Change Your Image
MilesKeatonAndrew
Reviews
Death to Smoochy (2002)
It's a rocket ship!
The critics hated it. I love it! Death To Smoochy, odd and sick, got my attention from the first scene. The entire movie is worth seeing Edward Norton in costume, and Robin Williams is at his nastiest since his Dead Again cameo.
Smoochy goes where none have gone before - into the world of children's television - but this movie ain't for the kiddies. It's about the cutthroat adult stuff that goes on offstage in the corporate world of milking kids for every dime of their milk money. Nobody is spared. You'll find midgets galore, a kidshow groupie, a brain-injured boxer, methadone entertainment, and plenty of Nazis for everyone. Can Smoochy save the kids from food additives and perversion? According to Smoochy, `You can't change the world, but you can make a dent.'
I own this DVD, but I'll rate it as highly rentable.
Miles Keaton Andrew
The House of Yes (1997)
House of Fun for the sick-minded and perverse
The House of Yes is one of my personal favorites. Is it creepy? Yes. Is it funny? No - it's hysterical, at least to those of us accustomed to laughing at things you're not supposed to laugh about - like bizarre social taboo. Younger indie fans may not care for this flick, but The House of Yes is not to be compared with the likes of Chasing Amy. For Parker Posey fans, the film is apples to the oranges of Party Girl, Henry Fool, Clockwatchers, etc.
The House of Yes was adapted from Wendy McLeod's play, so it is a dialogue film with its own language - similar to the Coens' Miller's Crossing. As with Miller's Crossing, the snappy dialogue never misses. While watching The House of Yes, I've caught myself rewinding to catch a phrase I missed because I was still laughing a the preceding gag.
Facial closeups dominate this film, and for reason - the actors' expressions are more telling than the dialogue, delivered flawlessly by every member of the crew - looks you could spread onto a cracker, like when Mama (Bujold) warns her son Marty about Jackie-O's mental state: "I'm going to baste the turkey, and hide the kitchen knives."
The film's biggest surprise: Tori Spelling, as a prudish and naiive Pennsylvanian - perhaps her most believable role to date.
If there were a Cooperstown for comedic acting, this film alone puts Parker Posey into the Hall of Fame.
Highly recommended for the sick-minded and perverse.
Miles Keaton Andrew