I have heard of Bill Hicks sporadically (maybe because I don't get out much and I have been away for such a long time), so I wanted to know a bit more about his life (and his too early death).
The film (and his life's story) is especially impressive, hearing of his accomplishments at such a young age as a comedian. Of course the story goes on to cover his adulthood, which I found a bit less interesting, perhaps because I had previously had some knowledge of his work at that age, and it wasn't new to me.
If you have heard any of his work, you know he is not only funny, but really had something to say. There are lessons to be learned from him and he should not be forgotten.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The World of Suzie Wong
My motivation for watching this film was rather misguided, as looked up information on French Nuyen, to see what she had done, besides the Star Trek episode "Elann of Troyius" and mistakenly believed that she and William Shatner stared in this film. But as it turns out, they were both in the stage version of this film. Still, this film version featured Nancy Kwan, who gave a wonderful performance, and played a rambunctious character who I found impossible not to like (though it seemed like she would be a lot of trouble to have around).
The film appeared to have quite a few shots of actual Hong Kong, but not enough to give you a strong overall impression of the city. It also featured some Chinese cutural aspects, which hopefully cause the viewer to be a bit more culturally enlightened and broadminded.
The story is okay, but I was greatly impressed with the main characters moral integrity, and considering the time this film was made, it's impressive on the part of the writers as well. While all other other characters are looking down on the Chinese race, it seems only the main character doesn't falsely believe in his own races superiority.
Unfortunately, the ending of the story takes a big (though rather expected) twist and takes a kind of lighthearted story into bit of gloomy direction. I think this solultion may have be written in to resolve what could be a potential impediment to the main character's romance (similar to that faced in South Pacific).
The film appeared to have quite a few shots of actual Hong Kong, but not enough to give you a strong overall impression of the city. It also featured some Chinese cutural aspects, which hopefully cause the viewer to be a bit more culturally enlightened and broadminded.
The story is okay, but I was greatly impressed with the main characters moral integrity, and considering the time this film was made, it's impressive on the part of the writers as well. While all other other characters are looking down on the Chinese race, it seems only the main character doesn't falsely believe in his own races superiority.
Unfortunately, the ending of the story takes a big (though rather expected) twist and takes a kind of lighthearted story into bit of gloomy direction. I think this solultion may have be written in to resolve what could be a potential impediment to the main character's romance (similar to that faced in South Pacific).
South Pacific
Another musical which I have known the name well, but had never seen.
This musical features excellent music that we have all heard countless times including "One Enchanted Evening" and "I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair", which you may recall from a Clairol commercial, with one word changed. The song Bali Hai, is simply mystical and enchanting.
The film itself was quite good, featuring a excellent cast, gorgeous scenery as well as the aforementioned music. The story was a bit simple and the moral question the main female character faces is would be a non issue in our current society. I also was troubled by the needless death of one of the characters, but I guess it's hard to question, as such is the result of war.
It just happened that Juanita Hall played a prominate role in this film, as well as the proceeding film I watched, Flower Drum Song. Both performance were excellent, though I didn't realize that it was the same actress until I looked her up in wikipedia after watching this film. I think she did a great job of recreating a Polynesian accent (though I have never heard one, and they may no longer exist) that sounded plausible.
Also in a small role this film featured French Nuyen, who appeared in and episode of Star Trek "Elann of Troyius", and was the mistaken motivation for the viewing of my next film.
This musical features excellent music that we have all heard countless times including "One Enchanted Evening" and "I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair", which you may recall from a Clairol commercial, with one word changed. The song Bali Hai, is simply mystical and enchanting.
The film itself was quite good, featuring a excellent cast, gorgeous scenery as well as the aforementioned music. The story was a bit simple and the moral question the main female character faces is would be a non issue in our current society. I also was troubled by the needless death of one of the characters, but I guess it's hard to question, as such is the result of war.
It just happened that Juanita Hall played a prominate role in this film, as well as the proceeding film I watched, Flower Drum Song. Both performance were excellent, though I didn't realize that it was the same actress until I looked her up in wikipedia after watching this film. I think she did a great job of recreating a Polynesian accent (though I have never heard one, and they may no longer exist) that sounded plausible.
