cj909

I think the average viewer would be left cold by this movie, but for

those who have guys like this in their lives and perhaps have been

the 'geek'y female in their circle it's pretty cute. Also, Shatner rules.

As a chick who has spent part of the rent money on an original 12"

Boba Fett and spent adolescence keeping the one and only

Captain as her personal lord and savior, I totally recommend it. Its

place in film lore perhaps best belongs on Comedy Central on a

rainy Sunday afternoon, but sometimes that's enough.

I would have liked to seen more (or anything) done with the female

counterparts of these types of guys - many are not model types like

Claire but are interesting people in their own right. We're out there

searching for these guys while these guys are searching for

models who have our brains and sensitivities. (A wry, ironic, LOL

here.)

I own this on DVD, but to this day whenever it shows up on PBS (roughly every 24 hours, where I live, lol!), I am compelled to watch it start to finish.

There is a phenomenal array of musicians on stage, all there to play with one of the greatest talents in musical history. It's quite possible that a lot of people think Elvis and Chuck Berry when they think of the start of popular rock and roll music, but Orbison's writing, musicianship (and that voice!) tower over the others of that era. The presence of all the other names doesn't make one think of a 'star studded' VH1/MTV made-for-TV extravaganza, but more a group of able musicians both paying homage and participating in a real musical performance, in concert with each other, not taking star turns even as they step up to play a solo or sing with 'the master'.

All the players are fantastic and are thrilled to be there, but Springsteen in particular looks like a little-league 11-year old getting to play ball with Mantle, Ruth, Robinson and Aaron. His awe and exuberance at being there mirrors what anyone has to feel watching this show.

(and a P.S. - no audio problems on my disk or on the televised version.)

The art direction and cinematography of this film is fantastic, and that is not a 'back-handed' compliment. In fact, the way the film is shot and directed is symbolic of the photograph-based fantasy world Sy lives in. I found the overall look of the film to be very effective; this is a man who looks at snapshots all day long and daydreams about a beautiful, artfully arranged life complete with a photogenic family but has little to no actual interaction with real people in a real and meaningful way. A small but particularly effective scene is that in which Sy is crouched in a corner looking at the photographs taken by his 'fantasy nephew' - all are of inanimate objects, cartoonish objects with happy painted smiles but nonetheless inanimate, no real people; his 'nephew' also avoids actual human contact (in Sy's mind.) The actual plot of the film is thrilling if not unique or particularly spellbinding, but to me the the subtle and not so subtle portrayals of Sy's incredibly removed and sterile existence/environment were the real treat here. Many of the shots reminded me of the iconic scene in the supermarket in 'Repo Man' where all the items within were generic, white labels with black block printing. I almost think this film works more as an art piece than a movie. Which is again, not a backhanded compliment. (and a P.S. - as a former photo lab tech, I'm wondering why Sy didn't record a number of those photos as mistakes to hide his tracks. Or what store has a photo lab roughly the size of an entire 7-11 with no garishly colored advertisements or fliers or sideline products all over the counter....)