JosephPezzuto Reviews

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Reel Look: Grave of the Fireflies

[8/10 · 13 October 2021]

"Why do fireflies have to die so soon?" Based on the eponymous 1967 semi-autobiographical short story by Akiyuki Nosaka, Studio Ghibli cofounder Isao Takahata's 1988 Japanese animated drama/anti-war film 'Hotaru no Haka' ('Grave of the Fireflies') is, truly, a devastating meditation on the human cost of war. It is one of the most achingly sorrowful and yet profoundly beautiful and haunting works to emerge from Ghibli as well.

Though the opening scene is of a teenage boy named Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi) dying from starvation in a Kobe train station shortly after World War II in 1945, this is just a foretaste of the sadness that is still yet to come.

From here, we see through the means of a flashback of what had occurred some months prior. Seita is charged with the care of his younger sister, Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi), after an American firebombing during WWII separates the two children from their parents.

Their tale of survival is as heartbreaking as it is true to life. The siblings rely completely on each other and struggle against all odds to stay together...and stay alive.

The film really belongs to little Setsuko, as her brother desperately tries to block or hinder any of the hell around them from her innocent world. Her surprised reaction to when Seita releases an air bubble in her face to her wide eyes and big smile when a gathering of entrapped fireflies are released from a jar, each individually shining among the stars in their dance of freedom amid the night sky as she looks on in wonder, is as entrancing as it is human.

The song Home! Sweet Home! By Sir Henry Rowley Bishop, adapted from American actor and dramatist John Howard Payne's 1823 opera Clari, is used poignantly near the film's end; not once falling into sentimentality.

After Setsuko passes from starvation, hallucinating rocks for balls of rice, a montage is shown of her and Seita from what we had previously seen of what she and her brother endured, but mostly from her point of view.

In seeing this film at my local theater last year due to the film's 30th anniversary (the subtitled version, of course), the ending, as it did to Roger Ebert, moved me to tears.

The inexplicable pain, suffering and agonizing turmoil of the firebombs raining down from the sky in their Nazi-occupied port city, to Seita seeing his mother wrapped from head to toe in bloody bandages to Setsuko's slow passing from the pains of hunger are just some of the disconsolate, hard-to-watch scenes of a WWII film one could ever see.

Animated or not, all of that quickly fades away as we are immersed into this story of two poor individuals fighting a war of their own: survival. Other than being just another disparaging war film, 'Fireflies' also meditates on its consequences as well.

Post viewing, Ebert pointed out, "The characters are typical of much modern Japanese animation, with their enormous eyes, childlike bodies and features of great plasticity [...].

This film proves, if it needs proving, that animation produces emotional effects not by reproducing reality, but by heightening and simplifying it, so that many of the sequences are about ideas, not experiences".

He also mentioned that the film was "An emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation".

Critic Ernest Rister, comparing 'Fireflies' to 'Schindler's List', says, "It is the most profoundly human animated film I've ever seen."

What Love Looks Like (2020)

Reel Look: What Love Looks Like

[4/10 · 30 July 2020]

The latest film from American writer and director Alex Magaña is the romantic comedy drama feature What Love Looks Like. It explores five separate stories regarding the ups and downs, ins and outs, and the ebb and flow of finding true romance.

Yes, five separate stories about ten different people. And each of these possesses perfectly good looks with cardboard cutout personalities to match. If one is going to show me a film about this many people, at least have me care or be invested in one of them. Just one.

At most, the painfully awkward Theodore (Jack Menzies) was the only name that I actually remembered. This was pertaining to his pose of confidence to the equally shy Bailey (Ana Ming Bostwick Singer), a pretty Asian-American girl in the park. This is due to them both sharing the same small breed of dog. Apparently, good karma was all it took to make a connection.

I find all of these characters somewhat likeable, but not relatable. They only seem to seek out whomever is attractive to what their upper-middle class society deems and nothing less. They're not snobbish, just shallow. And anyone who is not walkway attractive or in the same milieu is unseen throughout the runtime.

Owen (Josh Gilmer) is too obsessed with his phone to pay any attention to his girlfriend Nicole (Kate Durocher). Tinder-obsessed Calvin (Connor Wilkins) has a one-night stand with Summer (Jamie Shelnitz) but afterwards wants to leave for work. Finn (Kyle Meck) later flirts with English girl Penelope (Taylor Alexa Frank) in the park, despite what his younger sister thinks of him at home.

I'm not saying that these matters don't occur in reality. However, what is it that really sets these ten strangers apart from the rest of the crowd? Who is honestly seen as non-attractive according to these people? Well, there aren't any in this film, so that must imply something.

Other than that, I can't differentiate anything from these mid-twenty or thirty-something millennials in what makes them special. Every one of them is well-groomed eye candy; each professionally dressed or wearing whatever attire is "in" at the moment according to their demographic.

I also couldn't find a single thing of which to invest in these people. Every face, every apartment, every line of dialogue was forgettable in kowtowing to the feng shui of this particular universe.

Despite this, the most memorable (other than Theodore) were a handful of the supporting cast. Calvin's friend (or roommate) seemed to be the smooth, sarcastic type while Nicole's cool, charming club chauffer did a good job in portraying a brunette Ryan Gosling. At least the waiter smirking at catching Theodore's pose of confidence in the bathroom mirror was somewhat amusing.

Also, I literally thought that Sam (Nathan Kohnen) was a schizophrenic due to his wife appearing, disappearing and then re-appearing to comfort and console him. However, Sam seems to find solace in sharing some sandwiches with a beautiful girl named Evie (Ashley Rose McKenna) in the park, of whom had observed him and also wanted to make a connection.

Other than that, the main cast being either drop-dead handsome or gorgeous does not a good movie make.

Speaking of which, it is finally revealed that Sam's wife had just randomly passed away on the floor just after the couple had purchased a house. Unfortunately, her death is never explained or acknowledged to the audience because...script, I suppose.

Fortunately, the film does give a nod to classic cinema. This includes American Graffiti when one of the couples passes Mel's Drive-Thru. Another is a corny parody of Casablanca for a television rip-off that moves Theodore to tears. And obviously, Magaña is a fan of CSI: Miami.

What Love Looks Like is not what love looks like in reality. Perhaps in Beverly Hills, but not anywhere that I've seen. As the film wraps up, each character is either socially redeemed or gets the girl in the end of this squeaky-clean story. (Doesn't one wish that real life was like that?)

To be blunt, the characters are as two-dimensional as the fashion magazine of which they were probably cut out of. In that world, everything is pristine, perfected and pleasing to the eye. No one gets hurt, no one gets dirty and God forbid, no one gets cancer.

Everything is designed as how it was supposed to be shot...in a world of façades. As much as the manufacturer (or director) wants to dress something (or someone) up, all that matters at the end of the day is that if it will sell. As for me, it didn't.

This film could be considered the Magnolia of a Valentine's Day rom-com but without the nougat or caramel filling. Rather, it seems as though this nicely decorated box of chocolates had been shoved behind the packages of Easter rabbits before an employee had even noticed it.

Although a low-budget feature, this one really didn't do anything for me. If beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder according to the world of this film, then I would definitely want to remove myself from that world and return to real life altogether.

I believe that the imperfections others carry are really and honestly what makes someone beautiful in his/her own right. They may have their quirks or nuances or what have you, but at least it gives them depth and a personality.

Ultimately, you love them as they are for who they are...even if they didn't just step out from a photoshoot. That, to me, is what love looks like.

Putrid Sex Object (2006)

Reel Look: Putrid Sex Object

[13 June 2020]

Why? Just...what actually possessed me to click a button on my personal computer to watch this heinous piece of unholy trash? Perhaps maybe I was a little bit curious. Perhaps maybe I thought I could actually gain somewhat of a perceptive insight post viewing a video by the name of 'Putrid Sex Video'.

All levity aside, I'm going to lambaste this short for all of the brief and vile excrement that it is...and I will not be letting up in the least. Granted I am not one of those angry critics but only becomes so when and if need be. And, fellow readers of this post, the time has come, because right now...I'm pretty pissed.

So...what's wrong with this experimental short? The question is what's RIGHT with it? Well I don't have an answer either as I would like to get this review over and done with as soon as possible. Let's take a look.

The short opens with its only actor (Alexandro Guerrero), of whom plays a lonely transvestite credited only on IMDb as Lonely Girl (as Thistle Harlequin), as it states on the site's page.

With large fake eyelashes and wearing an unkempt and dirty silver wig, she meanders around an abandoned house until she comes across a fresh rotting horse head laying on the ground.

No lines are spoken throughout, only guttural noises and sounds from Guerrero when, from what follows thereafter, is not for the faint of heart, nor for the eyes or a sensitive stomach.

This includes the actor masturbates into one of the horse's empty eye sockets, the actor wraps the deceased animal's muscles and sinew around his/her neck, etc. (It actually makes me queasy just writing/thinking about it.)

If I'm going to watch a movie containing a severed horse's head, I will stick with 'The Godfather', thank you very much. If you are really eager to check it out for yourself after reading this far, you go right on ahead.

The director is some guy named Matt McKay, as this is his only known film listed to date, of which I am highly thankful.

Urban Dictionary gives a pretty accurate synopsis on what the viewer is in for, except they say it was a cow's head rather than that of a horse. But I know what I saw, believe me.

Don't make the stupid choice as I did by watching it online just because you were bored, as the thing was obviously banned from YouTube. The reaction videos can at least get a laugh.

However, as much as I highly recommend that you NOT watch 'Putrid' but are still just a little bit curious, don't say I didn't warn you. Seriously. If you actually enjoy watching these kinds of shorts than more power to you.

Personally, this is five insufferable minutes of pure and unadulterated garbage and filth; an extreme nausea-inducing display of anti- art; a landmark jolt from the hideous underground of forbidden media to shock and gross out the viewer, possibly derived from the deepest recesses of a terribly disturbed psyche of whom concocted this toxic vision to celluloid itself.

Along with its animal necrophilia and poor film quality, it is ultimately just snuff through and through; ugly and uglier with no relent.

'Putrid Sex Object' can skip returning to crawl back from the steaming pile of fetid pig feces from which it emerged altogether, rather screwing itself and then going straight to the furthest bowels of the abyss.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Reel Look: Pan's Labyrinth

[8/10 · 31 December 2016]

"My name is Ofelia. Who are you?" "Me? I've had so many names." Guillermo del Toro's 2006 dark fantasy/drama war film 'Pan's Labyrinth' ('El laberinto del fauno', lit. 'The Labyrinth of the Faun') is considered his greatest masterpiece. Originally intended to be a complement piece to his 2001 film 'The Devil's Backbone', 'Pan's Labyrinth' combines the backdrop of war and nightmarish fantasy with elegant beauty.

The film is set in 1943 Spain, after the rise of fascism. Twelve-year-old bookish Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her ailing, pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil) arrive at the post of her new husband, (Sergi López), a strict and sadistic army officer of whom is trying to quell a guerrilla uprising. After the small family movies into an old house, Ofelia's only solace of the bloody, war- torn world surrounding her is in escaping to the ancient, titular labyrinth of which leads the girl to an eerie oasis of bizarre creatures, possibly hailing from one of her many stories. Ofelia then encounters the kindly and beautiful faun Pan (Doug Jones, of whom also portrays the child-eating Pale Man), of whom tells her that she is a legendary lost princess and must complete three dangerous tasks in order to claim immortality.

Beginning where it ends, 'Pan's Labyrinth' is hauntingly beautiful and darkly mysterious. And, after a decade upon its release, this Alice in Wonderland for grown-ups remains a truly fanciful and chilling delve into the imagination of a master director of whom shares his extraordinary vision with his viewers to experience with horrifying, and yet gratifying, effect.

Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector (2006)

Reel Look: Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector

[3/10 · 30 December 2016]

That'll go down faster than a bottle of Vicodin at Courtney Love's house." American stand-up comedian, actor and former radio personality Daniel Lawrence Whitney, better known as Larry the Cable Guy, starred in his first movie back in 2006 as a slovenly cable repairman-turned municipal high-class restaurant-investigating health inspector. He was one of the members of the Blue Collar Comedy tour on Blue Collar TV, a comedy troupe which included Bill Engvall, Ron White and Jeff Foxworthy. To date Larry has starred in three Blue Collar Comedy Tour-related films: Health Inspector, Delta Farce (2007) and Witless Protection (2008), both of which I will get to reviewing later on in the near future. With his stereotypical redneck rube appearance, thick Southern accent and joke-telling of questionable taste, how does he fare from his stand-up act to the big screen? Aside from being best know as voicing Mater in the popular Cars franchise, of which came out the same year as this movie, how did this one manage to slip pass the Board of Health? Let's take a look.

Larry, here playing much like himself but now as a health inspector, is an uncouth, middle-aged Moon Pie-munching bachelor living in a pig- sty of an apartment and drives an over-sized, bumper sticker-clad, exhaust-spewing pickup truck. His exasperated, no- nonsense boss Bart Tatlock (Thomas F. Wilson, of whom is best remembered as Biff from Back to the Future) is tired of Larry's ways in order of getting his duties accomplished. To have him fired, he assigns Larry with a new partner named Amy Butlin (Iris Bahr), a strict, by-the-book professional of whom takes her work quite seriously as opposed to Larry's questionable practices to his job, despite the fact that he always refers to her as a "he" or a "him" due to thinking she is a man. Iris did in fact appear in the unaired pilot for The Big Bang Theory as one of Leonard and Sheldon's university colleauges named Gilda the same year Health Inspector was released. Her character turned out to be the prototype for the later developed character Leslie Winkle (Sara Gilbert), as Gilda was thusly scrapped. No wonder she acts like a female Dr. Cooper in this movie. She tries to learn the ropes, but Larry's personality in less than tolerable. However his knowledge of vermin and disarmingly disconcerted way of interviewing witnesses and suspects slowly gets him where he needs to go. After learning of a serial criminal of whom is going around intoxicating local five-star restaurants, the duo drive off to save the town from a fatal food poisoning. It is only near the film's end where the culprit is exposed at a televised taping of Top Chef. Hilarious hijinks do not ensue.

Panned by critics with a five percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the website ranked Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector #85 on its "The 100 Worst Reviewed Films Of All Time: 2000-2009" list. And after watching this, I can definitely see why. Some portions of Health Inspector are made up of Larry rattling off double-entrendes to get a point across we the audience got the first time ("I could do this all day") and enlongated fart jokes that disgust rather than get even a smirk. Even seeing Larry go undercover as a copacabana dancer near the end of the movie is unpleasant to look at, especially with his protruding girth. The supporting cast is halfway decent at least, including Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix, Memento) as Mayor Maurice T. Gunn, Tony Hale (Veep, Arrested Development) as Jack Dabbs, of whom poses as a wheelchair-bound cripple in cahoots with the bad guys (I seriously think he wanted to escape from the set near the end of the movie), Donnie (David Koechner, The Office, Anchorman), Larry's kind but dimwitted, bald but pony-tailed next- door neighbor, Joanna Cassidy as a restaurant owner, a horrifying unibrowed girl side character and Larry's blonde romantic interest Jane Whitley, a sweet, shy waitress. I was satisfied that they had the dignity not to make her a stereotypical airhead and actually quite smart. She does, unfortunately, give in to flatulence in one scene with Larry, somewhat losing her dignity as a better character. Even Kid Rock makes a cameo when Larry has a fantasy: either go fishing with him or make love to Jane. Jane comments to Larry, "Nice rod" as he holds his pole in a questionable area of his antatomy as we know what his thoughts are. But the jokes are no doubt aimed at those of whom attend Larry's stand-up act and are indeed low-class to say for the most part regarding his schtick. I didn't expect anything less upon pressing the play button, knowing I was doing it only for the criticism.

With a budget of $17 million, Health Inspector only garnered back a sickly $15 million plus of its earnings back at the box office. The website consensus on Rotten Tomatoes states: "An aggressively lowbrow vehicle for its titular star, this gross-out comedy fails to "git-r-done." At least Larry was nominated the Worst Actor at the 27th Golden Raspberry Awards. Look, if you enjoy Larry and his comedy, then good for you. As for myself, the toilet humor and innuendos are needless filler just to get a cheap laugh. I think it true and wise in keeping your health by staying far away from this film of which fails on all accounts to pass inspection.

Blue Velvet (1986)

Reel Look: Blue Velvet

[8/10 · 30 December 2016]

"It's a strange world, isn't it?" Blending psychological horror and film noir, the title of this mystery film is taken from Bobby Vinton's 1963 song of the same name. The film stands as an example of director David Lynch in casting against the norm, noted for re- launching the career of Dennis Hopper and providing Isabella Rossellini with a dramatic outlet beyond the work of a fashion model and a cosmetics spokeswoman, something for which she had until then been known. After the commercial and critical failure of Dune (1984), Lynch made attempts at developing a more "personal story", something of which was somewhat characteristic of the surrealist style he displayed in his debut Eraserhead (1977). The script of Blue Velvet had been passed around multiple times in the late 1970s and 80s, as many major studios declined it due to its strong sexual and violent content. It wasn't until Italian film producer Dino De Laurentiis, owner of the independent studio De Laurentiis Entertainment Group at the time, agreed to finance and produce the film. Does this film succeed in asking the question if close-knit communities have always possessed a well-polished façade and that therein lies some dreadful force lurking beneath? Let's take a look.

Upon returning home to the sleepy American every town of Lumberton, North Carolina after his father has a near-fatal stroke, college student Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) discovers a severed human ear in an abandoned field. Teaming up with Detective Williams' pretty blonde daughter Sandy (Laura Dern) to solve the mystery, they believe the beautiful, sultry local night lounge singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) may be connected with the morbid case. Beaumont ventures furthur on in his amateur sluething, eventually becoming drawn into her dark world and the twisted underbelly of suburbia. Here he encounters Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper), a sexually depraved, obscenity-spewing noxious fume-inhaling (possibly amyl nitrate) psychopath of whom performs bizarre sexual proclivities in molesting Vallens in her apartment as his cronies hold her kidnapped husband and child hostage offscreen. Jeffrey hides in her closet when Frank enters the room, silently watching the both of them and the horrible actions of sadomasochism that unfold before his eyes between the open slats of the doors. Booth continually refers to Dorothy as "Mommy" and to himself as "Daddy" or "Baby", who "wants to f***". One of the more memorable scenes of the film occurs after Frank catches Jeffrey and Dorothy together, forcing them to accompany him to the apartment to where Dorothy's son is being held by his suave, effeminate partner in crime Ben (Dean Stockwell). He lip-syncs Roy Orbison's "In Dreams", sending Frank into maudlin sadness, and then rage. Eventually the deranged Frank gets his due when Jeff fatally shoots him in the head from inside Dorothy's closet when the madman searches to shoot him in the wrong room. Detective Williams takes over, gun drawn, entering with Sandy a moment later. Jeffrey reunites with her as they now go ahead with their relationship and lives. They note the unusual appearance of robins in their town, referring to the dream Sandy had told Jeffrey about earlier, with the birds being a sign of hope for humanity.

Blue Velvet has achieved cult status since its initial theatrical release and has generated significant academic attention in regard to its thematic symbolism. It is widely regarded as one of Lynch's best works. Despite the film's initial appearance as a mystery, it also operates on a number of thematic levels as well. Blue Velvet owes a large debt to 1950s film noir, containing/exploring such conventions as the femme fatale (Dorothy Vallens), a seemingly unstoppable villain (Frank Booth) the questionable moral outlook of the hero (Jeffrey Beaumont) and the film's use of shadowy, sometimes dark cinematography. It also establishes Lynch's famous "askew vision", introducing several common elements of which would later become his trademarks: distorted characters, a polarized world and debilitating damage to the skull or brain. The most significant "Lynchian" trademark in the movie is the depiction on unearthing a dark underbelly in a seemingly idealized small town. Jeffrey even proclaims in the film that he is "seeing something that was always hidden". This alludes to the film's plot central idea: even beyond the white-washed picket fences, neat little houses in rows upon rows, a blue sky and the greenest grass on a lawn, the film excels in peeking behind the velvety blue curtain dividing the realms of tranquility and ugliness to, after three decades, shock, thrill, terrify and mesmerize with its relentless power and unprepared, exhilarating depth. Nothing on the surface is really ever what it appears to be beneath, as the film's title portrays this perfectly. And, though you may never hear Orbison's classic oldie the same way ever again, this unnerving film reveals, perhaps, that suburbia does sound like a nice place to stay close to after all.

Keloglan vs. the Black Prince (2006)

Reel Look: Keloglan vs. the Black Prince

[2/10 · 30 December 2016]

"Yes, Keloglan you may be bald but you're a human being." The film I am reviewing today, from of which holds both places on IMDb's Bottom lists, is Turkish. And 'Keloglan vs. The Black Prince', of which is supposed to be a spoof comedy, is a bad one at that. But you have to give props to the director and actors for at least attempting to tell a legitimate story while spoofing a variety of fairy tales. Though 'Keloglan' is modeled roughly from the zany antics and anything-goes momentum concerning any movies done by Zucker-Abrams-Zucker, (or, in IMDb Bottom 100 terms Seltzer- Friedberg style), it is actually the first Turkish film and comedy that I have ever seen before. I have no idea how this film compares to other Turkish comedies or rather what Turkish people find amusing regarding cinema. Contemporary Turkish cinema produces twenty to thirty movies every year, not counting straight-to-video or episodes from television shows. (This movie apparently got a release in the Netherlands, but that's about it.) I couldn't even find a Wikipedia page on this movie, and on IMDb the synopsis for this fiction-based flick simply states: 'Keloglan fights the black prince to serve justice'. Holding a 1.8 rating out of 10, how does this foreign fractured fantasy farce hold to an American spoof comedy? Let's take a look.

We first see our main character named Sirmaoglan (Mehmet Ali Erbil), of whom is generally the lead in the other half of Turkish movies worth skipping due to his lack of comedic talent. He apparently has a following of whom enjoy watching his torturous TV shows of which he hosts. Here he plays a middle-aged man making his way before the court of the Sultan and the queen by dancing with a procession of beautiful women servants. The Sultan (Turkish actress and comedian Aysen Gruda) and the queen have, after much thought, summoned Sirmaoglan to tell him that they want to give their daughter Princess Cankiz (Petek Dinçöz) to him in marriage, because there is no one more handsome, charismatic and with such beautiful hair such as his. Yes, Sirmaoglan is Turkish for Goldilocks, in all of his thick, wavy and flowing, flaxen follicles (obviously a wig). The Black Prince and obvious antagonist (Özcan Deniz, of whom I gather is quite the Turkish heartthrob), plots to eventually foil Sirmaoglan's plans. Four years later, we fade and again see Sirmaoglan, now under the moniker of Keloglan (roughly translating to 'bald boy) due to an encounter with a poorly-animated CGI dragon in trying to save a princess those years ago of which had scorched his scalp. He is suicidal, no longer seeking the will to live on without his sunny tresses, having only now a flute to his name. He and his friend Cankusoglu (Bülent Polat) both head off to the Sultan. Once arriving, he gives them a new task: to bring to him the belt from the waist of a giant for his daughter's hand, as well promising one hundred bags of gold. Meanwhile the Black Prince, stands at the head of a table of villains. He wants to conduct a tale where the bad guys are the main characters, getting the praise in the end due. And this came out a year before 'Shrek the Third'. We then cut to a peasant girl and the film's love interest Balkiz (Ahu Türkpençe), washing her clothes and her lustful-looking lingerie in a river alongside other young women. We then learn that she secretly loves Keloglan. She wants to attend him and his friend on their sojourn, but he calmly dismisses her, saying how he still only wants to die as he rides off on his donkey. Balkiz, later incognito as a mustachioed lad named Tüysüzoglan (no hair), appears and tells them that he would like to join them if he can assist them in their direction. Oblivious, they allow this as the trio go off on their quest. Near the conclusion, Keloglan actually grows some...hair that is, as a couple strands of it finally emerge from his follicle-challenged chrome dome after his duel with the Black Prince post crashing his wedding. Ecstatic, he resorts back to his original name as the film ends in a Turkish/Bollywood- esque dance number to Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive'...sung in Turkish.

