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The Commitments or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

26 Saturday Aug 2017

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a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, The Commitments (1991), starring Robert Arkins, Glen Hansard and Andrew Strong. 

The_Commitments_poster

©20th Century Fox

 

Per IMDb: “When Jimmy Rabbitte wants to start a band, he has open auditions at his house.”

That’s a pretty minimalist description, really. Jimmy Rabbitte (Arkins) is an early-twenties music fan in Dublin and wants to start a soul band that he can manage. He has friends, guitarist Outspan Foster (Hansard) and bassist Derek Scully (Kenneth McCluskey), who are the foundation and he holds open auditions at his family’s home where his dad, played by one of my favorite Irish actors, Colm Meaney, is a huge Elvis fan and thinks that the whole idea is preposterous: they’re in Dublin, there’s not a lot of “soul” in Dublin.

During auditions, a veteran trumpet player named Joey “The Lips” Fagan (Johnny Murphy) comes and helps direct the band in the right direction. Jimmy thinks that “The Lips” is too old but he soon realizes that Fagan can be beneficial. Jimmy approaches the neighborhood screw-up, Declan “Deco” Cuffe (Strong) to be the singer after hearing him sing at a wedding reception. He approaches his friend Bernie McGloughlin (Bronagh Gallagher) to be a backup singer because he wants her to bring his crush Imelda Quirke (Angeline Ball) along to also be a backup singer. Add in Natalie Murphy (Maria Doyle) into the mix and you have the Commitmentettes. Then, add a drummer, saxophone player and pianist and you have yourself a band. A no-experience-having band (other than Joey “The Lips”) but with some heart. If only the band could get along.

There is turmoil the entire time. Deco gets along with no one, people sleeping with other people, egos and jealousy. All of that. It’s in there. How does the band even survive? Well, you’ll have to watch it to find out the answer to that question.

The only person who didn’t perform their own instrument in the film was Johnny Murphy who played Joey “The Lips” Fagen. But, the rest of the film featured real musicians who played their own instruments.  The setting is gritty and very “blue collar” which was the point. The whole film was gritty. It was, at times, hard to understand what they were saying as the Dubliner accent was very heavy. The realism and human nature of the film came through prominently.

The one musician that I would have liked to have had more time in the sun was Glen Hansard (Outspan Foster). He was the music writer behind the musical and film Once. From that film came the tune “Falling Slowly.” The BCPF is a fan of his and I’ve grown to like what I’ve heard. The film had two soundtracks, which featured the cast recordings of many soul tunes from the 60s on. The first stayed on the Billboard Top 200 for over 70 weeks and reached a peak of #8.

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 88% Fresh with an Audience Score of 90%. IMDb rates it at 7.6 stars out of 10. I watched the film on Netflix and I will rate it 3.75 stars out of 5. It was good, interesting and entertaining but it wasn’t exceptionally moving. Have you seen it? If so, what did you think? What film would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I’m black and I’m proud.” – Jimmy Rabbitte

Sausage Party or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

05 Saturday Aug 2017

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a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Sausage Party (2016), starring Seth Rogan, Kristen Wiig, Edward Norton and Michael Cera.

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©Columbia Pictures

 

Per IMDb: “A sausage strives to discover the truth about his existence.”

At Shopwell’s Supermarket, there’s a celebration every morning. Every kind of inanimate object you can think of is celebrating because they could be picked by “the gods” to take into paradise. In particular, Frank (Rogan) is a sausage that is sitting right next to his girlfriend, Brenda (Wiig) on a shelf waiting to go into the Great Beyond. They talk about what they’re going to do and it’s pretty graphic. Instead, they just touch “tips.”

Food and grocery items get picked up, one after the other. Beets, peanut butter, jelly, flour, bananas, even a douche gets chosen to take that eternal journey. One item, however, Honey Mustard (UNCSA alum Danny McBride), has been on the outside but is returned and he’s flipping out. He keeps trying to tell everyone that things aren’t what they seem but no one listens. Honey Mustard tries to commit suicide by jumping off the edge of the cart. Frank tries to help him by grabbing his leg. Brenda helps Frank by grabbing his leg (yes the groceries have legs, shoes, gloves, eyes and mouths) and the human woman who is driving the shopping cart crashes into another shopper causing many of the grocery items to topple, including Frank, Brenda, Douche and some flour that clouds the entire area, creating a scene of chaos not unlike that of a building collapse. The humans don’t notice (it seems on purpose) and go on like nothing happened, running over some of the items.

