The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975)

Cast: Jack Lemmon (Mel Edison), Anne Bancroft (Edna Edison), Gene Saks (Harry Edison)

Director: Neil Simon

Genre: Comedy

I can't think of a way to start a post on this film other than stating "you don't know what you got until you don't got it no more." With a stretch of the imagination, that phrase fits into the mood of this picture.

Neil Simon's plays are both brilliant and simple. Each time I see one of his pictures, I can't help the arousal of jealousy that stirs inside. I ask myself, "why didn't I think of that." I classify his story lines under the heading, "if this, then that."

When Jack Lemmon isn't paired with Walter Matthau, then Anne Bancroft fits in just as nicely. I love Anne Bancroft! She’s the everyday woman, if you ask me.

"The Prisoner" is a fitting film for today. New York has worn down Mel Edison. With a garbage strike, a killer heat wave, and New York's lack of sympathy, he's barely hanging on.

The stress begins to tear through the thin layer of sanity as Mel gets laid off from his job. Cutbacks! He doesn't know how to break the news to his wife, Edna- a stay at home housewife. To put the icing on the cake, his apartment gets robbed one after noon. They take everything, even his Chivas Regal. All he gets for his troubles is a breakdown. Meanwhile, Edna decides to get work at a production studio. She works the busy hours, as Mel stays home all day, trying to keep house and work out his breakdown. The roles have switched and the personalities switch, too!

It's a classic scenario for Neil Simon. Lemmon is perfect and Anne Bancroft is always entertaining to watch. They both play off of each other very well. The movie doesn't drag on at all. The humor is so natural. As a classic added bonus, F. Murray Abraham and Sylvester Stallone both make cameo appearances in the film. It's worth watching more than once.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

Cast: Martin Freeman (Arthur Dent), Ford Prefect (Mos Def), Sam Rockwell (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Zooey Deschanel (Trillian) Warwick Davis (Marvin), Alan Rickman (Voice of Marvin), Stephen Fry (Narrator)

Director: Garth Jennings

Genre: Sci-Fi/ Comedy


The most annoying thing in the world aside from horrific poetry, or odds that are always against you, is of course the end the world. Not just any kind of global hiatus, rather, the kind that would occur without any warning. I’m referring to a hiatus that starts with a simple, instantaneous explosion without any time for someone to at least finish a task that might be at hand. Some might argue that it couldn't be the “most annoying thing in the world” as such an event would relieve not only anyone, but everyone of the stress and bother of having to start all things over again. If so, then maybe the most annoying and bothersome thing known to man other than horrific poetry, or stepping in gum, or finding out your out of milk after you poured yourself a bowl of cereal, is undiscovered. Then I suppose that the end of the world wouldn't be much of a bother to anyone, really. I mean we would fret about it and try to finish our business as best we could, but who would profit really? The earth would be over. No one would be left to wish such and such a thing would have been done, or so and so had been told this or that. It would just be left to memory...and no memories would be left anyhow. So, as the movie suggests, all we would have to worry about is sitting back and letting the world dissolve around us. The world blowing up is still certainly annoying to think about. Who can argue that? Bloody pain in the rear, the end of time is! It's an event that just will not come at a convenient and suitable time.

I thought this movie might bring an end to my imaginative world as I contemplated watching this or not. Curiosity got the best of me which is why I am reviewing it. I had heard various things about the book by Douglas Adams, which I never read, but never could grasp what it was all about. The movie begins with two simple messages. The world will end and “don’t panic”. So, I figured the movie knew what it was talking about. I didn't panic although the movie did open trying to convince me that I should trust dolphins as humans are supposedly the third most intelligent animal on earth. I’ll trust them to the ends of the earth, whenever that happens!

This movie was original in the realm of sci-fi. I heard the book was on the anti-religious side, and maybe it was. I did get a bit of that old fashioned anti-organized religion sentiment in this flicker of entertainment. Still, it was difficult to determine the distaste for organized religion with the mere social mockery of the picture. *Mumbles of uncertainty.

The world has been inconveniently demolished by a bunch of unemotional and unreliable Volgans who needed the earth’s occupied space for a hyperspace express route. How frustrating! Of all the areas for earth to occupy! So, earth needs to go. In the plus column, two people actually survive the end of the world. What are the odds? Maybe they're similar to the odds of being rescued should you ever find yourself floating aimlessly in the infinite vacuum of space?