Writer-director Tayfun Güneyer relies heavily on anachronism-based humor the Seltzer-Friedberg team purloined from comic legend Mel Brooks, but goes light on the gross-out. Comedy rehashed from comedy rehashed from comedy is repetitive and not only gets old really fast but is old and unfunny already when taken from the source material and their unfunny predecessors even before that of which, as the final result, never provided the least bit of levity to begin with. There are sporadic instances in the film that were somewhat worthy of a smile, being its redeeming quality, with moments when the Black Prince goes through his airport metal detector in his castle already late for a meeting to a river dancing Robin Hood (Alp Kirsan) and his Merry Men (an obvious Brooks reference). The funniest part when our trio of heroes boil a genie alive in his own magic lamp, unknowingly mistaking it for a random teapot during a rest stop.

From paying homage to Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' to 'Taxi Driver', this isn't the worst spoof I've ever seen, but my first foreign one at that. The humor isn't cutting edge, but I can see kids getting a laugh out of it. Though 'Keloglan' was made a decade ago, it still wasn't as mind- numbing vacuous as American spoof comedies were during 2006 ('Date Movie' for example) and for those even made today. Mind you this is only the first of a handful of Turkish turkeys on both of the IMDb Bottom lists that I have still yet to review. Why couldn't I have just watched 'Yol'?

Kazaam (1996)

Reel Look: Kazaam

[3/10 · 30 December 2016]

"Let's green egg and ham it." I was only seven years old when Kazaam was released into theaters, starring Shaquille O'Neal as the eponymous enchanter. And to this day I am truly grateful that my parents never took me to see this magical mishap of a motion picture two decades later. Back in the 90s when Shaq was at the height (no pun intended) of his professional career with the NBA, Los Angels Lakers and doing several Reebok or Pepsi commercials, his film appearances, especially as a main character, proved to be disastrous. The tag line on the VHS and DVD cover or what have you reads: "He's a rappin' genie-with-an-attitude...and he's ready for slam-dunk fun!" I as the viewer greatly disapproved. Even the Los Angeles Daily News didn't know what to say, so they just slapped "FUN!" on the cover in big capitalized yellow letters. Nonetheless, I would taken away the 'N'. With a budget of $20 million, only earning back $18.9 million in return, it also obtained a six percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on thirty-three reviews, and a twenty-four out of one hundred on Metacritic. So why did this family fantasy flop so hard? Let's take a look.

The film promptly opens on a swinging wrecking ball knocking down a dilapidated building in New York City; a perfect metaphor. A final swing knocks Kazaam's lamp in slow motion onto a boombox that just happens to be there as we hear him screaming. And how fitting to see director Paul M. Glaser's (David Starsky from the Starsky & Hutch TV show) name appearing over the sound of breaking pottery. That sound effect alone sums up the rest of the movie indefinitely. We then meet Max Connor (Francis Capra), a twelve-year-old kid on the run from a local gang of bullies, who chase him into the said building being demolished. Max accidentally kicks the boombox and unknowingly awakens the 5,000 year-old genie just as the bullies find him. Kazaam scares them away with his so-called rapping. Max later goes home to Alice (Ally Walker). She is a single Mom of whom she and her son don't exactly see eye to eye, especially since she's seeing a fireman named Travis (John Costelloe, of whom was an actual FDNY firefighter in real life and played Jim "Johnny Cakes" Witowski on The Sopranos). Kazaam later explains to the troubled youth, of whom at first wants nothing to do with him, that he can grant him three wishes. From telling Max that he doesn't "believe in fairy tales" to even taking a shower in front of Max in his own bedroom singing an almost unrecognizable rendition of Stayin' Alive...its just a mess.

Eventually the tough Max warms up to Kazaam and starts to believe what he says when he causes mountains of junk food to rain down from the heavens. He also realizes that he owns the towering turban-wearing thaumaturge until he makes his last two wishes. Of course what Max really wants is to get to know his estranged father (James Acheson), of whom left him when he was two. He sets out to find him, only to discover that he is a musical talent producer of which the cause of his success is specializing in unauthorized music. Kazaam forgets about Max once the boy's father takes a liking to him as a new possible rap talent as he tries his hand at a music career at his nightclub. But the sleazy villainous club owner Malik (Marshell Manesh), wants Kazaam for his own, and it is only the final wish, from the heart, that Max wishes that his Dad would be given a second chance at life as Kazaam personally deals with the Malik and his cronies. Hereafter, Max then accepts Travis as a new father figure.

Kazaam is really one of those good/bad movies that emerged in the 90s. It was good because it was and still is a fairly harmless family film, but bad because it has over time gained attention since its release for its absurd concept and Shaquille O'Neal's performance, making it a critical and financial failure. It also caused Paul M. Glaser to never direct another film since due to negative reviews on his work. Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 stars, writing: "Shaq has already proved he can act (in Blue Chips, the 1994 movie about college basketball). Here he shows he can be likable in a children's movie. What he does not show is good judgment in his choice of material. [...] the filmmakers didn't care to extend themselves beyond the obvious commercial possibilities of their first dim idea." In a 2012 interview with GQ magazine, O'Neal said, "I was a medium-level juvenile delinquent from Newark who always dreamed about doing a movie. Someone said, 'Hey, here's $7 million, come in and do this genie movie.' What am I going to say, no? So I did it." Though more suited in appearing as a film cameo, Shaq's last leading role would be in the following year as John Henry Irons/Steel in the critically-acclaimed box office bomb 'Steel', nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actor.

If Kazaam is wishful thinking in the power to begin anew, than it should have stayed bottled up and lost for one-thousand and one nights deep beneath the sands of the Arabian desert. The film is innocuous but its demise is that it is solely based on and crafted from a mix of genre clichés. Kazaam lacks imaginative stamina and, compared with Shaq's larger-than-life charisma, the film does not know what it wants to be either due to stifled, routine filmmaking and terrible rapping. Nowadays the movie is just a guilty pleasure for millennials to riff or poke fun at. My wish for you is that you never buy or rent Kazaam and see this jolly black giant on your television screen anytime soon.

Network (1976)

Reel Look: Network

[8/10 · 30 December 2016]

"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" The scene of the soaking-wet news anchor Howard Beale still remains vivid as he storms into the station in his drenched trench coat and gray matted hair to deliver the best ranted monologue in the film, imploring and begging us in an impassioned tirade that we should not have to take it anymore as his face fills the screen in desperation and urgency. Soon enough, citizens throughout the city of whom have tuned in are yelling the mantra out of their apartment windows at the top of their voices, echoed back by only the thunder and driving rain.

Inspired by the 29-year-old television news reporter Christine Chubbuck and her committing suicide during a live broadcast at her Florida station in 1974, American playwright, screenwriter and novelist Paddy Chayefsky decided to take this story of shock and morbidity and write a satirical black comedy-drama to unveil television for what it truly was amidst a post-Watergate America. The script would eventually be lauded as one of the ten greatest screenplays in the history of cinema. This time, Chayefsky's central figure in his story, directed by Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon) would not be a young woman but an older man, of whom had probably seen far better days in the business of media. Here was a veteran news anchor, discouraged and on the verge of a mental breakdown, truly fed up with the violent crimes and homicides that surround him on a daily basis while people still passively continue to watch. Is television really to blame for all of the madness even today? Let's take a look.

Beale (Peter Finch, the first actor to ever receive a posthumous Oscar) discovers that he's being put out to pasture, and he isn't the least bit happy about it. He then threatens to blow his brains out on live television, after of which he launches into an angry rant that turns out to be a huge ratings boost for the fictional UBS network. Taking full advantage of this stunt, the ambitiously determined producer Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) desires to turn the network on its head to develop even more outrageous programming (for example, The Mao Tse- Tung Hour for the upcoming fall season). Taking this newfound concept to unsettling extremes for her own personal gain, and when Beale's ratings seem to have topped out, she approaches the president of the news division Max Schumacher (William Holden) to "develop" the news show regarding Beale's success. Here too was a weathered news man at the top of whom had seen better days in media but, unlike Beale, remains passive to do anything about the current situations outside the confines of the station. Internally, he does not approve of Beale's manic antics on air but allows him to broadcast reluctantly. He declines the professional offer given by Diana, but not the personal one as the two then begin an affair. Schumacher decides to end Beale as the "Angry Man" format, as Christensen convinces her boss, Frank Hackett (Robert Duvall) to slot the evening news show under the entertainment division so that she may develop it. Soon after, Beale is hosting a new program called The Howard Beale Show. Ultimately the show becomes a hit and is the most highly-rated show on television and Beale, as the "mad prophet of the airwaves" finds new celebrity preaching his dire diatribes to a live audience when, on cue, chants Beale's catchphrase as one. Behind the scenes, Max and Diana's romance at first withers as the show flourishes. But in the flush of high ratings, the two ultimately find their way back to reuniting. Max decides to leave his wife (Beatrice Straight) of over twenty-five years since Diana has seduced him. But Diana's fanatical devotion to her job and emotional emptiness eventually drives Max back to his wife. Max knows that no one cared about the golden age of television anymore. People only cared about what was hot at the moment, as Beale was it, keeping the network from going under with his wild outbursts regarding present culture. Max takes Beale to meet with CCA chairman Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty), of whom tells Beale to tone down his rampant speeches. A plot to assassinate Beale live is put into motion due to him preaching Jensen's new "evangel" regarding the dehumanization of society, which depresses the masses as ratings begin to slide. What follows is an ending as chilling as it is abrupt, as the plug is harshly pulled from Beale's professional career.

Network and its message still remain as powerful today as it did then; a picture truly ahead of its time. The film does not glorify television but opens the viewer's eyes to a better understanding of what it is capable of doing if we allow it to rule our lives by the talking heads on the screen. Post viewing, many may be tempted to just toss the blasted device out into the street, seeing television as just a sleazy corporate parasite vying for our every iota of attention. But we can't look away, because we keep coming back to it just as we always have and will always continue to do so. Even forty years later, the shape, make and model of the television has been altered over time, but the message therein still remains and rings clear the more we tune in to the daily broadcasts and news specials. It's all about the ratings and numbers, of which we are and have become. Madness begets madness, as television only exemplifies what the network executives want us to see. We can get mad, but to whom will that help in bettering an already chaotic society? We can choose, however, how much truth there is behind the static and learn to think rationally and respond reasonably rather than allowing a man-made box with wires to do it for us.

Red Zone Cuba (1966)

Reel Look: Night Train to Mundo Fine

[2/10 · 30 December 2016]

"Griffin...ran all the way to hell...with a penny...and a broken cigarette." Coleman C. Francis' last installment to his notorious film trilogy is Night Train to Mundo Fine, also billed as Red Zone Cuba. Night Train to Mundo Fine (pronounced "Finé", in which Francis also starred as well) is an American drama film telling of the meandering adventures of three mercenaries caught in the Bay of Pigs Invasion. After directing such bombs such as 'The Beast of Yucca Flats' (1961) and 'The Skydivers' (1963), this film, as the other two, still hold their prominent places on IMDb's Bottom 100. This final entry, like the others in the trilogy, have nothing in common with each other, except all use preoccupation with light aircraft and parachuting, coffee and cigarettes, which serve as prop or a center of conversation, and a vigilante-style gunning down of suspects without a trial to conclude the film as frequent motifs. With a minimal budget of $30,000 and shot entirely in the general Santa Clarita, California, (as per his two films) what could possibly go wrong? Francis' films have often been criticized for their abysmal production values, repetitive plot devices, murky picture quality and stilted acting. Critics have characterized his films as among the all-time-worst, even suggesting that he may surpass Ed Wood in terms of ineptitude. Would this film had been better off had the train not left the station? Let's take a look.

