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bradchrisman
Reviews
Fascination (2004)
Ridiculously bad movie, but what I really want to know is...
OK, "Fascination" is an astonishingly, ridiculously bad movie, for all the reasons that the last few reviewers have described. But did you notice something suspicious about the first several reviews here on IMDb? They're all absolutely glowing! Did the studio pay people to go online and write positive reviews? If so, is that a new way to make money? Movie review mercenary? I'm almost tempted to volunteer my services, but I don't think there's enough money in Hollywood to make me say nice things about a movie like "Fascination." That is, unless it could be re-released as a comedy. Now there's an idea I could get behind! Just put a laugh track behind it, and market it as a "side-splitting, laugh-out-loud romp that the whole family will enjoy." The trailer could show the scene where an entire cabin blows up from the frighteningly explosive force of one small propane burner. "You'll explode with laughter!"
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
My favorite
If I were to make out a list of my all-time favorite movies, my top 10 would look a lot like other people's top 10s. For sure the list would include It's a Wonderful Life, The Godfather, Star Wars, Casablanca, Schindler's List, L.A. Confidential and American Beauty. But my all-time favorite is, and has been for several years, Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing.
I've heard the complaints -- that Keanu Reeves is a stiff, that Denzel Washington was miscast, that Michael Keaton's Dogberry is too over the top, cartoonish, Monty Pythonish. But I've seen MAAN 10 or 12 times, and each time my appreciation for it has grown. I guess what it comes down to, for me, is that no movie is perfect. Every film has its flaws. I just really, really like this one -- warts and Keanu and all.
I would venture to philosophize that the same is true for anyone's favorite film -- for your favorite. If you like it that much, it's not just in spite of its flaws but because of them. Much Ado is my No. 1 mainly because of the writing (hard to beat Shakespeare) and the acting of the leads (Branagh and the amazing Emma Thompson), but also because of some of the other performances are accidentally perfect. Keanu unwittingly nails his role as the brooding and soulless Don John. Denzel plays Don Pedro as though Don Pedro realizes he's in a movie adaptation of a play by Shakespeare, which seems just perfect to me. And I don't know if Michael Keaton was on drugs or channeling an Elizabethean theater clown or what, but I think if Shakespeare could see Branagh's movie he would say that's the best Dogberry he's ever seen.