The day before the end of the world, Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) attended a fancy dress party where he totally blew it with a nice girl named Trisha (Zooey Deschanel)- (I can totally relate! I’ll save my own sob stories for another blog). Suffering from major setback as Trisha ended up running off with a weirdo who claimed to be from a different planet, Arthur finds himself contending with the impending doom of a construction company that wants to tear his house down to make room for a bypass. All problems gets worse as his friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def), who turns out is also from another planet, warns him that earth actually has 20 minutes of existence left as the Volgan destructor fleet are approaching. Fortunately, in the last few seconds (literally), Ford and Arthur hitch a ride with the Volgans. Earth is history and it appears Arthur is the only survivor of earth. When the Volgans find them and kick them off, they end up getting rescued by complete improbability by a ship called “Heart of Gold”. It turns out that Trish is onboard the ship as is the weirdo she left the party with. The weirdo turns out to be Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell) who is president of the galaxy. Zaphod apparently kidnapped himself and stole the ship in search of the greatest computer designed by the greatest of all thinkers- Deep Thought. All the while he's trying to avoid the Volgans who are trying to rescue the president from his kidnapper. Since he is the kidnapper, he faces charges of kidnapping. This movie is a loose comedy with a deep meaning- the meaning is in there someplace. Though it was on the silly side, the social commentary was original. It wants the audience to take it seriously while not taking it seriously.

I can only see fans of the book appreciating the film. Otherwise, it was only worth watching for the jokes, and that's about it. The ending was stupid. I can't phrase it any other way. Just stupid!

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)

Cast: Geoffrey Rush (Peter Sellers), Charlize Theron (Britt Ekland), Emily Watson (Anne Sellers), John Lithgow (Blake Edwards), Miriam Margolyes (Peg Sellers), Sonia Aquino (Sophia Loren), Stanley Tucci (Stanley Kubrick), Stephen Fry (Maurice Woodruff)

Director: Stephen Hopkins

Genre: Biography

We all know, or supposed to know, that on the seventh day, God rested. Before, He was making the world and I'm sure it would have been really nifty to watch Him at it! So, when God made the world and all the stuff that’s sprinkled on the surface, He made Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve did their thing, got kicked out of a garden that would have been super neat-o to live in, and had Cain and Abel sometime in between. Cain and Abel somehow had kids (one of those "Do we really want to know how they did that?" kind of question), and so on and so forth as centuries past. So, Noah, Moses, David, a bunch of prophets and scribes and such came along and did their thing. Time went on and the world reached 1925. That's the year Peter Sellers was born. If you've never heard of Peter Sellers, then your lack of humor is disappointing and probably incurable! Stinks for you!!

This movie came out on HBO and, to begin with, is styled unlike any movie I have ever seen or heard about.
The movie, as though it comes as a surprise, is based off a book of the same name by Roger Lewis. If you've never heard of Roger Lewis, well...who has, aside from people who bought his book? Peter Sellers, "the man of a thousand voices", was a British actor best known for his Inspector Clouseau character from the Pink Panther films. The movie begins with Peter Sellers years on the BBC's Goon Show. It follows Seller's rise to British stardom. From there, he made it to Hollywood and became an international celebrity. That was his rise! The movie takes the audience through his fall as well. The fall began when he fell in love with Sophia Loren whom he co-starred with in the film The Millionairess. Despite Loren's lack of interest in Sellers as they both were already married, he divorced his wife but never fell out of love with her. This movie takes us through Seller's number of marriages, his rise of himself, and the stumbles with himself. It's sad to watch this grown man never detach himself from the little kid God had made back in '25.

What makes the film unlike other films is Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of Sellers. First, he looks just like Sellers. The makeup is phenomenal. He sounds just like him, too! As Rush portrays Seller's portraying his various film characters, the resemblance in all performances is outstanding. But Rush doesn't stop there. As Seller's portrayed so many different characters from different walks of life, Rush portrays the other actors doing their characters in the movie as though Peter Sellers is portraying them. Rush does this at different points of the movie to display the relationship of the different people in Sellers' life. It's amazing to watch. It's done in such an articulate and precise manner, it's almost convincing that Peter Sellers decided to have a second go at life and make a movie about himself. With all the love he had for himself, it wouldn’t come as a surprise. The movie has some "adult situations" as well as a scene that people with class would call a "fast forward scene." The movie is brilliantly written and wonderfully performed. Will the real Peter Sellers please stand up?

