JonB-2
Joined Aug 2000
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JonB-2's rating
Price. Rigg. All-star cast. Shakespeare. Black Comedy. A campy 70s London setting. What is not to love here? This is a slasher film with a heart and mind (the former most literally), and it showcases Price at his best. This man can act the hell out of the Bard, and so can Diana. What's great about it, too, is that it will appeal to people on so many levels.
Fan of Shakespeare? See it!
Fan of horror films but know nothing about Shakespeare? See it!
Don't like the horror genre at all? That's okay, this one is different. See it!
Personally, I'm a big fan of Shakespeare because I'm a drama nerd. I also hate horror films with a passion. This is one of my few exceptions, because it elevates what is normally a hateful genre to a place of high art, and reminds us that the depiction of human cruelty in art goes back a long, long, long time -- even farther back than the Bard himself.
Fan of Shakespeare? See it!
Fan of horror films but know nothing about Shakespeare? See it!
Don't like the horror genre at all? That's okay, this one is different. See it!
Personally, I'm a big fan of Shakespeare because I'm a drama nerd. I also hate horror films with a passion. This is one of my few exceptions, because it elevates what is normally a hateful genre to a place of high art, and reminds us that the depiction of human cruelty in art goes back a long, long, long time -- even farther back than the Bard himself.
I've always liked Andy Richter, ever since his days as Conan O'Brien's sidekick on "Late Night". I've wanted to like his previous forays into his own shows, but nothing had really clicked before.
This time, things click, in a quirky, funny series that brings a new twist to film noir conventions. The basic set-up: Andy Barker, a CPA, starts work at his new office. Unbeknownst to him, it was previously occupied by a PI. When a mysterious woman shows up looking for someone to find her dead husband, Barker is reluctant to take on the case -- but given his scarcity of clients and her $4,000 retainer, the offer is too tempting to pass up. When the issue of the husband's tax returns come up, it's the clincher that pulls the CPA into a different line of work.
Thus begins the premise, in which Barker is ably abetted by video store clerk Simon (Tony Hale, "Arrested Development") -- who applies everything he's learned about crime and criminals from movies, with sometimes unintended results.
While it doesn't quite have the subversive depth of a lot of modern half hour comedies, it does have the off-kilter tone of something like the live-action "The Tic" This go-round, Conan O'Brien is co-creator and executive producer, and that may be the secret ingredient that's made this a watchable show. A lot of the gags feel like Late Night bits dropped into the plot, like when Barker advises a client on tax law during a car chase.
There's potential for this series, provided the writers can keep developing the concept, and NBC doesn't give up too soon.
This time, things click, in a quirky, funny series that brings a new twist to film noir conventions. The basic set-up: Andy Barker, a CPA, starts work at his new office. Unbeknownst to him, it was previously occupied by a PI. When a mysterious woman shows up looking for someone to find her dead husband, Barker is reluctant to take on the case -- but given his scarcity of clients and her $4,000 retainer, the offer is too tempting to pass up. When the issue of the husband's tax returns come up, it's the clincher that pulls the CPA into a different line of work.
Thus begins the premise, in which Barker is ably abetted by video store clerk Simon (Tony Hale, "Arrested Development") -- who applies everything he's learned about crime and criminals from movies, with sometimes unintended results.
While it doesn't quite have the subversive depth of a lot of modern half hour comedies, it does have the off-kilter tone of something like the live-action "The Tic" This go-round, Conan O'Brien is co-creator and executive producer, and that may be the secret ingredient that's made this a watchable show. A lot of the gags feel like Late Night bits dropped into the plot, like when Barker advises a client on tax law during a car chase.
There's potential for this series, provided the writers can keep developing the concept, and NBC doesn't give up too soon.
What an amazing film -- Eastern European Sensibilities meet Hollywood style Special Effects, and I look forward to the sequel coming out on DVD.
The best description I can give to western audiences of "Night Watch" is "The Matrix" filtered through post-USSR sensibilities. Well worth a viewing, but be sure to grab the original Russian cut DVD if you can, and not the "international" version, which eliminates a lot of subtext. (Hint to Americans: the subtitles are in the third menu item down on the right.) Epic, compelling, moving, never a dull moment. If you want to get your fix of action and art film in the same viewing, then this is a flick for you. And note to folk whose only exposure to Russian film-making is the original "Solaris" -- this is a whole different beastie, with nary a wasted moment. There are no ten-minute POV shots of the Moscow freeways here.
And, oddity for those who get the original DVD -- one of the extra features is a collection of commercial spots for the film's various sponsors. A surprisingly capitalist touch on a Russian DVD, and I could hear Karl Marx spinning in his grave...
The best description I can give to western audiences of "Night Watch" is "The Matrix" filtered through post-USSR sensibilities. Well worth a viewing, but be sure to grab the original Russian cut DVD if you can, and not the "international" version, which eliminates a lot of subtext. (Hint to Americans: the subtitles are in the third menu item down on the right.) Epic, compelling, moving, never a dull moment. If you want to get your fix of action and art film in the same viewing, then this is a flick for you. And note to folk whose only exposure to Russian film-making is the original "Solaris" -- this is a whole different beastie, with nary a wasted moment. There are no ten-minute POV shots of the Moscow freeways here.
And, oddity for those who get the original DVD -- one of the extra features is a collection of commercial spots for the film's various sponsors. A surprisingly capitalist touch on a Russian DVD, and I could hear Karl Marx spinning in his grave...