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Reviews
Avanti! (1972)
I like this movie so much
Well,what shall I write about this movie.It's my favourite movie from my favourite film-maker,Billy Wilder,with my favourite actor,Jack Lemmon.I liked Billy Wilder's movies already as a young boy and nothing has changed since then.
As usual I don't want to write much about the movie's story because others have done that already sufficiently-thanks to them. All characters in this movie-really ALL-are played excellently.Billy Wilder obviously had the talent to choose the right actors and to make them give their best.
Among all these excellent performances I nevertheless want to mention the outstanding performance of Clive Revill as hotel director Carlo Carlucci.If I had to choose the best five performances in all the movies I ever watched his performance surely would be among them.
I also want to mention the performance of Edward Andrews as the bull in a Chinese shop-diplomat J.J. Plodgett.This character is an obvious allusion to Henry Kissinger and it is timeless,as a recently leaked telephone call between two U.S. diplomats shows...
I always wondered why the German title of this movie is "Avanti,avanti!" and not,like in the U.S. and nearly everywhere else,only "Avanti!" I think I now found out the reason.
"Avanti!" means not only "forward!",but it's also the name of Italy's most important socialist newspaper of the 20ieth century...and the editor-in-chief exactly hundred years ago was nobody else but-Benito Mussolini! So the movie's title "Avanti!" turns out to be an obvious allusion to that all.
But don't forget that at that time there was the cold war.So the movie was released in Italy with quite a different title (you can check it) in order to avoid advertising for a socialist newspaper...In Spain the movie also was released with a different title-at that time Franco was still living.And in Germany,where at the time the movie was released there was already living half a million Italian immigrants,the movie was given the name "Avanti,avanti!" also to avoid advertising for a socialist newspaper and to show that "Avanti!" means "forward!" and nothing else...
What concerns the chambermaid's moustache-I suppose it wasn't only an unfunny joke.It makes Anna look more or less like a man and gives her affair with Bruno a homosexual undertone-an undertone the changing clothes scene in the plane obviously had.Don't forget the many political (and other) undertones in Billy Wilders movies,not only in "Avanti!" And don't forget that Billy Wilder thought about letting Wendell Armbruster Sr. have on Ischia not an affair with a woman,but-with a man...
Some viewers complained about the adultery and the nudity shown in this movie.But nobody complained about the homicide also shown in this movie. Very remarkable.Isn't that exactly the bigotry Billy Wilder wanted to parody with "Avanti!"? By the way,at the time the movie was made there was a referendum in preparation in Italy which intended to abolish the divorce law passed two years ago.Billy Wilder's movie "Avanti!" obviously also had the intention to influence it,portraying Italian men as notoriously adulterous.The referendum failed two years later,by the way.
One, Two, Three (1961)
A masterpiece of Billy Wilder,but not timeless
As usual,I don't want to write much about the story of this movie,because others have done that more than enough.
The title of this movie-"one,two,three"-reminds you (surely not accidental) of military and let's you assume that this movie has a brisk tempo.After having watched this movie you will know that this assumption was fully justified! James Cagney is playing the choleric manager McNamara outstandingly.His play strongly reminds me of the French actor Louis de Funes,who played choleric characters so often and so convincingly.
Also the other characters give a very good performance.The ever-obedient and submissive Schlemmer (Hans Lothar),the fanatic East German communist Otto Piffl (Horst Buchholz),Mc Namaras sexy secretary Fraulein Ingeborg (Liselotte Pulver),Mc Namaras sarcastic wife Phyllis (Arlene Francis),the members of the Soviet delegation...
Yes,and also Pamela Tiffin.She played the "silly goose" Scarlett Hezeltine (the daughter of McNamaras boss in Atlanta),and she played her convincingly.Yes,some might not like this character,but that only proves that convincing play.
I read that in the original English version she speaks with a deep southern accent,which,I presume,shall underline her character as a silly goose.Maybe that's why some people don't like Pamela Tiffin in this movie.But that's an internal matter of the U.S.
I should say that in the German version of "one,two,three" the East German policemen speak with a Saxonian dialect,although the whole story takes place in Berlin and the policemen would be likely to speak the local dialect "Berlinerisch".Their Saxon dialect is a clear allusion to Walter Ulbricht,the East German political leader at that time,who spoke with a strong Saxon dialect.
