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siyble
Reviews
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
realistic & original
welcome to the dollhouse is one of my favorite movies for one simple reason(besides excellently written, acted, and so on: it rejects the typical, stereotyped loser, magical transformation, and happy ending cliches that usually go with movies of this type. a quick summary: it follows the life of a seventh grade girl, Dawn, that has it particularly hard: she is neither pretty nor smart, is neglected by her parents and viciously picked on by everyone at school. the pain of Dawn's life is shown so unflichingly that at times it may make the viewer feel uncomfortable, feel like squirming in their seat... but the sad thing about this movie is that there really are people like this, and it's about time that there was a movie presenting their painful existence as it really is, and the tortured souls that they really are, rather then portraying them as just another unpopular teenage girl who looks exactly the same as the so called popular crowd except she has glasses, who then proceeds to go through a radical makeover (e.i., her glasses are removed and she gets a new hair cut... of maybe just a new outfit) and bam! she's miss popularity, all the guys suddenly want her, life is great and it's a happy ending... people, life is not like that! this is the first movie i've ever seen that shows this type of person in a realistic light. we've all known people like this, and at one time or another we've all experienced something like what she has to go through... not certainly not many people have had it as bad as dawn does (if i had to make one complaint about this movie, it would be that her life is almost too awful that at times it becomes a bit unbelievable, that things could be so bad and that someone could survive with things so bad... but it's a testament to dawn's character, for her will to survive and her want to fit in, that she does survive) another terrific thing about this movie is it's ending- no magical makeover, no happy ending, thank god! the ending may seem downbeat and a bit like no ending at all, i loved it. there is no big ending, just dawn sitting by herself on the bus, a song playing softly in the backround, and the bus drives on... to me it symbolized how so often there are no happy endings, how life as it is will go on, and that dawn is doomed, at least for now, at least until she grows up, to life painful life that she has been living. there will be no incredible transformation, there will be no change in the way her life goes on, just more of the same. that is why there is no big finish, because everything continues as it has been... for all dawn is tortured, for however much she may want love and attention from her parents, acceptance and popularity from her peers, life just doesn't work like that. so perhaps you're not the knid of person who appreciates realistic movies. if you think that the reason one watches movies is to escape from reality, not be presented brutally with the worst of it, then i can certanly understand that... but this is not your kind of movie.
NewsRadio (1995)
what where you thinking, nbc?
i was just going to say how unbelievable it is that nbc's canceled what is still the funniest sitcom on televison despite the departure of phil hartman, newsradio, and yet kept the shows suddenly susan and veronica's closet, both of which i have seen and could not describe as anything but awful, but the previous reviewer has beaten me to the punch. you said exactly what i was thinking, so there's nothing left to say except, what the hell were the execs at nbc thinking?
Scum of the Earth (1974)
why?
what? nobody yet commented on this incredible, well-known masterpiece of filmwork? just kidding, this is an all around s***ty, obscure little piece of crap, so i'm not surprised mine is the sole review for the movie. i don't know under what circumstances you might come across this movie and actually consider watching it (people, the title should be enough of a tip off for you), but just in case it happens avoid watching it! this movie did for me what no other has ever had- actually made me feel physically sick. the basic plotline: the heroine's fiance or whatever is murdered in the first thirty seconds, she flees and takes refuge in the home of a bunch of southern redneck type stereotypes ("we got possom for dinner", "he may beat me and sleep with other women but he still loves me", "i seen how you get your extra money sis, you give it to guys for a buck", etc) stuff happens that you won't care about in the least, the characters recite their laughable dialoge and the killer finally and thankfully! kills every last one of them, except i think, our brain dead herione, and I cheered each time one of them bit the dust. even for films of bad movies, the occasional unitentionally hilarious moment doesn't make up for the whole horrible thing, and i still have visions of that old, unwashed, ugly disgusting man parading around shirtless in his overalls for half the movie!