Douche blames Frank and Brenda for causing the accident and for bending his nozzle, also for ruining his chances of “getting up in” the human purchasing him. Douche is picked up by the store janitor and tossed into the trash only to get out of a dumpster and find a dying juice box, which, after he sucks him dry, makes him stronger and powerful. He continues to murder innocent liquids to become even more powerful, searching for Frank and Brenda to exact revenge. Does he find them? Do Frank and Brenda find the truth of the Great Beyond? You’ll have to watch to find out.

This is probably the crudest film I’ve ever seen, especially for a cartoon. Then again, the crudest prior was Team America: World Police which was a big puppet show. The overt sexual innuendo was non-stop. The racial/sexuality/religious/creed stereotypes were embellished and swollen to mega proportions. It was definitely offensive and meant to be that way. All that being said, I loved it. It was hilarious at points, clever the entire time and a very fun movie to watch. I believe that was the point for most of it, how nonpolitically correct could they be? Lots and that’s good. There was definitely understated but definitely present political and social commentary that was spread throughout the entire film. The 9/11 quality of the cart crash was brow-raising but needed to demonstrate the devastation the groceries felt.

The characters were stereotypical but spot on. Perhaps not so much stereotypical but representative? The voice actors gave the characters life and Edward Norton does a great Woody Allen impression. Something else I found funny was that the original music was composed by Alan Menken (Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid) who normally does a lot of Disney-esque fairy tale stuff. That was great. Let’s say the Meat Loaf cameo was pretty great, too.

All in all, I think the film was great. It’s not something to watch with your kids unless your kids are over the age of 15 or so. Entertaining and fun, but as I said, definitely crude. Rotten Tomatoes has it rated at 82% Fresh with an Audience score of only 51%. I don’t know what happened there. IMDb has it at 6.3 stars out of 10. I watched the film on Netflix and I rate it 4.25 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“It’s all a lie. Everything you’ve been told, everything you believe in.” – Honey Mustard

Full Metal Jacket or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

22 Saturday Jul 2017

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a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Full Metal Jacket (1987), starring Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D’Onofrio, Adam Baldwin.MV5BNzc2ZThkOGItZGY5YS00MDYwLTkyOTAtNDRmZWIwMGRhYTc0L2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjU0OTQ0OTY@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,656,1000_AL_

Per IMDb: “A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.”

I believe I’ve reviewed this film before, and perhaps more than once, but after watching it again with 3B just recently, it renewed my love for it. It’s super violent and shocking, perhaps the most of its kind. A mouthy, wise-cracking journalist goes through boot camp with an unrelenting drill sergeant, a dim-witted and all around screw up of a bunkmate, a violent recourse and of course, the effects of the war’s battlefield itself.

Matthew Modine’s “Joker” doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut, which gets him in some precarious positions in the barracks, with its occupants, with his immediate superiors and the brass that run the government’s military forces. He has to take the fledgling lug under his wing to make sure the rest of the platoon doesn’t suffer the consequences of the unfortunate soldier’s inadequacies. Then, as a journalist, he gets caught up in a conflict which sees heated battle zones become reality. It’s rough and Modine plays the part perfectly.

Modine is listed as the star, but I think the film’s two stars are actually real life drill instructor, retired, R. Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sgt. Hartman and Vincent D’Onofrio as Leonard “Gomer Pyle” Lawrence. Ermey’s experience and ad libs were some of the most memorable lines in cinematic history. I can’t really repeat many on here without flying into a ton of obscenities. And, if you’ve not seen the film, then I’d be giving so much away to say how either of them turns out. I’m just going to say that they are both intense.

Stanley Kubrick’s visuals are, in classic Kubrick style, very vivid, both in sets and action. He set the cinematic bar high and often surpassed it on his own. The full crew had their hands full because Kubrick was a perfectionist, but everyone pulled their weight and the end result was amazing. The soundtrack also was intense. If I say much more, then I’ll end up giving stuff away. The film is pretty bad arsed, though.

Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 95% Fresh with an Audience Score of 94%. IMDb has it at 8.3 stars out of 10. I saw it on Netflix, although I own it on DVD and, I believe, Blu-Ray. It’s probably one of my Top 10 and I’m rating it 5 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What would you like to hear/read me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“This is my rifle. There are many others like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy, who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will. Before God, I swear this creed: my rifle and myself are defenders of my country, we are the masters of our enemy, we are the saviors of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace. Amen.” – the Recruits

Suntan or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

15 Saturday Jul 2017

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a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Suntan (2016), starring Makis Papadimitriou, Elli Tringou, Dimi Hart.

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©Oxymoron Films, Marni Films

 

Per IMDb: “On a hedonistic Greek island, a middle-aged doctor becomes obsessed with a young tourist when she lets him tag along with her group of hard-partying friends.”

Kostis is hired to be the sole doctor on a Greek island that is quiet during the winter but in the summer it’s a tourist destination and all the young, beautiful people turn it into their own den of iniquity where just about anything goes. Kostis is going through some stuff in his life and he seems miserable. Whatever it is, most likely is leading him to become part of this island’s life. He goes places and meets locals, including a few lewd ones that he seems to have disfavor for.

The summer comes along and there’s a group of young Europeans on vacation on the island and he’s having to tend to one of them, a young, beautiful and nubile sandy blonde by the name of Anna (Tringou), after she’s injured. She flirts with him, openly and invites him to come to the beach with him. She shows him more and more attention and he starts to like it. Pretty soon, he’s out with them every day and every night. He and Anna get closer, but it seems that he’s getting more attached than she is.

One day she meets up with him separately from the group and has him show her a private secluded beach he told her about the day they met. They go there and Anna makes a move on him. It turns out that he was a little quicker to the finish than he should have been and she laughed it off saying the summer is long and he can make it up to her. They go back into town and she tells him she’ll see him tonight. She doesn’t show that night and he flips out. He starts neglecting patients, closing early or not showing up at all. He is obsessed. Does he snap out of it? You’ll have to watch to see.

First off, you have to be willing to read your movie, unless, of course, you speak fluent Greek. The film has a lot of smiling moments and plenty of dark and dreary moments. It’s romantic and sad, all at the same time. The scenery is amazing, as it’s Greece and Greece, especially in the tourist areas are beautiful. The film won several awards at various film festivals including Edinburgh, Odessa and several at Hellenic Film Academy Awards (in Greece).

The film touches hard on obsession and, as we’ve talked about on The Less Desirables a good bit lately, addiction. Not substance abuse as much as affection codependency. A decent film, it was worth my 90 minutes. Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 76% Fresh and an Audience Score of only 50%. IMDb has it at 6.8 stars out of 10. I saw this on Amazon Prime and will rate it 3.75 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review? Let me know.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Some bronze. Others burn.” – Tag line for the Suntan.

The Panic in Needle Park or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

08 Saturday Jul 2017

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a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, The Panic in Needle Park (1971), starring Al Pacino, Kitty Winn, Alan Vint.

Original_movie_poster_for_the_film_The_Panic_in_Needle_Park

©20th Century Fox

 

Per IMDb: “Follows the lives of heroin addicts who frequent ‘Needle Park’ in New York City.”

Helen (Winn) has a very unsanitary and dangerous abortion. Her boyfriend Marco (Raul Julia) sends her on her own. She gets the attention of Bobby (Pacino) and she ends up moving in with him. Bobby proclaims to be a small-time weed pusher but in reality, he’s an H-addict. He tells her that he’s not hooked just chipping. It’s not long before he has her scoring for him. She gets busted by Detective Hotch who knows who she’s associated with. Hotch (Vint) tries to help her over a period of time by attempting to set her right, but she’s not listening.

One night as Bobby is sleeping off a high, Helen tries a hit. She’s hooked from then on. The rest of the film is an up and down, high (literally) and low swing of drugs, prostitution and debauchery. Do they survive as a couple or in life? You’ll have to watch to find out.

This was a very difficult film to watch. Drug use in films is sometimes overly explicit. Roger Ebert said about this film: “Movies about drug addiction are also, sometimes, hung up on the fetishes and compulsions surrounding drugs. If we get a closeup of one needle penetrating the flesh in ‘The Panic in Needle Park,’ we get half a dozen. This is too many; the physical reality interrupts our identification with fictional characters.” Even at this, I think the movies don’t do the horrific act and subsequent effects of drug use, shooting up, taking a hit, tripping, and so on, any kind of justice. And, by justice I mean it is far worse in real life than on film.

