Gideon58's Reviews

Leo
Despite being slightly longer than necessary, Netflix and Adam Sandler score with a smart, colorful, and very funny animated musical called Leo that provides solid laughs, a touch of warmth, and effectively conveys multiple themes on its complex campus.

The 2023 film takes place in Fort Meyers, Florida where we are introduced to Leo (voiced by Adam Sandler) and Squirtle (voiced by Bill Burr) a lizard and a turtle, respectively, who have been the class pets for the fifth grade at an elementary school for over seven decades. When the regular 5th grade teacher, Miss Salinas, goes on maternity leave, the substitute, Miss Malkins (Cecily Strong), insists that the students take turn taking the pets home for the weekend, the kids start taking Leo home, who provokes profound change among these kids when he starts helping these kids with their individual issues, but when Miss Malkins finds out about Leo, she tries to take credit for Leo's miracles.

I was initially hesitant to watch this, because Adam Sandler's last venture into animation, Eight Crazy Night, was underwhelming to say the least. However, just about everything works here, anchored by an extremely deft and imaginative screenplay by Sandler, Robert Smigel, and Paul Sando that is not only rich with contemporary humor that will appeal to the 18-34, but has an underlying messages regarding how kids today don't know how easy they have it, as well as some knowing winks to old school education. I would even go out on a limb and say I wouldn't be shocked if the screenplay earned an Oscar nomination.

Smigel, Robert Marianetti, and David Wachtenheim are billed as the directors of this film and they are to be applauded for the look and attention to detail for this film. The color pallets are eye popping and the mounting of scene backgrounds are extraordinary. Loved the scene where Leo is flashback over his life trying to figure out how old he is, and we see him reach the 70's and if you don't blink, you will notice a poster of Mark Spitz on the wall behind Leo and Squirtle. It was so many little things, like when Leo packs for his first weekend away from school, he takes lettuce leaf and packs three bugs in it. I also lost it when, on her first day, Miss Malkins takes away all the students' computers and replaces them with encyclopedias.

Loved the songs too, some of the funniest songs I have heard in a movie since This is Spinal Tap, and two of them, "Malkins Confesses" and "Dear Drone" should receive Best song nominations. Every now and then as I listened to Sandler singing in this movie, I would flashback to him as Opera Man on SNL.

Production values are flawless, with a special nod to Sound, which also deserves an Oscar nomination. Loved Sandler, Jason Alexander as Jayda's dad, Sunny Sandler as Summer, but Cecily Strong totally steals the show as Miss Malkins. It could have wrapped a little quicker, but this was so much more fun than I expected.

Fools Rush In
Wanted to watch something featuring the late Matthew Perry and settled on the pleasant but predictable 1997 comedy Fools Rush In, which provided sporadic grins, but was not exactly Perry's finest hour.

Perry plays Alex Whitman, a construction contractor who lives in Manhattan and builds nightclubs for a living. Business sends Alex to Vegas where he meets Isabel (Salma Hayek), a pretty photographer with whom he has a one night stand. Three months later, she shows up on Alex's doorstep to inform Alex that she's pregnant. She says the only thing she wants from him is to meet her huge family and have dinner with them. That even finds Alex swept up in the moment, impulsively proposing to Isabel, but of course as soon as they leave the wedding chapel where Isabel was escorted down the aisle by an Elvis impersonator, the realities of what they have done begin to rear their ugly heads.

The screenplay by actress Joan Taylor and Katherine Rebeck is kind of by-the-numbers, though I was surprised that after the one night stand, it was Isabel who ran out on Alex without a word. Unfortunately, after the dinner with Isabel's family, we see a really unattractive turn in the Isabel character, who quietly begins manipulating Alex and when she learns that Alex lives in New York, she just expects him to give up his life in New York and stay in Vegas.

Compromise does eventually creep its way into the relationship, but other circumstances keep pulling this pair apart in such a convenient fashion, that we begin to not really care whether these two get together. The appearance of Alex's parents ignites some racial stereotyping that had been smartly avoided up to this point. Perry works very hard at keeping Alex sympathetic, especially when Isabel sends him to the desert with her five brothers and ex-boyfriend to go hunting. Of course, Alex and Isabel are both getting a lot of bad advice from their BFFs, not to mention Isabel lighting candles at church in order to influence her future? Seriously?

Perry and Hayek manage a semblance of chemistry, but there's no sizzle to it. Alex's parents are played by the late Jill Clayburgh and Perry's real-life father, John Bennett Perry, but as a testament to Perry's talent, this one doesn't really cut it.

Fast Charlie
Despite a solid performance by Pierce Brosnan in the title role, 2023's Fast Charlieis an overheated and confusing crime drama that lost me about halfway through, except for the likability of Brosnan's character.

Charlie Swift is a professional fixer/assassin who has just arrived in the deep south with his latest assignment, only his victim has had his head blown off and is unidentifiable. Charlie finds help with this by contacting the victim's ex-wife for help in identifying the guy, unfortunately, this meeting leads Charlie and the pretty taxidermist into a deadly journey involving both of their pasts, predictably crashing into each other.

