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Reviews
Another Stakeout (1993)
Another Stakeout deconstructs a genre and reinvigorates modern cinema!
The first time I saw Another Stakeout was on opening night back in 1993. I had just gone through a nasty divorce and was living out of my Saturn. And I was floored by this movie. As the final credits rolled I applauded so loudly and hard that I bruised the bone in my left palm and several movie goers murmured "He must be drunk..." I finally stood up and yelled "You're drunk and stupid if you didn't get this masterpiece." I didn't leave the theater and sat there through three more consecutive showings. And I haven't looked back ever since.
And with the exception of the one time I had a stroke while watching Another Stakeout and wasn't discovered for two days while I stared at a paused image of Dreyfuss and Estevez, I have enjoyed all 428 times I have seen this movie.
This film isn't just funny, action packed and filled with characters we can relate to, it's a world we find ourselves wishing we could live in rather than the dark and nasty one we currently reside in. And though we quote the movie and dress up as characters from it every Halloween the sad truth is that the world doesn't work like Another Stakeout. When you watch someone through a window of their home you don't end up falling in love and there isn't a buddy next to you to crack wise with. The police show up and people yell and cry...
Ordinarily I say "to each his own" when it comes to opinions about movies, but if you don't like AS 2 then you're not worth a cup of feces with a cigarette butt in it.
Tin Men (1987)
This is an elegant movie about men who booze, cheat and wear suits.
I love this movie. It's one of my all time favorites.
Levinson's use of music and arrested adolescent imagery (cars, diners, women, cars and more cars) is subtle and hilarious. The film looks gorgeous and has a sadness that hangs over it as we can literally see change surrounding these men who refuse to be men. The home improvement commission, the new car that is the Beetle, actually loving a woman... all of this is new and scary to Dreyfuss and Devito. Devito especially is funny in how obstinate he is in ignoring the change around him.
DeVito's buddy who I think is played by the old comic Jackie Gayle is particularly funny. "I can go for some Won Ton soup..."
It's a wonderful movie. And the specifics are laugh out loud funny. This and Diner are the best of Levinson's Baltimore movies.