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Reviews
Bewitched: It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog (1964)
For men who care about women
Bewitched, season 1 episode 3 aired October 1, 1964. It addressed women's liberation and rape culture as directly as they could at the time, and Samantha was always in the right.
The context: An advertising client, Rex Barker, comes to the Steven's house for dinner with Tate et al. Barker makes the moves on Samantha. She turns him into a dog.
Later, once the human guests have left and the dog remains, Samantha explains herself to Darrin. "He got very obnoxious," she said. "He was drunk." Darrin downplays the severity of Barker's aggression, and shields the now-dog's eyes from seeing his seemly wife in her nightgown lest he become overcome once more. Then Darrin gets sent to the couch with this exchange:
S: You're so darned concerned about him. What about me?
D: Well what about you? You're just a wife. He's a livelihood.
S: That's all you care about?
D: Yes.
S: Then that settles it. Out! This minute!
Writing credits are Jerry Davis and Sol Sacks, but I wouldn't be surprised if they listened to quite a few women about the plot.
The episode offers pointed critiques about problems women continue to face: inappropriate aggression, deprioritization and disbelief. Props to the women who made it happen.
Dance Dance (1987)
Enough plot for 3 movies, and incidental music you remember
For a movie with a title like "Dance Dance," you might expect something like "Dance with Me" (1998) starring Vanessa Williams. Not so. This film distributed by B Subhash Movie Unit is certainly a B movie! The decent plot, albeit with poor conflict resolution, balances against poor dancing, pidgin subtitles, and odd incidental music.
The dancing in this film is unremarkable. More challenging dancing can be seen on Dancing With the Stars, where footwork, timing, and coordination all go together. Dancing in this film supposedly moved the masses to swoon for the performers. The choreographers did a better job with the numerous fight scenes.
The plot for this film is not lacking. There is enough story to fill three films, and somehow they fit it into the length of two. There are murders, orphans, rape, bar fights, beatings, sex, drunkenness, debauchery, a party of 20 scaling walls to get into a building, and enough blood, yet it manages to have quite a few musical numbers and reasonable stretches of dialogue.
Not all conflict in this film is resolved at fisticuffs, but most comes to it at one point or another. The film could have employed more clever ways to resolve some issues.
It is a stretch to say that the subtitles are in English. They are pidgin English. Early on, a food vendor comes to the children, and they sing, according to the subtitles, "Have come! Have come!" But I think they meant, "He's here!" "Damn" is written as "Dame," "they're" and "their" are interchanged, as are "then" and "than". Single words are split into two, and so forth. Nobody whose native language is English checked these subtitles.
The incidental music is jarring. "Chariots of Fire" plays while a woman runs for her life, and the main theme from "Star Wars" (1977) plays in the background during an epic battle. Another familiar tune plays in another section.
All that, and I enjoyed the film. MST3K would riff it to shreds. I had quite a lot to say during my viewing of it!
Design U (2004)
Design tips you can use
While Extreme Makeover Home Edition is fun to watch, the relentless peppering of product placements can get old. Design U does not suffer this problem. The episodes I've seen lack product placement altogether. Furthermore, there is information on how to make a design in every episode.
Each episode covers a room of a different nominee's house: basement, foyer, living room, etc. Each shows highlights from a day of "design school" plus two days of hard work to create and implement a design for the particular room.
If you are struggling to find ideas for a room in your house, watch a few episodes and put some ideas together. You may still want to hire an interior decorator, but this program will help you get started with the process.
Anything Else (2003)
Don't waste your time with Anything Else.
Anything Else is a pointless tragic story of a few years in the life of an awkward protagonist (Jerry Falk, played by Jason Biggs) struggling to date the object of his mad crush (Amanda, played by Christina Ricci) as she strings him out for everything he's worth. He spends interminable time discussing his problems with his old professor (David Dobel, played by Woody Allen) and his psychiatrist (William Hill). Falk's profession, comedy writer, doesn't benefit the movie, and his terrible piece goods salesman agent (Harvey, played by Danny DeVito) only makes Falk's situation worse. Avoid this movie in favor of anything else.
Touched by an Angel (1994)
Kudos to the networks!
Nowadays it's common to see T.V. shows with rampant sex and violence. Touched by an Angel is a wholesome program to balance out the lot. Some say "sappy" or "gooey", others say "bad writing" and "good acting". I say "thanks" for the opportunity to watch some quality television that attempts to improve the world we live in.
Della Reese is fantastic as Tess. No doubt her ministerial role at the Understanding Principles for Better Religion Church she founded in Los Angeles helps her add depth to the character.
Left Behind (2000)
Thought-provoking - if you watch in the right mind set
Your mileage may vary. Left Behind is not a $300 million movie, and it shows. Don't expect Pearl Harbor or anything remotely close. Don't expect the best acting you've seen, either. But you will see something, that, if you're willing to watch through the film, might give you pause.
The movie gets off to a slow start, but it gets better. It opens with several disjoint stories and knits them together towards the end, so you'll want to pay attention to the different plot lines as they go along.
The move doesn't proselytize as I feared it might. Instead, it presents the post-rapture scene as interpreted by writers and directors rather matter-of-factly. You choose to believe the movie or write it off as hooey - or anything in between.
I enjoyed the movie as a vehicle for bringing about discussion on religious topics and as food for thought. It wasn't sheer entertainment, but it wasn't meant to be. It's a movie with a message - and if you're willing to think about it and forgive some of the constraints brought on by a low budget, it's a decent film.
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Good overview
Don't expect a documentary - This is the Cliff Notes version with an embellishment (love story) to make it interesting. From what I know of history, the film portrayed the big points well. For example, there was radar at Pearl Harbor before the bombing, and they did see something coming, but they didn't know what to make of it - since radar was new. The 45 minutes of bombing about which Ebert complained served to convey the devastation and helplessness of the Americans - and the aftermath, if anything, was prettied up a bit for the movie but still very convincing.
Apollo 13 (1995)
A fabulous movie that relates a true story
Apollo 13 is exciting each time I watch it. Each piece of the movie contributes to make a riveting story even with the known ending. Effects are breathtaking (all of the launch scenes, for example, are computer-generated since the stock footage was all unacceptable).
Best of all, the movie is historically accurate. Granted, Howard took some license, but not much. The biggest difference is that the astronauts on the historical mission fired the engine several short times manually while the movie version packed all the excitement into one firing. Other differences amount to minutia. For example, the historical record shows that they played "Blue Danube", as opposed to the movie's "Spirit in the Sky", at the beginning of the real TV broadcast. At other times, the details are real. Marion Lovell actually did loose her wedding ring in the shower!
Acting in the movie is superb. You feel the frustration when Mattingly has to stay home with measles. You feel the excitement when Swigert gets to go in his place. You feel Marian Lovell's stress when she doesn't know what's going to happen to her husband. You feel the cold, uncertainty, and dependence on ground support on the return trip. You feel a part of the team called NASA that ultimately brought the astronauts home.
Overall, Apollo 13 is a magnificent movie - well worth watching time and again.