Richard Wenk's screenplay, based on a novel by Victor Gischler, starts off rather credibly with the idea of an aging professional assassin at the center of the story. We are immediately put on Charlie's side as his past is revealed to us through the introduction of the many criminal lowlifes who are part of a large criminal organization led by a guy named Stan Mullen (the late James Caan, in his final film role). This is when the story begins to lose me when, about 10 minutes after Charlie introduces us to his criminal family, most of them are dead and the one who aren't, Charlie kills before the credits roll.

What kept this movie watchable was this Charlie character and his loyalty to Stan, which became the heart of this movie, though that's not really saying much. It was exhausting watching Charlie ahead of the bad guys one minute and with a gun to his head the next. One scene which had Charlie stuck in a laundry chute hiding for his life was kind of fun and Beggar seemed to be an odd character name for the main bad guy.

Phillip Noyce's direction is rather pedestrian, making this film seem a lot longer than 90 minutes. As he ages, Pierce Brosnan is proving to be an impressive character actor, embracing his graceful aging and picking age appropriate roles. Watching Caan in his final film role was very difficult, because he looks frail and unhealthy here, probably aware that he's dying but thrilled to still be working. Caan's work here will probably be the only legacy this film will ever create.

Jane Austen's Mafia
The creative force behind the Airplane and Hot Shots franchise mine for similar laughs in the 1998 lampoon of mob movies called Jane Austen's Mafia!.

This mob movie satire follows the adventures of the son of a Mafia king taking over his father's business while trying to control his power hungry older brother and the two very different women in his life.

Director and screenwriter Jim Abrahams has constructed a story that is a pretty accurate melding and lampooning of The Godfather and Casino that features elements of both movies that will be familiar to fans of the genre. The film starts off with a perfect take-off of the opening scene of Casino, moving to gags related to Godfather I and II and back to Casino again and giving them an authenticity by featuring a lot of actors lampooning themselves in some of their most famous roles.

Abrahams is a long time veteran associated with these kind of satires and sometimes lets the gags go on a little longer than they should, especially a sequence at a mob funeral that gets way out of hand, but his on target handling of the Ace Rothstein narration in Casino, the on target spoof Sharon Stone's Ginger in that movie and the send up of Don Vito Corleone via the late Lloyd Bridges are a lot funnier than expected.

Jay Mohr provides just enough of a straight face to his Michael Corleone take off worth investing in and Christina Applegate is fun as this film's Kay Corleone who drops the mob prince and becomes the POTUS. The late Lloyd Bridges made his second to last film appearance as Vincenzo Cortino and the film is dedicated to him.

May December
Screenwriters from The Hunger Games and Ant Man and the director of Far From Heaven and the 2011 mini-series Mildred Pierce have collaborated on an emotionally charged fictionalization of real life events called May December that had this reviewer talking back to the screen. Will try to review without spoilers.

The 2023 film stars Oscar winner Natalie Portman as Elizabeth, a television actress who has just been given a role in a movie about a sexual relationship between a woman named Gracie (Julianne Moore) and a 13 year old boy that scandalized their hometown and still is providing repercussions on the Long Island suburb where they live. This film shows what happens when Elizabeth travels to meet the couple in order to research the role.

Screenwriters Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik do a superb job of providing a slightly disguised look at the story of May Kay Letourneaux, the middle school teacher who slept with a sixth-grader and ended up on trial for statutory rape. The screenplay delivers the story in such tiny slivers that it takes a few minutes to figure out what story we're seeing. We get flashes of tabloid covers stating that this version of Mary Kay, renamed Gracie for this movie, had a baby while she was in jail but aren't offered much more information beyond that. For my money, this screenplay is a dead lock for an Oscar nomination, for its complexity and manipulation of the viewer.

I love the initial premise of an actress researching a role as the entrance for the viewer to this devastating story that affected and is still affecting so many people and how for so many of the people who were collateral damage, it was like this happened yesterday, despite the fact that the events occurred almost three decades ago. The initial clue to the audience of the gravity of this relationship was demonstrated in such unexpected fashion. Elizabeth finds a package on their steps and we learn it's a box of excrement.

We're initially impressed with Elizabeth's determination to get this right and wanting to get inside the head of this woman that she's going to playing in a movie. The interviews with this woman and especially the other people involved seem to be sincere as an actress who wants to get this character right, but a shadow sets over that when we see Elizabeth in the storeroom where Gracie and Joe's first encounter happened. A pall is cast over what Elizabeth is doing and then we get that lovely scene in the classroom where she takes control of a high school class as she talks honestly about her craft and gets the viewer behind her again, at least for the moment.

Todd Haynes' direction is a little Adrian Lyne, a little Ingmar Bergman. Moore is superb as Gracie, as expected and newcomer Charlie Melton seems like a solid Best Supporting Actor nominee for his damaged Joe, but it is Natalie Portman as Elizabeth, whose performance keeps this film on sizzle and could finally earn her the second Oscar she should have won for Jackie. This one still has me a little rattled.

A Cinderella Story
2004's A Cinderella Story is yet another overly cute retread of the classic fairy tale that borrows from a lot of other movies, in an attempt to present a semblance of originality that it never quite does.

The film stars Hillary Duff as Samantha Montgomery whose life as Daddy's princess is crushed when he passes away, leaving her in the clutches of the gold digging stepmother (Jennifer Coolidge), who works Samantha to the bone at her father's restaurant. It is then revealed that Samantha has been falling in love over the internet with the big man on campus (Chad Michael Murray) and plans to finally meet him in person at the Halloween dance.

