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clem-5
Reviews
Pi (1998)
decent thriller
This would still be good (perhaps even better) without the art house cinema touches. The plot is rich enough that it could have been explored at even greater depth . . . perhaps some narrative tricks could have replaced the cinematic tricks, especially since the cinematic tricks follow familiar paths . . . but hey, I'm not complaining. A thoroughly enjoyable movie (a math thriller? Who'd of thought . . . .)
Cube (1997)
not good at all
This is nothing but a (very) slight update of a hack "Twilight Zone" or "Star Trek" type premise, barely suitable for tv, much less a feature-length motion picture. It wants to be a psychological study masquerading as a thriller, but it fails on both counts. As a thriller, it's far too predictable (did anyone watching this, when the mentally handicapped boy very first showed up, not think that he would end up having math skills that would help save the day? Talk about a cliched "twist"!), and as a psych study, it does nothing but establish cliched types that are moved around like chess pieces by a beginning player. The acting is stagey and overdone (except for Hewlett, who does a nice job), and the script is ok at best. The film looks good, but that certainly isn't enough to recommend it.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
movie reflects life
I was a bit surprised I liked the movie as well as I did. I never really went out of my way to see the tv show, and while I suppose it beats MASH re-runs, I never considered myself a fan. The movie, on the other hand, is very well executed. For obvious reasons, the media lumps South Park in with all the so-called "gross out" comedies, but there is a detail to craftsmanship here that is easy to overlook . . . things like good comic timing, good parody (I'm thinking primarily of the songs here), a whole range of funny bit players, all well-realized, etc. And, while the movie can be quite offensive, it is never mean-spirited (rule #1: if you're going to offend somebody, best offend everybody). While it may be tempting to read too much into the social commentary of the film (on that level, the movie is shallow & banal), the commentary nevertheless provides a framework for Parker & Stone to riff on. While this isn't Duck Soup or Dr Strangelove, it still is a cut above "gross out" movie status (especially Something About Mary, a movie I deplore).
Interesting side note: I saw this movie the week it opened. There had already been a substantial amount of publicity surrounding the obscenity, coupled with the national crackdown on ids for R-rated movies. I was carded when I bought the tickets, which was a little strange, considering I'm 38 years old, and the person checking my id was maybe 16. I look a little young for my age, but not even close to 17. The woman who went to the movie with me neglected to bring her id (she's 29; she didn't figure she'd need it). The ticket taker wasn't going to allow her into the theater until I volunteered that I was her legal guardian. The manager was called; she said "it was highly unlikely" that I was this woman's legal guardian. I very politely pointed out that it was as likely as the woman being under 17 in the first place. The manager finally decided to let us both in, making clear that she was risking her job to do so. That was the first time I had been carded for a movie in 17 years . . . .
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Greatest movie villain of all time
If there is a better movie villain than Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter, I can't think of him (unless it would be Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear). There is a darkness here so thoroughly sunk into the character that there is no acting apparent.
Porky in Egypt (1938)
Great camel freak-out!
A slightly inferior companion piece to the stunningly brilliant "Porky in Wackyland", the first two minutes of this cartoon are fairly standard (though good) Warner Bros pre-WW II animation fare. Then: the camel freaks out, succumbing to that "desert madness", and the proceedings get totally out of hand. Some of the best cartoon mania anywhere (and surely one of the sources to the rumor that all early animators loved hallucinogenics). Alas, to the best of my knowledge, the camel never followed up his star turn in this one.
Porky in Wackyland (1938)
The prototypical Warner Brothers cartoon
This cartoon is an early pinnacle of animation insanity, the prototypical Warner Brothers short. A blitzkrieg of jokes, puns, and free-wheeling mayhem, WB-style cartoons sometimes equaled, but never surpassed, "Porky in Wackyland". Every square inch of every frame is packed with information that flows in several directions at once. Carl Stalling's score is as integral to this cartoon as any of the visual elements (and more so than the "script"). For these, and many other, reasons, "Porky in Wackyland" is the blueprint for the best of WB cartoons, as well as a signpost to various late-20th Century highbrow/lowbrow aesthetics.