bigsleepj Reviews

Sherlock Jr. (1924)

Certainly not Keaton's best

[5/10 · 23 June 2005]

I'm afraid that the legendary "Sherlock Jnr" has left me cold. It just not as good as Keaton's other movies (Our Hospitality, Steamboat Bill Jnr, The General) which doesn't feel as forced as this one. It's not that I have anything against surrealism but from the beginning of the "surreal" part of the movie (i.e. when he enters the cinema) the movie just stops being good (not that the beginning was all that great as well).

Sure, there are great parts (like when he jumps into an old lady's stomach) but eventually they don't amount to much. I'm sorry, I really wanted to love this movie but it just does not stand on its own like most of Keaton's silent movies.

The Star of Christmas (2002 Video)

Starts out great but fizzles...

[30 September 2004]

Bob the Tomato is trying to produce a play (co-written by Larry) only to find that their opening night competition is a small church play. So they plan to sabotage the their competition. Oh yes, and the opening night is Christmas Eve.

The Star of Christmas has everything you'd want and expect from Veggietales videos: Silly songs, obnoxious humor, French Peas and a Christian message. Even some of the setpieces are great like the rehearsals for the play, and Larry and Bob's attempts to escape from the "hands" of Moyer the Destroyer. Or, in fact, the usual lines like that ring with silly humor. The Star of Christmas delivers up to a point.

Then the producers attempted one final "comic chase scene" in a rocket powered motorcar. This unfortunately fails to be funny and seems rather desperate for laughs. In all honesty the movie could have done without; it adds very little to the story. In the scene there are great moments but they don't help.

Other than that, the Star of Christmas is great entertainment. 7/10

Seven Samurai (1954)

The First 30 minutes is shoddy...

[5 January 2004]

I struggle (always) to get through the shoddy, slightly boring and occasionally badly shot 30 minutes of this movie. I don't know why (entirely) I feel this way about it, but it's just not engaging. Is it shoddy film making or am I just an idiot? There are funny moments (like the trial - by - knocking - on - the - head) and brilliant moments (when Kambei shaves his head) but they are few. On the whole the first part of the story is just shoddy.

The rest, however (from them leaving for the village) is pure movie magic. I can't even describe how brilliant the rest of this movie is. It's pure movie magic. This is certainly on of the BEST MOVIES EVER MADE. It deserves all the acclaim it receives. There is barely an equal.

Kurosawa is definetely the greatest director ever born.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

It's an Opera, in the good sense!!!

[30 December 2003]

This is an underated classic, and some critics agree. Roger Ebert gave it Four Stars, which is the highest they'd give. Off course it's a flawed masterpiece, considering those idiotic singing gargoyles.

But the songs (except the one sung by the gargoyles) are brilliant (if you listen to the words), the score is brilliant, the animation WOW! And it has a spiritual side. True faith vs corrupted faith. Esmeralda, the gyspy, in her song "God Bless the Outcasts" attains a simple faith while Frollo (Frodo? hahaha) thinks himself perfect. The words of the afore mentioned song strikes upon one of the principle of Christianity; Christ was an outcast.

Despite the spiritual side, it goes more for a humanistic message that is in itself an important one.

But this is Disney at it's darkest so I don't think very young children should watch this. It might upset them.

The Lion King (1994)

Boo! Hiss!

[1 December 2003]

I'm very angry at Disney for adding that dumb song "Morning Report" to the movie. It's just plain stupid. It is one of the worst songs ever to make it's way into a Disney musical. Next the Seven Dwarfs from "Snow White" is going to do an Eminem Song in a Special Edition of the Classic. Ugh! I just wish Disney would stop fidgeting George Lucas-like with their movies!

The Theatrical Release of The Lion King is an all time classic. It's hard to access on the DVD, but it's far better than the Special Edition. The Special Edition is an inferior version that makes me sick...

Electrocuting an Elephant (1903)

Hmmmmm. Interesting.

[19 October 2003]

Boy, talk about a gratuitous documentary. Imagine the pre-production scene that happened!

Edison: "Hey, an elephant killed some people, LET'S ELECTROCUTE IT BEFORE CAMERA!"

"Really, Mr Edison, is it decent?"

"WHO CARES! ELECTRICITY! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!"

