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markoparabucki
Reviews
Disturbing Behavior (1998)
Decent late night fun
I caught this film on a late night TV slot (around 1:00). Since it was an evening of surprisingly watchable movies up until then (Michael Chrictons 'Runaway' & Clint Eastwoods 'White hunter, black heart') this mix of teeny horror and x-files type paranoia sci-fi was just the kind of icing on the cake I needed before finally calling it a night.
Even though it obviously suffers from some plot holes and studio interference, I must say that I still found it much better than other late 90's 'Scream' influenced (and included) teen horror revival stuff. Sci-fi element was, even though lacking in any deeper explanation, believable enough, especially the part with problems arising due to puberty related hormone/neurotransmitter surges (i.e. Lorna's sexual turn violent outburst at Steve's house) etc.
All in all, not really a shining example of cinematic art but still bearable enough for a late night entertainment.
Top Hat (1935)
Pleasant Surprise
First of all, I must make clear that, even though I have loved good cinema for quite some time, haven't really qualified as being a movie buff. This especially shows in my lacking knowledge of 'classic Hollywood' material, which is something I've started to work on lately.
My pick for an introduction to the musical form ended up being 'Top Hat' (not that I've never watched a musical before, yet I never really payed much attention to them), and beyond all better judgement, I must say that I was entirely pleased with it. Dancing was excellent, songs were good & the script featuring 'mistaken identity' formula entertaining enough not to make a second of the film boring (& three characters bearing the burden of comedy - Blore, Rhodes & Horton were absolutely magnificent).
Now, as a side note, watching such films makes me wonder 'what happened to US cinema?' and why modern Hollywood is incapable of producing such, if not masterworks of art, than at least examples of great craftmanship (which 'Top Hat' & say Frank Capra films - ie. Lost Horizont most definitely are)? Is this age of unpretentious little gems gone forever?