Henry_Framus_Valentine

I could not watch the whole thing. What I liked best was the credit that referred to The Book Baron, a used book store at the corner of Magnolia Ave. And Ball Rd. In west Anaheim. They had a great selection of classic fiction as well as non-fiction in all categories at great prices, as well as old magazines and loads of paperback best sellers. I bought a copy of the 1932 Fullerton Junior College yearbook with some pictures of First Lady Pat Nixon when she was a freshman for jut $15.00 that I later sold on eBay for more than $100.00. Other great Orange County used book stores have gone the way of The Book Baron. Click killed off Brick.

Of all the shorts featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, this is my favorite. The riffs are clever and very funny and have me laughing every time.

That said, the short itself is not bad. The staging and direction are competent and the acting is better than one would expect from an educational short. Neither of the leads has the looks or charisma to be a movie star but both of them are good at line-reading and are quite believable as the young lovers. The filmmakers did not try to pass off 30-years-olds as teenagers. The other actors in the film are just as effective.

And although we can laugh at the way people looked, dressed, thought, and acted 70 years ago, we can also appreciate that "Cupid's Checklist," the various graphs, and even the "boing" help support the message that the short is trying to convey. Good advice is good advice no matter how it is presented and from whatever year it is given.

I really wanted to leave the theater several time during the premiere of this cornball turkey, but I stayed till the bitter end. I was not scared; I was not repulsed; I was annoyed. Grand guignol histrionics, laughable dialogue ("fava beans" indeed), impossible plot holes, and as mismatched a pair of leads as one could imagine, made this a tedious experience. And the idiocy of a main character whose parents named him Hannibal and he just happens to grow up to become a cannibal. Really? Sounds like an idea Chester Gould would have discarded as corny and unbelievable.

While Jodie Foster displays no personality at all, Anthony Hopkins gives an outrageously hammy performance that would make Donald Pleasence wince. In fact, Hannibal Lector eats so much scenery in this film, how could he possibly have any room left for people?

The reaction to this dog after I saw it was truly amazing - and very depressing. As far as I am concerned, the Oscars™ have always been beneath contempt, so when this celluloid Necco wafer won several gilded statuettes, I was not surprised. But I am still depressed that it is considered by many to be a classic. Feh!