Be Kind Rewind
Crit
Golly, that wasn't very good, was it? Much of the high-concept/low-production-values part--the "Sweded" (I'd say you had to be there, but it wasn't funny there either) versions of Ghostbusters, Rush Hour 2, Carrie, etc.--are mostly hilarious fun, but guess what: you can go to http://www.youtube.com/user/BeKindMovie and see most of that stuff for free. The rest is mostly plodding, labored, unfunny, unmagical--well, to paraphrase Jerry quoting Hobbes, brutish, nasty, and (blessedly) short. OK, that's excessive, but even the most watchable non-overtly Sweded scene is an uncredited ripoff (as I believe Anthony Lane pointed out) of Cinema Paradiso, with the audience far more enchanted than we ever are. A sweeter, subtler allusion in that scene is provided by the eternally young face of Mia Farrow, captivated again by the image on the screen as she was in The Purple Rose of Cairo. Which is a good candidate for what to watch tonight, though I'm leaning toward Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, as a reminder of how good Michel Gondry can be.
Another thing: for a film at whose heart is the mythology (or a mythology, anyway) of Fats Waller, wouldn't you think we'd hear more Fats Waller music than about five seconds of a blackfaced Jack Black singing "Ain't Misbehaving"?
3 comments:
I totally disagree, Gene--I was enchanted. It does take a little long to get going, but once they do get going, I found the fun to be infectious. How can you not love Rosario Dawson? I wouldn’t say it’s an excellent, ambitious movie, but the ridiculousness of the whole thing, and the genuine love for community & creativity, completely won me over. And as for the music, it may have been an issue of rights.
Yeah, I know, Roger (hey, wait a minute: shouldn't I be the fat one? Though he's not fat anymore): it's impossible to debate charm. I liked the ridiculousness too--I'd have liked a lot more of it. The unridiculous part just struck me as bland.
As for Ms. Dawson, it's true that I cannot not love her, but given that she's not in the film, I'm not sure how that plays here. You talkin' about Melonie Díaz (the Sweded Rosario?)? Yeah, she's pleasant--and I'll certainly be on the lookout for her in Hamlet 2!
oops. Yes, Melonie Diaz. What the hell is Rosario Dawson in that's about to open?
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