Seriously, this is a very odd piece for PETA to use in their campaign for animal rights. I'm not a very PETA-person, but I'm with them on electrocuting elephants, which Edison surely should have been. This is a very disturbing piece of work, especially when you see that the shock did not kill the poor animal.

Around the World with Willy Fog (1983)

Another childhood favourite...

[7 October 2003]

"Around the World with Willy Fogg" is basically just Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" anime-style with one or two characters added and Fog's named changed to something easier on the tongue.

This is one of my favourite childhood tv-series'.

Everybody (oh well, next to everybody) know the story, and if you find this series watch it. It's dated but despite the artistic licence with the story is true to Jules Verne's spirit of adventure. The English version even has a great song. You'd have to be very stuck-up not to like it.

Oh yes, everybody's animals too. So this is a nice little anthropomorphic spin on the tale.

Prizzi's Honor (1985)

Good acting! Good characters! Good director! And still it's a flop!

[9 September 2003]

Prizzi's Honor has won a lot of acclaim and I was really looking forward to watching it. I expected something relatively entertaining either as a Mob Drama or a dark comedy. A Mob Drama it was, but it was not entertaining and it certainly wasn't a dark comedy, even thought it marketed itself as one.

I'm sorry, but with a few exceptions ("Why didn't he catch the baby?") it was really just a very boring unfunny movie with a strange ending. I'm sorry, but I'm one of the few who just doesn't "get" Prizzi's Honor.

John Huston has made better movies. Far better movies. I'm certain most of his bad stuff is better than this...

Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980)

Akira Kurosawa Strikes Back!

[9 September 2003]

After spending a decade (or so) in solitary confinement from the Japanese Film Industry Akira Kurosawa returns to make his semi-masterpiece "Kagemusha", which he called a dress-rehearsal for "Ran", made in 1985.

Kagemusha is, probably, the best example of cinematic overkill where nobody actually cares. Cinematic overkill is when someone constructs a complex multi-layered movie, stage epic-battles, introduce likeable and complex characters without having a very complicated message. The message of "Kagemusha" is simply this: If you pretend long enough to be something else you'll become it. Too simple, maybe, for what's delivered.

Not that "Kagemusha" is a bad movie. It's haunting, it's spectacular and it's just great. I keep thinking about it over and over. I can't get it out of my head. Simply put "Kagemusha" is a masterpiece, albeit one up for debate. Not all Kurosawa fans would like it, but that's they're business. Personally, this is one of the movies currently that I'd really like to see again.

PS: Thank goodness for George Lucas and Francis Ford Copolla who funded this movie.

Spirited Away (2001)

A bit confusing...but BEAUTIFUL!

[1 July 2003]

This is the first time I consciously watched a movie by Miyazaki Hayou (I watched the butchered version of "Valley of the Winds" which doesn't count anyway) and I have to say it's brilliant. Although the story lags it never bores. It's confuses and confounds and you forgive it for that. Most movies you want some underlying logic. Outside of basic Shintoism there is no logic and maybe that's what makes the movie great. It's not bound to Medieval Japan or the Modern one but is sort of trapped in between.

My favourite part is the "Oh my, a paper-cut!" bit.

The only part I really disliked is Noh-Face's rampage. It seems to be the only thing that really doesn't fit. It's too eccentric and shifts the movie a bit out of place.

Other than that it's fine. But I guess some people won't buy Haku's real identity (which is a bit OUT THERE, I must admit). But I'd really like to own this movie on DVD, because it's a beautiful movie.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Sigh. So much for that idea.

[1 July 2003]

Without a doubt "The Two Towers" is a magnificent epic motion picture even that will go down into the list of Classic Movies. It's bound to pop up on several top-100 movies list and will probably end up in my DVD collection.

(!! SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS !!)

There's only one problem. THIS IS NOT THE STORY TOLKIEN WROTE! The story was changed too much. What's with Aragorn falling from a cliff into a river and getting saved by Trigger, the world's smartest horse? Pah! Pooh! Ack! What about the Uruk-Hai Orc yelling "Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys?" Ugh! Eeek! Pooh! And let's not forget that when they made Faramir mean they made him BORING! And why wouldn't Treebeard want to fight while in the book he clearly wanted to?

Because Peter Jackson either does not understand the intricacies of the book or he just ignored it.

