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MrPunch
Reviews
Pacific Heights (1990)
Attack of the stupid people
Don't be one of them. Don't be one of the stupid people. Don't rent or buy or watch this film. I suppose there are worse films, but very few spring to mind.
The entire premise assumes you were born yesterday and remain ignorant of human behavior or common sense. I'd go on about the plot or the performances, but it's just one contrivance after another that leaves the viewer frustrated and angry at the characters (ALL of them) not to mention the director.
By the end you don't care who lives or dies, as long as it ENDS.
There are a lot of ways to spend your time. Don't waste it here!
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)
Funny in a stupid sort of way
OK, I saw this in the theaters when it came out and I don't know why. I haven't seen it since, but I ended up on this page because I found myself thinking about this film - again I don't know why. But the fact that I remember it speaks volumes.
Comedy is hard - much harder than any drama. Doing it right makes it seem easy, but doing it wrong ... is there anything worse than a bad comedy? Steve Martin, pay attention, you are falling in this category again for some reason.
Elvira Mistress Of The Dark must have done it right for me to remember this movie fondly. Done at a quick pace, with tongue in cheek and knowing it isn't the Philedelphia Story, it entertains from start to finish. Brain Donors is another that fits right in this category (sans most of the gratuitous boob jokes).
One point of contention - the ending. It seems the writers/director had no idea how to finish a comedy. The ending tries to be a love story, somewhat undermining the quirky fast-paced dialogue up to that point. Then there is the "tassle" scene. Whereas this has to be seen (male opinion), it is so over the top and out of place it's like a shock. One more rewrite for the ending was needed.
This is not comedy genius like Spinal Tap or The Producers or The Holy Grail. But if you don't try to dissect it and just let the puns and sappy fun come to you, you'll laugh, I guarantee it.
Twelfth Night or What You Will (1996)
Almost perfect
From a Shakespearean Comedy point of view, this film is unbeatable. Beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, brilliantly conceived. It's hard to be critical of any part of this marvelous film.
I use this film, along with Julie Taymor's "Titus", to introduce people to Shakespeare. Yes, there are two problems - one short but necessary stretch that is too wordy, and the final humiliation scene of Malvolio that is played too seriously - but the film wins every other moment.
I continue to marvel at Ben Kingsley. Here he plays Feste as if he is watching the play unfold with you, even has he participates in it. His whimsy is palpable, and you can't take your eyes off him. His songs might be the high point of the film.
No, you won't believe the plot. I don't think Shakespeare ever thought someone would believe it. It's a comedy. Just go along with it, let it charm you. You won't be disappointed. I give it a 9.8, but have to round up to 10. What a lovely film!
Mononoke-hime (1997)
Beautiful Masterpiece
There is almost competition to "one-up" each other in reviews, trying to find new and greater hyperbole. But the fact is that two simple words describe this movie: Beautiful, and Masterpiece.
Both words get thrown around and it tends to cheapen them, but they are the best words to describe this film. Here the master craftsman has created his greatest piece (amazingly equaled by his next, Spirited Away). And it is beautiful.
The story reaches the viewer on many levels... forcing one to see each of the many points of view conflicting the story. The Forest Gods are dying off as the Iron Age takes over, as it must. Do they go to war because they have no hope, or because they must? The Iron Town must destroy the Forest Gods and use the environment if the people are to prosper in the evolving civilization. Do they kill because they are defending their way of life, just as the Forest Gods are? The Emperor wants eternal life, something that only the head of the Great Forest Spirit can give. Aren't the bounty hunters looking to kill the Great Forest Spirit just doing their jobs? In the end, war only brings death, and nobody is satisfied with what it brings. Only through co-operative rebuilding will anyone prosper. That is the final message. And it is beautiful.
Twister (1996)
How in the world did this happen?
Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, Phillip Seymore Hoffman in a Michael Crichton script, and it is one of the worst films ever made.
I wasted my money on this garbage when it was new and in the theaters, and I'm still mad about the lost time. I could have had a nap, or read a book, or perhaps just sat on the floor staring into space. I want my time back!
Here is how you can test your IQ... Watch this film. If you are insulted, your IQ is at least average. If you like it, you are an idiot that thinks anything is entertaining.
