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BlueyC
Reviews
Jock of the Bushveld (1994)
maybe, just maybe, the worst movie ever
Before I even start I have to tell you that I had to stop watching the movie before it was over because it was THAT terrible. there's a bunch of people in ireland, and there's a puppy that's about to be drowned, and all of a sudden they move to africa, and the same people are all there, and people whip their servants, and dogs fight with imprisoned baboons, and oh there's a love story, too. and lots and lots of animal violence. you know those family-type movies they show you in elementary school that are all about the sepia tones and the people on farms who do senseless things? well, this is like those, but worse. far, far worse. family movie my toe.
Shooting Fish (1997)
Fluffy, but in a good way.
Well that's odd, I thought as I picked up the June '98 issue of CMJ monthly. There's this ad in it for a movie called Shooting Fish with Kate Beckinsale in it (I love Kate Beckinsale... well did in the other two movies I'd seen her in before)with a soundtrack that's got music from Dubstar and Space and The Supernaturals and... Dionne Warwick. So anyway to make a long story short, I searched (in vain) for the soundtrack for nigh on a year but to no avail. Anyway, then one day I was at the video store (Major Video, before Blockbuster decided to buy that too) and I saw it and thought "Jaysis, there's something I need to see!" It had that snazzy-looking retro box, too, and I was in a happy mood, so I gladly went home and popped it in.
This must have been the cheeriest movie I'd seen in years. It made me think of Bringing Up Baby it was so happy (and that's a good thing, by the way). Kate Beckinsale is absolutely charming, the American guy is lots of fun, and the English guy has the great sense to be charming AND insanely cute in that odd way that the British have. The movie has a plot, sure, but it doesn't matter. You should just watch it and be hap-hap-happy! Revel in the retro-kitsch set design and the goofy dialogue and that English guy's striped t-shirt. It's the best pick-me-up since Bounty (or, you know, whatever). (By the way, I warn you... after I saw it I caught myself singing that Dionne Warwick song for weeks afterwards.)
A Zed & Two Noughts (1985)
If you go out in the woods tonight....
This movie is WEIRD. Really, really, relentlessly WEIRD. That said, it's also pretty interesting. There aren't a whole lot of movies that I go around thinking about often after they're over (Chinatown, Short Cuts, usually plotty things like that... American Beauty and Boogie Nights are probably the most recent). There are even fewer that I try to force on everybody I meet (a word to the wise: Blow-Up might be great, but it is not a very exciting premise for a theme party). However, this is one of them. Odd, considering that I didn't particularly *enjoy* watching it. The plot isn't really there, the symbolism is thicker than molasses, the acting is... well, hard to notice for one thing. It's the imagery that makes it so intriguing, I guess. The idea of a black-and-white zoo is interesting, for one. Well, I suppose it's hard to explain without writing a whole big long essay, but I definitely suggest you watch it, provided you're not against nudity or anything.