Not too mention some of the changes brought into the book ONE MASSIVE inconsistancy. When Faramir takes Frodo and Sam to the besieged city (which was obviously inspired by "Saving Private Ryan") one of the Ring Wraiths attempt to seize Frodo. The inconsistancy lies in the fact that he has been spotted. So this is how it works; if the Black-Riders Ring Wraiths know, the Sauron Knows. If Sauron knew the Ring was so close then he would have send all his forces to that spot to capture Frodo and the Ring. Since, in the movie, this didn't happen, we now have something that does not make sense. The Dark Lord would have guessed what they were up to and would have tried to stop them.

Another major problem is the fact that Jackson threw out all of Tolkiens subtleties and blew everything out of proportion. (Although the part where the Ents rampage through Isengard is still a great view! Ha!).

Sigh. "Fellowship of the Ring" had it's forgivable faults. "The Two Towers" is almost unforgivable.

Sahara with Michael Palin (2002– )

Fascinating...

[30 June 2003]

The first episode was tremendously boring. It's enough to make you fall asleep. Not so with the others. The deeper Palin goes into the Sahara, the more fascinating it gets.

Keep with it! It's a monstrously well-made series. And Micheal Palin is an added bonus.

The episode where he goes to Tunisia, Liberia and Algeria is the best one of all. He shows where he (and the Monty Python-gang) shot "Monty Python: Life of Brian" which is not really my favorite Python Movie, but seeing where they shot it is an education.

Enjoy the series!

Psycho (1960)

Musaeum Piece, unfortunately...

[11 December 2002]

I really like this movie, I really like Hithcock and I really liked Psycho. But unfortunately Psycho, thanks to pop-culture references and Time, had degraded over the years into nothing more than a museaum piece. Unlike Vertigo, which needed time to ferment before being accepted, Psycho is now, like "Beowolf" or "The Devine Comedy" something that not all would find appealing.

It deserves the name "Classic" but it doesn't deserve the place as "The No. 1 Most Suspensful Movie Ever Made."

Sorry.

The music, on the other hand, is timeless...

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Great! Great!

[9 October 2002]

Sleeping Beauty is one of the all-time animation greats! There's no denying it. But some people dare to think of it as badly animated!

The movie is beautifully animated! It's supposed to look like a medieval Gothic painting (which it does) and most of Disney's subsequent movies up till "The Little Mermaid" failed to look even half as good! The animation is fluent, the expressions real, each character is realistic.

Knock the story (a great one if not a bit too sweet), knock the voice-acting (you would be liar if you did!), knock the occasionally annoying soundtrack, but the animation is perfect!

ONE MAJOR PROBLEM:

Sleeping Beauty was in production for six years. Why? Because they spend days on the medieval back-grounds because the were filming it in 70mm! 70mm film! If it is filmed in that ratio, then why are most DVDs issued in full-screen with no option for full-screen?

Oh, how it pains the mind!

But other than that; enjoy!

Good & Evil (1991)

Good old show...

[2 October 2002]

Another one of the good shows that didn't make it.

GOOD & EVIL was a hillarious spoof-show of soap-operas and was basically about a good sister, a scientist, and her evil sister, a femme fatale-wannabe, fighting each other.

The good sister has a scientist friend, who has a crush on her, who happens to be blind (and keeps knocking stuff over) and a daughter who doesn't want to talk.

And to make thing sillier the evil sister has an ex-husband (played by South African "gods must be crazy" actor Marius Weyers) chasing her whom she pushed off Mount Everest and has been frozen for two years in the Himalayas.

Meanwhile their mother is having a new lover over who is obviously after her money and somewhere their mother's evil twin comes in.

Fun if you can catch it somewhere...

Black Hawk Down (2001)

What I wanted "The Siege" (1998) to be.

[17 September 2002]

Remember that small hit (if it was one) in 1998 with Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington about New York being attacked by an terrorist force. I was disappointed in that movie because the 'force' laying 'siege' to New York was just a bunch of crazy loonies with TNT strapped to their chests running around and blowing stuff up. Boom!

With a title like "the Siege" I expected an invasion force rolling off at NY harbour and starts running through buildings, people running in panic and entire buildings being toppled. Then the US army would come in, try to take control of the situation and run around, trying to chase the invasion force out of New York after much have been destroyed. But I didn't get that. The closest I came, that year, to that sorely missed movie experience was GODZILLA!

