Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids
May 13, 2011
Universal
Comedy
DVD
B-

When I first saw this movie, it made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me consider walking out at the really gross food-poisoning scene.  My reaction on watching it for I think the fifth time was not as extreme in any regard.  I still think Kristen Wiig does a good job, as star and co-writer, of capturing a particular kind of woman who's messed up her life but not as much as she thinks.  Also, it is nice to see female friendship, in various forms, put at the center, even if the subject is ostensibly a wedding.  This does mean unfortunately that the men are really short-changed, some of them not even getting lines.  I certainly would've liked to have seen more of Chris O'Dowd's nice Irish cop.  And even some of the women have unresolved plot threads, including Wiig's own.  (Does she start another bakery or what?)  That said, Melissa McCarthy comes close to stealing the movie in what I recall as her first significant big-screen role.

Wilson Phillips appear as themselves, and Chynna Phillips was the love interest Cindy in The Invisible Kid.  Nancy Carell was the Health Clinic Counselor in The 40 Year Old Virgin but is less memorable here as Helen's Tennis Partner, while Joe Nunez was Man Buffing Floor there and is Oscar the Security Guard here.  Jessica St. Clair, who plays Whitney at the bridal salon, would be Deena Schuster in Wanderlust.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
August 13, 2010
Universal
Comedy, Sci-Fi, Romance, Action
DVD
B-

This is based on a graphic novel series I've never read, other than what appears in the movie itself and its DVD extras.  As such, I'm not going to get into a discussion of how well it translates to the screen, but I will note that I like the comic-like elements, such as the sound effects that we can read as well as hear.  There are also elements of video games, especially but not limited to the fight scenes.  And then are bits of less classifiable whimsy, such as some characters' ability to do things very quickly, even if asleep.  It is an interesting stylistic blend.

Unfortunately, the central couple in this anti-rom-com are the two least appealing characters in the movie (well, other than some minor characters we see much less of).  Scott is in a way the typical adorkable Michael Cera character, but he has to do a lot of very un-Cera-like things, including make various women unhappy, although this is admittedly unintentional.  And his dream girl Ramona Flowers has no real personality; she's just as much of a cypher at the end as she is at the beginning.  It's hard to be invested in their relationship, and I'm not even sure if we're supposed to be, but it does get a lot of screen time.  Luckily, the supporting characters are much more vivid and, even when they do unlikable things, entertaining.  My favorites are Wallace, the gay roommate, and Julie, the foul-mouthed friend of an ex.  The title of the movie is somewhat of a misnomer, since Scott battles Ramona's seven evil exes, but there is a sense that everyone, even his friends, is against him.  This viewing, I was rooting for the world, and I completely agreed with Knives Chau when she said that she's too cool for him.

Nelson Franklin was one of Sydney's Buddies in I Love You, Man and has the small but scene-stealing role of Comeau here.  (He's the one who says the comic book is always better than the movie.)  Bill Hader, who is The Voice, would be Kyle in They Came Together.

Pirate Radio

Pirate Radio (AKA The Boat That Rocked)
April 1, 2009
Universal etc.
Comedy, Musical, Historical
DVD
C+

I'm ambivalent about this movie, so let's get the negatives out of the way first.  This is the fictional, if inspired by true events, story of, yes, a pirate radio station in the days when the BBC did not like to play rock or pop.  Specifically, it's 1966-67, and as such I recognize that it's a period piece and this was not the most feminist of times or places.  That said, I feel that the way that sex and women are presented is excessively retrograde.  The next British movie I'll review, In the Loop, is not really feminist either, but it does treat the women as people with believable motivations, and there is nothing as creepy as the scene where a man tries to trick his partner into deflowering another man.  (Perhaps he's also trying to trick the other man, since it seems unlikely they would've gotten away with it, but this makes the scene no less creepy.)  Considering that writer-director Richard Curtis did The Tall Guy about twenty years earlier, it's fair to expect better than this.

The movie was released in a longer version (with the "boat" title) on the date I've listed, and perhaps there are fewer dangling threads in that.  To take a minor example, what the heck does Thick Kevin do on the boat?  Everyone else has a clear job but he just hangs out.  To take a more significant example, how does Philip Seymour Hoffman, as the "spirit of rock" character the Count, manage to survive after the boat sinks, while the Swedish crew disappears without comment?

The soundtrack and costumes are good at least (although the former is sometimes anachronistic), and there are some enjoyable performances, most notably Bill Nighy as Quentin, whose every line delivery and movement is perfect.  I might've rated this higher at the time, although what bothers me about it now bothered me then.

There are some Harry Potter connections here, with ex-spouses Kenneth "Lockhart" Branagh and Emma "Trelawney" Thompson playing respectively the main villain and the mother of the character closest to being the film's main character.  David Sterne was a Ministry Wizard in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and is Marianne's Captain here.  Rhys Ifans, who's Gavin, would be Xenophilius Lovegood in Deathly Hallows, Part I, while Nighy would be Minister Rufus Scrimgeour.

Tom Brooke played a Production Assistant in Bridget Jones 2 but is more memorable here as Thick Kevin.  Kirsty Mather, who's John's Boat Girl, had recently been a Hen in Mamma Mia!  Chris O'Dowd, who's sweet and goofy as Simon (the most-betrayed-by-a-woman character) would be the love interest Rhodes in Bridesmaids.

Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia!
July 18, 2008
Universal etc.
Musical, Comedy, Romance
DVD
B

This at times feels like a throwback to, no, not ABBA's glory days in the '70s, but rather the early '80s, when the cheesy, nonsensical musical sub-genre reached some sort of pinnacle, or depth, with Grease 2 and Pirate Movie.  In fact, watching this in the theater the first time (I went twice), the flipper-ballet on the jetty felt like a Pirate Movie out-take.  And yet, even when Pierce Brosnan is proving himself the worst singing James Bond since Timothy Dalton in Sextette, the movie has more heart than most modern movies.  Much of this is due to star Meryl Streep, who of course out-acts everyone but nearly out-sings everyone, with the notable exception of Amanda Seyfried as her daughter Sophie.  Seyfried has an incredible voice that Mean Girls gave no hint of.  In a plot with an incredibly fuzzy timeline (I think it's set in '97, but this is debatable), twenty-year-old Sophie wants to finally meet her father, and so she invites the three most likely candidates to her wedding:  Brosnan, Colin Firth (very sweet as the now gay one), and Stellan Skarsgård,  Meanwhile, other guests arrive, including Streep's best friends, one played by a surprisingly slapsticky Julie Walters.  Not every moment in the movie works, but the ABBA covers are great and I can't think of a weak one in the bunch.  Also, the Greek scenery is gorgeous.

Norma Atallah was Debra in Yentl and is Irini here.  Kirsty Mather, who's a Hen here, would be John's Boat Girl in Pirate Radio.

Baby Mama

Baby Mama
April 25, 2008
Universal etc.
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B

In some ways, this is sort of the flip-side of Juno, although Amy Poehler is the working-class surrogate mother for the baby that single yuppie Tina Fey hopes to have, rather than an accidentally pregnant teen.  There are more stereotypes here, not just with Poehler's character but also with Romany Malco as Oscar the African-American doorman.  I do feel that the performances and the witty screenplay humanize and expand on these stereotypes, but I can see how some might object.  Similarly, the whole "ticking biological clock" thing can be seen as both '80s dated and anti-feminist, but Fey and the others manage to tweak this.  Similarly, the movie plays with rom-com tropes (most obviously in the "Endless Love" sequence) and applies them to two straight women who become unlikely best friends.  The two leads, friends in real life, play off of each other well, and are ably supported by (among others) Steve Martin as Fey's New-Agey boss, Sigourney Weaver as the 50-something but incredibly fertile manager of the surrogacy agency, the eternal Holland Taylor as Fey's mother, and Greg Kinnear as Fey's love interest, one of the more realistic characters, although not without humor.

Siobhan Fallon Hogan, who plays the Birthing Teacher, was (minus the speech impediment) Stanley's Mother in Holes.  Mark A. Keeton was Sloane's Dinner Companion in Music and Lyrics and is Denim Suit Guy here.  Fred Armisen, the Stroller Saleman here, would be the Pastor in Easy A.

The 40 Year Old Virgin

The 40 Year Old Virgin (no hyphens originally)
August 19, 2005
Universal
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B-

I went back and forth between a B and a B- on this, because when the movie is good, it's very good, as in the Hair tribute at the end.  And I didn't want to be overly influenced by hindsight, that the Judd Apatow weaknesses which would be more obvious in subsequent films, from Knocked Up to Trainwreck, are evident here, in his first theatrical release.  But the truth is, the crude humor has not aged well, that what was shocking but funny a decade ago is now just gross and at best mildly amusing.  Also, far too much time is spent with the male bonding and the false leads that the title character (played by Steve Carell) faces in his search to no longer be a virgin, and not enough on the genuinely sweet romance between Carell and Catherine Keener.

And I do have to say that the main Apatow weakness is a tendency to contrast "bad behavior" with personally conservative behavior and have the latter win out, but only after we've sat through a lot of swearing, drinking, dope-smoking, homophobia, and women being treated as bitches and ho's.  In this case, the virgin loses his virginity on his wedding night.  (In Knocked Up, an unplanned pregnancy between two incompatible strangers leads to marriage, while in Trainwreck what would've once been called a party girl learns the error of her wicked ways and of course embraces monogamy.)  If you want to make an old-fashioned story, fine, but this isn't the 1920s and I get tired of the morality plays where the audience is shown the worst of wildness and then we get a Hays Code ending, like these are the only two possibilities.  That said, it's not as bad here, and the virgin does end up with a "hot grandma" who brings out the best in him, not exactly the usual Hollywood ending, in the 20th or 21st centuries.

And the male bonding does have chemistry of a different sort (even if the guys, even "sensitive" David, played by Paul Rudd) keep gay-baiting each other.  (And not that this is never funny.  The "spinach dip in a loaf of sourdough bread" line is still golden.)  Carell, Rudd, Romany Malco (who would be Oscar in Baby Mama), and Seth Rogen play off of each other well.  And Jane Lynch, as their boss, also has some great lines, mostly improv apparently.  Overall, the movie is still worth watching but I don't know that I would buy it again, given the choice.

