A Fish Called Wanda

One line review: A strange but fun comedy that is helped by very strong characters.

Movie Title: A Fish Called Wanda

Actors: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis , Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Maria Aitken, Tom Georgeson, Patricia Hayes

Director: Charles Crichton

Year: 1988

Genre: Comedy

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% – Although filled with clever twists and double-crosses, the film’s storyline is less important than the opportunities it gives the actors to exploit their goofy characterizations.

My rating: ***

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): A very odd, quirky, unusual, and awkward comedy. Despite all that, still enjoyable. You’ll have to turn your brain off for several of the plot twists and sillier parts of the movie, but once you do so you should have a fun time with it. I felt a bit too much of it’s comedy was focused on having the characters acting silly in public or just playing off of each other. At the same time, the strong characters and strong acting probably saved this movie from being just another mediocre comedy. While I can’t give it a high recommendation, it’s okay.

Indiana Jones Trilogy

One line review: A fantastic trilogy of action packed movies that have helped define more genre cliches than almost any other series.

Movie Title: Raiders of the Lost of the Ark / Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom / Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Actors: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott, Alfred Molina, Wolf Kahler, Anthony Higgins, Kate Capshaw, Jonathan Ke Quan, Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth, Philip Stone, Roy Chiao, David Yip, Ric Young, Chua Kah Joo, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody , John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, Michael Byrne, Kevork Malikyan, Robert Eddison, Richard Young, Alexei Sayle, Alex Hyde-White, Paul Maxwell

Director: Steven Spielberg

Year: 1981 / 1984 / 1989

Genre: Action / Adventure

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes:

Raiders of the Lost Ark – 94% – Featuring bravura set pieces, sly humor, and white-knuckle action, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the most consummately entertaining adventure pictures of all time.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – 85% -If it was a sign of the times for Indiana Jones to take on more of a comic-book aspect, the film’s accomodation of darker themes and explicit imagery came as something of a shock to many.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - 89% – Last Crusade is pure kicks, and I would never fault this spunky blast of quips and near-misses for trying to vanilla its way back into the hearts of millions.

My rating: *****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): The biggest thing I’ve learned during this little experiment is just how many movie references and cliches have been ripped from previous movie series. Indiana Jones borrowed it’s fair share from things like Zorro or cowboy films, but the sheet number of films that have eithere made vauge references or just straight up copied the entire movie is amazing. The Indiana Jones Trilogy still rises above any of those other movies because it is just a constant barrage of action. These movies know exactly what they need to do to entertain their audience, and they do it well. A fantastic trilogy