What concerns the national stereotypes in this movie: Yes,they are rather dumb for today.By the way,when laughing about the German's obedience in this movie you should be aware that West-Berlin (as well as East Berlin,of course) until 1990 was,different from West-Germany,a pure military regime,where,in principle,the allied commanders had nearly absolute power and the right to decide about everything (in practise the only did it if they saw a need,of course): Who had the right to enter West-Berlin,whether a hill could be used for military purposes etc. McNamaras reaction to the refusal of the West Berlin senate allowing a coca-cola vending machine in their building is an allusion to that...
But don't forget that this movie is from 1961 and at that time the end of the war was only 16 and "Stalins" death only 8 years ago! And don't forget Billy Wilders personal biography.And don't forget,how,for example,South eastern Asians were portrayed in Hollywood at that time (Oh,God...)
And especially-don't forget that this movie was made during the cold war.During the making of "one,two,three" unfortunately the Berlin Wall was erected (the movie mentions that at the beginning) This and all the ensuing personal tragedies surely didn't help promote this movie,and the dangerous showdown between U.S. tanks and Soviet tanks at the newly erected wall two months later eroded the interest in a parody of the cold war.To expect the people in Germany (and elsewhere) to laugh about "one,two,three" at the time the movie was released (end of 1961) is like to expect people in the U.S. and elsewhere laugh about a movie making jokes of Islamist terrorism at the end of 2001,shortly after 9/11.And don't forget,the horrific Cuban crisis was approaching in 1962.
That's the reason,why "one,two,three" is not timeless.I think it's really difficult for younger people putting themselves into its atmosphere,to understand its countless allusions etc. without having experienced the cold war.At least you should have some basic knowledge about the political situation at that time,especially the one in Berlin.
Top Gear (2002)
Top idiocy
Several people believe "top gear" to be funny.But if it is,why does it need an audience which acts like a laughing track?
Well,that's simply because "top gear"s humor isn't as funny at all as its fans talk themselves into believing.
I would like to know,for example,what's so funny with James May saying "Hello,Herr Reichsmarschall Goering" always when Jeremy Clarkson pulls up with a Mercedes? Yes,there might be scenes with Goering sitting in a Mercedes-so,what?
But the worst of "top gear" was the India special.The "top gear" team really tried hard to ridicule India,its customs,its traditions etc. as much as possible.This India special helps you understand why Britons nearly everywhere they ruled formed a society strongly based on racial hierarchy (with Britons on the top,of course)
I wonder why so many people in the Anglo-Saxon hemisphere (especially in England) seem to believe they are allowed to ridicule and even offend all other nationalities on earth,while at the same time believing people of other nationalities ridiculing or even only criticizing them to commit lese-majesty.
Remember the reaction in Britain to the Russian who recently allegedly called Britain a "small Island nobody cares about"? By the way,why are even "movies' like "Birth of a nation" or "Jew Suess" listed in IMDb,but not the movie "Titanic" from 1943? Maybe because the last one commits the worst crime against humanity you can imagine,portraying Britons very negatively?
Jeremy Clarkson is clearly the worst character in "top gear",constantly ridiculing and sometimes offending others,at the same time constantly becoming richer (strange coincidence,isn't it?) It's,by the way,rather boring hearing him complain how "great" Britain once was.Obviously it's quite a hard blow for this jingoistic "patriot" that Britain doesn't have an own automobile production anymore. How else can you explain that he once showed the Hitler salute to a (empty!)German car?
By the way,Jeremy Clarkson can be "funny" outside "top gear" too.For example when he calls people who commit suicide by throwing themselves under a train as "selfish" because that would lead to delays.Or when he "joked" that "strikink public service workers should be shot in front of their families" Isn't that funny? hahahahaha
Well,I think instead all "top gear" viewers should be shot in front of their families.That would make the world at least a less dumb one.Anyone thinking that's not funny? Well,I'm like the "top gear" gang-I (and nobody else) decide whether my jokes are funny.
By the way,for a long time I believed Richard Hammond to be the "good guy" in "top gear"-until I came to know that he described the Mexican national character as "lazy,feckless and flatulent"
I give "top gear" 2 out of 10 only because 1 is reserved for blood-thirsty pieces of crap like "Rambo II".
