chaneski Reviews

De Düva: The Dove (1968)

"Younger" viewers

[25 September 2010]

It stands as a tribute to this hilarious film short that people have been leaving stellar reviews of it here for over 10 years; everybody wants to chime in and I am no different in that respect.

The key difference in my exposure to this film, though, is that I first saw it on HBO. We had HBO relatively early, around 1975, and along with movies (that had been in the theaters ONLY 9 MONTHS AGO!!) there were some special little treats and one of them was "De Duva." I had never seen a Bergman film in my life; I was only 12 years old. My brothers were 11 and 10, yet we LOVED this movie. Of course the jokes about dove crap were our favorites, but we totally "got it." So while there is a contingent that is nostalgic for this classic after seeing it in art houses (I'd have been 6 years old and no art house patron), there are those of us who look back fondly on "De Duva" from 1975.

The Big Comfy Couch (1992–2013)

It really is a classic

[8/10 · 9 July 2007]

I can appreciate the other commenter's point of view, but I would exhort him to not be so despairing. While it's not on the level of Sesame Street or Captain Kangaroo, The Big Comfy Couch sits solidly within a different circle of "classic" shows. These are shows that, although they have not entered the consciousness of the general public, are very well done and have become personal favorites among many, many children. The Big Comfy Couch is nearly 15 years old and even the original Alyson Courtepisodes are still being rerun all over the place, because they are-good-. I can assure you that there are 20 year old college students all over North America, with fond memories of The Big Comfy Couch, who do a "Ten Second Tidy" of their dorm room each day.

Billy Crystal: Don't Get Me Started - The Billy Crystal Special (1986 TV Special)

Uknown cult classic

[10/10 · 14 January 2007]

I agree completely. In fact, it amazes -me- how many people go crazy for Christopher Guest's improv-style movies like "Waiting for Guffman" and "A Mighty Wind" and know absolutely nothing about this (almost) prequel! Corky St. Clair? No, you mean Chip Dimentibella. ("The Swerdlow bris? Oyster Bay? I was the dancing deck of cards!")

To this day, my brothers, cousins and I always pepper our conversations with quotes from DGMS. "Death or no death, you never leave a show!" "Look! I'm Eric Heiden! I'm winning four gold medals!" "Have another vat of gin before you you come to the work, chief." Agreed: you don't have to watch the stand-up more than once. But everything else is genius and bears repeated watching. Know it. Love it. Pine for the DVD release.

"I got to mambo, dahling."