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Reviews
Once Upon a Honeymoon (1956)
This is a telephone commercial, people!
The credits that I can see while watching this as part of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode don't say so, but this must have been sponsored by Western Electric as a soft-sell for their telephones.
Our first clue is that the angels use modified telephone installer handsets - the kind with the dial on the back. Our next clue is how the phone is the cap of every room's imaginary redesign. Finally, it is the phone that gives the composer the idea for the song that springs the couple on to their honeymoon.
Common element: telephones.
There are similar short films extolling electricity, gas, cars, and, uh, cars (lots of cars). This one is tastefully done and doesn't quite hit you over the head with "phones come in colors now so order one today!" sensibility.
Nancy Drew (2007)
Certainly the worst, and most disappointing, movie I've seen in years
To begin with, this movie has nothing to do with the Nancy Drew books, other than starting with a picture of some of them on a bookshelf. I am reminded of the opening scene in The Player, when writers are pitching their ideas to producers: I can see the writer saying "Okay, Nancy Drew, only UPDATED - she's a valley girl, reads fashion mags, and still sleuths, but we'll dumb it down so nobody will feel challenged by anything." Guys, it wasn't necessary to change it into the present time to reach your audience. But since you did, why not make it a little less white-bread, stereotype, LA scene? And why make Nancy Drew such an air-head? She doesn't actually do any thinking in this plot, and to make sure that no one in the audience has to think either, she explains everything, always.
There were all the original stories - really excellent mysteries with real clues, a real mystery, and Nancy Drew has to figure things out to solve the crime. Wouldn't that have been more successful? I don't think this plot is derived from any actual stories - the original writers would have been too embarrassed to propose it.
The plot is lame, the dialog is "Dick and Jane" meets Valley Girl, the acting is unremarkable - certainly there's nothing to challenge anybody here. And what is with the Corky character? Why is he in the plot? My biggest disappointment is the character of Nancy Drew. The original character was smart, independent, resourceful, and admirable. This character is none of those things: here she is vain, egocentric, juvenile, and not especially bright. Why is she wearing clothes out of the 50s? It is as if the writers couldn't decide whether to update it or not - and some things got left over from the original version. Certainly, it doesn't make any sense.
If everybody who is thinking of seeing this movie reads a couple of the Nancy Drew books instead, the world will be a much better place.
Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey (2002)
An exciting and successful world journey of music and culture
Fitted together with brief gems of Stomp's New York rhythms, this film explores the rhythmic cultures of many diverse peoples. The opening scene got my foot tapping and I didn't stop for the whole experience. Lovers of world music will learn something as the film moves around the globe, and lovers of rhythms will enjoy the variety of music showcased by these excellent musicians. Like Stomp's stage show, the film's appeal is difficult to describe, but the pace of excitement is maintained throughout the film. I saw this in an IMAX theatre, and the close-ups that punctuate the breaks from time to time were five stories tall and wonderful to behold. All sources of sound are explored by Stomp and their musical guests, from mouths and other body parts, to drums, bells, and thumb pianos. If you enjoy music, you will love this film - everybody I've talked to about "Pulse" have!