IF you are going to try to outrun a tornado, do you get out of a perfectly working vehicle (which probably has a top speed of 80MPH) to run on foot (roughly 10 MPH)? Do you really think someone could get close enough to a tornado to throw a bottle at it?
This movie is insultingly stupid. The dialog is awful, the plot inane, and the "special" effects (although well done) just plain stupid. Worst of all, it wastes a potentially great cast.
AVOID!!!!!
The Taming of the Shrew (1976)
Shakespeare for the people
It was this performance that sparked my interest in Shakespeare. I don't quite know any higher compliment I can give it. I was 11 or 12 at the time, and Shakespeare was foreign to me despite being the same basic language, yet here it was, so live and real.
I haven't given it 10 of 10 merely because of its slight shortcomings within the medium. This show was for a live audience, and was filmed for television, not made for television. It's simplicity is charming, though.
It works. Watch this show and see what Shakespeare should be. I only wish I could have been there live to see it!
ADDITIONAL NOTE: Now that I've read the other reviews, I find it fascinating that everyone has the same comment that they remember it from 20+ years ago!
Be Cool (2005)
A series of unfortunate decisions
What went wrong here? The first film, Get Shorty, was such a great film. How could they copy it and miss so badly? First off, the casting was all wrong. Other than Travolta as Chili Palmer, virtually the entire cast needs to be shuffled or recast.
1) Killing James Woods in the first scene just for a joke about killing the main character in the first scene? Giving a 50+ movie exec (Woods) Uma Thurman for a wife and then making him not care? I'm sorry, if you have Uma Thurman as your wife, you care! Joan Allen or Mary Steenburgen - beautiful in their own right, no doubt - would have been the better choice. At least then Woods could be fooling around with younger women.
2) Harvey Keitel is seated throughout the majority of the movie, and isn't menacing. He should have been the killer, or James Woods.
3) Sim's gang is comedy relief. They are the only real threat in the movie, and the comedy undermines the tension.
4) The killer doesn't have any real mobster intimidation in him. His eating was a distraction. Yeah, he had to choke on the sandwich, but come on! There was nothing about this guy that made me think he was a professional killer.
5) The Rock was merely a parody of himself. Why was he part of the plot then? Lastly, the movie is called "Be Cool." The whole point is for Travolta to be keeping his cool while others are losing theirs. He seemed bored, not intrigued. There were few believable threats. His scenes with Uma Thurman were tepid at best. This movie could have been done so much better. It entertained on the surface level, but not much more. Some funny parts, but on the whole it didn't deliver.
House M.D. (2004)
A great show despite the formula
Gregory House is Hugh Laurie. The show "House" is Hugh Laurie. Don't think it is anything else. Most TV shows, especially dramas, cannot succeed being built around just one performer or character, but here you have one of the few exceptions.
Take away Hugh Laurie and put in just about anyone else, and what do you have? A Medical Whodunnit with Archetypical characters played by chesty females and young good looking men, held together by an unlikable cur that tries to use sarcasm for wit. Hardly groundbreaking television.
But Hugh Laurie makes this show work. In a generation of American Culture where sarcasm seems to be the only available comedic form, it's amazing work for Laurie to bring Dr. House to life when sarcasm and brutal honesty seem to be his only available means of communication.
This is not to say that Lisa Edelstein, Omar Epps, and Robert Sean Leonard do substandard work - they're all proved actors who provide solid characters here - but Laurie is the only one able to truly rise above the typecasting: Black doctor, pretty doctor, rich kid doctor, only friend, concerned administrator...
Then there is the formula scripting (although they do break once in awhile). Patient falls sick suddenly and is rushed to hospital; first diagnosis is wrong, commercial, next diagnosis is wrong, commercial, next diagnosis will kill patient if it is wrong - patient lives but diagnosis is wrong, commercial, last diagnosis saves patient after last clue is uncovered, run credits. In the meantime there is much hand wringing, angsting loved ones who must be informed why House hasn't seen the patient, and the humorous clinic visits where House makes outrageous comments and conclusions.
All this sounds like a negative review. It's not. I don't know how, but it always pulls me in. Make no mistake though, House is Hugh Laurie. This is Emmy deserving work, by an under-appreciated actor.