fast-paced comedies of Preston Sturges and Howard Hawks. From what I've read, Cagney and Wilder did not get along very well while making the film, but whatever tension there was between them did not detract from the creation of a collaborative masterpiece.

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943)

One of the most hilarious films

[10/10 · 26 March 2003]

Any 15 minutes of this masterpiece has more laughs than any 15 hours of today's comedies! I can't wait for it come out on DVD (it is due out in June 2003 -- with, as one of its bonus supplements, an interview with the late Eddie Bracken -- Preston's son, Tom Sturges, assures me that it is a wonderful interview).

Sullivan's Travels (1941)

Where, o brother, art thou?

[9/10 · 26 March 2003]

This is a real film buff's film, but I'd downgrade it a notch (9 out of

my usual 10 for a Sturges film) because the ending is a tad

sentimental -- that reprise of the laughing chain gang convicts -- a

little too close to Capracorn. "Christmas in July" shows that

Sturges can handle sentiment unsentimentally. But "Sullivan's

Travels" is a wonderful film. And it contains one of my favorite

lines -- William Demarest excitedly proclaims that "...it'll put

Shakespeare back with the shipping news!" In college, literature

profs try to brainwash us into regarding tragedy as more profound

than comedy -- might I suggest that Preston Sturges wrote better

dialogue than Shakespeare?

Christmas in July (1940)

A treat any time of the year.

[10/10 · 26 March 2003]

Could this be one of Preston Sturges's most profound comedies?

In addition to being one of the funniest and most underappreciated. In "Sullivan's Travels," Preston Sturges has the

Joel McCrea character speak admiringly of fellow director Frank

Capra. In "Christmas in July" possibly Sturges was trying to teach

Capra how to handle sentiment without falling into sentimentality --

the scene where Dick Powell is handing out presents to his

neighbors, and he gives a doll to a crippled girl in a wheelchair --

a remarkably tender moment in the midst of a hectic scene -- done

with just the right touch, One of my favorite lines occurs when

bug-eyed Raymond Walburn sarcastically tells contest-winner

Powell, "I can't wait to give you my money!" Sturges also shows

that you can have plot complications without resorting to villains --

no Capraesque class warfare here -- rich and poor are equally

lovable -- even gruff William Demarest.

Live Nude Girls (1995)

Kim Cattrall always rates a 10!!!

[10/10 · 20 February 2003]

Some films defy carping criticism. With a cast such as this film boasts, all 30+ beauties, plot and technique become as irrelevant as Hans Blix. Kim Cattrall (a certified goddess), Cynthia Stevenson, Dana Delaney, ...etc... -- what a feast for the eyes -- I'd watch them taking turns reading the phone book!