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Reviews
The Pogues: Live at the Town and Country (1988)
A Precious Time Capsule
Now 15 years old, this video of The Pogues playing on St. Patrick's Day in London's Town and Country serves to remind fans why we loved the band and possibly why their breakup was inevitable.
A thoroughly sloshed Shane MacGowan mumbles and screams his way through most of their hits to that point in time. Of course, real fans like the mumbling and the screaming.
Lots of energy, great guests - The Specials, the late Kirstie MacColl and especially the late great Joe Strummer - who not only gets up on stage for a stirring rendition of London Calling, but serves as a kind of host for the evening as he discusses what made the Pogues so great.
The video times in at a paltry 60 minutes which leaves you begging for more, but between the singalong Wild Rover and the silly string silliness of Fiesta, it is a jam-packed entertaining piece of music history.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Blecchh!
Let me guess, this is the greatest movie since Titanic. Well, you know what? Titanic sucked too! And for a lot of the same reasons.
Strip away the special effects (yes the visuals were great, but the much ballyhooed sound did not come close to that of Saving Private Ryan) and you get an utter piece of crap.
An immense waste of the talents of Liam Neeson, Ewan Mcgregor and Samuel Jackson. Why doesn't George Lucas either learn to write dialogue or hire someone who can?
Almost any Grade 7 student could have written this movie. Jar Jar Binks and his whole race were an annoyance. Darth Maul appeared only enough to find his way on to countless T-shirts and action figure aisles at Wal-Mart. I think this is some kind of profit deal! (sarcasm).
Sure, go see it. Turn your brain off. Enjoy it if you want to. But don't ever try to tell me that this is a great movie. You'd only be deluding yourself.
Whew, I feel better now.
Rushmore (1998)
I'm still smiling.
It's been over 24 hours since I've seen Rushmore and I'm still smiling. I laughed until I cried, but mostly I could not wipe the smile off my face. It was the most enjoyable film experience I can remember having.
The performances of Bill Murray and especially Jason Schwartzman (he is not getting his due!) were perfect and I don't even believe in perfection. I ask anybody who criticized their performances how they would do it? These guys did not miss a single beat.
This is writing. This is acting. This is a great movie.