Change Your Image
ramarex1
Reviews
'Way Out (1961)
Weird, wild, wacky - scared the bejesus out me when I was 9!
For years after this show aired, I could not hear the theme song to the TV program "Route 66," the lead-in to this show, without getting all apprehensive and "goose bumpy." I associated it with "Way Out's" gnarly hands protruding from the ground at the end of the show's opening credits. Or were they sticking out of lava? Or boiling sand? I seem to recall the ground around the hands being cracked... broken, and steam coming out...? Boy, a remastered DVD release of these 14 titles would be fab-u-lous, if only for their historical value. I know I love to be scared and most modern television is far, far too timid. Too bad, these were classics. And TV execs in the sixties were just as predictable as those of today when it comes to green lighting schlock and canceling greatness before it has a chance to blossom. Imagine if less than insightful TV execs had controlled "Seinfeld" or "The Twilight Zone." And, just in passing, parents are too soft and protest against TV programs too much, claiming that their children would be adversely affected by scary programs. Hey, mom and dad, HIDE THE REMOTE or PUT THAT SINISTER "V-CHIP" TO A REAL TEST! Just because the occasional serial killer comments on how much he loved scary programs in his youth, does not mean that your little Jill or Johnny will likewise succumb to such a fate. Lots of us "little morons" loved this stuff as children, even if it did give us nightmares, but as the old saw tells us, what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger, right? In fact, Way Out scared me so much that I'm surprised I didn't turn out to be like Stephen King, Clive Barker, or Wes Craven. Then again, maybe it did and I just haven't realized it yet...
Lady in the Water (2006)
A "message" movie with an occasional "Aiieee!" from the viewer!
I liked this film because of the dark imagery... only found in an M. Night bedtime story! I am finding that his movies have always been "message" oriented... and this one was particularly odd in that he put himself in the film as the messianic character whose words would eventually bring about changes in the "world of the land dwellers." Is this arrogance, or does he see himself like this? At first I was annoyed at how slowly the story developed... until the first good joke. Bob Balaban's character was superb. M. Night's stories are always so full of misfits and misanthropes. This was no different. After "The Village" I had almost signed off on this filmmaker for good. If his ego doesn't get in the way, maybe he'll make another honest to God scary movie... maybe not.