It could be my weak stomach, it could be my sensitivity to self-destruction, it could be a number of things, but the first time we see someone actually shooting up in the film it’s very graphic and I felt like I was going to throw up. I don’t normally do that watching TV or films because I know it’s not real. But, the anxiety I felt from that first scene was intense. Don’t do that $#!+!!! I proclaimed, over and over again. Watching people messed up on drugs is something that I luckily haven’t had to see much if any in my life, but I don’t think I could handle it. I have much respect for the folks who deal with users and addicts, as it’s something that I don’t know that I could be part of. To the Kerri Siglers of the world and the rehab workers and anyone that’s had to watch someone, let alone family members, deal with addiction. You have my total respect.

“Needle Park” is actually called Sherman Square, a public space/park bounded by Broadway, Amsterdam Avenue, and West 70th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City. In the late-1960s/mid- to late-1970s, it was known as Needle Park because of the amount of drugs and users that could be found in the park. I believe it has since been cleaned up. The “Panic” is a drug reference when supply is low or endangered and that makes the users resort to violence, mostly against each other, in order to get a fix.

This was Pacino’s first real film lead, a year before The Godfather came out. Kitty Winn was in The Exorcist and Alan Vint was more of a supporting actor in many films and some television roles. The film is gritty and rough; at times hard to watch. I found that it became redundant and slightly boring the longer it went on. Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 80% Fresh with an Audience Score of 75%. IMDb has it at 7.1 stars out of 10. I saw this film on Netflix and I rate it 3.75 stars out of 5. Provocative at times but it started to lose steam the longer it went. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to hear/read me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I ain’t no robber. I’m a prostitute.” – Irene

Long Strange Trip or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

01 Saturday Jul 2017

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a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Long Strange Trip (2017), starring The Grateful Dead.

Long-Strange-Trip-film-poster

©Amazon

 

Per IMDb: “The tale of the Grateful Dead is inspiring, complicated, and downright messy. A tribe of contrarians, they made art out of open-ended chaos and inadvertently achieved success on their own terms. Never-before-seen footage and interviews offer this unprecedented and unvarnished look at the life of the Dead.”

On The Less Desirables, I’m going to let Danielle help me talk about the film since it was her request for me to watch this and the Dead is her favorite band. However, here, I’ll talk about it a bit. This will be brief.

I’ve never liked the Grateful Dead. One, I don’t like jam bands and, two, I don’t generally like the blues-based hippie rock. After seeing this film (broken into six episodes on Amazon), I will say that I found that I could tolerate a bit more of the film than I previously thought I could. Some of it I’d even say that I liked. I’ve never had a problem with “Uncle John’s Band,” “Truckin'” or “Casey Jones.” But, a lot of the other stuff I’ve had to learn to tolerate. This helped a little.

However, what I did gain from this was a lot of respect for Jerry Garcia and what the band went through. Also, I think it was touched on in the film but the phenomenon of “deadheads” actually took over and in some ways overshadowed the talent these musicians had. I believe it’s possible that, like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the actual talent of the band is overshadowed by the sometimes annoying, yet always rabid, fan base. The musicians that make up this band are immensely talented, something I think isn’t obvious in their “jam sessions.” I don’t like jam sessions because I like ensemble pieces not a lot of different solos. It’s one thing in a set for someone to do that, once per person, if need be, but not in every song. I start tuning it out after a while. Also, on studio albums, I think Jerry Garcia can actually sing. Live, it’s shaky. I know that’s not the “spirit of rock and roll” but the spirit of my rock and roll is more polished. And, my spirit kicks your spirit’s butt! I kid.

While the band wasn’t the Jerry Garcia Band, I believe that most of the world saw it as such, but as the documentary showed, Garcia didn’t want any leaders, at least not in the actual sense. Whoever needed to be in charge at any given time was in charge. The film focused on him and I believe it was about him, but that’s not necessarily the overall view of the band or even him at the time. I think the fans see it as Jerry’s band, mostly.