First off, this movie made me realize how sick I am of Hollywood reimagining Cinderella and they need to stop. Screenwriter Leigh Dunlop expects us to swallow a lot here...primarily, the fact that Samantha and her Prince Charming hook up at the dance 20 minutes into the running time and the next day at school, we learn he didn't recognize her because she had mask on. Seriously? He sees this girl every day at school, he hangs out at the restaurant where she works, he has talked to her, but she puts on an evening gown and slaps a mask over her eyes and he has no idea who she is? It's like Lois Lane being fooled about Clark Kent by a pair of glasses, it's just a ridiculous hook upon which to hang a ninety minute movie.

The whole falling in love over the internet was so The Shop Around the Corner and the way Sam is treated by her evil stepsisters and most of the girls at the school was so Mean Girls. The subplot of Sam's male BFF falling for the popular girl dumped by Prince Charming so smacked of Sixteen Candles. Again, he has been tutoring her in math for years in school, but because he came to the dance in a Zorro mask, she didn't recognize him either, despite a kiss that made them both weak in the knees.

Director Mark Rosman's allows the movie to trudge along the screen at a deadening pace. It's hard to distinguish this performance from anything else Hillary Duff has done, though Jennifer Coolidge is a lot of fun as the stepmother. Dan Byrd and future Oscar winner Regina King are wasted in thankless roles though. Unless you have a hard on for Chad Michael Murray, not a lot to recommend here.

The Holdovers
The star and director of Sideways are reunited for a warm and slightly edgy comedy-drama called The Holdovers that provides solid entertainment despite a screenplay that definitely could have used some tightening.

The film takes place during Christmas of 1969 at a small prep school where we meet three characters who find themselves remaining on the campus while everyone else has gone home for the holidays: Professor Hunhum is the stuffy and intensely disliked history teacher who has no life or family and was going to stay on campus anyway; Angus Tully is an intelligent but lonely senior who has been kicked out of three previous schools and faces military school if he gets kicked out of this one; Mary Lamb is the cafeteria manager who recently lost her son in Vietnam.

First of all, a shout out to screenwriter David Hemingson for the way he let us know when the film took place. Angus is seen packing to go home and he explains to a classmate that a pair of underwear he has is an exact duplicate of a pair that George Lazenby wore in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Backstory is efficiently provided for the three principals, but the film is slowed down when four other students are scheduled to stay on campus, set up some friction with each other, and then they are all conveniently sent from the school, leaving the Professor, Angus, and Mary alone on the campus, which is where the film kicks into gear, but Hemingson could have saved us about twenty minutes of running time if he had sent those other four students home with everyone else.

Professor Hunham and Angus Tully are classic film archetypes...Humham is the teacher whose entire life is his work and doesn't give a daman if all of his students hate him and Angus is the gifted loner, feeling unloved by his family and the butt of his classmates jokes. The expected meltdown between these two does happen because some juicy plot twists do develop during the second half of the film, but they do take a little too long to materialize. Didn't understand Mary's temporary removal from the story only to return her to the story about 15 minutes later, but the final fifteen minutes of the film almost ignited the tear ducts.

The film has been nominated for three Golden Globes. including Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy. Director Alexander Payne gets the same kind of blistering performance out of Paul Giamatti as the professor he got out of him in Sideways and most likely get him the Oscar nomination for Best Actor that he should have gotten for Sideways. Dominic Sessa makes a superb film debut as young Angus Tully and Da'Vine Joy Randolph's Mary has also earned her an Globe nomination. It's a little longer than it needs to be, but it's richly entertaining, thanks primarily to an Oscar-worthy performance from Paul Giamatti.

The Informant!
A superb cast help to keep 2009's The Informant!, one of the strangest films I have ever seen, watchable, despite a confusing story that takes a little too much time to come into focus.

This the true story of the vice president of a food additive business named Mark Whitacre, who has been developing a new product called lysine for years, but once the product starts to go into production, Mark learns that the people in the finance division of the company are involved in a price-fixing scam involving crooked businessmen from all over the globe, and are setting Mark up to take the fall, Mark reports the company to the FBI who force Mark into being an informant against the company, which not only gets him in trouble with his job, but once the FBI have the information they need, they have no compunction about throwing Mark under the bus.

This reviewer found myself scratching my head early on into this film thanks to a confusing screenplay that initially finds this Mark Whitacre being put into a lot of danger as a double agent, but the film's narrative is mangled with a very confusing narrative by the Whitacre character that is an uncomfortable combination of a recollection of the events of what happened here and a lot of incoherent ramblings about Mark personally that really have nothing to do with the story. This narration is also completely void of a reveal about halfway through this film that, despite what he was doing, Whitacre was also embezzling millions of dollars from his company.

Oscar winner Steven Soderbegh brings an uncomfortable breeziness to the story, making it seem not as serious as what the viewer sees. With a huge assist from, of all places, the music score by Oscar winner Marvin Hamlisch, an atmosphere is created for the story that is more in tune with a comedy, or a musical, or an Austin Powers movie, that made it seem like the viewer was being presented something that was not to be taken seriously or never really happened. The viewer is confused for most of the running time until it slowly comes to light what Soderbegh is doing here, making the entire cinematic experience very surreal. It's almost as if Soderbergh and the writers are making fun of Whitacre and I'm not so sure how appropriate that is.