Then, out of nowhere came Black Hawk Down to rid me of a movie I had wanted to see back then! Not that it had toppling buildings, demolishing tanks, and Mogadishu remained as intact as what it was before the battle depicted in the movie. But instead of the US army chasing around the invades it turned out the US army was the invaders and the Mogadishins were trying to chase them out and that was good enough for me!

On a more serious note BLACK HAWK DOWN wasn't as much as an anti-war movie (which it is) as a warning to America that said "keep your noses out of nonsense that did not involve you!". After September 11th this idea, which was indirectly caused by operations such as this one.

All the acting is superb, the location was excellent and breathtaking and looks like a warzone. The action is grizzly, the pain is practically real. It will make you laugh, it would make some cry, but it is definetly the best war movie of the new mellenium and all others, especially those in a modern setting, would have to be compared to Black Hawk Down.

And if Black Hawk Down doesn't take your fancy as a warmovie you could always view it as a comedy of errors.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Unorginal Prison Fairytale my hairy foot!

[10/10 · 11 September 2002]

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Imagine me as an old man with a beard sitting on the stoep (porch) waving my cane at people passing by.

"How dare you call the Shawshank Redemption an unorginal prison fairytale! It is not supposed to be a run of the mill prison movie. Its not supposed to be The Birdman of Alcatraz! It's not supposed to be MIDNIGHT EXPRESS! It's not even supposed to be Stir Crazy, you wippersnappers! The prison is only the backdrop! It's about overcoming the odds when you are at your rope's end. This is a movie about hope and finding it in the darkest and dreariest of places.

"This movie could easily have been set in Nazi Germany in opressed Germany, in a concentration camp, in a 19th century work house! It's about breaking free from things that oppress us needlessly! (Spoiler starts here) Andy is the only person in prison that doesn't belong there! If he had done something bad he would have accepted it, but he didn't, so he tunnels through a wall to freedom. (Spoiler ends here).

"Sentimentalism can be bad in a movie if handled incorrectly, but Darabont uses it better than other Capra impersonators out there (even beating the Coens with their Hudsucker Proxy). And there is nothing wrong with sentimentality in The Shawshank Redemption. And I can't see what cliches you are talking about. Just because good things happen doesn't mean they cliches.

"This is a meditative movie. It's also has a lot of little things to enjoy for repeat viewing. So get off your high-horse and enjoy this movie.

"This is all I have to say."

Get back onto his chair and blows bubbles out of his pipe.

Friday the 13th (1980)

I saw this movie when I was 8 years old

[1/10 · 11 September 2002]

And it failed to scare me in the least. Even the most idiot horror movies (except maybe Jaws movies) scared me senseless, but his movie fails in that way.

Interesting twist, yes! But other than that it misses the mark completely! And it's not even a very good twist, come to think of it.

Anybody who likes this movie must consider giving up on movies altogether.

Vertigo (1958)

The Creepiest Movie Ever made...

[11 September 2002]

VERTIGO is one of my favourite Hitchcock movies, but not because I find it to be a beautiful love story, but because it makes you think. And because the 3rd Act (so to speak) is the creepiest thing I ever saw.

(Spoiler starts here) James Stewart Making Kim Novak look like his dead girlfriend is the creepiest, sickening thought imaginable. Makes my stomach turn and makes my skin crawl. A friend said "how sick is this guy" when he watched it, yet he liked the movie in the end. (Spoiler ends here).

This movie is haunting, and Scotty Ferguson is a person worth pittying. I can't help but feel a huge burden of sorrow whenever I watch this romantic thriller.

But one complaint.

(Spoiler starts here). The ending is unsatifying. I know this movie can't have a happy ending and I can't imagine James Stewart and Kim Novak walking down the stairs with a "The End" and romantic music playing. If they could have found another way to end this that doesn't seem so forced then I would have had a better sad ending.(Spoiler ends here).

For anyone who loves a good art-house movie, Vertigo is for you. One of Hitchcock's best.

Return to Oz (1985)

Not as bad as all that...