A song that I found that I liked included “Morning Dew.” Hearing the story of that and the truck engineer and how it made him weep was a sweet story. I am listening to the song right now as I write this. I’m listening to the Cornell University show from 1977. It’s just sincere and is an intimate song. I don’t know that I’d listen a whole lot but, Danielle, at least I gave it a shot, right?

Rotten Tomatoes has the film at 100% Fresh and an Audience Score of 92%. IMDb has it at 8.3 stars out of 10. As it is an Amazon original, I watched it on Amazon, all at once. All 238 minutes of it, not starting until about 10:15 pm on Tuesday night. Don’t let the length fool you. I’m not a fan of The Grateful Dead but I do love band and musician documentaries. For what this is and its quality, I am rating it 4.5 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to hear/read me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The situation is the boss.” – Steve Parish

Fast Times at Ridgemont High or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

24 Saturday Jun 2017

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a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold and Phoebe Cates.

Fast_Times_at_Ridgemont_High_film_poster

©Universal Pictures

Per IMDb: : “A group of Southern California high school students are enjoying their most important subjects: sex, drugs and rock n’ roll.”

Brad Hamilton (Reinhold) is looking to get out of high school on top. He’s popular and a senior. But, he’s not really enjoying his time with his girlfriend and a dipstick customer costs him his job at the local All-American Burger. He gets another job at Captain Hook Fish & Chips but, after realizing it was humiliating as all get out to deliver food in that costume, he quits that. So, why not go home and relax instead? He’s on top of the world right?

Brad’s sister, Stacy (Leigh) is also popular and works at the mall in a pizza parlor. She gets dates with older guys by lying about her age. She’s pushed by her seemingly promiscuous friend Linda (Phoebe Cates) to be more bold. Stacy tries and isn’t really thrilled about it. There’s a nerdy dude named Mark Ratner (Brian Backer) who is interested in Stacy but is too shy to ask her out. His buddy, the concert-ticket-scalping-pseudo-suave-dilettante , Mike Damone (Robert Romanus) talks him into taking Stacy out to a local German restaurant. While there, Mark realizes he has forgotten his wallet and calls Damone to bring it to him. Stacy tries to seduce Mark but his shyness gets the best of him and he leaves, rendering Stacy a bit frustrated. Eventually, Damone moves in gets a little time with Stacy.

Jeff Spicoli (Penn in a role unlike anything else he ever did) is a stoner slacker who dreams of nothing but surfing the gnarly waves. He is also the prime nemesis of the dry and no-nonsense history teacher, Mr. Hand (Ray Walston). Spicoli breaks rules and is just a nuisance, but, I don’t think he means to be. I think he’s just a free spirit. This film is a culmination of their lives and more. What happens with them? You’ll have to watch to find out.

I defy any male aged 40-55 to hear the first few bars of “Moving in Stereo” by The Cars and not have fond memories. When I see The BCPF get into our bed, it reminds me of that and I hear that song. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you have to watch the film. The cameos in this film of folk that either were just on their way into acting or perhaps not necessarily known to the general public in 1982, were all fantastic. Names like Forest Whitaker, Eric Stoltz, Anthony Edwards, Nick Cage were all up-and-comers. Actors Taylor Negron and Vincent Schiavelli have both passed on but you’d recognize them in the film from other things. Another quick cameo is from Nancy Wilson of he band Heart. She’s the blonde in the car that flirts then laughs at Brad in his pirate costume. She’s in the film because her husband, Cameron Crowe wrote the book and the screenplay. She’s made a lot of cameos in his films over the years.

The acting in this film was typical early 80s. Good, but you could tell the folks were just getting going. It’s cheesy early 80s cinema at its best. The soundtrack is chock full of greatness, as well. Then again, it is a Cameron Crowe film. This one was directed by Amy Heckerling (European Vacation, Clueless, Look Who’s Talking, Johnny Dangerously and so on).

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 78% Fresh with an Audience Score of 80%. IMDb has it at 7.2 stars out of 10. It is only available via Netflix‘s DVD.com or renting or buying on DVD or digital on Amazon. I have it on DVD and we watched it with 3B. The swimming pool scene, he really enjoyed. I rate the film 4.25 out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I’m fine.” – Jeff Spicoli

 

Young Frankenstein or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

17 Saturday Jun 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Young Frankenstein (1974), starring Gene Wilder, Terri Garr, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman and Marty Feldman.

