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BrooklynBum
Reviews
The Right Stuff (1983)
great when I was a kid, not so great now
What a difference two decades make! When I saw this in the theater as a kid, it was the best movie in the world. Fighter jets! Test pilots! Rockets! Astronauts! I just saw it again for the first time, and I know you can't relive that boyhood wonder, but there's nothing much in the movie to take its place. The acting by such a great cast, especially Fred Ward, Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Harry Shearer, etc., keeps the movie from sinking like a swamped space capsule in the ocean. So much of the dialogue that's boiled down to the essence by Tom Wolfe in his book comes across as hammy and staged, even taking into consideration the squareness and the optimism of the time period. Only the sincerity of the actors' perfomances make you even try to swallow it. But the main disappointment is how low the humor is--all that's missing are snare shots and wolf whistles with the gags that only distract from the excitement of the subject matter. Shearer and Jeff Goldblum are great in their smaller roles, but what are their characters even doing in the movie? I was plain embarrassed by the goofy stuff. I 'm thankful, though, that the movie wasn't made now, otherwise in addition there'd be fart gags and scatological humor to boot.
The Real Blonde (1997)
An imperfect movie with strokes of genius
Though this movie is not perfect, I thought it was a lot better than what many people felt, looking at the comments and the box office. The acting, for the most part, is excellent. Modine does a great job of seeming clueless and clumsy in his approach to his acting career, but I rooted for him because his character REALLY wanted it, he just hadn't figured on how to get it. Keener was at her sparkling, sassy best.
I think it's main problem is not so much the meandering, or the foibles of the characters: it's that the entire setting is so particular to New York I'm unsure about how much of the humor translates. This is not a patronizing jab at the
universe beyond the five boroughs; my experiences made me howl at things
that others may find completely stupid. Anyone who's ever been an actor or in the fashion industry in NYC would find so many scenes uproariously funny. The catering scenes, especially, would be dear to the heart of any working actor
who's struggled in New York.
This, by the way, was not an independent movie, it was a Paramount release.
DeCillo, after the dismal box office, is back on the indie side of the fence. Good luck to him, I hope he continues to make movies.
Herd (1999)
Funniest Sci Fi Spoof Ever
When I saw this at a short film fest in NYC, I laughed so hard tears were running down my face. You have GOT to see this movie, especially if you've seen ET, 2001 and a fair share of paranoid sci-fi movies. Vegetarians, check it out, too.
More (1998)
Simple, Beautiful, Haunting
This was an excellent use of animation, music and the format of the short film. I saw this at a film festival, and after a tepid line-up of shorts, this one came up. The audience was riveted, and at the end of the six minutes, uniformly roared in awed approval. CHECK THIS ONE OUT.