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Reviews
Pandora Peaks (2002)
Steam what???
As I am gay, the best part of this movie would not (to me anyway) be Miss Peak's breasts (ample and impressive though they are!). No, it has to be the great wealth of knowledge Pandora shows as she gives witty comments. Never let it be said that a blond with an ample bosom is brainless and empty headed! For example, as I was born and grew up 10 miles south of Scranton, I found it especially informative when Pandora was going on and on about the wonderful people and places she gets to see while traveling in support of her titties, and how she loved the wonderful steam ships in Scranton...uhhh...wait...Scranton is nicknamed SteamTown because of the antique steam TRAINS, not SHIPS! I seem to be defeating the very purpose of this post (add sarcasm as needed).
The fact that Miss Peaks cannot tell the difference between steam ships and steam trains might tell you something about her. I'll leave you to decide just what that might be. Hugs and kisses to you!
Pin (1988)
Does not wimp out
OK, first the bad. The music/scenery is very dated, typically 80's from the hair down to the somewhat invasive score. So what? Secondly, (and this may or may not be considered a bad thing) you can tell how it ends five minutes into the movie if you're smart and know anything at all about the plot. It doesn't really spoil the ending at all, it just waves a red flag that this dude is going to be engaged in a little role-reversal before the film is over. OK, it's not exactly foreshadowing, more of a giveaway, but then, even without the opening sequence it IS the most logical direction for the film to go and the only one that would satisfy; thus, I suppose not really a negative. Now for the good: Terry O'Quinn is once again great. Lead David Hewlett walks the fine line between insanity and desperation to chilling effect. Cyndy Preston (albiet some poor dialog delivery) adequately portrays the role of a woman caught between her better judgment and her loyalties to family. Finally, by far, the best aspect is that it does NOT wimp out. I kept waiting for the groaner moment, when we see Pin literally get up and stab someone silly and SURPRISE! he really WAS alive all along, and you thought it was the poor brother, tricked ya! None of that here. This is a 100% psychological horror story, and although not truly scary in a 'jump out and getcha!' mood it does maintain a sense of impending doom as the plot advances to its unavoidable (forshadowed?) conclusion and nails it. Throw out the 80's self references and beef up the score and this gets a deserved 8 out of 10, but I'll take one star away and give it a 7. Solid and worth watching, I don't think you'll be disappointed by Pin.
X (1963)
on the debated 'alternate' ending
Quite a well done film and a good running time. More would have been less. My only gripe about the existing prints/DVD/What have you is that the ending is typically truncated. Perhaps the entire "is there a line of dialog cut or isn't there" debate can be settled once and for all...there is an extra line of dialog. Why Roger Corman can't remember is beyond me, but we ARE talking about a film he shot decades ago. I had this on VHS back in the 80's and yes, just before the abrupt cut to the closing credits the scene starts to fade out and we see Ray Milland's eye sockets glowing on the screen amidst the darkness and we hear him say (i'm paraphrasing as I'm not 100% good on decades old memories either) 'but I can still see!'. I can only guess someone, somewhere, some when decided it would negate the entire 'religious' closure to the film and it would play better with him fulfilling the Biblical verse...it doesn't (IMO) and should have been left in. Why it's not included on the DVD is also beyond me, it would make for a better ending what with the whole 'it's fruitless to meddle in things which you shouldn't' theme of the story. Oh well. Perhaps for the 50th anniversary edition someone will suddenly 'discover' the extra 10 seconds of footage and splice them back on. Until then, this gets 7 out of 10 instead of the 8 out of 10 it deserves.