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Reviews
306 Hollywood (2018)
Wonderful idea falls victim to arrogant and disrespectful filmmakers
As a genealogist I loved the premise: an archeological dig in their late grandmother's house: so much to be learned about who someone truly was from their documents and artifacts. But watching the documentary it's almost as if these filmmakers think they have nothing left to learn about their grandmother because they filmed interviews with her. The artifacts they find are just objects to them for some stylized filmmaking. There's no attempt to learn anything new or understand their grandmother on a deeper level. What did she leave out in their interviews? Who was she as a young lady without their grandfather: the part of herself her grandchildren might not see? The parts she didn't think were important or didn't remember?
You certainly can't say anything was left out to preserve her dignity. As nearly every other reviewer has mentioned, a particularly offensive scene shows the filmmakers' mother (a spot-on impression of Suzy from Curb Your Enthusiasm complete with the f-bombs) patronizing her nearly 90-year-old mother into taking off her clothes down to her bra and panties on camera to try on one of her old dresses. Grandma is clearly uncomfortable but no one is interested in what Grandma wants or how Grandma feels. At a certain point I couldn't watch any more and had to fast forward. The inclusion of this footage in the documentary shows no respect for the subject and makes her daughter and grandchildren look manipulative and exploitative.
I can't help but feel this is more about the filmmakers' feelings than their grandmother or any aspect of her as a person, and this is reinforced by their constant need to insert their unrelated personal details into the documentary (nobody cares about you going to school in Rome). I think this was a great premise for a documentary wasted on filmmakers who were too arrogant to think they had anything left to learn about their grandmother, or that they owed her any kind of dignity in death.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Finally watched the deleted scenes and they make this all the more tragic
This review contains major spoilers on the deleted scenes so if you don't want to know before you watch them, stop reading now!
This movie is every bit as terrible as they say. The tiny production budget from a studio that churned out cheap junk in the mid-to-late eighties really shows, especially in the special effects. Christopher Reeve really got cheated in the deal, as has been documented in several places. One of the few bright spots is Gene Hackman, who can't act poorly if he tried.
Having grown up with Superman, I watch this movie every five years or so and enjoy it both for the nostalgia and the extreme awfulness, but tonight I watched the deleted scenes for the first time and they actually would have greatly improved this movie -- although it would still have been pretty bad.
The scenes would fill in some gaping plot holes (for instance when Nuclear Man decides he wants Lacy Warfield, how does Superman know who he wants, versus, "What lady?". Also, how does Superman know the dark will rob him of his power?). They also add a lot of depth to the story, such as Lex Luther meeting with the Russians and telling them peace is a capitalist plot, and banging his shoe on the table, followed by him meeting with the American military, telling them peace is a communist plot. We also get explanations as to why the characters are doing what they're doing. There are still emotional moments with Lacy Warfield's development as a person and even a tender moment and kiss with Clark Kent.
The deleted scenes still have real weaknesses, such as Superman being a painfully obvious stunt double when being thrown by Nuclear Man One. The scenes with Nuclear Man are intended to be humorous, but they're a little over-the-top with silliness.
I think the deleted scenes add the most where they make us give a damn about the characters and events, with some of the more tender cues from the original John Williams score.
This movie is a real shame all the way around. It's a shame that it was a disappointment for fans and Christopher Reeve, and that it absolutely killed the franchise. It's even sadder since this was the last Superman film, followed by Christopher Reeve's awful fate.
The Severed Arm (1973)
This makes porn look well-acted
The other reviewer absolutely hit the nail on the head when he said that you might watch this expecting a 70's "so bad it's good" film, but even then you'd be disappointed, as it's truly irredeemable. Don't even bother watching it for fun. The acting quite honestly is about on par with porn -- I say this without exaggeration. The cinematography looks like something shot by a community theater, and the characters are the most unlikeable ever written. There's even a blatant rip-off of the old "we've traced the call and it's coming from your other line" story, with no variation.
If I didn't know better, I'd think this was a spoof.