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jrdodson
Reviews
Zoo (2007)
Sex, lies and videotapes
A compelling and watchable film because of the constant attempts of the men involved to justify their bestiality. Defending the indefensible is so sad and so amazing. The pervert blames everyone but himself. Why did the group try so hard to suppress all evidence of their wrongdoing if they thought it was right? Why did they try to vilify the media, the authorities, the family of the dead man? You won't be able to turn away, but you might not believe your eyes and ears.
Caddyshack II (1988)
Worst. Sequel. Ever.
It's eight years after the mega-hit "Caddyshack," and the studio wants to milk that cash cow again, but it all went horribly, horribly wrong. They couldn't get Rodney Dangerfield, so they went with the third-string facsimile, Jackie Mason. Ted Knight? No, Robert Stack. Bill Murray? No, a bizarre and whiny Dan Ackroyd, in what has to be the worst performance of his career. I guess Chevy Chase's phone wasn't ringing off the hook, since he reprises his role as Ty Webb.
And it all went downhill from there. Where else could it go? Randy Quaid is just awful (surprise!) as is Dyan Cannon, Jonathan Silverman and Dina Merrill. The script could have been written by a high school drama class (and probably was), the direction is tepid and unfocused, and the whole thing is a limp and deadly mess.
Save your time and money and brain cells. It was like watching a car wreck--you want to avert your gaze, but you just can't believe what you are seeing. The worst sequel of all time. Ever, ever, ever.
One Step Beyond: Legacy of Love (1960)
Legacy of Lousy
The plot of this tale is told elsewhere on this page, and does not bear repeating for the simple fact that is is one of the most muddled and confusing half hours you will ever watch. While the cast is superb, the writing is sub par. The script must have gone through multiple rewrites by several different authors who never bothered to consider previous changes. The female lead wants to leave town the very day after she arrives, and yet, based on all that takes place, it seems she stays for two or three and you are never sure which day is which. Costume changes inexplicably take place. Major characters disappear at crucial junctures in the story with no explanation.
And some of the lines are downright baffling. The cab driver's offer to transport two fares for "not even two or as little as one"--is he giving them a free ride? The idea about birds returning to nests they have never seen is ludicrous; how could you live in and leave a nest you have never seen?
Charles Aidman and Norma Crane are two fine actors, but even they are incapable of rising above the sludgy script, and it makes me angry to see such terrific talent wasted on such abysmal writing. Shame on OSB for releasing this horrible episode.
Stunt Rock (1978)
A stunt that drops like a rock
This movie can't decide if it is a concert film, a stunt documentary, or a love story. Ultimately, it winds up being none of the above.
Choppy editing, wooden-like-a-tree acting, dreadful, repetitive and puerile songs;dialog that beggars description and magic tricks that are either interminable or transparent or both (i've seen better at a child's birthday party)--this is a perfect storm of a bad film. Perhaps it would be tolerable if watched under the influence of intoxicating substances, but any clear-headed viewer with the desire for a coherent story and interesting plot need not linger here.
What baffles me most of all is where the funding came from for such a project. Assuming there was a script prior to shooting, who would bankroll such a dreadful waste of celluloid? This is nothing more than a vanity project for Grant Page, the stuntman who takes up most of the um...plot isn't the word. Ah, i have it--Grant wastes most of the screen time. You watch this, you don't tell me you weren't warned.