amandabernice Reviews

Simon Schama's Power of Art (2006)

Art as it was meant to be viewed

[10/10 · 9 July 2007]

Simon Schama's delectably paradoxical look at some of the great names in art uses a humanistic approach in viewing The Great Masters that at once humbles their genius as flawed humans and exalts their glorious talent. At once witty, sardonic, and sexy, Schama's approach to art couples socio-historical scholarship with the pure joy in viewing something that invigorates the eye, the brain and the heart.

The Power of Art utilizes Schama's wonderfully written narration he brings to so many of his BBC documentaries, as well as beautifully staged and acted mini-dramas to capture the artist's historical context.

By appealing to the everyman's enjoyment of beautiful art, the scholar's love of history, and the artist's appreciation for the myriad influences and subtleties of the craft, Schama's Power of Art is simply lovely.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988–1999)

Not for the feeble minded...

[8 July 2004]

Face it, people, you have to be of a certain intelligence (i.e. irreverent British humor types) to be able to understand and enjoy MST3K. So, if you like Blackadder, Red Dwarf, Monty Python, and other high comedy, you'll love MST - virtually the same, but with a decidedly American twist. It's *supposed* to be lame and cheesy, and if you're not in that demographic that likes to make fun of movies in the theater (as most Mysties are) you won't enjoy it. To boil it down (with a little paraphrasing from Shakespeare): MST isn't good or bad inherently; the viewer projects their own personality quirks into the film. So if you're the annoying can't-stop-talking/heckling-in-the movie-theater-type, you'll like this just fine. If not, stick the cruddy vulgarity/slapstick of mainstream comedy.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)

Pee-your-pants Funny

[10/10 · 3 March 2004]

This is the ultimate great movie! Created originally as a TV Show, you can watch it with a group, watch it with a single person, watch it by yourself - it'll be a hoot either way. Poor Mike J. Nelson gets shot into space by his evil employer, Dr. Clayton Forrester, who plans to make Mike watch horrible movies as a means of world domination. Mike, however, is to clever for this, and builds himself some robot companions, Tom Servo (who looks like a gum ball machine) and Crow (who looks like some type of demented bird) to help him survive these awful experiments. Hilarity ensues, of course, for Mike and the 'bots just can't help but heckle the film with a barrage of funny one-liners (this movie is suitable, as are the episodes of the TV show, for massive amounts of quotation). An incident with the Hubble, an alien that wears slacks, and a crazy planet called Metaluna ("I never Metaluna I didn't like.") only add to the fun. Even the credits are funny! (Watch for the comments about the "The Amazing Rando!") Guaranteed fun for everyone!

Some one-liners to watch for: "Hey, his legs are sticking out!" "I'm gonna curl up in his sock drawer, and sleep for days." "Wienie man away!" "I regret nothing!" "Where's my gun?"