Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

Produced by spaghetti western king, Sergio Leone, My Name is Nobody, takes the earlier works of Leone and adds a comic twist to it. I was going to say it lampoons the earlier spaghetti westerns, but that's not really what the film is about. It's more of a serious comedy or perhaps it's more wacky than the proceeding westerns by Leone. One thing is for sure this film seems like something Quentin Tarantino would have made. As it features intent of style over substances. It works, but at 2 hours the quirkiness begins to wear thin.

On the hand, this has some of the most amazing sets used in a western. Especially the Native American village on top of a mesa. I was impressed with what looked like an actual silver mine operation, I'd say that was a real location. There's some funny odd stuff, and Henry Fonda is good as the aging & wishing to return in peace, gun fighter. And I guess Terrance Hill was suitable wacky as the young strange-stranger who wants to turn the old gun fighter into a living legend....so he can be in the history books.

Watch it if you are wanting to see something a bit different. Just remember the English version is dubbed, and only Henry Fonda did his own voice, which adds to the quirkiness.

This is the first DC superhero movie I've seen. I liked Gal Gadot, I thought she was perfect for the role. Chris Pine was OK though he didn't have much chemistry with her. Then again this isn't some sophisticated movie with deep character study. What you get is what you expect: Lots of CG, lots of video game style fighting, not much in character development and at 2 hours 21 minutes a bit long in the tooth.


I liked the overall story premise but I could have done without long fight sequences with Wonder Woman flying through the air.....slowing down to a near freeze, then speeding up as she attacks. Good grief, isn't that style of cinematography out of favor yet? I sure wish it was! I found it silly, like a Saturday morning cartoon, ala Powder Puff Girls. Then again I'm guessing this movie is aimed at teens, so I guess that's what they want.

When Wonder Woman wasn't flying though the air I did enjoy her portrayal of her character. The funny thing was the woman in the photo below was a carbon copy of Elsa Lanchester, right down to the guttural laugh sounds she makes. Not sure why she was needed in the film, she didn't do anything.

Wholly smokes!....This was great fun! The Silencers is the first of four spy films based on the Matt Helm character played by that swanky singer and all around fun guy, Dean Martin.

The spy novels that the movies are based on were written by Donald Hamilton from 1960-1993. I've not read any of the books but the movie is said to be very different than the novels. It works as both a take on the James Bond films, but fitted to the personality of Dean Martin.


So we get plenty of pretty girls all decked out in mid 1960s couture fashions...and good old Matt 'Deano' Helm has a bedroom that's fit for a swinging bachelor, complete with remote control bed and a luxurious bubble bath big enough for a party.

I found this movie to be more serious than I would have thought and yet it delivers some laughs, while entertaining. A young Stella Stevens was really good in this too. She plays a hapless girl who just happens to be dating an evil spy, which then makes Matt Helm think she's an evil counter spy herself. Which then puts her in all sorts of harms way.


Cyd Charisse has a role as an exotic dancer, that has to be seen to be appreciated. At 40 she's still looking great and fit as a fiddle. She sings too, though she's dubbed, it's still a great number.


The bad guys aren't all that colorful but Deano and his gal pals are! Don't miss the coolest spy tool ever made!...the reverse shooting gun.

++

Director: Hugh Wilson
Writers: Bill Kelly (story), Bill Kelly (screenplay)
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Walken, Sissy Spacek, Dave Foley
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance



I love this movie! It made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me ponder the mysteries of life....OK I didn't actually cry, nor did I ponder crap. But I did laugh and I did love it, and that's enough for me


The premise was a gas. Someone stuck in a bomb shelter for 35 years, without knowing what was going on in the world above. The bomb shelter was way cool too! I mean it was stocked with everything you could image. Loved the way it was made to look like their house. It kind of looked fun to live in! And Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek made for great - wacky parents. I couldn't ask for more.

I was a bit bummed when he left the bomb shelter, but quickly the film found it's footing and the juxtaposition of the naive nice guy coming up against the denizens of Hollyweird...err I mean Hollywood was top notch comedy. Good stuff!


Brendan Fraser knocked it out of the ball park. He's reactions were too funny, as they came out of what a guy from a nice family circa 1962 would say and do if he was plopped down in Hollywood circa 1999. Alicia Silverstone was decent too, though she came across a bit too bitchy to be a love interest. I would have liked to see Winona Ryder in this role.

Shot out to Dave Foley for some good on screen time. Good stuff all around

I picked this movie up at my library because I seen Woody Allen on the DVD cover and I thought it was one of his lesser known movies. It's not. John Turturro wrote and directed this film. But it still feels a lot like some of Woody's better works. It's set somewhere in New York, in a orthodox Hasidic Jewish neighborhood. Which I thought was very interesting as I didn't know that they would have their own street patrol capable of detaining people and questioning their religious/moral activities. I don't know if this happens in real life? but it was interesting in the movie.

This is rated R and sounds like pure spectacle, but it's not. Except for one brief topless shot of Sharon Stone, who's still looking good btw, this could be a PG13 movie. We don't really see much of the gigolo work, just him meeting the rich woman and introducing himself. Then it fades into the next scene. Woody Allen was much older than I've seen him before in a movie, but he's still got that sharp wit and funny delivery of his lines.


It was nice to see Sharon Stone, though she doesn't have much air time. For me it was the overall lightness of the film, Woody Allen and John Turturro's characters and the secondary Hasidic community story line that made this film worth watching.