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Reviews
Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
once my favourite, still a good film to watch
Once upon a time this was my favourite film. Saw it when it first came out at a small theatre in St. Augustine, prompted by a local radio DJ I knew who was doing a promo from a coffin in the theatre. I was about 14 at the time, and somehow this film just caught me at the perfect time, making me into a DePalma fan for years. I won't go into too great detail on the plot or story summary, as that has been well covered elsewhere by others, but I will comment on the cast. Paul Williams is indeed creepy as Swan, and when I view the film now at age 44 there is something jarring about his performance. The man is not an actor, that's for sure, yet I can't imagine anyone else playing the role better. William Finley is also an odd casting choice, a bit long in the tooth h, metal teeth...I know] to be a "young" composer, but in other ways an interesting choice because he is not the pretty boy Hollywood would put in the role if this film were made today. The man is actually an interesting actor who DePalma used a few times [the doctor in "Sisters" and the detective in "The Fury]. I've often wondered why he didn't become a staple in character roles. Jessica Harper actually doesn't have much to do in this film, but the one thing she does outstanding is sing, and yes, that is her voice on "Old Souls". A note about the Paul Williams score...it's brilliant, and that song stands alone as the cream of this crop. Finally, Gerrit Graham is a comic genius, and if you don't believe me, rent "Used Cars" and watch his "Marshall Lucky" commercial. You get the impression that this guy's career has just sort of happened to him, like he hangs out at Hollywood parties, and somebody sees him and remembers how damn funny he really is, and puts him in a film and he just sort of says, "What the hell" and does it. He is the Roy Hobbs of comic character actors. In later years I moved away from DePalma, but at the time this film meant something to me as an adolescent boy. The scene of the Phantom watching Phoenix and Swan through the skylight, and despite the rain you see tears in Finley's eyes...this hammered me on an emotional level that is still faintly echoed when I review the film today, and the final scene when the dying Phantom crawls towards his great lost love, as the world dances blindly around him in an orgy of hedonism that fades into a lone piano, moves me still. That first time I treated it as many of you treated Star Wars, seeing it a half dozen times in a one week run, buying the soundtrack, eagerly awaiting DePalma's next film, "Obsession", which became an even greater favourite.
You Can't Do That on Television (1979)
a truly hilarious show
This was a truly hilarious show, not in spite of what some attribute to amateurishness, but probably in part because of it. The best were the earlier seasons, with Christine, Lisa, Alasdair, Vanessa, and of course Les Lye and Abby Hagyard. Nothing against her, but Alanis faded so efficiently into the background that I didn't even know she was on the show til years after it was off the air. Chalk me up as an old pervert if you must [I'm over 40 now], but I thought Moose was HOT in the extreme. Smart, funny, and damn good looking. In my defense I was in my 20's when I watched the show, and she was older than the other cast members. Abby Hagyard was actually pretty decent looking, too, under all the crap she usually wore. But I digress... It's a shame this show didn't continue, and more so that it's not available in reruns. Nobody would ever mistake it with Shakespeare, but there was no mistaking the good fun it was to watch.