Change Your Image
Joe M
Reviews
For Ever Mozart (1996)
"That was completely pointless..."
...said a couple exiting the movie theater just as I was entering to watch this. Hmm, not a good sign, but who knows? Different strokes for different folks, after all. Well, nope. They were being kind. Godard has released work that is passionate (Contempt), entertaining (Band of Outsiders), sometimes both (My Life to Live). This is just dull intellectualism, that grates on the nerves pretty quickly. During my showing, literally half of the audience had walked out by the end of the film. If only I had been so wise.
Casino (1995)
Hmm...where have we seen this before?
Entertaining movie, and the enthusiasm and masterful touch Scorsese spreads throughout is undeniable. I even liked Don Rickles' surprisingly wonderful performance, and it's always cool to see L.Q. Jones, no matter how brief. But REALLY...I liked this movie better the first time, when it was called "Goodfellas." The voice-overs, freeze-shots, the overweight mobsters, the gaudy garb, the psycho Joe Pesci character, the standards-cum-classic rock soundtrack, the "rise and fall of an empire" plot...c'mon. Even Scorsese's mom (God bless--I know this was her last appearance) seems to be atypically hamming it up in this one, with the "Ay"s and "'atsa matta you"s. A movie that ventures dangerously close to self-parody. And Scorsese's worth more than that.
Babettes gæstebud (1987)
"...In this beautiful world of ours, all things are possible."
This film is a meditation on the simple things which make us human, set in the familiarity of the dinner table. A celebration of community, sacrifice, and the basic human pulses that ultimately transcend social class. Highly recommended.
Oleanna (1994)
Uncomfortable film
Hard to sit through this one, and if that's what you want, then by all means it's worth a rental. Basically, two characters, a male professor and a female student. The way I understand it, Mamet's play about power differentials is supposed to strike a balanced, provocative view. The first half of it, we're generally supposed to sympathize with the student, the second half with the professor. Problem with the movie is, neither character comes off as likeable enough for one to keep very interested in what happens. The professor (to whom the movie in general is stacked in favor) is a reasonable though somewhat smug fellow, though in the final climactic scene, all sympathy evaporates with his actions. And sympathy for the female student evaporates much sooner. She is at best a humorless, naive zombie and at worst a monstrous extortionist. Anyhow, there's no way you believe for a second that she'd be flunking the guy's class, especially with the assiduous way she scribbles down in her notebook every little thing he says (like Egghead from those Foghorn Leghorn cartoons). Both come off as somewhat hypocritical (why is the professor teaching in a system he has utter contempt for? why is the student going to such lengths to protest her grade from a system she over-idealizes?) Very depressing material.
Patch Adams (1998)
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
The heart of the movie, I'll grant on good faith, is in the right place. The brains of the movie, however, are nonexistent. This is an insulting and absolutely shameless piece of work, with Williams doing his iconoclastic song and dance *yet again*, head to head against the usual cardboard cut-out, authority figure villains. There are so many singularly ridiculous (and somewhat surreal) scenes in this movie, it's hard to know where to start. Perhaps Williams curing a patient by dumping her in a bath of noodles? Or the seriously ill children showing up in med school court (!!) to show their support for Patch, shiny red rubber balls on each of their noses?
Lisztomania (1975)
Who said a plot was an important thing, anyway?
Simply put, this is one those films that you rent with a group of friends, and the *real* humor comes from watching the reactions on their faces. Was Ken Russell sane when he directed this? Ringo Starr as the pope (wearing cowboy boots), Rick Wakeman as an Aryan Frankenstein, flame-throwing pianos, nude women worshipping a glowing obelisk, voodoo dolls, penile pole-dancing, mock-Chaplin scenes...the list goes on and on....