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Reviews
There Goes My Heart (1938)
Worth it for the ice skating scene!
Hokey story but the ice skating scene is a hoot. Skaters play the old "cakewalk" game on ice skates. The actors and stunt men did an incredible job with a simple concept taking pratfalls and sliding across the ice. I've never seen anything like it.
The rest of the story is full of cringe-worthy sexist gibberish, but there are some fun moments. Stereotypes abound: the evil newsman, the imperious tycoon, the simpleton stringer. The plot is classic boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl-back. "She's stubborn and he's too proud."
There's also a fun drinking song (newsmen of course).
The actors seem to be theater-trained - they seem to shout like they're afraid the mike in the last row won't hear them. But it's still fun.
50 First Dates (2004)
Sweet romantic comedy
I was surprised at this film. I didn't expect to like anything of Adam Sandler's, and the premise seemed too much like "Groundhog Day," but I loved it. Adam Sandler is quite restrained in this film, as is Drew Barrymore. The supporting cast throw some bones to the puerile Sandler fans, leaving the two leads to show a very convincing romance brewing in a somewhat far-fetched scenario. The writers took care with motivation and characterization for the leads which makes the cardboard characters that fill out the cast really fall flat. Nevertheless, some of the jokes are quotable, like "You needed a fish-slap to calm down" and "aquariums make me super-horny" and they define "comedic relief," keeping the film from becoming maudlin in several places. The animal stuff (Sandler's character is an aquatic vet) is cute and make for some great shots, like when dolphins leap in the background as Sandler & Barrymore share one of many first kisses. The Hawaiian locale is gorgeous and it's a logical choice (where else could someone believe that every day is October 13th?) I think if it could be compared to another romantic comedy, "Overboard" with Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell would come close. The story arc is similar, and amnesia is the main plot device. Kurt Russell's character is similar to Adam Sandler's, too -- seemingly crude in the beginning but with the proverbial heart of gold that comes to light through true love. Awwwww Grab a hankie & enjoy.
Oasiseu (2002)
Fabulous Acting by Two Tremendous Leads
The premise of this story challenges both of its romantic leads to use their bodies to convey the characters' emotions. Jong-du, played by Sol Kyung-gu, is an awkward ex-con whose older brother calls him immature but he seems a little crazy, or maybe mentally deficient. His family reluctantly helps him out, but he is an embarrassment and a nuisance to them.
Gong-ju (Moon So-ri) is a woman with cerebral palsy whose family is just as bad as Jong-du's. When Jong-du begins to visit her an odd relationship develops, with each bringing the other an acceptance and appreciation neither has felt before.
Moon So-ri's performance is so convincing I actually thought she had c.p. until a fantasy sequence showed what Gong-ju imagined herself doing if she were not disabled. But it's not just the contortions of c.p. that she portrays. She manages to show every possible emotion within the confines of c.p. spasms and she brings the character to life with a fully developed range of emotions and intellect.
Sol Kyung-gu's body language is just as effective, though his performance is easily overshadowed by Moon So-ri's. He is by turns menacing, sweet, dim-witted, shy, playful, inconsiderate and contrite, and most of this comes out through his body language.
I saw this movie with English subtitles, but the acting is so effective that you almost don't need to read them.
p.s. keep three hankies handy
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Spoof with a Message
Funny spoof of old-time westerns but with a message about racism. This is one of my all-time favorite movies for its parody and its plot. The plotting is very tight until the end, but at that point the unravelling is part of the parody and not at all the disaster it would be for a serious movie. All the performances are wonderful, and the music is memorable.