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Reviews
Screaming Mimi (1958)
Screwy to both eye and ear
A fascinating mess, but still fascinating.
The other reviews already point out the oddball merits of this low-budget potboiler quite effectively, save one.
The musical score recycles Leonard Bernstein's score for the great Elia Kazan film, "On the Waterfront.""!! It's quite disturbing to hear the unique music of a cinematic masterpiece underscoring a lurid little thriller that never "could have been a contender."
Unfortunately, they use the Red Norvo combo to backup Ekberg's pseudo-bump-and-grind routines. It would have rocketed this flick to lunatic genius if she had been jugg-ling to Bernstein's pounding tympani. Too bad they missed that one.
The Metropolitan Opera HD Live: Richard Strauss: Salome (2008)
No wonder opera is dying
When one of the world's greatest opera houses can mount a production of Salome so devoid of acting talent, directorial insight, and theatrical skill, it makes it much easier to understand why opera is held in such ridicule by most of the population.
Mattila sings the role well enough; but it hardly makes any difference when her dramatic performance is at the level of hambone hijinx on the family camcorder. She lurches from one faux emotion to another with no character and less physical control. I've rarely seen such clumsiness onstage, much less in a world-class theater. Her dance (lauded elsewhere for tubby nudity that wasn't shown in the HD broadcast--THANK GOD!!!) wouldn't play at a 1927 Minsky's matinée. Arousal? I was fighting back the nausea.
Elsewhere, performances and direction were slipshod and generalized with little to none of the subtext and atmosphere of Strauss and Wilde's genius. Did anyone CARE about this material? Did they even rehearse? The evidence says no.
A shameful and shocking exhibition of amateurism from the stage of The Metropolitan Opera. Low rent theater in high def video.
Hawaiian Nights (1954)
A better-than-average short
A previous poster obviously has little experience with the film shorts of the 1930s-50s. Few of them were world-beaters in the quality department, but they were often entertaining and, today, represent a nice time capsule of the variety acts that were playing the circuit in their times.
"Hawaiian Nights" features, what else?, a Hawaiian music and dance troupe, augmented by the often silly, occasionally amusing, and at one time immensely popular clowning of Pinky Lee.
For a musical short, the production values of this are remarkably good, including the excellent 3D BW photography (vividly presented in a new print debuted at the 3D festival).
Plus, Mamie van Doren looks spectacular before she perfected her slightly sleazy "bad girl" image of the late '50s, and the featured Miss Universe contestants from the mid-20th century are still looking pretty darned good by 21st Century standards.
The World 3D Expo II has shown two shorts produced by Will Cowan. Both of them have solid production values, and the artists involve suggest that Cowan had good taste in talent. His list of shorts includes such superb musicians as Nat Cole, David Rose, Harry James, Billy May, Spade Cooley, Buddy Rich, and many others. There's probably a treasure of American musical history preserved in Cowan's shorts. tucked away in the Universal vaults. Unfortunately, there is probably little to no chance they'll ever be seen, except in festival situations.
La cuisine: Ghost Soup (1992)
A charming Japanese "take" on a Disney Channel-type movie
A college student moves into his new apartment at Christmastime, but he's a month ahead of his previous schedule because he had to leave his previous residence ahead of plan. Suddenly, two people appear at the door -- a teenage girl and her childlike older male friend -- claiming that they've previously scheduled a Christmas party to be held in the apartment. He throws them out, along with their three silent companions.
They don't take "Get Out!" as an answer and conspire to get the student out of his apartment long enough to have their party. Their plotting produces comedic results, but -- as the film's title implies -- there's a lot more to the situation and a deeper purpose for the party.
An utterly charming, fragile story, saved from being cloying by the (sometimes broad) performances and a precise directorial hand. Targeting kids, I suppose, but so endearing that it touches adults, too.