Squidgy-2 Reviews

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

What can I say? It has Ewan McGregor. ;-)

[24 June 1999]

Mr. McGregor is especially tasty in this Star Wars installment. "Kewl" hairstyle, too (i.e., that sweet little braid), but it's so short for such beautiful hair.

As for the queen... in our household, a discussion of the logistics of "electing" a queen always turns into a rehashing of the famous scene from Monty Python's Holy Grail ("*We* didn't vote for you!") But I suppose some would say that queens WOULD be elected on a planet with a name like "Naboo" (wasn't "Naboo" a Hanna-Barbera character?)

Ah, well, the special effects were pretty nifty (the same reason that the plot-light Independence Day needed to be viewed on the big screen). I don't s'pose that, one of these sequels, the day will be saved by something *other* than a single lucky laser blast by a member of the Skywalker clan. (Cliche much?)

Sheer eye-candy... don't go to it expecting to see Laurence of Tatooine, 'cos you'd be sadly disappointed.

Xanadu (1980)

Skip this dog and get the soundtrack

[5 June 1999]

All that kept me from turning off the tape (rented - 50 cents and ~90 minutes I'll never get back) was the music... I would have done better to have simply trotted down to the local record shop and plunked down for the movie soundtrack. Or even simply for albums by Ms Newton-John & ELO, which will have the very best music from the movie. Okay, okay, the music kept me from turning off the movie... that, and the unfounded conviction (maintained until the credits rolled) that "It's got to get better than *this*!".

La Femme Nikita (1990)

Remake isn't bad, but this is superior

[25 March 1999]

I do still like Bridget Fonda's version of this, but really enjoyed this original version much more - I liked that in this one, the guy is smart enough to figure out what she really is (although there are a lot of parallels between the two movies). The French version of her "death" (OD) was set up more sensibly than what was presented in the US version (death penalty)... but then, French movies seem to suffer when translated to an American version (e.g, 3 Men & a Baby). Perhaps the cultural barrier is as strong as the language barrier?

Anne Parillaud is definitely more exotic than Bridget Fonda at every part of the movie (I'd describe Ms Fonda's looks more as "interesting" - although in the very positive sense that she inherited her father's better features - than "pretty").

It is *crucial* to see a subtitled version (and even better to understand spoken French, to catch what was not translated in the subtitles... also a good exercise for language students); over-dubbed movies aren't worth it, and you lose what the casting director intended with the voices.

Marnie (1964)

Connery? Not a predator! Excellent movie.

[17 March 1999]

Having viewed Marnie last night, I really must disagree with those who have pegged Sean Connery's character as predatory and sexually blackmailing. Sure, he made a joking comment to that effect... but he also made it clear that she could have been caught by a *really* bad person, who wouldn't take no for an answer. And what kind of predatory sexual blackmailer would put up with separate bedrooms (especially when married to someone who looks like Tippi Hedren :-)?

Diane Baker is excellent as the scheming sister-in-law, out to displace any and all rivals (i.e., Marnie)... the color symbolism of their respective hair colors is obvious but relatively inoffensive.

A lesser director than Hitchcock would have allowed the audience to see flashback after flashback, and allowed the other end of phone calls to be heard, thereby beating a dead horse (pun not intended) with the Psychological Significance. Instead, the color red, and the effect of certain sounds on Marnie's dreams, are the only clues the audience gets (along with the observers in the movie itself) right up until the very end, when the audience learns of the cause of Marnie's many and varied problems.

There is some really excellent camera work in this movie, especially the opening scene in which she is shown walking toward the center of perspective formed by the intersection of very sharply angular bits of scenery - perhaps one could draw a parallel between this and another of Hitchcock's films featuring a blonde beauty, Vertigo (the opening of Vertigo has a spiral, representing the dizziness, and the perspective shot in Marnie could be thought of as an unfinished spider's web - Sean Connery, of course, being fascinated by predators).

Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog (1998–1999)

Not bad, *but*...

[3 February 1999]

I'm confused by Deidre's "armor". (A short skirt and little bitty short sleeves?!? When the guys are covered head to toe?!?) If I were one of the enemy, I'd be aiming my weapons at her legs... but maybe she's wearing mystic stockings?

Also, did I miss something in the first episode? Maeve has said, several times, that her ancestors were cheated out of Kels, and that's why she's fighting to conquer it - if she's wrong, shouldn't somebody have said "Yoo-hoo, they weren't cheated, they lost it in a poker game!" Maybe that's how they'll end the series... the king will show Maeve her great-grandfather's marker, she'll slap her forehead in embarrassment, and call off her troops. :)

It's one of the aspects of Saban productions (cf Power Rangers) that I don't care for - that the villainesses are very strong, emotionally and physically, but the "good" girls are pretty much "yes-women" (that is, telling children that it's *bad* to have your own opinion and fight for what you want, but it's *good* to do what the boys say... it's not far from there to "math is hard, let's make cookies for the boys!").

And perhaps the production crew might think about a different method of putting the beasties on the screen - they're interestingly made, but don't mesh well with the live action.