The Neverending Story -Die unendliche Geschichte (1984)

Cast: Barrett Oliver (Bastian), Noah Hathaway (Atreyu), Tami Stronach (The Childlike Empress)

Director: Wolfang Petersen

Genre: Fantasy/ Family

This film sprung up in my path quite a bit in the last few weeks. So, instead of wondering where it decided to come from all of a sudden and why- perhaps it might have something to do with my giving the book as a Christmas gift this past holiday season- I jumped happily off a high board into the warm waters of my childhood and decided to watch it again.
Often audiences look upon a movie like this from their childhood and can't help declare such as "classic." It’s purely nostalgia but surely their appreciation has withstood the test of time. This picture has set itself a nice little place in the line of children's classics. The Neverending Story does have a bit of a cult following. Otherwise, it’s not too well known by people under the age of 18. The story line is original. The actors are memorable. The characters are enjoyable and creative. If you don't believe me, just look up the criticisms online towards writers trying to do a remake of this movie. Hollywood! When will you ever learn? People don't want to see their favorite childhood movie along with the imaginations attached to it completely redone. The original is just fine. Leave it alone!
I enjoy this movie very much. Granted, it now seems a little too juvenile, predictable, and a little over the top with the emotional shoves. But back when I was a kid, I lived for that kind of stuff. What kid didn’t? This film met all those expectations.
The Neverending Story was originally a German fantasy book written by Michael Ende. Not too many people know this because Ende was so ashamed of the film version of his book, he did not want his name in the film's opening credits. I can understand that. The film left out so much of the book.
The film starts off with a strange title screen of fantastical looking multi-colored clouds (or smoke?) wafting in a strange looking sky as the long forgotten 80's singer Limahl sings the distantly remember but still very enjoyable them song The Neverending Story. It’s a trippy, yet typical 80’s opening. From then, we see Bastian (Barrett Oliver- remember him from Cocoon?) awaken out of bed in a startled manner. I still get the idea he was dreaming the opening credits. That’s what it always seemed like to me. His bad dream was the opening credits with Limahl singing to him in the midst of soft psychedelic cloud formations. I would be scared too! Of course we find out a few moments later that we was dreaming about his mother. I think this sets the tone of the movie immediately. A young boy lost in his fantastical imagination while disappointed in the hum-drum world around him. We find out his mother had died and the grief is still with him. His father tells him that, despite his mother’s death, he must keep his feet on the ground and his head out of the clouds. Her death is not an excuse for not performing his duties. Bastian agrees to do his best.
On his way to school, he gets hassled by a small gang of school bullies who decided to toss him in a dumpster. After getting out, he runs back into them and they chase him again. He loses them after running into a bookstore. Inside, he meets an upset book seller, Mr. Koreander (Thomas Hill) who is first displease at the presence of a kid in his bookstore but finally gets into a sort of literary conversation with him. Bastian is curious about the book he’s reading and questions him on it. Mr. Koreander plainly tells him to just read his own “safe” books and not worry about this particular book. The unsatisfied and overly literarily curious Bastian steals the book and decides to hide in his school’s attic to read it. Why the school’s attic, I still don’t know? Anyways, as he reads, the movie takes us to the land of Fantasia where we learn the ruler, a childlike empress, is dying. A young warrior from a tribe called the Plains people is summoned to find a cure for the empress. Bastian follows the adventures of Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) as he searches for the cure. The creatures Atreyu encounters are very original. The movie starts off well without dragging on with explanations. The audience is allowed to use their imagination in following the story. The more Bastian reads, the more he realizes that the cure for the empress is outside the book. It’s a very brilliant twist and certainly not over done. It, therefore, earns its title.
It was juvenile, maybe “corny” at parts. It is a children’s movie after all. Still, the originality cannot be praised enough. It certainly is a movie promoting reading and points out the lack of imagination that seemed to be developing back then- and now. (Did you hear that, Hollywood- lack of imagination)! I could see how the issue would surface. With the onslaught of video games taking off in the 80’s, imagination was facing some serious threats. I’m not surprised Nintendo didn’t jump of the retail market band wagon and turn this into a video game like it has done too many times in the past.
There were two sequels which spawned from this movie. Both of which were obviously inferior. I believe the third installment didn’t even make it to theaters but went straight to video. Still, this makes a perfect evening for people finding their way back to their childhood!
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The Principal (1987)

