MAKSQUIBS CINEMATHEQUE: THE INTERVIEW (2014)

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RECOMMENDED - Meaning Strongly Recommended. A film that's good enough or historically important enough to demand viewing. WARNING: A few real stinkers are important enough to rate this label. And, on the other hand, lots of pretty good or pretty valuable films, don't quite measure up to our RECOMMENDED level. (See also UNIQUE, below.)

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LINK - To quickly find any Write-Up that includes an InterNet Link of interest for that specific film.

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READ ALL ABOUT IT - While there's a book or two (or ten dozen) closely related to just about any film you might think of, here's a specific book you might not have known about (or thought of) that opens a window on the chosen title.

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POSTER - Hmm, I bet you can figure this one out.

(Hint: most of the posters will enlarge if you click on them.)

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT - sort of like those EAT THIS, NOT THAT diet books only with film instead of food as the topic. Sometimes, the substitute pick isn't the obvious 'better' choice, but one of those 'flawed-but-interesting' films that often get left behind.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID - some easy to miss element worth noting.

SILENT FILM - hey, figure it out (LOL)

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AND YOU'RE DOING ALL THIS BECAUSE . . . ?

Like just about everyone with an interest in the movies, I'm watching more films on DVD and going out to movie houses a lot less. Convenience trumps the better experience.
Of course, you lose audience interaction and the poor film now has to compete with all the comforts of home.
It's a bit like seeing Rembrandts & Titians in a book reproduction, or from posters with iffy color values, no texture or weight to the surface and the wrong dimensions . . . all while snacking on chips & soda. (Oops! You get that at your local cinema,too.)
The ease of instant movie gratification risks turning an art form (well, sometimes) into little more than low-grade eye-candy & mindfodder. So, maybe it's worthwhile to write a bit down on what we're all viewing, just to keep fully engaged.

DVDs: the latest opiate of the people meets the internet, where everyone's a critic.
God help us.

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Sunday, August 23, 2015

THE INTERVIEW (2014)

Now available for home viewing without international incident, the juvenile misfire that was demolished by critics in North Korea and the Stateside press corps. Common ground, at last! At heart, a sort of updated Bing Crosby/Bob Hope ‘Road Pic’ comedy (THE ROAD TO PYONGYANG?), James Franco dumbs-down Crosby’s old-smoothy act, while Seth Rogen tries on Hope’s panicky hyperventilating. The plot (LOL) has tv host Franco’s fluke interview with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un turned into an impromptu assassination assignment by the CIA. (That really is like THE ROAD TO BALI/’52!) And it might have come off if only the film earned a few more laughs. (For the record, there are three; and one of those goes to Rob Lowe in a cameo.) Rogen co-directs in an ADD mode that only makes things more painful when the gags miss, but does manage to stumble thru in his usual blobby manner for those who respond. But what to make of Franco's comedic self-destruct? It almost makes you feel sorry for the Execs @ Columbia. Almost. Blearily emerging from dailies or rough cuts; wracking their brains for constructive criticism beyond ‘Off With Their Heads!’

DOUBLE-BILL: Gregory Peck, with a bomb in his brain & a ping-pong date with Mao, plays a straight, if limp version of this in THE CHAIRMAN/’69.

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ERNST LUBITSCH

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Now Over 5500 Reviews and (near) Daily Updates!

Sunday, August 23, 2015

THE INTERVIEW (2014)

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