The Writer's Poke

No better than European Vacation (1985), which was pretty much dreadful.  In this installment, we have a little more physical humor, as well as some callbacks to the original. In the original Vacation (1983), they accidently killed an aunt's dog. In this one, an aunt's cat gets electrocuted chewing on the Christmas tree light wires.  Another callback is Clark (Chevy Chase) looking out the back window, imagining how nice his new swimming pool will be. Then he sees a hot girl. Maybe this fantasy sequence works if they brought back Christy Brinkley.  If they couldn't get her, though, just cut the scene. Rusty (Johnny Galecki) has some interaction with Clark, but they seem to have forgotten Audrey (Juliette Lewis). She just gets lost in the plethora of family characters. In fact, when they're busy chasing the squirrel, Audrey completely disappears. I thought, "Did she hide in her room?" I mean, I was trying to make up a reason for why she completely disappeared fr...

If this movie wasn't billed as a comedy, would I like it any better? But if we don't consider it to be a comedy, what genre would it be? IMDb offers some alternative categories: Farce, Globetrotting Adventure, Roadtrip.  Nope. Even if I think of it as a non-comedy filling one of those other roles, I don't like it.  The original Vacation had a very limited idea, but it had an idea: Let's drive to Wally World. This movie's idea is even more vaguely defined: Let's go to Europe because we won a contest.  As other reviews have said, this is a comedy without any jokes. When I noticed Eirc Idle had a small part in the film, that briefly excited me, but this is a prime example of "Why did he agree to take this part?" It's exciting, in theory, to think about Chevy Chase and Eric Idle sharing a scene and bouncing comedy off of one another. But when they are on screen together, nothing happens.  Just other random thoughts: Do you remember colored TP? The Gris...

When you grew up, did you and your parents share outfits or wear the same brands/clothing styles? In National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), Rusty opens the film in a Pink Izod. Clark will later wear a Pink Izod, too. So will Ellen, but it’s oversized so I’m guessing it’s Clark’s. Rusty also wears a yellow and a green Izod. Clark wears a light purple, a light blue, and a dark red Izod. Clark and Ellen also have Izod rain jackets. His is blue and hers is tan. Yes, I found myself distracted by that, although it's not a big deal. I would rather one character wear the Izod, but maybe 1983 was the year everyone wore the allegator gimmick.  I don't think this movie is very strong, but it is iconic, and a lot of my friends like it and quote it from time to time. In all honestly, I don't think I've ever actually watched it, and I wanted to finally give it a fair viewing. Additionally, I've been watching the films of John Hughes, and his Chicago-based presentation interests me. ...

  "You could learn me." -- Tessa asking Justin to marry her. What a line! And over the course of the film he does, telling her spirit that he has finally learned all of her secrets. Justin (Ralph Fiennes) and Tessa (Rachel Weisz) end up in bed together so quickly, I thought I was watching a porno for a second. But that's before. The movie starts with the "end," I suppose, with "everything" before happening in flashback. The opening shot focuses on the backs of Justin, Tessa, and Arnold. Tessa turns around briefly to say goodbye. She touches Arnold's arm briefly, and but everything feels detached and unexplained. At this moment, we don't know who these people are, or what's about to happen. We've landed at this specific moment, and it's not in the linear timeline. Justin is a very polite, very reserved British diplomat. Tessa is a woman who wants to make a difference in the world. When she asks to go to Africa with Justin, she offers...

My daughter and I went to see Birthday Massacre at First Avenue a few months ago, and I've wanted to re-watch Purple Rain ever since, just to see what First Avenue looked like in the 1980s. At the same time, I was afraid that I wouldn't like this movie any more than I did 40 years ago, which is probably the last time I watched this film, as far as I remember. It's possible that I watched it once since 1985, but I don't think so. This is definitely the first time I've watched this movie since living in Minnesota -- now going on 20 years. I kind of wondered if it would hit me differently for that reason, too. It didn't. It's still just a really bad, underwhelming movie. Prince has undeniable charisma, and his music is good. But in this film, there's no coherent story, and the acting, including Prince's, is pretty atrocious for the most part. I don't want to go through how bad it is point by point but let me just say that the movie ends with a lot o...

Keep in mind this film's premise: It is written. This isn't a film about "luck" or "chance." I think if you watch it that way, you have a right to criticize and even dislike the film. But if you watch it like a modern-day fable, how can you not view this film as a contemporary classic? As far as I recall, I've only watched this film one time previously -- more or less when it originally came out on DVD. But the film has always stayed with me. Few films are like that. Films that I "feel" I know long after I've forgotten all the plot details. Films like Shawshank Redemption (1994), Memento (2000), and maybe a handful of others. Films that "speak" to me on some "deeper" level. I've been wanting to re-watch Slumdog Millionaire for a long time now, to see if it's as good as I remember it to be -- to see if it was worth the feeling the memory of watching it has given me.  And yes, it is that good.  Jamal (Dev Patel) is...