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Reviews
Underground Aces (1981)
Shakespeare With Cars
I missed the plot basis for years until I rewatched it.
This is Much Ado About Nothing set in a snazzy hotel.
The Sheik is the Prince.
Frank Gorshin as the House Detective is the Sheriff.
We have the woman the Sheik is trying to woo as his bride. Dirk Benedict as his coach. Bunches of misunderstanding. Assorted recreation including Auto Soccer.
I'm not sure who the Commodores owed a favor to, but the ending theme is catchy and pop for the era.
Entertaining fluff, with decent actors. Worth an occasional watch.
Holmes & Watson (2018)
I Saw The Trailer
Why anyone who saw that trailer would think this would be worth seeing even for free is beyond me.
But then, these are people who think Will Ferrell is funny. And even they were unimpressed.
Merlin (1998)
A masterpiece of film
I respect it so much, I'm not even going to bother reading the negative reviews.
Not only was the cast loaded with heavy hitters, the background was simply stunning. The Arthurian legend dates from the post-Roman era in Britain, and true to this, the early scenes feature Roman and early Frankish and Saxon armor and garb. Excalibur is represented as a Celtic long sword, appropriate to the era. The Celtic roundhouses and early castles are largely accurate. The costumes even feature authentic shoes. Eschewing hideous special effects, the producers concentrated on making things RIGHT. Thus, when Mordred is brought onstage in fantasy armor, the contrast is even more striking.
Not only was the myth captured, the movie did a very fair and mythically gorgeous presentation of both Christianity and European Paganism. There were good, evil and incompetent representing both sides, with the growing presence of Christianity being presented as a change in culture, not an evil conquest or a righteous crusade.
Minor but key point--at the end we see a storyteller "hundreds of years later," relaying the tale. Behind him is a Danish cargo wagon, appropriate to 8-10th Century Britain under the Danelaw. Not one viewer in a thousand could have recognized that, but the producers did it anyway, because it was the right way to set the scene.
THAT is professional film-making. And that kind of attention and detail to the background brought the brilliant acting and screenplay out of the screen and to vivid life.