Marilyn Dodds Frank was Alison's Mom in High Fidelity and is Woman Who Bought Television here.  Wayne Federman was an Admissions Guy in Legally Blonde and is a Smart Tech Customer here.  Carla Gallo is Toe-Sucking Girl here and would be Zooey's Friend in I Love You, Man.  Joseph A. Nuñez is Man Buffing Floor here and would be Oscar the Security Guard in Bridesmaids, while Nancy Carell is Health Clinic Counselor here and would be Helen's Tennis Partner there.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
November 19, 2004
Universal/ Miramax
Comedy, Drama, Romance
DVD
C

The faults of Bridget Jones 1-- notably the manipulative soundtrack and directing choices-- are even stronger here in the three-years-later-made but set-the-following-year sequel.  (And Bridget is now born in '72, which makes her a year younger than last time.)  Renée Zellweger as Jones is back, as are her two men, Colin Firth as Mark Darcy and Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver.  And so are a whole bunch of mostly under-used perfomers, among them Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones as Bridget's parents; James Callis, Shirley Henderson, and Sally Phillips as Bridget's friends; James Faulkner and Celia Imrie as Geoffrey and Una Alconbury; Neil Pearson as Richard Finch (Bridget's boss at Sit Up, Britain); Donald Douglas as Admiral (formerly just Mr.) Darcy; and Dominic McHale as Bernard.  I was pleased that Phillips as Shazzer (looking quite fetching, especially in a Beatles cap) has more to do this time, but at that, even she disappears for chunks of the movie at a time.

What we're left with is a mix of unfunny slapstick and uneven drama.  Although the film is ostensibly (and Austensibly, this time influenced by Persuasion) about what happens after Happily Ever After, it's never really that convincing that Bridget and Mark are happy together.  So it's hard to care when they have a pregnancy scare or break up.  And when Daniel returns, it seems she may as well get off (and go off) with him instead.  I almost went with a C- on this, but I don't think it's bad, just disappointing.  And at that, it's sort of nice to see everyone again, although I wish they'd been given more to work with.  (I've read but don't own the book this is based on, although at the time of my reading blog I thought I did.)

Ray Donn was a Limo Driver in Bride & Prejudice, is a customer here, and would be a Policeman in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Campbell Graham returns as Hamish and would be a Ministry Wizard in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,  while Sam Beazley is Very Old Man here and would be Everard in Order of the Phoenix, and Jessica Stevenson is Magda here and would be the voice of Mafalda Hopkirk in Phoenix.  Tom Brooke, who plays a Production Assistant, would be Thick Kevin in Pirate Radio.

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary
April 13, 2001
Miramax/Univeral/etc.
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B-

My review of the book is here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2013/10/bridget-joness-diary.html.  And, yes, I'm giving the movie the same grade, a B-.  Due to the time it took for adaptation, and the decision to put Bridget in her "32nd year" (actually, she turns 33 later that year), she is in this incarnation very close to the age I was at the time I first saw the movie.  (Well, first and second, since I went with two different sets of friends.)  So I am to some degree looking back at pre-middle-age and shaking my head.  That desperation to please is not exactly something I relate to anymore.  And even at the time, well, Helen Fielding's heroine was more of a screw-up than anyone I knew.  She's based on Lizzie Bennet, but Lizzie never fell off an exercise bike.

Renée Zellweger makes an appealing lead, yes, despite being the wrong weight and nationality.  She brings out Bridget's vulnerability, and the movie is much sweeter than the book.  To balance this, much of the entertaining cynicism, including against the Smug Marrieds, is lost.  I also found the soundtrack and some of the directing choices (as in the street-fighting scene) overly manipulative.  Like Bridget, the movie tries too hard to please, and ends up pleasing less than if it had relaxed more.

There's no question that you have to watch this one for the cast.  (And I had to pare down my tags due to space limitations.)  Whether it's spotting not only Salman Rushdie but J. K. Rowling at the literary party (Jo is in plaid and has no lines but it is unmistakably her, at a time when her face was not yet as internationally famous as it'd become), or savoring the Austensibly perfectly cast Colin Firth as a modern Mr. Darcy and the no-Edward-Ferrars Hugh Grant as his charming cad rival, there's always someone to watch in addition to Zellweger.  I would've liked more of Bridget's best friends:  James Callis as Tom, Shirley Henderson as Jude, and Sally Phillips as Shazza.  But they Zellweger, Firth, and Grant would return for the sequel, Edge of Reason, as would Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent as Bridget's parents, and James Faulkner and Celia Imrie as Uncle Geoffrey and Aunt Una Alconbury.  Ms. Rowling aside, there are obviously some Harry Potter connections as well as Jane Austen connections, with the future Moaning Myrtle crying in the bathroom being the most notable.

Campbell Graham would also play Hamish in the sequel, as well as a Ministry Wizard in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  Ray Donn, who's a Journalist here, would be a customer in the sequel, as well as a Limo Driver in Bride & Prejudice.  Donald Douglas, who plays Mark's father Mr. Darcy, would be promoted to Admiral Darcy for the sequel.  Neil Pearson would return as Bridget's boss at Sit Up Britain, Richard Finch, while Dominic McHale would be back as Bernard.  Crispin Bonham-Carter (distant cousin of Helena) isn't in any my other movies, but TV's Mr. Bingley can be spotted as one of the delighted office workers in the scene where Bridget tells off Daniel.

Fielding, Richard Curtis (who also wrote The Tall Guy), and Andrew Davies (of Firth's P & P) would all co-write the BJD sequel, but Sharon Maguire (the sort of inspiration for Shazzer) would be replaced as director.

