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Reviews
The Boy Friend (1971)
Bad, Really Bad
What a terrible waste of an opportunity to make something really good out of a good score. With the sole exception of a small handful of Busby-Berkely take-offs, the movie is pretty awful. The film loses its credibility early when you notice that most of the men have 1960's/70's hair lengths. Worse, Twiggy was obviously never formally trained how to sing, and it shows! At a couple of points, I had to "mute" the TV volume during her numbers. It was that bad. It was only my love for the score that got me to bear it nonetheless. The second-lead singer/dancer lady (who does a nice number with Tommy Tune) is beautiful. But, either the talent is absent or Ken Russell failed to hire the right consultants in choreographing and arranging the numbers. I like Ken Russell -- "Tommy" was one of my favorites. Unfortunately, unlike in Tommy, Russell here did not have good entertainers to make up for the bad script and acting. Twiggy was obviously the big name hired to sell movie ticket, and nothing more.
Blackmail (1929)
Fantabulous
Good suspense. Very clever photography, with Hitchcock taking advantage of the limitations of the time. But you need to pay close attention to details, as in most Hitchcock films. Anny Ondra, the lead actress, was very talented. She and Hitchcock cause her to undergo a complete personality change as the events in the story unfold. I will never forget the look on her face at the very end of the movie, when she is shocked by seeing some criminal evidence being carried away -- with the police guard and her boyfriend laughing at a sexist joke in the background. It is memorable, and I will rent and watch this flick again.
Bicentennial Man (1999)
Bad!
You had better like Robin Williams, dragging scripts, and unbelievable science fiction a lot in order to appreciate this one. I was mad I had paid so much for the tickets and I would have walked out had the kids I took that day to the movie not demanded that we stay to the finish. The only nice part is a mansion and a cute female robot. I am sure Isac Assimov's script was okay for sci-fi lovers, but this movie is a mistake.
It's also time for some new actors. Quite frankly, I'm starting to get sick of Robin Williams. There are other actors, and he should give them a chance. But you will like this movie if you liked "Flubber".
Presenting Lily Mars (1943)
Sorry, but not-so-good
For die-hard Judy Garland fans only. There are two (2) numbers that are really good -- one where she does a number with an older cleaning lady (you've all seen the pics), and a pretty good number at the very end. There are a couple of scenes where the lines are funny. But, basically, the script is so bad and the movie so dated that it's hard not to cringe at the awfulness throughout. But it's worth the 2.50 to rent the movie -- just be prepared to fast-forward it.