pablocarlos

Howl is a great poem; Howl is a weak movie. If you want to be talked at for 90 minutes, then maybe you'll find it edifying, but to be honest, I found that this film took some really interesting people, a really interesting moment and a really important poem and turned them into words, words, words. I would have liked the portions in which Ginsberg reads the poem at the Six Gallery because I think James Franco does a pretty good job of getting Ginsberg's voice and cadences down as well as his gestures and body language. Never been much of a fan of Franco, but he does a good job here of paying homage to Ginsberg. Still, I can't get past his pretty boy looks which don't work even for the young Ginsberg. Similarly, the crowd of beats at the poetry reading look like they just popped out of a frat party. They don't look "beat." The courtroom scenes were poor; I am a great admirer of David Strathairn, but he has very little to work with here while Jon Hamm does a fine imitation of a block of wood. Jeff Daniels is laughable as a caricature of academia. The interview sequences include a lot of good material, but there's too much of it to be absorbed and the whole thing comes across as very static. The animations provided a creative way to incorporate the poem, but they didn't really dazzle. Ginsberg was a very interesting man who deserves much better.

I can't say enough about this show. Don Adams was brilliant as Maxwell Smart, charming in his ineptitude, flawless in his comic timing. The gags were consistently hilarious. The bits of business like the shoe phone or the cone of silence were outrageous. And Barbara Feldon as agent 99 was deliciously sexy. The plots weren't the point really, the gags were, and the excellent comic characterizations. Check out Bernie Kopell pre Love Boat as KAOS agent Siegfried or Dick Gautier as Hymie. With Mel Brooks and Buck Henry at the helm, how could you go wrong. Maxwell Smart lives on in the pantheon of fictional cold war spies alongside James Bond, Harry Palmer and Derek Flint. Austin Powers has nothing on these cats.

This film features the quick witty dialogue of the best Broadway comedies with the poignant story of a non-conformist uncle and his precocious nephew. Jason Robards as Murray, the uncle who opts out of the working world for a life of imagination, is charming and witty. Barbara Harris is wonderful as psychologist Sandra Markowitz charmed by and smitten with Murray. Barry Gordon also hits all the right notes as the kid who is more mature than his guardian uncle, but who loves the childishness in him. Behind them is a marvellous ensemble including Martin Balsam, William Daniels and Gene Saks. But my views may be biased here because every time I see Barbara Harris, I fall in love with her all over again. Madly.