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This is one of my all-time favorite demented musicals! An up-and-coming
composer creates a masterpiece - a musical adaptation of Faust. A
nefarious producer (with a dark secret) steals the music and claims it
as his own for the opening of his new rock-opera club, the Paradise.
Desperate to regain what is his, the composer goes through a number of
harrowing experiences that leave him crippled, deformed, and determined
for revenge. However, in the end the producer needs the composer and a
devilish pact is struck, but neither knows the turth about the other as
each pursue their own goals. It's a bizarre, surreal retelling of
The Phantom of the Opera with wild characters, costumes, music,
madness and one of my all-time favorite lines from a movie. "I know the
difference between drug real and real real!"
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I never thought I would find the game of ping-pong interesting, let
alone a whole movie about it, but I am totally sold on Ping Pong!
Funny, bizarre, entertaining, philosophical, and playful, this flick
charmed the paddles right out of hands. It's a story of two teenagers,
one who loves ping-pong more than anything and the other who does it
solely to kill time and plays too nice for his own good. Each meets his
match and is challenged both at the table and in his life to make
decisions about what he wants, who he is, and what is worth going for.
Ultimately it's a tale of heroes, what the true heart of sports is, and
how the game really can and should be more important than winning or
losing.
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It's really quite astonishing that a movie based on a Disney theme park
ride could be so good. Usually any film based on a game or a ride or a
toy is simply doomed to a pathetic, wretched, and cursed fate. Part of
the success, of course, is going beyond the obvious ride and creating an
interesting tale of zombie pirates determined to lay waste to anyone and
anything in their way of recovering the cursed Aztec gold.
Zombie
pirates! Why the hell hasn't anyone done a movie about zombie pirates
before now? It's genius! Add to that clever references to different
scenes from the ride (the prisoners trying to bribe the dog with the
bone is the most infamous, but there are plenty more if you're paying
attention), a spunky and modern heroine, a dashing and honorable hero,
a self-serving, slightly insane ship-less pirate captain, and a
brilliantly traditional and cantankerous villain and you have the
makings of a film that is all about the fun. F*U*N. FUN! Johnny Depp
steals this movie, just like the
peculiar and poncing pirate, Capt. Jack Sparrow, would given half a
chance.
Give Depp free rein and the man is pure charisma - anything he does is
guaranteed to get a laugh, make you swoon, and charm more than just your
socks off. Oh yeah, and before I forget ... zombie pirate monkey!! Dude!
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Two siblings, brother and sister, are as different as day and night.
Jennifer likes things they way they are and is your typical teenage
clique-chick, interested in good-looking boys and looking good. David
would rather the world be like his favorite TV show, "Pleasantville",
where everyone is nice to one another and things are just simpler. Their
lives are drastically changed when they are given a special remote
control for their television set that puts them in the places of Bud and
Mary Sue Parker, the lead characters on "Pleasantville". At first David
is in heaven and Jen is in hell, but they soon learn that what they do and
say can change this pleasant little town in ways they never could
imagine.
This is a fresh, entertaining, and for it's time a rather innovative
film both in its storyline and technique.The use of black and white
versus color is brilliant, with color playing as much a role in the
film as the actors do. It's a great story about influence and
responsibility, exploring the power of knowledge and the risks and
rewards of change. A clever, interesting, humorous, and compelling film
that examines the path of personal growth and the mixed blessing that
is freedom of choice.
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This is my favorite version of this classic film, probably due to the
swoonable performance of Granger and the wonderfully wicked and
dastardly performance of Mason.
An Englishman has the good, or rather bad, luck of being nearly
identical to thesoon-to-be-crowned King Rudolf. Alas, the heir apparent
has a bit of a drinking problem, a problem with responsibility, and a
problematic younger brother who is eager to sit on the throne in
Rudolf's stead. So when said brother takes advantage of the heir's
drinking habits, hoping to have him miss his coronation and be disgraced
in front of his subjects, naturally the double is requested to save the
day. Though shot with a light hand and simple acting, the beautiful
settings and costumes help make it an entertaining and fun swashbuckling
romp.
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This is a light documentary about the art of whistling. The film was
entertaining and interesting, but certainly not very
deep. While whistling was more widely accepted than I had realized, it
was not a world changing thing. Some people are, as you would expect,
kinda freakish about their whistling. Most of the people in the
documentary had someone in their family, an older generational person,
who was a whistler back from the old days when whistling was a common
form of music and a part of many songs. There is a huge competition in
North Carolina where whistlers meet and whistle for awards. I was most
charmed by this totally adorable guy that had come all the way from the
Netherlands to compete! He was insanely good! The top competitors were
really quite astonishing, demonstrating whistling techniques that I have
never seen or heard before. What I often found the most intriguing was
the fact that as people whistle, you can't really see the process like
you can say with singing. So often it doesn't look like they're doing
anything and you almost wonder if the sounds you hear aren't recorded
and being played or something - it looks that disconnected from what you
are seeing.
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