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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Producers (1967) in Movies
Jul 9, 2021
Relentless knockabout bad-taste farce from Mel Brooks. A corrupt theatrical producer and his accountant embark upon a scheme to fraudulently make a fortune by mounting the worst play in history. Promising idea, and the brilliantly-staged opening number from Springtime for Hitler (all dancing SS officers and goose-stepping showgirls) is inspired, but the rest of the film struggles to meet the same standards.
The movie feels like a frenetic mixture of old-fashioned vaudeville and scatter-gun satire; there was probably something curiously dated about it even fifty-odd years ago. While it does acknowledge the counter-culture of the 60s (there's a hippy beatnik character, amongst other things), it doesn't feel like it was made by or for a young audience. Viewers nowadays may not be troubled by deliberately provocative jokes about Hitler or over-sexed pensioners, but jokes about dumb blondes in bikinis and camp transvestites feel a bit uncomfortable. Passes the time amiably, and worth watching just to see Springtime for Hitler in context, but I'd struggle to call it an actual classic.
The movie feels like a frenetic mixture of old-fashioned vaudeville and scatter-gun satire; there was probably something curiously dated about it even fifty-odd years ago. While it does acknowledge the counter-culture of the 60s (there's a hippy beatnik character, amongst other things), it doesn't feel like it was made by or for a young audience. Viewers nowadays may not be troubled by deliberately provocative jokes about Hitler or over-sexed pensioners, but jokes about dumb blondes in bikinis and camp transvestites feel a bit uncomfortable. Passes the time amiably, and worth watching just to see Springtime for Hitler in context, but I'd struggle to call it an actual classic.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Dirty Dancing (1987) in Movies
Sep 14, 2020 (Updated Sep 14, 2020)
(My partner made me watch it after I forced her to sit through one Hammer horror too many.) Cheese-tastic dance movie. Innocent young girl experiences dance-oriented sexual awakening at a grim holiday camp in 1963. This mostly takes the form of her just standing there looking bemused while Patrick Swayze performs whole-body pelvic thrusts in her direction.
'The ultimate chick flick' (according to her indoors anyway) but looks just like a rather corny terpsichorean melodrama to me, not especially well-acted or directed - very reminiscent of films from the period in which it is set, although with a bit of slightly grittier content. That said, the soundtrack ping-pongs back and forth between the early 60s and the late 80s. In the end I did enjoy it a lot, although probably not for the reasons the makers intended (I particularly liked the moment where a bit of suspect editing makes it look like one guy is playing a sax solo on a trumpet). Silly, harmless fun.
'The ultimate chick flick' (according to her indoors anyway) but looks just like a rather corny terpsichorean melodrama to me, not especially well-acted or directed - very reminiscent of films from the period in which it is set, although with a bit of slightly grittier content. That said, the soundtrack ping-pongs back and forth between the early 60s and the late 80s. In the end I did enjoy it a lot, although probably not for the reasons the makers intended (I particularly liked the moment where a bit of suspect editing makes it look like one guy is playing a sax solo on a trumpet). Silly, harmless fun.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Flatliners (2017) in Movies
Sep 19, 2020
Now I'm not saying this is all bullshit, but it's only a *generous* 5-10% non-bullshit. I'm not the first to say this nor will I be the last, but what was the point? Just as super-serious as the original with none of the fun camp, shorter but somehow feels centuries longer, and worst of all it looks roughly ten trillion times worse - dumping the artsy old-architectural/macabre feel for yet another lifeless medical aesthetic (only looking marginally better than some royalty-free tripe like 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺). I think one of the horror things here actually succeeds more than the original and there's one or two different plot switches from that one too, but it loses all other points for turning such riotous and ethereal shlock into yet another substandard mainstream 'horror' snore. The literal only mildly intriguing thing this did was ditched to a deleted scene. What a drag, can't believe this even got the right to exist. This feels like one of the fake movies that people inside the real movie
Awix (3310 KP) rated Konga (1961) in Movies
Sep 7, 2019 (Updated Sep 7, 2019)
Staggeringly camp entry to the annals of man-in-a-gorilla-suit fantasy deserves about a 2 as a serious drama, but earns a much higher mark for sheer entertainment value. Michael Gough chews the scenery energetically as a mad scientist whose stated plans to discover the secrets of life by breeding giant rubber Venus fly traps actually seem to revolve around him leching all over his attractive female students and sending his pet ape Konga to strangle people. It all ends badly, as you might expect.
