itzthead Reviews

The Jerk (1979)

Worst movie ever?

[3/10 · 9 January 2023]

Saw this movie for the first time about ten years ago as a teenager. I was kind of surprised at how terrible it was because it had a pretty good reputation. I saw it again yesterday, expecting to appreciate it better now that I'm older. I wondered if there was some underlying commentary on race, politics, or society that I had missed when I was younger. So I watched it, and...yep, it's arguably the worst movie ever made.

But if it's the worst movie ever made, why am I rating it 3/10? Well, there's something charming about the worst movie ever. There's so many movies out there that are bad in a mediocre way. They suck just like every other low-effort, rushed production that the creators don't even care about. But this movie is on another level. This movie actively spits in the face of effort. It's a parody of a parody of bad comedy. It's almost as if it worked hard to be as horrendous as it is, which seems paradoxical.

There are a number of memorable moments of the film, mostly in the first 30 minutes though if I'm honest. You'll laugh at them almost with guilt, like it's so stupid that you really shouldn't laugh, but the level of stupidity in the comedy is what you're laughing at more than the joke itself. Sure, you could summarize what I'm saying as "so bad it's good", but that's really a different animal entirely. Movies like The Room, Manos The Hands of Fate, and others, are genuine attempts at being good movies. But they fail so spectacularly that it's enjoyable to watch their failure. This movie never attempted to be good.

But with all that said, it's still the worst movie ever. I mean you can't just brush that aside, so I have to rate it 3/10 and that's being generous. Yes, I laughed a few times, but it's not like its z-tier humor was even that funny. Most of my viewing was spent wondering how much time was left. And occasionally I'd laugh at myself for laughing at whatever stupidity I was viewing in whatever scene it was. That pretty much sums it up.

Gosford Park (2001)

An amazing character study and mystery - multiple viewings necessary

[8/10 · 5 January 2023]

This is a film that I consider quite underrated. There's not a moment wasted. Every little subtle detail counts. And it's for this reason that it's difficult for a person to appreciate the film after a single viewing, especially not knowing anything about it going in. Even once the mystery's solution is revealed, you'll find that a second viewing ties together various details that you hadn't considered the first time, and you'll get a much better overall picture of the story and each character's role.

The acting is superb, and this is a movie that really benefited from its great actors. Too often people will praise the acting of a film just because it has famous people in it, even of their talents weren't fully utilized for the characters they portrayed. But these characters were complex and it was those subtle aspects of the acting, the brief facial expressions, tones of voice, and other details that took the film to the next level.

Interesting character studies, an enticing mystery, a bit of humor, an homage to classic detective films, and a drama that gives you a glimpse of a very specific little world, one that you're probably not accustomed to. Those are the things you can expect from Gosford Park, and I highly recommend it.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

The insanity of war, the struggle between barbarism and humanism

[9/10 · 29 December 2022]

I've seen Apocalypse Now (Redux) a few times. The first viewing, I knew I had seen a great movie, but was less sure what to make of it. The second and third viewing with a decent span of time in between, gave me a better appreciation for the film's meaning, plus greater enjoyment of its amazing cinematography.

This movie is insane, that much is clear. It's insane and terrifying. The atmosphere of each scene draws you in and masterfully highlights one absurdity after another. Scenes such as a soldier laying dead as a tape plays of his family wishing him a safe return home. Some scenes are almost funny if they weren't so sad. "I love to smell of napalm in the morning" being one of its more famous lines. Eerie music and dark, looming shots as you watch a lifestyle of complete insanity could out-terrify many horror films in my opinion.

So what else is it about? Well, although I do have my own interpretation, I think an intellectual analysis is not necessarily required. The movie sort of speaks for itself, and I think that's the intended takeaway for the majority of the viewing audience. That being said, the film is clearly inspired by dialectical philosophy. No, not the nonsense that Dennis Hopper's character was spewing in that one scene. I don't know what that was. Dialectics is the study of contradiction, two opposing, mutually exclusive forces. Those contradicting forces affect the world in the push and pull between them, as they "fight" for each of their ultimate ends. One simple example of a contradiction is good and evil, or light and darkness.

Contradictions are referenced quite often throughout the film, just not with that overt dialectical language. Some examples:

"There are two of you, one that kills and one that loves" -Roxanne Sarrault.

"There's a conflict in every human heart between the rational and the irrational and good does not always triumph." -General R. Corman.

It becomes clear that the river is a metaphor for getting closer to that dark side within us. Col. Kurtz represents the furthest extreme into barbarism and savagery. As Martin Sheen says, Kurtz is as far up the river as you can get.

And war brings that dark side out of people. One impression you get amidst all the insane actions of these characters is that they're not crazy or evil themselves. It's the environment that's evil. They're just living in it.

I often hear criticism of the Redux version. I haven't seen the theatrical version so I can't comment on the differences. But I can say that, whatever additions were made in the Redux, very few of them seem to have been wasted. I feel like every scene and almost every line of dialogue was worthwhile. The French planation dinner scene is one exception, but even that scene wasn't totally meaningless and it was pretty short relative to the length of the whole movie. I think these criticisms of the Redux are very overstated.

I could go on, but I'll just summarize by saying that this is not my favorite movie. It explores a lifestyle that I don't personally relate to, and the emotions it invokes in me are mostly negative by design. It's hard for me to regard such a movie as my personal favorite. But I recognize the film for the masterpiece it is, and it will have an impact on you, I promise you that.

9/10.

Coming 2 America (2021)

Truly a disgrace to the film industry

[2/10 · 10 January 2022]

It's hard to figure out exactly what makes this movie so horrible. There are so many things, and there's just no redeeming features whatsoever, so I think it's easier to sum it up that way rather than listing specific things. I guess there are a lot of terrible C movies like this, but it's notable seeing it come as a sequel to a pretty good movie, and to come from a well-respected actor. Otherwise I wouldn't be bothering to write this.

Also, the movie felt the need to jump on the social justice bandwagon, which I would have no problem with if it didn't seem so forced, or if the arguments they used actually made any sense. Apparently it's a travesty that the royal lineage only passes to males, and it should clearly pass to females instead. Yet no character in any part of the movie ever questions the existence of a ROYAL LINEAGE in the first place. Like hmmm, maybe we shouldn't have a throne at all? But no, the same way liberals talk about having more female CEOs or whatever, they're fine with these oppressive systems as long as the rulers are more equally distributed across identity groups.