I think most people have a certain fondness for things they grew up with, and I must confess I have a profound fondness for the fantasy films of the 80's and early 90's. I love pretty much everything from the more legitimate fantasy pictures like WILLOW or THE DARK CRYSTAL to the utterly ridiculous ones like SUPER MARIO BROS. I hadn't seen BOGUS JOURNEY since it's initial theatrical run when I was 8 years old, so I had no idea what to expect. What I saw fell into the same category as SUPER MARIO BROS., and I loved it to pieces.

The ultra-short featurette on the DVD, produced during the film's production, begins with an introduction from director Peter Hewitt (paraphrased): "It's probably the most ridiculous film ever made. Bill and Ted walking around with Death and a couple of aliens? It's complete nonsense." It is indeed. The wonderfully ludicrous story is that a madman from the future sends evil robot versions of Bill and Ted back and time to kill them and ruin the past. Bill and Ted die, run from the Grim Reaper, haunt around town for a few scenes, then are sent to a tremendously realized version of hell. After running around hell for a while, they challenge Death (Sadler, complete with a Swedish accent ) to a contest to be brought back to life. Instead of chess, they play Battleship, Clue, table hockey, and Twister. After he is beaten each time, Death concedes defeat and takes Bill and Ted to heaven (which is far less interesting than hell) where God directs them to a place where they find a couple of dead alien scientists who agree to come to earth and build good robot versions of Bill and Ted to battle the evil robot versions. They do so, and Death tags along for some reason.

If you analyze anything in this film, you'll find a hole in every scene. But I love stuff like this. The hell sequence is undoubtedly the best part of the film. The production design is by David Snyder of PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE, and hell is extremely reminscent of the darker portions of that film (especially the clown dream). It's really fantastic. It's unfortunate that he didn't put as much effort into designing heaven, which consists of some white walls, a few pillars and a couple of matte paintings.

I don't understand why this one isn't shown on TV nearly as much as its predecessor. I think it's just as enjoyable. I know in reality it's really not that good, but I'll probably love it forever. If you like these ridiculous fantasy films, this is a great one.

Despite the strong presence of rock music in Bill & Ted's lives, the film's soundtrack is mostly score-driven, and it's another first-rate effort from this Newman.

I go from a great ridiculous late 80's/early 90's fantasy movie to a throwback to great ridiculous late 80's/early 90's fantasy movies. MYSTERY MEN was almost universally despised upon its release, but I had a good time. It really does hearken back to the wonderfully ludicrous fantasy films I talked about in my BILL & TED post above, and that's probably why I liked it so much. But there was also some clever writing delivered by a really great cast. Not surprisingly, William H. Macy's character is the most endearing, though everyone turns in a memorable performance and makes their character stand out.

I'm pretty confident this movie would have been much more well-received if it had been released in 2002 or 2003, in our post-Spider-Man comic-book-movie-saturated market. If that were the case, it probably would have enjoyed the same level of success that SCARY MOVIE did (and unlike that film, it would have deserved it). I hope it at least becomes a cult classic.

The score is far more cohesive than you would expect considering the three composers involved. I don't know who did what, but it succeeded in aiding the late 80's/early 90's feel. I'm fairly certain David Newman's THE PHANTOM was used in the temp score a lot.

This was pretty bad. Finally went to see it with a few friends because of the 3-D. We watched the first two beforehand. The first one is a pretty delightful kids' flick with some clever jokes and neat ideas. The second one had some redeeming aspects, but was overall disappointing. This one, though, is just plain bad.

Okay, there are a few good points. Sylvester Stallone is actually really good here, having a great time letting loose and generating a lot of laughs. Ricardo Montalban can make the most mundane sentence in the world sound majestic, and it's always great to see him in anything. Elijah Wood and George Clooney both have really funny cameos.