The one thing that does keep this movie watchable is the superb cast that Soderbegh assembled to pull this thing off. Matt Damon's powerhouse performance as Mark Whitacre rivets the viewer to the screen and did earn him a Golden Globe nomination. Mention should also be made of Scott Bakula and Joel McHale as FBI agents, Melanie Lynskey as Mark's wife, plus Rick Overton, Thomas F Wilson, Scott Adsit, Ann Dowd, Clancy Brown, Ann Cusack, and, believe it or not, in their final film together though they share no scenes, the Smothers Brothers! It's an often incoherent film experience, but hardcore Matt Damon fans should definitely check it out.

The Lesson (2023)
Emotionally charged performances from the stars keep a 2023 psychological thriller called The Lesson watchable despite a swiss cheese screenplay.

This is the story of a writer named Liam (Daryl McCormack) who is hired as the tutor for the son of a famous writer named JM Sinclair and his wife. The Sinclair's son, Bertie, initially rejects Liam's help. but it's not long before it comes to light that Sinclair and his wife have their own agenda regarding Liam that has nothing to do with their son.

Alex MacKeith's vague screenplay initially sets up one kind of story before veering off in more than one alternate direction. At first, the story seems to be setting up a sexual relationship between Liam and the much younger Bertie, which would have had a similar "ick" factor to the main characters in Call Me By Your Name, but MacKeith diverts from that pretty quickly into a possible romantic triangle triangle between Liam and Mr. & Mrs. Sinclair, but it turns out that what is happening here has very little to do with sex, though the story has a very sexually charged atmosphere.

Director Alice Troughton sets up this atmosphere almost immediately upon Liam's arrival upon the Sinclair estate. It is no accident that the window to Liam's room is almost always in view of wherever the Sinclairs are, separately or together. There is a white hot scene of the Sinclairs getting down to business and when Mrs. Sinclair spots Liam watching, she just smiles at him. Ironically, the sexual heat that anchors this film has very little to do with what's going on here. It has to do with the opening scene that occurs before a flashback to Liam and the Sinclaires.

Troughton's direction is steamy, employing some impeccable production and the performances she gets from her stars definitely aid in keeping the viewer invested. Richard E Grant, Oscar nominee for Can You Ever Forgive Me? does some effective scenery chewing as JM Sinclaire and the lovely Julie Delpy is luminous as his wife. Daryl McCormack, so good last year in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, adds another sex on legs performance to his resume as Liam. This film keeps threatening to go to various places that it never goes and somehow still commands viewer attention.

American Splendor
Paul Giamatti was robbed of a Best Actor nomination for his blistering performance in 2003's American Splendor a riveting and richly imaginative biopic centered around underground comic book artist Harvey Pekar.

Harvey Pekar worked as a file clerk in a Cleveland hospital but the real passion in his life was in collecting antique jazz records and reading and writing comic books, even though he has no talent for illustration and just draws stick figures. This all changes when Harvey has an accidental meeting with another underground comic book writer named Robert Crumb who agrees to illustrate Harvey's stories for him, leading to recognition in the comic book world, multiple appearances on Late Night with David Lettermanand an unconventional romance with a bookstore owner that leads to an unconventional marriage.

Co-directors and screenwriters Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini also do Oscar-worthy work here, jumping off a cinematic cliff offering several things I have never seen in a movie before. The primary jump is the first biopic that features both the actors portraying the subjects as well as some of the real subjects, giving the film a bit of a documentary feel, but we're delivered from the sometimes dryness of a documentary with a lot of the scenes being mounted in the form of a comic book, including dialogue bubbles for the characters as they speak and one fantastic scene in a supermarket where Harvey is in line in a supermarket, about to lose his temper, when he is suddenly symbolically accosted by animated versions of himself advising him on how to handle the situation.

The directors and screenwriters offer one surprise after another their story presentation. Harvey's loneliness and social ineptitude is apparent throughout, evidenced in his inability to look people in the eye or smile. The relationship between Harvey and Joyce has one bizarre scene after another. Was totally thrown by the very first thing he tells her about himself when they first meet and I loved the fact that Harvey made no attempt to clean his apartment before Joyce's arrival. Found the choice of using the real footage for the initial Letterman appearances and then having Giamatti crush the final one was a bold choice that totally worked.

Production values are rich, with special shout outs to production design, sound, and editing. Paul Giamatti completely loses himself in this complex role and looking over the Oscar nominees for Best Actor that year, I've decided that his nomination was stolen by Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Carribean. Hope Davis is impressive as Joyce, validated when we meet the real Joyce, which I didn't see coming. And if you look closely, when Harvey and Joyce go to see a play about themselves, they are being played by Donal Logue and Molly Shannon. A provocative movie experience for those who are game.

Mel Brooks Unwrapped
If Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and History of the World Part I are part of your video library, then the 2018 HBO documentary Mel Brooks Unwrapped should be appointment viewing.

