OlYankee Reviews

Penn & Teller: Bullshit! (2003–2010)

Carl Would Be Proud

[10/10 · 16 July 2007]

Carl Sagan would be proud to see this "live-action" version of his Baloney Detection Kit.

Penn & Teller use logic, reason, evidence, and the other tools of freethinkers (love that term, how ironic the dogmatists try to use it as "derogatory") to cut to the quick of preposterous claims, no matter how popular they happen to be (organized religion, anyone?).

After all the crap the proponents of such phooey have gotten away with for years, I can understand why Penn's language tends toward the outrageous. He's just settling some old scores, and putting things back in equilibrium.

Excellent show.

Watch it with your Pentecostal aunt or weird hoax-believing uncle.

Sledge Hammer! (1986–1988)

80s Send-up Par Excellence!

[10/10 · 12 July 2007]

Probably the best TV satire of everything 1980s, which is astounding, since it premiered near the middle of the decade. I knew people back then who were Sledge, for real!

Poor Anne-Marie Martin as Dori Doreau: imagine thinking that computers could help you do your work, when all you need is Gun.

David Rasche was perfect as the maniacally serious Sledge.

Harrison Page actually allowed one to identify with a boss who had a report who was, well, impossible. You knew any of Trunk's victories would be short-lived.

The movie/contemporary situation send-ups were all wonderful and many still ring true re current events.

Best line was at the end of Season One:

Trunk: Hammer!

Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip (2003 TV Movie)

This is what a documentary should be!

[10/10 · 24 March 2007]

Wonderful job, Ken Burns!

As one who was eight when Horatio Nelson Jackson passed away, all I can do is thank him for his pioneering trip.

Even back in 1967, when I cruised across the US in my Mustang, a journey spanning North America was a challenge, sixty four years after HNJ did it with Crocker and Bud and mud holes that passed as roads. Now that I see what conditions were like just after the turn of the century (nineteenth to twentieth), I have an increased appreciation for those who gave it a try.

A wonderful film that really gives one the sense of being there.

All my love to his darling Swipes!

Being There (1979)

Definition of politics

[10/10 · 4 December 2006]

This is a definition of politics.

It spotlights the disconnect between those who vote and those who are voted for.

There must be something inherent in the human psyche that causes persons elevated to positions higher than their peers to think of themselves as "god-like".

Unfortunately (or in many cases, fortunately), this leads to the classic sequence of hubris and ate. The unfortunate part is that we, the voting public, are oft burdened with an extended period of hubris (viz Clinton and Bush).

There must be a solution out there somewhere, but meanwhile, we can enjoy this wonderful satirical commentary on politics, at least until the Homeland Security Department deems it subversive.

BTW, since when have we lived in the "homeland"? I thought it was the United States of America.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Still Relevant

[10/10 · 4 December 2006]

The bomb is still out there.

The loonies are still out there (some domestic, some not).

It's just a matter of time.

Funny that Kubrick's 1964 film would wind up more prophetic than his 1968 film.

But irony is a way of life.

Life is a state of mind.

Note: after the original comments, which seemed to the point, the IMDb decided there were not enough lines in the comment. Due to this, I submit the following:

(not allowed due to spelling mistakes)

Then it said there too many spelling mistakes, so the text has been modified appropriately:

'Twas Brillo, and the slither Tove's Did Gore and Gimbel in the Wave: All Missy were the brogues, And the mime wraths outgrew.

Poor Lewis Carroll!

The Addams Family (1964–1966)

Ah, Tish!

[10/10 · 29 October 2006]

What excellence! No one miscast. And Carolyn Jones. Each plot another chance to stick it to mainstream corporate America. And Carolyn Jones. Normal people revealed for the hypocrites they were and are. And Carolyn Jones. The basso profundo sounds of Lurch. And Carolyn Jones. Model trains used for what they were meant to be. And Carolyn Jones. Zen yogi (only Berra could top that one!). And Carolyn Jones. It's so nice to have a thing around the house. And Carolyn Jones. Wednesday's child and the enthusiasm of Pugsley. And Carolyn Jones. Those Festering wounds (a little less dynamite next time) and Granmama's vulture stew. And Carolyn Jones.

Ah, Tish, when you speak French it drives me wild!

Ah, Tish!

Moment by Moment (1978)

Non-film by Non-actors

[1/10 · 23 October 2006]

Tomlin can't act, nor can Travolta.

There's no chic setting to rescue either of them.

Each is on their own, and thus, succumbs to the paper bag.

As we watch, moment by moment, the leads sink into a morass of banality.

This movie is good for only one thing: getting information from a prisoner who has resisted all other forms of torture.

Therefore, this has to be one of GWB's favorite films.

Or maybe Rumsfeld.

If you're a masochist, you'll love this picture.

