Classic Movie Review Sleepaway Camp 2 & 3
Classic Movie Review The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989)
Directed by Terry Gilliam
Written by Charles McKeown, Terry Gilliam
Starring John Neville, Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Robin Williams
Release Date March 10th, 1989
Published January 3rd, 2023
Terry Gilliam's delirious, chaotic, and fantastic, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, is now part of the Criterion Collection. Released in 1989, this wildly over the top, sensory overload inducing film remains, 34 years after release, as alive and full of imagination as ever. Even as special effects and cinematography have evolved past the somewhat aged looking Munchausen, Gilliam's dedication to practical effects gives his masterpiece a timeless look.
The story of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen begins on the stage where an acting troupe is acting out the supposedly fictitious adventures of Baron Munchausen. The story kicks into gear when the real Baron Munchausen (John Neville), charges the stage and demands to be allowed to tell the story of his adventures correctly. Thus, the Baron launches into a fantastical story about his conflict with the Grand Turk, one that began with a reasonable wager and ended with the Baron and his men leaving with all of the wealth of the empire.
The Baron's remarkable and vivid tale is interrupted when that same Grand Turk and his army begin to bombard the English city where this tale had been told. Caught off guard, it appears that the English are to be overrun by the Turks until the Baron makes a big movie, creates for himself an airship on which he will fly across the galaxy to gather his servants to help fight the Turks. Stowing away on the Baron's airship is Sally Salt (Sarah Polley), a plucky youngster who is one of the few who believes that the Baron's fantasies are real.
And boy are they real as, indeed, the Baron takes Sally to the Moon where The King of the Moon (Robin Williams), imprisons them. There they are able to recover The Baron's top assistant, played by Eric Idle. Naturally, there is an amazing escape that leads to another remarkable adventure that includes a brief bit of romance wherein The Baron is smitten with the wife of a dangerous bandit king. Uma Thurman is luminous as the Queen while the inimitable Oliver Reed chews the very large and practically crafted sets.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a wildly imaginative masterwork. It's pure chaos but in the best possible way. The flights of fantasy and the visual delights never rest while the extraordinary cast provides even more color with big, broad, and hilarious performances. Star John Neville grounds the story with elegant dignity and roguish charm, while Sarah Polley never succumbs to the cliches of a plucky child sidekick. Her Sally is an urgent part of the plot as she plays the part of the Baron's conscience.
Find my full length review at Geeks.Media.
Movie Review: Who's Harry Crumb
Who's Harry Crumb (1989)
Directed by Paul Flaherty
Written by Robert Conte, Peter Martin Wortmann
Starring John Candy, Jeffrey Jones, Annie Potts, Shawnee Smith
Release Date February 3rd, 1989
Published February 3rd, 2019
Who’s Harry Crumb is a childhood guilty pleasure for me. This 1989 John Candy goof-around hit my 13 year old sensibilities square in the bullseye. Dorky, awkward and deeply silly, this detective spoof, for me, was peak John Candy. And that is saying something considering that John Candy was the defining comic face of my childhood. While others worshipped at the altar of the SNL crowd or Steve Martin or Eddie Murphy, John Candy was my comedian.
Admittedly, much of John Candy’s work hasn’t aged well and Harry Crumb is a good example of that. Much of what John Candy did was variations on the big guy falls down style of humor, before Chris Farley picked up that mantle, but Who’s Harry Crumb at least wasn’t all humor based on Candy’s size. Most of Harry Crumb was based on the pure silliness of Candy’s persona, his talent for goofball antics and comic mimicry.
Who’s Harry Crumb stars John Candy as the titular detective, Harry Crumb. Hired to investigate the kidnapping of a millionaire’s daughter, Harry doesn’t know that he’s been hired specifically to screw up the case. Harry’s boss at the Crumb & Crumb detective agency, Eliot Draisen (Jeffrey Jones), specifically gave the case to Harry because Harry is the least competent detective in the agency. Eliot himself is behind the kidnapping of fashion model Jennifer Downing (Renee Coleman) and Eliot assumes that Harry can't possibly solve the case.
Harry’s style is bizarre as he enjoys wild and elaborate costumes that he believes fool everyone when in reality, he’s fooling no one. Harry’s saving grace is Nikki (Shawnee Smith), the sister of Jennifer, the kidnapped model and the one person who believes that Harry can crack the case, if only with her help. The duo gets on the trail and despite Harry’s bizarre ways, they manage to crack a couple of leads.
No, as an adult viewer of Who’s Harry Crumb, I cannot defend this goofball nonsense. But, as a piece of loopy, childish, nostalgia, I still can’t get enough of this movie. It’s like fatty food, I know it’s not good for me, but Who’s Harry Crumb is really great junk food. It all comes back to John Candy who was among the most lovable lugs ever on the big screen. Candy, for a kid, was comic gold. His anything for a laugh approach never failed to hit me right in the funny bone.
A scene set to Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero with Candy riding atop an airport staircase vehicle, chasing down the duo of Tim Thomerson and Annie Potts, is such a dumb and cliched scene but I could not stop laughing at it as a kid and the nostalgia makes it hold up for me today. If a movie today featured a similar scene I would probably complain but because it is Candy and it is Who’s Harry Crumb, I find it completely hysterical.
