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fumbling towards ecstasy
Reviews
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Good, but slightly disappointing in the end
Until I read the trivia for this movie, I had always assumed that Andie (Molly Ringwald) was meant to end up with Blane (Andrew McCarthy). However, after I read that she was originally intended to be with Duckie (John Cryer), I was rather disappointed.
The feel good ending seems shallow to me, and I think that changing it simply to appease the test audiences was a mistake on both writer John Hughes' and director Howard Deutch's parts. It struck me as not only unfaithful to the characters and story line, but also unrealistic that Andie's strong and resilient character would end up with someone as shallow and thoughtless as Blane.
The original ending would have been ultimately more satisfying to watch, rather than the schmaltzy cop out that it was replaced with. Rather than sending the message that "rich people and poor people don't belong together" (which was Hughes' fear), I think that it would have shown that strong friendships can provide a good foundation for love.
My only other complaint, and I've seen this mentioned before, was how hideous Molly Ringwald looked in the prom dress that she supposedly created. The thing was shapeless, unlike Ms. Ringwald, and she certainly didn't look her best in it. The dress itself certainly looked better in it's previous incarnation. The costume designer definitely deserved a slap on the wrist for that horrifying creation.
The Day After (1983)
Sometimes effective, sometimes boring
First off, I just have to say that, I'm sorry, but I really don't think that the people who witnessed nuclear detonations first hand in this movie would have been alive afterwards to tell the tale. It's not like you can just say, "Oh, well, it's only a mushroom cloud..." and then get up and walk away from it. It's not happening, and I don't see why ABC thought this part of the plot would actually be believable.
Besides that, I enjoyed the scenes of panicked melee that ensued once the bombs were in the air and it was clear that Kansas was going bye-bye.
A lot of the movie is implausible, and about half of it is pretty dull, but as a cautionary tale against world nuclear war, it serves its purpose. The frightening fact of the matter is that if nuclear devices ARE ever detonated in civilian areas, it's going to be ten thousand times worse than the situations portrayed in this movie, and twenty thousand times worse than watching this movie.
The Rose Garden (1989)
Brooding, suspenseful, sometimes hard to understand
On the whole, I enjoyed this movie. Set in Germany, Liv Ullman is the defense lawyer for Maximillian Schell. Schell is accused of attacking an elderly man without provocation, although we later find out that the man is in fact a Nazi war criminal. The only hope for Schell may be Ullman's tireless search for justice.
Sometimes the movie is edited in such a way that necessary sequences seemed to have been edited out, for instance the first court scene seemed to jump from one point to the next, seeming to miss something in between the two. You'd see Liv Ullman saying something, and then the scene cuts to something which doesn't relate to what she had just been saying, creating confusion.
At times, the movie is highly frustrating - the court scene again, where the plaintiff's lawyer is basically badgering and shouting at defendant Maximillian Schell, and it kept making me want to tell the lawyer to shut up and leave poor Maximillian Schell alone. I know that this kind of behavior wouldn't be tolerated in American court, but the movie is set in Germany (I think, because to be truthful, no locations are ever mentioned except for the times that Ullman sets off for Hamburg).
There are problems with this movie, but they're not overwhelming. Overall I would recommend it, and Liv Ullman gives an outstanding performance.
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy Live (1994)
Quintessential Sarah McLachlan
This is a concert from Sarah McLachlan's Fumbling Towards Ecstasy tour, a two year effort that traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada. If you want the chance to see Sarah before she became the international star that she now is, if you want to see a bit of pre-Lilith Fair Sarah and band, this video captures those qualities and more. Down to earth, showcasing Sarah's beautiful voice and able backing band, yet without the "everything must be perfect" mentality that permeates McLachlan's most recent concert video, Mirrorball. Shot on video, with interviews, clips, and studio performances as well as live concert footage. Definitely a must for true Sarah McLachlan fans.