Josie and the Pussycats

Josie and the Pussycats
April 11, 2001
Universal
Comedy, Musical
DVD
B+

This movie was much misunderstood at the time, but I found it delightful then and I find it delightful now.  In fact, I still laugh really hard at the opening scene of boy band Du Jour greeting the crowd at the airport, as they lip-sync to their hit "Backdoor Lover," which is about exactly what you think it's about.  Although the movie can't sustain this giddiness, the tone of slyness and irreverence has been set.  Based as this is on an Archie comics spin-off (and two '70s Saturday morning cartoons), this really shouldn't be any better than Spice World, but it includes-- along with very catchy pop music and brightly colored costumes and sets-- the following:

• A cute and charismatic trio as the leads: Rachel Leigh Cook as Josie, Rosario Dawson as Valerie, and Tara Reid as Melody
• A very nice sismance between Josie and Val
• The aforementioned Du Jour, with Seth Green and two guys from Clueless (Donald Faison and Breckin Meyer), one of whom has a monkey named Dr. Zaius.
• Parker Posey and Alan Cumming as the scene-chewing villains
• Missi Pyle coming close to stealing the movie, even if she's playing a character (Alexandra) who is only there because "I was in the comic."  Her delivery on the line accusing Josie of sleeping with Mr. Moviefone is classic.  (And now I guess it's one of the more dated jokes, since no one calls up to find movie times anymore.)
• Over-the-top product placement, which the film-makers didn't make a dime on
• A Eugene Levy cameo (as himself, "the actor") at a time when he seemed to be in every other movie out there
• A hip/nerd sensibility with music jokes for more than one generation, not just about then current pop but about the Captain & Tennille (and Chief)
• A subliminal-message message that is itself mocked
• A reference to Cumming's character in Romy and Michele 

Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan co-wrote A Very Brady Sequel as well, but this time they also direct.  Corinne Reilly, who's the Aquarium Tour guide here, would be a Reporter in Legally Blonde.

All of Me

All of Me
September 21, 1984
Universal
Comedy, Romance, Fantasy
DVD
B-

Although this movie, based on the book Me Two, which I haven't read, has the makings of a classic farce, most of the time it plays like an above average sitcom.  (Carl Reiner was the director, but this is not equivalent to what his son Rob was doing at the time.)  I really enjoyed the movie when I saw it on first release, so I made sure to buy the DVD for this project, but it didn't live up to my memories.  (Similar to Roxanne, which we'll get to later.)  Not that this movie isn't entertaining, but it only achieves magic at the end, when the characters played by Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin, who have fallen in love while sharing his body (her soul accidentally moving in next to his) and are now living separately but more together than ever, have a joyful, silly dance together, shown to us in a mirror, since that's the only way her spirit exists after her death.  I know I'm explaining this strangely, but it is an odd movie, despite its use of cliches.  Not only is there a farce trapped inside a sitcom, but there's also a missed chance to explode rather than embrace gender (and racial) stereotypes.  (Tootsie this isn't.)  No one breaks free but it's an interesting struggle.

This time Eric Christmas (by then 68) plays Fred Hoskins.  Neil Elliot, who's the cabbie here, was "Neil" in Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding!  Hardhat Nicholas Shields was Gorilla in Elevator in Thank God It's Friday.  Gailard Sartain, who's Fulton Norris here, was B. B. Muldoon in Roadie.  Dana Elcar, who plays Martin's boss, was Maxwell Smart's boss in The Nude Bomb.  Richard Libertini, who plays Prahka Lasa, was Geezil in Popeye.

Minister David Byrd would be Dr. Hugo Bronfenbrenner in The Hudsucker Proxy.  Victoria Tennant, who plays the duplicitous Terry Hoskins, met Martin on the set and they were married for a few years.

The Gong Show Movie

The Gong Show Movie
May 23, 1980
Universal
Comedy, Musical
VHS
C+

This is sort of what it says on the package, a behind-the-scenes look at the odd '70s "talent" show that I watched regularly and even saw in person.*  But it's also a cynical look at show business, co-written by Robert Downey, Sr.  It doesn't really work, especially with Chuck Barris playing himself as worn out and mumbling.  (It was the year for that, as we'll see with Paul Simon in One-Trick Pony.)  But the movie is marginally entertaining, especially the songs.  My favorite is the group song, "Don't Get Up for Me," even though no one except Mabel King, as Mabel, can sing.  (She's not quite playing herself, but Chuck does greet her with "What's happening?")  Barris's then real-life wife Robin plays his girlfriend Red, with many people, from Tony Randall and 17-year-old daughter Della Barris to of course The Unknown Comic and Gene Gene the Dancing Machine, appearing as themselves.

Milton Delugg is best known for the Gong Show, and for the music in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.  Tourist lady Nora "Dodo" Denney is best known as Mrs. Teevee in Willy Wonka.  Gary Mule Deer, who plays Gary, was a man at the health food restaurant in Annie Hall.  Pat Cranshaw, the old man who dies in the elevator (as Chuck and Red are oblivious), was the Western Union messenger in Sgt. Pepper.

Stand-up comic Taylor Negron is "Blond-Haired Man Auditioning," and he'd turn up as a delivery man in Johnny Dangerously.  Cynthia Szigeti, Diner Doll Sophie here, would also be in Dangerously, as Mrs. Capone, and she was a passenger in The Big Bus.

Betsy Lynn and Carol Gwynn Thompson of the Siamese Connection would be in The Fab 400 in Hamburger-- The Motion Picture.  (They were also responsible for my best friend Carla laughing incredibly hard at the trailer for Midnight Madness, which was 1980's answer to Scavenger Hunt.  I never saw the movie but I still remember the fat disco-dancing twins.)

Band member Dana Glover would contribute "The Way" to the Two Weeks Notice soundtrack.  Danny DeVito allegedly is a performer here, although I didn't spot him.


*Growing up in Southern California, I got to be part of a lot of live studio audiences, and I was there for the misery of the all-"Feelings" episode in '76.  On the bright side, at the end of the day, Arte Johnson gave me one of the balloons that came down from the ceiling.

