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Reviews
The Smell of Success (2009)
Avoid like The Plague
I just had to turn this off after 20 minutes or so. Unbelievably bad. And as one reviewer pointed out, about half the dialogue is puns on manure and excrement. Also, most of the outdoor scenes look horribly artificial, like a bad B-movie (and even though this was intentional in a way, it's still terrible to look at and undermines whatever attempt at realism/credibility the film is making). Cannot understand how they assembled such a decent cast for such a horrible piece of ... (insert fecal term of choice) And I'm not just hatchet-jobbing the film because it's so bad, I was just wishing afterwards that someone has warned me off it. Even liking Billy Bob Thornton and Tea Leoni (spelling?) didn't help at all. I actually felt sorry and embarrassed for them! That's how bad this was. Too bad.
A Lovely Way to Die (1968)
You've got to be kidding me
Cheesy does not even begin to describe it. Some of the most wooden acting and clunkiest dialogue I have ever experienced. It's actually like a Carry On film without the laughs. Not that Kirk Douglas has a cast-iron reputation as a discerning, talented actor, but his appearance in this is just embarrassing. Likewise Eli Wallach. Then there's this plinky-plonky music running along through many scenes, often totally at odds with the mood and images images it accompanies. Add to this some very weird editing and timing. People laugh (at things that are not remotely funny) or respond to things that are said a second too late. And I know it's of its time etc., but the women in the film are all such bimbos and doormats that even I as a man found it offensive at times. Not even "so bad it's good". Just brutal.