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Funny Movie

[1/10 · 7 October 2006]

This was one of the funniest movies I saw in 1977. Burton was over the top (and perhaps on the bottle again), Darth Vader was miscast, and poor Linda Blair was obviously getting ready for roller-boogie roles.

Attacking grasshoppers are just what Washington, DC needs, I guess. Perhaps W would brand them as terrorists and by means of executive order, bring back DDT. Or he just could have Cheney scowl at them, and we'd have a major pollution problem due to billions of dead locusts.

Meanwhile back to the "plot" of the "movie"! It comes down to a fight between good and Eeee-Viiillll! May the latter win! Little did Richard know, when he was over-emoting that word, that he was providing a capsule review of the movie.

Avoid no matter what!

In Harm's Way (1965)

Plastic Ships, Plastic People

[1/10 · 2 October 2006]

There is nothing in this film that convinces the viewer that they're seeing a WWII drama. Instead, it's apparent from the outset that it's a very poor studio production.

This is most obvious during the "battle" scene between the US and Japanese ships, all of which are so obviously plastic models that it comes as no surprise when some of the ships that are hit and catch on fire, start dripping flaming globs of plastic into the stage pool, uh, the Pacific Ocean, I mean! It might have been better if this cheaply made, over-long film had a decent plot, but, unless you really like soap opera, it fails in that area too.

It's a complete disaster as a film, but useful for curing insomnia.

Gabriel Over the White House (1933)

Conservative/Religious Right/Fascist Wet Dream

[3/10 · 26 April 2006]

This movie, despite its often hilarious moments (that are usually unintentional), serves well as a serious fantasy about what the consequences would be of having a President who was fundamentalist, born-again, and power hungry, and who would not stop at his attempts to seize total authority until he was running the country the way he wanted to. Wait, no, sorry, this isn't about the current president, this movie is from 1933.

But, how prophetic! One of the many ironies in the film is that the horn motif that shows up during the moments of "divine intervention" was lifted from the last movement of Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 1 in C Minor. Brahms himself lifted it from a Swiss alphorn player. It's from a piece called "High on the Mountain" and is an alphorn melody that Brahms heard while hiking in the Rigi area of Switzerland. The irony here is that Brahms was a noted agnostic.

In sum a mixed bag, fun to watch, but also a little scary.

An Unmarried Woman (1978)

Feminist propaganda that goes nowhere

[1/10 · 15 January 2006]

Once again, too bad zero ratings aren't allowed.

This movie is just another piece of feminist propaganda from the late 1970s that regurgitates the usual anti-male spiel and has nothing of any substance to offer. The "heroine" first deals with an unfaithful husband who confesses to having an ongoing affair, but in such a way that one wonders if the "other" of the affair was female or male (a favorite feminist theme of the 1970s and later (i.e., all men are latent homos)). Sheesh.

Finally, the fact that the "heroine", when facing a situation where she has to make some kind of a decision sort of wanders off the screen at the end, is most telling. She has her "individuality" and that's about it.

George Harrison's song "I Me Mine" should have been playing in the background at that point.

Blecch.

Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon? (2001 TV Movie)

Pegged My Baloney Detector

[1/10 · 20 August 2005]

An unmitigated piece of baloney that should be used in every school of journalism as an example of how to report with bias and predetermined conclusions.

Every "hoax point" made by this production had already been shown to be false. Yet FOX decided to present this material as if it were factual. Those who attempted to present facts were given short shrift. Are ethics completely a thing of the past re current journalism? It would appear so.

An irresponsible contribution by FOX to the coffers of the antiscience groups. And an insult to all the fine people who worked on the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, and who gave a good chunk of their intellects, skills, and lives to ensure that a program succeeded in its goal: landing a man on the Moon and returning him safety to the Earth.

For those who found this program credible, I strongly recommend they visit this site:

http://www1.tpgi.com.au/users/tps-seti/baloney.html

where the details of setting up and operating one's own baloney detection kit are detailed.

Life of Brian (1979)

Essential Python, skewering that what needs it!

[10/10 · 27 March 2004]

To wit, using Christianity as a stepping-off point, the Pythons take on all organized religion and apply their satirical examination relentlessly. The subject of the experiment, needless to say, is found wanting and disposed of almost as quickly as a few of Pilate's "Pwaetowian guards". Along the way, we are treated to aliens, complete breakdowns of communication (a favorite Python theme), i.e., "Blessed are the cheesemakers...", and, astoundingly, a hilarious lesson in Latin grammar!

Next to "Grail" this is the most-quoted Python movie. Its sets, performances, and script are extraordinary. Plus there's a gritty realism that seems to be beyond the grasp of Mr. Gibson and his current opus. "Life of Brian" is a believable story, space travel and all.

Not recommended for your fundamentalist friends. Then again...<g>