[10 September 2002]

Hey, say what you like, but since a child of five I've always loved RETURN TO OZ. And do not judge it harshly because of the Original, which is a good movie also. But the problem with The Wizard of Oz (1939) is that it lacks some sense of dread and danger. Sure the Wicked Witch of the West is scary, but not terrifying. This story can, off course, scare little children. But for those with far-fetched imagination, this story will certainly entertain endlessly.

Some of the scary scenes are those of the Headless witch Momby and her exchanging heads, the Wheelers and the Nome King and his Nomes, who are nothing more but talking rocks.

The movie plays like a dream and has an auteristic touch. But it starts out rather bizarre and depressing. Not to mention dark.

It's some time since "The Wizard of Oz" (a few months) and Dorothy Gale is sent to a psychiatrist with evil intentions. He works with electricity and calls it a miracle. So he's going to give Dorothy shock therapy. After a storm knocks out the power Dorothy and another girl run into the storm and fall into a flooding river. So Dorothy find herself back once again in Oz.

But the Munchkin Village is gone (the house is there) and the Yellowbrick road half-destroyed. Soon she finds that the Emerald City has been conquered by the Nome King and is now under the rule of his servant Mombi who calls herself queen. Soon, with the help of Jack Pumpkinhead and Tic-Toc, a mechanical soldier, she sets out to the Nome King's mountain across the Deadly Desert to rescue Oz from his evil.

This is an atmospheric and fascinating movie (if you ignore the existance of the first one). But it has problems to which I shall now turn.

What infuriates me about this movie (and infuriated me about all other Oz movies) is that it makes the Land of Oz a dreamland, like Wonderland. It sets out to make it all look more dreamlike (and succeeds). But in the books it all seemed less Freudian.

Also it's terribly Freudian. The lunchpale trees' 'fruit' (another problem) looks like her lunchpale, only more natural. The Wheelers look like the Hospital Orderly and who's beds squeak like their wheels do in Oz. The Evil Nurse is obviously Mombi and the Doctor is the Nome King. Jack Pumpkin head is obvious as the Jack o'Lantern in Dorothy's room. And Tic-Toc the doctor's machine. It's so Freudian it's terrible.

The afore-mentioned lunchpale tree is too fantastic to take seriously.

Other than that I like this movie, although I should admit it's not everyone's cup of tea. It is sort of like Philip Pullman's take on Oz.

Top Gun (1986)

The most forgetable movie I've ever seen

[3 September 2002]

I've watched Top Gun five of six times and no matter what I just can't remember this movie! It's not that it's bad. It's not that it's boring. It's just plain forgettable.

Somewhere there flies a plain, somewhere there's Tom Berenger, Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, a guy with no hair, a bar scene and somewhere someone dies. That's all I remember. Nothing worth telling about.

Watch Hot Shots instead. The spoof is better than the proof of the pudding. This movie is a time-passer. Something to do when you're bored. There are better Tom Cruise movies out there!

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)

Danse Macabre

[2 September 2002]

I have a duel nature within my head. Two sides of the same coin, so to speak. One is dark and shadowy and one is happy go lucky. I have to say that the dark and depressing Film Noir cynical side of my brain liked THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?

And what's not to like? A modern film noir movie (film noir isn't restricted to crime, you know) where, in the Great Depression, you can take part in dance marathon that go on for years and years where you literally dance till you drop. 10/20 minutes of rest, sleep or to eat, and then the dancing stretch again. People who are better off than you can go and sit and watch you. If you wear a jersey with a sponser on you can get a few cents extra per dance. And so it goes, it goes. On and on in a depressing circus, around and around, where it stop no one knows. Some go crazy, some die on this dancing floor, everyone marching in tune with the dance of death. The people on the floor dance for the grand prize that they will never get!

It's pretty obvious the dancefloor and dance is symbolism for life. The people on the floor are the poor and the downtrodden (Les Miserables, if you will) of society and the guys watching are the rich and well off. And you are in the circus which we call life. Gig Young, as the cruel two faced commentator who I suspect is supposed to be God. In the end all humans are like horses. (!!!Spoiler begins here!!!)And the only way out is to kill yourself and if you are in misery you got to get shot like a horse! You get the picture....(!!!Spoiler ends here!!!)