The Nude Bomb

The Nude Bomb (AKA The Return of Maxwell Smart)
May 9, 1980
Universal (obviously)
Comedy, Action
VHS
C-

And sometimes retaking stock of the '60s looks like this.  A big-screen sort of sequel to the once very popular 1965-70 TV spycom, this flopped on initial release, and it's not hard to see why.  Not that I agree with those who emphasize the "bomb" in the title, but it is a misfire.  To put it bluntly, it is just not that funny.  The only part that works is the last fifteen minutes or so, where the blend of comedy and action is finally well done.  (And the then-edgy topic of cloning ends up being less dated than expected.)  Don Adams, wearing platform shoes and flared pants that look more '74 than '80, does his best in his old role, but it's just not the same without most of his supporting cast.  Andrea Howard, as earnest as in Thank God It's Friday, also does her best, but yes, she's no Barbara "99" Feldon.  The movie is actually most interesting for its plug for its own studio and the famous tour (which as a Southern Californian kid I went on multiple times, usually with out-of-state relatives).  Also, dawn-of-'80s note, there are two young computer genius siblings, but the super-computer still fills most of the room.

Don Adams's cousin Robert Karvelas reprises his role as Larrabee and he was the diner customer that Annabel vents to in Freaky Friday.  Landlady Ceil Cabot was also in Freaky Friday, as Miss McGuirk.  Hospital patient Leslie Hoffman was in I Wanna Hold Your Hand.  Hap Lawrence, a sergeant major here, was a soldier in Rabbit Test.  Adam Anderson was not only the sobbing sailor in Rabbit Test, but he was a policeman in Scavenger Hunt, and he's one of the many pilots here.

Byron Webster was the restroom attendant in Scavenger Hunt and he's the English delegate here.  This time Vito Scotti plays the Italian delegate.  The American delegate, Walter Brooke, was Mr. Ames in The Big Bus.  The German delegate, Richard Sanders, is instantly recognizable as WKRP's Les Nessman, and he'd have a small but funny role in Valley Girl as the Drivers' Ed teacher.

Supply your own caption with one of the famous catchphrases.

Same Time, Next Year

Same Time, Next Year
November 22, 1978
Universal
Romance, Historical
VHS
B-

This is based on a play and it is still essentially a filmed play, since most of the scenes are between Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn, with a few very minor roles such as the waiters and "old Chalmers."  Also, nearly every moment takes place in the rented cottage the couple visit every year for a quarter century, although there are some nice outdoor shots of the ocean and cliffs.  Alda and Burstyn are good together and they held my interest throughout, although I didn't always buy the changes their characters go through over time.  Oddly enough, what I found most interesting this viewing was the changes in fashion, including George going from boxers in the '50s to red briefs in the '70s.  We don't see every year of their annual adulterous rendezvous, just '51, '61 (when she's pregnant), '66, '72 and '77.

The tone is a mix of drama and comedy.  My favorite moment is when, after Alda's character tells a story of his wife peeing on the carpet of one of his clients, Burstyn's character expresses fondness for this woman she's never met.  The film has a recurring corny but likable song, "The Last Time I Felt Like This," sung by Johnny Mathis and Jane Oliver.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

I Wanna Hold Your Hand
April 21, 1978
Universal
Comedy, Musical, Historical
VHS
B-

This is an uneven but likable look at Beatlemania, covering roughly 24 hours, including the Fab Four's first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.  Except for some vintage footage and their songs on the soundtrack, we never actually see or hear the Beatles, but just catch glimpses of them.  The movie is from the perspective of eight teens (four girls and four guys), who have various misadventures in New York as they attempt to see the live performance.

My favorite moments are with 19-year-old Wendie Jo Sperber (later of Bosom Buddies), as the biggest fan out of the group from Jersey.  She meets her match in 21-year-old Eddie Deezen, who was sort of the go-to nerd in comedy movie casting for about a decade and would shortly appear in Grease.  (He seems to be quite the Beatles fan in real life, judging from his website:  http://www.eddiedeezen.com/beatles/.)  The two of them have an insane, adorkable energy separately but especially together.  The other plots and subplots vary in quality, but it's surprising that this was such a flop for Robert Zemeckis.  It's a cute little movie, which has ironically aged better than many of its contemporaries.  (And, yes, I feel that the changes between '64 and '78 warrant the "historical" tag.)

Dick Miller plays a policeman, as he did in Beach Ball.  Nick Pellegrino, "Lou the Guard," was one of The Big Bus's passengers.  Marc McClure, who plays Larry, was Annabel's crush Boris in Freaky Friday.  Bartender Bob Maroff was in Annie Hall.

Ironically, Jeffrey Weissman, who's a Ringo fan here, would be a "brainwashed youth" in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Gene LeBell, who's "Theater Core RTTST" (whatever that means), would be the referee in Americathon.  Leslie Hoffman would be in The Nude Bomb.  Poppy Lagos, who's a reporter here, would be "Sister" in Going Ape!, while Luke Andreas, who's the bribable police officer in the alley, would be "Carter" in that movie.  Will Jordan was an Ed Sullivan impersonator for four decades, and he wouldn't look much different in Down with Love a quarter century after this movie.

