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Reviews
Things in Their Season (1974)
Life Moves On
Patricia Neal plays a farmer's wife diagnosed with an incurable disease. This film is about her dealing with the changes to her family.
This is mostly a quiet film with just a couple of major plot points. It functions more as a slice of life. Given the time, we see this woman's life and how her loss will affect her family. Plenty of time is taken showing the details of running a dairy farm outside a small Wisconsin town.
These details and the performances are what make the film. Leads Neal and Ed Flanders both give excellent, immersive performances.
I happened to grow up in the town, Shawano, where the "town" scenes were filmed. Beyond that personal nostalgia, I found the time and place aspects of the film spot on and excellent. We really learned who these people were. Recommended for fans of slice of life and period detail.
Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
Breezy look at college life in 1980
This movie accomplishes its mission. I completely understand why it's set in fall of 1980, on the cusp between the 1970s and 1980s and all that would mean.
I am fine with the film focusing on jocks and pretty co-eds. The film is trying to show that the first "move in" days of college, before classes even start, can be kind of a peak experience when everything's new and you have no problems. Particularly if you're a jock or a pretty co-ed. The film itself acknowledges this.
I think the film accomplishes what it set out to do. I don't rate it higher because its goals are so limited. The only action of any consequence is when one of the group is expelled for overstaying his time. That's it. I know that this is intentional, that movie says itself that this brief time is not going to last. Still, limited goals, limited outcome. Not on the level of the top classic teen comedies.
New Girl (2011)
Boring - do not watch
Don't waste your time with this show the way I did.
"It's a hangout show." I can hangout by myself. TV is supposed to be entertaining, show me some conflict. There is no reason to watch this show. Young people living together and hooking up. No one cares about any of it. I watched a whole season of this, and nothing happened in an entire season. Waste of my precious life.
Barnaby Jones: Death on Deposit (1974)
Lois nails it
A Lois Nettleton performance is often a joy and she does not disappoint here in her role as a small town bank owner. Really an amazing performance.
Norman Rockwellish portrayals of small towns were fairly popular on TV during the 1970s and early 1980s. In early scenes, this episode does a great job of establishing the small town in a just a few brush strokes, so that you can dive right into the story and its world.
Lois' performance, sexy and warm but with something else behind it, does a lot to bring us into that world. Unlike other Barnaby Jones episodes, where the motivations of the criminals sometimes leave you scratching your head, the crimes in this episode are well motivated for all too human reasons. One of the best episodes of Barnaby Jones.
Barnaby Jones: Yesterday's Terror (1977)
A long slow march
Relatively interesting and somewhat emotionally realistic take on a woman with a past. There was limited gunplay on Barnaby Jones, so there tended to be more of an emphasis on talking and thinking out the crime. A nice change of pace from the more violent private eye shows.
Route 66: 93 Percent in Smiling (1963)
Real life setting
Route 66 was known for its location shooting throughout the USA, and in this case it really adds to the story. A young boy and girl kidnap their baby brother in order to give him a better life than their drifting trailer park existence.
This is one where filming around an actual real life town gives the story a level of sadness that Hollywood sets or back lots wouldn't be able to provide. This could be your town or my town, and it all seems very real.
Albert Salmi is the only name guest star here, doing his usual blow-hard bit. The children playing the boy and girl here have no other listed credits. I am wondering if they were locals.
This would have originally aired a few days before Christmas, 1963. I'm not sure if I could have taken it.
Good Neighbor Sam (1964)
Better Lemmon out there
I guess I liked this better than its contemporary Kiss Me Stupid, which featured similar partner swapping. This is not saying that much. I was disgusted with Kiss Me Stupid, but it was better paced than Good Neighbor Sam. 2 hours plus is just too long for a one note plot. Some repetitive scenes and back lot filming can give this one a sitcommy feel. The ad agency part of the movie is more or less dropped near the end (though I suppose Lemmon's character no longer cared about his job at that point.) The "manic" ending is one of the least compelling ending sequences I've seen.
Postives would be that Romy Schneider's quite pretty and there is some good San Francisco location work amid the back lot and rear projection scenes. Points also for casting an African American as an authority figure, without commentary, in 1964.
Fans of Lemmon's comedy work should check out the earlier Operation Mad Ball, which I do approve of.
Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)
Still a bit shocking... just not very good
To me, this film was far from a neglected work. It should be considered as it was on initial release - a flop.
The lion's share of the blame must go to Billy Wilder. Nothing wrong with sex farces; this just isn't a very good one. Given two hours and five minutes of screen time, only five main characters, and a couple of major settings there should be plenty of time for twists and turns. But Wilder wastes time with bit characters of no consequence like the milkman and Zelda's mother. Other times, scenes are clunky with lines that must have been clichés in 1964. Characters make decisions that are unmotivated and incomprehensible.
The main plot of this movie probably was a tough sell to American audiences of an American movie. Some of the final scenese would be a tough sell even today. Yet Wilder hurts his cause by getting queerly sentimental about scenes that are of questionable taste. Had Wilder been able to make the right choices and establish the right tone, this might really be the banned masterpiece some are seeking.
Finally, there's been a lot of comments on the presence of Ray Walston in a leading role in this film. I didn't care much for his performance personally. Some have argued that casting a character actor instead of a leading man was appropriate given that this was supposed to be a small town, small time guy. Disregarding the fact that Wilder's first two choices for the role (Lemmon and Sellers) were leading men, I don't think that's true. Wilder could have always used Tony Curtis with a slightly funny haircut, glasses or schlubby clothes and you've got your small timer, the same as he did with Kim Novak. This was too major of a role to leave to a character actor. Furthermore, the role doesn't even take advantage of Walston's strengths - I think Don Knotts or Burgess Meredith would have been better choices. I guess we can be thankful Bob Newhart wasn't available.
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
Inconsistencies in tone
I can't recommend this movie because of its inconsistent approach. The first part of the movie is mostly down to earth comedy about a summer camp. Once you start to care about the characters, continuity is thrown out the window and nothing can be taken seriously at all.
Those who compare this to true classics such as Airplane, Blazing Saddles, etc. miss this point. Those movies were great, but whatever tone they had they kept all the way through. The Blazing Saddles characters break out into the "real world" at the end of the picture, but they remain in character. This movie couldn't be bothered to do that, and I find that difficult to forgive.