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dawgang1
Reviews
Gigi (1958)
Ah, I remember it well (unfortunately)
I love musicals, I really do! I've seen Fiddler, Fair Lady, Hello Dolly, Tommy, Little Shop of Horrors and many more a million times over. So, I just had to check out GIGI - apparently one of the greatest, if not "the greatest" musical of our time(s). I'm sorry, people... but this has to be, without a doubt - one of the all time WORST musicals I've laid my ears and eyes on. The songs, the story, the characters... are so trite, sickeningly sweet and grating that their combined characteristics served to make my VHS display tick backwards! And for a movie titled GIGI, the film is 90% focussed on Gaston Lachaille. And Maurice... and that song - "Ah, I remember it well." It's all so... so... overly-sugarised (if such a term exists). Don't get me wrong - I love a feel good film! I love happy endings, happy beginnings and middles. Bright colours and vivid imagery can be done quite pleasantly as in Allen's EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU. But this film is like a sugar-coated neon-pastel-over-exposed load of worthless film! And the songs themselves just reek of FAIR LADY. I'm not bagging Fair Lady, but the fact that the songs don't have their own 100% flavour seems to serve purely as a reflection on the limitations of the writers and if ever they re-make this film again, I suggest calling it GASTON. But then again... that's all just my opinion.
Dating the Enemy (1996)
What seems at first like a childishly simple script... is actually a work of quiet genius!
Yes, the screenplay and direction are of a high-school stageplay standard. The dialogue is simple, predictable and purely functional. The plot is VERY old and the direction is ultimately - loose and carefree. But upon close observation, this film harkens back to the days of classic romance comedy (Send Me No Flowers, Man's Favourite Sport - Doris Day / Rock Hudson et al). The script is actually brilliantly simple. The characters are cardboard cutouts in an easy-to-swallow LITE story. Megan Huberman is obviously a VERY technically experienced film-maker. The lighting, photography and sound are all VERY SUPERB and proffesional! This does show up the flimsy script. But once again, it's the simplicity and childlike innocence that is this film's brilliance. If you like the romance comedies of the 50's that they don't make anymore... rent this! I kid you not, folks... it's a sweet, fun film. Enjoy!