If anybody wonders why I know about "top gear": My son unfortunately liked to watch it.At that time he was too young to realize the (sometimes rather subtle) offences in "top gear"
What About Bob? (1991)
A Really Outstanding Comedy!
Yes,"Groundhog Day" is an outstanding movie,a masterpiece
Yes,"Vacation" and "Christmas Vacation" are very funny and masterpieces, too.
Yes,Billy Wilder is my favorite film-maker and his movies,especially "Avanti" and "One,Two,Three" are masterpieces not only of comedy,but of cinema.
But I think "What About Bob" would be the one comedy I would choose if I were allowed only to watch one single comedy for the rest of my life.How can that be?
First of all,"What about Bob" is a pure comedy,from the beginning to the end."Groundhog day" is no pure comedy (remember,for example. Bill Murray's different attempts to commit suicide) "Avanti" and "one,two,three" are no pure comedies either (although some might not agree with me) They have obvious political (and other) undertones.
The point is: The story of "What about Bob" is so outstanding funny,that only the story of "Groundhog day" tops it. Other reviews wrote already about this story,so there's no need for me to do it again.
What I,however,want to write about is the performance of the both main actors. Bill Murray played very well-as in "Groundhog day".I read that at first Robin Williams should have taken over the part of Bob Wiley,but,frankly speaking,I can't imagine that he could have replaced Bill Murray properly.
The performance of Richard Dreyfuss however was really outstanding and might have come as a surprise,because Dreyfuss,in contrast to Bill Murray,wasn't known as an excellent comedian.But maybe exactly that was the reason for his excellent play? A weaker performance than Dreyfuss' one (as Dr. Leo Marvin) could have easily spoiled the whole movie,despite the funny story and despite Bill Murray.
The interaction between Bob Wiley and Dr.Leo Marvin is,in my opinion,absolutely essential for this movie.So,very well done,Richard! I read,that Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss didn't get along with each other very well during the making of this movie.Well,this might have additionally improved the mentioned interaction...
Psychotherapists might not like this movie.After all,doesn't this movie make fun of them? Yes of them,and NOT of -let's say "mentally challenged"-people like Bob Wiley.Apart from that I remember Karl Kraus' words "psychoanalysis is exactly the disease which it believes to be the therapy for" One of the highlights of this movie is,in my opinion,the scene with "Good Morning,America" If you were Leo Marvin,could you ever forgive Bob Wiley?
Which raises a question (a good one to be discussed in the forum,in my opinion):Who would you prefer as your neighbor,Bob Wiley or Leo Marvin? It's easy to say "Bob Wiley".After all,this answer makes a good impression-didn't't several reviews portray Leo Marvin as a negative character? However,after giving it a longer thought,I nevertheless would prefer Leo Marvin,because I believe it would be possible to ignore him,if he really was an unpleasant character.However ignoring Bob Wiley...do you really think it would work and that he would ignore YOU?...
National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)
Not bad,but surely not the best Griswold movie
I have to admit that until recently I believed I like this movie as much as "Vacation" and "Christmas Vacation",but I read several negative reviews about it and,after giving them a thought,I have to admit that they partially are right.
Yes,this movie (and especially its stereotypes) is somewhat flat,sometimes even dumb.It's no masterpiece.But it's still worth watching it not only once,but several times.After all,its nevertheless a Griswold movie with Chevy Chase and Beverly d'Angelo!
And I don't agree very much with the many critical comments on Dana Hill and Jason Lively (who played the Griswold's daughter and son)Yes,their characters in the film are annoying,nervy and sometimes obnoxious.But I think that's exactly how kids tend to be at the age both characters are designed to have in the movie.Their characters could be seen as the most realistic part of "European vacation" Maybe some people who watched this movie recognized their own children in these characters.I did,at least partially.As I recognized myself while remembering when I was as young as Rusty is in this movie.
What concerns the national clichés the movie constantly harps upon: Yes,they are rather dumb,and,more important,unequal.It makes an "unbelievably small" difference whether you stereotypically portray people as ultra-polite/sex-loving or as lynch mob/mafiosi. After having had a short look on the director's biography I unfortunately have to suppose that this movie might reflect her personal clichés...
