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Reviews
At the Circus (1939)
Better to watch clips on You Tube
Yes, it is a joy to see Groucho sing "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" -- and he has some good scenes with Eve Arden and Margaret DuMont, but the other songs are insipid -- and the rest of the film is run-of-the-mill Saturday matinee quality. (Chico's piano performance is fun -- and Harpo's rendition of Blue Moon on the harp is also first rate -- but I am sure these clips can be found without having to sit through the rest of the movie.) "Lydia" is a work of genius -- but "Two Blind Loves" is beneath the talents of Harburg and Arlen. And finally, any film that relies on a guy in a gorilla suit for laughs -- or shooting Margaret DuMont out of a cannon -- is not high comedy. Kids will enjoy it.
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
This film is a car chase looking for a plot
This is a truly silly film. John Turturro turns in a great performance, because he always does. Willem Dafoe is wasted. The script is embarrassingly bad -- the sort of script that a couple of high school kids might put together if they were writing a story about some really bad guys. The car chase is great for what it is, but at bottom it's a thrill ride in the middle of a movie about bad guys. There are some truly laughable nude scenes -- as though Friedkin decided that he needed to flash a picture of Willem Dafoe's butt or a quick boob shot every half hour or so. Plus some flickering flames and torrid glances. Please. As someone else wrote, the key characters appear to be the world's dumbest counterfeiters and law enforcement agents. But maybe they're just written that way. It's an OK film to watch while you're doing something else. It's 37 years old this year. It does not hold up well.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
This is a truly silly film
This film is based on a graphic novel and looks and feels like a comic book. It is still amusing enough -- and the concept is fun. But the story line is still pretty much full of hokum, the stuff of Saturday kids' matinees. In fact, it reminded me of some of the films I used to see at Saturday matinees. Not high art, but OK if you are watching it while doing something more edifying. Oh -- and Sean Connery talks just like Darrell Hammond.
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
This is an insipid film
Yes, Shirley Maclain is cute, and Mildred Natwick.and Edmund Gwenn turn in nice performances -- and the scenery is pretty -- but the script is truly inane and John Forsyth's character is ridiculous. Perhaps if the film were truly funny, it might succeed as a farce. But it is not terribly funny, and so it doesn't succeed. Watch it for 15 minutes to see Shirley Maclaine's first appearance on the screen -- and Jerry Mathers as a very little kid -- and then move on. For my money, it is the worst Hitchcock film I have ever seen.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
This movie does not hold up over time
The performers are terrific -- and it is great to see Buster Keaton, even in this tiniest of roles, but it is hard to see how this film could be produced today. Slavery (Roman or otherwise) just isn't funny. Old guys ogling young women can't help but invoke thoughts of Harvey Weinstein and. Jeffrey Epstein, and it is hard to laugh at jokes about rape and pillage and war at the same time that the Russians are laying waste to Ukraine. There are some good jokes here and there -- and the songs are good, even if they did scrap most of the Broadway score -- but too much of the film is given over to slapstick comedy. This film feels as old as it is and it's cringe-worthy. I give it 5 stars because Zero Mostel is a genius performer, as is Jack Gilford. Phil Silvers always overplayed -- but here it works, because the show is a burlesque. And, as noted, it is good to see Buster Keaton, even though he was at the end of his life when the film was made. I have seen the musical twice - once on Broadway (with Nathan Lane) and once in England -- and neither production made me cringe, but this film makes clear that Hollowood in 1966 was clueless.
Galaxy Quest (1999)
One of the great comic films of all time -- with a terrific cast
This is a remarkable, intelligent, and very funny film -- and you don't have to be a former Trekkie to enjoy it. And -- once having seen it -- you can be dropped into any scene a decade later -- any scene -- and it will be just as good as the first time you saw it. And it has a story to tell. Tim Allen is terrific -- but so is every member of the cast.
Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)
An Excruciatingly Bad Film
I loved Pitch Perfect -- but this film is a huge disappointment. There are a few decent laughs, but the musical numbers are overproduced and bombastic, and the script is simple minded and simply bad. I was embarrassed for the actors. This was a huge waste of some major talents and a missed opportunity to build on the themes that made the original film popular. If you liked Pitch Perfect, stay away from this film. If you did not like Pitch Perfect, you will not like this film either. If you never saw Pitch Perfect, go watch it and forget this film. Do not be fooled by teasers promising performances by serious a cappella groups like Pentatonix. They get only a few seconds of screen time -- It hurts to watch this film.
Hoosiers (1986)
A terrific film
This film has great heart. Gene Hackman turns in a great performance, as does Dennis Hopper. Having grown up in Indiana, and having been part of more than one caravan to watch a high school basketball game, I know of no film that captures the heart and spirit of the Midwest -- let alone Hoosier basketball -- like Hoosiers. One sign of a great film is the ability to drop in at any time and be absorbed in the film. This is such a film. And yes, it's about a lot more than basketball. It's about new beginnings and overcoming hardship and adversity and second chances -- and in that respect it is a quintessentially American film. It's worth revisiting every NCAA season.
Cold Comfort Farm (1968)
Dreadful
While there are some strong performances, the crude production values and chaotic direction make this show truly painful to watch. Zooming the lens in and out "real fast" is the sort of thing people did with Super 8 cameras 45 years ago, but it was hardly funny then and is sort of pathetic today. The later film is, by contrast, a real pleasure. Much of the 1968 production calls to mind Monty Python at their worst, which puts to question what it is trying to achieve. We could not make it past the first of the three episodes. There are some solid acting performances (Alistair Sims is terrific, and Sarah Badel does a fine job) -- which is the only reason I have not given this film an "awful" rating. It is, however, awful, and I could not wait for it to be over. What is truly unfortunate is that the later version with Kate Beckinsale is very well done, and this show may discourage viewers from watching it. Skip the '68 show; watch the film.