This 2018 documentary features the then 91 year old Hollywood icon in London to promote the London opening of his musical Young Frankenstein, where he is scheduled to be interviewed by a reporter from the BBC named Alan Yentob, who had interviewed Brooks twice before. Brooks gets us off to a comical start trying to locate Yentob's office and then telling the guy that he's not sure if he wants to do this, because the last three celebrities Yentob interviewed all passed away shortly after.

Needless to say, a documentary about Mel Brooks isn't going to go the expected route of a celebrity documentary. Brooks jumps all over the place as he reveals information with no particular form to presentation. It should be mentioned that if you're hoping to get a lot of behind the scenes dirt on those movies we know and love, you will be disappointed. What we do get is a pretty thorough overlay of everything that happened to Brooks before his Oscar-winning screenplay for The Producers.

The man born Mel Kaminsky reveals that he was one of five brothers and the only one who became a success and proves it by sending his mother a monthly check of $6.93 month. We get clips of his 2000 year old man routine with Carl Reiner (who died two years after this film's release), which actually leads to a reunion of the pair in Reiner's bedroom, where the two share scrapbooks and memories. Their onstage relationship definitely recalls the work of Harvey Korman and Tim Conway, who lived to see which one could make the other break character first. Brooks also proudly declares that everything he learned about making people laugh came from Sid Ceasar.

Brooks is also documented here as the perfect talk show guest who, like the late Robin Williams, didn't need a lot of help with having a talk show audience rolling in the aisles. He had me on the floor with a story he shared about the first time he met Cary Grant. Brooks' musical gifts are also highlighted as he provides perfect percussion accompaniment to a tape recording using his hands on his desk and, in my absolute favorite moment in the film, does a dead on impression of Dean Martin singing "Just in Time." This special ran 69 minutes and when it was over, I wanted another hour and a half. Thank you HBO.

Albert Brooks: Defending My Life
HBO and Rob Reiner have offered us a fascinating and roll on the floor funny look at the life and career of the Oscar-nominated actor, director, and screenwriter in a 2023 documentary called Albert Brooks: Defending My Life.

Brooks, who was actually born Albert Einstein, sits down with his high school classmate Reiner (we are shown yearbook photos of Brooks, Reiner, and Richard Dreyfuss), while commentary is offered that is dominated by the adjective "different", a word that seems everyone in the business seems to offer regarding Brooks, even though they all seem to have difficulty in articulating what different means in terms of Brooks. This documentary also wins the title of the celebrity documentary from which I learned the most about the subject that I never knew before.

Brooks offers vivid recollections of his father, a restaurant owner and comedian who was actually on the dias when Lucille Ball was the first woman honored as a member of the Friars Club in 1958. He passed away during the ceremony right in front of the audience. Brooks and Reiner also grace us with a peek at the mausoleum where Brooks' father is buried right next to the Three stooges.

We are treated to some outrageous comedy that Brooks provided in over 30 appearances on The Tonight Show, including a routine where he plays a ventriloquist who moves his lips and a routine about an elephant trainer whose elephant was unavailable so he does the same routine with a frog. There's also a very funny clip of Brooks actually lighting up and sharing a joint with Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon on the air.

A big reveal for me was when we learned that Lorne Michaels originally wanted Brooks to host SNL, but it was Brooks who suggested that he have guest hosts each week. I was also bowled over by an appearance by Oscar winning director Steven Spielberg who revealed that he and Brooks used to drive down Hollywood streets at night in order for Brooks to interview people on the street from the window of the car.

I was actually touched about the section of the film where he talked to Reiner about his phobias regarding relationships and told his future wife Kymberly that she was "the first woman he wouldn't mind being divorced from." In addition to Spielberg, commentary is also offered by Chris Rock, Jonah Hill, Larry David, Alana Haim, Conan O'Brien, James L Brooks, Judd Apatow, Ben Stiller, Sharon Stone, and Albert's brother Cliff. What can I say? Appointment viewing for Brooks fans.

Rustler's Rhapsody
Director and screenwriter Hugh Wilson followed the first Police Academy movie with a spoof of B movie westerns called Rustler's Rhapsody that does provide some laughs, but it sure takes its time getting to them.

The 1985 film begins in black and white introducing us to Rex O'Herlihan (Tom Berenger), a singing cowboy whose latest adventure is being narrated by a narrator who wonders aloud what this movie would be like if it were being made today. The film then suddenly turns color and we find O'Herlihan in the middle of what is supposed to be a more contemporary western where he find himself battling an evil cattle baron (Andy Griffith) and a group of Italian cowboys led by an Italian cattle baron (Fernando Rey), with the town drunk (GW Bailey) becoming his sidekick.

It's hard to figure out what Wilson is doing at first because it initially comes off as a Blazing Saddles rip-off, which it isn't at all. Confusion ensues when the film goes from black and white to color because the film isn’t any different when the film goes to color, but it does eventually come clear that O'Herlihan is transported to color west he takes a lot of his knowledge of black and white west with him. On the other hand, he has trouble adjusting to contemporary sensibilities that interfere with his mission, most of them having to do with the cringe worthy amount of gay subtext in the screenplay.

The bond between O'Herlihan and Peter the drunk is established with an uncomfortable alacrity that had this reviewer wondering if I was actually seeing what I was seeing. Then we see O'Herlihan dealing with two very different leading leading ladies (Marilu Henner, Sela Ward) and the great deal of thought he puts into his wardrobe choices and we realize it's not our imagination. Also have to acknowledge a very funny scene where Rex distracts the villainous posse with a performance on his dancing horse.

