doctor sabelotodo: I SEEM TO HAVE LOST MY PANTS

Thursday, May 3, 2012

AVATAR!!!

well....I finally saw it...not in 3D thank you!!!!

THE GOOD.... it is pretty and very blue....good running story line...first class CGI....state of the art everything!!! the two leads (SAM WORTHINGTON & ZOE SALDANA are believable and have good chemistry!!

THE BAD... too much macho posturing a la STARSHIP TROOPERS (STEPHEN LANG is intense enough for 3+ movies)....an overly simplified picture of "aboriginal" people...CAMERON has developed a meld of AFRICAN & NATIVE AMERICAN cultural societies, but the NAVI are PRETERNATURAL ALIENS and more script work was needed to avoid some banal moments...

THE UGLY.... the 3 "bulging" veins in the right temple of STEPHEN LANG'S "SARG"!!!

AND...............

is it worth $300,000,000??? uh...no!!! could have been made for 30 million easily!!

is this the future of film??? hopefully not!! I would prefer an old B&W film/story/sound of "BOGIE" from the forties!!!

GIOVANNI RIBISI... How did such an accomplished actor find himself in such a one-dimensional role!!

SIGOURNEY WEAVER...more two-dimensional...barely!!

the ending...sweet, but 100% predictable!!!

AND...if you want to read "GOOD" SCI-FI about "INDIGENOUS ALIENS", start with OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET by C.S. LEWIS (part of his "space trilogy")...

concerning the "noble savage"...read some JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU with a repartee by the MARQUIS DE SADE!!!

FINALLY...I doubt if the "KING OF THE WORLD" has read "CIVILIZATION AND IT'S DISCONTENTS" by SIGMUND FREUD....he would have avoided a lot stale. wrmed-over plot devices!!

Monday, January 30, 2012

FUNNY "DOPE" FILMS

disclaimer: by no means am I condoning the use of drugs, nor overlooking the tragedy that drug addiction brings upon the individual and society at large....however... these anti-drug films are all hilariously bad...poor production values on all levels...sensationalistic...exploitative.....often incorrect and simplistic in their observations...silly plots...bad acting...no name directors....
#1. REEFER MADNESS (1936)... the "grand-daddy" of all the "drug warning" films...produced by the infamous DWAIN ESPER....one puff and you are hooked...or you play the piano like a madman possessed...this is the one most folks know...I saw it in high school...not a part of civics!!!
#2. MARIHUANA (1936)... directed by DWAIN ESPER...a companion/bookend piece to REEFER MADNESS...made with the "help of federal, state and police narcotic officers" (yea..right!!)....naive youths are given the "evil weed" by a guy with a mustache, and the next thing you know there is nude swimming and a drowning!!!
#3. ASSASSIN OF YOUTH (1937)... a bit more polished than the first two films....too many reefer parties...an invetigative reporter poses as a soda jerk to collect his story...the short film with the film (THE MARIJUANA MENACE) is a hoot!!!
#4. THE COCAINE FIENDS (1936).... young woman takes a "headache powder" from a dope dealer and become instantly addicted...her brother goes "on a sleigh ride with some snow birds"...tawdry/awful/depressing/maudlin/morbid...did I mention that it is awful!!!
#5. NARCOTIC (1933)... the potentially sad decline of a physician into drug addiction (first opium and then heroin) is ruined once again by exploitative director DWAIN ESPER...in the right hands, this could have been a compelling and well told story...sorry..it ain't happening here!!
#6. TEEN AGE DEVIL DOLLS (1952)... chronicles a teenage girl's decline into addiction and crime...NO DIALOGUE...filmed in documentay style with just a voice over...wonder why??
#7. THE COOL AND THE CRAZY (1958)... features two "known" actors (SCOTT MARLOWE & GIGI PERREAU), and that is about it...typical of the 50s juvenile delinquent films, it has thirty-somethings playing teenagers who start with grass and graduate to LSD...filmed on location in KANSAS CITY!!!