'Night Train' opens with a young reporter approaching an old train engineer (John Carradine, the only big name in this picture) about three men--Griffin (Francis and the narrator), Cook (Harold Saunders) and Landis (Anthony "Tony" Cardoza, of whom also produced and played Castro)--of whom hopped his freight train back in 1961. Carradine must have wanted out pretty fast, because this is the only time we see him throughout this monochrome drudgery. He does sing the theme for the opening credits, performed by Ray Gregory and the Melman, but that's it after that. Griffin, a hulking escaped convict, joins up with Cook and Landis when the men are sitting down to eat in the desert while pointing a gun at them. A police officer arrives to question the men as Griffin hides in the brush. The office informs them to watch for Griffin of whom has $5,000 on his head. Upon his leaving, they know they can't turn the towering brute in due to having him kill them, so they allow the lug to travel on their sojourn in earning money to fight in Cuba. They go to a man named Cherokee Jack, (George Prince), and they trade in their truck for $35 in return for a flight to the war-torn communist country. Once there, the man get captured and become prisoners of war. They abandon their superior officer Bailey Chastain (Tom Hanson), although he begs for them to take him along with them. He desperately informs them of his family's mine back home, of which contains pitchblende, tungsten and other precious metals. They trio manage to escape through a window after Griffin strangles a guard. Stealing one of Castro's planes, they flee to Arizona. Once on American soil, the threesome partake in throwing diner owner Cliff Weismeyer (Charles F. Harter) down a well and Griffin creeping up and grabbing the blind daughter (Elaine Gifford), tearing her away from sitting at the facility's tinny piano and strangling her on a bed. The gang then steal Cliff's car and hop a train. Post engaging in a variety of crimes, the threesome finally make it to Chastain's home as they and his wife (Lanell Cado) head towards the mine the following day. Eventually the law catches up with them. Cook and Landis both surrender, Griffin refuses to go down without a fight. A shootout ensues and he dies in the desert sand.

'Night Train' is an hour and a half and feels like to longest ninety minutes I felt as if I ever had to sit through in a long time. It was almost as testing as sitting through 'Manos'. At least this film had the audacity to have a plot, which kept my interest a little more than 'Manos' did, but not so much. Everything in this film is practically filler and stretched out to unbearable lengths. We see the three men in uniform amongst some other soldiers running on the beach, walking along trails and scaling ledges. We witness executions in the Cuban prison camp, though we have no emotional connections to these anonymous souls being shot as we were just introduced to them. And for a film entitled 'Night Train to Mundo Fine', the train itself is barely in this picture. On December 17, 1994, 'Night Train' appeared on an episode of MST3K. It was the second of Francis' films to be featured on the show's sixth season, following 'The Skydivers' and preceding 'The Beast of Yucca Flats'. Francis received notoriety due to these televised spots and as a result of their appearing on the show as well. Cherokee Jack even went later on to appear in The Office episode 'Threat Level Midnight'.

'Night Train to Mundo Fine' is indeed a train wreck, meandering more than the characters on screen to an unbearable, lengthy extent, metaphorically derailing over an unfinished railroad bridge ascending over a hundred plus feet of gulch. And Coleman C. Francis, director and conductor, went down with it. He passed away at only age fifty-three due to cardiovascular disease. Though arteriosclerosis was listed as the official cause of death, Cardoza said that his body was found in the back of a station wagon at the Vine Street Ranch Market with "a plastic bag over his head and a tube going into his mouth or around his throat". Though he did make two more bad films before passing, 'Night Train' stills remains as a loud whistle blowing in homage to his terrible craft.

Au hasard Balthazar (1966)

Reel Look: Au Hasard Balthazar

[8/10 · 30 December 2016]

"You must forgive. Everyone. Much will be forgiven you. You have suffered." One of the most revered filmmakers in the history of cinema, Robert Bresson's acclaimed Au Hasard Balthazar is a film that follows the story of a sensitive farm girl named Marie (Anne Wiazemsky) and her cherished donkey, Balthazar. This would be the sister film of Bresson's next picture Mouchette. Marie and Balthazar are eventually separated when she gets older, the tale follows both the young woman and the donkey as both contend with the hardships of the world. Although Marie and Balthazar often encounter cruelty from various people they encounter, they also discover small moments of beauty. We have seen many times in movies those seeking/finding redemption or offering some sort of sacrifice for a cause far greater than themselves. But what if these actions were performed through the titular farmyard animal lead? Does it work? Let's take a look.

We first see Balthazar as a newborn as he takes his first unsteady steps. This is a slight metaphor for the rest of the film. Three children sprinkle water on its head and baptize it. Unbeknownst to the little colt, he will be owned by many of the locals and be returned to some of them more than once, some kind, others cruel. Balthazar's first owner is Marie, of whom lives with her parents; her mother (Nathalie Joyaut) and father (Philippe Asselin, the local schoolmaster). Her playmate is Jacques (Walter Green), of whom agrees will marry the girl someday. When Jacque's mother dies, his grief-stricken father leaves the district, entrusting his farm to Marie's father, in whom he has complete trust. Marie has an immediate connection with Balthazar, happily decorating his bridle with wild flowers. However she does nothing to protect the animal when a local gang of boys torment the him. The leader is Gerard (François Lafarge), the son of the local baker.

As the years pass, Marie grows up and the pair become separated. We see, though, how the film traces both of their fates as they both embark on parallel sojourns, continually taking abuse of all forms from the people they come across. Balthazar has several owners, as most exploit him, some times more with brutality than love. Both even suffer at the hands of the same people. How can one not feel for the beloved beast of burden with the white-spotted face, long fuzzy ears and big black eyes? We empathize his sense of the cold when we see the snow on his fur; his sense of pain and alarm when his tail is set ablaze for refusing to move; his satisfaction and contentment when he eats; his ridicule when trained to count math equations at a circus; the worn look in his eyes and weary feeling in his legs when overworked with heavy loads by ruthless masters. We unfortunately see Gerard again when his father purchases the burro to carry bread. The boy tortures the donkey as he tries in another scene to get close to Marie. In the end, Marie's fate remains unresolved whereas the donkey's is clear. Balthazar, now older and worn, one day aimlessly wanders into an open field. A herd of sheep surround him as he lays down, braying as a final sacrament before he passess on.

Bresson said that he wanted to make a different style of filmmaking using his theory of "pure cinema" after making several prison-themed films. Balthazar was inspired by Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Idiot, as each episode in Balthazar's life represents one of the seven deadly sins. The film was "made up of many lines that intersect one another", Bresson later stated, and that Balthazar was meant to be a symbol of the Christian faith. Bresson was known for casting unknown actors, which gave his films more layers of depth and humanity on a level many other filmmakers rarely capture. Wiazemsky's 2007 book Jeune Filleon tells of her experiences during filming Balthazar, regarding how she and Bresson developed a close relationship during shooting, although it was not consummated, and how she lost her virginity to a member of the film's crew. Critics and film reviewers widely praised Balthazar, including the noted filmmaker of the French New Wave and Cahiers du Cinema critic Jean- Luc Godard, of whom eventually went on to marry Wiazemsky. Imbued with religious imagery, spiritual allegories, shot with a naturalistic, minimalist aesthetic style and a study on saintliness, Balthazar contains a powerful spiritual message that is both revolutionary as it is rewarding.

Daisies (1966)

Reel Look: Daisies

[30 December 2016]

"We're young and we've got our whole lives ahead of us!" Perhaps the most anarchic entry and explosive eruption of the Czech New Wave of the 60s was Věra Chytilová's disjunctive pop art feminist farce Sedmikrásky (Daisies). The film follows the misadventures of two seventeen-year- old girls in raccoon eye makeup in communist Czechoslovakia: the lively brunette Marie #1 (Jitka Cerhová) and the bob cut, flower head wreath-wearing Marie #2 (Ivana Karbanová). Is this film just a psychedelic buffoonery glorifying woman power or does it contain a deeper meaning? Let's take a look.

Believing the world to be "spoiled", the duo of bored, brash childlike women embark on a series of zany pranks and pratfalls in which nothing and anything done or discussed is taken seriously. They also take advantage of any unfortunate older men of whom cross their path as well, using their money and spending it on food or fashion. Scenes are tinted in various colors; our scissor-happy character's heads float in mid-air; a montage of colorful images sporadically flash before our eyes. In one of the most memorable scenes, they enter into a large empty room uninvited in which holds a lavish gourmet banquet and expensive bottles of wine and champagne. They then partake in an eventual food fight, throwing and destroying artisan desserts, making a mess and destroying the room in utter glee (an homage to Laurel and Hardy) as they slurp up costly drinks with nonchalant gusto as trumpets from what seems like the soundtrack from a propaganda film blare triumphantly. Afterwards the girls tear off the curtains and hold a fashion show on the elongated table, dancing and stomping on the remaining food in their high heels. Here were are to gather a sense of when this film came out and what was going on in this area of Europe at the time regarding oppression, incompetence and political liberalization of which had brutalized everyone. The girls dancing on the remains of the once well-crafted, mouth-watering cuisine presumably set for communist officials represent the people's disregard and dismissal to strict communist propaganda and overall control in the hopes of a better tomorrow as a nation.

Chytilová as director was in this being her most famous film. It was considered a milestone of the Nová Vlna movement and was innovatively filmed and released two years before the Prague Spring. The film held nothing back in its exuberance, absurd humor and heavily implied message, and was labeled as "depicting the wanton" by the Czech authorities and banned. Chytilová was forbidden to work in her homeland until 1976, although the film did go on to receive the prestigious Grand Prix of the Belgian Film Critics Association. Aesthetically and politically adventurous, hedonistic, kaleidoscopic and dreamlike, Daisies is still widely considered one of the great and daring works of feminist world cinema.

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Episode #1.43 (1976) Season 1, Episode 43

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Episode #1.43

[7/10 · 30 December 2016]

"Blanche. Blanche. Leroy...has drowned. Leroy...has drowned...in a bowl...of my chicken soup."

Created by Gail Parent, Ann Marcus, Jerry Adelman, Daniel Gregory Brown, directed by Joan Darling, Jim Drake, written by Gail Parent, Ann Marcus and developed by legendary television media mogul Norman Lear, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was to be a satire of the impact of American consumerism. The pilot consisted of two episodes, but was not picked up by networks. Undeterred, Lear pursued a syndication strategy by hiring a sales agent to sell the show at the 1976 National Association of Television Program Executives (NAPTE) market in San Francisco. The possibilities of selling an extensive new show in a hotel room and the complications therein made Lear distraught. Needing a solution, his business contacts introduced him to James W. Packer Jr. and his company, Mission Argyle Productions. Packer devised a unique sales idea by inviting general managers from television stations across America to Lear's house in Los Angeles to dine with him and hear his pitch. KING-TV of Seattle became the TV first station to produce syndication rights to Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman the following day, eventually cementing the show's foundation in television history as the soap opera that turned the soap opera inside out, even predating David Lynch's Twin Peaks by a decade plus.

The series takes place in the fictional town of Fernwood, Ohio. In fact there is a real Fernwood, Ohio, located in Jefferson County, but the series instead derived its name from Fernwood Avenue, which runs behind the KTLA/Sunset Bronson Studios where the show was taped. The title of the show was the eponymous name of the lead character's name stated twice, because Lear and the writers believed that dialogue within a soap opera was always said twice. The show is also without a laugh track or live audience. The title of the soap was the eponymous name of the long-banged, double-braided mousy lead character with the gingham frock named Mary Hartman (Louise Lasser, here now recently post divorced from Woody Allen after only four years together) of whom is daily bombarded by a bewildering array of familial crises. The program ran for two seasons from January 25, 1976 to May 10, 1977 and had three hundred twenty- five episodes overall. And in particular episode forty-three, "Chicken Soup", is perhaps the one that stood out the most to be chosen by TV Guide because of what happens due to cause and effect concerning Coach Leroy Fedders (Norman Alden) apropos his own undoing and a giant bowl of the titular get-well-soon poultry broth.

