Movie Reviews
Titles starting with W
What tHe #$*! Dθ wΣ (k)πow!? (2005)
Come over here, dude. Yeah, you! You, looking up at all the tall buildings with a goofy smile on your face and the hayseeds in your hair. I got something for you …
Here’s a movie that was shot in Portland, Oregon.
Lee and I lived in Portland for a number of years!
There’s a guy, plays a bit part in this movie, also plays a Ferengi on one of the Star Trek series. ...
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What We Do in the Shadows
It’s a clever idea, and it worked … for a while. Four vampires are living in a modern New Zealand city, venturing out at night to suck blood. There is Viago, 379 years old, Vladislav (known as Vlad the Poker for his penchant for poking people with things) aged 862, Deacon, a youthful 183. Then there is Petyr, an 8,000-year-old spitting image of Nosferatu, who they keep in the basement and ... Read more »
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
We had just seen the FX Channel’s eight-episode anthology series Feud, detailing the rivalry and bad blood between those two Hollywood divas, Joan Crawford, played well by Jessica Lange (though she looks sort of weird), and Bette Davis, played wonderfully by Susan Sarandon. She even manages to look like Bette sometimes. The making of this movie was the ... Read more »
Whatever Works
I was a little suspicious of this one. I only saw a few clips from Larry David’s chief claim to fame (other than producing Seinfeld, and I guess I’m the only literate North American who never saw that show), Curb Your Enthusiasm, and I had no trouble curbing mine. He is really at center stage here, and he won me over pretty fast by ... Read more »
Whatever Works
Whatever Works (2009) I was a little suspicious of this one. I only saw a few clips from Larry David’s chief claim to fame, Curb Your Enthusiasm, (other than producing Seinfeld, and I guess I’m the only literate North American who never saw that show), and I had no trouble curbing mine. He is really at center stage here, and he won me ... Read more »
What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing In a Place Like This?
(9 minutes) Here is the first of three short films Martin Scorsese made while a student at Tisch School of the Arts. You can see it on YouTube, if you wish. I don’t really recommend it. It’s rather incoherent. Looks good, as usual, but I had very little idea what was going on.
What’s Cooking?
This is a food movie, like several others we’ve seen and liked, that centers around family and cooking. Usually it’s one particular culture that is explored in these things; this time it is wildly multi-cultural. I have to quote Roger Ebert here about the director, Gurinder Chadha: ” … an Indian woman of Punjabi ancestry and Kenyan roots, who grew up in London and ... Read more »
What’s New, Pussycat?
Woody Allen’s rise to fame in the 1960s was pretty meteoric. When he was eighteen years old he was on staff writing gags for Sid Caesar, making more money than his parents were. He moved on to stand-up comedy, which made him so nervous he frequently threw up. Soon he became a successful playwright (Don’t Drink the Water), and wrote this movie. He is on record ... Read more »
What’s New, Pussycat?
Woody Allen’s rise to fame in the 1960s was pretty meteoric. When he was eighteen years old he was on staff writing gags for Sid Caesar, making more money than his parents were. He moved on to stand-up comedy, which made him so nervous he frequently threw up. Soon he became a successful playwright (Don’t Drink the Water), and wrote this movie. He is on record ... Read more »
What’s Next, Corporal Hargrove?
A sequel to See Here, Private Hargrove, which was based on the autobiographical novel by the eponymous hero, Marion Hargrove. The book detailed the exploits of the innocent, bumbling Hargrove (Robert Walker) and his scheming buddy, Mulvihill (Keenan Wynn) during boot camp. This movie takes them to France, and an artillery unit where they can continue their ... Read more »