Ok, so it's not A Hard Day's Night, but in some ways I think this is the better film. A Hard Day's Night had some evidence of a plot, and there were some witty lines in there, a good film on a tiny budget. Help! cost three times as much to make, has hardly any plot whatsoever, and is intensely weird (you can see elements of Monty Python in there). However, A Hard Day's Night didn't make me laugh out loud like this one. So it's a bit scatty, and they were all stoned out of their minds, but so what? It's funny and likeable, even if you can see them wasting all that money on filming in the Alps, The Bahamas, Salisbury Plains, etc. Definitely one to watch.
Reviews
7 Reviews
Goodbye Again
(1961)
Sobworthy
13 September 1999
The most sobworthy romantic film I've ever seen. I would've cried, except my brother was present. Perkins was the only fun thing in it, with his "play-acting". In one part, he single-handedly did an impression of an entire U.S. law court, speeded up. I will take that sequence with me to the grave. And of course, the other brilliant bit when Perkins, COMPLETELY drunk, decides to join Bergman and Montand in the club. It ends up with him being driven home with his head knocking against the car window... But the end was the most distressing part - well, I won't spoil that for you. Not a classic, but I highly recommend it if you want a good old cry. A Maud rating of 4 out of 5.
Edward Scissorhands
(1990)
Surreal Entertainment...
8 August 1999
I hadn't seen this movie for a long time, so I thought I'd see it again, as I seemed to remember it being pretty good.
I had forgotten how it skilfully portrays the horror of surburban life, with houses in pastel colours, the same routine, over and over again, with no change. Apart from when an Avon lady decides to go to the creepy mansion up on the hill. There she finds a distirbed young man, who has spent years in isolation, with scissors for hands. She takes pity on him, and brings him down to the surburban world, where he is regarded with wonder by all the neighbours. He sculpts animals and such out of bushes, as he did in the mansion, and also turns out to be a nifty hairdresser. But he also has his eyes set on his family's daughter. However, she already has an unpleasant boyfriend, whom she later grows to hate. Edward's innocence unknowingly gets him into trouble, as the locals turn on him, and he goes back to the old mansion, after the death of the boyfriend.
When Edward was sculpting a statue out of ice, and the daughter was dancing in the snowflakes eminating from it, I can say that this is one of the few movies that made me cry. With brilliant cinematography and wonderful sets, I give this a Maud rating of 4 out of 5. Well done, Mr. Burton, on a modern masterpiece.
I had forgotten how it skilfully portrays the horror of surburban life, with houses in pastel colours, the same routine, over and over again, with no change. Apart from when an Avon lady decides to go to the creepy mansion up on the hill. There she finds a distirbed young man, who has spent years in isolation, with scissors for hands. She takes pity on him, and brings him down to the surburban world, where he is regarded with wonder by all the neighbours. He sculpts animals and such out of bushes, as he did in the mansion, and also turns out to be a nifty hairdresser. But he also has his eyes set on his family's daughter. However, she already has an unpleasant boyfriend, whom she later grows to hate. Edward's innocence unknowingly gets him into trouble, as the locals turn on him, and he goes back to the old mansion, after the death of the boyfriend.
When Edward was sculpting a statue out of ice, and the daughter was dancing in the snowflakes eminating from it, I can say that this is one of the few movies that made me cry. With brilliant cinematography and wonderful sets, I give this a Maud rating of 4 out of 5. Well done, Mr. Burton, on a modern masterpiece.
The Duck Factory
(1984)
Early Jim Carrey - very weird...
27 July 1999
I saw this in a shop, and as I like Jim Carrey, I decided to get it. On the back, it said that "If you enjoyed 'Cheers', 'Airplane' and 'Absolutely Fabulous', you'll really appreciate the humour, the biting one-liners and the brilliant characters of The Duck Factory!"
If only it lived up to it's hype. Jim Carrey plays an inexperienced cartoonist, working for the studio that creates "The Dippy Duck Show". However, the owner has just died, and the studio verges on having it's show being cancelled. If you enjoy watching extremely unfunny things, like a hooker trying to get to grips with being a receptionist, or the middle-aged battleaxe being humiliated by being forced to wear a skimpy outfit, then you'll probably enjoy this. A Maud rating of 1 out of 5. And that's only because I like Jim Carrey.
If only it lived up to it's hype. Jim Carrey plays an inexperienced cartoonist, working for the studio that creates "The Dippy Duck Show". However, the owner has just died, and the studio verges on having it's show being cancelled. If you enjoy watching extremely unfunny things, like a hooker trying to get to grips with being a receptionist, or the middle-aged battleaxe being humiliated by being forced to wear a skimpy outfit, then you'll probably enjoy this. A Maud rating of 1 out of 5. And that's only because I like Jim Carrey.
Cute and fuzzy
26 July 1999
This film was recommended to me by a friend. She said it was excellent, really funny, and one of the best films she'd ever seen. Another friend said that it was one of the worst, most risible and inane rubbishy nonsense she had ever seen. I was intruiged, and decided to watch it.
Well, it's not bad, but then it's not really good either. True, it has some effective moments that do raise a smile, but can hardly be called "One Of The Best Films Ever". Those type of things are reserved for Psycho and Citizen Kane. It was obviously written by someone who was really bitter at high school, and was probably a loner, like both our heroines. It does have rather distirbing moments, such as at the end where the "baddie"'s dress blows up, in the draft of the helicopter, revealing her pregnant self. I don't think anyone should be derided like that. I give it a Maud rating of 3 out of 5.
Well, it's not bad, but then it's not really good either. True, it has some effective moments that do raise a smile, but can hardly be called "One Of The Best Films Ever". Those type of things are reserved for Psycho and Citizen Kane. It was obviously written by someone who was really bitter at high school, and was probably a loner, like both our heroines. It does have rather distirbing moments, such as at the end where the "baddie"'s dress blows up, in the draft of the helicopter, revealing her pregnant self. I don't think anyone should be derided like that. I give it a Maud rating of 3 out of 5.
The Craft
(1996)
Interesting...
26 July 1999
Again, this was recommended to me by an enthusiastic friend, who is really into witchcraft. I watched it and I must say it didn't exactly leave a lasting impression on me. Robin Tunney looks too ineffectual and generally wimpish to be the natural witch, Neve Campbell was probably the best out of the lot playing the scar-ridden Bonnie, Rachel True was remarkably forgettable as Rochelle, and I have now concluded that Fairuza Balk is one of the most hideous things alive. Her constant overacting did not give the impression of delusional psychosis, and if the ending with her in the institution, very poorly shot, was supposed to terrify (a la Norman Bates in Psycho) then they are delusional themselves. A Maud rating of 2 out of 5.
Psycho
(1960)
The best horror movie ever
18 June 1999
I have watched this film about four times now, and I can safely say that this is the best horror movie ever. The actors are the best thing about it. Anthony Perkins is superb as the shy, gorgeous, boyish Norman Bates. His twitchings and stammerings are scarily flawless, and the scene where the car stops momentarily sinking into the swamp, and he stares with a look of pure terror in his eyes, then ultimate relief when it continues are unforgettable. His "...I wouldn't even harm a fly" face at the end is inimitable. As for Janet Leigh, she couldn't have gotten into her part more. She looks genuinely desperate when confronted by the police officer. Hitchcock controls the audience as if he were pressing keys on a piano with this film. Everything is perfect about this film, and has become one of my personal favourites. If you haven't seen it, see it now.
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