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Reviews
Scum of the Earth (1974)
What a classic schlocky drive-in movie
All my high school friends and I saw this movie at a drive-in. We still quote lines to this movie still! "Bo, git me a jar!" It was retitled as "Poor White Trash, Part II" - but there never was a Poor White Trash - Part I. I've been trying to get this on video for over 20 years, with no luck. It's so bad, it's funny. I think the budget for this flick must have under $50,000. The dialogue is laughably bad, the actors are godawful, the plot has so many holes like a broken colander. But to its credit, this movie is far worse than anything Ed Wood did - "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "Glenn Or Glenda," etc. don't hold a candle to this flick. Possibly "Eraserhead" might come close, but I don't think so. To set the mood to watch this movie, you must be either drunk (half-in-the-bag) or stoned or both.
Sin City (2005)
One the best later comic book films
It's way better than Spiderman, X-Men, Batman (although Michael Keaton did a decent job), etc. comic-book or graphic novels - (Kill Bill was based on "The Bride" and Pulp Fiction was loosely based on "Battle Royale"). Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction are better films, but to me they seem based on chop-socky Asian or samurai (many of these are outstanding, much better than Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill).
One thing I like about Sin City is the European sense of timing - it takes its time developing a story - I wish it was longer. By far the most enjoyable story was Marv and Goldie, it was more personal than the other stories. Jaime King (Goldie/Wendy) and Mickey Rourke were so good and they connected, unlike Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba or Slive Owen and Rosario Dawson and Brittany Murphy. I really like the evil characters, like Bernicio Del Toro, Nick Stahl, Elijah Wood, Rutger Hauer, Powers Booth, and Michael Madsen.
Granted, the dialogue was kind of stilted - but hey, it's not Shakespeare, Tom Stoppard, Sam Shepherd, David Mamet, etc. But the dialogue echoes the film noir classics in the Thirties, Forties, and Fifties.
The set design and the whole look of this film was great - it rivals Berlin (Terry Gilliam), Metropolis (Fritz Lang silent), Battleship Potemkin and Aleksandr Nevsky (Eisenstein), The Godfather I and II (Scorsese), La Femme Nikita (Luc Besson), etc.
Day of the Woman (1978)
I Spit On Your Grave - great drive-in movie
My friends and I saw this movie with a triple bill (the other two were the classic "White Trash, Part II" and "The Hills Have Eyes"). What I noticed in this movie was that the river flows both ways - how comical. This whole movie has godawful dialogue, from top to bottom in every character. What I liked about this movie is that it portrayed a woman as a killer (no, "Psycho" doesn't count). Don't take a woman to see this movie.
The other movie "White Trash, Part II" was more enjoyable for its really bad script, the actors, the premise of the movie, the excrement-filled dialogue, the location, etc. Me and my friends who saw this movie still quote lines from "White Trash, Part II" to this day. No, there was not a "White Trash, Part I." I'm still trying to get a videotape of this movie for over 15 years - no luck so far.
Lone Star State of Mind (2002)
Decent acting but soft-of believable characters
The reason why I like this movie is the chemistry and the dialogue between Earl and Baby. I know most of the characters in this movie - in the South, the Southwest, the West, the Midwest, and especially Texas (it seems more of an East Texas or the Hill Country).
Jaime King was especially good as a wanna-to-get-outta-here-fast girl. And the she push the buttons on Joshua Johnson's character (Earl) but everything that Earl does to please Baby goes awry. To me, this is a comedy of errors (like Black Adder). Earl and Baby have to deal with various nitwits or relatives (sometimes both). I think the title to this flick should "Murphy's Law." Jaime King had a decent script (for once) and she makes the most out of it - she puts her soul into her part and she shines. The whole cast was pretty good. It reminds me of "Dummy," but with so many ignorant hillbilly redneck cracker references - but it also shows family dysfunction in a good funny light.
Dummy (2002)
Quriky but amusing film - Spoilers
This story has been done so many times on film (Neil Simon, Woody Allen, etc.) - typical dysfunctional Jewish/Irish/Italian family. Sure, the acting in some parts is over-the-top (I like the part when Michael says, "My drinking is WAY down," when that's not the case). Fangora and Steven form one of the weirdest relationship, and when Fanny talks to Steven about girls and dating, the results are a train wreck (when she gives Steven a Sousa CD, she says "Chicks love classical music." - but NOT marching band music). I can name a short list of actresses that have the chops to play Fangora with all her internal complications. Christini Ricci, Sarah Polly, Virginie Ledoyen, Jaime (aka James) King, Winona Ryder, Clea Duvall, Sarah Silverman, etc. Usually Milla Jovovich's acting in small films is understated (The Claim, Million Dollar Hotel, No Good Deed, etc.) unlike her acting in blockbusters.
I never liked Adrian Brody, but his performance as a painfully shy geek was well worth it. What regular man has not been in that situation as a teenager or a young adult? The surrounding cast was pretty good. I like the actress who played Lorena - her acting was seamless. When she spits out the wine in her glass that Steven's mom pours her without saying a word.
Dummy broke no new ground to me as a film - in some parts it was a screwball comedy, a coming-of-age slice-of-life, and family dynamics that went awry.
13 Going on 30 (2004)
A decent film, typically formulaic
There's so many actresses this would great vehicle for, such as Cristina Ricci, Anne Hathaway, Kate Bosworth, Elisha Cuthbert, Natalie Portman, Milla Jovovich, Keira Knightley, etc. It's nowhere near as good as "Big," and it has a sappy Hollywood happy ending, which "Big" did not. The supporting cast was so-so, only her boss and her love interest. But Beniffer Garner did a bang-up job, rivaling Tom Hanks in "Big," in some good scenes. She was pretty awful in "Daredevil" and "Elektra" - but I blame that on the scriptwriter and the director (Milla Jovovich and Angelina Jolie have made that transition which is the key to box-office success).
Ella Enchanted (2004)
Better than all the modern "Cinderella" flicks
Pretty good script - decent dialogue but an unbelievable story line, but what save this movie is Anne Hathaway (she's almost as good as a young Hayley Mills). She's so believable and adorable, and she pulls it off with an icky sicky-sweet almost-Disneyeque cartoon-like lines. To me, that's very high praise for any actor/actress with trite dialogue who is sincere.
Ella Enchanted is a step below The Princess Bride - but The Princess Bride had better actors (the key to me was Christopher Guest - aka Mr Jamie Lee Curtis - play a great role as the six-fingered man - way before he did Waiting For Guffman). However, Ella Enchanted is enjoyable.
I think Anne Hathaway is a decent actress with limited material (I think she was better in the first Princess Diaries). But I think Hathaway is a better actress than Amanda Byrned and Alexis Bydell (Gilmore Girls). Hathaway needs a great script and a good supporting cast to not a play a typical ingénue or débutante. She has pretty good talent and a great screen presence, I hope it won't be too long until she makes it big - unlike in Europe, where they recognized any talent young.