Movie Reviews
Road to Rio
A bit of a slump in the series here. It’s funny, and has the usual gags and inside jokes and asides, but some of the spirit seems to be missing. There’s a nice guest appearance by the Andrews Sisters, their last time in a movie. And there’s one joke that reminded me of—if you can believe it—Pulp Fiction. All through the picture people are talking about “the ... Read more »
Road to Morocco
I always get a kick out of running gags, inside jokes, anachronistic references and self-references, and breaking the “fourth wall,” and in this third Road movie Hope and Crosby really hit their stride. Hope is visited several times by his dead aunt (himself, in drag), and they twice refer to “Mr. Jordan,” the head angel in the comedy Here Comes Mr. Jordan. In ... Read more »
Road to Hong Kong
And so the seven Road pictures end not with a dud, but a bit of a fizzle. All these movies were take-offs on one genre or another—jungle adventure, Arabian nights, tropical island, etc.—and this one is said to spoof the James Bond spy movies, though I don’t see how that’s possible since Dr. No was released the same month. I guess there were other secret agent/mad ... Read more »
Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune
Phil Ochs was proof that it is possible to care too much. All of my generation were stunned and depressed by the murders of John, Martin, and Bobby, by the police riot at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention, by the CIA-sponsored coup and resulting mass murders in Chile. Phil was shattered by these events. He was bipolar and schizophrenic, and it grew worse and ... Read more »
Road to Bali
The first and only one of the seven Road pictures to be made in Technicolor. Bali is a good place for it, too, with all those colorful sarongs and lush tropical vegetation … all on the Paramount sound stages, of course, but a lot of landscapers got a lot of work renting out potted plants. I thought this one started out a little slow, but it picks up after the first half hour. Some good ... Read more »
The Road to Guantanamo
I really hated this film. It’s about four guys from Tipton, England, of Pakistani descent, who go to Pakistan for the arranged wedding of one of them. (That’s insane, in my opinion, and a good illustration of how very far many Muslims have to go to attain civilization, but it’s their business.) Trouble is, it’s October of 2001. While there, they get the idea to go ... Read more »
Phantom of the Paradise
This movie has the distinction of being one of only two that I saw at a science fiction convention. (The other was The Terminator.) It was in Oakland, at a WesterCon, actually my very first SF con. It hadn’t gotten much distribution—it was a flop when new; now it’s a cult favorite—and I really wanted to see it. Other than that, I’ve never much seen the point of ... Read more »
The Road
Somebody got a bright idea: “Let’s make another ‘Road’ picture!” You know, those seven zany Bob Hope/Bing Crosby/Dorothy Lamour pictures of the ‘40s and early ‘50s full of ad-libbing, comic asides, inside jokes, and other hijinx. Chris Rock was going to be the Crosby character, Will Ferrell would be Hope, and Jennifer Lopez would be Lamour. They got a script and were all ready to go with ... Read more »
Phffft!
The title alone would make me interested in seeing it. I always wondered about it, and now I learn that this was what Walter Winchell would write in his gossip column when a couple’s marriage was on the rocks. It’s a George Axelrod script that looks a little stagy, but it was written for the screen. (Axelrod wrote some very good romantic comedy plays, and some excellent original ... Read more »