For people who believe these stereotypes to be more or less reliable: At least at the time this movie was released (1985/86) it was the so polite Britons who in Europe had a reputation problem (due to their ultra violent hooligans-remember the Heysel stadium tragedy) Nevertheless the clichés in this movie appear rather harmless,especially regarding the movie's age (if someone wants to watch really dumb national stereotypes,I "recommend" the British "top gear")
Where did the Schuhplattler dance take place IN THE MOVIE? (in reality these scenes were shot in Southern Tyrol,Italy,as you know) Well,I can only say that there are shown many little blue-white flags (blue-white the colors of Bavaria) and red-white flags (red-white the colors of Upper Austria,a federal state of Austria) And there's shown a big German (at that time only West-German!) flag (black-red-gold).So everybody can brood over it,if she or he wants...I suggest a Schuhplattler contest between Bavarian and Upper Austrian towns near the border.
By the way,Hitler's birthplace Braunau is also a town near to the Upper Austrian/Bavarian border.A strange coincidence,isn't it? Therefore I suspect that the oddly high number of flags in this "Schuhplattler-town" is an allusion to the "Reichsparteitag" in Nuremberg...
Finally,what concerns the nudity in this movie: Come on,this is "European vacation" and not "Saudi Arabian vacation"!
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
I really can't imagine a better and funnier Christmas movie
I think it's not necessary to write too much about this film.It's simply a masterpiece.In my opinion only Billy Wilder possibly-POSSIBLY-could have made an even better Christmas movie.For me that says a lot.
This is my second review.The first one was about "Rambo II" It's difficult to imagine something more contrasting than these two movies.
Whereas "Rambo II" represents (and shows) the bad,evil and disgusting things on earth,"Christmas Vacation" represents (and shows) the good,pleasant and beautiful ones.
For example the incredibly beautiful woman in the store.Chevy Chase's reaction is so funny!! And quite understandable as well.Who wouldn't have reacted similarly...
All characters-really ALL-in the movie are played excellently. Yes,also Audrey's.Juliette Lewis had to play the same character as,for example,Pamela Tiffin in "one,two three"-more or less a silly goose.
It's quite understandable If you don't like such characters-but-as in the case of "one,two,three"-why blame the actors for playing them convincingly? By the way,Griswold's yuppie neighbors also don't make a very pleasant impression- because (not although) they are played so well.
For me-and obviously for many others too-Christmas without "Christmas Vacation" cannot be a real Christmas.I would like to watch it more often than once a year,but I have the-unjustified,many may say-fear of liking this masterpiece somewhat less if I watch it "too" often.
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Trigger-happiness at its worst
This "film" unfortunately is an absolute must for EVERYBODY in the world-who dislikes or even hates the U.S. (for fans of conspiracy theories:Is it possible that bin Laden-with great foresight-committed this "film" to motivate his followers many years later??)
"Films" like "Rambo II" (as well as "science magazines" like "myth busters") seem to refute the cliché of U.S.-Americans liking shooting and bombing,only showing that they seem to be obsessed with it.
But even worse,the way Vietnamese and Soviets are shown (and mercilessly killed in huge numbers)) in this "film" is more than disgusting and absolutely resembles not the "normal",but the worst Nazi propaganda.I suppose Joseph Goebbels would have been unhappy with such a primitive piece of crap.
I really wonder what would have happened if in Germany had been made such a "film"-with a German Rambo trying to liberate German POW still captured in the Soviet Union (or even in the U.S.-remember Bernhard Gaertner).The (justified) outcry "Nazis,Nazis,Nazis" would have been so foreseeable...
All these sandpit warriors who like "Rambo II" don't seem to know what a real war means.I presume they would belong to the first who "evaporate" as soon as the first grenade is exploding near to them.
And they should learn that war in Vietnam for the U.S. soldiers-quite contrary to the Vietnamese- even wasn't a real war.Nine out of ten didn't actively take part in fighting,and what concerns the losses-enough to say that the Soviet Union during World War II lost as many soldiers in only one week as the U.S. lost during nearly ten years.
"Rambo II" should never have been committed.This "film" is not only a shame for the U.S.,but for the whole mankind.It should be treated like the worst Nazi propaganda films-available only to selected people: Historians,neurologists etc.
Some might not like this review.I recommend Ronald Reagan's "love it or leave it". Ronald Reagan,that's the famous actor who,after an outstanding career,happened to be president of the U.S. at the time "Rambo II" was committed,constantly referring to the Vietnam war as a "noble cause".Strange coincidence,isn't it?