The Writer's Poke

This movie has one or two more twists than you probably think it will have, and they all pretty much works.  When I'm watching a "mystery thriller," I don't want to feel cheated, and withholding information or tricking the viewer in some fashion makes me feel cheated. I don't feel cheated watching Wild Things. The only "cheat" I can maybe point out is when the music "leads" you to think in a specific direction. If you watched the movie super close, you might be able to see a character act in a certain way when no one is looking that wouldn't make much sense if you thought about it, but I don't have any specific scenes in mind to point out. Overall, the coherence and integrity of the plot is good. The first hour is played straight, and then everything turns. As you watch the first hour, see if you can figure out the turn, and remember, it's going to be "turns," not just "turn." I do wonder why Denise Richards isn...

This one came out in December 1986, and I remember watching it in the theaters. I would have been about 13, and I had no idea that it was a musical. Needless to say, I hated it, and although I'm okay with watching musicals now, I haven't watched it since.  What's it like watching it now, 40 years later? Well, I love it. Specifically, I enjoy Steve Martin as Orin, the evil dentist. Martin is a weird Elvis/Jerk hybrid on giggle juice. And the best scene is when he's working with Bill Murray, who plays a bizarre dental patient (Arthur) who gets off on the pain. Orin doesn't know exactly how to handle Arthur, as the dentist lives to dish out the pain, but not to patients who like it.  As far as I know, this is the only film to feature Murray and Martin on screen together. I read that Murray did film scenes for The Jerk, but those scenes were cut.  It might seem weird, but I have sensitive ears when watching Little Shop of Horrors. That is, for whatever reason, the uses ...

Probably one of my favorite films: Although I've always liked this movie, this time viewing it, I watched it very closely. How did Phil (Bill Murray) originally act (selfishly), and what was the moment that he changed (selflessly)? We never know "why" he gets stuck or unstuck, but we do know that he's "in love" with Rita, actually able to show it -- when he confesses to being in love with her, his actions towards everyone else changes. Here's what I noticed he did in the first half of the movie (his time being selfish): He decided that there were no consequences. And so, He and his drunk buddies went on a car chase with the police. He punched Ned in the nose. He kissed the old B&B woman. He ate whatever he wanted. He learned about Nancy (while calling her Rita) when the kissed. He watched his favorite film 100 times, dressed up as a cowboy and got a woman to dress up as a barmaid. And after all that, he started to learn what Rita wanted in a man. He ...

"The day I die will be like any other. Only shorter." -- Samuel Beckett Iris (Naomi Watts) is a writer. She was a student of Walter's (Bill Murray), who was also a writer.  The bare outline of Walter's life is provided in the movie, but not much more. He had three wives, multiple girlfriends, and retired from teaching, perhaps in disgrace. What his misconduct might have been isn't explained, but he did, we know, have a relationship with Iris when she was his student a number of years -- maybe 20? -- in the past.   Early in the film, Iris mentions that most student stories start at the beginning of a day, but few start at the day's end. Perhaps that's a clue for how this film starts, which is essentially with the ending of Walter's life.  I have to admit that the film pulled one over on me. I only watched this film because Bill Murray was in it, but his actual screen time in the film might be 5 minutes. This film is a vehicle solely for Naomi Watts and ...