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Grady-9
Reviews
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
If all films were like this, Hollywood would shut down
Put an infinite number of monkeys and an infinite number of typewriters in a room and you'll eventually get Shakespeare. Put one monkey behind a camera, and you'll soon come up with a movie a lot like this.
(WARNING: I'M JUST ABOUT TO REVEAL A 'PLOT ELEMENT'; IF YOU ARE DEAD-SET ON SEEING THIS MOVIE, STOP READING NOW.)
With no concern for logic, and the most simple, awful, overused device in all of filmdom (yes, it's the old "it was only a dream" chestnut), this has to rank among the worst films of all time. It's no wonder that this piece of mish-mash was a failed television pilot -- no one with any sense of narrative or character could possibly do anything but dump this in the garbage. Not only to save their jobs, but to save the rest of us from having to view such junk.
This film is good for two things: (1) Two fragments -- the airport scene and the audition scene -- were excellent, and would have made wonderful student films at even the better film schools, and (2) reminding us that the "Emperor Has No Clothes" phenomenon happens in moviemaking, too.
For what else could be made of the diva singing in the theater? The boring, pointless monologues? The hopelessly fractured narrative? The nauseatingly self-indulgent visual references? To pretentious small minds and Lynch culties, it was brilliant and visionary. To anyone watching with even a smattering of higher reasoning, it was as artistic as a gibbon playing with its own waste.
Another good side of this movie is that HOWARD THE DUCK has been moved out of my personal "ALL-TIME WORST MOVIE" spot.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
The movie that started it all . . .
This is a terrific horror/comedy, superior even to the series -- which I think is very good, too. If you're a fan of the series, you simply must see the movie. But even if you don't like the series, the movie is a funny, entertaining ride in itself. In fact, it's among the best of the whole horror/comedy genre, and I think it influenced a number of similar movies in the 1990s. Top-notch writer Joss Whedon is a master at mixing drama and silliness, and he set the groundwork for the series here. My hat's off to him.
Life with Billy (1993)
A terrific, hard-hitting drama about an abused wife who is pushed too far. Wow.
A near-perfect script uses flashback and well-laced narrative to describe the true story of a woman who endured a monstrous husband. Without giving away the plot, just know that it's a great story. Really nails the issue. Sometimes tough to watch, but more than worth it by the end. One of those rare movies that truly moves us.