Cast: James Belushi (Rick Latimer), Louis Gossett, Jr. (Jake Phillips), Michael Wright (Victor Duncan), Rae Dawn Chong (Hilary Orozco)

Director: Christopher Cain

Genre: Action/ Crime/ Drama

This is sadly an often forgotten film. It was released during the surge of academically centered films that were both sophisticated and emotional. They were similar to Hollywood’s lame attempts at writing about religion; territory they know nothing about. The Principal was an attempt by Hollywood to bring “awareness”- something Hollywood sees as a wonderful source of income- to audiences. In this movie, the generic problem of gangs and drugs in public schools was the product of awareness. And this movie really made the problem entertaining.
James Belushi (brother of the late, great funny man John Belushi) plays a frustrated-with-himself Rick Latimer. Latimer had screwed up his marriage, and put his teaching job at a middle class high school on the line after an arrest for attempted aggravated assault. Surprisingly, the school board decides not to fire him after his arrest. Instead, they give him a position in the school district which he had applied to before- a principal position. They tell Latimer that he’s the right man to take charge of Brandell High. The school is plagued with gangs, drugs, and students who were expelled from other schools with nowhere else to go. For Latimer, it’s either Brandell or unemployment.
As soon as Latimer arrives on campus, he gets a taste of what the Brandell student body excel in. He’s greeted that morning with a gang fight in the parking lot. From then on, he takes the school by its neck and decides he’s had enough screw ups in his life. Therefore, he makes one rule that all students must obey- “no more.” Latimer does everything in his power, regardless of any intimidation, to enforce this simple rule. If students of Brandell cannot be expelled, then he won’t let students expel him. He finds promise in some students, who otherwise don’t seem to have anyone who give “two cents” about them. With other students, it’s a matter of who rules the school. He comes to grips with gang leader Victor Duncan (Michael Wright) whose only reason to go to school is for territory.
John Belushi fits the role well. There aren’t too many movies Belushi is remembered for, if he’s remembered for any at all. This one, from what I’ve seen, should be a claim to fame for Belushi! It’s not Hollywood’s cinematic best, but it is entertaining.
Louis Gossett, Jr. plays Jake Phillips, the school’s head of security. He’s a man who had a taste of glory in a short lived pro-football career who ended up in his run down alma mater after an injury. Gossett makes the film believable. His character sees a small beacon of hope in Latimer after seeing so many principals before him come and go.
It’s hard to imagine a school as hopeless as Brandell. Each time I watch this movie, I wonder that if such a school as bad as Brandell exists or has existed, why would such terrible students, who could care less about the system, bother to attend?
This movie is realistic most of the time, but has a bit of over-dramatization here and there. It pulls the audience in right away and keeps interested until the end. I liked how it jumped right into the story without any long, drawn out explanations. It also did a good jump at explaining Latimer’s past without any over-emphasis or distractions from the plot. The sub-plots between a few students and Latimer fit nicely in place with the movie. However, the sub-plot between Latimer and history teacher Hilary Orozco (Rae Dawn Chong) was completely unnecessary. What seems to be the beginning of a romantic interest leads to absolutely nothing. You would think that movie makers would be the first to realize that including dead-end subplots are a terrible thing to put in a movie. They might, somehow, add realism to a movie but they make movies verge more towards the realm soap operas. This case is certainly no exception. It left me asking myself, “What was that all about?”
The movie is one of those that I never get tired of watching. It’s a typical encouraging type of action/drama with montage and all. It’s not a family movie as some of the scenes are “thematic” (I still don’t know what that means! All I know is that these “thematic scenes” take away the family aspect from movies) and contains much language. My favorite part of the film is a scene when Latimer gets humorously sarcastic with a gang member who threatens him. Each time I watch it, I still try to figure out each main character. They all possess human realism as they all come from the same inner city background. If it weren’t for this, then the film would just be a typical Hollywood portrayal of a gang-ridden school- hopeless and nothing short of hell. I would give this flick 4 “El Principal” biker helmets.