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Reviews
The Time Machine (1960)
Hasn't aged well
I saw TM when it first came out in 1960 at the tender age of 17 and thought it was wonderful. Last night I watched it again on DVD and was torn between amusement and disappointment. The characters are cardboard cutouts, the acting is wooden, the dialogue appallingly bad, the special effects pathetic-- the "nuclear attack" scene with the amateur lava flow is hilarious, as are the fright-wigged baby-blue Morlocks. And of course after 800,000 years everyone still speaks perfect English. I wish they had kept the scene where George finds himself a billion years in the future-- that's one of the most haunting scenes in the book.
Another distraction was that the young Rod Taylor looks uncannily like Robin Williams.
About the only thing that hadn't changed for me in the intervening 41 years is that I was still captivated by Yvette Mimieux, not as an actor, but as an incredibly beautiful young woman.
I'd love to see TM remade with contemporary effects and strong casting and direction.
Unbreakable (2000)
Big disappointment
"Sixth Sense" it's not. Glacial pacing, murky lighting, trivial characters, Bruce Willis moving like he was on Quaaludes, a kid who couldn't stand in Haley Joel Osment's shadow and an ending so patently unbelievable that several people in the audience laughed or groaned. Quite a bit different from the collective - gasp! - at the end of SS.
Street of Crocodiles (1986)
Your worst childhood nightmares come true.
This is truly one of the creepiest movies around. The gloomy atmosphere builds and builds until you can barely stand it. There's something about it that reminded me of the helpless childhood nightmares we've all had, even though all you're seeing is animated junk. I've known several people who were unable to view it all the way through.
Bowfinger (1999)
Amusing, could have been lots better
'Bowfinger' just didn't catch fire. The audience I was in politely tittered at a couple of scenes, but that was all. Long gaps between mild laughs. And that same piece of eye candy that spoiled 'Austin Powers' for me was in this one, too. Heather Graham has one expression, sort of a 'Gee, look at me, I'm in a movie' smirk that's inappropriate half the time. She's also on camera too much. Graham looks exactly like a Hollywood starlet-- surprise!; she should have been a star-struck wannabe from an Iowa farm with bad hair and excess poundage. Janeane Garofalo from 'Mystery Men' would have been right on the money.
Steve Martin wrote a great script, but he should have given the lead to someone with a manic sense of action-- Phil Silvers in his prime would have been perfect. Martin's too controlled, too much in charge. Eddie Murphy's two roles, one an action hero type like Will Smith, the other a nerdish double, is uneven. The first one works, the second one enters the movie 'way too late and doesn't have enough time onscreen so we really get to know him.
Frank Oz's direction tends to focus too much on the main characters and lets everyone else slide. The illegal Mexican workers that become part of the shooting crew are a golden lost opportunity.
There's a sendup of Scientology/New Age Cultism that doesn't go far enough. It could have been the funniest part of the show if it was handled properly.
This certainly has been a bummer of a summer for comedy.