But wow, this is just a bad, bad movie. I don't nomrally like to criticize child actors, but even by those standards Daryl Sabara is outstandingly bad, and he has to carry the entire movie. Rodriguez is known for making big movies quickly and at low costs, but this is the first one that feels just as rushed and just as cheap as it really was, and setting the whole thing inside a video game isn't a great way to compensate for having no heart and a really sorry batch of special effects.

I guess kids could get into this, but I think most of them would rather play a video game than watch someone else play one. The last scene in which every single character from the past two movies shows up for two seconds and does absolutely nothing got really old really fast, and the lesson Rodriguez tries to pull out of thin air in the last two seconds is forced, sudden, and has no chance whatsoever of sinking in with any of the younger crowd it's supposed to speak to.

I just saw the intriguing ANYTHING ELSE, and although I like it, I feel it ultimately falls short of what it's trying to accomplish.

I think George Lucas and Woody Allen are in the same boat at this point in their careers. They've both been making films recently that are far below the standards they set with the films that made them famous. But with ANYTHING ELSE, Allen shows that he, at the very least, is trying to recapture the old magic, which is far more than I can say for Lucas.

This seems to me to be a very personal film for Woody, one in which I feel he is playing with the image of himself that many share of the pretentious, self-important loon. Here, I think, the audience is supposed to find Jerry (Biggs) pretentious when he uses the word "neoteric" instead of just saying "modern." After all, by that time we've already witnessed the scene where he meets Amanda (Ricci), and we've seen how he alters himself in order to gain her admiration.

And Woody has cast himself in one of the most far-out roles he's ever taken. His Dobel character goes far beyond neurotic, and is instead flat-out crazy. He's a sad, bitter old man who is still dreaming of the same things he dreamt of when he was Biggs's age, but he's just become too wrapped up in his own eccentricity to act them out. In that way, Dobel is essentially Allen himself, a man trying to be something he stopped being years ago when he became trapped in his own persona and found it impossible to break free.

Unfortunately, I still don't think it's a great movie. It's the type of thing I admire more for what it tries to do rather than what it actually does. But I certainly hope he keeps trying.

Biggs is okay here, but I felt he needed a little more personality to carry the film. Though not bad by any means, I felt he was the weakest actor in the film. Ricci, Stockard Channing, Danny DeVito, and even Jimmy Fallon (though his role is VERY small) all have a better time with Allen's unmistakable writing.

One last thing I found very interesting (and Dylan mentioned something like this in his comments) was that although the theater I was in was comprised primarily of teenagers, surprisingly the character they seemed to respond to the strongest was Dobel. He got far more laughs than anyone else in the film, and though I'll grant that his scenes are the craziest, there were plenty of funny moments with the rest of the cast as well. But somehow the audience always seemed to be holding their breath until Woody showed up on screen again. This goes completely contrary to what I would expect. I might venture that perhaps he simply wrote himself the best bits, except that I didn't find his scenes innately more funny than others.

Very interesting indeed. Not great, but I was very glad to see it. If you like Allen's earlier work but have grown weary (or wary) of his recent films, this one is definitely worth seeing. But if you're among those who have gone past weary and grown contemptuous, there's probably not enough here to make you question that feeling. (Go see LOST IN TRANSLATION instead!)

There's a line at the end of the film (if I remember correctly, it's the last thing you hear Dobel say) that says a lot about Woody Allen himself, and seems to be speaking to the numbers of people who find him pretentious. He tells Jerry that a lot of people will tell him how to live his life, and he should accept that graciously but do his own thing. (Read: I don't care if you don't like me.) "When you're right, go for originality, but if you have to steal, steal from the right people." Like Antonioni or Fellini, right Woody?

Apparently this film had the lowest opening weekend in Allen's career. That really is a shame, because although I wouldn't expect or necessarily want it to be a hit, it at least deserves to do a lot better than his last few films have done. At least this tells Dreamworks that their for-the-love-of-God-don't-mention-Woody-Allen marketing strategy didn't work.

That means all of YOU, people! I expect to see these threads filled to the brim with posts about LOST IN TRANSLATION, got it?

