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NoahVeil
Reviews
Waterhole #3 (1967)
Completely Despicable
There's a difference between a film ABOUT misogyny and a film that endorses it. This is, unfortunately, the latter. When the rape victim tries to press charges, she's told by James Whitmore, with a total lack of irony, that she is so pretty that no jury would find her rapist guilty since they'd all want to rape her themselves. In the end when the "hero" rides off into the sunset, having just successfully stolen gold from the United States Army AND having taken advantage of his rape victim a second time, Roger Miller sings, once again with a total lack of irony, that he "left the world a better place." No he didn't. He's a thief, murderer, and rapist who gets away with it. I'm no pussy who doesn't like films where the bad guy gets away. Silence of the Lambs is great. It doesn't pretend the world is a better place because Hannibal Lecter gets away in the end. It's ironic, like the end of Taxi Driver. But this film actually believes the world is a better place because of men who stick to their convictions and rob, murder, and rape, as long as they're charming about it. I'm not even saying rape can't be funny, though I'm hard pressed to think of an example. Parts of this film may be funny, but as a whole, it's rotten to the core.
The Outlaw (1943)
The worst musical score of all time
I just saw this for the first time and I feel it's important to point out how absolutely hideous the music is. It underlines every emotion, is completely obtrusive, and it never stops. The most annoying thing about it is the trombone that goes "waa waa waa" every time something happens that's supposed to be funny. It's the musical equivalent of a laugh track and completely inappropriate and unnecessary, ruining a film that's pretty embarrassing in the first place.
Being There (1979)
How the last shot got made
The script for Being There ends as both Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine take walks in the wood. They run into each other. She says "I was looking for you, Chance." He says "I was looking for you too." They take hands and walk off together. But near the end of production, somebody went up to Hal and said "How's it going?" "Great," Hal said. "Sellers has created this character that's so amazing, I could have him walk on water and people would believe it." Hal stopped and thought. "As a matter of fact, I will have him walk on water."
Hal was out on location, miles from Hollywood. The last thing on earth he needed was to contact the home office to discuss the idea of Chance walking on water. It's an idea that wouldn't pitch or read well. If it had been in the script, there would have been endless arguments over what this Jesus allegory was doing in the picture. Only if you've actually seen the film do you realize that it's not a Jesus allegory at all. Chance can walk on water because nobody ever told him he couldn't, not because he's the resurrection of Christ. Hal knew he could make it work, just as he knew that there was no way in hell the studio would approve of more money for such a controversial shot that wasn't even in the script. He decided to do it anyway.
First, he called Robert Downey, who had a scene in Greaser's Palace where the main character walked on water. Hal knew that Downey didn't have a lot of money, so he asked for advice on how to do it. Downey told him it was simple. Just go to an airport, get a certain kind of platform, and place it in the water. Hal followed Downey's advise and got the shot for less than $10,000. Second, he had to deal with keeping the shot a secret. There was this one, very well dressed kid around the set who was officially called a PA, but whom Hal suspected of being the studio spy. Hal called him into his office and read him the riot act. "I'm going to ask you to make a decision right now that's going to affect the rest of your life," he told the kid. "I'm going to ask you to decide whose side you're on. I know you've been watching me because you want to learn how to make movies. I also know you're watching me to make reports to the studio behind my back. I'm about to change the end of this movie because I've come up with a better one. The studio can't know about it or they'll shut me down. This is it, kid. Decide. Are you on the side of art or commerce?" The kid kept his mouth shut. The shot got made. The studio was p****d but they used the shot anyway. Hal didn't give them a choice. He didn't even shoot the ending in the script.