Delila's Reviews

...as opposed to something else, I trust?

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Thanks for noticing.

Tacitus, yeah he plays the bad guy. It's hard to tell if the other actors who were in this are usually better. The whole thing was structured to flatter Kurt Russell. He had a scene with his love interest where it was like she was filmed throwing him his cues and never got to actually do her part of the scene, if that makes sense. I think the director got starry-eyed.

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Review: Cabin in the Woods 8/10

Mullet-envy, I believe it's called...

LMAO.

Saw it ages ago, but can't remember too much about it. Ving Rhames plays the police chief if memory serves correct, but obviously I filed it under Instantly Forgetable. Sorry can't add much else, but Kurt Russel has another film in my Instantly Forgetable file, " 3000 miles to Graceland ", score 2 for the Kurtmeister!
He's still way behind the Costner, he's into double figures by now!!!

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Toga, toga, toga......


Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?

I've always had my eye on this, for quite a while, looks like a less gritty Narc with Kurt Russell. Is it worth a watch?

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If you really love cop movies or Kurt Russell... or have a morbid fascination with the Rodney King trial or subsequent riot... then yes, it's definately worth a watch. Or, as I said, if you want to see how to not make a film with a historical backdrop, go for it. Otherwise, not so much. It's not painful, it's just not good.


Darth... eek... Costner... are you trying to mediocre up my review thread?

I watched this a few weeks ago, I agree with the 2/5 isn't one I would tell people "they must see".

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M*A*S*H was an audacious undertaking, back in the day. It bears the mark of an Altman film - a loose sense of morality and natural dialogue springing from largely improvised scenes. The film broke taboos of social commentary regarding war, modern sexuality and (dis)respect for authority. It launched the careers of some of that generations best actors: Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Tom Skerrit, Sally Kellerman, Rene Auberjonois, Bud Cort and many others.

While I found this an enjoyable film to spend a few hours with, it doesn't quite cohese, plot-wise. This happens, then that happens, then something else and none of them are really related or build on anything else. And without the historical context, the audacity has little tension in it. So it becomes a collection of snapshots of mostly happy times durning the war for some doctors, and probably brings back terrible memories for soldiers who were in those hospital beds. It shows us the dark humor that can save the sanity of those in hard situations, and for that it's worth a rental. Those who were there say it's an excellent depiction of what it was really like - and to them it surely seemed to have little meaning, from all reports, so I guess that's spot on. It just left me checking my watch once or twice.

I think the episodic nature of it was better served by the tv series, although the trade-off was a much softer blow to The Establishment.

Philip Marlowe has awoken Rip-Van-Winkle style, in 1970's Los Angeles, and is trying to reconcile what he finds there with his 1940's sense of morality. That's the idea, anyway. What we actually see is a bit of a rube, mumble/bumbling through a PI job and in the end, doing something completely wrong by any morality, including a Hollywood one. It would be called a "crime of passion", only he seems completely blase about it.

Elliot Gould does a fair turn as Philip Marlowe, bringing a freshness to the character that once in awhile is reminiscent of Bogart's famous portrayal, without ever resorting to impersonation. This can't have been an easy task, and for that he deserves kudos.

Also worth watching for in the cast: esteemed California Governor, Arnold Schwartzenegger.. in his underoos. ...huh.

Robert Altman directs this, and I wouldn't call it among his best. If I could time-travel, the one thing I'd want to tell him is this: natural dialogue does not all happen at once unless it's between people who have been married a long, long time. Also: I don't believe even stoned women act as vapid as Marlowe's neighbors. These were not minor details. They should have been, mind you, but they were omnipresent in this film, and mighty annoying.

Of particular note (pun not intended), John William's music is excellent and brilliantly used. The film starts with the theme song, which goes plays throughout many scene changes and is stylistically different in every scene. I loved it. Also worth praise: Sterling Hayden's performance as a drunken, blustery husband of Marlowe's love interest. The man was larger than life.

Overall, I'd recommend this as a conversation piece, but I can't say that it's among my favorites.


Edit to add: Holden has just informed me that this was a satire of the morality of the 70's. I must say... it's a smarter picture if that is the case but they made that pretty subtle. That's the only logical excuse for the ending, however. Dang. I think I missed the boat on this one.

Shrewd commentary on the head games of Hollywood and the realities of superficial people. Altman tells the story beautifully with a charming, somewhat art deco look that harkens back to a cleaner Los Angeles, all the better to contrast with the smarmy S.O.B.'s in it. The humor works better in this than any of the other Altman offerings I've seen so far, partly because it supports a strong story by writer Michael Tolkin.

Tim Robbins stars as Griffin Mill, Hollywood studio exec, who is recieving death threats from a writer he rejected, but he can't seem to find the right writer. The cast is so loaded with stars that it's hard to tell right away who is playing a character in the story and who is playing themself. The result is a lost sense of reality... which is precisely the point. It's a point which becomes sharper as the film reaches it's purposely treacly conclusion... one that feels like vindication for anyone who has felt frustrated with the politics of Hollyweird.

This one has all the pieces: great story, great cast, a focused sense of right and wrong (skewed, but clear), cynical intelligent humor... It's a fun ride and one worth taking.

4.5/5

Thanks for the great reviews Sammi, I must see The long Goodbye it does sound interesting.

Altman-orama!

I bought M*A*S*H a while back but haven't managed to watch it yet - it's been a good few years.

Thanks for bringing it to the front of my addled brain.

Note: This was live theater, but worth mentioning here because there is a DVD in the works, due for release early next year. The show is so much fun, I can't wait to see the DVDs!