The episode opens to Loretta Haggers (Mary Kay Place) at home starting to regain feeling in her feet again. She and her husband Charlie (Graham Jarvis) witness this miracle and offer their thanks in prayer. Meanwhile Tom, (Greg Mullavey) Mary's husband, learns that Mae Olinski (Salome Jens) is planning to leave Fernwood as she also talks to him about Mary. Sick with a 72-hour virus (and only getting four hours of sleep out of it) is the cantankerous coach. He sits miserably at his dinner table garbed in a bath robe and unkempt graying hair, surrounded by medication capsules and liquor bottles while persistently popping sleeping pills with his Jack Daniels. All he wants to do is watch his cop shows and see some violence. "To hell with Monty Hall!" His wife Blanche (Reva Rose), watching over him, warns him that the mixture of medication and alcohol would kill him, but he pays no heed and continues onward in numbing his unfortunate brush with the flu. Enter Mary Hartman with a large pot of homemade chicken soup. Leroy reluctantly grabs a spoon to get the insisting of his well-meaning neighbor and wife off his case as the two women go and converse in the living room. Fatal results ensue when they hear Leroy gurgling in hen juice. When they both go over and Mary checks his pulse, the camera holds on her face as she discovers that it is too late. Believing her soup to be the cause of his bizarre passing at only age forty-seven, she is in shock as she lets his hand go, the appendage dropping lifelessly back on to the table as both women look at the body and then at each other. The scene is both haunting and amusing as the episode concludes.

Directed by Drake and written by Alderman, "Chicken Soup" remained in the same bottom slot on the 2009 list of TV Guide's Top 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time list as it did the original list in 1997. Though the episode includes footage from an upcoming one as it has always done at the end, the comically bleak note this episode ended on as the credits roll afterwards can not easily be forgotten. Just seeing how a character partakes in an inevitable and yet stupid way to go due to dismissing logical reason when ill is sadly and ironically the highlight of this half-hour bit.

Years later in 2004 and 2007, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was ranked #21 and #26 on "TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever". When Lasser left the show in 1977, the show was now branded as Forever Fernwood. The same premise and location remained, though in the world of the show Mary's absence was caused by her running off with the aforementioned Sgt. Dennis Foley (Bruce Solomon), with whom she had a lot of contact with during the first season. This show may have been one of Lear's Lasser, (excuse me) lesser talked about developments, but it did manage to make its mark as just a quirky, outrageous soap. Though made mockery of in a Carol Burnett sketch with guest star Jim Nabors, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was a short-lived soap spoof series hailed by critics as "hilarious" (TV Guide), "mind-blowing" (Newsweek) and "television's zaniest show!" (Readers Digest), despite her kitchen floor having a waxy yellow buildup.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Reel Look: It's A Wonderful Life

[8/10 · 25 December 2016]

"Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends." Frank Capra's portrayal of the average American everyman through his direction has been seen in his previous films, such as It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. But none shines the brightest and boldest except here. Capra's American Christmas fantasy drama and personal favorite film (including Stewart's), 'It's a Wonderful Life' has initially, and belovedly, become a holiday favorite the years over. The story was originally written by Philip Van Doren Stern in November 1939, entitled "The Greatest Gift". Unsuccessful in getting his story published, he decided to make it into a Christmas card, mailing two hundred copies to family and friends in December 1943. In April 1944, RKO Pictures bought the rights to the film for $10,000, upon coming to the attention of producer David Hempstead, of whom showed it to Cary Grant's Hollywood agent. Hoping to make the story into a vehicle for Grant, RKO created three unsatisfactory scripts before finally shelving the planned movie, as Grant went on to make another Christmas movie staple, The Bishop's Wife. At the suggestion of RKO Studio chief Charles Koerner, Capra read "The Greatest Gift" and saw its potential immediately, later stating that this was the picture he was born to make. RKO sold the rights to Capra's own production company, Liberty Films, in 1945, of which had a nine-film distribution. The script underwent many revisions throughout pre-production and during filming. With the final screenplay credit going to Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett and Frank Capra (with uncredited input from Dorothy Parker, Clifford Odets and the infamously blacklisted Dalton Trumbo), the film was thus put into production after much anxiousness from RKO. Though a flop upon its release, losing $525,000 at the box office for RKO, it had to stand the test of time. By the 1960s, the film's copyright had expired, thus opening the floodgates for a "public domain" to be circulated for cheap and recurring television broadcasts. The film became a mainstay due to wholesome family viewing, especially due to the fact that it was repeated excessively during the holiday season. In the 1970s, public broadcasting stations set the film's reputation of quality in stone by scheduling the picture against the tactless network's commercial and materialistic costs, even becoming a victim of the colorization craze. By the 1980s due to numerous television showings, it had become a traditional holiday viewing during the Christmas season. So does this American holiday classic hold up even by today's standards to provoke even still to feel post viewing? Let's take a look.

George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) is a good-natured, generous small-town businessman of whom has spent his entire life in Bedford Falls, Connecticut. Sacrificing his education and yearning wanderlust to leave town and see the world, his dreams and aspirations are lost again and again due to sending his younger brother Harry to college instead of himself. He also stays behind and marries his childhood sweetheart Mary (Donna Reed) while also keeping the family-run savings and loan afloat from the heartless clutches of the greedy banker Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore, in a suitably hateful Scrooge-like performance). When $8,000 is accidentally misplaced on Christmas Eve, a distraught and desperately frustrated George contemplates suicide by preparing to jump off of the local bridge into the icy waters below. It is here that his untimely death is prevented when his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) intercedes on his behalf, eventually showing George what life in Bedford Falls would have looked like without him had he never existed, culminating in a triumphal ending in opening George's eyes and our own as to realize that we too don't know how much difference we have made in other's lives as well.

Today, 'It's A Wonderful Life' still contains the profound and yet raw emotional power to evoke joy, sorrow and the feeling of redemption. Nominated for five Academy Awards, the film has certainly become an iconoclastic staple in American cinema as a traditional and seasonal viewing experience, and certainly one of the most acclaimed pictures of all time. So much so that it truly demands to be seen each and every year due to its robust themes, ponderings and incredible acting from Stewart. And, seventy years later, it still remains an all-American classic and a powerful reminder that every life is important, regarding of what one makes of it. And I personally feel that that ideal is what truly makes life wonderful.

Inception (2010)

Reel Look: Inception

[8/10 · 16 July 2015]

"What do you want?" "Inception. Is it possible?" Written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan, his 2010 action-drenched summer blockbuster science fiction heist thriller starred a large ensemble cast and, with and official budget of $160 million, went on to gross over $800 million worldwide, becoming the forty-fifth highest grossing film of all time. Nolan's reputation with 'The Dark Knight' helped secure the film's $100 million in advertising expenditure. So is the film as mind-bending as its title implies? Let's take a look.

Shortly after finishing 'Insomnia' (2002), Nolan wrote and eighty- page treatment about "dream stealers" envisioning a horror film inspired by lucid dreaming and presented the idea to Warner Bros. Feeling the need for more experience, he retired the project and instead worked on 'Batman Begins' (2005), 'The Prestige' (2006) and 'The Dark Knight' (2008). Spending half a year on the script, he purchased it from Warner Bros. in February 2009. Filmed in six countries and four continents, it began shooting in June 19, Tokyo 2009 and finished in Canada in November 22, 2009.

The film stars our two leading actors Leonardo DiCaprio as Dominick "Dom" Cobb and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur, two "extractors", people who perform corporate espionage using an experimental military technology to infiltrate the subconscious of their targets to extract information while experiencing shared dreaming. This skill has made Dom a hot commodity for the world of corporate espionage The target of their latest project is Japanese business man Saito (Ken Wantanabe)caught forever in limbo as an aged man. The extraction is interrupted and the mission failed when sabotaged by a memory of Cobb's deceased wife Mal (Marion Cotillard). Saito reveals that he was actually auditioning the team to perform the difficult act of "inception": planting an idea into someone's subconscious. Their newest target: Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), the heir of an ailing competitor Maurice Fischer (Peter Postlethwaite) to break up the break up the energy conglomerate. He wants Cobb to plant the idea in Robert's head of dissolving his father's company. Should Cobb succeed, Saito tells him he will use his influence to clear Cobb of a murder charge, which will allow him to return home to his children. Arthur claims that inception is impossible as it is always possible to trace the origin of an idea. Cobb, claiming past experience, accepts the offer. After setting about assembling the rest of the team, including Eames (Tom Hardy), a conman and identity forger, Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist who concocts a powerful sedative for a stable "dream within a dream", and a graduate student of architecture Ariadne (Ellen Page), (a name taken after the Greek princess mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths) tasked with designing the labyrinth of the dream landscapes recruited with the help of Professor Stephen Miles (Michael Caine), also a mentor and father-in-law to Cobb, they set out to perform the impossible. Though Cobb eventually gets this chance of a lifetime to redeem his life as a thief, a projection of his former wife anticipates Cobb's every move, a projection of which his subconscious created, appearing frequently in dreams/missions as a hostile force.

'Inception' not only falls into the category of a summer popcorn flick but also as a fresh approach of how CGI imagery can be beautifully used to incorporate its way into a story, disregarding showy explosions and alien monsters: objects exploding in slow- motion around a cafe, a city folding in half upon itself, good guys versus villain projections and duking it out amidst the hallway of a zero-gravity hotel. Visually and physically mind-bending in its stimulating high-tech grandeur, this fast-paced blockbuster offers a world where you are never sure where you are nor how you got there and will not let you awake until the film has run its adrenaline- fused course. Until Edith Piaf sings, what is real or unreal, what may be a dream within a dream...within a dream, 'Inception' offers edge-of-the-seat thrills and visual trickery, enlightening the eye and the mind with a bombardment consisting of a slew of special effects and labyrinthian storyline. As long as the top continues to spin, one can hardly want to dismiss the 'kick' when the end credits roll as it cuts to black as the viewer must now "awaken".

Hugo (2011)

Reel Look: Hugo

[7/10 · 15 July 2015]

"Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do... Maybe it's the same with people. If you lose your purpose... it's like you're broken." Based off of Brian Selznick's 2007 novel 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret', 'Hugo' is a historical adventure drama directed by Martin Scorsese (his first shot in 3D) and adapted for the screen by John Logan. The seasoned filmmaker and cinephile remarked: "I found 3D to be really interesting, because the actors were more upfront emotionally. Their slightest move, their slightest intention is picked up much more precisely." Known for his mobster movies about gang violence and organized crime, Scorsese wanted to make a film that his twelve-year-old daughter could watch. Released in 2011 an grossing $185 million at box office, the film won five Oscars, more than any other picture that year in 2011. Did he succeed in possibly making his first family film? Let's take a look.

The setting is the Parisian Gare Montparnasse train station in 1931. Orphaned and alone twelve-year-old Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) lives a secret life behind the station's hidden chambers and passageways, maintaining the clocks and avoiding the vindictive Station Inspector Gustave (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his Doberman Maximilian. Before the station, Hugo lived with his widowed but kind and devoted master clockmaker father (Jude Law) of whom took Hugo to see the films of George Méliès only on his birthday. When an unexplained museum fire breaks out, killing the father, Hugo's inebriated uncle takes the boy with him to live at the station working the clocks, of where he has been ever since. Hugo works ambitiously on his father's most devoted project: a broken automaton (a mechanical man) that can illustrate, holding an ink pen in it's right hand of which might give him a message from his father. From the journal he has kept of his deceased parent, he secretly steals parts from an embittered toy shop owner's stand, Papa George, (Ben Kingsley) to fix it. He eventually gains the trust and assistance of his bookish and well-spoken goddaughter Isabelle (Chloë-Grace Moretz) to join him on an adventure in, like the clocks and the automaton, slowly fixing the lives of those around him by his loving ambition and caring demeanor towards the microcosm that is the station in which he lives for the better. He soon discovers the biggest secret from whom Papa George once was many years ago via the automaton before he dismissed his passion and broke down into a cantankerous cogless codger. Like the world itself, it is its own myriad of mechanisms that all mesh into each other as one, thus proving everything and everyone must have a purpose somewhere and aren't just an extra part.

Filled with mystery, dreams, fantasy and sleight of hand, this is a film anyone should see with a sense of adventure and/or a passion for cinema and how this intriguing realm unfolded. 'Hugo' is Scorsese's personal love letter to motion pictures and cinema itself, showing us every now and then clips of the birth of cinema (the last scene of an outlaw shooting point- blank from 'The Great Train Robbery', the majestic sets of Babylon from 'Intolerance', Buster Keaton sitting on the wheels of a moving train in 'The Gerneral', etc.) and how it has truly changed our world and enlighten the senses even to today. It gave us a chance to think, to become creative with new and invigorating ideas in how to tell a story with memorable characters and exotic lands. It showed us that we can be more than ourselves in reaching out to someone in who may just need fixing of their own only to discover something more than we could ever have possibly imagined. 'Hugo' entrances and and stirs the imagination with its warm atmosphere and colorful world in which in creates for the viewer. For the movie makers and those of whom enjoy films, 'Hugo' is truly a perfect opens secret passageways of its own, turning the mechanisms and gears in the viewer's minds to unleash the power within to create and inspire.