Also in a small role this film featured French Nuyen, who appeared in and episode of Star Trek "Elann of Troyius", and was the mistaken motivation for the viewing of my next film.
Flower Drum Song
Continuing on, as with the previous film, I had heard the title of this song, but never seen the film. In fact, after watching the film I had never even heard most of the songs, though I think I may have heard the song "The Other Generation" once or twice. The song, "Love, Look Away" is excellent and I am surprised it hasn't gotten more attention.
One odd thing about the film is that 3 of the four stars are Japanese (well two Japanese American and one from Japan) playing a Chinese character roll with the other actress being the half Chinese and half Scottish Nancy Kwan, who has immeasurable appeal in this film, and perhaps all her films.
I was very impressed to see the "typical" life of Chinese American's speaking without accents. And even more impressed for them to included a Chinese character who had just arrived, speaking with an accent. The film didn't give in to the preconception that all Asians (and Asian Americans) speak with an accent, nor did to attempt to completely erase that fact that some do. This seems like and extremely enlightened view for the time this film was made and it's surprising that even in current times some non Asians retain this faulty preconception.
The film is colorful and enjoyable, though some what lacking in memorable songs. Also, felt the Mei Li was not particularly interesting, nor did I see any motivation for the romance between the two main characters.
One odd thing about the film is that 3 of the four stars are Japanese (well two Japanese American and one from Japan) playing a Chinese character roll with the other actress being the half Chinese and half Scottish Nancy Kwan, who has immeasurable appeal in this film, and perhaps all her films.
I was very impressed to see the "typical" life of Chinese American's speaking without accents. And even more impressed for them to included a Chinese character who had just arrived, speaking with an accent. The film didn't give in to the preconception that all Asians (and Asian Americans) speak with an accent, nor did to attempt to completely erase that fact that some do. This seems like and extremely enlightened view for the time this film was made and it's surprising that even in current times some non Asians retain this faulty preconception.
The film is colorful and enjoyable, though some what lacking in memorable songs. Also, felt the Mei Li was not particularly interesting, nor did I see any motivation for the romance between the two main characters.
Music Man
I grew up with several records of 60's musicals, and have seen a number of those films. Still there were a few that I had heard of, but never really listened to the music nor ever seen the films.
It is for that reason I added a few of those films, who's names I have known so well to my list of films to watch.
Music Man was an enjoyable enough film, with a few memorable tunes, especially "76 Trombones" and "Ya Got Trouble". As I said, the film was enjoyable enough, but I didn't get a strong feeling for the characters (I guess that is typical for musicals) nor did I feel that there was a real love in any of the brewing romance.
It was really good to see Buddy Hacket, as I only recall seeing him in "The Love Bug" and as the voice of scuttle in The Little Mermaid. He has an interesting personality on film, but his bungling tenancies are completely absent in this film. Also it was good to see Shirley Jones, who I only recall from the Partridge Family and also Ron Howard in one of his earliest roles.
It is for that reason I added a few of those films, who's names I have known so well to my list of films to watch.
Music Man was an enjoyable enough film, with a few memorable tunes, especially "76 Trombones" and "Ya Got Trouble". As I said, the film was enjoyable enough, but I didn't get a strong feeling for the characters (I guess that is typical for musicals) nor did I feel that there was a real love in any of the brewing romance.
It was really good to see Buddy Hacket, as I only recall seeing him in "The Love Bug" and as the voice of scuttle in The Little Mermaid. He has an interesting personality on film, but his bungling tenancies are completely absent in this film. Also it was good to see Shirley Jones, who I only recall from the Partridge Family and also Ron Howard in one of his earliest roles.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Stateside
WTF. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why put this film on my list. The only thing I could possibly guess was that Carrie Fisher was briefly in the film. There is a small possibility that Penny Marshal appearance in the film may have some influence on my adding it to the list.
Anyhow, the film was rather unclear as to what it was trying to do. While I object to films that spell everything out for you, it was difficult to follow from the start which characters were relevant. The characters never showed an initiative, just sort of stumbling through the events that shaped their lives, often going in odd directions that never seemed to be inspired by any sort of motivation.