A new edition of Who’s Harry Crumb is coming to DVD and Blu Ray on Tuesday and if you have young kids who love truly goofy humor based on daft characters falling down and dressing up in strange costumes, I kind of recommend this movie. It’s rated PG. Some of the costumes probably don’t hold up to modern standards of Political Correctness, but it’s hard to hold that against the movie and especially against the late Mr Candy who was always a good hearted goof.
Movie Review Lean on Me
Lean on Me (1989)
Directed by John G. Avildsen
Written by Michael Schiffer
Starring Morgan Freeman, Beverly Todd, Robert Guillaume, Tony Todd
Release Date March 3rd, 1989
Published August 7th, 2002
Morgan Freeman is one of the most commanding screen presences in film history. In great movies like Glory and Seven and even bad movies like Along Came A Spider and Deep Impact, Freeman's sharp intense stare gave his characters the respect and dignity that most characters have to earn.
In 1989's Lean On Me, Freeman took on the role of another commanding presence, that of the principle of New Jersey's ugliest High School, Eastside High. Crazy Joe Clark made national headlines with his promise too carry a baseball bat in the halls of the school and chain the schools exits to keep out the drug-dealers.
For over 10 years, Joe Clark was an elementary school principal chafing at his ineffectual position when school superintendent Dr. Napier (Robert "Benson" Guilliaume)offers Joe his dream job as principal at the school where he got his start, Paterson New Jersey's Eastside High School. Oh but things have changed a lot in the near 20 years since Joe had been at Eastside. Drug dealers now run the halls selling their product locker to locker. Gang members fought in class and teachers hid in the teacher’s lounge, too afraid to go to class.
While Eastside's staff is terrified by the students around them, there is no intimidating Joe Clark whose first act as principal is to expel the students who caused the most trouble. The expulsions touch off a firestorm of criticisms lead by Leona Barrett (Lynn Thigpen), the mother of one of the expelled students.
Clark's unusual tactics using bullhorns, baseball bats, and chains on the doors made national headlines in the mid 1980's. Those headlines are what inspired this film and may be the reason why the film feels disjointed at times. The editing of the film jumps the timelines ahead so quick that entire subplots are introduced and quickly discarded.
That criticism aside, Lean On Me is all about Freeman and his perfectly pitched performance. Using his unique vocal cadence, constantly annoyed and always near screaming, his voice and soul crushing gaze create an intimidating but charismatic character that makes you wonder what the real Joe Clark is like.
Joe Clark left Eastside in the early 1990's to accept a position at New Jersey's Essex County Youth Facility where once again his disciplinary style made national headlines. We will have to wait and see if that will be good enough for a sequel.
Movie Review Heathers
Heathers (1989)
Directed by Michael Lehmann
Written by Daniel Waters
Starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Kim Walker, Lisanne Falk
Release Date March 31st 1989
Published March 31st 2009
In the late 1980's, as the John Hughes boom began to wane, a film came along that exploded the teen movie genre and changed the way teen movies are seen forever. With it's twisted violence and sick humor, Heathers was a kick in the ass to any and all teen movies that came before it.Though it wasn't a huge hit in the moment, it worked to cement a budding legend in Winona Ryder while establishing Christian Slater as a heartthrob and a budding leading man in the Nicholson-Brando mold.
The film stars Winona Ryder as Veronica, a member of the popular clique in her school, the Heathers, named for the other three girls in the group whose names were all Heather. Veronica, being the only member of the clique not named Heather, is a bit of an outcast leaving one to wonder why is she even in the group, a question she often asks herself. Veronica goes through the motions of watching her friends play cruel tricks on classmates and generally being obnoxious until she meets JD (Christian Slater).
JD is a misanthropic outcast with an intense dislike of the Heathers. Veronica falls for JD and the two set about avenging the misdeeds of the Heathers. Veronica's idea of vengeance is slightly different than JD's though. With Heather #1 (Kim Walker), Veronica just thinks they are going to make her sick with a combination of milk and orange juice, JD, however, wants to use Drano and various other household items. After eliminating Heather #1, Veronica and JD make Heather #1's death look like suicide.
Just how trendy are the Heather's, Heather 1's suicide makes the uber-bitch into a saint and makes suicide another trendy teen accessory. Veronica is horrified by what happened but equally horrified by the reaction of others to what happened. JD then convinces Veronica to undertake another staged suicide, this time it's two asshole jock football players who are dispatched as if they were a lovers suicide pact.
Once again the suicides turn the jerks into hero's and Veronica realizes JD's romantic notion of saving the school from the cliques and the jocks is actually a psychotic obsession. Winona Ryder is spectacular in what may be the best role of her career. Her delivery and timing is flawless, not to mention her chemistry with Slater who also swings for the fences and nails it. Slater's slow boil from broody boy-toy to Jack Nicholson in The Shining levels of kooky psychotic behavior is a dark comic delight.
Heather's is cynical ironic and endlessly quotable. Nowadays, with political correctness being what it is this movie would be hard to make. That's not to say it can't be done but that it would take a great deal of savvy to find the right twisted buttons to push in this seemingly more sensitive time. Thankfully, Heathers exists as it is so who cares about whether it could be made again. The original is sharp, nasty, and completely hilarious today, yesterday and will remain so for years to come.
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