Change Your Image
Edwardcole
Reviews
Bananas (1971)
One of Woody Allen's Top Three
This is Woody Allen's most under-appreciated movie, and easily one of the funniest. He uses a brilliant twist on an old theme. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy wins girl back be accidentally becoming dictator of a small South American country.
Made at a time when the Cold War and Vietnam were in full swing, and it was possible to a man to get beaten up by walking down the street if his hair was too long, Allen manages to lampoon all sides of the political spectrum, yet nobody minds because they're too busy laughing.
One example of this is when the CIA is sending troops to San Marcos, and one of them asks if they're supposed to be fighting for or against the government, he's told that the CIA isn't taking any chances, so some are for and others are against. Neither the establishment nor the rebels are safe from satire. While a lot of so-called comedies only have one or two memorable moments in them, this one has one in almost every scene, starting with a political assassination being covered live like it's a sporting event, complete with Howard Cosell.
I have read some criticism that the film tries too hard to get laughs, but the last time I checked, that was what a comedy was supposed to do. It's rare when we get a film that was made to comment on a unique political climate that is still funny over 35 years later. It's easily worth watching.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
It made me more depressed than Marvin (Or, Mostly Useless)
First of all, I absolutely loved the TV series. I then bought all five books in the series, and I listened to the previous radio series. I was aware that with all of the material that the late Mr. Adams had written, editing would be difficult. There had to be parts of the series that were absolutely wonderful that had to be left out of the movie.
Unfortunately, it appears as if they left ALL of the good parts of the series from the movie. Who actually came up with the screenplay, the marketing division of the Syrius Cybernetics Corporation? It was if every change from the series was intentionally made to make this excuse for a movie absolutely awful. I wouldn't say that is movie is crap, but that's only because I'm afraid crap might sue me for defamation of character.
As for the performances, they ranged from forgettable to I wish I could just forget it-able. I'm not certain whether the fault is with the actors, the writer, or the miscasting director. Simon Jones, who starred as Arthur Dent in both the radio and TV series, has a brief appearance, which puzzles me. He must not have known how bad they would have made this waste of celluloid.
I will conclude on a slightly positive note. This film does give insight as to what the ultimate question actually is. Unfortunately, the question is, "What is the cumulative IQ of all of the writers, producers and directors of this movie?" Anyone who doesn't understand that or the other references I've made should really either read the books or watch the TV series. All of us fans who heard of Douglas Adams' premature death, ironically caused by trying to make himself healthier, died a little bit themselves when they heard the news. What is unforgivable is the fact that the people who created this so-called movie have killed off what made the books, radio and TV series so funny.
Blackadder Back & Forth (1999)
Brilliant even by Rowan Atkinson's standards
I was fortunate enough to have visited London in 2000, and was able to appreciate this special in its original context, namely in a theater just outside the Millennium Dome with a bunch of primary school children talking all the way through it and giggling for nearly two minutes at the sight of Tony Robinson's buttocks. It took a few years for it to come out on DVD, but it was worth the wait. DVD extras include a documentary on the making of the special, which includes several deleted scenes, and a Tony Robinson-narrated profile on several of the historical figures mentioned. I would highly recommend that anyone watch the other four Blackadder series prior to watching this, or a lot of the jokes will be missed. It also helps to appreciate the characters in their proper context. For example, Rik Mayall completely overacts as Robin Hood, but in the context of the series, he is supposed to overact. If you had not seen his performances as Lord Flasheart, you would think he was too over the top, but having seen it, it makes his performance here even funnier. Just like any other Rowan Atkinson project, if you give him a good script and top-notch characters to work with, he will do a brilliant job and make the program memorable. All of the characters did a solid job, although Kate Moss seemed a bit out of place, possibly because she was a bit out of place. She was never in any of the previous series. And the ending, while I won't give anything away, provided one of the biggest laughs I ever had with anything Blackadder, and that is really saying something.
Adaptation. (2002)
What a waste of talent
THIS film won an Oscar? I didn't know they had a category for most complete waste of acting talent. When I was in college, I had to read "Six Characters in Search of an Author." This is more like "One Author in Search of a Script." Too bad he doesn't find it. The best part of the movie was the end. Not the ending, just the fact that it was finally over. None of the characters are particularly interesting and the story goes on and on with nothing particularly interesting occurring. This is supposed to be one of those "artsy" films. In this case, "artsy" means that a six-year old could have created something just as good. I rented this movie because I figured that you couldn't go too far wrong with such a solid cast. I suppose we all make mistakes. At least my mistake wasn't as bad as the people who created this.