moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (05/28/85)
A collection of quick reviews of films seen over the last few days at
the Seattle International Film Festival (I've had two hours of sleep
over 48 hours, so I hope this is non-gibberish (all-night 70MM
Sci-Fi film festival last night)).
CAME A HOT FRIDAY (New Zealand, 1984)
Directed by Iane Mune
Screenplay by Dean Parker and Ian Mune
Cast: Peter Bland, Phillip Gordon, BIlly T. James, Michael Lawrence
This runs through the story of a couple of con-men trying to scam
bookies in New Zealand after WWII. Very slapstick, much physical
and sexual humor; and while paced well, just not enough comic
invention to carry off the humor, and not enough character depth
to generate laughter on any other scale, except for Billy T. James
character, who plays a Polynesian who runs around with cap guns
imagining himself to be a Cisco Kid look-alike, is just off-base
enough to carry the show towards the end. A nice try, and very
good production values, but not something I'd recommend.
MY NEW PARTNER (France, 1984)
Director: Claude Zidi
Screenplay: Claude Zidi & Didler Kaminka
Cast: Phillippe Noiret, Thierry Lhermitte, Regine, Grace de Capitani,
Jullen Gulomar
Bias alert: I have a real problem with French comedy, in that there
is a certain immorality that I just can't fully laugh with. When I
saw Noiret's name in the credits, and saw the title, I was hoping for
another _Dear_Inspector_ sequel, but we have here the story of a
moderately corrupt policeman saddled with a new partner who is
straight-laced and by-the-book. The comic humor is supposed to be
generated while Noiret seduces his partner into being corrupt; but
I just could not find humorous what Noiret's attitude, nor his
attempts at winning over his new partner. Thumbs down, but you
can label me a prude and give it no comment if you wish.
BULLSHOT (Great Britain, ?)
A hit-and-miss satire of Bulldog Drummond by a lot of British
comics I don't recognize. Some of the satire is *very* good (in
particular the stuff satirizing the ultra-proper British hero), and
the material rarely drags, but the humor gets rather Benny Hillish
after a while, and the majority is not really warped enough for
Python fans. A good thing to see on a double-bill with a comedy
you really want to see, or on TV.
SECRET PLACES (Great Britain, 1984)
Director: Zelda Barron
Screenwriter: Zelda Barron from a screenplay by Janice Elliot
Cast: Mariek-Therese Rellin, Tara MacGowran, Claude Auger, Jenny
Agutter, Cassie Stuart, Anne-Marie Dwartkin
Again, I refer you to Peter Reiher's review of this movie. The only
additions I have to make is that THIS is the kind of movie Disney
should be making -- but the scenes dealing with the two main
characters being suspected of homosexuality would be too much of
a barrier for them (of course, we can have William Katt swearing
his arse off in _Baby_...). A very well done story which I enjoyed
and would almost describe as more a good family movie.
KEY EXCHANGE (USA, 1985)
Director: Barnet Kellman
Screenwriter: Paul Kurta and Kevin Scott, from the play by Kevin
Wade
Cast: Ben Masters, Brooke Adams, Daniel Stern, Tony Roberts,
Danny Aiello
Ever since Woody Allen did _Manhattan_, there seems to be at
least two "sophisticated relationship comedy/romances" out every
year. One or two have worked (_Tootsie_ probably fits in this
category). This is this year's entry, and I liked the premise (man
trying to make the big leap into a more commitment-level
relationship), and the cast is very good: Stern always does a good
job, Masters plays a witty character wittily, and I've been in love
with Brooke Adams ever since I saw her in the Australian Nero
Wolfe pilot 12 years ago (great stuff -- catch it on the midnight
movie sometime). Still, the material is just too spotty here, and it
has that annoying habit of not quite being a comedy (characters too
real), but not having enough of anything else to keep your
attention. I glad *I* saw it, but I can't recommend it to others.
THE PERILS OF GWENDOLYN (France, 1984)
There was some controversy about this film a few months ago on
net.movies; a lot of people were disagreeing whether this movie
was bad enough to be funny. Well, I'm here to tell you this this
film is bad enough to be quintuplets. Avoid it at all costs (though
the person doing the villainess's hair should be complimented).
PS Saw _Return_of_the_Jedi after -- what is it -- two years, and I
have to say that I now can pinpoint exactly why this was so much
worse than the other two earlier STAR WARS movies. The script is
*terrible*. The dialogue sounds like it was written for TV scripts
(remember when they find Leia's helmet in the forest of Endor,
with her bike burned up (and other evidence to make it look like
she's dead) and Han looks grim (he's in love with her, remember)
and says "I sure hope she's alright." Aggh...). Not to mention the
fact that the plot looks like Lucas wrote it in five minutes on his
sleeve cuff...
"There *are* standards. If you can't see one, you *make* one and
stick to it come Hell or high water -- until you see a BETTER one."
-John Gaunt
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
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