chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) (09/12/85)
With the dearth of reasonable stuff at the box office right now, it looks like its time to go looking at the movies you might have missed that can be rented and watched in the privacy of your own home.... Ratings: ***** - a classic work (Casablanca,King of Hearts) **** - a Must See (Harold and Maude) *** - an average work, you may or may not like it(Rocky Horror Picture Show) ** - doesn't live up to its expectations (Black Cauldron) * - avoid at all costs (Meteor) Tightrope (Clint Eastwood) - ** (Nudity, language, graphic violence) Clint Eastwood does Dirty Harry, but his name is different and he is in New Orleans. Come to think of it, Clint Eastwood does Clint Eastwood. There isn't a lot of plot. Someone is offing prostitutes, usually just after Eastwood interviews them (and takes a cops due from them, as well). Clint Eastwood eventually gets him, but only after his children and girlfriend and housekeeper get attacked, giving him good reason to rip the buggers face off. big gripe: Eastwood's girlfriend teaches anti-rape self defense, and yet when she is attacked and given an opening to really do some damage to the attacker, she just sits there and waits for the police to come to rescue her. A BIG break in character, and they completely miss a scene they set up quite well earlier when she was doing a number on an example dummy. If you like eastwood, you'll like this movie, but it isn't nearly as good as his other stuff. Secret of NIHM (Animated) - **** I recently panned Black Cauldron as being a lot more than I'd expected and a lot less than I'd hoped from Disney Studios. I recently re-viewed my tape of Secret of NIHM, done by Don Bluth Studios (mostly manned by people who followed Bluth when he left Disney studios in disgust a few years ago). HERE is where the true Disney style still lives. Watching NIHM, and seeing what they could have done with Black Cauldron, I'm now much more disappointed with the Disney film. This movie isn't perfect, but it is a very well done and high quality family film and the best animation I've seen since classic Disney. Rather than seeing Black Cauldron, see this. After watching what Bluth did with the silly crow sidekick in NIHM, the travesty they made out of Gurgy in BC is even more disappointing... All That Jazz (Roy Scheider) - **** (Adult themes, language, some nudity) A semi-autobiographical movie by Bob Fosse, well known Broadway choreographer and director, starring Roy scheider in another stunning role as a famous Broadway choreographer and directory with a heavy death fantasy as he goes through major heart failure. Gets VERY intense as the death fantasy goes into full swing, and there are a few scenes of a real open heart surgery that you might want to avoid on a full stomach. Says a lot about life and death, and has some truly amazing dance in it. An interesting bit part by Jessica Lange as the Angel of Death (and of Scheider's fantasy desires). A serious discussion of the meaning of death which won't be to everyone's taste, but worth taking a look at. -- Chuq Von Rospach nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA {decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4}!nsc!chuqui An uninformed opinion is no opinion at all. If you dont know what you're talking about, please try to do it quietly.
msc@saber.UUCP (Mark Callow) (09/12/85)
> Chuqui writes about "Tightrope" > big gripe: Eastwood's girlfriend teaches anti-rape self defense, and > yet when she is attacked and given an opening to really do some damage > to the attacker, she just sits there and waits for the police to come > to rescue her. A BIG break in character, and they completely miss a > scene they set up quite well earlier when she was doing a number on an > example dummy. Either you fell asleep or the version on your video tape wasn't the same as that shown on Showtime last Sunday night. Genevieve Bujold stabbed her attacker with a pair of scissors. I distinctly remember the blood spurting out (ugh!). She most definitely didn't sit there and wait to be rescued. So she didn't kick him in the balls like she did the dummy. Is that such a break in character? -- From the TARDIS of Mark Callow msc@saber.UUCP, sun!saber!msc@decwrl.ARPA ...{decwrl,ucbvax}!sun!saber!msc, ...{amdcad,ihnp4}!saber!msc