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j.owen8
Reviews
Tin Men (1987)
Barry the Bellboy
Who would have thought that the frantic Bellboy in Mel Brooks' High Anxiety could write and direct a script of this subtlety? Being in 3 Mel Brooks films thankfully did not seem to affect him.
This film is a 9 if not a 10, and repays repeated viewing , for the script,the direction,and the acting (everyone is superb,but Dreyfuss, Hershey,and DeVito are absolutely terrific).The period setting,as far as I can tell,is spot on.
The reference to a future VW dealership for BB/Tilley,referred to in other comments(hinted at twice in the film) seems to miss the 'Golden Arch' that fills the final frame. The future might have been burgers as well as beetles!
High Anxiety, on the other hand,represented the beginning of the end for Mel Brooks after the brilliance of The Producers,Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.The only good thing in any otherwise VERY boring High Anxiety is Mel Brooks' hilarious impersonation of Frank Sinatra singing the title song.The rest is a very laboured and dire parody of Hitchcock, where Young Frankenstein was fresh and sustained parody of James Whale's films.
Private Road (1971)
Where is this film ??
I am watching (!)'WITHNAIL & I' on TV , and was reminded that Bruce Robinson was in 'PRIVATE ROAD', a film I saw on TV (undoubtedly BBC 2) over 30+ years ago, and thought it was truly wonderful, but I have never seen it or anything about it since........ Given the cult status (Definition "Small viewing figures" -Alan Partridge)and wide availability of 'WITHNAIL', what has happened to PRIVATE ROAD......??? At the time I was 16, and identified with the 'Quiet is the new loud/Reject the Rat Race/Back to nature' theme. I remember it as an excellent film, but,sadly, I have been unable to see it again.With endless copies of junk films freely available ,is it not possible that a film of this rarity can see the light of day ? bfi where are you when we need you most?