[Film: Clue, Jonathan Lynn, 1985]
Parody Done Right:

Jonathan Lynn’s Clue and its Tasteful Lampooning of the Mystery Genre

 

Introduction:

Clue movie poster - parody, mystery genreFor film fans the world over, yesterday marked a definitive step into the future, as it was the day of Marty McFly’s forward leap in the iconic Back to the Future franchise. For Your Thursday Theater this week, however, I want to talk about a film with both feet squarely in the past. In the same year that the original Back to the Future was released, 1985, Christopher Lloyd (who played McFly’s frenetic sage Doc Brown) also played a somewhat more composed intellectual named Professor Plum in a cult classic comedic mystery: Jonathan Lynn’s Clue.

Lynn, who later directed the highly-regarded legal drama My Cousin Vinny, both wrote and directed this film (with some story collaboration from director John Landis—whose work includes The Blues Brothers, Animal House, and Trading Places). Christopher Lloyd was joined in an ensemble cast by a slew of other gifted character actors, including Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan, and Martin Mull. This is a film with humble ambitions that surpasses expectations; it is a film which was cared about and well-executed at every level, and which cleverly presents a tongue-in-cheek treatment of the entire mystery genre.

Continue reading

[Film: Clue, Jonathan Lynn, 1985]
Parody Done Right:

Jonathan Lynn’s Clue and its Tasteful Lampooning of the Mystery Genre

was last modified: August 26th, 2020 by Daniel Podgorski

[Film: Ghost, Jerry Zucker, 1990]
A Ghastly Script:

The Mediocrity of Jerry Zucker’s Romantic Classic, Ghost

 

Whoopi Goldberg Sketch by M.R.P. - Ghost, Patrick Swayze, negative review

Caricature Sketch by M.R.P.

Introduction:

A month ago, I wrote an article in praise of The Sixth Sense, a movie from the 1990s which covers the ghost myth perfectly, with just the right amounts of ambiguity and consistency so that the viewers’ credulity is not strained. The gimmicks are kept to a minimum and the actors, including the child actor at the film’s center, put in nuanced and subtle performances. In contrast, the winner of the 1990 Oscar for best original screenplay, Ghost, also puts its best foot forward as a ghost-centric drama, but gets pretty much all of those same details graphically wrong.

The nature of this article is such that it requires spoiling basic plot details of Ghost, so you should only continue reading after this paragraph if you either do not mind spoilers or have already seen the film.

Ghost is a movie that boasts two things working in its favor: the memorable romantic pottery scene, and most of the performance by Whoopi Goldberg. Every other aspect of this movie is as forgettable as it is hackneyed. Taken as a 90s comedy, Ghost is intermittently passable; but taken as the romantic fantasy “thriller” or “drama” it is billed as, Ghost is abysmal.

Continue reading

[Film: Ghost, Jerry Zucker, 1990]
A Ghastly Script:

The Mediocrity of Jerry Zucker’s Romantic Classic, Ghost

was last modified: October 10th, 2022 by Daniel Podgorski

[Film: The Blob, Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., 1958]
A Repurposed Drive-in Delight:

Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.’s The Blob, and How a Horror Movie Becomes a Comedy

 

The Blob movie poster - unintentional comedy

Introduction:

Almost everyone is familiar with some instance of the so-bad-it’s-good phenomenon of watching movies that are enjoyable because of how terrible they are. There is fame and fortune for anyone who sincerely tries and laughably fails to make a good movie. But today I want to talk about a subtly different phenomenon: movies which were good in their time, but which have aged into a different genre (usually comedy) or else not aged well. One such film which has undergone this comedic fermentation process is The Blob, a short 1950s drive-in science-fiction movie.

A film loved by audiences in its time (if not by critics), The Blob still offers viewers a very enjoyable experience, but for very different reasons. What was once a semi-horror, science-fiction creature feature (with Red Scare political allegory undertones) has become a schlocky, humorous melodrama.

Continue reading

[Film: The Blob, Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., 1958]
A Repurposed Drive-in Delight:

Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.’s The Blob, and How a Horror Movie Becomes a Comedy

was last modified: August 26th, 2020 by Daniel Podgorski

[Film: Red State, Kevin Smith, 2011]
A True View Askew:

On the Merits of Kevin Smith’s Genre-bending Late-career Surprise, Red State

 

Caricature Sketch by M.R.P.

Introduction:

Kevin Smith’s personal anecdotes are more entertaining to me than any of his supposedly comedic films. I like his attitude, and I like his perspective, but I don’t like his writing. When his writing is not pandering to below the lowest common denominator or disproportionately praising George Lucas’ weakest films, it is still generally a set of superficial observations about malaise or adulthood dressed up as profound insights. But Red State is a curious case.

Red State, the story of a group of teenagers’ run-in with a fanatical and violent cult, is totally unique among Smith’s films. For one thing, unlike nearly every Kevin Smith movie, it’s quite good. It’s tense, interesting, and there are only two or three minor actors who don’t give excellent performances. Further, it is one of the few films in his filmography which do not take place in the meandering boredom of his so-called ‘View Askewniverse.’ Red State fails as both an action movie and a horror movie, but it succeeds as an interesting film.

Continue reading

[Film: Red State, Kevin Smith, 2011]
A True View Askew:

On the Merits of Kevin Smith’s Genre-bending Late-career Surprise, Red State

was last modified: October 10th, 2022 by Daniel Podgorski

[Film: Jackie Brown, Quentin Tarantino, 1997]
Tarantino’s Odd Film Out:

The Uniqueness of Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown

 

Introduction:

Quentin Tarantino Sketch by M.R.P. - Jackie Brown - unique

Caricature Sketch by M.R.P.

Just like this week’s Mid-Week Mission, this will be a light recommendation to follow last week’s heavier entry (in the Theater’s case, last week was a criticism of the inconsistent philosophy of Slumdog Millionaire). And the film which I would like to recommend is Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown.

Jackie Brown is certainly one of the two or three least viewed works in Tarantino’s catalogue, and it’s not hard to see why. Tarantino followed up two extremely violent dramas full of fast, aggressive dialogue with a slow-paced, traditionally structured heist movie. Jackie Brown centers on a stalwart stewardess and a cautious clerk, while relegating Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson to roles as sleazy, unlikeable criminals.

In short, the movie was not at all what the audience was expecting, and was soon over-shadowed by the grandeur and gratuitousness of Kill Bill. But this is a film every bit as entertaining as his others, and totally unique in his oeuvre for many reasons, explored below.

Continue reading

[Film: Jackie Brown, Quentin Tarantino, 1997]
Tarantino’s Odd Film Out:

The Uniqueness of Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown

was last modified: October 10th, 2022 by Daniel Podgorski