Un chien andalou (1929)

Reel Look: Un Chien Andalou

[8/10 · 13 July 2015]

"Once upon a time..." Spanish director Luis Buñuel's directorial debut 'Un Chien Andalou' (An Andalusian Dog), collaborated with the prominent artist and close friend Salvador Dali, is a seventeen-minute silent, stark and surrealist film. Initially released in 1929 with a limited showing at Studio des Ursulines in Paris, the film became popular and ran for eight months afterwards. After eight, nearly nine decades, does the short still manage to provoke rather that to please? Let's take a look.

The idea for this film arose at the time when Buñuel was working as an assistant director for Jean Epstein in France. Buñuel told his then-inseparable friend in a restaurant one day about a dream he had in which a cloud sliced the moon in half "like a razor blade slicing through an eye." Dali then responded that he had dreamed of a hand crawling with ants. He would later go on to paint this in one of the most renowned and famous works or surrealist art 'The Persistence of Memory" in 1931, in which one can see in the lower left corner of the portrait an orange clock covered in black ants meant to represent decay. Excitedly, Buñuel responded to Dali, "There's the film, let's go and make it!"

The entire film plays out as a dream, albeit not a pleasant one, as uncanny images appear and disappear only to be followed by even more bizarre ones moments afterwards: a thinly-veiled cloud cuts across the moon as a straight razor cuts through the eye of a middle-aged woman (Simone Mareuil), although it was actually a calf's eye in reality. A cross-dressing nun on a bicycle, a severed hand lies in the street as spectators look on; a young woman allows herself to get run over; ants crawl out of a hole in a human hand; a Death's-head Hawkmoth flutters on the wall; a young man (Pierre Batcheff) pulls a rope of which attached are two tablets of stone (the Ten Commandments), two confused priests (one of them Dali) and two pianos atop which lie rotting donkey corpses. This represents the young man's religion of him trying to pursue the woman but that it gets between them and the dead livestock represent that their relationship could only end in the same manner as the unfortunate beasts of burden. Many gaps of time play throughout the picture as well, as we jump from one point to another without really knowing where we are or how we got there. All we as the audience can do is wait the horrorshow to run its course, one of which we wish would end but somehow is a place we can't look away from nor forget.

The audacious but cautious young director had previously filled his pockets with stones to throw at the audience upon his film's completion so that he could make a clean getaway. However, Buñuel's film was praised upon its first debut in Paris. Dali and Buñuel became the first filmmakers to be officially welcomed into the ranks of the Surrealists by the movement's leader André Breton. Mocking everything right and proper in art at the time, 'Un Chien Andalou' broke barriers on a new ground of filmmaking for aspiring auteurs to create new ideas to shock and stun with the power of cinema. Dali left Buñuel due to disagreements on the director's next project 'L'Age d'or' (1930), but Buñuel had made his first provoking picture and his reputation onwards would eventually make him one of Spain's most famous and respected directors.

Independence Day (1996)

Reel Look: Independence Day

[6/10 · 4 July 2015]

"Welcome to Earth!" Sci-fi disaster flicks don't get any bigger than this 1996 blockbuster, oozing destruction and explosions left and right on practically every frame. The forty-seventh highest grossing film of all time, it was at the forefront of the large- scale disaster film and science resurgences of the mid-to-late 1990s. But do the effects outweigh character? Let's take a look.

Director Roland Emmerich takes us on a roller coaster ride in saving the world from non-peaceful extraterrestrials of whom, rather than the friendly aliens from 'Close Encounters' and 'E.T.', are bent on planning to decimate the very existence of mankind with their monstrously menacing mothership, where in one sequence the White House is blasted to smithereens. The film also features an all-star cast: Bill Pullman (as United States president Thomas J. Whitmore playing a Bill Clinton-esque persona, alongside the Hillary-esque First Lady portrayed by Mary McDonnell), Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson, an MIT-educated computer expert, chess enthusiast and environmentalist, the cool, charming and cocky Will Smith as Captain Steven Hiller,an assured U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 pilot and Randy Quaid as Russell Casse, a widowed alcoholic redneck and Vietnam veteran who claims to have been abducted by the aliens a decade before the present Martian invasion and of whom eventually sacrifices himself to save mankind.

As far as it's concerned, it's just a spectacle-filled summer popcorn flick that presents a visually slick and fast-paced adventure, boasting expensive special effects and large-scale action sequences that appears more of an actual character than anyone actually in front of the camera, borrowing liberally from H. G. Welles' 'War of the Worlds', 'Aliens' and every sci-fi invasion film in between. Poor on character development but dripping with all-too realistic visual effects, 'Independence Day' nonetheless thus resulted as an international smash-hit, and remains a big and loud sci-fi extravaganza, exploding with gigantic visual grandeur of stunning visual proportions that were, and still are, out of this world.

Naked Lunch (1991)

Reel Look: Naked Lunch

[7/10 · 1 July 2015]

"Exterminate all rational thought. That is the conclusion I have come to." A product of the Beat Poetry generation, writer and drug addict William S. Burroughs' 1959 Naked Lunch novel's title takes it's name as described best by the author: "a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork". The book was notably banned in many places and deemed unfilmable until Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg (Videodrome, The Fly) took the project into his own hands in 1991, adapting from Burroughs' other works as well to tell the story of this surreally strange science-fiction drama. Combining Howard Shore, known for his thunderous choir and full orchestra scores and Ornette Coleman's dizzy saxophone of free jazz together for the film's astounding score was certainly an audacious choice, as the notes sporadically swell and sway, seeming to add a hazy atmosphere to the drug-fueled ambiance of the picture. Peter Suschitzky's queasy green-and-gray-tinged cinematography only adds to the collision of varying sensibilities of a sickly uneasiness as well throughout. Did Cronenberg succeed at filming the unfilmable? Let's take a look.

Peter Weller plays Bill Lee (a pseudonym of Burroughs and the name under which he published his first autobiographical novel Junky), a man of whom wants to write but exterminates insects to pay the bills. Bill sometimes hangs out with his nebbish writer friends, (of which Burroughs' modeled after fellow beat poet friends Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg) Hank (Nicholas Campbell) and Martin (Michael Zelniker), of whom are both sleeping with Joan under Lee's very nose. Lee's wife, Joan, (Judy Davis), becomes addicted to Bill's bug powder dust, as she describes a shoot-up to feel like a "literary high"; a reference to Franz Kafka's 1915 short story 'The Metamorphosis'. He soon joins her in a world of unorthodox hallucinogens, involving meeting the kindly but sinister Dr. Benway (Roy Scheider), walking away with his first dose of the black meat he gives to Bill: a narcotic made from the flesh of the giant aquatic Brazilian centipede. When a party trick game known between Bill and Joan called the William Tell routine involving a liquor glass and a gun go awry, accidentally killing Joan, Bill flees to the Tangiers-like Interzone (Burroughs wrote Naked Lunch in the city Tangiers). Here in this Mediterranean location, he encounters talking insectoid typewriters, double agents, offbeat aesthetes, Mugwumps spouting and oozing from phallic appendages and plots within plots.

Cronenberg's collaboration with the banned work of Burroughs between the realms of fiction and non-fiction allows the film itself to concern that nether region between the real and unreal as well, where the inspired and imaginative impetus for the creative process are not driven by drug-fueled hallucinations but are the product of it instead. With a fragmented touch of film noir realism, random routines and creepy-crawlies galore,'Naked Lunch' is a bizarre plunge into a narcotic delusion echoing that of a bitter cry from the bellows of the Earth. When combining both worlds regarding the exterminated species of the entomologic kingdom along with a few hits of insect powder, the thin line of what is tangible fades into a twisted oblivion, giving us a picture not for everyone but remains a good hit that still manages to shock and stun even today thanks to it's daring director, even with all of the bugs and the drugs.

Les Misérables (2012)

Reel Look: Les Misérables

[7/10 · 30 June 2015]

"I dreamed a dream in time gone by, when hope was high and life worth living..." Based on Victor Hugo's epic eponymous French historical 1862 novel, and adapting the beloved songs of the said film from the Broadway smash-hit by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil of which debuted in 1980, Tom Hooper's (The King's Speech) triumphant romantic musical period drama 'Les Misérables' opened on Christmas Day 2012. With a budget of $61 million, the film would eventually but deservedly win three Academy Awards and three Golden Globes and gross a worldwide total of $441 million plus. To the English-speaking world, the book's title is referred to in its original French, while several alternatives, however, have been used as well, including 'The Miserable', The Wretched', 'The Miserable Ones' and 'The Wretched Poor'among others. So does this beautiful and breathtaking blockbuster, a musical feast for the eyes and ears,possibly then remain unsung? Let's take a look.

The film begins in 1815 and continues on to culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris, following the lives and interactions of several characters, particularly the struggles of ex-convict 24601 or Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) and his experience of redemption near the film's end, as he is about to die in a church, questioning his own life's morals and choices. The film also adapts many natures from the novel as well, examining the nature of law and grace, elaborating the history of France, Paris' then urban design, politics, moral philosophy, antimonarchism, justice, religion and exploring the nature of romantic and familial love.

Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, 'Les Mis' opens with Jean Valjean, a Frenchman released on parole after serving nineteen years at Toulan Prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving family (originally it was five years but the sentence was elongated due to his running away). Eight years later, he becomes a factory owner and mayor of Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais, adopting Cosette (eventually Amanda Seyfried) from living with the Thénardier twosome (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter), an unscrupulous pair of swindling innkeepers, and their daughter Éponine (eventually Samantha Barks). Cosette is the daughter of Fantine (Anne Hathaway), one of his struggling establishment workers-turned-prostitute, of whom was trying to raise money for her ill child. All the while and for decades now, ValJean is pursued by the ruthless police inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), devoting his entire life to incarcerating ValJean once again in shackles with the chain gang. Nine years later, poverty increases in Paris, and Jean Maximilien Lamarque is the only government official sympathetic towards the poor, thus causing a group of young revolutionary students, known as the Friends of the ABC, to plan a rebellion of the French monarchy. One of them, Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne) falls for the fair and beautiful Cosette, where, unbeknownst to them singing at her gate together, Éponine watches secretly in the shadows, also yearning for his love in return but realizing it was never meant to be. Once the rebellion commences, this leads up to the climactic and powerful fight for freedom, as all the souls shot down in the battle are reunited and sing triumphantly at the holy barricade on the other side and waving the French tricolor victoriously before the end credits roll.

'Les Mis' is no doubt a magnificent feat for director Tom Hooper, along with cast and crew. The film boasts fifty-one songs in total, as most of the numbers are phenomenal as each note is sung with a longing passion straight from the depths of the human spirit, including: "I Dreamed a Dream", "Suddenly", "One Day More", "On My Own", "Red and Black" and "Do You Hear the People Sing?" Every single song was recorded live on set to capture the spontaneity of the performances, and the actors wore ear pieces which fed the sound of a live piano being played off-stage to keep their singing in key. Hugh Jackman even went thirty-six hours without water, causing him to lose water weight in his checks and eyes, allowing him to display the gaut appearance of a prisoner, and Anne Hathaway's performance at audition reportedly blew everyone away, leaving them in tears and eventually winning her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Originally aiming for a four-hour running time (as compared to the 1934 film) and fifteen minutes of battle sequence, the film was cut to two and a half hours with fifteen minutes of the final film was cut out. 'Les Mis' was the first film in a decade to win an Academy Award nomination since 'Chicago' (2002). Critics had their own say afterwards, leaving a C plus rating as one sites' consensus reads: "Impeccably mounted but occasionally bombastic, Les Misérables largely succeeds thanks to bravura performances from its distinguished cast." Danny Cohen's cinematography made a point in 'The King's Speech' showing the awkward relationship between England's Prince Albert "Bertie" (Colin Firth) and speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) upon their first meeting, whereas here in 'Les Mis', for some scenes, the camera-work repeats this for no reason, where other times the camera jerks about wildly, allowing many pivotal moments to become lazy and unfocused. Even though the actors are giving there all during their numbers, a handful can really sing while others fall short of those of whom can.