Sperber, Deezen, and Paul Newman's daughter

Pufnstuf

Pufnstuf
May 1970
Universal
Children's, Fantasy, Comedy, Musical
VHS
B-

A big-screen spin-off of the Saturday morning cult classic, this works fairly well on its own terms.  (The "H.R." of the series title is dropped for some reason.)  We get the set-up of Freddie the flute becoming magical and Jimmy's arrival on Living Island, as well as Witchiepoo's somewhat baffling coveting of Freddie.  I mean, seriously, his whiny voice annoyed me even as a child.  He doesn't do anything but talk (in that annoying voice).  OK, he's gold and covered in diamonds, but still.  This movie adds an extra Freudian dimension (or perhaps brings out what was subconscious on the show), when Witchiepoo dresses up as a miniskirted blonde who teaches Jimmy to boogaloo.  (Jack Wild was 17 playing 12 or 13.)

As a kid, I was more into all the crazy creatures-- a hippie tree!  Cling and Clang!  the winds with different accents!-- but this time I was more impressed by the "human" performers.  Wild brings sincerity and openness to his role; Jimmy doesn't roll his eyes like a teenager, no matter how cheesy and/or psychedelic things get.  The eye-rolling is left to Martha Raye, as the supremely irritated Boss Witch, a role added for the film, as was Mama Cass Elliot's Witch Hazel.  Cass performs easily the best song in the movie, "Different," which applies not only to the witches but to fat people, hippies, gays, and, well, Jimmy.  The early part of the movie (before Freddie's enchanted) shows how Jimmy is mocked for his accent.  He finds friends on Living Island, and his desire to return home is even more inexplicable than Dorothy's wish to leave Oz.  (There are a lot of parallels to the then three-decade-old classic children's fantasy movie, all of them deliberate according to Sid Krofft.)  Yes, he's being pursued by Witchiepoo, but Billie Hayes is a lot less threatening than Margaret Hamilton.  I like the little touches she adds to the role (they come across as improvised), and the only downside to the scenes at her castle (my favorite set) are that her incompetent hench-creatures get tedious after awhile.  (Although it's always nice to see Allan Melvin get work.)  No wonder Witchiepoo opens and closes the movie.  Oh, and kudos for product-placement of Universal's logo (representing Earth) right in the middle of a song.

Little person Buddy Douglas played a bellhop in The Graduate.  Another little person, Angelo Rossito (Seymore Spider and Clang), was Billy Barty's assistant in The Perils of Pauline.  Barty himself plays Googy Gopher and Orville Pelican.  Allison McKay (role unknown) was the cigarette girl in Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding!  Jane Dulo (Miss Flick) was in Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Salelady?   (Co-writers of this movie, Si Rose and John Fenton Murray, were respectively the producer and writer of that one.)  Johnny Silver (Dr. Blinky and Ludicrous Lion) was the Zipper Man in How Sweet It Is!

Change of Habit

Change of Habit
January 21, 1970
Universal
Comedy, Drama, Romance, Musical
VHS
B-

Welcome to the '70s, sort of.  Obviously, this movie was made at the tail end of the '60s although released at the dawn of the next decade, and movies wouldn't really stop feeling '60sish till I'd say '73.  Nonetheless, the punning title does indicate a shift, not just for Mary Tyler Moore and her two colleagues working as undercover nuns in the ghetto/barrio (more on ethnicity below), but also for Elvis, who, yes, sings four songs but does play a Vietnam vet and a doctor.  The movie is of course laughably dated in how it addresses serious issues, including autism, but there is a good movie buried inside this bad one.  There are too many genres, and too many writers (five), so it probably was not very good even at the time, but it is an interesting period piece.

Yes, the way that sex and race are handled are among the worst aspects.  While there's an attempted rape (of MTM) late in the film, Elvis makes a tasteless rape joke early on.  Another of the nuns, Sister Barbara (the activist one who says "groovy" and exchanges peace-sign fingers with a young priest), wears her dress off the shoulder to get neighborhood men to help her move furniture, and it looks like it's going to turn into a gang rape scene.   More benignly, a 17-year-old girl lusts after Elvis, who turns her down with gentle humor.  And, yes, this is the Elvis/nun romance movie, although that aspect isn't as tasteless as it sounds.  (They never kiss, but they do touch a few times, as when he teaches her to play the guitar.)  The open ending is tasteless, in a funny way, as the camera (offering Sister Michelle's POV) goes back and forth between The King and the King of Kings.

As for issues of race, Latinos and Negroes (I think those are the right period terms for the mainstream, correct me if I'm wrong) are presented both stereotypically and as overlapping groups.  The filmmakers never seem clear what the neighborhood's ethnic mix is, other than somewhat Catholic.  Interestingly, the main villains are white.  (The Hispanic rapist is presented as mentally ill and treated surprisingly sympathetically, although his attack is also taken seriously, if not seriously enough to press charges.)  The white Catholic characters are a mix of good and judgmental.  The most interesting scene that addresses race is marred by unintentionally hilarious dialogue, where two Black radicals ironically tell Sister Irene she "ain't no sister."  One of them says that around there, you're either part of the problem or part of the solution, and the other adds "And we have a feeling you're neither."  She replies, "I'm a Negro, I think that's pretty obvious."

A very late '60s film.  Ed Asner shows up as a reasonable, liberal policeman, but unfortunately he doesn't get any scenes with his soon to be TV costar.  As for Elvis, he was done with acting after this, and he'd be dead before the '70s were over.

