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jazmaan
Reviews
Mad Dogs (2015)
It's not Belize
Other than an establishing shot at the Belize Airport (or maybe even that was just a set they built) THAT AIN'T BELIZE! Having visited Belize many times, I kept asking "where is that supposed to be?" Although they dropped a few Belizean towns names (like Belmopan where the hooker was supposed to be from) the geography was just all wrong. And there were no Belizeans in the movie! (Except maybe the hooker). And that discotheque was ridiculous. Nothing like it in Belize that I know of. So I watched the closing credits like a hawk. No mention of Belize Tourist Board or Film Board. And then I saw IT'S FILMED IN PUERTO RICO folks. And there's really nothing about it that accurately represents life in Belize. I had to laugh when I saw the immaculate stretch limo picking them up in the airport. That limo wouldn't last one day on the roads of Belize. And then that scene in the glitzy disco/casino was also ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I love Belize and I get mad when people disrespect it, but let's be realistic. There's no Vegas style casino/nightclubs in Belize.
And worst of all, how do you show a series about Belize with NO BLACK PEOPLE except one hooker?! The President of Belize is black! Black folk are everywhere. Except in this show. Grrrr.
The Hot Chick (2002)
Rob Schnieder's Best
Rob Schneider at his best. OK maybe that's not saying a lot. But if you're in the mood for this kind of thing, its actually not that bad. You may feel guilty for laughing, but you WILL laugh! The premise and set up are ridiculously unbelievable, but once Rob is transformed he does a terrific job of playing a woman imprisoned in a man's body. It would have been very easy for Schneider to have played his part as "gay" but he succeeds in avoiding that completely and actually makes his character sympathetic in her/his plight.
This movie also has a couple of very interesting cameo appearances. Look for the men's room attendant and the dread locked drummer!
The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
The Slow Burn
This movie recently became available on Netflix! It's even on their Instant Queue so you can watch it on demand.
It's very different than the Ben Stiller remake (which I also enjoyed.) But in this movie Lenny is not at all a sympathetic character while his wife certainly is. There are some really intense scenes in this movie. Sometimes uncomfortably so. I guess this was one of the first "Dramedy" movies before that term was even invented.
Anyway, there is one classic scene in this film that's absolutely worth the price of admission. Eddie Albert earns his Oscar nomination without saying a single word, doing the Slow Burn to end all Slow Burns, while Lenny "lays his cards on the table".
Ice Age Columbus: Who Were the First Americans? (2005)
A fascinating documentary
I wasn't expecting this Discovery Channel docudrama to be so compelling! The actors were very good, (even though the girl Zia seemed a little too modern). The special effects of Wooly Mammoths were excellent. And the story - of Ice Age Europeans marooned on an ice floe that floats them to the New World, was highly educational. The entire story was extrapolated from one prehistoric arrowhead found embedded in a Virginia creek bed and dated to be over 17,000 years old! This stunning find contradicts the notion that America was discovered by Asians. The writers used French cave paintings to imagine who might have crafted that arrowhead (which matches European arrowheads from the same era) and how Europeans might have crossed the Atlantic. But instead of taking a strictly scientific approach, they wrote a story of murder, politics, family, and love which is surprisingly entertaining. Definitely worth watching but try and find it without the numerous commercials that Discovery inserted.
Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004)
Worst of the 4
Sorry folks but Tremors 4 is BORING until the last 20 minutes. Definitely the least interesting of the four movies until the last action scenes at the end.
What this series needs is an infusion of good actors! Nothing against Michael Gross - I'd like to see him again in Tremors 5, but the rest of the cast needs upgrading. Hasn't this series made enough money to get off the "straight-to-video" track by spending some money on a name cast?
Reinvigorate the series for Tremors 5. Bring back Kevin Bacon! And then hire some good not-too-expensive supporting comedic talent like Anthony Anderson, Alex Borstein, Jack Palance. Heck, at this point even Jessica Simpson would be a welcome addition to the cast.
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955)
Abominably Horrible
The "Ain't Misbehavin'" number is so bad its almost good.
Dancing African spearchuckers played by white guys in purplish black body paint with red fright wigs with bones in their hair carrying zebra shields. Got the picture? No you don't, not yet. Alan Young in a monkey suit sitting in a tree singing "Ain't Misbehavin" for no discernible reason. Jane Russell dressed up as an African queen sings the second chorus as a duet with the monkey man (again for no logical reason, is she in love with a gorilla?) while the dancing "Africans" sing along in unmistably WHITE voices! Oh man its so bad you won't know whether to laugh, cry or run out of the room screaming.
Damn Yankees (1958)
The best damn musical, period!
If you ask me - and I'm a "jazz" man as you can see from my moniker - Damn Yankees is the best musical ever. The subject matter is classic, the story is entertaining, the music is scintillating, and the lyrics are clever to the Nth degree with layers upon layers of internal rhyming that reveal new intricacies with each listening.
Okay, the movie has some weaknesses. Anybody BUT Tab Hunter would probably have been better as Joe Hardy. Also one of the best numbers from the play, "I Thought About The Game" was cut because it was considered too lewd for the movie.
But that's quibbling. Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston lift this movie into the upper echelons of all time greatest musicals.