Change Your Image
xanadu_dan
Reviews
High School Musical (2006)
Ugh...
This can't even compare to Grease or Fame - I'd say a better comparison is Grease 2, although mentioning From Justin to Kelly would be much more accurate as to what this "film" is like. Writing that makes Saved by the Bell look erudite, songs that come out of nowhere and mean nothing to the plot, annoying stage-mother-driven kids that can't act (or sing, according to reports that singing was dubbed). No distinct look, a lack of production numbers, and the most disposable score I've heard in years contribute to this being one of the worst musicals I've had the displeasure of sitting through. Mind you, I'm sure the kids will eat it up, as kids are notoriously undiscerning in their entertainment as long as it's packaged correctly. However, if you're over 18 and don't have children, avoid this like the plague.
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)
So disappointing...
For years I had heard about how wonderful this film was, a masterpiece that had been unfairly obscured. I read Evelyn Piper's novel, and enjoyed it very much. I was very excited to see that it would finally be coming out on video.
I can't recall a film that didn't live up to its expectations so dramatically. The mystery is completely lacking-- the culprit is obvious from the beginning. (And emphasized with a few "cuckoos" from a clock while he's speaking, in multiple scenes, in case you're an idiot.) It's horribly paced, the kid doesn't even go missing until the end of the first act. The idea about the kid not existing doesn't work at all-- when you have one person insisting something with no evidence, like the book, it's potentially nutty; when you have two (like the film) they are either telling the truth or one is trying to pull something on the other. (Oops, I just gave it away.) The music is about the most incongruous I've ever heard in a film. Several characters are completely useless and redundant, except to throw a possible suspect in the mix. And to top it all off, the film takes a preposterous turn in its final third, and the last 20 minutes or so are completely ridiculous. I'm kind of sad they used a great mystery story for no reason than to play out a bunch of "shocking" themes that don't even rise from the story organically. ("Here's the skull of the Marquis de Sade"? PLEASE, Mary.) It seems like Preminger was walking a very fine line between a standard narrative and an art film, and not particularly successfully. There are some interesting aspects to the movies, but the end result is practically incoherent. I suspect he may have seen this as a comedy, although child abduction isn't exactly ripe for a laugh. (But as an elderly acquaintance from those days of Hollywood told me, "Otto could ruin anything.") On the plus side, the cinematography is nice, although the film was obviously made on-the- cheap-- Ms. Lynley is horribly dubbed for a number of lines, presumably because of ambient noise. The acting is pretty good, but the script doesn't give any of the characters much to work with.
I think this film rates so highly because it's obscure, and has been difficult to see until now. With the DVD release, maybe its rating will actually begin to reflect what a disorganized mess it is. Remember, sometimes films bomb and the box office and fade into obscurity because they deserve to. Recommmended if you want to see how to destroy a good mystery.