Anyhow, the film was rather unclear as to what it was trying to do. While I object to films that spell everything out for you, it was difficult to follow from the start which characters were relevant. The characters never showed an initiative, just sort of stumbling through the events that shaped their lives, often going in odd directions that never seemed to be inspired by any sort of motivation.
L'il Pimp
The title alone is enough to give you an odd feeling about this film. I was partially motivated to see this film because I read that Hollywood had disowned it, which is often a sign unbridled free thought of and a lack of commercialization. Also, the cast included actors whose work I have enjoyed, most prominently, William Shatner, but also featuring Jennifer Tilly, who I remember from Moving Violations. I guess I should also mention that Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants) also voices some characters in this film, but I doubt that would have any much influence my decision to watch this film. (Though I still have great respect for Tom Kenny, and voice actors in general)
As I have said elsewhere, I am a big fan of animated films, and I found this film by googling the terms "strange animated films", and once I found out it was rejected by Hollywood I had to see it for myself.
Unfortunately, I have had trouble finding anything redeeming about this film. The animation is that which is pretty typical of recent Saturday morning cartoons, flat characters with limited animations (often only animating the part of the character that moves, so the body will be like a cardboard cut out, with only the lips moving) and computer rendered, color-by-numbers look, giving no shades or shadows. Also, the characters are drawn in a simple style, as is typical of Saturday morning cartoons as well. This detracts from the film two fold, as it lacks style, but also this film seems to want to show cartoon sexualization, like Bakshi, but ends up with characters that don't have any sexual appeal.
The main character is some what of a typical little boy, who is reminiscent of Butters, on the TV show South Park. He tries to do what adults ask of him, but also picks up words from those people around him and ends up getting involved in situations that his mother objects to.
I would assume this film was supposed to be entertaining in some way, but found it neither funny nor were the characters intriguing.
As I have said elsewhere, I am a big fan of animated films, and I found this film by googling the terms "strange animated films", and once I found out it was rejected by Hollywood I had to see it for myself.
Unfortunately, I have had trouble finding anything redeeming about this film. The animation is that which is pretty typical of recent Saturday morning cartoons, flat characters with limited animations (often only animating the part of the character that moves, so the body will be like a cardboard cut out, with only the lips moving) and computer rendered, color-by-numbers look, giving no shades or shadows. Also, the characters are drawn in a simple style, as is typical of Saturday morning cartoons as well. This detracts from the film two fold, as it lacks style, but also this film seems to want to show cartoon sexualization, like Bakshi, but ends up with characters that don't have any sexual appeal.
The main character is some what of a typical little boy, who is reminiscent of Butters, on the TV show South Park. He tries to do what adults ask of him, but also picks up words from those people around him and ends up getting involved in situations that his mother objects to.
I would assume this film was supposed to be entertaining in some way, but found it neither funny nor were the characters intriguing.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Waiting for Superman
This film is certainly not old, and the first thing that attracted me to it was the word "Superman" in the title. Honestly, this movie didn't make a big impression on me, as it's main point was pretty clear but didn't need a whole film to communicate: Teacher's Unions make it exceptionally hard to fire poor (performance wise) teachers, and those teachers have a great negative impact on students. While that is certainly a relevant point and one that needs to be addressed immediately, the film as a whole was less informative. It's almost like the film "Teachers" with the limited entertainment value of that film sucked out (yes, I rewatched that film again about a year ago)
Yes,"Waiting for Superman" did well with showing real kids and the showing how families struggle to get their diligent and hard working kids into a school which will allow them to reach their full potential. It's certainly ironic that the only child who was accepted to the better school was the white girl who already had a perfectly decent school available to her.
Yes,"Waiting for Superman" did well with showing real kids and the showing how families struggle to get their diligent and hard working kids into a school which will allow them to reach their full potential. It's certainly ironic that the only child who was accepted to the better school was the white girl who already had a perfectly decent school available to her.
From Here to Eternity
I have heard the title of this movie countless times, but I am still not exactly sure why I added to my list of movies to watch. It might have been from watching Hollywoodland, and hearing that George Reeves was in it, or maybe I heard the Ernest Borgnine was in it (though it was surprise to me when I watched the film). Perhaps it was since I have heard that the famous beach scene was filmed in Hawaii, but I was also surprised to see that the film was completely set in Hawaii. And I didn't know the film was about the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor (though I kind of guessed, since it was a film about soldiers in Hawaii) I was also surprised to find out that the whole film was black and white.