Dylan, THE TIN DRUM sounds wonderful! I'll have to see if I can locate that anywhere...

Graham, thanks for the recommendations. Like I said, LUCÍA Y EL SEXO didn't sit right with me, but it was certainly interesting enough that I'd like to see more of Medem's work.

Thank you very much for the VERY entertaining reviews. I also have a soft spot for the "Bill and Ted" films (some good memories of years ago!), though I can't say I love them. "The Seventh Seal" bit as well as the flashback sequences in hell (particularly the bunny) in "Bogus Journey" are great elements. I would've liked for that film to have had some stop-motion, but I believe it was already an expensive film and stop-motion would've more than sky-rocketed the budget. It would've fit in nicely though. I do believe "Bogus Journey" is better than the first one, "Excellent Adventure."

It sounds like I liked "Anything Else" more than you did (I personally LOVED it), but I enjoyed your review, and I am very glad you saw it and had a rather good viewing experiance. I'm personally very disappointed that "Anything Else" didn't do well, I was really hoping it would be a big hit and it would introduce Woody Allen to a new generation. I guess Jason Biggs fans were turned off by the trailer (the trailer was full of annoyingly obvious modern trailer cliches...that Four Tops song "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" is SO over-used in romantic comedies and especially trailers, and it has nothing to do with the feel of this movie...but at least they didn't use "Higher and Higher" as well....I also must mentioned the poster for the movie, which made it look similar in feel to a movie like Mandy Moore's "How to Deal"), and it probably went entirely un-noticed by most Woody Allen fans, and I wouldn't be surprised if most of his usual audience were turned off by the Woody-less trailer. Also, it was rated R...I guess the brief drug use got it that rating? Things sure have changed since "Annie Hall." Yep, the Dreamworks marketing strategy certainly had a complete backfire, just like Fox's Monekeybone trailer, which was basically "Lets make this look like 'Dude Where's My Car' and 'American Pie'"

I'll be seeing "American Splendor" and "Lost in Translation" eventually (the latter hasn't came here yet).

It is possible that "The Tin Drum" will appeal to you, I believe you're the kind of person who would likely grasp it, but I can't be entirely sure. Do check it out if you can, I look forward to whatever reaction you have to it.

And yes, I was refering to Wes Anderson's "Bottle Rocket" a few posts back. I can't say I cared for that film, but it had some elements I greatly enjoyed, and some very fine scenes.

Dylan

This is likely the finest make-believe documentary that I have ever seen. The setting is a rundown Medieval Roman chapel, now an oratorio where an orchestra gathers. A television crew is making a documentary about this orchestra (while the orchestra is dealing with a union dispute). The bulk of the film's first half focuses on individual musicians, many of whom reminisce about their first encounter with the instrument they play. When the musicians talk about their instrument, they often share thoughtful and stimulating metaphors about the meaning and the function of their instrument. There are a few times during the film where the action is interrupted by a large rumble in the building. We don't know what this is exactly until the end of the film. The film transforms from poetic, to pure comical delight, to complete chaos, to lyrical beauty when the musicians play the music.

Composer Nino Rota's contribution was an immense one. He composed all of the pieces the musicians play in the film, and I believe they the music is absolutely wonderful (my personal favorite of Rota's compositions for "Orchestra Rehearsal" being the final piece the orchestra performs). This was the last time Rota scored a Fellini film, he died the next year.

I also must comment on the top-notch cinematography, which is quintessentially Felliniesque (ex. incredible long shots of the orchestra playing, shots of musicians lined up in very particular angles, and a couple of sweeping pans).

Anybody who loves orchestral music will like this film to some degree. I happen to immensely love Fellini, Rota, AND orchestral music, so for me, this film is nothing short of absolutely marvelous entertainment!

Dylan
NP: Orchestra Rehearsal (Nino Rota)

Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Screenplay by Richard Matheson
Photography by Floyd Crosby
Music by Les Baxter

Main Cast: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone, Joe E. Brown, Joyce Jameson, Rhubarb the cat

A greedy undertaker and his hapless assistant drum up a bit of business for themselves.

