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JarretCo
Reviews
Hobgoblins (1988)
One of those movies you want to physically harm
I can't tell you how loathsome every single person in this film is...from the "slut" to the "nerd" to the "army guy" to the "good girl" to the "perv" etc. etc. etc. It's the most masochistic movie-watching experience I've ever had -- I wanted to pick up any given actor by the feet and beat the rest of the actors to death with him, then make the writers eat what's left. That's the most horrific part -- actors could be forgiven for just picking up a check, but someone actually WROTE this pile of sh_t, thinking it was funny and/or suspenseful. Seek it out if you dare -- even the MST3000 treatment can't mitigate all of the horror.
Washee Ironee (1934)
It's, ah...not good.
In fact up until the climax it's unusually bad for an Our Gang from this period. The Chinese stuff is unpleasant, the bit where the girls peep on Wally is just weird, and most of all, every time the kids all have to express unscripted eagerness and enthusiasm, it's a horrible, horrible, fake cacophony of "Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!" until you want to kick every one of them through the goal posts. The chaos at the society party partially redeems it -- you can't do much to screw up monkeys throwing cream puffs at stuck-up society dames.
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Great, but not as great as its reputation
I get the sense that this and "Duck Soup" are the only two Marx Brothers movies that people (young people) see anymore. This film's been overpraised since it restored the Marxes' box-office clout in 1935 by critics and fans alike, as well as all the brothers. The comedy is first-rate, but how great can a film be when you're fast-forwarding through all the musical numbers (and you KNOW you are...)? Even more distressing is the softening and sanitizing of the brothers' characters from the Paramount films (Groucho hugging the girl on the boat is one particularly depressing example). Don't hesitate to see it, but if this is your first exposure to the Marx Brothers, you owe it to yourself to follow up with "Duck Soup", "Horse Feathers" and "Monkey Business" to see what they were REALLY meant to be.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Read the book.
I always liked this film, but everything I liked about it really comes from the book...and MUCH more besides. As a noted critic pointed out many years ago, how pretentious is it to make a film called "A Clockwork Orange" without ever revealing just what the title refers to? What IS a clockwork orange? Well, as it turns out, it's the central metaphor of the work, though evidently Kubrick didn't consider it important. That, and the fact that the film was based on the truncated first American edition of the novel (the omission of the final chapter changes the tone of the book completely) render it seriously flawed when considered alongside its source.
Waiting for Guffman (1996)
The funniest color film ever made...
...well, only because the Marx Brothers are about the only thing I might rate higher. I don't need to add anything about how good it is, but I'd like to point out that, in my opinion, people like a previous commentator who focus on how "sad" the characters are...get over yourself. And watch again. You may be far superior in your own estimation to the citizens of Blaine, but this film isn't just a cheap shot at pathetic rural bumpkins. Obviously they weren't really "goin' to Broadway" but in their own way, all their lives were changed by the show, and the joy they derive from it is infectious. The comedy is brilliant and all the performances are exquisite.
I'll be interested to see if Guffman acquires a reputation as the years go by...nobody saw it, but it seems to be a sleeper hit on video. I'm certainly doing my part.