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Reviews
Irish Jam (2006)
An Original Concept - Not Meant As A Masterpiece
This movie caught my attention on Cable TV's HBO.
I thought it would be a stereotyped, hyped, overblown character movie and I was absolutely correct - and I was also damned wrong too!
How do you write a "realistic" script based upon a young black hustler from Los Angeles running a pub in Ireland? When has there been such an event to occur in the Emerald Isle? So give it a chance!
No one really speaks about the Irish as "Ni--ers" in Europe and America. Call them the Fighting Irish, the Lucky Shamrocks, but this movie gave every viewer a new definition of the "Black Irish". So I was intrigued and astonished as the characters discussed this in the village square.
Ireland is always romanticized and its traditions are to blame. Every Irish commenter complains about it - and I guess secretly would be mad as hell if Ireland ever lost its glossy image. What's a more "realistic" Ireland these days? I guess it's true that you get whatever you put into any subject.
Let me say that Griffin marrying and kissing his costar at the end of the movie made my day! My ex-lover who's Irish married a black man and they have had quite an unusual romance (until he died) so it was entertaining to see ART imitate LIFE and not vice-versa for once...
This movie is not a classic. Will never ever be a masterpiece. And I wouldn't want it any other way. Monique being kicked back into a bathtub wearing a wedding dress is not Shakespeare - it's funny!
Watching an entire village nearly begging a lovable hustler to stay among them is priceless. My home of America is a true "melting pot" of just about every race & culture, the "land of the free and the home of the brave" - but I'll never see Ethnic Irish visitors being asked by the gangs of South Central Los Angeles to move in nor will I see it occur in Beverly Hills either. Yet I have enough faith in the Irish to see it happen one day to someone visiting like the "Jimmy Jam".
This movie is an entertaining, multi-dimensional, comedic, fairytale, about what was never ever supposed to happen and did - against everyone else's say-so and better judgment. Watch it, laugh at it, ridicule it, and then when no one else is looking - love it.
It's an original concept.
The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire (1981)
The Movie Was A Forerunner For Later TV Shows
Other watchers of Archer: Fugitive from the Empire comment harshly about its dated special effects, not being really focused overall, average acting, etc. I believe they're lost to the Content and the Context of the movie's premise, target audience, and production values which made it a forerunner for later TV shows.
1. It's a Sword & Sorcery Fantasy movie - our young hero is a rebel to his father, he uses a super-powered bow, his sidekick is a thief, he has semi-sexual tension going on with a rival sorceress.
2. In the 1980's - the special effects, costumes, and makeup were very advanced. The armor & weapons were sturdier than a lot of the other films at the time. The snake-men makeup and their ability to rise suddenly from the ground was similar to the Terrians found in the later short-lived TV science fiction series, Earth 2.
3. Like other movies and TV shows, the quest is the main theme. The hero, sidekick, and love-interest always have their quirks. If it's too obvious, the watcher loses interest - if too vague, we become lost to the plot line. This movie gave us several subplots: hero coming of age, prevent an invasion, rescue persecuted villagers & citizens, fight off the bad guy (who's so much like Darth Vader), and of course - search for your Mentor (who's like Obi-Wan Kenobi).
4. Archer intrigues the viewer not by today's measurements of story-arc, pilot episode allure, best computer/explosion/gore effects. It makes the viewer wonder what amazing twist is going to happen in a subtle way apart from the obvious Fantasy movie stereotypes (just like Heroes did every week). The target audience in the 1980's were mostly teenagers and college guys who were into Star Wars, Conan, etc. Every critic I've read of seems to want a straight-forward action/adventure movie to play out like a Shakespeare drama with intensity. I think Archer did its job of making me wish I could be the Hero as I sat in my seat enjoying my popcorn and soda!!
5. I have this movie in VHS video format - wish I could get it as a DVD. Even after all these years, I watch it late at night and weekends just to see enjoy the adventure as a teenager in a grown-man's body!