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Reviews
California Scheming (2014)
Basically a remake of "Last Summer"
I've read through all the reviews and I'm surprised no one mentioned that this is a pretty obvious remake of Frank Perry's 1969 film "Last Summer". As soon as I saw the seagull with the girl and the two boys that came along, I recognized the plot. Then when the second girl showed up I was convinced they were doing an uncredited remake of that amazing and disturbing film. That said, this isn't bad. Even though I knew where the film was headed, I was interested throughout. I would suggest giving "Last Summer" a viewing, since that is much better and more original.
Serpent Island (1954)
Pretty bad
All of the reviews I've read here talk about this being Bert I. Gordon's first film, but he just photographed it (badly) and the real person of interest here should be Tom Gries, who went on to be a decent journeyman director with a lot of years in TV under his belt before he directed feature films starring Charlton Heston, Raquel Welch, and others. Plus, one of his most notable films was "Helter Skelter", the Charles Manson story made for TV and quite good for its kind. So, knowing all this I kept thinking throughout this movie that with a bigger budget and a better cast, it could have been a passable adventure story of the kind that was very popular in the 1950s. Instead of Sonny Tufts and Mary Munday (not Rosalind Hayes in the female lead as has been erroneously stated here), think Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell, or Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth, or Clark Gable and Ava Gardner, etc. An A cast like that and a better script, and of course better cinematography and musical score, and you would have something worth watching. Instead we have something so inept on every level that it was painful to watch. The numerous scenes of Sonny Tufts with his shirt off were hilarious, not to mention the supposedly swimsuit-worthy body of Mary Munday. Now as for Gordon's contribution: it looked like a travelogue, complete with travelogue background music, that I kept getting the impression someone took some home movies of a Haitian vacation and tried to make a movie out of it with lots of filler. At least the pain only lasted for 62 minutes.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Just really really bad
The funniest part of the movie was the opening quote from "Eleanor Roosevelt". That was literally the last time I laughed at anything in this movie. I found it so tedious and poorly put together, and I finally had to give up on it altogether with about 30 minutes left to go. But I have to admit that I was watching the extended "unrated" DVD version, so the thought occurred to me that since what I was watching was not the same version that was shown in the theaters, maybe I was not giving it a fair shot. After all, extended DVD versions always tend to show longer versions of scenes that were wisely trimmed down and put back in scenes that were taken out in order to tighten up the storyline. The person who brought over the DVD, and thought it was hilarious in the theater, had to admit that it didn't seem as funny this time. It has to be because of the DVD, but still I have a hard time imagining anyone in a movie theater laughing at anything in this movie. It was just monumentally unfunny. Every scene went on for far too long, and there were tons of scenes that didn't have any reason to be there other than to pad out the running time. There was about a half hour of plot, and yet they managed to stretch it out into a full two hours. If the theatrical version was shorter, that might have helped, but otherwise it was just painful to watch. The lesson: people who come out with "extended, unedited and unrated director's cuts" are doing us no favors.
Open Water (2003)
disturbing movie
Okay, I haven't actually seen the entire movie, but I'm giving it a 10 just to counter all the "worst movie EVER" postings that appear to be written by 12-year-olds. I saw a little of the middle where the couple discover their dire situation, and I had to turn away because that is something of a nightmare scenario for me. I can't imagine the panic and sickness I would feel if I were abandoned in the middle of the ocean. I caught the last 10 minutes and had hoped that a rescue would occur, but instead I saw what was perhaps the saddest and most depressing ending to any film that I have ever seen. There seem to be a lot of people who were surprised or puzzled at the woman's final actions, but it made perfect sense to me. In a situation like that there comes a time when you must face your mortality and accept that there is nothing to do but die. That is the choice she made: whether to be eaten alive by sharks or to end it by drowning. She faced the inevitable and simply gave up. I believe I would have done the same thing. It also made me think of the 9/11 World Trade victims. What would I have done if faced with the choice of burning to death or jumping to certain doom? It makes me sick to think of it, and I believe that was the point of the film. It's a metaphor. Through no fault of your own, or perhaps through some careless mistake on your part (or someone else's), your life is about to end. At the same time, you realize that your life is pretty insignificant: no one notices that you're missing and the world goes on partying without you. There is no hope. You live and you die for no purpose. Pretty damn depressing.
For those who complain about its poor production values and substandard acting: THIS IS NOT A PROFESSIONAL Hollywood FILM! Considering the extreme low budget, what I saw was pretty impressive indeed. And I do believe the writer/director had a point to make. It wasn't just two people bobbing around in the water for one hour. Apparently, most film goers these days are easily bored when there isn't constant action. Please, whatever you do, never ever attempt to see "My Dinner With Andre", as I'm sure your head would explode.
Peeping Tom (1960)
a disappointment
After having heard and read about this movie for years, I finally got the chance to see it on TCM this weekend, during the month-long Michael Powell tribute. I was really looking forward to seeing it, but I have to say that I was a little disappointed. Compared to "Black Narcissus" and "The Red Shoes" - both amazing films - "Peeping Tom" seemed a big step down. I was left with the impression that the critics were probably right, in that it was not a very good movie. Had it been better paced and better written, it might have made a much better impression on critics at the time, but as it is, it just sort of came across as a rather dull and poorly done version of the sort of thing that British television specialized in at the time (The Saint, The Avengers, Thriller, etc.), only more lurid. Carl Boehm was miscast, and the scene with Moira Shearer seemed to go on for far too long, and its only purpose seemed to be to show off her dancing. I would have preferred having her play a larger role. The detective element of the film was weak at best. The notion of Mark Lewis moonlighting as a porn photographer was interesting, and I would have liked to have seen that explored a little more. It just seemed like the film was made up of a whole bunch of loose ends that were never tied up. The brightest spot was the casting of Anna Massey as Lewis' girlfriend. She brought an honesty to the role, and her plain looks brought a certain beauty to the part that a more traditionally glamorous actress might have spoiled.
Overall, not a bad movie but not a great one either, and Michael Powell didn't deserve to have his career ruined over it.