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tomthedog
Reviews
Bullitt (1968)
Even the car chase is boring
Bullitt is an insanely boring movie. Boring, boring, boring.
I remembered watching parts of it -- including the famous car chase -- when I was a kid, and not liking it, and now that I'm older, with a better appreciation of classic cinema, I thought I would give it another try.
Big mistake. This film brings new meaning to the word dull. If you enjoy watching long stretches of bland actors doing absolutely nothing of interest, then this movie is for you. If interesting to you is watching five minutes of Steve McQueen driving home from the hospital, parallel parking, locking his car, walking across the street, buying some vegetables and TV dinners, walking down the sidewalk, climbing up the stairs to his apartment, etc ad infinitum... then don't let me stand in your way. But if you have a pulse, and expect one from your movies, don't touch this one with a ten-foot pole.
The only people I can see enjoying this are those who find the circa-1968 San Francisco locations inherently interesting -- and they are really only put to good use during that car chase -- or those who buy into the Steve McQueen mystique. Well, I don't. McQueen has the charisma of a sack of doorknobs. If his personality is best displayed here in this, his most famous role, then I have zero desire to ever see another one of his films.
And about that car chase: BORING!! I can't even imagine it being of interest to 1968 audiences, when such extended car chases were still novelties, and for audiences of today -- they have more exciting chases on Touched by an Angel. Best car chase ever? Ridiculous. It's as dull as the rest of this interminable film. If you want to see a real car chase, watch Ronin.
Bullitt is a relic. Its rep is built on the cult of McQueen. It is utterly lacking in appeal.
It's Like, You Know... (1999)
I keep changing my mind on this show.
When I first heard about "It's Like, You Know...", I thought it would be terrific. Created by a "Seinfeld" writer and starring Christopher Eigeman, who has been incredibly funny in everything he's been in? A home run for sure. But in the first season the writing was often strained, the women in the cast were weak, and the show was generally uneven. In the second season, though, a new creative spark seems to have invigorated the show, taking it in bizarre and surreal directions. Bickering conjoined twin cop show action stars (who turn out to be unattached twins faking it). Arthur's feeling of claustrophobia in New York illustrated by the walls of his apartment literally closing in on him. The faux documentary of a break-up, with inexplicably changing props in every scene (a different Jennifer Grey movie poster is on the wall each time we see her, Shrug is eating a different entree each time he appears). Shrug falls victim to a soul-sucking succubus (?!?). The most bizarre and funniest occurrence this year had Robbie and Shrug thinking to themselves about two girls they were dating. Suddenly one thought responds to the other, and they proceed to hold an entire conversation without opening their mouths!
"It's Like, You Know..." has become one of the most inventive sitcoms on the air. Sadly, that precise thing seems to be driving viewers away. Check it out before it's too late.
Taz-Mania (1991)
Not the Simpsons, but still a sophisticated combination of satire and slapstick
Taz-Mania is not a cartoon for children -- or at least, not only for children. How many children are going to understand Taz's father Hugh is a thinly disguised Bing Crosby? Or that Hugh's brother, who makes occasional guest appearances, is Bob Hope, and the episodes featuring him are take-offs on the Hope-Crosby Road movies? How many children will identify the neurotic Wendell T. Wolf as a Woody Allen impersonation? Even the adults may overlook Taz's nemesis Francis X. Bushlad as a reference to Francis X. Bushman (look him up if you must), or perhaps they might not make the connection between Francis's super-rich, gadabout father and Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III.
The sophistication extends beyond the characters to the very structure of many of the cartoons. Many of the characters break the fourth wall to address the audience. Often their commentary is on the absurdity of cartoon conventions, such as falling from a cliff, or being smashed by a giant boulder, which adds an extra level of humor to these cartoon conventions when they are inevitably inflicted upon the characters commenting upon them.
Some characters go beyond breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience, and actually confront their creators: writers, producers, directors. When Taz the actor steps away from Taz the character and laments, in a cultured, refined, and eloquent manner, that his dialogue is limited to "spit-growl", you know you've come across a gem that never had a chance to shine.
Taz-Mania was a mixture of equally hilarious wit and slapstick that was squandered in the pre-adolescent Power Ranger/Bobby's World gutter. It still airs in reruns on the Cartoon Network; catch it if you can.