Many adaptations of the film had followed throughout the years, including the more highly-praised 1935 film starring Fredric March and Charles Laughton, and the 1998 version starring Liam Neeson. However this newest installment, with its powerful performance and its demanding to be seen on the big screen will ultimately move you in some form due to its powerful impact regarding the inner pangs of squelched dreams, unrequited love and sacrifice exemplified here as a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit to live on for one day more.

The Office: Diversity Day (2005) Season 1, Episode 2

"If You're A Racist, I Will Attack You With The North"

[8/10 · 2 June 2015]

So says the "World's Best Boss" borrowing a quote from Abraham Lincoln. An adaptation of the BBC series of the same name created in 2001 by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, The Office was adapted for American audiences by Greg Daniels, veteran writer for SNL, King of the Hill and The Simpsons. Both sitcom and mockumentary, first airing on NBC on March 24, 2005 from May 16, 2013, the series depicts the everyday life of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. To simulate the look of an actual documentary, the show is filmed in a single-camera setup without a studio or a laugh track; our main characters sporadically posing as talking heads are either explaining or venting their emotions depending on however they happen to be feeling at that certain time to an unseen camera operator during a particular moment in the episode, often evoking hilarity. But when mixing in race? "Diversity Day"! The second episode of the first season, the second episode overall, was written by Ken Kwapis (who also directed) and B. J. Novak who, for his work on this episode, was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay – Episodic Comedy.

When the egotistical but shallow central character Michael Scott (Steve Carell, loosely based on David Brent from the original British version) makes a controversial imitation of a Chris Rock routine, he forces the staff to undergo a racial seminar. A sensitivity trainer arrives (guest starring Office consulting producer and writer Larry Wilmore as Mr. Brown) to give the staff in the office a practical presentation about tolerance and diversity. Michael, however insists on imparting his own knowledge, aggravating both the consultant and the entire office staff in creating his own diversity seminar instead. Michael is seen later on signing the release for Mr. Brown passed around, with the name "Daffy Duck". Mr. Brown does not realize that the signature is bogus. Michael quickly fashions his more ambitious and improvisational program under the name "Diversity Tomorrow" (because today is almost over"). First asking the employees to detail their particular nationalities, he helpfully offers that he is a "virtual United Nations" of English, Scottish, Irish, German and "2/15 Native American" origins, thus assigning each office member an index card with a different race written on it. They are to guess what race they are based on by the actions and phrases recited to them by their co-workers but are not allowed to read it, wearing and displaying it on their foreheads for only others to see. Compelling the employees to interact and "mix up the melting pot" causes tempers to slowly simmer. Many uncomfortable but hilarious exchanges of various stereotypes occur between them, as Michael reasons that they will learn how it is to "be a minority" while ironically bringing up offensive stereotypes himself (Scott has no card for "Arab" or "Muslim", because, he explains, it would be "too explosive"). This continues on until the staff finally snap under toleration for such petty inaneness. Meanwhile, Dunder Mifflin representative and love interest of the shy Pam Beesley (Jenna Fischer) Jim "Big Tuna" or just "Tuna" Harper (John Krasinski) struggles to keep hold of a lucrative contract extension that makes up about twenty-five percent of his annual commission. Amidst the entropy of the day, Dwight Kurt Schrute III (Rainn Wilson, based on Gareth Keenan from the original UK version), the successful paper salesman lacking in social skills, common sense and of whom is pretty much a fascist nerd, closes the sale for himself. Despite his initial personal dislike of Jim, the two are a very effective sales team nonetheless. Jim gets one of life's little victories when Pam falls asleep on his shoulder at the end of a meeting, as he concludes that is was "not a bad day".

Premiering on NBC on April 5, 2005, it lost half of its viewing audience due to the previous episode, being the pilot, which had garnered over eleven million viewers to this episode's six. On the flipside, "Diversity Day", along with the other first season episodes of The Office helped NBC score its highest-rated Tuesday night slot since February 1, 2005. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode positive reviews, stating that: "Think of the toss-off racism of the original, plopped into a PC-gone-wrong showcase that might be entitled The Accidental Bigot. As when the African-American diversity trainer introduces himself as Mr. Brown, and Scott assures him, 'I will not call you that.'" Ricky Gervais stated: "It is as good. I love the fact that, apart from the first one, the scripts are all original. You've gone back to the blueprint of what the characters are and you've started from there, as opposed to copying anything." Rolling Stone magazine named the scene wherein Michael shows the office his diversity video the third greatest moment from The Office. However, Erik Adams of The A.V. Club awarded the episode a "B+", noting that the episode "would go on to be one of the series' defining episodes, an installment that put a more hopeful spin on the original Office‍'s views on accepting the disparity between our dreams and our realities." Two scenes that were cut involved Michael Scott responding to Mr. Brown's "HERO" acronym by creating one that sounded good until everyone noticed the words created the acronym of "INCEST", while another had Jim replacing Dwight's "Asian" headband with "Dwight" and then having the other co-workers complain to his clueless character about how annoying his behavior was. The pilot after the pilot, "Diversity Day" defined NBC'S The Office for cast and crew alike. Kwapis reflects: "Well, it certainly took a while to find its audience. But creatively the show hit a home run in episode two. I mean, that episode really is a standout. Two hundred episodes later, that's really a standout."

The Carol Burnett Show: Dinah Shore - Went with the Wind (1976) Season 10, Episode 8

"Thank You. I Saw It In The Window, And I Just Couldn't Resist It."

[8/10 · 1 June 2015]

"Went with the Wind!" is a sketch in the eighth episode of the tenth season of the American variety series The Carol Burnett Show. Originally airing in the United States on November 13, 1976, it is a parody of the 1939 epic American historical drama film 'Gone with the Wind', based off Margaret Mitchell's 1936 eponymous fictional Pulitzer Prize winning (and only) novel. The sketch was written by two young writers, one being Rick Hawkins, of whom won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series two years later due to his work for Carol's show. Before the sketch begins, Carol Burnett introduces it by saying: "Recently, nearly the entire nation spent a total of five hours watching 'Gone with the Wind' make its TV debut. So for those of you who ran out of Kleenex and were unable to watch it, we put together our own mini-version to let you know what you've missed. Uh-huh."

'Gone with the Wind' received its world television premiere on the HBO cable network on June 11, 1976, and played on the channel for a total of fourteen times throughout the rest of the month. It made its network television debut in November later that year, NBC paying $5 million for a one-off airing. It was broadcast in two parts on successive evenings. It eventually became at that time the highest- rated television program ever presented on a single network. Mrs. Burnett then decided to put her own dizzy spin on the American historical tearjerker.

The title card of the first half reads: WENT WITH THE WIND! and ATLANTA, TERRA (land, territory) PLANTATION SOMEWHERE IN GEORGIA where the eccentric Southern belle Starlet O'Hara (Carol Burnett) is hosting a party and greeting her guests. House servant Sissy (Vicki Lawrence, of whom was hired for the show due to her similar appearance of Mrs. Burnett) comes in screaming "Miss Starlet! Miss Startlet!" telling her that Mr. Brashly (Tim Conway) is here. Starlet opens the door to see Brashley introducing her to his cousin Melody (Dinah Shore). Brashley informs Starlet that he and Melody are to be married, in which she then tells him to leave. Angry, Starlet throws a vase across the room, only to have Ratt Butler (Harvey Korman) catch it, of whom just happened to be there. The two have a moment, only to be informed that a war has just broken out. Everyone leaves as Melody announces that she is going to have a baby now. A soldier comes to the door asking to borrow a match, and, moments afterward, a fire breaks out, as we are lead to believe this was the cause of the Atlanta fire. As Melody gives birth, Starlet tries to deliver her speech about how she will "never go hungry again", only to be interrupted by a wailing Sissy traipsing circles around the couch, who, as she had mentioned earlier, does know about birthing babies but does nothing.

The title card of the second half: TERRA PLANTATION ONE WAR LATER. The once elegant and grandeur interior of Terra Plantation is nothing more now than the bedraggled aftermath of charred walls and broken pillars. Sissy "Miss Starlet! Miss Starlet!" tells her that the war is over. A bankrupt Brashley arrives, saying how Ratt became a millionaire during the war. Starlet, trying to figure out how to look good enough to ask Ratt for the money quickly takes the drapes from the window "I've got me a dress to make." Captain Butler arrives "I really like what you've done with the place"; Sissy stalling him as he tells of his lost dreams. The Yankee soldier marries Ratt and Starlet (after coming to from before when Starlet knocked him unconscious with a chair). After an altercation and discovering that Starlet is in love with Brashley, Melody dies, but only after she pushes an unsuspecting Starlet down the stairs, the first time being when Starlet accidentally got punched by Ratt when he saw her embracing Brashley. Brashley leaves, followed by Ratt, Starlet slamming the door in his face just as he is about to deliver the famous line of the original film. Then Starlet complains to Sissy, "What am I gonna do?" to which Sissy slaps her and retorts, "Frankly, Miss Starlet, I don't give a damn."

There are far too many hilarious moments in this sketch to go over, given the allotted twenty minutes of television time to show possibly 'deleted scenes' taken from a serious four-hour war drama as only the show could convey it, laden with sight gags, slapstick and cultural references, including 'Dixie' (Ratt: "Look away!" Sissy: "Look away?" Ratt: "LOOK AWAY! Dixieland." Sissy: "You know that's real catchy. You oughta set that to music Captain Butler." But the highlight is when Starlet descends the staircase replete in her handmade green garb finished off with curtain rod. The curtain dress was conceptualized and designed by the show's costumer Bob Mackie. The script originally called for the dress to be hanging off of Burnett, but Mackie did not find it funny. He asked the art director for a real curtain rod and green fabric, making the dress on a mannequin. Burnett said that she came into costume and fittings and when she saw the curtain and rod she said it was the most brilliant sight gag ever. The curtain dress scene was named number two in TV Guide's January 23-29, 1999 list of The 50 Funniest Moments in Television. Mrs. Burnett did other classic film parodies such as 'Babes in Arms', 'Double Indemnity', 'Sunset Blvd.', 'The Heiress', 'Mildred Pierce' and even 'The Exorcist' as a sketch for 'As the Stomach Turns', but none has ever made us laugh quite as much as this one.

Good Times: Black Jesus (1974) Season 1, Episode 2

"Jesus May Have Your Soul But Mom Is Gonna Have Your Behind!"

[6/10 · 1 May 2015]

'Black Jesus' is the second episode of the first season of the CBS- TV American sitcom 'Good Times', which centers on the poor but proud African-American Evans family of whom make the best of things within their current living situations amidst the Chicago housing projects with love and laughter, despite what life has dealt them. The program, especially in this episode, introduces us to a taste of each main character's persona as to what to expect from their identities regarding the shows the followed: James Evans, Sr. (John Amos) as the strict, short-tempered father, Florida (Esther Rolle) as the firm but religious gap-toothed mother, the tall, lanky oldest Evans child and ghetto artiste James "J.J." (Dy-no-MITE!) Evans, Jr. (Jimmie Walker), voice-of- reason middle child daughter Thelma (Bern Nadette Stanis) and their youngest and preadolescent black activist son Michael (Ralph Carter).

The program originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 8, 1979. Created by Eric Monte (who has a cameo in 'Black Jesus' as Runner to deliver James some money when his number is hit) and Mike Evans (who based the show around his childhood, had the youngest member of the Evan's clan named after him, and of whom also starred as Lionel Jefferson in 'All in the Family' and 'The Jeffersons'). The program was also developed by Norman Lear, of whom served as the series' primary executive producer and developer/creator/producer of the prior shows just mentioned. 'Good Times' is a spin off of 'Maude' (in which Esther Rolle plays the eponymous character's housekeeper Florida), which is itself a spin off of 'All in the Family' (in where the no-nonsense Maude Finlay (Bea Arthur) first appears as Edith's cousin in S02E12 to take care of the flu-ridden Bunker household). Whereas 'All in the Family' and 'Maude' take place in New York, the setting for 'Good Times' was based in an apartment complex in the Chicago ghetto, though all three shows were filmed in California.

