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Reviews
Pleasantville (1998)
A good but unnecessary criticism of 50's situation comedies
If life in the 50's had been like that shown in 50's television series, this would be an O.K. but unnecessary movie. However, 50's television was nothing like the real life of the time, and most people knew that, and laughed at the bland, whitewashed version television insisted on showing. Unfortunately, "Pleasantville" implies that this was the way people lived and thought then, thereby setting up a series of straw men, and shooting them down. Teenagers didn't have sex, there weren't pregnancies and STDs, the pointy bras weren't noticed? Come on! The only things that have changed are that now such things are spoken of openly, and we don't punish behavior and consequences as cruelly as we did then.
If you want to know what the past was like, there are better sources than old television programs.
The Regard of Flight (1983)
Your public library probably has a tape of this (unless it's been stolen)
When the MacArthur Foundation gave Bill Irwin one of its Genius Awards, they distributed free tapes of "Regard of Flight" to public libraries. It's a wonderfully funny, skilled performance by Irwin and two other performers, in classic clown tradition, with lots of satirical jabs at intellectual theorizing about "the theateh".
And I Alone Survived (1978)
Memorable, low-key telling of a dramatic story of survival
I have remembered this television movie for 20 years. The story is told mainly through the eyes of a young woman who was the only survivor of a small-plane crash high in the peaks of the Sierras, on a trip from California to Nevada. Although she is injured, she scrambles painfully down the mountain for days, trying to reach help. Her parents, meanwhile, are trying desperately to find out where the plane is, and if anyone is alive. The ending is especially moving, with a surprising twist that has the ring of truth.
The Frozen North (1922)
the only mean-spirited movie Keaton ever made
I read recently that this was supposed to be a satire of someone else's movies (I can't remember the actor's name that Keaton is satirizing), but even knowing that, it's a shocker. The one thing you can always count on in Keaton's movies is an underlying sweet-naturedness (unlike Chaplin, who expresses a lot of anger in his comedies). I wish he hadn't made it, because by now, the movies he's referring to are forgotten, and we don't get the point. All his other movies are about universal human experiences, and will always be understood by any audience, anywhere.
Cops (1922)
A little gem
I wish I could have seen this movie when it first came out. The use of the camera and movie screen frame took my breath away when I did see it, about 1960; the effect must have been stunning to early audiences. The long shot of Buster driving the wagon up the street directly at the camera, with the sudden flood of cops pouring in from the sides, is as beautiful as it is funny.
Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953)
a perfect comedy
A sweet, nostalgic, hilarious story about vacationers at a French beach resort. The lack of dialog allows other sounds to produce much of the humor - the "thwunk" of a swinging door pushed by an enraged waiter, the "click click click click clickclickclick of a runaway ping-pong ball, the incomprehensible train arrival announcements over a bad loudspeaker system that send passengers running from platform to platform. More than any of Tati's other films, this one changes the way you see human beings and their behaviour forever.
A Matter of WHO (1961)
Cleverly written international thriller that combines humor and suspense.
I haven't seen this movie since it came out in the early 60's, but I've always remembered it as refreshingly unusual, with Terry Thomas as an employee of the World Health Organization who is trying to track down the source of a small, puzzling epidemic of smallpox. He is almost thwarted by big oil money, secrecy, and efforts to cover up criminal acts. (I'm going to see it again soon, however - I found it for sale at CINEMAWEB. If my opinion changes after I've seen it again, I'll change my comments, if your site will allow that.)