Anyhow, the film didn't leave a big impression on me. The story was good and the acting was excellent (basically meaning the characters made me interested in them), but I wasn't particularly impressed with the fate of the characters. Their fate were pretty much unjustified (but I guess that is how the author wanted it to be) as each character could have easily avoided their final circumstances. I was particularly troubled by the ending of the relationship between Karen and St Warden, as there was no reason for them to break up, especially as Karen was in a worthless relationship with her husband.
I have seen the beach where that famous scene was filmed, and I know how small it is, but I expected it would look larger on film. Perhaps to someone who hadn't actually seen the beach in person it may have seemed larger on film, but to me it just seemed cramped.
I guess it is understandable, since it is a film about soldiers in Hawaii, but he film completely neglected the local culture in Hawaii, giving me the impression that the film wasn't set in Hawaii. I commend the producers for actually filming in Hawaii, but if they had filmed it on a stage, I don't think it would have drastically altered the viewers perception of the film.
Anyhow, the film didn't leave a big impression on me. The story was good and the acting was excellent (basically meaning the characters made me interested in them), but I wasn't particularly impressed with the fate of the characters. Their fate were pretty much unjustified (but I guess that is how the author wanted it to be) as each character could have easily avoided their final circumstances. I was particularly troubled by the ending of the relationship between Karen and St Warden, as there was no reason for them to break up, especially as Karen was in a worthless relationship with her husband.
I have seen the beach where that famous scene was filmed, and I know how small it is, but I expected it would look larger on film. Perhaps to someone who hadn't actually seen the beach in person it may have seemed larger on film, but to me it just seemed cramped.
I guess it is understandable, since it is a film about soldiers in Hawaii, but he film completely neglected the local culture in Hawaii, giving me the impression that the film wasn't set in Hawaii. I commend the producers for actually filming in Hawaii, but if they had filmed it on a stage, I don't think it would have drastically altered the viewers perception of the film.
Strange Old Movies
I often find movies that I intend to watch, sometimes I read an interesting article about the film (like the film was shunned by Hollywood, is a title that I have heard a thousand times but never seen). These movies are not always old nor strange, but I have a mental list of these films and I eventually get around to watching them. I thought it would be interesting to write about the odd variety of films I watch.
I generally prefer watching films that either teach me something so they are educational to a degree (not in the way you learn about math, but that say something about American life, such as problems in the system, or films that show something about the world and a times I watch films just for entertainment value, but I am not entertained by action scenes and lots of explosions. It has to be a kind of thinking man's film for it to keep my interest.
I also was watching a lot of animated movies about a year ago, because I find animated film's creativity is not stifled. But I watched so many of them (including EVERY SINGLE Disney animated theatrical feature ever produced) that my list of animated films to watch is now empty. I have seen a lot of odd animated films, including the French "Time Masters", The Brave Little Toaster and Interstella 5555 among others. I have been unable to sit through only one of Bakshi's films, Wizards, because I found the animation style unappealing, character's uninteresting and story not intriguing, I haven't bothered with his other films. Also, he likes to attempt to make sexy characters, but I always find they completely lack any appeal, perhaps because they have been so cartoonized.
I generally prefer watching films that either teach me something so they are educational to a degree (not in the way you learn about math, but that say something about American life, such as problems in the system, or films that show something about the world and a times I watch films just for entertainment value, but I am not entertained by action scenes and lots of explosions. It has to be a kind of thinking man's film for it to keep my interest.
I also was watching a lot of animated movies about a year ago, because I find animated film's creativity is not stifled. But I watched so many of them (including EVERY SINGLE Disney animated theatrical feature ever produced) that my list of animated films to watch is now empty. I have seen a lot of odd animated films, including the French "Time Masters", The Brave Little Toaster and Interstella 5555 among others. I have been unable to sit through only one of Bakshi's films, Wizards, because I found the animation style unappealing, character's uninteresting and story not intriguing, I haven't bothered with his other films. Also, he likes to attempt to make sexy characters, but I always find they completely lack any appeal, perhaps because they have been so cartoonized.
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