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Reviews
The Earl of Chicago (1940)
If you thought it was a gangster drama, you're mistaken
I've seen a lot of reviews of this film here claiming it's a gangster drama that would've worked better as a comedy. Did you miss the laughs? Some critics argue that Robert Montgomery was doing an unintentionally comedic gangster with Silky. I disagree. It's clearly satirical, with more depth added as the character becomes more exposed to another culture and from the decency shown to him by his new acquaintances. Sure, some parts could've been expanded on, and there could've been another half an hour of exposition. For me, many of the old studio pictures suffer from an assembly line mentality and are often dated or limited by today's standards. But I find satisfaction in the individual performances, scenes and the various technical and artistic contributions. Sadly, I feel there's a shortage of even those traits in today's Hollywood tripe.
Fall (1997)
If you love this movie, please shut up!!
I worked on the cutting of this film back in the late 90's. My only awareness of Eric Schaefer up until then was from a failed sitcom on FOX and the film If Lucy Fell, in which his key love interests are Sarah Jessica Parker and ELLE McFRIKKIN-PHIERSON!
So it wasn't a surprise to see him writing a scenario in which a seductive, poetry- writing, best-selling novelist of a cab driver picks up a fashion model and enjoys sodomy. What does surprise me is that so many people reviewing this movie seem like they are trying to get their words printed on the sleeve of the DVD release! I have never seen more extreme superlatives attributed to a less deserving filmmaker, with as many vague and obtuse explanations as a 4 year old describing seeing the circus for the first time! Maybe it would help if you Eric Schaefer schuper fans used a technique known as comparison, as in: this was the best movie in the world... since Bio-Dome! Or, Eric Schaefer is the best director in the world...compared to a moldy sock! Let's look over some quotes from some of the more adoringly positive reviews:
*"this film has THE BEST script of any movie to date." -here's an example of what I refer to as a slightly over zealous review. No need to use a comparison, because apparently there is none.
*"a powerful, majestic, romantic and ultimately profound work of art. THAT makes FALL my favorite movie of all time." -Seriously? How many movies has this person seen? 8?
"After you see this movie, DO NOT log onto IMDb and vote for it; not yet. This is a movie that grows, and grows, and grows on you, weeks and months after you see it for the first time. " -Ok. This is my favorite. Clearly this person doesn't want you to review this movie on IMDb after you see it because you will more than likely find it laughably nauseating and therefore mock their emphatic devotion to this loose piece of stool.
If you read some of the negative reviews, you'll find explanations that indicate a certain degree of insight, with explanations instead of aphorisms and critique of details instead of hyperbolic hype. Sure, you'll find people like me too, who just think the film stinks and wouldn't give up the time of day to tell you why.
Wrong Turn (2003)
Better Than The Usual Crud On Cable
I hate cable TV. There seems to be an endless stream of bad movies that were never seen in a theater that star next-to-nobody actors and offer nothing by way of plot, directing or originality. Cable offers a wasteland of movies made by a industry that would rather pump out an assembly line of mediocre "safe bet" movies or "skin flicks" then take a chance on something new and original. (Did you know there was a sequel to Starship Troopers? Of course you didn't, no one did, it's horrible don't bother.) That being said, I really enjoyed stumbling on to Wrong Turn. As a fan of Texas Chainsaw Massacre I'm always down with watching in-bred freaks hunt down teens and this film continues that tradition with some new twists. The acting is good enough for this type of movie; anybody expecting more must not be familiar with the genre. Go watch Silence of the Lambs if you want a cerebral psychological thriller. This film offers some unique thrills in the slasher dept., creative camera work and some freaky characters who's faces, like the masked Jason, are obscured from us so as to let our imaginations do the scaring. If you're doing a late night slasher or fright festival, this movie will fit in nicely.
The Ladykillers (2004)
It's a long way from Raising Arizona
There was a time in my film watching life when I would have said that there's no such thing as a bad Coen brothers movie. Five years ago I may have debated the subject. After seeing The Lady Killers I have retracted that earlier statement completely. I'll list a few basic issues:
1.The film has no idea what year it's in. I'm fine with a film like Huddsucker Proxy where the language and hammy acting is circa 1940's and the art design and subject is a little more 1950's, but the Coen's have the creative license and use it well. This film's timeframe seems to haphazardly jump around the last 5 decades.
2.The Coen brothers usually have awide array of clever, unique characters shaped from the rich material of the culture Americana. Here we get paper thin stereotypes who's shallowness impells the cast to overact in order to compensate. Everyone looks so psyched to be in a Coen brothers film since they've seen what it's done for their peers in the past yet they're desperate with little to work with.
3.This film is not only bad, it's a bit offensive with it's cheap racial humor and vulgar jokes about flatulence and bowels. Now I can appreciate a good fart joke or Mel Brooks or Richard Pryor movie, but this stuff was below bad TV sketch comedy. It's as if the Coen brothers are trying to make themselves accessible to the audience that likes 'Friday' and 'Harold & Kumar Go To WhiteCastle' I enjoy those movies, but the Coen Brothers have usually been in a class by themselves. If this is your first Coen brothers film, forget you saw it and start from their beginning and stop after their first couple of Academy Awards. That's when they started getting soft.