You have admire a film where people are given lines like 'There's a monster gorilla that's constantly growing to outlandish proportions loose in the streets!' and manage to deliver them with a relatively straight face - or perhaps that's just me. Much here to appreciate if you enjoy overacting, dodgy special effects, absurd melodrama, and terrible dialogue. The climax feels a bit bolted on considering what has come before, and it's disappointingly limp and static, but a hugely enjoyable Bad Movie in all other respects.
You have admire a film where people are given lines like 'There's a monster gorilla that's constantly growing to outlandish proportions loose in the streets!' and manage to deliver them with a relatively straight face - or perhaps that's just me. Much here to appreciate if you enjoy overacting, dodgy special effects, absurd melodrama, and terrible dialogue. The climax feels a bit bolted on considering what has come before, and it's disappointingly limp and static, but a hugely enjoyable Bad Movie in all other respects.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) in Movies
May 10, 2020
Romantic thriller remake. A daring robbery from a New York museum leads the police and an insurance investigator to suspect insanely wealthy and clever tycoon Thomas Crown, but can the investigator keep her mind on the job when the sparks start a-fizzing between her and the suspect?
The world is made up of people who prefer the Steve McQueen version and those who like this one (and I suppose there are conceivably a few folk who've seen neither): I am in the Brosnan camp, although this film does kind of miss the point that Crown only steals for the fun of it in the original (Brosnan's character clearly appreciates art). Much more of a romantic drama than an actual thriller, but well played and engaging, and the set pieces, when they eventually come, are clever and well-staged. As a chance for Brosnan (then at the apogee of his Bond success) to show his range, it's a qualified success (Crown is another suave, high-living thrill seeker with possible commitment issues), but as a piece of entertainment it does the job.
The world is made up of people who prefer the Steve McQueen version and those who like this one (and I suppose there are conceivably a few folk who've seen neither): I am in the Brosnan camp, although this film does kind of miss the point that Crown only steals for the fun of it in the original (Brosnan's character clearly appreciates art). Much more of a romantic drama than an actual thriller, but well played and engaging, and the set pieces, when they eventually come, are clever and well-staged. As a chance for Brosnan (then at the apogee of his Bond success) to show his range, it's a qualified success (Crown is another suave, high-living thrill seeker with possible commitment issues), but as a piece of entertainment it does the job.
Awix (3310 KP) rated What Have I Done to Deserve This?! (¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto?) (1984) in Movies
Apr 14, 2020 (Updated Apr 14, 2020)
Almodovar claims his fourth film is a homage to Italian neorealism, but as the wildly silly plot involves teenage drug dealers, the Madrid kendo club, a plot to forge Hitler's diaries, a blood-stained lizard and a telekinetic schoolgirl we'll have to take his word for that. Every bit as camp and provocative as it sounds, if not moreso; possibly trying a bit too hard to be shocking in places (some jokes about a character who's a paedophile orthodontist feel very misjudged these days), but for the most part engaging and very funny.
You'd expect this would all be much too ridiculous to take seriously, but even this early in his career Almodovar is able to find the reality in his characters and make you care about them. Carmen Maura is at the centre of the film and does a terrific job of giving it all some unexpected emotional heft. In the end it's still an absurd black comedy, but one with some warmth and compassion to it. A very entertaining movie.
You'd expect this would all be much too ridiculous to take seriously, but even this early in his career Almodovar is able to find the reality in his characters and make you care about them. Carmen Maura is at the centre of the film and does a terrific job of giving it all some unexpected emotional heft. In the end it's still an absurd black comedy, but one with some warmth and compassion to it. A very entertaining movie.
The Haunting Of Rookward House
7.0
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Book
She's always watching... When Guy finds the deeds to a house in his mother's attic, it seems like...
Primitive Technology
YouTube Channel
Primitive technology is a hobby where you build things in the wild completely from scratch using no...
Divorce is Murder (Toby Wong Mystery #1)
6.0
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As teens, they bullied her. Twenty years on, she's not scared of them. Except she should be... ...
Romantic Suspense Mystery
Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975)
4.5
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Movie Watch
Ilsa is Kommandant of a Nazi prison camp, who conducts sadistic scientific experiments designed to...
Grindhouse Exploration