“A mound of petty ideas”
Full bore one of the most stunning parade of images ever committed to film; a 1970 movie that looks decades ahead of its time, with bits and pieces referenced years later in everything from The Godfather to Possession. Tragedy and irony are the main emblems of this story, but a heavy dose of eroticism makes the tragic all the more alluring. Dominique Sanda with her thumbs in her pockets and a cigarette dangling out of her mouth is one of the primary images of the 70’s.
Nearly as many trenchcoats and sunglasses as NEMESIS, and all with the added bonus of miniaturization. Jackie Earle Haley really goes off on this one, playing it deathly serious and to the hilt, all while enunciating in an Andrew Dice Clay accent. Way fewer gags than you would think, but the Dollman does like to say "Fat Boy" a lot.
Well edited and paced, with the progression of offenses sometimes only hinted at by a well-timed cut or montage. Really not a movie for any decent human being to enjoy, but the homoeroticism and the Jeanne Moreau sequence creeps over into territory that could be labeled “sweet”, like a shortened version of Y Tu Mama Tambien….that ends horribly. Someone calls Depardieu “revolting” which is a good summation of this film’s content as well as his entire career.
When the kids see him pull up in the convertible and shout “Cab Calloway!” like Nelson Muntz seeing Andy Williams >>>>>>
An extremely ugly film, in both gross 20th Century CGI and godawful 90's metal music that anchor a story that's more engaging that the accoutrements would let on. The hand drawn animation of the original and the "metal" songs in the first one both look absolutely masterful compared to the sludge-look of this newer one; this is also not an anthology, but one long story, which might turn some off. There's a very funny out-of-nowhere last minute twist and Michael Ironside repeatedly talking about his precious "ampules" that fuel his life-force, so it's not a total waste.
While it hasn't really worked in the other movies I've seen him in, Zalman King's anti-charisma does work in his favor here, as a sometimes catatonic/sometimes manic man-on-the-run. While it is funny that the dosed guy is immobilized by loud noises, I'm concerned this was trying to have some kind of anti-disco messaging going on, which I really can't support.
I think this hits just the right notes to keep it from being too cloying or too self-indulgent; a nice piece of myth deconstruction with some amiable performances all around. The re-staging of Welles's Caesar is enough to make this more than a curious distraction.
Considering this came out 3 years after the introduction of Pepe Le Pew, I guess this is sort of ripping it off but Tex Avery makes this so funny that you could hardly care. This avoids a lot of the "problems" that plague Pepe Le Pew as the Little Tinker is just a lovelorn skunk who's easily put off once rejected, but another curveball here is that a good portion of the jokes in this are making fun of how thin Frank Sinatra was.
Wasn't expecting a lot beyond a simple melodrama but the visuals and set design are straight out of a gothic horror or even a Universal monster movie, but being used to enhance a gothic romance instead. Good performance from Cooper as the tortured Ibbetson.
I was fully prepared for the farting but was not prepared for the pants-shitting. Even with all this scatological surface, Ozu still finds time to contemplate the destruction of town gossip and the desperation of growing older and still searching for love that has meaning beyond frivolous pleasantries.