Young_Frankenstein_movie_poster

©20th Century Fox

 

Per IMDb: “An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that he is not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.”

Dr. Frederick Frahnk-in-steen (Wilder), trying to shake his grandfather’s ill-fated legacy, is a professor of medicine at an American university. He denounces the ability to revive dead cells and says his grandfather was a demented and sick man. A man shows up with the will of his great-grandfather that grants Freddy his entire Transylvanian estate, castle and all. He has to leave his annoying socialite fiance named Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn) who can’t kiss him, shake his hand or anything else goodbye, as she’s going to some uppity yuppy party after he gets on the train. Then oddly enough, he gets on a train to New York and when he changes trains he’s on a train to Transylvania.

He’s met by Marty Feldman’s Igor – pronounced Eye-gore – at the station who has a remarkable hump on his back that he seems to not notice. He takes him to a hay cart to drive Freddy to the castle. He meets Inga (Garr), his hired lab assistant. Arriving at the castle they meet the very scary Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman) who, at the mere mention of her name sends the horses into a frenzy. Freddy wants to know where the secret library is and Frau Blücher says she knows nothing about that. He and Inga stumble into it a little later and that sets Freddy into a mode to improve his great-grandfather’s work.

They find a large man who was freshly hung. And Freddy sends Igor to get the brain of a genius. Well, something happens and Igor has to, instead, get an abnormal brain. That makes the creation a bit erratic and mostly uncontrollable. Do they get the monster under control? Does he wreak havoc on the town? You’ll have to watch to find out.

To me, this is the second funniest of the Mel Brooks films (after Blazing Saddles). It was co-written by both Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder. Wilder has a strange and “wilder” look the entire film like he’s about to lose it at any time. The fact that the film is shot in black and white creates a darker, drearier feel and adds to the ambiance. It’s a wild parody of classic horror films with Brooks’ good friends chipping in. Cloris Leachman is a hilarious witchy woman with a chip on her shoulder the entire time. Peter Boyle who plays the monster breaks the fourth wall a few times and it’s always very funny. Gene Hackman plays the old blind man who the monster encounters in the night. Mel Brooks, oddly enough only appears in makeup and as off-screen voices. He’s usually in the films more prominently.

Peter Boyle who plays the monster breaks the fourth wall a few times and it’s always very funny. Gene Hackman plays the old blind man who the monster encounters in the night. Mel Brooks, oddly enough only appears in makeup and as off-screen voices. He’s usually in the films more prominently. Turns out that most of the jokes were improvised, including Leachman’s “varm milk” and Ovaltine bit, as well as Feldman’s “hump.”

Rotten Tomatoes has it rated 93% Fresh with an Audience Score of 92%. Well deserved. IMDb has it at 8 stars out of 10. We watched it as part of the Mel Brooks collection that I have and 3B laughed throughout most of it. It is available on Netflix, however, so if you’ve not seen it, see it there. I rate it 4.5 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…”
Scorp out!

—
“For what we are about to see next, we must enter quietly into the realm of genius.” – Dr. Frederick Frankenstein

Say Anything… or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

10 Saturday Jun 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Say Anything… (1989), starring John Cusack, Ione Skye and John Mahoney.

Say_Anything

©20th Century Fox

 

Per IMDb: “A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.”

Lloyd Dobler (Cusack) starts obsessing over Diane Court (Skye) at their high school graduation. She’s the valedictorian, and most assume she’s “out of his league.” She has won a fellowship to attend school in England and her father, Jim (Mahoney), couldn’t be happier. Jim is the owner of a retirement home and is his daughter’s best friend, after the divorce from her mother. They have a good bit of money and that adds to the ways that Diane and Lloyd are different, although neither of them cares.

Jim is worried that Lloyd may be a detriment to Diane’s upcoming matriculation in England; afraid that she’ll want to stay home instead of going. The more the two teens get involved, the more Jim becomes less tolerant of Diane’s “freedoms.” It doesn’t help that the IRS is investigating Jim on fraud charges through the retirement home.  Do the crazy kids stay together? Do they break up? What happens with the IRS? You’ll have to watch to find out.

