The Writer's Poke

Steve Martin's first movie features him as the wild and crazy guy from his comedy show, not Steve Martin the actor. That's my main issue with this one, I think. He screams and yells throughout the movie, and it's just annoying to watch. The persona might work on stage, but it doesn't work on screen. In Roger Ebert's review, he notes that he didn't find this movie to be all that funny, but that it might be a "love it or hate it" type of comedy. If you like Steve Martin's comedy, and I do, I'm sure original audiences were more likely to be a little more forgiving. But in terms of longevity, I just don't think this movie has "it." It opens with a stand-up routine joke -- that he's the son of poor black Mississippi sharecroppers. When he leaves home, they do tell him he's adopted, and that makes him feel better, in a sense, because he never understood why he didn't like the Blues. He like lame white Big Band music, and so ...

Computers are programmed by human beings. As such, the answers they provide are only as good as their programming. In the film, Pavel is a good programmer. As far as we know, the information he puts into the computer program was solid. Pavel's dad not only re-checked the data, but he also went out onto the lake himself to make sure with his own eyes.  In other words, he did his due diligence, and he wasn't blinding accepting that the computer was right or that the lake was safe. And the lake actually was safe, at least the night before the accident.  We never learn why the ice cracks. We know that it should have held 3 times Pavel's weight, but we're not 100% sure how many people were on the lake at the same time the day of the accident, or if Pavel and his dad added the necessary data to take into complete account the fact that the stream entered the lake. Although Pavel's dad warned his son not to get too close to where the stream entered the lake, maybe the ...

When you're dating someone, how much do you know about them? Maybe that's the point. It's why you date them, to find out.  Davis (Steve Martin) and Becky (Dana Delany) seem to have a dating advantage -- having known each other from birth. Davis has always felt like Becky is "the One" and rather than propose with a ring, he proposes with a house that he, as an architect, has designed himself.  He must not have known her as he thought he did, because she says no, which throws his world into chaos.  As a sidenote, he builds the house in their small hometown. It's a place where everyone knows them, and everyone knows everyone's business. Steve might work and keep an apartment in the City, but Becky still lives in the small town. It's just amazing that he was able to build the house for Becky without anyone ever finding out or gossiping about it.  But once Becky rejects Davis, the real story begins. Gwen (Goldie Hawn) is a Hungarian waitress that Davis meet...

Kids don't get the parents they want or need; that seems to be a common idea, and the Buckman kids certainly didn't have the best dad. On the other hand, maybe parents don't get the kids they want or need. Everyone seems to be something of a disappointment to everyone else, and in the end, everyone may be too self-centered to be the person that others need them to be. Is that the message of this film? Gil (Steve Martin) doesn't want to turn into his dad Frank (Jason Robards). He wants to spend time with his kids. He wants to be a good dad. Even though he tries hard, he still isn't able to have perfect kids. That bugs him. Frank knows he wasn't the perfect dad. That might bug him, too, but in a rare heart-to-heart, he tells Gil that parenthood never ends. His 27-year old son, Larry, is kind of deadbeat with a gambling problem. Frank wants to be there for him and makes him a deal. Larry, however, isn't able to change. He just takes off. Frank can't do anyt...

"And may I remind you that it does not say RSVP on the Statue of Liberty.." -- Cher, taking the pro-immigration position You can be clueless about this movie being a modern-day adaptation of Emma, but if you've never specifically watched it as Emma, then give it a shot. Watch a version of Emma first and then watch Clueless. I just did that, and I'd say it adds at least a 1/2 star to my rating. Cher (Alicia Silverston) is completely Emma. She's trying to match people, fix people, and figure herself out. And the whole movie ends with a wedding, just as it should. Let's briefly highlight the Emma of Clueless. Wallce Shawn found himself in this one, playing Mr. Hall, Cher's high school Debate teacher. He looks small and thin in this role, and I noticed that he's about 52 when he played this part... which is sick, because that's my current age. Somehow Mr. Hall hands out Cs to Cher and her friends. How dare he? (By the way, Cher narrates the story thro...

The Gwenyth Paltrow version came out the same year, and I also saw the 2020 version recently. These other adaptations have a lot to offer, and I liked each quite a bit. This one isn't bad, but Kate Beckinsale doesn't stand out to me as Emma, nor is the story all that compellingly told. It just feels muted somehow. Maybe it's partly the DVD copy, which feels a bit old and "blurry," too. When I went back to look at my review for the 2020 version, I noted how the colors "popped" and how everything was sharp and vivid. That's just not the case with this version. What I do like about this version is the way it handles some of Emma's imagination scenes. We get to do a quick look into Emma's head, and it's fun and instructive to see what she's thinking about as she's matching up different people. Of course, what's somewhat annoying about the story is the characters: They're all rich. They all live to dance, eat, gossip, and find ...

Charles Laughton can do more with a subtle shift of his left eyeball than most actors can do with their entire faces. And as Quasimodo, most of his face is hidden behind a mask. I can only imagine how much time he must have spent in the chair each day to have the mask and body suit applied. But he still had one good eye to use, and that's all he needed. Esmerelda (Maureen O'Hara) has the "It factor," and even though she's a Gypsy, every man immediately falls in love with her. Gypsies in 15th century France are enemy #1. They are banned from even entering Paris, but her mission is to get justice for her people, and perhaps, she's so beautiful that people will listen to her. The King does, for sure, most everyone else seems to be at least partially sympathetic to her cause. Anyway, every man must fall in love with her at first sight. It's funny, because O'Hara is a beautiful woman, but all of the actors playing Gypsies are portrayed as dirty and rough lo...