Regis Toomey, who plays Father Gibbons, was Sanders in His Girl Friday and was 71 at this point but far from retirement. Timothy Carey, who was South Dakota Slim in a couple AIP Beach Party movies, is the Ajax Market manager.  Robert Emhardt was head of a corporation in Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? and he plays a more sinister "fat cat" here, as the "Banker" exploiting the poor.  Araceli Rey, who plays the elderly protesting Señora Gavilan, was the Italian cleaning lady in The Love God?  Darlene Love sang in that movie as well as this one.  Seventy-four-year-old Ruth McDevitt was Miss Keezy in that movie and plays Lily here.

Some of the kaleiodoscopic experience that this movie is

The Love God?

The Love God?

August 1969
Universal
Comedy
VHS
B

Written and directed by Nat Hiken, of Car 54 fame, this is both more risque and more satirical than your average Don Knotts movie.  (And I've seen my share, although I don't currently own any besides this one.)  Knotts is playing a typical character, in this case Abner Audubon Peacock IV, the fourth-generation publisher of a bird-watching magazine, but what happens to him is far from typical.  Abner is used by everyone from hippie protestors (including in France!) to pornographers to civil rights attorneys to horny women (including Anne Francis, as a tough career gal editor who sort of falls for him) to uphold the twin causes of free speech and the sexual revolution.  In one of the nicest pieces of stunt casting I've ever seen, Herb Voland, who looks so much like then new Vice-President Agnew that he'd play him in the Rich Little movie Another Fine Mess (1972, I've never seen it), plays the attorney general out to wipe out smut, and even he wants Abner to keep publishing the "dirty" version of his magazine.

This is of course delightfully dated-- especially the proto-Ralph-Furley outfits that Abner has to wear as part of his Hefner-like image-- and sometimes very funny, mostly intentionally.  I like both the details of Abner's small town, including his bird calls at the annual concerts, and the big city, well, bigness, including Abner's lush penthouse.  Abner's old secretary Miss Pickering, played by Marjorie Bennett, takes to her new job in the wild world of New York publishing so much that she's soon wearing miniskirts and dying her hair.  There are some other nice cameos, like Jim Begg's as fellow bird-watcher Hotchkiss and James Gregory's as the crusading attorney disgusted by "the filthy little degenerate" but defending the degenerate's right to publish filth, while Edmond O'Brien and Maureen Arthur are perfectly cast as the initial pornographer and his covergirl wife.  When she says that Abner wanting to hold a press conference to confess his virginity (so he can marry the wholesome and loyal minister's daughter Rose Ellen back home) is the most disgusting thing she's ever heard, I just wish there were more of her and O'Brien.

They get pushed aside not so much by Knotts and Francis as by B. S. Pully as the mobster J. Charles Twilight, AKA Icepick Charlie.  Some of the stuff with Charlie is good, like his English lessons with elderly Miss Love, who turns out to be an FBI agent, but he brings too much violence to what is mostly a frothy comedy, Vic Mizzy music and all.  Not only does he slap around O'Brien's character, but he hits Francis when she prefers Abner to him.  And even Abner punches Rose Ellen!  Yes, it's to stop her from coming closer when Icepick and his goons show up at the village church, but it's still disturbing.  I mean, this is Don Knotts!  I'd probably give the movie a B+ if it were less violent.  The sexual content though, which earned an M (today's PG-13) rather than the usual G, is fine, pretty clean by today's standards, but a great contrast to Knotts's image.  Too great for the times apparently, as this was a flop.  (Hiken died before it was released.)
It seems to have a bit of a cult following now though, and I recommend it, albeit with reservations.

Oldest Choir Member Delos Jewkes (then 75) had performed in the Munchkin Medley of The Wizard of Oz.  Choir singer Betty Noyes ironically lip-synced for Debbie Reynolds lip-syncing on "Would You" for Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain.  Bob Harvey plays a photographer and had been Robert the Rat in the AIP Beach Party movies.  James McHale, a reporter here, was Shorty in Spinout.

Arthur Tovey had minor roles in earlier movies of mine, like The Graduate, and here plays a club patron.  Amber Smale played Sandra Dee as a little girl in Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding!, and was 12 by the time of her appearance here.  Angelique Pettyjohn plays a model here and was a secretary in The Cool Ones and Gloria in Clambake.  Dal McKennon plays a bird caller here and was the old soldier in Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady?

Araceli Rey, who plays the Italian cleaning lady, would be Señora Gavilan in Change of Habit.  Darlene Love (of "He's a Rebel" fame) would be a backup singer in Change, while here she's prominently featured singing "Mr. Peacock."  Glenn Dixon, a family member here, would be a sponsor in The Barefoot Executive, while Leon Alton, a club patron here, would be a TV exec there.  Barbara Bosson would do Mame.  Al Dunlap, who's the mayor here, would be a deputy in Escape to Witch Mountain.  Ceil Cabot, who has a minor role here, would be Miss McGuirk in Freaky Friday and the landlady in The Nude Bomb, but I'm guessing she's probably been seen by more people as Buddy Hinton's mother on The Brady Bunch.  

Larry McCormick, the handsome young Black man playing Rich, also has a Brady credit, as the TV announcer on the episode where Bobby wants to run away, and he had other acting credits over the next 35 years, but to a Gen-X Southern Californian like me he is of course best known as a KTLA reporter/anchor.  (His earnestness adds to the hilarity of this movie.)  Bob Hastings plays Shrader, the other assistant attorney, a very different role than his in Did You Hear the One...?  Berniece Janssen would be an extra in Nine to Five.

Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady?

Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady?
July 14, 1968
Universal
Comedy, Historical
VHS
B-

I would recommend this movie to either people over 40 who have a soft spot for silly '60s sitcoms, since it's basically a big-screen equivalent of what was playing on TV that decade, or to little kids, since there's a lot of slapstick, and the suggestive humor looks pretty mild these days.  (In fact the movie is, despite its title, rated G.)  Not only does it star Phyllis Diller at her zaniest, wearing several stunning outfits designed by Omar of Omaha, and a post-Gilligan Bob Denver, but it's full of once familiar TV faces, including future Good Morning, America host David Hartman as the constable (and the only one even attempting a rural Missouri accent).  Also, the background music is by Vic Mizzy at his mizziest.  (Sorry, no title song this time.)  The movie is set in 1910, but it doesn't particularly resemble Mary Poppins, other than it has a woman from out of town dropping in (by train rather than umbrella) and turning everyone's life upside-down.  The humor is hokey but sometimes funny, and it's not too surprising that director Don Weis helmed Pajama Party and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini over at AIP.

Kent McCord again has a small role, as he did in John Goldfarb and Girl Happy.  Herb Vigran, who was one of the men on the train with Fred Astaire in Band Wagon, is the baggage man here and would do Lurvy's voice in Charlotte's Web.  Dal McKennon was the bearded gas station attendant in Clambake, is the Civil War veteran here, and would be a bird caller in The Love God? Bob Hastings, who's Denver's rival Lyle Chatterton here, would also be in The Love God?, as Shrader.  Jane Dulo is mostly known for her TV appearances (99's mother on Get Smart, the grandmother on Gimme a Break!, etc.), yet she not only plays Clara Buxton here but would be Miss Flick in the Pufnstuf movie, which was cowritten by one of this movie's cowriters, John Fenton Murray.  George N. Neise is Ben Milford here and would be a network exec in The Barefoot Executive.  Joe Flynn (best known for McHale's Navy) would be just as irritable in Barefoot as he is here playing banker Hubert Shelton.  Speaking of irritable men, this time Charles Lane plays Diller's boss at the player-piano company.

Lloyd Kino, who plays the Chinese laundryman that keeps flinging his laundry basket in the air whenever chaos ensues in "downtown Primrose," was then about 50 but would play "Asian Tourist Husband" almost 40 years later in Miss Congeniality 2.  (He was actually Japanese-American, born in Seattle.)

The Perils of Pauline

The Perils of Pauline
August 2, 1967
Universal
Comedy
VHS
C

A modern (but not mod) take on the 1914 serial, this starts out somewhat authentic to that earlier time, in terms of cars and clothes, but then seven years pass and suddenly we're in the world of the Peace Corps, the Berlin Wall, cosmonauts, and cryogenics.  We're not meant to take any of this seriously, so the ethnic/national stereotypes are less offensive than they could be, but mostly the movie is too bland to generate any strong emotion.

If you're going to watch this movie, it'll probably be for the cast.  No, not "Dodge Rebellion Girl" Pamela Austin as Pauline, or 33-year-old Pat Boone trying to be convincing as ages 13 to 25.  I mean the supporting cast, none of whom give stellar performances, but it's just interesting to see them show up.  Edward Everett Horton, 81 and passing as 99 1/2, plays the 2nd richest man in the world.  Bullwinkle fans will also be pleased at June Foray dubbing some of the kid voices, from Pauline as a baby to a spoiled Arab prince.  My favorite cameo was the one of William "Father Mulcahy" Christopher as a doctor, practically rolling his eyes at the corniness.  The most embarrassing appearances are possibly those of Billy Barty, as the king of the "white pygmies," and Terry-Thomas, as a "great white hunter" who falls for Pauline.  On the other hand, it's not like other roles of theirs have had much more dignity.

Keith Taylor, who was Plympton in Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!, is Henry here.  James Milhollin, who plays Everett's male secretary Stafford, was a hotel manager in The Cool Ones.  Vito Scotti (instantly recognizable to Gilligan's Island viewers) is the "way-out" Italian director Frandisi and would be a cook in How Sweet It Is!  Angelo Rossito, who has credits going back to the '20s (he was in Freaks), is Barty's assistant here and would be Seymour Spider and Clang on the TV show H.R. Pufnstuf, as well as the movie.  Bruce Rhodewalt, who plays Clarke, would be Wilbanks in The Barefoot Executive.  Hamilton Camp, aged up with gray hair from his 32 years, plays Boone's male secretary Thorpe, but he would have a very different role as Col. Hershey in Meatballs Part II.

Vic Mizzy did the title song that Boone sings repeatedly, but it has none of the wacky pizzazz of his usual work (on The Addams Family, Green Acres, and some other movies, including at least one coming up).

Pinocchio in Outer Space

Pinocchio in Outer Space
December 22, 1965
Belvision/ Universal
Children's, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Musical
VHS
C+

As the title suggests, this Belgian kiddie flick is an odd, very '60s blend of Collodi's antihero (whom the Blue Fairy has changed back to a wooden puppet after some misbehavior) and the space age.  This doesn't really explain why the Cat of the Fox and Cat pair has become a stuttering "catnik" named Mr. Groovy, but oh well.  The sci-fi element isn't bad, combining actual facts about the planets with genuinely scary creatures like Giant Radioactive Salivating Crabs from Mars.  However, the music is pretty awful, especially that "Goody Goody Morning" dreck.

The "star" of the movie is Arnold Stang as Nurtle the Twurtle, although I'll always prefer him costarring with another Arnold in Hercules in New York.  One of the other voices is Norman Rose's, and he'd be the voice of one of the title characters in Love and Death.  Writer Fred Laderman (later Fred Ladd) would write a couple of the Pippi movies.