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Reviews
Amarcord (1973)
This is a movie that grows on you
When I first saw Amarcord, (Fellini's reminiscences of childhood), I was mildly disappointed after the eeriness of Julieta and the Spirits, or the extravagantly bizarre Satyricon. Yet the movie stayed with me in the strangest way; a day afterwards I would suddenly recall a choice scene and laugh out loud. Although I saw it only once, decades later I can still remember scenes and share my delight in them with friends who have also seen the movie.
Rather like the later "Ginger and Fred", we see here Felinni's compassionate eye for humankind and the humour in their everyday foibles. No need to list my favorite vignettes here, everyone will have their own, and they are all great, even if one or two stand out for sheer extravagance!
I am looking forward to watching this again sometime soon. "Dolce Vita" now looks dated and self-indulgent; "8 1/2" is as incomprehensible as ever (though I still enjoy it); but if I ever build up a Fellini library, Amarcord will be one of the first on my list.
Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
A joyous romp - fluff, but Really Good Fluff!
Sadly a few jaded commentators (including the late redoubtable Halliwell) seen to have taken this movie far too seriously...pay no attention! This movie mas made as a zany fluffy comedy, and it succeeds admirably at it. With talents like Gina Davis, Geoff Goldblum, the young Jim Carrey and the multi-talented Julie Brown amongst others how could it fail? Memorable moments include the aliens' learning isolated English phrases from commercials and old movies - "limp and hard to manage" has become a family in-joke; the like,-totally-cool-to-whatever-outrageous-happens surfer Woody (Michael McKean); the makeover; and Julie Brown's song, now a classic on Dr Demento, "Because I'm Blonde".
For anyone who complains the special effects are cheesy - they're _meant_ to be! This is in part a spoof of the 1950's aliens-come-to-earth B movies, so watch closely when the space ship arrives, hovers over the trees, and does its forced landing in Davis' pool: it is a triumph of reproducing the authentic 1950's effect, not a poor attempt at 80's FX tech! All in all the production values, cinematography and direction are excellent throughout and support the fine cast and writers to produce one of the most delightful light comedies of the 80's.
Don't miss this charmer. See it when it comes around on TV. Rent it, or buy it and show all your friends. Just be sure you're in the mood for comic nonsense, not Dostoyevsky!
Tampopo (1985)
Completely concerned with, food, Oh yes & sex & life. Hilariously!
NOTE: Contains no real spoilers but considerable detail on some plot items.
The main plot line is a spoof of the western where the lone gunman rides into town (on a 16 wheeler) and solves the poor "widder" woman's problems, then rides off into the Sunset. Shane is the immediate inspiration - Tbutsutomu Yamazaki, as Goro, even looks a little like Alan Ladd - but there are references to other classic Westerns.
The central quest is to help the widow to learn to make the perfect noodle soup and overcome the competition she is losing to so badly. But there are may delightful vignettes along the way: Some related to the plot -- e.g. the surreptitious episode in the night kitchen, the dream sequence, the impromptu University glee club; Some totally unrelated to the main plot, e.g. series of short-shorts with a gangster and his moll, these providing the most explicit sex in the movie (extremely erotic but TASTEFUL, as you'd expect in a movie mostly concerned with food and manners); I'll only give away that an egg is involved. Other vignettes are unrelated; one, the mother preparing dinner, is almost guaranteed to leave you laughing and crying simultaneously.
A brief comment on the cinematography direction is in order: this is always understated but more than competent. As a good example,watch the scene in the train, where the reflections in the windows are used to great effect as the actors avoid looking directly at each other.
This is the first movie I ever wanted to own, unfortunately the DVD release disappeared and became very pricey ($100up) until very recently, when it has been released again -- I have 2 copies on order, one to keep and one to lend, as I believe _everybody_ should see this movie! 10/10, and in my personal top 100 of all time.