When Michael discovers a portrait of a black man resembling a similar image to that of Christ in the closet that his older brother J.J. had painted, he tells him that it is really Ned the Wino. After Michael hangs it up on the living room wall, taking down and replacing it from a real picture of Jesus already on display, this action does not sit well with the very devout Florida. Flo's vexation escalates even further as she refuses to entertain the notion that the painting had anything to do with the recent "miraculous" happenstances of fortunate circumstances and coincidences when each family member, as well as their gossiping, fashion-savvy flibbertigibbet neighbor Wilona Woods (Ja'net Du Bois), begin experiencing a wave of unexplained good fortune. Whether it is a lucky break or something more divine that intervenes, the Evans family soon learns that a string of "good times" pales in comparison to Whom should have been hanging on their wall the entire time and what He could truly provide for them in His perfect time. In the end, Florida allows J.J. to hang Black Jesus on the wall upon his return from him losing at the local art exhibition alongside the actual one, saying how their family could use all the help they could get.

Directed by John Rich and Bob LaHendro, and written by John Donley and Kurt Taylor, 'Black Jesus' aired on February 15, 1974. This was the first episode in which Ned the Wino is referred to. He would later be a recurring character played by Raymond Allen, who also played Aunt Esther's husband Woody on 'Sanford and Son'. This was also the first episode in which street hustler Sweet Daddy Williams is mentioned, as we see J.J. painting a portrait of him in the opening scene. He would later become a semi-regular character on the show portrayed by Theodore Wilson. When Thelma announces that she has a date, the name of the boy she is going out to an Isaac Hayes concert with is named Larry. This could possibly the same Larry who would eventually become her fiancée, although Keith Anderson (Ben Powers) would end up marrying Thelma during the sixth and final season of the show. When Wilona enters the Evan's home, she says, "Hi, I'm Wilona. Fly Me." The "Fly Me" line was a reference to the 1960's and 1970's when National Airlines began a "Fly Me" campaign using attractive stewardesses with taglines such as "I'm Lorraine. Fly me to Orlando."

Though this episode was chosen for number eighty-three spot for TV Guide's '100 Greatest Episodes of All Time' list, I feel a more robust episode could have been chosen to do justice even more so regarding the Evans family and their current surroundings than in this one. In later seasons the show has delved into more heavier issues and subjects such as drinking, heroine, gang violence, child abuse (in which we are introduced to a young Janet Jackson as Penny) and so on. But I believe 'Black Jesus' was selected because it introduced us to the Evans family as real people with real hopes and dreams; a family, while some of them wanted to admit/believe it or not, indeed needed Someone to watch over them to provide the good times that came with the hardships and struggles of life.

The Big Bang Theory: The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis (2008) Season 2, Episode 11

"I Possess The DNA Of Leonard Nimoy?"

[9/10 · 31 March 2015]

"The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis" was the eleventh episode of the second season of the American sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory', directed by Mark Cendrowski and written by Bill Prady and Richard Rosenstock. Airing on December 15, 2008, and viewed by 11.42 million people, it was Jim Parsons that submitted the episode for consideration due to his nomination for the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards. Strictly adhering to routine, along with his trademark irony and sarcasm, theoretical physicist Dr. Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) worries about the vastly approaching Christmas holidays, since he does not celebrate it. His indecision about what to give his blonde waitress and aspiring actress neighbor across the hall Penny (Kaley Cuoco) as a gift bothers him. Penny asks if he and the guys are putting up a Christmas tree in their apartment, to which Sheldon replies, "We do not celebrate the ancient pagan ritual of Saturnalia." Sheldon then explains, "In the pre-Christian era, as the winter solstice approached and the plants died, pagans brought evergreen boughs into their homes as an act of sympathetic magic to guard the plants and preserve their essences until spring. This custom was later appropriated by northern Europeans and eventually becomes the so-called Christmas tree." His friend Howard Wolowitz, a Jewish aerospace engineer that still lives with his mother, quips "And that, Charlie Brown, is what boredom is all about."

Seeing how Penny has already gotten him a gift, Sheldon, annoyed and upset instead of normally being accepting with the joys of the season, must return the favor posthaste, seeing her getting him a present in his mind equates an obligation. He must get her something of the same value based upon her present and perceived level of friendship. Sheldon ponders if obligations such as this are a contributing factor to the increased suicide rate during the holidays, as his friends, Dr. Rajesh "Raj" Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar), an Indian astrophysicist, and Howard end up taking him to the mall. Deciding on a basket of bath items at the fictional store Le Bain Quotidien ('The Daily Bath'), a pun on the phrase 'le pain quotidien' (daily bread), he discovers a wide selection available, in which Sheldon sees as a "cacophonous assault of eucalyptus, bayberry, cinnamon and vanilla." Still unsure about what Penny is going to get him and what he should get her in return, he buys a barrage of bath baskets to cover all contingencies.

Meanwhile, Dr. Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), Sheldon's roommate and experimental physicist, meets visiting researcher and fellow experiment physicist Dr. David Underhill (guest star Michael Trucco). Leonard envies David for being handsome, charming and cool. He is even a more successful physicist than Leonard is, though he still jumps at the offer to help David out with his research. However, Leonard's joy of hanging around David is inconveniently interrupted by envy when the latter encounters Penny. The twosome start dating, but they later separate when she discovers that he is married.

Penny's gift to Sheldon turns out to be a cloth napkin...having wiped his mouth and autographed by an off-screen Leonard Nimoy who just happened to be in the cafeteria downstairs! "To Sheldon: "Live Long and Prosper." Overwhelmed and speechless since the giddy geek Trekkie now possesses the televised Vulcan persona's DNA and can now grow his own Spock from just the help of a healthy ovum, Penny assures him that he's just getting the napkin. Sheldon, in turn, responds by giving Penny all of the gift baskets, followed by a rare, gingerly-given "Sheldon" hug, as Leonard claims it to be a "Saturnalia miracle" (i.e. Sheldon version of a Christmas miracle).

With holiday touches such as Wii Bowling Night and a hilarious explanation of how Superman cleans his uniform by flying into the Sun makes this Christmas episode about a handful of lone nerd geniuses set in Pasadena, California all the more festive. The TV Critic's Review says: "As a Christmas episode this definitely contains the feel good factor, but more than that it is the best episode this season. Combining character development and humor in a blend which this show can do really well." Chuck Lorre, the show's creator, was named in an article in the magazine Entertainment Weekly that year under "The 25 Smartest People In Television", ranking in at number twenty. A blurb from Lorre stated in the article says: "Now I'm just thinking out loud here, but if something were to happen to those nineteen people... if say, they were to, one by one, have horrible accidents, or mysteriously disappear, then that would make me, ipso facto, the number one smartest person in television." Seven years later, this episode still remains a modern Christmas comedy classic, though not completely clean for family viewings as many of the other episodes often employ sexual content or double entendres. And, in my personal opinion, the show is actually better than the full theme song sung by the Barenaked Ladies. Bazinga!

M*A*S*H: Abyssinia, Henry (1975) Season 3, Episode 24

"No, I Just Want To Say Goodbye."

[9/10 · 31 March 2015]

Thus is spoken one of the last phrases uttered by Lt. Colonel Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) to the pompous Maj. Frank Marion 'Ferret Face' Burns (Larry Linville) as the company from the 4077th M*A*S*H assembles to see Henry off when he asks, "Does the Colonel wish to review his troops?" M*A*S*H, made for television from September 1972-February 1983 post an eponymous 1970 Robert Altman black comedy film and 1968 book 'MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors' by H. Richard Hornberger (Richard Hooker's pseudonym) was an endearing half-hour program, carrying both emotionality and entertainment for saving the sake of sanity of the world surrounding our main characters in 1940s Korea. The title of the episode uses the word "Abyssinia" as a comic corruption of the phrase "I'll be seeing you", specifically in what follows thereafter. In Korea, death was always a certainty, but it specifically had someone else in mind that day. Not a soldier nor the enemy, but a particular Lt. Colonel from the 4077th precinct with his warm smile and trademark fishing hat, also meaning that the innocent Radar O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff) would lose one of his closest and dearest friends in that short amount of time as well.

Opening in the operating room, the surgeons and medical staff (with the exception of Frank Burns) participate in a game of "Name That Tune". Radar enters the O.R. shortly after shut-ups arise between Frank, who requests silence, and the other doctors has reached its peak. He then informs Blake of his discharge back to the States, confirming he has received all of the Army service points to be rotated back home. Upon completion of the surgical session, Henry is overjoyed and begins planning for his upcoming trip home, first placing a telephone call to Bloomington, Illinois to inform his wife and family of the good news. As he is making the call, we see a skeleton on his right-hand side as he continues his conversation. The camera then holds on him as he is sitting and speaking, insinuating to us that his demise is near, unbeknownst to him or us. The skeleton, however, had always been in his working quarters all this time, but here it has an unsettling and chilling significance that Blake will never see America and that he is tragically doomed.

Meanwhile Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit) and Burns are eagerly awaiting the upcoming transfer of the 4077th M*A*S*H: upon Blake's departure, Burns will become the new unit commander. Cleaning out the main office, a sentimental moment emerges when Radar tells Blake of his meaning to him in his life. As a token of appreciation, Radar gives him an inscribed Winchester cartridge; a surprised Henry returns the favor by spontaneously giving Radar a rectal thermometer that once belonged to his father.

On the night of his departure, Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce (the always wisecracking Alan Alda), his comrade in comedic caper crimes Trapper McIntyre (Wayne Rogers) and Radar throw Henry a drawn-out going-away party at Rosie's Bar and Grill. The foursome, inebriated from the sake, share pleasant memories, reminiscing times of old before Blake has to find a lavatory. While absent, the rest of the party decide to prepare a comedic ceremony to "drum him out of the Army", presenting him with a brand-new suit upon his return as a parting gift.

After saying his initial goodbyes the next morning, and the first day with Frank Burns in charge (with no less respect for him than before from the other surgeons) and laying a long kiss on "Hot Lips" from Blake after a whisper from Radar convincing him to do so, Blake then leaves the camp and walks towards the chopper pad with Hawkeye, Trapper, Margaret and Frank. Guest starring were soon-to-be famous characters on the show such as the Reverend Father Mulcahy (William Christopher) and the constantly cross-dressing Corporal Klinger (Jamie Farr). They then all sing him out with "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow". What followed thereafter shocked, even outraged, many viewers at the time.

"Abyssinia, Henry" aired on May 18, 1975 in the US on CBS-TV. It was the twenty-forth episode of the third season, the final episode for that season and the seventy-second episode overall. It was written by Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell, directed by Larry Gelbart, and produced by Gene Reynolds, who said of the episode, "We didn't want Henry Blake going back to Bloomington, Illinois and going back to the country club and the brown and white shoes, because a lot of guys didn't get back to Bloomington." Disregarding though understandably receiving letters of feedback from viewers showing the intensity about it's condemnation, it is estimated that the producers received over one thousand letters regarding the episode; "some… were from people who understood. Many were from people that didn't." The cast did not even know about Henry's death off-screen or on until when Radar comes into the O.R. announcing Henry's plane being shot down, spinning, and finally crashing over the sea of Japan with no survivors. All of their reactions when the camera was rolling were completely genuine. Rogers quit during that summer break between seasons. An upset 20th Century Fox sued for breach of contract, but the suit collapsed. Producer Reynolds continues: "Not everybody, not every kid gets to go back to Bloomington, Illinois. Fifty thousand – we left fifty thousand boys in Korea – and we realized it was right for the show, because the premise of our show was the wastefulness of the war."

Forty years later, "Abyssinia, Henry" still packs the power from its dark, unexpected turn to stay in viewer's minds long afterwards, even after the light-hearted montage of Blake with clips from past episodes, playing an "affectionate and reluctant farewell", reminding us all that the haunting M*A*S*H theme song title could possibly be true after all.