What classics did you see last week ? (22 Apr - 28 Apr 2018)
Apr 30, 2018 0:54:00 GMT
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Post by marianne48 on Apr 30, 2018 0:54:00 GMT
Victoria and Abdul (2017)--If you've seen the 1997 film Mrs. Brown, you don't really have to see this; it's pretty much the same movie. Judi Dench plays Queen Victoria, spending her days scowling at everyone and displaying slobby table manners, until she meets a brash male "outsider" who ignores all entreaties to not disrespect Her Majesty by looking directly at her or initiating a dialogue with her. As her underlings snort and grumble disapprovingly, she flirts harmlessly with the guy, but normality eventually ensues with a deathbed sequence. And the point of both movies? Vickie needed a little male companionship.
Wonder (2017)--Decent adaptation of the enormously popular children's book, with one glaring flaw: the filmmakers apparently chickened out on the appearance of people with the facial deformity which the main character has. Ideally, they could have gotten an actor who actually has that particular series of deformities, or at least provided the lead actor with a more realistic make-up job. Actor Jacob Tremblay's make-up consists mainly of a few moderations around his eyes, a couple of scars, and some additions to the bridge of his nose and ears. Why not portray the character's appearance more realistically? It defeats the point of the story not to.
Ben (1972)--There are a lot of bad kitschy horror movies. Then there are some good ones, too. This sequel to the original Willard is one of the most memorable of the "killer animals on the loose" trend in the 1970s-1980s, which also included
The Swarm, Piranhas, Frogs, and the horrendous Night of the Lepus (featuring killer bunnies!).
It plays like a twisted version of the Lassie films, with a lonely sick boy befriending the super-intelligent leader of the killer rats from Willard. Danny loves his new little friend and has Lassie-like conversations with it:
Danny: So you live down this street?
Ben: Squeak! Squeak!
Danny: Do we make a right at this corner?
Ben: Squeak, squeak!
Danny: Okay! (spots thousands of rats in sewer): Wow, Ben! You have a big family!
Ben: Squeak, squeak!
Okay, it's silly, but is it really more ridiculous than that "What's that, Lassie?" (Dog whines). "Timmy's been kidnapped?" (Whine, whine) shtick that went on in the Lassie movies and TV series?
The movie also features some questionable acting (Danny comes up with the lyrics to his song for Ben as if he's translating Braille; the cops have some odd scenes with a running gag about lighting each other's cigarettes; the extras watching the aftermath of the rat attacks stand around wordlessly like mannequins--maybe they got paid less if they had no lines?) But there are some memorable scenes--Ben the rat watches as Danny puts on a dancing-rat puppet show; Ben and his gang come to the rescue when a bully assaults Danny (ah, if only every bullied kid had his/her personal rat pack); the rats spend a glorious evening in the cereal aisle of the local supermarket (nostalgia alert--those cereals back then had incredible toys inside every box!) And how many movies include a scene of a little boy kissing a rat? Awwww....And admit it--the ending is AT LEAST every bit as touching as the end of Lassie Come Home. The end also features Michael Jackson singing the title song, which was nominated for a Best Song Academy Award (it should have won, too). The DVD of the film also features some interesting and amusing audio commentary by the film's star, Lee H. Montgomery, an atypically contented former child actor who doesn't mind goofing on his performance in the movie and his crush on his co-star Meredith Baxter.
In addition, I also watched several episodes from the first season of Night Court, in honor of the late Harry Anderson.
Unpretentiously goofy fun. R.I.P., Harry.
Wonder (2017)--Decent adaptation of the enormously popular children's book, with one glaring flaw: the filmmakers apparently chickened out on the appearance of people with the facial deformity which the main character has. Ideally, they could have gotten an actor who actually has that particular series of deformities, or at least provided the lead actor with a more realistic make-up job. Actor Jacob Tremblay's make-up consists mainly of a few moderations around his eyes, a couple of scars, and some additions to the bridge of his nose and ears. Why not portray the character's appearance more realistically? It defeats the point of the story not to.
Ben (1972)--There are a lot of bad kitschy horror movies. Then there are some good ones, too. This sequel to the original Willard is one of the most memorable of the "killer animals on the loose" trend in the 1970s-1980s, which also included
The Swarm, Piranhas, Frogs, and the horrendous Night of the Lepus (featuring killer bunnies!).
It plays like a twisted version of the Lassie films, with a lonely sick boy befriending the super-intelligent leader of the killer rats from Willard. Danny loves his new little friend and has Lassie-like conversations with it:
Danny: So you live down this street?
Ben: Squeak! Squeak!
Danny: Do we make a right at this corner?
Ben: Squeak, squeak!
Danny: Okay! (spots thousands of rats in sewer): Wow, Ben! You have a big family!
Ben: Squeak, squeak!
Okay, it's silly, but is it really more ridiculous than that "What's that, Lassie?" (Dog whines). "Timmy's been kidnapped?" (Whine, whine) shtick that went on in the Lassie movies and TV series?
The movie also features some questionable acting (Danny comes up with the lyrics to his song for Ben as if he's translating Braille; the cops have some odd scenes with a running gag about lighting each other's cigarettes; the extras watching the aftermath of the rat attacks stand around wordlessly like mannequins--maybe they got paid less if they had no lines?) But there are some memorable scenes--Ben the rat watches as Danny puts on a dancing-rat puppet show; Ben and his gang come to the rescue when a bully assaults Danny (ah, if only every bullied kid had his/her personal rat pack); the rats spend a glorious evening in the cereal aisle of the local supermarket (nostalgia alert--those cereals back then had incredible toys inside every box!) And how many movies include a scene of a little boy kissing a rat? Awwww....And admit it--the ending is AT LEAST every bit as touching as the end of Lassie Come Home. The end also features Michael Jackson singing the title song, which was nominated for a Best Song Academy Award (it should have won, too). The DVD of the film also features some interesting and amusing audio commentary by the film's star, Lee H. Montgomery, an atypically contented former child actor who doesn't mind goofing on his performance in the movie and his crush on his co-star Meredith Baxter.
In addition, I also watched several episodes from the first season of Night Court, in honor of the late Harry Anderson.
Unpretentiously goofy fun. R.I.P., Harry.