Richard Matheson incorporates some ideas from his earlier Poe/ Corman scripts into THE COMEDY OF TERRORS, but with the accent so much on the comedy that it makes THE RAVEN look like THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER. Vincent Price's already flamboyant acting style is pushed to extremes here. Dear old Boris Karloff is actually funnier as the senile old git, but best of all is Peter Lorre just playing deadpan.

The trouble with the film is that, although everybody seems to be having a great time, it's all so desperately forced. With a cast and crew like this, I can't not like the film, but my head tells me it's a thin pantomime indeed.

Directed by Orson Welles
Screenplay by Anthony Veiller, from a story by Victor Trivas and Decia Dunning
Photography by Russell Metty
Music by Bronislaw Kaper

Main Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Orson Welles, Loretta Young, Philip Merivale, Richard Long, Konstantin Shayne

Allied War Crimes detective tracks nasty Nazi to the USA, where he has set up a new life for himself as a respectable prep school teacher.

I was sufficiently impressed by THE STRANGER, though it probably doesn't really stand up to too much scrutiny. There are infantile moments and plot developments (for example, I found Edward G's psychology-based predictions about "what the murderer's going to do next" a bit ho hum). But it's also got it's fair share of inspired scenes (Welles desperately burying the body whilst still decked out in his wedding gear; the classic, gripping, clock-tower finale), and it's strikingly shot from beginning to end in crisp, shadowy b and w. And Welles' typically eccentric performance is magnetic (even narcissistic, with all those close-ups of his brooding profile).

It's a good movie, but in my humble opinion it's fatally flawed. I loved all the obsessive plot detail during the first half, the accumulation of incriminating evidence against Ed G etc, but I felt it wrong to subsequently shift the evidence over to the Joan Bennett character and her dealings with slimy, lanky, monkey-faced blackmailer Dan Diarrhea. And I didn't know how to read the fact that they got away with it in the end - I mean, this is all Ed G's imaginings anyway (which kind of makes criticism redundant). It's a straightforward movie on the surface, but there are some niggling ambiguities in there which I'll have to iron out before I'm satisfied.

Arthur Lange gets sole music credit on-screen, but at least some of it was by Hugo Friedhofer - I recognised his style throughout - excellent score. I think both composers were Oscar-nominated for this, though they lost out to Miklos Rozsa's SPELLBOUND.

THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW (USA 1944)

Directed by Fritz Lang
Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson
Photography by Milton Krasner
Music by Arthur Lange and Hugo Friedhofer

"Our real lives are in our dreams, but sometimes dreams are a fatal abyss."

That line above is one of the most beautiful lines I've ever heard in any film. This 1951 comedy feature is free of Fellini's quintessential surrealist vision but filled with the delights of idiosyncratic imagery, genius comical precision, and indisputable humanity.

The film opens in Rome, where a newlywed small-town couple is vacationing on their honeymoon. While in Rome, the (very) young bride takes advantage of being near the location where a new film is being shot that stars The White Sheik, a popular film/serial/newspaper icon whom she is secretly infatuated with. While her husband is sleeping, she sneaks off to find the Sheik and give him a drawing she has made of him. Brunella Bovo, who plays the bride, is new to me, but she was absolutely entrancing in her innocence. Trieste's comic expressions are absolutely arresting. Sordi is hilarious as the Sheik, who is about as unromantic a romantic figure as you can imagine.

Nino Rota's first score for Fellini is a lot of fun and exceptionally carnivalesque. You can tell by the marriage of music and image that Fellini and Rota had a real treasured creative hit-off with this film, and as most know, Rota scored every Fellini film after "White Sheik" until his death in 1979. This great score has never been released in it's entirety, but the main title theme has appeared on many Rota compilations.

An absolutely adorable little film, which seems to have been regrettably ignored by the majority. It's one I will watch many times.

Dylan
NP: Blue Velvet (Angelo Badalamenti)