Wilson's attention to production values is on target. The film is beautifully photographed and features first rate editing, sound, and costumes. Berenger is a little too straight-faced as O'Herlihan, but Griffith and Rey are very funny as the villains of the piece and mention should also be made of a terrific cameo from Patrick Wayne. The laughs take way too long to start, but Blazing Saddles fans might enjoy it.

Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only
Netflix had what, seemed like a good idea on paper, but the 2023 documentary Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only is an uneven, surreal, and slightly dull look at a mutual admiration society between two comic icons that loses focus, but provides sporadic entertainment.

Apparently, when Chris Rock made his Golden-Globe nominated standup special Selective Outrage, it was part of a tour that Rock organized with Hart that would climax at Madison Square Garden, where Rock confesses he once saw Eddie Murphy do standup four nights in a row. There are several shots of Rock onstage wearing the clothes he wore in Selective Outrage, but no actual clips from that concert are offered so we're wondering exactly what's going on here.

The film starts off with the stars seated onstage on folding chairs on the stage at Madison Square Garden claiming how much they admire each other and how long they have wanted to do something together and this was the beginning of trying to figure out what was going on here. Neither Rock nor Hart are known for ass kissing but this is what they seem to be doing here. It was as if some rumors have been going around about some sort of feud between these two and this film was suggested as a way of quashing any rumors, because this whole thing just appears over written and over rehearsed. Though it was amusing when it was revealed that at the time Chris Rock's HBO special Bigger and Blacker received six Emmy nominations, Kevin Hart was still working in a shoe store.

As we struggle to control our interest in watching these two drool over each other, the film branches out as Chris' brother Tony and Kevin's brother Robert begin to pontificate about their childhood and how their brothers never forgot who they were. Robert Hart is given way to much screentime to talk about when his mother got sick and how Kevin was there for her. I feel bad for the Hart family and their struggle with their mother's illness, but this film was supposed to be Hart and Rock, not Hart's mother's illness.

In addition to Tony Rock and Robert Hart, commentary is provided by Jerry Seinfeld, DH Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Dave Chapelle, Wanda Sykes, Tiffany Haddish, and Dave Becky, who was a co-producer on Everybody Hates Chris. Not sure what the purpose of this was, but it doesn't really work for me.

Mannequin
Despite a hard working cast, the 1987 comic fantasy Mannequin suffers due t an overstuffed screenplay and music video direction that just appears lame in 2023.

The film stars Andrew McCarthy as Jonathan Switcher, a young artist who can't hold onto a job because normal jobs just don't fulfill the artist in him. He accidentally stumbles into a job at a large, but financially-challenged, department store where he his hired as an assistant to the window dresser when, one night, a mannequin he has dressed comes to life, thanks to being inhabited by the spirit of an ancient Egyptian princess (played by a pre-Samantha Jones Kim Cattrall), who becomes Jonathan's muse, allowing him to create memorable store windows that make him the new window dresser.

Director and screenwriter Michael Gottleib tries to disguise a pretty thin story with a lot of decoration that initially dazzle the eye, but grows pretty tiresome before halfway through the film. The music video scene of McCarthy and Cattrall dancing through the department store to disco music and changing outfits every two minutes is initially cute, but goes on way too long. Once the secret of Jonathan's mannequin appears, suddenly we have all kinds of people after the guy, including the weasley human resources director (James Spader), a moronic security guard (GW Bailey), his ex-girlfriend (Carole Davis) and her boss (Steve Vinovich), the movie degenerates into a bunch of silly slapstick and car chases that even a mannequin's possible demise into a wood chipper can't make anymore interesting. Jonathan's only allies are the store owner (Estelle Getty) and the flamboyant window dresser named Hollywood (Meshach Taylor).

This film seemed like it was seven hours long and I don't think I laughed out loud. Andrew McCarthy was his usual adorable self and Cattrall had not discovered her inner Samantha Jones yet, but they do manage a semblance of chemistry, but the rest of the cast is just annoying. I can't believe this was the same movie I saw when first came out. Time has not been kind to this one. There's even a sequel if you can imagine.

Saltburn
From Emerald Fennell, who won an Original Screenplay Oscar for Promising Young Woman a couple of years ago, comes 2023's Saltburn, an edgy, challenging, stomach churning comedy fraught with sexual tension and constant surprising detours. It doesn't deliver the story that we are set up for, but it holds our attention with an iron grip.

The story is set at Oxford University in the year 2002 where we meet a seemingly introverted young student named Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) who finds himself immediately attracted to Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), a charismatic student from an aristocratic family, who invites Oliver to spend the summer with him at his family's magnificent estate for an unforgettable summer providing a sexual awakening of Oliver that we don't see at all.

Fennell's screenplay plays fast and loose with story whose underlying theme seems to be the often gray areas of sexuality and how the rules are just not the same anymore. Starting off as what seems to be a simple love story between two men, as they arrive at Satlburn, the Catton's estate, we learn that nothing is as it seems and that in terms of the sexuality of the players in this story, nothing is in black and white. Oliver does seem to be in love with Felix, but Felix's feelings are never really made clear, while putting Oliver through an emotional and sexual wringer that's really hard to watch. What we don't see coming, however, is Oliver not sitting back and letting Felix walk all over his feelings, through his own forms of sexual exploration.