Last week, I caught a 2-night revival of their two woman show, concieved 2 decades ago by the same 2 woman I got to see. ...was that 2 much?

Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney wrote the show, toured it, took it to Broadway, won Obie awards, did a couple of HBO specials of it. Doesn't it sound like they should be rich? ah, theater...


Kathy Najimy is unfortunately best known as the fat nun who stole the show from Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act. I say "unfortunately", because she's been all over the place and done a ton of great work, and should be better known, IMO.


Mo Gaffney has done a lot of TV, including Mad About You, That 70's Show, Friends, Absolutely Fabulous and more that I'm not about to sit here and type out.

I'd known about the show from a local production 10 years ago. The script is vignettes about being female. The first is two angels, surveying Creation and making up The Rules. They decide, among other things, that to keep men from getting jealous of women getting the honor of childbirth, that they will make childbirth horribly painful. That doesn't sound at all funny, the way I just wrote it, but I was in tears laughing at the way the scene was played.

There were vignettes on various topics. One was two old ladies who signed up for a Womens Studies course, and are asea among the vegans and performance artists and "lesbambinos" (I think is how they said it). One was a contrast between a Beverly Hills divorcee at the spa and a woman at the laundry, both talking to friends about plastic surgery and trying to keep looking young. The woman at the laundry had this great line about having used moisturizer, serum, peels, scrubs, etc... and still aging. She said it's going to happen, no matter what, because "there will always be that one day that you forget a step or you laugh... or you cry... or you smile or frown or you have a *****ing thought and there you'll be, unable to recognise your own face in the mirror". I don't mind telling you, it was a little scary.

The last, and I'd say most poignant sketch had Kathy as a drunken guy in a bar, and Mo as the local hottie that he hits on every night. There was more sad truth and humor in that bit than should be legal.

The sketch that killed me was the second one, the one after the angels. Mo walked onstage alone, mimeing hoeing a garden. She began to speak in a russian accent. "Eet's 10 years now zince my hussband is gone and I vork dis farm by meinzelf..." she goes on about how hard her life is, and gets to how all this labor leaves her no time to worry about feminine protection. Trust me, you do NOT see that coming when she's talking.

They go on to do back to back parodies of how women act like having a period is a mortal sin, compared to how things would be if men had periods. Kathy walks up to Mo and nervously (with bouts of nervous giggles) asks if Mo "has anything"... When Mo catches on, she loudly announces "OH YOU NEED A LIPSTICK" (I remember someone calling them that in jr high, so I found that hysterical.) The male scene starts with one guy proudly announcing that he needs a "pon" and getting a high 5 from the other guy. He proudly annuonces that he cried all morning.

Their bit ends with, "what are you doing the 28th?
"Nothing, why?
"I'm getting my period that morning, planning a kegger. Bring the bean dip!"

heh.




The show opened with three songs, performed live, by Kathleen Wilhoite.
If you watch Gilmore Girls, she plays Luke's wacky sister Chloe. She was really awesome - her voice is gorgeous and very skillfully used. Her last song was "When You Wish Upon A Star" and everybody was choked up.

It was a great evening, a wonderful show and a very thought-provoking and hilarious performance. If not for Rabid and her white pants on the beach, I'd have never got to see it, so you know, thanks for your insufferable mention of leak-proof hijinks!

Sounds like great fun Sammi,

Chungking Express is about two police officers who fall in love with two very different women. The stories contrast to make a point about genuineness, maturity and our ability to love.

The first story centers on Officer 223 who has just gone through a breakup with his girlfriend May. Officer 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is into superficial habits. We're treated to a hilarious sequence of phone calls when he's looking for a distraction from the breakup, in which he's shot down by women from his past where it becomes increasingly obvious he has no idea what is going on with these women.

In the end, he brushes past Faye - the heroine of story #2 - and goes to a bar where he meets a woman who is the essence of superficiality (Brigitte Lin). All we ever see of this woman is her wig, sunglasses and raincoat... and that murder she commits. Ironically, their meeting is a high point for both of them in real emotion, but of course it never amounts to anything.

At this point, we meet Faye, who works at Chungking Express (where Officer 223 is perpetually dodging introductions by the manager to nice girls). Faye is the cousin of the manager, working there to help him out, and dreaming of going to California. Faye falls in love at first sight with Officer 663 (Tony Leung). Both are quirky, warm, genuine people and to watch this film is to park ourselves in those opening moments of a relationship when you're loving every moment of getting to know a person.

Wong Kar-Wei is a filmmaker with a rare ability to create and sustain a mood. In Chungking Express, we're looking into the meeting of minds, when one person enters and begins to explore the psychological landscape of another person, leaving mementos and sometimes sprucing up the place... or flooding it. Taken literally, moments of this film seem a bit absurd, but as the externalization of thought and emotion, it's brilliant metaphor.

A remarkable cast, great music and some really nice cinematographic touches make this a real treat on every level. The only weakness in this film is that the first story, while much shorter than the second, is still a bit long. We don't get very invested in the characters, and it's mainly there for humorous contrast to story 2. Once we get to that though, it's true love.

9/10

Thanks Sammi, the movie sounds interesting.

It's a very good film, thanks for the review Cinders.

Has the Willy Wong-Kar thing worn thin yet?

Great reviews again Cindybear...nice insight. I'll have to look for The Kathy & Mo Show and Chungking Express.

Quite the contrary, mon frer. I'm noticing more depth in them. His visuals are so gorgeous that it can be satisfying just to sort of let them wash over you, and indulge in whatever mood he's offering. There's a great layer of meaning under all that though. So no, I love him.


Nebbs and Annie, thanks for reading!