Word: screens
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
DiPrima's cast gives a competent reading to the material, and Stoppard's clever lines could probably withstand even the most brutal student production. But simple problems mar the production, particularly failed attempts at British accents and a failure to alter annoying British colloquialisms; phrases as "wind screen" instead of "windshield," "shaving foam" instead of "shaving cream" distract the audience for no purpose. Inspector Hound, moreover, at longer than an hour, begins to grate. DiPrima would have been wiser to slice out a third of the dialogue, and concentrate on the sparkling delivery of the remainder...
Like a documentary, the year of the episode flashes on the screen, followed by the voice-over narration and actual footage of historical events from that year, beginning on the geopolitical scale and swiftly narrowing down to events in Anton's front yard. Such narrative techniques may seem overly obvious or literary--and literal-minded--but they are surprisingly effective in showing how history and memory intrude into Anton's life...
...thing, there's Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, both delightful in their roles as cop partners. Fans of the two actors can perhaps puzzle over the bizarre coincidence (?) that both men appear naked in their first moments on screen, but go on to wear trousers throughout the rest of the film...
Whew! Another worry laid to rest. Moonlighting's Bruce Willis can prevail on the big screen. The presence of this teen dream in Blind Date is undoubtedly why a mostly indifferent movie has zipped up the charts. As Walter Davis he offers a neat variant on his TV character, acting like a stooge but saving himself finally with hidden reserves of smarts. And he does it with style...
...style of Director Stephen Frears (My Beautiful Laundrette) emphasizes the drab and the obvious. Frears cannot match the script's sleek malice, so he gets his laughs with eccentric casting; most of the actors have faces that are their own caricatures, particularly Alfred Molina as Ken. Molina commands the screen with the round face, hulking frame and liquid loser's eyes of the young Peter Lorre. But as photos prove, Ken was physically attractive; it was his manner that repelled people. And now he is memorialized as the haunted child molester from M. Joe would have appreciated the joke anyway...