What's frustrating about the movie is the fact that the set up of a relationship between Oliver and Felix is solid enough that the audience is willing to sit back and wait for it to happen, Sadly, as the film unfolds across the screen, we realize that this romance is never to be, though there are several other plot detours that we don't see coming and never allow our interest in what happens to wane and in one dramatic plot twist, Felix's family completely turns on Oliver making the final third of the story completely squirm worthy. Fennell's rendering of the cinematic tension in this film rivals some of Adrian Lyne's best work. There's a scene in the bathroom that Oliver and Felix share and a bedroom scene shot in silhouette that are shocking and arousing. The final bizarre scene featuring a nude Keoghan will also raise eyebrows.

Fennell's camerawork is extraordinary as is her attention to all production values. Barry Keoghan's charismatic performance as Oliver has earned him a Golden Globe nomination and he creates viable chemistry with Jacob Elordi, who you might remember as Nate on the HBO series Euphoria, in a sizzling sex-on-legs performance as Felix. Rosamond Pike's delicious scenery chewing as Felix's mother has earned her a Globe nomination as well. Fennel doesn't deliver the story that she starts to, but this is solid entertainment right through the closing credits.

Wonka
Roald Dahl's most famous literary character makes a third trip to the big screen in 2023's Wonka, a lavish musical prequel to the 1971 and 2005 films that despite a slightly padded screenplay, reimagines the character without the darkness and lights up the screen thanks to Timothee Chalamet's dazzling performance in the title role.

Wonka is introduced as an illiterate part time magician and chocolate maker who is determined to travel to a city he learned about from his mother where the best chocolate in the world is made. Upon Wonka's arrival, he finds himself imprisoned by a greedy innkeeper named Mrs. Scrubbit and threatened by the Chocolate Cartel, the three chocolate makers, led by a character first mentioned in the 1971 film, Mr. Slugworth, who we technically never met in that film,

Mrs. Scrubbit is also holding a handful of other slaves under her hotel, including a little girl named Noodle, who helps Wonka sneak out of the dungeon so that he can get hold of the giraffe milk that he needs for his latest creation. Meanwhile, the Chocolate Cartel, after having sampled Wonka's wares, have bribed the chief of police with tons of chocolate if he tells Wonka that he is forbidden to make anymore chocolate.

Director and co-screenwriter Paul King, who directed the two Paddington movies, has legitimized bringing this character back to the screen by making it a prequel and does succeed in bringing a lot of joy to the character that was especially absent from the colorless and depressing 2005 film starring Johnny Depp. Wonka is a guy who finds complete joy in chocolate making and wants to use the talent he possesses to make everyone in the world feel better. In both previous films, the Wonka character seems to hate children, but that is gone here. As a matter of fact, his number one ally in this film is this little girl Noodle and so much of what he does in this film is predicated on promises he makes to her.

There are some minor plot points that it's a little difficult to reconcile. Primarily, how does Mrs. Scrubbit not catch onto Noodle sneaking out of the factory with Wonka in her laundry cart? And while he's doing these spectacular production numbers in the middle of town square, it never gets back to Mrs. Scrubbit what he's up to? Wonka and his fellow slaves even manage to get out of their dungeon long enough to open up Wonka's new chocolate shop without Mrs. Scrubbit knowing, but just when we decide to let that go, we find out that the Chocolate Cartel has somehow gotten into Wonka's new shop and sabotaged his chocolate so that it causes bizarre side effects. This makes the journey to the happy ending a little longer than it needed to be.

The film still provides solid entertainment for the most part. Composers Neil Hannon and Joey Talbot have provided an infectious new score for this story which includes songs like "A World of our Own", "Scrub Scrub", "You've Never Had Chocolate", "A Hatful of Dreams", and "Sorry Noodle." Only one song from the 1971 film is reprised here for the finale and I'm sure you can guess which one.

Timothee Chalamet continues to prove to be an actor incapable of a bad performance, commanding the screen in a performance that has earned the film its only Golden Globe nomination. Also loved Keegan-Michael Key as the police chief, Oscar winner Olivia Colman provides a perfect blend of Miss Hannigan from Annie and Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd with her wicked Mrs. Scrubbit and let's not forget a fall on the floor turn from Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa. The journey is a little longer than it needed to be, but it's a lot of fun.

Summertime (1955)
Despite Katharine Hepburn in front of the camera, David Lean in the director's chair, and some breathtaking Italian scenery, this reviewer still found a 1955 romantic drama called Summertime a little on the thin side.

Based on a play called The Time of the Cuckoo by Arthur Laurents, this is the story of a lonely spinster named Jane Hudson (Hepburn) who travels to Venice on a very specific mission of romance, even though she might be in denial about it. Jane may have found what she is looking for in the form of a handsome shopkeeper named Renato de Rossi (Rossano Brazzi).

Lean not only served as director, but also assisted Laurents in adapting his play for the screen and I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing. The movie is a visual feast, filmed entirely on location in Venice and I think Lean tends to let the scenery distract us from seeing how thin the story is. The first twenty minutes of the film seem to deal exclusively with Jane trying to keep up with her luggage, finding her hotel, and being tricked into spending a lot of money than she needed to courtesy of Italian bellman, waiters, and gondola operators. She also spends a little too much screentime with a little boy who is also trying to con her. Brazzi doesn't even hit the screen until almost thirty minutes into the running time.