As usual, Joan Cusack plays in the film with her brother, John. She doesn’t give any Oscar-winning performances but that wasn’t what she set out to do, in this film. It was so strange seeing John Mahoney with dark hair and playing a role outside of Martin Crane, Frasier’s father in the television series. There are times when you don’t like him and I’m not used to that with him, either. There are times when you certainly do like him, though.

The BCPF thinks Ione Skye got the part because she’s pretty while I think she is an awful actress and looks like a horse. As the film went on it was like she learned to act. The acting was less atrocious from her the deeper the film went. Beyond that, I think that she and Cusack (who can act) actually had good screen chemistry.

Another Frasier cast member, Bebe Neuwirth (she played Frasier’s ex-wife, Lillith), made an appearance here, as well. Other cameos include Jeremy Piven, Chynna Phillips, Eric Stoltz and Lili Taylor.

Probably the most notable thing about this film is its soundtrack. One of the most famous scenes of teen-driven dramedies happens in this film: the iconic holding of the boombox playing “In Your Eyes” from Peter Gabriel (off my favorite album of all-time). Cusack reenacted that onstage at a Peter Gabriel show a few years ago. In addition to PG, the soundtrack included Nancy Wilson of Heart (her husband, Cameron Crowe wrote the film), Depeche Mode, The Replacements, Cheap Trick, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Living Colour and Joe Satriani. It’s a great soundtrack and the songs fit well in the film.

Overall, I think it was a decent film. Not my favorite of teen films but it was pretty good. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 98% Fresh with an Audience Score of 85%. IMDb has it at 7.4 stars out of 10. We rented it from Amazon Prime and I will rate it 4 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What would you like to hear/read me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“One question: are you here ’cause you need someone, or ’cause you need me?… Forget it, I don’t care.” – Lloyd Dobler

This is Spinal Tap or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

03 Saturday Jun 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, This is Spinal Tap (1984), starring Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner.

Thisisspinaltapposter

©Embassy Pictures

Per IMDb: “Spinal Tap, one of England’s loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DeBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.”

The loud, aging, denying and washed up quintet, Spinal Tap, is releasing a new album called Smell the Glove and are wanting to put together a tour to support it. The band has been around since the 60s and their age is really starting to show; such is the evidence of how painfully out-of-touch they are.

The three main members, David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls are good song writers that show flash and glory, but their dwindling fan base, in conjunction with a terminal case of bad luck, bodes an impending demise for the classic rockers. Rockumentary director, Marty DeBergi captures the life and times, the good, the bad and the horrible on film, which follows the band from album pre-release to the ensuing tour.

Marty DeBergi is, of course, Rob Reiner, the director of the movie and the movie within the movie. Michael McKean (of Lavern & Shirley fame), Christopher Guest (the husband of Jamie Lee Curtis and the six-fingered Count Rugen from The Princess Bride), and Harry Shearer (about half the voices for The Simpsons) all wrote the songs, performed the songs and made the songs what they are: rocking, comedic genius.

I have known of bands that have gone through some craziness and even the ones I don’t know, I hear stories and we call them all Spinal Tap moments. The things that happen with this band are unreal and ridiculous. Getting lost in the bowels of an arena trying to get to the stage, stage props going awry being completely wrong, being second billing to a puppet show, or drummers spontaneously combusting. It’s too much. But… it’s all too fun, too.

There are great one-liners, iconic quotes and a plethora of pop culture right there in that 82 minutes. Most of the script was improved and the entire cast, including the cameos, did a great job delivering them. The cameos, themselves, are remarkable. Bruno Kirby, Howard Hesseman, Dana Carvey, Billy Crystal, Patrick Macnee, Fran Drescher and Paul Shaffer, just to name a few, is an amazing cast. Very good stuff. This is comedic, somewhat silly, but very clever film making. Hats off to the cast. It is awesome.

I knew nothing of the film when it came out and just saw something on HBO about it around 1985 or so. I didn’t know it was a parody and I didn’t know there were real actors playing characters here. When I got into playing music, someone said I had to watch it, so I did and I fell in love. I also have the soundtrack (“Smell the Glove”) on CD.

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 95% Fresh with an Audience score of 92%. Dang! IMDb has it at a solid 8 out of 10 stars. It is on Netflix, although we watched it on Blu-Ray with 3B, who I believe a lot of the humor went over his head. I love this film and give it 4.75 out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to hear/read me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“It’s like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.“ – Nigel Tufnel