Change Your Image
darwin-t
Reviews
Dillinger (1973)
Not historically incorrect, hysterically incorrect
I just finished reading a book about Dillinger. This movie was horribly inaccurate. It's like they got a list of names and just made everything up. His robberies and getaways were well planned, down to the second - when the time was up, they left whether they had all of the money or not. They had notes of every road, where to turn, etc. Purvis never saw him at the restaurant, he was told that Dillinger paid for his meal after Dillinger left. Purvis never even SAW Dillinger before the night Dillinger was killed, only photos of him. The way his gang members died were fictitious. Dillinger never robbed a bank by himself, like he did in this movie. If I had never read the book, maybe I could have enjoyed the movie. The acting was a bit over the top in places. The action was overdone as well. On second thought, I doubt if I would have enjoyed it much even if I HADN'T read the book.
Sledge Hammer! (1986)
I'm so glad this gem is finally coming to DVD
This is one of my all-time favorite shows. It is so funny and is sorely missed. When they syndicated it they shortened it, cutting out many of the best jokes. In Witless, they cut out the assassination attempts on Sledge!
David Rasche as Sledge Hammer is so over the top, Anne-Marie Martin as Officer Dori Doreau and Harrison Page as Captain Trunk are perfect foils for Sledge. The plot lines are crazy and funny as well, with a lot of satire thrown in for good measure.
The description for the DVD shows many extras, including narration of 4 episodes, the original pilot and much more.
Run, don't walk to your nearest video store to buy this DVD set!
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
A pack of lies and a wild thread of theories
This movie is one of the worst I've ever seen (and I've seen the "Blair Witch sequel!). He has played fast and loose with the facts in all of his "documentaries", but he has elevated this technique to an art form in this effort.
He shows footage of Gore and supporters celebrating, implying it was a celebration of his "victory". That was filmed in the morning of election day - Gore then went to Tennessee to await the outcome. Then Moore says that all was well until FoxNews called Florida for Bush and worse yet the person at Fox was a relative of Bush's. The truth is that CBS was the first to call Florida for Bush, not Foxnews.
Moore fails to mention that multiple independent investigations of Florida's election all showed that Bush won fair and square.
Moore spends several minutes recounting the House's Black Caucus's attempt to contest the election. They failed because no senator would sign it. How this was Bush's fault escaped me.
He tells about a Taliban visit that happened during the Clinton administration, questions why the Saudi embassy has secret service protection (all embassies in Washington are protected by the secret service if they ask for it). He says Bush authorized the Saudis to fly out of the country when it was Richard Clark that authorized it, Bush had nothing to do with it. And it was done AFTER all airports opened, not before like Moore claims.
The whole movie is like this, wild accusations tied together by unbelievable conspiracy theories.
The worst thing that he did in this movie involved the mother of a dead soldier. In the film it looks like she supported Bush before he was killed and changed her outlook after her son's death. Her son actually died months before Moore met her - Moore convinced her that her son died for nothing - thereby ruining her son's memory in her mind.
Shame on Michael Moore and shame on movie goers that fall for this pack of lies.
Bad Santa (2003)
Dark,dark,comedy
This movie is really funny, as you can see from the other comments. It is full of VERY dark humor. It reminded me of "Very Bad Things". Billy Bob Thornton's Santa is bad to the bone. When I saw it there weren't many people in the theater - I laughed more than most people there - it wasn't just the obvious jokes that got me - it was the subtle lines that cracked me up the most.
Lauren Graham lightened the mood, she was great in her role as a woman with a Santa fetish.
This, along with "A Christmas Story" will be two movies that
I'll watch every Christmas starting next year. The best of both ends of the spectrum.
One thing I found a bit disturbing was what the child actors heard and saw during the filming. There were a lot of them in the movie and they saw and heard some raunchy stuff. Maybe the dialogue was added later. We can only hope.
Dead Like Me (2003)
A wonderful show - one of my all time favorites
I love this show. It's quirky, well written, well acted and is very different than anything else you've ever seen.
It's the story of Georgia (George) who is killed at an early age in a freak accident. She then becomes a "reaper" - someone who takes the souls of people right before their violent deaths.
She works with some other reapers and all of the characters in this show are well developed and unique. In a way, it reminds me of "Northern Exposure" in this regard. Oddball characters in an unusual setting. Cynthia Stevens as George's mother is the most shocking for me to see - she has always played happy,perky people and she is dark and unpleasant in this show.
Christine Willes as Delores Herbig is the standout character for me. You never know what new weird thing you'll learn about Delores!
I'll admit this show isn't for everybody - people are killed in weird accidents in every episode. It's view of death may be too much for some viewers. It's similar to "Six Feet Under" in content, but much better and much funnier.
I suggest you try it - you just may find yourself hooked!
200 Motels (1971)
An unusual movie - just don't expect it to make sense
As a long term Frank Zappa fan, I was really excited when this movie came out. I admit it's kind of hard to watch - it isn't the movie Frank planned. He had big problems with the director, he ended up in a protracted lawsuit with Royal Albert Hall (This conflict raised his costs for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) and much of what was supposed to be shot wasn't, requiring an entirely "different movie" to be made in editing.
It was a joy to see Ringo Starr playing Frank's part, Keith Moon as a nun and of course the music was great. The music was written while Frank was on tour, hence the title.
It was shot entirely on video tape and transferred to film after the special effects were added. I think this was the first feature film done on video tape. The video effects were psychedelic which was a bit odd since Frank was vehemently against drug use.