Lean is no stranger to intimate romantic drama, having directed the classic Brief Encounter, but this one just takes too long to get started. Once it does, Hepburn does prove that she is always worth watching. She gives us a character who is fighting to keep everything she's desiring and feeling on the inside but we get the exact opposite effect. This Jane Hudson wears every emotion she's feeling all over her face and we feel for her. There's a moment during her second meeting with de Rossi where he approaches her table, greets her, then walks away while she struggles to think of a way to get him to stay, but she is unable to verbalize what she wants...it's a heartbreaking moment and so is the final scene.

Hepburn's luminous performance in this film earned her a sixth Oscar nomination for Best Actress and makes us believe this romance. True Hepburn fans will not be disappointed. Ten years later, the film was turned into a Broadway musical called Do I Hear a Waltz? with music by Richard Rogers and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Priscilla
Oscar winner Sofia Coppola provides an initially romanticized look at one of the great show biz romances in 2023's Priscilla, a lavishly mounted valentine to the romance between Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu, that tells a completely different story than Baz Luhrman's film last year and definitely from a different point of view.

The film begins with the pair's first arranged meeting in Germany while Elvis and Priscilla's father were in the army and moves through an initially dreamy romance that becomes toxic with issues of obsession, infidelity, drug abuse, and physical abuse that does eventually destroy the marriage.

In addition to directing the film, Coppola also co-wrote the screenplay with Sandra Harmon and Priscilla, herself, who is also billed as Executive Producer. With Presley clearly overseeing every step of this production, there is a pretty good chance that the story presented here is factually accurate. The screenplay is based on a 1988 min-series called Elvis and Me that starred Dale Midkiff and Susan Walters as Elvis and Priscilla. The screenplay has been revamped to tell the story from Priscilla's point of view. The story begins a little romanticized in the opening scenes where Elvis appears to be a perfect gentleman, but as the film progresses, we find his gentlemanly exterior being peeled away like an onion, progressing to the point where we don't understand why Priscilla stayed with the man as long as she did.

There were a couple of things presented here that were eye-openers for me. First of all, I didn't know that Priscilla was 14 years old when she met Elvis and equally shocked when, after their first date, Elvis gave her a pill to keep her awake in school the next day, which apparently led to a dependence for Priscilla. There's also a scene where he says he has a gift for her and we're expecting it to be an expensive piece of jewelry, but it was a gun It was unsettling watching Priscilla being kept a virtual prisoner at Graceland while Elvis was supposedly having affairs with Nancy Sinatra and Ann-Margret. The scene where Priscilla gets on a plane to Hollywood to confront Elvis about Ann-Margret and is practically sent back to Nashville on the same plane was one of the best in the film. Loved the scene after their wedding in front of the wedding cake...I haven't seen a bride and groom look so unhappy since Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin in This Boy's Life. The film makes Priscilla awfully silly at times, which is strange since she probably had final say on what ended up on the screen.

Cailee Spaeny has been nominated for a Golden Globe for Leading Actress in a Drama for her performance in the title role, though I found the performance a little one-note. Jacob Elordi, who also lit up the screen this year in Saltburn, delivers another sexy performance as Elvis, never resorting to impression but capturing the essence of the King. Coppola, who I've never been much of a fan, is a little heavy-handed in the director's chair, but with Priscilla in her ear, keeps the film more than watchable.

George Carlin: Life is Worth Losing
He was the first standup comedian who not only made me laugh, but when I really listened to him, I realized that everything he said was correct. George Carlin: Life is Worth Losing was the 13th special Carlin did for HBO three years before his death.

Shot live from the Beacon Theater in New York, Carlin struts onstage and does another one of his poetic diatribes using whatever were the most popular cliches invading pop culture in 2005 when this special was filmed. I was then delighted when Carlin announced that he was 341 days sober and was celebrating his 50th year in show business.

As sad as it was, this was the first special I've seen of Carlin where I really got the feeling that he man was starting to age. His delivery is not as razor sharp as it was when he was doing things like Class Clown or Toledo Window Box. Carlin has always been known for a form of patter where he makes long lists of items for his audience in rapid manner that requires complete attention and totally pays off if he nails it. Unfortunately, as sharp as Carlin's writing was, his memorization skills are beginning to slip here. On multiple occasions during this concert I caught the comedy icon fumbling over his words and having to repeat phrases that didn't really need to be repeated. This reviewer would have preferred that Carlin have slowed down his delivery a little and get the words out as he wrote them without the speed. The man was in his late 60's at the time, we would have understood.

His choice of material is edgy as ever. He devotes a lot of time onstage to one of my least favorite subjects" Suicide. He even suggests that cable television should have an all-suicide network. Cannibalism and genocide get their share of time as well and Carlin has the ability, like Louis CK, to take a subject to the edge of the comedy cliff in danger of losing them, but is able to bring them back. I haven't seen a lot of comics get a lot of laughs from subjects like suicide, natural disasters, obesity, homelessness, cannibalism, and autoerotic asphyxiation. but somehow Carlin manages to do it RIP, George.