Great video record of a great musical. Tom Key and the bluegrass backing band are great in this video recording of a 1985 performance. Key is an energetic and versatile performer who plays the narrator (Matthew) as well as many various roles. The songs are catchy, funny, and even emotionally moving at times. These are some of the best and last songs written by the late Harry Chapin. They'll get stuck in your head. CPG is enjoyable regardless of your religious beliefs. If you're not Christian, don't let the subject matter scare you away, the show is not preachy. It's a funny and satisfying Southern translation of a great story whether you view it as the gospel or history. Some ultra-conservatives might find it offensive however. The show's not afraid to poke fun at some sacred cows. I wish it was available on DVD.
Reviews
4 Reviews
The Missionary
(1982)
Not so funny as it is charming
10 October 2003
I won't detail the plot as that's been covered rather extensively in the other comments. If you refrain from expecting a Monty Python movie, you'll find it much easier to enjoy The Missionary. It's not a Python movie. It's not outrageously funny though it does have some very funny moments, some hilarious. Most of the humor however is much more subtle, possibly too much so for many viewers. A great cast.
The Talented Mr. Ripley
(1999)
Read the book instead
13 September 2003
Warning: Spoilers
POSSIBLE SPOILERS: Simply put... If you enjoyed the book or its sequels, avoid this movie at all costs. The story is basically the same, but Minghella changed the most important details and to its detriment. In the book, Ripley is a con man and sociopath whose jealousy of Dickie Greenleaf's life leads him to murder him and take on his identity. In the movie, Ripley is a poor boy who lusts after Dickie, accidentally causes his death, and happens to take on his identity. To change the motivation for the murder and to change the murder from premeditative to accidental is to completely change the nature of the title character, and in the process sever the movie's most basic and essential connection to the book upon which it is based. If Minghella disliked the book so much, he shouldn't have taken on the project in the first place. At the very least he should have changed the title and character names as was the case with "Simon Birch" which was very loosely adapted from the novel A Prayer For Owen Meany. Visually the film is beautiful. Many of the performances are good to great. Jude Law and Philip Seymour Hoffman for example are perfectly cast. Matt Damon is not. He tries, but ultimately fails. Damon is a decent enough actor with some potential, but he is way out of his depth here. The character is more complex than he is capable of playing. This wouldn't be such a problem if he weren't playing the title character. So if you like the book, avoid this faux adaptation and see "Purple Noon" instead.
Insomnia
(1997)
brilliant and moody
22 June 2002
Brilliant, moody, a bit creepy. A noirish thriller. Stellan Skarsgard gives a wonderfully subtle performance in the lead role of a Swedish police detective suffering from sleep deprivation while on assignment in Norway. Stylistically the director and cinematographer effectively recreate the alienated and somewhat hallucinatory feeling of being sleep deprived and in a foreign country. There's more to the story of course, but to reveal those details would spoil the surprises. Be warned, if you like your movie heroes uncomplicated then stay away from "Insomnia".
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