lanejo15 Reviews

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

Stake on target

[8/10 · 5 April 2009]

Mel Brooks's scattergun approach to comedy has a number of misses. Spaceballs was OK at parodying its genre. This film is far more sophisticated and well played.

The successful jokes are on the culture of Victorain times with references to an engaged couple who after 10 years have suddenly held hands being condemned as immoral, prostitutes, lechers and the like.

Into these cultural and successful observations Brook's introduces Leslie Nielson doing a great impression of Bela Lugosi's Dracula with the difference that his powers are incompetent.

Seeing the Lugosi movie will give you the basis to appreciate the sophistication of this film.

Wanted (2008)

Curved bullets?

[6/10 · 5 April 2009]

Its the curving bullets that stay in the memory the longest. That's not too much of a recommendation. This is about a shy office boy who wonders if his life will ever go anywhere. Then someone shoots at him. He is saved by Angelina Jolie and finds life becomes more exciting than he ever wanted when he is hired into a league of assassins.

These assassins are supposed to be highly moral. Only executing those who are guilty of crimes. Pretty good premise for a film. But how do you take the 'Loom of Doom' (thank you Dr. Mark Kermode) seriously.

Enough work went into this script to make it worthwhile however. There's a couple of clever plot twists which keeps this interesting: who's good and who's bad the plot ideas centre on.

The cast is also unexpectedly starry. Morgan Freeman and a largely reticent Angelina Jolie make this stand out from similar action movies.