laughingegg Reviews

Never Cry Wolf (1983)

An Evocative and Soul Stirring Masterpiece

[10/10 · 4 July 2000]

NEVER CRY WOLF is a motion picture that is nothing short of miraculous. Film maker Carroll Ballard succeeded in creating a magnificent motion picture filled with overwhelmingly beautiful and evocative imagery that stirs the soul and fills the heart with wonderment. In addition the film is augmented by a brilliant and haunting musical score.

It is rare for a film to touch me as profoundly as this one did. I'd like to see an indelible print of NEVER CRY WOLF be placed within a time capsule so that the generations of the next Millenium could experience it.

Outrageous! (1977)

The genius Craig Russell

[11 May 2000]

Outrageous! is a truly remarkable film, and an attest to the genius of Craig Russell. The film opened in Manhattan during the early fall of 1977 without so much as a trailer or publicity of any kind...just word of mouth. Within one week people were queuing up in droves to see it! Not coincidentally, Craig Russell, the film's star, was staging his brilliant one man show "A Man And His Women" right around the block from the cinema. This masterful stroke of showmanship made him the toast of Manhattan. Outrageous! is a film about human relationships and acceptance...of loving, supporting and encouraging those people whom you care about. It's filled with character studies that are rich and evocative. Craig Russell was truly a genius. He was in my opinion the greatest female "impressionist" of all time. By utilizing his own vocal talents, facial expressions and simple make-up and costume changes, he would transform into Mae West, Talulah Bankhead, Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Carol Channing or Peggy Lee (to name but a few) so seamlessly, one would easily forget they weren't witnessing the genuine article. His one man show "A Man and His Woman" which played at "Theatre East"in Manhattan allowed audiences to see the true extent of his talent that was only touched upon in the film. Outrageous! is a film that dramatically changed and enriched my life. The film should be restored and reissued both theatrically and on DVD. It sends a profoundly positive message that should be passed on to future generations.

Cheers,

R. Stephen Weber Burbank, CA

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959)

A Stop-Motion Masterpiece

[6 April 2000]

In my opinion Czech puppet animator JIRI TRNKA outdid himself when he created this version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".This film's aesthetic beauty is only superceded by it's technical excellence for clearly TRNKA had moved away from his earlier techniques and developed a new one.

In his film "The Emperor's Nightingale" the puppets were silent, as actors were silent in the days before talkies. But in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" the puppet's were silent in the way that actors in mime, or ballet dancers are silent.

There was also a basic difference in expression: In the first film the movement was symbolic,in the second, the action was expressed through the language of mime.

All in all... a triumph of stop-motion cinema.

Steve Weber The Laughing Egg Studio