Reviews

Shame on those who spent a fortune including valet parking to see this "movie"(?) - There must have been a lot of barfing in the cinema during this exercise in disgust. I am convinced PT Barnum was right: "A sucker born every minute" Anyway go rent a DVD of "Its Alive" or "Psycho" if you need thrills. I can never understand the fascination people have with splatter. The old movies had terrific mind games that made you imagine the horrors going on, for example Val Lewton's "Cat People" of 1942 one of the finest horror movies ever made. "King Kong" (1933) still gives me chills and "Bride of Frankenstein" is another one - no blood nor guts just good acting and terrific special effects. "Arachnid" is a juvenile and silly picture - enough said.

Too many people thought this was going to be a splashy production of les Belles Histoires du Pays d'en Haut. Unfortunately that series is long gone and the main actors are no longer with us either. The series was a laundered version of Un Homme et son Peche (sorry no accents on my keyboard) which was a brutal novel about avarice. Avarice is one of the seven deadly sins and Claude-Henri Grignon (the author) wanted to show this in the context of a rural Quebec setting. French-Canada has a mythology and Seraphin Poudrier the mean and cruel became with the help of Radio-Canada Seraphin the miserable and sometimes ok tightwad. Otherwise the series would have become unbearable, I mean, how can you love a man who deforms his wife's dead body to fit in a cheap coffin??? Grignon worked on the series so it was done with his blessing and as a result French-Canada ended up with a sanitized version that became its best-loved series ever. Indeed, to this day, anyone over 40 will fondly remember the adventures of a group of hard working French Canadians in the colonial era during the late 1890's. They were easily identifiable and very human. Naturally those who did not read the novel were shocked at the baseness of the main character Seraphin Poudrier. Jean-Pierre Masson's magistral interpretation of his character in the series was nothing short of absolute perfection. Sadly he became so typecast that he died a drunken miserable person who tried to escape this identity with very few actually realizing that he was indeed a first-class actor.

The French-Canadian society in Quebec is very selfish in a loving way and will not let its heroes go. Being so insular, it will raise its favorites to the highest level but at what cost. Anyway, the novel was a classic and must be studied to understand another view of French-Canadian rural mores. Today Quebec has become a dreary socialist third-world type society and frankly I miss the older more pictoresque place. The present day society: anti-religious, vociferously anti-English and very stupid about it, double names, silly socialism etc.. is not to my liking. Oh well...

This is a great item to watch and see how the French Colony of Algeria was a rather exotic suburb of Paris. The scenery is great and the acting is quite exciting. Two things to watch for: one is the JG on Pepe's shirt standing for "Jean Gabin" rather than Pepe!! Another is the few enchanting moments to hear Frehel herself singing an extract of her songs. She played the role of Tania - a fat blowsy mounain of flesh that alas poor Frehel had become. This was quite poignant to see. Get yourself a CD of her chansons and you will see how wonderful she was. The idea of "Come wiz me to de casbah, ma cherie!" as parodied by countless comedians of the 1950's is clear when you see this great film. So, get a copy of this masterpiece and dim the lights - take your popcorn and enjoy!!

My mother would have whacked me on the head had I brought her to see this crappy sequel to a very funny movie. The "F" word is used to excess. The jokes are not funny and it was sad to see Billy Crystal and Robert DeNiro being wasted in this rotten film. I am truly sorry to have wasted my time in seeing this pile of crap. Stay away from this.

I have a weakness for John Ford movies and "My Darling Clementine" is one of my favorites. My DVD is a Chinese knock-off (sorry) and despite the so-so quality, it is a very engrossing and well-made movie about two legendary figures of the West. Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp are wonderfully depicted by Victor Mature and Henry Fonda. Walter Brennan is a thoroughly evil paterfamilias of the Clanton gang (.."when you draw a gun, shoot him!")foretelling a similar thuggishness in "How the West was Won" - another rip-roaring, rock'em sock'em western of the early '60's. Walter Mowbray gives us a neat show of his own underrated abilities as a damn good actor. The younger generation ought to see this film to witness good actors in good roles doing a good job. I just saw this for the fourth or fifth time I am not sure but it won't be the last. A wonderful film. Get a copy, turn down the lights, get your popcorn ready, get the kids off to bed and enjoy !!

I thought this was gonna be your typical brainless horror flick with the usual anti-establishment drivel to entertain the masses but lo and behold, it weren't so bad! The great unwashed will enjoy it but so will the average filmgoer who wants a bit more for his few bucks. Rattlesnakes get a bad break here but Treat Williams' character deals with them with respect and there is none of this revulsion that "Jaws" had for the sharks - guess we learned a lesson - Mother Nature does have a balancing act somewhere. The usual military stereotypes are villainous but redemption is at hand nonetheless. Enough of my philosophizing, get your popcorn and enjoy this movie. Do not watch it on TV - too many commercials will ruin it, rent it or buy it instead. Out here in HK, I paid $20HKD or about $2.50USD - not bad at all!! ha ha A pleasant surprise - enjoy.

Get the pizza or Chinese food, beer, pretzels and do this at midnight. Laugh, groan and have a great time. That is about it - no meaning, just a social event. There are so many unbelievable premises such as having a street fight and no blood. The deputy sheriff is totally a walking burlesque - a parody of Bull Connor. The CIA or NSA type is about 35 years too young for his job, Pythons spitting venom?? c'maaaaaaan - gimme a break!! The lesbian scene was jarring, however. The comment of the mortgage in phallic terms showed for once and for all what a schlock this movie was. Enjoy and amuse yourselves.