Silverado (1985)
Movie Watch
Four adventurers are on their way to Silverado. Chance brings them together, violence and danger...
Doctor Who: City of Death
TV Show
While visiting Paris, France - The Doctor and Romana discover a plot to steal the Mona Lisa by the...
Father Christmas is Back (2021)
Movie
FATHER CHRISTMAS IS BACK centers around four sisters who have re-united for the Christmas Holiday in...
Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection: Every Soundtrack Episode of the Classic BBC TV Comedy
John Cleese, Connie Booth and Prunella Scales
Book
John Cleese's special introductions to each episode are included in this collection of all 12 TV...
Pink Panther 2 (2009)
Movie Watch
When the world's greatest treasures, including the Pink Panther diamond, are stolen, only one man...
Raid: World War II
Video Game Watch
RAID: World War II is an action-packed four player cooperative shooter set in Europe during World...
Otway93 (567 KP) rated Clockwise (1986) in Movies
Oct 21, 2019 (Updated Oct 21, 2019)
Clockwise is a very typical road-trip comedy, but from before everybody was doing it.
The plot can be summed up as A-B, hijinx along the way etc., as I said: very typical. But as this is John Cleese it stands apart from the typical road trip comedy, with classic British humour (not for everyone, but I love it), and a protagonist not unlike Cleese's Basil Fawlty character.
Unfortunately the film hasn't aged well, most of the predicaments could be easily solved with modern technology, and the film certainly shows its age.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated A Fish Called Wanda (1988) in Movies
Jul 2, 2020
a). The John Cleese/Jamie Lee Curtis love story
b). The "caper"
c). The beleaguered, unsuccessful hit-man Ken
d). The old lady and her 3 dogs
e). Kevin Kline as Otto
For me, that's easy - ALL OF IT! I find that A FISH CALLED WANDA is a very funny, richly acted comedy/caper that brings forth 4 characters that are easy to spend 2 hours with. Starting with John Cleese as Barrister Archie Leach. Cleese conceived, wrote, starred-in and (at times) directed this film and his "British humor" (honed from years as a member of the MONTY PYTHON comedy troupe) is in full force here. He has a reserved appearance about him that covers a wild man underneath yearning to break free.
Jamie Lee Curtis is quite good as the center of the film, Wanda Gershwitz, a cunning conman who will stop at nothing - and step over everyone - to get what she wants. I find that Curtis is under-rated as an actress and a comedienne and this picture shows that she can hold her own against 3 comedy greats at the top of their game.
The 2nd member of the Monty Python troupe to appear in this film is the remarkable Michael Palin as hapless hit-man, Ken. He becomes increasingly frustrated and frantic -and increasingly funny - as he attempts to complete his assignment throughout the course of this film.
But...the real star of this film...and the actor/character that steals the film away from everyone else...is Kevin Kline's Oscar winning performance as Otto, Wanda's erstwhile love who has a very high opinion of himself. It is rare that a comedic performance wins an Oscar - Kline's win is the the last one to do so - but it is easy to see why the Academy decided to reward Kline for it is a committed performance that is wild, wacky and over-the-top, but not overtly so. Kline has been very good in many other pictures/performances before and after this film, but he never reached the height that he reached in this film.
The film has veteran director Charles Crichton listed as Director with Cleese listed as co-Director (though Cleese insisted that Crichton did all the work and he only put his name on it to assuage the fears of studio executives over Crichton's advanced age). Well...Crichton does a wonderful job of letting the lunacy explode on the scene while keeping a lid on it and moving the action along at a brisk pace.
Wanda is one of those films that people remember fondly, but do not revisit. I would highly recommend you do, it's a jolly good time.
Letter Grade A-
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Movie Watch
Brian Cohen (Graham Chapman) is an average young Jewish man, but through a series of ridiculous...