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BrianN
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Three's Company (1976)
Not as bad as it once seemed
Monster ratings-grabber in its early years which trailed off with the disastrous "Ropers" spin-off and revolving-door blondes. Before "Hello, Larry", this was the critics' favorite target. How times have changed. As another reviewer mentioned, it's really the Jack Ritter Show if you can peel yourself away from the ample natural jiggle which is sorely lacking among the modern silicone hardbody fembots. Bawdy misunderstandings and double-entendres which seem refreshingly subtle by today's heavy-handed yet politically correct standard: grotesqueness. Only in the 70s, when heterosexiness was still something fun and OK. Complaints about homophobia from Furley and Roper are as off-target as objections about the same (and more) from Archie Bunker. The landlords still accept Tripper "the homosexual", and always get their Burbank-driven comeuppance for their natural ignorance.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Great Soundtrack
The Coen brothers deliver a spectacular soundtrack accompanied by a film which is truly beautiful to look at but nearly impossible to watch. It's a series of very much unrelated episodes--some scenes which would stand on their own as short experimental films, but taken as a whole produce no more than a hodgepodge of self-conscious exercises in cinematic technique. The soundtrack deserves its monumental success, but the film was fortunate to do lukewarm business at the box office.
Left Behind (2000)
Oh God! Send me a shower scene!
You don't have to be an atheist to hate this movie. You only need eyes, because Kirk Cameron, the upright moral guy who got a Playboy Playmate kicked off "Growing Pains" but who still seems to swing (Biblically, of course), is here to spoil the day. And he's the biggest name of the bunch.
The film starts out with a very bad special effect-laden "Iraqi strike force" ineffectively bombing Israel. The Iraqi air force appears to be larger than all of NATO's combined. Credibility drops from there.
It reminds me of "Rapture", except that film, while ultimately anti-Fundamental/Apocalypse, displayed a degree of sympathy with Fundamentalism. This film, however, shows sympathy only with the Hal Lindsays and Applewhites of the world. A MUST MISS!
The Hoaxters (1952)
"Beware of the Phony Patriot"
This is a nifty little piece of American Cold War propaganda. Much time is spent comparing the methods of the USSR to those of the WWII Axis powers.
Deeper than that, though, is the ending, which draws a clear comparison of the "medicine-man" tactics used by all those aforementioned enemies and the McCarthyites, who at the time of this film's release were in full swing.
Mondo Topless (1966)
Psychedelisexual
Hilarious double-entendre narration (subtle as a sledgehammer) over "mod rock" music. Thoroughly pneumatic cast and hypnotizing choreography.
Mudhoney (1965)
Meyer's Most Underrated Film
"Mudhoney" takes the gritty "realism" of "Lorna" one step further. It's downright nasty. Perhaps Meyer's best script and most satisfying narrative. Hopper is a down-on-his-luck alcoholic wife-beater who nearly succeeds at turning a Depression-era small town into hell. He even tries to take a shortcut through heaven. Fits nicely between "Lorna" and "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" as Meyer's mid-60's b&w peak.