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traceys22
Reviews
Hank Is Evil: The Movie (2014)
Sheer joy and fun
"Hank Is Evil" is what happens when a group of friends get together to create something just for the fun of it. It is at once dopey and charming, and surprisingly well-edited for a home movie on steroids.
This tale of evil vs. evil-er started out as a web series and evolved into a funny, full-fledged story. It has everything: comedy, mystery, action, and for lack of a better word, romance. The characters may be derivative archetypes, but they are presented in a fresh way. The low-budget sets and locations are people's actual homes and local downtowns (Valley Stream and Garden City, Long Island, standing in for Peoria, Illinois) and the special effects are spectacularly cheesy. And yes, there is a plot. One can tell that the performers had a great deal of fun working on this project. Many of the actors are local comedians who are not afraid to make bad jokes and laugh at themselves.
To be honest, this is not Sundance material. However,I'd recommend it for school A/V and film clubs (middle-school and up)to encourage future movie makers.
You Can't Take It with You (1938)
See the Play
An author once remarked that the best thing that can happen to a writer is for someone to purchase the rights to his property and then never make a movie out of it.
The play of YCTIWY was marvelous. I loved the script so much that I, a very shy person, auditioned for my local theatre guild's production of it. (I was cast as Rheba.)
I rented to movie and what I saw disturbed me. With the exception of the scenes lifted line for line from the play, the rest was unrecognizable. Why the subplot about the land purchase? Why the gradiose "commercial" for "goodness?" A smart, snappy play with its wonderful and uplifting message about the wonders of being oneself became a sticky bowl of treacle. Did they think the American public wouldn't "get it?" It was sad to see such a first rate cast in a second rate version of something that was excellent to being with. (Speaking of cast -- I guess this movie put a lot of folks to work in the 1930s. The play had a fairly large cast for a straight play to begin with, but the production company seemed to have more than quadrupled it!)