Then (thank goodness) my reasonable side (which is also my happy go-lucky side) flips over and cries halt to all the negative absurdism that this movie throws at the audience. Sure, life is a pretty horrible deal, but it isn't that bad! I guess the filmmakers (for shame, Pollack!) are just trying to get the audience to commit suicide. God is not cruel and two-faced! And life isn't that repetative! Life has meaning! Life has good things! Look out the beauty of the ocean, of mountains, of good movies like Casablanca, Ben Hur, Vertigo (bad example, maybe), Maltese Falcon. What about great books like Les Miserables, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia! Life is not as bad as this! And God is Good, despite what some materialists think. And materialists, I guess, won't like this movie either since it's against materialism as well.

I am a firm believer that life is what you make it! Just as long as you stop dreaming and get some direction!

In short, this movie is too negative for me to take seriously. But, for the type of movie that it is, They Shoot Horses, don't they? is a masterpiece! It certainly is not overated! And, even though I don't like it, even my reasonable and happy-go-lucky side has to agree that it a good movie for what it is.

I would have given it a 9, but that Yowza Yowza Yowza got on my nerves. Probably has to do with the theme of repetativeness. But by this time I don't care....

8 out of 10.

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999)

I got a better title for this film!

[27 August 2002]

An Errol Morris Film

Starring Fred A Leuchter, Jr.

"FOOLS ON PARADE".

That's basically what this documentary is about! A bunch of generally smart people acting like FOOLS telling us that there was no holocaust, and then have their 'findings' refuted by people who obviously know more of what went on in World War II than they actually did.

Holocaust deniers are on the same level as people who still think Elvis Presley is living in a trailer outside Memphis. They don't want to accept that a great nation like Germany, or in fact the human race as whole, can commit an atrocity such as the holocaust.

And the center fool is Fred Leuchter, who is an intersting character. Shakespearian to say the least. At his heart he is a philantrophist. He tries to make Death Machines work better by killing the victim in the most humane way possible. But then, obviously because he has such a large ego and with a limited knowledge of science and history, sides with Nazis saying that the Holocaust was a sham. And in the process destroys his career.

Mr Leuchter is not, I think, an anti-Semite, despite what one of the holocaust experts say. He is just a silly little man who is acting the goat because all he wants is attention. I can't help but feel sorry for him, even though he deserves all the bad things that happened to him.

I could also not help that the filmmaker ridiculed him a bit too much. But basically Morris suggests he is trapped in his own universe or trapped by his own ego. Recommended to all who likes a good documentary.

I just feel Morris could have added more scientific data refuting Leuchter's findings.

Miller's Crossing (1990)

Maybe I omitted a few things

[21 August 2002]

In a previous review I said that Miller's Crossing had few merits. I should maybe ad one of the merits.

(SPOILERS START HERE)

This movie plays around with the idea of loyalty. And the Coen Brothers play around with a lot of irony, as they usually do in their movies. In the movie we see Tom (Garbriel Byrne) switch sides to the other mob in town, but secretly he is still loyal to his old boss Leo (Finney), even though Leo doesn't know it. His new boss (Polito) thinks he's loyal to him, but Dane, Polito's 2nd in command, sees through Tom. Yet Dane in the end gets killed by his boss for something he did not do, and then get betrayed by Tom anyway.

Another one is Finney's relationship with Verna. He would never cheat on her but she's cheating on Tom. Also Tom is loyal to his friend Bernie and, ironically, Bernie ends up being disloyal to his friends, especially Tom.

(SPOILER ENDS HERE)

It also shows that trust (or distrust) should be well founded and not taken on what people say because trust, as truth and loyalty, depends on how it is perceived by an individual.

Then there was the "Danny Boy" sequence.

Other than this, Miller's Crossing was disappointing.

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Cruel and Unusual

[21 August 2002]

Sunset Blvd is certainly one of the best movies I've seen, and I enjoyed it immensely. The mother of all Anti-Hollywood movies is still the best.

It is unusually abstract for a 1950s movie (even for a modern movie) and any arthouse lover would enjoy this it.

But what I did not like about it is that it is a very cruel movie. But I guess it's part of the movie's theme: Hollywood is cruel and don't have anything to do with it.

It works on the same concept of the Coen Brother's "Barton Fink" that says warns you that "if you want to win in Hollywood you'll have to be willing to loose your soul."

Scary though.

But still I can't wait for the DVD of Sunset Blvd.