Curtain's up, light goes down, everyone goes quiet, and... The director leaves the building. This is pretty much the happinings at any drama production. Rehearsals, dress rehearsals, tech rehearsals everytime it goes terribly down hill. Actors get on each other's nerves, and the little vains in the forehead of the director begin to show. This is such a comical screenplay greet on film or on the stage I captures everything. And any performer knows that a terrible upcoming of a play 99.9% of the time results with a perfect opening big opening production. This shows the down fall of every show and it gets worst each time.
A must see for everyone. A plus is that Christopher Revees and John Ritter are in this one too.
Enjoy!
If There's "Nothing On" . . .
An entertaining tall tale from America's heartland, with a British twist. As one who had read the play, I wasn't expecting anything much when has-been Peter Bogdanovich was assigned the job of directing a screen adaptation of Michael Frayn's theater chestnut, NOISES OFF.
And with this attitude in mind, I didn't enjoy the movie overmuch when I first saw it in a neighboring theater in 1992. Now, however, it seems to be funnier every time I see it. The more you watch this film the more you appreciate how even some actors who aren't particularly skilled have brought their best foot forward for this project. And look at Nicolette Sheridan, she's so pretty and she doesn't look like she's been disfigured by plastic surgery! Michael Caine, who makes an average of 6.5 films a year, is hilarious in the part of Lloyd and couldn't be any funnier, whether he's getting a sizable cactus jammed up his ass or fathering a baby with poor old Julie Hagerty. I don't think Carol Burnett has gotten her due for trying the part of Dotty Otley either. She isn't at her best, but you can't imagine the movie without her. Maybe she's a little old to play the part, especially seeing that she is at the apex of a triangle with two much, much younger men. She must have been so sick of sardines after wrapping this feature! This was just about Carol's last part of any substance. Let's bring her back and give her something meaty to chew on. I have always wondered, for example, what happened to Dotty Otley after the events of NOISES OFF and NOTHING ON. Surely she could come back and star in a sequel!
How odd is it that both Christopher Reeve and John Ritter have both left us? If I were a betting man, and was told that three people in the principal cast would be gone in a few year's time, I might have hazarded Denholm Elliott, who does look pretty sick in this film, and who didn't survive its release. (Actually anybody else might have been better; he's okay but nothing special.) But no way would I have guessed Reeve or Ritter!
Both of them are thoroughly entertaining and fulfill, to the highest degree, the hopes Bogdanovich apparently pinned on them. Why wasn't the chatty Bogdanovich given the opportunity to record a commentary track?
One of the best
Noises off is one of the best comedies ever. It's a staple of the Five Door Farce genre and the cast assembled for this movie could not be more perfect. A little slapstick, a little British humour, and a something new to see every time you watch it.
Without a Clue is an underrated comedy featuring stellar teamwork by two great actors, Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley. This Sherlock Holmes pastiche with a twist stars Kingsley as physician, writer, and self-effacing super-sleuth Dr. John Watson, who channels his genius for deduction into lucrative stories about Holmes. Watson wants the world to believe the fictional private eye actually exists, posing a problem when a steady stream of troubled souls come seeking Holmes's help. The doctor's prescription: hire a two-bit, drunken, skirt-chasing actor (Caine) to portray the Great Detective, an arrangement that causes Watson consternation whenever "Holmes" tries to improvise his way through a case. Wonderful comic timing and tension make Without a Clue a delight; Caine,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Michael Caine - Ben Kingsley Director(s): Thom Eberhardt DVD Release Date: Released the 02 March 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Undoubtedly the first movie in history to have played in theaters with three different endings (depending on which theater you attended), Clue is a silly whodunit based on the familiar board game featuring Colonel Mustard, Mrs. Peacock, and all the other usual suspects. A broadly comic cast play the sundry suspects gathered in a mansion to solve a murder, knowing that one of their numbers is the culprit. Michael McKean, Eileen Brennan, and Tim Curry are the best of the bunch, and the film is as lightweight an experience as a round of the game itself. Directed by Jonathan Lynn (My Cousin Vinny). The video release contains all three endings. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Director(s): Jonathan Lynn DVD Release Date: Released the 27 June 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Ah, Shakespeare. The great bard. You've heard he's a terrific writer. One of these days, you may actually get around to catching one of his plays. Yeah, right. Well, with the help of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, not only can you catch all of Shakespeare's plays at once, but you can have a riotous good time doing so.
Three men performing 37 plays in less than two hours may seem a bit of a stretch. But Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor--all members of the Reduced Shakespeare Company--pull it off beautifully with The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), a slapstick show that summarizes the playwright's stage work (with the sonnets thrown in). Never read Titus Andronicus? No problem; it's presented here as a cooking show. Can't keep your... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Paul Kafno DVD Release Date: Released the 01 May 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Man (Christopher Reeve) writes play. Older washed-up hack (the blissfully hammy Michael Caine) covets play. A meeting is arranged in a remote cabin festooned with various sharp objects. To reveal anything more would serve to ruin one of the most wondrously convoluted plots of the '80s and '90s. It's a cerebrum-bending romp from start to finish, with marvelously airtight plotting that simultaneously parodies and honors its genre, and two vibrant, continuously morphing lead performances (pity poor Dyan Cannon's weak-link wife, though, who gets stuck with the shrillest character and worst dialogue of the lot). Based on Ira Levin's long-running play, this adaptation's rhythm is thrown off a bit by director Sidney Lumet's somewhat misguided attempts to open it up for the screen, but the script... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Michael Caine - Christopher Reeve Director(s): Sidney Lumet DVD Release Date: Released the 27 July 1999 Usually ships in 24 hours
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